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 Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 5:43 pm
Quote: The Shops (5): If you’re looking for thoughtful, heartfelt gifts to commemorate your day or just gifts for someone (or yourself!) you don’t need to go far. A large, indoor vending space is set up with a great array of local shops willing to spend their time here. There’s such a great array of things to find here–all handmade or locally sourced and owned. Jewelry, accessories, outfits, candles, cards, sweets, home decor–there’s a little bit of everything, just waiting to find a new home. Take some time to appreciate the sales, and get some good deals while you’re here! The Event is also selling an array of special memorabilia where proceeds go towards their list of charities; you can purchase crystal flowers like those from the Garden. Local vendors are all permitted to attend! Tables are a low $100 each and up to three can be purchased for a single shop.
Dressed warmly the blond stood at the others side, his bangs hung down and framed his face gently, as he gave the others hand a gentle squeeze. "This is the first time I remember this city hosting a Valentines day event. As far as I can remember the city does Chrismtas, Halloween and the Star festival...but never this." Turning his greyish eyes up onto the others face. He'd gone with a turtleneck and a corduroy jacked that was nicely fitted, the clothing looking more casual than his usual clothing, as he turned his focus back onto the room around them.
"I went to the crystal garden with a younger cousin of mine. I heard they are selling similar crystal flowers here." Which he'd like to see, though he wasn't certain he'd buy any of them, if they looked presentable enough he might though he wasn't sure where he'd put such a thing - perhaps the bathroom counter? "If you see anything you want - let me know." This was, as he'd already personally decided, on him since he had invited Rene to come with him. There was a lot here to look at and anything might catch his, or Rene's, attention and he was more than ready for whatever they might spend today. It was nearly two weeks since they'd settled things, or rather they'd settled what they wanted to be to each other, and he'd been spending as much time in the others company as he could. Perhaps he was trying to make up for the month they'd both suffered or he was trying to convince the other he wouldn't leave, which he really wouldn't, but he didn't think he was cligning too much. Rene would have mentioned it if he was, right?
Tugging gently he motioned for the other to decide which way to go, as there was a lot all pakced into this area and it wasn't just a lot of little shops set up in this place but a lot of people...a lot of couples. There were some children, small ones, running about behind or ahead of weary looking parents some of those children with heart shaped balloons. "Children...something I'll never have." The words held some truth to them and yet were also a lie....but there was enough truth to them that he was ok with saying it. He would never have a child living under his roof, not that he was aware of or was planning on any way. He didn't care for the idea of raising a child himself, or with anyone, and yet he was infact due to have a child in several months time. The child though would not be raised by him...he would play family friend or uncle to the child as they grew up, nothing more and nothing less as far as he figured, but that wasn't something he'd mentioned to anyone really. The only people who knew were the two ladies involved, himself, and the head of his own family - that was it. He had no plans of telling anyone else as it wouldn't involve his family. Had an Evans ever been born and not been apart of the family? Had one ever been born outside of the family and outside of wedlock? To grow up outside of the family and unknown to the family and also unknowing of the family? He didn't think so, not as far as he remembered. He supposed there was always a first time for things to happen and this was just that.
Should he ever get something for that child? Something for Rhona to give to them, as they grew up, and tell them it was a gift from their birth fatehr? Some figure they didn't know the identitiy of but had left them something thoughtful. Perhaps some books for them to read, or have read to them, as theyh grew up. He really wasn't certain on such thing sbut he didn't figure himself to get anything for them here, though for a moment the thought had entered his mind.
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 8:13 pm
René got the message while he'd been finishing up at the shop so it didn't take long for him to get changed and head over to where Alexandre had mentioned. Although it took him a bit longer to find the place since it wasn't somewhere he'd been yet in the city. Things were a bit surer now so he walked along and looked over all the shops and items that were on display. "It's really nice, you say they've never really done any celebrations like this before here? It seems like they've got it pretty well organized for a first-time thing." Pausing, he looked over a few pieces of furniture. They were nice but he really didn't need anything nor could his place fit anything really in it. It would be nice to find a bookshelf if he could convince the other to let him keep it in the guest room of their home. There were more than a few books that were just lying stacked in that room over there now that he'd been over there more than a few times. "Oh? A crystal garden? That sounds very pretty, you'll have to show me that later on. There was an art gallery here too right? I think we can make a stop there too, even if we don't purchase anything I would like to see the art." Tugging Alexandre along, he flitted quickly between the shops and looked over all the wares while noting the prices and where things were sourced as he went. Anything that would give him some ideas for maybe trying to participate in an event like this in the future once he was settled a bit more.
