One Heart

The rush of porting took them through a bitterly cold rush, and when it quit spinning, Angus felt stone beneath his feet. He looked around to get his bearings. Venice. Good. It was where he had intended them to end up. He saw they were in one of the old narrow streets. This was off the beaten path of the tourists, but it was a neighborhood he knew well. There were tiny storefronts that were interspersed between the side entrances to palazzos that were hundreds of years old. There were a few people here shopping but compared to the canal front, it looked quiet and almost barren. And, he noticed, while the air was crisp, it didn't have nearly the bite that England's snow had right now.

"This part of town has a lot of wizards in it," he told her. He pointed out a wooden sign hanging over a tiny shop. "If you find that Pasticceria sign, you're just a few doors from Tobias's. If you ever get separated or get in trouble, just get to Tobias. I thought we ought to get a few more clothes before we do much else. This way."

He took her a short way farther down the street and around a corner to what looked like a corner clothing store. "This is where we get a lot of our things," he said. "The Lupins buy more here than any place else in the world." He opened the door and took her inside. A balding man in his 50's was on a stepladder putting sweaters on an upper shelf, and a brunette woman with some strands of silver running through her hair was arranging strands of beads on a display. The man turned and saw them enter the shop. Angus loved this shop. He loved the fact that despite it looking tiny on the outside, it was large on the inside, and he loved the styles and the many one of a kind designs.

"Angus!" he said, delighted. He made two short hops down the stepladder and came over to them. "What on earth brings you here?" He shook hands with Angus. "And who is this lovely lady with you?"

"Bella," Angus said, "this is Tobias McQuillen. His sister Elaine is over there with all the beads. Tobias, this is Bella. Before she and I set off on our honeymoon, I told her that we needed to stop and let you set us up for some new clothes."

"Honeymoon?" Tobias echoed. "Well, congratulations! You didn't even mention you were seeing someone."

"You surely didn't think all of those things I ordered at Christmas were for Khaat, did you?" Angus laughed.

"No, but.." he began. "Oh never mind. Well, certainly." He turned his attentions to Bella. "He knows his way around here. He can find his own way. What sorts of things would you like to look at?"

Bella shivered at the coldness as they ported to what she saw as a narrow street. She looked around seeing storefronts and side entrances to palazzos. She didn't know exactly were they were but she did know they were in Venice. She was very interested in how everything looked especially the palazzos, she wanted to explore but she also didn't want to get lost. She noticed there weren't many people shopping around where they were.

"Okay, seems almost empty here though." She said looking around. She looked at the sign he pointed to that hung over a shop. "Pasticceria?" She asked thinking it meant like bakery but didn't think that was right. "So I get to meet the famous Tobias? Yeah I think having a few more clothes would help."

She followed him down the street to a clothing store on the corner. "Well with all the really amazing clothing that Khaat has. Tobias must be really really good." She said in compliment of the man they were going to see. When they walked inside she saw a balding man on a step ladder and then she saw the brunette woman arranging the beads. She looked at all the clothing from where she was standing and was amazed at what she saw just from where she stood. She knew that she would have to come back here with Rose and get some clothes for her.

She looked over when the man called Angus' name. She smiled at the familiarity with the two of them. She smiled at the man's words about her being lovely. "Hello." She said softly.

"It's nice to meet you Tobias." She said with a smile. She heard Angus talk to him about needing some new clothes before they left for their honeymoon.

Bella smiled when Tobias, "Thank you." She said at his congratulations to them.

She laughed softly when Angus' talked about the things he ordered for Christmas.

She looked at him when he turned his attention to her. "Well maybe some pants and skirts. Do you happen to have long sleeved tops that the sleeves are wider at the elbow?" She asked him because those were her favorite kind of tops. However because fashion always changed so quickly she could never find any that were remotely similar.


((This is the kind of top I was referring to.))

(nice.)

"I do have some of those," Tobias said. "They're over here." He motioned to her to the section of the store with women's tops.

"Anything she wants, Tobias," Angus said. "We didn't bring anything, so you'll have to outfit us."

"So what else is new?" Tobias laughed. "This time of year you may want some sweaters and some warmer things, Bella. Elaine dresses in layers. She's fine inside with a top or with adding a sweater. And depending on where you're staying, you'll want to be able to have some warm things. Some of the older buildings can get drafty at night. Perhaps you might look at some separates that you can mix and match."

Angus went over towards the menswear. Elaine stopped working with the beads and went over to Angus.

"Starting with some jeans, I suppose?" she asked him, going to the jeans display.

"Yeah," he said. "Five or six pair maybe? I don't know." She just automatically went to his size and started pulling an assortment of different colors of jeans for him. He chose a couple of pair of dress pants.

"Well, lets get you fixed up with some of the standard things and then add to that," Elaine said. "By the way, who dressed you today? That wasn't your doing, was it?"

"Are you saying I can't..." he began, teasing her.

"No, I'm saying you don't. That's too well put together for you on a normal day."

"It's not a normal day, but Marcus does..." he got as far as Marcus and she began to laugh.

"Marcus. I should have known," she said. "Of course it was Marcus.

