shrewd

Shay looked around the street, taking in all the Christmas decorations. She was annoyed at how hard she was actively trying not to smile. Since when had she become someone who grinned at Christmas decorations? Ugh. Still, she wished her brother’s could be here. But she had Matt and her friends. Her knock on Shenzi’s door was a little more agressive than necessary, but the blonde had to compensate for all those gross, gooey feelings inside her. “Open up before I’m permanently blinded by the Christmas’ lights!”

@shenziwallace·

The Christmas season was something that Shenzi was not exactly keen on going through, not when said season served as a reminder of the family she’s lost. You see, when she was younger, she experience the holiday traditions with her parents such as setting up & decorating a Christmas tree, watching Christmas movies in their pajamas and staying awake until Santa Claus arrives. Of course, those traditions were put to a halt when her parents disappeared and she hasn’t celebrated the holidays since. That was why she stayed in her apartment, studying as if it was just another normal day. She was about to get herself a snack when Shock made her presence known. “You sound like the Grinch but don’t look like one.”, she said upon opening the door, referring to the smile on the blonde’s face. “What are you doing here?”

“You know I wouldn’t risk my back like that for a friend.” Randall replied with a scoff. He rolled his eyes at her answer, slightly stung even if he really didn’t want to care this much. “But I will do it for you. As long as we can order food and eat it in your new couch after. I’m pretty sure Harryhausen’s has delivery service.” 

“But you would for someone who is way more than a friend to you, right?” Shenzi asked, playfully hinting at the fact that she’s slowly figuring his words and actions towards her out. She laughed upon seeing him roll his eyes. “Fine, dinner’s on me tonight but if you make a mess, you’re cleaning it up.” With her phone securely placed in her back pocket now, she reached for one end of the couch.

Vitani sighed.  She didn’t want to deal with Shenzi on good day and she really didn’t want to have to deal with her sober or with a headache coming on.  “I guess that means that you can finally leave me and my family alone then since you have seen everything and don’t need us anymore.”

“There’s so much I know about your family that you don’t so trust me when I say that asking me to leave you guys alone is not the best decision.” Not when her involvement in Saul’s business and digging into her parents’ disappearance gave her the upper hand over him & everyone else involved. “Now, speaking of family, how's the search for Kyle going?”

“Look, as I’ve told you before, I have no interest in “just helping out”, okay?” Randall replied with a huff, finally looking up from his half-finished sketch of City Hall. “So if you want my help, you’re simply going to have to make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

“Not even for a friend? Fine, I’ll look for someone else to help carry the couch into my new apartment then. It won’t be that hard.” It actually will be because Shenzi didn’t want to let people she wasn’t exactly close to in her new place but Randall didn’t have to know that. “Ha, I’ve heard you make that move before. Won’t work on me.”

“Listen my head hurts and all of this noise isn’t really helping.  So if you want to talk can we go somewhere more quiet.”

Shenzi was on her way back to where her friends were when she heard her other girl’s voice. “Vitani Leon at a party.”, she said upon turning around. “I’ve now seen everything.”

“I love it here.” Gemma lifted one of the apples, inspecting it. “Not that I know of, unless she carved it on one of these. Should I go back?” She nodded, “You’re welcome. You’ll have to invite me over to try it.”

“Check the receipt, she once wrote in on the back of mine with the words call me next to it. She’s a nice person so if you’re interested, go for it.” Shenzi laughed. “If I get it right, I will. Maybe in time for Christmas.”

“Maybe next time. To be honest, I wasn’t planning on finding all of this stuff! I only came here for a pumpkin and some honey.” She flashed a sly grin, “And of course, to talk to the cute girl from the apple stand. I think she has a thing for me. Gave me a couple freebies.” Gem looked over Shenzi’s findings. “I bet you could make a delicious warm salad with that. Maybe put some candied walnuts on top.”

“You have now officially been lured into the trap of a farmers market. There’s no going back but it’s not a bad thing anyway.” Shenzi laughed. That’s why she brings extra money with her everytime she comes here, she always ends up buying more than she intended to. “Does that freebie include her number?” She nodded at the suggestion she was given. “I’ll take note of that. Thanks.”

