[ToxicShadow]

A few minutes had passed with Blayze feeding the geese, while Adair was actually doing the job asked of them. Eventually, the red head was down to his last two little bits of bread. "All right you guys, this is it!" He threw both pieces to the geese and watched as they were both gobbled up. He was smiling the whole time he had been feeding them, but a small frown appeared on his face when he was all out of bread.

The geese honked at him a bit more, but he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's all gone," he told them. "You'll have to find someone else to feed you now." When the geese realized he wasn't holding any more bread and was making no attempts to get more, the lot of them wandered off.

Blayze's eyes shifted back toward Adair as he dusted his hands off by brushing them together. "All right, all done! Thanks for waiting~"

Fountain - 31

[Flame]

“Hey now, there’s no need to be rude,” Allorah said, her tone just slightly defensive as she set the cup down, doing her best to do so gently. She should have guessed just based on the smell and color of the liquid that it couldn’t have possibly boded well for her taste buds. After all, from a self-preservation and evolutionary standpoint, every instinct in her body had been screaming at her not to drink the disgusting-smelling bean juice, but as a scientist, she had firmly told herself that she needed to try at least everything once, especially when this particular thing was such a major player in the backbone of society as a whole. She smacked her lips surreptitiously, trying to get the overwhelmingly bitter flavor out of her mouth until she remembered that she had a donut and cookie on hand. Hopefully, those would be her saving graces she thought to herself as she reached for the jelly-filled donut, seeking any sort of rescue from this somewhat horrific experience. At least the sugar-coated pastry looked and smelled much, much more inviting than the coffee had, and Allorah sincerely hoped that that boded well for her luck.

Ready to try just about anything to get the taste of coffee out of her mouth, she wasted no time in biting into the puffy pastry, and almost recoiled in surprise when a cold filling almost came squirting out of the new breach she’d made in the bread’s surface. Reaching out reflexively to catch it before it dripped, she glanced down at her hand to see a clear, deep red and distinctly gelatinous filling which had squeezed out of the donut. When she’d read jelly donut, she hadn’t really know exactly what to expect, but this apparently hadn’t been it. The second thing that came to mind though was sweet, sweet relief as a decadently saccharine flavor overwhelmed her senses, a brilliant mixture of sweet bready pastry and syrupy, fruit-flavored jam. “My goodness, this is amazing!” she said to no one in particular as she chewed, speaking around her mouthful of sugary goodness. “Pip, how have we never known about these baked pastries before? They’re delicious! I wish you could try a bite of this – it would change your life!”

[The Bakery – 29]

[ToxicShadow]

Before Adair could even ask where they should go to next, Blayze was already looking all around them. They had nothing left to do at the fountain, after all, so it was time to move on. "Why don't we go to the petting zoo? Or... maybe we should go get some candy over at that stall?" He suggested, motioning in the general direct of each of them.

"How about candy?" After seeing Blayze with just the geese, he didn't even want to imagine how bad it would be if they went to the petting zoo. With all the different animals, and being able to actually touch them easily, he'd probably never get the other man to leave! So, candy was the safer bet, definitely.

"Candy it is!" Blayze agreed.

Fountain - 32

[ToxicShadow]

As they walked, Blayze began to make conversation. "I heard they give out the candy for free," he told his partner. "And their homemade stuff is supposed to be pretty good."

"Well, that would explain the line," Adair replied. There was a neat line of several people in front of the stand. He would have bought Blayze candy just to keep him from the petting zoo, but free candy wasn't terrible, either. In fact, waiting in line would keep him busy even longer, he supposed.

"Do you really like candy that much?" the blond ventured to ask. After all their time together, he wasn't actually all that sure. They worked closely together, but he was still entirely unaware of most of the other man's preferences. Except when it came to him, of course, since he was somehow Blayze's type, apparently.

