Participants:
| Scene Title | Distraction and Candy |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | It's what Tess goes looking for, and what she finds, courtesy of Tahir. |
| Date | November 18, 2010 |
Candy shop
While people are recovering from the riots, some people are doing their best to get on with their lives. To try to pretend like everything is normal and fine. Even when it most definitely isn't. Tess is one of the latter group. She's bundled up in a short leather jacket and put on a knit cap that almost hides her blonde hair, and she's wandered out in search of sweets and distractions. The former is the easier one of the two to locate.
Several shops are closed in the city, but she managed to find a candy store that's still open, and she looks like she's found heaven. Right now she's wandering the shop, taking a peek at bins of candy here, or dispensers there, stealing a sample when she thinks she can get away with it. One lemon drop isn't stealing, right?
"I swear! No, seriously, I met him! Yes! Pat Sajak! THE Pat Sajak! I'm not lyin'! I'm dead serious, dude!"
That voice belongs to the obnoxiously hot specimen of man known to the world as Tahir Avery Dunham. Apparently, he's talking to himself, because there's no one entering the candy shop after him. He's much too animated with his words to be talking to anyone in the store and his eyes are immediately searching the area for any signs of anything delicious.
And some candy too.
"Listen, fine. If I run into him again, I'll take a picture with my phone. Jesus. When's the last time I lied to you?" By sheer twists of fate and secret magnetism, Tahir finds himself near the Drops section of the shop. Why? Lemon, of course. "Okay, what about the time before that?"
Oh. Bluetooth.
The voice has Tess turning and cocking her head as she studies Tahir, lips almost twitching with amusement as she shamelessly eavesdrops on his conversation. If you can call innocently overhearing a conversation eavesdropping anyway. She makes no effort to hide the fact that she's watching or listening either, having no shame about such things.
But there is the lure of sweets.
She grabs a bag to start filling with candy. Lots of random types of candy. Lemon drops. Gum drops. Chocolate. Loooooots of chocolate. They're added almost automatically, her mind focusing more on the conversation. Maybe she found her distraction along with her sweets.
Blink. When the spot in front of him is free, he realizes that the girl stealing lemon drops is no longer doing so. Then he realizes that it was a not bad looking girl. Which gives him more purpose in his life. "Yo! Hey… Ty! Man, I gotta' call you back." Tahir's eyes make no mistake of their looking in the general direction of the Tess. Mrowr. "Yeah, something's about to come up. Later." Quickly, Tahir taps his bluetooth to turn it off.
With a quick pep in his step, he snatches up one of those empty plastic bags and is off to the scooping races, grabbing whatever kind of candy he can on his way to try and get to the same scoop as Tess. It's a noble plan, but the fact that he's keeping his eyes on her and not the candy he's bagging, well, that should help prove his distracted worth, right?
Though Tess may not have caught the look in her direction, she very clearly hears the last words spoken into the Bluetooth, and there's a sound that's probably a laugh of some sort, accompanied by a shake of her head. The scoop o' candy in her hand is dumped into the bag, then she turns to face Tahir, hand with the candy bag resting lightly against her stomach.
"You're a lech, aren't you?" she asks, though it's more amused than accusatory. But whatever the tone is, it is direct. Very direct. But then, she's a direct kind of girl. Even when her life has gone all to hell in the proverbial handbasket.
"Catholic, actually. But don't hold that against me, okay?"
That would be the clever retort that comes from Tahir's mouth, before he follows it up with a nice smile. He's not too used to the direct approach from the females, but he's definitely going to have to change his game around for this one it seems. He brings up his own bag of candy. "Unles you meant the candy. If so, then you're right on target." He reaches into his bag to snatch up something SOUR. "I can't resist a tasty treat." Wink. Toss.
Immediate Sour Face. Ow.
Brows lift and Tess's head cants slightly to one side. "Yeah, it looks like you're really into the tasty treat," she says, her Cajun accent coming out clear as crystal and slow as molasses. "You know exactly what I meant though. It's not a bad thing, but you picked the way wrong time to try hittin' on me." Another scoop of candy, then another glance towards him. A glance that turns into a long, considering, head-to-toe look. "Two weeks ago, or two weeks from now, those woulda been better times." The scoop goes back into the bin, and a piece of chocolate makes it way covertly into her mouth.
