RP: Cowgirls and Caterpillars

[luke_riffraff]

Date: September 28, 2011
Characters: Luke Rafferty, Shoshana Wise, Sloane Wise (npc)
Location: Central Library in Ft Worth
Status: Semi-Public
Summary: Shosh brings Sloane to storytime.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[shoshana_wise]

Honestly, Shosh didn't know who needed storytime at the library more, Sloane or her? It was a nice break from the stress of the last handful of days. Although She had to pause and wonder if maybe it was just getting a bit of laugh out of how animated Luke was while reading to the kids that brightened her mood a bit. She wouldn't tease him about it, after all it was part of his job, well, okay - maybe she wouldn't tease him that badly about it.

She watched as Sloane stayed still during the entire reading, only bouncing up off the floor as Luke finished and for a brief moment Shosh had that feeling she gets whenever she's not near enough to her daughter to stop her from doing something destructive, that moment of 'Please lord let her not run off or ruin anything.' Shosh let out a sigh though when Sloane came racing back towards her.

Picking Sloane up as the little girl reached her, Shosh smiled as Luke greeted her. "Hey Luke." and she laughed as Sloane waved rather fast and chirped. "Hi, hi." before squirming in her Mama's arms because she wanted to be down riffling through the books again.

"So do they make you do all those added voices and such, or is that your choice?" Shosh's tone was a little teasing, but she really was going to try and not harass Luke too much, the opportune word being try.

[luke_riffraff]

"Hi hi back." Luke lifted a hand and smiled wider. She had just as much energy, it seemed, as she'd had at the bookstore that day, but she'd sat through the story all the same.

The look Luke gave Shosh was only a little pained because he'd been expecting it; Shosh had a tendency to tease him even when in normal random places. "It's optional," he admitted. "But it makes things more fun to do it. At least, I think they like it. Although, I suppose it could be me they're laughing at." He didn't want to look like he was explaining himself too much. He cleared his throat. "Anyway. I tend to think it's a good storytime practice."

[shoshana_wise]

Sloane giggled madly as Luke greeted her back in the same ways she'd greeted him. The four year old hadn't seen him since the bookstore, but she still found him as amusing as before, especially the way he did storytime.

Catching Luke's slightly pained expression, she had a moment of guilt before pushing it off. By now Shosh figured he should be used to her teasing, it wasn't like she was known for her pleasantness. "When dealing with kids, the goofier you can be the better." She remarked, chuckling softly. "Whether they're laughing at the book or you, least they're sitting still for longer than five minutes." Or at least that's how Shosh was choosing to look at things. "Making funny noises? Well it keeps the kids interested at least."

[luke_riffraff]

He grinned at Sloane again. Kids got such a kick out of the simple things. It was nice.

"I'm learning that," he said, relaxing slightly into a chuckle. "Keeps their attention. I would've thought it'd make them more hyper--which it kind of does once they get to giggling, but they do sit still, you're right about that." He shrugged a bit. "You'd definitely know more about it than me, I'm just getting into it. I've only been doing it since the summer." He put his hands in his pockets as he looked at her a moment. "Maybe I should've picked your brain."

[shoshana_wise]

Sloane beamed at Luke before finally managing to wiggle out of her Mama's arms and make a beeline for the picture book section. Shosh keeping a close eye on her while she continued to talk to Luke.

"That's the great things about kids, they don't care if you're a little foolish." She knew that fact had saved her more than once with Sloane, though Shosh had never been the type to be bothered by looking foolish. "Giggling okay so long as they're not destroying things in the process." She pointed out easily, shaking her head slightly. "Not so much actually, I'd never admit it but I take most of my parenting advice from a Cowboy who doesn't even have kids." Though she'd be damned if she ever admitted that to Cody, and granted the only advice she had taken of late was cleaning up her language to some degree. "The trick to dealing with kids is to not let them sense fear." Or maybe that was dealing with dogs, Shosh could never remember exactly.

"So you've been Mr. Storytime since the summer, How'd they rope you into that gig?" Shosh was curious, because Luke had never struck her as the 'kid' type, now that's not to say she thought he didn't like kids, he just didn't seem familiar with them.

[luke_riffraff]

"Not destroying things, no. Well, not most of the time." Sometimes they got the ones that needed closer supervision, which got pretty awkward if their parents had decided to go browsing or something. "We try not to keep any valuables over here." He shrugged. "I guess you have to take help where you can get it, being on your own. Not that...I mean. You're doing well with her, clearly, she's delightful." Luke frowned a little, awkward, and ducked his head. "You must know what you're doing, just. Everyone needs help."

He raised a brow. "They rarely strike me as particularly predatory," he said, but his expression turned wry because he was aware of his own inexperience, "but I'll definitely take that under advisement."

