Participants:
| Scene Title | As Subtle As A Brick Through A Window |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Wendy manages to out two evolveds who insist they're not. Well, they insist she's wrong, anyway. She leaves Aaron with a parting gift, before making Ellen's day with a large purchase. |
| Date | August 6, 2009 |
The Lucky Monkey isn't especially large for the sheer volume of stock that it carries. One long space that reaches all the way to the back, it holds several rows of shelves, and these carry an astounding assortment of, well, nearly everything, it seems like: from household goods to hand-tools, if it is Made in China, it can probably be unearthed somewhere in the maze of inventory. At least it is kept in some semblance of order, for disarray would be sheer chaos, and even with everything tucked neatly away onto its labelled shelf, it still takes a close eye to navigate without breaking or tripping over something.
It's quiet in the shop again today, a couple of girls giggling in the back where they're looking at naked Buddha statues. Ellen offered them help, of course, but since they seem more set on this amusement, she's left them to their own devices, and sits now at the front counter, cleaning fingerprints from the glass display. The girls finally tire of this joke and head out, the bell over the door jingling as they push it open and spill out onto the street. It seems the store is about to be plunged into silence again, except for the quiet strains of "easy listening" radio.
She likes those bowls. Wendy adores the bowls that she's only ever found in Chinatown. Dozens of them in her home, notably in her studio so that she can lay her paintbrushes down. Wait, no, that's the spoon rests. But she still likes the bowls.
The bowls however didn't draw her attention so much as while she was passing, that telltale pull in a certain direction that remained stationary. Evolved… So of course, Wendy needs to investigate.
He's not quite sure when he started doing it — wandering about the various parts of town with no particular direction. In fact, Aaron isn't even quite sure what he expects to find, but he simply is there. On some such excursions he has found himself without his guitar, but this time he finds that it is slung over his shoulder as he would ordinarily expect. And still, he comes upon the quaint shop and decides he may as well step inside and see if anything catches his fancy. Not that he has a lot of money to spend on trivialities, but at this point, anything is better than sitting around in his loft alone.
Ellen is oblivious to any pulls she might be sending out. In fact, she's rather lost in thought as she takes care of this simple, menial task that requires doing several times a day. It might make more sense to get a different counter in here one of these days, but this one has an advantage in how it can double as a display case. And besides, the often-dead store can't really spare the overhead on something they don't need. She looks up with a welcoming smile as someone enters, giving the glass a final swipe before tucking the bottle of Windex and the paper towels out of sight behind the counter. "Good afternoon," she greets cordially. "Let me know if I can help you find anything." It does sometimes take a certain knack to navigate these shelves.
"Hi!" Perky, tall, black hair, Wendy's nose rankles at the ammonia smell associated with glass cleaner. "I'm looking for, like, chopstick rests and soup bowls and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT!" There's something in the glass case that draws her attention in, that and suddenly, there's another pull and it's behind her. Aaron that is.
Oh God. Perky. Just what he needs. Aaron only gives a nod to Ellen as he begins wandering. The smell of the ammonia cleaner really doesn't affect him much, as he often uses it to clean at the grocer he works at. Thus far, nothing has caught his attention, but who knows what one can find in such a shop these days?
Most of Ellen's attention goes to the customer needing her assistance, though Aaron is greeted with a friendly smile as well. Her mouth open, Ellie is about to reply calmly to this request about chopstick rests and soup bowls when there's that sudden change in attention. Her smile fades into a confused frown for just a fleeting moment, but it's back by the time she's peering down into the case, trying to figure out which item has the tall young woman so excited. "I'm afraid you'll need to be a little more specific," she says lightly, gesturing down at the case.
"THAT!" An expansive jade necklace that almost makes it all into a collar with it's style. "How much!" Reaching out to light a hand on Ellen's. "Never mind, I don't care how much, I'll take it!" Price clearly not a factor to the brunette, more the vehicle to come in contact with her even as Wendy looks behind her to Aaron. Uncanny how she knew exactly where he was.
