The Winds of Change

Intro/headcanons:

the little jingle of the bell above the bookstore door is welcoming at this point. but for once, her monthly visit to the bookstore has less to do with wanting something new to read and more to do with wanting to see someone. granted, if she were completely honest with herself a lot of her visits held that hidden interest as well, wanting to check on randall more often than she would care to admit. but it was never the sole reason she set out for the bookstore. “hey, just the guy i was hoping to find.” she smiles when she sees randall at the counter. she was pretty sure he was working today, and also pretty sure he got off around this time normally. “you got any plans after this? cause if so, cancel them. you’re hanging out with me.” @randallbxggs​

Randall immediately noticed Rosie outside through the windows as she headed inside the shop, though he acted as if he were occupied by something as soon as she entered. The little bell that went off as she came in was no surprise to him, yet he let his eyes perk up as if it were, smiling as she walked up to the counter. “Didn’t expect to see my favorite customer today,” he replied to her greeting with a small smirk. While most of the people he knew visited him at work frequently, Rosie was probably his favorite visitor. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why exactly, but she made the days seem more worth it every time she came in. “Lucky for you, I have no plans,” he answered, as if he ever did have plans after his shifts. “Alright, I’m interested. What did you have in mind?”

it was taking a little longer than poppy had anticipated to give out all of her thank-you notes and baked treats for everyone that attended lily rose’s birthday party. perhaps if she had stuck with the traditional way of handling things and just sent the cards out through mail it would be done by now - but that felt so impersonal. which was why she’d been making individual stops to see everyone, following up on how the birthday girl loved their gifts. entering the pawn shop, the baby on her waist giggled at the sound of the hooting owl that rang through the store as they opened the door and poppy grinned as she headed inside. “randall?” she called out, hoping he was here considering he hadn’t been at the book store today. really should should have called before hand to both safe herself the time of looking around the island for him, but she had wanted this to be a surprise. @randallbxggs​

Randall heard the hoot of the door and a familiar giggle as he was in the back of the pawn shop, just trying to kill time before his shift ended. The familiar giggle was followed by Poppy’s voice, to which Randall poked his head out from the back of the store. “I thought I heard you guys,” he greeted as he walked toward them with a smile. He wasn’t always in the mood to be around Poppy and her bright and cheery personality, but he had grown accustomed to it after dating her. His smile and charm around Poppy was like second nature to him at this point. “What are you two up to?”

Continuing to watch the potato sack covered individual walk away, Eda snorted at her employee’s comment. This should probably be weird, but well the owl lady has never been a normal boss by any means. Really, the only thing strange about this scene was that King wasn’t sitting there judging everyone with them. “Oh it’s the food,” she’s quick to answer, completely confident. “It’s like they’ve never heard of anything normal and need to show off the fact that they’re rich and fancy. We fucking get it - you’re the king and queen. We know you’ve got money.” 

Randall smirked as Eda continued to make fun of anything they possibly could about the masquerade. The food was definitely over the top, or Randall thought so, and Eda seemed to agree. He chuckled. “They just don’t wanna be seen serving normal food. They’re obviously using this as an excuse to show off.”

@randallbxggs

belle didn't normally drink or go to parties. she had to admit she was a little nervous about attending the masquerade, but at the same time she found it exciting, as if it were straight out of a fantasy book. she always dreamed about waltzing around with royalty and sipping champagne like she belonged, but this event was not one of those moments. sure, she sipped champagne like a professional, but that had only lead to awkward interactions with her ex. after that she honestly wanted to go home, but then she spotted randall. she would know him anywhere just from working with him all the time and she walked over to him with a sad smile on her face. "enjoying the evening?" she asked softly, genuinely curious to know about randall and how he was outside of work.

when randall answers her with more sarcasm draped on his words than she deems necessary, she has to suppress the urge to lash out on him right then and there. to anyone else, the way her blood boils and her fingernails pierce the inside of her palm is a bit of an overreaction. but to candice it’s more than justified, the nerve of randall to not only tell that she was avoiding him but to call her out on her lie – the audacity. though it was absolutely fair, she’s never once allowed him a second of peace, so why should he allow her the same. (because she deserved more than him, would be her answer if you asked her). “of course i’m embarrassed.” candice exclaims, eyes narrowing dangerously as she stares at him. how could he even ask such a ridiculous question as if the answer wasn’t obvious. “have you ever heard yourself talk? or even so much as thought about who you are as a person?” 