"You know, I'm hurt. I'm actually stinging on the inside right now." Lies. Tahir finishes off the sour candy and then proceeds to clear his throat. It was needed after such accidental deliciousness. "Maybe I was going to hit on you, that's true. But you know, there are so many other options I could've been intended with. Maybe I was going to ask you about a particular candy? Maybe i was going to offer you a spot on my show? Or maybe, just maybe, I wanted to see if I could make you smile." Tahir closes his bag up and gives a shake of his head. "With all the craziness that's been happening, this city could use a few more hundred smiles." Snap!
The amusement fades from Tess and she nods. "It really could," she murmurs. "What kind of show do you have? Or is that just a pick up line you use to get girls to 'audition' for your show?" No, this is definitely not the shy girl who sits back and waits for a man. "Besides, no reason to be hurt. I heard you say somethin' 'bout somethin' was about to come up." She gives a very pointed look to his crotch, then up to his face, one brow lifting. "Wonder what it could've been."
"My sugar intake, obviously?" Tahir continues to play the dumb and innocent role, even though he's completely not innocent in the least and it shows on his face. He's not about to give her the satisfaction of knowing his games. Not one bit of satisfaction! "I'm actually the host of a new show coming out called I Have No Idea." There is shrugging that follows, as if being the host of an epic game show is no big deal. And, well, it's kind of not. Considering the stuff he was doing to human beings prior to this new lease on life. He doesn't even know that he's moving his candy to cover up such crotch-regions as his own. Or, yes he does. That's why he's smiling.
Eyes roll and shoulders shift in a shrug as Tess moves down to the next bin, totally filling that bag. She's already got to have a pound of candy in the thing. "So what's your name, tall, blonde and horny?" she asks, glancing at him between scoops of sugary delights. "And what the hell is the show about? Do you try'n find the dumbest people out there or somethin'?"
"I Have No Idea is just another show where we try to give average joes and janes on the street the chance to win some tax free cash and have a better day than they were when they woke up in the morning." Tahir just answers, still shrugging the entire time he explains the premise of the show. He says it like he's providing an epic service to the city. "Things are headed in a direction that can't be good for the morale of this city, hell, the whole nation. We don't think there's any reason there can't be some hope still out there. We're striving to provide that hope. Even if just for a day." Wow. Genuine passion from the smiley face with epic hair. "Tahir Avery Dunham. It'll be a household name before you know it."
There's a long pause, and his face is studied for a long moment before Tess shakes her head. "You don't look like a Tahir. That sounds…I dunno. Indian or somethin'." She considers for another moment. "I'll call you Bob," she decides, tying up her full bag of candy and grabbing another empty bag so she can start filling that one. "I'm Tess." Pause. "Tess Winslow-Zarek." The last name of the man who was found dead just last week.
"My Mom's insane. She named all of us kids the most Anti-White names she could come up with. On purpose. Do you know how many times I get mistaken for a cab driver because of my name?" The joking facial expression does fade the moment he makes a name connection. Yeah, he kind of watches the news. Since, well, it happens to come on before Sportscenter. He frowns and lets his candy bag lean onto whatever stand he's nearby right this moment. "Wow. I feel like an even bigger asshole than usual right at this exact moment." He actually has no way to backtrack himself out of this. Nor does he want to like, push. "Y'know, I can just pay for our candy and totally leave you be. I ain't mean to like…" He waves a hand around, trying to grasp at words in the air that are not there.
Tess stops and stares at him for a moment, frowning a little. "Why would you pay for my candy?" she asks curiously, before trying to stick the scoop back in the candy bin. Except…it seems to be stuck to her hand. Cheeks go slightly pink as she tries to shake it free of her hand without any success.
