When is a pastry fairy not a fairy? (spencer) BACKDATED TO BEFORE BAD THINGS HAPPEN

[callmeemily]

The whole reason she's here is, surprisingly, not the conversation she's had with Joel. That's only why she's here now.

She's been leaving things for Spencer - hell, she's been leaving things for everyone lately, because she's experimenting, and when Raleigh experiments in the kitchen there's always left overs because she tries to work in half-batches. Anything smaller than that makes the temps change, and she's trying to figure out new pastries, not burn them.

But... she's also been trying to leave them for people when they're not home. It's weird, but it seems way easier than every time explaining what she's made, having them say that she doesn't have to do this like it's a burden when she'd really rather just not throw them away and she doesn't particularly want to sell them. Her boss says that because they're not the things that are known - that have names, whatever, that they can be sold for fifty cents and marked as 'rejects', which is not exactly what Raleigh's trying to do here.

So she's been packaging them up with twine in the little bakery boxes and hooking them to people's doorknobs - even people she doesn't know, with a big marking on the top that says CONTAINS GLUTEN AND NUTS so she doesn't kill anyone. But today? Today she's not just leaving the box at Spencer's door, she's holding it in her hands when she rings the bell - and her face says anything besides Hey! Surprise! Another pastry! She's worried, and it shows.

Comments

[doublethepain]

His smile falters when he notices that she seems on edge. He nods, reaching out to take the box from her as he steps aside to allow her through the door. "I have more than one, actually."

He turns to head toward the dining room, trusting that she'll follow, and sets the pastries on the table before glancing over his shoulder at her. "You look a little worried," he says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you all right?"

[callmeemily]

She follows him, and she settles her bag back on her shoulder but she does look worried. She looks really worried. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Did you-" She paused, and then she realises she didn't ask Joel if he'd told Spencer he was in the letters or whatever.

"I, uh... just had a weird feeling. And I ran into Joel on my way here." There, that makes it just seem like she somehow just remembered him, or something. "But seriously, you're good?"

[doublethepain]

It wouldn't take a genius to make the connection there. "You know about the letters." He leans a hand against the back of one of the dining table chairs and shrugs a shoulder. "I'm good. Seriously good."

He narrows his eyes, pausing to think about how true that really is before letting out a soft sigh. "It's a little distressing," he admits, and it is. The idea of Joel or Cosette getting hurt as a result of all this makes him feel sick to his stomach. "I've been trying not to think about it."

[callmeemily]

"I... he only mentioned it in passing, and I'm not trying to make you think more about it, and I know I don't know you that well-" She's trying to back peddle, even though she doesn't quite know why.

It weirds her out. That there's still people here, watching. She knows it's not the same people - of course it's not the same people, the guys who were following her didn't leave letters. They moved with more direct means.

But it still puts her on edge, it makes her want to check. For her, it's a little like checking to make sure you turned the stove off. Everyone okay? Really okay? Okay. Good. No one creeping outside? Nothing randomly moved in your house? No one following you that you know of? Okay. "I just... wanted... to make sure." She just sort of lamely finishes, and not for the first time she wonders what, exactly, she's doing.

[doublethepain]

"Thank you." It's sincere, it really does mean something to him that Emily cares enough to ask, to drop by to check on him even under the guise of dropping off baked goods. The truth is, he hasn't been focusing as much as maybe should be on the situation with the letters Joel had received because so many other good things have been happening lately and he's really not used to having so much to smile about at one time. New friends, like Emily, and plans for dates and a box of pastries on his table have all proven to be excellent distractions.

"I don't know what to think about any of it," he tells her, and it feels kind of good to say that because he hasn't wanted to make Joel feel like he should worry any more than he already does. "The police know about it but the detective we talked to said there isn't much that can really be done other than checking in occasionally." He offers a crooked smile. "That doesn't seem like it would help much after the fact, though, does it?"

[callmeemily]

"There's things you can do. Just... being careful, sorts of things. Don't go out alone at night, make sure people know where you are. Until it's over." Her brows furrow, and she forces a smile when he talks about how much it would help or not help in after the fact. "But you're right, I guess. It's just sort of... waiting." She knew. She knew exactly how he felt.

"It's good that the police know, and Joel- Joel's on the ball. He's sort of... got it, you know?" She hopes. She really, really hopes. "He's a good guy. Both of you are, I just- I guess I wanted to check on you." She makes a face. "That makes me sound like an old lady. Sorry about that."

