A Red Queen Black Friday

Barnes and Noble and Buffalo Plates

Julian, Carmadon, Davidson, and Sara, who considered themselves the best team by far, had an easy job on their hands. Unlike Evangeline Samos and Maven Calore, they could get on the same page when it came to what color hand towels they thought Missus Barrow would like the most.

They spent an extensive amount of time in one of those Bed Bath and Beyond stores, where the four of them, so as to not anger the Holy Trinity, followed the provided list carefully and bought a variety of, well, bed and bath-related items. Half-off pillows and comforter sets, bathroom accessories, dinnerware, among a thousand other things now filled the trunk of Julian's small yellow car and Dane's SUV, and feeling confident in their progress, the quartet decided to take a break.

Carmadon rested his chin on his hand contemplatively as he stared down his Starbucks drink inside of the Barnes and Noble. After the torrent of middle-aged suburban women he faced at Bed Bath and Beyond and the awful, freezing snowstorm outside, he and his friends were happy to be in the sale-free warm oasis of a bookstore. Like everybody else, he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep the night before, and the hot caffeine that slid down his throat was a Godsend at nine in the morning.

"I liked the plates with the buffalos on them. Did you see that sale?" he said for the fifth time that morning.

Dane rolled his eyes endearingly at his husband. "And like I've said four times, the list mentioned nothing about buffalo plates, Carmadon. Besides," he muttered, "I don't think that buffalo plates would suit Maven's aesthetic vision."

Julian, meanwhile, turned his head towards the aisles. Sharing a peppermint mocha with Sara and surrounded by thousands of books, he had no inclination to leave. "Does anybody in that family like to read?" he asked his friends. "We should buy them some books to fill those bookshelves that Gisa keeps droning on and on about."

Carmadon shrugged. "I suppose we could. It wouldn't hurt for the older brothers or that Kilorn boy to pick up a book once in a while."

The four, happy as could be with their fancy drinks in the quiet, near-empty bookstore, shared a good laugh.