Who: August & Kathy What: Being August When: Morning to Afternoon Where: Raven's Head Oddities and Collectibles Rating: PG Status: Complete
August had just gotten done with an all night shoot, and he was currently walking back to his apartment. For all the work, however, he didn't look the least bit dragged down and, in fact, looked all the better for it oddly enough. He was wearing a light black polo wind breaker and a fitted, vintage pair of blue jeans with a white button up shirt. Since he'd had a shoot that requested he shave, all he had was a five o'clock shadow in that area, and his hair was wavy, held back out of his eyes with some sort of product. He hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings, having been walking with his head down, but he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye and stopped abruptly, looking over and raising his eyebrows. He watched as a rather pleasant looking red head unlocked the doors to what looked to be some sort of hobby shop, and when she went inside he waited where he was until the lights were on. He watched again as she reappeared to change the sign to 'open' and he crossed the street after glancing around. There was already a charming smile present on his face as he entered, and he lifted a hand in greeting to her, his vivid blue eyes catching hers for a moment before he headed into the shop to pretend he was here to browse.
It was a pleasant morning, and Kathy tossed on a pair of slacks and a green cardigan over a white shirt. She'd gone to bed early the night before, and so had woken up early as well, ready to start the day. Opening the shop was simple enough, and soon she was settled behind the counter with a cup of tea. She lit a small bundle of sage and left it smoldering in a bowl to help with the ambiance, then sat on the stool behind the register to enjoy her tea. She was surprised to find a customer so early, and so set her tea down and stood when August came in. She returned his wave and smile pleasantly. "Hi, good morning! Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"
"Oh, no, no. Not right now, anyway. Just looking around." He replied with a warm smile, looking up at her from around the corner of the book shelf he was in front of. He ended up by the incense rack, picking up and handling various cones carefully before he finally seemed to find one he was happy with and approached the counter slowly. He set the little box there but didn't pull out his wallet yet, instead opting to ask her a question. "What's your favorite scent? I feel like you probably burn more of this than i do." His smile made faint wrinkles appear at the corners of his eyes, which sparkled in either mischief or happiness according to who was looking, though in reality it was the former.
Kathy nodded, then let him go back to his browsing. She didn't want to bother him... When he brought the box up to the register, she took it and looked it over. "My favorite scent... That's too difficult to decide." She gave him a smile in return. "It really depends. Night Sky is a cool sort of scent, whereas Chinese Jade is a warm, musky smell. I really like the simple things, too, like strawberry and vanilla..." She paused, then looked back at the display. "The nag champa is an old standby, as well."
He walked over to it and picked up all the scents she mentioned, placing them on the counter in turn, before he suddenly decided on no less than ten others and left the small mountain of boxes and bags on the counter before he spotted a small rack of comics and his eyes widened faintly before he moved over to them. He looked over the shelves for a while, before returning. He'd decided to hold off on the comics. He finally pulled out his wallet, and gestured towards the pile. "I suppose this'll be it. My name is August, by the way. August Pierce."
She blinked in surprise, then laughed and began to ring him up. She knew how easy it was to become an incense hoarder. They had a cabinet full at home. "I'm Katharine Renshaw. I own this place. It's nice to meet you, August." She punched in a few more numbers. "Ah, okay. Seventeen-oh-nine."
He pulled out the money without a second thought, and handed it over before digging around in his pocket for a moment for a dime. He finally pulled one out and handed it to her. "So what time do you normally stay open until?" He asked, helping her place all the little packages in a bag as he watched and waited for her answer
She opened the register and slipped his money in, then gave him the penny before shutting the drawer and printing up his receipt. "We're usually open until seven during the week, eight on the weekends. My son is still in school, and he's one of two other employees so I don't want to keep him here too late."
"Oh, yeah..." He responded softly, dropping her gaze as his thoughts flashed to his own mother. This woman seemed to care about her's, anyway. That was always good. He slid the penny into his pocket and took the bag, looking back up at her with a raised brow and a smile. "So what if I swung back by at around seven and took you out for some dinner?" He asked, nothing suggestive in his tone, just friendliness with a faint hint of 'you are really attractive'.
"Ah..." Aha! Kathy chuckled lightly, then shook her head. "Sorry, Mr. Pierce. My son's the only man in my life, and unless the lottery picks me, that's how it's going to stay." She really wasn't looking for a date any time soon.
