Eugene Fitzherbert has a thing for brunettes (iwantacastle) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-02-22 12:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, ariel, flynn rider |
Who: Ariel and Flynn
When: Early February
Where: Coffee Shop
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
Flynn was no stranger to coffee shops. That’s where he did his best writing. Right now he was struggling trying to write one about a blonde with long hair, bumping into an unsuspecting guy in a coffee shop, and having romance ensue. For some reason, the girl in the story just didn’t fit right. Something about the way she looked struck him to the core, and he didn’t like it. He lifted his head and looked around until his eyes fell on a redhead.
Redhead! Maybe that’s what his story needed! He watched the woman in the coffee shop for a few minutes, secretly typing away at the laptop on the table in front of him. He clicked and clattered, changing blonde hair to red, and suddenly the story was taking a better shape.
Ariel was also no stranger to coffee shops, but it was probably because she usually had so much going on at one time that without her caffeine and sugar fix, she’d never be as cheerful as she is. This one happens to be the closest to where she was at the time, and, seeing as she has to wait for her sister to come get her, she figured she’d wait somewhere cozy.
Once she got a mug that was topped with a mountain of whipped cream, she settled in a chair and pulled out a book on mermaid lore - c’mon, she was curious - and really hadn’t paid any attention to the guy clicking away at his computer.
Mermaid lore? EVEN BETTER. Flynn started to incorporate that into the story. Maybe the redheaded woman WAS a mermaid. Or a Siren. Or some other mythical, magical creature that swam and breathed underwater and lured men to their deaths.
Damn. He was a good writer. He kept going along until one of the baristas came out to refill his coffee cup and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen.
“Mermaids, huh? That gal over there’s reading about mermaids. You should go talk to her.” It was an elderly woman, probably working part-time to give herself something to do now she’s retired and home all day. Probably a woman who was playing matchmaker because she had nothing better to do.
Unfortunately for Flynn, she spoke really loudly and clearly, and he squirmed in his seat, making “uh” “oh” and “ah” sounds, trying to find a place to break in and tell her to shut up. He didn’t want the pretty redhead to know that he’d been using her for inspiration! He went slightly pink, and looked nervously in her direction to see if she’d heard the nosey barista.
Oh, Ariel did hear. In fact, most of the cafe seemed to hear, and Ariel peered up over the edge of her book to glance around before her eyes settled on the barista and the poor young man floundering next to her. Ariel felt a blush creep up and she very carefully slipped away her book, hoping no one would connect her too quickly to the awkward and, frankly embarrassing, scene going on.
Flynn reached forward, closed his laptop abruptly, and gave the woman a curt “thank you.” He glanced back over at the redhead, and gave her an apologetic look--the kind that only Flynn Rider eyebrows could give.
“I’m just sayin’,” the woman said, sounding offended now. “You seem to have a lot in common with the young lady.” She straightened her apron in a huff, and turned to head into the back room. “Kids these days. You try to do them a favor…” And she disappeared into the back room before her mumbling could go on any further.
Flynn decided to close his eyes and count to ten. He decided that by the time he reached ten, if there was anyone still looking at him or at the pretty redhead, he’d get up and leave the cafe.
Truth be told, Ariel felt sort of bad for the guy. He was just minding his own business, it seemed unfair that the woman should draw both of them into some sort of scene. She took a sip of her mocha and got up, wandering over to the young man’s table.
“I wouldn’t worry too much,” she said, cheerfully, “people enjoy getting into other people’s business too much. I’m sure she had more or less good intentions.”
At the sound of the voice, Flynn’s eyes shot open. He blinked them up and saw the pretty redhead standing near his table. And she looked cheerful! He’d been afraid that this would mean animosity--even though it wasn’t his fault that cow of an elderly barista embarrassed the both of them for no good reason--but she seemed to be… not angry. Surprisingly so.
He sat up a little in his chair. “...It’s nice of you to think that way, Red.” He said, cocking his head to the side a little. “Very optimistic of you.”
She shrugged, and held up her hands a bit. “Guilty as charged. I’m always optimistic. Everything would just be the worst if I wasn’t, you know? I can’t imagine being an old grouch like that woman,” Ariel said, before snickering a bit.
"I don't, actually. Know, that is. But I can imagine." Flynn pushed the chair opposite his out with his foot under the table. "You wanna sit? I hear you were reading about mermaids."
Well, it would be rude to say no, and it might just embarrass the poor guy more. So Ariel smiled and got her things, then took a seat across from him. “Uh. Yeah. I mean, they’re pretty interesting. Though I guess because of science and evolution they wouldn’t exactly be beautiful and more … Strange and scaley.”
