wilby wonderful snippet (emily and duck)

[schmerica]

More Wilby Wonderful-ness. <3 Emily and Duck.

Double-double

*****

Emily had opened early, but there weren't any customers yet, so she was sitting behind the counter and flipping through a magazine, waiting for her mother to show up. She was already fifteen minutes late, and when the bell dinged on the door, Emily was ready to say something about it.

"You're--" Emily started, but when she looked up it wasn't her mother in the doorway. It was Duck MacDonald.

Emily jumped to her feet and swept the magazine off the counter. "Hi."

"Hey," Duck said. He smiled at her a little, and Emily could -- dammit -- feel herself blushing. She hadn't seen or talked to Duck MacDonald since that night with Taylor, and she could have gone a long while without seeing him again. How were you supposed to act around someone who had seen you make an idiot out of yourself like that? Duck had gotten rid of Taylor, and he'd hugged her and comforted her and talked to her, and she was grateful for all that, but it was easier to be grateful when he wasn't this close.

"Slow morning?" Duck said, sounding casual. Emily didn't look in his eyes. She looked at his hands instead. They were resting in front of him on the counter, one of his fingers tapping something out, out of rhythm.

"I guess," Emily said. "Um, can I get you something?"

"Yeah. Uh, one small black coffee. And one ... double-double."

Emily was glad to turn her back to him to work on the coffees. It only took a moment before she placed them in front of him.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, I think so. Maybe a donut. One of the--" Duck trailed off, and Emily finally looked up to his face. Duck was frowning at the donuts, like he was concentrating on them carefully, like there was a right answer there and a wrong one.

He wasn't going to say anything about that night, Emily realized, feeling relief bubble up through her. She watched Duck hesitate, and the feeling of being a stupid kid faded away.

Emily said quietly, "Mr. Jarvis gets the jelly kind sometimes."

Duck glanced at her. "Yeah?" His mouth curved up a little. "One of those, then. Thanks."

"No problem," said Emily.

Emily sat back on her stool and watched him leave. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter, and stared out into space thoughtfully until her mother arrived, loud and jingling and cheerful, and snapped her out of her mood.

Comments

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was *lovely*!

[reginagiraffe]

*LOVES*

What a cool fucking kid she is.

[lalejandra.livejournal.com]

I liked this a lot.

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

w00t! Emily and Duck and awkwardness and that moment when she realizes that, actually, this is not all about her. *g*

[(Anonymous)]

love! oh, the beauty of a young fandom, pecking out of its shell, so beautiful and frail! Ces, from work

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

Very, very nice. I'm amazed at how well everyone is capturing the flavour of this film.

[bonspiel.livejournal.com]

Awwwww. God, that realization as a teenager that people aren't just thinking about you. *g*

[lovekeller.livejournal.com]

::melts::

so very lovely.

[engenda.livejournal.com]

Oh. I so love this. It's such a sharply drawn and beautiful little snapshot of Duck and Emily.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Awww! I like this so much! There's just something so endearing about Duck coming in and getting coffee or whatever for Dan, isn't there? And Emily knowing about it? it's like a sweet little secret.

Also, what do you think *is* a double double? Double cream double sugar? I don't know anyone who orders like that.

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

Aw. Charming and perfect.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Also, what do you think *is* a double double? Double cream double sugar? I don't know anyone who orders like that.

Hee, Dira and I were trying to figure that out this morning when I was working on this, actually. I had no clue what the hell it meant. But I figured what was important was that Emily did, right?

However, looking it up on google now informs me it is actually Canadian slang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_slang) for exactly what you suggested. Heh.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

How much do I love that there's a whole encyclopedia entry on Canadian slang?

SO MUCH.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*giggles* I just spent several minutes reading through all the entries. For some reason, I think RayK would find the term "homo milk" somewhat offputting.

[serialkarma.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha! Yeah, I thought the same thing. Also, it's amusing how many slang words are listed as Canadian, but I'm all, "uh, we use that too! No, really!"

Also, they have HUGE bottles of alcohol in Canada.

[mergatrude.livejournal.com]

Lovely and satisfying.

(friends you to make sure she doesn't miss any of these)

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Emily rocks my socks.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Yay! You know how much I crave your approval, dude.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

With a lesser person, I might suspect that was an elaborate set-up for some kind of pun involving Duck, but I trust you more than that. Thank you, Ces!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Hee. Awkwardness, yay! Because, I mean, sometimes in situations like that, you do bond from it, sure, but sometimes it's more like this -- awkward or embarrassed or even resentful. I can see it going either way.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you -- that's a lovely compliment!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Hee. And that realization is always such a huge relief, is the thing; it's wonderful to realize you're not the center of the universe.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Yay, thanks!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And, heh. Does that put me under pressure to produce more, now, then?

[lalejandra.livejournal.com]

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

*snuggle*

[dubhartach.livejournal.com]

That was great - I love all the different pairings and pairs and stories the film is inspiring.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think it helps that all of the character interactions in the movie are so fascinating, really.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Aw, this is so sweet.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[hanarobi.livejournal.com]

I only found this fandom this week and am reading like a fiend. Your story is lovely and so perfect in so many ways. The devil is in the details and I love that Emily picks up on them.

[(Anonymous)]

Bee-yootiful.

[peoriapeoria.livejournal.com]

*\O/*

The doughnuts!

[kuonji14.livejournal.com]

Aw, cute! Esp. Duck was frowning at the donuts, like he was concentrating on them carefully, like there was a right answer there and a wrong one.

(here via crackvan)