[Arillumia]

She had been sent here on a super-secret mission, a very, very important mission, one that was important to all pets. Oh, the sarcasm. She, Kyvimari, had to find a candy shop. A complete waste of her time and talent!
Heaven's Wings, another Shinzo, had run out of candy. And Heaven without her candy, or some sort of sweet, was horrible. The childish Shinzo had fully grown Garuddors tripping over themselves to get away when she had no candy! It was quite amusing, unless the rampaging child started your way. Then you ran for your life and never looked back. Heaven may be innocently adorable, and wonderfully childish, but she harbored evil under that cute exterior.
So, Kyvimari was charged with the duty to find a candy store. Oh what a waste of time! They should have sent someone else, she didn't even know where a candy store was in Nabias! Kaemien should have come instead of her, the stupid Lucain. But noooo, no one wanted to go near the Lucain, he had just found a new book. Kyvi stopped her inner rant and looked around. The Starry Shinzo looked about ready to wail. But she sucked it up, and decided to find someone who knew where the candy store was.
(Kyvi - 1)

[Freezair]

((OOC: Shoot me, but I can't resist. XD))



The sweet scent of the day drifted after Kane as he exited the store. It was mint fudge today. Creamy, cool, rich, exquisite... truly a masterpiece of confectionary, if he did say so himself. He rolled his palete over the sample melting on his tongue. Soft and fluffy, but not cakey, the delicate confection oozed between his teeth and filled his nostrils with its rich aroma. Although he had blended the recipie, he had to give credit to young Dax for cooking it so skillfully. If that boy pursued a career as a chef, he'd go far...

Licking his lips, leaving a few traces of chocolate there, Kane trotted down the street, enjoying his break. He thought he might head to the cafe for his lunch today, but for now he was merely content to stroll through the streets, looking. A few heads turned toward him, but he didn't notice them. He always smelled so strongly of candy, he was bound to get noticed.

[1]

[Arillumia]

((No! No shooting! I didn't think anyone would reply! Don't die, I need you!))

Kyvi groaned loudly, cursing the Garrudors and the Fellox that had gotten her into this. Candy, candy, candy! Someone else should have come. She was even smelling candy now! Wait, what? She took an experimental sniff. Either the task was getting to her head, or something smelled like candy. Yay! That meant someone knew where the store was! Or perfume came in weird scents now...

She sniffed her way around, barely mananging to dodge the couple of people that just wouldn't move. Sniff, sniff. Right there! She wondered briefly why a Lucain would smell like candy before walking up to him. "Hey! Candy smelling Lucain! Do you know where the candy store is?" No one could say Kyvimari didn't get straight to the point.

[Freezair]

Kane lifted his head. From off in the distance, he heard a call. "Candy-smelling Lucain!," it yelled. Who could that be directed at save himself? Unless perfume came in some awfully weird scents nowadays...

He pushed his way through the crowd, nudging his way through several sets of human legs. He'd often teased his younger coworkers for getting in on what he termed that "human form" nonsense, but now he began to see the advantages of being taller than most of the rabble running around down here. He tripped over tiny Hypoflies resting their wings and had to bumble around an Albie or two. Where oh where could that voice be...?

"Excuse me!" He lifted his head and tried to cry above crowd-level. He did it in human, since he didn't know who it had been. "Could whoever called out fer the candy-smellin' Lucain please show 'emself?"

[2]

[Arillumia]

((My muse, my muse has left! Forgive the short post, I beg of you! *drama queen*))

Kyvimari was about to scream. Gods above, could humans not move? It was times like these that she wished she was bigger, or able to fly or something! Now, to get to that Lucain! She heard him call for whoever had called him, and nearly sighed in relief. Close. And he had an interesting accent. She sniffed the air and looked around. Perfect! He was right there, now to get around the couple of blasted people in between them.

