TR part 5
Authors: Marina and Casey
Story: Taking Root
Challenge: Coconut 12 (guess who), Milk Chocolate 14 (sincerity) [Marina]; Blueberry Yogurt 29 (the first time), French Vanilla 12 (rendezvous) [Casey]
Toppings/Extras: Caramel, Chopped Nuts, Smoothie
Word Count: 2,796
Rating: G
Summary: [September] Chase and Carrie run into the Dakamars while out shopping. Sorin proceeds to be a well-meaning yet slightly overbearing father.
Notes: Russ Darcy, who may or may not have an actual speaking role later, is also from the NIEEverse. (The soda shop’s name totally did not come from idle contemplations on the_malt_shoppe one day back in August. Nope.) In other news, we’re both almost done with NaNo!
“No, no, no, no, please don’t be out of Prismacolor!”
“Care, there are lots of colored pencils here.” Chase plucked a box of RoseArt pencils off their rack and held them up. “What about these?”
Carrie stared at him, completely horrified. “Chase. I can’t use RoseArt. Using RoseArt’s colored pencils is like you building…a desk. Out of balsa wood.”
He laughed, and she caught sight of a wicked gleam in his eye. It relaxed her more than it irritated her, because it told her that he felt completely himself, a rare mood for him. “You were Team RoseArt when we first met, remember?”
“Yeah, but then I became a better artist, and got standards,” she said lightly.
“What about Crayola?”
“Better, but not-oh thank goodness.” She plucked a 24-pack of Prismacolor pencils from the haphazard jumble that had amassed below the neat racks. “I’ll get a bigger one later, but these’ll do for now.”
Chase snickered. "So is that everything?"
Carrie tucked the box between a pack of fine-point pens and a hardcover sketchbook, and nodded. "I'll pay for this and then we can go back to my place and play Kingdom Hearts III. Hopefully the line's not too long."
As the two of them made their way toward the register, a blond boy turned the corner out of an aisle right ahead of them, looking over his shoulder and not paying attention. "Chase, look out!" Carrie exclaimed, grabbing her friend's arm before he could run headlong into the other person.
The newcomer jumped, turning to face them. Carrie recognized Dean almost instantly. "I'm sorry," he said, brightening in realization. "Hi Carrie! Hi Chase! Sorry about that." His father, whom Carrie vaguely remembered from the halls at school, appeared out of the aisle behind him. At catching sight of his teacher, Chase stuffed his hands into his pockets, stepping back a little behind Carrie.
She grinned. "Hey! Fancy meeting you here."
Dean grinned back. "Dad and I are getting some supplies for a home project. What are you up to?"
"Buying new art supplies. Mine are perilously low." She flashed a brief, cheerful smile in Sorin's direction.
"What project are you working on?" Chase asked.
"We're making a bookcase for our family room," Sorin said.
"Oh! Right. Carrie, this is my dad. Dad, this is Carrie," Dean said.
"Nice to meet you," Carrie said, offering her hand.
"Same to you. Dean's talked about you," Sorin said, shaking her hand with an easy grin.
"Dad," Dean groaned, going a little red around the edges.
Carrie could not help laughing. "He's told me a lot about you, too."
"Glad to hear he thinks about me on occasion," Sorin said lightly.
"Dad, you're not helping." Dean rolled his eyes.
"It's okay, Dean," Carrie said. "I hear they have to do things like this, or they die." Chase snorted into his sleeve, trying not to laugh.
"So very true," Sorin agreed.
Dean nudged him in the side, but looked amused despite himself. "D'you do art, Carrie?" he asked, before Sorin could provide further commentary on this phenomenon.
She nodded. "I draw, and paint a little. Also, I'm taking graphic design this year."
"Oh cool!"
"Yeah, it's been awesome."
"I bet. I'm not at all artsy like that, so I give you credit."
"Oh, right, because woodworking isn't art," she said, scoffing a little.
"It's not the same thing at all," Dean protested.
"But it makes you an artist, and that makes you artsy," Carrie said firmly. "It's just a different kind."
He held up his hands, grinning. "I yield."
She beamed, giving the air a fist pump with her free hand. "Victory!"
"Nice job, Care-bear," Chase said, amused.
Sorin chuckled. "What are you two up to after this? Can I buy you a drink or something?"
Chase and Carrie glanced at each other for a moment. "Sure," Carrie said. "We have time."
