[FIN] Fateful Encounters of the Grocery Kind (Alexis&Elliot)

[saedusk]

"I sure hope Chai and Nosey don't need food, too," Elliot huffed to himself as he hoisted a decent sized bag of dog food into the trunk of his car. Another cursory check of his phone said Oliver hadn't replied to his text from nearly thirty minutes ago. It wouldn't have been quite so obnoxious if he'd been looking for a chat and nothing else, but Pascal needed kibble and all he wanted to know was whether the cats were running low, too.

How hard was it to reply yes or no? Oliver had been acting so strange lately. Eli tried not to wonder if he was the cause.

"Oh well, I guess I'll stop tomorrow if they do." Slamming the trunk shut, he pushed his cart to the corral. It was almost empty, just like the parking lot. The sun was high in the sky and a lot of nine-to-fivers were probably still at work. It made for an easy run through the store, at least.

Daekieeee

 

[Daekie]

Alexis, to be completely fair, still ate exactly as shittily as they always had: the only difference was that they had Nasir watching out for them, moreso than in the old world, given that they had curfew and sometimes they had a nice dinner. It was odd, having that sort of found-family, but...they were kind of into it? It was relaxing, at least. But on their own time, they had a proper job and they could snack on whatever they bought (as long as they were careful to get something they could eat without too much trouble).

Today, it was nothing more than a couple of candy bars with disgustingly high sugar content, but hey -- their teeth were probably reinforced? They hadn't checked and had no intention of it. The sun was high, the breeze was cold, and the starry cardigan they'd borrowed from Zac made for a comfortable enough warmth that the brisk air was nice.

They were even getting used to the weight of the monitor, too, even if it was an everpresent reminder their life was not their own.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The restrained thunk of the car door should've been the signal of Elliot's departure, but the truth of the matter was, he'd shut it before it even fully opened. Someone across the parking lot had caught his attention—which granted wasn't difficult to do if you were alive and breathing and capable of paying attention to him in return. Slender, white-gloved fingers rose into a wave at person he most definitely had never met before.

"That cardigan," he started, neglecting to introduce himself or even say hello, "It's darling. Where did you get it?"

Self-proclaimed fashion connoisseur, Elliot Labelle, wouldn't have called the sweater their type at all, but that only made it more charming. It never hurt to step outside of one's box, after all. He put a hand to his chin as he made it obvious he was giving them another once over.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis, very pointedly, raised a single eyebrow and just stared at Elliot for a few seconds. "It's a friend's. Why do you wanna know? I'd have to ask him where he got it." Despite their best wishes to head away without being bothered, they had a feeling this conversation was going to - unfortunately - last longer than they would have wanted. Maybe when Elliot got into proper range for their anxiety aura to kick into gear, he'd leave, and they could avoid a very awkward conversation.

"By the way," they muttered, tone sardonic, "awful way t'introduce yourself to a stranger, Mr. Nobody. If you're so convinced to pry into my checkbook, how about a name first, huh?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

It wasn't until the stare really hit him, until he saw the whites of their eyes like it was the goddamn Revolutionary War, did Elliot note the way his stomach flipped. Unluckily for Alexis, his entire life was anxiety caked in the makeup of his facade. He could deal (for now), because he was interested, and because he had no real idea where the feeling came from anyway.

"OOObviously I'd like to know because I like it," he responded, sounding like they definitely should've guessed that. Everything he said sounded pompous and his gestures were wide and unnecessary. "I suppose you've got me there, though. I'm Elliot Labelle. Charmed. And-?"

Now he held his hand, palm up, in their direction, waiting.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Fine," Alexis snorted. "Alexis Tucker. Your friendly local magic-user, if we'd like to pretend friendly is part of the job title, and also that it's a job and not a birthright." Well. It wasn't their birthright, really, but they needed to lie to make it fit, and also because the lie fell more easily from their lips than the real words. "And no, I don't do tricks on command unless ya pay me."

They opened one of the candy bars, then, and took a bite out of it (and their teeth were very white, and very sharp, and very wrong).

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

That got his attention, that casual mention of magic, though Eli brushed the look of surprise off his face as quickly as it came. In its place he drawled, "Lovely, but you're not the first. Though I must admit you're the only one I've met so willing to announce it to the world." And then he smiled, knowingly, as if he understood more about the magical community than he actually did.

