Pretty Down To Your Bones - Tag [Rafael];

[Robert Triton]

Fifteen minutes late.

Tristina had been promised to be met by three, and it was now three fifteen on the dot. It struck her as odd, but she knew there had to have been some reason Rafael was late. She chalked it up to possibly forgetting; which wouldn’t be so bad, but she really did need help with finding her brother a birthday present.

Looking around the small book shop she’d only entered a few moments ago, Tristina was a little unimpressed; her hidden treasure-trove might turn out to be a bust anyways, but it worth a shot considering her brother had an affinitive for such odd books. At least having Rafael there would have made it an interesting trip. It was boring to look at all these books by herself, and she had no inclination to talking with a sales associate as he seemed to be a prudish sort.

She was hungry too. Skipped breakfast to do a little shopping at some side street boutique where she’d scored a few new bras; ones that she would now make Rafael work to see, given his tardiness. 

With a small sigh, the brunette pulled out a hair tie from her bag and tied back her locks. Tristina walked into the shop and clicked her phone to vibrate; no need to be rude to those who were lost in their browsing, mainly the old woman some shelves over who seemed to be eyeing up books on travels to Italy.

Her thoughts drifted to the idea of taking a vacation. Perhaps she would go visit Tyler; it seemed awful unfair that he should be the one to always be visiting her, alas she much liked his visits, there was always so much more to do in the city.

Taking a few more paces, Tristina started to browse the first shelf, paying no more attention to the idea of trips or lost ladies; instead her attention was on her present for Tyler and his obscure liking for poetry. Perhaps she could find a Robert Browing collection for him as he’d dropped mention of the poet some time ago.

[Rafael Ortega]

He didn't MEAN to be late.  It wasn't a conscious decision on his part, and it wasn't even really anything he had control over.  He and that vampire, Sullivan, were working on a huge assignment, one that was probably going to be seriously bad it if went wrong, and he just didn't have as much spare time to run around and do what he HAD to do lately, nevermind what was considered extra-curricular.  Dating Tristina, he made it a point to include time spent with her in the things he had to do, instead of extra-curricular, but there was nothing necessary about shopping with her.  Despite appearances, Rafael wasn't really into shopping. 

Still, better late than never.  He showed up, even if he hadn't really wanted to go shopping, though bookstores were a little better than Ulta or something.  He really disliked THOSE stores.  This was the kind of trip that he could almost appreciate, even if he wasn't a huge reader himself.  There were some books he liked, and he could definitely appreciate the ones he passed as he entered the store she'd mentioned to him, searching her out.

It didn't take long, fortunately.  Given the stress and demands of this latest assignment, he wasn't sure how much concentration he could really put towards a single task, so if she was hoping for some serious input, she was likely to be disappointed.  He'd try, but probably fail. 

"Find anything, yet?" he asked as he came up behind her, trying to keep his voice down.  Bookstores were like libraries, right?

[Robert Triton]

She’d almost forgotten that Rafael had even agreed to come, let alone that she’d been slightly irritated by his almost no-show. What Tristina had been focused on was some book that had looked like it was a thread away from being completely unbound. It had curious writings on old voodoo and magick practices that were long forgotten, at least by the common person. It had peaked her interest so much that she’d decided to tuck it under her arm and purchase it.

Rafael’s arrival was a nice break from musing over the titles and backs of books though. She couldn’t help but smile and shift her weight a little, turning to see him better.

“Nothing for Tyler..” It was a simple and true statement, for the most part anyhow. There had been a collection of poems two shelves back that she thought she might have to break down and get him if she couldn’t find anything better.

“I’ve only managed some hocus pocus book for my own collection, and earlier I got a few pieces for my closet, some of which I’m sure you’d be interested in seeing when you’re not so busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off..” Tristina drew in a small breath and exhaled with something similar to a sigh. She wasn’t exactly disappointed though; she had known going into things with Rafael that he wasn’t the doting or fawning type, but sometimes she wish he would just surprise her with some crazy adorable act of affection. Something that would make her want to call up one of her girlfriends and gush. Not that she would, but still. Of course it wasn’t all like that. Rafael was quite the sweetheart, but sometimes she just wanted him to go that extra mile, that was all.

Tristina stole a quick peck on the lips before turning back to her task at hand. She took a few steps down the aisle before pausing again. Ah, the poetry selection.. Perhaps she should have just started there; but still, she hadn’t really anything else to accomplish today, so it was okay to just browse. So many people were quick to just jump from task to task. Sometimes it was nice to take your good ole time.

[Rafael Ortega]

If he was going to be absolutely honest, at least with himself, there was absolutely nothing he wanted to do in this bookstore, especially after she mentioned getting pieces for her closet that he'd be interested in seeing.  He may not have been the sort of boyfriend who doted on his girl constantly (yet), but he knew how to appreciate something of that sort.  Considering the way his life had been lately, he was more than willing to go appreciate whatever it was that she'd picked up.  The only problem with that really happened to be how limited his time was and how hesitant he was to just outright ask for it.  He couldn't really help it, since it was how he'd always been (and his mother was the exact same way), but it took him awhile to open up to people.  Maybe after he'd dated her for awhile, he wouldn't mind asking or doting.

"Although you have my interest over whatever you got for your closet, wasn't the whole point of this trip out to find something for your brother?" he asked, already knowing the answer.  He just also knew that there was no way she was going to find something for the guy at the sort of place she'd have gotten any of that clothing at.  Or at least, he assumed not.  He didn't really know her brother, and he hadn't seen the clothing in question. 

Frankly, he wanted to rush her through the poetry section, help her pick something, and get out of there.  As much as he didn't mind a bookstore, it was still shopping for someone he didn't know and he most certainly didn't have enough free time to accomplish everything he needed to do, which meant that he couldn't just spend the rest of it with her, as much as he might want to.  He personally preferred Tristina to Sullivan, but that was a given. 

"Which poets does he like?"