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 8:43 pm
"Yeah, I don't really remember anything for Valentines day. It's the main two holidays plus the star festival which get attention in this city." Not just from the people, and city officals, but also from magic. This was new for him but it wasn't that bad, not today annyway, he wasn't looking to be here on valentines day itself, he really didn't want to deal with that nonsense, because he just couldn't handle the idea of all the couples which were likely to be here that day.
"Yeah, t he crystal garden was nice though my cousin disliked the furniture they had situated about for people to sit and rest." He stated while already pulling out his phone and moving to the pictures in order to show Rene." She thoguht it was renaissance ...I thought rococo perhaps. Either way I thought they needed a reupholstering, they looked rather worn." He stated, though Rene could see that in the pictures on his phone. "I took the pictures at the time thinking of finding someone to ask, oddly enouigh my thoguhts did go to asking you but than I couldn't." Trailing off he shook his head a bit, a very slight gesture. Now he could, and was, asking Rene. "I don't know a thing about dating furniture. I can do paintings." Rene however more than likely could tell him a good deal about the furniture.
Allowing himself to be tugged about he didn't look at price tags as he looked over things. "If you see anything you like let me know, I don't much care about the prices either." He really didn't care about prices, he didn't think they'd hit anything too erxpensive anyway. At something like this prices wouldn't be that high, he was sure of it, and if something was high he was certain he wouldn't care. "The art I haven't seen, I was planning to go anyway so we should certainly go after this." Keeping pace with the other, as best he could, his shorter legs did a bit more work to keep him at the others side.
Oh, there was that shop with the crystal flowers. Staring for a moment he took the time to tug Rene over towards them to inspect them. "What do you think? Perhaps for the bathroom counter?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 9:16 pm
"Makes sense, with how things get. I'll get to see it all this year since I only got to see winter here last year. The Star Festival sounds pretty fun as well." Looking over the photos that Alexandre showed him on their phone, he huffed a bit and pointed to a few of the pieces and pointed out poor repairs and where things needed to be fixed or patched up a bit better. "The style is nice but ugh... poorly maintained, it makes me sick." It was a shame to let good furniture rot or fall apart, things could last more than a lifetime if taken care of properly, and most of the furniture in the photos was certainly old enough that it deserved a bit more respect than it was getting. "Maybe a bookshelf..." A sly smile crossed over his face as he spotted a few before Alexandre pulled him over to a shop with crystal flowers. Leaning over, he got a good look at all the different flowers there were. "Would be nice, they have a lot of different flowers represented." They seemed a bit fragile though, maybe too fragile for a bathroom counter especially if a certain blond was put up on said counter. "Which one do you like? Maybe one red and one blue?" A little bit of each of the colors they stuck with maybe, would be nice but he would have to think of a better place than the counter to store them. At least he didn't have to worry about Katya jumping up and knocking things down like a normal cat might.
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 9:26 pm
"The star festival you might want to take that day off, keep the shop closed, so you can get an early spot in the park to view the meteor shower...or somewhere outside of the city for a better view." So an early start to get where else, somewhere outside of the city, was a need. If you were keeping to the city than getting a spot in the park early was a good idea, or the place got crowded quickly. It wasn't something he'd done before really but this year he was interested in it really.
"Oh, I don't disagree there. You'll see if when we see the crystal garden. They're using it for people to sit and relax or take selfies and such. I did notice it all seemed to be in poor condition." But to hear the others opinion on it, on the mistreatment of the furniture, and it's poor condition was amusing in a way. It showed a passion in the other for what he did and a care for such pieces. "I think we could do red and blue." Even if the colors might clash they also worked well together, or well enough not he didn't mind.
"A bookshelf?" He questioend then, after a moment of looking over the various flowers they had represented here in the shop. "You've said you don't have a lot of space at your place. So I can host hwateveer bookshelf you get?" He offered looking up at the other from where he had been picking a blue flower, something very nice and with small delicate flowers, the green leaves and stem dark in color. It was lovely. "Pick a red one then."
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:16 pm
"If it's a thing the city expects then it shouldn't be an issue to close for the day if it's during the week. Wouldn't it be better to go outside the city for it though? Wouldn't there be too much light pollution inside the city?" It was one of the reasons he liked to go out for walks in the woods from time to time, far away from the lights of the city where he could look up at the sky and see more of the stars.
