[PRP] Calm Before the Storm (Zac/Theo)

[Smerdle]

Theodore didn't know what to do with himself. Before the weather had taken a turn toward the unnatural, he had spent his free time reading and stewing in vague irritation, worrying about his kids and trying to convince himself that he was overreacting. Everything was fine, even though they were living on top of another world, one where ferrets taught magic in alleys and chipmunks turned into slavering, clawed killers.

He had heard there was a... problem... with the bay. And even though he hadn't ventured down to see, the sewer drain near the auto shop had been backed up with a thin, dark fluid that appeared to suck in the light rather than reflect it like a normal liquid. He had been sure that the stuff wouldn't stick to his boots, since nothing ever did, but he had still crossed the street last night to avoid it.

He had tried to stay put today, safe inside his apartment, but he was far antsier than usual and soon found himself crawling down the street in his Taurus, looking for something to do. Bibliophile caught his eye rather readily, considering that he had recently heard that Algernon Mercer owned the place. The Red Herring Mysteries were probably his favorite books of all time. It seemed as good a place to stop as any.

Running fingers through his damp hair as he pushed open the door, Theo stood just inside once he had entered, eventually sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket. It was a pleasant place, but he still didn't quite know what he was doing here.

endejester

 

[endejester]

“Hi! Welcome to Bibliophile! My Name is Zac, may I help you find anything today?”
The voice was polite if unexpected, somehow the young man who spoke had slipped from attention a moment before, but how he had done so was a curiosity given his astral themed boots and deep rose shaded hoodie.

He hesitated a moment before adding another offer.

“Could – would you like a towel sir? It looks like you got caught in the rain. We have some warm tea too if you’d like.”

Smerdle

*bumped just to see if you are ok! no worries!!

 

[Smerdle]

The sudden appearance of the young man would have made Theo jump had he been a flightier individual. As it was, his eyes widened perceptibly and before his mind could come up with a snide comment about sneaking up on people, he nodded, even smiled faintly at Zac's starry footwear.

"Yeah, sure. To both. What kind of tea?" Even though he preferred coffee, as long as it wasn't chamomile, anything would do. "Theo." It felt right to introduce himself in return somehow, even though he'd never had that impulse in a Barnes and Noble.

endejester

sorry! i have just been a terrible person and overloaded myself so i was trying to finish some RPs before i got back to you XD

 

[endejester]

“Today is…” Zac hesitated remembering. “Honeybush Apricot Rooibos” He said with a nod. “So a red tea, very light apricot flavor. If you want to follow me I’ll let you decide how much you want to doctor it once I pour you a fresh cup!”

Smerdle

No worries <3 it can wait if you need <3

 

[Smerdle]

Once again, Theo nodded as he continued deeper into the shop, trailing after Zac while he looked around.

"Fancy." Truth be told, he'd never had red tea, but the apricot part sounded nice. "You might need to fill me in on how you take it and I'll go from there."

endejester

<3

 

[endejester]

"For this one, just a bit of honey. I mean it's pretty simple but, it brings out the flavor already in the tea."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Sounds good," he replied, hands still in his pockets. Theo could have easily remained silent after that, in fact he might have preferred to, but he had technically come in here to chat, and it would have been rude to expect this young man, Zac, to hold up the entire conversation.

"This is some really weird weather we're having, right?" The old fallback. Weather. At least with what was going on in Ashdown right now, it was relevant. While it was true he hadn't been here long, he doubted that churning, black water in the bay was strictly normal around here.

show spoilerhide spoiler

endejester

let me know if you don't want to continue this one since i've let it get so old at this point XDD

 

[endejester]

"Oh! yes it's rather acting a lot more like..."He started to say something and then gave a strangled statement. "Um, like England is reputed to be." He fumbled. "With the rain I mean, and the sea is just, um..." He shook his head. "It's a bit odd."

It was such a tremendous understatement he rather felt a fool right after the words left his mouth.

Smerdle

I'm sorry! Im dying of work anxiety because I'm a shitty person who can't face making a doctor appointment biggrin DDD;;;

 

[Smerdle]

On the one hand it was true: England generally had crappier weather than the States. On the other, comparing the two experiences was surprisingly hilarious. Nowhere had news anchors warning people to stay away from hell-cracks in the forest except maybe... Hell.

Theo suspected the city's weird weather was being caused by that place with the smoke ferrets and the mannequin movie theater, even if he didn't quite understand how a location could do such a thing. He wanted to express this concern without Zac calling the cops if he wasn't on board, but Theo wasn't the subtlest person around, prone to saying precisely what he meant most of the time.

He tried.

"Yes. England. Tolkien's England, with talking shadow creatures, maybe."

And then he felt just as foolish as Zac.

endejester

/holds <3
nah the slowness was all on me no worries XD
i hope everything went okayyyy c: