Chapter 5

Jack opens his eyes when he feels a hand shaking his shoulder semi-roughly, and he blearily sees Fiore sitting there with a frustrated look on her face - but not the same Fiore he finally fell asleep next to. Her hair's gone from black to the most vivid red he's ever seen, lighter highlights making it look exactly like a mane of fire sprouting from her head, and her eyes have turned impossibly green as if she took every leaf in a forest and condensed them into her irises.

Even her glare is nothing less than absolutely gorgeous, though she'd probably electrocute him if he told her as much.

Fiore harshly snaps "Finally! You sleep like the dead, it's five minutes to six in the morning, and we're at a small town - I don't know where, I didn't see a name on any sign. There's a McDonalds across the street, right next to a Walmart, a Hyundai dealership two blocks down, and we're currently parked at a clothing store that's set to open up in…four and a half minutes now."

At Jack's semi-confused expression, she glares at him for a moment then slowly says "We're getting a few things before we start heading to Washington State. Food, clothes, a new car. Maybe a burner phone if you want to call anyone. Now, wake up and get your head in gear! We're running on borrowed time, in case you forgot."

Jack nods, and says "Great. Where to first?"

Fiore frowns, and says "The dealership won't open until nine, so that's out. The clothing store opens in two minutes now, so I'm thinking we should start there. The McDonald's is open, but it'd be safer if we had different clothes - same with the Walmart."

Jack nods his head, saying "Good point. So, clothes, then food. We can get everything else we need afterwards."

"I need to borrow your sweatshirt. Hopefully, if they can't see much of me, it'll keep people from becoming too affected." Plus, if it smells so much of whatever combinations of lotions Jack's wearing that it overpowers her own aroma, all the better. If Dakkar tracks them to here, at least he'll have a harder time trying to place them or figure out where they went.

Jack nods, then freezes a moment later when a thought seems to cross his mind. "What about my scales? I'm wearing just a regular t-shirt underneath this thing, and my arms are covered in the rash that turned into them on my neck."

Fiore mutters "Shit…alright, I've got an idea. I can Glamour us, one of the Fae powers I'm lucky enough to have access to. I can make us look different, but it takes concentration…and I can't touch anybody or that'll be the last thing on my mind."

Jack blinks as a few pieces about her behavior last night fall into place for him, and he hesitantly says "So, when you touch somebody, even just a brush of your elbow or bumping shoulders with them…"

Fiore nods her head while staring anxiously at the store, and says "It's like they've just been injected with a needle-ful of my Allure, yeah. The effect is instantaneous. Something similar happens if they look me in the eye, but I have a measure of control over that."

"That explains why you were so insistent on your space last night, then. Is it going to be an issue in the store, the eye thing? If you want, I can go in first and then you go after?"

Fiore shakes her head, saying "The sooner we get out of here, the better. We've only got six days, after all." Her expression suddenly sets in determination, but Jack can still hear the anxiety in her voice as she says "I've got an idea for how to keep people from touching me…" But she's gonna hate it every moment of the way.

Jack blinks, asking "Great! What is it?"

"I…need to be in your arms. We need to pose as a couple."

Jack blinks, mind crashing into a sudden stop, and he asks "What now?" After her display last night, even the idea of touching her with a six-foot pole is a no-go, and now she wants to be wrapped up in his arms?!

Fiore snaps out "I don't like it anymore than you do, but it's the only thing I can think of. You're the only person here who isn't affected by me, not even after crashing into me during our escape. And clothing buffers the effect I have on people, so that helps some. But, if I'm constantly in your arms, there's less chance of anyone coming into contact with me." Physical contact makes her skin crawl, no matter the person touching her or the circumstances - but, if it's the only way they have...she can deal for a few minutes.

This is what she wanted, her freedom - turns out, freedom comes with a few hard choices. Like the choice between potentially being identifiable to the Vampire who knew her best for almost fourteen years or being in constant contact with a near-perfect stranger she's known for only a few hours who happens to be so-far unaffected by her Allure.

Jack runs a hand through his hair, asking "Couldn't you just…I don't know, sit in the cart invisibly?!"

Fiore actually considers it for a moment, as demeaning as it would be to sit in the basket of the cart like a child even if nobody could see her, then vetoes it saying "We'd draw too much attention like that. And if you tossed something on me it'd give us away instantly."

Jack concedes with a slow nod, then says "Good point…dammit, just don't electrocute me or whatever it is you did to that guy in front of the club, alright? If we're going to act like a couple, then I'll try to make it believable for the cameras. Just don't take anything I say or do as real."

Fiore nods, then says "Agreed. Just don't let your hands wander where they don't belong."

Jack instantly nods his head, and says "Wouldn't dream of it."

Fiore hesitantly lays a hand on his upper arm, pausing for just a second as she apparently steels her nerves - her touch instantly makes that heady floral scent start up again, but at least the energy current is much weaker than before. Jack lets out a shaky breath, and says "I'm good. I can handle it. You?"

Fiore nods, and says "Wonderful. You keep me in your arms, I'll keep us looking normal." Her hair suddenly bleeds brown, darkening from the vivid fire it looks like to something about the color of chocolate, her eyes turning the same color in the process. Her skin tone goes to a tan color moments later, freckles popping up on her face, nose, and neck, and Jack blinks a couple of times at her look.

After a moment, Jack asks "What is it?"

"What's with the look? You've seen me do more impressive."

