RP:Girls Night Out

Summary: Pilar and Khitti finally meet days after Khitti's rescue and go on a much-needed girls night out to the shopping district of the frozen city.

Frostmaw Tavern

Khitti had sent word to Pilar via someone that worked at the inn. The redhead hadn't strayed far from there, only going just outside the building once or twice, one of the times to build the snowman that sat outside across the path from the inn. Whenever Pilar arrived, she'd pass by Brand, who just so happened that it was a good time to get drunk, and get directed by Drargon up the stairs to the room that her and Dominic had rented since their stay in Frostmaw began. Khitti hadn't tried to stop Brand. It's not like he'd listen to anything she'd have to say anyway. Now, she sat alone in the room in an armchair, watching the flames as they leapt about in the hearth. She wanted so badly to go out, to have met Pilar at the fort. She was so restless, but...she just couldn't. Not yet anyway. At least not alone and it's not like Brand would've gone with her. So, she waited and dwelled on her thoughts, not all of them good.

Pilar hurried to the inn as soon as Khitti summoned her. She had been loathe to leave her side at all, but she had been such a wreck, and she wanted to be alone. With Dominic. She'd admit, the exclusion hurt a little, but she forgave it. She would give Khitti anything she needed, including space. She was prepared to see her, however. She arrived with carrot cake and a big stuffed rabbit (like a toy, not taxidermy). Pilar knocked on the door. "Khitti? It's Pilar."

The vampiress jumped at the knock on the door, but when she heard Pilar's voice, she eased a little and responded faintly, "Come in." Khitti quickly messed with her hair, trying to make herself seem presentable, but it was obvious she'd not brushed those long red locks of hers today. She just couldn't muster the effort. With a defeated sigh, she stood, adjusted the long-sleeved button-up shirt of Dominic's she wore, brushed off a bit of dust from the soft, black leather pants she wore, and faced the door. She didn't look towards where Pilar would be, regret written on her features, her dark line of sight fixated on the floor near her bare feet. Was Pilar going to be mad at her? Did she hate her? Khitti really couldn't bear anymore guilt right now.

Pilar stepped into the room and smiled. "How are you feeling? I brought you something." She presented the cakebox and the rabbit before placing them aside and wrapping her arms around Khitti. "It's so good to see you."

Khitti blinked at the cake and rabbit, the shock of being given gifts when she'd not even sent for Pilar until now overwhelming her. It didn't take long though, after Pilar hugged her, for her to break down into tears and sob into Pilar's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Pilar. I know I should've sent for you sooner. I just--zhings are--I'm...I'm..." She couldn't seem to form a sentence to explain. What should she say? Where should she start? There was so much and yet she couldn't say a thing.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Khitti," Pilar said, "I'm here now." She smoothed Khitti's hair, noted its messy state, and resolved to brush it out before she left. But that was a job for later. She simply held her sister and let her cry. She had every right to cry. She had been through so much recently, after all. More than Pilar even knew.

She soon righted herself after she got most of those tears and emotions out, though remnants still trickled down her cheeks. "Pilar. I'm sorry. I really am. I vanted to go out, but I can't. I vant to...I'm so tired of being locked up, but I'm just..." She pauses, reddish brows furrowing as she looks to the floor. "I'm just scared. Scared of vhat could be out zhere...scared of myself..." She lifts her left arm, eyeing it warily, "Amarrah's gone...I zhink, but zhere's something new. I-I zhink I'm like you now. Like Dominic and Brand." She puts her hands out, palms facing up. There was a bit of scar tissue from a burn, but it was obvious that it was healing, albeit slowly because she hadn't fed much. "But, I don't vant to hurt anyone..."

Pilar's eyes widened when she said Amarrah was gone. How was that even possible? Pilar looked down at her hands and wished for the umpteenth time that she had the magic to heal those wounds. She looked at Khitti and wiped away her tears. "I can't imagine what it must have been like... If you want to go out, I will go with you. if you want to stay here, I will stay with you. Whatever you want. You won't hurt anyone... Have you fed? I have a bottle of blood in my bag if you'd like it."

