AJ stands for Applejack. (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} applemark) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2012-10-03 18:03:00 |
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Who: AJ meets Deadpool
What: Buying a hat
Where: The park
When: Wednesday?
Rating: Low?
Status: Complete!
The park near AJ’s house was getting a lot of use by AJ and Winona, especially now that she knew she’d be moving soon. She wasn’t sure to what kind of neighborhood they’d be going, but she knew there was a possibility that they wouldn’t have such a great park nearby anymore. So she and Winona were at the park today, and she was throwing the tennis ball for the easily excitable dog. It was after work, and she was tired. Working from home meant that she didn’t get out to see people all that often, and she was starting to feel isolated and alone. It was time for her to get out more, and meet new people.
She glanced down at her phone while Winona was running around after the tennis ball. She should text that woman from the internet, and take a look at that house. Maybe having a roommate would help with her loneliness.
Her head snapped up again, though, when she heard someone nearby.
There was a man who was walking along the grass, looking up at the sky, "I tell you, it's pink. It's not blue, it's pink."
He stopped moving, furrowing his brow, "This has nothing to do with Pinkie Pie. She's not making me see pink everywhere, brain. God, you get a yellow box and you think you're all that."
Wade Wilson looked suddenly shocked, "You take that back."
Of note was the fact he wasn't wearing any sort of head set or earpiece.
AJ had never seen crazies in this park before. But every day was a new day. She shifted, not wanting to disrupt the man who was clearly mentally ill. Though, the name made her pay a little more attention. Pinkie Pie? It couldn’t have been coincidence that he used a name of one of the ponies from her dreams.
"She tastes like bubblegum," Wade admonished himself, a goofy grin crossing his face. "Okay. Truce. Hey, do you hear that?"
His brain didn't seem to answer him, but he tilted his head, "It's that tapping sound again." It was like the devil was typing to his brain!
When people started acting really funny, like this guy, it made AJ incredibly nervous. Was he about to flip his shit and attack her? Or was he one of those harmless crazies that simply wandered around muttering to himself? The hard part was that she could never tell.
Winona came running back over, the tennis ball in her slobbery mouth. She dropped it for AJ, but she was still watching the man talking about bubblegum.
Pinkie Pie tasted like bubblegum? She’d have to listen more.
"Hey! You there!" Wade pointed at her and Winona, and jogged over, "Hi. Hey, do you know if that taco cart comes through here or did I miss it?"
AJ’s eyes went wide as the crazy fellow pointed at her and came toward her. She held the tennis ball tightly in her hand, even though it was covered in drool. Winona wasn’t paying any attention to Wade, as she was completely focused on the tennis ball.
“I’m sorry, what?” AJ asked, not sure what the guy was talking about.
“Taco cart. No habla english? Ta. Co. Delicious meat and cheese in a tortilla.”
“Um, I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen him come through here.” She wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen a taco cart in the park. Then again, she wasn’t ever looking.
"So no taco cart." Wade looked disappointed, but then held out his hand, "Wade Wilson. Nice to meet you. You know what? You need a hat. Come on, Ima buy you a hat."
“A hat?” AJ wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Was that slang for drugs? But she was getting a ‘not violent’ vibe from him. And Winona seemed comfortable around him, so... she stood. “All right.”
"A hat." If she was getting a not violent vibe from him, that vibe was completely wrong. Or maybe half wrong - she wasn't a person he'd have to get violent around, except to maybe protect. Wade was a fantastic shot and an explosives expert. He even owned a torpedo. And by god, he'll get to use the torpedo some day. Perhaps while singing the extended version of the My Little Pony theme song and lobbing grenades. He'd done that once.
He pointed at his own head, looking at her as if she were nuts, "You. Need a hat. I'm buying you one. Come on!" He started to skip off.
“Oh. Okay.” Well, the ‘non-violent’ vibe was violence toward her. She didn’t fear him... yet. He seemed a bit off his rocker, but she didn’t think he was going to attack her. That was a good starting point. And if Winona seemed calm... she reached down and clipped the leash onto her dog, then turned to follow him...
Was he really skipping? She wasn’t going to skip, but she started to jog to keep up.
"There's this hat shop down the street and around the corner, I have just the hat for you. It's the most awesome hat." He stopped moving, and held out his finger, "It is in fact, best hat."
AJ stopped jogging the moment he did. She raised an eyebrow at his finger held out. “...okay.”
"Okay." Then he started to walk this time, instead of skipping, as though he'd decided that he didn't want to skip, and wanted to walk. He already had visions of hats on his head.
AJ glanced down at Winona, who simply looked up at her. No one had said the words ‘car’ or ‘ball’ so she had no reason to be excited. She opened her mouth and started to pant and AJ gave her a little grin.
She turned to walk with the man again. “...I’m AJ,” she said, raising her voice just a little so he could hear her. “...what’s your name?”
