audrey (bidabble) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-02-22 13:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, audrey, john watson |
I try hard to make people happy.
Who: John Watson and Audrey
When: Before the Wonderland plot
Where: Starting at Baxter Bakery
What: Bumping into each other, then off for a walk.
Rating: FLUFF! :)
Status: Complete
Audrey had just finished her shift. The girls were trying to get her to spend more time away from the bakery, more time out from around the counter. Her assistant manager really thought that Audrey didn’t have a life, and she was mostly right. Audrey was being kicked out of her own shop! She couldn’t help but feel loved, though. The girls were strong, independent, and had been trained well. They could take care of things.
Audrey didn’t get far, though, as she was on her way out she saw one of her favorite customers come in. A hand lifted automatically to straighten her hair.
John smiled immediately upon sight of Audrey -- he got a bit of a weird feeling in his stomach every time he caught her fixing her hair when he came near. “Hi,” he said in greeting, pausing, as if unsure of whether or not he should even go into the cafe bakery if she was leaving it.
“Hi,” Audrey said in response, and actually refrained from straightening her dress. Now she was thankful that the girls had reminded her to take off her apron before leaving the shop. Most days she forgot. “Having a tea today?”
“Maybe,” John said with a little shrug. “I thought it’d be the kind of way where I let you decide. But you seem to be off now?” As if... it were not obvious.
“Oh, yes,” Audrey said, now sounding disappointed. And she was, really, she was sad that she wouldn’t get to spend time with him today, chatting over a cup of tea. “The girls are kicking me out today. They say I spend too much time at the bakery and don’t have much of a social life.” She paused. “I guess they’re right about one of those things.” Maybe both.
Maybe both. Not that John could really say one way or the other. It wasn’t as if he had a whole lot of extracurricular hobbies himself outside of getting coffee or letting Amy Pond drag him places that she wanted to go.
“Well,” he said, awkwardly. Because he did that sometimes, and it was weird, and he couldn’t help it. “Uhm. I suppose asking to buy you a coffee would be kind of a moot point?”
"Well, maybe," Audrey said, her cheeks tinging pink. Though she had to remind herself he was just being friendly. They were friends. "But we could go for a walk instead?" She suggested. "I think the girls might turn the hose on me if I tried to stay," she added, playfully. Though, they really might.
John laughed at that -- her employees certainly had some spirit, that was for sure. It was kind of cute, in a way. From what he’d observed from the outskirts, anyway. It was probably good that they cared for her so much; it meant she was a good boss.
“That works for me,” he agreed, reflecting honestly to himself that he’d really just come to chat with Audrey anyway -- the coffee and tea was a nice bonus, but he could get that anywhere.
“Great.” Audrey was smiling as she turned to lead the way out of the cafe. It was chilly outside, but not so much that she needed a hat and scarf. February in California, right? She started down the block. It was a nice street, well kept, and it wasn’t too busy. Just busy enough.
John kept in pace beside her, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and expression mildly bemused. He hadn’t thought that he’d wind up having a walk with the owner of the cafe he liked going to today. Not that he really thought of her like that. She was just Audrey: the woman who fixed her hair when he walked in.
It wasn’t really conscious. She didn’t do it for anyone else. John was different. He made her feel things she probably shouldn’t be feeling for customers. He made her feel shy. Something Audrey definitely was not.
“Are you working today?” She asked, as they turned onto the sidewalk to wander away from the cafe.
John shook his head. “No,” he said, smiling wryly. “They gave me a day off after all the havoc that was Valentine’s day. Good for it too, since I think my roommates might be going hungry again.” Which really just meant he needed to go grocery shopping.
“I still think it’s hilarious that you’re in charge of making sure your roommates eat.” She said, giving him a grin. Of course, if she had roommates, she would absolutely be in charge of the menu. That’s the way Audrey worked, really. She fed people to show them she loved them. “I just have this vision of you bringing home groceries and being nearly attacked by starving dogs.”
“I nearly wish,” John said with a little laugh. “It’s more like... coming home with groceries, and then popping into their respective rooms and forcing them to take the food. For being geniuses, they’re also kind of idiots.”
