Pedestal

Who: Ava, Elle and Zachary DeWinter (NPC)
Where: Around town
When: Morning

In one of the city's more upscale clothing stores, a small blonde figure led an older gentleman in and out of the mannequins. Every now and then she wandered off to inspect some fashionable piece more closely, carefully examining cuts and styles and touching the material as he waited patiently. Then, when summoned with a beckoning finger, he would join her in her scrutiny. His reaction to whatever it was she had to show him was largely based on hers. Her telling face, with its considered frowns and thoughtful little smiles, told him whether to be approving or not.

Truth be told, Zachary DeWinter was not very interested in his attire. His rule of thumb was that if it was well tailored and didn't have a cheap price tag, it would suffice. Letting his daughter take him on these excursions suited him; it saved him the task of shopping for himself and (more importantly) it made her happy. Floating amongst shirts and jackets, Elle seemed to be in her element. Even more so when she got hold of a fedora and stood up on tiptoes to place it on his salt and peppered head. Wrinkling her nose, she shook her head and returned the hat to a mannequin (thankfully it was a joke, it wasn't his style at all).

Silliness aside, Elle had an agenda. The purpose of the trip was to find a new tie, and she would do just that. She approached a rack and started to leaf through a few.

"Hmm, go back," her father told her, pointing when she stopped at what he wanted. "Yes, that one."

Elle picked it up, looked at it, then to him and back to the tie. She wasn't so sure about it. It was a tan colour with a bold cream medallion print. Despite her reservations, she went over and held it up against her father anyway. It definitely didn't suit him.

"Don't like the pattern?" he asked, seeing her expression.

"Don't like the pattern," she repeated in her small voice, shaking her head. For now, she could neglect the notebook. Not only did he (usually) know the right things to say so she could give a suitable reply, she was more comfortable speaking to him than she would be anyone else. He was her father, after all.

Now it was his turn to frown. "All right, I see. I should let you make the decisions."

Face breaking into a grin, Elle nodded in a 'that's really for the best' way. He rubbed the top of her head affectionately and gestured for her to have at it. While she browsed, he idly cast a glance around the place. The only real downside to having Elle in tow was the lack of excuses to ask pretty little assistants for help. Like the one currently arranging a display of sweaters. He let himself look just long enough before turning his focus back to his daughter. She didn't need to (and he definitely didn't want her to) catch him staring.

His shift in attention luckily came at the right time. It wasn't a moment later that Elle was holding another tie up to him. One that was a dark blue with a gentle white design.

"A paisley?" he questioned.

"A paisley," she answered with an enthusiastic nod.

Ava had decided that today, shopping was imperative. And while she had gone out intending to buy herself something (which she was sure she would do afterward) but a very nice menswear shop had caught her eye. There was a shirt in the front door that she thought would look lovely on Andrei, and even lovelier when she could take it off.

Checking herself quickly in the reflection of the shop's window (and carefully adjusting the wig of medium-length, softly waved red hair on her head), Ava headed inside the shop and instantly up to a shop girl. She informed her that she wanted that exact shirt from the mannequin, not one on a hanger, but that specific one in the window. She had to be sure she got exactly the shirt she wanted, period.

Ava shooed the woman on and watched her go, turning back to catch a glance of another shopper, or pair of shoppers, in the store. And with a wicked smirk, she let her eyes trail up and down that of one Zachary DeWinter. And...oh, apparently Zachary's daughter as well. Well, either that or he was going very, very young these days.

Adjusting her jacket, Ava took steps towards him, clicking against the shop's floor. "Mr. DeWinter, what a pleasure it is to see you again. And a surprise, too. Tell me, who is this enchanting creature with you?" Not that she thought Elle was all that great. She was much more, in every sense of the word, than Elle, but still..Ava had to do her snooping. Figure out exactly who this girl was to her former client.

Elle blushed at the compliment, giving Ava a shy yet pleased smile and a little wave. It was lovely to get a comment like that from such a striking woman. Reaching into her bag, she found her notebook so that she could offer some words in kind. That's very nice of you, she wrote first of all. I love your beautiful red hair. She added a nod once she'd finished writing to show that she meant it.

"Likewise, Ava," Zachary said coolly. The subtle, momentary shift in his demeanor wasn't caught by Elle as she was busy dishing out compliments. "This is my daughter, Elle. You'll have to forgive her flattery." With a teasing smile, he put a protective arm around Elle's shoulders. There was a slight undertone to his voice. One that asked for a leniency he wasn't sure that he'd get.

