2019-06-05 - The Little Things

Bennie looks up from her latest sewing creation at the knock: turning the fabric of an old drape into a dress ala Gone with the Wind but less green velvet and more floral print. It's rare that she gets visitors, at least of the pleasant variety, so her face lights up when she sees it's Aidan standing on her crooked stoop.

"Oh hi!" She pushes the door open wider, "Let me guess, you came to borrow a cup of sugar? I don't have a whole cup, but I do have some packets from the diner. And some Sweet 'n' Low if you're trying to watch your girlie figure. Which isn't to say you have a girlie figure. Let me start over: hi!"

It is indeed Aidan! And given the lovely temperature, if not equally lovely weather, he's wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt with the AC/DC logo and a pleated knee-length blackwatch-plaid skirt, along with black socks and his Docs. And given the drizzle, he's got an umbrella with him, clear plastic with a pink flamingo pattern. And a bag. It's one of those bag-for-life shopping totes, but there's red tissue paper sticking out of it, and also a couple daffodils. But he still doesn't have much of a girly figure, to be fair. Way too straight up and down.

He breaks into a grin in return when she opens the door. "Hey! Now I kinda want to borrow a cup of sugar, but I dunno what I'd do with it, unless I just ate it. I don't really know how to cook that much. Though, cinnamon and sugar and butter on toast? That's good. Maybe I should borrow some of your sugar." He considers it a fraction of a moment as he slightly shifts weight from one foot to the other. "Mostly I kinda just wanted to say thanks, though. If you've got a sec."

"Of course, of course, come in!" Bennie gives him a little welcoming wave of her hand, but as friendly and warm as her expression is, she still can't help but look past his shoulder to check and make sure there isn't anyone else lurking around out there. Satisfied no one is going to jump out of the shadows, she steps back from the door and lets him enter, though it's closed and locked (by several contraptions) behind him as soon as he does. "Your culinary skills sound like mine. But I tend to burn even toast sometimes. The microwave is my best friend."

She crosses to the couch, only to move a stack of clothes with tags from the second hand store off a cushion to clear him a place to sit. "I don't need thank yous, you know. Just tell me you're feeling better and I'll be pleased as punch."

"That's why I got a toaster," Aidan says brightly, and he heads in without the slightest hint of being worried anything might lurk behind him. He does deftly close the umbrella, though, setting it down just beside the door, so as not to drip on her floors. Clearly trusting it isn't going to be stolen. To be far, most things he owns are probably reasonably safe from being stolen in most situations. "Though, that does still burn it now and then, but I'm pretty sure it's older than I am so, you know, gotta make allowances. It looks cool, though." Should she have spared a glance for his kitchenette when she was there, it was a silver thing that looked like art deco and mid-century modern had a drunken night together they'd never forget.

He follows to the couch, accepting the offered spot, though he looks the clothes over as she moves them, as well. Not the tags, beyond one glance that may well be to see whether he recognizes it. Which, in fact, he does. "I love that place," he remarks as he settles, "And I'm feeling about a thousand times better, so you're getting thank yous needed or not. Also this." He attempts, at least, to hand over the bag.

"It's my favorite." Bennie says of the store as she plops down on the threadbare shag carpet, slinging her legs criss-cross applesauce in her black yoga pants that she's added colorful stars down the outer seam on. "Though to be fair, I alter a lot of what I buy and resell it online." Though she said she didn't need thank yous, that doesn't mean she's not excited about receiving a present. She pulls it into her lap and starts plucking out the red tissue, only to carefully fold it.

"Oh, yeah? How do you usually alter them?" Aidan asks, though he probably answers some of it for himself with a glance at the stars down her leg, which make him grin again. "I can mend stuff okay, but I've never really tried doing anything major to stuff." His legs shift like he's tempted to pull them up crosslegged much like hers, but since he's on her couch and in his boots, he refrains.

The tissue's been applied fairly carefully, with a definite intention to make it look nice, but if there was a question in Bennie's mind after Baylee's gift whether maybe they were both secretly in a position to come up with weirdly posh presents for living in Huckleberry, the answer is 'nope'. There are several nice daffodils stuck into it, though it's almost certain they were picked from somewhere around here, and the unwrapping reveals a fresh and lovely-looking pineapple, assuming one likes pineapples, and a small box of four chocolates from the pastry shop/chocolatier that recently opened. They're very nice chocolates, though! And a silver pen with a sparkly pompom on the end with wires out one side and little glass-crystal stars on the end, like a cartoon of a comet.

"Some clothes I just harvest for the fabric...ooh!" Bennie easily gets derailed from talking about her repurposing of clothes as she plucks items out of the bag, one after the other. Each with as much reverence as she gave the red-soled shoes that Baylee had sent her. The pineapple in particular is held between both of her hands and held to her nose for a deep inhale of the smell of the fruit that results in her eyes closing so she can truly enjoy it. "It smells like vacation. Well. How I would imagine it smelling."

The box of chocolates is set on her knee and the pen is laughed merrily at when she gives it a wobble to make the stars dance. "This is perfect!" She declares of the gift, launching herself up from her seat to assault him with a kiss to the cheek. The best thing about this gift? It would hold no value to anyone else, and thus she won't feel guilty about eating those chocolates later.

