don't fight, hold tight

Never the kind to show any kind of impatience, Theodore simply got on with his day. Sure, he might have wanted her to be on time for once, but he also didn’t expect her to come running at the sound of her phone ringing. Just as with his children, Theodore wanted them to have their own mind and have their own control of their lives. What good it was if they were all reliant on someone else, if they were not able to finish whatever they were doing, if they were kneeling to someone else. No, that was not in his books. Theodore looked at Nemo like his own, a child by right and equal by mind. Though it had only been ten years since their first meeting, Theodore knew upon laying his eyes on her that she was different. It was perhaps that look in her eyes which accumulated the events of her life. He remembered keeping an eyes on her back then, watching as she became someone else to every person she met, different name, different accent, even the way she held herself. It was amusing and it offered, for some, a false sense of security. Ever since then, he just knew that she was one of his. 

He’d been looking through the books when she came in. Looking through the numbers of both of his businesses, making sure there was no things that did not match his own numbers. A fairly simple tasks, which relaxed him. As she spoke, Theodore simply put up his index finger in the air, motioning her to wait and sit down as he ran through the last bit of numbers. This wasn’t to make her pay for making him wait, or any sort of that none-sense. He simply wanted to finish one thing off before beginning a new one. 

Finally, Theodore William closed his book and looked up a the blonde woman before him. “Well.” He said, standing up and getting to his liquor stash and grabbing an extra glass. “What’s there to miss?” His brow arched but there was a slight playfulness in the depths of his blue eyes. “I want to know if you know or heard anything about the death of Katrina.” The drinks were now poured two fingers and he handed one of them to Nemo. He refused to call her anything else. Sitting back down the man pulled out his cigarette pack and walked up to the window. The frustration might not have been evident to anyone else, but he knew she would see it. “Well?”

.

Settling down she sits across from his desk and whilst she does, she leans back in her chair, staring at his every move, watching as he was deeply concentrated. The only time her attention diverts is when there’s a knock at the door and it’s her that tells the intruder to come in and knowing behold, it was her fries. Of course she knew it, hence why she was the one gesturing for them to be placed in front of her. It’s now a thankful form of distraction as she’s the one being made to wait, it’s not something she likes but it’s routine enough to know this was what he was like. Reaching for a fry she bites into it, chewing on half before she pops the other into her mouth, all whilst conforming back into her transfixed gaze. This is her silently as well as amusingly, trying to add pressure on him, trying to make him uncomfortable with the fact that she was obviously staring him down. There’s nothing meant by it, notice the word try, it’s a thing she does, more so with him because he very rarely cracked and hey, she had to find some form of entertainment herself whilst she remained patient, right?

When he finally looks up at her and stands, her eyes follow him before she pulls them away and back to the food she doesn’t really want. It tasted good, however, so there was a pro to her minor hint of jealousy. “The package that I am.” she quipped, clearly thinking she was worth missing. Hell, she’d miss herself. Sienna could see that he was messing with her, she’s stared at him enough by now to pick up the certain looks his eyes gave--- the only real giveaway to his mood, she thought, anyway. He wasn’t exactly as colourful as she was when it came to expressing emotion--- though that being said, all she did display was fake. Tell her to act a certain way and she’ll perform an oscar worthy performance, ask her how it feels and she doesn’t know. Though in his presence, she does find herself slowly mirroring his serious demeanour--- perhaps more so now he turns the topic onto the recent killings of the town. 

Diving her hand into the basket before her, she pops another fry in her mouth before he handed her the freshly poured drink, she takes a sip and places the glass before her. The liquid’s as strong as she imagined and whilst she enjoys the burn, day drinking doesn’t please her. She likes to be fully alert all the time, so watch as she makes this drink last the entirety of their conversation. She sighs as she settles back into her chair as he stands once again, she can sense the frustration practically radiating from him. “No, unless you want me to recite what the papers say.” she of course knows he does not. “I know it’s tragic,” not that she cares, why care for a life you do not know? “I know tensions are high and I also know everyone is sitting on their hands. So that tells me we are not blaming either side.” which was no fun. “I’ve heard nothing,” not even in the short time she had been back, “and I feel asking around would be pointless. But I can.” she’s telling him that it was a waste of breath, all whilst letting him know if he wanted her to ask--- more so the mc, she would.

