The Ties That Bind

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As far as Maxim could tell they had yet to be followed, and as they were in a more affluent neighborhood it was less likely - though not impossible - that Farkas' would have any of his people around. All looked clear for now, and he would be alert inside the store though not quite as much as when they were outside.

"Where would you like to start?" He asked as he grabbed a basket to drag in with them and followed her into the building. "Clothes first, or decor?" He wasn't sure if she hated trying on clothes as much as some people he knew and would be exhausted after, or just wanted to get it done quickly. He wasn't being assigned any urgent cases now that he had her at his side, so they were free to take their time for a while.
 
"Uh clothes I guess." She said with a little shrug, "they'll take the longest I suppose." She wasn't overly concerned with clothes, she still liked looking good but for the most part she valued comfort and practicality over the lastest fashion trends or expensive brands.

She would grab a few wardrobe staples, enough to last her until she could hopefully retrieve some of her stuff from home, assuming of course it was all still there and Farkas hadn't messed with it.

She felt a little uncomfortable in such an affluent neighbourhood and store, with how frugal she had to be, it just felt a little odd to see such expensive price tags.
 
Maxim only nodded and let her lead the way once the women's clothing section was in sight, just trailing along behind her to set anything she wanted in the basket. The way she looked at price tags was a little obvious, and though he appreciated it he didn't particularly want her to think she was on a strict budget. If anything, he was likely to get reimbursed at least partially for the things she needed.

"Would it make you feel better to look at the clearance section?" He asked with a little smile after she'd poked around and hesitated in adding things to the cart, leaning casually on the cart and largely unbothered by the shopping trip. At least there weren't children around that needed to be wrangled. "You keep looking like you've got a bad taste in your mouth." He explained, with some amusement in his voice. It was a little funny, though he didn't mean to make her feel bad about it. If she was more comfortable buying things that were on sale or clearanced, he wouldn't pester her about it.
 
She'd been in the process of examining a price tag, her expression one of amused disbelief, as if she wanted to scoff at it, when he spoke up.

She turned to face him, faint colour in her cheeks, embrassed by how unknowingly obvious she'd been about it. "Sorry, still in that poverty mindset I guess."

"Old habits are hard to break." She said with a little shrug, though her tone was light, there was perhaps old pain there. "Plus I'm acutely aware that I'm not paying for this, so you know."

"To be honest I think these prices are a bit of a rip-off, I mean there're more important things to spend money on." "Especially when there's no real difference between clothes here or somewhere cheaper, except the brand."
 
Maxim offered a little shrug and smile, easy and relaxed with no judgment to the way he watched what she was doing, only observation. "I get it. To tell you the truth, I'd rather shop somewhere cheaper, too. But this is what we've got for now, so we may as well make the best of it."

He could understand how difficult it could be, switching from one way of living to another so suddenly. The prices were likely a bit insulting to someone who was used to spending their money on only what was necessary. It wasn't as if he was quite rich himself, though he was decently well off. Enough to cover what they needed until he could be reimbursed in part or in full later on, at least.

"We'll shop bargains, if it makes you feel any better," he continued, and did truly mean it with no ill intent. If it made her feel less guilty or wasteful to buy things that were cheaper even if they weren't quite the color or size she wanted, he wasn't going to argue. "But don't let it stop you from getting the basics. Enough for a week or so, at least, so you're not constantly doing laundry." He picked up the sleeve of a blouse with a thoughtful sort of expression, beginning to wonder if he should have checked if Bella was free to come along. "Think of it like a disguise. You might even be a little harder to recognize if you dress up a bit."
 
She was glad he seemed to understand where she was coming from, at least he wasn't judging her. Growing up the way she did, it was hard to break out of that feeling of guilt when spending on non essentials.

She wouldn't have been too annoyed at having to do laundry more often, but it would be preferable not to have too. "It's fine, I only need the basics, it's not like I'm going anywhere fancy anytime soon."

She raised an eyebrow at his last comment, "and what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Her expression was slightly indignant, but her tone was amused.
 
Maxim could've argued the idea of what 'the basics' truly meant, but let it go. What he did not let go, in exchange, was the way she tried to jokingly challenge him into taking back what he'd said. Unfazed, he only smiled a bit and gave his head a little tilt like he didn't understand what she was implying.