"Great," Sorin said. "Dean and I had just finished getting what we need."
Carrie nodded. "I still need to get my stuff, so, I'm going to do that." She moved toward the check-out line, and Chase smiled quickly at the Dakamars before following her. Dean and Sorin headed towards the door, ready to go when Carrie and Chase had finished.
She glanced furtively at the Dakamars as she handed a twenty-dollar bill to the cashier. Neither noticed her-they seemed absorbed in their conversation, likely discussing the project they were working on. Carrie had to smile. She had liked what she had seen of Sorin at school, and Chase had had nothing but praise for him since becoming his TA. It was nice to see that he and his son had a nice relationship. She remembered the sack lunch Dean had brought on the first day and decided that his embarrassed protests were mostly for show. A grin filtered onto her face as she watched them.
“Carrie.” Chase poked her. “Take your change.”
“Oh, right.” She turned to the cashier, expression quickly falling from enthused to apologetic. “I’m so sorry.”
The cashier simply smiled beatifically and a little vacantly. “It happens all the time. Have a good day, now.”
Carrie collected her change and her bag, and she and Chase went to join Sorin and Dean at the front door. "Okay, let's do it," she said.
"There's a place just a block from here that Dean and I have been to a couple times and is fairly good," Sorin said.
"Sounds good!"
As they approached their destination, Carrie's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, we know this place. It's awesome.” A small, cheerful building toward the end of the block housed a local soda shop called the Poppe Shoppe. Madison youngsters had loved and frequented the hangout for many years, and Carrie and Chase loved to go there for "creative fuel," then head back to Carrie's house and drive her mother batty.
Sorin smiled. "Oh good. The name's rather, um, interesting, but I'd heard good things."
The teens snickered. "Just don't say that to the owners," Carrie said. "They thought they were being pretty clever with that name."
"I will keep my thoughts to myself," Sorin promised.
Dean grinned. "Oh, I don't know, I think it has some charm myself."
"If you say so."
When they entered, a perky waitress in an equally perky uniform consisting of a white button-up dress and a starched pink apron waved at them. "Grab a seat wherever you want and I'll be right with you!"
"Do we want a booth or a table?" Sorin asked.
"How about a booth?" Dean suggested. "This feels like a booth kind of place."
"I think so too," Carrie agreed. Chase shrugged and went over to inspect the jukebox, rummaging in his pockets for nickels.
Sorin led the way over to a booth that would seat five and slid in to make room for the teens. Carrie and Dean followed suit, leaving a seat for Chase on the end. After a moment, he joined them, the opening strains of "Who Put The Bomp" sounding in his wake.
"Nice choice," Dean said easily, settling down in his seat.
Chase smiled tentatively. "Thanks."
"Have you two lived in Madison for a long time?" Sorin asked curiously.
"Chase was born here," Carrie said, with a nod. "My mom and I moved here when I was really little."
Sorin glanced at Dean, who studiously avoided his father's gaze, glancing around the Shoppe instead. "That's really nice. I wish now that Dean and I hadn't moved around quite as much as we did when he was smaller."
"I guess it'd be hard to settle into a new place. I can't imagine leaving."
"It gets easier," Dean said quickly, cutting off his father’s response. "I mean, it's really not that bad." Carrie merely nodded, sensing that moving, like Dean's mother, was a sensitive subject.
The waitress saved her from having to think up a new topic immediately. "What can I get for you all?" she asked.
"I'd like a strawberry milkshake, please," Chase said.
The waitress smiled and wrote it down, along with a cherry soda for Carrie, a chocolate milkshake for Dean, and a root beer float for Sorin. "Okay. I'll be right back." She hurried behind the counter, leaving a slightly awkward silence at the table.
"Dad, tell Chase what our next project in class is," Dean said finally, shifting uncomfortably.
Chase tilted his head. "What's the next project?"
"You can't tell anyone," Sorin said.
"My lips are sealed," Chase intoned, his eyebrows quirking up in interest. Carrie stifled a laugh.
"From what you've said, you haven't done a lot of more detailed work, so I thought maybe we'd try that..." Sorin let the end of his sentence hang in the air as a teasing smile played at his mouth.
"It's not carving, is it?"
"No, that's sort of a-it’s not a skill all its own, but it's not for everyone."
