[Flame]

It wasn’t long before Allorah’s less sensitive nose caught wind of what it was that had captured her companion’s attention. A warm, welcoming scent drifted on the cold winter air, one which smelled vaguely familiar, but only due to passing encounters. She’d never really stopped to actually take it in before, but now that they were headed in a beeline for it, she had all the time in the world to dissect the individual scents which made up the heady perfume. Now, Allorah was no expert when it came to baking, nor did she know anything about the typical ingredients which went into baked goods – the most familiarity she had with the concept was the fact that putting flour, yeast, and water together made an almost magical concoction which somehow turned into bread. Microbes were the darndest things – honestly, she was more interested in the life cycle of the yeast and its various metabolic pathways though than she was with the actual production of food. Some things were just hardwired into people.

Nevertheless, despite her inexperience with the entire art of baking, she could still pick out a few individual components of the wonderful smell which warmed the cold air around her. Cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, cocoa…these weren’t ingredients which she usually used, but their profiles were so distinct that even she knew what their names were. After all, even she was occasionally wont to partake in hot chocolate or flavored oatmeal. The smells were pleasant to her, but for the Phyrette, they might as well have been catnip. Allorah actually had to physically restrain the creature to keep it from leaping off of her shoulder and scampering off ahead of them to the shop where the scent was coming from. That left one arm cradling Pip and the other awkwardly wrapped around the Phyrette’s midriff, almost as if she were holding a boombox on her shoulder, and if she was drawing odd looks before now, she definitely got some drawn-out, sidelong glances from those around her as she struggled to keep her hold on both of her companions. Well, on the bright side, at least one of them was really excited about this next destination, but she had to admit that her curiosity was piqued as well – after all, the culinary arts were one which she’d had very little exposure to before now.

[The Bakery – 23]

[Flame]

It felt like forever, but the odd group finally reached the entrance of the store which was giving off the tantalizing smells. Thankfully the crowds were at least a little thinner directly outside of the doors of the stores themselves, and Allorah grabbed the opportunity to set both the Velix and Phyrette down before she either dropped one of them, or the Phyrette scrabbled straight through her jacket. If one didn’t know any better, they’d probably think that the thing had been starved and neglected its entire life considering how desperately it was trying to get to the door of the bakery (the store was indeed a bakery, as denoted by the sign hanging above the entrance). Since the door itself was currently still closed and the Phyrette had no way of opening it for itself, it resorted to running around in frantic circles on the doorstep much akin to a dog that really had to use the bathroom, clearly anxious to get inside and be united with whatever it was that was emitting those smells.

Once she was relatively certain that she had her two companions in check, Allorah relented and grabbed the handle of the door to swing it open, mentally crossing her fingers and hoping against hope that the Phyrette wouldn’t immediately run in begin wreaking havoc upon the entire store. There was a small part of her that expected it to get into every single jar and display of treats, and those it didn’t devour to be scattered far and wide on the currently pristine floor of the bakery. To her chagrin, the Phyrette immediately rocketed into the warm interior of the store, but relief washed over her when instead of bowling all of the clientele inside over, it instead tempered its pace slightly, although it did proceed to dart between the different displays, vigorously sniffing out every single sweet treat to be found inside the store (most likely trying to decide which to eat first). Allorah followed quickly, Pip right on her heels. He, for one, certainly didn’t see what all the fuss was about, but then again, he was of mechanical construct, so therefore food held no value at all to him to begin with.

[The Bakery – 24]

[Flame]

The first thing that Allorah noticed was just how permeating the smell of baked goods actually was. It almost felt as if the scent was permeating every pore of her body, but as odd as that sensation was, she also had to admit that it didn’t feel like a bad thing either. It almost felt as if she was getting a giant, cozy hug…just minus the actual physical hugging bit. For her, perhaps that really was the best kind of hug. Her attention was quickly grabbed by everything else which was currently going on in the shop, and that was a lot of things. The entire interior of the bakery looked like an explosion of color, not only displayed by the baked goods themselves, but also on every wall and shelf and container which made up the inside of the store. The main colors which dominated were pastels, but every shade of the rainbow could be found within the interior of this bakery. It was almost too much to try to take in all at once, but Allorah wasn’t about to just give in to the challenge without giving it her best shot first.