If he only knew, he'd be even more disturbed than he already is. As it stands, Aaron is too occupied in not finding anything that strikes his fancy to notice. He's not really one for jewellery or miscellaneous wares. On the other hand, he does seem to recall Paulo saying he needed a monkey wrench to fix some of the pipes in the shop, and he couldn't seem to find his own. Of course, it's Aaron's first instinct that this place doesn't have any. Given the almost random assortment of wares, however, whether or not his instinct is right is anyone's guess.
Ellen begins to lean back to open the case from her side of it, in order to check the price, though she hesitates slightly when the young woman touches her hand. Of course, having no idea the actual importance of that, she simply offers a smile, nodding approvingly to this enthusiastic purchasing! "Oh, excellent taste. It's only just come in, and the only one I've seen quite like it," she commends. "Would you like it packaged or gift-wrapped?" she offers, before glancing past the other woman to glance at Aaron. "Let me know if you need help with anything," she calls out lightly to him.
There's that sense of deja vu, only it's not real deja vu just the impression of it that she gets when she touches someone with some sort of Cognition ability. The brunette's eyes widen and brows lift, staring at the woman for a moment before she leans in, and oh so quietly "Pre-cog?"
Aaron very nearly tells the woman off for talking to him, but catches himself before he makes a complete ass of himself. Like he did with Peyton. Part of him is still angry at her, another angry at himself. Better at least try to be nice. "You wouldn't happen to have a monkey wrench, anywhere would you?" he asks, as he leaves the shelves and comes nearer the storefront.
Ellen pulls her hand back sharply, but in a small, contained gesture, and the look she gives Wendy is a sudden change from the politely friendly one she's sported all this time. "I've no idea what you're talking about," she states, bald-face lying boldly and without hesitation. Her gaze slides over to Aaron then as he approaches, and she tries to collect herself; her smile is perhaps rather wan though. "If we have any, they should be … over here," she states, having to actually think for a moment before she gestures down the nearest aisle. Usually she doesn't even have to think about it.
"God, getting so uptight. He's one too. Not a pre-cog, but he's something" And as Aaron comes by, Wendy reaches out to touch his shoulder. No skin to skin needed for her, nope. And there she goes again. Oh, great. Empaths. There's a raise of brows to Aaron.
There is a grit of his teeth as he hears that. He's one too. A look of disgust when she touches him. Who is this woman and why is she touching him? "Clearly you've never heard of personal space," Aaron says as he swings an arm to push Wendy's hand and arm away from him and moves to put some distance between her and him. There is such a thing as subtlety. "Do you get off, touching strangers like that, or what?"
Ellen is pretty uptight, truth be told, beneath the easy-going exterior. Especially about such matters. "Not a pre-cog either. Not anything," she assures the woman with a forced smile. See? We're all calm because there's nothing to be upset over. The other woman is clearly just mistaken. "Just a shop-clerk hoping to make a sale." Yes, back to the money…
"I was going to take it anyways" Wendy shakes her head, swatting back at Aaron. "Yeah, I totally get off using my ability and telling people what they are" Actually, yeah, she does. It satisfies that curiosity cat in her. "Empath" She fires back at him. Her black American Express tossed down on the counter to pay for the necklace. "And ten chopstick holders and bowls, I don't care about the patterns"
There is a look of no more than total gloom when Wendy says empath. Hah, some empath he is. Aaron shakes his head and retreats down the aisle that Ellen pointed him to. Sure enough, after a moment, he does indeed find a monkey wrench. He reads the little price tied to the handle and pulls out a bill to cover it. "A pleasure," he says to Ellen, as he tosses the bills onto the counter but clearly wants neither receipt, change, nor to be in the store any longer. That inner ass-hat of his that came out for poor Peyton Whitney returns as he heads towards the exit to the shop, because he turns back and looks at Wendy with a look of such bitter amusement that a grin twists his lips, "You haven't quite got me figured out, buttercup. You're wrong this time. You must be losing your touch." He adjusts the strap of his guitar case and pushes open the door to the shop.