"I said what I said." He shrugged, lifting his hands as if helpless to change anything and afterwards raised an eyebrow at her in a playful challenge of his own. "You look me in the eyes right now and tell me you own any article of clothing that cost more than $40, and I'll take it back."

Given her distaste for an even slightly more expensive store, he had to imagine that even if she'd had the funds in the moment she would not, on principal, have bought anything that could be considered somewhat expensive for a singular purchase.
 
"How very dare you!?" She scoffed at him, an exaggerated expression of offence on her face, though the amusement in her eyes gave her away.

"Are you suggesting I can't look good in budget clothes?" "That my wardrobe makes me look like some sort of scruffy street urchin?"

"I'll have you know, that I look damn good in my reasonably priced clothes." She said with an amused smirk, "and as it happens I do have that." She was exploiting a loophole, but he didn't need to know that.
 
Maxim couldn't help but laugh at the way she looked at him, though he was sure to keep his voice down so as not to disturb other shoppers or draw undue attention to them. Her false indignation might have been enough to fool someone, if he hadn't already known she was joking.

"I made no comments about whether you do or do not look good in budget clothing," he said with a finger pointedly raised as if to forestall anything contrary. "I only said if you dressed up a bit it would make you less recognizable. Take it as you will." Not to mention that she pretty much was a scruffy street urchin.

"Why don't I believe you?" He added with raised brows, challenging her to prove him wrong. "What is it and where did you get it?"
 
She seemed pleased she'd gotten him to laugh, as she flipped her hair in a sassy, haughty way, as if dismissing him. "Fine then, but you're on thin ice mister."

Looking a little more serious she shrugged a little, smiling a bit sheepishly. "Alright you win, I've got some expensive clothes but they were inherited or a gift."

Growing up the way she did, it was hard for her to spend money on things she considered non-essential, clothes especially. She had always gotten along fine with the basics, and she was lucky enough to look beautiful regardless.
 
Maxim gave a soft chuckle and just shook his head. "I'll allow the loophole. And I'll find my skates." Thin ice. If Simon were around he would have rolled his eyes.

"We'll get them back eventually, if they're at your apartment," he said as he followed her at a leisurely pace as she looked through the racks. "It won't be quarantined forever." It would just take time. For now, he needed to make sure that no one was surveilling it except the HED. If no one came within a few weeks or a month, he would see about retrieving her belongings.
 
She looked a little confused for a moment, then his joke clicked and she shook her head a little, seemingly disgusted by its cornyiness.

However she did laugh softly, "you really need some help with your jokes, they're just awful." She teased lightly, putting things in the basket here and there as they walked along.

"I hope so." She said more seriously, "I don't have much at all from... the people I got them from so they're important to me." "Not that everything else isn't important, it is."

She sighed softly, "honestly I'm a bit worried one of Farkas's guys got there before you did and trashed it or stole stuff."
 
"Mm, I'm sure Mercer would agree with you." Maxim said with a little smile, pleased with himself and amused by the faces she'd pulled. The HED's local tech expert was generally his favored target, given Simon would just laugh instead of groaning in disgust at 'dad jokes'.

"I understand the concern, but try not to worry too much over it," he added more gently. "As far as I'm aware, a brief check through the windows showed nothing was amiss. We had officers staked out from the moment we knew your address." Unless someone was very sneaky and hadn't made any mess, her things were safe.
 
She seemed amused by his comment, "I'd wager he would." She liked Mercer but he did seem to be a lot more serious, so she could see Maxims sense of humour grating on him.

"That helps to hear, thanks." She did seem a bit more hopeful, though part of her was still worried about Alex having potentially stolen something.

At least she had most of her irreplaceable stuff, but it would still hurt to lose anything else.

By the time they'd finished gathering the clothes she needed, there was a respectable amount of clothes in the basket. Though she'd done her best to bargain hunt, the total would still be dearer than she was comfortable with.

However there was nothing she could do about it, so she tried not to let it bother her. "I think we're done with the clothes."
 
Mercer wasn't humorless, Maxim knew, but the fox shifter was far too annoyed by puns or other corny jokes. Sometimes Maxim liked to spring one on him by surprise just to see his face.

