¡Tink! (tinkhatespink) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-02-25 13:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, frank hardy, tinkerbell |
Who: (Tinker)Belle and Frank Hardy
When: December 31
Where: Tink’s shop
What: Apologies and Christmas Presents
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
It was New Year’s Eve. Tink offered to keep the shop open, because she knew that her boss wanted to take his wife out for the holiday. And Tink didn’t have anyone to celebrate with, really. She’d go home and play video games for the night. Speaking of someone to spend the holiday with...
Tink hadn’t seen Frank in… god, like, three weeks? She’d spent a lot of time this holiday playing WoW, binge-watching Netflix (Stranger Things? OMG.) spending time with her family and working on some of her inventions. Some of the time she filled with friends, too--visiting Joe at the garage, visiting with Jack at his shop, and realizing that she had, like, zero girl friends. Which wasn’t that big of a deal, she’d been Dreaming enough about girls. All her fairy friends, save Terence and Bobble and Clank were girls.
It was weird, and Tink found herself missing the girls, even though she didn’t really know them. She felt lonely, and being away from Frank (why had he blown her off?) didn’t help. Damn. She was smitten. She had to admit it to herself now, after the absence making the heart grow fonder part.
She sighed, leaning against the counter, spinning a gear like a coin on the work surface. Her chin in her hand, she wasn’t paying attention to the radio, which was on a local pop station instead of her ipod.
The new year was about to arrive, but Frank was still struggling to make sense of the last one. To be fair, the past year had been much harder on his brother, but there had been a lot to process in his own life. One of which was why he was currently hovering just outside the fix-it shop, peeking in the side window to see if there was anyone inside. Besides the lone, bored clerk manning the counter, it was empty. Frank sighed. He had known it would be. The entire mall was empty except for the select few trying to use certificates and benefits before they expired in a few short hours.
Apologies were not his specialty. Over the years he had become used to giving them when it came to missing events, but the string of failed relationships told how well those had gone. She called it the hazards of dating a Hardy. Frank thought, a bit morosely. Unlike all those previous times, he had absolutely no idea why he had ignored Belle for the past three weeks. The only thing he could say that he had this feeling that she wanted him to leave her alone. It wasn’t logical. He had hoped that it was some Orange County thing, but he hadn’t heard about anything close to ‘purposefully ignoring someone’ going around.
Frank caught himself adjusting his coat in the reflection of the adjoining shop window. Well, he supposed it couldn’t hurt to look put together since his apology obviously was not. He took one last calming breath before heading into the shop. There was a neatly wrapped gift in one hand (re-wrapped, actually, after the hell that was Boxing Day) and he knocked on the wall by the entrance to announce his presence. “Hey.” Real good, Hardy. So articulate.
Belle, sometimes Tink, looked up from her daydreaming when the door to the shop opened. She stood up straight, suddenly, at the sight of a very familiar face. The loneliness that she’d felt regarding him over the last few weeks were palpable. Seeing that face coming through the doorway was both what she’d longed for and what she was afraid of at the same time. It made her realize how much she liked him. And Tink didn’t really do well with liking people.
Also, where the heck had he been?? The loser totally ditched her, and that made her sad. So there was a tinge of anger. Or betrayal. It was all mixed in with the other feels.
She tried to smile, but it probably came out as a grimace. “Hey.”
Oh yeah. He’d messed up bad. Frank swallowed as he watched a myriad of emotions play across Belle’s face. Coming to her work so that he could apologize in person instead of via phone or text had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he was not so sure. Perhaps he should have had Joe text her a warning, just in case she had wanted to avoid him. Don’t be any more of an idiot than you have been, Hardy. He set his jaw. If he didn’t have faith in his own plans, then how could he expect anyone else to? No, this was definitely the right move.
Frank was an observant person, especially when it came to getting to the bottom of a story. However, occasionally something a person did or said would make him pause and really notice him or her. From the moment he first walked into this same shop there had been something about the blonde woman that had made him want to get to know her even more. Whether it had been the pride in her job or the fact that Frank had to make sure that he understood everything that she was saying, instead of the other way around, something had made him stop and notice the girl with the Maurice-like glasses. It had even seemed seemed fitting that her name was Belle because of it. Plus, the way she had turned that fascinating shade of red when he-
Frank cleared his throat to stop that particular trail of thought. The point was that he had enjoyed spending time with her and had missed their conversations and pun wars over the past month, even though he had been the one who had failed to respond to text messages and broken lunch dates. He walked slowly up to the counter. “This month has been really-” Strange. Hazardous. Insane. Lonely. “Hectic and I’m sorry I haven’t been the best friend to you lately. I know this is late, but,” Frank gently set the gift on the counter. “Merry Christmas, Belle.”
So, Belle wasn’t really known for being an ice queen. (That was sort of her sister’s specialty. Not that she’d Dreamed that yet.) She tensed a little when he came closer, but then melted at the sight of the gift. A Christmas present? Really? She’d sort of thought that he’d ditched her entirely over the last month, and now here he was with something so sweet. Her shoulders relaxed and the smile that had been threatening came to her lips.
“You really didn’t need to do this,” she said, eyes flicking from the package up to Frank’s face. “I mean, I got you something, too… but it’s still in my workshop at home.” She’d nearly trashed the thing after two weeks of no-Frank. Her fingers itched as she reached for the box, and she opened it with enthusiasm, even though she was trying to play cool. Then gasped.
Wow. It was a necklace. Not really Belle’s thing, since she didn’t do jewelry, but… upon closer inspection she realised it was the planets of the solar system. Her cheeks flushed. It was… everything she wanted to be; elegant and a little girly, but also science oriented and kinda badass. It was perfect.
