... (foreverwild) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-12-11 16:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | 04-15-2017, frankie, frankie and lucas, lucas |
Trader to the Rescue
Who: Frankie and Lucas
When: Early evening
Where: The market
Once Frankie had helped Riley check the perimeters of the ranch, she had returned inside to find Mrs. Haggerty working on dinner. It was an awe-inspiring thing, having the patience and capability to make enough food for the majority of the employees and boarders of the ranch, but somehow Mrs. Haggerty pulled it off. Frankie had a feeling she would have been living off of canned soups and diner food if Riley hadn’t had the sense to hire the older woman as his housekeeper.
She poked around the kitchen for awhile, hoping to get a taste of whatever it was Mrs. Haggerty was actually preparing. Given the cold weather, it seemed like there was going to be a huge pot of soup, which was just fine with Frankie. They talked for a bit - or rather Frankie talked and Mrs. Haggerty nodded along - before the older woman realized she needed a few things for the pantry. Of course, Frankie offered to run to the market and pick them up, and five minutes later, she had her jacket and boots on and was on her way.
By the time Frankie got to the market and grabbed a basket, she forgot the full list of what was needed. So she started to fill the basket with what she remembered Mrs. Haggerty telling her, along with things Frankie considered to be ‘pretty good guesses’. Trying to overcompensate for her distractible brain also meant Frankie bought a lot more than she probably should have, and as the lady behind the counter was filling the third bag of groceries, Frankie began to look around, trying to decide who would be the lucky sucker to help her get these things bag to the ranch.
Lucas was making his rounds, checking in on some friends and acquaintances, and just meandering really. He wound up at the market along the way and was looking around for nothing in particular. He figured he probably needed some things for home, but he doubted he'd actually buy anything just yet. He had another stop or two at the very least before he'd be heading back towards his place.
It was colder than he liked it and his leather jacket was helping to keep out the cold, but it still made his ears sting and his lips chap. It was aggravating, to say the very least. Climate controlled, yeah right. This sure as hell didn't feel very climate controlled to him. As he ambled around the market, he caught sight of Frankie who was looking around. She seemed to have made quite the purchase with several bags sitting full of items. He wasn't usually the sort to volunteer to help, but he figured he could be a gentleman for a little while.
"Need some help with those?," he asked her as he made his way closer to her. "Looks like you've got quite the load to carry."
Frankie caught sight of the guy before he actually spoke, but when he did and offered to help, she grinned. "That would be great, yeah. And hey, you saved me from charming someone else into helping me out. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I had actually remembered everything I was still supposed to get. There was carrots and bread and then beyond that?" Frankie shook her head and turned to pay the woman. "I just grabbed what I figured went into soup, which wasn't too hard, you know, once you use process of elimination. Obviously strawberries don't go in soup, or wheat and stuff like that. Plus, I may have looked at soup cans to read the ingredients, so maybe I cheated a little." Huffing out a breath, Frankie looked at Lucas before nudging a bag toward him. "I'm Frankie, by the way."
He laughed a little. Frankie definitely had the ability to ramble on. It was kind of amusing. "Well, I don't think you'll get knocked for cheating a little," he told her, reaching out to take the bag she nudged towards him. "Lucas," he replied. He had probably seen the woman around, but he didn't know her by name. It was interesting to meet new people and they always served as good contacts at some point. He collected another bag to carry and shifted them a little in his hands. "I bet the soup will turn out just fine."
"Well, thanks Lucas." She picked up the other two bags and got them comfortable in her arms. Then she smiled and started to lead him toward the exit. "The soup will probably be great, mostly because I'm not making it. I promised someone I'd pick up a few things for her. I'm actually out at the ranch, which I know is quite a few blocks, but you already have a bag in your arms, so you can't change your mind now." Obviously he could, but she was hoping he wouldn't the trek. "You look familiar," Frankie added. "Most people do, but you look newish to me too."
"Not a problem," he told her, following her towards the exist. "Not a cook?," he questioned. "I'm not, that's for damn sure." He could do a lot of things, but cooking wasn't one of his strong suits. He could do enough to get by, but really it just wasn't a talent that he'd managed to acquire over the years. "It's alright," he told her, shaking his head. "I don't mind the walk. Wouldn't want you to be stuck trying to make it all the way yourself anyways. I won't change my mind." Her comment about him looking familiar made him smile. "Well, either you met me on the outside, or you've seen me at the theater."
