Work Text:
Your name is Aranea Serket, and you are currently sitting at a mall cafeteria in the company of three others, munching your individual lunches and chatting. You were out grabbing a bite to eat with Vriska and Meenah, in the middle of a story you've been meaning to share with someone for a while. Good stories must be shared, of course. You've selected this story specifically with your audience in mind, a true story about a ruthless buccaneer named L'Olonnais.
You were trying to do it justice, using hand gestures to emphasize points and adding dramatic pauses to let things sink in when necessary. Unfortunately, you must not be doing a good enough job of this because your audience seems to be.... distracted. Your pretty good at not letting things bother you normally. You can tolerate Vriskas rude expressions when she thinks you arent looking, as well as Meenahs constant complaining, as long as you have someone to talk to. Your tale today however has been one you were sure would hold there attention, and you feel yourself getting more discouraged as you go on. A smirk from Meenah here, a chuckle from Vriska there. Did you just see the slightest hint of a blush on Vriskas face?
As you were getting to one of the best parts of the story, with a dramatic sweep of your arm and a serious inflection in your voice, Vriska excuses herself to use the restroom, and Meenah decides to join her. You saw them texting each other as you were talking, if you had to take a guess you'd say they were probably making jabs at you, which you are used to. As they leave you sigh and slump a bit. You promised to pay for Meenahs meal today, as long as she let you ramble to her about some things, but apparently that was asking too much of her. You assumed Vriska decided to come along to spend some quality time with you, but it seems like Meenahs who she's more interested in. Usually you would put up much more of a fight before letting them abscond in the middle of one of your tales like this, but you just feel kind of defeated today. You hold your head in your hands and rub your temples.
"So, what happened next,"
You glance up a bit, without removing your face from your palms. You almost forget that Vriska had dragged along her lackey yet again, and see Tavros looking at you expectantly with a grin on his face. You sigh a second time. He seems unbothered by this.
"Oh you know" you wave your hand a bit "he got caught, justice prevailed, the end" you wave your hand as you say this, you just dont have your heart in it today.
"Oh, thats a good thing to happen, i guess" You can hear the disappointment in his voice.
"i feel like normally you are more enthusiastic about your stories, is something perhaps encombering you?"
You finally remove your hands from your face, sitting back up. You look outside at people talking to one another. You like to think of yourself as sort of a shrink of sorts, always willing to listen to people and perhaps help them out with some advice. Its difficult to find someone willing to listen to your troubles however, without having to pay them. You look towards Tavros. He seems sincere. Your actually not certain if hes capable of being anything but sincere.
"Its.... dificult." He waits for you to continue. "Getting people to listen to you, to take you seriously, to give a crap about you. You know?"
"Yeah"
"I feel like I try so hard, and despite all my efforts still end up ignored. 'Oh thats just silly Aranea, telling another long winded story that no one cares about'. "
"Well, i dont think thats a fair thing to say, because i enjoy your stories, though i see where you are coming from with that statement"
"Yes, thank you Tavros. Im glad someone likes them." His smile gets bigger at that, and you cant help the corners of your mouth lifting a bit in response. "Your a good listener"
"Thank you, i try to be decent at that" you see meenah and vriska returning as he says that. You feel your mood has improved enough to continue your story. Or better yet...
"I feel it's necessary to start this story over because of the interuption"
"Oh clam da fuk on r u serious rn. We r like, done eating"
You see your friend and sister exchange pained expressions. You look towards Tavros again. "What do you say?" His eyes seem to light up at your question.
"i say that i agree with that idea, i find that when i hear a story a multitude of times, i notice things that i didnt before, so overall i think it is a good suggestion"
"Noooooooo ugh"
You think you like the sound of that.
◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊
You decided to invite tavros to hang out today. You actually havent spent any one on one time with him before, and he turns out to be pleasant company. He immediately responds and suggests the library, which you are thrilled to agree to. Tou get there first and pick out a few books youve been meaning to read. As you find a comfortable place to sit tavros aproaches you with two paper cups in his hands. He hands one to you with his signiture beaming smile.
"Oh! You remembered my favorite." Passion iced tea with soy milk and vanilla syrup. He seemed to have some caramel drink for himself.
"Of course, i remember everones favorites"
He sits down in a big cushony seat next to you with a less than graceful plop. This causes his drink to splash onto his shirt.
"Oh, shoot" is he always this uncoordinated? You laugh before covering your mouth and apologizing. He seemed a bit upset until he heard you laugh, then smiled and laughed too.
"Here, let me help you." You reach into your purse for a wipe, you like to be prepared for anything so you have everything from mints to a sewing kit in there. He gives you another one of those big grins your begining to grow fond of as you hand him the wipe. After he cleans up enough so he's satisfied, he goes off to find some books. You settle down and get cozy in your seat, and notice him talking to some people at the counter. It seems like hes popular around here. You try to push down a bit of envy you feel clawing inside of you. He returns with a large stack of childrens books that he carefully sets on the table before plopping in his chair again.
"Thats an interesting selection you have there. May I take a look?"
Tavros nods but suddenly looks more nervous than before. He sips his drink as you look through and.... yep, all childrens books varying in reading dificulty. Most with pictures.
"i know, they are all fairy tales"
"Oh, is that what your nervous about? There's no need to be embarrassed about that"
"im not embarrassed, im just used to people telling me that fairy tales are stupid, and also fake, which always puts me in a less than ideal headspace for enjoying them"
"Well I'm definitely not going to say those things, so dont worry."
"Okay" his worries seem to immediately dissolve at that, and his grin returns. His mood can really change on a dime, can't it?
"What entices you to fairy tales so much?"
He takes a long pause to consider the question. You've noticed he often pauses like this, perhaps deciding the best way to phrase how he feels. He thoughtfully and loudly slurps his drink before he continues.
"im having a difficult time narrowing it down to a single thing, or several things, because theres so many elements i enjoy. i guess one of the many things would be a feeling i get, of uh, sentimentality."
You nod your head and he carries on.
"Adventures are also a reason, and flying is something that, though very impossible and fake, is somewhat less fake when reading about it"
Though oddly phrased, you believe you understand what hes getting at. Before you can ask him more, he looks toward the book in your hands with interest.
"What are you reading?"
"Oh, just some history books I've had my eye on." Your currently in the middle of a book about the Aztec, Inca, and Mayan empires. You still feel the need to find something that Meenah and Vriska would find interesting, and you've decided treasure is probably the way to go. Your book selection on the table in front of you shares this theme.
He nods as he reaches for one, flipping through the pages and furrowing his brow. He places it back exactly where it was before and gives a contemplative sounding "hmmmmmm...." You chuckle a bit. Not his cup of tea it seems.
You both enjoy some quiet time reading next to each other. He goes through a couple of the lighter books he picked out. He glances at you from time to time, but you pretend not to notice and keep reading. He finally speaks up about whats on his mind.
"Do you think that possibly you could read to me out loud, i enjoy the way you read a lot"
You smile up at him, more than happy to oblige. "Only if its my book I'm reading aloud" you joke, but the joke seems to fly right by him.
"That sounds like a fair agreement, and also i bet you could make any story interesting with the way you tell it"
You feel your cheeks grow slightly warm at that. "Ah yes, well, lets get started then shall we?" He nods and scoots his chair closer to yours to read along with you, seemingly oblivious to the awful sound the chair makes when he does so or the several people looking his direction. You softly read a couple chapters aloud, taking pauses to explain the context behind some things and why they mattered. You glance over to see he has his eyes closed, and immediatly think he's bored and tuning you out. When you stop reading he opens his eyes and looks into yours.
"it turns out, i was right : )"