Ava caught the subtle change in him, but just grinned a little wider. Turning to Elle, she read what the girl had written and while she was more than confused about why she had written it instead of just saying it, Ava took a compliment wherever she could get it. That was, until she realized that Elle was Zachary's daughter. His daughter. It struck a chord somewhere in Ava, something that left a bad aftertaste in her mouth. She'd never gone out shopping with her father like this and while it might have very well been her fault for leaving home so young, it still could have happened for any number of years that she still lived at home with her parents. And it hadn't. And Ava did not like the feeling it gave her to know that Zachary DeWinter, of all people, was out shopping with his daughter. In that instant, Elle turned from a cute little girl, one she'd thought would be cute to pull compliments from, to an insult of how Ava had never had a nice childhood like Elle surely had.

Turning her eyes to Elle's father, Ava was determined to shatter that illusion of a 'happy family'. Judging by the way Elle looked at her father, with that dopey sort of 'he's my prince charming' look, it wouldn't be so hard. The look in her eyes now was much more wicked than before. "Why haven't you called me, Zachary? It's been too long..."

"Life's demands have gotten the better of me," he replied. That and he kept himself on a tighter leash these days. He couldn't deny the fact that he'd thought about calling her (wanted to call her) but it was no longer appropriate. Not that it had ever been.

Elle watched the two of them for a moment. More specifically, she watched Ava and shot quick looks at her father's face to gauge what was, or what had been, going on. His expression didn't show as much as she had hoped. Then again, she would have been surprised if it had. He knew people, and consequently knew what and what not to do. His familiar features were a blank to her, an enigma that didn't want to reveal its secrets. It was wrong to jump to conclusions but an attractive woman talking to him in such a way set her on edge. It could have all been perfectly innocent. She wanted to think it was.

Still, as a means of preventing the topic going further, Elle wrote, Sorry about having to write to you but it's the easiest way for me to talk. Do you think you could help with something? I think we need another woman's opinion. Which of these do you think is the nicest? Done with the book, she held up the ties that each of them had singled out earlier.

Ava could have been fine with just setting up innuendos and flirting with Zachary all day to get under the skin of both of them, but Elle was giving her the perfect opportunity to play a little more. Taking the paisley tie, Ava closed the gap between Zachary and herself and swooped it around his neck. She started to expertly craft it into a perfect knot, something she'd done time and time again for Irving. She made sure her fingers strayed a little, stroking down his neck as she tightened the tie. "There...Don't you think he looks just dashing, Elle?" Ava asked, turning only enough so that she could still have a hand on her father's shoulder, smirk still in place.

For a start, Elle was pleased that Ava appeared to agree with her choice. Women knowing best and all. While her smile stayed in place, it grew tight as Ava's little show unfolded in front of her. If the fingers brushing against his skin was an accident, the look on the woman's face suggested otherwise. Her manner with him seemed too intimate. The question was if that was the case or if Elle was interpreting it that way as she feared the worst. So, not wanting to seem silly and melodramatic over something so small, Elle nodded. But that was all Ava got.

Ava was getting somewhere, she could tell. Turning back to look at Zachary, she positioned him near a mirror not too far from them already. "See, Zachary. This tie goes much better with those lovely eyes of yours than the other one. Even Elle thinks so." With a hand placed on his shoulder and another trailing up his neck, to his hair, Ava grinned and cast a glance at Elle in the mirror then looked back at her father. "Buy this one."

Zachary admired his reflection (purely to keep up the pretense that this was nothing special, even if that pretense was failing) then casually shrugged off Ava's hand and removed the tie. He flashed her a warning look as he said, "Well, it seems the choice has been made."

Elle just stared at Ava with eyes like saucers. She couldn't quite believe how shameless the woman was. She took her gaze away for a second to look around, worried that people might be watching the display. There was something underneath the obvious that bothered her too. The fact that he wasn't walking away. That he was acting as though it wasn't happening. No doubt it was in an attempt to protect her. Didn't he realise he couldn't shield her from what she was already aware of? And from something so blatant?

She tugged on his shirt sleeve like a child seeking attention and gestured towards another part of the store. Both to try and get away from this woman, this Ava, and to make it clear that her advances hadn't gone unnoticed. While subtle flirtations flowed over Elle's head like water, all this touching and caressing hit her like a cold jet in the face.

