Who: Will and Tinkerbell When: September Where: The Shop where she works What: Meeting in person Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
When Will’s watch stopped working even after he replaced the battery it seemed to him to be a fortuitous event since it gave him a reason to stop by the place Belle worked. Other than just wanting to meet her of course. She seemed like a fun person to know from their interactions on the net and Will could always use new friends. Especially with everything going on at home.
Entering the store he smiled as he saw a blonde girl behind the counter, “Uh Belle?” he asked.
“I’m here!” A young, high-pitched, energetic female voice called out from the back room. There was a curtain separating it from the front of the shop, and it waved a little bit back and forth. A fan was running at high speeds beyond. When the blonde girl came through the curtained doorway, her hair flew in all directions because of the wind from the fan. She reached up with both hands, trying to tame it down.
“Hi! Sorry, I was… stocking things. What’s up?” She asked, breaking into a bright smile at the man who’d come into the shop. He was handsome. She went a little pink.
“Not a problem” Will said, his welsh accent still prominent after two years of being in America. He didn’t think he’d ever lose that though. “I have a watch that’s decided to break on me and I wanted to meet you in person. I’m Will” he added holding out his hand.
“Hey, yeah, we can do that.” Belle said, grinning softly. “I think,” she slipped her hand into his, somewhat awkwardly. Her skin was soft and cool, smooth to the touch. She withdrew it again probably took quickly, then tucked wisps of hair behind her ears. “I think I remember you from Valarnet? Is that right?”
“Yep that’s the one, we’ve had a few entertaining conversations on there and when my watch broke I remembered you saying where you worked. I promise I’m not a stalker or anything, I’m in a very happy relationship” he added, because for some reason girls seemed to assume that if you were friendly and maybe a little flirty that you had to be after them. It was a strange thing he’d discovered about America.
Belle gave a little chuckle. “What, you mean you’re not stalking me? That’s disappointing.” She waved it off. “It’s okay. I don’t date, either, so, we’re good there.” Because Belle was far too awkward to date. And was probably about as mature as a sixteen year old when it came to boys and whatever. So she straightened up her spine and got to business. “What happened to your watch?”
“Sorry, I’ll try better next time. I could definitely be your net stalker, your posts are very entertaining” Will told her with a wink before he too got down to business, “I noticed it stopped working and when I replaced the battery it still didn’t work” he explained.
Belle laughed. “Aww, shucks. Thanks. I do like to be entertained.” She grinned softly, then turned her attention to the watch. “Hmm. That’s no good.” Accepting the timepiece in her hands, she turned it over and over, then held it up to her ear. Her other hand reached for a set of ridiculously tiny tools. “Let me take a look.”
He watched her as she took the watch, “It’s not expensive or anything but my sister gave it to me before I came out here so I’m hoping it’s not broke beyond repair” he told her before his eyebrows raised, “They’re like tools for Borrowers or other tiny people”
“Hey, sentimental is still value,” Belle said, breaking into a little smirk. She didn’t think something needed to be antique or expensive to be worth saving. Sometimes things just were. Who was she to judge? Belle gave a soft chuckle. “I have small hands, I guess?” And she popped open the watch to take a look inside. “...well, it needs a cleaning. It could be that the old battery leaked a little acid in here that’s gumming up the works. Should I give it a go?”
Will was grateful for the understanding. “Absolutely. My watch and I are in your safe if tiny hands” he told her with a grin.
Belle gave him a grin, then focused on the watch. She had other tools for cleaning and greasing up the gears. It was in good condition, and she figured as soon as she had the gunk all cleaned out, that it’d be purring like a kitten. It didn’t take long, and so long as the man--Will--was going to hang out while she worked, she figured she should make some small talk. “So, you’re on that Valarnet site. What do you think of it?”
Will was kind of fascinated by Belle working, he wasn’t overly practical being a more creative soul so it was interesting to him. “It’s pretty fun in general. Helps to know that we’re all in the craziness together I think. What about you? I assume from your posts you like it”
“I like the internet in general,” Belle replied. She had no idea that he was watching her work. When she got into a project like this, she went all in. Her eyes didn’t leave the watch’s innards as she cleaned. She had to remove a couple of the gears to get all the gunk out. It was probably the battery leaking. They did that sometimes. “My brothers call me a troll. But I’m not, really. I’m just a joker.”
“I don’t think you’re a troll, I like your posts, they’re lighthearted and fun” he assured her, not that it really mattered what a stranger said but it was nice sometimes to know how people saw you. “It keeps me entertained anyway”
“Aww, thanks.” Belle said, giving him a smile. “Who needs to listen to brothers, anyway.” And she turned her eyes back to the watch. It seemed clean enough--at least, as clean as she could make it without taking the whole thing apart. So she started putting it back together. “I think this should do it.”
“Exactly, though actually don’t tell my sister that. I want her to listen to me” he grinned before nodding, “I’ll keep my fingers crossed then”
Belle laughed. It sounded like bells ringing in the air. She shook her head a little. “I can pretty much guarantee that she doesn’t listen to you.” She said, teasing, then clicked the last piece of the watch into place. “Here. I think it should be…” She lifted it to her ear and broke into a smile. “Tick tick tick tick.”
Then she held the watch out for him to take.
“Hey now don’t go bursting that bubble” Will teased her with a smile, noticing the lovely sound of her laugh. It was a pretty awesome laugh.
“Thanks” he said taking the watch and looking at it ticking away happily, “You are amazing” he declared.
“Hey, that’s why they pay me the big bucks,” Belle teased. She started to put her tools away, and turned off the giant light she’d been using to get a closer look at the inner workings of his watch. “It’s sort of what we do here.”
“Okay well that’s fair but I still think you’re impressive” he told her with a grin, “So what do I owe you?” he asked pulling out his wallet.
That brought a little laugh out of the blonde. She was smiling proudly. “Well, thanks. And it’s my pleasure.” She told him the total and processed the transaction. It was very inexpensive. She gave him his receipt. “I hope you’ll remember us if you need anything else fixed in the future.”
“I absolutely will. I’ll be recommending you to everybody. I get the feeling there’s very little you can’t fix” Will said as he put the receipt away in his wallet and slipped it back into his pocket. The watch now sitting on his wrist ticking away happily again.
Belle gave a little laugh. “Thank you.” She grinned brightly. “Both for the compliment and the business.” Hey, if he would tell people about the shop? That might bring in more customers. And Belle wanted more things to do at work. Rather than just stock supplies and clean the back room. “Make sure to bring the watch back in if it starts acting up?”
“You’re welcome. Far as I see it you deserve to be a lot busier” Will told her with a nod, “I promise you’ll be the one I call on. It’s been nice to meet you Belle” he held his hand out to her.
“Nice to meet you, too.” Belle shook his hand, glad to have met and made friends with a new customer.