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 Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:23 pm
✖ Sweetest Thing: A Good Choice ✖
Cesc was not there when Jackie came into Vermillion the next Tuesday afternoon. Vivi and Shepard were, both standing behind the counter and talking to other patrons. Jackie stood on her tiptoes and tried to look in the back, to see if she could spot any pink hair.
The bakery was a little more filled than it usually was when she arrived. People were talking to Shepard and Vivi, trying samples, ordering drinks. The small seating area was almost entirely filled. Jackie could barely even get a good view of Shepard, busy as he was, and her view obstructed by others in line in front of her.
A faint feeling of disappointment settled in her chest.
When she got to the front of the line, Shepard was still serving someone else. So she was face to face with the energetic Frenchwoman, who immediately smiled in recognition.
“Jackie, was it not?” she said. “Cesc’s taste-tester!”
Jackie nodded. “Hi.”
“Well, it is lovely to see you! What can I get for you, mme. Jackie?”
“Uhm…” Jackie looked over at the display case, hesitating. She’d had so much time, and there were people behind her, she should have already decided. But she’d spent so much time trying to see Shep, or verify that Cesc wasn’t there…
“Is Cesc here?” she blurted without meaning to. She looked fixedly at the display case, as though she had asked it instead of Vivi.
“Ah, no, Cesc is off today,” said Vivi apologetically. “I am afraid he has no offerings for you to test today. He is off exploring somewhere, I am certain – but do not worry, he will be back again tomorrow!”
Jackie nodded slowly. “I’ll just get a, uhm, macron. Chocolate.”
“Fantastic choice~” the Frenchwoman lilted. As she opened a bag, she looked slyly over at Jackie. “Would you like me to tell Cesc that you came by?”
Jackie shook her head quickly. “That’s okay!”
Vivi nodded in reply.
As Jackie paid, she could not help but ask: “Are there a lot of… his type?”
Vivi slotted the money into the cash register, smiling. “Of his species? There are around thirty or so, I believe. Of his type? No. I would not say so, myself.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:24 pm
✖ PRP: A Warm Place✖
Wherein, back in the December cold, Rhedefre goes to make a long-awaited apology. * [ongoing]
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Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:25 pm
✖ Sweetest Thing VII: Valentine's Day ✖
Jackie stood outside Vermillion for the fourth time that month. Her hair was done up, fastened with pink flowers. Her cheeks were pink. Her dress was pink. Everything, it seemed, was pink.
Valentine’s Day.
She usually hated Valentine’s Day. Loathed it. It was another day the Andrews of the world liked to pick on the single girls and the Angelas of the world always managed to have boyfriends for. The Jackies of the world never had boyfriends. The Jackies of the world sucked at boyfriends.
She opened the door to Vermillion and stepped in.
Pink hair behind the counter.
“Jackie!” Cesc lifted a hand to wave at her from behind the counter. The bakery was swamped, full to the brim of googly-eyed couples, but he saw her instantly as she came in. She smiled and waved back, and waited patiently for her turn.
“You look beautiful,” Cesc said as she approached the counter. “I like the flowers.”
Jackie smiled.
Things were looking up.
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Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:27 pm
✖ Sweetest Thing VIII: Spring Thaw ✖
March melted away February’s icy cold. The bakery began to decorate in spring colors, and Jackie noticed, startled, that she had gained five pounds and was about to have to start shedding layers.
“I have to start cutting back on sweets,” she moaned, putting her head down on the bakery table.
“Just come running with me in the mornings,” Cesc said behind the counter, wiping a coffee mug. Jackie lifted her head and stared at him.
“Be serious,” she said, putting her head back down. She watched him as he worked – she liked to watch him work. He had a routine, simple and quick, and his hands were clever and sure. She never saw him drop a plate or a pastry, not once, not yet.
He turned back toward her. “Why do you need to cut back on sweets?”
“Because I do,” Jackie mumbled. She prodded her textbook with a pencil.
“Liking my baking less?” Cesc hummed quietly, putting a cup away.
“Of course not.” Jackie stuck her tongue out. “That’s stupid.”
