a well-deserved gift
[ A few days ago, Mr. Magorium was met with the surprise of his life.
And, given how long a life his has been, it was some surprise.]
Edward Magorium steps outside of his toy store and home in proper gear this afternoon. His scarf is candy-cane striped, his jacket is puffy and brown, and his shoes are-well, the same. His toes are freezing, but that's ( Read more... )
And, given how long a life his has been, it was some surprise.]
Edward Magorium steps outside of his toy store and home in proper gear this afternoon. His scarf is candy-cane striped, his jacket is puffy and brown, and his shoes are-well, the same. His toes are freezing, but that's ( Read more... )
His tiny hand is tugging hers along, and Lena is only happy to oblige. Holidays are his favorite, and so is the snow. She fixes his snow hat and that's when she hears him gasp.
That's when he sees it. The store. The toy store.
"Aunt Lena!" Max says, his eyes filled with excitement as he points toward the store. He drops her hand and starts racing toward it down the sidewalk. Lena calls after him, quick on his heels, and together, they stop in front of it, both with similar awe-like wonder.
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That being said, there's something different about that toy store. Vaughn is drawn to it, staring up at it in wonder but not quite ready to go through the front door.
And that's when the woman and the young child show up by his side. Vaughn remembers being a kid, and going out once with his father to shop for a present for his mother for Christmas. He glances and the woman and smiles slightly, leaning in to open the door for them both.
"After you," he says, the smile growing wider.
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Lena laughs and lets herself be tugged, before she looks back at Vaughn with a slight smirk on her face. She murmurs a polite thank you at his opening the door for them.
Max zooms into the store like his pants might have actually caught on fire.
"Ever seen a toy store like this one before in your life?" she asks Vaughn, scanning the wondrous place. There's simply no other word for it.
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He nods instead of saying 'you're welcome' and steps in behind her, taking it all in.
It's just. There's so much to look at, so many little sounds Vaughn can pick up, so many kids running all over the place and not just kids but adults too, teenagers and... he doesn't really know what to do with it all, except gape.
"Never," he says, almost breathing the word. "I mean, I didn't go to a whole lot of toy stores when I was a kid, so that may not be saying much, but..." he shakes his head, staring in wonder and amazement.
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"This is Max," Lena says, giving Max a look as if reminding him of his manners. "And I'm Lena," she adds, stretching out a hand to shake Vaughn's.
Considering they're at a toy store together, she figures it's the least they can do.
Lena laughs a little, nudging him further into the toy store. "It's never too late. I say this as someone who didn't go to a lot of toy stores, either. Come on, something has to be drawing your attention to play with."
She might just have to needle it out of you at this point, Vaughn.
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Vaughn grins down at Max. "Nice to meet you, Max," he says, and then looks up at Lena and takes her hand. "And nice to meet you too, Lena. I'm Michael Vaughn." Any introduction that includes his first name must also apparently include his last. Or something. He doesn't know, it's all weird to him.
He laughs and shakes his head. "It's all a bit overwhelming at this point," he admits. "I don't even really know where to begin."
Yeah, apparently he's going to be incredibly unhelpful in this process. "Maybe Max can help pick out something!" Nice save, Vaughn.
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"You're in perfectly good hands then," Lena says at Vaughn's claim he does not know where to begin. Lena and Max will take good care of you, Vaugh. It's been decided.
Max taps his chin. He is thinking of this really hard for you, Vaughn. "How do you feel about planes?" Max asks Vaughn seriously.
"Ooh, planes," Lena says. She's building the suspense or something.
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He steps up to their side, reaching for Max's shoulder as he stands between the two of them.
"Looks like I caught up to you two... and that there's a new store's in town," he comments with a small smile, looking up at it before he glances down at them both. "We should check it out, right?"
He already knows Max's answer and Lena's answer.
They're all about adventure, and while there's no way they can know anything about this store, he gets the sense that it's a good place to go, a good place to be.
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In his mind, this is totally a no-brainer.
Lena laughs, glancing over at Lucky. She hands him the flier with a fond smile curving on her lips, so that it may serve as further explanation. "We may never leave it once we go inside. Fair warning," she says to him in mock whisper.
"I heard that," Max calls out, before he's running toward the planes.
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It looks like an incredibly fun store anyway, and maybe it's one of those good Chicago surprises instead of the opposite for a change. Lucky has hope.
