What, was &quot;Rudy&quot; on cable last night?

Shy was not really a word that described Nina, like, almost ever but after the absolutely gorgeous wedding, that she'd watched, completely rapt, it sort of, like, sank in a bit that… everyone here knew more people than she did…

And maybe had more right to be here…

And Nina was definitely feeling a little awkward and out of place, especially since from a quick glance around, she was almost maybe the youngest person around and also the only one on her own…

So, yeah, Nina was feeling a little shy today, a little wistful, even if she was, like, totally not regretting showing up at all.

It was just, like, weddings really were family things, weren't they?

She smoothed down the skirt of her new dress and watched everything with big eyes.

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Cassie wasn't too much older than her, was she? She was pretty sure they were on opposite sides of the "legal drinking age" divide, but she wasn't sure by how much. Either way, she figured she ought to keep this to light flirting and just being friendly.

"Hey," she greeted with a wave. "Bride or groom? Or groom?"

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"Oh!!!!!!" Nina was, honestly, a little surprised to be greeted, but the smile she shot back at the other girl was dazzling nonetheless.

"Groom???????" Nina said, then had to laugh. "Should I, like, have you guess which one, though???????????"

And, at fifteen, that legal drinking age was looking rather far away for Nina...

Edited Date: 2019-06-30 08:21 pm (UTC)

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"Sounds like fun," Cassie said with a little laugh. "But that means I'm going to make you guess which one for me, too."

. . . It probably wouldn't be hard. Cassie and Eliot had basically the same accent: born and raised in Oklahoma, but having cut their respective teeth further out in the world.

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And Nina might know know much about Oklahoma as a place, but she was good at the whole matching up accents game and Eliot had spoken during the ceremony.

"That's easy," she said, pleased at the chance to show off innocuously. "You're with Eliot, right???????"

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“You’re good,” Cassie said. “He’s my uncle.” The cool uncle, who didn’t wish she was more like her twin sister. “I’m gonna say you’re here for Hardison. You’re one of the students, right?”

And Eliot hadn’t told her about teaching any classes in awhile.

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"That's right," Nina said cheerfully. It didn't actually matter to Nina that she wasn't here because of Hardison having taught her in school.

He was a teacher and she was a student, so it wasn't even lying.

"You're good yourself!!!!!!!! What's your name?????? I'm, like, Nina!!!!!!!"

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She was, like, adorable. Cassie had never thought she’d go for an airhead, but Nina just had such a pleasant air about her.

And also seeing her talking to a cute little blonde girl was going to drive her sister NUTS.

“Cassie,” she said, offering her hand (palm up, in case she could get away with something delightfully tacky, like a hand-kiss). “It’s nice meeting you. Uncle El sure lives in a place with fabulous people.”

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In Nina's world, hand-kisses weren't tacky at all! They were polite and dashing and Nina was... all for that, really, so absolutely, Cassie was getting her hand.

"It seems like he's related to some fabulous people too," she said happily, delighted to have someone not too much older than herself to talk to. "Are you here for, like, just the wedding?????????"

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Then Nina's hand was absolutely getting kissed. Somewhere behind Nina, Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Afraid so," Cassie said, once she'd lifted her head again. "I'd love to stick around longer, but we've got a big order to take care of before festival season really kicks off." She shrugged, absolutely bragging but trying to look casual as she said. "I"m a blacksmith."

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geniuswithasmartphone

"Nina!" Hardison said, looking genuinely pleased to see her. "Thank you for comin'! You want somethin' from the milkshake bar? I got the idea from our meetin' last week!"

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"I wouldn't have missed it for anything!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said, all beaming smiles for Hardison. "Oh my gosh, a milkshake bar?????????? Really???????????????"

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geniuswithasmartphone

"It seemed like a good idea," Hardison admitted with a laugh. "Besides, it might convince my wife - " oh and what a broad smile that was " - not to just drink straight from the chocolate fountain."

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"Would she really??????????" Nina asked, delightfully intrigued. "Well, like, I suppose it's her wedding too!!!!!!!!!! Why shouldn't she??????????"

Though Nina would maybe not have any of the fountain if Parker did so.

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geniuswithasmartphone

"Mostly because if she ends up havin' that much chocolate, we're gonna have to pry her off the ceiling with a crowbar," Hardison said with a fond chuckle. "After a certain amount, she starts to almost vibrate."

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Nina giggled.

"Maaaaaaaaaaybe best to avoid that on, like, the wedding day!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she agreed. "Even though, like, it sounds like it would be amazing any other time????????????"

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Kathy recognized the girl, someone she'd seen around the island, a face in the crowd.

And it wasn't like she hadn't been wearing her own wistful expression, when she thought no one was looking.

"Hey," she said, offering the girl a smile. "I'm Kathy, Eliot's daughter. I don't think we've met? So I needed to come over and say hi."

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Maybe that was the problem with boats... there wasn't quite enough room to be off in a corner, all wistful by yourself...

Though, really, Nina was grateful for that, and for the people who came to talk to her.

"Noooooo, I don't think we've met," Nina said, smiling for Kathy. "Though I know you run the... um, adult store???????" Nina was way, way too much of a lady to call that store anything more explicit. "I'm Nina!!!!!!!!! Hardison's............ student?????????"

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"That's, ah, me, yeah," Kathy said, blushing a bit. "I was walking by when the last manager quit and flung her keys? And I picked 'em up cause I needed something to do and..."

And it had just kinda gone from there?

"Dad and Parker were my teachers before we became a family, but I never ended up in any of Hardison's classes." For inexplicable reasons, truly. "But he'd always been super-nice. And helpful. What's he teaching now anyway?"

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"I don't really know what he teaches at the school," Nina admitted, since she wasn't sure what he taught. "He's teaching me... it's more like an apprenticeship??????? For what he does professionally, rather than what he does at the school?????????"

Nina paused.

"Did... did you really wind up running a shop because someone threw their keys in your direction?????????"

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"Ohhhh," Kathy said grinning. "He's teaching you to hack! Awesome!"

Any compunctions she might have had about the legality of their professions had died long ago, before she'd even graduated.

"And yeah, I did," she said, chuckling a bit. "Pretty sure that's how Dad got the diner, too. The last guy was leaving and just threw the papers at him. Me, I called myself a manager for awhile, cause I figured someone would come and claim the place but that...kinda never happened? So now I own it. The brick and mortar part of the store doesn't do much, but the online section more than makes up for it."

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This was, like, making Nina feel like her hostile takeover of the bookstore had possibly been unwarranted but it had been funny and she got to trade insults with the other blond on a weekly basis, so she... she was still okay with her actions.

Besides, if she gave up now, Rufus would win.

"I never, like, really thought of online sales," Nina mused. "At least, not for stores here........"

Something to consider, she supposed, though she wasn't against using her bookstore as essentially her own personal library either.

Nina laughed, a little, looking a bit sheepish. "He, like, actually caught me trying to get into his stuff?????????" she admitted. "And then, like, was all awesome about it and offered to teach me properly?????????????"

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"That sounds like Hardison," Kathy said with a small laugh. "He and Eliot both. They've got this inner mantra of, like, 'everything is a teachable moment'." She shot them both a fond look.

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