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... )
A real light saber. He didn't think anything would be cooler than that, but this might just be it. He's nearing eighteen, but he's still a child at heart, and this toy store is... unlike anything he's ever seen before. He nearly trips and steps back once he sees the toy soldiers, almost bumping into whoever was walking past.
"Sorry!" he says, flashing them a quick smile before he steps further inside.
"Whoa."
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The grin on her face is certainly that of a child, as she beams up at Ben and gives his hand an expectant tug. There's an entire store in need of exploring, and she needs a buddy. And she's found one, if she has anything to say about it.
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"You like teddy bears?" Ben asks her, pointing toward the stuffed animals. They're hugging people back, and some of them are absolutely huge, every animal you can think of.
He wants the giraffe.
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If the grin on her face was wide outside the door, it practically splits her face, her eyes dancing as she takes it all in. It's magical, and she's hit with sightssoundssmellsfeelings that she's never experienced before. It's like being hit with a wave of joy, and it nearly topples Scout over as she clutches Ben's hand, struggling to just stand and not run all over the place.
"Bears bears bears bears!" She nods desperately at Ben, articulation mostly gone--she's been reduced to the five-year-old she has always been, just a kid with a second chance at a proper childhood moment.
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And he can't quite stand still.
"Bears are really cool," he says with a nod of his own, leading her over to the vast section of stuffed animals.
He places one in front of Scout, a life-sized one that's almost his height, its fur soft and warm. "How about this one?"
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He fell in love with the sight of the toy store as soon as he saw it, because seriously, it was like made for him. Mark feels like he fits here, and he blinks a minute when Ben almost walks into him before his face breaks into a smile.
"No sorrys necessary," Mark insists, smiling back at him in a way that says Hey, it's you!
"Seriously! Isn't this place awesome?"
Like beyond awesome?
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His heart having been heavy for the last couple of weeks, uncharacteristically so for someone as optimistic as him, it's amazing to be confronted with something quite so awesome. He's completely bowled over by it, wide eyes as he takes it all in.
"Hey, look who it is!" Ben says, a smile that voices what Mark doesn't verbally acknowledge. He'd been looking forward to seeing him again.
"Dude, seriously. I've... never been anywhere like it. Are you seeing those soldiers?"
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Okay, that might be an exaggeration, only slightly though, because... seriously. If he hadn't traveled all around the world and done all the research he's done on fantastical things, he would have never seen anything close to how amazing this place it is.
"Hey, look! It's me!" Mark say in agreement, smiling at him. He'd been looking forward to seeing Ben too, okay?
"I did. Do you think we can play with them or what? Like I know they're moving and doing their soldier thing, but I wonder if like we find two different kinds of soldiers, if they'd battle each other or UNITE for the greater good of the toy kingdom!"
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"... There's only one way to find out!" Ben says, the excitement practically radiating off of him as he approaches the toy soldiers. Sure, there's a certain amount of trepidation there--it is Chicago, after all--but there's such a happy feeling in his chest just by being here it'd be easy to ignore.
"I wonder if we could pick more than one, and then have like a whole army," he says. There are so many of them as it is, like they have a mind of their own.
It'd be like a video game come to life.
For a geek like Ben, there's nothing better, okay.
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"I'm right there with you!" Mark exclaims, and he's equally excited because lets face it, these two are very similar in a lot of ways. It is hard not to be excited by what is basically a video game come to life, and he's thinking the very same thing. It's a happy place, filled with happiness. He smiles as he looks over at Ben.
"Y'know, I bet you that we could. Okay, lets start small first though, five on five? You pick yours and I'll pick mine," Mark says, and he'll move over to the toy soldiers.
They're wearing different colors, carrying different weapons. This is all about strategy, okay? And watching things go boom, that's part of it too.
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But it's more than just the toys in this place. It's a feeling. You can't be unhappy inside of the place. You just can't.
"Five on five sounds like a perfectly sensible number," Ben says with a grin, picking out his five toy soldiers. They seem to get Ben is 'claiming' them, and they line up in front of him, 'at ease' as they decide on how to play the game.
"Whoa," he breathes out, watching them as they go.
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It's a wonderful feeling. He's kind of holding on to that feeling, because it is so good and safe. There's so little that's safe in this city, it seems, but this is safe.
"That's what I thought too. We can up the number and have entire huge armies fighting each other eventually, but or now? It's a good way to test them out," he says in an almost logical tone of voice, which is hilarious considering what they're doing.
He lines up his five. Three in front, two in the back, and he takes a step back himself, grinning.
"This is awesome." And he pauses a second cause talking and words are more important than yes. "Oh, hey! Happy Holidays... belatedly. Have a good one?"
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It'd be the best.
Ben steps back, watching as his three toy soldiers step up, battling it out with Mark's.
"Happy Holidays to you!" Ben says, and it's because of the warm, fuzzy feelings the store emits that his expression doesn't fall when Mark asks him the question. Not that anything happened with his family over the holidays or anything, he's just been really worried about Jess.
"Ah, you know. It had its ups and downs, nothing grave." Nothing he really wants to discuss in an awesome toy store. "Rift Santa gave me the coolest gift ever this year, though. Did you get one?"
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He is just that talented. Okay, Mark, maybe you won't get an actual, real one, because no one trusts you with a weapon.
Mark grin at the sight of it. Now this? This is entertainment. It is awesome fun with soldiers duking it out on their own!
"Thanks, man! Kinda sad that they're over," Mark admits as he's a big Holidays type of guy. He'd celebrate them all if he could, but he doesn't think that's... actually possible. BAW, BEN. (tears).
"Good to know. Nothing grave is always a positive, good thing in Chicago." He is really glad to have heard that Dylan is okay or he wouldn't be able to say the same about his own holiday season. Mark glances his way. "Wait, what did he get you? I got a snow cone machine maker, any flavor, multiple sizes. It's amazing. I've eaten more snow ( ... )
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Not that Ben's all that trustworthy with it, but he doesn't intend on using it.
It's just placed behind glass, as some kind of memorabilia, that he will worship until the day he dies.
"I know. Holidays being over means school, and I was kind of cool with the winter break continuing for as long as possible," Ben says. To no one's surprise, he's a big Holidays type of guy like Mark.
"Oh, man! That's really cool. I'm going to have to head over and try one of those sometime... when it's not so cold." Mark is an angel, though, so it makes sense that he wouldn't mind it. "What he got me? Let's just say that it's a Star Wars fan dream ... and no, it's not Princess Leia."
That'd kind of constitute as slavery, he thinks.
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He really is a fluffy marshmallow here, and Ben is smarter than Mark as Mark would for real intend to use that thing.
That is a much more responsible way to use a real lightsaber, Ben. Mark can learn a few things from you, okay? Mark would end up tearing through half the Crowbar before he realized that it is not good to use a lightsaber in real life, ahem.
"Oh, yeah, I liked the school thing, but if you don't, it's like heading back to prison... a nice prison but a prison. I'm always sad when the holiday end anyway," Mark says, as he stares off into the distance and shakes his head. It's almost listful.
"You will! I demand it. You'd even get one for free, because hell yeah, I'm charging the general public and making money off of the awesome snow cones. Not ( ... )
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