Elastic Heart

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

Erika stepped through the doors and took in the smell of books and tea. The smell seemed to comfort her in ways she wasn't quite sure she could explain. There was something home-y about it, though, she suspected it was mostly because of the amount of times she found herself here. And the reason wasn't the books.

Stepping over to the counter as soon as her good ol' friend was free of bothersome customers, Erika placed the palms of her hands against the counter, leaning forward. "I brought lunch," she said and leaned to the side to use one of her hands to pick up a paper bag. "Grandma Susie's famous waffles." Erika had already eaten - and she'd grown bored of the waffles after years of eating them, but she figured Torrence might enjoy them.

She placed the bag on the counter and looked around. "Do you ever wonder what the world would be like without books?" She tossed the blonde a playful smirk. Erika wasn't much of a reader, but she could see the appeal. In fact, she was a little bitter she didn't enjoy books more than what she did.

[Torrence Paige]

Tori heard the unmistakable sound of the door chime and looked around to see Erika come into the store.

"Hi", she mouthed, before turning back to her customer and finishing up their transaction.

"Enjoy your book!", she called after them. Then she turned to her friend and smiled wider. "Rikki! How did you know I've been starving?", she said, not really waiting for an answer. She took the paper bag from her friend and turned towards the kitchen counter top to unload the food. She placed the waffles in a tray and put them on the main counter, facing her friend once again. She handed Erika a fork and took a bite of the waffles before responding.

"If we lived in a world without books, then we'd be living in a world where I have no job", she said with a giggle. She swallowed the waffle and put the fork down, looking at her friend intently.

"Rikkiiiii", she said, prolonging the final syllable. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?", she asked. She wasn't sure Erika was fond of the nickname, but Tori had always used it for as long as they've been friends.

[Erika Clarke-Davis]

Pointing at her temple, the brunette grinned. "I'm psychic, clearly," she chimed. "I can see a tall, dark haired man in your future..." she continued, her eyes going wide. "But he's way out of your league, so I say you shouldn't go for it." Erika mocked an almost offended expression then. "But my psychic abilities tell me you won't listen to me anyways," she quickly added before she couldn't keep it up anymore and issued a childish chuckle.

Accepting the for with a grin, Erika put it against one of the waffles and spun it around. "I'm sure you could find something else to do," she replied thoughtfully. "And if all else fails, you could always be a concubine." Erika shrugged innocently at that as she took a bite off of the waffles.

Had it been anyone else, Erika would have twitched and cringed at the nickname. Instead, the brunette simply shrugged it off. "Ah, you know," she began, swallowing the waffle she'd taken a bite of. "Still working down at Susie's and impatiently waiting for school to start back up again."

[Torrence Paige]

"Haha", Tori replied dryly at Erika's mocking of her love life. She pretended to fling a small piece of waffle at her friend and stuck out her tongue at her. "There isn't a tall, dark-haired man in my future. At least, not yet. I'm not ready for that", she said with a laugh, taking another bite of the waffle and listening to her friend talk about work and school.

She kept on forgetting that Erika was quite younger than her, being still in school and all. Her friend was one of the most reliable people she knew, and she had a lot of things in common with her that sometimes she forgets that she's serving as a kind of big sister to Erika. She had always admired people younger than her who were juggling work and school. While it was true that she did so, too, she felt like she had the advantage of having her parents' money. The work part was mostly just to redirect her attention from her grief of losing her twin. Something she still deals with everyday.

"When's school starting? Are you excited?", she asked. She looked around the shop to make sure she wasn't needed by a customer, then turned back to her friend.