Moving to Candy Stand - 33

[Flame]

Pip had since caught his breath (not that a mechanical creature like himself needed to, but figuratively speaking at least), and was now watching Allorah once more as she took a bite of the foreign pastry, amusement still mingled with his curious expression. “Well, it probably had something to do with the fact that those pastries are nothing but pointless, empty calories. And a lot of them.” His tone was frankly matter-of-fact – trust Pip to put a damper on an exciting new life experience. But his point was valid – the reason why they had never explored the avenue of sweets was exactly as he’d said; as someone as nutritionally-conscious as Allorah was, she had never even considered the notion of eating simply for the sake of eating. After all, she kind of just assumed that all food tasted the same – bland and not entirely distasteful, but nothing to write home about either. This was a whole new experience for her though, and an eye-opening one at that. For the first time in her life, she had discovered that certain food items tasted good – dangerously good, for that matter. Of course, she had already forgotten her experience moments ago with the coffee, but her entire attention was currently dedicated to taking another bite of the donut in her hands.

“I just can’t believe I never knew about food that could taste like this,” she continued incredulously, still trying to speak around her full mouth. “How can so few ingredients put together make something so utterly heavenly?” Pip simply snorted in response, although he couldn’t begrudge his mistress what enjoyment she was currently deriving from the donut. Not too much, at least. “Well, I hope that you enjoy that while you can, but not too much. I hear that eating too many of those things will just kill your figure. I hope that you don’t get too overly attached to the idea of ‘tasty food’.” Normally, his party-pooping comment might have earned himself at least some kind of disdainful response, but Allorah was currently too engrossed in her sweet treat to even bother with a retort. Why waste time being bitter when she could so much more effectively spend it enjoying this new discovery?

[The Bakery – 30]

[ToxicShadow]

Hm," Blayze seemed to think about it for a moment. "Sometimes," he answered. "But it depends, too. I love some candy, but not everything. I guess... I'm willing to give most new things a try at least once, though. I don't want to miss out on something yummy just by judging it based on the name or ingredients."

As he gave his explanation, the two of them made their way to the end of the line and took their place there. Luckily, since the candy was free, the line was moving at a reasonably fast pace. Certainly, the lack of monetary exchanges helped speed things up. There was lots of different people, from parents with children, couples that appeared to be on dates, as well as perfectly single people. No one seemed outfight dangerous.

"What about you?" Blayze asked. "Do you like candy?"

Candy Stand - 34

[ToxicShadow]

Thinking about it, Blayze couldn't recall ever asking the question before. He'd seen Adair it chocolate, at least, but wasn't sure of his opinion on candy, in general. He didn't even know if he preferred milk or dark chocolate.

Adair shrugged in response to the question. "What isn't there to like? I wouldn't say I'm always in the mood for it, but it's not as though I dislike sweets, altogether."

Blayze nodded. "What about chocolate? Do you prefer milk or dark? Or even, maybe, white chocolate?"

Inwardly, the blond sighed, but he humored the other man anyway. "I guess I prefer dark chocolate sometimes? I like it, at least. It's not as sweet, and they're often made a little more fancy. Adding sea salt, fruits, that kind of thing. I like those sorts of things."

Candy Stand - 35

[Flame]

In the meantime, the Phyrette hadn’t wasted any time in digging into its long-awaited treat either. Clearly, it had none of the misgivings that Allorah had shown towards her share, although one couldn’t say for sure whether that was due to having more past experience, or if its keen sense of smell was just more trustworthy than hers. Either way, there wasn’t more than a second of hesitation after the cupcake was placed in front of it before it dove in (almost quite literally) head first. With no regard for any sense of decorum, the Phyrette tackled the cupcake forepaws first, its tiny feet sinking elbow-deep into the thick, buttery frosting, very effectively marring the beautiful peppermint swirl effect which had so lovingly been piped onto it. It chattered loudly and happily as it began to lick the minty, sugary frosting off of its paws, and proceeded to make quick work of polishing all of the icing off the top of the chocolate cupcake. That, in and of itself, was a rather impressive feat, considering the fact that the cupcake was probably a fourth of the creatures weight in its entirety, but there was no pause at all between finishing the icing and starting on the actual cake portion.

