𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆.

The laugh that escaped her this time was genuine. Damn, Nico was funny. But underneath the humour she exuded, she was fucking pissed, and concerned she actually looked like shit. Surely not.. she'd looked in the mirror enough times today. "Wow. Did you just compare me to the Grudge?" A smirk tugged at her lips, then, refusing to give him the satisfaction of letting his comments affect her. "You've gotta stop flirting with me, Caravelli." The fact he'd actually joked back shook her (well, she hoped it was a fucking joke). She could crack a lot of people, but Nico Caravelli was the toughest to crack. She was nothing if not persistent, though.

Her brows lifted the second he instructed his bodyguard to take her bags. "Oh?" The sound was drawn out as her gaze flicked between Nico and the bodyguard before returning to him. For a moment, she simply stared, immediately suspicious. Men rarely offered things without wanting things in return, and he wasn't exactly known for his random acts of kindness. Ah, there it was. "You know, if you'd offered me a drink thirty seconds ago, I would've assumed you were trying to interrogate me." She paused, and then added, "Actually, I still kind of assume that." He definitely wanted something, and she just was far too curious for her own good to not find out. Without even looking the bodyguards way, she held out her bags and held NIco's gaze instead. "I have no doubt you'll take very good care of my things, Rob. Can't say no to a drink with the Nico Caravelli."

"I mean I'm mature enough to know my strengths and weaknesses. And no matter how charming I am, I've been told I'm still a man so at some point I'm just annoying." Exact words that his younger sister had told him. "You know, I think I might be able to help with that. I know a guy. Works security at a bunch of concerts. Let me see what I can do." He tapped his head as if committing it to memory. "Yeah no offense, I get it, like I said..I'm still a man. It's not my fault god made me this way. At least he made me good looking." He caught sight of himself in the side mirror for a second. "Do you think I could pull off a nose piercing?"

"Most wanted for being the baddest bitch alive? Yes," she smirked, throwing him a look. A bark of laughter escaped her immediately at his next words. If nothing else, Henri always made her laugh. "You mean I spice up your life, right? What would you do without me, anyway?" Solana took another sip of her coffee. Thank goodness it was a good coffee.. she needed it. "But, Henri, be serious. The Hamptons was totally your fault." Whether she genuinely believed that or not was debatable. She could admit she definitely wasn't boring.. but what was life if not fun?! "It's true. You can't help that you're a man, but, I won't lie.. you don't do too bad, Brooks."

Though when he mentioned knowng someone who might be able to get her backstage at a Zara Larsson concert, her eyes widened immediately. "If you get me to be the Lush Life girly, I promise you'll be my favourite man ever. I will never say another bad thing about you again." She paused. "Okay, that's a lie. But I'll cut back significantly." A grin tugged at her lips before his next question had her turning her head to look at him properly. For a moment, she just stared. Then laughed, like really laughed. "—Wait, you're serious?"

"Yeah but not here," she pointed out, unable to help but grin as he carried her off so easily. Solana was well aware of the attention he was giving her as of late, and she wasn't complaining.. even more so as his fingertips pressed against the bare of her skin. It was hard to think clearly whatsoever when she was around him. The tour was quickly becoming secondary to the fact that Cash had his hands on her. "Living room. Kitchen. Riveting stuff, Gannon," she teased. "Trust me, you don't want to see me without—" But before she could stop him, he took her sunglasses off. Instantly, her nose scrunched. "Don't judge me," she warned, knowing what he was looking at. Her eyes were still red and irritated, the skin around them a little swollen despite her best efforts. Not even the concealer she'd slapped on before leaving the house could hide it.