"It's hard to maintain things that get used so much but I guess maybe they pulled some things together here last minute. At least the things from the vendors are pretty interesting. I did see a bookshelf or two I liked, just a small one to leave in the guestroom maybe?" It would be a better way to store the few books he had been leaving over there and it would make it a bit easier to leave new books there even if it would also be a bit easier for Alexandre to tell how quickly he'd been encroaching on the space in that room.
Leaning against them, he nodded and looked over the flowers. He found one that reminded him of a carnation with a gorgeous deep red color. Holding it up for Alexandre to look at, René smiled. "This one~"
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2024 3:38 pm
"No, it should be easy. I'm sure plenty of places close for it." He was certain of it but most of the time he wasn't out and about on that day, he tended to be home or somewhere with family. He didn't have a reason to be out and about most of the time on that day in poarticular, whether by design or by chance it didn't matter. "it would be the better idea yes, but that means leaving the city early in the day in order to get far enough away." Something he'd never done, or even thought to do, though even as he spoke he had a feeling this year would be different.
"We can do that this summer, if you'd like." The option was there, it was Rene's choice, because Alexandre didn't mind the idea. If he wasn't interested he wouldn't be asking what Rene wanted to do. He might not have even reallyt rbought it up in the way in which he had, to speak about people watching the shower.
"If you want you can get one of the bookcases, unles syo uwant to see if there are other options? You don't need to limit it to something small, not when I've gathered that you have a rather large book collection. You can get what you like, and what'll work." He'd make sure it fit into his guest room so the other could store some books at his place, for easy acess, it also might just be a nice reason for the other to visit...and to stay over.
Looking over the flower Rene had picked he nodded his head slowly, reaching out to take it gently, he added it to the one he'd picked. "Now to find the person to pay." Not too hard of a task, thankfully, and Alexandre just handed over his bank card, as easy as ever, and let them ring him up. He simply nodded along to the price given, as if he might flinch at the price or change his mind. Taking the wrapped flowers, paper and buibble wrap and a bag for each, he nodded his head once.
"Bookcases now?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2024 5:54 pm
Thinking about it, he wouldn't mind exploring more of the surrounding area outside of Destiny City. Sure there were parks to walk around in the city but he liked the idea of getting to see an actual forest if there was one past the city limits. It would be a nice way to pull the other out to relax and maybe just get a breather from all the things going on in the city.
"I wake up early anyway so it wouldn't be any different to do that and head out. I know you said you haven't really left the city in a long time so would that be alright?" René wanted to make sure with them before he dragged them off away from the responsibilities they had here, ones that he was still dancing around and avoiding as much as he could. Everything was still in that healing stage and getting used to a new normal before adding in the strange and unusual. However, it did leave him wondering sometimes if Alexandre would show up injured one day and how that would leave him no choice but to dive into things.
"I'll keep that in mind, standalone bookcases are nice but at some point, I'd like to have large ones that were built into the wall. They feel so much grander and there's less worry if the things are going to fall or tip forward if I put too many things on the shelves." Laughing a bit as he pulled the other along, René looked around at more of the little shops that sold handmade goods and knickknacks. The whole event felt nice and reminded him a bit of the small little shops and bazaars that were held during spring and summer.
"Just a small one for now though, I can't bring all my books over for a long while. Probably not without me heading back over to get them all packed up myself. I wouldn't really want someone handling my collection if I can manage it."
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2024 6:12 pm
"That would be fine." And thankfully he also tended to wake up early, in order to go for a morning run, so it wouldn't be hard to be up early to head out of the city for a while. He'd pack food, of course, and make sure they would be set for the day. He could cook the evening before and pack it all up in the morning. Already he was planning out the idea in his mind as he stood there, two crystal flowers all neatly wrapped in his hands. "It wouldn't impact anything, I doubt anything will happen that night aside from a certain...visitor arriving." Shrugging his shoulders as he spoke, giving the other a look which meant it was a magical thing. He'd started to give that look, a rather specific look, whenever he hinted to such things.
"I agree about bookshelves and not trusting stand alone ones. The same can be said for closets." Allowing himself to be tugged along, looking at things here and there, he was smiling as Rene led the way through the little indoor market.
Going out on a limb with what he said next, because he wasn't certain how it would be taken, Alexandre dove right in after a moments hesitation. While bent over looking at some hand crafted leather slippers he spoke, not looking at the other as he did so. "So, that means I should renew my passport right?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2024 9:50 pm
Looking over at Alexandre, he knew that look now and bookmarked the mention of a visitor in his head so he could ask about it later. Whatever he could figure out in advance to have at least some sort of background info to work with when something new and magical popped up.
