The problem with having houseguests after moving into your own place a week ago is that sometimes the only furniture you have is a bed and a couch. So the shopping trip that was going to have to happen anyway is happening earlier.
IKEA's not the closest place, and by the time Aeryn gets to the huge building, she's kind of amazed that it can be a store. And then when she gets inside, the first words out of her mouth are, "No one can take shopping this seriously."
John's already looking around for things he wants to buy. There's just SO MUCH. So, he distractedly asks, "What do you mean?"
"I don't even know where to start, is what I mean," she says, frowning at one of the containers of big plastic bags and wondering why anyone would sell those.
"We'll start at the beginning," he says. "And just get whatever looks awesome."
She raises an eyebrow at that as she wanders towards the nearest section, which is the sofas and living room furniture. "So. Is anything awesome?"
"
That's pretty awesome," John says, pointing. "Sofa bed! For all our lazy needs!"
The eyebrows have not lowered. "I can't even tell you what that is," she says. "What is it?"
"Sofa bed," he repeats. "For sitting and sleeping. For when we have guests!"
"That doesn't look very comfortable for sleeping," she points out. "It looks like a chiropractic nightmare."
"No fun," John pouts, making a face. "What about
that?"
She studies it, and admits, "It's actually not bad." She takes a seat, kind of loving the comfort, and then notices the price. "Do we need more seating? People can sit on the couch or floor, right?"
He kind of agrees. "I think we might be good on seating. We do need a table and some chairs. And a bed for the spare room. Wanna go find those?"
She nods, getting up with some difficulty. Not that she's showing that. "
That's not bad," she says when she sees one table in particular. Plus it comes in black, which is a big selling point for Aeryn.
"Think we can fit four around it?" John asks.
"I think this is just one of those... living room table things," she says. "But if we sat on the floor, I think it could do double duty." She's half-joking.
"We're not sitting on the floor to eat dinners," he says. "But this would look nice in front of the couch."
Aeryn's kind of proud she just succeeded at finding something. "Good," she says, and looks around. "Do they sell bigger tables here? These are all short?" Yes, Aeryn, there's a whole SECTION for stuff like big tables. At which point her head would start to hurt.
John leads them over to the big table section and spots something immediately. "I want
this!.
Aeryn does a double-take when she sees the setup, then realizes what she's seein. "Oh," she says. "That... looks really bizarre all put together."
"It's a space saver!" Plus, it's weird looking and John wants it. "I want it!"
"Can we afford it?" she wonders, not sure where the price tag is.
"I'll charge it," John decides.
She blinks. "Charge it?"
"Credit card," he tells her.
"I'll trust you on this one," she says, not wanting to get an explanation in the middle of a store. "Okay. Fine."
"And that means we don't have to buy separate chairs." He grabs the piece of paper to hold the item and says, "Beds now?"
"Sure," she says, following the aisle around to them. "...Beds should not be hard to choose."
"
This!" John might be bouncing a little.
She stares at him. "You know Anakin would probably kill you, right?"
"Yep." He grins. "Can you imagine him having to get a drink in the middle of the night and falling off?"
"And I don't want to wake up to finding you skewered. We'll lose the security deposit."
"
This one?" John asks. "Cheap, not girly, not high off the ground."
"I like that," Aeryn says, tilting her head at it. It looks kind of industrial and militaristic to her, so she likes it, but she's not saying that out loud. "Okay. Charge it?"
"Charge it," he grins. "Mattress now."
She frowns. "But it has a mattress."
John finds the mattresses and, after looking around, does a swan dive on the nearest one.
Aeryn watches, half amused. "You're certainly making yourself comfortable."
"I'm testing," he says and bounces around on the bed.
She looks around to see if any salespeople have a problem with this. As per usual with IKEA, there might be none on this floor at all. "And?"
"Comfy!" He pats the empty space next to him invitingly.
"We are allowed to sit on these, right?" she asks, though she had no problem sitting on the couch, and climbs up onto the bed next to him.
"We're testing," he tells her. And bounces. "Bounce, babe."
"I'm not bouncing," she says, looking alarmed.
He reaches over and tries to bounce her.
"Noooo," she says, shaking her head, but doesn't make any other move to stop him, since that will probably draw more attention.
"Bounce or I will yell something embarrassing," he warns.
"No, you won't!" she says, and tries to cover his mouth with her hand.
"Aeryn sleeps with me!" John yells out. "All the time!"
"Shut up!" she says, and that would be her hand right over his mouth.
He starts laughing and then licks her hand.
"Oh, yuck," Aeryn says, half-laughing and not moving her hand because she knows better.
He gives her hand a big smooch.
"I can't take you anywhere, can I?" she asks, removing her hand finally and wiping it on his pants.She's smiling, though.
"You wouldn't bounce!"
"You couldn't have honestly thought I would," she points out.
"I asked nicely," he says. He hadn't but his memory is short.
"You didn't," she says. "And I wouldn't have anyway."
He sticks his tongue out at her and asks, "What do you think of this mattress anyway?"
"It's fine to me," she says, patting it to test it. "It's easier to say yes to when I won't be the one sleeping on it."
[Preplayed with
whitedeathpod