Moonlight Nocturne

Elena will give him a shy smile and hug him tight. "... are you gonna give me the talk about how if I hurt her you'll beat me up?"

"Um. Right. You... you were teaching me to fight."

She's still pretty flushed and distracted. What if Miriam doesn't want to go to the movies? What if Elena smells funny or... or spills something on her shirt or. Something. She is suddenly a ball of nerves.

 

He snorts. "Heck no. Punching her in the nose, is, like. The best way to get her attention? She used to brag about how she knocked out her ex-boyfriend's front teeth and then askd him out?"

He pauses, mouth open, then gives Elena a perplexed look, and hesitantly says. "Uh. But. She... thinks Eva Green is cute?" He looks suddenly flustered.

 

Elena perks up. "... awesome."

Miriam is the coolest girl ever.

She smiles shyly. "... in Casino Royale? ... She's really pretty. And there's all of the fighting and shooting and that one torture scene and stuff. We, um... Do you have a DVD player?"

Home really doesn't have as much privacy as she would like to watch a movie. Not under the circumstances.

 

"Yep! With parkour at the start, heck yea. And yes, we have a dvd player. We even have a bluray.... and the dvd, and a huuuge flatscreen!"

 

Elena is starry-eyed and beaming, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "... Can I come over and ask her?"

She pauses, her enthusiasm only dimming slightly. "... um... If we kiss, am I gonna catch any weird monster hunter curses?"

 

"...well, yeah. I don't see why not..." Nick's phone starts playing bark at the moon, and he reaches in to grab it. "...what? Pffft. No."

"...Hey Nattie, I.. oh. Oh! Sorry, we went to the pa... okay. 0kay. ...okay..." he pouts. "...you gotta do homework... and... I have to learn register."

 

"..." She slumps. You can almost see the drooping ears and the sad tail wag, still half-hoping for a treat. "... Okay. I guess we should go home now, huh?"

"... I can do most of my homework in the shop while you're training. They still make us hand-write all of it, in seventh grade. In cursive."

Stupid cursive. Stupid math homework. "... if I get all of it done, can I come over tomorrow?"

 

Oh no, she's adorable. "...heck yeah. I'd love help with that. I've never had a job before, so... thank you."

He tilts his head, hands in his pockets.

"...if your mom says it's okay, tomorrow's still Sunday, so... you might be allowed to come over tonight?"

 

"... you haven't? It's not hard, you just have to ring things up and answer questions and like, keep people from shoplifting or having swordfights in the store. I'll show you."

She knows things he doesn't?? She'll teach him. She feels so adult.

And just like that, she's perking up again. "... really?! C'mon, we should go back, I'll go finish my homework--"

Congratulations. You have found an effective motivator.

 

"Ah... nnno? I mean. Like. I haven't had a job, unless you count helping with carpentry or cars for the guys?" He runs his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, really really!" He grins, keeping pace as they head back to the shop.

 

It's a weird thought. Even when she was too little to help, she spent a lot of time in the shop, while Mom worked. From there, helping out just came naturally. "Huh. ... Do you wanna help with my table?" she asks, magnanimously. She wouldn't mind sharing the glory with a friend.

She bounces all the way home, darting upstairs to grab her backpack as soon as she gets inside. "Hi, Mom!"

 

"..sure." He beams. "I'd love to. Working with my hands is super fun!"

He waves to Elena's mom, blushing and smiling apologetically. "Er. Sorry! We went to run in the park."

 

"There you two are." Elena's mom moves to kiss her daughter's forehead. "...as long as you're not leaving the store unattended when you're working..."

 

"He won't." Natasha chuckles. "...are you two set, Elena?"

 

She beams back at him. "Yeah!"

Elena accepts her mom's forehead kiss, hugging her lightly. "... we weren't working. I was just showing him the inventory and restoration projects. Nick's really responsible."

"... set?" Is she missing something?

 

"Mhhm. If you're both good, I'm going to head home," Natasha smiles. "Had to work late, last night."

 

She'll smile shyly. "... I'm okay."

She wonders if that 'working late' involved disposing of dead bodies, and hunting monsters.

 

"Then I'll see you later, Nick. Elena, let us know if you'd like to come over at some point, and have a good day." Natasha smiles.

 

Elena's mother thanks Natasha... then leads Nick over to show him the register.

 

"... can I come over tonight if I finish my homework?" she asks hopefully. She'd still really like to see Miriam.

Elena perches in a spare chair behind the counter, working away on pre-algebra and spelling homework. Boring. But it's pretty funny to watch Nick flail.