Closed Frost (Garland)

[Sayana]

Fall 72nd 514 AV Sayana awoke and gave a soft yawn filled with contentment. Next to her was the sleeping figure of Garland and she couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful and innocent looking features upon his face. It’s amazing how different someone can look when they are simply asleep. But that wasn’t going to last for long. “Wake up sleepy head,” she said in a loud enough voice and supplemented with a strong nudge to his shoulder. This was not the first time he had spent the night at her apartment, nor the last in all likelihood. Their relationship was a rather interesting one, somewhere in between friends and lovers. And that suited Sayana just fine since she enjoyed the companionship but it was hard to image having a lover that was not Eypharian… well unless he was Dhani. She sighed at the memory. That was long lost. She was sorely tempted to stay cuddled up under the warm covers but Garland had his patrol, or some kind of squirely duty, and she… she needed to get her sorry ass out of bed. Even though there were no windows in her apartment, she suspected it was still rather early in the morning. With an exaggerated huff, she pulled off the covers and got up from the bed. She quickly grabbed her blouse to put on and then gave a stretch of her arms. It was chilly and also quite dark and she quickly grabbed a candle to light using one of the torches from the hallway. It wasn’t much light, but at least it was something before they headed out since the fire in the hearth had long burned out. “Come on Squire-boy,” she said again to the figure on her bed. “You’ve got your squire-duties and squire-patrols.” She reached for her set of dark red sleeves and slowly put it on making sure each of her arms fit comfortably through. It was an interesting garment. The sleeves fit snuggly upon her arms and they were connected to a shawl-like piece of fabric that covered her shoulders. Most importantly, it kept her warm during these colder days. “I’m not leaving until you’re up and out of my bed. Besides, we could stop by the bakery to see if there are any fresh buns or meat pies before you start your daily patrol.” Sayana added hoping to entice him with a bit of breakfast.

[Garland]

The night had been warm under Sayana's sheets, he had only intended to stay for a small portion of the evening yesterday, but it went out of hand and now he had spent another night with the seductive girl. He was actually surprised with how well things are going with them, of course sex was still not an option, for obvious reasons, but he had enjoyed her company more and more.

Garland mumbled something in his sleep, refusing to wake up. He took his sheets, and covered himself. He let her get dressed first, he was already awake that he couldn't get back to sleep, but he just wanted her to put on some clothes first. He was still not use to seeing...them so early in the morning.

When she mentioned breakfast, he smiled and sat up, shirtless and pants-less, but not completely nude. He was still wearing his undergarments, luckily enough. He got up from the bed and looked around to find his clothes. There was one thing he was not comfortable with in their relationship, and that was that maybe, people might get the wrong idea. He had stayed here for plenty of nights, none of which had anything too intimate... Always with their lower parts covered.

Other then that, he was fairly content with Sayana and his relationship. "Hey, hot buns and cream pies are my favorite! And it's always great to have breakfast early in the morning. Good morning Desert-girl." He gave a small wink, and pulled up his pants, taking his shirt, and jacket. "Breakfast... Yeah, sounds great! Ready when you are." He said excitedly, he always treated himself to some sweet pastry once a week, though sometimes a few more if he's around friends, and Sayana is one of his closes friends as of right now.

[Sayana]

"Hey, hot buns --" Sayana let out a laugh at his new greeting but then realized he was continuing his sentence. “Yummy, yummy, cream pies,” she responded with a suggestive wink of her own. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to give it a tidier look and get rid of some of the tangles. She then took the time to apply some of her red lip pomade and pucker up her lips teasingly in Garland’s direction. “Just let me put on my gloves and coat,” she said as she reached for her grey fur-trimmed gear. Ever since she had gotten sick and consequently bought some much warmer clothing, she had been much more diligent about wearing it. Once she had put on the warm coat, her gloves, a pair of boots, and also slipped her dagger into her belt she clapped her high hands together making a soft muffled sound. Her coat had not been custom made, and it was only her high arms that she could use while the rest were tucked away in her coat. “I think I’m ready to go,” she said and made sure she had enough coins for the bakery. By now she was used to the winding halls of the fortress and she suspected that even Garland wouldn’t get lost too easily having made the trip several times to her apartment. As they emerged from the fortress and went onto the street, a gust of chilly air greeted them. Sayana gave a shiver and pulled up her hood before bringing her high arms tightly against her body. As she let out a sigh from having to deal with the cold weather, there was a curious sight in front of her. She exhaled more heavily and there it was again, a steamy mist coming from her breath. “Hey Garland, look look look,” she said as she breathed heavily onto his face. Well that time it wasn’t so obvious. So instead she did it again pointed away from him and the misty steam of her breath was quite clear. It’s not like it stayed for very long, and when Sayana glanced in the squire’s direction she could see that it came from his breath too, but not so clearly since he wasn’t exhaling like a maniac.

