[R] Checkout Shmeckout (Ainsley and Finn)

[Silverah]

Since his injury, Finn had felt awkward inflicting his ugly mug on the general public. Stitches and antibiotics and steroid cream could only do so much for the angry red gash on the side of his face, which was stubbornly healing at a rate slower than he would have expected, given the boost that came with his knight powers, but not entirely unwelcome. The slow recovery kept Vanya pitying him and didn't arouse suspicion, and it was going to scar horribly no matter how quickly or slowly he recovered.

Still, there were some things worth leaving the house for, like shampoo. And toothpaste. And since Finn was generally a fan of being clean, he took his chances and headed out with the intent of just running to the pharmacy on the corner and back. The weather was cold and blustery, the sky low and foreboding, but he was sure he could make it home before anything really gross happened - right?

Finn zipped around the store with his basket, finding everything he needed in what he considered to be record time. He was going to be in and out without a hitch, he thought confidently - and then rounded the corner to checkout, where the line for the self-serve machines was at least ten people long. Finn sighed and got into the queue, figuring that it would move decently quickly - right?

Except, then, it didn't. Apparently, there was some kind of problem with the computer system. <******** hell," cursed Finn, and then realized that the girl in front of him was like, twelve years old, and this was not responsible citizenship in the least. "I mean, frikken heck and stay in school," he corrected. And then, after a bit more thought, he realized that the twelve-year-old girl in front of him looked, more or less, like a ten-year-old girl he'd met a few years back. He didn't know very many kids in that age group, so it was a pretty quick process of deduction to get to her name. "Oh, hey, princess Ainsley. All grown up. What's the word on the street, your highness?"

Appeal

 

[Appeal]

Ainsley flinched upon hearing her name, her bundled body slowly turning around in line to look for the one who had called her. Legs were covered in thick winter tights and her feet in cozy winter boots while a thick dress peeked out from under her caplet. She was staring at Finn, otherwise known to her as Princess Huckleberry, but she didn't recognize him. Years were a long time for a child, and this one had seen two years of war in the time since they last seen each other.

She didn't recognize him.

"Who are you?" She asked, the small grocery basket in her arms shifting the contents to the other side of the basket.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

She didn't remember him, Finn realized, feeling awkward. Well, it wasn't as if he could blame her - they'd met twice, and it was years ago now. A whole two decembers since they'd last seen each other, and that was a long time for a kid. Less, for him, but he was old enough that time seemed to move relatively faster. Well, best to minimize the damage for everyone, he figured.

"It's the scar, right?" asked Finn, covering the ******** half of his face with his free hand. "Gnarly, isn't it? Sometimes I look in the mirror and don't recognize myself. It's me. Finn. Princess Huckleberry. Would a Camp Larkspur t-shirt and some obnoxiously-colored crocs help jog your memory?"

He sighed, adjusting his grip on his basket. "Anyway, the less said about my unfortunate visage and the embarrassing story behind it the better. Figured I should say hi. So, hey there. How've you been?"

Appeal

 

[Appeal]

Ainsley's eyes drew to his face when he mentioned it, and she found herself frowning as half of his face was covered by his hand. She had seen it when she looked up at him the first time but it was like she had forgotten what it looked like now that it was covered. She still didn't recognize him, at least not until he jogged her memory with a name like Princess Huckleberry and then even further with a location.

"Oh! I remember you!" She said as a spark hit her.

"What happened?" She asked before immediately realizing what he had just said and correcting herself. "Oh, never mind. I'm sorry. It's nice to see you again. I've been... well," she said, although it was a bit of a lie. Things hadn't been that well, and she had even been in the hospital not that long ago as well for pneumonia.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn lowered his hand, glad that she'd made the connection and he wasn't just randomly creeping on pre-teen girls at the pharmacy. "I got mugged," he sighed, since she'd asked, despite her backtracking. He'd already explained this to literally everyone, even just random people in the street - which was particularly awkward, because it was a lie. "I'll be okay."

