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 Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 6:09 am
A long shift was finally coming towards a close for Halia at the cafe, and she was finally starting to relax. Her injuries had finally healed and she was more or less all back to normal, if not a bit more skeptical of everything. She hummed to herself as she worked on cleaning the station, looking up when the bell above the door chimed. Before she registered who had walked in, she already had a vibrant, sunny smile on her face, greeting the customer. "Welcome in!" As her eyes fell on the boy who entered, recognition flickered quickly.
"Oh! It's you!" Despite recognizing him easily, she herself looked drastically different than she did at the venue she met him at prior. When they had met before, her hair and makeup were done by her friend, and she was in a lovely, sparkly dress. Now, she had no makeup and her hair was only loosely pulled half back, her clothing all shades of neutral that would make her easily blend in.
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 9:35 am
Eion never paid any heed to the shop called Puppy Paws. He had no puppies. And while he and Waru had multiple team cats to look after, they wouldn't necessarily need anything from Puppy Paws unless one of them was trying to chew its way into the ******** earth.
But, today was the day that Eion actually needed a chew toy, and Waru was looking after Aelius for the time being. That left him to guess at which one would stand up to Mauvian teeth better than the others. And the only way he knew how to do that was to chew on them himself. But, despite what he thought clever and reasonable for a person to do, it got him removed from the last pet store that he had tracked down.
Thus did he decide to patronize Puppy Paws.
And thus did he learn that it was not, in fact, a dog-focused pet shop, but instead an undiscovered tea and coffee shop that served precisely what Eion needed to live. And that, he decided, was worth the extra stop.
As soon as he entered, the well-bundled boy looked around for any signs to tell him what to do. His favorite tea venues told customers to wait to be seated, but that seemed less usual whenever he visited somewhere else. Coffee people were usually in a hurry, wanted to find their own spot. and then got up and left like they were already late for something. This place must have served coffee, too.
The girl at the front greeted him(?) Eion paused, glanced behind him, but no one else was wandering into the store. Then he recognized her — dressed drab now, but certainly the same one that said hi to him at Chalcanthite's grand opening of the Gilded Encore. Still at a loss for what to do about that, Eion waved haltingly. Seemed that being bereft of makeup and flashy clothes hadn't colored her perception of him.
As he approached the counter, Eion checked his bag for his college-ruled notebook and pen shoved through the spiral binding. He needed only enough time to glance at the menu before he decided what he wanted and wrote it in a sharp hand. Then he turned the notebook about and showed it to her.
Chocolate scone and a large London fog, please, it read.
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2025 12:30 am
She smiled warmly, ever the breath of fresh air and sunshine upon seeing someone she liked. As the boy scrawled something on his notebook, Halia tilted her head curiously. When the paper was presented to her, she nodded and quickly got to work. One free drink wouldn't get her in trouble. Probably. And she would likely just pay for it herself at the end of her shift. After all, bring kind and friendly was a good thing, right? Once the drink was finished, she looked over at him and spoke again. "Would you like your scone warmed?" She set the drink on the counter for him, waiting for his response.
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Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 7:58 pm
Eion nodded without missing a beat. Wearing a human skin felt perpetually unnatural to his sense of internal temperature; he coveted anything that could warm him from the inside, too.
She was polite about all of it. Worked fast. As he accepted his drink with a nod of thanks and tasted it, the steaming hot London fog nigh burned his tongue, but tasted sweetly flavorful. The characteristic flavor of earl grey blended well with rich cream and a layer of milk foam, particularly as the experience opened with a few lavender notes.
Maybe he'd come back to this cafe moonlighting as a pet store, then.
You were at The Gilded Encore, he wrote next. Looked like you got the hell beaten out of you, too. Guessing you recovered?
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Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:34 pm
The smile on Halia's face brightened and she quickly warmed up the scone before bringing it to him. She glanced down at the note, then glanced at her shoulder before nodding. "Mostly, yes. Still a few spots I'm sore, but it's a lot better than it was." Her smile remained bright, finding it sweet that he noticed. Halia wanted to talk to him more, wanted to get to know the person who had surprisingly caught her interest, but in truth, she was horrible at talking to people. Awkward and shy, despite recent events helping her become far more bold. "The drink and scone are on me. My treat."