Jack shakes his head, then says "Something tells me you're incapable of looking anything less than utterly knockout gorgeous…"

Fiore shrugs one shoulder, giving his sweatshirt a pointed look, and says "I am, actually, so I'll take that as an observation rather than the usual insincere flattery. Both sides of my direct ancestry are inordinately beautiful, and a Succubus' powers revolve around using that beauty against others. There's no possible way, physical or magical, for a person to perceive me as anything less than extraordinarily beautiful. Trust me, I've tried. Multiple times."

Jack quickly takes his hoodie off, and Fiore quickly pulls it over her head before the edges of her dress, heels, and bare legs seem to vanish in a shimmery haze that reminds Jack of what he imagines a mirage in the desert would look like - see-through at first, but stronger with every moment until it looks like she's wearing jeans and a pair of sneakers below his sweatshirt. She opens the door for him and pulls him out, and as soon as she takes his wrist Jack feels a wave of some kind of energy wash over his skin - the redness on his arms disappears, and in under twenty seconds he looks exactly like he did two weeks ago.

Fiore murmurs "Just don't scratch at it, and we'll be fine. Got it?" Jack nods, hesitantly putting his arm around Fiore's waist until she puts her own over it and links their fingers together. "This takes constant concentration," she quietly says, "so you lead. I'm not the best with people anyway."

'That,' Jack instantly decides, 'is perfectly believable.'

Her explanation of her 'way' with them, as Antonino put it last night, makes it understandable though - hard to have anything to do with people if they constantly jump you and try to shove their tongues down your throat as soon as they lay eyes on you.

They get into the store, and Fiore quickly grabs a cart as a person walks over asking "Hello! Looking for anything in particular?"

Jack shakes his head at once, saying "Nothing specific. We'll know it when we see it. Thank you, though!" He quickly leads Fiore deeper into the store, away from the rather interested young lady who was eying the two of them up shamelessly.

Within ten minutes, Jack's quickly come to realize just how powerful Fiore's Allure must be, because every single person they've passed has whipped their head around to stare at them. He also understands her earlier defensiveness in full, now, because more than one of them has come up to ask if they need any help - their gazes clouding over almost as soon as they open their mouths, no less.

Fiore picks out several different outfits to try on as they make their way through, Jack adding a few for himself because this whole fiasco is looking like it's going to take a while and he's only got the one set of clothes, and they grab a few different kinds of shoes to try on each before quickly heading into a changing room.

Fiore, much to Jack's non-surprise, claims it first - much to Jack's complete surprise, however, she murmurs a 'thank you' as the door closes.

Jack blinks, then says "Your welcome…" He leans against the door, and tells himself he's not actually standing guard in front of a dressing room when he gets the feeling that's exactly what he's doing.

About a minute later, he hears Fiore's voice murmur, as if to herself, "I'm absolutely wearing this out." And then she honest-to-gods squeals about a minute and some rustling later, and exclaims "I love them!"

Jack turns to the door, and knocks while quietly asking "Everything alright in there?" Because his arms are starting to look red, a sure sign she's lost her concentration. And he didn't take Fiore for a squealer - just what did she find in there?!

Fiore opens the door a crack, and Jack sees she's got a smile on her face and her brown eyes are sparkling with delight as she nods her head. "I…I like this one. I'll replace the dress with it, and you can use the hoodie. Here."

Jack shrugs, taking the sweatshirt and putting it on quickly as he does, saying "I grabbed a few more, so it's not an issue. But we'll probably need to wash those, you know…"

Fiore shrugs, then says "I've got an idea for that. After food and the dealership nearby." And that idea involves a big car and her last Fae power Jack hasn't seen her use or heard about yet.

About ten minutes later, Fiore steps out and says "These fit, it's your turn."

He takes his stuff, only to stop and stare at the sheer amount of stuff she put back in the cart - he grabbed what he thought would be enough different items that she'd find a few things, but she put what seems like a month's worth of clothing back in the cart.

And an empty box of shoes - SoftWalk flats, which she's currently wearing.

There's a second box of flats, and from the look on Fiore's face they're getting some more. And then she turns around, and he sees the rest of what she's wearing - a blue jacket, pink t-shirt, and dark blue jeggings...and yet, somehow, she still manages to look as if she's heading to a photoshoot.

Jack might not be the possessive, controlling type like Antonino Styx, but he can understand how someone interested in only superficial things like physical beauty would absolutely get jealous and demanding of someone who can't help but look gorgeous all the time, no matter how she changes her appearance.

At his look, Fiore asks "What? Something wrong?"

Jack shakes his head, saying "No, you just look…really good."

Judging from her look of surprise, she doesn't get paid many genuine compliments - probably backhanded ones like Antonino gave back in Mythos, if any at all.

They quickly get all the stuff in the cart, Fiore grabbing a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses with white frames and fake diamonds in them - at least, Jack hopes they're fake. For being Antonino Styx's 'pet' for most of her life, she has some fairly expensive tastes.

Jack barely manages to conceal his shock, though, when she reaches into her clutch purse she's kept under her arm the whole way and pulls out a few fifty-dollar bills to pay for everything without a word or moment's hesitation.

The two quickly head out once they've got their bags, and throw them all into the backseat before Jack asks "Where'd you get the money?!" Honestly, that would've been good to know before they went into the store!

Fiore grins, as if basking in a moment of triumph for just a moment, and says "I convinced Antonino to open an account under my name when I was old enough to buy things so I could surprise him. I did as much at least once a month, often more, and I always took out more money than I needed to for those occasions. Now, c'mon, we're off to McDonalds, and then the Hyundai Dealership to trade this in and get something new." She's hoping they have an SUV there, something with a space big enough she can work with like she did her clutch.