It wasn’t uncommon that Kyouhei ran into his own kind. Not that Fae dragons were common, or that he lived in an area where they were plentiful, but he wasn’t one to shy away from signs of dragon life, and he could spot them easily, so he had no reason to avoid places.
Still, running into one while disguised as a human wasn’t… ideal? He’d only done it to climb over some rocks - just for the experience - and now he was face to face with a cute lil’ Fae!
“Hello there!” He chirps, bouncing back so as not to seem intimidating to the smaller creature. “Didn’t mean to intrude in this form, I figured nothing would be around for a while yet. How are you doing?”
Any serious reasoning behind Kyouhei’s leaving his family could be saved for a later time, when they weren’t sitting in the middle of a coffee shop, Avery figured. For now, he’d much rather spend the time getting to know where he could find his old friend around the city from now on – a rarity for someone who went through friendships like people went through tissues.
“And the coincidences keep on coming,” he chimed, pausing only to take a sip of the drink he’d set aside when the other had first caught his attention. “That’s where I’m studying as well! Though I have yet to figure out any kind of major…”
Avery’s nose wrinkled in distaste momentarily, a phone call from his family asking about his studies flashing in his memory. They were under the assumption their son had travelled to get some education in business or even journalism, but photography was still the only interest he had in mind. It was only a matter of time until he’d have to make some kind of decision, but for now he would gladly sweep it under the rug to dwell on another day.
“Sounds like you have things rather on track. I’m glad!”
The same couldn’t exactly be said for himself. Growing up with a silver spoon in his mouth, Avery was having difficulties adjusting to the less obvious parts of independence. Showing up at a workplace every other day was fine and all, but the basics like handling his own laundry and cooking or paying his own bills was still largely a mystery.
“Tell me, are all the Ouvara dorms so…” Think of a pleasant way to put it, Avery. “Petite? I was planning on moving again to somewhere more spacious, but this might be incentive enough to stay~”
Sorry Kyouhei, as genuinely happy as he is to see you again, meeting like this was a one way ticket to helping him figure out how to get shit done after throwing himself in the deep end – especially now that he knows their dorm building is the same.
“Romance is rather lacking, but I do work somewhere now; as a photographer at a modelling agency, so I’m in no shortage of attractive people to surround myself by~ ”
And that was really all that counted, wasn’t it?
Gosh, Kyouhei couldn’t believe his luck! Or would it be inattentiveness? They were attending the same college and it wasn’t like Avery didn’t stick out, how had the brunet never seen him?
“Ah, choosing a degree, singular, is hard. I mean, money probably isn’t an issue for us, but in general, the whole process is just twists and turns and paperwork, the worst of the three.” Oof, that was borderline rambling, he had better slow his roll.
“It was a difficult adjustment at first, but aside from a few unavoidable missteps I’m getting by.” He could only hope Avery was doing the same. It would be rude to ask right off the bat, right?
“The dorms really are… an adjustment, for sure. Not that I’m complaining, it’s cool that I don’t have to walk too far to classes and back.” He couldn’t help but flush a bit and avert his gaze when Avery added that last bit. Kyouhei wasn’t sure how to interpret it, and so… he tried not to dwell.
Instead, he let the conversation turn to other people, the easier topic.
“I’m jealous! All I get are old businessmen and gaggles of girls. Not that I’m complaining, because they’re the main source of my income, but I wish some cute people my age would frequent, you know?”
“Haha! I guess you’re right, but think about it this way, nothing bad has happened yet, so things are still a’right.”
Mizumachi chuckled to himself at Kyohei’s meek attitude as he drew in closer to him, putting trust in him, an Ayakashi. Well, he didn’t mind doing a good deed every now and again before he goes to do what he normally does, which is tricking humans. That’s the job of his kind, wouldn’t you know?
“No prob! Wanna hold hands or something? Would that help you feel more relaxed?”
The forest was dark and there was a chilly wind that would blow past the forest every now and again. It wouldn’t do Kyouhei any good if he’d accidentally gotten himself separated from Mizumachi, who was actually trying to do a good deed for once.
“You made your way pretty deep into the forest, but it won’t take very long to get back out, so don’t worry. You’ll be out of here safe and sound in no time.”
Mizumachi tried to console the worried little guy the best that he could. It was hard to figure out how to console a human when you yourself were not human.
Did this guy think Kyouhei was a toddler or something?! He went to immediately deny the offer of a hand to hold and then paused to reconsider.
The last time he’d been alone (and not just in a random place, in the comfort of his own home) something had snatched him up and spirited him away. As strange as the situation was….
“I’ll take a rain check on the hand-holding, but… you don’t mind if I walk fairly close to you?” Personal bubbles were weird and personal, Kyou didn’t want to accidentally trample on a societal norm.
“Thank you for your kindness. Assuming this is a forest near to where I live, would you want to come by for some food? I feel like I should pay you back for this somehow.”
The human’s territory was always more exciting in Avery’s eyes, as if every simplistic venture into a town or city was a brand new adventure for the Dragon with an unusual hobby for mingling in with the locals.
