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"oh, no i recognise you from around the store. i thought you might've needed something from there. what brings you to the station? do you work here?"

"No. No. Helena. I'm in a lot is all. If you don't recognise me it's fine. I'm usually perusing the stacks anyway." She explained, not wanting the young woman to feel awkward.

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she scrunched her face suppressing her own laugh "do you always sneak up on unsuspecting book shoppers?" she asked, smile still present "what ones? i'm not on tiktok, one of the kids i nanny is obsessed with those dances" odette looked down at the pile of books and of course it was the one that she had actually went out of her way to get "hmm...i don't know..."

xavier had to hold back a laugh when he realized he'd scared her and put a fist up to his mouth, clearing his throat to hide it. "sorry," he said moving his arm back down, "i do too, sometimes, most the time it's tiktoks." he shoved his hands in his pockets but immedietly took one out to point at the one right on top. "that one, the james patterson one."

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"thank you, you've always looked out for me and noah. i don't have anything to thank you with but if there's anything i can help you wish please let me know." small communities look out for one another and she and bryce were no exception. "i'll probably say to him to stay the night at his friends if he can. it saves him from having to deal with any of the fallout." keeping him safe was her number one priority "sorry my family drama is disturbing that peace for you."

"it's not, i promise." bryce offered with a small smile. he was always protective of his little sister before everything happened so that was partially why he wanted to help noa when he could, she reminded him a lot of her. "probably a good idea for that, i'm sure the friends parents will understand and if they're not then you guys can crash in my trailer while i'm at work until they calm down." he was hoping it wouldn't come to that, mostly for their own sake. "life is fine on my side, boring really."

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she gave her order to the bartender while he was over and thanked him when the drink was placed down before turning to zeke and thanking him for the drink, she had manners. "i suppose so, i've never been sure if it suited me. it's nice to meet you. zeke's a name you don't hear often, is it a nickname, or are you just that rare?"

"i wouldn't say i've been looking and more so curious on what your name is." zeke admitted, lifting his own glass to take a sip. he called the bartender over and told them to put her next drink on his tab before looking back at her. "sage is a pretty name and the drink buyers name is zeke." he never went by ezekial and no one except for one person knew his name was that.

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odette almost dropped the basket when she had been caught off guard. "uh yeah, i read a lot to pass the time" she answered, tripping over her words "that depends. which one are you wanting?"

xavier usually read during his free time at work and he'd just finished his last book so now it was time to find a new one. there was a book he wanted but it seemed someone had gotten to it first so he was walking the store until he spotted it in someone's basket. "you got a lot of books there," he teased, "mind sparing one for lil ole me?"

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"you say that now and next thing you know you'll be in the biggest sunhat around. you'll give mom a run for her money" he teased from his seat "we go outside. we go on runs together and that extended into play chasing around the garden and the house. don't tell peanut he's small, he'll get a complex"

"you won't ever catch me in a large sunhat, lounging at the family country club maybe but in a normal sized hat." matrix said with a laugh, grabbing a few napkins and going to go sit at the table to eat. "do you do that with peanut only inside or do you go outside and do that so the neighbors can enjoy a grown man running around with his ten times smaller than him dog?"

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where: the crabby bookworm who: xavier ( @scienceknewmynightmares )

while she was waiting on the daycare finishing up for the day, odette decided to pop into the bookstore to waste some time and see if she could find something new to read.

she slowly walked her way around the store, occasionally picking up a book to read the back or adding a new one to the growing pile in her basket.

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"you must be freezing out here. do you want a coffee or anything?" she offered, hoping to make jills time a work a bit more bearable for her. odette paid for the game and smiled down at julian while jill explained the game to him and in his overexcitement he gripped the plastic rod in anticipation.

"now, slow and patient and you'll be able to hook those ducks in no time." she started to explain but my the time she finished she was reduced to laughter at him furiously swinging the rod around trying to grab whatever duck he could until one eventually caught "hey! you got one!"

the cool air is biting jill's cheeks while she sits at her booth, elbow propped on the counter, and her chin propped in her palm. it was amazing they were open, since half the rides were closed for due to misting rain. mild winter right now, sure, but snow due next week. her gaze moves to a little guy running his way over to her booth, and she sits upright with a smile.

"heeyyy! i'm sooo bored, i'm so glad you came over. it's a buck fifty to play." actually, it's three dollars--but she'd genuinely had little to do all day, and she certainly didn't have any bones to pick with odette. she stands once she's got the money in the box below the counter, and makes her way over to the pond as well. "hiii julian! it's so good to meet you! okay. so! you can pick up three ducks out of the pond, and then if there's a marking on the bottom of any of them, you get a prize."

