[R] Bright, Limpid Pools (Uuni & Falco)

[Kaelyndra]

It was a Sunday. A beautiful, glorious Sunday at 2pm. The sun was out, accompanied by a smattering of clouds, and the weather outside was perfect.

After having to get up at 5 in the morning, she was pleased to be off work and out, terrorizing the universe.

At this very moment, this meant reading the backs of intriguing romance novels out loud in the book store. Earlier, someone had caught onto what she was doing and had joined her. But they had left, and Uuni had culminated a small two-book stack of potentially good ones.

But, behold! There was another young victim moving through the isles. He was either here for a book for his girlfriend (common excuse!) or he had also become subjected, and ultimately hooked, to the wonderful horrors of the romance genre.

She idly moved her way in his direction, pretending to be searching for a specific book. It was a cunning ruse (not really), and when she was close, she tapped a finger on a book in his hand. "That's a good one."  

[Ryuthulhu]

"Nora Roberts?" Falco blinked, raising an eyebrow as he watched the neat, feminine finger come to rest on the spine of the the paperback in front of him. He cleared his throat again, feeling awkward to be the one getting called out instead of annoying others by dropping his used-books in awkward locations like church lobbies or the men's bathroom. "Too cut and paste. Try Abigail Barnette. Steampunk without the fanfiction.net thesaurus-torture chamber session."

Kaelyndra

 

[Kaelyndra]

Ryuthulhu

(( LOL. This is going to be interesting. I have never read a romance novel in my life. Bare with me; I will do my best. ))

Well, hello. Someone was an experienced reader.

"Hm," she answered, feeling the edges of her lips twitch into a smile. "That's a lot of culture references in one sentence." Uuni's eyes moved to his, the smile broadened.

Then, she shifted her gaze to the shelves in front of them. Her eyes scanned, one finger held out until she found what she wanted. "Shall we try for one more?" Grasping the book from the its top, she deftly slid it from the shelf and brought over the offering.

"Loretta Chase. 1800s romanticized British snobbery with chokingly obvious tones of every girl likes a bad boy wrapped up in a leaflet of overused, predictable American television-style humor."  

[Ryuthulhu]

Kaelyndra

XD Neither have I unless you count amazon samples, or samples that one of the authors puts on her blog (She also writes regular fantasy.)

"Oh they don't?" He noted, with a slight edge of sarcasm. "There goes my schtick. I figured I could cash in on the biker jacket look for another ten years or so before I started loosing to the guys with the ZZ top beards."

He raised an eyebrow as he examined the book and it's cover, sizing up the description on the back.

"...Sounds sort of hilarious and sad at the same time."  

[Kaelyndra]

Ryuthulhu

(( O, gud. We are on the same page. ))

Uuni raised an eyebrow. A long-fingered hand moved from the cover of the romance book to fiddle with the collar of the aforementioned jacket.

"Tsk. Don't lose this. It looks good on you."

She made a small click in the back of her mouth and gave him a quiet wink before turning to the book's back. "I haven't actually read this one," she admitted.

"There's a Peet's shoot-off in the back." With a patio. It was delux. "If you have time to kill. . . " Uuni gave him a good look over, trying to drive home the you do vibe. ". . . grab a few books and join me at one of the tables." Because like hell she was going to buy any.

Uuni wasn't particularly picky about the two she chose. One from the V's the M's and the B's. She paused, for a few moments, as if she was actually choosing. May as well look like she cared. But, really, even a bad romance novel was good for the hilarity, so why be picky?  

[Ryuthulhu]

Well.
If that didn't sound like a serious flirt, he wasn't sure what did, and if it wasn't he was going to feel sort of...set up.

Huh. It had been a while since he'd heard someone take that tone, and the last person had turned out to not be a person.

"Guess I'll see you there in a minute." He blinked, processing this unexpected change of events as she picked a few books.

Kaelyndra

Sorry it's so short!!!!

 

[Kaelyndra]

The answer was, quite simply, both. Her romance-reading young man was handsome, it was true. Not handsome enough to stick around permanently, nor enough to make her above guilting him into buying her a coffee.

The books landed on an unoccupied table with a quiet puff. Uuni calmly slid out a chair and settled herself into it. The first book was picked up and she flipped through it. A roll of her shoulders loosened her tense back, and her eyes flicked up in enough time to catch him heading her way.

A smile flickered across her face. The novel was replaced at the top of the others before she leaned back in her seat, confident, looking him over.

"Do you have a name, or are you going to keep me in suspense?"

Ryuthulhu

(( It's okay. I was equally as bad by taking forever and a day to respond. ))

 

[Ryuthulhu]

He grimaced slightly at the question, though not because she asked it. More because you never knew who was going to find his name hilarious. "Sorry, it's Falco." He offered. "Falco Marks."

He paused, gesturing toward the counter with his choice of book. "Coffee or Tea?"

Even if it was the set up he was suspicious of, he thought it was worth a few dollars to find out.

Kaelyndra

 

[Kaelyndra]

At the grimace, Uuni's brow went up. However, Uuni's knowledge of gaming culture was thin. A few long-standing partners and 'friends' had snaked her into playing once, but she hardly cared to remember. It wasn't an important thing to keep at the front of her brain.

It was safe to say, she did not laugh at his name. And, since he didn't ask, she didn't bother to offer her own.

"That's sweet of you." It was sincere enough. "Coffee." A grin.

One shaved leg stretched out while she waited for him to return.

Ryuthulhu

 

[Ryuthulhu]

Although there were probably games in which his name featured, he hadn't heard of them, though he'd face palmed over an episode of Castle where it was used as a moniker for a jewel thief, it was a little more annoying to share the name of a cult classic song.

"Coffee it is." He agreed. "Then you can tell me yours." He was used to an equivalent exchange rate on names, but then, he wasn't a girl. Girls came with their own set of problems that didn't make him envious.

He headed back to the counter, setting down the book to get it rung up at the same time, and ordered two cups of coffee. Nothing fancy... no sense futzing around with fancy stuff that someone might turn out to be allergic to. People had enough problems in Destiny City these days. He should know.

He paid, and when the order came up a couple minutes later, carried the two steaming cups back to the table, with the book tucked under his arm.

"Didn't want to make any assumptions so it's black. You'll have to dress it up yourself." He nodded toward the stock pitchers and sugars over on the side wall. He could have asked... but she also could have told him her name.

Falco Marks had a little trouble turning the passive aggressive switch to 'full off' these days.

Kaelyndra

Have a chuckle. wink

 

[Kaelyndra]

Uuni's problems came one at a time. A moment ago, her problem had been coffee. It was a nicely solved problem.

Uuni reached for the steaming cup with obvious delight, sliding it in next to her. There were very little things in life that were worth being overly protective of, but coffee was one of those things.

"Dressing is overrated," she commented idly as she took a careful sip of the steaming, black roast.

"I'm Uuni," she eventually relented. "Kierstedt." There was a quirk in her mouth as she jerked her head towards the book. Uuni's eyes, however, remained focused on Falco.

"So, what'd you bring?" Despite the words, the brunette was making it very clear that it was not the book she was interested in.

Ryuthulhu

(( LOL. Poor Falco. 8[ The more you know. I was thinking "Do a barrel roll". ))