InsaneJournal

Who: Percy + Audrey
When: May 17
Where: Baxter Bakery
What: Catching up
Rating/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete



It’d been a while since Percy had seen Audrey -- in fact, the last time had been when he’d helped her move a few weeks back. Unfortunately his current schedule wasn’t allowing for much in the way of socialization at all.

He’d found a bit of time today -- actually taking a lunch break as opposed to skipping it. Sometimes he needed to just take his eyes off of his work for long enough where he didn’t start overlooking things and making mistakes.

Entering Baxter Bakery, Percy gave a tiny smile upon spotting Audrey. “Hello,” he greeted, pleasant despite all his stress. “How are you doing today?”

Audrey always lit up at the sight of Percy. (Well, okay, she lit up at the sight of all of her friends. But Percy was one of them, so she lit up for him!) She was behind the counter, stocking the pastry case. “Percy! Quick!” She said, pulling out a plate with a pastry on it. “Raspberry Cheesecake!”

“Ooh,” said Percy, who was immediately interested (and why wouldn’t he be?), eying up the cheesecake with a pleased look. Quick, she’d said, as if it might disappear if he weren’t fast enough. “Simply bewitching.”

Well, Raspberry. Audrey was an excellent sales person, and knew her friends and her customers well. She knew that Percy liked raspberry. And these miniature cheesecakes were sent from heaven. “Thank you.” She beamed. Her friends got to eat at a severe discount, or even free sometimes. “This is a recipe I’m trying out. Let me know what you think.” She’d been hoping he’d come in to try it today.

“I can already tell it’s good,” Percy was very good at being so polite it was flattering -- it was just a thing he did. He ate it happily anyway, making a little mmm noise -- apparently, he’d been spending too much time around James. Really. Making noises over food. The older man was rubbing off all his weirdest habits on the redhead. He went a bit pink. “It’s quite good. I might have to buy you out. I don’t know James will forgive me if I don’t bring some home.”

“Heaven forbid. I’ll go get one for James. Or do you think he’d prefer the tangerine?” She asked. There was an array of new cheesecakes in the window of her pastry case, blackberry, raspberry, tangerine and mango, to name a few. “I’ve got turtle in here somewhere. Caramel and Pecan... one of my favorite pairings.” She was absolutely thrilled that Percy liked the cheesecake. She was a pretty happy girl under almost any circumstance, but when people were enjoying her food it amplified her mood considerably.

It was hard not to like her food when she made it so well. “Actually --” he glanced at them all, seemingly perplexed for a moment, before giving a half nod. “Blackberry.” Tangerine anything seemed a bit gross, and it was probably bad, but if Percy didn’t think it was good, he didn’t want to think James liked it anyway.

Audrey nodded. She reached down and put the blackberry cheesecake into a little to-go box for Percy, and put a little note on the outside; James, Percy decided to get you blackberry instead of raspberry. You should have heard the noises coming out of him while he ate the raspberry one. Probably the same noises he’ll make tonight! Cheers! xoxo Aud.

She really hoped that Percy would blush when he read it.

He did. In fact, he went almost painfully pink - almost red. After a moment of sputtering, he cleared his throat, settled his hand over the top of the box so he wouldn’t have to look at it anymore, and went for an expression that he hoped was reproachful. “You’re terrible, Audrey,” he told her.

Audrey laughed. It was jovial, good-natured. “Sorry. I can’t help it. I love it when your face clashes with your hair.” She pulled her apron off and hung it from a hook behind the register. “Did you want a tea, or something? I’m off on a break, but I can get it for you before I go. I was going to have iced tea.”

“I’d love a tea,” he agreed -- ice tea was never something he’d understood, personally. She knew what kinds he liked, so didn’t bother specifying. Instead, he concentrated on evening out his skin tone again with thinking calm thoughts. “I’m on my lunch break as well.”

“Have a seat, then, I’ll bring it out to you.” Audrey said, giving him a smile. She prepared the tea, and was out to his table in a minute or two with his cup and her own. “So,” she said, flopping into the chair. “You’re moved in then? I don’t know if we’ve talked much since!”

“I did. It was a bit slow going -- and I’ve still got to put in my 60 day notice at my place -- but for the most part, it’s been emptied out.” He smiled at that, but then gave a tiny lift of his shoulders in a shrug. “We haven’t spoken lately, and I am sorry for that. Work’s been -- hectic.”

