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Dite's Decadent Delights, Wednesday

There was a change in the store today, though one would be hard pressed to point out exactly what it was. The difference was more in the attitude than the arrangement. While the sparkle was still there, it seemed to be a more serious sparkle. The exclamation points were straighter. Merchandise that normally just sat haphazardly in bins were now lined evenly. Boxes met at exact corners to make serious edges.

Even Hercules seemed to study the mouse toy before attacking in a quite serious manner.

As for Aphrodite, she was seriously studying the screen of a brand new laptop before spending some moments furiously but carefully typing, occasionally speaking as she hit the keys.

"While it is true . . . that . . . Freud's theories . . . are . . . based on observation and . . . basic research . . . his conclu-sions are based . . . on observations of those . . . he claims have . . . unhealthy . . . sexual drives rather than . . . what he terms . . . normal people.

"I believe that . . . a strong sex drive is . . . necessary and healthy, and . . . if we use that as our . . . basis for . . . therapeutic measures . . . we will be able to help people become . . . comfortable . . . with themselves. . . and their sexual desires . . . thereby increasing their confidence in . . . other areas of their . . . life."

She stopped and glared at the screen. "Make me argue Freud, will you? I'll give you Freud."

Hercules blinked and chewed his toy.

Dite's Decadent Delights is open.

(ooc: Post and store open for all your . . . needs! As always, Dite flies OCD free.)

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Late in the evening, after she'd shut down the flower shop, Dinah stopped by DDD with Tony lolloping in tow, and checked inside as she entered. "'Dite? Is Hercules somewhere away from the door?"

"Hm?" 'Dite looked up from her work and glanced around. "Herc? He's in back, playing with a blown up condom. Coast is clear, Dinah!"

"Whew." Dinah came in and shut the door behind her, and said, "By the way, I don't think you've met my other best bud, Tony? He who gave me condoms and answered lots of questions?"

"Meerrrrowwwrrrr."

"Usually, he's not this fuzzy. But, you know. Poof, fuzz. As you do."

"Awwwww!!" Tony was now going to be practically mauled himself, as the goddess of love put a hand to both sides of his cuddly little face and cooed at the tiger cub. "Toooonyyyyy! You're sooooo cuuuuuuuute!! Awwww!"

Aphrodite glanced up at Dinah with a wicked grin. "He may not be always this fuzzy, but I'll be he's always this cute, isn't he?" She cooed again. "Oh, you're just a sweetheart, yes you are, you little love bundle!"

Tony was trying to look sardonic, sarcastic, snarky. Not quite working. The purring probably didn't help.

"Yeah, he is," Dinah had to agree, then grin. "Hey, can you make any squirrels hanging around go away for a little bit? I need to talk to you about something."

The grin turned mischievous. "Why, Dinahhh.... is it something -- personal?" She winked, then stood.

Hands on her hips, she called out, "Okayyyyy. Any squirrels in the vicinity are going to be hit with a love spell in 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . "

As she expected, there was a rustle, and the sound of a scramble. It caught Herc's attention and brought him out of the back. 'Dite snagged him before he could jump on the tiger.

"Okay, squirrels taken care of. What's up, Sweet Pea?"

"Hey, Herc." Hey, you bump noses with someone when you're both tiny, you're friends for life. "Um. Okay, so." And again, how did she get into this? "I have a friend. Not, like, 'I have a friend, but it's really me', I have a friend, but, I have a friend who just got back from Turkey. He was there all summer. Building churches." Dinah paused, then added, "Which you wouldn't think would be his thing, but there's family stuff, and... anyway. My friend, Cal? Is going to be coming in here. Tomorrow." Dinah cleared her throat. "With me. Butit'snotadate," she blurted very very quickly.

'Dite put Herc on the display case, where he meowed down at Tony.

Then the goddess planted an arm on the top of the counter, leaning to her side with a very wicked grin.

"Go on."

Dinah turned red and wished herself in the Bay. No dice. Crap.

