December 17th: Shopping
"Come on, Nikola, lets go." Helen insisted, for the 4th time.
"Just one more store, Helen. After all, you are the one who suggested I get gifts for the children."
"That suggestion was for your own benefit, so they'd like you more." Helen pointed out. More like 'dislike him slightly less'. "And don't think you are fooling me for a moment. You're enjoying abusing the credit card privileges you've been a fraction of what you've purchased is gifts for Will, Kate, and Henry. Most of it is for yourself."
Nikola made as if deny that, but Helen merely held up one of the bags in her hand. The one containing the same outrageously expensive cashmere sweater in several different shades. In Nikola's size. The man spent most of his time in 3-piece suits. What did he need so many sweaters for anyway?
He capitulated gracefully, if one ignored the slightly peevish huff. Helen spied an exit and started plowing her way through the dense holiday crowds with Nikola at her side. Until a flash of brass in a store window had distracted him. When she realized he was no longer with her, she circled back to find him just short of pressing his nose against the display window.
"Oh, Helen…" Nikola breathed.
The store sold what she could only call high end tchotchkes: odds and ends and knickknacks with no real use or purpose but really high price points. Several stylized tools were laid out including a compass, a collapsing spyglass, and a microscope which had caught his eye. It was just a glorified paperweight and there was no way it was functional. But she had to admit, it did evoke memories of the early days of the Five. Crowded around the same lab bench to study something new and fascinating.
He was in the high of a spending spree and couldn't resist the lure of the shiny objects around him. He wasn't the sentimental type so he wasn't drawn to the nostalgia of memories as she was. So Helen knew she shouldn't encourage this behavior but his bright-eyed enthusiasm was so endearing.
And out of character for the situation. Nikola's avarice had always tended towards power and fame rather than material goods. But she figured when he eventually tired of his new toy, it would look very nice in her office.
"All right, Nikola" she said with a sigh.
Nikola tore his gaze away from the shiny thing, trying not to pout as he expected to be ordered to the car and perhaps even told not to dawdle like a wayward child. But Helen rolled her eyes at him fondly and smiled.
"One more shop." she tipped her head towards the door of the place in permission.
His face lit up like a child at Christmas. Which Helen supposed he rather was, 150 year old vampire or not.
Two days later Helen sat down at her desk with a cup of tea and began her work. Or tried to. All attempts to access the network or even her offline files failed.
She requested Henry's presence to deal with the issue only to be informed that he was aware the problem and it was affecting a number of the Sanctuary systems. Nothing was falling apart (yet) but neither could they access anything useful. She had just hung up when Nikola appeared in her office. Without knocking as per usual.
"Greetings, Helen. How are we this fine morning?"
He was far too genial but with her tech issues she was a bit too distracted to take note of it. He leaned over her shoulder, invading her space to peruse her screen which bore the latest error message she had gotten.
"Technical difficulties it seems," he tsked, "that's a shame. I guess the grind will have to wait for IT to show up and I hear Wolfboy has a backlog. This means you have time to join me on an excursion." he said with far too much assurance.
"I have work to do, Nikola."
"Work you CANT do, Helen. Not until this mess is cleared up." he countered. "Who knows, that could take some time."
He was too nonchalant. Nikola Tesla thought himself sly but Helen had spent a century and half learning to read him. Her eyes narrowed.
"Nikola, what do you know about this?" Her tone was calm and quiet, but everyone in the Sanctuary knew when Helen was was not to trifled with.
Nikola knew better. He didn't always care. Now he grinned. She was so quick to catch him at his pranks, with that impeccable radar for his mischief.
"What I know is that the problem could take anywhere between 2 hours and 2 days to fix." Nikola said with a smug smirk. He held up a hand to stifle her outrage before she could speak. "I know that if it takes 2 days, you'll have nothing to do but hang over Henry's shoulder until you drive him mad. Excellent reason for you get out into the world instead."
"For two days? Nikola…" Helen shook her head in protest. With the tech out of commission her Sanctuary would be in an uproar, she couldn't just got off on an adventure with him now.
