[Freezair]

"Yes. Let me show you the way now."

Jade lept down from the table. She pulled a Keystone out from--somewhere, now where HAD it come from?--and left it on the table as a tip.

She looked down the alleyway. "This way, please," she said to the Shinzo. "It's just down this way..."

[7]

[Arillumia]

Wondering for a minute at the magic trick that was pulling a keystone of of thin air, Kyvimari happily followed Jade. She mused for a moment, thinking how lucky she was to have met Kane and then Jade. The two Lucain were so nice! Some people wouldn't have helped a stranger, she knew.

"This way? M'kay," Kyvi said. An alleyway? How odd. And dark. She trusted Jade, about as much as one can trust a stranger and really, really hoped that this just wasn't some ploy to get her in an alley and rob her or something. And they said she read too many horror books. Nonsense.
(16)

[Freezair]

The alleyway, luckily, was not too dank or too shadowed or too smelly. Jade opened them into a small, quiet sidestreet to the bustling Nabias thoroughfare. Not as swamped with people as that crowded street, nor as noisy, the backsides of many shops and the fronts of many homes faced them as Jade walked down the street.

"Now I just have to remember what the shop looks like from the back," Jade said humorously. She was beginning to feel more at ease, and when that happened, she began to smile. "Still there?" she called back to her companion.  

[8]

[Arillumia]

Kyvi looked back into the alley, feeling quite idiotic at the moment. She felt even more foolish when she realized that the alley was quite bright, and not too trashy, either.
"My stupid overactive imagination," she muttered. No more horror books before bed, or at all. Anyway, Nabias wouldn't have any creepy spooky alleyways, since it was such a nice town. She nearly stopped in awe when she realized it was quiet.

"Silence exists! It exists! Praise the gods, silence exists!" she said, giggling happily. Hearing what Jade said, she replied, "Yup! I'm still here, or my body is anyway. Can't promise that about my mind, or most of it, anyway." She couldn't stop smiling. She thought it was funny, and this trip was turning out to be quite fun. "Maybe you could paint the back of the shop some bright color, like neon pink or green, and then you could easily remember what it looks like from the back!"
(17)

[Freezair]

"Oh lord. If I tried that, Kane'd kill me. Wait, not even--PEACHES would kill me. He's so prim and practical and proper"--she spat every "P" with emphasis--"he'd have conniptions at the very thought."

Jade skimmed the backs of the shops. That one was the laundromat, she could tell. The smell of detergent wafted out of the little steam pipes near the back. That? Sniff, sniff. The bakery. The fresh bread did smell good. Yes, that was Candy by Kane, a shop you could find by smell alone... A hint of fudge. Jade raised her nose.

"This way," she said, pointing with a paw. She dashed off down the street, heading for a tall, slightly caddy-wompus building with a crick in its back and a roof the cover of ripe cheese.

[9]

[Arillumia]

Kyvimari burst out in laughter. "All the more reason to do so! Maybe to see if he turned an odd pruple color, or maybe maroon, one can never be too sure with colors," the last bit was said thoughtfully. She couldn't help but imagine certain stuck up birds turning an odd purpleish-maroon color and almost burst out laughing again.

Even to her duller nose, the bakery smelled yummy. Breathing deeply - oh how she loved the scent of bread! - the bread suddenly became tinted with a hint of fudgey goodness.
"Oh my gods, is that a cheese roof?! I must ask, with that shade of yellow, is that actual cheese? Although it does smell heavenly, chocolate is simply yummy-liscious!" Kyvi exclaimed brightly.
(18/)

[Freezair]

((What say you, Arillumia?))

"No, no. That's simply the paint. It certainly is a curious color, though."

Jade meandered around a fence, past the ripe smell of a sun-baked dumpster, and through several stacked, empty crates. She sat patiently for Kyvi, waiting for the Shinzo to navigate the maze.

"Sorry to take you in the back way, but it's quicker," Jade said.
"It's really a mess back here, sorry... Kane can be rather sloppy sometimes. They say the best cooks make big messes, but I don't think they mean in the backyard." Impatiently, Jade scratched at the back door, waiting for Kyvi.

[10]

[Arillumia]

((I have no qualms about it unless you do, Freezair?))

"Awww...A cheese roof would have been interesting albeit messy in the heat, and imagine the mold..." Kyvi trailed off, imagining a melting cheese roof and the resulting chaos.

"Oh my," was muttered as she walked past the dumpster, following Jade through the veritable maze of objects. "It's fine, although I must ask, does it always smell like that? If it does I pity you so. I gagged, I really did."

"Yeah, they do say the best cooks make big messes. And it's okay if he's sloppy, you should see what I live with. It's horrible," Kyvi said gaily, before saying thoughtfully, "They also say never trust a skinny cook, but Kane didn't look all that fat...."
(19)

[Freezair]

((Join away, then!))