"So, um. Yeah. We got into a conversation, which I don't even remember how it started-- did I mention he's Greek?" Dinah gave 'Dite a hopeful look, kind of praying that would distract her a little. "Somehow, we started talking about... um. Restraints." Soooo blushing, and Dinah's voice got higher. "And I mentioned you had a shop, and he mentioned he was gone all summer, and somehow, I said I'd introduce him to you." Gulp.

As Dinah's voice rose, so did Aphrodite's eyebrows, and the corners of her mouth.

"So." She straightened up, folding her arms. "You were having a conversation with your 'friend' Cal, and you started talking about 'restraints'. Is that right?" Turning slightly, she stepped away, toward the comfy chairs. "And you thought of my store, which is normal, and I do have restraints, and then you volunteered to introduce him to me."

Sitting down, Aphrodite crossed her legs and spread her arms wide. "And you're here now, warning me of this, because . . .?"

"Because I don't want you to act like, 'ooo they're getting handcuffs' because hi, I'm not buying handcuffs!" Dinah paused. "At least, I'm not planning on it. For any reason! And... Cal's a friend, we just... it's like playing Chicken, you know? To see who backs off first. And it used to be easier, 'cause he had a girlfriend before he went to Turkey, and... um." She took a breath, then bit her lip while she tried to remember her point. "It's a dare. Mostly. Not a date. Even if he said 'date' he meant 'appointment'." She was pretty sure. "So. He's a friend. Right."

Tony snorted. "Oh, who asked you."

"Whoa, Dinah, Sweet Pea, calm down." Reaching out, Aphrodite patted the chair across from her in silent invitation. "Why are you getting all bent out of shape about this? If he's just a friend, he's just a friend." She shrugged. "All you're doing at the moment is making me think there's something else there." With a tilt to her head, 'Dite's smile went very soft and understanding. "There doesn't have to be. But I'll be really disappointed if you thought you had to come down and tell me just so I wouldn't tease you."

Dinah looked down at Tony, who looked back at her, then let out a breath and said, "I don't know. And I guess I'm hoping you don't tease him. Or me. Too much."

Because there were all those other issues of Cal's that they hadn't talked about since April. And getting into those again implied things she was really unsure about.

"It's just, yeah. He's a friend, but not like Priestly is. Or Tony is." She lifted a shoulder, and then dropped it. "And... there's stuff that has nothing to do with him, and it's about the--" More redness. Dinah looked over at the more 'restraining' items, and rolled her eyes at herself. "Cuffs. And stuff." Tony mrrow'd, and Dinah rubbed his head. "That other Dinah. She um. Liked hurting people. The vampire one."

"The vampire o-- oh." She'd heard the basics of the other world, but hadn't really discussed it with Dinah. "You never told me about that."

The smile was gone. "I'll try not to tease your friend -- Cal, was that his name? -- too much, if that's what you want. And I won't tease you if you don't want me to."

For a long moment, she regarded Dinah. "Sweet Pea, do you trust me?"

"I guess?" Dinah stopped to really think about it, then looked down. "Yeah, I do. I just... this stuff embarrasses me. It's not you. I just wish I was twenty-five and well-adjusted already," she muttered.

She had to smile at that. It was such a teenager thing to say.

But it was short lived as Aphrodite considered Dinah again.

Making a decision, she stood. "Stay there for a moment. Grab Herc before Tony eats him, hm?"

And she moved toward the back of the store, toward the area that Dinah had been glancing at.

"O... kay?" Dinah said, mildly confused, then reached out for Hercules as he came over. Tony sniffed at him, then sneezed, looking bored.

Dinah ruffled the fur behind Hercules' ears, and then patted Tony. "I swear, you get steak when we get back. I promise."

Coming back, Aphrodite dropped back onto her chair, smiling down at Tony, then looking seriously at Dinah.

She handed her friend a set of black, leather wrist cuffs. "Take these. Just take them and look at them for a minute. Go ahead."

