The Dough Knot was a bakery that sat tucked between a secondhand bookshop and once charity shop, both of which had closed down. It wasn’t the biggest shop - actually it was quite small really - but the smells of sugar intermixed with cinnamon wafting out from the open door were inviting and (if the number of people who he had seen passing in and out was any indication) it was also relatively popular.
Liryn had just so happened to be in the vicinity by chance on one of his little wanders, but the smells had been so tantalising that he had ended up following his nose until he had found the bakery.
He had watched the traffic in and out for a bit, some disappearing in to sit for a while, whilst others popped in and out quickly, with fresh baked cinnamon pretzels and / or take out cups of coffee.
The foot traffic in and out had died out not so long ago however and so Liryn was taking the opportunity to see if he could scrounge any bits and bobs of dropped pastry.
It wasn’t something that he really had to do these days. In fact he hadn’t had to do so since the day when he’d first met Jae aka Sailor Mizar and then had later teamed up and gone to live with Athene and Ida aka Arian and Orah respectively.
No it wasn’t something he had to do these days, but former habits were hard to break.
And besides the cinnamon and sugar smells smelt really, really good.
LokisRose
Hope this works as a start Loki - let me know if anything needs changing
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:31 am
Gigi dodged other pedestrians expertly as she rushed towards the bakery café, wondering if she was already late – Arian wouldn’t mind, they’d known each other a long time, and she was always running late. But it was nice to prove people wrong once in a while. Today she was armed with a bouquet of bright flowers, wrapped up with a pretty beaded bracelet that she hoped Arian would either like, or would like to take apart to make into something nicer himself. He’d got himself in hospital again not too long ago, he must have the worst luck, and she hoped the flowers would go a little way to cheering him up, since she hadn’t been able to visit. It would be so good to finally catch up. And this bakery did super-nice coffee, as well as sweets to die for - perfect for the two of them.
She checked herself just short of the door to catch her breath, inhaling sugar-cinnamon. It seemed she wasn’t the only one enjoying the smells, she noticed. A tiny fluff cat was lingering nearby, with lovely distinctive eyes and beautiful grey fur. He turned his little head, and she could see the jade star on the forehead - a guardian cat!
And she had seen him before.
Gently grooming the other battered guardian. The safehouse filled with ash and toys. Soft ears. So insistent that he shouldn’t be left behind, that they should let this little furball come with them to fight in their final stand against the darkness.
Tiny pinprick tears sprang to Gigi’s eyes, sudden and stinging like the memories. It had been months since she’d last thought about the future, and she’d thought the dreams were fading. She covered her mouth with one hand, feeling her breath. Still alive. The little cat was real before her.
Did you make it? she wondered. I don’t remember what happened next. Because I... (The knife went right through, she could still feel it.) Tell me you lived, kitty. You were too sweet and brave to die like that.
Gigi sniffed and blinked away that future, forced a smile over her face, then knelt down to hold out her hand to the mauvian to sniff, as if he was a normal cat, and she a normal girl.
Liryn's hunt for bits and bobs of left over pastry was suddenly cut short as a hand suddenly broke into his line of vision, his purplish eyes glancing upwards from the outstretched hand to find a woman with curly-brown hair and honey-golden eyes kneeling down in front of him and smiling.
There was something about her that seemed almost... Familiar as he looked up at her, eyes unblinking and then the moment was broken as the bakery door suddenly opened, causing a bell to jangle from somewhere inside as a young woman stepped out, before the door closed with another jangle.
Liryn moved forwards a few paw pads, with a small mew, the movement bring him close enough to brush against the woman's fingers, throat rumbling in a purr as he gave them a small butt of his head that would hopefully be taking as the encouraging hint that it was supposed to be.
Perhaps it had just been his imagination - after all he couldn't sense any aura about her and he wasn't getting the feeling that he'd had on the few occasions where he'd had hunches about people...
But if stroking was on offer then he was definitely happy to play ordinary 'cat' for a bit and to take it - particularly if said stroking had scritches tossed in.
LokisRose
sorry for the delay
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:41 am
Gigi couldn’t help the little ‘awww!’ that escaped her lips when it seemed the guardian was not only pettable, but purring as well. A more genuine smile spread across her face, even though the tears were still threatening. It was impossible to be unhappy in the face of a purring cat. She ran her fingers gently over his soft fur, tentative soothing strokes for a minute, absorbing the peacefulness that only a friendly animal could give.
