RP: Jaunt by the bookstore

[elliot_winters]

Date: September 11, 2011
Characters: Elliot Winters, OPEN
Location: bookstore
Status: Public
Summary: Elliot does some shopping for his favorite people.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[drewcooper]

Drew never did like being reminded of that horrible day ten years ago. Four days before his birthday - he would have been 25 then - and the whole world went crazy. He still recalled where he was, what he was doing and what he was thinking. In fact, it wasn't long before his six year stint would have been up, but completed the eight years on active duty instead and then signed up again for another four years active duty and four years inactive. In fact, his service career was finally over

[elliot_winters]

Elliot had not precisely been ignoring what day it was, but he'd not been able to deal with it as much as everyone else. He'd lost real people in the war, the loss of his best friend a couple of years ago still had a gaping wound in his chest, and he just didn't need one more thing to deal with on top of everything else in these recent weeks. He was only human, and his resources for coping were only finite

[drewcooper]

He had just pulled Magic's Pawn off the shelf when someone stepped around him with a murmured excuse, so he glanced up and nodded in acknowledgement. "No problem," he replied and turned the book over to read the back page like he always does.

A flash of something caught his eye and he looked to see dogtags swing free just before the man tucked them away again. He reached up to pat his own in a similar gesture - all this time out of active service and he still wore them. After twelve years of duty they were pretty much part of him and four years later he still wore them, he felt naked without the familiar feel against his chest.

He tucked the book under his arm and turned a little. "Stationed nearby?" he asked, never having been shy of initiating conversations with random strangers.

[elliot_winters]

Elliot's eyes flicked briefly to the side as the other man moved, aware as he usually was of his surroundings and the people. He might not have been on the ground in active danger most of the time, but his time in the service had only activated tendencies already there, along with the years he'd enjoyed martial arts. He noticed the familiar gesture--something that came along with most servicemen he knew, no matter what branch

[nereida_dances]

She closed her 'phone with a sigh, leaning her elbow against the car door and dropping her head into her hand for a brief moment. Of course Jaime had forgotten to ask Paula to take him to pick up the book he needed for a new assignment -- the boy would forget his head if it weren't attached when it came to school reading. Not for the first time, she thought a bit longingly of how life had been before cell 'phones, but on the other hand, she admitted to herself as she turned the key in the ignition and started out of the parking lot, she didn't regret the time she'd spent being stand-in mother for them while Paula had been sick. She and they were a lot closer, and she wouldn't trade that...even if it meant Tía Re was the one they came to on the sly when they didn't want to confess something to their mother

[elliot_winters]

Elliot strolled through the journal section, it having caught his eye as he was heading up to the register to check out with the books he'd found. Maybe Belle would like one, he thought idly. He wasn't sure if she was the sort to want to write things down, but it was worth a try. He remembered when he was little, after his mother died, one of his grandparents had given him a notebook. He'd always been terrified someone would read what he wrote, though, so he'd either flushed or burned anything he'd ever written in it shortly after he'd done so.

But still, in a way it had helped, so it was something he could offer her. If he could choose which one to get her, that was.

He looked up when he heard his name and smiled at the familiar woman. "La Reina de la Baile, Nereida," he greeted her warmly. "I'm doing fine, thanks. How are you doing? Things going well?"

[nereida_dances]

Smiling more broadly at the charming greeting, she turned to move closer to him. "I'm on an errand of mercy, actually." She lifted the book to show him. "My cousin's eldest forgot he needed a book for school until tonight, which is - of course - the night before he needs it. So he called me in a bit of a panic, because his mother works late tonight, and if his tía can get it so he doesn't have to confess to Mom about it..." Her voice trailed off as she chuckled. "He's lucky I wasn't home from the grocery store yet, otherwise he'd have had to wait until dinner was over, and by then, she'd be home, and she'd knoooow." Nereida snorted a bit, half knowingly, half in amusement. "His memory is suddenly full of holes when it comes to reading assignments. Though if you ask him about the local sports teams..."

She looked at the display shelves around them, idly curious what he was trying to find. "What brings you here, then?"

[elliot_winters]

Elliot rolled his eyes slightly. "But of course, can't have Mom knowing about it, right?" Elliot said wryly. "That's kids for you, isn't it, though. Especially with a helpful tía around to save his butt from motherly lectures and dismay." He grinned. He'd never been the sort to forget an assignment, rather, he'd been the child who had it done ahead of time--and his brother's things bought early enough to get him to do his as well. "Needs a little work on his focus, sounds like."

Elliot held up the books he had already picked out. "Random shopping for the family," he said. "Books for my brother and his significant other, trying to find something for my little sister." Anything that might make her smile for a little while, and maybe help her in the long run. "I was considering a journal, maybe. Don't know if she'd like it or not though."

[mia_page]

Starbucks had been busier than she had figured, and the bustle of so many people had overwhelmed her before she'd gotten both feet in the door. She didn't have the brains to deal with that at the moment, Mia thought with regret, though really, she didn't have a lot of them at the moment anyway. She loved Maggie, and would do pretty much anything for her, but her sister wasn't always conscious of how much planning needed to go into visits if Mia was the one doing the traveling. For starters, there was the matter of a 'plane ticket -- telling your older sister that she should come up that week because "my professors are all at a conference, so it's a reading week, and I haven't seen you in aaaages" was all well and good, but even the last minute drop-price websites were scant on options at this point. She had the vacation time, and Dan was happy to let her take some of it, but some more advance notice would have made things so much easier

[elliot_winters]

Elliot continued his shopping by walking down the street, happy with his purchases at the bookstore but still wanting something more. Window shopping as he went toward the Starbucks he knew was down the street--Belle probably wondered where he was, but it wasn't dinner time yet--he found a little store that sold figurines and the like, and ducked in. He found a little penguin figurine and just before he checked out, he saw a bunch of rainbow makers for a nice price and bought a selection for Carrie. He thought he remembered a few in her uncle's house, but even if there were some there, he thought maybe she'd like them. Prisms made rainbows, and rainbows made smiles, right? Anyway, maybe she'd like them

[mia_page]

Was that her name? She looked up in a bit of a fog, noticing first that someone was standing next to her table, and then as her eyes lifted further, she realized she knew who it was. Grinning broadly, a sudden bright flash across her face, she closed her laptop and pushed her hair back. "Elliot! Long time, no see." She tilted her head in curiosity, looking at the parcels he was holding. "Out doing a little retail therapy today?" Gesturing to the chair opposite, while she thought gratefully that she hadn't put her laptop bag on it when she first sat down, even though she hadn't been expecting company, she put her laptop aside and pulled her smoothie (orange-mango, which was sadly only seasonal) in front of her. "How've you been? Need to sit for a bit?"

[elliot_winters]

"Sorry to interrupt," he apologized as she closed her laptop. "Don't let me interfere." He didn't want to keep her from whatever she was doing, but he had thought he'd say hello. It had been awhile since he'd seen her and he just wanted to know how she was.

"You could call it that, I suppose," he admitted. "A little bit of shopping, yes. My brother, his SO, my sister, my girlfriend." His lips tilted up in a little, pleased smile at the word. "I've been all right, I suppose," anything but, really, at least the last few weeks, but that was beside the point. "I can, sure, if I'm not interrupting. I was going to enjoy the AC before walking back to the car."