and the stars in their orbits shone pale through the lightof the brighter, colder moon

Nadya had grown accustomed growing up to receiving compliments on her looks and even more so now at her job. However, the one from Samantha was different; it was innocent and completely sincere with no hidden agenda behind it. "Thank you." She brushed forward to Samantha to ensure the outfit was a proper fit before sneaking the picture of her. Nadya dropped the phone back in her purse before Sam could get any ideas and rolled her shoulder in a playful shrug. "Ok, I won't send it, but you have to promise to let him see you in the new clothes. No more of those..." Her fingers wriggled towards Sam's pile of street clothes as if she could make them disappear forever. In her opinion the clothes were unfit for any of her employees to wear, let alone any girlfriend to her brother.

The infants fussing ruined her calm, disrupting Nadya's whole reason for being there in the first place to ignore the pain of being without her own children. Her mind was freezing up despite the push to drag her eyes back to Sam and the outfit she wore. "Red...is your color." For a moment it seemed like the world froze, like a cd skipping, unable to move forward. She didn't register when Sam closed the distance between them stating the need to get out of the fancy and very expensive dress Nadya was in. The Were offered no resistance as Sam pulled Nadya out of the aisle and into the stall, effectively creating distance between her and the infant as the fussing continued.

Nadya nodded and turned for Sam to help her out of the dress as her body shuddered, trying to muffle a groan of pain as the sound of her bones snapping seemed to echo in the small stall. "It's hungry." She muttered as she hung her head and closed her eyes knowing that cry above all others. The fire had her falling forward to brace her hands against the wall as Sam quickly yanked down the zipper to the dress just as her bones began to shift, stretching the skin on Nadya's back unnaturally to her human form. It was the fight Nadya was putting up against the feline within that was the painful part; the shift itself normally came quick and painless as smooth and easy as breathing to her, but when the animal within wanted out and you forced it back down was when there was trouble. Nadya had to take a gasping breath, soft brown eyes gazing back at Sam as she swept aside the hair from Nadya's face. Yes, this was for them...she had to get through it to get them back. Nadya mutely dressed back into her street clothes with Sam, keeping her eyes on the fae making her the rock in this moment.

"Ok." Just as Sam didn't argue with Nadya about being guided to the dressing room, Nadya didn't argue being led away from it. There were times in which Nadya was the leader, taking charge with her business and upright in her standing in the pack, but everyone needed a rock at some point in time and right now during this new struggle she needed one. It wouldn't have occurred to Nadya that she would ever use Sam as that, if questioned on ever needing support she would have automatically stated her brother. Perhaps it was the still delicate balance between the siblings learning about each other after so many years apart. Nadya stood beside Sam at the counter looking very pale as Amanda rung up the articles of clothing with no sense of urgency. "That will be $742.86." Nadya didn't seem surprised or bat an eye as she handed her card over to Amanda.

As they were waiting for Amanda to swipe and process the card, the mother with the infant had returned back to the sales floor and the infant wasn't pleased at not being fed. The mother had hushed it so it had quieted some but now returned its cries twice fold that made any not used to children cringe at the decibel. That was the end of Nadya's control. Her whole body was gripped with ice then fire, bones snapping again causing Amanda to halt in her job and look up in surprise. It was accepted that there were supernaturals in the city and that Nadya was indeed one, but there had never been a shift in the store before. "Can't.." Nadya breathed with a gasp, shaking her head as she abandoned the counter and her things, fingers flying to her pants to unbutton them in mad attempt to rid herself of the clothes first. It was no use though as the shift washed over her so powerfully that Nadya was barely two feet from the front door before her feline form exploded from within, shredding her clothes completely.

A forced shift was disorientating and left Nadya now in her panther form, spitting hisses and ears plastered to her head, continuing the path she had been on before barreling out of the store with a forceful shove against the door that caused the glass pane to shake. Once outside in the fresh air she stopped though her tail lashed about angrily as growls rumbled in her throat. Her paws carried her body in tight irritable circles in confusion and frustration in front of the store.