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It felt good to be out of school, and for once, it wasn't because she was skipping school (for once). Ever since she had gained employment, she was allowed to get out of classes early on certain days to work, thanks to that nifty little program Maddy worked out for her, and today was a rare day that Krishna didn't need her help at Padma's Bouquet. Of course it'd mean a smaller paycheck, but it gave Gwen the rest of the day to goof around, and today was going to be a special day.

She had plans for today, and she made her way towards Horizon Institute for Technology and Science, to meet a special someone. Anandi would be getting out of classes soon as well, and Gwen was eager to see her girlfriend, this time without any battles or anyone else to get in their way. Of course, Gwen knew that she'd eventually have to break the news to Maddy, as well as introduce Anandi to Micah... perhaps meeting the person that's been preoccupying her mind and time would cheer the little rat up? He had been appearing rather down recently...

Nevertheless, Gwen waited eagerly outside of HITS, listening to her CD player (yes, she still had one of those) and humming along, looking around at everything and nothing. She cared for only two things right now. Seeing Anandi's cheerful face again, and perhaps after an exchange of words, something to put inside of her belly. Gwen was starving.

Gwen hadn't been waiting for too long, but even if she was, the welcome she received as well as just being around Anandi in general would have been well worth the wait. After all, she was worth being put in the hospital for, right? What was a few minutes to Gwen after that ordeal.

When Anandi wrapped her arms around her and bounced, Gwen bounced along with her, expressing such joy and giddiness that the usually rough and tumble tough girl tried to hide but failed miserably when in her girlfriend's presence. They may have received some looks, but Gwen didn't see them, and she didn't care. If they had a problem, then she'd knock them out, simple as that.

But they weren't on her mind. Anandi was, and once the two were grounded again, she listened to her apologies and shrugged them off. "Don't worry about it. One of us has to have the higher education and we all know it can't be me!"

Gwen wasn't too interested in talking about school, so when Anandi brought up the question, she jumped on it quicker than a tiger on its prey. "Can we get something to eat? I'm starving! Unless you brought something with you?"

She looked at Anandi with hungry eyes, almost wishing she had. Anandi's cooking was always so, SO damn good... she was certain that she packed on a few pounds since dating her, but it was worth the weight gain.

It took everything for Gwen not to want to roll her eyes at Anandi's mini lecture, but it seemed that her own stomach and her girlfriend's ever eager and helpful nature had saved her from having to defend her decision, not to mention break poor Anandi's heart. Gwen was pretty set in her ways on this matter, but now was neither the time nor place. She'd simply have to worry about it later, as there was something far more important on Gwen's mind right now.

Food.

"Aw, I was really looking forward to your cooking... it blows everything else out of the water!" Gwen said, partially joking but meaning for it to be taken as a compliment. This simply meant that she'd have to treat Anandi to one of the many places there, and while Thai sounded interesting, Gwen's eyes caught sight of the new donut shop, called Jelly Rolls. "I think my sweet tooth is calling. Ever since I started working at Padma's Bouquet, I've been across the street from a candy shop and all I want is something sweet! Can we have donuts?"

Gwen was willing to try anything- if Anandi wanted Thai, then they'd have Thai... first, then maybe move to Jelly Rolls for dessert. Gwen was THAT hungry...

It provided the perfect distraction for Gwen, and Gwen couldn't help but beam at Anandi's reaction. She loved sweets herself, but it was always better to see someone else get super excited and it not be a little child making a B-line for Sugar Shanty (Gwen had seen her fair share of of happy children recently and it only served to make her a little jealous).

Part of her wished Anandi hadn't have gone into so much detail about donuts, though, as now the growling in her stomach had turned into all out roars, as though there was a tiger within her gut and it was screaming to get some food down there. She resisted the urge to pat her stomach and say 'soon' as Anandi all but pulled her along.

She considered Anandi's question, before ultimately deciding, "Eclairs, and anything with a creamy center. And chocolate... though, I never had a tiger striped donut yet. I might request one, if they do requests!"

Her mouth was watering just thinking about it, and they couldn't have arrived at Jelly Rolls any sooner. She was so hungry that she almost overlooked just how close this place was to Padma's Bouquet, and she couldn't help but comment on that. "Huh... this is really close to where I work. This is going to ruin my figure, if your cooking doesn't!"

