S W E E T

Was it lonely to move from town to town so often? Kai thought to himself for a moment on his answer to that question, not really to sure of the answer. “Lonely?” He repeated, giving himself more time to think. “Nah, not really in the sense that you’d think it’d be! I mean luckily everyone is just so nice, it’s hard to be lonely when you’re surrounded by such kind hearted people.” As he went forth with his chatting, Kai retrieved the cookware he needed to put together stir fry a dish he’s made over and over again. With a bit of flare, he pun the frying pan in his hand while he spoke to her, before lighting another burner and putting it down.

“But I do suppose it gets lonely in the sense where sometimes you just constantly miss the people you’re close to.” He poured out oil onto the hot pan, becoming so used to the motion that he looked at her over his shoulder as he spoke. “Though I suppose that’s the give and take, missing your people but getting to see different towns and different parts of the world. Guess you can’t have both.” The man smile with a bright grin. “Though for now the mayor said he’d pay me quite a bit to hang around Mineral Town for a while, so it’ll be nice having some time back in the place I consider home.”

When the girl mentioned that she ran of a business of her own, Kai looked to her with an even more intrigued sense of curiosity. “Really now?” He chimed while he was retrieving his hoard of previously chopped vegetables from the fridge. As he listened to her speak, he bit into a spare piece of chopped bell pepper while he poured the rest into the pan.

“A baker hm? Well, now I understand why I got such a sweet vibe from ‘ya! I can’t bake to save my life. I mean, if it was a life or death situation I could probably bake something— but it’d probably make them drop dead before they could come after me!” Laughter escaped from the man as he continued, shelling a couple shrimp as the pan continued to sizzle. “Pineapple upside down cake huh? Well we should do a little trade then!”

Throwing the lid on top of the pan and decreasing the flame to a mere simmer, with a swift motion he place the mug in front of her. A twist and a turn, and he picked up the teapot just as it was about to sound it’s alarm, and he filled the cup with it’s hot water. “Pineapples are kind of the best fruit there is.” He spoke teasingly, pushing the now full mug a little closer to her. “And I’m sure pineapple upside down cake, made by a professional baker like you, would be to die for.”

“So I purpose a trade,” He spoke with confidence. “Professional to professional, you tell me how you like my stir fry and then you stop by again sometime with this pineapple upside down cake you mentioned!” As he leaned against the counter, chin rested against his palm, he continued. “That way we don’t have to worry about anything like a bill at the end of this, simply using the barter system instead.” 

Though Kai simply shrugged his shoulders, smiling back at her as he turned back to the pan. “Though that might just be my silly excuse to see you again.”

When the girl piped up, apologizing for interrupting him with facts about herself, Kai couldn’t help but muse over how cute she was. Not cute like a child, maybe cute like a kitten? He wasn’t sure, but all he knew was sweet was definitely an adjective that fit her. “Well maybe I want to talk about you ♪.” As he lifted the lid off the frying pan, the space filled with steam. With a bit of a hum and an upbeat attitude, he used his spatula to assure that everything was cooking evenly. “So tell me Laney,” he cooed. “Is cooking a job or a hobby for you? It could be both, but I’m curious since you say you work for your dad. Is it something you enjoy doing, or something that you do for work?”

Kai’s words echoed in her mind. She hung onto his sweet, charming voice like a child may listen to teacher; sitting on the edge of her seat as she waited for a smooth response. He seemed wise beyond his years, maybe it was just from how relaxed he appeared? Or maybe it was all for show and really he wasn’t? But it didn’t matter. Not to Laney. Not would it mean to her.

“Hm,” Laney mused, letting the towel out of her hair. Her blonde hair was stringy, falling out with awful wet straight waves that would need some TLC once back in Bluebell. “I just don’t know how someone could live without their family, maybe that’s why I think it would be so lonely to be moving around so much. Having yo be on your own sounds wonderful, but being alone would be... different. How do you manage? Other than the paycheck you get from your darling mayor.” Laney’s smile came back onto her face, matching the bandana man’s smile. 

And then Kai went off. Oh, how he spoke. How he spoke so freely, like how he lived his life. No regrets, no ties that held him down. No thoughts that kept his words down and simple as he roared about his feelings, his thoughts. Laney couldn’t help but smile at him, feeling relaxed just by his words. Feeling her heart skip a beat with his small compliments, the sugar he was handing off to her was just too much. For the moment, she couldn’t stop her own heart from beating. 