Chase's expression relaxed into relief. Carrie noticed that he had begun to slouch a bit and lean back in his seat, instead of the near-military posture he had assumed when he first sat down. "Okay, then, what do you mean by detailed?"
"It's going to depend a lot on what each person wants to do. There are a lot of techniques that can add detail."
"So is there something you want us to make, and then we get to decorate it with those techniques?"
"I haven't decided. What do you think? Should you all make the same thing?" Sorin asked, sitting back.
Chase nodded. "We all made something different for the last project. Dean and I worked together and shared ideas, but we still ended up with two different things."
"What did you make?" Carrie asked.
"We each got a box, and Dean made a small checkers board and pieces and I made a little pinball machine using balsa for the obstacles."
"I like allowing you to individualize your pieces," Sorin said.
"I like being able to just run with the projects too," Dean piped up.
"Yeah, but even if we all make the same general thing, they're all going to be different," Chase said. "Remember the bench Mason told you about? I made a simple one and then had Carrie come over and help me paint it, but Mason made his more solid and gave it a shaped back. Same project, but totally different."
Sorin nodded. "I was thinking a fairly simple basic project, so the focus would be the techniques and details."
"That sounds good," Chase said. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but the waitress brought their drinks just then, and he redirected his attention to her with a wide grin of anticipation.
"Ooh, thank you," Carrie said, accepting hers and taking a big sip.
"You're welcome, hon," the waitress replied, waving and retreating. "Let me know if you need anything else."
"Yum," Dean said happily.
"So good," Carrie agreed. "I love this place. I hope it stays here forever."
"It seems to be doing a fairly good business," Sorin commented.
"That's because it's the only place like it around here, and the milkshakes are cheaper than Johnny Rockets. And, well, better."
"My float is quite good," he said. "One of the best I've had in a long time."
Dean laughed. "Dad, you don't drink floats all that often."
"But I enjoy them a lot when I do have them."
"As well you should, Mr. D," Carrie said, raising her glass. Sorin mirrored the motion and Dean rolled his eyes.
Carrie smiled, shooting a brief glare at Dean. She quite liked Sorin, even if having drinks at a soda shop with the father of a friend she had only recently made was a little awkward.
Sorin, looking highly amused, began to settle back in his seat with his drink when a ding at the doors signaled the arrival of a new customer. He glanced back, eyebrows shooting up. "Oh, there's Russ Darcy. Excuse me while I go say hello," he said, scooping up his drink and slipping out of the booth to go talk to the chemistry teacher.
"Your dad's really nice," Carrie said to Dean.
Dean watched Sorin for a minute before drawing his attention back to them and nodding. "I think so too," he said with a crooked smile.
"Really nice of him to treat us, too," Chase mumbled into his milkshake.
Dean reddened a bit across his cheeks, looking down at his own drink. "Think he's glad I'm making friends," he said.
Carrie smiled. "I hear that's normal for dads."
"Yeah, well, it can be hard to make friends when homeschooled," Dean said a bit vaguely, looking back up to see his father talking animatedly with Mr. Darcy.
"Was it really?"
"Yeah," Dean said, grip on his milkshake tightening. "I mean, it might not be for all homeschooled kids, but I..." he trailed off, shrugging uncomfortably.
"You don't have to talk about it," Carrie said.
He lifted his shoulders again. "Just didn't come easily to me, I guess," he said after a minute, absently rubbing a spot on his side.
An uncomfortable silence descended on the table. "Well, you've got us now," Carrie said firmly. "Me and Chase and the rest of them." Chase nodded his agreement.
Dean now looked at them and smiled, ducking his head slightly. "Thanks. I appreciate it a lot," he said quietly.
"We like you," said Carrie. "It's not a big deal."
He blinked and then grinned. "Is to me!"
Chase's cheeks reddened, and he merely took a sip of his milkshake. Carrie did not know what to say to that, either, though she wished she did. She settled for a wide, reassuring smile.
"I think it's time for a subject change," Dean said, after a moment.
"Yes, please," the other boy said fervently.
The blond took a bracing sip of his milkshake. "So, um, what do you guys and your friends do for fun?"
"Lots of stuff," Carrie said. "Come here, watch movies, play one-player video games like a group sport, walk around, think up creative activities out of nowhere, things like that."
Dean blinked. "How does the video game thing work? Just pass off at various moments?"
"Chase and I played all three Kingdom Hearts like that."
He looked at her blankly at the title.