Cesc leaned forward on the counter, watching her. His eyes were always gentle, Jackie noticed, but his gaze was sharp. She closed her eyes to escape it.
* * *
Sometimes she thought about his hands.
Or his jaw.
Or his smile.
Sometimes she thought about what it would be like if he were human, full-bodied and her age, in her class. His hair would still be pink, she thought – she couldn’t imagine him with hair of any other color. And he would still talk the same way, and look at her and everyone the same way, and bake the same way.
He’d be in her class, but he’d still listen to her with the same interest, and look at her with the same directness, and find her fascinating and worthwhile.
Angela would be wild with jealousy at it.
He’d ask her to dances, or out to see movies. Maybe they wouldn’t really be dates, just outings between friends, but he’d still look at her with that warmth in his eyes and earnestness in his smile and she’d feel just as special as she ever did when he laughed at something she said.
Maybe he’d kiss her once.
Maybe she’d like it.
Jackie usually stopped thinking around there. It was unhelpful, and it stung her heart to think of his mouth on hers.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:32 am
✖ Sweetest Thing IX: Girlfriend✖
“You’ve been kind of quiet lately,” Cesc said in mid-March, his sleeves rolled up, his hands fiddling with the apron tie over his shoulders.
Jackie looked toward him, her chin in her hands.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked.
He seemed surprised by the question, his eyebrows going up into his hair. Then he smiled, relaxing, and shrugged. “I have many.”
Jackie frowned. “Many girlfriends?”
“I confess,” Cesc said. “I am not entirely sure what you mean to ask me.”
Jackie put the back of her hand to her cheek, as though checking her temperature. From the corner of her eye, she saw Vivi turn subtly toward her, then back away again.
“Never mind,” she said.
Cesc floated over, refilling her water. He smiled, the expression sweet.
“No,” he said. “I do not have a girlfriend.”
Jackie closed both of her eyes and tried not to smile.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:35 am
✖ Sweetest Thing X: Daring ✖
It was Sunday, and early.
Jackie entered Vermillion, and could see that it surprised Shepard, who was still unstacking chairs.
“You’re early,” he said. His voice still made her feel weak. She could still not quite look fully into his face.
“Got a hankering for one of those profiteroles,” Jackie said in explanation. “Is Cesc in?”
Shepard smiled. “Yeh, he’s in.” He set the chair he was working with down. “Do you want me to get him for you?”
“That’s okay,” Jackie said. She slid into a nearby table, smoothing her skirt over her knees. “He’ll be down soon, right?”
“Absolutely,” said Shep. He hesitated, lingering for a moment. Jackie snuck a look at him, at his broad chest and unshaven jaw.
“Hey,” he said. “You two are pretty good friends, yeah?”
Jackie straightened, smiling. The thought made her heart swell. “Kind of, yeah.”
“You’ve got, ah…” Shepard looked down, then away. “Nah, never mind.”
“What?” Jackie pressed.
“Nothing,” said Shepard. He gestured to the back of the kitchen, where Cesc floated out, his arms filled with a basket of baguettes. His face lit into a smile as he saw Jackie.
“Good morning,” he said. “You’re early today!”
“Just wanted a cream puff,” Jackie mumbled, combing out her hair with her fingers. “Do you think you could make me one?”
“Of course,” said Cesc. “It is quite easy – do you want to come back and see how I do it?”
Jackie slid quickly from her chair, standing up straight. “Yes. Yes, definitely.”
With a grin, Cesc waved her over. “Come on, then.”
Jackie felt a thrill shoot up her spine as Cesc opened the counter to let her come over to the bakery side. She had never seen the back up close, never seen Cesc work except for to hand her pastries. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Shepard made a motion -- maybe a stop motion, something with his hands, and then shake his head. He did not follow them into the back.
She watched him with an almost unnecessarily high amount of excitement as he poured cream into a mixing bowl, vanilla, and sugar. She delighted beyond reason in watching him turn on a mixer, slice open a pastry puff, and slowly temper chocolate over a low flame.
She stayed close to him, asked pertinent questions, and then watched his face instead of his hands, enjoying his expression and his focus.
