sweethymns | Pictures in the Dark

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

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

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.

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.

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

"Weird", how?

Lizard people.

[There is no humor in her voice.]

....

Wait, what?

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

They REALLY like garlic noodles.

[IONA THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING]

[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?

[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.]

[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.]

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.

...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.

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??]

[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?

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.]

[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.

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?

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.

...

[Reaching up to RUFFLE MICHAEL'S HAIR.]

Don't do that to yourself!

[Wh- hey! He reaches up, running his fingers though his hair to straighten the mess, and to "shield" himself from her. Neither really works properly.

He manages to string at least two words together in his surprise.] Do what?!

Don't make yourself lonely.

[Her voice tones down, but it's quite serious.]

Iona...

[He drops his hand, looking at her with a(n obviously strained) smile. He doesn't really want anyone to worry about him, but he shouldn't be surprised that she would be so apt to.]

I'm not lonely. Really. You don't have to worry.

[Usually she'd keep pressing, but Oren's warned her enough times to try and restrain that part of her personality; the part that wants to encompass everyone she meets even if it's overbearing.

So she puts down her hand and crosses her arms with a serious nod.]

Alright then. This just means one thing.

You're gonna make friends with the lizard people.

[Now THAT is an obvious joke.]

[He's secretly glad for the change of tone, and offers a more sincere grin.]

The ones that you think are using this place for war conferences? Gee, thanks.

Think about it! You'd have a gang of lizard people to back you up if someone tries to mess with you!

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