Accidental Valentines
Feb. 14th, 2024 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsJono and Paige take a trip into the city.
quite his performance look but he'd still taken the time to apply some eyeliner and gel his hair. Paige always looked pretty, the least he could do was look less monstrous while they were out in public together.
He checked his phone, confirming that he was in fact not more than fifteen minutes early for their arranged meeting time. Jono may have died hard, but memories of call times died harder.
Twenty minutes later, Paige came rushing around a corner, jacket half on. “Hey, sorry I’m late, we have this case study assignment and I got a little caught up in taking notes on it and I kind of lost track of time but I swear I’m still free to hang out. So…” she paused to catch her breath. “Where are we going? Oh hey, you look nice!” Jono looked good in eyeliner. He should really wear it more often.
"No worries." Jono typed into his lightwriter, squinting his eyes in a smile. "I'm always early, and you look great too. I found a record shop we could go to? The website says they have country albums too."
“Yeah? That sounds great!” Paige pulled her jacket on fully. She didn’t have a record player, but it would be fun to look around and maybe swap some more recommendations. “I’m ready if you are.”
"I also looked and there's a bookstore nearby! I thought you might like that." He paused for a moment awkwardly. "Also, I might end up working in the library here at the mansion so I can make money while figuring out how to stop being on fire all the time."
“Yeah, that sounds great! Love a good bookstore.” Paige walked out the door, side by side with Jono. “And you tease me about being in the library a lot, now you’re the one working there. At least you can remind me to take study breaks in person now.” She bumped his shoulder with hers and smiled.
Jono blushed a bit. "Yeah well, I needed American money." He typed. "I got my pounds exchanged over the weekend, and apparently I'm getting some sort of 'American citizenship for dummies' package. Or at least I was told something about a social security number."
Jono crinkled his eyes in a smile. "Besides, this way I can buy a record machine and get some bookshelves for my room, make it better to hang out in."
“Hey, that’s great! Welcome to America! If you wanna get a driver’s license, I helped out when we were teachin’ some of the younger kids so I could probably help you.” Paige smiled back at him. “Kinda ironic you’re working at the library to get bookshelves.”
"I've never driven a car before in my life." Jono typed. "Are they important here?"
“Oh, that’s right, you grew up in a city. You probably had public transportation. Uh if you want to go anywhere that’s not in the city, you’re either going to have to drive or get someone else to drive you.” Paige shrugged. “We didn’t have that out in Cumberland, so everyone drove unless you were unable to or were too young.”
Jono's brow furrowed. "You didn't have trains? One of my mates took the train home to visit his village all the time."
Paige mirrored Jono’s expression. “I mean, there were commercial trains that went through, but they just carried the coal. If you’re talkin’ bout the subway, nah. Like I said, public transportation doesn’t really reach outside the cities and we’re pretty far from one.” It sounded like he was talking about something different, but Paige wasn’t sure what kind of train he was referring to.
"That sounds miserable. I'm going to have to look up why that is later." Jono typed, trying to figure out how anyone in America could afford to go anywhere. Petrol was expensive, as were the cars themselves. "Oh! Also I've been meaning to ask- have you read Tolkein or just seen the movies?"
Paige decided it was probably best to let Jono research on his own rather than start a conversation about politics. “Tolkien? Uh…he’s the Lord of the Rings guy, right? I haven’t actually seen those movies. Or read the books. I like D&D, though. I’ve been told it’s pretty similar to Lord of the Rings, so maybe I’ll get around to it. Are you into them?”
“Can I introduce you to his works?” Jono typed quickly. “I could read them to you- wait….we could listen to my favorite audiobook version of them together? Or watch the movies? Not the Hobbit movies but the Lord of the Rings ones.”
Jono couldn’t believe that Paige didn’t know Tolkein at all. It was Tolkein. Everyone knew Tolkein. Everyone it seemed, except Paige. But…this meant that Jono could talk to her about the tree symbolism which would be really fun…for him at least. Maybe he’d buy her a copy of the books while they were out.