“Right, like with a name that regal sounding you’d have thought it would be prettier.” Relieved that he wasn’t the only one who thought the thing looked unfortunate. A groan involuntarily left his lips at the other’s next question because he understood how it could sound that way given his call but still hated to have to explain. “No, no we don’t. Or at least no ones told me we do. Someone wanted us to make a cake out of flowers and I’m not entirely convinced that’s even possible.” Trying his best to explain what had happened and that he most certainly was not about to start becoming a baker now. 

Getting back to the problem at hand and listening to her request he followed the gesture to see she was pointing at some aloe vera and her quess was as good as his. “Oh uh, sometimes plants just die and that’s pretty normal.” Going back to the computer and starting to search up the plant to see what the internet recommended. “Iindirect sunlight and temperature seem to be important, you’re not watering too frequently are you?” Pulling all this out of his ass thanks to google. As for next request he’d have to admit his lack of knowledge now before he got too in over his head. “Yeah that sounds nice, good color combination. Uh I can put that in for you and you can pick it up tomorrow if that’s fine? I just started here and have no real knowledge of flowers but the owner should be back soon and they can make something nice up for you based on the colors you gave.”

.

“Right.” she clicks her fingers as she points her index at him, giving a brief nod in agreement. His groan makes her wonder if she’s boring him and in which case, poor customer service. It’s not until he explains and perhaps she gets it. She even chuckled at the thought of a cake being made out of flowers. It sounded fun whilst it also sounded ridiculous. “I think you’re caller is insane.” that was funny, coming from her, but it wasn’t like he knew what funded her lifestyle so call her laughing at her own internal joke. 

“Mm, yes, I know.” that plants die. Boy did she know. She watched him go back around to the computer, he screamed inexperienced which surprisingly wasn’t irritating her. She had time and that thought prompted her to move closer to the counter, she’s leaning against it now as she’s watching him. She barely blinks, only doing so every now and then, if he thought she was staring at him he’d be correct. She wasn’t being subtle and she wasn’t one to care either. “Might be.” watering the aloe vera too much. “Sometimes I don’t water it at all. I’ve had twenty three this year, all dead.” she smiles sweetly though there’s a hint of silent annoyance on her features at the fact that they were all dead. “What do you suggest, Doctor.” 

At him telling her he was new here she figures he’d be happy to do what he had offered, to write the colours in the book, but she wasn’t satisfied. “Perhaps I can show you what ones and you can write them down?” she offers that as a suggestion, not seeing anything wrong with it herself but ah, he might. She waits, however, for his answer before she asks anything else. 

As soon as he opened the door, the difference in the air was clear enough that it had him reaching behind himself. He took a second before stepping further int other place, purposely allowing the door to slam loudly behind him. It wasn’t long before his eyes landed on Sienna and while she was a familiar face his shoulders didn’t loosen in tension. If anything, he straightened up even more, lifting his chin slightly as he took in her little set up. “Comfortable?” He questioned, moving his hands in front of him, one now carrying the gun he had reached for beforehand. With Sienna he never knew what stunt she was going to pull and while he typically enjoyed an actual challenge for himself, there was enough he had to deal with. She wasn’t something he needed to add to his plate but whether he wanted it or not, she would help herself onto it. “How long you been here?” Both in his apartment and town, he meant. 

She feels a burst of excitement the moment the door slams, it doesn’t take a genius to take that hint of him being pissed and whilst she should care--- matter of intrusion and all, she doesn’t. It was better than her waiting in his bed underneath the sheets, whilst she figures he’d probably choke her for it, the idea of him having a mini heart attack would actually make it worth it. Instantly fixing her attention on him the moment he walked into the room she watches him straighten up, there’s a smirk on the curvature of her mouth; was she comfortable? Good question. “Could be warmer.” her eyes drop at his movement, seeing his gun she resists the urge to laugh. “For me?” she makes a brief gesture towards it, tone feigning surprise, it’s as if he’s got her a present--- picture this, Christmas day, massive red box, wrapped in ribbon-- the complete works, upon opening? The cutest fluffiest kitten. Awh. “Shouldn’t have.” continuing to lick her spoon, she dips it back into her bowl of mixture, scraping around the sides, wanting to collect the maximum amount. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” she’s purposely being cryptic just to wind him up and instead of answering right this second, she chooses to focus on another point. “How’d you know?” he wasn’t alone. “Can’t be the perfume because I can smell yours from here.. Hugo?” she’s taking a guess before she jumps to her next assumption, “Oven?” 