Now relatively reassured that the Phyrette would behave itself (and hopefully not try to sneak any snacks before she could pay for them first), she began to make her way in a systematic circuit around the interior of the bakery, giving every single display a thorough perusal before moving on to the next. Every single baked item inside this store was a miniature work of art in itself, and that went from everything as large as the whole cakes down to the tiniest pieces of candy. It was as if every item had been lovingly decorated by hand – which was in fact probably the truth – and Allorah couldn’t help but admire the amount of dedication and love which must have gone into the production of all of these sweets. The fanciest sweets she’d ever had before went as far as chocolate bars, and even then, she’d only bought them due to the fact that they advertised copious amounts of protein and antioxidants (which apparently made them a brain food). These treats were on a whole new level though, and she had plenty to preoccupy herself for the time being just with admiring all of them, let alone even begin to consider eating them. After all, it would feel almost like a travesty to eat something as pretty as these baked goods.

[The Bakery – 25]

[zapdragon555]

Six came out of the bakery, murmuring an apology as he nearly ran into someone on his way out. His eyes darted to where Yin stood leaned against the wall of the bakery, hands shoved in his pockets, jacket swallowing up his thin form. Six’s eyes softened, and he quietly walked over, bag in one hand, to stand beside him and stare out at the people walking around. Their breaths clouded as intermittent puffs of air, never quite synchronizing. Yin’s was just a little too fast. “Wanna talk?” Six asked after a long moment, keeping his voice quiet, and eyes on the crowd. He waited for what felt like minutes before Yin responded, just as quietly, in the negative.

“Later,” Yin amended, hand reaching out to barely trail Six’s gloved hand. He paused, then tugged his glove off and held his hand out, a wincing smirk on his face. Six stared, then followed suit, stuffing his glove in his pocket to hold the human’s hand in his own, skin on skin, far more of a comfort than being separated by fabric. “I’m fine. We’re all fine,” he murmured under his breath, keeping distance but happy to be tethered by their joined hands. Six’s pulse was steady and strong against his own.

“Alright.” Six hummed out a sigh, rolling up the bag of cake a little better before tucking it into the roomy pocket of his jacket. Snowflakes were starting to fall, swirling in little patterns, never too heavy. They dotted Six’s dark hair with white flecks, before melting quite quickly. “Where to next?” he asked, though he was quite content to just stand there for awhile. But the crowd coming in to the bakery was getting intimidating, at any rate.

[The Bakery - 9]

[zapdragon555]

Yin seemed to consider it for awhile, things moving slowly in his brain. He wasn’t used to that. Things rarely moved slowly, especially when he and Six were together, though sometimes time had a funny way of standing still. Maybe it was this damn cold weather. Yin gave a small shiver, and his heart squeezed slightly as he felt Six’s hand try to engulf more of his smaller one. More warmth. Yin’s lips formed a faint, real smile.

“Dunno. Why don’t we just walk?” Yin murmured, starting his feet on the path in front of him. Six followed automatically, sticking close, ignoring the couples and groups and singles that passed and surrounded them. He felt like he was finally starting to relax, at any rate. Yin’s cryptic mood shifts were a thing on his mind, certainly, but as long as the boy was smiling a little, that was enough for now. “I’m sure we’ll run into something interesting.