Gemma held her arms out to take the things Shenzi grabbed. “I brought some bags, but it looks like they weren’t enough. What did you find? Looks like a lot of really nice veggies! Fall produce is my favorite. Pumpkin everything!”

“I made the mistake of believing that bags were enough when I first went shopping here. I’ve used this-” Shenzi dragged her trolley bag in front of her. “Ever since. Maybe you should get your own.”, she advised. “Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, apples and butternut squash which I have never tried in my life. I don’t even know what i”ll do with all these but figuring it out is part of the fun.”

Gemma fumbled through the farmers market, two canvas totes and both arms filled with various gourds, corns, and other autumn findings. “Yeah, I got it, thanks though,” she nodded, just as she tripped over an extension cord, the bounty in her arms tumbling to the pavement. “… Maybe I could use some help.”

It might be weird for some people to see Shenzi in the farmer’s market but going there to buy the things she needed to restock her pantry was a normal thing for her. She preferred buying things straight from the source after all. As she was done with her shopping, she noticed the blonde having difficulty with her purchases and was only thinking about helping until she was sure that she needed it. “This is why I bring my own trolley bag when I go here.”, she said as she picked up the things that fell.

“Not you the idiot behind you” she said rolling her eyes.  “As if I would ever say those words to you but since you are here what do you want.”

Shenzi turned around to see who Vitani was referring to then laughed. “Vitani here says she loves you. You should take it as a compliment because I grew up with her but she never told me that.” She then faced the brunette again. “Unless you have nothing relevant to tell me today, I want you to leave me alone because I came here to study.”

“Soft?” Randall asked, spitting the word out as if it was laced with poison. “I’m not getting soft. I’m just admitting I can care about certain people and my pet.” He assured her. He was a little taken aback by her response, his voice scrambling to come up with a response while he also wondered about the implications of what she was saying. “What are you talking about, of course you deserve to have someone if you want to.” He replied, his voice coming softer and warmer now that they were talking about her. Randall looked out the window and then his eyes settled back on her, he took a moment to focus on the topic. “Right, I did think of that, but then again, I don’t really like the cops… And this way I get to crash at your house.” He replied with a wink and a chuckle, trying to bring a lighter note into the conversation. His smiled widened at her joke and he took another swing of his beer. “Oh, no need, Wallace. If you need me, and my props around, all you need to do is shoot me a message.” He assured her. 

“Coming from the guy who shoved people out of the way just to tell me that I  actually seem interesting almost four years ago, that says a lot.” Clearly, a lot has changed since then and the smile on her face showed that she was grateful about it. “Speaking of which, please tell me your game has improved since then.”, she teased in hopes of making the conversation lighter. His question got in the way of her achieving that. “If you knew what I did back then, I don’t think you would be as confident about that as you are now.” God, she really hoped that he did not pick up on how the tone in her voice became a sad one because while she wanted to finally talk to someone about how her last relationship ended, she was scared of what the effects of her doing so would be. “Some of them contribute to why this world is fucked up so I don’t blame you for that.” The latter part of his statement made her laugh. “Tonight, yes but if your stalker ends up following me around to get to you, I am never letting you crash here again..” But that had more to do with her many experiences of having people follow her home after a shift at the bar than with the boy seated across her. “I know.”

“Listen I love you but maybe you could have told me that story in less words.”

“Holy shit, you actually said those words to me.", Shenzi said even if she knew that the words weren't directed to her. "Can you repeat it?”

She took the last drag of her cigarette and her eyes focused on the people milling about the park. It was quite full for the time, she would’ve thought people would have had more to do on a Friday night. Her eyes focused on her mark, the man she was supposed to follow around for a couple of blocks, make sure he got the money to where it was owed, and sighed. These jobs were getting more and more boring, something she wouldn’t have thought possible before. But alas. As the older man moved to leave, the blonde threw the cigarette but in the trash and took a quick sip of her flask. She was about to follow him when she noticed someone seemed to be staring at her. “Can I help you?” She asked menacingly, turning to look at the person whose eyes bore into her back. 