[doublethepain]

"Right." He's always gone out alone and people rarely know where he is outside of the library but he'd never thought of either of those things as dangerous; but then again, he's never been the subject of a threatening letter, either, so he supposes there's always a first time for everything.

"No," he says with a laugh, shaking his head earnestly. "No, it's kind of nice. It's very nice, actually, I don't exactly have hordes of people lining up at my door to make sure I'm all right." His cheeks flush a bit at the mention of Joel and he ducks his head in hopes that his own body's betrayal isn't noticeable as he echoes her words. "He's a good guy. I trust him."

[callmeemily]

"Well, you should," she says smartly - the people that she's sorted into the good bucket in her head - she never wants anything to happen to them. She's always been like that - you protect the things that matter, even if they're still new friendships. She doesn't have a lot else that matters to her right now - Jason, Alfredo, her baking, that's about it - so Joel and Spencer (and the other new people she'd met) rank up there. People should be lined up to see if he's okay or needs help. Maybe not literally, but... still.

She sees the flush, and she smiles widely. "I saw him at the ball - he said he was looking for you?" It was totally her way to see if they had actually been looking for each other. "But... I know. I trust him, too."

[doublethepain]

"I'll keep that in mind. I'd be at your door, too, just-- just for the record. I know I'm just the town librarian but if you need anything, you can always just ask. I meant what I said about you using my kitchen, too, by the way. Whatever you need." It feels odd to be so open with someone he doesn't know very well yet but he's never found Emily to be anything but genuine and kind. He'd like to return the offer in some way.

His small smile widens when she tells him what Joel had said and it still doesn't fail to kickstart a tingle down his spine to know that Joel had shown up to that ball for Spencer. It simply doesn't happen to him but it's never been a bother. Now that they've actually held hands--and it seems silly to be so excited over something that sounds so childlike--without any care of who sees them and planned a date for Friday's boardwalk movie night, Spencer is actually kind of glad that it's taken this long to feel this way.

"I found him," he says, his gaze drifting as he thinks back to the evening. It hadn't ended ideally, with the disruption from Joel's vision, but up until that point, it had been decidedly wonderful. "Or he found me, rather. We, er-- We left together."

[callmeemily]

She actually looks a little confused when he says that - mostly because she doesn't have a door, but she's forgotten that he doesn't know. There's a lot of weird rules at the place where she's got a room; the boarding house has to be strict to stop it from turning into a brothel or something, probably, but she just sort of assumes that he means the bakery if it comes down to that.

"That's really nice of you - the thing about the kitchen. I may take you up on it sometime." She smiles widely, and she sees the way he lights up when she brings up Joel, and she can't not smile in response. Awesome, then it is mutual. She's so glad for both of them, and officially, she'd help facilitate that as much as she could. They both had been surprisingly kind to her - the way that Spencer fed her the first time she saw him, and Joel - she's actually reading, and it's because he's loaning her books.

"Good. I'm glad--" She stops, though, when he said they left together and her brows shoot up. It's not that there's any sort of problem with them leaving together, ti's just that she finds it a little surprising that he's actually telling her about it. Because she doesn't realise that he doesn't mean anything... inappropriate, by it. But hey, whatever floats his boat, right?

[doublethepain]

There's a moment of awkward silence that Spencer doesn't pick up on right away because he's busy getting into the box of goodies Emily's brought for him. He's nearly brought one to his lips when he realizes she's stopped short and his eyes widen to a near-comical size when he figures out why. "No! I-- No, that's not what--"

He can't stop stammering and his face feels like it's on fire as he scrambles to find the rights words. He doesn't think she'd judge him for it either way but he's only just becoming comfortable with her as a... well, a friend, and he's not even sure he'd tell his established friends about it even if he and Joel had actually--

"We held hands," he says quickly, as if that explains everything. "That's all. We held hands and we walked." He stuffs the pastry he's still holding in his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else.

[callmeemily]

She laughs brightly when he says that. She laughs, and actually shakes her head. "Hey, I wasn't saying anything, if you guys had actually come back here together, more power to you." She paused, and actually ducked her head for a second, her mouth curving into a sort of smile. "I get it, though. The hand thing." Because that? That is what happened with her and Jason. Although he also put her in his lap, but that was sort of besides the point. Either way, there was hand-holding.

"It's... nice. So I get you." She smiles wider. "I'm glad, though. I'm glad both of you - that you're... hand-holding? I don't know, you get what I mean."