All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter

[🐎] — “A kitten, huh? Great choice.” Putting a hand to her hip, Georgia smiles at the woman, and then directs a knowing look at the kitten she was petting. Giggling, she takes her free hand and points down at the mewling kitten. “This little darlin’ has definitely taken a liking to you, I can tell. Is that the one you want…?” 

Not wanting to come off as too bossy, or have the woman think she was forcing her into a decision, Georgia hastily adds, “But hey, you don’t have to go with the first one you see. There’re plenty of precious babes to choose from, so you’re free to take your time and look around.”

She scratches the white kitten behind its ears, smiling as she feels the vibrations from the animal’s content purring as he rubs against her hand. She debates with herself for a moment, looking over the other kittens too busy napping, eating, or playing, to pay her any attention.

The kitten mews up at her, Molly realizing she had stopped petting him in her train of thought. She continues again, turning to the shop keeper with a big smile and giving her a nod of her head.

[♫] — Max opens his mouth to respond to that, but stops when Molly cheekily swipes some cream from his face. The act is so incredibly frustrating and cute that he doesn’t quite know how to react to it, so he chooses to remain silent. When she turns away, Max conceals the sigh threatening to escape his lips as he responds to her next statement.

“Ah, so then you must know a little something about this hex, then.” He says with a thin smile, handing off the towel to her. Though his tone was slightly joking, his annoyance over the situation in general was still apparent. “Or I should be partly blaming you for this mess, at the very least.” Gods, his hair felt so heavy and sticky and… dirty.

“But why spend time doing that when I could be getting cleaned up?” He adds, expression twisting into a disgruntled one. “I would hate to cut our conversation short, Bunny, but I really must be going. I can’t exactly remain here in this state.”

Molly chuckles, pulling the band of bunny ears from her head to push a hand through her hair. “Mm, perhaps. But there’s no fun in giving away secrets, don’t you think? Then they’re no longer secrets. And that makes for a very boring game if there’s no secret behind it,” she says with a shrug, picking clean a few loose hairs clinging to the headband before returning it to her head.

“I’d offer you one of the uniforms to change into, though I’m not so sure you’d want to walk around in a bunny costume...well, then again I’ve no idea what you’re into.”

Charles sighed and trudged his feet along the sidewalk. The work requirements the College had placed him under were draining. It wouldn’t be quite so bad if he wasn’t teaching so many classes, but he was the only one qualified to do it. Most of the time it was a welcome occupation, but lately, things had gotten a little more hectic.

His mother had spent a night in the hospital and he had been with her. That was two nights ago, but worry kept him away from sleep and thrust deeply into busy work. The stress of it all left an effect on his normally pristine appearance. 

His hair was ruffled and fluffy, an unpleasant two-day beard sprouted from his face, his shirt was wrinkled, and no amount of coffee could brighten the bags under his eyes or the sullen pallor of his cheeks. 

Shuffling to a nearby bench, he plopped down with a deep sigh. Charles wasn’t an old man, but he felt like it right now. Weariness pulled at him in mind and body. He just… needed… a minute…

Between one breath and the next, his head lolled to the side and he fell asleep sitting on a bench in broad daylight. 

Molly yawned, on her way home to the dock where she left her ship after a very long, very boring night shift at the casino. The Winery and Gun shop were both closed that day and the next, meaning she had the rest of the day to do what she wanted, or rather needed to do (such as that very large pile of laundry waiting to be washed.) 

Scratching her cheek, the young woman found herself doing a double take as she spotted not something, but someone sleeping on a bench in public. Homelessness did not seem to be as big an issue on the islands as it was in the Big City; in fact the young woman had a hard time coming up with a time she had ever seen someone homeless on either Leuda or Arcadia Islands. Was the area so perfect that poverty and homelessness ceased to exist? Well, nothing was perfect, and rather than pass by and believe such was a way of life for some people, Molly chose to do the only thing right by her; see what she could do to help.

She approached the man quietly, gently touching his shoulder to rouse him from his sleep.

Soseki didn’t notice Molly’s email until late in the day when he finally sat down to churn out a few paragraphs on his latest project. He’d been jumping around between scenes, writing out bits that he knew and then going to a new section. But before he could get to his work, he brought up his email. Molly’s was near the top, marked unread along with a handful of spam and one from his editor. Skipping over the one from his editor, he opened hers.

