S & J's Market

[Tobin]

Although over the course of his time with Beth, he had come to understand a lot of the terms she used, even more were still a mystery to him. Words such as ‘touristy’ didn’t have a place in his life before meeting her and he hated having to ask her to explain her words, feeling it was a reflection of some kind of failure on his part, the young werewolf suffering in confusion and silence instead; she hadn’t seemed angry or upset as she spoke and so Tobin took to mean touristy was something good which was more than enough for him.

He peered into the cart as they moved down the aisle, smiling softly at the wide range of foods there, some he had tried before and loved and plenty that were new and waiting to be discovered. Humans were indeed amazing things, Tobin felt, able to invent and make television, movies and all manner of wonderful food. There seemed no end to the creativity of mankind. “If you want. I don’t mind.”

[Beth]

Beth never meant to use words that Tobin didn't understand, but she didn't know the entire list of ones that he didn't, so it was hard to figure out what she could say and have him understand. Even so, she tried and, when she used one that he didn't know, she never minded explaining to him. There were no stupid questions, after all. Stupid answers, yes. Stupid questions, no. There was absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to understand something, even if Tobin thought that there was something wrong with it.

"I don't mind, either. I've done pretty much everything I can think of to do around the city, so I'm up for anything." She stopped and grabbed a package of double chocolate chip cookies before leaving that aisle and heading for the toothpaste. She had run out that morning, so she most definitely needed to pick some more up. "Oh, I can't forget the ice cream. And chocolate sauce. Maybe some caramel while we're at it. I'll make some sundaes."

[Tobin]

It was inevitable really that Beth would use words and phrases that he wouldn’t understand the true meaning of, just as he was sure in the two weeks he had said plenty of things that seemed odd to the human. Verbal communication was so hard, people always saying one thing but meaning something completely different under it all and expecting you to magically know what the true context was. It wasn’t even a wholly human thing; most of what his Alpha had told him had meant another thing in reality but there at least the secret meanings had been mostly limited to pain, failure and learn.

“What did you really like to do?” Tobin asked shyly, eyes following the packet of cookies as they were dropped into the trolley. If Beth had done everything around the city then she was by far the best of the two to decide what to do tonight, because of her knowledge. At the mention of sundaes, he smiled, because that food at least he knew now. The sometimes over sickly mix of ice cream and different flavoured sauces was rapidly becoming one of his favourite sort of food.

As they turned up the next aisle, Tobin looked around, still wary of the building and the possibility of some kind of attack.

[Beth]

Tobin had indeed said things over the past two weeks that had seemed odd to her and more than once she had found herself lying awake at night, turning them over in her mind and wondering if they were one more piece of the puzzle. That was what Tobin seemed to be- a puzzle- but she imagined that it was very possible that she seemed to be the same to him. It was obvious that they came from very different lives and that in itself was more than enough to make them a puzzle to one another. There was so much to understand and Beth was willing to try, but she still wasn't comfortable with trying to convince him to share anything with her. If he wanted to, he would, and she could accept that.

"Well, I love driving out to the beach and then just sitting there on the sand, watching the people and listening to the waves or taking the occasional weekend roadtrip, just to get out of the city- the mountains are my favorite place to go when I do that. Around the city, though, I like to go to the movies, go get some takeout and have a picnic in the park. Sometimes I'll make sandwiches and do that second one. The theater is nice when there's something good to go see. There are all sorts of things I like to do that you can find around the city."

[Tobin]

He rarely slept all the way through the night. Sleeping was dangerous on more than one level. You lowered your guard when you were asleep, dropped your defensives and placed yourself in a position where it would only be too easy for someone to attack you. Almost even worse than that however was the terrors that came with sleep, the nightmares that tormented him almost every time he closed his eyes.

Tobin preferred to stay up as long as he could, guarding Beth and keeping the terror at bay. It also gave him the chance to really explore the wonders of the television. There was so much to explore during the early nights of television and he’d soon discovered the wonder that was silent movies. The lack of any voice meant the plots had to be kept simple, simple enough for even Tobin to follow and he could safely watch them without worrying about disturbing Beth; and disrupting her sleep and making her unhappy was the last thing he wanted.

“The beach is nice…” Tobin said softly, hunching over himself as he spoke. He could vaguely remember passing by it when they had reached America but there had hardly been time to stop and take in the sights.

