"Ok... And that's the last one." I go with a tired huff, patting my apron down before I turn to my friends. Giving them all one big smile I start to nod and try to find my words. Blessed God, this has been a day and one, it really has. But, nothing in life is ever as simple as simply waking up and going through the motions before bed.
Not for me anyway it seems.
I clap once, "Well, it seems to be getting rather late so I'll let you three go on your way."
"Alright, see you, Liadanann. Thanks for having us!" Lorreabry goes before she ropes in Seigunfrei's attempts to sneak away with something. Baltanthan, however, keeps quiet and disappears into the darkness of the shop corner that the box is in. Nin's borrowed cloak is certainly not helping the uncertain visage shuffling under the shadow.
I follow the three out to the door and open it for them, "I'll pay you back when I can, I promise!"
"We know!" Seigunfrei cheers loudly before he lands his back end onto one of my outdoor tables. The whole thing rattles, its legs scraping along the looked-after stone floor underneath.
"Goodnight!" I tell them, closing the door once I am done watching Baltanthan as he seems to break away to find his own way home. I briefly hear the other two call after him but it seems to be left alone very quickly. My frown comes back in force and sticks with me until I am back in the kitchen with Nin.
"Balty?" Nin asks as he mindlessly sorts out one of his bandage rolls. I nod and get my frown to go away, the warmth of my chair back under me soon enough.
"Well, he's one of two men that has me acting up." I mutter, looking away from him initially so that the point isn't lost. Though, I doubt Nin's so stupid that he would think I was on about Seigunfrei or someone else. Nin's hand comes over to mine and he starts to stroke the top of it.
"Time, Liada, time." he repeats for what must be the thousandth iteration coming from him alone. That's not even counting how many times I have had to tell myself it.
"I know!" I snap, getting what I can out of my system before slumping down, "I know..."
"I am sorry for being such a pain. My word probably doesn't mean much to you right now, does it?" he goes and I put a hand on his, making a sandwich of the three on the table. I smile and caress his hand from upside and bottom.
"Your word means everything to me. It's why it's bothering me the way it is right now. Though, I think today's more so me being unable to ignore it. With what has happened with Baltanthan, I guess that I am just out of it." I try to explain, removing my top hand so Nin can properly clutch the one he grabbed initially. To some mild amusement, it sort of starts to look like we're giving each other a congratulatory handshake.
"Again, try not to worry so much about him. Though you've not set out to solve the problem, having him train with you is the solution. He's wearing that thing to make his magic seem more impressive. A deceit that will only go on for so long, keep it up with him and he'll gain his confidence without it. All you have to do is make sure he's not wearing it, give him a jab every now and then when you see him." Nin tells me and I quietly giggle at the thought of poking him to see if I can provoke a small cut or a dozen.
"I might just have to, or, maybe we can look into giving him something like Einervaene had. She was the one who made the outfit with the magic guidance circuits on it, didn't she?" I go, asking him for confirmation when my mind starts to fail me.
"Yeah... She was the one who wore that frame thing." he confirms and I nod, thinking a little about my missing friends. I miss them. They all left and I won't be able to see them again for a while. I want to see them again but it's no longer as simple as popping down the road.
"So, Nin," I say, sighing as I pull my hands back to myself, "When exactly are we going to go look for them?"
A hand goes to his mouth and he leans back, one of his magic arms serving as a third leg, "I don't think this is something we can put a start date on. I guess, we'll just have to know when it is time to go."
"I guess that you are right. Going off into the world to find our friends will mean I'll have to close my shop down properly. Not just close it for some time with a big batch of deliveries before I do so!" I huff, trying to find something to laugh at in the less-than-funny topic. It's a miserable thing to talk about, really, when will we find our friends? It's not something I can kick down the road and forget, though, more of the latter.
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"Speaking of, what's left to do?" he asks me and I look towards the front and out towards the night-covered streets. I turn back to Nin, not thinking of anything that is an issue to worry about.
"I put up a sign that tells people we're closed until further notice." I say, shrugging and my hands come together.
"With how much work you've had me slave away to do today, I imagine that's not going to go unnoticed." he jokes and I smile, getting up purely so I can smack my little unpaid worker.
"Mush!" I go, tapping him just hard enough to get a noise and he mockingly cowers away. A whiny whimper on his chittering lips.
"Stop it!" he demands against the force of further taps.
