Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 29

Happy drove the group to the mall and promised to be there when they were ready to head back. They all piled out of the car when he stopped in front of the doors to the main entrance. Loki reached into the SUV and touched Morgan's arm so she would know where he was. She took his hand and he helped her out of the SUV like the perfect gentleman that he was. He stayed still while she got her bearings and took his arm, placing her hand at his elbow so he could lead her. She had her cane with her, looped over her wrist. She didn't need it at the moment, but if she got separated from Loki, it would be nice to have it.

Her grip tightened on Loki's arm as they started heading into the mall. She was nervous about being outside of areas she knew well. It was one thing in the tower that had been her home before she'd gone blind or in the building where she'd worked. Being out in the public in a building she didn't know as well was much harder on her. Loki placed his hand over hers, squeezing it reassuringly. /If you need to, you can use my eyes. I don't mind/ Loki reassured her. She nodded her agreement, but wasn't sure about his truthfulness. He was dealing with his own issues being out of the tower after all. He didn't need her issues on top of it. /Trust me, Ana. I'll be alright/ he tried again, knowing she was stubborn and knowing that she was too self-reliant, even when there were others around to help her.

She was much too like her father in that regard.

/Alright, Liam/ she finally agreed and relaxed a little, though she still kept her hand on his arm to let him guide her. It was necessary in this new environment.

Wanda and Nat led the way to the dress store they preferred. The two were shopping buddies when they had the opportunity to actually shop. Loki followed after them, leading Morgan with him. Loki noticed as they were walking that their group was getting a lot of stares. Loki knew he was the cause of at least 90% of them. He was blue, had horns, and one crimson eye for Norn's sake. He tried his best to ignore their stairs, trying to enjoy the shopping trip with his lady instead.

Odin's beard, it was hard to ignore them.

Maybe if he turned them all into goats they would stop staring at him.

Nat and Wanda started diving into the dresses as soon as they entered the store. Morgan hung back, looking shy and nervous on Loki's arm. Loki looked down at her inquisitively, though of course she couldn't see it. "What's wrong, darling?" he asked her gently.

"I don't - I can't-" she couldn't find the words she needed. She didn't know how to explain that it was impossible to shop when she couldn't see the clothes.

Wanda bounced over to them and pressed a dress into Morgan's hands. She at least knew what Morgan's issue was and how to solve it. Loki was jealous for a moment that she'd figured it out and he hadn't, but relief soon flooded him that someone was able to help his love. "C'mon Morgan, you should try this one on!" Wanda insisted. Morgan sighed in relief that the girls were going to help her.

Nat followed suite and pressed another into Morgan's hands. "I'm sure boyfriend will love this one," she teased, though her words were more teasing to Loki.

Loki would put up with it, if it made his lady happy. Plus, he didn't want to start an argument with Nat. She was scary. "Come on, love. Let's get you to a changing room and we'll help you pick out a dress." Morgan nodded and let Loki lead her to the changing rooms and Loki got her safely situated in one of them, taking a seat outside where he was close by to assist, but gave her privacy and independence.

Morgan tried on the first dress and opened the changing room door, looking shy and nervous. She downright hated trying on clothes without being able to see them, but she didn't want to rely on Loki's eyes either. Loki looked over the dress, evaluatingly. It was pretty enough, but not the right fit for her. "It's pretty but I think you can do better," he told her, gently, and definitely blaming the dress for not being right, not blaming her body for not looking good it in. Morgan looked so relieved that Loki told her what he really thought and didn't just blindly compliment the dress.

Morgan ducked back into the fitting room to try on the next dress. By the time she opened the door again, Wanda and Nat had arrived with at least ten more dresses for Morgan to try on. They had their arms full of dresses too. "I should have expected that we would be here for a while," Loki laughed.

All three of the girls laughed. "You should have," Nat agreed.

Loki grumbled to himself when he kept having to give opinions on the dresses. Though he was really good at it. However, Wanda tried on one that was much too revealing. His protective older brother instinct kicked in when he saw it and saw her in it. "No. Not going to happen," he told her firmly. She huffed and whined, but Loki wasn't budging. She stormed back into the dressing room to try on something else. The second the revealing dress was off, it vanished from her fitting room so she couldn't try to buy it anyway.

Morgan stepped out of the changing room looking shy in a wonderfully gorgeous green dress with a black patterned overlay. "What do you think?" she asked Loki shyly.

Loki's mouth fell open at the lovely dress and he was glad that Morgan couldn't see his expression. "It is absolutely perfect, my darling. You look so very beautiful," a warm blush appeared on her cheeks while she stammered a thank you. Though she couldn't see Loki's awe, she could hear it in his voice and knew for absolute certain that the god of lies, in this one instance, was telling the absolute truth.