[Beth]

Beth could stay up late with the best of them when she put her mind to it, but considering that she had a business to run, she usually didn’t. Sleep was, for the most part, a welcome way to end a long day. She tended to sleep very well, not too deeply but not too lightly, and wake up refreshed and ready to go by the time morning came around. Like everyone, she had her nights where sleep was an elusive beast, lurking just out of reach and bounding away when she tried to leap for it as well as night where it seemed that every time she closed her eyes, nightmares waited for her, but, for the majority of the time, sleep was good to her.

Taking a soda from an end display, she looked to Tobin and bit her lower lip lightly when she saw him hunching over as he was. It was time to see if she could cheer him up, at least a little. “Do you know what else is nice? Carry out Chinese, movies and ice cream sundaes. Oh, and those old silent movies. We should get one of those, just for the fun of it.” She liked to sit back and make up lines for the scenes, which she knew for a fact were far, far different than anything that would have ever been in a movie from those times, but that was what made it so fun.

[Tobin]

It hadn’t taken Tobin long to discover that food as a whole was a wonderful thing to explode, even the stuff that he didn’t like the taste of, partly because it was still warm and partly because if he didn’t like something, he wasn’t forced to eat more of it. Just the knowledge that if food tasted nasty to him, he could stop eating it mattered far more than actually stopping eating it. Food as a whole was lovely, but sweet food like ice cream sundaes were heaven on earth and whoever invented them was deserving of worship.

The suggestion of a silent movie just made it even better – and Tobin hadn’t thought a night with Beth and ice cream could get better – and he forced himself to straighten a little, to not protect himself so obviously although he was still alert and ready for anything. “That sounds good. Silent movies are… nice.” He smiled softly as he spoke, nodding his head a little. Tobin couldn’t think of any other word beside nice to sum up anything he liked.

[Beth]

Food was, honestly, a very nice thing. There were so many kinds to try and so many variations that she thought that it was likely impossible for someone to try even half of the food that there was in the world. Admittedly, there was some that she would never want to try- eating bugs and… parts… that weren’t very food-like in her mind was not appetizing in the least- but there was some wonderful food out there. It was, if she was being quite honest with herself, amazing that she stayed as trim as she did. Of course, she did moderate what she ate and exercise when she had the opportunity, but still, she was a woman who liked her food. There was nothing wrong with that.

When Tobin offered up that soft smile, she was unable to keep herself from giving one of her own. His smiles were rare, but when he gave one, it was practically impossible for her not to smile as well. “Well, then, it sounds like we have a plan. We’ll finish up here, go rent some movies, get some dinner and go have a nice night in the living room. Nothing beats good food, good movies and good company.” And Tobin, in her mind, was wonderful company.

[Tobin]

It had never really been an issue before now but Tobin’s werewolf metabolism ensured that he never had to worry about getting fat – if he really wanted to, he could eat nothing but ice cream for days without putting on weight. The subsequent stomach ache, other pains and sugar high would still happen however, because nobody, not even a werewolf who loved sweet things was really supposed to get by in the world by eating nothing but different flavours of ice cream. It was all such a change from his life before, when being hungry was the norm, when food was something you ate as quickly as you could without letting yourself think about whatever disgusting thing was actually your meal.

Two weeks on and every now and then Tobin still had to remind himself that food worked differently here, you could select what you wanted and you didn’t need to gorge yourself to the point of being sick just to make sure you got to eat because the food would still be there the next time it was needed. The whole thing was so… over the top, so obscene almost and none of the people in the shop seemed to realise how impossible and wondrous the act of buying your own food really was.

[Beth]

Beth had started a regular exercise routine when she was a teenager, so it had gotten to the point where she felt a little lost if she didn’t go through her routine at least three times a week. She still couldn’t eat anything and everything, but there was no way she was going to deny herself the good stuff- like ice cream, cake, cookies, other things that were bad for her but she couldn’t resist anyway. She would have rather gained weight than choke down that diet stuff they liked to call food. Beth had her standards, after all.

She hoped that the two weeks had helped Tobin in some way. She had been doing everything she could in order to make sure there was always a large variety of food at the apartment so that he could have what he wanted whenever he got hungry and she tried to make sure there was always something around that he might want to do. Beth didn’t want him to get bored any more than she wanted him to be hungry.

As they walked, she picked up everything she could think of that might be needed for a sundae- anything and everything someone might want on one- and finally ended at the ice cream freezer. “Definitely vanilla…” She pulled a carton out. “What else?”

