Closed -- Ongoing

[suits_me]

WHO: Lulu chasing_fury, Elena suits_me
WHAT: Shopping (and at a store that sells clothes for girls, no less.)
WHERE: Lulu's favorite place(s).
WHEN: Early afternoon, Day 69

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[suits_me]

Elena waited, hoping that Lulu's opinion about the dress would match her own. She'd probably come back to it regardless. It was the only thing Elena had seen so far that she thought she actually might, might be able to pull off. But it was a relief when Lulu said she should try it on.

The other woman wasn't wrong about her eyes. When they'd first met, they were pure chocolate brown. But a secret dose of mako had changed that. She still struggled with the sight of her own eyes now and their eerie glowing green. As soon as the mako sickness had passed, the first thing she'd done was went out and bought the darkest brown contacts that she could find. It wasn't something everyone needed to know about.

She grinned and half-dragged Lulu into the store, waiting while the dress was removed from the window and handed to her. Elena took it into the dressing room, quickly removing what remained of her Turk uniform so that she could slip the dress on. It felt...different. The way it slid over her skin. Almost liquid. She straightened it up and struggled with the zipper in the back briefly before finally surrendering and silently asking Lulu to zip it for her. For the second time today, Elena caught her reflection in the mirror. But the reaction was different this time. It was surprise.

"Holy shit, it actually looks good on me."

[chasing_fury]

Now that was more like it, Lulu thought as she let Elena drag in into the store, trying not to smirk at the younger woman's near-impatience as the dress was retrieved.

Silently helping Elena with the zipper, she stood back and waited for Elena to look in the mirror, and then she couldn't help but smile. "Of course it does," she said, "But how does it feel?"

Because Lulu didn't give a damn about the old adage that 'beauty is pain.' She figured if a girl felt beautiful and sexy in a t-shirt and jeans, then hell yeah, she was going to look it. So if the dress made Elena feel good about herself...

"Want to pick out some shoes to match?"

[suits_me]

Elena wouldn't subscribe to that philosophy either. But she didn't know that sometimes...just sometimes, it could be this easy. She bit down on her bottom lip, turning in the dress and watching as the hem swirled a little around her legs. The top of the tattoo on her back could be seen easily, but Elena liked that too. Finally she took a step back, keeping her eyes on the mirror for a moment longer.

"It feels really good." She admitted sheepishly. Not something she could pull off every day...or would even want to. But right now she kept wanting to smile.

But then that smile faded. "Shoes." She looked over at Lulu before glancing around at the selection nearby. That's right, she'd need those too. Her eyes lingered on a particular pair, but then looked down. The wheels in her head were still turning though. She'd never worn heels in her life. She'd probably kill herself. But Rude towered over her...she could use the extra inches in height. Her gaze returned to the heels and turned almost defiant. "I can do this." Elena went over and claimed them before sitting down to try them on. No turning back now. Once Elena made a decision, she wouldn't back down. Actually reaching that point took awhile sometimes though.

"Hey Lulu, didn't you want to look around too?"

[chasing_fury]

Lulu smiled to herself, watching Elena being girly, and pondering over the shoe section. She laughed then, realizing she'd been so caught up in Elena's fun that she'd almost forgotten what she came to shop for.

"Oh, I'm looking," she teased, peering around a rack of shoes. "Make sure you walk around in those a bit to make sure they're at least moderately comfortable."

On a date, fortunately, most girls wouldn't end up walking or being on their feet all that much--but one never knew. Elena could probably use a little practice--just as long as they didn't overdo it--before the the real thing.

Holding up a pair of shoes that looked more like a sculpture, she laughed, kicking off her own strappy sandals to model the new pair. "What do you think of these, Elena, do they match my shirt or what?"

[suits_me]

Elena wrapped the brown ribbon of the shoe around her ankle before tying it at the back of her heel. "Right." She nodded, a little of her earlier concern creeping back as she repeated the process with the second one.

She stood up then, a little surprised by the new vantage point that even a few inches gave her. She took a couple of stiff steps forward. She'd already committed herself to wearing heels though. And when she saw how the shoes went with the dress...

"You know, I'm starting to think Rude got a motherfucking bargain." Elena grinned, unable to resist giving a little bit of attitude...however untrue she knew it to be.

"Wow." That's all she could say to the shoes that Lulu picked out at first. She'd thought her simple little heels were fancy because of their ribbons, but what Lulu wore looked more like a work of art. "I think they're perfect for you. You have to get them." There was...a surreal feeling that followed her words. Never would she have ever dreamed of going shoe shopping with Lulu. But here she was, finding that she actually was having a good time like she'd been promised.

[chasing_fury]

Lulu grinned back, glad to see Elena was enjoying herself, and had to admit she was too. Bonding over high heels--who would have thought?

"These are almost too elaborate to wear for except show," she said, "But you're right...they do make quite te picture."

She sashayed down the aisle, toe-to-heel, and stood back to take in the effect of Elena's ensemble so far (while demonstrating how to walk in heels without falling off your pedestal). "I like it," she said, "The shoes are perfect with that dress and they look lovely on you. You've got great taste."

Now...what next? Hair? Nails? Chill out, Lu, let the girl breathe. "Do you want to keep looking or are we all set now?"

[suits_me]

"Sometimes flashy is good." She shrugged her shoulders, watching as Lulu made walking in heels look easy. ...Yeah, that's just something Reno and Rude couldn't teach her. Or if they could, she didn't wanna know.

"Yeah?" Elena arched a brow before looking down at herself. She had to admit, she liked what she'd picked out. She thought she'd have to rely completely on Lulu, but maybe her own instincts weren't so bad. "Beginner's luck." She sat down to remove the shoes first before heading into the changing room to get out of the dress. She was more careful in changing than she normally was though. "I think I'm good." After a moment she peeked her head out the door again though.

