(no subject)
Who: David Fisher[Papa Bear] and Edie Steinlen[Snow White].
When: May 10th, Late Afternoon--Early Evening before Miles' Dinner Party.
Where: Edie's Brownstone. Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
What: David comes to pick up his escort and to retrieve his birthday presents.
Rating: PG-13.
Edie: The front door was unlocked.
There was a certain trust that Edie put in David that she did not instill in anybody else. Whether it came from the simple fact that they were both in agreement that the world was full of shit eaters(and that those shit eaters were usually the ones closest to you) or that honesty was the best policy in all forms was only two of those reasons; somehow the very unlikely pair had found each other, amidst the dusty shelves of a liquor store no less, and formed an alliance. With that trust, they got each other's nasty bits, those parts nobody else wanted to see, that they doubted others could handle...they existed to keep one another sane and grounded.
In both the real world and tale.
David Fisher was in all forms her family, the one that the girl had been forced to create for herself in her own lack of a proper one; within it he had become the unspoken father figure. Though the words had never crossed her lips in between scolding him and providing support. Her love, adoration, and trust were always evident in the air that rested between them. It was why in their strange friendship she had come to appreciate tradition, and this year it seemed all bets were off. There was the evidence of that first in her need to seek out a new gift, one she far preferred to his usual scotch. And then there was the party, a party instead of the usual menu of honey glazed and cedar smoked salmon, brussels sprouts, and chocolate bourbon pecan pie. It was shocking, it was different. Regardless it didn't take long for the girl to rush through a shower, simultaneously toweling her hair as she ripped through her closet for something to wear to the impromptu get together. Humming along through her panic as if she had all the time in the world.
"Why don't you come and play here? I'm just sitting on the shelf..Why don't you sit right down and stay awhi--"
David: He couldn't stress enough that just because they were going to a party on the night of his annual dinner, this did not get Edie off the hook, for her brussels sprouts were legendary and cedar smoked salmon? Sweet Jesus.
All in all though, it had been a fairly good day, he had taken the cactus that his employees had given him, home, plunked the damned thing down on the kitchen counter and refused to look at it for the remainder of the day including the majority of Saturday. That day he had received an alarming amount of gifts of which included: a steakhouse certificate and shirt, a dozen cookies from Eleanor and a surgically-enhanced cop in what appeared to be a uniform found in the juniors section at the local Sears... The woman had proceeded to sing her heart out, then attempted to cuff him, which didn't have the desired effect the woman was obviously going for, as David proceeded to laugh. Forty-three years old and he was getting a singing stripper right to his door... Now to pray that the impressionable eyes of his niece hadn't seen who was at her uncle's door at two in the afternoon.
Parking his car in front of Edie's brownstone, David switched off the motor and stepped out, moving up the walk way. Stopping at the door, he glanced down at the large flowerpot on the side of the front porch and more importantly the two white furry ears poking out of it. "Cat." David said in noncommittal greeting, knowing the thing's name but choosing to not make their meeting any more personable than necessary. Cat, or Ondine, perked and peered up at the fair-haired man before emitting a low growl. "You're lucky you're hers. Otherwise, you'd be made into horse food." David stated before pushing the brownstone's door open, Ondine casually hopping from the plant pot and sauntering in ahead of him.
Shutting the door behind him, David looked around at the familiarly decorated foyer and took a few more steps inside. The juvenile thought of perhaps doing a bit of snooping for his gifts (plural, as Edie had written), crossed David's mind but was immediately if not sadly, trashed. Instead, he spoke up hopefully loud enough for her to hear, wherever she was. "Edie?"
Edie: A head poked out of her bedroom door to spy David with a smile, "One minute Sir!" It came cut slightly short as her step was caught by the white cat who made haste into her room through her feet. "Go check in the wine racks for something you want to take with you." And with that direction (and a brief glance at what he'd chosen to wear) her door was shut leaving him to his own devices as she finished dressing.