"Not a cook," Frankie confirmed with a small nod. "I've tried it a few times, but I wasn't all that successful. Mrs. Haggerty, she's the housekeeper up at the ranch, seemed to have a lot of patience with me, but I think I took a few years off of her life, using the stove, and trying to master knife strokes. It just wasn't meant to be." And honestly, Frankie didn't enjoy cooking all that much either. It was much nicer having someone do it for her. "But, you know, it might have been the theater. I saw The Wizard of Oz when it was shown." She side eyed him intently for another moment before grinning again. "You were a trader though, right? I think that's where I remember you, the trader's circle. Did you just decide to settle down, or did you get stuck in here like the others?"
He laughed and shook his head. "Sounds about like me. I can cook enough to get by, but yeah, it's mostly stuff that doesn't take much brains to cook," he explained with a little shrug. He could function and eat enough to live, so that was about all that really mattered. He didn't have to be a gourmet. "I was," he said, nodding at her question. "Been trading pretty much since the world went to shit," he explained. "So yeah, it might have been the trader's circle where you saw me." Her question about settling down or getting stuck made him sigh a little. "I intended to move on," he admitted. "Spent most of my time just going from place to place before I ended up getting stuck in here. I'm just trying to make the best of it."
"That's all you can really do," Frankie said. She had met a few traders since the doors closed. None of them seemed overly pleased with being stuck inside the dome, but she couldn't really blame them. "And now you're running the movie theater? How did that happen?" Maggie had told her about the two brothers who opened a brothel. A movie theater seemed much more... family friendly. Frankie supposed she shouldn't assume all traders had questionable morals, but she could only base her opinions on the ones she had met.
"Well," he said, with a little shrug. "I had all the equipment. It wasn't like I was going to be able to sell it or anything. Figured it'd be something to do in this place since it's pretty damn obvious that I'm not going anywhere," he said. It was really the best option. At least the equipment was getting some use. That was the important thing. Besides, everyone needed a little bit of entertainment, even now with the world the way that it was. Maybe some of his morals were questionable, but the theater just seemed like the right thing for Delphi.
"I have to hand it to you traders, or at least some of you, but you're pretty damn good entrepreneurs. Movies seem like such a novelty, so I bet you're doing really well with it." Sex was also a novelty - to some people - so she was pretty sure Maggie's boy and his brother were turning a profit too. And they didn't even have to break a sweat. That job belonged to the girls who worked for them. "I guess you would know better than anyone what people really want, since you go around from dome to dome. Or you did, before the doors here crapped out. But maybe they'll get them fixed soon. Seems like everyone's talking about it being a permanent thing, but you have to think they're working on getting them open, you know? I would hate to be claustrophobic," she added, shifting one of the bags in her arm. "Not that this is a tiny, dark closet, but if you really think about it, it has the potential to be panic inducing." Frankie paused, bit her lip briefly and then grinned. "Not that I want to see that happen! So far everything's been all right." Except for the werewolves, vampires and ghosts and dozens of deaths, of course.
"You do what you gotta do to make things work," he told her, shrugging a little. "A bit of creativity, ingenuity, and some thought process thrown in and anyone can make something out of nothing." At least that was how he felt about it. "Yeah," he said, sighing softly. "It's taking some getting used to, being stuck. Got used to going from place to place, getting people what they wanted and going on to the next group. It's hard to get used to just being in one place all the time." He hoped that they'd get the doors fixed soon, but he wasn't going to hold onto too much hope on that. "Funny," he said, shaking his head. "I hate enclosed spaces. I try not to think about it, but it's still difficult," he muttered. Now he was, however, thinking about it. His throat felt a little tight, but he tried his best to ignore it. Frankie had pretty much hit the nail on the head. "Maybe we'll get lucky and shit will calm down and the doors will get fixed. Until then, there ain't nothing to do but deal with what we have."
Frankie wasn't sure she had the drive to come out with a profitable business on her own. Sometimes she thought she had good ideas, but the truth of it was, she enjoyed the ranch, and she liked having Riley as a boss. Frankie knew she wasn't aggressive or tough enough to delegate work, and she would probably end up being the worst boss ever. That being said, she was definitely impressed by anyone who could do what Lucas did, or Riley, or anyone else running the show. She felt a pang of guilt for bringing up the whole claustrophobia thing, because it would figure that the one person she was speaking to about it would probably be claustrophobic. "Forget I said anything," Frankie said quickly. "That's just another example of me walking around with my foot in my mouth. Things will definitely calm down and the doors will definitely get fixed. Although if you end up leaving, I hope you leave the movie place in good hands! It's nice having another choice in how to keep ourselves entertained. Although, who knows, maybe by the time everything goes back to normal, you'll want to stay. It's hard not to get attached to people, or a place, when you've been around it long enough, you know?"
