fandomtownies | Chaucer's, early Tuesday evening

After closing up the shop for the day, Aaron walked through town on his way home. He wasn't deliberately walking by Chaucer's to see if Sonia had gotten back from vacation yet. Or feeling like an idiot for not just giving her his phone number so she could call him and let him know. Not at all.

He especially wasn't trying to keep an eye out for long blonde hair inside, and absolutely didn't cheer right up when he spotted it.

Pushing through the door, he called out, "Hi! How was your vacation?"

Sonia looked up (and further up) when Aaron entered the shop. Immediately, her face broke into a wide smile, and she set her book down and stood to greet him.

"Hallo! I...vas hoping to catch you in town. Um, vould you like to sit down? Coffee?" She's absolutely not fidgeting, and continues talking while fiddling with the shop's coffee machine.

"Um, vacation was...long- I'm still a bit jet-lagged. It vas nice to see my relatives, though. How vas yours?"

Something in his chest tightened painfully as she began to fidget, and he gave himself a big mental kick. Moving forward, he nodded his thanks and took the offered chair. "Coffee would be great, thanks. It's ugly cold out this week. My vacation was quiet. I don't think I'd realized just how much of this town revolves around the school until all you students went away for the holiday."

He smiled, "So you flew back to Romania? That's a long flight over such a short time. You should be resting."

After filling two mugs with the hot coffee, Sonia moved back across the room and handed Aaron one of the steaming cups before taking a seat herself. "...you know, I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. This place must have been like a ghost town."

She takes a sip of coffee, enjoying the warmth of the ceramic mug in her hands, and settles back. "Ah...yes, it vas a rather long way to travel for only the veekend. My family, though, I think they vanted me to visit at the first opportunity." She hid a small yawn with another drink from the cup.

His big hand curled around the mug with a smile of thanks, resting it on his other palm like a saucer. Taking a drink of the coffee to prevent himself from saying anything stupid, Aaron nodded as she spoke.

"It was. A lot of the businesses closed doors through the long weekend. I heard there was some sort of shindig at the big hotel up the street, but I decided to stay home and watch the parade and some football instead." A shoulder lifted in a shrug - he knew how lame that was.

"I bet your folks were glad to see you, though," He added encouragingly. I would be. I am now. "Was the weather good there, at least?"

"Sounds...nice. Relaxing." She grinned at him over her cup.

"Yes, it's...funny. I've only known Julius and Elena for a few years now, but...they've really made me feel like their own." She laughed a little at the thought of her 'cousins.' "And their sons are just like younger brothers. They took me out for a day in the snow, and...vell, let's just say, I'm no match for two twelve-year-olds."

"It was, but I'm glad .. everybody's back now. The island just isn't the same with all the students gone. I may have to hike on down to Florida or something over Christmas just to get away from all the silence," he joked.

"Two twelve-year-olds? Twins?" An eyebrow arched in impressed surprise, "And boys? I don't think anyone's up to that kind of destructive force."

"Yes- I suppose the school really does bring this place to life. I vunder how many students plan on staying through the break."

Still smiling, she shook her head. "Twins, yes, Corin and Andrei...Belmonts through and through. Truly, they're a force to be reckoned vith."

"I'd imagine most of them will go home. Are you going back to Romania?" He tried to sound casual about that.

Taking another drink of his coffee, he said, "All teenage boys are a menace, and I'd know!" Chuckling softly, he added, "At least you didn't mind them tormenting you."

She lowered her eyes to the coffee cup in her hands, absentmindedly running her finger along the rim. "Actually, I vas thinking of staying here- getting some work done, maybe starting on another illumination... I figure the relative quiet might be a nice change."

Smiling, she looked back up to him. "I have a hard time picturing you as a menacing teenager. Your manners are much too pleasant."

His hair falls forward, and he pushes it off his forehead to give himself a moment, "You.. ah, were thinking of staying over the break? Do they let you do that up at the school? You said you live in the dorms, right?"

Trying hard to not watch her hand playing with the coffee cup, he curled both his hands around his own mug. Grimacing, he noted, "I was a horrible teenager. Angsty. Sullen. Brooded a lot. Wrote absolutely terrible poetry about how dark and bleak the world was and how stupid all my peers were." He takes a drink of coffee, "But I got over it. Thankfully. Everyone goes through a period like that, right?"

"Ah...actually, I need to check into that. I mean, I think they do, but it would probably be a good idea to ask." One hand leaves the coffee mug to pull at the braid falling over her shoulder.

Grinning at his comment, she adds, "I...don't know if I ever wrote bad poetry, but yes, I think ve all experience something like that." She tilted her head slightly. "But you seem to have come out of it vell enough."