"You'd think some sort of survival instinct would kick in." Audrey said. "The smell of food should lure them out of their respective rooms, shouldn't it?" She thought it was sweet that he cared so much to go force feed his roommates.
John spread his fingers wide in the air, as if to express an amount of confusion that he couldn’t even put into words. “How about you?” He asked instead. “Roommates? Or above and beyond that nonsense?”
"No roommates," she responded, grinning at the nonsense comment. He was so delightfully British. "I think I move too much for that. Restless, y'know?" She shrugged. "I don't even have a cat. Though, it might be nice. Sounds less. .. lonely." Her strange hours might drive a roommate bananas, though.
“You’d think running a business would be all the responsibility a person could take, and yet you think a cat might be nice?” Watson was nothing, if not often amused. He shook his head. “Rent? Home-own?” She said she moved a lot, but if he recalled correctly, she’d been here at least 6 years at this point.
"Well, you can walk away from a business. A cat is a living being." Audrey said, blushing and smiling at his amusement. "I rent. It's a little apartment, but it has a nice balcony."
Balconies were good, John supposed. He gave a nod. “Cats are portable living beings though,” he pointed out.
“True. Maybe I should look into getting one. I’m just worried I won’t be a good pet owner. I’m not very good with plants, y’see.” She said, giving a little shrug. She felt a bit sheepish about it. “Food I can do. But keeping living things alive? I dunno.”
“Plants are kind of assholes,” John said with a shrug. “Cats are easy. You just feed them every now and then and they ignore you until they want something.” Right? Wasn’t that right? John was pretty sure that was how it went when you had a cat. They were like... starter beasts.
Audrey gave a laugh. “I never really thought about plants as being assholes, but... maybe you’re right. Maybe I should get a cat to keep me company. Maybe that’s why I spend so much time at the bakery.” She shrugged one shoulder. “How about you? Any pets? I mean, besides your brilliant roommates, that is.”
“No,” John laughed at that and shook his head with a wry expression. “I think the roommates are enough, honestly.” Plus, if he had a pet, he could only imagine the terrible things it would eat on accident in his apartment. “I’m not really much of a pet person, anyway.”
“No?” Audrey asked, sounding a little surprised. “You seem like you’ve got so much love to give.” She said, unable to stop it before it came out. She was smiling warmly, though, looking over at him. “I can just picture you throwing a ball for a dog. Like, a retriever, or something.”
Watson wasn’t much of a blusher, but that remark did bring a faint color to his cheeks. He rose his eyebrows and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Maybe,” he said, laughing it off. “I guess I’ve never thought on it?”
“Funny what other people think about us. And how we might never know.” Audrey said, giving him a grin. “It really makes you think, doesn’t it?” She said, tearing her eyes from the adorable tinge on his cheeks to look ahead of them while they walked. “I wonder sometimes what people think of me when they come into the shop. How they imagine my life must be outside of the bakery.”
John thought on this for a moment, but came to an oddly depressing conclusion. “I don’t know. It’s weird, right? I’d say most people don’t think about stuff like that. The world ceases to exist if you aren’t there to make it turn. I’m afraid to say that I’ve never quite considered the girl working behind the fast food counter once she’s out of my sights.”
“I have to say that I haven’t, either.” Audrey said, smirking softly. “Then again, I don’t eat much fast food.” She added, giving a gentle shrug. “I don’t think much about the checker at the supermarket, or the call center employee who helps me with my internet at home, either.” She paused. “Maybe I should be a bit more considerate.”
“You’d be the only one,” John pointed out, but not unkindly. “It’s just how things work. Humans are fairly self-centered. And we should be. It’s a survival mechanism. You’re considerate enough. Your job consists of doing things to make other people happy all day. You may very well already be helping out the woman who checks things at the supermarket.”
“Maybe.” Audrey said with a little nod. She thought about that for a moment. “No, I remember a face pretty well. I don’t think the woman who checks things at the supermarket comes into my cafe.” She said, then gave him a smile to show she was kidding. Well, mostly. “But thank you for saying so. I try hard to make people happy.”
“I think you do well,” John said, pleased he could at least help her see that, if only a little bit.
"Thank you." She gave him a smile. Audrey was growing more and more keen on him the more time they spent together.