"I also happen to know," he said persuasively, his smile somehow managing to grow even more proud of himself for his antics. "That if you agree to accompany me the car can be here in 20 minutes and once we are safely off, I'll send the young furry a few hints that will let him crack it in no time."
Helen fumed for a long moment. Manipulative bastard. She couldn't very well have her Sanctuary floundering helplessly for 2 days, even if the alternative was physically leaving the Sanctuary herself. Still, Nikola Tesla notwithstanding, things were quiet. Field operations were largely suspended during the holidays. The winter cold had a lot of the population Human or Abnormal hunkered down indoors. If she must be dragged away, it wouldn't be a catastrophe.
Nikola had gone to a damned inconvenient amount of trouble to get her out of the house. Helen knew him well enough to know he must have reasons and was at least halfway certain he wouldn't do this for reasons she wouldn't approves of. But she wasn't about to make this trip pleasant for him.
"Why not just send Henry the solution so he can fix what you've been mucking about in?" she asked. The cool ire in her tone didn't hold much weight when followed by her sigh of defeat.
"Oh, Helen," Nikola said, taking her arm to lead her from the room, "if I simply hand him the solutions, how will he ever learn?"
40 minutes later they made it to the airport. The limo Nikola had ordered she might have expected when he mentioned hiring a car. He did love to do things with flash. The airport though, that was unexpected.
Well, she wasn't sure what she had expected. If it was business, maybe a trip to conference in Seattle or a new abnormal spotted in the coastal mountains. But Nikola wouldn't need to trick her into that. They also wouldn't need a private jet.
A cold wind was whipping when she stepped out of the car and they hurried into the plush interior of the craft. Her own plane was quite nice but this one was flashier, a little more modern, had more amenities than her comfortable personal craft.
"You approve?" Nikola asked, unbuttoning his jacket to throw himself into one of the comfy-looking leather seats. A bottle of wine stood at ready for him but he ignored it a moment in favor of looking at her.
"Of course," she had to acknowledge. "Its a 'sweet ride' as Henry might say."
Nikola smiled and shook his head at Helen's sense of whimsy.
"Excellent, because this is your Christmas gift," he said.
Helen's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and Nikola couldn't restrain his laughter. If she could only see her face.
"Not the plane, the trip." he elaborated. Her relief was nearly palpable. "I mean if you decide you want an air force I will do my level best to make it happen, but chartering this flight consumed more of the paltry paycheck you now give me than I care to contemplate."
It was a bit flattering he would give her such an expensive gift, one that likely took a few days of planning. More forethought than Nikola gave a lot of his schemes, which meant it had clearly been important to him. She was reluctantly beginning to feel touched but had to point out,
"You have access to the network's resourced now, Nikola. Why not simply charter one of the Sanctuary jets? Even if a waiver was denied, it would be a fraction of the cost of a commercial charter."
"Where would be the surprise in that?" Nikola pointed out. He stood to grab the bottle of wine and poured a glass for each of them.
Of course, she realized as he came to hand hers to her. Helen herself approved the waivers for non-essential travel for North American Sanctuaries. It would certainly have crossed her desk. And Nikola did enjoy his secrets until it was time to reveal them in a grand and dramatic fashion.
"You could have simply asked me to join you and done without sabotaging my Sanctuary." she had to scold as she took the wine from him.
"Oh Helen, where would be the fun in that?" He grin, his grin positively villainous.
Cheeky bastard.
"Oh, but speaking of the Sanctuary." Nikola said, pulling his cell phone out. A few taps later he replaced it before toasting her with his glass. "Henry should have everything sorted within the hour. As promised. Now you can relax and enjoy yourself properly."
"So where are we off to?" she asked and took a sip. Then another.
Her favorite wine for the flight. Nikola had thought this one out.
"Tokyo. i remember how you love the shopping there. I thought you deserved a bit of frivolous spending on yourself after following me around that weak excuse for a luxury district all day."
Nikola managed to keep a firm grip on his wine glass as Helen launched herself at him for a hug. Yes, the trip abroad had been an excellent idea for a gift for her. And 10 hours alone in private with her during the flight over was a nice bonus gift for himself.