Randall can see that he is beginning to get under Candice’s skin, the smirk on his lips genuine as he watches her try not to lash out right there. He knew he had to enjoy the moment while he could, because Candice would probably get over it eventually and go back to her annoying and cruel ways like she always did. Being above her in this moment, though, was very satisfying for Randall. Her answer doesn’t offend him, it was a typical Candice response. “Alright, so why’d you do it, then? Really?” He had a feeling she was just going to blame the alcohol, but he wanted to torture her just a little longer. “One minute you find me attractive, the next you find me embarrassing.. What’s with the mixed signals?”

candice doesn’t know how exactly she ended up on babysitting duty for the night (or more importantly how she managed to lose hans). she’d never been the friend that was entrusted with taking care of others, not because she didn’t care about her friends and what they were dealing with, but because she was the most likely to handle it poorly. which she had been doing for a bulk of the night. so when she realizes hans’ is no longer within her sight, candice takes it upon herself to have a drink at the bar. she needed one. bringing her glass to her lips she smiles brightly when she sees one of her newest interns returning to her with a masked man. “randy,” she greets, faux cheer coating her words as she does so. with valerie off for the night candice had to entrust one of her recent hires to fetch randall, not wanting to waste her own time seeking him out. granted, the intern was told to leave out the detail that it was candice that wanted to see him. “merry late Christmas!” she explains, retrieving a well wrapped present and holding it tout to randall. “how was your holiday? did you and your...friends,” there’s a question at the end of the word as she realizes she doesn’t know if randall even had any friends to celebrate with — oh well, too late to take it back. “have fun?” @randallbxggs

This wasn’t the first time Candice used one of her interns to trick Randall into leading him to her. By now, he was usually quick to recognize people associated with her, but this time she seemed to have sent a new person to hunt him down. They didn’t say they were leading him to Candice, but it was rather obvious what was happening here. The only reason he didn’t say no was because he was curious to see what the woman wanted. Glad to at least be led to the bar ( he was definitely going to need a drink if his suspicions were true ), he huffed out a sigh as soon as he saw Candice. If she was going back to wanting to see him again, this couldn’t be good. He had his fun messing with her after the fall festival and enjoyed when Candice wasn’t going out of her way to annoy him, but it seemed that by now she was over that and back to her old ways. “Candice,” he nods, the smile he gives clearly fake. “Sending one of your newbies off to find me now? What’s this about?” He asked, eyebrows raised curiously, though this wasn’t obvious with the masquerade mask he was wearing. As she hands him a wrapped Christmas gift, he can’t help but chuckle and shake his head. Without even knowing what it was, he had a feeling it was going to be, in one way or another, something that would probably insult him or make him look stupid. Candice didn’t have a kind bone in her body, Randall was already convinced of that, so he couldn’t assume the gift was genuine. He took the present from her, eyeing her suspiciously. “What made you decide to buy me a gift?” He asked, genuinely curious as he began to open the gift. “It was good.. I actually spent time with my family, thank you for asking,” Randall lied smoothly. In reality, he hadn’t spoken to his parents in quite awhile, and spent the holiday alone. He was feeling extra anti-festive this year, so it really didn’t bother him. Opening the present, he’s met with a very nice pair of glasses. He’s a little … confused. He had perfectly fine glasses at home; though the prescription on the lenses might’ve been a little outdated by now, he just chose not to wear them. “What the hell is this?” He asked with a genuine chuckle, perplexed by the gift. “Is this a joke? … Do you even know my prescription?”