Flynn chuckled. “Yeah. ‘Strange and scaley’ isn’t exactly what we think about when we think about mermaids, is it? There’s a lot of lore, though. Lots of fishermen claiming to have seen them. And there’s the whole Siren thing from the Odyssey. Kinda creepy on top of being strange and scaley.”
“Yeah. It’s not all that appealing, really. Unless you like creepy. It’s like … Um.” Ariel paused, trying to think of the name of something. “Oh! This fake documentary, called Mermaids: The Body Found and it’s basically like these scientists found this mermaid body and how it’d be possible for mermaids to exist. Totally bogus, but pretty neat.”
“Yeah?” It seemed to be a word the two of them said a lot, actually. But Flynn didn’t mind. He wasn’t thinking about diction, he was thinking about this pretty redhead sitting across from him, getting excited about mermaids. She had an amazing smile, too, which made this conversation all the more appealing. “...is it on Netflix? Sounds awesome.” He added, grinning. This was a geek grin, not one of his more suave, flirtatious ones.
“It might be,” Ariel mused, “but I know for sure it’s on youtube. But they’re all super scaley and strange,” she added, laughing. “So, um. You’re writing about them? Mermaids?”
“Well, sort of. I’m a novelist, and my next novel has Mermaids in it.” Flynn explained, giving a shy smile. “I dunno, I just found some… inspiration… that I couldn’t ignore.” He said, then gave her a playful wink.
“Really?” She blinked, then grinned. “Oh my gosh, that’s so cool! I could never be a writer. I’d get so bored halfway through my story and have to go do something else.”
“I do that sometimes,” Flynn admitted. “But I’ve always got another story to turn to. I’ve got about three half-finished novels in my Drop Box. Coming back to work on them is like catching up with an old friend.”
“I’ve never thought of it like that. That’s sort of nice, actually.” Ariel grinned a bit. “I still don’t think I could do it,” she added, still smiling.
“We all have our different strengths and weaknesses,” Flynn said, humbly. Or was it humbly? He shook his head. “Enough about mine. Tell me where your interest in Mermaids comes from.”
“Oh. Um.” Ariel blushed a bit. You couldn’t just tell strangers you dreamt about being a mermaid. Well, okay, you could, she did it all the time on the Network, but this was different. “Well, my dad is a marine biologist and he runs a research facility, and we live on the beach, so I’ve always just been around water and the ocean and all. I guess it’s sort of just fun to imagine what might lurk out there.”
“We’ve only explored something like ten percent of the world’s oceans? As I’m sure you know better than I do,” Flynn said. Her father was a marine biologist, after all. “Maybe there are mermaids out there in the deep. Who’s to say there’s not?”
“Right?” she answered, a bit excitedly. “There’s so much out there. I love it, even the scary sea creatures that live super deep and have big oogly eyes.”
Flynn’s grin brightened a bit. “I’ve heard of those. Giant squids and whatnot? They say there’s really no way to tell what’s actually out there, because the ocean’s so deep and dark. I think it’d be awesome to go exploring it.” It inspired him, so he held up one finger, “Hang on a second, I have to write this down.” Then he pulled out a notebook and took some notes that he thought he might use in this mermaid story.
“Yes. And … Well. Lots. There’s a documentary -” She paused, staying quiet while he wrote down whatever he needed to write. “There’s a documentary about ocean life on Netflix. One of the episodes is about deep sea creatures. They’re so spooky looking.”
Flynn gave her his full attention once he’d finished jotting down those notes. He was suave like that. And she was pretty. He didn’t mind looking at her. “...I think… is that the one that was called ‘Oceans’ or something like that? I think I’ve heard of it. They play it on the big, HDTVs at Best Buy.”
“Yeah! That’s totally it!” Ariel laughed. “Anyway, it’s all super interesting, but. Ugh, it talks about goblin sharks and angler fish and they’re like aliens. Or something.” She blinked when she felt her phone buzz and she glanced down. “Oops - my sister’s almost here. It was good meeting you, though! Um. I’m Ariel, by the way.”
“Goblin sharks?” Flynn asked. Okay, he had to write that down, too. Though, then she glanced at her phone, and… “Flynn.” He said, and gave her a charming smile. “Flynn Rider. Nice to meet you, Ariel. Don’t let me keep you from your sister.”
“I’m warning you know, because I know you’re gonna google them, they’re scary.” She gave him a pointed look as she stood up and gathered her things. “You, too, Flynn! Good luck with your book!” Ariel gave him a wave and rushed out to meet her ride.