Rainy Day Madness: Part Two

Word Count: 1,360

Prompts: Under the Rain – Follow the Sign – Mid-Afternoon

Summary: If someone were to see them on the road side by side, they wouldn't be able to tell you who looked more ticked off.

Notes: This has no relation to 'Rainy Day Madness', besides the rain.

Leo's hair was plastered to his head from the rain and his glasses were fogged from the summer humidity, but you didn't need to see his face to feel the irritated air coming off of him.

There was rainwater in Elliot's boots, since he accidentally kept stepping in puddles that sent the water over the rim of them. The whole left side of his body was drenched and muddy due to a miscalculated step that had ended with him downed on the side of the road. Leo had walked past without even glancing at him as Elliot had picked himself out of the mud. The only thing Leo had done was give a wide step over the slippery stone in the road.

If someone were to see them on the road side by side, they wouldn't be able to tell you who looked more ticked off.

They had been following directions and signs the whole mid-afternoon, trying to find the seamstress that Elliot had placed an order with some time ago. Leo hadn't gone with that time, but if he had known that Elliot would have forgotten the location, he would have been more apt to force the directions out of Elliot for Leo's own sanity.

The order was for Elliot's sister, Vanessa. It was a new leather jacket. It was to be a surprise birthday present, since her old coat was wearing out. Elliot had put the order in at a more discreet shop at some unknown place in town, for the whole surprise gift secrecy thing.

It hadn't been raining when Elliot had been going to pick the order up. He had demanded Leo come with, just because Leo had been sitting on the balcony reading, doing nothing constructive in Elliot's eyes.

It had not taken long for the blue sky to become dark and forbidding. The rain came down so thick sometimes that Leo could hardly see in front of him. The summer heat made everything muggy, and the rain did nothing to cool them down because it was like warm bathwater.

During the downpour, they were running through the streets trying to find something that might look familiar to Elliot.

Also, due to the 'secrecy act', Elliot had withheld information from his family as to where they had been going. So now they were lost and on top of that, no one knew where they were or what time they should have been expecting them home.

Elliot suddenly stopped dead and Leo ran into him – nearly throwing Elliot back into the mud again.

"This is it," Elliot shouted over the drumbeat of the rain, as he pushed Leo away from him, so his valet didn't 'accidentally' knock him into the muck. Elliot was into the store before Leo could say anything.

Leo hid from the rain by standing as close to the building as he could. It was a little drier until the drain gutter on the house broke and his head was met with slimy, dirty water.

When Elliot came back out, Leo was picking out twigs and leaves from his hair. It didn't take long for Leo's sharp eyes to catch that Elliot wasn't holding a package.

"Where is it?" he said through clenched teeth.

"She said to come back tomorrow – it still isn't finished."

"Didn't you even think about having a note sent to you as to when it was done?"

"Of course not! What have I been telling you all this time about being quiet about it?"

Leo didn't quite care anymore if Vanessa found out or not. In fact, it would have been a whole lot less troublesome if Vanessa had just known, because then Elliot would have put the order in at a closer store. Then they would not have been standing in the rain right now. Oh, no. They would have taken a carriage like every other normal person out there.

"Vanessa's birthday is tomorrow," Leo reminded him.

Elliot gave him an exasperated look. "Idiot. Don't you think that my sister has reminded me of this nearly fifteen times this morning?"

"I guess you'll have to stay here until tomorrow." Leo started stomping through the puddles on the streets. He hadn't been able to memorize any details of the streets or houses, so they were bound to be as lost tomorrow as they had been today. Unless the storm cleared up, but that wasn't looking very promising, since it was raining harder than before.

"Oh, really. I should stay here? You're the valet. I should make you stay here."

"Don't push your luck."

They both glared at each other until the flash of lightning went off, followed by the crack of thunder.

Leo didn't mind storms, but standing in the middle of a turning potentially dangerous one was a different matter.

They heard the seamstress shout to them at an interval where the thunder wasn't dominating. She beckoned them into the store. They didn't hesitate at the offering.

Once inside the store, she handed them both towels and brought them chairs. The few girls currently working brought them tea and some small cookies. Leo was impressed that Elliot had been able to find a store that tried for higher-class service, even if they were lacking in some other aspects. The store was relatively small, and their spools of material seemed few.

"It seems dangerous for young boys to be out in such a storm. You apparently had some important business to attend to for you to come out in such weather."

Leo was glad that Elliot had a right mind not to mention that they had gone out before the weather had turned. "Yes," Elliot said, "It's a birthday present for my sister."

"Oh, so sweet," the lady cooed. Leo had decided that he didn't like her. She seemed like the epitome of the saying 'wolf in sheep's clothing'.

She only spoke with Elliot, since it was not hard to tell which one was the noble out of the two. As Elliot talked to her, saying how his sister's birthday was tomorrow, and how he was wondering if there was a way that the process could be sped up, Leo's eyes traveled around the room. Most of the girls – some sewing, some cutting, and some pulling spools from the shelves – watched Elliot out of the corner of their eyes. It wasn't until Leo's glasses cleared a bit did he notice that some of them were watching him, too.

"Well, you see," the lady was saying, "I could speed up the process, but that would mean you'd have a rush-order delivery, and you'll have to pay for it."

Elliot gave a glance at Leo, but Leo just gave him a sigh in return.

"Fine," Elliot finally said, pulling out his money bag. Leo wondered if Elliot had enough, since the price would have certainly gone up a decent amount.

The seamstress clapped her hands and the girls dropped what they were doing and leapt to the other project. They were done in less than five minutes. The jacket obviously hadn't needed that much done on it; it practically had only needed its button clips.

Leo was sure there was steam coming from Elliot's ears, but Leo only kept his head down as he laughed silently.

So Elliot paid double for the jacket - which was now folded and encased in a box – even though he could have just waited the extra day to achieve the regular price.

Leo had been correct – the woman was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The rain had stopped by the time they had gotten outside, just the drippings from the leaves and rooftops the only thing continuing with the raindrops. The sun also had decided to come out, causing all of that lovely moisture to start to rise up, making Elliot and Leo breathe hard from the heat.

Elliot gasped and it didn't take long for Leo to notice what he was staring at – you could see the Nightray castle turrets from here. Leo couldn't help his smile.

Somehow, everything that had happened to Elliot today seemed like revenge for dragging Leo out to town with him.