She was close enough to smell him, his natural smell that lingered under the sugar and the vanilla, the faint smell of the outdoors and fresh grass. She leaned in, and he did not stop her, so she stayed near.
Cesc put the profiterole on a plate, piped whipped cream into it, and then drizzled chocolate over. He leaned over the plate, focused, and did not notice as she leaned over him, their faces close.
He turned his head upward, toward her, to say that he was done, and she did it.
She kissed him.
Her knees were weak, and her heart thudded so hard she was certain the whole place shook in time with it, but she kissed him, full on the mouth, over the smell of vanilla and chocolate.
Cesc was not sweet to the taste. His lips were not sugar. His skin was not confection. They were lips and skin, the same as any boy Jackie had kissed before.
But when he straightened slightly, and put a hand in her hair, and kissed her in return, it was better and sweeter than anything she’d ever tasted.
“What was that for?” he said, very quietly, when he pulled away. There was a strange confusion in his bright eyes, but he lingered close, and Jackie felt her hands begin to tremble. He laughed a soft laugh, shaking his head, like he was trying to right his mind. “The profiterole is not that hard to make.”
“I like you,” Jackie whispered. “I like you a lot.”
Cesc’s smile faded slightly. Jackie’s hands found each other and twisted. She put a little distance between them, breathing room, away from his lips and his scent and the sadness around his smile.
“Jackie,” Cesc said. He touched his lips and then looked up at the ceiling, the way he did when he could not remember words or syntax and was trying to compose a thought. Jackie felt pinpricks behind her eyes.
“It’s okay,” she said, shaking her head.
“It is not. Not if you feel badly.” Cesc shook his head. “Jackie –“
“It’s okay,” she said again, putting her hands to her face as her eyes welled over. “It’s really, really okay.”
Cesc floated close to her, taking a towel from a shelf, and touched it to her face. He took her hands away from her cheeks, his touch soft.
She let herself cry into him, standing there in the bakery, for a long time.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:37 am
✖ Sweetest Thing XI: Epilogue ✖
“Do you think she will come back to the bakery?” Cesc asked late that night, his chin on his folded arms as he looked up at Vivi and Shepard.
Shepard’s mouth was crooked downward, more on one side than another. He cradled a beer between his hands, then took a long sip.
“Cheri, I do not think so,” Vivi said softly. “It takes much courage to kiss a man when you are sixteen, you know. To put your heart out in this way.”
Cesc looked down, his expression glum.
“You didn’t know she liked you?” Shepard asked.
Cesc shook his head. He crooked a faint, helpless smile. “Not even just after she kissed me. Not until she said it outright.”
Shepard and Vivi scoffed as one.
“You are dense, my friend,” Shepard said, putting the beer heavily down on the table. “Why do you think she kept coming to the bakery?”
Cesc threw up his hands. “To be friends? I enjoyed seeing her…”
“Uneducated, I think, to the romance,” laughed Vivi, her eyes wet with amusement. “Pauvre femme! What an idiot she latched her heart onto.”
Cesc’s smile grew more helpless. “I thought she liked Shepard.” His expression grew tense, confused. “Why would she like me rather than Shepard?”
Shepard snorted. “Selling yourself a little short there, aren’t you?”
Vivi touched Cesc lightly on the shoulder. “You cannot willfully misunderstand these things, my sweet one, even if they make you uncomfortable. The girl, she had eyes for you for some weeks, I think.”
Cesc frowned, shaking his head. His smile became dim, then extinguished. “And I hurt her. How can I make it up to her?”
Vivi shook her head. “You cannot always make it up to people, Rhedefre. You cannot meet forever in the middle, especially in things like this. She will come back, and be friends, or she will not – but it is her decision to make.”
Cesc dug his fingers into his hair, his expression troubled. “I messed up.”
Shepard stood, patting Cesc roughly on the back. “Get used to it, Rhede. Love is messing up repeatedly. All the time. Just got to shake it off, do what you can, and keep moving.”
Cesc sighed and nodded, but the tips of his mouth did not rise.
* * *
“Hey,” he said to Shepard the next morning, coming beside him as Shepard rolled out the dough for the morning loaves. “Do you mind making the pastries for a while?”