Soon enough the girl came from the room, her hair blow dried straight and surprisingly well styled as opposed to it's usually wild mass of layers, and she'd chosen to don a brown dress over a pair of jeans and heels to aid her in her endeavor to reach an appropriate height so she'd not look too much like David's daughter rather than escort. A white cardigan lay draped over a rather large and wildy box that she heaved out of her bedroom towards the kitchen where it met the table with a resoundingly heavy brick like thump.
David: Having assumed that the dinner party was casual, David had opted for a similarly casual look as well, something that bordered on the formal and informal, not to mention something he hadn't had to iron, the aforementioned iron still in it's packaging along with an unopened ironing board. Managing to catch a glimpse of Edie's outfit as he headed in the direction of the pantry at her invitation, David journeyed down the stairs and took a brief amount of time choosing two bottles: The Pinot Grigio he had mentioned in the Compendiums earlier and a Pinot Noir.
After ascending the stairs, he ventured into the kitchen where Edie was fussing over a large box wrapped in a familiar white cardigan (no doubt the same one that had been in her nest of clothes and blankets a few months prior.) "I chose two," he replied and set the bottles down on the table. "Which will go to the dinner party and stay there."
Edie: "That's the spirit, what did you pick?"
The cardigan and what looked like a pile of jewelry was pulled from the kelly green wrapped box, a large bronze ribbon tied just around it to make the box far more celebratory now that her accessories were removed from it. "Keep it on the table as you open it..." She smiled, pulling delicate little gold bangles onto her wrists as she came to lean against the stove, allowing plenty of room for him to dig into the box that held a veritable Valhalla of honey from across the globe, two smaller still wrapped packages nestled in amongst the jars.
"You weren't nearly as difficult as I thought you'd be..it just took a bit of creative thinking."
David: "Pinot Grigio and Noir." He answered, pale blue eyes watching the box with interest. Not that difficult to shop for? Wow. Allotting a small smile in response, David took the few steps over to the table and gave the green box a calculating look. Now, there could be a number of things in there that made him not as difficult to shop for. The more comical would-bes being a blow up doll, an enormous bottle of champagne along with a large wooden mallet, and two dozen New York State lottery tickets. Curiosity getting the better of him, David reached up and removed the bow, tearing the green paper off and opened the box, peering down into it.
"Honey?" He looked up and over at his friend leaning against her stove, an amused grin working itself onto his pale face and into his eyes in an unusual showing of merriment. Seems time couldn't keep the bear out of David, who in this lifetime had a very strong affinity for honey. Reaching in, he picked out one of the jars, palming it and looking across the room to her. "Thank you. Really." He gave the jar a pleased pat before setting it back down in the box.
Edie: "Very good, Sir. Which did you grab? The Bohan-Dillon?"
Edie smiled through his unwrapping, distinctively happy to see such a bright and jovial look upon his face. It was pleasing, it was relieving really considering how much shit the poor man had been dealing with in the past few months. Every smile and laugh was becoming very akin to a small treasure. "I thought you'd like it, there ought to be information on each jar regarding it's best pairings, I think you're really going to love the Fir of Vytina honey..it's spicy so you can use it in a lot of meat dishes." Edie said with a smile, pointing to other two smaller boxes. "Finish opening.." She was very curious to see what he thought of the tie that she'd gotten him from Geoffrey Beene.
David: "Yes, the Bohan-Dillion," David intoned, turning his attention to the box of honey once again. More? Well, Edie had said 'presents', although the honey would've been plenty enough. Really, she did spoil him.
Reaching into the box, he pulled out a small cube shaped box. Tearing the kelly green paper from it, he opened the blue and black striped lid and pulled out a rolled up tie, whistling lowly. "Wow, Kiddo... I don't know what to say." He started, obviously pleased. Due to his coloring both skin-wise and eyes, blue was always a good color for David... A fine choice indeed.
