(no subject)
Who: Luke Shepherson[Eldest Goat] and Edie Steinlen[Snow White].
Where: Luke's Love Shack/Edie's Brownstone respectively.
When: Monday Night, Around 11 p.m. during this.
What: A socially inept princess utilizes 1-800-Dial-A-Goat for dating tips.
Rating: PG-13 for language?
Luke was asleep when the phone rang. When on disability leave, sleep schedules ceased to mean much. Plus, Edie's quilt was really warm, and it smelled like her house, which was nice. Sootie apparently liked it too, because she'd crawled up while Luke was asleep and was laying across his feet. She jumped down when he woke up and slunk away guiltily.
He scowled at her - she wasn't supposed to get on the furniture - and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
A date. A date? When the hell had Edie last been asked out on a date, in those very words? Just the prospect that anyone had considered her as anything more than an overtly nurturing friend was enough to confuse her. Add on the fact that this was some sort of scorned ex-lover? friend? She hadn't really bothered to ask the details, of Elisa- who was her Queen. The Queen that had tried to kill her in her tale, and had in fact killed her in at least one known past life...And it led to a whole lot of concern.
Sure, it would have been smart to have just declined. But part of her had genuinely liked Sam, and despite the oddity of his forwardness- it felt nice to be complimented. Still, she was panicking, even more so now that she had to pick the place. What may have usually been an easy decision suddenly turned into something arduous by that four letter word. With Anthony gone- and unable to understand the Tale thing, and David off in the wilderness the first person Edie thought to call next was Luke. Luke, who had become a fast friend in the time that Vegas had run off leaving the two that had been separated by her temper to actually have a real conversation without fear of beheading. The new friend who was so much like her, so comfortable to be around that she hadn't even thought of how odd it may have been to have chosen him to call with this dilemma instead of someone like Eleanor.
And so she did...pen tapping impatiently on the table until his side of the line picked up. "Luke! Oh dear, you sound tired? Is everything alright? Did you like those cookies? I have a question for you if you don't mind me being a bit crazy but if you're busy or tired I can just call back another time or deal with this on my own I don't want to be a bother you know-" It seemed like the girl wouldn't stop on her own accord, caught up in a flurry of fast mouth diarrhea to which there seemed to be no end.
"EDIE," Luke said. "Whoa girl, slow down! What is it?"
"-squish m---" She seemed to hault enough to take in a deep breath. "Date. A date, I got asked on a date. I don't know what to do."
Luke rubbed his eyes. For a split second he thought she'd been about to ask HIM out. So what with being sleepy, he didn't quite follow. "Wait, what? You have a date?"
"Yes. With Sam Hayes- the Bear Prince- who thought I was his Snow White, but I'm not but I think he dated Elisa who is my Queen which could lead to trouble, but I said yes and now I have to p--" She stopped herself, taking another breath. "I said yes, and now I have to pick a place- and I haven't been on a date in AGES, is it even normal to ask someone out on a date after only meeting them? What about squishing?"
Luke crossed his legs and pulled the quilt into his lap. He idly traced the star pattern while he talked. He had a vague feeling of relief and disappointment. He remembered when he'd opened the package and found the quilt, and realized she'd made it for him. How he'd gotten goosebumps, he was so moved by the gesture of affection. He'd been wrestling with the implications of the gift - if it meant she was Interested in him, or not. If he was Interested in her - he still wasn't sure. It was still so soon after River. And he really liked being with Neil - but could he have a future with a man twice his age who was so far above him, who openly admitted to not wanting any attachments? Edie, however - that was a girl with "Future" written all over her.
Luke had been singularly preoccupied with those musings. All of which evaporated with her one statement - she'd been asked on a date. And she sure wasn't interested in him if she was calling for advice on another man. It was an abrupt shift for Luke and it took a minute for his mind to turn. When it did it drew a fun little pentagon - Edie to Sam to Elisa to Neil to Luke to Edie.
He finally caught all the way up. "You have to pick a place? Well, pick something public and semi-crowded till you know he's safe. And - squishing? Is that a clever metaphor?"
"That's a good idea." Why hadn't she, the ever responsible matriarchal figure thought of that one off the bat. "But that's about anywhere in New York apart from our homes, and I'm not stupid enough to bring him there. A metaphor? Oh goodness, I hadn't even thought of that one! I don't know..." There was the brief shuffle of pages in her compendium as she went back to the first few comments. "He said that.." She took a moment before quoting.." 'Anyway, can I just say that I think you're very, very adorable and compact. You're like a pocket-sized friend. I'm kidding, of course. You're not pocket-sized. But you do make me want to squish you. That is weird right? I told him it was a terrifying thing to say and then he assured me he wouldn't hurt me. I've never been told I was squishable before." Was squishable even a word? If it was..did someone really want to be squishable?
