"Well, Pete, here we are again," sighed Steve from his permanent pose atop a dusty blue car. Steve wasn't sure how long the two of them had been at the bookshop, years certainly, he had seen more than one seasonal Christmas display come and go. Such was the life of figurines.
"Did you expect a change?" mumbled Pete.
Pete was quite a bit larger than Steve with giant, rounded features and a plaid shirt. His face always had a slightly tired and frustratingly bored expression. However, Steve was always jealous about how Pete didn't show much dust. Steve was made of a hard, once shiny material. At least his jeans hadn't lost their color and it would be a long time before his painted leather jacket and combat boots faded away their hard black.
"Think he'll get more business today?" asked Steve. The owner of the bookshop seemed to fretting a bit more lately and there hadn't been as many people in the bookshop of late. This also meant that the two friends had less to do because people watching was their main source of entertainment.
Before Pete could answer, a pair of customers walked quietly into the shop. They exchanged muttered words before the man went to the military history section and the woman to the romance section.
"She's too good for him," said Pete, watching her plop herself down and start examining the romance books ones by one.
"How can you tell?" asked Steve, he always thought Pete was better at coming up with the stories.
"C'mon, Steve. People who read romance novels are usually lovely and kind people. This guy wouldn't even walk over there with her, instead he goes to books about people killing each other. Nah, she's too good for him."
"Well, but what if he's just buying a gift for someone who likes books about people killing each other?" Steve found his best contributions to people watching was forcing Pete to create more elaborate ones by asking challenging questions.
"Pfft," started Pete, "if he goes over to her after, then, sure, maybe he was buying a gift for someone with bad taste in history books, but I bet he will wait for her to come over because he doesn't want to be caught dead looking at "girly" books."
"A bet, huh? Our usual?" The two didn't have much in way of betting as they didn't own anything and generally didn't move. However, with effort, Pete could unsettle himself enough to let the painting of Tintin propped against him fall down. This often meant the man who ran the bookshop would end up propping it against Steve for a spell. This wasn't the most rewarding prize, but change is good when you're stuck in a permanent pose.
"Sure," said Pete, "I'm tired of Tintin anyways."
"Oh I think I'll win this one, there's no one else in the shop, why would he care about going over there?" Steve said triumphantly.
So the two friends watched the man and the woman browse. She seemed to have a bit of trouble finding a good book, but wasn't giving up and was giving care to each book she picked up. The man seemed to know exactly what kind of book he was looking for and found it before too long. He continued to browse for a bit before propping himself against the books on the table behind him and opening the book he found. He stayed like that until the woman eventually came over to chat with him. She said something about liking a little more time to browse and he seemed annoyed, but huffed his compliance.
Steve had lost the bet.
"See? I told you she was too good for him."
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
"Did you expect a change?" mumbled Pete.
Pete was quite a bit larger than Steve with giant, rounded features and a plaid shirt. His face always had a slightly tired and frustratingly bored expression. However, Steve was always jealous about how Pete didn't show much dust. Steve was made of a hard, once shiny material. At least his jeans hadn't lost their color and it would be a long time before his painted leather jacket and combat boots faded away their hard black.
"Think he'll get more business today?" asked Steve. The owner of the bookshop seemed to fretting a bit more lately and there hadn't been as many people in the bookshop of late. This also meant that the two friends had less to do because people watching was their main source of entertainment.
Before Pete could answer, a pair of customers walked quietly into the shop. They exchanged muttered words before the man went to the military history section and the woman to the romance section.
"She's too good for him," said Pete, watching her plop herself down and start examining the romance books ones by one.
"How can you tell?" asked Steve, he always thought Pete was better at coming up with the stories.
"C'mon, Steve. People who read romance novels are usually lovely and kind people. This guy wouldn't even walk over there with her, instead he goes to books about people killing each other. Nah, she's too good for him."
"Well, but what if he's just buying a gift for someone who likes books about people killing each other?" Steve found his best contributions to people watching was forcing Pete to create more elaborate ones by asking challenging questions.
"Pfft," started Pete, "if he goes over to her after, then, sure, maybe he was buying a gift for someone with bad taste in history books, but I bet he will wait for her to come over because he doesn't want to be caught dead looking at "girly" books."
"A bet, huh? Our usual?" The two didn't have much in way of betting as they didn't own anything and generally didn't move. However, with effort, Pete could unsettle himself enough to let the painting of Tintin propped against him fall down. This often meant the man who ran the bookshop would end up propping it against Steve for a spell. This wasn't the most rewarding prize, but change is good when you're stuck in a permanent pose.
"Sure," said Pete, "I'm tired of Tintin anyways."
"Oh I think I'll win this one, there's no one else in the shop, why would he care about going over there?" Steve said triumphantly.
So the two friends watched the man and the woman browse. She seemed to have a bit of trouble finding a good book, but wasn't giving up and was giving care to each book she picked up. The man seemed to know exactly what kind of book he was looking for and found it before too long. He continued to browse for a bit before propping himself against the books on the table behind him and opening the book he found. He stayed like that until the woman eventually came over to chat with him. She said something about liking a little more time to browse and he seemed annoyed, but huffed his compliance.
Steve had lost the bet.
"See? I told you she was too good for him."
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
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