"Do you think J-Lo has a brown lawn?" A CINDERELLA STORY (2004) Dir. Mark Rosman

Solana's brows pinched together as she thought back, then reminded herself not to do so because duh.. wrinkles. "Um," she paused then, trying to piece together flashes of the night through the haze of tequila, sweat and panic. If only she hadn't been intoxicated, she might've paid more attention to anything outside of herself and said muscle man. "Too fucking fast," she finally answered, her voice a touch quieter this time, like maybe the event had affected her more than she was letting on. "Maybe I'm remembering it was wrong, I don't know. I was drunk as shit. But, one second people were partying, and the next smoke filled the place and the stampede started. Like we literally saw the smoke before the flames. Reactions were totally delayed, for obvious reasons." She shifted slightly, immediately regretting it as pain shot through her ankle. Fuck. Her attention shifted back to Emil, then. "This was planned, right? —What do you know?"

A dramatic sigh escapes her — Solana is nothing if not completely dramatic to her core. "I guess you can give me the drugs," she says nonchalantly, but a smirk quickly tugs at her lips, amusement tugging at her features. "I'm kidding. The painkillers, whatever. I think I'll need them if I'm going to be walking around in heels. I'll be able to walk around in heels, right?" She looks up at the doctor with a furrowed brow. Anyone would think she was talking complete shit, but the concern for this specifically, was genuine.

Just when she thinks she has him, completely convinced by the time he seemingly takes to really dig deep.. his facial expressions somewhat telling a story in itself. Just when she thinks she's going to get some serious tea as she leans in to listen, he hits her with... the dark. Solana's face, which admittedly was being pulled into a devious smile, immediately drops, completely devoid of all emotion as she leans back to blink at him. "Are you fucking serious?" She studies his features, then, waiting for his answer, having half a mind to call security and get his ass kicked out.

Lana's smile only widened as he weaved his way through the crowd, making a beeline for her. Of course he showed up like that.. like he owned the room, like the noise and the lights had simply bent around him to make space. He had the sort of presence she found very attractive. She held his gaze as he moved closer, catching her lower lip with her teeth as she looked up at him. "What do you think?" Lana stepped closer to him, then, tempted to close the space between them.. but not before a little chase. It was what she loved best, after all. "You don't really strike me as someone who waits around for answers," she added, smirk curling at her lips as she looks at him through her lashes, before her gaze drops to his hand. "Is that for me?"

While her annoyance was one he could relate to, considering she had literally walked into him, he found the amusement within her ability to say the thing, rather than retreat and choose her words carefully. It was a quality that made him remain, choosing himself to acknowledge her for more than four seconds. "That's the point." his return was casual, and he paused for a beat, "You ever considered getting your eyes tested?" it wasn't necessarily a question there to be answered, it was simply one that matched her level of sarcasm moments prior.

Lana let out a short laugh at that, adjusting the shopping bags digging into her wrist. "Funny," she mused dryly, finally pushing herself properly off the wall. "Most people usually move out of the way when they see me coming." Her gaze flicked over him then in a way that only Solana could get away with, for it was slow and deliberate, and definitely daring enough to test the Nico Caravelli. She noted the expensive suit — good taste, in her opinion — the composed expression, and the same unreadable look he'd always carried. It was irritating, to be honest, just how unreadable he was.. especially for the likes of Solana, who always sought to figure everyone and everything out. "Though I guess subtle was never really your thing." The corner of her mouth curved faintly as she shifted one of the bags higher onto her arm. She completely ignored the eyes being tested comment, given she was a little sensitive about the whole eye situation after the fire. But mostly, she didn't want to give him ammunition in case he used it. "You almost sounded concerned for me just then. It's sweet. What did Fifth Avenue do to be graced with your presence? Shopping for new suits, perhaps?"

"Oh?" A smirk instantly tugged at her lips, finding him more and more intriguing as the conversation went on. "You do you, Santi. I can't help your taste." She winked, clearly teasing given scotch was actually a drink she quite enjoyed, but tonight was not the night for it. "I'll go easy on you, then, to start. What's your deepest fear?" That question was clearly anything but easy, depending how one would take it, but Solana was nothing if not mischievous and daring and nosy in her approach. "And don't tell me something like spiders or heights. I want the real answer."