Let's Play!

Jethro was holding a huge sandwich that he had constructed from various ingredients pulled out the the refrigerator and left out on the counter. He chewed and swallowed with a huge grin as Ephriam began to gather all of his food back up with a scornful expression.



"Of course. I'd do anything for a pretty lady." It was a complete accident as Ephriam stepped on his foot.

Marina smiled sweetly and looked to Ephriam as he stepped on Jethro's foot, making a small frown and then looked to Jethro.



" So, sense your a womanizer, do i expect to see you with someone else later?"

Jethro stopped mid-chew, mouth agape with a nice mushed up contents displayed. Ephriam snickered as he ducked behind the fridge door and started shoving things back in their places. Jethro hastily swallowed.



"Womanizer?! Excuse me?!" A tomato slipped out of the man's sandwich and plopped on the floor.



"I am not a womanizer." He frowned. "I told you. I just don't like all of the emotional tie downs. It doesn't mean that I search, screw, and siphon every girl I see."

Marina looked at him with one of those ' please' kind of looks and shrugged her shoulders.



" Don't even try that one with me. I don't care what you do, but you could at least be honest about it."

Jethro waved his arms emphatically.



"Really! Why would I lie?!" Mayonnaise and lettuce was taking flight.



"You can even ask Eph! I'm not sure if you realize this, but there are girls out there that are... are... manerizers! And everything in between! You can have a person of interest without calling them your girlfriend, and vice versa. Come on into the twenty-first century! Friends with benefits?!"

" Womanizer."



she replied simply, crossing her arms and turning from him, finding his denial repulsive, and irritating, walking from him.

Ephriam, meanwhile, had stopped trying to stifle his laughter. What had been little hics and snickers was now a full, rolling laughter. Of course he was wasting energy because the refrigerator was swinging open as he stood there, but that didn't really matter. Jethro turned to his friend.



"Ephriam, tell her! Tell her that I'm not some creepy, disrespectful snake of a man." Ephriam only laughed harder, bent in half with the action.

Marina simply walked off, leaving both mean, her peace stated, soon standing at the window, looking out at the stars and moon with a hint of longing clear on her face, not wanting to repeat last night, she said nothing.

Some time after Ephriam had managed to stop laughing and Jethro had sulked off to one of the obscure depths of the castle, Ephriam walked up to Marina was a light coat in his hands for her. Not that it was exactly an abnormal thing for him to do.



"I was thinking about it while you were sleeping, and I have a better idea for tonight." He grinned at her.



"And, before you ask, it involves a car."

Marina looked to him, smiling slowly, hesitant.



" ... last night won't happen again, will it?"

Ephriam smiled warmly at her, tilting his head to the side.



"We do not need to drink every night, Marina. Besides, it involves peeeeople." He grinned, offering the jacket with the bait.

Marina smiled, slowly slipping on the jacket.



" Alright."

As Ephriam opened the car door for her to get in, Jethro stuck his head around the car.



"Where are we going?" Ephriam ignored him entirely and hopped in, shutting the door behind him and Jethro was left standing out in the cold.



It wasn't too long until the sounds of the place rose up. There were a lot of people, which was somewhat surprising for the time of night. Ephriam opened the door for Marina, exposing a long street of bustling people.

Marina looked about, smiling softly as she took in the crowds, looking to Ephriam, knowing he tended to avoid this, waitin on his lead at this point.

Ephriam took her hand and then took in the multitude of people as the car pulled away. He took a breath, eyes turning to Marina with a faint tint of laughter dancing in them as he tugged her towards the street. There were vendors shouting out wares and the people rushed about everywhere. Ephriam tugged towards what appeared to be a clothing store.



"Shopping. Indulge."

Marina couldn't really stop herself at this point. It'd been so long since she'd shopped. Full out shopped, she suddenly remembered how much she loved it as she was soon trying on, looking through, and admiring nearly everything, having the best time, in a long time.

Ephriam simply followed along behind her, not saying anything that wasn't required. He held whatever he handed to her, smiled when it was needed, and nodded in approval. The man wasn't really that big on shopping, but at the same time he liked to see her so happy.

Feeling slightly guilty as she looked to the packages Ephriam was carrying ( Of course, she'd used her cards, might as well use the money...) and felt guilty.



" I'm sorry, we can stop, you know..."

Ephriam just looked at her from around the side of the stack, slowly bringing one eyebrow up to an arc.



"Why are you sorry? I would not have brought you here if I expected something other than this." The man took a glance at the numerous packages before sidling a little closer.



"But if you get too much more, you are going to have to carry a few. I am starting to get some strange looks, if you know what I mean." And in fact it was so. It was kind of like when the cheeses walked into Marina's room earlier. Except... with boxes and bags and things. Ephriam walked on, eyeing the next store with a sort of pensive consideration.

Marina smiled, easily taking care of his problem. She purchased a wheel barrel and placed the items in it's care, and walked on, letting him steer his new form of lugging her purchases about.

Ephriam was debating whether this method was ingenious or embarrassing. Either way, there wasn't much he could do about it and just let it go. He would have felt guilty for letting her drop so much of her own money, if it were not for the fact that he knew how easily she could afford it. The man paused for a minute as they passed by a rather run down little store with its shades pulled down.



"Do you suppose - since we are here anyhow - that we could stop by this store for just a minute? I would like to check on something."

" Is it safe for me to go with you?"



Marina asked in response, looking him over slowly.

Ephriam looked at her for a long moment, his mouth twitching as though fighting a smile.



"He is more like you than he is like me. The worst he could do is talk your ear off." Ephriam reached for the doorknob, pushing open the old door with a creak and holding it for Marina.