Khitti shook her head quickly, "I-I'm alright for now. And, it doesn't hurt...not right now. It did, but..." She musters a smile for Pilar, "I'll be fine." Well, maybe not, but it was a good lie, right? A quick glance is given towards the wardrobe and then back to Pilar, "I...uh...need to go shopping, but...I didn't vant to go by myself. A-and Dominic needed a couple of zhings. It's too cold for him here. Probably for Brand too, but..." She shook her head again, "I vas vondering if you'd go vith me. I-I need some new clothes."

Pilar nodded in understanding and smiled. "Of course I'll go with you... But first..." She touched a lock of Khitti's hair. "You need a brushing." Pilar turned and grabbed the hairbrush off the dresser, then looked at Khitti. "May I?"

The redhead smiled in return, nodding in answer. Khitti turned her back to Pilar and got down on both knees, making it easier for the other vampire to brush her hair. She'd sit there in silence, staring at the fireplace, unsure of what else to say.

Pilar gently began to brush the tangles from Khitti's hair. Her fingers ran through the wavy locks, and Pilar said, "You know, you have beautiful hair. I've always wanted waves or curls."

"It's more of a curse zhan a blessing. Some days it'd be easier to herd cats zhan tame zhis mess." She did her best to keep her head straight so that it was easiest to brush. Pilar just carried on as usual and for that, Khitti was eternally grateful. The less she talked about what happened in the cave, the better. At least for now. "Pilar, I've got a problem and I don't know quite how to deal vith it. It feels like a very bad situation zhough, but I just...don't know vhat to do."

"All done." Pilar finished taking care of Khitti's hair and put the brush back. She looked at Khitti with some worry. "What's wrong? If there's anything I can do to help, I will."

"It's nothing like vhat you zhink. Nothing violent or dangerous, " was said as Khitti stood and turned back around to face her sister, "I...uh..." How was she going to say this? Would Pilar judge her? This felt as bad to her as the stuff she'd went through with that damned elder vampire. "...I...have feelings for Brand. But, I also love Dominic. Zhey are so different and yet...zhey are zhe same to me. Sometimes. Sometimes one vill act like zhe other, even if it's only for a few minutes. I don't know vhat to do. I zhink...Brand hates me now." She motions towards the floor, to the tavern area below. "He's been drinking since he brought me back. And Dominic...he doesn't really acknowledge it. B-but zhey both know and I can't make it go away. I tried...I tried so hard..." She shook her head, walking past Pilar to the wardrobe to get her duster. "I zhought ve vere going to die in zhat jar, so I told Brand...and he got angry. And now it's so much vorse. I've managed to muck everything up. Everything is my fault...just as it always has been."

Pilar listened to Khitti's predicament, and went over to hug her again. "Oh, Khitti... This is not your fault. You cannot control how you feel for someone. And there is nothing wrong with loving them both! Brand getting angry is... well, either he is trying to force you to stop loving him, or he simply is a jerk. I don't know him well enough to say. As for Dominic... he shouldn't be ignoring it and hoping it'll fix itself. He should be willing to have an open and honest talk with you about it. You are not the wrong one." Pilar sighed. "And I guess, to be fair to them, neither are they. This is a confusing and difficult thing to go through... But it doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means you need to talk to them about it. If you want me there, so you don't feel outnumbered, I will be there. If not, you can still talk to me if you need."

"No. I don't zhink either of zhem vould go for zhat. At least, definitely not Brand." She accepted the hug, and even returned it this time, a sigh following it. "I'm pretty sure Brand doesn't love me anyway, so it's not like it matters. I just have to move on, but I don't know how." She sighs again and shakes her head, moving away from Pilar and towards the door. "I suppose ve should go before it gets too dark..."