"Excellent," Ellen says simply, managing to muster up a better smile now, and trying to keep her attention on the fact that she's making a sale. But it probably doesn't require even a lousy empath to notice she's still kind of freaking out a little bit. "Thank you! Hope to see you again," she calls after Aaron, though her tone is more dutiful than her usual friendly approach. The bill is tucked away in the register as she picks up the credit card and begins running it through, giving Wendy just a suspicious sidelong look as she's dealing with Aaron. "Of course," she murmurs, as to the chopstick holders and bowls.
"I'm never wrong" Spoken with the assurance of someone who really isn't wrong, in that fashion. "Hey, grumpy, catch!" She has the decency to wait till he turns around before tossing at him a small package, bubble wrapped for safety. Really sucks to break it on the way home. A syringe of Refrain, it's blue glow faint through the bubble-wrap packaging. "Something to make you happy."
And then, back to Ellen. "Fabulous! They're the best thing for when I'm working with clay, such nice deep bowls, and the rests are so good for my tools, not that, you know, the drop cloth isn't there for the beating up, but still, it's nice to grab the tools elevated slightly instead of flat against the surface" babble babble, the googly-eyed woman who's sometimes in page six talks.
"I'm not," Aaron says, as he grabs the bubble-wrapped package, "Grumpy." Except his tone is so very grumpy. Normally, he might be completely indignant at such an action, and he can only guess that something bad is in the package, and yet he finds himself grip the thing as he turns and storms off, the door closing behind him.
Ellen watches the strange game of catch, her dark gaze following the vaguely glowing package through the air, as she waits for the credit card to go through. Of course, by the time the machine is done with its modem squawking, her gaze is back onto it, tearing the slip off and handing it over with a pen, and the credit card set down beside it. Her hand is drawn back again quickly, even if the damage is kind of already done. "I'll just get those for you from the back," she notes with a demure smile, just sort of waiting patiently through all the babble babble. "I'm glad you find them of use. If you'll be needing more, I could arrange for a discount next time." Yes, do come again with your shiny credit card, even if you freaked her out. She bows down to the almighty dollar.
"I don't need a discount, and people need to eat" Come on lady, it's a black amex. the kind of card that you flash and suddenly, you're allowed to shop alone in a store, on rodeo drive. Or you get better service than an ambulance in a car crash. The black has more power to it than… well. It has power just at a glimpse. "But i'll let you know, I'm breaking them all the time. I'll wait" Wait and finger the beautiful necklace. "And I'm never wrong" There's a waggle of her fingers towards Ellen. "If you haven't manifested yet, well…" It goes without saying. Again.
Ellen arches an eyebrow. Well, no, probably not need a discount, but it's a hook she dangles to try to get repeat business. Especially because of the black AMEX. But she's feeling a little off her game tonight as it is, so Wendy just gets a conciliatory smile. "Of course. Well, do let me know." She's slipping out from behind the counter to go and fetch the items when the other woman's comment gives her pause. "I do believe you're wrong this time." It's simple, unemotional, but firm. It comes across a little less like denial, perhaps, as a polite request to stop saying such things. There's another smile before she turns to head back that way.
Message recieved sir! About face!" Wendy lifts a finger and touches the side of her nose while giving a wink. With that though, she's going to wander, fingers touching this and that, looking around and killing time till Ellen will come back with her purchase.
Ellen nods, seeming inwardly relieved that Wendy has received the message. Apparently some people can take a hint! Disappearing up the centre aisle, she isn't gone for too long, at least, before she returns with the rest of the order. It's brought back to the counter where she begins deftly wrapping everything up in tissue paper for safe transport. "Will there be anything else?" she asks, her more cordial manner beginning to return now as she offers a polite smile.
"Nooope!" The pen scrawls her signature across the paper, long loops and swirls. "Thank you very much for it all!" Wendy's all smiles and giggles. "I'll be back!" And maybe not tossing a street drug across her shop floor at grumpy evolveds who deny they are evolveds. She sweeps up her purchases, the jade necklace having found it's way around her neck. 'Taaaaaa!"
"Have a good day," Ellen bids, in that case, simply smiling serenely in the face of so much hyperactivity. The purchases are put within easy reach, though Ellie still seems to be avoiding any direct contact with the other woman. "And I do hope to see you again." Especially if she can keep that little secret. The slip is picked up and tucked away under the cash register's tray for safe keeping.