"It's alright," he told her, shaking his head a little. It wasn't like she'd known that he was claustrophobic when she'd mentioned it. He couldn't really hold it against her. So he pushed it aside and tried to focus on something else. "I'll be sure to find someone who's capable of running the movie theater," he agreed. He hadn't put too much thought in it, but now he was realizing that he probably would need to find someone to keep the place going if he did finally get to leave Delphi. He figured he'd have at least a little while to decide on that. When she commented about him maybe wanting to stay, he shrugged. "Never know," he agreed, even if he was pretty sure attachment wouldn't be a problem. "Guess we'll see what happens."
"It seems like you've definitely got a play it by ear approach to things," Frankie observed. "Which I guess makes sense for most traders. I've tried in the past to organize myself, make plans and goals." She shook her head. "Complete and total fail on my part! I barely get to work on time every day, you know? And that's like... a set goal. Plus, I live at the ranch, so how hard should it be? But yeah, no. Thankfully Riley's got enough patience for me. Not many people do." Her arms were aching a little from holding the grocery bags, but Frankie decided to be an optimist about it and think of the muscles she was working. Blowing a quick breath from the corner of her lips to try and get rid of a loose strand of hair from her cheek, Frankie then looked over at Lucas. "Thanks for helping me out. You want to stay for dinner? I'm sure Riley wouldn't mind having another mouth to feed." She was betting he was busy, but it seemed like the friendly thing to do, since he had gone out of his way to help her with the bags.
He nodded. Playing it by ear was sometimes the best way to do things. Usually it was for him. You just had to take things the way that you received them and make the best of it. He laughed softly as she talked about her lack of ability to plan or set goals for herself. "Well at least you've found a place that works for you," he told her. That was good. Get in where you fit in and all that. "You don't have to feed me," he told her. "I've got a bunch of other errands to run anyway, but you're welcome. It was the least I could do. Wouldn't want you lugging the whole store on your own," he teased. "Thank you for the offer though," he grinned. "Maybe I'll take you up on it some other time."
"Next time I'll make a list," Frankie said. "I sort of have the feeling eighty percent of what's in these bags won't make it into whatever it is Mrs. Haggerty is cooking. But I think it's always better to have too much than not enough." They were drawing closer to the ranch, for which Frankie was thankful. It was cold, her arms were achy, and she had kept Lucas long enough, especially if he had things to do. "Hey, anytime you're hungry, come around. I'm usually always here. I'm still working on that social life thing. Which... I realize makes me sound pathetic, or at least like an old spinster. Or maybe a young spinster? I don't know. But yeah! Come on around, anytime. There's always cookies too, which have vegetables in them, which sounds gross? But they're actually pretty freaking delicious."
He laughed at that. All the food and items she'd bought and most of it probably wasn't even for whatever she'd originally went to the market for. "I guess some things never change," he commented. "Walk into a store wanting one thing, come out with fifty things and half the time you forget the item you came in for in the first place." It was how things were before the world changed and how they seemed to remain. "I'll keep that in mind," he told her, smiling as they got closer to their destination. "You don't sound pathetic. Or like an old spinster, or a young one," he assured her. "But I'll come around because who can resist cookies, even vegetable ones?"
"Well, thanks," Frankie said with a small laugh, though she was sure he was just saying so because it was the polite thing to do. She tended to forget things all the time, and it had occurred to her that maybe Mrs. Haggerty had sent Frankie to the market simply because Frankie had been following her about the kitchen, chattering her ear off. In any case, Frankie was being useful, so that was something. "Hey, Tom," Frankie called out, once she saw the rancher near the side of the house. "Can you come help?" She looked over at Lucas with a smile. "That way you don't have to walk the rest of the way and inside. Mrs. Haggerty will try to convince you to stay and eat, or you might get roped into playing cards with Riley's daughter. I know you've got errands. So, thanks again. Let me know if you're going to be playing any blow 'em up movies soon! Anything with a lot of guns and car chases. I'm all about that sh...er, stuff."
He laughed a little at that and traded off the bags to the guy that came over to help. He thanked him and then turned to Frankie. "It was nice talking to you," he said to the woman. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon. You'll be the first one I tell if I show one of those movies," he told her. "I'll make sure you get a good seat too," he added. He liked Frankie. She seemed like a good person and he didn't really throw that compliment around very often. "I'll catch you later," he told her. "See ya."
“I’ll hold you to that!” Frankie warned, shooting Lucas a grin as she began to walk with Tom back toward the ranch. “Bye, Lucas!”