Pilar murmured, "I wish I could tell you..." before voicing her agreement. "Yes, we should." She and Khitti walked side-by-side through the streets of Frostmaw. Pilar kept an extra vigilant eye out for anything remotely suspicious. Not that she thought Khitti had anything to fear, but she figured this would be the day something crazy happened. Because that's just how their luck went.

Merchant Area

Khitti didn't speak much along the way. She too even kept an ever vigilant watch for strange happenings until they both reached the shops. Pushing open the door, she made her way into the store, glancing about before shooting a side-eyed look towards Pilar. "Vhat do you zhink? I don't shop much. Any idea vhat I should get?"

Pilar looked around the shop. It was a unisex clothing store, with a nice selection of winter gear in both giant and elf sizes. Khitti, being petite, would surely fit into the elvenwear. Speaking of, there was a rack of dresses nearby, and Pilar sifted through the clothing and pulled out a knee-length black dress with long sleeves and a v-neck. "This is a good start. Basic, so you can add different things to it for different looks, but also cute on its own in case you don't feel like dressing up."

Khitti tilted her head, eyeing the dress from top to bottom. "Hmm. Right. Layering and such, I guess, yes? I don't vant nothing extravagent like vhat zhat damned crab makes. It's too much, unless it's for a ball or coronation or something." Looking at the rack nearby, she finds a black underbust corset. The accents were various shades of greens, reds, and purples, the designs in the shape of roses, violets, and ivy to accompany it. "Vhat about zhis? Do you zhink zhis could go vell over it?"

Pilar hung the dress over her arm and looked at the corsets. "Oh, yes, definitely. And they're all in such beautiful colors! I would say get one of each, but I don't know your budget... I suppose you should try them on, see what you like best." As Pilar searched out the dressing rooms, she saw a rack of coats. "Ooh, look at these!" She led Khitti over to the rack, where there were long coats in not just black, but in a rainbow of dark jewel tones. She pulled one out and examined it. It was a deep royal blue, had a large collar and rows of silver buttons going down the front. It was obviously meant to be worn open. "I might get this one for myself..." she said, then grinned at Khitti. "Though you'd look lovely in it, too."

"I guess I can't get too much. I've some money saved up from vhen I vas living in Vailkrin, but I haven't exactly started my job for Hildegarde yet." She grabs one of each color and then moves on to a rack of shirts, casting a side glance at Pilar's coat with a grin, "Zhat'd definitely look nice on you. I'm a bit more of a dark, brooding leather sort of girl. I zhink. I vas, at least. Always needed function over fashion. Vhat do you zhink Dom vould like?" She wanted to throw Brand in there too, but...no. Why bother dressing up for someone that didn't care?

"Maybe he'd like you in a short skirt and tiny top..." Pilar giggled. She didn't know Dominic that well, but he struck her as the type to get flustered around scantily clad beautiful women. It was a funny thought. "No, no, I'm kidding. He likes you for you, so you should dress like you like... Does that make sense? It sounds strange to me." Pilar walked over to Khitti and looked at the shirts. "Ooh, maybe this one?" It was a dark green collared shirt with black stitching on the cuffs and breast pocket that was reminiscent of Gothic ironwork.

Khitti'd definitely be blushing if she could, muttering under her breath, "I'm pretty sure zhat's probably more Brand's zhing." She considered it for a moment, then shook her head. "Yeah, zhat makes sense." She 'oohs' at the shirt Pilar found. "Oh, I like zhat. Hm." Nearby, she spies a pair of leather pants, the softer version that was much better for moving around in. Thick black cord weaves up the outside of each leg, leaving a bit at the top so that one might tighten it as they please. "Maybe zhis? And new boots too?"

Pilar added the shirt to the pile over her arm and looked at the leather pants. "Those are nice, yes. I think I see boots in the back. Let me guess, you'd like black leather?"