A marketplace with rows of stalls selling different foods or odd human trinkets may have appeared mundane to some, but for him it was almost inspiring. Look at them, buying and selling, hurrying about like working ants, with some even in the company of smaller humans who were more concerned with playing than paying attention to anything else around them.
“Do you think they’ve noticed anything different about us yet?” Avery wondered out loud to his companion beside him, eyes the colour of sweet caramel flitting about as if trying to hone in on the market stall with only the prettiest collection of trinkets for him to admire.
Eventually he settled on one in particular, the shine of a certain jewel catching his attention and brightening his expression. Fortunately, he managed to display enough self control to not wander over towards it immediately with zero warning, instead curling one arm around Kyouhei’s to give it a little tug; prompting the other to move with him.
“Everyone here seems to busy to even spare us a second glance.”
As someone who not only appreciated but thrived in attention, it was fair to say he almost sounded a little disappointed at the lack of admiration, even when looking more human themselves.
Kyouhei kept a close on his pink-haired companion while they danced between crowds of people. Festivals were usually his go-to distractions when visiting places, but that didn’t mean casual appearances were against his nature.
Besides, who was he to refuse a request from Avery?
“Well, I would hope they haven’t, dearest. Best case scenario, they’ll think we’re foreigners and not… y’know.” He peered around, double-checking that what Avery was complaining about was actually accurate.
“I’d rather be part of the crowd then thrown out or hunted down. I know you like the drama, but I was hoping for some softer event today.”
Today was one of the days that Engel worked alone. Hiyori had classes and Engel’s other employee had taken a week off for a vacation with their family. He didn’t really mind at all. Since most of Petit Petales’ business was online and large orders that needed to be made weeks in advance, there was actually a lot of downtime in the actual storefront.
That isn’t to say they didn’t have a good flow of customers, it was just that some days ended up being quieter than others. Days where Engel could sit at the counter with his textbooks open and get some of his homework done early. He’d been doing that more lately so he’d have time to experiment at home with his cooking.
Murmuring softly to himself as he read over a passage again to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, Engel almost missed the small chime of bells that indicated someone had entered the shop.
Tilting his head up, Engel pushed his hood back slightly so it wasn’t falling into his face. Oh. A potential customer?
“Ah… sorry,” he slipped his notepaper in between the pages of his textbook and closed it, offering a faint smile to the person that had walked in. He seemed to be quite taken with the large assortment of flowers that filled the open shop.
Engel personally went through every corner of the shop on his own as soon as he got to the shop. Every flower and plant that was on display was carefully taken care of and presented by the red-head. His people skills may have been lacking, but his green thumb spoke for itself.
He took a discreet steadying breath before speaking again, “…Is there …anything I can help …you with today?”
“Oh! Um….” Kyouhei made a variety of hand gestures while struggling to come up with a conversation opener. He honestly hadn’t thought of how exactly this would go down, but how hard could it be.
“Hello, I hope this- that I’m not going to trouble you! I was just wondering if you made smaller bouquets?” If not, he could play it off like he was going to buy one as a declaration of love or something, but… really, he just wanted some flowers.
“Maybe four or five different types? I’m not picky about flower language at all if that’s a factor, I heard this place knew its stuff.”
Avery’s comment about his looks in the hopes of gaining some kind of response had completely flown over Kyouhei’s head, but he was willing to ignore that for now. After all, it had been quite some time since the two had last seen each other, meaning a catch up between them was long overdue.
There was a rare, brief flash of concern across his expression. So, Kyouhei’s being here was more of an escape than anything else? In a certain way, Avery could relate. His own parents were fine in terms of treatment, but the weight of responsibility and breaking in to the business world like his father wanted was a burden he didn’t want to bother with, so promising to do well at university while away from his watchful eye was a decent enough compromise.
And lucky him, just look who this path had led him to.
“But that means you’re staying here, right? In the city?” Avery actually felt somewhat hopeful to keep him around, which was most definitely the reasoning behind the sudden rapid-fire question round; babbling on in his excitement. “So am I! I live not even fifteen minutes from here. Where is it that you study? Have you been here long? What’s your work? You’ll have to let me visit sometime!”
Kyouhei let himself grimace - had that been too open? He did have the tendency to overshare and then back off at the speed of light, so maybe just casually letting the conversation redirect was for the best.
“I’m probably a semi-permanent resident of Ouvara-Danon, yeah.” He laughed, lightly, and folding his arms over his stomach to weigh himself into the chair.
“I’m taking classes at Ouvara U, for majors in Botany and Geology. I have plenty of time and money, so I figured… might as well do what I really enjoy, right? And I don’t think jobs in those fields are oversaturated yet, so…”
The brunet let himself smile, slow and wide and genuine. Every time he was able to consider his existing freedom, it made him glow, inwardly. All warm, like sitting in sunbeams.
“No rush, n’ all. I’m just rooming in the dorms for now, and I work as a barista pretty close to the college. Hey-” Kyou leaned forward, buzzing slightly with energy. “That’s so cool that you live close by! I’m down for visiting each other, I could use some company from an old face… as much as I love new people,” the words tasted sour in his mouth with sarcasm, “familiarity is better.
“What about you? Taking any classes, any romance in your life, or honest work?”