"She loves teasing him," Tobias grinned, half listening to Elaine and Angus. "He can do it, you know. He can put himself together, but I'm betting he let Marcus do it because Angus would have to work harder to get the same ends. She teases Angus because they both know she's right."

"Well your one of ones I found that do. Everyone else doesn't," She said as she followed him to the women's tops. She picked a few of those tops.

She heard Angus say anything that she wanted and smiled softly.

"I won't need much. Just a few sweaters and some jeans." She said with a smile. "Maybe something dressy if we go out to eat." She knew that she wouldn't need much.

"I don't know where we're staying only Angus does. I'll take some separate sweaters so I can mix and match." She said with a smile. "All the clothes here are lovely. Do you have pajamas?" She asked remembering that she'd need some of those as well.

She was half listening to the conversation with Angus and Elaine as she looked through the tops trying to find a few more of them. She smiled when Elaine asked who dressed Angus today and she tried her best to keep from laughing.

She grinned at Tobias words of Elaine teasing Angus. "I know. That's probably because he overthinks it a little and tries to weigh the pros and cons of it." She said teasing Angus herself. She laughed when Tobias said that Angus and Elaine knew that Elaine was right about putting himself together.

"I do have pajamas," Tobias said. "Most of what I sell are printed flannel pajama pants and, this time of year, I sell a lot of long sleeved thermal shirts, but I've got plenty of t shirts too, and robes, and slippers. They're over to the left, on the other side of the sweaters. As for the dress, I think the one you have is lovely on you, but, if you want something classic that you can dress up or dress down, I'd certainly go with basic black." He picked up a simple black shift dress with three quarter sleeves. "Look at this, for example. You can accessorize it a million ways for a million different looks." He picked up a wide red fashion belt. "Now consider it with perhaps some strands of beads made of Italian glass, like those over there..." he pointed out some of the beads on the display Elaine had been working on. "Some great shoes, and maybe a tapestry shawl? Or, use a printed scarf as a belt and add a piece of good jewelry. Or, use a thin elastic belt and blouse it over the belt and wear a pair of leggings with it and some knee boots. Your choices are endless."

"Oh, and don't forget to go browse the toiletries for soaps, lotions, fragrances, brushes, all of those things," Elaine reminded them both.

"You know what I like, Elaine," Angus said. "Just pick me some stuff."

"Okay," she said. "You want to try our new line for men? Very woodsy and spicy. I rather like it. I think maybe I like it better than what you've been using."

"Whatever Bella thinks," Angus said. "Whichever one she likes best."

As she was picking things, Tobias was laying her selections on the counter, starting a stack of things for her. He picked up a large leather duffel bag for them to use. It would have plenty of room because Tobias always shrank purchases to fit comfortably.

Angus had chosen several pairs of pants and a pair of running shoes, and a pair of good boots. He picked a coupe of pairs of pajama pants and a couple of thermal shirts. Elaine had laid a beautiful charcoal colored terry robe for him and a pair of suede slippers, while he chose t shirts, sweaters, a couple of button downs, a couple of polos, a swimsuit and some flipflops--just in case, and while he was busy looking at leather jackets and some of the hats, Elaine was laying out socks and underwear and accessories that he hadn't gotten to. She switched out a few of the colors he'd chosen for things that were a bit more fashionable, and she added a warm cardigan.

She listened to what Tobias was saying and nodded. She liked the idea of the belt with the dress and the other ideas to do with it as well. "Thank you," She said to him thinking of the things she was going to get. "I'll get flannel pajama pants with a t-shirt and slippers. I'll get two black dresses one with the red belt with the Italian glass beads. Then the elastic belt with blouse, leggings and knee boots. I'll get a few pairs of pants to match the tops I picked out." She said with a smile liking Tobias already with all the things that he suggested.

"Ah yes, I had almost forgot about that." She said wanting to smack herself for that.

"Can I smell what it's like?" She asked Elaine.

She looked around at a few of the other tops and found another one that she liked. It was a three-quarter sleeve boat neck tee that was ruched at sides. She picked one up that was in a purple color before she walked over where she saw blouses. She didn't know what kind of color would look best so she looked at a few things that might look good on her.

((this is the shirt I was talking about. I know this is really short ))

"Good choice," Tobias said, approving. "Why don't you go see what Elaine is looking at, over at the toiletries, and I'll start folding up what you've found so far?"

"Angus always picks one of these two," Elaine showed her two men's colognes. "This one is his favorite, and it has a lot of sea scented undertones. The other one has a lot of leather sorts of notes to it. We have two new ones. The one I really like is this one," she showed her a new scent. "This one has a lot of exotic spices. Its just a little heavier, but not that much. And this one has a lot of woody sorts of scents to it, woody and smoky and a little herbal. I like them both, honestly. Maybe you could try small sizes and see how you like them." Then Elaine said to her, "Don't forget to check out the swimsuits and the lingerie--in case you decide to go swimming or in case you find a good spa."

"You're going to want to take your time with the women's scents," Tobias said. "There are lots of them, and its usually hard for our customers to make any choices."

Angus picked a leather jacket he really liked, but then, of course, he had to check out the hats. He liked some of the leather hats that Tobias had stocked.