"I'm not sure actually, it just kind of happened," he admitted. "I'm over at the reference desk usually, but there was a summer reading program this year and they needed all hands on deck. It got me more used to working with kids, at least, or I'd never have volunteered to help out in over here in the childrens' section when one of the regulars got sick. But apparently I've been sufficiently roped in."

[shoshana_wise]

"Wise, keep the breakables and important things away from the tiny people." Shosh remarked with a laugh. Well aware how destructive small children could be, especially one's who's parents liked to drop them and disappear into the darkest corners of the library far away from their kids. She laughed as Luke kind of rambled and got a little awkward. "I can't take any credit for her delightfulness, she accomplished that all on her own." Shosh grinned, well aware her daughter didn't take after her in that respect at all.

She smirked. "Looks can fool you." Shosh was mostly teasing, last she checked Luke was right and kids weren't really predatory. "Well not sure how much weight you should put in my advice, but I give it anyway."

"Sounds like it just 'didn't happen' more like you were a nice guy who offered to step in and help out, and that helping out turned into wrangling ankle biters for storytime for an undetermined amount of time." Shosh commented. "But I could be hearing things wrong."

[luke_riffraff]

"I'm sure you can take most of the credit. She seems well-adjusted, that's not always the case." Luke knew from that, at least.

He shrugged. "Well, it's not complete torture," he quipped, "and actually, it's nice most of the time; there's less actual wrangling than you'd think. Parents are often present to deal with all that. Plus working with them isn't so bad--we're starting a tutoring program for school-age kids, even."

He scratched the back of his head. "That's probably enough about me though, I suppose. How've you been?"

[shoshana_wise]

Shosh shrugged, not entirely used to getting complimented in a way on her parenting. "Maybe some of the credit, but I've had a good group of people around me to help." And she did, Her Dad, Graham, Rori, and yes even Cody fell into that group that helped raise Sloane up to be the little girl she was today.

She laughed. "That's a glowing remark on your job. 'Not complete torture' is that how they talk it up?" she shot back. "So you still manage to get parents around here who want to parent?" Shosh wasn't at storytime enough to know what the other parents chose to do. "Tutoring program, huh?"

Waving a hand a him, Shosh smiled. "Nah, right now it's easier to talk about someone else's life. Mine's full of gloom and doom created by the drought." She sighed. "Been okay, was better before I wrangled Isaac into explaining the finances of the the ranch to me and found out that, well, they suck." Maybe she was over dramatizing it, cutting back on hours and the cattle herd wasn't the end of the world, but it wasn't going to be easy either.

[luke_riffraff]

"Well, considering my general impressions before starting to deal with kids, I'd have been glad to hear it wasn't complete torture," he admitted with a shrug. "All the nerves have eased by now, though. Probably because I get to hand the kids back to their parents afterward." He nodded. "Like a volunteer thing, really. Library seemed to be a good place for it. It's safe and there'll be people around who're familiar with various disciplines." He smiled. "Not that Sloane needs to worry about anything like that yet."

"My life isn't as interesting," he pointed out, then frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. I've been reading reports on how the drought's been affecting the state. I thought about you; as the sole ranch owner I know you're kind of the face of it for me." He remembered she'd been trying to figure out fundraising even before the weather had taken a turn for the worse.

"So that day he came home with his eyes still crossed, that was you?" He tried for a little joke. "At least you know now. Not that you didn't have some idea, probably, but in terms of the specifics. It's best to know so you can move forward and deal with things the way they really are."

[shoshana_wise]

"I'm still not sure some days that it isn't complete torture." She replied, aware of how that sounded. She loved Sloane, she did. Some days though, raising a four year old felt like torture, but maybe that as just Shosh's take on it. "Getting to hand the kids back to their parents is definitely a highlight." Shosh laughed outright at the tutoring comment. "If my four year old needs tutoring I think I'd have a prodigy on my hands." Although after hearing Isaac talk about how much fun being a prodigy was, Shosh really didn't want that for her baby girl.

"That's exactly why I prefer hearing about it, for a moment or two I can pretend like my life isn't hectic." She countered with a small laugh, going serious as talk moved back to the drought. "Thanks, it's a tough situation. But we're all trying to survive, appreciate the thought though. Maybe I can cash in and attempt to really be the face of the Texas ranching community." She was teasing on the last part, but right now she was willing to do just about anything to make money.

"Yes that was me and my severe lack of mathematical understanding." She laughed, thankful for the attempt at a joke to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I think my ranch manager has known for awhile, but wanted to keep me from stressing." Which was sweet of Graham, if not entirely helpful."