[Garland]

Being the utter novice he is, he had no idea what she meant by cream pies. "Yeah! Cream pies are really good." He blushed when she puckered up with her lip pomade, she was beautiful, and he was he wasn't just another guy to her, so that was good. He followed her out, and walked beside her as they made their way through the castle. As they left the castle, she had been surprised by the white mist coming from her mouth.

He smiled, and closed his eyes when she exhaled on him. He had his sword strapped to his side, and honestly, he felt really strange, one minute she's this seductive full grown woman, and now she's like a child, first experiencing the frost. "That's what happens when it's cold out." He smiled, she seemed really interested in her mist, he would be too, if this wasn't his first time in snow. In fact, he had a few terrible memories about snow, but just as many good ones as well.

"Well, let's start heading out. I want to get some buns and just stuff them in my face. The food in the squires will pretty much keep the hunger away, but honestly, it's not really all that good, so whenever I get the chance I go out to eat."

He wrapped his arm around Sayana's shoulder to help keep warm, he should have bought a coat, instead of a jacket.

[Sayana]

"That's what happens when it's cold out." Sayana gave a light laugh as she removed her hood and then went back to “blowing”. She pursed her lips to make a thin stream of mist and then opened her mouth wide to let the steam fill up the air right in front of her face. “At least there are some fun things about this blasted cold weather,” she said with a smile. While the fun experience with the steam had lifted her spirits with regard to the cold climate, it was mostly the fact that she felt warm within her long coat and therefore had no need to be bitter. When Garland wrapped his arm around her, she moved in to steal a kiss on his lips. “Yes, let’s head out. I’m starving.” She replied and wrapped her arm around him snuggly as they headed down the street. As they turned the corner there was a small patch of grass with a few fallen leaves surrounding the remains of a small garden. But what caught Sayana’s eye was the thin white lacing of frost upon the grass. She abandoned the squire to dash over and picked up a blade of grass. The thin layer of frost contrasted from the green of the grass and Eypharian looked at it in wonder and curiosity. She then noticed that the leaves of the other plants were lined with the same stuff and same with some of the fallen leaves. “Is this what snow is?” She asked as she held up a leaf that was tinged white with the frost. Ever so curious, she started playing with the leaf and bits of the frost either fell off or melted and it no longer looked so pristine.

[Garland]

She had stolen a kiss from him when he wrapped his arm over her. "You just love kissing me, don't you?" He gave a small laugh and started walking down the street.

As they turned the corner, Sayana's eyes sparkled with a bit of wonder and excitement, as she left the squire to go look at the fallen leaves and frosted branches, he smiled. It was almost like having a child or a little sister, always full of wonder. He gave a small sigh, he wished he had siblings of his own, but without parents, there's not much one could do with that.

“Is this what snow is?”

She had just shown him a frost covered leaf, as she said that. Garland shook his head. "Not exactly, it's frost. It's frozen dew from the plants. It means that snow would be possible soon. This means that it's still warm enough for dew to form, but also enough for it to freeze." He said, sounding a bit knowledgable, even though everything he just said, he had learned from someone else he knew.

He gave a small kiss on Sayana's forehead, and grabbed a frosted branch. He shook it a bit over Sayana's head, letting it fall on her head. "Cold, ain't it?" He smiled and turned his back, looking towards the shops. He was in prime position to get some frost down his shirt right about now.

