fandomtownies | Magic Box, Wednesday [03/19/08]

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Magic Box, Wednesday [03/19/08]

It had been months since Andrew had worked at the Magic Box, so he took a bit of time before opening to remind himself what exactly it was he was supposed to be doing.

Still, he forgot little things like turning on the store lights lights, uncovering some of the displays, and setting up the register for the day.

Basically, he just unlocked the front door and sat down. He hadn't slept well, had a bit of a headache, and was still just feeling off in general.

He blamed the stasis. "Stupid stasis."

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The door opened, a familiar face underneath a cloak donned mostly because he could almost feel the water in the air. In his hands, there was of course a bag of food (http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2008/02/07/a-persian-classic-koresh-e-fesenjan-done-my-way/) and this time, two bottles of carbonated juice (he'd made them up himself).

He was rather proud of that.

With his elbow, he flicked on the store's lights.

"Headache?" he asked with sympathy as he walked over and put things down on the counter.

Andrew winced as the lights came on. "Oh, yeah," he mumbled. "Lights."

He put his head down on the counter, nodding in response to Liir's question.

Without further ado, Liir walked behind the counter and started to rub at Andrew's neck and shoulders. Very gently, as most of his experience had to do with loosening Nanny's old muscles.

That felt good -- really good.

Andrew purred and rolled his shoulders back to expose more neck to Liir's touch.

Liir smiled, leaned down to press a quick and chaste little kiss to the center of Andrew's neck, then used the fingers of one hand to rub at his neck and up to the base of his skull as his other hand rubbed at one shoulder.

"I hope none of this has been worry over me," he said in a soft, low murmur.

The food could wait.

Well, some of it might have been worry over Liir and Karal, but he wouldn't say that out loud. Liir's hands were magic.

"Have you, um, seen Karal?" he asked softly.

So maybe he would bring it up.

"Is that what has you upset?" he questioned curiously, the pressure and speed of his hands not changing one iota.

Not that that was an answer.

But he'd learned he had a wile or two, at least ones that Andrew would respond to on occasion, and as such he let one hand drift into his hair.

Andrew's head lifted slightly and pressed back into Liir's hand.

"I just worry," he said softly.

He was worried quite a lot about this actually.

"I left him lunch," he said quietly.

"That's all. And I haven't seen Evey."

Andrew sat up and reached back to grab Liir's hand and pull it around for a kiss.

"I'm having an off day," he said with a shrug. "I just need a nap or something." He couldn't quite shake off this drowsiness.

The change, in topic and tone, confused him. But he nodded along, since Andrew was the boss.

"Lunch? Did you eat any breakfast? Because that might have done it," he pointed out as he started putting out the food. He put the darker bottle of juice in front of Andrew.

"Pomegranate and blueberry," he said. "Since there was extra from the dish. Carbonated, like the soda we had once."

Andrew shook his head. "I didn't really feel like eating this morning," he said, peering closely at the drink.

"Did you make this?" he asked, sounding slightly confused.

He nodded.

"I just added a bit of club soda," he said. "Usually, that would water things down too much, but pomegranate has a very vivid taste and blueberry works well as an accent, so I thought it would still work."

He took his own bottle, which wasn't quite as rich (more soda, less juice), and opened it before taking a sip.

"If you don't like it, though, you can obviously get something else."

Another sip before he raised an eyebrow.

"Is there some reason why you haven't wanted to eat without prompting since you came back?"

Andrew took a small sip. "It's good," he said. "Very tasty." He gave Liir a small smile and took another sip before setting it down.

He really hadn't given much thought to his lack of appetite. "Maybe it has something to do with being frozen in a pod for a hundred and nine years," he said blankly.

"Perhaps," he said with a nod. "Though I know I was starving for anything after about four days in the Emerald City."

Beat.

"What's a pod?"

"Like a little man-made cocoon," he explained, reaching up to rub his temples.

"Do you think I should change my birthday?" he asked, looking suddenly serious. "I mean, I'm technically a little over two months older now than I should be."

He sighed, a bit frustrated.

He almost wished he could find Dorothy, to ask her how she'd handled her own little trip. It would be the only good the little girl would have ever done for him.

"Or you could just resolve it as a very long, very vivid dream. The experience is there, it has marked you... but the world goes on as if it never happened.

"And to know if you should change your birthday, I'd have to know what it is. Because it might be a very nice day."

Andrew frowned. "I've never told you my birthday? That's very not me. I generally love birthdays, but..." It's not quite the same now.

"June 16th. At least, it was."

He took another sip of the soda, mostly to avoid eating, even though it smelled pretty good. His stomach just didn't seem happy.

"You know what else freaks me out? The fact that all my life, another me, well me, has been frozen in a pod in a chamber under London. What if something happened to it? Like if it got hit by a bomb during World War II. Would I just have stopped being?"

It might be that Andrew was having a bit of an existential crisis.

"No," he said, wanting to brain himself for it. "No, you did. I just didn't-- we talked about it. Ino gave me a birthday a month later. July 19th. I just..."

He felt horrible, but dismissed it quickly. There were other things to handle.

"And no, of course you wouldn't have stopped being. The you that was frozen was from your future and so it had no bearing on the you that was growing up."

That was simple enough.

"And none of that did happen because you're here. You're here."

And he reached up to stroke Andrew's cheek.

"Your skin is under my hand. You can feel me, smell me, taste me if you like even." A faint smile. "In this time and in this place, there is an Andrew. Very firmly."

He smiled. "I am here," he agreed. "And you're here."

He sighed again, less frustrated.

"So what is this?" He looked closer at the food Liir had brought. "It smells good."

From a distance. His nose and his stomach didn't seem to be in agreement at the moment.

Liir thought for a moment before slinging both of his arms around Andrew and holding him close in front of him.

"Chicken," he said. "Based on a strangely named dish I found in one of the books I bought the other week. I made a few adjustments, though, since I thought it would come out too flat and the pomegranate would end up too heavy."

[ooc: the mun would like to thank the blog this recipe comes from so VERY much]

"I'm sure your version is far superior," Andrew said with a nod, sinking back into Liir.

"I just don't seem to have much of an appetite today," he apologized. And he really wished he did.

He kissed into Andrew's hair, taking an extra moment to breath in the scent and nuzzle.

"That's fine. You don't have to eat anything. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Can you just hold me a little longer?" he asked. It was nice.

"I wasn't going anywhere," he said with a faint smile before leaning down to kiss Andrew's cheek. Little kisses, little constant moving reminders.

He was here. They both were here.

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Magic Box, Wednesday [03/19/08]

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