A shopping expedition

[suey_generis]

RP for Cordelia

Settling down. Everybody seems to be doing it.

Tucker and Warren, Tom and Katie, Ben and Jen, Matt Damon and Whatzername. It might be Ashton and Demi that pushed him over the edge. Or, OK, most likely, the news that Angel and Darla are sharing a bedroom had something to do with it. Plus all the publicity garnered by his fake

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[queen_c_tm]

The prospect of once more becoming tabloid fodder hasn't occured to Cordelia yet. Mostly she's just happy to have something to do. And looking at expensive jewelry all day won't be a hardship, even if it is jewelry for another woman. A woman whose identity, so far, is a mystery to her.

Or maybe there is no woman and this is just some ruse of Todd's to get Cordelia to agree to go out with him. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done so. Still, she's pretty sure he was sincere this time about it not being a date.

Whatever his reasons, it's a good distraction, and that's something she needs right now. So when she hears the horn, she grabs her purse and hurries out to meet him. She slides into the car, even tosses him a bright smile before slipping on her sunglasses.

"Nice car. So, you're really going to do it, huh? Take the plunge?"

[suey_generis]

"The plunge?" says Todd blankly.

He can quote Renaissance poetry at the drop of a hat, but basic slang expressions sometimes elude him, unless he likes them enough to make sure he remembers.

"I thought we were shopping, not pursuing extreme sports. Although --" He throws the Porsche into gear, "-- if you refer to my driving."

And they're off.

[queen_c_tm]

"No, I wasn't talking about your driving. I meant marriage. You know, the plunge. You don't really strike me as the marrying type."

Cordelia fastens her seat belt and sits back as they make their way down the street.

"Do I get to know who the uh... lucky girl is?"

[suey_generis]

Cordelia is very literal-minded, and that's one of the things the Immortal likes about her. She keeps him grounded. It's what he likes about Piper, too, now that he thinks about it. And they sort of have similar hair and. . .

Before his hand can move in the direction of her hair, he grips the wheel, takes a sharp turn and says.

"Didn't I say?" He is terrible at exposition. "Piper Halliwell. Don't tell, she doesn't know yet."

[queen_c_tm]

Cordelia frowns a bit as the woman starts stroking her hand. There's a pull to it, some slight tingle to the touch that tells her there's more going on than just simple contact. She's about to yank her hand back, afraid the stranger is trying to put the whammy on her, when Todd speaks.

Surprised to hear the familiarity in his voice, she starts to turn and look at him, but can't quite move her head. Damn. She's been wahmmied after all. Only not as much as she probably should be. She can still think clearly, even speak... maybe.

"How do you know her?" she asks him, even though her attention is still glued to the clerk. At least speaking is a go. "Wait, Rom? Isn't that...?"

It sounds familiar. She's heard it before... gypsy curses. "They cursed Angel!"

Crap. If this freak tries to suck out her soul, Todd is SO dead.

[suey_generis]

"That's Angel, no relation to Angelus," he says hastily, with a meaningful look at Cordy.

No need to piss the lady off too bad, until they get a look at the special collection.

"The lady and I would like to see the back room," Todd says, and leaning in. "You do work on commission, right."

Afina gives him an insulted stare. "My work is art, not filthy commerce. The special collection is not for everyone."

"What about for a Charmed one?" he shoots back. Again he nods toward Cordy, hoping she will take the hint to pose as a powerful witch. She does have the same eye-color as Piper, he's pretty sure. That's almost like having the same magical powers. Plus, well, visions.

"A charmed one?" Afina raises an eyebrow. "Why did you not say so? Dear one, what would you like to see?"

[queen_c_tm]

So what, now he's trying to pass her off as Piper? He better hope this woman's never met her, because no way anyone would believe it. But Cordelia does catch the look he gives her and figures she might as well go along with it.

As long as the lady doesn't expect a magic show. She might be able to pull off a little glowing, but that's about it.

Now that she's regained her wits some more, she carefully pulls her hand away from the gypsy's and clutches it to her stomach. "The back room, right. We definitely want to see that."

Just please, don't let there be anything too freaky in there. This was supposed to be a shopping trip for jewelry. Todd never said anything about weird gypsy back rooms.

[suey_generis]

As Afina leads them toward the private show room, Todd hangs back and murmurs, "Thanks for being a sport."

He squeezes her shoulder, and gives her a conciliatory smile that might be mistaken for a loving one, from a certain angle. Just then, in exactly the direction needed to produce said angle, a flashbulb goes off.

Todd whirls. "Fucking press. Get your cameras away from my--"

"Aren't you Orlando Bloom's wife?" demands the photographer.