Lighten Up, Dude.

[Danicca Waylan]

Danicca frowned at the selection in front of her, brow crinkling and nose scrunching in a combination of concentration and frustration. There was too much in this section and not enough of it was evidently specific to her needs by title alone. Then again, it wasn't like she was gonna find a book titled How To Tell Those Closest To You That You're Hiding Things From Them. Self-help was not even a store section she could deal with, let alone something she could reasonably expect to do the first week of the semester. Why she was even pausing in that section and considering any of these books was beyond her.

She was just supposed to be getting a cookbook so she had some motivation to stop eating instant noodles for every damn meal, but while texting her brother about their respective schedules she had managed to wander into the wrong side of the store. Just her luck.

Finally stopping herself from looking at sections that were too distracting (such as self-help, fiction, and "After 50 Shades" as the chain store in her hometown called it) Dani grabbed a cookbook that seemed not to scream grandma or hippie as terribly as the rest, snatched a novel before she could overthink it, and made her way to the front.

"Woah." Danicca froze for a second before stepping closer to the person she was pretty sure was an employee. This dude was seriously swimming in shade to the point that, as far as Dani was concerned, he may as well have been a subtweet. His entire demeanor and being kind of radiated "I Am A Poe Poem" in the least mall-goth-y way she had ever seen. And it almost worked for him, what with that jawline. She wondered for a second if he even realized he was looking like that, and as per usual her filter refused to kick in in time to leave him to whatever his thoughts were.

"Are you just naturally broody, or is that something you practiced to pick up girls?"

[Patch Adams]

A new shipment of Braille books had come in and Patch's parents had decided to leave him in charge of it. Yes, he should have asked the other employees to stock it up on the shelves but surprisingly, none of them were free. Everyone had something to do so he was stuck with stocking up.

It wasn't so bad. He knew where everything should be. It didn't mean he had to look happy about doing it. He was halfway done when he almost knocked over a customer who gave him a quip that made him snort and raised an eyebrow.

"Why, is it working on you?" He asked

[Danicca Waylan]

Dani rolled her eyes. Of course that was the first question he'd ask. "Oh, please." She huffed an incredulous laugh. "If that had literally ever worked on me, I'd have gone down on Bradley O'Connell in tenth grade." A second too late, she realized the kind of subject matter she had just thrown at a total stranger. A millisecond after that, she wondered if she cared.

She didn't bring up her actual current status as the member of a relationship because, well, it still hadn't occurred to her that this thing that was happening might be called flirting. The way she saw it, she aired an honest curiosity and he was being the same kind of sarcastic she would be if a stranger randomly commented on her face. Except a lot more tame.

After a very short consideration period, Dani continued. "Nah, I go more for smiles. If you'd had a good one of those on display, then I might be in trouble. But brooding? No."

[Patch Adams]

He ducked his head and laughed at the response he got from the blonde before trying to calm himself, though that didn't work out because a snort came after. "Poor Bradley O'Connell. Missed opportunities." Patch responded before shaking his head. This was so far the best thing that had happened to him today. He might as well enjoy it.

Her next response had him pursing his lips and nodding in acknowledgement. "I have that in buckets. Just probably not when I have to do work my employees are supposed to do. But hey, them's the breaks yeah?" He shrugged before putting another few books up and looking at her selection.

"Bit of light reading?" He asked, pointing to the cookbook in her hand.

[Danicca Waylan]

Dani nodded speculatively as she thought on the laugh she'd just witnessed. "Buckets of nice smiles, huh?" She stared seriously at his face before smirking. "Nah. Can't see it. A few cups, maybe a gallon, but buckets? That's gotta be an overstatement."

His question reminded Danicca of the weight in her hands. Her expression instantly soured as she thought of the work ahead of her. "Something like that. I'm not the best at feeding myself actual food, so I thought maybe with the new year it was time to learn some new tricks." A disgusting dinner attempt or two was in her future, and Dani didn't need access to a precog's abilities to be very aware of that. Her roommates had better at least pretend to appreciate the free leftovers.

"You any good at this kind of stuff?"

[Patch Adams]

Laughing at her response, Patch clutched his chest in mock insult. "God that is ouch. You know just how to hurt a man's ego." He shook his head, patting his chest a few times before moving over to another shelf to stock a few more other books.

The look on her face when she responded to his question had him smirking lightly. "Good resolution." He nodded. He had picked up a few things during his travels and on occasion, made dinner for his family. He had spent twenty odd years on his mother's cooking. Living with his parents did have it's perks but it also made almost half the year of his travels unbearable because the things he ate at the roadside stalls were less than pleasant.

He shrugged at her question. "I'm alright with it. Not joining any cooking competitions any time soon but I get by. You do know you could get simple recipes from Chef Google, right? I don't mean to run my business into the ground but I don't quite trust printed recipes." He pointed to the book she was holding on to. "Although, that one is actually pretty good. That's the 365 days of cooking cookbook, right?" He asked, craning his neck to see the title of the cookbook. "Yeah, that's not a bad one to have if you need simple ideas."

He slotted a book on to the shelf before snapping his fingers. "Oh, and if you're cheap, like me, and you're too lazy to cook every day..." he scanned one of the shelves in the aisle they were in before finding the small book and handing it over to her. "This gives you ideas on how to do freezer meals. You'll thank me when you find a few extra bucks in your pocket left by the end of the month."

[Danicca Waylan]

"Every man needs his ego to be a little bruised here and there, just to remind him who's really all that in the conversation." She offered sagely. "It's in the girl code."

Dani rolled her eyes at the suggestion she just use the internet. "Yeah, but Chef Google doesn't have a physical form taking up space in my living area and taunting me with how little I've used it." If she just used the internet, she'd never get anything done aside from organizing her bookmark folders. "But thanks for risking your business."

At the mention of saving money and energy, Danicca accepted the book before leaning forward and looking directly into blue eyes. "Are you a telepath? Because no way you just knew that this is perfect for me." She smirked once more, leaning back into her original position. "Either way, you should do this for a living. If this place is hiring you should apply, I hear the employees totally haven't sorted the braille books." She shuffled around the books she was holding, stacking everything better for easier transportation as she spoke. Some "witty" quips of hers just fell flat, and she didn't even consider whether this would be one of them.

[Patch Adams]

"Hmm. Maybe I should start being a girl. See how it feels to bruise a man's ego." He put on a mockingly thoughtful expression, crossing his arms and tapping his bottom lip with a finger.

Raising an eyebrow in amusement, Patch looked at the girl with a smirk. "A bit of a masochist, are you?"

He bowed his head in response to her thanking him. "I do what I can to help a fellow cheapskate." He grinned slyly. The grin froze when the girl got right in his face. He leaned back and chuckled a little out of surprise and awkwardness.

"Okay there, missy. You're gonna have to warn me before doing that again. Obviously I'm not or I would have seen that coming." He gestured to her as a whole. He then snorted when she complimented and insulted him under the same breath.

"Yeah, what dicks. I should definitely apply. I mean I'm probably a shoo-in. Go nepotism."