“Jesus, Frank.” She said, running a finger over one of the little planets. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
Frank’s shoulders tensed, mirroring hers, before finally relaxing as he saw her start to smile. For once, it looked like he had done something right. The elder Hardy might be able to accurately measure the circumference of the earth with a stick and a long walk, (a self-guided field trip he’d done on one of his rare days off in Egypt), but finding the perfect Christmas gift for a woman - much less one whose opinion he cared about - was a very formidable task indeed.
“I’m glad you like it. They included Pluto, too.” Frank grinned. It looked like he was at least partially off the hook for disappearing on her this month, or so he hoped. He loved how she seemed to glow the moment she realized what the various stones signified. Liked. He liked how her eyes lit up when- Frank shook his head, stopping his train of thought before it derailed even further. One hand gestured to the necklace as he offered to help her try it on. “May I?”
He was quite handsome. Tink liked the grin on his face, and was proud that it was because of her. Because she was smiling. Because she liked his present. And then she felt guilty because she didn’t have his present in return.
Tink nodded. She passed the necklace to him, then stepped around the edge of the counter to get closer. “Please.” She lifted the hair off the back of her neck and turned around, her back now to him.
Frank took the necklace, arms wrapping around her briefly as he placed the necklace around her neck. He was close enough now that he could smell her shampoo. Sweet. Just like her. His eyes darkened and the clasp nearly slipped out of his hands before he caught himself. A moment later he was done, hands pulling back from her neck. “There. That should do it.” Frank’s smile was back before she turned. “It looks good on you.”
Tink let her hair fall down around her shoulders as she turned around to face him. The smile on her face was bright and warm, and there was a twinkle in her eye as she met his gaze. “Thanks.” She said, then turned to try and look at the necklace around her own neck. Silly. She went a little pink, then moved around him to an antique mirror that adorned the opposite wall. Man. That necklace was absolutely perfect.
“This is the best Christmas Present ever.” Tink said.
Frank found himself far more fascinated by the tinge of pink on Belle’s cheeks than he had any right to be. He had never met anyone that could turn a solid shade of red before and it left him wondering just what might set off that particular shade again. In the name of science, of course. It had nothing to do with how fetching it looked. Well, almost nothing. Frank bit the side of his cheek to curb the grin that threatened to turn into a smirk. Belle likely would not appreciate the humor in her blood vessel dilation as much as he did.
Besides, the necklace really did look good on her. A glance at one of the many clocks in the store brought him back to the present. It was getting late and Joe was waiting for him. They were due at his friend’s - Gwen, he remembered - New Year’s party and Frank would never hear the end of it if they arrived late because of him. He had accomplished what he had come here to do, and now he really should be going. Which was why the next words out of his mouth surprised him. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Hmm? Oh. Nothing?” Tink said, turning back around to face him. “After I close up here I was gonna go home and watch the ball drop at nine with Mom and Dad. My brothers and I typically play World of Warcraft until midnight.” She smirked softly. “We often miss the countdown because we’re raiding or something.”
“World of Warcraft? I had a few friends that used to play that game.” Frank frowned quizzically. He remembered quite a few of them had missed classes and papers when a new expansion was released. For better or worse, Frank was usually too busy tracking down a new lead on a story to join them. Still, it sounded like she had a nice tradition going. He racked his memory for the terminology his friends had used. “I think they joined the Alliance faction.” Or something like that.
Tink couldn’t help but grin at the Alliance faction. She loved the way Frank’s face scrunched up when he was trying to think of something. And the light in his eyes when he realized he remembered. She nodded. “I play mostly Horde, I think, but I’ve got a few characters on each. You’ve never played?”
Frank gave her a sheepish smile, barely able to restrain his hand from rising to scratch the back of his head. “It’s that obvious, huh?” He leaned in, a conspiratorial glint in his eye. “My friends used to say that I wasn’t allowed to call myself a computer nerd because I didn’t even have a Steam account.” On the other hand, he would frequently test and create a few hacking programs with people he only knew by their handles. And sure, hacking the university’s library database to update his checkout dates was likely more difficult than renewing them in person, but he hadn’t needed to leave his dorm room in the dead of winter either.
Tink’s jaw actually fell a little slack. “Well, I know what we’re doing the next time we hang out.” She teased. But, okay, she was less than half teasing. Because she was already planning which games to force him to buy on Steam, and wondering what race and profession he’d play in WoW.
“What about tonight? I mean, Joe’s off at a friend’s party.” The words were out of his mouth before Frank had time to reconsider the offer. Joe would likely give him all sorts of hell for ditching him, but that wouldn’t be until next year at the earliest. “And I’m still banned from cooking, so all I’d be able to offer you would be pizza and a strong wifi connection. Although, I suppose half the apartment’s already in boxes…” He was babbling, giving Belle plenty of ways out just in case she hadn’t forgiven him completely.
A little laugh escaped the fairy when he babbled a bit. She shook her head. “Tonight sounds great. I’ll just close up shop here and text my brothers to let them know what’s going on.” No offense to them, but she’d much rather hang out with her crush Frank, anyway. “This is gonna be great.” She grinned softly. “Give me an hour to wrap things up here? After all, this is the last time we’ll be open until next year.”
“Great!” Frank brightened, visibly relieved that Belle still wanted to hang out after all that had happened. He would have to thank his father later for the advice about women and gifts. The man was a treasure trove of information about how to make up for what the Hardy patriarch amusingly referred to as the ‘failings of being a man’. “That sounds perfect. In the meantime, I’ll clear away a few of the boxes so we’ll have space. Oh! And order us a pizza. So take all the time you need.” Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long, though. Which also reminded him: he’d have to text Joe about not making Gwen’s party. He had plans of his own, now.