[Sayana]

“Frost,” Sayana repeated and then picked up another frost covered leaf. “It’s pretty.” She took off her glove to touch the thin white layer wondering if it would feel soft or prickly. Instead it simply melted at the contact of her finger and really didn’t feel like anything except a bit cold. She tossed the leaf aside and put her glove back on. “Okay okay, I promise I won’t get too distracted,” she said as she took one more glance at the frost covered garden. “Shall we?” She offered her hand for him to take and then carried on towards the stalls and the bakery at the end of the street. But her promise was soon forgotten when she caught sight of something unusual on the windows of some of the shops. She hurried over and saw that on the window were thin thin icy patterns that sort of resembled the frost on the plants. “Look Garland, it’s more frost. But on the window.” She called and then turned back to look at the phenomenon. As she let out a breath it fogged up the window. She giggled at the sight and then exhaled loudly upon the window. With a tentative gloved hand, she wiped away at the fogged up window. With a smile, she did it again but this time wrote a crude looking “S” with her finger. She glanced at Garland and then looked back to admire her work. “Okay, I’m done. Buns, yes?” With a happy little skip she almost pranced down the street towards the bakery. And when she opened the door she inhaled the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. OOCAventis, after they buy their breakfast then Aventis can show up.

[Garland]

"Alright, let's get something to eat now." As they made their way towards the bakery. She had broken away again and started looking through a window. At first he wondered if she saw something she wanted to buy, but instead she wrote a crude "S" on it and skipped back to him. They were nearing the bakery, the smell of freshly baked goods floated into Garland's nose. He gave a contented sigh and walked into the warm bakery, away from the cold and wind.

He offered Sayana a seat and sat down himself. "What do you fancy, miss? A bit of ginger bread? Maybe a sweet roll?" He said with a mock accent. "Would you care for a cup of warm chocolate to go with your food? Or maybe some cinnamon buns, for such a beautiful girl~?" He got up and headed over to the counter after she had said what she wanted.

He looked at the display with hungry, but he controlled himself and not slobbered all over the display of freshly baked goods.

Pumpkin pie, cake, cupcakes, banana bread, raisen bread, chocolate bread, Kelp flavored bread? Must be from Zeltiva. There were also other pastries, and cakes there. Whipped-cream pie, carrot cake, black forest cake. Oh, now he just doesn't know what to pick. Everything just seemed so tasty.

He finally settled on a chocolate chip muffin with raisins in it. He had always liked raisins, he doesn't know why, but he did. He wasn't a big fan of grapes, oddly enough.

[Sayana]

“There’s gingerbread?” Sayana asked curiously as she sat down. She hadn’t yet come across this in Ahnatep, but from her stay in Syliras she had determined that one of the few spices that was cheap enough to buy (and also sufficiently spicy) was ginger. Another one was garlic. But cinnamon… now there’s a treat. She licked her lips at the thought. “Could I have a piece of gingerbread and a cinnamon bun?” She asked trying not to sound too greedy. “Mr. Kind Ser,” she added in her own imitation of the mock accent. “Otherwise just the cinnamon bun. I haven’t had something like that in forever. Something my father would buy for me as a treat when I was little.” She bit her tongue at the thought of her family. Did they worry about her? Did they think she was gone, or worse dead? She tried not to think about it. She was a grown woman and it was her life, not theirs. Maybe she’d try to send word to them to at least say that she was alive and well. As she mused over her family, the squire had already gone up to order their baked goods. There were certainly a lot of delicious looking things at the bakery but she was still quite certain of her choice, or choices. It was definitely a nice way to start off the morning.

[Garland]

With the orders placed, the cashier took out the pastries and placed them on a small plate. Garland took the plate and took a big whiff of the sweets. He smiled and headed over towards Sayana. "Ma'am? Your food." He said in the same mock accent as before. He sat the plate down on the table and waited for Sayana to grab her two choices for breakfast.

"You must be hungry." He said with a smile and sat down on the chair opposite of Sayana. He decided to strike up a small conversation with her, hoping to say a bit longer because of the cold outside. "Oh, and by the way. I might be meeting a friend here later, for a patrol. Either that, or maybe we would meet up later at the dorms." He said and took his muffin and took a small bite out of it. Mostly trying to not eat it whole, like he normally would. He was in the company of a friend, so he didn't want to look like a pig...

Even though his past actions have shown him to really like... her pair, and he really tried to avoid them every time they talked. "I think you might like him. " He said, hoping to pique her interest in her friend, but if he didn't show up soon, he guessed that something must be up.