Six glanced back at the bakery, over his shoulder, then down at Yin. Lemon cake. He’d have to get Yuusuke to bake one when Yin’s birthday rolled around. Or maybe… Six would try to do it himself. He had such little experience, though, he might end up burning the hideout’s kitchen down. Giant smoke signals were terrible for a hideout to have--

“Hey. Earth to Mittsu,” Yin called with a small, amused grin, tinged with an annoyance that made Six grin back. “Did you hear me? I said, it smells like hay. Think there’s some animals nearby?”

Six sniffed the air, brows raising. “Yeah, I do smell that. Doesn’t seem unlikely. Wanna check it out?” he asked, tilting his head and squeezing the other boy’s hand in his.

“Psh. I guess,” Yin shrugged, swinging their joined hands back and forth as they walked. “How fun can a bunch of dumb animals be, though?”

[The Bakery - 10]
[Moving to the Petting Zoo]

[zapdragon555]

As it turns out, ‘a bunch of dumb animals’ could be quite a bit of fun. They hadn’t taken two steps into the Petting Zoo when a hoard of puppies rushed for their legs. Yin didn’t have the heart to yell at them for nipping at his pants and shoes. Six laughed as they picked their way to the side where they wouldn’t be in the way of people walking in and out, and Yin promptly plopped down on the hay, the puppies converging on him. “Nooo, I’m being attacked!” he cackled as one very energetic puppy climbed onto its littermates’s heads and attempted to lick Yin’s chin. Six grabbed the puppy by the torso and lifted it up into his arms, sitting down beside Yin with a small grin. He preferred cats, sure, but he couldn’t deny this was gosh darn adorable. “Wonder if they have names,” Yin mused aloud, and Six grinned slightly.

“Name ‘em anyway,” Six countered, letting the energetic puppy crawl onto his shoulder, then promptly slide back down due to improper footing. It looked like it was trying to get into his hood.

“Too lazy. And uncreative. They’re all named ‘good boy,’” Yin added, cupping his hands on one puppy’s face and smooshing its puppy fat up around its eyes, laughing at the cute sight.

“Even the girl ones?” Six mused, lifting the puppy up in his arms to check—yep, his was a girl. He smiled, scratching her behind the ears and laughing as her hind leg began to kick and claw at his leg in happiness.

“Girls can still be good boys. It’s a gender neutral dog term,” Yin decided, nodding his head, casting Six a look to show he was partially joking around. He released the puppy’s face when it began to lick at his wrists, chuckling and wiping his wrists on his jacket. “Aw, I love ‘em…” he sighed, watching as a few of the dogs curled up in his bony lap in piles of fur.

[The Petting Zoo - 11]

[Flame]

In spite of Allorah’s reservations about doing something so heinous as eating the baked goods, her Phyrette companion seemed to have no such concerns. It had wasted no time in making a full round of the entire bakery, and had quickly found a particular interest in the cupcake display. It was now planted firmly in front of the glass case which protected the colorful miniature cakes, its tiny paws pressed against the glass as it gazed in longingly at the treats. It didn’t take long for Allorah to make her way around to where the Phyrette stood guard, Pip still following along at her heels (although he seemed more preoccupied with trying to walk in his snowshoes indoors than with all the sights and smells around him). If Allorah had no interest in food, Pip put even her to shame when it came to lack of interest, but he tagged along obediently, as much as he would rather have sat in a corner somewhere and waited. Something told her that he was afraid he might be forgotten in the excitement of everything currently going on.

“I take it you like what you see, huh?” Allorah asked with a light chuckle, looking down at the Phyrette. Pink-red eyes looked back up imploringly at her – it didn’t take a translator to figure out exactly what it was that the little creature wanted, and Allorah didn’t need to be convinced any further. Looking up and over the counter for an available assistant, she finally managed to flag one of the ladies working there down, which was a feat in itself, considering how busy the bakery currently was. It seemed that buying sweet treats on a day like today (or more likely than not, during this holiday season) was a rather popular pastime. “Hi there! I’d like to purchase some of your treats, if possible. I believe my little friend here knows exactly what they want.” It took a little bit of pointing and miming, but before long, a chocolate cupcake with a beautiful, peppermint-swirled frosting had been separated from its peers and carefully placed on a small platter, ready for consumption. For herself, Allorah ordered a jelly-filled donut and a frosted sugar cookie, along with a cup of coffee. Of course, most of her order came from suggestions which she gratefully took – after all, she had no idea what people normally ordered in places like this.