The Phyrette tackled the chocolately, spongy pastry with the same gusto which it had the icing, tearing large chunks of the cake away to stuff into its waiting jaws with the energy of a starved person. It was honestly quite an impressive sight to behold, although Allorah and Pip were currently too preoccupied with her own mishaps to pay attention at this given moment. A few onlookers sitting nearby did though, and it seemed they couldn’t help but watch the entire spectacle from where they sat. It was honestly pretty cute in many ways, since the Phyrette’s expression the entire time was one of pure and utter joy – something that wasn’t often seen outside the faces of children these days. A few people even seemed to be considering purchasing more treats for the little creature as it made to polish off its current victim, picking away at what crumbs had managed to survive by sticking to the cupcake wrapper. Once every last tiny morsel had satisfactorily been cleared away, the Phyrette sniffed around to ensure that it hadn’t missed any delectable crumbs before slouching down with a happy sigh into its seat, clearly ready to enter a food coma, or sleep the treat off.

[The Bakery – 31]

[ToxicShadow]

Blayze's whole expression lit up upon hearing Adair's answer. "I know what to get you for Valentine's Day then!" he happily declared. He never really missed out on the chance to give Adair something for the lovers' holiday, but, now, he actually knew what the other man liked. "I promise I'll get you something delicious! Wait. No. I'll make you something delicious! So look forward to it, okay?"

Adair's expression went from mostly neutral to shocked when he heard the other man's declaration. Whoa, whoa. You don't have to get me anything," he tried to shut down the other man's plans. "We're not together, so you don't have to bother with it." There was no point in going against it, was there? Even if he said not to, Blayze would still make them, and he knew that. He could turn them down again when it came to the time for it, but... that would probably be difficult, too. He'd probably just annoyingly leave the chocolates in his room or something if he didn't accept them on his own.

Candy Stand - 36

[Flame]

While the Phyrette had been polishing off its pastry, Allorah had finally finished her jelly donut as well, and was now licking the remnants of sugar off of her fingers. That was another new experience for her as well – never had she had a food that was so good, that one just had to get down to every last morsel. Plus, it didn’t look as if there was a sink close at hand either, so this seemed like the logical solution to the sticky sugar on her fingers in lieu of that fact. Glancing down at the remaining frosted sugar cookie though, it seemed as if Pip’s rather discouraging words had had their effect upon her, and she decided that perhaps the cookie was best saved for later when they needed another boost of energy. Either that, or if the Phyrette needed another snack – at least, that was the logic that Allorah used in her head, although considering how much she had liked the donut, something told her that the cookie would soon meet a similar fate at her own hands. After all, there were plenty of other snacks that they could provide the Phyrette with, and this cookie she’d bought specifically for herself.

While Allorah was contemplating her options, Pip had taken to looking around the bakery. It seemed that he’d gotten some of his pep back, whether that was due to the fact that he was charging, or because he’d gotten a good laugh in at Allorah. Either way, his discerning eye was now turned upon other people (to her relief), and he quickly picked up on a few things that they hadn’t noticed before now. “Hey, Allorah, I think you’re actually drinking that coffee wrong,” he said, his gaze currently fixed on a woman sitting a bit closer to the serving counter. “I’m no expert here, but it looks like people are adding sugar and milk to their drinks…or rather, I’d hope that that’s sugar and milk. I can’t imagine salt and milk would make the flavor taste any better.” By this point, he’d seen several different people walk over to what appeared to be a small bar stocked with various different containers (along with straws and napkins and the such), and it seemed that it was more common than not to add whatever it was inside those containers to the drinks. It appeared to only hold true for coffee though – those customers who had ordered other drinks such as hot chocolate seemed to be enjoying those beverages as they were.

[The Bakery – 32]

[Flame]

Allorah glanced up from her deep philosophical contemplation of her remaining cookie at Pip’s words. She frowned for a moment, a small part of her convinced that the Velix was currently trying to prank her, but after a few minutes of observation, it appeared that his words held true, and that in fact, everyone else who had ordered coffee had visited the condiment station as well and added various other ingredients to their drink. She was currently still quite skeptical of the entire affair – after all, she couldn’t imagine that just trying to mask the overwhelmingly bitter flavor would turn it into an actual palatable beverage, but it seemed that the people walking away from the station sipping their cups of coffee seemed quite happy with their purchases. That either meant that everyone else in the world was insane, or that adding stuff to the abhorrent liquid did something magical that made it actually potable. Well, she’d been burned once already, but she would count herself as a poor scientist if she didn’t at least try it the way that the pros did it at least once.