"If you'd be fine with it, we can send someone to look inside." He offered, though he wasn't sure she would like that idea either. If he found something to bargain with he could probably convince Mercer to do it, since she was familiar with the man, or Maxim could go himself if she preferred.

When she had gathered enough clothing for herself, Maxim only nodded without any protest, having anticipated a hefty price tag by the time they were done. He was confident that he would get reimbursed at least partially, and if not he would survive. "All right. You don't want to try anything on? I don't mind waiting."
 
She considered it for a moment, it would be good to know one way or the other if her things were okay, and perhaps get some of her stuff recovered too.

However her privacy had already been violated a fair bit, she'd prefer to be there herself. Still even if she was, she doubted Maxim would let her go through alone.

"Maybe, I mean I'd prefer to do it myself, but I know that's not an option right now." She answered with a little shrug, "would it be you doing it?"

She was confident everything would fit just fine, but she supposed she should double check so they wouldn't have the headache of having to return anything. "I might, just to make sure I guess."
 
Maxim only shook his head a little at the thought of her going in herself, knowing that she knew it was never going to happen. Not only would his overseers not agree with it, it was also too dangerous for her. If they were seen so close to where she'd lived they would no doubt be followed and possibly have end up in a firefight.

"If you'd like it to be," he said instead when she asked if he would go, shrugging and leaving the decision up to her. While he wasn't one to be bossed around, if it would give her peace of mind to have him, a somewhat more known entity, go and take a look inside her home he would do it for her.

"You can think about it while you try things on." He gestured forward and led the way through clothing racks to get to the fitting rooms, parking the basket just outside and leaning up against the wall next to it. "No need to rush. I haven't gotten any calls yet, and likely won't for a while." For now, getting information from her and keeping her safe was his priority. Other cases would fall to different agents for the time being.

"I'm afraid if you want any opinions on fashion you're looking at the wrong guy," he added on a much lighter note, holding his phone up a bit with a small smile. "But if you'd like I can get Bella on video chat."
 
She decided to just think about it for a while before coming to any decision, though despite not wanting to feel like any more of her privacy and life were under the microscope, she figured she'd probably cave soon enough.

The peace of mind from knowing her things were safe was too tempting, especially if a few things could be recovered as well.

Perhaps she was beginning to trust him, at least a little, as the idea of him doing it was marginally less uncomfortable than another agent.

Following him along to the change room, she smirked a little in amusement and shook her head softly. "I feel like Bella is a bit of a harsh critic, I'm sure I can manage."

She grabbed the clothes she wanted to try, then stepped inside. "Besides you don't need to know fashion, I just need you to let me know if I look hideous or not." She joked lightly, before shutting the door behind her.
 
Maxim shrugged at the idea of Bella being a critic, giving a soft chuckle and a shake of his head. "Ah, so you've got her pegged already. When it comes to questions of fashion, she can be extremely judgmental. We only ask questions if we want to get insults with our advice."

She did at least accept the fact that some people were just not interested in following fashion trends, and she more than made up for it with loving advice about which colors and styles to wear, and often helped with fixing the children's hair when Oscar was busy. Judgmental she could be, but their Bella would also rather stab someone with her stilettos than let them insult her pack. She didn't have Aether's deadly training, but she was more than ready to stand up to anyone that harassed them.

While Madeline went about trying on clothes Maxim waited patiently with the cart, calling once or twice to ask if she'd found anything she liked if she wanted him to get her a different size, but otherwise letting her take whatever time she needed. He was no stranger to being a bystander while someone else shopped for clothes.
 
It seemed her initial impression of Bella was correct, judging by his answer. She didn't think of her as genuinely mean or anything though, just blunt.

She admired it a little actually, the confidence she had to be so direct, sure things might be hard to hear sometimes but at least you'd get the truth and not bullshit.

Pleased with the fit and look of everything, including shoes, she got redressed in her original clothes and emerged from the changing room.

"This is all perfect, but I still need to grab a couple of things." "I need a backpack, slip on shoes and a big trenchcoat." She explained casually, "I probably won't have much use for it for a while though, so it's not essential."
 
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