quirking a brow as he leans his upper body to the side, he only actively twists up his face when she moves closer. “sure, if you’re offering.” he knew she wasn’t, he was just meeting her sarcasm. there’s a glance towards the man behind the counter as he realises, which funnily enough he hadn’t before, that he’d been half way through her order before he walked in. “you should probably finish her order off before she goes one minute over her daily intake and starts crying. throw in an extra scoop on me.” axel twists around, taking a small step back as he gestures to the counter. “you’re welcome.” was about the only version of an apology she was going to get from him.

he got her actually laughing at his one minute over her daily intake and starts crying comment, it was funny--- at least she found the humour, anyway. whilst she appreciated the idea of getting an extra scoop free, his next input was one he shouldn’t have done. more because she now had every intention of pushing his buttons than she did before. “i’m welcome.” she repeats, it’s a comment to herself as she let out a dry chuckle. stepping into the space he moved back from, she doesn’t care that she’s breeching his space even more as she directs her attention to the guy making her order, “i’ll also have everything on the right side of that board.” she makes a little gesture up to the menu. you can see light fizzle out of the worker’s eyes as he realises how much he now has to make and do. “you know that’ll be,” he begins, looking up at the board trying to make a rough calculation, “nearly a hundred bucks?” including the cakes, more ice cream, the waffles, the drinks. “over, but i don’t care.” she responds, her tone’s vibrant, she’s enjoying herself. turning to look at the guy she was choosing to give a massive fuck you to she smiles, “enjoy the wait. de rien.” she’s being sarcastic, she’s also telling him he was welcome in french. not that he asked for it, she was simply giving him what she thought he deserved. which was better than a bloodied nose, right? 

“Uh, well here.” Pulling out the phone from his back pocked and quickly using google to produce a picture of the flower and coming round the counter to show the other. The flower might be somewhere around the shop but he wasn’t going to be able to find it fast enough. He was barely making it around as it was and had felt more dumb than usual as the owners had been giving him more information all day than he felt like he’d memorized from med school. That meant something since he was pretty sure he could name every single bone in the body without much faltering. He did drop out after all, but that was unrelated. Snapping his attention back to the other who was now browsing through the cacti and succulents he was wondering whether to hang back or offer his help. The latter being a weighted question depending on what she needed. 

“You looking for anything specifically, or?”

Once he shows her an image of the flower in question she steps closer to get a better look at his phone, “Seen better.” with a name like that? She would have thought it might have at least looked nice. But no. What a disappointment that was. “Didn’t realise you made cakes?” she questions, referring back to the part of his telephone call that she had overheard. A florist making cakes wasn’t exactly unheard of, but it wasn’t something she was aware of. Turning her hues away from the aloe vera that her focus had formerly been fixed on, she transfers that attention onto the male. “A way to keep those alive.” she makes a gesture with her head to the plants she was looking at, letting out a brief chuckle as she did so, making it imply she was joking, even though no, she wasn’t. “I’d like a bunch made up--- purples, whites, pinks..” the flowers were going to match her outfit she had already planned for tomorrow. “All different types.” she didn’t want the same flower just in a different colour, really she was going for nice not boring.

really; judging by the confusion on their face, she wasn’t expecting them to do it, let alone stick around for too long after.  Josie was weird in her own right, she never claimed to be anything she wasn’t and all joking aside, she had kind of regretted her decision to approach the stranger if only because of their clear cut reaction, though that didn’t mean she wasn’t relieved they played along.  She closes her eyes the moment the blonde woman grabs her finger; “Okay, are you pulling?” she can feel it for herself, and what is about to come Josie isn’t proud of, hardly.  “can you tell me if you’re pulling?”  she would’ve felt twice as bad for playing this universal joke if she weren’t finding entertainment in it all.  

as she watched the other close her eyes, she finds herself quirking her brow. completely amused she chokes back a chuckle, anyone would think she was finding whoever this was funny, truth was, she wasn’t. when being asked if she was pulling she resisted that spark in her to actually yank the woman’s finger--- that’s more her inner thought of dislocate it, but she doesn’t listen to it. instead she lets go, both her hands now tucking into the hoodie she was wearing. that confused demeanour from seconds ago? gone. “take it you’re bored.” it’s the explanation she settled for, why else?