"Your master commands you to come upstairs with her!" I order, picking up the pace until he suddenly grabs me. His expression hardens and without so much as a grunt, my legs are around his waist, my back against the wall. My mouth opens and no noise comes out, only the sudden change in my heartbeat can be heard.
"I'm the master now." he chitters, amusing himself while I lean in closer, a welcome and warming dizziness in my head. I pepper his closest cheek and neck with kisses and almost break away so I can give him one where kisses belong. Only, I pull away completely at that point, my cheeks burning with passion while he seems to have lost his joking tone.
He sets me down and my heart suddenly gets pulled on.
"Time... Liada... Give him time." I repeat to myself under my breath while he quietly walks away to get some space. The front door makes a noise and I reach the kitchen entrance just in time to watch a blur shoot up. Sighing, I move my hand to clutch the front of my clothes and I finally tear off my apron. Kicking it aside, I grab my extended closure sign and pop it onto the door.
I use the moment to see that it is locked properly.
"How anyone is able to work up the courage to say that they love you is beyond me..." I still find myself swearing under my breath before I turn on the lights to double-check my shop. Before everyone left, we did a big cleanup, but, just in case, I'll check it all again. Starting from behind the counter, I find myself stopping as if I am about to serve a customer. I look around at everything I have built.
Nin's been involved with me for a while about this, well, he's been living here rather. For so long I have held out that my heart's desires will come true, that he'll turn his mind away from that corpse and towards me. I reached my breaking point before he came to me with that promise. I didn't want him in the home I had built for myself.
He's not been a leech of any sort, but, it's just been me, this is the result of my hard work, this cakesmithy. Nin could properly leave my life and nothing would really change about it, this wasn't our efforts, just mine. I've had help from friends and yet, most of my nights are like they are right now. Me going about, finishing the clean-up and heading up to bed when I feel like it.
"I really do not understand how you can keep up with this, I really don't know." I remark to my perturbed heart before my hands start to occupy themselves with whatever they can find. One grabs a cloth and wipes away while another takes a small little, crumbly tartfrom the shelf and I start to eat it. The cloth eagerly gathers up the mess I am making and I can't help but show my disgust at the food. All the fresh serving stuff is gone, this was just some old display item and the magic's all gone, its insides have congealed and the filling's top has grown skin.
Despite that, however, I finish the food and forcibly swallow the last mouthful. With teeth thickly clogged with saliva'd pastry, I go back to my kitchen. Opening the fridge, I pull out the one thing I don't tend to drink. Alchohol.
I was never able to get into it as a thing. Sometimes I wonder if it is because of how Nin used to keep so much of that almost raw magic stuff in his draws. That's all alcohol is, really, flavoured liquid with a relatively high magic concentration. Shaking my head clear of factoids, I open my glasses cupboard and take a delicate little thing out of it.
My thumb's nail goes across its curvature, making it sing.
The clear sight fills out with deep, blood-red stuff and the smell hits my nose. Getting past the overpowering stench, I take a quick sip and then a larger gulp to swish around my mouth. A palm goes over my lips and I steadily swallow the foul drink. Freeing myself of both burdens, I go and take the one bottle I have bought over the years and put it back.
"At least you're too disgusting for me to make it a habit." I mutter at the one good thing in my life at this very moment. Going back to the table, I take my glass with me and stop by the sink. I contemplate tipping the rest away, maybe even throwing the glass out back to shatter along with its unsavoury contents. Instead, I finish my drink, slowly.
It gets easier to handle and by the end, I am tapping a finger on the bottom to force the final drops down into my mouth. The bottom of the glass tings on the side and I begin the process of going upstairs to bed. Checking my home over, I make sure everything is in order and steadily move to the steps. Even at them, I check everything again from my higher footing.
I nod once and slight, heading up and ignoring the bathroom. Finding where everything is hooked and clung to, I strip down until I am completely naked. My room's light remains on just long enough for me to look at the marks that have been a part of my body since I was captured. My hands go to where Nin initially started to pull the device off and I copy the memory.
"How so very strange... I don't wish to be still there, trapped and tortured. But, I wish it wasn't you who saved me right now, Nin." I mutter, my lip trembling and my eyes watering up. Sniffling to an abnormal shiver, I weakly and pitifully find my way under my quilt. Moving one pillow to my front, I start to sob as the one I want to hug in bed is not here. He's never here.