"I promise I don't write bad poetry anymore," he said solemnly. He teased her, leaning back against the chair and pushing his hair out of his eyes again, "Oh, come on.. You can't tell me you didn't ever write any yourself. No boys that caught your attention and had you languishing?"

"If you school locks you out, you could.. I mean, if you didn't have anywhere else to go, I have a couch." Wincing at how that came out, he tried to fix it, "I'd be on the couch, you could take my room." A slow flush creeps up his neck, "You can tell me to shut up now. Really."

Laughing, she shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, then stopped as if remembering something and quirked an eyebrow. "Actually...no, nothing deserving of bad poetry."

Both hands toyed with the braid now, and she bit her lip. "Um...thank you- I really appreciate it. And...I vouldn't want to put you out of your own room. Erm..." She can feel a hot blush not unlike his rising in her face. "But, if it comes down to it, then...um. Thank you."

She knew she was stammering. She rather didn't care.

"No, it'd be no trouble, really," Aaron stammers, trying to get past the 'did I say that ohgodIdid' moment and the fact that Sonia hadn't slapped him as a response. "I mean, if you can't stay in your own room. I don't know if the hotel even allows teenagers to rent rooms or anything, so, I mean.. and here's where you should tell me to shut up again." He sternly told himself, "Aaron, shut up now." and mocked an answer, "Yes, Aaron."

Taking another drink of his coffee, he pushed his hair out of his face and scrubbed across the back of his neck, hard.

"New topic. Bunnies. I like them. They're small and fuzzy and their noses are twitchy and cute. How do you feel about bunnies?"

Sonia just watches him rather dazedly, certain there was a stupid look on her face.

"Bunnies. Yes. Fuzzy. Soft. And did you ever notice that vay their tails twitch?" She waggles her fingers. "Yes, I think I like bunnies, too." She lowers her eyebrows, tilting her head down. "Although there vas that one six-foot hell-rabbit vith the fangs, and the glowing eyes, and..." She stops her ramblings short, and manages to look Aaron in the face before laughing (not giggling!) a little nervously.

"Hell rabbit?" Aaron's eyebrow quirked upward as he asked. "I suppose that's not really one you'd want to pet, now. Unless it was maybe with an axe. Can you imagine the size of the rabbit cra.. ah.. pellets from that thing?"

Aaron made a face, as if thinking about it squicked him. "So what happened to the hell-rabbit? Did it eventually become a pair of hell-rabbit-fur-lined gloves or slippers?"

His hair was removed from his eyes with a quick backward jerk of his head. A glance told him his mug was nearly empty, and hers was possibly also. Standing, he reached for it, "Here, I'll get you a refill if you want."

Sonia pressed a forefinger to her temple, as if deep in thought. "As I remember, it was...a rather bloody mess. I don't think you vould have wanted a fur coat made from this thing. Nasty little- um, big creature. Vlad really had a sick sense of humor..."

She passed the mug over to him, fingers lightly brushing against his. "Um...yes, thank you."

"He really must've, to make a giant hell-rabbit," Aaron agreed as he took her mug. He gave her a gentle smile as he returned it, refilled, a few moments later.

"Are you still working on the Book of Hours, or did you have new projects lined up?" he asked, glancing at her work station.

"And that wasn't the vurst," she added, only a slight trace of bitterness in her tone. Her smile is warm, though, when she accepts the mug from him.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, but this is something else- a commission Geoff just gave me for a coat of arms. I'm still deciding vhich design elements work best." She indicated the heraldry book with a nod.

He let the conversation of homicidal hellbunnies die. "Oh?" Craning his neck to look at the book, "Is this a new coat of arms or an existing family crest? I ask as though I have a clue," he said with an apologetic smile, "Book heraldry isn't really my thing."

"Ah- new, I believe. Geoff does most of the hard work- the motto, the appropirate colors, vhat sort of animal representations should be used..." She grins. "I confess, I don't know much of the specifics, either. I just put it on paper."

"Is it for someone here in town, or someone from the mainland?" he asked, interested. Taking a drink of his coffee, he used his other hand to shove his hair back off his forehead. "What's the theme of this one?"

"It's a student, actually. Erm..." She glanced back at a paper stuck in the book. "Martin Blank. Very simple design- black on white, a plain shield, some pistols..." She sets her mug down and pulls the book closer. "I just need to decide vhich of these birds works best before I start the final drawing."

"Pistols?" Aaron's face twisted slightly in an effort not to make an 'ick' face. "That's.. new. Must be an american thing; can't say I've ever seen it on historic family crests or anything. Although I guess some of these crazy historic reenactors can come up with some crazy sh.. ah.. stuff."

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