He glance over at Lena too, reaching for the flier with a mall smile on his face. Lucky lets out a long breath. "Maybe this was a mistake," he says in mock whisper back. "There's no escape."
"We have no idea what you're talking about," Lucky says to Max as he tries to look innocent... and now that Max is running after planes, he leans over to press a kiss against her lips, greeting his fiance properly, okay? "Hello, by the way."
A small smile tugs on his lips with all the love that he feels for her in his expression.
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The Rift Santa gave them wonderful presents, a reminder that not everything Chicago chucks at them is necessarily doom and gloom. The toy store has an aura about it that would be very hard to miss, and the happy, hopeful feelings from everyone are something Lena can register.
It's an overwhelming sensation, but in a very good way.
"Resistance is futile," Lena whispers in agreement, straightening innocently when Max turns to them. It isn't long before Max is distracted by the toy soldiers. She grins over at Lucky, kissing him back. "Hello, Mr. Spencer."
She glances around, and then her gaze falls on the stuffed animals. "You should get me another one," Lena suggests. "For tradition's sake."
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There wasn't as much drama, as many brushes with life and death. On top of that, there's the spirit behind the season which he loves and gets behind, but the Rift always seems to be nicer around this time of the year. The Rift Santa brings amazing gifts their way that they sometimes couldn't possibly get on their own.
Lucky still remembers the gifts they got last year from their home universes.
"It usually is with the likes of one of us," Lucky says with a tiny smile on his face as he watches Max head after the toy soldiers. They're moving on their own, which is pretty damn cool in his opinion. "Hello, Ms. Austen." Soon-To-Be-Spencer, he fills that part of it in his head ( ... )
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They march up and down their 'post', with their weapons in place, all taking the same stride at the same time. They stop in front of Max, as if he is the one commanding them, and this makes him all the more starry eyed for it.
"Stay close where we can see you, buddy," Lena calls out to him with a knowing tone in her voice. Max nods slowly, still staring at the toy soldiers, and Lena smirks a little as she turns to Lucky again, being tugged along.
"Do you really need to ask me, Lucas Lorenzo?" she asks, feigning disappointment. Lucky's right, though, there are so many stuffed animals, of all shapes and sizes, but she already has her eye on the one that won't be too surprising.
If you really know her, which he does.
She lifts up a fox from Disney's The Fox and the Hound and places it next to her cheek.
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Lucky's gaze is drawn to their movement. He would have loved to have toys like that when he was a kid. Maybe. He never had many toys, but he never wanted them much either, because it was an adventure travelling around with his parents. There was always something to do, and he was never bored.
He smiles after Max, watching how he stares at them with such wonder. It's good that there's this store here. He hopes it sticks around, because he'd like to take Max here again.
"I shouldn't have asked, but I'm just... overwhelmed with all the choices. I'd get you a whole stuffed animal zoo if I could," Lucky says with a tiny smirk as he looks to where her gaze lands, and no, it's not surprising at all.
Lucky laughs, and he's still laughing when she places the fox next to his cheek.
"You mean you don't want one of these instead?"
And he lifts up a polar bear stuffed animal, it's been awhile since he shifted into either, but the polar bear experience was much worse. It's probably why she didn't pick out that one instead.
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There is something about being that childlike still that will never fail to amaze her. How they can still be completely mystified and find the world so wondrous, in such an awe-struck way. Lena is also bowled over, but it's never quite the same.
There's such an innocence there, and he seems so happy. The whole thing is very infectious.
"Now there's a challenge for the new year," Lena teases him, squeezing his hand affectionately as she's tugged over to the stuffed animal section. Not that she actually wants a stuffed animal zoo. She doesn't think it'd even fit in their apartment ( ... )
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It's not only the world around them that they find so wondrous but the people too. Max sees them all as larger than life, as heroes, and it's-- it's amazing to have someone look up to you in that way. He always loved that his sons were able to look up to him like that, and it's so good to have that feeling again.
He's happy, and this place feels happy and good and childlike in its nature.
"I'm very good at overcoming challenges as we know," Lucky reminds her, squeezing her hand back and smiling sideways at her. He wouldn't actually give her a zoo since he's teasing and there wouldn't be any room for it. It's just the principle of the thing ( ... )
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