Ava let her hand fall from Elle's father, but watched his interaction with Elle, pleased that she was getting to the girl. Pleased that she was getting to her father, too. Men were so easy to manipulate. A little touch here, a whisper there, and they were putty. She took a little step back but as the shop girl came up to Ava with the shirt she wanted, Ava snatched onto that change too. Holding out the shirt for Zachary, she put on her best innocent face. "Would you mind terribly holding this up to you or even trying it on? I'd like to see it on a man before I buy it..."

Zachary frowned gently at Elle, telling her to stop pulling at him that way. He would have liked to have told Ava good day and comply with his daughter's request but he didn't want to antagonize the woman. As it stood, all Elle had were suspicions. Ava knew exactly what he'd been up to. Hell, she was something he'd been up to. If he placated her, she might keep her mouth shut.

He took the shirt from her and headed for a changing room. Being a model for her was a small price to pay.

Elle's gaze followed him as he walked away, wondering why he was doing her a favor. Why he was favoring this rather unpleasant stranger over her. It was a line of thought that she didn't want to spend much time on. That niggling notion that the one who came first in Zachary DeWinter's life was Zachary DeWinter and all the whims that went with it. That everyone else revolved around him in his own private universe where he was the sun, lord and grand master.

She bit her lip and looked down at her feet. Over to a rail of smart trousers. Back to the floor. Anywhere but Ava. She was conscious of the fact she was being rude but considering the company, being rude didn't seem all that terrible. Eventually she asked, Are you buying something for your husband? It was clinging to a small shred of something that could indicate that what she'd witnessed was mostly in her head.

Ava could see the change in Elle. The girl was so obviously effected by Ava's actions but to be purely honest, it was what Ava had wanted. To shatter that darling little girl's notion of the perfect family because in her experience, there was no such thing as the perfect family.

Giving Elle a sweet smile, Ava shook her head. "No, not my husband. My husband is dead. This is for a dear friend of mine." She said nonchalantly, as if it was perfectly fine to admit that to a stranger. "I'm hoping to see how nice it looks on your father to know how it will look on my friend. I hate buying clothes without having some way to try them on...Your father is the perfect size." She said, although she had a feeling they were a little different in size. It didn't matter. Whether the shirt was too big, too small, too whatever on him, she just wanted Elle to see how easily she could get her father to put on a shirt for her.

Despite her annoyance and unease with Ava, Elle softened just a little when she spoke about her husband. Perhaps that was why she was being the way she was. Perhaps she was lonely or still grieving. Or perhaps Elle wanted to see some kind of goodness in her, an explanation. I'm sorry, she wrote, the sincerity behind the words disregarding Ava's dismissive tone. I'm sure your friend will think it's a very nice shirt. She nodded, but her heart wasn't in it. She couldn't quite go as far as to muster any enthusiasm.

When her father came back to join them, she tried to keep her face blank. She would have done a good job of it, if a brief raise of her eyebrows hadn't given her away. The garment was too big on him and wasn't his colour at all. Tucking the notebook under her arm, she laced her hands together.

"Will that be all, Ava?" Zachary asked her in a light yet clipped tone.

As Ava watched Elle scribble in her notebook, she paid less attention to what the girl was writing and more attention to what she was writing with. That pen looked lovely and the color of it against the paper was gorgeous. But before she could do anything about the pen in Elle's hands, Zachary DeWinter had stepped back out. Giving Elle that same half-grin to acknowledge that she hadn't forgotten she'd written something (even if she hadn't really read it), she turned back to Zachary.

"My, my, Zachary, have you shrunk these past years?" She'd let him read into it what he would, but she was more than happy to let it fall under a double entendre. "But yes, I think that is all I need from you. The shirt will look just right on who I am buying it for." Turning back to Elle, she let her grin show full-force. "Your father is so attentive, is he not?"

He was both incredibly frustrated by and enamored of her smart mouth. If it hadn't been for Elle's presence, she would have gotten a retort that was more than a little inviting. Instead Ava got a vague and purposely dismissive, "Hmm." Done with his brief fashion parade, he left the women once again to change back into his own clothes. Selfishly, it let him avoid the situation for a few more moments too.

Elle flashed a purely perfunctory smile back at Ava. The more the woman grinned at her, the more unsettling it was. It struck her as being the same expression that some cruel child would wear as they pulled the wings off an insect. He tries to be nice to people, she wrote in reply. Even if some people may not be all that deserving of niceties. Most people know that he's someone who helps others, even in silly little ways. Suggesting that in spite of all her posturing, Ava didn't really know much of anything. And that this most definitely counted as one of those silly little ways.