When it seemed he wasn’t inclined to run away from the attention, she scritched his little ears, as she’d done before.
“Liryn,” she remembered, her tone soft. The name seemed to come to her from very far away, the quiet place before the last storm they would ever know. She shook off the memory again, determined.
“So are you one of the cake-eating cats?” she asked in a whisper, changing the subject even if it was just in her own head. “I’m meeting my friend in a minute, but I can totally bring you something on the way out?”
Of course she knew he probably couldn’t answer, since they were in public and she wasn’t powered up. But she would probably bring him cake anyway, just in case.
litian
No sorry required, I've done much worse to you. Hope this is okay. wink
As it happened Liryn was kind of partial to a bit of cake and whilst cake wasn't as great as prawn or even salmon, he enjoyed indulging from time to time - particularly if said cake was turned out to be toffee flavoured and sans frosting.
And it was an indulgence that he was able to indulge in quite regularly given how he lived with Arian, who had a super sweet tooth and a tendency to bake regularly and often.
It wasn't like he could share either of those two facts with the woman in front of him, even if she had just named him correctly by name.
It was something of a puzzle as he stared up her for a moment with curious purplish eyes, even as he continued to purr at her scritching ministrations.
He closed his eyes as her hand found just the right spot underneath an ear, the puzzle one that he would have to consider later he decided.
LokisRose
I'll have Arian come in on my next post if that works, feel free to have Gigi spot him approaching/ hear him calling her name if you want :3
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:39 am
The little feline was giving nothing away, and Gigi wasn’t sure whether to interpret his stare as ‘yes, cake’ or ‘just keep petting’. There was no indication of whether he recognised her. He sure did like having his ears scratched, though. She was happy to oblige. It must be nice, being a cat, a real cat, with nothing to worry about except finding the warm spot on a windowsill. No exams or looming papers. No nightmares. Even a guardian must have a peaceful existence, when the Negaverse wasn’t about. Okay, that was a big caveat. She would definitely buy him something nice.
A voice calling her name broke through her reverie, and she glanced around with a smile to look for the caller.
“My friend’s here,” she told Liryn. “I’ll talk to you later, maybe?” Later, when she was someone he could have a real conversation with. But not now.
With a final scritch to the cat’s ears, she straightened and turned to wave.
Liryn would have been quite content to linger for as long as the woman kept up with the scritches - the petting was nice and lulling and besides it wasn't as if he had anywhere particularly special where he had to be.
A voice broke through the pleasurable scritching-haze - a very familiar voice - puzzlement flickering for a moment in his purplish eyes.
Because Arian was supposed to be out seeing a friend - at least he was pretty sure he remembered the dark-haired young man that was his friend, team mate and senshi mentioning something to that effect earlier today.
It was hard to tell if the woman had noticed however as she also seemed to recognise the voice as she had paused in the scritching in order to turn around and glance in the direction of the voice.
He had managed to compose himself by the time that she turned back to him, the surprise in his eyes gone, once again back to playing normal cat.
Apart from one last scritch, it didn't seem like any further scritches would be forthcoming however as she straightened and turned as she waited for the dark-haired young man making his way over.
Perhaps she would find him still here after, if only because he was even more curious about her now that he knew that she not only seemed to know his name but was also Arian's friend.
Arian had ended up running late for his meet up with Gigi because he had wanted to put the finishing touches on the pair of earrings that he had made as a small gift.
He had initially gone with orange beads to go with the 'coffee beans' that were in reality made out of polymer clay and then had ended up swapping out the orange for red which had meant having to pretty much re-make the earrings.
The red really did look nicer though and he was hoping that Gigi would like the overall effect, the earrings sitting in the small gift box that was currently tucked away in the little bag that he was carrying.
He was also hoping that she would forgive him for being a little late.
He'd spotted her outside the The Dough Knot and had called out a greeting as he got close enough to be within earshot without shouting.
It was only as he got closer that he spotted the little feline by her feet - a rather familiar feline given that he had seen the other just that morning.
A part of him was wondering what Liryn doing, although with Gigi turning to greet him, now was not really the time to ask.
He'd ask him later he decided - after all it wouldn't be that hard to track the small mauvian down given that they lived together.
And so he smiled at Gigi as he stopped by her "Hi Gigi. Sorry I'm late" a slightly apologetic note in his quiet voice as he continued "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long?" He made it a question.