[luke_riffraff]

"Everyone reaches the end of their tether at times," he reasoned, moving a shoulder. He'd no parenting experience, but everyone was human. "The prodigy thing has been known to happen. She does seem to have a head for re-organizing things."

"I could get into more detail about tutoring, or the finer points of puppy rearing," he offered, not exactly seriously. "But I hope you're able to at least hold onto it, whatever happens. As long as you have the land, you could conceivably build from there. And there's a lot you might be able to do to make money if your ranch is large. Offer tours, maybe? Rides?" He tried to rack his brain, but his experience was limited. "I could find you some books, more in the fundraising vein you were looking for earlier this year but without the tax codes."

"Math isn't really my strong suit either," he admitted, "Isaac makes my eyes cross when he gets going about Pi." He hadn't known there was quite that much to say about one number, but still. He frowned. "Not helpful at all. And it's clearly not saved you any stress in the end, as you own the property, not him."

[shoshana_wise]

"And when you lack patience it happens sooner rather than later." she shrugged, appreciating Luke's attempt at reason. "So I've heard, not sure re-organizing a bookstore or the library counts as being a prodigy, though. But what do I know about prodigies."

"I heard you got a puppy, which is almost like raising a kid, almost." She laughed, if she remembered correctly said puppy was named 'Sauce', and name that still made her giggle just a little bit. "I think I will be. We're not in dire straights, we're just tight. Talked to a guy at a greenhouse yesterday who was thinking up ways to help out the ranchers, so who knows, maybe something will come of that." Dalton had seemed sincere about the idea. "But I'd more than gladly take any books you can find on fundraising, I'm willing to do just about anything without reason and feasibility right now."

"I'm so terrible with it Isaac has offered to try and teach me. I get numbers, but they just don't hold my interest long enough to want to understand all the intricacies." she said. "Thankfully I have never been subjected to him rattling on about Pi, and I think I'm going to hope I never am." Although she did enjoy rambling on about nothing in particular with Isaac. "No, but Graham's kind of like an Uncle or something. He was trying to protect me. And most days the place should really be his, he's the one that really keeps it running."

[luke_riffraff]

"Sauce isn't quite as talkative as Sloane, but there's a certain resemblance at his age," he said with a laugh. "I think a puppy's about all we need right now." He nodded. "Well, I hope something comes of it. I forget how community-oriented people are down here sometimes. It's not quite that way in New York. But people wanting to help each other, that's nice." He fished out his long-suffering little notebook and pen, opening it to a fresh page so he could jot down some notes. "I'll start on a list. Email it to you, maybe?" It didn't seem like much help, but he supposed he really quite liked the idea of community. Even if this one wasn't one he was strictly a part of.

"If he couldn't get me into it, that's probably saying something," Luke said wryly. "Listening to Iz is nice, though, whatever he's talking about." He nodded as she talked about Graham. "I do understand family, at least a little." His might be just one person and said person's sister, but it was family all the same.

[shoshana_wise]

"I would hope not. You end up with a talking dog and you guys would have a cash cow on your hands." She remarked with laugh. "Though a puppy and a four year old have the same amount of energy I would imagine." Shosh smirked slightly. "What, you two don't want to go raising a kid or something?" She teased, well aware, at least to her knowledge that Luke and Isaac weren't actually a couple, but she teased none the less. "I hope so as well. And Yeah, down here in the South we're all fairly community oriented, it's helpful when times like these come around." She didn't have any other place to base her opinion on, having only lived in Texas her entire life. "A list would be awesome, book guru." She paused. "Do you need my e-mail?"

"That is saying something. Told him I was a loss cause, he wasn't so sure." Shosh smiled slightly, "You know I have to agree with you on that. Isaac's just interesting, period." She really did enjoy her conversations with him, he never minded the rabbit trails she could get on sometimes. "I don't have much of a family myself, mostly just people who're like family." People like Graham, Rori and Cody, they were like family to her though she wasn't related to them.

[luke_riffraff]

Luke ducked his head. "No plans to raise any kids yet, no," he said. He knew he tended to talk about himself and Isaac as if they were a unit, so the assumptions were to be expected. "Not sure we'd want to put a child through whatever either of us might construe as parenting, in any case." He smiled crookedly, then poised his pen to write. "Sure, you can give me your email, though I imagine I could get it from Isaac as well."

He snorted. "Iz doesn't believe in lost causes," he said, "and yeah, he is. Most interesting person I know." He looked at her a moment, then nodded. "I think it's nice to be able to choose your own family. Not that I know what your circumstances are, but at least for me, 'like family' is as good as any." It was better than the one he'd put behind him. Though Shosh was a bit young to have come into her own ranch, so there had to've been some real family for her.