[The Bakery – 26]

[Flame]

With baked goods now in hand and paid for, Allorah carefully balanced all of her new acquisitions between her hands as she gingerly scooted her way towards what little seating area was available inside the bakery. The place likely saw a lot of takeout orders, but on a cold day like today, it seemed that many people had the same idea that she and her cohorts had – after all, it was warm and welcoming indoors, and it didn’t take much persuading to decide that it would be nicer to enjoy their treats in the comfort and shelter inside than out in the frigid weather. Luckily for her, there was a small table which was currently unoccupied, situated by one of the large storefront windows which looked out onto the snowy street. Prime real estate, especially during a time like this, especially when it allowed for a great view of the décor and passersby as well. Carefully, Allorah balanced her way over to the open table, doing her best not to trip over the Phyrette which had taken to excitedly carousing around at her feet as they made their way over to their destination.

Somehow, she managed to make it to the table without any huge mishaps – a tiny bit of coffee was displaced during the process, but all things considered, it was a minor and forgivable mistake, especially when the Phyrette quickly lapped the offending liquid off the floor. At least then Allorah didn’t have to worry about going back to clean up her own mess. As she set the dishes down on the tabletop, the Phyrette nimbly hopped up into one of the vacant seats, placing its forepaws daintily on the table as it waited for its treat to be served. Allorah made a point of first picking Pip up and seating him as well (after all, the poor thing didn’t have anywhere near the mobility that his companion did), then slid the plate holding the cupcake over to the eagerly awaiting Phyrette. “There you go – you’ve earned it. Thank you for not getting into any of the baked goods before I could actually buy them first.” The scientist laughed, but in all honesty, she really was thankful that there had been no misfortunate mishaps in the bakery. After all, it would have been a downright shame if they’d been forced to leave before even getting to enjoy the wares around them.

[The Bakery – 27]

[zapdragon555]

“We’re not getting one,” Six began in a tone that was mostly joking. Yin snorted and angled his head back, sticking his nose in the air defiantly.

“Yes we are. He’ll sleep between us in our bed,” Yin said, patting one puppy’s back. It raised its head and yawned, tongue curling before it rested its head back on the neck of another puppy. Six’s eyes shone at the precious display, but smirked at Yin’s comment.

“Okay, then—we’ll name it Homewrecker,” Six chuckled, grinning at Yin, who laughed aloud and stuck out his tongue at Six. The puppy in Six’s lap struggled a bit, then left and padded over to Yin’s pile of sleeping pups. She curled up next to his thigh and blinked sleepily. “Geez, they like you,” he chuckled, eyes softening, before mirth lit them up again. “And I’m the one with food in my pocket! Geez, what kind of dog isn’t suaded by food?”

“...‘Suaded’?” Yin asked, arching a brow and giggling slightly, shifting just enough so that he could pull his hood up and lie back on the hay.

“I-it’s a word!” Six muttered good-naturedly, smiling sheepishly. The puppies resituated, some of them slipping off of Yin’s lap to lie beside him. Regardless, it seemed as though they’d deemed Yin their personal sleeping buddy. Six gazed at Yin for a moment, at the boy’s closed eyes and easy, soft smile. Quietly, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. His stomach did a flip as the camera shutter sound clapped, internally cursing himself for not turning off the sound first.

“The hell?” Yin muttered, opening one eye, though his expression didn’t seem particularly fiery. Six flushed, then shrugged dramatically.