LokisRose
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 6:01 am
It was really not a surprise that Arian was already so close by the time Gigi had heard his familiar soft voice. She’d been so distracted by Liryn she hadn’t thought to keep an eye out for him. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed, though even if he had, she had just been petting a kitty – nothing weird about that. But he didn’t say anything about it, so Gigi put it out of her mind, more concerned now with checking how Arian was doing. She didn’t know what he’d been hospitalised for this time, injury or illness, so the most she could offer was a sympathetic smile.
“Oh, you’re not late! I just got here too!” she said. “Here, these are for you!” She handed over the bouquet, sunflowers surrounded by a mess of different-coloured daisies and gerberas. The beads on the bracelet kind of clashed, but it was the thought that counted, right? “I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to the hospital! How are you doing, are you feeling better?”
Stepping carefully around Liryn’s tiny fluffy form, she gave the guardian cat a subtle finger-tip wave beneath her handbag as she led the way past him to the café entrance, rushing ahead to hold the door for Arian before her so-polite friend could object.
As it happened Arian hadn't noticed as he had been caught up in his own wonderings about what Liryn was doing there. His smile widened slightly as he took the offered flowers from her and caught sight of the bracelet wrapped around it.
"Thank you, these are really pretty" he said, adding as he slipped the bracelet onto his wrist "They both are." The flowers were bright and colourful and cheerful which was totally a Gigi thing and she'd picked a bracelet that was full of beads in blues and greens and silver.
"It's okay," he said in answer to her apology of not being able to visit him in hospital, as he followed after her, the flowers in his hands preventing him from managing to get to the door first in order to hold it open for her. "I'm doing much better now" a rueful note slipped into his voice as he admitted "Although I have so much class catchup to do."
A part of him felt guilty, the guilt a familiar one, because as with the other times where his powered life as Athene had ended up landing him in hospital, he had kind of skirted around the reasons behind how he had ended up in hospital. Although it wasn't as if he could tell Gigi the real reasons behind his hospital trip.
After all admitting that a crazy woman with a spear who had it in for him because he happened to on the opposite side in a war that seemed to have had its roots long before he had even been born sounded pretty crazy even to him and he happened to know that it was true.
There was also the fact that he didn't want Gigi involved in the dangerousness that made up his life as his counterpart Athene - didn't want his enthusiastic and cheerful friend who had been his first ever friend in Destiny City hurt - even if it meant having to skirt the truth and at times even lie.
Because better that than the alternative.
He smiled at Gigi again, doing his best to shake the thoughts from his mind "By the way I brought a little something for you too, but I'll hand it over when we're settled at the table if that's okay?" He made it a question.
LokisRose
Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:23 am
It was so hard to pick presents for guys, and Gigi hadn’t been sure about choosing jewellery when she knew Arian made it himself. But he also baked for himself, and she’d never known that to keep him out of a cupcake shop. When he put the bracelet straight on, she knew she’d made the right choice.
“I’m so glad you like it!” she said, as the little doorbells welcomed them inside. She watched her friend’s movements as she held the door, but couldn’t see any sign of an injury. That was reassuring. Hopefully his hospital stay hadn’t been that serious this time, and he really was as better as he said.
She made a sympathetic noise at the mention of classwork. It just never ended, did it? “Aww, that sucks,” she said. “Do you get any leeway for medical issues? I’d offer to help, but I doubt we have many classes in common anymore. It’s not like high school, is it?”
She kind of missed Meadowview, and studying with Arian. It had been so empty though, when she came back from Australia, with Arian and her other old friends graduated already. It was tough settling into Uni, but she hadn’t wanted to fall further behind messing around with a prep school first. The future had a nasty countdown attached, and there were so many things she had to do to make sure that the nightmares would never be the reality. Senshi stuff could pull her out of her schedule any time - and she really should be making some time for proper training. She needed to do the research, pick a martial art that would help her. It was on the To Do List. With three essays, looking for a part-time job, and babysitting her little cousin. She missed just being a kid, and going to class and not worrying. Life kept sweeping her forward, whether she liked it or not.
If Arian was a little quiet too, she took it as normal for him, but his voice and his smile easily pushed her worries away again.
“For me? You didn’t have to do that, you’re the one who’s been sick!”
But she grinned and nodded in acknowledgement, placing her order at the counter quickly and waiting for him to do the same. There was an empty table near the window that would be perfect.