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Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:40 pm
Some days it felt like everyone in Destiny City was bruised and beaten. Like they were all victims of some grand, sweeping domestic violence affair with something of a seasonal quality to it. Small wonder that any average citizen didn't know what a youma was, or which places to avoid during holiday seasons, or what alleyways would get them dead even faster than the last. Maybe she had an unspoken story like that — walked home one day, got thrown against a dumpster by some agent and drained, then woke up hours later to drag herself back to her apartment.
Maybe it was even commonplace. Eion glanced down at the cup before him, then removed the insulating top to watch the steam rise. The milk foam was pleasantly thick; she must have been attentive about it, despite the exhaustion she may have felt from the Gilded Encore's draining project.
Eion wrote thanks into his notebook for her before taking a sip and promptly burning his tongue with a mildly affronted look. He was immediately brought back to the mugs Hestia had made, bearing his likeness and the 'CAUTION: HOT' that was probably written just as boldly on this cup. He was the one who deserved that label, yet some ******** drink at a cafe named like a pet store had the gall to burn him —
Whatever, he told himself. ******** whatever. He knew the drink would feel chilled if he drank it as Faustite. Human bodies were so uselessly delicate.
In hindsight, it was serendipity that Halia let him eat for free, as he soon realized that he'd still forgotten to tuck his wallet back into his bag. He hardly bothered carrying cash, either. Forgot my ******** wallet again, he scribbled afterward.
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 11:21 pm
Halia saw as Eion burnt his tongue and quickly came over with a cup of ice water. "Here, let an ice cube rest on your tongue for a second and it should help the sting." Up close, tiny scars on her skin were visible beneath a thin covering of makeup, the raised edges and different texture making them not blend perfectly. She had a fair amount of experience with self treating her injuries, though not as much with helping others. Glancing at his note, she shook her head. "Don't even worry about it. Like I said, this is my treat. It's....Eion, right? Your name, I mean." Soft brown eyes peered at him through thick pale lashes now that she was closer, her head tilting slightly as she looked at him curiously. Something about him made her want to know more, made her want to talk with him just a bit longer. She had absolutely no idea what a dangerous game she was about to start playing.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 6:59 pm
Taking her word for it, Eion picked the ice cube up between his admittedly short fingernails and pressed the tip of his tongue to it. He started; it was cold. Not refreshingly cold, but a harsh sort of cold that he never had to deal with as Faustite. It was quick to numb the muscle, however, which was the most he could ask for right now.
He nodded at the sound of his name, mouth still open and tongue pressed to the cube. With his free hand, he wrote his first and last: Eion Risk.
Below it, he added, Get in fights a lot?
With the butt of his pen, Eion motioned to a scar hovering over her collarbone. Between that and the bruises from previous, he imagined that she was either scrappier than she let on or she had a part-time job that happened overnight.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 8:42 pm
"Halia Westfein." She smiled brightly in response as she introduced herself properly. "Is the ice cube helping?"As he gestured to her scars, she raised her hand to touch the one on her collar bone instinctively. "Oh. No that's...That was from my mom." She didn't know what else to say about it or how else to put it. "Most of those are, actually..." It felt odd to say it out loud, especially to someone she didn't know, but she had no other explanation and lying was not her strong suit.
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 11:48 am
Eion nodded at the question, though he wondered how long he could have the cube in his mouth before giving himself a brain freeze. If nothing else, the sensation was a novelty — seldom did such a thing happen to him in his usual form. But as Eion? Each day was rife with experiences new and old.
Eion's first thought was that it was pleasantly surprising that Halia didn't have stories saved up about some renegade in a stupid costume hurting her. Nor was she mugged or attacked on the street or mauled by some mysterious-looking not-quite-dog. No, her explanation had very little to do with the ongoing war that so often went unspoken in the city limits. Instead, she cited domestic reasons.
It was relieving. Eion felt a margin more relaxed, more willing to pick up and chew on a scone in the moments between his writing.
So many incidents spelled 'abuse' more than 'accident'. It brought him back to the mother figures in his own life, true and false, and the damage they so liked to inspire. Seldom did Eion find the chance to escape them, and even at that, those snatches of freedom seldom lasted. Truly, he found only one lasting reprieve.
Need her gone? He wrote thereafter, while he sucked a crumb out from under his thumbnail.