Getting up somewhat hesitantly, she picked the coffee mug up once more, holding it like a venomous snake that might strike at any moment. As far as she was concerned, the thing might as well have been a serpent, but if it was possible to tame it, she would be damned if she didn’t at least give it a good college try. “Alright, Pip. You’re in charge of keeping an eye on your buddy there while I go try and make this disgusting cup of poison somehow palatable. Considering the fact that I’m pretty sure it’s not going to wake up or move any time soon, I think that your job will at least be relatively straightforward. Mine, on the other hand…” She gave the mug of coffee another uncertain look, a small part of her saying that it wasn’t too late to just sit back down and put the cup down again. After all, the bakers here couldn’t hold too much against her for not liking the drink, right? “As for me, if you see me keel over over there after taking another sip of this…drink…alert the authorities for me, will you? Either that, or jam another one of those donuts in my mouth. I think that might do the trick. Wish me luck!” With that, she began to make her way over to the counter, carefully balancing her mug with her as she did.

[The Bakery – 33]

[Flame]

When Allorah reached the bar which held all of the drink additives, she carefully set her mug down on the open space in front of all of the jars and packets and set about reading what each of them was. It was an odd assortment of different things, ranging from sugar, sugar-free sweeteners, and honey to cinnamon, dairy, and tiny marshmallows. At a glance, it certainly seemed like they were all pleasant ingredients which were usually used to make sweet treats, but she was still rather convinced that just sugar-coating a bitter concoction wouldn’t just instantaneously make it better. She quickly set about pretending to read one of the sugar-free packets as another customer walked up, setting their coffee cup on the other side of the counter. The person definitely moved with the confidence and familiarity of someone who was accustomed to mixing a potable cup of coffee, and Allorah made a point of inconspicuously observing their every motion as they prepared their drink.

Three packets of raw sugar, a splash of half-and-half, and just a dash of cinnamon went into the cup, turning the dark brown liquid a much lighter, sunnier shade of creamy brown before the man walked off again, happily sipping his custom cup of joe. Knowing that the amount of time she had spent just standing idly here was beginning to border on the edge of awkward, Allorah made a split-second decision to simply copy what the man had done, figuring that it was a better bet than if she were to try and concoct a mixture of her own. After all, there was quite a complicated number of different ingredients here, and the last thing that she needed was to somehow make this bitter beverage even worse (although she couldn’t imagine how that was even possibly). The sugar, half-and-half, and cinnamon went in, and just for kicks, she dumped a couple of the small marshmallows on top of the drink as well. After all, she was trying new things today, and she’d heard good things about marshmallows in the past. Grabbing a stirring stick and popping it in the cup, she lifted it and walked it back over to the table where Pip and the Phyrette patiently waited, figuring that if the drink still tasted bad after its new makeover, she could at least hide her shame a little easier in the pseudo-privacy of their space.

[The Bakery – 34]

[Flame]

Pip eyed his mistress as she returned, that wickedly amused look still somehow hovering about his features despite their immovability. After all, it wasn’t he that was about to risk his taste buds trying a bizarre new drink, and he had nothing to lose from this entire venture. If anything, it just put more pep in his step as he eagerly awaited Allorah’s next sip, hoping that the resulting reaction would be worthwhile. “Oh, don’t you look so smug about all this,” Allorah chided as she returned Pip’s stare, although in all honesty, all her bluster was more bluff than anything, and more than anything else, intended to put off the moment of truth for as long as possible. After all, she certainly had a lot more to lose from this new experience, and she didn’t particularly look forward to being laughed at again in public by her own servant. “You, of all people, should know the importance of proper experimentation before passing judgment on anything. I’m doing this in the name of science…or something.” Yeah, ‘or something’ was right.

