Pictures in the Dark

[formidable]

General PSL/FUNBOX post for aurajen and formidable. Lots of OC shenanigans. ➢ Cool Mood Music No. 1 ➤ Cool Mood Music No. 2

Comments

[dilatory]

[He looks at her, as if trying to prove a point that no, he's totally not shy! What are you talking about.....]

You say that kind of thing to any guy, I'm pretty sure he'd be a little shy or embarrassed about it.

[Which is... not at all true. Michael had always been a little naturally shy, but after the accident with his sister, it only accentuated this aspect of his personality, making him more withdrawn that he would normally.] But still, I'm glad you can see I'm trying my best. I want to add to productivity, not be a hindrance.

[infusion]

[She covers her mouth to stifle her giggle.]

Well, I DO like embarrassing people with nice words. Keep it up and you won't hear the end of it from me.

[dilatory]

Yeah, well you're really good at it.

[Aaaah, so embarrassing...]

A-anyway, your nice words get you pretty far. Everyone here loves you.

[infusion]

Believe it or not, when I first started up this place a few years ago, it was kind of hard to build a customer base. I mean, it's not conventional to begin with since the door can be hard to find.

And on top of that... Witch? Cafe full of sweets and delicious drinks? I had a lot of the, "You're not doping or fattening us up are you?" questions.

[dilatory]

Wait, really? Is that an actual thing that happens? Witches fattening up kids and tossing them in their boiling cauldrons to eat for later?

[It sounds too... stereotypical.]

[infusion]

Oh of course not! Not now anyways. From what Berna told me... Oh, that's my grandma by the way-- From what she told me, that was probably something done by ancient witches, but you wouldn't know because they're dead.

[Iona shrugs.]

Proving that cannibalism does not support a healthy magic body system. People just ask just to be kind of annoying anyways.

[dilatory]

[He can't help but sneak in a little joke.]

So then... you're saying you're not planning on cooking me alive?

[infusion]

[Iona in return, gives him a cheeky wink.]

Not quite yet. I'll keep the plan on the back burner for now.

[dilatory]

Make sure to give me a little warning before you do, that way I have a fighting chance.

[He smiles but then leans on the counter, exhaling.]

I'll be sleeping well tonight after my shift is over, that's for sure.

[infusion]

Make sure you get some really good rest! You deserve it.

[And Iona made sure he worked at peak hours instead of past midnight because...]

After midnight tends to be the time I get really weird customers, just so you know. I didn't want to put you into that sort of situation that abruptly.

[dilatory]

[That makes him frown in concern, even though he knows that's not the reason why she brought it up.]

"Weird", how?

[infusion]

Lizard people.

[There is no humor in her voice.]

[dilatory]

....





Wait, what?

[That is the only legitimate reaction to that, Iona. Plz to be explaining.]

[infusion]

They REALLY like garlic noodles.

[IONA THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING]

[dilatory]

[Michael is, plainly, confused. He pinches at the bridge of his nose, his brows knit together.]

So after midnight, you get lizard people who like ordering garlic noodles?

[He looks directly at her.]

Are you messing with me again, Iona?

[infusion]

[The witch continues nonplussed by Michael's reaction.]

Not just garlic noodles! They like this fermented drink Oren makes too. They only come every other month or so, but I'm positive they like using my cafe as a war conference room... But you know, don't ask questions... they're from a different dimension altogether.

And then there's that huge bear that comes at the end of the month. He really likes all the fruit pastry items and we tend to have to spend a lot when berries aren't in season. He pays us in honeycombs though! They're really tasty!

[IT'S JUST THOSE SORTS OF WEEKENDS.]

[dilatory]

[It's times like these that Michael realizes how much of the world he was completely oblivious to. That is, until he met Iona.

He's trying to imagine everything that she says; it's like the spoutings of someone with an overactive imagination, but Michael listens with a sense of... bewilderment and awe.]

...I'm extending my shift. [(He says, as if that's his decision to make.)] I want to be here to see all that. [And it sounds like having an extra pair of hands during the... lizard and bear rush wouldn't be a bad thing to have.]

[infusion]

Oh? If you're sure?

I don't think either of them will show up tonight though. And I was planning to go out drinking with some friends.

[dilatory]

...Oh. [Michael sounding a little deflated? Surely not. (Maybe he'll get a chance to see all the weirdness some other late night.)

That, and he's not going to be so bold as to invite himself along with Iona, when she already had plans with her friends. He's not that headstrong, and so he'll politely bow out.]

I guess never mind, then. I didn't know you had plans, so I'm not going to derail them.

[infusion]

There's always next weekend! Sorry for getting your hopes up buddy.

[And BEAMING]

So you can out with me instead!

[SHE'S SO BOLD??]

[dilatory]

[SO BOLD INDEED.

Michael looks surprised, followed by slightly flustered.]

I wasn't- I wasn't trying to impose or anything.

[I mean, not that he'll say... no. He hasn't really interacted much with Iona outside of the Grind, minus the one encounter with the wendigo, and that wasn't exactly fun.]

What are you guys planning on doing?

[infusion]

Well, drinks, some food, and I might visit the galleries of a friend or two downtown... Oh! One of them does photography. Her work might be interesting to you, but we won't know until we go out right?

[That's Iona for you. She eases into almost anything with what seems like a lack of thought and hesitance. Her outgoing nature is fearless even though there's a lot to fear.]

[dilatory]

[He's not a big social person -- he's especially not a big drinker. But a gallery does sound appealing, the creative soul that he is. Plus, how can he turn down looking at someone's personal photography?

He's grateful for the invite, one that he would have missed if not for her passionate personality, because he would have just let it slip past.]

All right. Since you invited, I'll go along for the ride.

[infusion]

Awesome! And if anyone asks, we'll both say we met at a cafe.

[Gotta make a flimsy, yet plausible story after all.]

... Say. Do you hang out with anyone else on your own time? Or have you just been busy with your own work?

[dilatory]

Close enough to the truth, so it should work.

[He doesn't look directly at her when he answers her next question.]

Um, I keep myself busy with work a lot. I mean, I have old contacts from my school days, all the way back to high school, but- [He kind of lets that sentence hang in the air for a second. The truth of the matter is that he keeps to himself a lot, and it's hard to gussy up that statement to make it sound like something else.] I don't really do a lot of... "hanging out" with people.