And beat it stopped. For a second, as Kai’s sweet words came to something else. Something new entirely. A silly excuse to see you again.... Laney felt her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. How could someone be this cute and speak so sweetly to her? It was like he was made out of honey, overflowing with excess that Laney was just sopping up. Kai was already so different than the boys she knew back home. Ash and Kamil never spoke such words to her that made her face turn hot, Kana would rather argue with Georgia than say anything so cute, and Hiro. Sweet Hiro. Oh, sweet, baby face Hiro. 

The closest she had talked to anyone like this were the few customers who tried to sweet talk her, but those words never left her with such an impact. 

And Kai’s words did. They made her heart flutter 

“Well, okay then Kai.” She smiled at him. Not like a smile that she gave Georgia, when her grin became so big that she couldn’t stop herself from laughing at herself. At him. At how comfortable she was; like she knew him her whole life.

“I think you’re letting me off easy, I’m sure your stir fry is wonderful but okay. A deal.” Green eyes gleamed under the fluorescent lights. She laced her fingers together, setting them so carefully on top of her lap. “But, of course. I’ll make sure to make you a pineapple upside down cake that is so sweet, you’ll never find another that’s just as sweet~

And there he was again, making her feel so special. A part of Laney’s brain was reminding her that she barely knew this guy, maybe he was just a sweet talker. But another part of her brain and her heart were falling. Not in love; but into his words. Into his grace. Into everything about him. How sweet he was, how much of a darling he was by allowing her to be a guest in his little seaside shack. 

How Kai’s words knew just how to make her heart beat a little faster, until it skipped from joy.

“I know I’m right ♪.” The tan skinned man chimed in a teasing manner, too caught up in filling the teapot he was able to find with water to get on the stove. Thus, he didn’t even notice that she was still cleaning up the mess despite him waving it off. Sure, great job being right Kai. His attention was too focused, rubbing down some of the dust that collected on the tea pot since the last time he had used it. What? It’s been a while. Not many people want hot drinks during summer.

When the girl seemed so intent on learning about him, Kai rose an eyebrow and looked to her over his shoulder. “Hmm …” He mused for a moment, after flicking the stove on and the flame began to heat the water. “I own four, but the one you’re standing in now is most definitely my pièce de résistance.” A flamboyant kiss to the air was all he managed before he began rummaging through his cabinets, he knew he had it somewhere … “I’ve put my blood, sweat, tears and every dollar I made for two years into this shack. My other three are mere beachside, open air type shacks. Of course I still love them dearly, but this one’s my baby.”

Oh there it is! “I’ve got this one here in Mineral Town, I’ve got one up in the valley in a town called Forget-Me-Not, and—” Kai turned back around, proud he was able to find what he was looking for after definitely not seeing it for the better part of a year, but paused his speech when he noticed the girl had cleaned up the puddle anyway. “Oi!” He piped up in a fake, teasing type of angry tone. “I told you I would take care of it!” He chirped at her like an angry baby bird. Though the man merely ended up rolling his eyes, her logic somewhat flawless. “Alright alright, but you’re done cleaning up, you’re essentially like a guest in my house! I can’t my guest cleaning up.”

The man opened the box he had found, a wooden box with the inside decorated with a variety of different types of tea. Herbal, fruity, even some with a bit of spice, it was all he had collected over the past while. “M’lady.” He spoke while offering her the lot to pick from. “The water should be ready in just a sec— probably just a minute or two more.”

The blonde mentioned she wasn’t sure what beach appropriate food was, the man couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh in response. “There’s not such thing as beach appropriate food! Every type’a food is good at the beach, but one that’s good at the beach while it’s raining? Lemme think.” Kai slipped off his purple bandana, running a hand through his hair while taking a second to thing while he looked behind him at what he had to work with. “Hmmm …” Though when he perked back up, he threw the girl a catty wink. “I can make a mean stir fry, how’s that sound?”

The man then leaned against the counter, before speaking in a teasing tone as he finally got a good look at her. “Isn’t it more polite to offer up your own name first? Before you go asking other’s for theirs?” Before she could even reply the man laughed aloud yet again, insinuating his teasing. “I’m just joshing with you!” He offer her hand in a casual manner. “Name’s Kai, pleasure to be your introduction to Mineral Town.”

