The Emporium is Open -- Wednesday

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael yawned as he opened the store. Hunter had gone for a long walk after dinner last night, just squeaking in under the curfew deadline by the time he got home. Michael hadn't questioned him about it, and Hunter hadn't offered up any detail either. Fandom Town had its dangerous spots, and Michael had spent a couple of hours tossing and turning, wondering what kind of trouble his kid might have gotten into the night before. At 24, Hunter was old enough to take care of himself, but it didn't stop his parents from worrying about him.

Hunter stumbled down the stairs a couple of minutes after the store opened, and seated himself by the magazine rack with a couple of comic books on his lap. Ben was still upstairs, spending a little time working on his book.

Comments

[the4thsister.livejournal.com]

Paige walks in looking a mixture of embarrassed, stressed and sad, she's carrying Lancelot (http://www.getcards.co.uk/pages/pa6.htm) with her

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael cut in before Hunter could start his playful flirting. Paige didn't look like she was in the mood. "What's wrong, Paige?"

[the4thsister.livejournal.com]

Paige sighs "Do you not read The Tenticle?" she asks? "I'm sort of avoiding everyone, again"

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"No, I don't. I try to stay away from that trash. And I've been a little preoccupied with junior over here the past day or so." Michael jerks his thumb toward Hunter. "But if you're this upset, I take it it's bad."

[the4thsister.livejournal.com]

Paige looks over at Hunter and raises her hand to say 'Hi'

"Yeah it's trash only well..." Paige blushes bright red, something she rarely does, "someone took a compromising photo of me and someone else and well it's all over the internet and James is being an ass about it all."

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael nodded. "Given the circumstances, you can't really blame him. Give him some time to process the information, cool down." Michael turns his attention to Lancelot, scratching the cat behind the ears. "What can I do for you and your little friend?"

[the4thsister.livejournal.com]

"He knew what was happening, I'd told him, we don't keep secrets, he just, he said some really hurtful things to me."

She strokes the kitten for a moment, "we just need more cat food, I figured I'd let him choose his own" she says smiling a tiny bit

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael grins. "If Red, Hank and Chewbacca are allowed in here, I don't see why our fuzzy friend here can't pick his own food. At least he doesn't talk. Yet."

Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce, having been encouraged by Deb (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomtownies/313384.html), wanders into the Emporium carrying a basket (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/338879.html?thread=16290495#t16290495) with a black bow on top. Inside the basket, carefully tucked in a black blanket and wearing a knitted hat and scarf to protect against the chill, is an egg.

She wanders into the baby-supply aisle and frowns at some of the items pensively.

Re: Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Hunter stares at the chick with the snake-hair. Definitely one of the weirder things he's seen in Fandom. He decides he doesn't particularly want to find out the hard way if the snakes bite. Knowing this place, they do. Hard.

Michael recognizes Duce, though, although he's never had the chance to converse with her much. He moves toward her and asks, "Anything I can help you find?"

Re: Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce tries not to smirk at Hunter's stare. She's not facing him, but when you have a head full of reptilian eyes, that doesn't matter much.

Smiling up at Michael, Duce gestures at the basket, "Our roommate has an egg. We're babysitting it today, and thought it might be nice to get it a.." she falters, "baby.. thing.. toy.. something. Is there anything you'd recommend for little Hyde? It's only a day old, and as you can see, hasn't hatched into any limbs or anything yet. Wednesday was feeding it some pureed vegetable matter, but we weren't certain if it required formula of some sort. Your mother said she thought it would, and so.. the question is, iron or no iron?"

She sounds quite serious about the questions.

Re: Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Michael isn't sure whether she's kidding or not about feeding the egg real food. Around here, anything could be true. And he wasn't about to joke inappropriately with a woman who had that many toothy reptiles on her head. "I'd say formula is better in the early stages, and honestly I'm not sure about the iron thing. I would think iron would be an essential nutrient, but as an additive it might not be good for one that young." He picks up a colorful baby rattle. "These are fun and age-appropriate. A little early for a teething ring, I'd think."

He looked at the egg, and thought about his mother giving advice about it. "My mother didn't tell you any stories about me and an egg-baby project in school, did she?"

Re: Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce nods solemnly, "Someone said iron is important to prevent against calcium loss, but.. Hyde is kind of surrounded by shell, which has calcium in it, so perhaps you're right about the age factor. Which is better, premixed or powdered?"