Carrie stared right back at him. "You've never heard of Kingdom Hearts?"
"No?" Dean said. "I've never really played video games."
She grabbed Chase's arm, startling him. "Chase, this boy needs to be introduced to Kingdom Hearts immediately."
"Okay, fine, just let me finish my milkshake while it's still in the glass instead of all over me," Chase said, clutching the beverage protectively.
Dean moved his own drink out of Carrie’s reach, but she hardly noticed in her excitement over discovering a possible convert. "Um, it's okay, really," he said.
"No no no, it's so fun, seriously. You like Disney, right?"
"Of course!"
She grinned. "There you go. You'll love it!"
"I don't think I'll be any good," he said carefully.
"Who cares? We've beat the game a bunch of times. It doesn't matter."
"I...um, well, I guess I don't care either then?"
"Good choice. You can come over after this if your dad won't mind."
"He probably won't," Dean said, glancing over again to find Sorin still deep in conversation with Mr. Darcy. "Of course, at this rate, doesn't look like he'll be ready to go anytime soon either."
"My house is two blocks away," Carrie said easily.
He blinked, his features visibly relaxing. "Well, that makes it easier. Let me go ask him!"
"No rush!"
Dean grinned. "If I don't ask him now, he might never come up from the conversation. We don't need to leave right away or anything."
"By all means, then," she said grandly, taking a sip of her cherry soda.
He hopped up and headed over to talk to his father and Carrie could hear him politely saying hello to Mr. Darcy before engaging Sorin. She glanced over at Chase, who quietly slurped at his milkshake, his eyes fixed on the opposite wall. "Chase?"
"Hmm?" He tilted his head just enough that he could look at her without dislodging the straw.
"You're zoning."
"I'm just finishing my drink."
She frowned, suddenly aware of how quiet he had been over the course of the conversation. Dean had begun to make his way back to the booth, however, so she decided to let it drop for the moment. "Okay."
"Dad says that's fine!" said Dean, sliding back into the booth with an excited grin.
"Awesome!" Carrie picked up her glass. "We'll go as soon as we're done here, then." Dean mirrored the movement, sipping his milkshake contentedly, and Chase summoned a pleasant smile around his straw.
Story: Taking Root
Challenge: Coconut 12 (guess who), Milk Chocolate 14 (sincerity) [Marina]; Blueberry Yogurt 29 (the first time), French Vanilla 12 (rendezvous) [Casey]
Toppings/Extras: Caramel, Chopped Nuts, Smoothie
Word Count: 2,796
Rating: G
Summary: [September] Chase and Carrie run into the Dakamars while out shopping. Sorin proceeds to be a well-meaning yet slightly overbearing father.
Notes: Russ Darcy, who may or may not have an actual speaking role later, is also from the NIEEverse. (The soda shop’s name totally did not come from idle contemplations on the_malt_shoppe one day back in August. Nope.) In other news, we’re both almost done with NaNo!
“No, no, no, no, please don’t be out of Prismacolor!”
“Care, there are lots of colored pencils here.” Chase plucked a box of RoseArt pencils off their rack and held them up. “What about these?”
Carrie stared at him, completely horrified. “Chase. I can’t use RoseArt. Using RoseArt’s colored pencils is like you building…a desk. Out of balsa wood.”
He laughed, and she caught sight of a wicked gleam in his eye. It relaxed her more than it irritated her, because it told her that he felt completely himself, a rare mood for him. “You were Team RoseArt when we first met, remember?”
“Yeah, but then I became a better artist, and got standards,” she said lightly.
“What about Crayola?”
“Better, but not-oh thank goodness.” She plucked a 24-pack of Prismacolor pencils from the haphazard jumble that had amassed below the neat racks. “I’ll get a bigger one later, but these’ll do for now.”
Chase snickered. "So is that everything?"
Carrie tucked the box between a pack of fine-point pens and a hardcover sketchbook, and nodded. "I'll pay for this and then we can go back to my place and play Kingdom Hearts III. Hopefully the line's not too long."
As the two of them made their way toward the register, a blond boy turned the corner out of an aisle right ahead of them, looking over his shoulder and not paying attention. "Chase, look out!" Carrie exclaimed, grabbing her friend's arm before he could run headlong into the other person.