Laney listened intently on Kai. Bluebell was such a tiny town, most people were born and died there. The last ‘new’ person that had come to the tiny town was Lillian, who lived there. Rarely did the town see many visitors outside the Konahana citizens dropping by for a visit. So for one to travel around the world, own their own little restaurants of sea side shack in multiple different areas, seemed like a dream to her. To be able to live such a life had to be tiring, yet so incredible and exciting. 

“I see,” the blonde whispered to herself as she listened intently on the bandana wearing man in front of her. Blue eyes followed every movement he made around the kitchen, watching him just as intently as she listened to him. She wasn’t afraid he would mess up her tea order, oh no, that was fine. Tea was easy. But the way he moved around was almost like a dance. Arms lifting, his body tending to every movement in a slow and steady way.

She moved her hands back up to the towel on the top of her head, making sure it hadn’t fallen out of place. “It must have been tough work to own your business, and four of them!” It was amazing, to her at least. “Is it not lonely to have to move from town to town?”

“I only ask that because I have a business as well.” She blurted out. Oh great, here she went. She wanted to know about him; so it was only right for him to learn about her. “I co-own my business with a farmer nearby where I live. He supplies the produce and I bake pies, cakes, cupcakes- we had an order recently for a pineapple upside down cake which was unusual from our clientele. I also work at my father’s cafe in Bluebell. I guess the reason I cleaned up that mess was because I’m so used to it at home.” She paused for a short bit, before waving a hand in front of her. “But we aren’t talking about me! I’m sorry for that!”

Laney let out a laugh, holding a hand in front of her mouth again. She was laughing both because of her own babbling, and because of Kai’s ridiculousness. “Thank you,” she smiled. She surveyed the different boxes of tea before picking up a bag of rose tea. “I think this one would be perfect for a day like today.” Her eyes twinkled at the package; one of her favorite teas.

But, as she turned around to look back at Kai, her heart almost stopped. That wink. There was something about it that just made Laney stop dead in her thoughts. He was, really, really cute. His voice was cute. His eyes, dark and full of life, were cute. Dear Goddess, his face was really cute with a slender nose and a beautiful smile. So different from Ash and Kamil, so blunt and honest. “Stir fry would be lovely.” She said matter of factly with a smile. 

“Dripping wet?” Kai asked in a tone that rose high in immense confusion. “You don’t have to apologize for something as silly as that.” He laughed openly, brushing off her concerns with a wave of his hand. People sure found strange things in life to stress over. “Remember, this shop is position riiiight on the beach.” He explained. “I get people drippin’ wet, covered in sand, half dressed, comin’ in and out of this shack all day. No water is going to hurt anyone or anything.”

When the blonde young woman explained her reason for being there, Kai leaned further against the bar. “No beach in your hometown? Why on earth would you ever even live someplace without a beach.” The man spoke with a snicker, before chirping up and explaining his own story. “Well that makes sense why I don’t know you. I set up different meal and food shacks all over different towns. I spend my time set up on their beach in the summer and move on to the next when summer comes to a close. Since I travel all over, I usually know everyone.” Ugh, what a life he had. With his new change of normality, Kai was still trying to get used to it.

“I’m actually usually not here in Mineral Town at this time of year.” He spoke with a slight sigh, adjusting his bandana on his head. “But the mayor begged me to start setting up shop year round because of all the success I was getting over the past couple years, so I decided to settle. Didn’t think I’d still be meeting many new people like you around though.”

The tanned man nodded at her acceptance of his offer for a drink, hopping back over the bar and proceeding to call to her. “Pick your poison, I’ve got coffee …” He searched through what he had, anything cold weather wasn’t usually what he kept in stock, so it took him a moment to find. “Tea, milk if you like that hot, or if you’re feeling dangerous, I’ve got hot chocolate—” When he looked back to her, expecting to see her at the bar, he noticed her crouched and cleaning the mess.

“What did I say?” He openly teased in an uptight manner as he moved back to look over the counter. “A little water, isn’t gonna hurt anybody. Now,” He patted the bar in an expectant manner, before his tone was instructive. “Come’re, sit sit, no need to clean up something that obviously wasn’t your fault. I’ll get it after you leave or it’ll just dry up on its own.” Another pat for good measure, before he turned back to his available drink selection. “So which drink did you want? And did you want anything to eat? I feel like I haven’t cooked all day, so I’d be happy to whip somethin’ up for you.”

