Comments | the_metroplex: RP: Holiday shopping

erica_allen in the_metroplex

RP: Holiday shopping

Nov 27, 2011 21:56

Date: November 27, 2011
Characters: Erica Allen, Ariel Crabtree
Location: Target
Status: Private
Summary: Erica didn't want to go shopping alone and thought it might be nice to use this as an excuse to get to know Ariel better.
Completion: Complete

( It's worth a try, right? )

november 2011, character: ariel crabtree, post: private, character: erica allen, location: public place

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ariel_crabtree November 28 2011, 22:40:38 UTC

Ariel had been surprised but pleased when Erica had asked her to join her shopping. Though she and Harley regularly hit up thrift places and such, they didn't do a lot of shopping-shopping, though partly because Ariel usually couldn't afford a lot. She never minded looking, though, and it often gave her good ideas. Most of her gifts would still be handcrafted this year, but she never turned down looking to see if she could find something else.

She shrugged her purse strap further up on her shoulder, smiling. "Not really. My grandmama always said to start with big money items and work down, though. So what are you thinking of getting?" she asked curiously.

erica_allen November 29 2011, 04:08:40 UTC

Erica nodded at Ariel's response, thinking that her grandmama had a good idea with that. The only problem was that Erica had no idea what she was actually shopping for. She sighed and started pushing the cart forward, figuring that it wasn't going to be any help to her standing at the front of the store. "That's just it, I have no clue," she answered.

She bypassed the clothes section as she definitely wasn't shopping for herself, though she was almost distracted by a cute sweater. She turned her attention back to Ariel. "I need to figure out what I'm getting people. Never really had people to get gifts for," she admitted with a little shrug, not wanting to dwell on it, just stating a fact. "I do know I want to get something for Leilani." And then she realized Ariel wouldn't know who that was. "That's J.J, my boyfriend's niece. She's just a couple months old," she explained, and it was clear she was very fond of the baby girl.

ariel_crabtree November 29 2011, 21:45:31 UTC

“Awww,” Ariel said, lips pursing faintly in thought. Well, that gave a lot of room for thought, at least, if Erica didn’t have a starting point. She didn’t know how helpful she would be, given that she didn’t know Erica’ particularly well, or the people Erica knew, but she could definitely be a sounding board. “Mm, yeah, I get that a bit. Only got a few people myself,” she said with a shrug.

“Ooooh, cute. They’re adorable that tiny,” she said with a grin of remembrance. “It’s been awhile, but I think I can come up with some ideas for that. Let’s go look at the baby stuff, and then we’ll start tackling the grown-ups,” she suggested.

There was all sorts of stuff. “Little girls are so much easier to shop for, you’re lucky,” she told Erica. “Are you thinking clothes, or toys, or what? Any idea?” she inquired.

erica_allen December 1 2011, 23:35:26 UTC

Erica thought it might make her a bad person that she was a little relieved that Ariel didn't have very many people, either, but it was more that she was relieved that the other girl didn't think less of her for not having had people to buy gifts before in the past.

"Lei is pretty darn cute. She smiles and laughs and stuff already, it's kind of neat." She didn't know anything about babies, but it seemed kind of amazing to her that a baby could be so responsive after only two months of being alive. "Sounds like a plan," she said at Ariel's suggestion, shifting the cart toward the baby section.

"I wouldn't know, I've never shopped for kids, boys or girls, before," she admitted with a little laugh. She tilted her head slightly as she considered Ariel's question. "Hmm, I'm not sure. Do they have toys for babies that little? Kinda always thought they just kinda lay around at that age." She wasn't sure how much Ariel had been around babies, but odds were that it was more than she had, at least Ariel seemed more familiar with the topic.

ariel_crabtree December 2 2011, 05:14:27 UTC

"Baby giggles are the best. I remember how much time I spent making my sister laugh when she was a baby," Ariel said with a fond smile. She glanced over the area, looking for signs and giving up and letting Erica navigate.

"Aww! Well, I lived on babysitting growing up. So I've done a bit of it," she said. "And I was seven when my sister was born, so I had some practice with her as well." Considering her mother, though, she'd actually done most of the actual work with that.

"They do, actually. Soft things and noisy things are good, things to get them moving and getting involved with people and things. She's smiling, so she's responding to people, so things she can respond to like that are good. My grandma always said it was good to do stuff like that."

erica_allen December 4 2011, 20:38:48 UTC

Erica couldn't argue with that. Even though being around Leilani was still a little awkward because she just didn't have any real experience with babies, the little girl was definitely all kinds of precious. She was distracted by Ariel's next comment, her smile dimming just a little as she thought about her own baby sister. Should she get something for Savannah, too ( ... )

ariel_crabtree December 4 2011, 21:40:42 UTC

Ariel tilted her head, prompting silently and gently, waiting to see if Erica would continue with her line of thought. "Big age difference," was her only comment, softly spoken. She didn't know Erica's history, and she wasn't one to really pry. "Well, if you don't want to go too personal, or you don't know what she already has, clothes are always a good answer.