“Is that person wearing a potato sack?” she asks, leaning forward to get a better look at Prescott crossing past their line of sight. Eda’s voice may be a bit too loud, but she didn’t care. Turning to look at her employee and people watching companion for the time being, she lifted a hand to point at the individual in question. “Tell me you’re seeing this too.” @randallbxggs​

Randall didn’t expect to be hanging around his bosses at the masquerade, but truthfully, he didn’t see himself hanging around anyone else he knew at the event. Both his bosses from his two jobs were genuinely decent to be around, so he didn’t see anything weird about it from his perspective. Eda was especially entertaining to be around as she continued to judge people in their line of vision. “Oh, I see it,” he answered with a chuckle, though he could say everyone looked like they wore potato sacks with his awful vision. “I can’t really decide what’s worse — the food options here, or people’s outfit choices.”

“Because I make it with love,” she answers, grinning wide and trying to stay serious for a moment before giggling and shaking her head. “I don’t use as many eggs as others do. And a bit more vanilla and bourbon. It balances out really well.” Holding out the glass that she’d brought over to him, Poppy waits for Randall to take it. “Come on, just try it.”

“Love is not a real ingredient, Poppy,” Randall responded, though he did smile at how dumb it truly sounded. He eyed her suspiciously as she explained her egg nog recipe. “Alright, alright.” He knew she wouldn’t give up if he refused, so he figured he may as well get it over with. Taking a sip of the egg nog, he was surprised that he didn’t actually hate it. “It isn’t horrible … Must be a Christmas miracle,” he joked, giving her a small smile. “I actually got something for you guys, too,” he remembered as he sat down the egg nog in his hand. He had gotten Poppy and Lily Rose each a book — a romance novel for Poppy, and a children’s picture book for Lily Rose —neatly wrapped separately. He knew Poppy well enough to know she was going to get him something, so he had already planned ahead to get something in return. He handed her the two separate wrapped books. “Not sure if Lily Rose is old enough to unwrap a present, but, you get the idea.”

Randall doesn’t find it surprising that Poppy was trying to convince him that her egg nog was better than ordinary egg nog. Sure, he did typically enjoy the different treats she’s made for him in the past, but egg nog was something he couldn’t justify. “What makes your egg nog better than others?” He asked Poppy with raised eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so over critical of Poppy’s gift, but he was feeling extra anti-holidays this year. “I guess you got me with the alcohol .. but I’m probably still gonna hate it.” @artsandpoppy​

@randallbxggs​

It wasn’t the smartest idea to head to a bar when there was many warnings about a blizzard but Meg didn’t do things that were smart most of the time. Having someone as senile as she was tagging along only encouraged her to be more crazy. So The Snuggly Duckling it was, trying to find somewhere still open to get a drink or two. The good news, it was open. The bad news, it was only open because the door wasn’t locked. But Meg didn’t care. And as the air grew colder and the lights went out, she rummaged around until she found a few candles and a bottle of scotch. “Hey, this isn’t actually the worst situation to be in.”

The sudden change in weather was a little fishy in Randall’s eyes, but the alcohol consumed at the festival made him not really care as much as he normally would have. Though he didn’t expect to have company with him at the festival and even afterwards, it was kind of a nice change for him. Typically, he was used to complaining about things alone, but it felt good to have someone else around who seemed unfazed by his complaining and even complained equally as much as he did. “Honestly, I think I’d rather be here than anywhere else,” he replied with a chuckle. “It’s not everyday you get stuck in a bar with endless bottles of booze to drink.”

“It is disgusting, but isn’t all alcohol-related beverages when it comes down to it?” she asked as if he was going to agree with her anyways. “It taste like licorice honestly, but if you knock it down it isn’t too bad. Because, it’s the holidays or whatever.” She shrugged. “Do you have a drink you do like? And do they sell it at this festival?”

“Yeah, unless you’ve drank enough to where you can’t taste it anymore,” Randall replied with a chuckle and a shrug. Though, Randall wasn’t one who typically would drink enough to be that fucked up. “I’ve been sticking with the spiked hot chocolate, ‘cause it’s the warmest alcoholic drink they offered. I’d probably just rather have a beer, but that obviously isn’t festive enough for the occasion.”