Aidan watches, briefly attempting 'nonchalant interest' and actually not doing too terribly at it before he gives up and settles in to the more genuine entirely chalant interest. There's probably a fair chance that not all his historical gift selections have gone over as well as he might have hoped, and even if Bennie felt more likely to be on, if maybe not precisely his wavelength, at least the same general spectrum, one never really knows. So the smile is quick and bright when she appreciates the pineapple the same basic way he does, and makes it to downright brilliant at the judgement on the pen. He gives her a swift hug in reply to the kiss, if she allows it, and continues looking quite pleased either way. "That's what I think, too," he says, "Pineapples and the ocean and, like, sun screen. And they've got a good shape." A pause, and with a smaller version of the smile, "I'm glad you like it."

The hug is absolutely accepted and returned. "I don't like it, I love it." Bennie assures, scooping up the daffodils and heading toward the kitchen, "Let me put these in water."

In short order, she's returning back to the living room with the flowers stuck in a plastic pitcher, the sort that beer normally comes in, and they are placed on the end table next to the couch and futzed with for a moment until they are arranged as best as one can in said container. "There is only one thing that would make this perfect." She decrees as she plops down on the couch next to him with the little box of chocolates. "Share one with me?"

If it holds water and it holds flowers, it's a vase. It just happens to look like a beer pitcher! Aidan twists to watch her put the arrangement together and in place, resting an arm across the back of the couch and resting his chin on that, then twists right back when she returns. Her decree gets a questioning headtilt, and a laugh when the clarification comes. "Well, if you insist, probably I can manage that," he says, shifting position again, this time to be settled a bit more comfortably beside her, at a better angle to talk. "The flowers look really nice there. And..." He leans slightly to look at the box; the chocolates inside gleam like jewels, their outsides shiny and colourful. One's a swirled royal purple with gold, one's a yellow/orange/red gradient, one's deep red with a neat white spiral, and one's, well, a pear. It's pear-coloured, pear-shaped, with a little chocolate stem. "That one's--" he starts, pointing at the purple one, then pauses. "Do you want to know the flavours, or do you want it to be a surprise?"

"Oh no no no, don't ruin the surprise!" Bennie declares, her fingers dancing over the box in a little twiddle of indecision. She finally chooses the deep red one but doesn't bite into it immediately. Waiting for him to choose the one he'd like taste, she runs her thumb over the smooth surface and then gives it a little appreciative smell, much like the pineapple. "This'll be a nice treat before I go on shift."

The chocolate smells like, well, chocolate -- and something fruitier, and something maybe a bit vanilla-like, only a touch spicier? Aidan grins at her decision, and eyes the options for a moment before picking up the purple one, giving her a questioning look as he does. Hey, they're her chocolates, after all! "I hope so. The girl who was working said she really liked these ones, so I'm taking her word for it," he says, and then brings the chocolate toward hers, to knock them lightly together like they were glasses for a toast. "May you have a good shift, with either cool weird music or Gina going off somewhere so you can play what you want." When she bites the one she has, it's tonka-bean-infused dark chocolate ganache with half a rum-soaked cherry in the center; the one Aidan chose is milk chocolate, with caramel and hazelnut layers.

"Oh no, this time I'm working at my twelve at the hospital. EMT." Bennie explains. "Then I also work the diner, babysit, do telephone customer support for an online clothing shop. Sell my creations online. I know I'm forgetting something..." Bennie's brow screws up with thought and then shrugs. It'll come to her when it comes to her, and there's no sense in worrying about it. "To quote on of my favorite movies: there are twenty four useable hours in every day!" She explores the chocolate by nibbling at the very edge, taking the time to enjoy every little sliver of chocolate her teeth nick off. "The chocolatier knows what she's doing. Oh! Cater waiter." That's what she was forgetting.

Aidan considers that first bit briefly, looking about ready to modify, but then she's going on, and his brows just go up. "When do you sleep?" he asks, and it sounds like a genuine question. "I mean, I can wish you good music other places too, but. I would've thought they'd pay EMTs enough you wouldn't need," tiny pause, "five other jobs. I mean, that's a shitload of jobs. I think the most I ever did was four and only one of them actually had, you know, an actual schedule." Not that this stops him from taking a bite of the chocolate. It's not as small as hers, but it's less than half, and he lets it melt in his mouth, rather than just chewing and swallowing it immediately. "...mm. I dunno if she made them but I'll tell her that when I see her again."

"Well, you just prioritize. The hospital comes first, and when you work a twelve there are bunks for between calls and paperwork, Gina's pretty open about my schedule as long as I let her know as soon as possible. Then I take the cater waiter jobs when I have nothing else but those are few and far between, pick up shifts with the customer service during the lulls and post my stuff when I have free time." Bennie doesn't seem to mind though, as none of that was phrased as a complaint. Maybe the girl just likes to keep busy. No wonder she doesn't have much time for meeting her neighbors. Speaking of, she's forced to pop the last of the chocolate into her mouth, pocketing it in her cheek like a chipmunk. "Alright, I gotta jet. This was amazing, thank you!"

Aidan eats half the chocolate, and offers the other half over; they are after all her chocolates, and she should get to try them all, right? Not that he won't eat it himself if she insists, though. "Well, if you wanna do something in your copious free time, you know where I probably am," he says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of his own trailer as he gets up. "...or on the boardwalk, or somewhere random. Actually, prolly I should give you my number," he decides. "Maybe we could hit Goodwill together sometime or something." He takes himself toward the door, not inclined to delay her, and gives her another quick grin when he gets there. "Welcome. And thanks again for making my head stop exploding."