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Post by Aislinn Dean on Jan 27, 2011 9:22:12 GMT -5
"Lord of the Rings is by Tolkien, right? I haven't read Lord of the Rings, but I do remember Gandalf from The Hobbit. I read the Hobbit a long time ago." Aislinn really picked up reading over the summers while she was at Hogwarts. It was her way of getting away from what had been going on. Reading had been her own little escape when she was alone. Even now, she continued to read if she wasn't already doing something. It had become a way for her to relax and she usually read at least one chapter in a book before going to bed.
"What happens in Lord of the Rings?"
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Post by Mason Broderick on Jan 27, 2011 18:08:29 GMT -5
He could honestly sit here and talk about literature all day with her. Previously, the only people who would ever listen to his ramblings about books and poetry were his parents and his teachers. He still couldn't quite believe that Aislinn was interested in all this, but since she kept asking questions, he kept answering.
"I-If y-you've r-read the H-Hobbit, then this one is sort of a s-sequel. R-remember when Blibo f-found that ring in the cave? W-Well, it turns out that it's v-very p-powerful, and i-if it gets into the wrong hands, the world would be overrun with evil. It b-belongs to someone named Sauron, and he's trying to get it back. If he g-gets it b-back, he'll be all powerful.... but he can't die unless it's destroyed. S-so the hobbits h-have to take it to M-Mount Doom and throw it in the f-fire..."
He stopped here, blushing slightly. "S-Sorry... I can g-go on and on about b-books s-sometimes..."
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Jan 29, 2011 0:37:02 GMT -5
There was a light smile on Aislinn's face as she listened to Mason speak about Lord of the Rings. She was truly interested in what he was saying, but she was also interested in the way his face brightened again while he talked about something he was interested in.
She waved a hand at his apology. "No, no, it's fine, really. There's nothing wrong with that." Aislinn had decided that it was cute when he started to go on about a book. "It's nice to see someone's face light up when they talk about something they're extremely interested in."
She could listen to him all day talk about books. It was probably an odd thing, but she did like to see people get excited over things.
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Post by Mason Broderick on Jan 29, 2011 18:04:36 GMT -5
He hadn't realized that his face had brightened when he was talking, and he self-consciously raised his hand to his face to push his glasses back up on his nose. But the smile on his face didn't fade. This was possibly the most confident he ever felt, even more than when he was answering questions in class. Although he had always been nervous and shy around Aislinn in the past, he now found that she had a warmth that seemed to set him at ease.
It occurred to him, however, that she was asking all the questions about him and his interests. He suddenly wanted her to know that he was just as interested in her as she seemed to be in him.
"I-It's n-nice to f-find a girl that's so i-interested in b-books," he said. "W-what o-other things are you i-interested in? W-What did you study in school?"
He was careful not to ask her if she had ever wanted to do anything other than work in her father's coffee shop. There wasn't anything wrong with working in a coffee shop, as long as she enjoyed it. Besides, who was he to talk? He didn't actually have a job at all, except for occasional tutoring jobs at the university.
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Jan 29, 2011 18:32:11 GMT -5
Aislinn knew that this sort of question would be coming up. She hadn't really thought about how she was going to answer it. She couldn't very well tell him that she studied magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary. Mason would probably think she was completely joking if she said that. She didn't want to lie to him either.
"I studied a little bit of everything," she said. "I studied history, art, a bit of literature." That wasn't really a lie, just not the complete truth. "I didn't go so far to get a degree in anything. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, and I knew that my dad needed some help here, so I made the choice to help him." Aislinn smiled. "And it looks like I've made the right decision." For a split second she realized what she said could be taken as flirty and there was a pink tint that rose on her cheeks. "Plus, I don't have any complaints about working here."
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Post by Mason Broderick on Jan 29, 2011 19:12:11 GMT -5
It never occurred to Mason that she might not be telling him the whole truth. He certainly wouldn't have expected her to have anything to hide from him.
"Th-That's fine," he said. "I-It's good to have some d-diversity in your s-studies. I-I u-used to do that, too... B-but I j-just d-decided to keep studying l-literature, because it was what I loved m-most."
He blushed, but mostly just because she was blushing, too. He didn't particularly think that she was saying that her job here was a good thing because it resulted in her meeting him. "W-Well, I-I'm glad you d-decided to work here, too," he said. "Y-you d-do a good job here... B-both you and your f-father... you help a l-lot of people start out their d-days on a good note."
It was true; a good cup of coffee or tea in the morning could really make a person's day. A lot of people relied on this shop to get them going for the day. And the fact that Aislinn and Joe were always cheerful and friendly helped a lot as well. Sometimes you needed to see a friendly face in the morning.
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Jan 29, 2011 19:37:10 GMT -5
"Thanks," she replied. "I like seeing people early in the morning. You can always tell who is a morning person and who isn't." Aislinn knew the regulars who didn't like to talk to much in the morning until they had a cup of coffee in their hand. She was fairly decent at reading people.
"We're also trying to help people even more by offering more of a variety of things, so people don't have to get just coffee. They could get a muffin or something like that in addition to their coffee to help them get going in the mornings." The shop was something she was proud of, and it was evident when she spoke of the shop.