“What’s going on at work?” Audrey asked, curiously. Things around her own shop had felt a bit boring now Merlin wasn’t stopping in. Poor guy got his arm broken in that failed wedding, and Audrey missed him more than she realized. “I thought you were happy at that firm. Magnus? What’s her name? With your friend Sam, right?” See? She paid attention.

Percy wrapped his hands around the mug of tea, liking the warmth. “I am happy working there,” he rushed to confirm. And really, he was. He loved being a lawyer. And he liked working with Sam. “Helen Magnus, yes. And I work with Sam -- he’s great. We get on well. Unfortunately, my boss took an impromptu leave of absence and didn’t really think to tell us she was doing so -- so... it’s been. Busy.”

“Oh. Wow.” Audrey said, going a bit wide-eyed at that. She couldn’t imagine leaving her shop for anything in the world. She’d have to be confined to a bed in a hospital not to come into work every day. And they’d damn well better chain her down, or else she’d go. She had face masks, gloves and hand washing to help with the germs. Her girls needed her. “How long has she been gone? When’s she coming back?”

Percy only nodded, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. And kind of he did. He wouldn’t leave any of his hard work behind without a terribly good reason, either. And even then -- well. Probably not. “Since the beginning of the month. So nearly three weeks now. And no one knows when she’ll be back. It’s certainly a bit stressful.” As if to prove that, he took a sip of his tea.

It would have to be a really, really really good reason. Audrey may have been the life of the party, may have been a bit crazy in her day, but she was also a bit of a work-a-holic. Much like Percy was. Only with an on/off switch. (You had to know how to work hard to build a thriving business from practically nothing. Twice.) “Wow. That’s... I’m sorry. Do you know what you’re gonna do? Are you like, revamping your resume?” Oh, resumes. She was so glad she never had to deal with that shit again.

“Well...” Percy got this look between his eyes that said it concerned him to even speak on the topic. But he did anyway. “Sam and myself are going to wait it out for a while -- just to see. It hasn’t been a month we don’t want to be -- presumptuous. Particularly if she took the time off for an important reason. But. We were thinking of --er. Well. Perhaps starting something ourselves. If we have to.” It was clear that as guilty as he looked, he also had a spark of interest in the matter.

Audrey could tell that it was a hard subject. Now she felt a bit guilty for even asking, but that was a fairly important question. Not for her, but for Percy and for Sam. At least they had some sort of a plan in case everything started to fall apart. “Well, at least you know what you’re gonna do, should the worst happen. She’s probably just... taking a much needed break. I’m sure she’ll be back before you know it.” Cliche, but hopefully true. Audrey was trying to look on the bright side.

Percy was a realist, but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate someone trying for a silver lining, anyway. He smiled, gave a half nod and then sipped at his tea more. “This is terribly off topic,” he said, “but have you ever thought of making little sandwiches? I feel your counter could benefit from a panini or two.”

“Paninis? Nah, but I suppose I probably should look into it. I think our bread is absolutely delicious when grilled. With cheese and tomato? Best. Lunch. Ever.” Audrey said, giving him a smile. “I’ll look into it. The hardware wouldn’t be that expensive. I’ll just have to start brainstorming sandwich ideas.” She’d thought about it in the past, but wasn’t sure how much demand there would be for something like that.

“No pressure. Just sometimes, even as much as I enjoy cheesecake a sandwich seems preferable for lunch. It’s not a big deal, I don’t want you to think I’m unhappy or anything.” Percy was constantly backpedaling.

Audrey laughed. “Don’t be silly, Percy. It’s a good idea. I know you’re happy. Anything to make my business better, I wanna hear about it!” She said, with a smile on. “I’ve got some more quiche-y type things in the pastry case. I think we’ve got some yogurt parfaits in the fridge over there... If you want some real food, that is.”

“I do like quiche,” Percy admitted, although he’d honestly been ruined a bit by Wilson’s, and wasn’t particularly sure he’d ever find one he prefered over those. It was a Sunday thing. “I’ll certainly keep that in mind the next time I stop by.”

“Please do. I should get back behind the counter.” Audrey said, then stood up. She gave Percy’s shoulder a friendly pat. “Come back around soon, okay? I’ll work on that Panini idea.”

“I’ll do just that,” Percy agreed before finishing off his tea. Really, he ought to get back to work.