Luke reached for his cigarettes and mused on giving Sam a warning. Something more creative than 'hurt her = kill you.' "I think he was trying to be cute. He failed, but yeah, I don't think a violent person will give cheeky warnings beforehand."
"Unless they're Patrick Bateman...or Rose. But he despises Rose, so I think it's safe to say that he's just being cute. He seems harmless, and he is very nice." She seemed to calm a bit from when she'd first called. Reaching for her "specialty" cigarette tin, only to curse softly under her breath, Edie would have to make a call for Conrad now as well. The soft shuffle of the phone and the soft clink of tin making the surprising utterance more noticeable. "It's just weird, he's so complimentary that it's almost scary- or at least it's scary for someone like me at least.....I just asked him to go to the zoo."
"That's good. Very good. A little different, outdoors, lots of people, innocent."
"Yeah, it sounds like the poor guy's had his heart broken already. I don't want to give him any wrong impressions- you know?" More shuffles, more curses..and then came the the distinctive creak of a door and the soft thudding noise of a pack gag of cigarettes. "This is absolutely nerve wracking."
"Yeah, seems Elisa's something of a tornado when it comes to men. Neil's kinda hung up on her too. Hey, don't spread that around, by the way, I don't know how many people know about all that drama and I sure don't want to stir anything up. Tales in general are a dramatic sort, ya know?" It was a theme, really, how interconnected the Tale community was, relationship-wise. Seemed you couldn't date anyone without knowing two or three of their exes, who may or may not be YOUR exes.
The pat-pat-pat of cigarettes being packed reminded Luke of his own addiction, and he reached over for his own, which were sticking out of his shoes along with his wallet and keys. Best to have everything of importance altogether. The lighter had tumbled down into the toe, and he picked up his shoe to shake the lighter out.
"This is probably not going to help, but you give the wrong impression more often than you think. You're a really nice person, and some folk misinterpret niceness and generosity for flirting. Most people just ain't as considerate as you are, they don't do stuff for people without having an agenda, or at least wanting something in return. Now I'm not telling you that to be critical - just, watch yourself, ok? For your own safety. You don't need a stalker." That might freak her out, but oh well. If it did, at least she'd be careful.
"Yeah I know, hun you know anything you or anyone says to me is always in direct confidence." Lighting the cigarette, a Davidoff Magnum, there was no sigh of relief or even a smile. She'd run out of pot, run out of real tobacco, and now she was trying to substitute it with a stale tasting cigarette from god knows when. As Luke scolded her, at least that's just how Edie seemed to take his words her frown deepened.
"Goodness, now I really need a joint...I don't even know how to flirt, Luke, all things considered if that was an issue I think I'd have run into this problem far sooner rather than alm- now..I..well I'll watch myself, I promise." Edie seethed self confidence, obviously. "Though I'm quite positive you don't need to worry hun, I'm not quite stalking material." Now that was a lie, hell that was a laughable lie but she wasn't about to say anything in regards to that particular mistake, not when she'd been trying to bleach it out her memory for years to no avail.
"Even Sarah Jessica Parker has stalkers, and her face looks like a foot," Luke said, talking around the cigarette that hung out of his mouth while he lit it. He took in a lungful of smoke with a sharp hiss. "Trust me, babe, you're hot enough to have a stalker. Don't argue with me. Tell you what - give me a call when you get home. I don't care what time." He started to say he'd call the police if he didn't hear from her by morning, but he didn't want her to be TOO terrified.
That brought out a laugh, a good natured bubbling sort of laugh that let her forgive the shitty cigarette and the somewhat too late time for her to get to any real tobacconist before the morning. Enough time spent with the girl, and just by the sound you knew she had a smile that lit up ear to ear. "Alright, it isn't until Saturday and it's during the day time too. Hopefully I'll see you or speak to you well before then though..Luke?" She paused for a moment, she was about to ask him about just what was expected behavior for this sort of thing, what she was supposed to do and what was normal. Instead Edie shoved it to the back of her mind, that was something for Eleanor(she hoped). "..Thanks."
"You're welcome," he said. Sootie whined next to him; she dropped her empty food bowl on the floor next to the bed with a great clatter. "Hey, let me know how it goes, ok? I gotta go take Sootie outside and feed her."
Her laughing stopped at the whine, the worry near tangible until she heard the food bowl. Grinning, you could hear the smile in her voice. "I will, you're absolutely wonderful. Give Sootie my love!"
Luke hung up the phone and looked down at Sootie. "Well, that was one problem I'd have liked to have," he said with a touch of mirth. "Sorry girl, looks like she's more of an aunt than a mama." He cracked his knuckles; he'd have to compose a suitably polite warning to Sam if this guy stuck around, just to let him know that this one had a bigger goat - ahem, a protective male friend.