"I don't think I could find another job that I like as much as this one."
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Post by Mason Broderick on Jan 29, 2011 23:58:55 GMT -5
Mason was not a morning person, but he was not as bad as some people were first thing in the morning. His father, for instance, was completely unapproachable until he'd had his coffee. Every morning when he was younger, Mason and his mother would tiptoe around the kitchen until his father got up. When he came into the kitchen, his mother would wordlessly hand him his coffee and he would sit down, sipping on it for the next 20 minutes. Mason had learned not to speak to him during this time. It wasn't until the cup was about 3/4 of the way empty that his father was able to speak coherently.
Mason wasn't that bad, but before he had discovered the coffee shop, he had tried unsuccessfully to make decent coffee for himself every morning. It was always either too weak or too strong, and he could never seem to find the right balance. But now that he had found Joe's, Mason no longer bothered with the coffeemaker, and it sat gathering dust in his apartment.
"Th-that s-sounds good," Mason said. "I-I u-usually eat c-cereal before I l-leave, but if I have an early cl-class, sometimes I don't have time. I e-end up getting s-something from the c-cafeteria at the university."
He liked the hint of pride in her voice when she talked about the coffee shop. It was the same way he sounded when he talked about a particular poem or book that he liked, although he didn't quite realize that. But everyone had something that they were good at. For him, it was learning, and maybe one day when he thought he had learned enough and felt confident enough, he would share that knowledge with others through teaching. For Aislinn, it was working in this shop with her father. He thought that was sweet.
"Th-that's good. Y-you're d-doing what you like, and i-it m-makes you happy."
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Jan 31, 2011 13:40:11 GMT -5
Working in the coffee shop gave Aislinn a chance to really start over. She was able to become closer to her father and discover herself. Not many could really say that they were able to discover their selves. The coffee shop had everything she needed, family, friends, and the occasional learning lesson.
"The same for you," she said. "I've never heard anyone sound so fond of something like literature. The other students come in and have some things to say about their work, but you, you don't complain about it. You're happy with literature and you're willing to share some of the knowledge you have. Many people would have just shrugged off some of the questions I asked."
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Post by Mason Broderick on Jan 31, 2011 22:09:44 GMT -5
Everyone in life had something that they were passionate about, something that made them happy. For Mason, it had always been books. Maybe it was sad to say, but books had been his friends when he had none. For him, the words were a religion, and the characters were real. They were a part of him, and few people had ever understood that. Maybe all along he'd been looking for the person he could share that with, and Aislinn was giving him the first glimpse of hope that it could actually happen.
"M-Most p-people wouldn't ask at all," he replied simply. "I-I'm g-glad that you did. I l-like t-talking about books. It s-sounds s-stupid, but when I was y-younger, I used to think of the characters in my f-favorite stories as my f-friends."
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Feb 1, 2011 11:43:04 GMT -5
Aislinn shook her head. "Trust me, its not stupid." After everything that happened with her mother and then going to a new school, Aislinn had to find some escape. The books she read served as her escape and sometimes she could imagine herself as one of the characters in the books and that was one of the things that helped her through. "I did the same thing for awhile." She smiled softly.
"Besides, books are adventures in themselves. Each book takes you on a different adventure during different times and places. You get to go back to the past or to the future. What's not to love about that?"
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Post by Mason Broderick on Feb 1, 2011 22:57:19 GMT -5
Who would have ever thought that she would be a kindred spirit to him? All those times Mason had come in here and wished he had the courage to talk to her, he had been missing out. He never would have expected that she would be interested in what he had to say. He had always imagined her as being popular, with boyfriends lined up around the block. Was he the only one who knew how special she really was?
"I-I a-agree," he said. "B-books can tr-transport you to pl-places you would never get to see... a-and you d-don't even have to leave your chair. Wh-what other kinds of books do you like?"
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Feb 1, 2011 23:40:58 GMT -5
"I have to admit, I do have a soft spot for a good romantic story," she admitted. Aislinn liked to read about damsels in distress being rescued by some knight in shining armor. She also liked the sweet ones in general, like two lost loves finding each other again. Those stories always made her feel warm inside by the time she closed the back cover. "I even like the cheesy ones." She gave a laugh.
Sometimes she would see a couple walk in and she would attempt to make up a story of how they met in her head or something like that if the coffee shop wasn't too busy. "I also like the non-fiction history books." Then there was her favorite book, Tales of Beetle the Bard, but she couldn't really tell him that. "And fairy tales, I can't forget about those."
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Post by Mason Broderick on Feb 2, 2011 22:20:26 GMT -5
Mason smiled shyly at her. He was a bit of a romantic himself--after all, he was a fan of Shelley--and he could certainly understand the appeal of a good romance. He didn't read many of the more modern ones, but he did know a few of the classics.
"Th-that's O-OK," he told her. "Th-they may not a-always be g-great literature, b-but books are m-meant to be enjoyed. I-if they touch you, th-then there's n-nothing wrong with that. H-have you r-read J-Jane Austen? I th-think you would like her stories... or Charlotte Bronte or Emily Bronte."