To answer her second question, Anandi did resemble a princess, and it was enough for Gwen to completely forgive her for bringing up her 'studies' once again. She answered without hesitation, pointing to Padma's Bouquet, not knowing or caring if her boss was inside or not as her mind was on her girlfriend and food. "There, at Padma's Bouquet. I'm not really into flowers and plants, but it's a nice change of pace and the customers are really interesting, so it's pretty okay. My boss is a bit..." She struggled coming up with a word to describe him, as it would have sounded more negative than it was meant to be, and eventually she just went with something simple. "Well, he's a stick in the mud, but I respect him for that."

There were times when working for him was stressful, but Gwen never held it against him. He didn't talk a lot, if at all, and he only got terse with her if she wasn't doing something right or was risking damaging his plants. He was just very passionate about his plants, and Gwen could respect that. But they weren't here to talk about Krishna, and she pointed to the store across the street before they stepped into Jelly Rolls. "Oh, and be careful going into that place. The owner, Richard, is a pervert and will try to look under your skirt if he thinks you're old enough."

But, given their uniforms, Gwen wasn't too worried about that. And if Richard DID try flirting with Anandi, he was going to get it... a good, solid punch to the eye, that is! The poke to her stomach was enough to help take her mind off of the matter, and she gave a playful huff, "You'd be the only one I know that could make heathy food taste delicious... though, I think this Tiger gets enough exercise to where it's not a problem, right?"

The aroma of donuts took her mind completely off Richard and her job, and while she didn't bounce towards the counter, she was close behind Anandi, and she all but clung to the glass display to look at all the donuts. So many, but where to start! She wanted to get ALL of them, or at least one of each, but she didn't bring that much with her. That didn't mean she couldn't try imagining how each and everyone tasted, and she hopes she wasn't drooling too bad when she looked back at her girlfriend. "So, what you want?"

Now this was a pleasant surprise for Gwen, and she did nothing to hide her surprise as she looked to Anandi. "Small world, huh! I had no idea you two knew each other... does that mean I'm going to have to keep an eye on you two?"

She made no comment about Krishna himself- he may have been a grouch and didn't talk much, but he wasn't a bad guy and Gwen couldn't really blame him for being the way he was. Besides, he gave her a job, despite having little knowledge of plants and no work experience, so he had to have been a good guy. (Not to mention she more or less had no right to talk or think ill of him considering she owed him for wrecking his store that one night.) No, that wasn't for Anandi's ears.

When Anandi brought up meeting her family, Gwen couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and it showed by just how intently she was staring at the Boston cream filled rolls in front of her. Gwen was eager to meet Anandi's family, but she couldn't help but fear what her own family would think. Then, she remembered a key detail... she was already in bad relations with some members of her family, and they would be far too distracted by her baby brother's birth to really care about what she was doing...

It was that, and the suggestion to get a baker's dozen, that cleared Gwen's mind, and when she spoke, one would have never have thought that she was just moments away from having a complete and total mental meltdown. "I don't know, is your family awesome enough to handle me? Our combined powers might make their heads explode..."

She was joking, of course, but Gwen flashed her girlfriend a mischievous smile, just to make sure she knew. She wasn't too worried for herself, but for Anandi, but that was a bridge that they'd have to cross together later. After donuts, which brought her to wave the employee down. "Can we have one of the raspberry jelly confection and a baker's dozen of these right here, please!"

"Hmmmm... Hindi... well, I've already butchered French and some Spanish, so why not add Hindi to the list of languages I've floundered my way through?" Gwen meant it as a joke, of course, even if it was at her own expense. She had taken French back in her hometown in elementary school and had started on Spanish in middle school, but she didn't do well on either one. French sounded too snooty and try as she might, Gwen could never roll the RR's for Spanish, and it was awkward when trying to tell the difference between a dog and a but. But Gwen was willing to give Hindi a try, and it wasn't just to impress her boss. "Maybe I can impress your family too? You know, make them overlook anything they might find to be weird..."

There was a list, but Gwen wasn't going to get into it. She didn't want to think about Anandi's family rejecting her, because Gwen didn't care if they liked her or not. But she cared if Anandi cared, and for Anandi's sake, she was willing to try. "Just be gentle with me- I'm good at fighting and other things, but I'm no good with learning stuff."

She accepted the donuts, as well as Anandi's oh-so-clever 'donation', and it took a lot of will power for Gwen not to want to just pop open the box and dig right in, no hands, straight with her mouth and teeth! But, for Anandi's sake and not wanting to risk dropping them on the floor, she refrained, and she put some serious thought into Anandi's suggestion. She hadn't been to Anandi's house yet... and it would be best to get introductions out of the way, at least one one side of the family. Maybe meeting Anandi's family would give her the courage she'd need to introduce Anandi to Maddy and Momma. "I pick... your house! Lead the way, strategist!"