"...I don't have any make-up." She even winced with the words. "Would you mind helping me pick some out? Last thing, I promise."

[chasing_fury]

Flashy. Yes...Lulu could do flashy. Lulu could do flashy quite well in fact...but some things called for a more subtle hand.

Things like makeup lessons.

"I'd be happy to help you with whatever you need," she said with a smile, "And don't worry--I'm in no rush."

Leading Elena over to the cosmetics department she said, "Okay now, try not to take in everything at once, all we need to cover for tonight are the basics. Concealer, shadow, and gloss. Does that sound manageable?"

Watching Elena's face as they bypassed foundations and lipsticks, she went on, "Good. Now, you've got great skin, so you don't have to worry about coverup too much. Let's just focus on your eyes for now. What do you think of these colors?" she asked, indicating a selection of metallic browns she thought would compliment the dress as well as Elena's eye color and complexion--versatile enough for everyday wear as well.

If they passed Elena's scrutiny, she'd go on with an impromptu lesson, and see where things went from there.

[suits_me]

The basics. Elena nodded in quick agreement with that. She arched a brow when Lulu told her she had great skin. That was a good thing, she supposed. The less she needed to put on her face, the happier she was.

There was a moment where she studied Lulu's suggestions, and eventually nodded gently. "Yeah. I mean sure." Though she was still having trouble making the transition from the colors being on the counter and on her face, she was at least willing to give them a try.

[chasing_fury]

"Alright," Lulu said, reaching for a sample kit and disposable applicators. "You have three shades here. The lightest one goes from lash to
brow, the medium goes lash to crease, and the dark is the liner--heavy at the corner of the eye. Like so..."

She gestured to her own eyes, which were done similarly, in smokey charcoal with a hint of rose. "Mascara is the tricky part, but we can worry about that later," she said, "May I?"

On second thought, she added, "It's up to you, I can take mine off and start from scratch so you can see it done, or I can demonstrate on you."

Hopefully the sales consultants wouldn't mind her taking over their beauty counter if it meant they'd be the suppliers of Elena's new arsenal.

[suits_me]

"There...isn't just one?" She'd always thought eyeshadow was eyeshadow, one sweep of one shade. But now that she took a closer look at Lulu's eyes, she realized that wasn't the case. "No, go ahead." Elena placed her arms stiffly down at her sides so that they'd be out of the way. "It feels kinda funny having someone touch my face." She admitted with a laugh.

She let Lulu work quietly for a few moments before asking what she'd been thinking. "Who taught you to do all this?"

[chasing_fury]

"Well, of course" Lulu amended, "You can definitely use either shade by itself, but we're talking date makeup. It's just a little...more." She laughed a little, careful not to smudge the line, hoping Elena wasn't too uncomfortable with Lulu invading her space.

"I know what you mean," she said, "back before I left the family--" meaning the house Vescovo "--when I didn't make it as a bodyguard and was first training in the feminine arts, I couldn't stand having the other women do my makeup, so I learned to do it myself."

She paused a moment, surveying her work and doing a few touch-ups before she reached for the mascara, raising an eyebrow as if to say are you ready for this? "There were always plenty of women in the house to watch, but my favorite make-up teacher was actually a gay hairdresser."

[suits_me]

"Do you think this will last until tonight?" Elena was hoping she could just leave it on, without the stress of trying to recreate the look again later. There's no way she'd ever get it right.

The mascara wand was eyed warily, not from the usual fears of having it stuck in her eye. But if it was, her contact...

Elena took a deep breath, Lulu's signal to proceed while she listened to her story. The mention of a gay hairdresser brought a smirk to her lips. "I think every girl could use one of those."

[chasing_fury]

Silent for a moment while she brought the wand flush with Elena's lashes, letting the girl "blink" the mascara onto her own lashes as she adjusted to the proximity of the tool. "Once you get the hang of it," she explained, "Then you can brush toward your nose to add a little bit of curl--but for starters just blink. A little baby oil or concealer will take care of any oops."

She laughed then, finished with the mascara, and leaning back to let Elena survey the look. "Usually the last thing you want is to look like a drag queen, but I tell you, he was a welcome reprieve from the catty femme-fatales I used to work with."

She hemmed ans hawed a bit, then nodded her assent. "As long as you don't do any high-impact workouts or anything, you should be okay, maybe just a little touch-up if you think you need it. All you have to do is pick out a nice lip-gloss and you're good to go."

[suits_me]

Elena studied her reflection thoughtfully after Lulu was finished. It didn't take that long, but she doubted she'd need it for most days at the office. Over all it was relatively painless though.

"I think I can handle that." Elena smirked and murmured sheepishly. Even she could do lip-gloss. "I hope Rude doesn't freak out." Though Rude freaking out over anything is hard to imagine.

The blonde took a deep breath before smiling at the other woman. "Well. What do you think? Am I all set?" Elena seemed to be comfortable with what they'd done. Far more so than when they'd first entered the mall.

[chasing_fury]

It was hard to imagine Rude freaking out over anything, after he'd sat so stoically through the little whipped-cream escapade, but Lulu couldn't help wondering how high Elena's new look might get the man's eyebrows to rise over the tops of his dark glasses.

"I think you're good," she said, "Unless you want to pick up those new sweats you mentioned. You'll be a pro in no time." If she ever saw Elena wearing makeup again after today...Lulu would be very proud of her student. If not...no hard feelings.

"So what do you think?" she asked. "You ready to call it a day? I'll shoulder my share of the blame when Tseng gets back. I'm sure he'll forgive us." But wouldn't the looks on all the Turks faces be priceless? Lulu smirked. "You'll have to tell me what the boys think when they see you."