“Uh, the movies might be easier to fit into my schedule right now.” An hour and a half once a week for however many of these movies their were would probably be easy enough to fit in. Jono seemed to be a night owl, which worked in their favor, too. “Maybe we could give the audiobook a try over the summer? Or we could do a book club?” That would give her a chance to recommend some things, as well.
“We can start with the movies.” Jono replied easily, leading the way to the train station that would take them into the city. “And we can definitely do the books and a book club over the summer. I’d like that.”
“Great! Maybe we can start making a list of things to read at the bookstore.” Paige trailed just slightly behind, letting Jono take the lead.
-----
Walking into the record store felt a bit like coming home. He almost immediately went towards the rock albums but stopped himself. He turned to Paige and typed. "Would you want me to help you look for Loretta albums?"
“If you like. I don’t have a record player so I’m happy to just browse, too.” Paige could see Jono leaning in the direction of a particular section and could tell that he was itching to go over there. It would be fun just to see what they had.
“Even still, wouldn’t it be cool to own one of her original albums?” Jono asked. “What do you want to look at first?”
“You have to ask?” Paige laughed. “Country.” She thought the 100+ song playlist had been pretty clear. She started walking over to the labeled section.
“We can do rock next. If you see anything to recommend, I can write it down.”
"Deal." Jono typed. As they dug through the bins he made a point to pull out any older albums and ask Paige what she thought of different artists, nodding along as she spoke and trying to commit what she said to memory. He'd done a wikipedia deep dive on Loretta Lynn after Paige had come over in the middle of the night to gossip about her possible affair with Conway Twitty and had been disappointed to see no such speculation in the wiki article. He wondered what else Paige knew about these older country artists.
Paige excitedly took every opportunity to tell Jono her favorite fun facts and theories about any of the artists he pointed out that she enjoyed. By the time they got through the section, Jono had talked Paige into getting the You Ain’t Woman Enough album vinyl for herself. As they moved on to the rock section, Paige pulled a small, pocket sized notebook and pen out so she could write down anything Jono suggested and helped him look through the bins.
Jono tried to focus on looking through albums for bands he hadn’t included much of in the mixtape. He pulled out albums he thought Paige would like for Blondie, Hole, Pearl Jam, This Mortal Coil, The Cure, Nirvana…..he could always buy something for himself later, right now he wanted to find one Paige seemed interested in and get it for her.
Paige continually wrote down all the bands and songs Jono recommended to her, planning on looking them up when she got home. Looking around the store, she noticed a few paper hearts and red streamers decorating the front and a display of records that all seemed to have love in the title. “Wonder what that’s all for,” she said to herself.
Jono barely even looked up and shrugged, then held up a Green Day album, typing. “How do you think you’d feel about punk? Green Day’s a good starter.”
Paige turned back to Jono and wrote down Green Day. “Don’t know until you try. Do they sound anything like the Smiths or Blondie?”
Jono held up a finger and fished his phone and headphones out of his pocket. He pulled up Still Breathing and passed her one of his earbuds. "This is one of their newer releases. It's a bit closer in sound to the other stuff I've shown you, they have a lot more aggressive sounding music too."
Paige took the earbud and nodded along to the music. “Not bad. I’ll add them to the list.” She looked over at the albums Jono had been flipping through. “Find anything you want to take home?”
"Maybe a Pearl Jam album." Jono typed. "But I'm mostly excited for the bookstore. That's where I'm actually planning on spending money today."
“We can head over there if you’re ready. Or do you want to keep looking?” Paige took out the earbud and handed it back to Jono. She had her Loretta album, she was all good here.
“Bookstore sounds great.” Jono typed, eyes crinkled in a smile. Maybe he could get Paige her own set of The Lord of the Rings there.
quite his performance look but he'd still taken the time to apply some eyeliner and gel his hair. Paige always looked pretty, the least he could do was look less monstrous while they were out in public together.