Nevertheless, she could only postpone the inevitable for so long. Now that she’d gone through all the effort of mimicking a seasoned coffee-drinker, she had to at least taste the drink. On the bright side, it at least looked a lot friendlier and more palatable than it had just a minute or two ago, although knowing its true nature didn’t really help the situation. “Well, here goes nothing,” she finally said, knowing that it was probably better to bite the bullet now than drag the ordeal out longer than necessary. Lifting the cup to her lips once again, she closed her eyes, mentally tensing as she took another experimental sip of the drink, still expecting the worst. Well, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it had been the first time around, before it had received its rather unorthodox makeover, but Allorah could now say with confidence that she didn’t like coffee. I was certainly less offensive now that its bitterness was tempered with sugar and dairy, but that overwhelming flavor was still there, and while she didn’t make the same face she had the first time around, she still set the cup down with some finality, content in knowing that she’d given the drink its fair chance. “Well, I can now definitively say that I’m not a coffee person. People are insane for drinking this stuff.”

[The Bakery – 35]

[Flame]

Despite the fact that Allorah’s reaction was nowhere near as satisfying this time around as Pip had hoped that it would be, it still earned a chuckle on his part in seeing the tempered disgust that ran across her face at the second taste. “You probably don’t want to say that too loudly around certain crowds – I hear there are people who can’t live without the stuff, and they’d probably have a thing or two to say to you about your rather unpopular opinion.” He had to commend her for her stubborn determination though – Allorah was nothing if not an avid believer in the scientific method, and he respected her for just how strongly she stuck to that mantra. “Anyway, at least it seems like one of us really enjoyed our visit here,” he continued, nodding lightly at the Phyrette, who seemed for all intents and purposes as if it were curled up and asleep in its seat. For now, Pip took relief in the fact that a sleeping Phyrette meant one that he didn’t have to chase in futile circles around the store, and he relished the peace and quiet while he still could.

Allorah, on the other hand, had gone back to contemplating the one surviving cookie, trying to decide whether it was worth it to just eat the thing now. After all, the bitter flavor of the coffee had now taken over her taste buds once again, washing out any memory of the jelly donut. Finally, after a few minutes of agonizing consideration, her resolve broke and she reached for the cookie, breaking a bite-sized piece off of it and lifting it to her mouth. She was immediately rewarded with another sweet, sensory overload, although in hindsight, she thought that she still preferred the donut over the cookie. Nevertheless, the pastry came as a very close second, and Pip’s words came to mind as she chewed about the dangers of getting too attached to these tasty treats. She would have to make sure that she didn’t make too much of a habit out of eating these things – he was right when it came to the fact that they were indeed empty carbs, but considering how balanced the rest of her meals always were, she could probably find some wiggle room to fit in these little things. Maybe she’d just trade a banana here or there in favor of a donut or a cupcake every once in a while – that seemed like a fair compromise.

[The Bakery – 36]

[zapdragon555]

He sent, at the very least, a mental note that they were fine. He got back initial relief and then anger that they’d left Shikyu behind. Six grimaced, guilt trickling back into him, and he gently set the puppy aside. She whined in protest and snuggled up to Yin. “Shikyu’s looking for us,” Six muttered, rubbing at his forehead as he closed off the endless flutter of mental chatter Shikyu was sending him.

“Bummer,” Yin mumbled, still lying down, not looking very inclined to move. Six shot him a look, then sighed through his nose, wondering if they really could just stay there. Yin opened his eyes in response to Six’s silence, eyeing the demon, then sighed dramatically. “Aaaalriiight.” He sat up slowly, carefully depositing all of the puppies into the hay. Even without Yin, they seemed to snuggle up automatically, though a few of them were waking up and trotting off to see some of the other patrons. Yin looked up at Six and grinned, a chuckle bursting out of him. “Turn your head that way,” he said, pointing in the opposite direction of himself.

Six blinked, quizzical, but did as he was told. His shoulders jumped slightly as he felt Yin’s fingers fork through his hair. “There’s hay in it,” Yin explained, smile turning a bit warm, which showed in his voice. Six reached back to gently grasp Yin’s hand, then flash him a mischievous grin.

“Let’s get a move-on. I’m sure we’ll find Shikyu somewhere. I’ve certainly been saying his name enough,” Six mused aloud, standing and brushing off his clothes, dusting hay off of Yin when the boy stood up as well. “Let’s see what else is around, for now.”

“Before he ruins our fun, you mean,” Yin muttered, a humorous note in his voice despite everything. Six grunted in noncommittal agreement.

[The Petting Zoo - 14]
[Moving to the Roasted Chestnut Stand]