"And honestly..." he paused to watch them take a bite of their candy, hesitating, then finally continued, "I'm not looking for magic tricks unless you count texting your friend and asking him about the cardigan."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"If I wanted to hide that I was ******** s**t-deep in magic I'd have to get dentures," Alexis said, in the tone of someone explaining something that should have been incredibly obvious already. "Or die, probably? But I'm not really interested in either, so - " they shrugged, taking that time to take another bite; the way they chewed was odd, but it could be put down to the teeth. "I'm not worried 'bout telling people what I am. Already made enough mistakes by doing that."

"And no, 'm not gonna text my friend and ask him about his cardigan, jesus, were you raised in a ******** barn? That's not how y'start a conversation."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"I was raised in Canada, actually," he replied plainly, or as plainly as he could given his disposition for theatrics. He left out the part about it being a million dollar home. Now that he didn't live off of his parents' wealth, he felt no strong need to parade the fact around despite being just as much of a d**k as he used to be.

Waving a hand before stuffing it into the pocket of his purple peacoat, he continued, "Need I remind you, you're the one who got defensive. All I did was ask you about the cardigan. It should've been no harm, no foul, really. It doesn't matter to me whether your teeth are a product of magic or bad hygiene."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis muttered something, almost imperceptible, that might have been 'so how many moose you ******** on vacation days'. Might have been. It could also have been something entirely different and innocent -- but the odds on that one were unfavorable.

"If you haven't noticed," they griped, "I don't wanna be talking t'you?" They actually snarled at him, then, animalistic; a very ugly noise. "Look, how rude do I have to be until you leave me alone? You're lucky you didn't touch me -- I don't do being touched -- but it would really help," they exaggerated the word, "if you were a little more humble, maybe. But who knows! After all, I'm just an a*****e."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Were this another time and place, Eli might've made his own quip about the whole moose thing. Sure, I've ******** a moose, I've ******** about fifty moose, don't you know that's how we Canadians roll? As it were, he kept his mouth shut. Okay, he actually didn't manage that at all. A moment later and he had it open again, an edge beginning to leak into his voice where before there was only smarm.

"No need to get so testy." he hissed. Could you really equate snarling like a goddamn animal to little more than general irritation? "I don't just go around touching people for no reason, so sorry, no luck there." His hand slipped back out of his pocket anyway in that moment, the faint jingle of his keys coming with it. It looked like he might actually make for his car and leave them in blessed solitude. In a second. Maybe.

"Honestly, I always thought showing a little genuine interest in someone was humble enough. Heaven forbid I don't prostrate myself before your rotten attitude on top of it."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"That wasn't 'genuine interest', darling," Alexis parroted back at Eli in his own voice, an almost perfect imitation. "That was you wanting something, and tryin' to be nice to figure out how to get your own. That ain't interest - that's just greedy." They smiled, slow and steady, every single tooth on display. "But hey. Like I said, what do I know?"

And again, in his voice, almost perfect: "I'm just an a*****e on the street."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Elliot was grimacing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Their mimicry was near-perfect and it actually bothered him to hear his own persona spun back on him that way. It wasn't the magic, it wasn't the uncanniness, it was the reminder of the front face he wore to mask his anxiety.

"Bordel de merde," he said, sounding exasperated and a bit less bitey. "We've just met, but I can tell you have a knack for turning every little thing negative, don't you?" There probably wasn't any winning here. "Y'know what, so very sorry for bothering you." If they wanted to play the a*****e, Eli could play along; He could take the highroad, he could be the good guy, even if it was just as sarcastic.

"See you around, Alexis." If they saw each other again, it would be too soon. He turned around, his sleek, pointed boots hitting the pavement as he stalked back to his car.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis just grinned, all teeth and all unsettling, the perfect picture of innocent malevolence. "Glad we had this talk," they said, still mimicking his voice, comparatively pleased with how the conversation had turned out: sure, they were an a*****e, but so was he. There was no winning in that type of sudden parking lot conversation -- only fun, if you looked for it.

And they had, so honestly, it had all turned out relatively amusing anyways.

saedusk

fin, ty!