He checked his phone, confirming that he was in fact not more than fifteen minutes early for their arranged meeting time. Jono may have died hard, but memories of call times died harder.
Twenty minutes later, Paige came rushing around a corner, jacket half on. “Hey, sorry I’m late, we have this case study assignment and I got a little caught up in taking notes on it and I kind of lost track of time but I swear I’m still free to hang out. So…” she paused to catch her breath. “Where are we going? Oh hey, you look nice!” Jono looked good in eyeliner. He should really wear it more often.
"No worries." Jono typed into his lightwriter, squinting his eyes in a smile. "I'm always early, and you look great too. I found a record shop we could go to? The website says they have country albums too."
“Yeah? That sounds great!” Paige pulled her jacket on fully. She didn’t have a record player, but it would be fun to look around and maybe swap some more recommendations. “I’m ready if you are.”
"I also looked and there's a bookstore nearby! I thought you might like that." He paused for a moment awkwardly. "Also, I might end up working in the library here at the mansion so I can make money while figuring out how to stop being on fire all the time."
“Yeah, that sounds great! Love a good bookstore.” Paige walked out the door, side by side with Jono. “And you tease me about being in the library a lot, now you’re the one working there. At least you can remind me to take study breaks in person now.” She bumped his shoulder with hers and smiled.
Jono blushed a bit. "Yeah well, I needed American money." He typed. "I got my pounds exchanged over the weekend, and apparently I'm getting some sort of 'American citizenship for dummies' package. Or at least I was told something about a social security number."
Jono crinkled his eyes in a smile. "Besides, this way I can buy a record machine and get some bookshelves for my room, make it better to hang out in."
“Hey, that’s great! Welcome to America! If you wanna get a driver’s license, I helped out when we were teachin’ some of the younger kids so I could probably help you.” Paige smiled back at him. “Kinda ironic you’re working at the library to get bookshelves.”
"I've never driven a car before in my life." Jono typed. "Are they important here?"
“Oh, that’s right, you grew up in a city. You probably had public transportation. Uh if you want to go anywhere that’s not in the city, you’re either going to have to drive or get someone else to drive you.” Paige shrugged. “We didn’t have that out in Cumberland, so everyone drove unless you were unable to or were too young.”
Jono's brow furrowed. "You didn't have trains? One of my mates took the train home to visit his village all the time."
Paige mirrored Jono’s expression. “I mean, there were commercial trains that went through, but they just carried the coal. If you’re talkin’ bout the subway, nah. Like I said, public transportation doesn’t really reach outside the cities and we’re pretty far from one.” It sounded like he was talking about something different, but Paige wasn’t sure what kind of train he was referring to.
"That sounds miserable. I'm going to have to look up why that is later." Jono typed, trying to figure out how anyone in America could afford to go anywhere. Petrol was expensive, as were the cars themselves. "Oh! Also I've been meaning to ask- have you read Tolkein or just seen the movies?"
Paige decided it was probably best to let Jono research on his own rather than start a conversation about politics. “Tolkien? Uh…he’s the Lord of the Rings guy, right? I haven’t actually seen those movies. Or read the books. I like D&D, though. I’ve been told it’s pretty similar to Lord of the Rings, so maybe I’ll get around to it. Are you into them?”
“Can I introduce you to his works?” Jono typed quickly. “I could read them to you- wait….we could listen to my favorite audiobook version of them together? Or watch the movies? Not the Hobbit movies but the Lord of the Rings ones.”
Jono couldn’t believe that Paige didn’t know Tolkein at all. It was Tolkein. Everyone knew Tolkein. Everyone it seemed, except Paige. But…this meant that Jono could talk to her about the tree symbolism which would be really fun…for him at least. Maybe he’d buy her a copy of the books while they were out.