"Yeah. Hmm. Two months, two months... kicking a lot then, if I remember right. God, it's been forever, it feels like. I miss having babies around." She tended to baby sit school age children when she did that now, simply because she didn't know anyone with small children. At least, not around here. Back home, all her school friends were having babies, usually a couple at this point.

She crooned over a little sweater, fingering its softness. Too cute, truly. Made her look forward to the day, if it ever came, that she might have a kid of her own. In her time, though, no one else's.

erica_allen December 6 2011, 04:29:18 UTC

Erica made a little humming noise when Ariel pointed that out, though she was relieved that she hadn't had anything else to say on the matter. "Oh, yeah. I have no idea what Savannah has, so that's probably the best choice." What did she know about this ( ... )

ariel_crabtree December 6 2011, 13:14:01 UTC

Ariel nodded in agreement. "Well, seven months... depends on her growth. Six to nine months could work, or you might could go safe with nine to twelve. Depends a lot on the baby. My friend Jeanina back home, her baby grew, oh my gosh, so fast. He wears at least a size bigger than he should. But then, both she and his daddy are real tall with big bones." She chattered slightly as Erica flipped through the rack.

Ariel looked up and smiled faintly, almost sadly. "No, it's fine. Someday, yeah. In my own time," she said. "Everyone says I shoulda had a couple by now, but yeah." She shrugged. She hadn't wanted to be a statistic, had wanted to have kids when she wanted, and now who knew. "'sides, you kinda have to have a guy for that, and I've been pretty good guy repellent since I moved here," she joked, pushign back her hair and smiling as they moved away from the baby stuff.

"So where to next? Gonna shop for that boyfriend of yours?" she asked. "What sorts of things is he into, so we have an idea of what to hit up?"

erica_allen December 12 2011, 17:23:09 UTC

Erica made a humming sound as Ariel chattered away, amused at the thought that she could see why Ezra seemed to like her so much. She was getting the impression that Ariel could more than keep up with Ezra's chatterbox nature, though it definitely wasn't a bad or annoying thing. "I think I'll go on the safe side," she said absently, choosing a nine to twelve month size and putting it in her cart ( ... )

ariel_crabtree December 13 2011, 21:43:09 UTC

"I'll be 23 soon," Ariel admitted. She knew, objectively, she wasn't very old at all. There were still times, though, when she felt old. Especially with the weather cooling off, and her arm and collarbone occasionally aching. Not with the same intensity as when it was really cold last year, but it was still present. "Lots of girls my age back home have at least one kid by now." She shrugged. It was a fat of life ( ... )

erica_allen December 14 2011, 23:29:07 UTC

"Ah, see, plenty of time still, then," Erica said with a reassuring smile. She was twenty-four and definitely wasn't thinking about having kids, and considering the way J.J. was with Lei, she had a feeling he wasn't thinking about having kids either, though that made her wonder what he did think about it. She definitely wasn't about to ask him, though; she didn't want him to think that she was thinking kids. And wow, her mind was going in circles now and starting to hurt a little. "Aww, well, lots of girls I grew up with have a bunch of kids, too." That was common in the foster system, though, and she'd almost ended up with one of her own ( ... )

ariel_crabtree December 18 2011, 01:35:24 UTC

Sometimes it didn't feel like plenty f time, though she knew that Erica was absolutely right. "It's sorta common where I grew up. I always swore I wouldn't be one of the teen mommas," Ariel admitted. "My mom had my brother when she was sixteen and me before twenty, and I didn't want to be like that." She shrugged a little self consciously, but it was the truth. She was uncharacteristically blunt when it came to her mother, usually ( ... )

erica_allen December 21 2011, 05:17:04 UTC

Erica smiled in sympathetic understanding, wondering how much would be too much to share. Ariel seemed to be a pretty open person, so she didn't really think she would be offended or judgmental or anything. "Understandable. I grew up in foster care, so teen mothers weren't exactly uncommon. Almost ended up one, myself," she admitted, more at peace with her choices from back then after finally talking about them. J.J. had truly been so good for her in so many ways, and she loved him more than she could say ( ... )

ariel_crabtree December 21 2011, 21:51:14 UTC

Ariel smiled softly, a sympathetic tug at the corner of her lips. While she was pretty sure what decision she’d make if she ever got pregnant, there was no way she could criticize someone else’s. She’d known several girls who would have been better off with that option. “I was a hair’s width from foster care myself,” Ariel admitted. “Sometimes it’s for the best, especially in those circumstances ( ... )

erica_allen December 22 2011, 06:23:42 UTC

Erica was relieved when Ariel didn't seem to have a comment on what she'd just implied. The whole reason she'd never talked about it, aside from wanting to pretend that it had never happened, was that she didn't want to deal with the judgment and opinions she was sure she'd get. "It was for the best," she said simply. She would have ended up on the streets if she'd kept the baby, and she would've gone mad with guilt and worry if she'd given it up for adoption ( ... )

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