This was the first time that it really hit Laney that oh yeah, sea shacks are by the sea! There would always be some form of a mess inside it, whether from the sand or the ocean water itself. People entering after spending the day at the beach, surfing, swimming, sun tanning. No wonder he was so relaxed over the rain water. “You’re right.” She felt silly for apologizing so much for something that wasn’t her fault. Her face turned down as she bit the inside of her lip; a habit she had taken up from her childhood years ago. A little water couldn’t hurt someone coming in; and during this rain storm, who would want to take a trip to the beach?

As the man talked (probably thinking he was chatting to himself, but Laney listened to every word, hanging onto everything he said), Laney couldn’t help but finding the man so... interesting? Was that it? “How many of those sea shacks do you own? And in how many places?” Small talk was one of her favorite things. After working in for her father since the age of thirteen, Laney had become a master of a sort. Chat up a customer, make them happy and smiley so they always come back with a smile on their face! That was their motto! “But, it must have been so fun to travel to different towns and celebrate summer there!”

“Oh, tea would be lovely, thank you.” The blonde smiled as she continued to wipe the floor with the rag. It didn’t take too long for the water droplets to be wiped off the floor. Laney stood up from her crouched position, smiling happy at her own little housework. She put her hands on her hips, settling the white rag her right hand before turning her head towards the courteous man.

“But there was a puddle!” Laney complained, flustered again over how silly it was that they were still focusing on this. She looked back at the now cleaned area, no sign of any rain droplets from her hair and body. “If you had a customer come in, I’d hate for them to slip and fall because of me.” Laney sat on a white barstool, watching the man’s movements as he focused on the drinks. “Hmmmm....” She thought to herself out loud. 

The day had been pretty slow. 

Not many customers, not many people to talk to, not much going on. Though he supposed it was fair, with the weather report telling everyone in town that there was going to be an 80% chance of rain who would want to go out to the beach? Well, Mrs. Weather woman, it was almost the middle of the afternoon at this point, and guess what? No rain. 

The brunet man leaned against the counter of his beachside shack, flipping through a fishing magazine he kept to keep him busy. There wasn’t much to do when people weren’t around, and that was the reason why he always forced Gray and Cliff to come visit him while he was kept up at the shop. Sure he might give them one too many free drinks and meals as a way to convince him, but that cost was nothing in comparison to the boredom that plagued him when there was nobody around. 

Yet Gray was stuck at work, just like he was. And Cliff—  Who really knew where Cliff was anyway. So the man simply sighed and continued on with his peaceful reading. 

That was until the door to the shop slammed open, “E Como Mai,” Kai chimed his greeting while his eyes remained stuck on the last few sentences on the page, before looking up and blinking in surprise. This poor girl that had entered his shop was soaked to the bone, her hair dripping and her clothes clinging to her skin. She practically looked frozen to the bone. Okay, maybe it was raining outside now.

“Woah! Hey—!” The man spoke in surprise, grabbing a a spare beach towel from beside the sink as he listened to her rattle on her apologies. “Nothing to worry about little bird,” He reassured as he hopped over the counter, approaching her and handing her the brightly colored towel to dry herself off with. “What are you doing out in the rain anyway? I mean, I didn’t think it was raining. But from the looks of ya’, I’m not going to guess you decided to dive head first into the ocean in all your clothes.”

“Feel free to sit at the bar, I’ll see if I can find you anything hot to drink. Just give me a sec.”

The air conditioning of the sea shack gave Laney the chills. She crossed her arms over her bare skin, moving her hands back and forth against the porcelain skin. The cold air made the goosebumps pop up on her skin. Yet she tried her darn hardest to warm up her body. Between the rain sticking to her clothes, skin, and hair, drowning her and the air conditioning blowing, she was freezing.

“Again, I’m so sorry that I’m dripping wet into your store.” Laney apologized again. She looked around the store- and it was cute. White, pristine like it was rarely worked in, and so calm. No one but the man were inside the shop- was it because of the weather? Mineral Town seemed so quiet as she had ventured around earlier that day. It was like Bluebell in that way. It wasn’t a busy merchant town or bustling like a few other small towns she had visited on work. 