Tilting her head, she reaches for the rattle and frowns at it slightly, looking from it to Hyde. "Do they make these with an elastic band on them? It might be frustrating for little Hyde to use it otherwise."

Poking a finger gently across the black blotch that is Hyde's mouth, she shakes her head and adds, "Definitely too young for teething."

Regarding Michael seriously, she says, "She mentioned something about you and.. Brian?.. having this project when you were younger. Which is what lead us here. Since you've had an egg before, we thought you might have some tips." Giving Hunter a rather admiring glance, she comments, "It looks like yours turned out well, after all."

Re: Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"Premixed is just easier -- powder can get messy." Michael digs around in the toy section and comes up with a rattle with a band to secure around a baby's wrist. "This one might work better."

At the mention of being hatched from an egg, Hunter's eyes grew wide for a moment, then settled into a teenagerish mask of confusion and disbelief (AKA the "whatever" look). On the other hand, Michael schooled his face into a neutral expression. "He wasn't the hatchling. He came along to me and Ben much later in his development cycle." Michael made a face. "Actually, Brian broke the egg toward the end of the assignment. It fell off the end of a bench while Brian was jer..." He coughed. "Was romantically involved with one of the football players." Michael rubbed his hand over his face. "At least my mother waited until I wasn't around to spread embarrassing stories about me."

Re: Around 3:30, after hitting Deb's.

[medusae-x.livejournal.com]

Duce beams and immediately secures the new rattle around Hyde's center. "That works perfectly! Are there any complications with the premixed? Will the preservatives be likely to make Hyde gassy or colicky? Wednesday would definitely not appreciate me returning Hyde to her sick and miserable."

Giving Michael an admiring look, she asks, "Oh, so you got to skip all the messy baby-ness stuff? Cool." She shoots a glance at Hyde and strokes along it's.. well, the area under his hatband.. "Not that Hyde isn't a cutie, but this baby thing seems like an awful lot of work. And," she adds solemnly, "human babies cry. Also? Diapers. Yuck."

At the tale of the egg, her admiring look turns to one of sympathy, "Oh, how horrible! That's awful about your egg, but you shouldn't be embarassed. It wasn't your fault it broke. In that instance, it would totally have been the responsibility of the caretaking parent, which wasn't you. We hope he went to jail," she says sadly, "because that's an awful thing to do to a poor, defenseless little egg."

She strokes Hyde again, comfortingly. "Don't worry, little egg. That won't happen to you. Des doesn't even know any football players."

Sometime in the Afternoon

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

Looking to be in a very good mood, Geoff comes striding into the shop, grinning and waving when he spots Michael and/or Ben. He walks up and leans on the counter.

"How are you two today?" He nods and grins at the young man there as well.

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"We're good. You're awfully chipper today," Michael greets him. "Things are going well, I take it?"

Michael gestures to the redheaded kid next to him. "Geoff, this is our son Hunter. Hunter, this is Geoff Chaucer."

Hunter looks at Geoff and raises a hand in greeting. "Hey. How's it going?"

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

"Just fine, Hunter. I'm pleased to get to meet you." Geoff holds out his hand.

To Michael, he replies, "Well, I'm having a pretty good week. Things are going...yeah, very well."

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

Hunter takes the offered hand and shakes it. "Nice to meet you." He looks at Michael. "Now he seems normal. First one yet."

Michael stares at Hunter a moment before he realizes what's not getting put together. He kicks Hunter's chair. "You read Canterbury Tales in school, didn't you?" He nods over to Geoff.

"Yeah, but what..." The light goes on over Hunter's head. "Geoffrey Chaucer. Holy fu..." He claps his hand over his mouth. "Holy crap. I bet that sent Ben over the moon."

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

Geoff gives Michael a mock-scowl. "I am perfectly normal, thank you."

Smiling at Hunter, he says, "Whether it sent him over the moon or now, I couldn't tell you. But it apparently impressed him enough that he's going to let me proofread his book for him."

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, you impressed him all right. He's a little touchy about who he lets see that stuff." Hunter shook his head. "I probably won't see it til after it's published."

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

"Most writers don't care to show their work around until it's finished." Looking over at Michael, he says, "Speaking of writing, do you know -- I was in the library yesterday, and they actually have a copy of Troylus and Creseyd!"

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon-OOC

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon-OOC

[bens-mikey.livejournal.com]

((beautiful+regal+extremely polite=not normal to Hunter :P))

Re: Sometime in the Afternoon-OOC

[serra-inara.livejournal.com]