Edie: "Good good.." Spoiling she did, but tell her that and she'd find herself aghast at such an accusation. Edie prided herself in the firm hand she kept with David, keeping her Sir in line and out of as much trouble as she certainly could. Spoiling him would have been indulging, and indulging she certainly did not do. She also was the Queen of England.
Smiling at his appreciation of the tie, it was such a father's day gift but it was one of those odd things he tended to show affectation towards. And the blue had been what had caught her eye. "I thought so, and you better not lose this one.." It came with a raise of her eyebrow as she thought about the numerous shenanigans the man might have gotten into months prior in one of his foggier hazes, the ties that had been lost in the past. The second gift, a start swatch of a pattern for a quilt would show it was thought of in the same way.
David: It was true, David had received three ties thus far from his son, all of which were excessively loud in color and one that even blinked and flashed... Regardless of the numerous fashion laws he was breaking, David chose to keep them, because those eyesores were from Martin, and whatever was from Martin was close to his heart.
Rolling the tie back up carefully, he placed it in its small box and looked over at Edie with with an amused expression directed towards that raised eyebrow of her's. "Me? Nah..." David kidded as he reached for the last wrapped box. "I've got other ties to lose." A glance down at the box in his hands and he removed the paper from it and opened the lid to reveal one of her numerous quilt swatches, although this one was a cut above the rest.
"For me?" David looked up from the box at her, lightly frowning in confusion. No one had ever made him a quilt, swatch or otherwise.
Edie: "Yes... Or at least, that's what a part of it will look like when it's done." This quilt was not very home spun looking, it was simple in design, geometric and appeared to be something one might find at a Pier One rather than in your grandmother's cottage. Though that was the sort of thing she assumed David was more akin to, he never seemed the type to appreciate that sort of look. That particular homeyness. "Do you like it? I can come up with something else."
David: What a question indeed. Did he like it? Running the pad of his thumb over the stitching, David's blue gaze traced over the colorful patches. During his childhood, while he didn't get blessed with many presents, he did get the customary birthday present usually from a Sears catalog. There had been nothing in his childhood or even adulthood that had constituted as a 'homemade' present. Simply put, it meant a lot to him, made him feel important and that he was worthy of something other than what you could buy from a Sears catalog.
"It's... Wow." David spoke up, eyes not leaving the square of fabric in his hands. Nodding silently for a few moments, he mumbled something incoherent as he attempted to gather his wits. Clearing his throat, David looked up at her with an awkward smile, emotions bubbling just below the surface as with a cough he placed the square of fabric back in its box and closed the lid, placing it inside the larger box.
Edie: Half considering whether or not it would be an appropriate moment to hug him, Edie found herself waffling between allowing David to re-establish the manly stoicism he often projected, or potentially lowering him into a more wibbly mess. It was a hard decision, to be sure. And as he placed away the square, her arm slung around his waist in a compromised half hug. "Happy Birthday, Sir." It came with a warm, almost admiring smile.
David: Wibbly mess never did look good on David, maybe it was the coloring or the cut? As was, as Edie settled an arm around his waist in a half hug, David couldn't help but flinch visibly. In an attempt to cover up his blunder, he gave an amused half laugh and reached around her back, hand gripping the shoulder opposite and squeezing it gently.
"Thanks, Kiddo." He started, giving her a small though undoubtedly appreciative smile in return. "You sure know how to make an old man feel special."
Edie: Smiling, Edie reached up to offer a chaste kiss to his jaw(for lack of being able to reach his cheek) before taking his arm. "You're not old, should we get going then?"
David: Dropping his hand from her shoulder so she could tuck her hand into the crook of his arm, David nodded lightly and after offering a small pat to her hand, latched up the two bottles of wine from the table just in his reach. Heading in the direction of the door, David opened it for her and waited until she had passed through before joining and shutting it behind him. What a memorable birthday, indeed.
Edie: It was certainly not what she had in mind, it wasn't tradition but she hoped it would still be good. Hoped he'd still be happy, it was different. Taking his arm, she locked the door behind them and let him lead the way.