The knowing smile Ava was flashing at Zachary turned wicked when she looked back at Elle and her notebook. "Darling, I know quite a bit about your father. Why don't you ask him yourself when he comes back, hm?" Why hadn't she thought of that earlier? How lovely it would be to see Zachary stumble for words on how to describe their unique relationship. So interesting, in fact, that Ava was already waiting for Zachary to return from the dressing rooms.

There was nothing to say to that. The details of their relationship were something she could do without hearing. But at the same time, she wanted to know. Like some sort of compulsion she couldn't let be. Maybe she was hoping that Ava would wind up being made a fool of. Or maybe it was wanting confirmation that she was seeing one of them up close. One of the women that managed to make him stray. Elle's eyes fixed on the notebook and didn't move until her father came back to join them.

She stared at him briefly then gestured between him and Ava, the look on her face questioning.

"We've run into one another at a few events," Zachary said calmly. He was used to coming up with lies and excuses, whether they were believed or not.

Ava found this all nothing short of amusing. It was just what she wanted. To see Zachary squirm and Elle crushed. Reaching for the shirt she'd had him try on, Ava continued to grin. "He's right," She glanced back at Elle as she took the shirt in her hands. "When we were together, things were certainly eventful."

If Elle had been the violent type, she would have given Ava a good shake for being so wicked. Instead she was the one starting tremble. She was starting to get fed up with being this woman's toy, and any sympathy or understanding she had for her had now dissipated. Nothing was written in the notebook, and she shrugged off her father's hand on her shoulder, the hand that was supposed to be comforting, and fixed her gaze on Ava. The look was pertinent and relenting. Ava had won whatever game it was they were playing and a resigned Elle decided to let her make that final move. If her father's indiscretions were going to subject her to such things, and all the other things they had, she at least deserved to know the truth behind them. For once.

Ava had won, it was easy to see. She had both Elle and Zachary right where she wanted them and suddenly, the game was boring to her. She'd need to find a new one or leave, either of which would be fine with her. Turning to Zachary, she smiled. "You have a charming daughter. You had better keep an eye on her, Mr. DeWinter. And thank you for being such a good sport and trying on this shirt for me."

Zachary smiled back at her, forced, callous and cold. He was as angry at the fact that he wasn't in control of the situation as he was at the situation itself (if not more so). "I don't think you'll be seeing much of my daughter," he replied, not sure if her comment was a thinly veiled threat or not. "Come along, Elle. We're leaving."

Again she shook off his hand as he went for her wrist. Her attention was still on Ava. She tried to keep her face stony but it was clear that something closer to tears lingered not far from the surface. Where did he find you? she asked. Both a genuine question and a disparaging remark. She would have thought he'd have more taste than that, at least. The how's and why's shouldn't have mattered but somehow they did. All those trivial details held a significance. As if they were solutions to the riddle of her father and his part in what had happened to her. All the things she had been covering up for him.

Glancing down at the notebook, Ava contemplated her answer for the first time since she walked into the store. She was proud of being a former worker at Babylon, but it would be too easy if she said that. If she lied, then there was more of a chance that Elle would still be thinking of this encounter later. "Like he said, we met at an event."

Elle really wasn't sure if she was telling the truth (and thereby so was her father) or if she was lying to try and play with her head even more. Beginning to come undone under the uncertainty, Elle looked helplessly between Ava and her father for answers that weren't going to be given. He didn't even met her eyes, his gaze settling just beyond her. It could have been shame or anger, or both, she didn't know. The thought of him being the one who was angry bothered her. What exactly did he have to be angry for? That what he'd done was catching up to him? That he wasn't smart enough, charming enough or powerful enough to shape the world to his will at all times? That he couldn't be bailed out by the one he should have been protecting?

She wanted to scream at the both of them. Call her names she didn't even want to admit to knowing. Without thinking, she opened her mouth do to exactly that. The air remained quiet rather than turn blue. Frustrated and humiliated, Elle ripped out the page from the notebook used to converse with Ava, tore it into pieces and let them fall to the floor like dead leaves. She made sure to give her a final glare before turning on her heels and striding out of the store.

Ava certainly hadn't been expecting that but it only served to amuse her more. As she watched Elle storm out, Ava could only glance back at Zachary. Leaning in, that same wicked smile on her face, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Always a pleasure to see you, Zachary. Until next time," She said, leaving to head to the counter and pay for Andrei's shirt with Irving's money.