“You looked cute, a-alright?” he winced, eyes averted to the overhanging barn. “I’ll delete it. It was an impulsive thing. You’re really damn cute and you’re covered in puppies. What do you want from me?”

Yin eyed the demon for a long moment, leering in thought, then sighed through his nose and shifted, nuzzling into the fluff around the hood of his jacket. “Nah. Keep it. And text it to me,” he added with a tiny smirk, opening his eyes again to look up at Six.

[The Petting Zoo - 12]

[zapdragon555]

Six looked a little taken-aback for a few seconds. He’d been expecting a tongue-lashing, or at least a dirtier look than that. He sent the picture with a few swipes of his thumb, then pocketed the phone.

“In fact, give me your phone,” Yin continued. Out it came again. Six handed it over with a question in his eyes, cautious, and blinked when Yin patted the hay beside him. “C’mere.” Six glanced around, wondering if it was really alright, if anyone would give them weird looks. Two adults lying in the hay in a petting zoo covered in puppies… Nah, it actually seemed pretty reasonable, to Six. “Don’t squish any of them.”

“I won’t, I won’t,” Six muttered softly as he situated himself, lying back in the hay with Yin, picking up one puppy to shift closer. He placed it on his stomach, where it stretched out lazily, paws trembling as it stretched before it relaxed with a tiny dog-sigh. “God, that’s cute,” Six snorted slightly, trying to keep his body still despite his laughter.

“Mmmhm,” Yin murmured, lips quirked up in a smile as he found the camera on Six’s phone again. He leaned his head in closer to Six’s and raised the phone up, their faces appearing on the screen. “Lean in more,” he murmured. Six blinked, not used to this kind of thing, but leaned in as he was told. One of the puppy’s noses was visible in the shot, a sleeping furry face between them. Six smiled automatically at the sight, and Yin snagged a pair of photos, immediately looking to see if either of them came out blurry. One did, so it was fine to take two.

Six glanced at the phone screen, a warmth stirring in his chest. Really, this wasn’t like them at all. Selfies at a Christmas festival, covered in sleeping dogs? The pure normalcy of it all—or what Six had always imagined to be normalcy for most couples—made his chest stir with affection for the boy beside him. “Cute,” he simply said, offering a small smile and a nod.

Yin was quiet, gazing at the picture, then put the phone to sleep and shrugged, tossing it back onto Six’s chest. “Whatever. S’dumb, anyway,” he murmured, but he hadn’t deleted it, so Six figured it was mostly just talk. Six’s hand found Yin’s, squeezing once, before he felt another mental link-attempt from Shikyu. It startled him so much that he hadn’t the mind to close it off. Shikyu probably had somewhat of an idea where they were, now. Six sighed, letting go of Yin’s hand and sitting up slowly, letting the puppy (and his phone, which landed on the poor thing, whoops) fall into the cradle his arms as he did.

[The Petting Zoo - 13]

[ToxicShadow]

That, Adair could agree with. He'd gotten distracted by one of Blayze's whims, but they really did need to focus on the task at hand. His eyes weren't so much on the fountain, but on the people walking all around. There was the occasional person wearing somewhat out of the ordinary clothing but, then, Blayze's outfit didn't exactly blend in all that well, either. Nor did his entirely white ensemble, even. It was rarity for someone to dress in all white these days, with how easily it got dirty. Yet, here he was, a neat freak, always wearing white.

Blayze was busily looking around them, too, but when they arrived at the edge of the fountain, the honking of the geese grabbed his attention. "Awwww, aren't you all just little cuties?" he cooed, crouching down to be more on their level. "You want to be fed, don't you? But... I don't have anything to feed you."

Fountain - 27

[ToxicShadow]

The blond managed to ignore the honking of the geese, in favor of doing his job, but he peered over when he heard Blayze speak. He watched for a moment, before shaking his head. Of course Blayze would be distracted by animals that he thought were cute. It was really no surprise. He had the feeling that, for the most part, he would be the only one really doing their job. There were far too many things that Blayze would find distracting around here.