"Why not?" Tahir offers a big ol' shrug, seemingly not noticing that there are hands and scoops stuck together. He's too focused on making sure that he comes off as less of a jerk. "I mean, I've already shown you my Jerk Side. I figure showing you my Nice Side would help restore balance to the Force." Yes, he just dropped a Star Wars bomb up in the middle of this candy shop. "And if I had offered to buy you dinner or something, that woulda' just took us back to Square One, which is definitely not where I wanna' be right now."
"Not really. Woulda depended on if you expected me to strip down and polish Mr. Happy afterwards," Tess says, still frowning and blushing as she struggles with the scoop. "Not really in the mood for sex lately. A bit of smooching wouldn't be bad, but I'd probably cry all through sex and that's sort of a mood killer, yanno?"
"I hate Hollywood sometimes. They have you women thinking that dinner automatically means that us men will be wanting sex afterwards. Maybe I'm the one that needs a date. Maybe I'm the one that's tired of walking into rooms full of two-faced executives with models on my arm. Maybe I want someone more real to spend an evening with!" Tahir waves his hand with overdramatic flair, before leaning in a bit closer to playfully whisper, "… So, just to be clear, you aren't -totally- against Polishing, right?" At this closer range, he kind of notices the stuck-hand-syndrome and raises an eyebrow. Huh.
"I'm rather fond of polishing on a normal day. But last week I was shot then my father was killed. Sorta kills the mood worse than cryin'," Tess says, trying to pull the scoop off with her other hand which…Results in both hands being stuck to it. "Mother fucker. Pull this off, will ya? And do you want a date instead of sex? Sorta doubtin' it, but guess I should give you the benefit of the doubt."
Tahir raises an eyebrow. It goes even higher than the previous raising. See? Something did come up. "Tess Winslow. Rather fond of polishing." Tahir sounds like he's making a mental note of that. Committing it to memory and all that. Granted, he's focused on the fact that she's asking him for a favor. "Can't you just let it go?" He's a little confused, but definitely reaching out to grab at the scoop and pull. "I gotta' be honest. I'm a male. You know I want both. But considering the circumstances, I'd be more willing to skip another lame ass industry shindig and take you somewhere you want to go. To help, I dunno, clear your mind." Shrug. Pull.
Luckily, when Tahir pulls, the scoop comes off, though the handle is sticky with something clear and glue-like. "No, I couldn't. When I got shot I manifested and apparently I'm glue girl. I can't control it yet. Should've seen it when I woke up glued to my bed," she says, sighing and glaring at the scoop. "And yeah, I know all guys want both. But clearin' my mind would be awesome. Been stuck at home the past week, and can't get a hold of any of my friends since the riot."
"That's not the sticky situation I was hoping for." Tahir says, holding up the scoop to look at the sticky glue substance of doom. With a shudder, he tosses the scoop over his shoulder and off for someone else to have to deal with the sticky mess that Tess made. "So, this is what I'm gonna' do. I'm gonna' give you my card, because I know you'll hold onto it." He smiles, going into his pocket and coming out with his business card. It's immediately offered to Tess. "And you give me a call when you're ready to go have some fun. That way, it'll be on your terms, but my tab. How's that sound?"
The card is taken carefully, just the edge touched with two fingers, as little as she can manage and still put it in her pocket, and Tess nods. "Sounds good to me. Though I still don't promise jumpin' into bed for polishin' games. We'll see though," she says, smiling a bit. "Still gonna call you Bob though. Sorry."
"We don't gotta' use the bed." Tahir figures he might as well get another comment in before he turns to head for the cashier. "Call me whatever you want. Just make sure you call me." He does the over the shoulder wink thing, before swinging his bag up for the cashier to do that thing they do where they legally rob poor citizens of their hard earned money!
"I'm either gonna have a hell of a lot of fun with you, or you'll end up bein' the biggest jerk imaginable," Tess muses, shaking her head. "I'll call ya though. Take it easy, Bob."
Money is exchanged. And Tahir is turning to head back towards the door, which gives him the chance to offer one more parting shot at the ears of the female that he's attempted to woo at this point in his life. "All I'm gonna' say is Tahir Avery Dunham is one helluva' wild ride." With that said, he's spinning and heading out of the exit… popping another candy into his mouth.
Ack! SOUR!