The car had entered a parking garage by the time Lina thought to glance out the window. "Where are we, anyway?"
"Eaton's Centre." He played with the collar of her blouse, his warm fingers sending a shiver through her. "You're in business gear and I know how you hate to hang out in this stuff."
"And we couldn't go to my house?"
"Nope." Nick smiled, "I get to fuss over you." Then he looked down at her feet. "Thank God you always wear walking shoes. I'd hate to spend our three days in Toronto going through hell - I mean shoe stores."
Lina laughed. She had odd feet, it always took her forever to find something she both fit and liked. "Me too."
The bodyguard parked the car and Nick pulled her out. "C'mon, Urban Behaviour awaits!"
"I'm not buying anything in there!"
"Nothing you don't like," he agreed, but knew she'd always wanted to think she might be able to carry off some of the risque outfits the store carried.
Nick resolutely ignored the stares of random salesgirls and shoppers, trusting his bodyguard to keep them away for now. He watched her browse without interfering, until her hands played over a top. She examined it for a moment, a golden short-sleeved creation scooped low in the neck, before letting it go.
"It would look good on you," he spoke up. He found himself mentally going through her closet, as Lina did every time she shopped. "Goes with a lot, too."
"It..." she gestured at her chest.
"Oh show off sometimes!" Nick chided his partner gently. Lina got self-conscious about showing cleavage. He reached for the top, found it a soft material, the kind Lina categorized as "touch-me", the kind she loved. "At least try it on. We can get you a sweater if it makes you feel self-conscious."
"It's still not "hangin' out" clothing."
She had a point there. While Lina didn't tend towards the sheer messy Nick wore when he was truly relaxing, they both favoured more casual clothes to sit around in.
"Try it on anyway," he encouraged. "Play dress-up."
"What am I, your personal Barbie?" But she took the top off the rack. "All right. Now, in the interests of "sex-me-up", 'cause it's dress-up in *this* store... what should I wear with this?"
Nick eyed a rack of PVC pants.
"Couple curves too many for PVC, Nickelodeon."
"I like curves. I like to see your curves."
She rolled her eyes and began sorting through them. "Black?"
"Everyone does black." He held up another pair. "Green?"
"Nickolas!" Lina just giggled.
"Yeah, I didn't think so," he laughed. "Navy?"
"Maybe... oh!" She produced a wine-coloured pair.
"Is there a redhead in the world who likes red as much as you do?" Lina actually pouted in reply and Nick wasn't sure whether to laugh or kiss her. "Go try 'em on."
A few minutes later she emerged. "I look like Britney Spears from that album cover," she laughed nervously.
Nick looked her over for a moment. Her red hair tumbled in loose waves down over her shoulders, a dramatic contrast with the soft golden top and her fair skin. He noticed the little chicken pox scar on her breast, just peeking out from the neckline. Cleavage was evident, although not much of it, but the form-fitting top left nothing to the imagination. For that matter, neither did the pants. Lina's legs were long enough, but in pants like these, they never seemed to end. "Britney doesn't hold a candle to you, love."
She went scarlet and Nick had to pull his eyes away from the flush across her chest. "It's not... me, though. It's something your girlfriend would wear to the MTV awards or something."
"Would she?" he shot her a look. "Want me to buy it so she can?"
The implication hung in the air between them.
"Not the pants," she responded finally. "But I do love the top."
"Cool," his eyes glowed at the lack of argument. "Well, hurry up and let's hit somewhere you can get comfortable stuff, before the salesgirls decide to call their girlfriends."
Despite the growing sense that Nick was being recognized, Lina enjoyed the shopping trip thoroughly. He pushed her to try on the things she would otherwise only look at wistfully, but never pushed her to buy them. There was no pressure to change, just try thngs she'd always secretly wanted to, but never had someone there to say, "Yeah, go for it."