Something inside Dinah wants to say "nooooo" and back away, but she said she trusted 'Dite, and she does. So she blows out a breath instead, and gingerly takes them, self-conscious as heck, and takes a look at them.

They're not... scary, not really. Unnerving a little. Maybe it's the color. Though any other color would verge on tacky or silly. After a couple seconds, she calms down, and just looks at them, the way they're different from standard issue police handcuffs, way easy to get out of, and the leather's actually kind of nice. Trying to ignore 'Dite being there, and Tony... well, Tony's actually reassuring. But he always has been. Dinah scratched behind his ears, considering the cuffs, face falling into a frown of consideration.

Aphrodite watched for a moment before speaking softly.

"They're just leather. And metal. There's nothing scary about those." She tilted her head. "They're not dangerous. They can't suddenly jump up and hurt you. They're just -- big leather bracelets."

Putting her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward, her gaze as serious as the goddess of love could get.

"They're frightening because of the intent, what can be done with them -- maybe because of what you know she did with them. But Dinah, they're just things. Just -- leather and metal. And whatever she did with them, you wouldn't. And I don't think your friend would. So there's no reason to be frightened."

She smiled lightly. "Be embarrassed if you have to be. Turn as red as you want. But remember." Carefully, she placed one finger on the cuff in Dinah's hands. "It's just metal and leather -- material. And if you remember that, you don't ever have to be frightened of it again."

"Just material," Dinah echoed, feeling ... a little calmer. She didn't, and wouldn't, hurt someone against their will. And sex was waaaay down the line. Whatever kind it would be. "And, no. Cal wouldn't." She couldn't actually say what Cal would be into for sure, but hurting someone? No. They'd talked about a few things, and he just didn't have that vibe.

Dinah was quiet a minute, then softly said, "She wouldn't have needed bracelets. I wouldn't need them. But." She picked them up, and nodded. "I don't have to use them like that. Cuffs or my powers."

"That's right, Sweet Pea. And you know what that means?" She waited for Dinah to look up at her.

"What?" Dinah looked up, fingers still buried in the fur on Tony's neck.

"It means you don't have to be afraid of these . . . or of her . . . and you don't have to be afraid of yourself."

The goddess of love smiled. "And that's a great place to be, Dinah."

Which really had been the problem, hadn't it? And maybe she was still a little scared of that other vampire Dinah, and remembering what she was like. How much fun that had been. And still a little scared of herself. But it was a huge relief to know what had been bugging her about this. And now the cuffs were just ... cuffs.

Dinah gave 'Dite a smile of relief and got up to give her a hug. "Thank you."

Standing, 'Dite wrapped her arms around Dinah. "You're so welcome, Sweet Pea. That's what I'm here for."

Smiling, she held Dinah at arms length. "Now. When are you going to let me find you a boyfriend? Hm? I am the goddess of love, after all."

Then she winked, having said it just to make Dinah flail.

Dinah rolled her eyes, and looked at the ceiling and muttered, "'Diiiiite...." Becuse seriously. Worse than Helena.

Aphrodite laughed. "I'm just kidding! Really!" Bending down, she picked up Herc before he could maul one of Tony's ears. "Now. You head home, and I'll see you and your not-a-date Cal tomorrow." She made a shooing motion with her hand, then glanced down at the tiger cub on the floor. "Go on! And take that adorable love bug with you before he gets into the f-i-s-h-b-o-w-l. I have work to do. Shoo!"

"Bye, 'Dite. See you tomorrow." Dinah snickered, and muttered, "C'mon, Tony. Steak."

"RrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRrr."

Dite watched them go, absently scratching Hercules behind the ears. She waved one final time and waited till Dinah and Tony were out of sight.

Then she pumped her fist in the air.

"Hah! Take that, Freud. I'm gonna make a bitchin' therapist."

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Dite's Decadent Delights, Wednesday

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NFB, bye squirrels

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