Welcome to Gaia! ::

Just as he said, in the time that Toby was gone, he cleaned up the table nice and neat, and took the dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

Again, his mom stopped him, but this time, it was less harassing more... Encouraging.

When Toby returned, Izzy looked almost excited to see him. “Hey! Hey, my mom said if you wanted, I could walk with you home for a little bit, or hang out! Guess she still wants you to work for her or something! So if you want to, that might be a little cool! You’d have to wait for me to get changed, but that won’t take too long, since we live right upstairs.”

“Yup! You’re the only weirdo for me! It’s not every day I get to smear food all over a customer’s face! That was fun, I have to admit.” He could get used to this, having Toby coming over and being his customer. Granted, he wouldn’t make much money then, and Toby probably would blow through his allowance, but... It was still fun!

“Okay to finish up, you just gotta tie a really solid not at the end. That way, even if you tug at the ends, it’s not going to come loose.” As an example, he tied off the end of his project, and held it up to show the other boy. It was another moon, much like the one that hung at the front of the shop, but much, much smaller. “And you can have this one, if you want. You know, a keep sake, plus it can hang up next to yours, so you know the real, true skills of a master!”

“Yeah... Then no tips for poor Ol’ Izzy, who would just have to settle for not having any money ever. Ah well, that’s life after all.”

For a first timer, Toby wasn’t too bad at the whole macrame thing. Heck, he probably could teach it to other people if he really wanted to, and if he wanted that job seriously.

“Do you think I should go upstairs and change or just keep this on?” The embarrassment of it all kinda went away after the third or forth time Toby called him cute. Now he just felt confident in it, even if the nerd was just making fun of him. “Might take a little longer if I go change though.”

Izzy wasn’t really expecting any tip or anything, especially given the fact that Toby bought him food already. It was a pleasant surprise, and he took the payment over to the register, letting Anxo ring it up and set aside the money for him to pick up later. No need to carry the extra cash around now.

“Alright then... I will reward your generosity with this outfit. I’ll keep it on. You don’t live too far from here, right?” And besides, it was chilly outside, and wearing a coat was totally acceptable. it only took another second to grab one and slip it on.

“Lead the way.”

“Alright, let’s get going.” With a final wave to his bro behind the counter, he left the cafe and began down the street, walking by Izzy’s side.

... It was weird being outside during this time of day. It was getting to be dark soon, given the whole “sky gets darker faster due to nature” during winter, but it wasn’t something Izzy got to see frequently. Not when he worked every damned day. He wouldn’t lie, it was nice, and just cool enough to make wearing the coat worth it.

“Yeah, I do. Every damn day, work and work and work. It’s because it’s a family Cafe. My mom and dad do the cooking and baking, my brother Anxo typically handles the financials, and me and my sisters do the front service thing, teaching crafts to people and making the coffee. Since we opened up not too long ago, we wanted to make sure we did well before hiring anyone else. Sooooo, whatcha think? Besides thinking the girls were cute in their uniforms?”

“Really? Awesome, awesome! That’ll make mom and dad happy for sure! Dunno why they dreamed about having the place, but I’m glad it’s going well.” He playfully nudged Toby’s shoulder with his own. “But then again, you’re a weirdo, a nice weirdo, but... Either way, not sure how much I can trust that. But thanks anyway.”

It would be dark by the time he headed home... And crazy crap always seemed to happen at night these days... Maybe he should have taken his skates, just incase. Izzy was going to say something and mention the whole working thing, bu the caught Toby’s blush in the corner of his eyes and shook his head.

“You must be one heck of a perve, you’re always blushing, even when the girls aren’t here! Stop thinking bout my sisters, Toby. They are unavailable!”

“You weren’t? Then what were you thinking about?” Was Toby always so blushy? In the month he had known the boy, he knew him to be more snarky and playful then flustered like this. The maid outfits must have done a real number on him to be this red all the time.

... Honestly, he couldn’t blame him about that though. As annoying and itchy the lace and frills could be, they were cute as heck.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, what would you do if I said I wasn’t gonna be safe? Stop avoiding the question, Toby!”