"Hey! Hey! Yeah! I was the one that called! My names Kyvimari, Kyvi, and yours is?" she said loudly when she was close enough to the white and pink Lucain to hopefully be heard.

[Freezair]

Kane's head whipped around. He heard it still! Closer now! His ears swiveled as he sought the sound.

There! An interesting-looking Shinzo was the one. He shouldered his way through a forest of knees and hips to try to get to her. Gods and goddesses in heaven above! Why was the square so thronging thick with people today? Humans, animals, anthros and "pets" all swarming and stampeding to get somewhere. Was it a weekend? Was that it? Had he, in his zeal for work, completely forgotten that he could've taken the day off?

He finally shoved his way over to the Shinzo. Did she say her name was Kyvi? Alright then.

"I think y'all were lookin' fer me," he said. "Th' name's Kane. Kane Peppermint, they call me. Did y'all need somethin' from me? I heard ya callin' out fer the candy Lucain, and I don't know who else y'all coulda ment."

[Arillumia]

Kyvimari nodded. "It was you, I'm almost certain of it. And besides, no one else smells like candy! Oops! Sorry, it is my pleasure to meet you, Kane. Forgot my manners there," she said sheepishly. Peppermint? An odd last name, but he did smell of candy so it fit. Hopefully. Maybe he just liked odd cologne *cough*perfume*cough*.

"I was wondering if you knew where the candy store is, since you smell like candy and I really, really, reeaallyy need to find it! So do you know where it is?" Kyvi reaally hoped he did. Or at least, if he didn't know where the store was, maybe he would have a vague idea. She looked at all the people around with disdain. She hated crowds, and the sooner she got out, the better. Kyvi wondered if she didn't have the date right and it was the weekend, or something. With her small size, people didn't notice her, which made for sore body parts and people mad for tripping over her. Fun.
(4)

[Freezair]

"Know where it is?" Kane chuckled. "Well, I'd better know where it is, for sure! I run the dang place! Candy by Kane, we call it. I just left there for my lunch break, but iffin' you'll endear me a chance to find a sammich or sumthin' sumplace, I'll gladly lead ya to it!"

Kane gave a high, barking laugh. He didn't want to put a customer on the back burner, but his stomach was growling at him like a whole pack of his fellows, and he needed something to nosh on. Something to nibble at while he tended to this Shinzo. Nothing especially fancy. He thought about the places to eat in the surrounding neighborhoods, and vaguely considered having a glass of milk and a slice of his own cake for lunch. But he threw that idea out the window. His figure didn't need any more sugar shoved into it. His belly was bouncy enough as it was.

[3]

[Arillumia]

((There, now you can see what Kyvi's saying!))

Kyvimari stared up at him with wide eyes. "You run the candy store? I love you! I could kiss you, I really could," she said in a small voice. Imagine her luck! Actually finding the person who ran the store! "And how can I not go with you to get something to eat? I need to get to the candy store, but it's not like I'm in a big hurry."

Actually, they pets back home had said to hurry and get the candy as fast as she could, but Kyvi didn't really care. Maybe if she took too long they wouldn't send her any more. Come to think of it, Kyvi was a bit hungry too.

"I'm hungry too, so we can both get something to eat. Do you know where anything is? I've never been here before, so the only thing I know is that theres a fruit stall somewhere in that direction," she waved her paw in a vague direction. "Anything you want, of course of course. I'd offer to pay to thank you, but I highly doubt my firends gave me enough money to get candy, myself something to eat, and get someone else something. So the only thanks I can offer is my eternal gratitude."
(5)

[Freezair]

"Well, I don't think I brough' enough money ter get ya somethin' too, but p'haps I kin lend ya some money fer a soda, 'n' you can git yerself somethin' with whatever extra ya got."

Kane looked down the road. Now the Shinzo was asking him where to get lunch, and he wasn't sure where he was going himself! Dear oh dear. He'd better make a decision fast now, hadn't he? Well--there was that tiny cafe down the street, the Cafe Mezo Forte--the one with a music theme. Well, the kitschy atmosphere wasn't that bad. The sandwiches were good, as was the coffee. And the service was friendly.