Leuda, huh? Interesting. And surprisingly convenient. 

Miss. Cappelli,

It was a pleasure to receive your email! I would certainly be flattered if my books were to appear in your store and I’m equally flattered to hear that you enjoyed them personally. What did you want to discuss? It’s very easy for me to make a trip to Leuda if you would like. My publisher should have most details on pricing and things of that nature. I’m afraid the most I do is put the words to paper, but I’m happy to help if there’s anything I can do.

Thank you, Natsume Sōseki 

Well, that should do it. He sent it off, looked at his editor’s unread email, and then opened up a music playlist. He grabbed his stack of papers full of notes and story tidbits as well as the story itself and started writing.

Molly had not checked her email until that evening, just before she was due to arrive for her shift at the Casino. She had not expected a reply that day from the writer, but to her surprise, one unopened new email sat within her mailbox, waiting for her to read. She took a seat as she read the message on her cell phone, opting to respond now rather than leave it for the next day.

Mr. Sōseki,

Thank you for your prompt response! I am happy that a trip to Leuda would not be an inconvenience for you.When I had reached out to your publisher about stocking your books, they had asked that I contact you directly. I also find it best to give vendors/suppliers the opportunity to visit where their stock will be for sale so they may understand the store. Though I understand you are more of a writer than a vendor, I thought it best to still extend the opportunity nonetheless. 

Though I am not at the store every day, I can easily arrange to be for whenever may be best for you.

Sincerely,

[♫] — Even if she may not have been outright laughing at his predicament, Max wasn’t at all pleased by the grin lighting her face. Though, Bunny had always been a criminally cute girl, and because of that weakness of his, he finds that he isn’t as bothered by her amusement as he could be. How can you be upset with someone so adorable? 

“Fun. I think you mean humiliation, maybe?” He wipes the remainder of the pie cream from his face – at least what he assumes it all, without a mirror – not even wanting to think about how his hair looked right now. “A pain in the rear, most definitely. I don’t see what’s so amusing about getting blasted with pie cream…” He glances at Molly pointedly, taking note of the clear amusement in her expression. “Well, to the ones actually getting hit, I suppose.”

The mention of a hex, turns his pointed expression into one of shock, and he stares at her wide-eyed. Max believed himself to be an intelligent man who wasn’t too gullible, but when it came to magic-related things, he didn’t quite know what to think. “A hex…? Amazing. To think that someone here could be capable of doing that…” 

He hands the towel back to her, annoyance from earlier almost entirely forgotten. “I don’t quite care for the face full of pie, but I would be fascinated in seeing how something like that is done– you’re not the one responsible, are you, Bunny?”

She tuts, no longer trying to hide her amusement at the situation. She understands where he’s coming from, having received her fair share of pie cream to the face, and of course there were just some days she could certainly do without that. But of course that didn’t mean she was not going to still give max a hard time about it.

“Think of it as a fact of life; rather than be angry that your face is covered in cream. just accept it,” she says, bringing a hand towards his face, index finger swiping a bit of the cream he seems to have missed while cleaning himself up. She licks it off her finger, tossing a wink his way before turning towards the game to collect the empty pie tins.

[🐎] — “Well, what would ya like to do?” She questions, the possibility of her being too nosy– too prying into a customer’s life, not at all registering to her. Georgia was curious by nature, after all, and very much lacked the filter most people had. “Are you in a place in your life where caring for a pet is possible? Do you want the handle the responsibility of caring for one?”

And of course, ever the businesswoman, she doesn’t fail to add in a sales pitch. “And if you are, might I recommend adopting one of the cute kittens? They’re docile and don’t require as much energy as pups and dogs do– ‘course, pups and dogs are just as awesome, you know. Some people really like the high energy.”

She takes a few moments to carefully consider all of the store attendant’s questions, scratching her cheek idly before catching sight of one of the shop’s kittens trying to grab her attention. She kneels again, reaching into the display to pet the animal.

She could certainly care for a pet as it stood. Sure, she was busy with work, but it was not as thought she would never be home. Besides, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with taking it to work with her.

After a few moments thought, Molly gives the other woman a firm nod, smile wide and confident with her decision.