" Can't blame me for asking, I don't want everyone at my throat. Only you."



She replied softly, walking in as he bid.

"You should know that there aren't very many with tastes quite like mine." Ephriam followed her in, lugging the wheelbarrow with him. It seemed like he was now able to play the pun game with Marina. The voice of an elderly man drifted from the back of the store.



"I should say so. That is, if my ears do not deceive me and I do hear the voice of a young Mister Dimmura." A squat little man came out through a door and behind a counter. This store was a very peculiar one. It was a bit dusty and somewhat cluttered, but something about it seemed to sing in the silence. Golden light bounced off of the many polished things. The stock ranged from clocks, to musical instruments, to some select jewelry. Everything, however, seemed old but restored to new. It seemed to belong together.

Marina smiled slightly, watching him move, relieving him of the wheelbarrel ( By setting it down), letting him speak at ease.

Ephriam walked up to the counter, the old man smiling wide and speaking with a sort of scrambled excitement.



"By golly, I was just thinkin' to meself the other day, I was. I was thinkin' 'That young Mister Dimmura should be stoppin' by soon or else I should give away his package.' These things are in high supply, you know, Lad." Ephriam gave and easy sort of smile that said that he didn't believe a word of it.



"You know as well as I do that you are lucky to have anyone wanting to buy that sort of thing. You should almost be paying me to take it off your hands and free up a bit of inventory space." The old man laughed slightly.



"Now, now you know 'swell as I that it would be foolish to reach over a dollar to pick up a dime. But then you know ol' me." The old man mischievously. "In for a penny, in for a pound." Ephriam just smiled and nodded, eyes drifting over the merchandise at the counter.



"So then the same price as usual?" The old man nodded.



"Yes, seems like it." He shuffled over to a shelf, readjusting his glasses and squinting through them to look over several cubby-holes in the wall. He then pulled out a small parcel of wrapped brown paper. The man set it down on the counter and began to scribble something out one what looked to be a receipt book. But then he paused and looked up at Ephriam. "Oh! Young Mister Dimmura, I jus' found meself thinking. You brought yerself a lovely lady today. Perhaps she would like something from an ol' man's wares too? A trinket perhaps? Lovely ladies love little trinkets and things. It would be awful to neglect her so, young Mister Dimmura."

Marina glanced at Ephriam, her look clear, something along the lines of ' sweet offer, but he creeps me out' as she glanced to the door, not liking the suddenly slimey feeling she was getting. It felt off to her here, and she couldn't place why.

Ephriam caught her glance easily. He gazed the man directly in the eye, his expression almost seeming depressed, his voice dropping to hushed tones.



"Sir, you know that I would if I could. But times are hard now, I have been scrimping for this as it were. Please, do not make me dull in the eyes of my lady." If Marina had even a shred of a brain, she would know that he was lying, if though rather convincingly. Ephriam had never complained about the price of something. He had never even mentioned the idea of not having enough money. The old man looked at Ephriam, and his expression seemed to soften.



"Oh, Son. Forgive an ol' geezer like me. I am sure that she will like you just the same. My ol' lady married me and the most I ever was thinkin' to get her was a pair of silk stockings." Ephriam just looked down, seeming to be ashamed. "Here, I'll save you a frank or two so you can go buy the girlie something from the sweet shop down the street." The man didn't say anything else, exchanging the small parcel for some money. Ephriam walked towards the door, his head inclined and shoulders slumped slightly. Still, as he walked past Marina he glanced at her with eyes that seemed to dance. Time to go.

Marina didn't point out the wheel barrel of things in their possession as they left, lookign to Ephriam now, the ' I didn't enjoy that, what was it about' clear on her face as she looked at him questioningly.

((Funny how that works, eh?))



Ephriam looked at her as he tucked the parcel into the edge of the wheelbarrow.



"This is the only place that I can get what I wanted for the next seven hundred miles at least." Ephriam picked up the handles again. "I'm sorry. I know the guy is a bit cooky and somewhat of a swindler, but I promise he is overall harmless - unless you happen to be some form of currency."

" Not really what I was fishing for. Promise more of an answer later?"



she asked curiously, looking him over.

Ephriam looked at her an nodded. He didn't mention that it would be a lot easier to give her a straight answer if he had a straight question to begin with. Either way, he threw a glance at the sweet shop.



"I would say that I feel obligated to buy you a sweet because he gave me a discount, but..." Ephriam gave a small smile. "I do not. I just like candy. Feel up to another stop, or would you rather do something else?"

" We can stop there, but I want more stops after, if I may?"

Ephriam nodded.



"Of course." He popped into the store and immediately picked up a lollipop that was at least half the size of his head in diameter. The man looked at Marina, fully intending to buy whatever she picked out.

Marina laughed, simply gesturing to the old fashioned candies, loving them, and all of their brightly colored wrappers.

Ephriam scooped out about a pound or so of those candies, pouring them into a plastic bag. No sooner had he bought the goods did he tear into the huge sucker and begin to enjoy himself. He cast a glance at Marina, and he waited to see what was next.

Leading from jewelry shop, to shoe store, to hobby obsessed stands, Marina covered Every.Single.Solitary. Stand. AND. Store.



*Two wheel barrels later, and a very tired Marina*

Ephriam seemed to have a faint smile permanently imprinted into his face as he loaded yet even more stuff into the car. It was a good thing that the didn't ride in some little compact or something. Still, the driver didn't seem pleased.



"Shall we go?" His eyes considered Marina carefully.

<Marina ignored the unhappy car driver, lookign to Ephriam, moving to kiss him, beaming herself.



" Let's go home. I want some time with you now."