Other than a faintly raised brow he showed no other outward sign of surprise. He nodded and picked up his bag. "Alright, then. You have a good morning." With that he left the store but already knew he'd found something to occupy a great deal of his time with. Getting her to change her mind about that. When was the last time someone had said no? Oh yeah. Never. It would drive him nuts. ---- It was a little later that day, somewhere between noon and one, when he showed back up with a couple bags of Chinese food and two sets of chop sticks. He wore only a pain white t-shirt and his jeans now, and his five o'clock shadow had turned a little thicker. He was freshly showered, and his hair wasn't gelled back like it had been before. He set the bags on the counter, and handed her a set of chopsticks. "This is lunch time, I believe, and I was in the area. I'm not technically taking you "out" but it's a start." He handed her a small plate from one of the bags and then set the second paper sack to the side. "This one is for your son. I know I'd be jealous if I got out of school and my mom had Chinese and didn't leave any for me."
She was surprised to see him again. "Persistent..." she said, under her breath. "What if I said I didn't like Chinese?" She propped her chin up on her arms on the counter and eyed him curiously. What was he thinking, coming here like this? She sighed, then pulled away from the counter. "All right. We'll give this a try. But I'm not interested in a relationship." She took Alex's food and disappeared in the back with it, then put it in the fridge and came back out.
August smiled at the woman when she finally relented, and by the time she came back out he made her a plate of sezchuan beef and steamed rice with an eggroll settled neatly to the side. He was already toying with the idea of eating, chopsticks held easily and naturally in his large hand. "I'm not that bad. Besides, it isn't even possible that you don't like Chinese. Everyone likes chinese." He smiled at her and pulled a little tealight candle out of the bag, setting it between their plates and pulling the candle lighter from the bag to light it. He smirked and put the lighter back into the bag, before looking down at his food and bringing a bite to his mouth. He chewed with his gaze averted, though he was half-watching from the corner of his eye. "The candle's vanilla scented. You said you liked that earlier." He remarked nonchalantly as he swallowed.
"That's true," Kathy said. She eyed her plate, then picked up her chopsticks and popped a piece of meat into her mouth. It was good! "I usually order from this place." She stood up. "Do you need something to drink?" He'd brought her lunch, it was the least she could do. He was laying it on a little thick, but maybe a friendship could come out of this, right? And what kind of person would she be if she was rude to someone who'd brought her delicious Chinese food?
"Sure." He responded, nodding softly and reaching into the bag to pull himself out an egg roll. "Doesn't matter what. Whatever you have is fine." He wasn't too picky of a guy at all. As long as it wouldn't kill him he'd eat and drink it. "Yeah. I order from here, too. Probably more than is humanly possible." He didn't cook for himself, though he could if he absolutely had to. Ordering food late at night when he was alone gave him an excuse to stay up and wait for it.
Kathy returned from the back with two cans of Dr Pepper, then settled back down to eat her food. "So what is it that you do, Mr. Pierce?" She raised her eyebrows, taking a small bite of her eggroll. Mm! They were fresh, too, just out of the fryer. THat was what she really liked.
"Dr Pepper is my favorite. I swear my fridge is half corona half Dr. Pepper." He opened the can and then glanced up at her at the question, rolling his response around in his head in a moment before he finally gave one. "Um...I'm a model." He bit his lower lip and looked down at his food, bringing a bite of sticky rice to his lips and chewing rather intently.
...What, really? "Really? A model?" That was... adorable, somehow, and she tried not to laugh at his sheepish expression. "Right. I see. That's very interesting."
"Yeah..I've modeled for Gucci and Armani...I get gigs like that probably three, four times a year, and all my other shoots are for swim suits and underwear." He still didn't look up, just finished off the last bite of his food and opened a soy sauce packet for his egg roll.
"Oh yeah...?" She nodded. There were a lot of interesting people in Seattle... But models, she'd never thought of that. She took a packet of soy sauce herself and covered the last of her rice and beef with it before polishing it off. "I see. That must be interesting."
"Yeah." He replied again, picking up both their plates once they'd finished and sliding them into the now empty bag. He then pulled out his wallet, freeing one of his cards from their designated spot and then handing it to her. "My number's on here. Call me, okay?" He smiled at her and then left, leaving the candle where it was and tossing the bag into the garbage can outside before he headed off.
Kathy watched as he went. Wait... Did she really just eat lunch with a complete stranger? What was that all about?! She looked at the business card, then sighed and set it on the counter. WHat the hell.