"I'm sure I can shift away from it. Black just seems to go vith everything. I did vear vhite before for a time, so I'm up for any suggestion." She taps her chin for a moment, putting the pants back on the rack. "I -could- give you free reign and see vhat you come up vith." Khitti eyed Pilar skeptically for a moment, then nodded in agreement with her own idea. "Yes. Free reign. Doesn't have to be black. Doesn't have to be pants and a shirt. Anything you'd like zhat you zhink might suit me. Something completely new." While change was entirely scary, it seemed like the best option at the moment. Maybe it'd help zhings vith her mood, and maybe with Dominic too. Maybe even Brand? Positive. Gotta be positive.

Pilar grinned. "I can do that. Hold these?" She handed the clothes she was holding off to Khitti, then zipped around the store, looking at all sorts of shirts and dresses and pants and skirts. She eventually came back with three items. The first was a white blouse with a bow at the neck and ruffles around the cuffs. The second was a skirt with a built-in black belt with black-and-white stripes over a black under skirt with a bow at the back. The third item was a pair of white boots with bows on the sides. "How are these?"

Khitti took the clothes she was handed and watched as Pilar ran about the store. "Oooh. Zhose are interesting. Anything else? A coat? Some sort of hair ribbon?" She held her arms out, awaiting Pilar to add the items to the steadily growing pile of clothes.

Pilar placed the items in the pile and went to the accessories section, picking out a white ribbon, a black bow, a black and white striped bow with ribbons, and a hairclip with an adorable bunny face on it. She then went to the coats and grabbed two, a short one in black leather with silver buttons, and a longer one, black wool with white fur around the collar and cuffs. She presented her findings to Khitti.

The redhead inspected each and every one of the objects, nodding in approval. "Might as vell try zhem all!" There was a literal mountain of clothing in Khitti's arms now and it was a wonder she hadn't dropped it yet. That vampiric strength sure did come in handy. "Zhink zhat's enough for now? Or do you have any other ideas?"

"I think this is good. Go try them on! Wait." Pilar carefully extracted her coat from the pile. "Okay. Now go try them on."

Khitti snickered as Pilar managed to get her coat out amongst all of the possible outfits that had been chosen for Khitti. Along the way, she spies those leather pants again, the one with the lacing up the sides, and snatches them up too. Just. You know. To try on. Maybe. She was going to be spending a hell of a lot of gold tonight. After a bit of fussing, a brief yelp, and a lot of noise from inside the changing room, Khitti emerges in the white and black outfit Pilar had put together. Everything was in it's place, the skirt, shirt, and boots. Added to the mix was the white bow and bunny clip and the black leather coat, opting for something shorter than she normally wore. She seemed a little uncomfortable, as it was clearly a bit dressier than what she was used to, but she wasn't displeased with it.

Pilar clasped her hands together and grinned. "Oh, Khitti, you look lovely!" Not that she was biased at all.

Khitti grins, nods, then heads back in. This time, she came out with the dress that Pilar had initially chosen, as well as the red accented corset over top. "I like zhis one too. Might need to grab some sort of footwear for zhis as vell."

Pilar nodded in agreement. "You look nice. And I think I saw some red boots, too. Should I grab them for you? And maybe a black pair?"

"Let's go vith red," Khitti nodded. By time Pilar got back, she'd have the last outfit on, the green long-sleeve shirt and black pants. "Zhis vould definitely go vell vith my own boots. Definitely for a lazy day, I zhink." She'd nod in approval, then changed back into the black dress and corset real quick. "I'm going to vear zhis one home. Zhe zhings you picked out I'm going to save especially for Dominic. I zhink I'm going to ask him to go to dinner vith me. Somewhere zhat's not zhe inn. Maybe zhe restaurant in Kelay? Zhat's vhere ve first met." She smiles a little, thinking about how awkward they both were back then. "Here, can you take zhese?" She'd offer over the clothes she wore in, then gathered everything together to pay for everything. "Brand's gonna have to cover zhe room for a couple months. He'll get over it."