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 5:25 pm
Halia seemed delighted that her suggestion with the ice cube helped, glad to be able to ease someone's pain for once. There was something about this boy that made her want to help, something that she didn't want to leave alone. Of course she knew that was illogical and irrational, and that Rowan would likely tease her. Or Kiyoshi. God help her. Even so, she found herself enjoying Eion's company. At the next question, her eyes grew wide and she laughed, shaking her head as she took it as a joke. "No, no, I'm okay now. But.... thank you." She smiled softly, shaking her head again. "I moved out two years ago but.... sometimes, some scars just don't fade, you know?" She realized that that didn't explain the bandages on her arm, so she quickly added, "Those are totally separate from this though. This was... wrong place wrong time, more or less, but I learned my lesson from it." She would never let herself be caught off guard by a negaverse agent ever again, she told herself. Never let herself be caught unawares as Aruna. The irony of it all, think that with no idea who she was talking to.
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 5:52 pm
Eion listened, but he did not offer any outward signs of it. While she spoke, he wrote in the notebook. He took a sip of tea. His attention meandered the place and seldom settled on her. Eye contact was meted out sparingly with him; while it was encouraged, even expected, among acquaintances in Destiny City, eye contact was a direct challenge in the Rift. Eion didn't have a reason to challenge her. Wasn't like she was a subordinate.
Ah, there it was. Wrong place, wrong time. Eion nodded knowingly. Sipped his tea. Felt the ice chip dissolve away on his tongue.
Wrong place, wrong time. Could've been a draining. Could've been a youma. Could've been a cross-faction fight that involved just a touch of collateral damage. Of course, it could've been more mundane than that — a mugging, crossfire from a fight between friends.
Or she could've been one of the White Moon ******** who kidnapped his boy and held him hostage. The corners of his mouth began to turn upward, but he quickly brought the cup to his lips to stop it.
Finally he turned his notebook toward her.
Scars are the paler pain of survival received unwillingly and displayed in the language of injury.
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 6:00 pm
She peered curiously at the notebook, reading the words he had scrawled. "That is....that is a good way of putting it. I think of them as a tangible sign you survived, that you made it through what tried to kill you. Badges, somewhat." She didn't remember the last time she had spoken so much to someone she barely knew, if she ever truly had. "Seems like you have your fair share of badges too, by the looks of it. I...guess we both know what it is to be survivors." She didn't ask, didn't pry, simply commented. She knew that not everyone liked talking about their struggles or their past, and usually she didn't either. "Want me to get you another cup of tea? You look almost done with that....and it's pretty cold out."
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 6:40 pm
Eion wondered why she made the effort to explain when she could've said she agreed. After a moment of contemplation, he guessed that badges sounded like a more positive connotation than the quote suggested. He supposed she didn't seem very morose for someone who ran afoul of their own mother. Certainly she didn't come close to Aelius's dramatic melancholy over losing his civilian life to corruption. Must've been resilient enough.
What mirth he had on his countenance died when she reminded him of his scars. Eion was, as always in the wintertime, bundled from head to toe. The one on his cheek was visible, though it had since faded to his pale skin tone; it must have looked something like a cigarette burn for its size and shape. And while he didn't know the precise location of the scars on his neck, some of them may have been exposed enough above the scarf for her to see.
Well, whatever. Hard to survive Destiny City without scars.
Rather be disfigured than dead, he wrote.
He glanced back toward the windows at the front of the store when she made mention of the wintry day. She was right — it looked like hell on earth out there. And if the tea was still free.
Eion nodded, mouthing his thanks in return.
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 6:51 pm
She didn't miss the slight change in his expression when she mentioned his scars. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Her brows knitted together a little and she nodded at the next note. "Yeah, definitely better than being dead."Giving him a small smile, Halia made her way back over behind the counter to get started on making him another drink. She hummed softly to herself, allowing herself to become absorbed in the task. There was something she found soothing being able to take her time while making a drink, to be able to ensure that she actually put some care into it. She scrawled his name in a flowing, elegant script on the sleeve before putting it on the cup and made her way back over to the table. She set the cup down for him and gave another small smile. "I hope I'm not bothering you with all this chatting...You're just... I don't know, surprisingly easy for me to talk to somehow."
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