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the officer placed the familiar forms down in front of her and she began filling them out. turning away from the desk at the call of her name "yes?" she asked cautiously "yes, i'm from the bookstore. is there something i can help with? are you waiting on a order?"

Helena was stepping out from the back when she spotted Noa. She had been some of the officers for research. Nothing crazy just information about the basics of custody so she could build off of it for her version within the realm for her reaction. She recognised the young woman because of how often Helena herself was at the bookshop. "Noa?" She called out softly, not wanting to spook her. "You're Noa, right? From the bookstore."

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axel jotted down the notes of what was completed and notes to order in new parts to replace ones that have been used. "take it from a guy who is the worst for that kind of thing, you still need some downtime to rest up." he had noticed sometimes that jesse had stayed the night in the garage which was less than ideal but he didn't know what jesse's situation was. if sleeping in the garage was for safety then axel wasn't going to question it.

"Just a spark plug and some brake pads," Jesse said, lifting his clipboard off the wall to hold out to Axel. "It's not trouble, really. I mean, it's not like I have a life outside of this place." He shrugged. He just drank at the bar until he went home. Sometimes he slept at the garage.

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"i figured some coffee would help cheer you up" the caffeine did them all some good given the amount of cars they'd been working through lately "i'm alright, tired as always and it took me three snoozes on my alarm to wake me up but we're being brave about it. how are you doing?"

At the sound of Axel's voice, Rance glanced up from the tools he had been sorting through and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Ah, jus' in time! Wasn't sure how I was gonna go on wit'out some coffee. Thanks much." As he headed over to grab the coffee, he asked, "An' how're you doin' on this fine mornin'?"

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"umm okay, as long as it's not putting you out or anything...thank you" she muttered shyly. he had always been somewhat a knight in shining armour to her whenever things kicked off with her parents, a friendly face to distract her from all the drama. "hopefully but not likely. i'll call noah from the café and tell him to stay at his friends." she added when they started walking. "how is life on your side?"

"i'm really not, i have a shift but not for a couple hours so it's not like i'm in a hurry." he typically was ready fairly early on anyway, it gave him time to be able to do whatever he wanted without feeling like he had to rush, he could take his time. "hopefully they'll be done by the time we are."

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"really? you think? i don't know if it's a bit too ostentatious for me" she had adored the bag in the window, stared at it in awe when she had saw it "i don't know where i would use it. it's not like i could take it to work with me, the kids will end up drawing on it"

"I saw you eyeing that bag in the store next door. You should totally get it! It would look super cute with your outfit," Gia encouraged with a grin, standing beside Odette in line.

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when clay was running around with his dog, he had no concept of time. he was darting around the house with peanut when his sister had arrived, the two pausing to say hello before continuing with their game. hearing the call of dinner, peanut and himself crashed into the kitchen. clay took a seat at the table while peanut pottered over to his bowl to eat "you did sound like mom. i'm going to tell her" he laughed with a grin. "next thing you know you'll be wearing comically large sunhats and lounging at the family country club"

who: matrix and clay where: clay's place @therestiscxnfetti

matrix walked into clay's place with dinner, she may have been the younger sister but she had a habit of taking care of him. being around him also made her feel safer (not that he knew that or she was ready to admit that) so she would often make excuses to have dinner at his place or him at hers. "come get it before it gets cold!" she called out from the kitchen, pausing with her hand still in the bag, "ew i sounded like mom. nevermind! eat it when you eat it i don't care!" she chuckled as she shook her head at herself while she finally took out her food.

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will was clay's best friend. will didn't necessarily agree to this but it was too late now. "maybe? that man definitely looks like he could unhinge his jaw and eat at least a whole rotisserie chicken, that's like, more than a small dog and less than a microwave, maybe an air fryer or a kinda small bonsai tree"

Will had no idea how he managed to befriend Clay, it was like the other man just saw him and claimed him, the end, but some times things like this had him questioning. "Maybe." he nodded some. "I mean, he looks the type to be able to unhinge his jaw."

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sage looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "i'd say that you don't know any better then" she replied, lifting her glass to her lips. she had seen him around whenever she was in the bar, considered he was interesting to look at and thought nothing more of it. "have you been looking for my name?" sage rolled her eyes at his offer and obliged "i'm sage...and is the drink buyer going to disclose his name?"

who: zeke and sage where: a bar @therestiscxnfetti

"if i didn't know any better i'd say you were following me or something." zeke recognized sage from the other times they were at the bar, always at the same time but never together. this time he was feeling more confident, she was hot and probably out of his league but he sure was gonna try anyway. "next drinks on me on one condition, i finally get your name." even if she didn't give it he'd still get her a drink.