Her hands carefully took the brightly colored towel. “Oh, thank you so much!” Laney exclaimed with a smile on her face. Patting her clothes and legs dry, she quickly moved the towel to her hair and pulled it around the wet hair. Water was no longer dripping onto the floor from her long, blonde hair. Instead, it was now soaking the towel. Fun. But at least it kept it all together. Laney pushed a piece of her bangs back into the towel.

“I was just at the beach. There isn’t one in my hometown and I hadn’t seen the beach in forever so.” Laney let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t know it was going to rain. Nor did I know it was going to go from a few raindrops to a heavy storm in a matter of seconds.”

As with the man’s words, Laney walked towards the bar. A small pool of water was at the front of the door. She looked around for a towel (not the one on her head, because her hair was going to be wet for EVER now). “Oh, a warm drink would be lovely- thank you!” She called to the man, as she carefully walked to the other side of the bar. She bent down by a little opening, looking for something, anything, to clean up the water. It didn’t take too long for her eyes to find a white rag, grabbing it.

“Uh, let’s see,” Danny said, checking out the pendants himself. There really wasn’t much of a difference between any of them, but wasn’t it important that he pick out one that was nice? But, having just met Laney, he didn’t have any sense for her style, and they really were all basically the same. Narrowing it down to just a few, he chose one of those at random. “Let’s make it this one, then.”

“Bluebell… Yeah, sounds interesting enough. I’ll have to drop by some time, if I’m able. Might be a bit before I can travel that far away thought. But hey, if I’m ever in the neighborhood. And if you’re ever here again, come by my store again!” The shameful plugging of business was continued by Danny, who saw nothing wrong with it. That’s how do got people to come, right?

“So that makes it one pendant and… two oils was it?” Something like that. “So thats 550… 710… 870G,” he said, adding the prices in his head. “Would you like a bag for that, or do you got it?”

Laney just stood there, continuing to smile. She didn’t have much of an input on which pendant was better (especially since it was for her father who would be happy with the gift in general), she gave a nod of her head as Danny answered her back. “Perfect! Thank you! I’m sure my dad would like it so thank you!”

“It is. Not much happens in Bluebell but it’s always been a very relaxing farm town. If you’re ever there, then you should definitely drop by.” She gave another nod. “And I will come by again if I’m ever in town! I’d like to see what you have next time too!”

Long time no see my Miss Lovely Laney ♥. [The man promptly retorted back in an upbeat tone of voice.] What have you been up to? Taking care of the cafe as efficiently as always I see, hm?

– !! [Plays a fake and over dramatic pout as he obediently hops off the table, moseying over to the counter and resting his chin in his hand.]

[Though with a bit of an overconfident smile he slipped a rather larger jar of honey out of his rucksack, sliding it over the counter ever so slightly.] I made that myself – bee keeping certainly isn’t easy, but I’m getting more efficient at it for sure. That right there is lavender honey, something I’m trying out that I think seems pretty good …

You can have the entire jar if you make me something with some ♪.

It has been awhile Phillip. /Gives him a smile, as she just lets out a small sigh of joy/ I’ve been taking care of the cafe as always. Everything here has been going swell, we’ve had little to no problems here! And what have you been up to? It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. 

/Laughs, holding a hand up in front of her mouth/ Thank you! Now, don’t act like you know you aren’t allowed to sit on there. You should know more than anyone that chairs are for sitting on, not the tables.

/Her eyes widen as she watches him pull out the jar of honey from his rucksack and slide it over to her. Her first reaction is to pick it up and stare down at it, before looking back over at the farmer/ You made this? /Raises an eyebrow/ I didn’t know you had bees Phillip! That’s wonderful! That’s- /Pauses, before looking again at the jar of honey in her hands  and back to the man again/

Er–! No, no, it’s fine. I just.. Yeah. [Coughs into his fist, avoiding eye-contact.] I realize I’m being really vague and non-specific… But if you really do think you get what I mean– [(Because he’s not even really sure if he gets what he really means.)] And, yeah. 

/As she watches Ash get flustered, she cocks her head to the side and gives him a sheepish smile/ You were being a little vague but now, I think I get it. I think I really do get what you mean. /Puts a hand in front of her mouth, letting out a small giggle before she gets back to talking/ Sorry about that, but I’ll stop asking so many questions now!