For the past few days, Shenzi has done nothing but study and only go out to buy herself some food. It was tiring and she desperately needed a break which she decided to take one because it was a Friday night anyway. Her feet brought her to the nearby park where she luckily spotted a familiar face. She would have approached Shock sooner if it weren’t for the fact that she realized that the blonde was not there for leisure but for business, and it took being caught staring to have her get rid of the distance between the two of them. “I was going to say that you’ve gotten better at laying low.”

Randall scoffed, hoping that was enough to hide his nervous intake of breath. “Why are you so sure, huh? Maybe I’m just talking about my cat.” He replied haphazardly. “Why? Have you found someone that could fill that spot?” He shook his head, taking a long swing of his beer, actually glad for the change. “Dude, I did. Several times. But stalking my apartment at night is not an act of love, it’s some weird obsession. Like, come on.” Randall shrugged. “What was I supposed to do, I tried to let him down easy and he refused to face the facts. I didn’t know he was going to be some lame-ass super soy trying to catch a sight of me through the window at 2 am or whatever.” Randall smiles, for a moment he just let his eyes linger on her and felt a warm feeling flood him as she ate. “You know you can count on me to feed you, Wallace.”

“I actually wasn’t but you getting nervous and defensive just made me sure. Then there is the fact that you admitted to having love for your cat which proves that you’re getting soft.” When the question was directed towards her, Shenzi gave him a light shrug. “I already had someone who filled that spot. Don’t think I deserve to find another.” Truth be told, she was actually open to the idea of experiencing that kind of love a second time. The problem is her fear still got in the way of her thinking that she should. “If that’s the case, now would be a good time to file a restraining order.” Her own bottle of beer in her hand now, she finished what was left of it in one go because the conversation was getting too heavy for her liking. “Now, I do and if I knew that a stalker was what it takes for you to be around me more, I would have hired someone to be that a long time ago.”, she joked.

“I’m alright,” she said, take a few deep breaths to level her breathing. After a few, she placed her hands on her hip and nodded. “Don’t we all have a lot going on in our heads here?” Astrid glanced around the street. “I can’t be the only one running to clear my head, can I?”

“We all do but some are better at hiding it than others.” And for Shenzi, the blonde is proof of that. “So many people actually do that, you can form your own support group. Maybe that will help you more than running does.” 

“Only when it’s a super cool thing or a super cool new friend.” Jack replied casually, leaning back to get a better view of her face for a moment. “Just sit and talk to me for a while, I can buy you a drink or snack.” He explained happily. “And then I’ll try an capture your vibe into the sketch. Also, I will of course invite you to te opening so you can see how it turned out!”

“And what exactly constitutes a cool thing or friend for you?” Seeing that he was trying to get a better look at her, Shenzi stayed still so the process would be faster. “Alright but I don’t talk to people much so you are going to have to ask me questions for this to work. Buy me a sandwich and I’ll be good.” She laughed upon hearing his invitation. “As you should.”

“I’m not denying that… I’m sure I could be very invested, in… “ Randall let the sentence hang in there for a moment and stared at her, then took a quick breath before proceeding. “In the right person.” He stopped and then breathed in once more. “But if there’s just two people who clearly consent in not looking from something serious, it is kind of annoying that one suddenly tries to force-change it into something more serious.” He took a long drink. “I mean I pulled away when I noticed it so it would be a clean break and he’s basically stalking me now.” He grumbled, his eyes automatically going to the window, half expecting to see someone to punch there. All he saw was his reflection. “Sounds fair.” He finally smiled and opened the container of fried. “Here you go.”

“You can’t expect me to let you leave it at that. I know you, Boggs, so I can tell that you feel like you already met the right person. Who is it?” Probably not the best idea to question him when he was already being awkward about things but Shenzi was never the type to drop a topic when she was curious about it. “You cannot blame a person for their feelings developing into something more than they intended it to. You’d be surprised by how many times their feelings can make them blind to other things. Just let whoever this guy is down gently.” Her eyebrow raised at him. “Well, that’s what you get for ghosting him.”  Taking the container of fries from him, she was quick to eat a handful of them. That proved that she was more hungry than she admitted to be. “Thanks.”