Barb looked over at the man beside her and knew he got it. “Finally, someone who admits it. Snow sucks.” It was cold, it was wet, it got everywhere. What was the point of it? “It’s impossible to be warm, no matter what I do, I’m still freezing.” Growing up in Florida had really fucked her over for any other temperature. Eyes fell on the drink in his hand and narrowed in interest. “What is that? Where do I get that?” Maybe if she had something to drink, she would be able to warm herself up from the inside since this coat was doing fuck all.

Randall nodded his head in agreement, always happy to complain about things with someone, whether they wanted to complain with him or just listen to his pessimism. “To be fair, I’ve never seen it snow this much here. Must just be our luck.” As his eyes focused on the woman, he realized he recognized her from somewhere, though it took him a minute to remember where he could’ve known her from. “Oh this? Spiked hot chocolate,” Randall answered, temporarily distracted from his thoughts by her question. “I can show you where I got it, if you want,” he offered, motioning for her to follow him. As he began to lead her to where he bought the beverage, it suddenly clicked on why she was familiar. “ — you’re one of Poppy’s friends, right? She has so many, I can hardly keep track sometimes.”

she’s hardly surprised by how easy it is to avoid randall. they’d hardly ever frequented the same spots, candice’s social circle preferring only the finest venues to hang out in and randall’s social circle being non-existent. the two would only ever cross paths if she willed it, candice going out of her way to pop up at his work place to agitate him. since the fall festival candice had never willed it or wanted it, and so she never saw him. it was that simple. or, it had been until she hears the all too familiar voice rain down on her the sound grating enough to almost make her wince. or rather the idea that she’d been caught. “no,” candice answers quickly, not even giving it much thought even if it was a clear lie. “i run a company, I’m busy.” that part is the closest thing to the truth candice had given him in their entire relationship. she is busy with work, but never too much that she can’t bring a special piece of her personal brand of hell to him. “did you need something? or did you just grow bored of the rat infested sewers you normally spend your time in?” bold of her to still attempt to throw a jab at him, desperately trying to hold onto whatever shred of power she once had in their dynamic for her own comfort. randall having the upper hand in a conversation with her was just something she would not accept willingly.

It was strange for Randall to feel above Candice for once in his life; even if she still tried to throw insults his way, they wouldn’t even bother him at this point. At the end of the day, they both knew what happened between them at the fall festival, and there was no way Candice could deny it. That alone was enough for Randall to confront Candice confidently, not caring if the woman wanted to talk to him or not. Randall feels his eyebrows raise curiously as Candice quickly denies avoiding him. “Right.. Busy,” Randall repeats with a hint of sarcasm and a nod, making it pretty obvious that he doesn’t believe her but plays along anyways. Yes, he knew Candice did have a job that kept her busy, but he also knew she always found her ways to find him and annoy him somehow, at least up until after the fall festival. A chuckle escaped his lips as Candice was already insulting him, a little bit surprised but more amused than anything. “Funny, you didn’t seem bothered by my rat infested sewers when you came back to my apartment with me,” he answered smoothly, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her. “But then again, that would explain why you left so soon.” He was already having way too much fun with this. He pretended to be oblivious, finding that would be the best way to get under her skin about the whole ordeal. “You’re not ... embarrassed, are you?”

“Okay? They’re absolute shit if we are talking about flavor,” Meg said as if she didn’t just say the drinks were okay. “They are too cinnamon-ey, too much nutmeg, and the actual eggnog is watered down.” She wrinkled her nose at the thought of it. “But. None of that matters. Even though the flavors aren’t the best, the right drinks have the right amount of alcohol. Just not the egg nog.”

Randall smirked as he listened to the woman complain about the drinks, nodding his head in agreement as she listed the many flaws of the alcohol available. As if they were professionals and had any room to judge, but Randall was no stranger to unsolicited judgement. “I don’t understand how people drink egg nog willingly,” Randall responded, his nose scrunching up slightly. “I’d have to be drunk if I was caught drinking that stuff, spiked or not.”