WHO: Eleanor Shellstrop and Nina Lehnsherr WHAT: Getting Ice Cream WHEN: Today WHERE: The Ice Cream store WARNINGS: Nah STATUS: Matchup/Closed/Partially Gdoc'ed, continued in comments
Overall, Eleanor was still weirded out by the whole being alive deal, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sometimes when weird things happened, she thought that maybe she was being punk’d and she was actually still in the Bad Place, but overall she felt alive, which was actually kind of nice - even if she did desperately miss Chidi and the others.
One of her favorite things was to drown her thoughts in food, and while she generally went for shrimp and booze, today felt like an ice cream kind of day, so she made her way to the shop. As she stood at the counter waiting for someone ahead of her to decide, Eleanor studied the different flavors, half-tempted to just splurge and get everything...even if it did sound disgusting to mix cotton candy with mint chocolate chip.
***
Nina had been out playing with some friends in the park. Now she was on the way home but before she got home she wanted to stop and get some ice cream because YUM. Ice cream was the best and she’d eat it all the time if she could even if daddy said that it wasn’t good for breakfast or for dinner and only in small amounts at other times. That was silly to her but daddy was smart and knew more so she thought it was probably best to just listen to him.
But today he’d said she could have ice cream after she played, so she was in line, bouncing excitedly on her feet. And being a little girl and not afraid of people, she looked up at Eleanor.
“What kind are you getting?!”
***
Looking behind her at the question, Eleanor blinked and looked down at the kid. After a second, the blonde gave a shrug. “I haven’t decided yet, but I’m thinking of getting a sui - er, a mix of several flavors.” See, Chidi? She could censor herself if she needed to, like around kids.
“What about you, kiddo? You decide yet?” Even as she asked, she was scanning the place for some sort of adult who was hopefully attached to the little girl.
***
“Some things mix yummy. Some don’t,” she said. “Chocolate and vanilla are yummy together but mint chocolate chip and orange sherbert are yucky.” She made a little face that expressed exactly how she felt about that.
She looked very thoughtful and then smiled.
“I think I’m going to get a banana split!” Because Daddy would never let her have that much ice cream if he was there.
***
“Yeah, you got a point there, kid,” Eleanor mused, though she had to smile at the face the little girl made. She may have been a dirtbag, but Eleanor wasn’t completely heartless. The blond glanced back at the menu, then grinned at the girl’s words. “Banana split, huh? That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually. Maybe I’ll get one too.”
She glanced around again for an adult for the kid, then looked back down at her. “But I don’t know if I can finish a whole one by myself.”
***
“I think I could eat a whole TON of ice cream by myself!” she said. She couldn’t, of course, and she probably couldn’t finish the banana split. But she was going to make a valiant effort, and probably end up with as much of it on her as in her tummy.
“You’re a big person, you should be able to eat it all.”
Because if she could eat it, surely this lady could. Big people always got more food than little people.
***
“I bet you can,” Eleanor replied with a grin, and then shrugged at the kid’s next words. “Yeah, I might be able to. But I’m sure going to try.” By then, it was her turn to order, and Eleanor stepped up to the counter as she studied the ice cream flavors, then looked at the cashier.
“I’ll take a banana split, with the traditional stuff. But extra chocolate syrup.” Digging out her wallet, she pulled out a few dollars and handed them over, then moved to one side to wait.
***
Nina stepped up on her tiptoes and smiled up at the cashier with an adorable smile, holding the five dollar bill her daddy had given her clutched in her tiny little fist.
“I want the same thing she has,” she said. Because extra chocolate sounded good. So good. Then she turned back to the lady who looked like she was all alone here.
“Do you want to eat with me?”
***
Eleanor hesitated a moment, then gave a shrug. Why the hell not? “Sure, kiddo. I’d like that.” It was a part of being a good person, being nice to kids, and this little girl was definitely less annoying than most she’d been around, so now was as good a time as any to change her own fate.
When she was handed her banana split, she waited for Nina to get hers, then looked around. “So - by the windows or by the counter; where do you wanna sit?”