Pilar left to find the pair she'd seen, a nice burgundy pair with heels, and returned in time to see Khitti's last outfit. "You look good, Khitti," she said. When Khitti mentioned Dominic, she smiled. "That sounds wonderful. I can even arrange an Eyrie transport for you if you want." She happily took Khitti's old clothes, and went with her towards the counter. She then stopped. "Oh, wait! You said you wanted to get Dominic something, right?" She jerked her head to the men's section. "We should do that."

Almost did a sort of comedic skidding to a stop as she was reminded about the items Dominic wanted. "Oh! Yes! Zhank you. I almost forgot." It's like she was actually having fun or something. This is unheard of with Khitti. Following after Pilar, she'd find the outerwear area and would start going through the gloves and scarves, even looking at the coats as well. "Hmm. Zhey tend to vear darker colors. Dominic is usually in greens and blues and Brand seems to like a bit of red, zhough zhat doesn't surprise me much."

Pilar helped Khitti look, though as she didn't know Dominic's or Brand's tastes as well, she stuck with simpler clothes. She pulled a navy blue woolen coat from the rack, along with its burgundy cousin. "Would these work?"

Khitti would've clapped her hands together happily if she hadn't had her hands full still. "Yes! Both of zhose! Zhey're just barely different enough zhat I might not hear much about it." She grinned happily, then looked towards the gloves. "Black zhen, for both zhe scarves and gloves." She pointed at two separate pairs of gloves, both black, but one with navy embroidery and the other with burgundy. "And zhey can share a black scarf," was said as she motioned to one with her head.

"Perfect!" Pilar said. She helped Khitti carry all the clothes to the counter, where the cashier worked to ring them out, starting with the outfit Khitti was wearing. Pilar looked at Khitti. "I've missed spending time with you. We don't get to very often, do we? We should cook again sometime."

Khitti tried hard not to pay attention to the price as it racked up from all the things she chose, her attention shifting to Pilar, "No, ve don't. First zhe var and zhen Raiez. Didn't really allow for it, I guess." At the mention of cooking, she nodding and smiled, "I'd like zhat. I never did get to tell you zhat I managed to snag zhe cakelog recipe from Hildegarde's chef. It took a bit of convincing, but vhen I told him I'd help bake for zhe next ball, he vas okay vith it." She looked down at her hands as the shop clerk rung up the gloves for DomiBrand. It was something she'd probably have to consider for herself soon. But what would help against fire? She'd figure it out in time. Her hands had to heal first. After everything was added up and the price was said aloud, Khitti muttered a curse under her breath, then handed over the bit of gold she had. She was left with a whole five gold left. Yep, Brand was definitely paying for the room. After giving special instructions to the cashier on how to box everything up, they'd soon be on there way out the store and down the street.

Pilar paid for her own coat once Khitti's order was complete, and helped Khitti carry the cumbersome load outside. She had noticed Khitti's face when it came time to pay, and had almost offered to help foot the bill. But she worried that Khitti would be offended, and so had bitten her tongue. As they walked down the street, it started snowing. "So... what do you want to do now? Head back to the inn? You do have some cake waiting for you."

Frostmaw Tavern

Khitti would've definitely said no, though she wouldn't have been offended. "I probably should get back, yeah. Zhank you, also, for zhe cake and zhe bunny. It's cute." She frowns a little, "I guess I should check on Brand and make sure he's not drank himself to death." She shook her head, glancing at Pilar, "Vhen I've adjusted a little more, and can deal vith more people, I'll come by zhe fort and maybe ve can borrow zhe kitchen for a bit." The vampiress would lead the way back to the inn and stop at the door, lowering her stack of boxes to allow Pilar to add to it. "Here. You go on home and ve'll see each other soon, okay? I promise it von't be as long in between visits, but I'm sorry in advance if it does happen once or twice."

Pilar put her boxes down and hugged Khitti. "It's okay. As long as you write once in awhile, yes?" She smiled. "Take care of yourself, Khitti, and I will see you soon." With her own coat in hand, Pilar headed down the street towards the fort. Tonight had been fun, and she looked forward to more nights like it in the future.