"We can make a plan for it then, maybe get some snacks and have lunch or dinner while watching the meteor shower?" At least then it would probably be a nice kind of date.
"Oh, I would wholeheartedly agree with the bit about closets, especially after seeing yours. I cycle things too often to build up a bunch of clothing but I feel like every standalone clothing rack would quake in fear at what your closet can manage to contain. It really is rather nice." Teasing a bit as he paused in front of another bookcase at the stall where Alexandre was looking at things.
Perking up at their comment René turned back over toward them. "Oh, you want to come along with me? It's a lot farther than just out of the city for the day. Not that I wouldn't want you to come along but still..." Trailing off, he wondered why the sudden change in what felt like had been a long-standing way things had been managed by the blond.
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2024 10:41 pm
"I can make food for us, the evening before, and we can bring it. We'll just need to bring something with us to reheat the food." Because anything they brought would need to be reheated, he was not bringing cold food to eat with them, he wanted nice hot food to enjoy while watching the meteor shower. "Once they announce the star festival and the date for the meteor shower we can set aside the day to go out of the city and enjoy it properly." Oh yes, he was all for this idea and smiling at the thought of it already.
"My closet was built to last and hold everything - it had to be. I can't do standalone...it would fall on me and trap me under the weight of my clothing." And he did not intent on laying under a standalone closet, and his clothing, with his legs poking out trying to scream for help. No thank you.
"I'm aware of that. I know Europe isn't close, at least eight hours on a plane, likely a biot more, and then the time spent there." Shrugging as he spoke calmly, still inspecting things. "I never had a real reason to travel, nothing which was more important than the other duty. I turned down moving there for a while with a friend of mine, someone I've known since I was in diapers, because what was I to do in London? Play third wheel to her, her siblings and twiddle my thumbs and wandering around in the English rain?" Sounding every bit the snob he could be, nose up in the air as much as it could be given what he was doing, he sniffed a bit even.
"No, I let them go and live there for a few years while I remained here. The invitation was open, I could have gone whenever I pleased, even just to visit. But they were dating, married, children and the like...all three of them...then all four of them. I would have felt misplaced really. They were moving on with their lives and I was left behind. While they played spouse, and parent, I'd be alone with nothing to do...or at least nothing to do with them. They'd not be as free to move around as I was...and I couldn't just drag any of them out whenever I'd please. They had obligations." And he didn't have them, hadn't had them, and so to avoid feeling left out he'd avoided going with them. He did regret it at times but he knew he'd have disliked being there.
"This time I have a reason to go to Europe..a good reason. I won't be left alone, at least not all the time, and I won't feel like some third wheel." Turning to look over his shoulder, smiling softly.
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2024 9:38 pm
"I like that idea, the food you've made so far that I've gotten to try is really good. I'll keep it in mind for when they announce things or you can remind me closer to when it's supposed to happen?"
Feeling around the bookshelf he was looking at, it felt like it would be good enough for a starter one in that guest room. It wasn't too big but also felt sturdy enough to manage just what he grabbed here and there between his walks to and from work. It would probably end up being just a place where he put ones he'd already finished, keeping the one or two he was actively reading in his bag as usual.
"That would be a tragic, but fashionable, way to go. I'll make sure that doesn't happen with the bookcases though, it would be a lot worse if one of them fell on you." Nudging them slightly as he scanned a few other ones before deciding on the bookcase he'd been messing with. "This one I think will be a good start."
Listening to them speak about almost moving to another country, he could tell it probably would have been a situation that wouldn't have ended well even if he didn't know anything about the other people. It just meant that now he could pull them along for a trip backpacking through Europe maybe one day. He'd done it a few times during breaks from university but it would be better to have company.
"I'll make sure you have a good time, there are so many things to see there and I would love to bring you around. We can make plans for it but it may have to wait awhile, I can't quite travel back and take a month off from work really unless I have someone to cover for me but I haven't even begun to get to the point of thinking about something like that for my shop."
It was something that would have to happen but not for a long while if he could manage it. Preferably he wanted to make it to an appointment-only stage so he could close periodically to get some more free time while still having customers and things set up to keep things running. It was a lot to handle on his own but it had gone smoothly so far other than the few hiccups from being injured by magic.
"We can grab this one then head back over to your place maybe to get it set up. This was a nice little thing, I hope they do it again next year."
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