"Go with the wide brimmed fedora," Tobias called to him. Angus had been looking at that one, and a couple of others.

"Thank you." She said with a smile. "Alright." She walked over to where Elaine was and looked at the same thing that she was.

"Yeah I remember smelling those two when he wore them." She said looking at the ones he usually wore. She looked at the other two that she said that she had liked. "Yeah I think we'll get the small sizes for them and see which one is best." She said with a smile. "I think a swim suit would be good just in case." She wondered what kind of lingerie they had but she had never really worn any. She lowered her voice, her face going a little pink. "Um, if I did get lingerie how do I know what to pick?" She asked her face going even more red. She was embarrassed that she didn't know what to wear if she happened to get lingerie.

She looked over when Tobias talked about women's scents. She looked around then found the women's scents and her eyes got wide, "Wow. I didn't realize there was that many." She said softly.

She didn't know exactly what scent she should get, she liked the scent of cherry blossoms. She didn't know what kind would work well, she hardly wore any scent.

She looked at the hats that Angus was looking at and tried to picture him in the wide brimmed fedora. "Angus try on the fedora I wanna see what it looks like." She said with a smile.

Angus picked up the brown leather fedora and tried it on.  He wasn't sure he liked it.

"Not your color, Mate," Tobias called. "The hat is fine. Its the color that's off. Try the gray."  Angus changed hats and looked in the mirror. The gray was definitely better. "Now that's more like it," Tobias said. Angus tried the black one, and Tobias nodded. "That's even better. Those two both look good."

Elaine listened to Bella say she wasn't sure how to get the right lingerie. "That's more common than you think," she told her. "Most women need help getting that sized correctly.  Come with me. Let's go get some measurements and get you the proper fit. That way we can be sure that the lingerie and the swimsuit both fit correctly."  She picked up a tape measure and motioned to her to follow her to the fitting rooms.

While Bella was in the fitting rooms, Angus picked out some additional accessories for Bella, some simple earrings in case she didn't want to always wear the dressy sapphires she'd worn today.  He made sure she had all the toiletries she would need and picked out a bottle of the cherry blossom perfume she had liked.  He saw an oversized burberry plaid colored shawl that was thick and soft and warm.  He picked it up for her, knowing how Khaat had come to love shawls because of how comforting she felt they were to snuggle up in when it was damp or cold.  He made sure she had some good running shoes, in case they would do any distance walking, and some pairs of boots. He also found a few pairs of heels that, according to Tobias's suggestions, would be the perfect accessories for the outfits she'd chosen.

"What have we forgotten?" Angus asked Tobias.

"I can't think of a thing, my friend, but I did add a shaving kit for you. You'll need a good razor, and I know you prefer a straight edge."

"I do. Thank you," Angus said.

"And shall we file her measurements with yours, in case she wants something to order?" Tobias asked.

"Yes, please. She has a three year old daughter named Rose. Rose is almost an exact fit for Julia's clothing. Please add her to the file."

"Shall I confirm her measurements with Suki?"

"Yes, please," Angus said. When Bella was finished with her purchases, with her swimsuit and her lingerie and anything else she wanted, Elaine finished packing their things in the one large leather duffel Angus had chosen. He kept the gray fedora to wear and had Tobias pack the black leather one he'd bought. Angus was glad Tobias had shrunken their purchases because they all fit in the duffel with room to spare. Angus paid for their purchases. He picked up the duffel and slung it over his shoulder.

"Shall we go?" he asked her. "Would you like to stop back at the pasticerria for a pastry and a coffee? Or would you like to take a walk around the grand canal area? Or shall we move on to get the car so we can go to our hotel? I think you're going to like the hotel I have in mind. We have all the time in the world to go sightseeing wherever you like and do whatever you want. And there is a lot you haven't seen or done--at least not with me. But, since a wedding day is all about the bride, you decide what you'd like to do next."

She looked at the brown leather fedora he tried on but didn't like it on him. She smiled when Tobias said the same about the hat, then she looked at him when he tried on the grey. She liked the grey on him and she found that she liked the black he tried on as well. "I like both those on you." She said with a smile at Angus.

She felt relieved that she wasn't the only one who didn't know how to get the right lingerie. "I'm glad I'm not the only one." She said with a smile. "Okay," She said following Elaine to the dressing rooms so that she could get measurements done. She thought about what colors she should go with and took her time trying to figure out what it was. "What colors do you think would be best?" She asked Elaine trying to get an opinion of what colors might look best with her skin tone.

After Elaine helped her with her measurements and helped her pick out a bikini and some really pretty lingerie. She saw another Italian glass necklace that she really liked and picked it out before heading over to where Angus was. She smiled at him seeing him in the grey fedora which, she thought suited him really well. She saw him sling the duffel over his shoulder and smiled softly. She looked at both Tobias and Elaine, "Thank you so much." She said.

"Yes," She said in answer of his question. "I think if we have all the time in the world, we can sight see later. I'm very curious as to what the hotel looks like then maybe we can go sightseeing later. I think coffee should be first though, I would love a nice hot coffee." She said with a grin just imaging what their hotel would look like.