"Down this way," Kane said, heading towards a side street. It looked to be mercifully free of people. "Ah know a li'l hole-in-the-wall fer coffee that'll do well by us. It's a bit, ah, silly at times, but it's good food an' good mud.

"The coffee kind of mud," he added, worrying that he might be misunderstood.

[Arillumia]

"That's fine, really. I should have enough for a coffee and a sandwich or something not too expensive. I need the candy for Heaven, another Shinzo I know, since she ran out. Everyone started panicking." Kyvimari babbled. She wondered what kind of place they were going to. She highly doubted Nabias had anything too expensive and fancy, since it didn't seem too big.

Kyvi giggled after listening to Kane. "Mud sounds good. With lots of milk. And silly sounds fun, too, and from what you say it's not too fancy, so that's really good."

[Freezair]

Kane lead them down the street, aiming for a white overhang. A few creatures, human and non, were eating lunch around a series of small tables. The white tables had a pattern of piano keys running arond them; the others appeared to be shaped like French horns. The smell of warm, toasted bread drifted through the air. Kane licked his jaws in anticipation.

"This is prob'ly gonna sound a li'l strange, but lemmie tell ya, they make the BEST, and I mean the BEST, toast here. It's fire-grilled all proper, and tastes jus' like smokey bacon! Minus the bacon part... All o' that smokey goodness in a single piece o' bread. I get all mah sandwiches on it."

Kane went inside. The wallpaper had a music-note pattern, and a stack of menus by the cash register read, "CAFE MEZZO FORTE." Kane took his place in line behind a Magistrey and waited for the waiter to appear.

[5]

[Arillumia]

Kyvimari examined the tables closely before realizing what they were. Noticing the name of the cafe, she thought for a moment. Mezzo forte had to have something to do with music, hence the tables and such. Of course, she wouldn't know. Listening to Kane and looking around, she followed the Lucain inside.

"Smokey bacon? Never had any, so I wouldn't know. But it sounds nice. This place is quite pretty. I like the music theme."

Kyvi made sure to stick a bit closer to Kane, since this place was new to her. She highly doubted anything bad could happen, but you could never be sure. The cafe interested her, so she studied it. The wallpaper looked cool. And the people didn't look too bad.

[Freezair]

Gentle music tinkled through the invisible speakers embedded into the walls. An anthropomorphic Torken man, rotund and jolly, came up to them wearing an apron and several pockets' worth of order pads. He and Kane looked at each other and laughed. They'd never met, but they could tell just by looking at each other--shape, smell, body--that they were both middle-aged gentlemen who clearly loved their cooking jobs far too much. Giggling, he took out a pair of menus from the stack. "H-h-hello," he wheezed. "Can I help you two?"

"We'd like a table, please and thank y'all," Kane said. He bowed his head as he said it. "Outside or in, I don't think it matters."

"Good choice," the waiter replied. "It's Open Mic Lunch Hour. I think there'll be a folk singer performing in a little bit."

Kane accepted a menu in his mouth--he was worried that his teeth were puncturing the plastic laminating--and followed the Torken to a piano-patterned table.

[6]

[Arillumia]

Wide-eyed, Kyvimari looked back and forth, from the laughing man to Kane. Was she missing something? Some inside joke, something? She sighed and shook her head. Men. She might have second opinions on the niceness of the people in the cafe, or at least the sanity of the workers.

Half lost in thought, wondering about the sanity of her companion and her sanity for accompanying him, Kyvi followed Kane and the man after accepting a menu. It was quite large in her small paws, but she looked it over as they walked.

"Oooh, tuna..." she muttered aloud. Nah. She'd probably just have a coffee. That'd show the jerks back home when she showed up in a caffiene-induced hyper fit!

{8}