To be honest Arian would have treasured the bracelet simply because Gigi had been the one to buy it, just like he carefully treasured all the presents that his friends had given him over the years, but as it happened he really did like what she'd picked out.
He nodded simply at her question about leeway for medical issues, "There's been some" he admitted, his quiet voice turning rueful as he added "But pretty much all my course is practical-based and I wasn't able to craft whilst in hospital."
His lips quirked up in another of his small smiles at her offer "We probably don't" he admitted. "At least not unless you're doing something that's jewellery-based, but my teachers are being supportive and I reckon that I can catch up." Even if it meant having to stay behind so that he could catch up on all the stuff that he'd missed during his hospital visits.
Arian gave a quiet laugh that was tinged with a note of ruefulness as he added "It'll be kind of like when I first started High School over here in a way given that I had to play catch up then too, even though you're right in that Uni isn't really like High School."
Because in some ways being in High School had been simpler.
They'd reached the counter by the time that Gigi commented about the earrings and so Arian placed his order - a cinnamon pretzel and caramel latte topped topped with whipped cream - before answering as the cheerful middle-aged woman turned to make up their orders "I don't mind" he said, "I like making up things for friends" and Gigi was definitely counted amongst his friends. "I just hope it turned out okay."
The bakery lady returned at that point with his and Gigi's orders and he juggled the flowers so that he could reach for his wallet and pay "Perhaps we can sit up over there" for a moment he looked over and up towards an empty table up by one of the shop's windows before turning back to count out the money for his order "By the window seat."
LokisRose
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:32 am
Gigi tried to imagine herself in a jewellery-making class, but the scene wasn’t pretty. She would probably glue her hair to a wire or something. She shook her head in mock-sadness. “Alas, no help from me, then, I’m no good at that creative stuff. The things you make are incredible! I’m sure you’ll catch up in no time!”
Her own money already prepared, Gigi gathered up the tray with their cups and pretzels while Arian sorted out his hands. Maybe she should have waited until they were sitting down to give him his gifts. Or chosen a smaller bouquet. She’d kind of overburdened him, which hadn’t been the plan. The hint that his gift was something he’d made himself shouldn’t really have come as a surprise, but she still hadn’t expected it. He was just the sweetest! She had no idea what the present might be, but now she was even more excited to see - she had no doubt that she would adore it since it came from him.
“That was me last year, when I was trying to graduate, so far behind at everything,” she chattered as she waited for him to be ready, before heading towards the table he indicated. “I’m mostly taking business studies courses. I’m going to run a place like this one day. I-I mean, I want to,” she added quickly, disturbed by how final it sounded when she said it like that. She’d meant it as a dream job, not in a creepy ‘I have seen the future’ kind of way. If they had to be sensible adults, at least they could pick stuff that was fun. Not like her dad in his dead-end office job. Running a café would be perfect, future-her had got that right, even if everything else had turned out wrong.
“It’d be cool, right? Of course, you’ll always get freebies in my café!”
litian
Sorry, she's kind of deliberately doing things for him while she has the chance!
"Thank you" Arian said as he paid for his order and slipped his wallet away, shifting the flowers back in anticipation of reaching for the tray.
Except the tray with their drinks and pretzels were no longer on the counter.
He blinked for a moment a little startled, since the tray had been just there. However given that it was no longer on the counter there was only one other place it could really be.
"I'm glad you managed it" Arian said as he followed after Gigi. "And that sounds like a really cool plan." And whilst Business Studies as a major would never have suited him - there was a reason why to this day his cousin was the one who handled the finance side of their shared Etsy shop - he could kind of see Gigi as a coffee shop owner. "I'd definitely be one of your customers if you decide to go ahead and open one up."
His quiet voice turned rueful "You've totally thought about things ahead a lot more than me" because whilst Arian rather thought that he'd like to continue crafting jewellery, he hadn't given post-DCU and having to start doing things like working at an actual career a huge amount of thought - although he knew that much as it would be fun that crafting jewellery would probably not be a full time operation.
He slipped into one of the seats and set down the flowers carefully before reaching out to take the small gift box with the earrings out from his bag, waiting for Gigi to finish sorting out the tray and to be sitting down across from him before carefully sliding the box across to her with a quiet "Here, I hope you'll like it."