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Feb 2, 2011 23:12:08 GMT -5
"Jane Eyre I've read. I started Wuthering Heights once but I never finished it. I don't remember why I stopped reading it. I've also read Sense and Sensibility and Emma, but I am thinking about starting Pride and Prejudice sometime soon." Aislinn didn't really think that guys were into romantic things, but then again Mason wasn't just any guy. Not every guy was as interested into literature as he was. She thought that it was cute.
When Aislinn had woken up that morning she had a good feeling about the day and maybe this was what that meant. She was actually enjoying herself while she stood there talking to Mason. There was no worries in her mind at the time.
"You know, not too many guys would read romantic works if they did not have too. You on the other hand, you're different, but it's a good thing. I think it's sweet."
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Post by Mason Broderick on Feb 2, 2011 23:51:48 GMT -5
When he had read Jane Austen's books, he had been teased pretty mercilessly by some of the boys in his class. It got to the point where he would put different covers on the books so it would look like he was reading something more "acceptable." But Jane Austen, in particular, was more than just a "girly" romantic writer. For those that bothered to read between the lines, her books were also biting social commentaries on the class system and gender roles. Yes, the couples always ended up together and presumably lived happily ever after, but it was always about love, and often about going against society's wishes. He'd done a paper on that thesis several years earlier.
He blushed at her compliment, and looked fixedly down at a spot on the countertop. No, he wasn't like other guys.. and she was the first person other than his parents to tell him that it was a good thing. But he didn't want to be like most other guys, many of whom were insensitive, ignorant, and crude. He'd heard other guys speaking disrespectfully of women, or else seemed unusually fascinated with drinking and watching other guys run around and beat each other up. He didn't want to be like that. Surely Byron and Shelley hadn't been like that.
"M-Most o-other guys are afraid of a-acting in a way that's not... manly. B-but l-love stories... they aren't j-just for women. L-love.... is universal. I-It's the only th-thing in this world th-that's worth fighting for."
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Feb 3, 2011 0:10:20 GMT -5
There was a smile on Aislinn's face as she noticed his blush. "The whole acting manly thing gets old after awhile. That just shows one side of the person. It's nice to see the multiple dimensions of a person." While Aislinn didn't have experience dating, she understood that men would act in a certain way to get the attention of a woman. She didn't see why people couldn't just be themselves in order for people to get to like them. Right now, Aislinn knew that Mason was being himself. He was intellectual, a romantic, and a little shy.
"And I haven't heard someone actually say that," she said. "Plus, you keep talking like that to women, and I'm sure that you'll have a date if you don't already have one."
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Post by Mason Broderick on Feb 3, 2011 0:57:40 GMT -5
Mason blushed bright red at this, and let out a nervous laugh. No, he never talked like this to women. Or anyone. It was strange how he felt so comfortable with her and things just came out of his mouth that he never would have thought to say to anyone else, let alone a girl as pretty and sweet as Aislinn.
"N-N-No....I d-don't have a d-date..." he said. Girls were generally nicer than the guys, and didn't usually pick on him, but they just didn't ever seem to notice him. The couple of times in the past he had tried to talk to girls, he wound up tongue-tied and stuttering so badly that it didn't even sound like English. But Aislinn was different. She was warm and caring and comforting. She set him at ease without even trying.
"I-I u-usually get shy around girls," he admitted.
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Post by Aislinn Dean on Feb 3, 2011 8:01:09 GMT -5
She was surprised at how easy it was not to be too shy around Mason. Maybe it was because of like she thought earlier, they had several things in common. Aislinn smiled softly at his last statement. "I can understand. I'm fairly shy around pretty much everyone until I get to know them." She leaned against the counter to her right. "However, I think you're doing pretty good for yourself right now."
Usually Aislinn was not this open with people at all. She would only joke around or be completely open around Chase and her father. Visitors would be able to be witness to how she acted around her father and Chase, but they didn't get to witness her interaction with them to be the same.
She couldn't explain the small feeling of relief when Mason admitted that he didn't have a date. Aislinn could hear Chase's voice in her head telling her she needed to get out more. "Well, since you don't have a date or anything, are you busy tomorrow?"
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Post by Mason Broderick on Feb 4, 2011 0:39:38 GMT -5
Mason couldn't help the reaction he had at that moment. He had been about to take a sip of coffee when she asked him if he was busy tomorrow. In the same sentence as the word "date." Was she asking him out? His eyes grew wide and he lost his grip on his coffee cup, dropping it onto the counter. Luckily, it wasn't a far drop, and it landed evenly, causing just a small splash of coffee on the counter.
"Uh... uh.... N-no..." he finally managed to say. "I-I'm n-not busy tomorrow...."
Or ever, he could have added, although that wasn't entirely true. In addition to his classes, and his weekly dinner with his parents, he did belong to a book club at the local library (although he was usually too shy to speak up), and he also took self-defense classes at a local fitness center, simply because he felt he needed to. But as for dates, no, he never had dates, and he never went out with friends.
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