"Well, it's good to hear that at least one of us has been doing well," he said, although she'd seemed a bit hesitant to say so. Maybe it was because he was still functionally a stranger, despite prior acquaintance. All the small-talk questions that he would ask an older acquaintance just seemed weird in context - you couldn't exactly ask a twelve-year-old girl where she went to school without being a creep, right?

Forget it. He was going to go for it. "Where are you in school these days? You're in, like, what, seventh grade now?"

Appeal

 

[Appeal]

Everyone who was part of the war seemed to lie but no one knew so it was okay, right? Ainsley had no reason not to believe Huckleberry so she frowned immensely at this explanation. Who would mug him? She didn't understand but the truth she'd understand even less. She was already on the edge of the war and the truth would probably just push her right over the edge.

"I don't understand how someone could do that," she said, her free hand folding over her chest in a small clenched fist.

It was a little awkward on both sides because Ainsley had her own secrets, and she didn't hide them well. She wanted to tell everyone she was doing well but deep down there was a storm brewing from the war. She didn't know what she was doing anymore, and nothing she did seem to matter. Everyone she cared for was taken away, and everything she fought for was futile. Now was not the time to linger on that though, she had to be a proper lady and engage Finn properly.

"That's correct, I am in grade seven now. I recently transferred from Knightside to Wright Academy," she said politely with a soft smile. It was a private school that was very hard to get into, and she had only been accepted as a transfer student so far into the year because of her mother's connections with the school's foundation.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"People are awful and do the strangest stuff," said Finn, thinking more about the cold conviction in Avalon's voice when she cut him than of his supposed cover story. The mugging story didn't really hold up under fire, but so far, no one had actually looked very closely into it. He wasn't sure what Vanya thought, whether she believed him or thought he was trying to cover up something worse.

He whistled lowly, impressed by the name of the school. He remembered the competitive race to be accepted into Wright Academy when he'd been her age. He also remembered not getting in. "Impressive," he said. "Do you like it there?" He'd heard only good things about the school, meant to encourage the naturally competitive and jealous nature of middle schoolers, to make them more desperate to get in.

"You must be one heck of a smart cookie," he said, glancing ahead to see how the line was moving. Halfway there. He sighed. These self-serve machines were allegedly all about convenience, but they were more trouble than they were worth.

Appeal

 

[Appeal]

People did awful things but Ainsley didn't like to believe that they themselves were awful. It was terrible that such a thing had happened to Finn though, and arguing about it would have been insensitive without the context. He clearly didn't want to talk about it, and she didn't want to pry.

She found herself laughing a bit nervously when he complimented her intelligence, looking down toward the ground as she said, "Oh, I don't know about that..." She had been more than eager to get away from Knightside after the start of the year though. "I am very happy there."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

She was bashful, which Finn found refreshing compared to the unrepentant brattiness he remembered from his sister at Ainsley's age. "Well," he said, hefting his basket. The line seemed to be moving faster now - maybe there'd been a machine malfunction before that was cleared up now. "At the end of the day, you being happy where you're at is what's important, so good on you, princess."

There was only one person in front of him left to check out, and Finn felt relieved. He had the overwhelming sense that people were staring at his injury when they thought he wasn't looking, and he wanted to go home and hole up for a while. "Anyway," he said, nodding to Ainsley, "It's been really good to see you. Maybe I'll run into you again sometime."

Appeal

Yes I will take 'trying to wrap an RP without being horrifically contrived for 500,' Alex. sweatdrop heart

 

[Appeal]

If anyone had heard the conversation between them, Finn ending his sentence with princess might have perked some ears and gotten them some strange looks. Was she young enough to be into princesses? Was he hitting on her? Thoughts were easily subjected without context. Who would understand that throwback to how they had met other than them? Ainsley was smiling though because such memories were so much better than the memories she had now.

"I hope so. Please take care," she said, which was a nicer way of saying 'Don't get mugged again.'

It was her time to ring in her items and before she knew it, she was done and ready to leave. She gave Finn a small wave of her hand before the pleat of her skirt was the last thing to be seen as she exited the store. She would go home and worry, adding Finn to her growing list of people she needed to protect but had failed to do so.

Silverah

Welcome to The List Finn.