He glanced around them once more, and noticed the person handing out bread. "Oh, they're handing out food for the geese," he pointed out.

"Oh, really?" Blayze sprang up upon hearing these words, ready to go and fetch some for himself.

"Just wait here," Adair told him, though. "All go and get you some. You keep on watching them."

Fountain - 28

[ToxicShadow]

Blayze happily did as was told and waited for Adair to fetch a slice of bread for him. He was still kind of surprised that the other man was being so nice. Was he humoring him because it was near the holidays? Or, well, this was a holiday event. Part of him wanted to ask, but he knew better than to bring it up and possibly spoil things for himself.

"Excuse me?" Adair greeted the woman with the bread politely. "My friend over there would like to feed the geese," he explained, gesturing toward Blayze, whom had resumed cooing at the feathery creatures. The woman was kind enough to not only give him a slice for Blayze, but a slice for himself, as well. Although, it wasn't as if he intended to use it. He'd just give the extra one to the other man.

Fountain 29

[Flame]

Pip, for one, seemed to be quite relieved for the break – it wasn’t as if he’d been doing all that much walking lately anyways, not while Allorah had been toting him along in her arms, but something told her that this day in general was rather draining for the little Velix. As the trio settled down at their little table, Allorah reached into a pocket of her jacket, pulling out a small, block-like device from within its depths. A cord came attached to it, and she used it to plug into a small port located on one of Pip’s hind legs. A little blue light blinked on on the device, indicating its charge rate, and she heard an audible sigh come from her mechanical assistant as he sank into his seat, clearly relishing the welcome fuel up. “Did you think that I was going to make you go through this entire afternoon on just reserve batteries?” Allorah chuckled, eyeing the Velix with amusement. “Hey, in my defense, it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve done that,” was the retort she got in response, and she had to admit that he wasn’t wrong. After all, it wasn’t always a possibility to tote one of these battery packs along wherever they went, regardless of how small they were. For one, they failed in the water-resistance department (since they weren’t of Allorah’s own inventing), whereas her assistant was made of much better-made stuff.

Sure that her companion was now comfortably settled, Allorah finally turned to her own cup of coffee, wrapping her hands around the warm mug gratefully as she breathed in the rich, bitter smell. She’d never had coffee before, but she heard a decent amount about it, although usually more for its stimulating, caffeine-filled properties than its taste. She wasn’t sure if it was just her senses, but the stuff smelled pretty pungent, and not exactly particularly appetizing right off the bat. In fact, the bitter smell almost turned her off of trying it entirely, but she wasn’t about to just write something off just based on one bad first impression. Giving it another experimental sniff, she lifted the mug to her lips, taking a ginger sip. Her resulting expression was clearly radical enough to warrant a sudden and thoroughly hearty laugh from Pip, who had been watching her with interest as soon as she’d grabbed the cup. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was still charging and quite tired, he might have rolled right off of his seat in the act, but for the moment, he remained safely perched on the wooden chair, waves of mirth rolling from his audio outputs, drawing a few curious looks from the other people in the bakery around them.

[The Bakery – 28]

[ToxicShadow]

He thanked the woman and, when he returned to stand beside his partner, he held out both slices of bread for Blayze to take. "Here. She gave me two. I don't want one, so take them both and have fun."

"Oooh~ Thank you!" Blayze cheerfully accepted the slices of bread and rose back to his full height. "Here you are, little cuties~" He began ripping small pieces from the bread and tossing them to the geese. He was careful not to overwhelm them and throw too many. He didn't want them to choke, nor did he want to bread to get too soggy in the water and sink to the bottom before they could snap them up in their bills.

Adair just stood back and watched. Well, he'd watch the geese quickly snap up the bread offered to them, occasionally, but his eyes were more on their surroundings. So far, still, he didn't see anyone all too suspicious.

Fountain - 30