Trampoli was Danny’s home now, as much as the one he had back home? “That’s… that sounds about right, actually” Danny said. He’d lived here for a while. He knew many of the people here, although he was still getting to know the large group that had just moved in recently. He’d made some good friends here. Calling it home sort of felt nice.

“Yeah, they’re all the same price,” he said. “They’re all more or less made of the same stuff, so you can have any one you like. The patterns should all be pretty similar too. Whichever you choose, it should look fine. They might not look like much, but they shouldn’t break or anything like that.” All the pendants were made of iron. They weren’t the best quality, but like Danny said, they wouldn’t fall apart unless mistreated. 

Now that it was getting close to checkout, Danny felt like he might miss the company. “So, Laney, where was it you said you were from again? I might stop by on my next trip out of town.” Granted, it would probably be fairly out of the way, and Danny wasn’t really sure if he would actually stop by, but it would be good to know, at least

Hearing Danny’s response made Laney smile as she stood up straight. “Of course.” She proudly responded. Maybe she seemed too proud of her fact but... if he said it sounded right, then she had to be proud that she was correct right?

“Right.” She gave a slight nod as she looked over the pendants again. They did all look the same, so there wasn’t any huge difference on which was the best option of them all. “Well, I guess I’ll just go witch whichever one you think is the best option out of them all! They’re all nice looking and I’m sure whichever one will last awhile so! Sorry, I don’t have much of an eye for pendants so can’t tell which is the best!” Which was true... She wasn’t an expert with just looking at whichever piece of jewelry was the best option. And after all, they all looked the same...

Uh.. [Holds his spoon up, letting it hover near his mouth when she tries to get him to elaborate. Blinks. Twice. Three times.] ‘M not sure. It’s just.. different? [Real vague there pal, but he’s not sure how else to put it.]

/As she waits for Ash to explain, she lets her head down a little, looking at the pie she had gave him only moments before. When he speaks up (and vaguely at that), she tilts her head/ Just different? Cause she’s not your sister? /Lets out a sigh/ Sorry about all these questions. Just trying to get what you mean but... I think I get what you mean.

“I… like living here,” Danny said. “Yeah, I think I really do. It’s important to me to keep going home but… Trampoli is a good place.” Had Danny ever said that before? He must have, right? “I think I wouldn’t mind staying here, you know?” He’d been here for several years now, and looking into the future, if he had to pick a path, it would be staying in Trampoli. It was too early to say ‘I’d like to spend my whole life here’, but for the time being at least, he wanted to stay here. In light of recent events, that was a hard thing to suddenly become aware of, even though he’d pretty much felt that way for a long time.

“That’s good then! If you didn’t like living in a small town like this, then that’d be a huge issue.” The blonde responded. The smile on her face stayed there, but she may not have had a lot to say in response. She had lived in Bluebell her entire life, never moving from one town to another, but if someone was happy somewhere then that’s the best... Right? “If you like it like you said, then you wouldn’t mind living here. It has to be like your home now! Even if you’’re home is back in your hometown, this is your home now too. Right?” Broad statement and probably not what she should say but... Maybe he got what she meant.

[Waves his spoon around in the air a bit, gesturing vaguely.] I dunno… Different.

/Pauses, raising an eyebrow slowly/ Different? How so? As in that one is your friend and the other is Cheryl?

Danny didn’t really know how to describe it. He occasionally felt somewhat like he didn’t have a right to comment on how Trampoli did things since he hadn’t grown up there, but at the same time, after spending so many years here, a different part of him told him that he didn’t need to think of things like that. His ambivalent feelings kept him from thinking about how he felt about this place compared to his home too much. However, Laney wasn’t exactly wrong about getting a shock. For better or worse, something about Trampoli had definitely hit Danny in a way he hadn’t expected. But by refusing to think about it, he had no idea what that was.

Laney was back to being silent about the story that had happened in their conversation. She didn't assume she had much input about the whole situation. "Do you like living here though?" She asked, with a smile on her face. Keep the conversation up, be kind to the shop owner. And yet, this was one of the few things she could think of asking... Hopefully it wasn't rude? "I mean, are you enjoying living here compared to your hometown?"

[The redhead walked with a bit of an effervescent skip in his step, a tune of pure unwavered melody played from his throat as he passed the various citizens of Bluebell with a playful wink.] [And with a jog up the front steps, Phillip slipped into the cafe with a bright, and equally broad smile spread across his lips.] Oh Laaaney! ♪