LokisRose
Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:11 am
Gigi dropped into the seat opposite, turning the tray so Arian’s latte and pretzel were on his side of the table for him, before accepting the tiny box. He was so sweet – even the packaging was super-cute. She lifted up the paper curl, letting it wrap around her fingertip, smiling down at it. It was such a little pretty thing, and it was so wonderful to have a friend who cared so much about her. He was right, she’d been spending so much time worrying about things to come. Too much, probably. Possible careers was only the side-effect.
“I guess I kind of have,” she said. “Is that weird?”
She laughed a little, lifting the lid carefully. When she peeked inside, the sound that she made couldn’t decide if it was a gasp or a squeal.
“Omigod,” she all but squeaked. “Omigod Arian, they’re perfect, you have no idea! Thank you so much!”
She lifted one of the earrings up carefully by its hook, cupping her other hand under the beads for support, feeling the little clay pieces all shifting in her fingers. Coffee beans and coffee berries! He couldn’t possibly know how appropriate they were, for her secret life. But it wasn’t a secret that she had more caffeine in her veins than blood most days. And the earrings were beautiful!
“You made these? They’re amazing! You’re amazing! Thank you!”
Was she gushing? Probably, but they really were worth gushing over! She was going to wear them with everything!
* * *
Outside the Dough Knot, the streets had quieted to only a handful of passers-by, which made it possible for a strange soft noise to be heard from somewhere nearby, something like horse’s hooves clattering. Behind the boarded-up windows of the closed charity shop next door, a small and vaguely horsey face turned malicious red eyes to the world beyond.
With the clop of hooved feet, it kicked through the disused shop’s back door, emerging into the service alley around the back of the bakery. It was not large, maybe the size of a Shetland pony, but beyond the pony hooves, the resemblance was not strong. Shaking dust and splinters from the long sharp quills lining its back, the youma turned its attention to the ground, sniffing around as if for something to eat.
Arian gave Gigi a quiet thank you at her thoughtfulness and reached out for the latte first. The lady had gone a bit crazy on the cream and so he absently stirred some of it into the coffee.
"Not really" he said thoughtfully in answer to her question as she reached for the box with the earrings and used a finger to lift of one of the yellow paper curls. "Just organised." He used the spoon to scoop up some of the caramel laced cream that was still on top of the coffee and ate it "But good organised." He smiled ruefully "I haven't really given much thought as to what I want to do once I'm finally finished, although I'd love to do something where I get to keep crafting jewellery."
He set the spoon down so that he could drink some of the coffee, a part of him feeling nervous as Gigi tilted the lid of the box up to finally peek inside at the contents.
Her reaction was long in coming however in the form of a sound that was kind of a squeal - okay make that totally a squeal although he totally wasn't going to mention it.
Arian felt relieved as she held one up to look at it, the red beads nestled amongst the polymer clay coffee beans, glad that he had gone with the red instead of the orange.
"I'm not really" he said quietly, his cheeks reddening slightly at Gigi's enthusiastic compliments "But I'm glad that you like them."
It was a reaction that Gigi was probably used to given that the two of them had had similar conversations over the course of their friendship.
Liryn had indeed stuck around outside The Dough Knot. He'd managed to get some scritches out of it by playing up the cute cat aspect and a couple had even let him have bits from their pretzel.
That had kind of been a while back though during the last small rush of customers entering and leaving the shop and with the rush over and the customers gone and about their business it was quiet. Tooo quiet. Boring quiet.
He contemplated wandering off for a bit - after all Arian and his friend were still in the shop and it didn't look like they were going to come out any time soon and whilst he was puzzled over how Arian's friend seemed to know his name it wasn't like she was a senshi so he could just come out and ask - after all he knew who amongst Arian and Orah's friends were powered - well make that he was pretty sure he knew most of them, either by having met them or from accidentally overhearing listening into conversations.
Besides even if he did wander off and come back to find Arian and his friend finished and gone he could always ask Arian about her later given that he lived with the dark-haired young man.
The sudden bloom of a dark aura had his fur fluffing up and his whiskers twitching and all of a sudden it was just as well that there was currently no one around outside.
Youma.
The aura was followed by the sound of something splintering nearby.
Stretching Liryn gained his feet and trotted over towards the nearby alleyway that ran along the side of the shop and down towards the back.
The sound was pretty much begging to be investigated.
Because a youma out and about on the prowl was never a good thing. For anyone.
