Who: Tessa and Furiosa What: Meeting for the first time Where: Much Ado About Books When: Early Sept Rating: Low Status: Complete
For as long as Furiosa had lived here with Capable, she hadn’t had much contact with her friends and co-workers. It was something she needed to work on. Since it was a bookstore, she at least had a ready excuse for dropping by in the form of needing mechanic manuals for her car. Sure she could find them online, but then she wouldn’t be able to talk to people.
She rubbed her palm over her bare scalp and stepped into the store.
Tessa looked up from the till at the sound of the doorbell and smiled in greeting at the visitor. Closing the till, she stepped around the counter and towards the guest. “Good morning and welcome to Much Ado About Books, can I help you today?”
“Do you have any mechanical manuals? For cars.” Furiosa asked. She gave Tessa a warm smile. Capable had shown her a picture of her with her coworkers so she recognized her. “Classic corvettes, specifically.”
“Well that’s certainly a speciality subject,” Tessa smiled and indicated for the customer to follow her with an outstretched arm. Tessa felt like she recognised her, but couldn’t quite place where from. “If you’ll come with me I think we have some over here. I hope you don’t mind my asking, but I feel like I recognise you from somewhere, I’m just not sure where from. Have we met before?” she asked as they walked the short distance to the section on vehicles.
“I thought I’d check here before digging around at car shops. My… girlfriend.” Yes, Furiosa still had some difficulty saying that out loud. “She works here. You might have seen pictures of me?”
Tessa gasped and smiled. “Yes, Capable, of course. I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you sooner, I’m Tessa, Tessa Gray,” she held out her hand to introduce herself.
Furiosa took Tessa’s hand in a strong, calloused grip. “It’s nice to meet you. Capable really loves it here.” Her natural inclinations would be to dispense with pleasantries but she was trying to be a civil human being. It was a lot more difficult than she could have imagined.
“It’s Furiosa, is that right?” Tessa asked in confirmation. “Well Capable is most certainly a valuable asset to me and the shop. She’s come so far from the girl who came in here all those months ago,” she smiled proudly.
“Yes, that’s right. Nice to meet you, Tessa.” It was good to know how Capable was doing. She came out of a rough place. “That makes me happy, you have no idea.”
“She’s a very special young woman and I’m glad I had the opportunity to get to know and work with her,” Tessa reassured her. “She is such a hit with the kids down here, they love her doing her readings,” she grinned.
“Something I thinks she enjoys too, I’m sure.” Capable was so… capable. Furiosa loved her for it. Sometimes she wondered if they should all choose their own names. At least those of them named by Joe. That was something to think about another time. “I just hope she doesn’t want any of her own.”
“Oh? What makes you say that?” Tessa asked curiously.
“Uh.” Furiosa realized she’d voiced something she probably shouldn’t have. “I’m not particularly interested myself. Our friend, who’s like a sister to us, already has one. That’s enough for me.”
“Hey, that’s ok, everyone is different and not everyone wants children,” Tessa smiled. Personally she hoped on some level that she might have some with Jem and Will, but her Dreams made her think that it might not be possible. “How old is your friend’s child?”
Keeping track of time was actually one of her best attributes. “A little over a year now. Sometimes I can barely believe it’s only been that long. Time doesn’t always fly when you’re having fun.”
“That’s not always a bad thing, is it? Surely that just means that you can savour the time you have with them,” Tessa suggested gently. “What is your friend’s name? Your friend’s child?”
“Splendid and Valerian,” She replied, smiling as she spoke. There would always be a special place for Splendid. She’d been… she is the heart of their little group. It was so strange, to grieve for someone who was actually alive. The dreams weren’t particularly kind about that.
“What beautiful names,” Tessa smiled. “Where did they come from? Were they inspired by something?”
“I never asked her where her son’s name came from,” Furiosa admitted. It was enough that it wasn’t given by Immortant Joe. “Her name is from our dreams. But those are experiences best left to her to explain when and if she wishes.”
“Fair enough,” Tessa smiled sympathetically. “I understand you share very troubling Dreams, I didn’t mean to pry, I’m sorry if I upset you,” she apologised kindly.
“I’m not upset,” Furiosa held up a hand, and tried to smile in reassurance. “It’s a personal thing, that’s all. It can color a person’s perception.”
“Very true,” Tessa nodded politely and smiled back at Furiosa. “Well, as you can see we have quite a selection in manuals, but if there’s anything in particular you would like to buy just let us know and we can order it in for you. And of course it would be at a discount,” she winked, more than happy to give discount to Capable’s girlfriend. Furiosa seemed like she was a nice woman, if a bit guarded and she hoped that they might see more of her around the shop after this.
Furiosa wasn’t going to argue a discount. Car manuals were really kind of stupidly expensive, but they were a lot easier to use than trying to google things on the internet. “Thank you. I’ll let you know if I need to order something in.”
All in all this was really pleasant. Maybe Furiosa could be social after all.