"Didn't look all that fat? Ha! You must've caught his good side. I'm surprised he can lug that gut of his out of bed sometimes. But now I'm getting ahead of myself..."

Jade scraped her paw against the back door again. "Hello?" she called. "Can anybody let us in?"

THe door creaked open. A small, dark-haired human's eyes hung around the crack. "'Ello? Who's there?"

"Hey, Dax. It's me," Jade said. "I got a customer here with us. Can you let us in?"

"What?" Dax said. "Is something wrong with the front door?"

"No," Jade admitted. "This way was just quicker. C'mon, let's go inside."

Shrugging, Dax held the door open all the way.

[11]

[Arillumia]

Laughing Kyvi replied, "That's so mean of you Jade! At least you didn't say it within his earshot, can you imagine what would happen to your paycheck?"

After waiting for a second for the door to open, Kyvi was about to say something when it opened. She was a bit surprised that it was a human who had opened the door, after all all of the workers she had met were all pets, though that wasn't saying much.

"Nothing wrong with the front door, mm-hmm. I'm just so awesome I get special treatment. Mm-hmm," Kyvi giggled. Yup she was speeeccciiiiaallll.
(20)

[Freezair]

"Ah, Kane doesn't mind. He takes it all in stride, really. He knows he needs to loose weight.. Rosie's always bugging him about it."

Clanks, bangs, and shouts echoed as Jade and Kyvi entered the noisy, steamy kitchen. The pale pink walls were obscured in a haze of steam. Various machines clattered and hummed; humans and other sentients ran back and forth, ferrying trays full of different confections. Racks and racks of fudge teeted precariously on one cart. A Khalmar used her many arms to work a set of merenguies going in and out of the ovens. A Torken delicately scorched the thin coating of sugar on top of a set of banana slices, then passed them off to an anthropomorphic Albie, who shifted them through a chocolate enrober before sticking them in a giant freezer. A Toffee Teigu bade Jade to watch out as she nearly ambled into the path of a long, colorful row of candy, being stretched out across the shop. The scent of root beer drifted up from it.

"Watch your step here in the chaos," Jade said. She delicately traipsed through the shop, weaving towards the front. "Things get a little hectic in here sometimes."

[13]

[Arillumia]

"Owning a candy shop probably doesn't help his weight, though," Kyvi said. Her eyes were wide as she watched the chaos. It was fascinating watching candy and other confectionaries being made. Although she wasn't sure if her hearing would ever be the same again. Every time she inhaled she smelled something new. She traipsed after Jade half in a daze, though aware enough to step out of the way.

"I can see that," she said dazedly. "How do you ever leave this place? I mean, it's chaotic and loud, but it smells so good! Although I suppose the noise would get to you... But it smells so good!" She wasn't sure she wanted to go to the front of the store at the moment, she just couldn't get enough of the smell. Although more thanb likely the front smelled really good, too.
(21)

[Freezair]

Jade lifted her nose to the air. "I have to admit, as someone with a fondness for home cooking, it is hard... but you can't stay holed up in one place all your life."

Jade manuevered herself behind a small, squat machine. The sound of rattling beans and the smell of roasting drifted out of a large drum in the prow of the machine. Jade sniffed at it again.

"Hey, fellas," she said quietly, "I think the beans are done."

"On it!" an enthusiastic young woman called out from somewhere. Rosie? Jade peered up to look. No, it was Caroline. The black-haired young women dashed up and turned the device off.

"Sorry about that," Jade said. She nudged a door on the other side of the machine. It opened creakily. On the other side, a warm, pastel-colored shop bustled with activity and children.

[15]

[Arillumia]

"Yup. But this seems like a nice place to come home to. It seems like you'd almost always have someone to talk to, even if they didn't really listen."

Beans? Kyvi couldn't help but wonder what kind of beans they could be. Jelly? She wasn't sure. Half of her wanted to twirl in circles for hours just to see everything. She stopped herself with thoughts of how dizzy she'd be afterwards, but that didn't stop her from craning her head to look everywhere she could.

"Oh," It was a pretty shop. She sniffed. "It still smells good, though not as strongly as the back," she murmered. A thought struck her. "I haven't told you thank you, have I? You've gone out of your way to lead me here and I haven't even said thank you! Well, thank you greatly. Though that doesn't mean I'm leaving, but it's good to say it now so I don't forget," she said.
(22)

[Freezair]

"You're very welcome," Jade smiled back. "And... you're right. It is a nice place. To come home to."

Jade "excused me" her way through the crowd, finding an open spot near the jars of hard candies. "So! What do you need help finding? Tell me, and I'll show you the way."

[16]