The newcomer jumped, turning to face them. Carrie recognized Dean almost instantly. "I'm sorry," he said, brightening in realization. "Hi Carrie! Hi Chase! Sorry about that." His father, whom Carrie vaguely remembered from the halls at school, appeared out of the aisle behind him. At catching sight of his teacher, Chase stuffed his hands into his pockets, stepping back a little behind Carrie.
She grinned. "Hey! Fancy meeting you here."
Dean grinned back. "Dad and I are getting some supplies for a home project. What are you up to?"
"Buying new art supplies. Mine are perilously low." She flashed a brief, cheerful smile in Sorin's direction.
"What project are you working on?" Chase asked.
"We're making a bookcase for our family room," Sorin said.
"Oh! Right. Carrie, this is my dad. Dad, this is Carrie," Dean said.
"Nice to meet you," Carrie said, offering her hand.
"Same to you. Dean's talked about you," Sorin said, shaking her hand with an easy grin.
"Dad," Dean groaned, going a little red around the edges.
Carrie could not help laughing. "He's told me a lot about you, too."
"Glad to hear he thinks about me on occasion," Sorin said lightly.
"Dad, you're not helping." Dean rolled his eyes.
"It's okay, Dean," Carrie said. "I hear they have to do things like this, or they die." Chase snorted into his sleeve, trying not to laugh.
"So very true," Sorin agreed.
Dean nudged him in the side, but looked amused despite himself. "D'you do art, Carrie?" he asked, before Sorin could provide further commentary on this phenomenon.
She nodded. "I draw, and paint a little. Also, I'm taking graphic design this year."
"Oh cool!"
"Yeah, it's been awesome."
"I bet. I'm not at all artsy like that, so I give you credit."
"Oh, right, because woodworking isn't art," she said, scoffing a little.
"It's not the same thing at all," Dean protested.
"But it makes you an artist, and that makes you artsy," Carrie said firmly. "It's just a different kind."
He held up his hands, grinning. "I yield."
She beamed, giving the air a fist pump with her free hand. "Victory!"
"Nice job, Care-bear," Chase said, amused.
Sorin chuckled. "What are you two up to after this? Can I buy you a drink or something?"
Chase and Carrie glanced at each other for a moment. "Sure," Carrie said. "We have time."
"Great," Sorin said. "Dean and I had just finished getting what we need."
Carrie nodded. "I still need to get my stuff, so, I'm going to do that." She moved toward the check-out line, and Chase smiled quickly at the Dakamars before following her. Dean and Sorin headed towards the door, ready to go when Carrie and Chase had finished.
She glanced furtively at the Dakamars as she handed a twenty-dollar bill to the cashier. Neither noticed her-they seemed absorbed in their conversation, likely discussing the project they were working on. Carrie had to smile. She had liked what she had seen of Sorin at school, and Chase had had nothing but praise for him since becoming his TA. It was nice to see that he and his son had a nice relationship. She remembered the sack lunch Dean had brought on the first day and decided that his embarrassed protests were mostly for show. A grin filtered onto her face as she watched them.
“Carrie.” Chase poked her. “Take your change.”
“Oh, right.” She turned to the cashier, expression quickly falling from enthused to apologetic. “I’m so sorry.”
The cashier simply smiled beatifically and a little vacantly. “It happens all the time. Have a good day, now.”
Carrie collected her change and her bag, and she and Chase went to join Sorin and Dean at the front door. "Okay, let's do it," she said.
"There's a place just a block from here that Dean and I have been to a couple times and is fairly good," Sorin said.
"Sounds good!"
As they approached their destination, Carrie's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, we know this place. It's awesome.” A small, cheerful building toward the end of the block housed a local soda shop called the Poppe Shoppe. Madison youngsters had loved and frequented the hangout for many years, and Carrie and Chase loved to go there for "creative fuel," then head back to Carrie's house and drive her mother batty.
Sorin smiled. "Oh good. The name's rather, um, interesting, but I'd heard good things."
The teens snickered. "Just don't say that to the owners," Carrie said. "They thought they were being pretty clever with that name."
"I will keep my thoughts to myself," Sorin promised.
Dean grinned. "Oh, I don't know, I think it has some charm myself."
"If you say so."
When they entered, a perky waitress in an equally perky uniform consisting of a white button-up dress and a starched pink apron waved at them. "Grab a seat wherever you want and I'll be right with you!"
"Do we want a booth or a table?" Sorin asked.