“Why?” Shepard asked, clapping his hands of excess flour.
Cesc shrugged.
“Not really in the mood to face the éclairs and profiteroles for a while?” Shepard prompted.
Cesc nodded.
“Too bad, Rhede,” said Shepard.
Cesc looked up, surprised.
“It sucks,” said Shepard. “Sucks that you got into an awkward situation with your friend. And I hope she comes back sometime. But you can’t escape this stuff, or avoid what you’re feeling from it.”
Shepard leaned into the dough, kneading. “Sometimes love sucks. Sometimes it goes how you want, and sometimes it doesn’t. But you always get something, whether it’s what you wanted or not, and Jackie got a kiss out of you, and that’s worth something. So don’t take it out on the pastries, Rhede, and quit feeling sorry for her and yourself and get back to it.”
Cesc stared at him. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay.”
He pulled out a box of flour and began to measure out his amounts.
“Tell me this, though,” said Shepard, setting his dough aside to rise. “Was it your first kiss?”
Cesc smiled faintly. “Yeah.”
“Well, then,” said Shepard. “That sounds like plenty to me.”
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:40 am
✖ PRP: Into Cooling Twilight ✖
Wherein spring brings back an old friend -- with a new one. * "She seemed upset to meet me," said Rhedefre later. "The woman."
Vivi smiled and kissed his forehead. "No, no, cheri. Just unexpected."
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:43 am
✖ PRP: Sunny Sunday ✖
Wherein Rhedefre and Vivi accidentally stir some feelings for Lazarus. * "He was nice," said Cesc as he gloved the ball.
"A shame we do not see him more often!" agreed Vivi.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:45 am
✖ PRP: Sweet Selection ✖
Wherein Xiu finally confides in his younger friend. * Cesc closed his eyes and thought a while about muteness.
It made him ache to sing.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:48 am
✖ PRP: The Morning After ✖
Wherein Rhedefre discovers the after-effects of Lulu and Luka's brutal encounter. * Cesc stroked Luka's hair gently as Shepard drove.
He was still afraid what might happen if he fell asleep.
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Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:23 am
✖ PRP: Aftermath ✖
Wherein after Luka's accident, Shep and Cesc take him in to the lab to get looked at. * [ongoing]
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Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:16 am
✖ PRP: Treasure Hunt of a Curious Kind ✖
Wherein Cesc and Xiu's hunt for Xiu's voice leads them to a place unexpected. * "And so," Vivi said as the tale ended, her knees up to her chest, eyes bright. "Who is his lover?"
"I do not know," laughed Cesc, his palms open and up. "I saw him drifting toward the Lab, the last I saw him.
Vivi ticked off numbers on her fingers while Shepard laughed into a beer bottle. "Alex, Dr. Kyou, Isikoro, Zul, and Zeke, I think we can count as out. That would leave for our Xiu: Anya or Lazarus."
Cesc's face grew thoughtful as Vivi's broke into a wide and impish grin.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:54 pm
✖ Solo: One Year (May 31, 2013) ✖
Grumpaws did not know a year had passed All he knew Was that Rhedefre was the only one who'd pet him pre-dawn So like every morning He stuck his face into the crook between Cesc's neck and shoulder And purred * "I'm going to bake you a cake," said Granny Maplethorpe, and Cesc laughed. "We have so many cakes," he exclaimed. "Yes, but I did not make them," she said with a snort. "Not especially for you." So he watched her bake. * Shepard pretended he forgot. But Cesc knew he was lying Because the whole day Every time he looked at him Shep smiled. "A ******** ' year," he said, shaking his head. * "A year ago! So quick it passes," Vivi hummed. "I scarcely believe it." "I know," said Rhedefre, squeezing her. "You looked so much younger then. A little baby with a baby's face. I wish I had a camera with me that day. I would have shown you." Cesc smiled. "Well, we have one now." 
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:58 pm
✖ PRP: Not as Think as You Drunk I Am ✖
Wherein, one year ago, Shepard and Vivi and Alex and Zeke get rather drunk.* [ongoing]
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