"I'm Wade!" He even gave her a great big :D type smile, and thumped on his chest, "AJ isn't a name, that's an acronym!"
AJ laughed. "All righty, if ya really want to, you can call me Aponi." She said. "That's what my Mama named me."
Wade grinned at her, "Okay Aponi." He saluted, then led her around the corner and down the street. The hat estore was right on the corner between a Starbucks and a Walgreens and across the street from a Walgreens and a Starbucks.
He marched in and started peering at the hats, "Nope. Nope. Too hipster. Too old man."
It felt weird to be called by her birth name by anyone other than her brother, sister or grandmother. But if that’s what he wanted... she followed him to the store, tied Winona up outside, and stepped in. The barista from the Starbucks next door gave a wave to AJ, and she waved back.
AJ was no stranger to Starbucks.
Wade continued to look through hats. This one was too big. That was too pink. This one was too yellow. And made of straw. Straw? Really?
He picked up a black cowboy hat and dropped it on AJ's head, "Hmmmmm."
AJ turned to glance in one of the mirrors they had hanging all around the room. She paused, surveying herself with the hat on her head. It reminded her of her dream.
"No. no that's not right at all. I told you brain, she's not a black hat! She's too goody. She needs a white hat. Come on." He took the hat off her head, tossed it aside like a frisby, and dragged her over to another rack, "Okay hop-a-long......"
AJ followed him over to another hat rack, sending one little glance over to the hat, wondering for a moment where it would land. “A white hat?” She asked, thinking that wasn’t a great idea. She’d get it all stained up and junk.
"White hats are the good cowboys. You always know it's a good cowboy when he has the white hat. And the black hats are always on a bad guy. It's the law." Wade plunked a white hat onto AJ's head, "You're a good cowgirl."
AJ blushed deeply. “Am I?” She asked, then turned to look in the mirror. He had a point, though. The white hat looked a lot better than the black one did.
"Totally, girly! See? It fits you!"
Now, Wade couldn't explain why, but sometimes he saw things differently. Like it was on the tip of his tongue, but couldn't quite make it apparent. He could hear people typing all the time, and the little yellow boxes that made up his thoughts tended to hover around his head.
He just thought that AJ needed a hat, just like he knew that Pinkie Pie had to be pink. It was not his place to know why.
“Well, it’s a great hat,” AJ said, giving a little tug on the rim. She turned left and right, looking at herself in the mirror. “I don’t know how you knew, but it’s perfect.” She didn’t know where she was going to wear it, as it didn’t really seem to fit in California, but she’d give it a try.
"I know heads." He tapped his head, knowingly, then pulled out a wad of cash, "I'll buy!"
“Oh, I really couldn’t letcha do that,” AJ said, pulling the hat from her head to get a good look at it. There must be a price tag on it somewhere. “I barely know ya.” Don’t know him at all, really.
“You need a hat, I’m here to provide. Pay me back in tacos and we’ll call it even.” He started to walk over to the cashier, then paused and picked up a beanie. He put it on, and then went to pay.
AJ couldn’t really say no, could she? Tacos she could provide. Maybe they could find that taco cart. She pulled the hat onto her head, gave the cashier a grin, and waited for him to pay before heading out and picking up Winona’s leash once more.
“Tacos? Where can we find tacos?”
"The taco cart, silly." Walking with a beanie on his head, next to a blonde woman with a cowboy hat and a dog. It was as though he were used to this sort of thing.
“Oh, right.” AJ said, grinning. “How silly of me.” She dropped the tennis ball for Winona, who caught it in her mouth and bounded along beside them. “...where do we find the taco cart?”
Wade pointed at Winona, "She can track it for us, right?"
“I have no idea.” AJ stopped and bent down to talk to Winona. “Can you find the taco cart for us?”
Winona looked happy that her human was talking to her, then a little confused at the strange words coming out of her human’s mouth. If it wasn’t ‘car,’ ‘ball,’ ‘food,’ or ‘walk to the park’ Winona was completely at a loss.
"There's this great taco cart but it's on the other side of town," Wade said. "No, we don't have anything for her to sniff. No, the dog why would we make Aponi sniff anything? That's gross!"
Moments like those made AJ wonder if she’d made the wrong decision about him. She gave him a funny look. “Didn’t you say there was one in the park?”
“Yes, but it’s not as good. However.” He held up a finger, as this wasvery important and she must absolutely understand, “There’s no such thing as a bad taco cart.They don’t exist. All carts are good.”
"Oh." That explained everything. "Right. Well, if we're gonna find it, we'll have to go lookin' for it," AJ said with a smile. "Think it might be at the east end of the park?"
Wade grinned at her. It felt like he'd made a new friend. Sure, she was a little odd, but her god was smart and she had a hat, so she was good people in his book, "Lets try. Lead on cowgirl!"
AJ grinned, enjoying her new ‘Cowgirl’ status. She nodded, then turned to head to the east end of the park, letting Winona lead the way.