"How about a booth?" Dean suggested. "This feels like a booth kind of place."
"I think so too," Carrie agreed. Chase shrugged and went over to inspect the jukebox, rummaging in his pockets for nickels.
Sorin led the way over to a booth that would seat five and slid in to make room for the teens. Carrie and Dean followed suit, leaving a seat for Chase on the end. After a moment, he joined them, the opening strains of "Who Put The Bomp" sounding in his wake.
"Nice choice," Dean said easily, settling down in his seat.
Chase smiled tentatively. "Thanks."
"Have you two lived in Madison for a long time?" Sorin asked curiously.
"Chase was born here," Carrie said, with a nod. "My mom and I moved here when I was really little."
Sorin glanced at Dean, who studiously avoided his father's gaze, glancing around the Shoppe instead. "That's really nice. I wish now that Dean and I hadn't moved around quite as much as we did when he was smaller."
"I guess it'd be hard to settle into a new place. I can't imagine leaving."
"It gets easier," Dean said quickly, cutting off his father’s response. "I mean, it's really not that bad." Carrie merely nodded, sensing that moving, like Dean's mother, was a sensitive subject.
The waitress saved her from having to think up a new topic immediately. "What can I get for you all?" she asked.
"I'd like a strawberry milkshake, please," Chase said.
The waitress smiled and wrote it down, along with a cherry soda for Carrie, a chocolate milkshake for Dean, and a root beer float for Sorin. "Okay. I'll be right back." She hurried behind the counter, leaving a slightly awkward silence at the table.
"Dad, tell Chase what our next project in class is," Dean said finally, shifting uncomfortably.
Chase tilted his head. "What's the next project?"
"You can't tell anyone," Sorin said.
"My lips are sealed," Chase intoned, his eyebrows quirking up in interest. Carrie stifled a laugh.
"From what you've said, you haven't done a lot of more detailed work, so I thought maybe we'd try that..." Sorin let the end of his sentence hang in the air as a teasing smile played at his mouth.
"It's not carving, is it?"
"No, that's sort of a-it’s not a skill all its own, but it's not for everyone."
Chase's expression relaxed into relief. Carrie noticed that he had begun to slouch a bit and lean back in his seat, instead of the near-military posture he had assumed when he first sat down. "Okay, then, what do you mean by detailed?"
"It's going to depend a lot on what each person wants to do. There are a lot of techniques that can add detail."
"So is there something you want us to make, and then we get to decorate it with those techniques?"
"I haven't decided. What do you think? Should you all make the same thing?" Sorin asked, sitting back.
Chase nodded. "We all made something different for the last project. Dean and I worked together and shared ideas, but we still ended up with two different things."
"What did you make?" Carrie asked.
"We each got a box, and Dean made a small checkers board and pieces and I made a little pinball machine using balsa for the obstacles."
"I like allowing you to individualize your pieces," Sorin said.
"I like being able to just run with the projects too," Dean piped up.
"Yeah, but even if we all make the same general thing, they're all going to be different," Chase said. "Remember the bench Mason told you about? I made a simple one and then had Carrie come over and help me paint it, but Mason made his more solid and gave it a shaped back. Same project, but totally different."
Sorin nodded. "I was thinking a fairly simple basic project, so the focus would be the techniques and details."
"That sounds good," Chase said. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but the waitress brought their drinks just then, and he redirected his attention to her with a wide grin of anticipation.
"Ooh, thank you," Carrie said, accepting hers and taking a big sip.
"You're welcome, hon," the waitress replied, waving and retreating. "Let me know if you need anything else."
"Yum," Dean said happily.
"So good," Carrie agreed. "I love this place. I hope it stays here forever."
"It seems to be doing a fairly good business," Sorin commented.
"That's because it's the only place like it around here, and the milkshakes are cheaper than Johnny Rockets. And, well, better."
"My float is quite good," he said. "One of the best I've had in a long time."
Dean laughed. "Dad, you don't drink floats all that often."
"But I enjoy them a lot when I do have them."
"As well you should, Mr. D," Carrie said, raising her glass. Sorin mirrored the motion and Dean rolled his eyes.
Carrie smiled, shooting a brief glare at Dean. She quite liked Sorin, even if having drinks at a soda shop with the father of a friend she had only recently made was a little awkward.