[Tobin]

He had been aware of the increase in food that had occurred about a day after he arrived in the apartment, the silent offer of being allowed to eat whenever he chose to another wordless communication that Tobin tried his best to understand. So much was said without words, in unspoken gestures and other sorts of body language. It was not a form of ‘speech’ that Tobin was particularly versed in, at least not the words which meant anything other than pain or displeasure. His body was still wired to respond to the smallest of movements which he knew represented anything negative, his mind always on the look out for those sorts of signs.

But somehow with Beth it was different. It wasn’t just the fear of pain or punishment that made him watch carefully for any hint he was upsetting her, but some other sort of fear that he didn’t quite know how to define in any sort of language, body or words. The thought of upsetting her made Tobin feel… wrong, in a way that was unique, a way that told him he had to do anything if it meant keeping her happy and keeping that feeling away from him.

“Chocolate?” Tobin offered softly, taking the guess that she had actually been asking him and not speaking aloud just for her own benefit. That was another thing which was new, the idea that not only was his thoughts and desires slightly important but they were worth seeking out and being brought into the world. “Everyone likes chocolate.”

[Beth]

Tobin staying in the apartment had finally spurred Beth into not leaving the grocery shopping until the last minute. When it was just her, the kitchen would be practically empty before she would bother to do the shopping and even then, she usually only got things for a couple of nights’ worth of dinner. Now, though, she had a reason to keep on top of the shopping and honestly, it was nice always having a stocked kitchen. Even nicer, though, was the company. She enjoyed having Tobin around. Not only did it make her feel not quite so isolated, but he was pleasant company.

“Oh, chocolate. Good idea.” She offered him a smile. “Can’t go wrong with chocolate.” She scanned the ice cream freezers for a moment, spotted the numerous flavors of chocolate and pulled out the good, old fashioned regular chocolate. None of that fancy stuff for her, but if Tobin wanted it… “Regular chocolate or something else?”

[Tobin]

There were many things he found himself becoming and acting that he would never have imagined before. His life was two things, before and after, the two states completely contradicting each other until it was impossible to imagine a world in which it was possible for them to exist, even in separate times or areas, let alone try and come to terms with a life and a situation where one would go onto the next. The division and the impossible to escape from comparisons meant that most of the time, all he seemed to do was think about them.

The smile from Beth did the same thing every smile from her did; made a strange warm feeling rise up in his chest, warmth that wasn’t blossoming pain from a strike or anything he was used to and could therefore define. It wasn’t even the warm feeling Tobin normally felt with the twisting of his guts, the heat the only warning that he was going to throw up. Instead, it was something so new and so fragile that he did his best not to think about it, the confusion only leading to upset him down the line. “Regular chocolate is fine,” he assured her, both because he loved the taste of anything sweet and because it seemed to be what she wanted.

[Beth]

Beth supposed that it should worry her that she had gotten so comfortable around Tobin so quickly, but it really didn’t. Beth could be far too trusting sometimes, but Tobin hadn’t given her any reason to regret the arrangements they had made. It was nice having him around and she had tried to make it clear that he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. She wasn’t sure if she had managed to get that across or not, but she hoped that she had. She adored spending time with Tobin and really didn’t know what she was going to do if he left. Continue on, she supposed, but it would never be the same.

“We can get something else and the chocolate if there’s something you think you might want,” Beth told him, still smiling. “I’m of the opinion that there can never be enough ice cream around and that there’s no such thing as too much of it.”

[Tobin]

Although thinking about it made something tighten in his gut painfully, Tobin knew he would have to move on from the city and sooner really rather than later. It wasn’t safe here, wasn’t safe for himself or for Beth and the idea of the woman being in some kind of danger just made that strange knot squeeze so tight that he felt as though he was going to throw up. Already he had stayed too long in one place, unable to work up the courage to run a second time even though Tobin knew he should. If only to keep Miss. Beth safe from harm. And he needed to keep her safe, so he would have to leave.

“I do like ice cream.” A little bit of an understatement, Tobin loved the frozen treats. Anything sweet and dessert like in fact was likely to be a favourite of the wolf. Savoury stuff was good too – so many flavours and so much effort and time went into preparing food, it made his mind boggle. Yet there was something somehow better when it came to sweeter food over savoury. He looked back down at the freezer cabinet, at all different tubs. Half of them had such strange names that didn’t seem to tell you what flavour it actually was. “Please. What’s that flavour?” he asked, pointing to a tub of ‘rocky road’.