“Uh, the movies might be easier to fit into my schedule right now.” An hour and a half once a week for however many of these movies their were would probably be easy enough to fit in. Jono seemed to be a night owl, which worked in their favor, too. “Maybe we could give the audiobook a try over the summer? Or we could do a book club?” That would give her a chance to recommend some things, as well.
“We can start with the movies.” Jono replied easily, leading the way to the train station that would take them into the city. “And we can definitely do the books and a book club over the summer. I’d like that.”
“Great! Maybe we can start making a list of things to read at the bookstore.” Paige trailed just slightly behind, letting Jono take the lead.
-----
Walking into the record store felt a bit like coming home. He almost immediately went towards the rock albums but stopped himself. He turned to Paige and typed. "Would you want me to help you look for Loretta albums?"
“If you like. I don’t have a record player so I’m happy to just browse, too.” Paige could see Jono leaning in the direction of a particular section and could tell that he was itching to go over there. It would be fun just to see what they had.
“Even still, wouldn’t it be cool to own one of her original albums?” Jono asked. “What do you want to look at first?”
“You have to ask?” Paige laughed. “Country.” She thought the 100+ song playlist had been pretty clear. She started walking over to the labeled section.
“We can do rock next. If you see anything to recommend, I can write it down.”
"Deal." Jono typed. As they dug through the bins he made a point to pull out any older albums and ask Paige what she thought of different artists, nodding along as she spoke and trying to commit what she said to memory. He'd done a wikipedia deep dive on Loretta Lynn after Paige had come over in the middle of the night to gossip about her possible affair with Conway Twitty and had been disappointed to see no such speculation in the wiki article. He wondered what else Paige knew about these older country artists.
Paige excitedly took every opportunity to tell Jono her favorite fun facts and theories about any of the artists he pointed out that she enjoyed. By the time they got through the section, Jono had talked Paige into getting the You Ain’t Woman Enough album vinyl for herself. As they moved on to the rock section, Paige pulled a small, pocket sized notebook and pen out so she could write down anything Jono suggested and helped him look through the bins.
Jono tried to focus on looking through albums for bands he hadn’t included much of in the mixtape. He pulled out albums he thought Paige would like for Blondie, Hole, Pearl Jam, This Mortal Coil, The Cure, Nirvana…..he could always buy something for himself later, right now he wanted to find one Paige seemed interested in and get it for her.
Paige continually wrote down all the bands and songs Jono recommended to her, planning on looking them up when she got home. Looking around the store, she noticed a few paper hearts and red streamers decorating the front and a display of records that all seemed to have love in the title. “Wonder what that’s all for,” she said to herself.
Jono barely even looked up and shrugged, then held up a Green Day album, typing. “How do you think you’d feel about punk? Green Day’s a good starter.”
Paige turned back to Jono and wrote down Green Day. “Don’t know until you try. Do they sound anything like the Smiths or Blondie?”
Jono held up a finger and fished his phone and headphones out of his pocket. He pulled up Still Breathing and passed her one of his earbuds. "This is one of their newer releases. It's a bit closer in sound to the other stuff I've shown you, they have a lot more aggressive sounding music too."
Paige took the earbud and nodded along to the music. “Not bad. I’ll add them to the list.” She looked over at the albums Jono had been flipping through. “Find anything you want to take home?”
"Maybe a Pearl Jam album." Jono typed. "But I'm mostly excited for the bookstore. That's where I'm actually planning on spending money today."
“We can head over there if you’re ready. Or do you want to keep looking?” Paige took out the earbud and handed it back to Jono. She had her Loretta album, she was all good here.
“Bookstore sounds great.” Jono typed, eyes crinkled in a smile. Maybe he could get Paige her own set of The Lord of the Rings there.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-14 09:41 pm (UTC)Walking into the record store felt a bit like coming home.
A great setting line for Jono. I love clever scene transitions, and really sets the stage for him being comfortable.
I love Paige's little go to notebook and her fun facts.