What one of the most powerful psychics on the planet really wanted was someone to lean on. Nick showed signs of sliding full into the role. He wasn't a toady, he gave opinions and argued points, but neither was he controlling. Nick reinforced Lina gently, slowly erasing the idea that he would ever turn away from her.
When they emerged in the parking lot, having purchased an ankle-length soft denim skirt and a Fraggle Rock t-shirt for Lina to wear, along with a few items like the gold top that had simply looked good. For the most part they'd been left alone, but by the time they hit the parking garage, the sense of frenzied teenage recognition was overwhelming.
"Oops." Nick muttered as they emerged onto their floor of the garage.
"At least we're not going to be wandering around looking for the car," Lina joked.
Nick had obviously been seen leaving the hotel, because the white, unmarked Jeep was staked out by about fifty fans.
"Jimmy?" Nick looked to the bodyguard for a plan. He and Lina were perfectly able to handle the situation, but such things weren't public knowledge.
"I wish there was two of me," was the response. "Stay put, I'll bring the car to you. Keep the wall at your back."
"Got it."
Once the girls noticed Jimmy heading for them, it took very little time for them to locate and make a beeline for Nick.
"Got a pen, Lina?"
She handed him a Sharpie and the crowd descended upon them with shrieks and professions of undying love, waving arms, CDs and anything else remotely signable. Things happened fast and Lina found herself shoved out of the way, past the crowd, trying to keep her eyes on that blonde head. The Jeep pulled up and she headed to it.
"Do you drive?" Jimmy asked.
"No." She opened the back door, "Wait here." She pushed back into the crowd, searching for Nick, now completely overwhelmed by the frenzy. Unable to see, relying on instinct, she grabbed his elbow and pulled, putting all her physical and a fair amount of telekinetic force into the effort. There was a shriek from the crowd as Lina wrested him free and they both stumbled into the back seat. A fan grabbed his shoe, Lina pulled again, and Nick fell with his head in her lap as the door shut behind him.
"Do I need to get to a hospital, Carter?" the bodyguard barked as they tore out of the garage.
"Nah," Nick answered, a little shakily.
"And what the fuck was that stunt?"
"I don't drive." Lina explained. "If you got out to get him, they'd have time to rush the car."
Jimmy muttered something, but let it go. "You realise we're going back to the hotel right now?"
"Yes sir," they chorused unwittingly. Lina was just as aware as Nick was of the rules and how pissed off security got when something happened. To save them from the rest of the bodyguard's frustrations, she put up a sheild.
She looked down at Nick, who still hadn't moved from his sprawled position. A long red welt was beginning to form on his cheek. He winced as she laid a finger on it.
"Someone had long fingernails."
"Mmm." Nick wasn't quite sure what she'd said, too busy concentrating on the feel of her cool fingertip stroking the length of the wound. It burned a little, then she added a little more pressure, mixed in some energy, and convinced his skin to speed up the healing process until the pain was gone. He was safe in her care again. It was a good feeling. "Y'know I think the last time we were like this is my last happy memory of you?" he murmured.
Lina frowned. "I haven't done a healing on you in, like.. six months. That incident with the tree, I think."
"No..." he protested sleepily, lulled by the movement of the car, the lack of sleep on the plane last night, and the safety of her presence. "I remember... it's fuzzy but.. I hurt, I was tired..." he sighed a little. "I started to get scared, but then you came. You were there. So very there. Warm. Safe. You were talking, but I couldn't really hear. I knew you'd take care of everything and it was okay to give up."
Lina was staring at him now, listening to Nick speak as if re-living the memory. He frowned a little, "Something happened though. I heard..." his eyes widened. "I heard the guys, and I knew you couldn't take care of everyone and so I..."
He was interrupted by the splash of a warm, salt tear, landing on his chin. Another, and another. It woke him up a bit and he looked up to find Lina looking at him, crying silently, her expression unreadable.
"I'm sorry," he said, confused. He sat up, putting a hand on her arm. "I didn't mean to... when *was* that?"
You dork, Lina sniffled. That was the accident