Sorin, looking highly amused, began to settle back in his seat with his drink when a ding at the doors signaled the arrival of a new customer. He glanced back, eyebrows shooting up. "Oh, there's Russ Darcy. Excuse me while I go say hello," he said, scooping up his drink and slipping out of the booth to go talk to the chemistry teacher.
"Your dad's really nice," Carrie said to Dean.
Dean watched Sorin for a minute before drawing his attention back to them and nodding. "I think so too," he said with a crooked smile.
"Really nice of him to treat us, too," Chase mumbled into his milkshake.
Dean reddened a bit across his cheeks, looking down at his own drink. "Think he's glad I'm making friends," he said.
Carrie smiled. "I hear that's normal for dads."
"Yeah, well, it can be hard to make friends when homeschooled," Dean said a bit vaguely, looking back up to see his father talking animatedly with Mr. Darcy.
"Was it really?"
"Yeah," Dean said, grip on his milkshake tightening. "I mean, it might not be for all homeschooled kids, but I..." he trailed off, shrugging uncomfortably.
"You don't have to talk about it," Carrie said.
He lifted his shoulders again. "Just didn't come easily to me, I guess," he said after a minute, absently rubbing a spot on his side.
An uncomfortable silence descended on the table. "Well, you've got us now," Carrie said firmly. "Me and Chase and the rest of them." Chase nodded his agreement.
Dean now looked at them and smiled, ducking his head slightly. "Thanks. I appreciate it a lot," he said quietly.
"We like you," said Carrie. "It's not a big deal."
He blinked and then grinned. "Is to me!"
Chase's cheeks reddened, and he merely took a sip of his milkshake. Carrie did not know what to say to that, either, though she wished she did. She settled for a wide, reassuring smile.
"I think it's time for a subject change," Dean said, after a moment.
"Yes, please," the other boy said fervently.
The blond took a bracing sip of his milkshake. "So, um, what do you guys and your friends do for fun?"
"Lots of stuff," Carrie said. "Come here, watch movies, play one-player video games like a group sport, walk around, think up creative activities out of nowhere, things like that."
Dean blinked. "How does the video game thing work? Just pass off at various moments?"
"Chase and I played all three Kingdom Hearts like that."
He looked at her blankly at the title.
Carrie stared right back at him. "You've never heard of Kingdom Hearts?"
"No?" Dean said. "I've never really played video games."
She grabbed Chase's arm, startling him. "Chase, this boy needs to be introduced to Kingdom Hearts immediately."
"Okay, fine, just let me finish my milkshake while it's still in the glass instead of all over me," Chase said, clutching the beverage protectively.
Dean moved his own drink out of Carrie’s reach, but she hardly noticed in her excitement over discovering a possible convert. "Um, it's okay, really," he said.
"No no no, it's so fun, seriously. You like Disney, right?"
"Of course!"
She grinned. "There you go. You'll love it!"
"I don't think I'll be any good," he said carefully.
"Who cares? We've beat the game a bunch of times. It doesn't matter."
"I...um, well, I guess I don't care either then?"
"Good choice. You can come over after this if your dad won't mind."
"He probably won't," Dean said, glancing over again to find Sorin still deep in conversation with Mr. Darcy. "Of course, at this rate, doesn't look like he'll be ready to go anytime soon either."
"My house is two blocks away," Carrie said easily.
He blinked, his features visibly relaxing. "Well, that makes it easier. Let me go ask him!"
"No rush!"
Dean grinned. "If I don't ask him now, he might never come up from the conversation. We don't need to leave right away or anything."
"By all means, then," she said grandly, taking a sip of her cherry soda.
He hopped up and headed over to talk to his father and Carrie could hear him politely saying hello to Mr. Darcy before engaging Sorin. She glanced over at Chase, who quietly slurped at his milkshake, his eyes fixed on the opposite wall. "Chase?"
"Hmm?" He tilted his head just enough that he could look at her without dislodging the straw.
"You're zoning."
"I'm just finishing my drink."
She frowned, suddenly aware of how quiet he had been over the course of the conversation. Dean had begun to make his way back to the booth, however, so she decided to let it drop for the moment. "Okay."
"Dad says that's fine!" said Dean, sliding back into the booth with an excited grin.
"Awesome!" Carrie picked up her glass. "We'll go as soon as we're done here, then." Dean mirrored the movement, sipping his milkshake contentedly, and Chase summoned a pleasant smile around his straw.