Taking in the city - night drinks

[Skye]

So Christmas had come and gone at last, as she had thought so did it become a rather empty one true a bit better than she had expected but still without family or a partner so did the holidays just feel empty now a days.

Walking the city with no clear aim in sight dressed up for the season not that the cold were really that harsh here especially in comparison to the Alaskan winters where a fire could be the difference between life and death ahh sometimes she missed those times.

Still the city still had plenty of Christmas stuff out and the stores offered sales upon sales of left over things, not to mention that various drinking establishments would start to get back to normal or prepare for new years soon.

Walking around the shopping districts and more popular streets just trying to take the atmosphere and ambiance in as the sun were rapidly setting in the sky. She needed to learn this city in all it's modes and seasons so this to was part of her job, still she couldn't deny that the walking around were heavily inspired by her dislike of being alone normally it were ok but the holidays did make it harder.

Perhaps she would stop by to get a warm drink somewhere soon as people started to thin out but for now she hadn't really decided where.

[Corn]

Why is it so hard to find parking close to the bookstore? Corn thought to himself as he moved towards his car, after having closed the bookstore a bit early for the afternoon.
As he fished for the keys in pocket he noticed a familiar figure not so far away.
Is that Skye?

"Skye?" he called out, and waved to get her attention. It was hard to check the strands of fate since he failed to activate the spell that morning. Though, she could perhaps sense his matter armor.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-27 20:19:57	Corn rolls 1 to Sybil Sight Attempt 2: Gnosis+Fate+2-4: 1 dice (10 Again)	3	failure
2020-12-27 20:19:43	Corn rolls 1 to Sybil Sight Attempt 1: Gnosis+Fate+2-4: 1 dice (10 Again)	2	failure

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-27 20:21:45	Corn rolls 5 to Matter Armor: Gnosis+Matter+2-2: 5 dice (10 Again)	7, 8, 1, 9, 10, 5	3 successes

Both spells cast in sanctum prior to the scene with duration modifiers. Matter armor gets the advanced duration benefit. Sibyl Sight was failure twice, so it's not active. No mana as they were cast in the hallow

[Skye]

Her eyes turning towards the man as she slowly walks over towards him.
"Hello there Jacob how are you doing? Out enjoying the Christmas decorations and ambiance before they take it all down as well or are you on your way to meet your lovely bride to be?"

If she noticed any armor on him or anything of the supernal so did she at least not show it, more likely she just didn't care.

[Corn]

"I am doing well, thank you. Did you enjoy the holidays? I closed up for the afternoon and was heading home. We saw a lot of family, mine and hers during Christmas. It was nice but I also enjoy the festivities winding down. My fiancé won't be there for another hour - or more if they keep her at the office for a bit longer. I was planning to have a lazy hour or so at home. But if you have nothing else to do we could grab a cup of coffee from somewhere around here for a bit. I will text her that I will grab a cup of coffee with an acquaintance from college and I will go pick her up when she's about to finish. That way I earn the good guy points even if I don't do any chores in the house " he said to her.

[Skye]

Shrugging a bit.
"They really don't matter much to me to be honest, holidays only have value when you have someone to share them with."

Looking him over a bit.
"So you're families as hopeful to see some babies there soon as I am in my chances to be the babysitter?"

"Sure that's fine by me, mind if I call you Jacob by the way I am so terrible with names." Obviously a lie but it did hide enough of their world for any listener and sounded mundane, besides no one would react to the name Jacob whilst Corn might be registered. "Irish or not?"

Chuckling a bit.
"If anyone sees us together so feel free to tell her that I am a lesbian, have only ever dated women so not a complete lie." True she were bi or pan not really sure and only had one short date under her belt but still.

[Corn]

"Could we go with "J" or something? I work near here, it is not impossible that we would stumble upon someone that knows of me. To be fair though, how many bookstore employees do you remember the name of? I am usually 'that guy behind the counter' for the vast majority of our clients. " Corn said, not sounding really concerned. "But Jacob works."
"So... where to? Oh, I know, there's a bakery nearby that also serves coffee. I've bought cookies from there once and they were good. "
When the discussion came to babies he gave her a more serious look. "I guess most of them are, to be honest. We were trying to decide a date and a theme. I am pretty much OK with whatever she wants as long as it is not too 'bright' and 'dazzly', but I would prefer something more vintage. I am not saying, as her cousin suggested, to be dressed in suits from the 20s with pencil-thin mustaches and such. Just more towards that style. "

When she mentioned her date life Corn shrugged. "She is not jealous and I occasionally hung out with students. Having a cup of coffee with someone is not an issue for us." Well, Vincent wouldn't approve but my brother doesn't approve of anything I do anyway, Corn thought.
"I find it a bit surprising you are single, you seem extrovert and you don't seem picky. If you come directly out of disappointment, remember it takes effort for a relationship to work and requires some compromise. It is, in my opinion, very much worth it when you find the right person." and really disappointing when you find the wrong person. Man, why do you give advice to a woman as if you are veteran of successful relationships? The women she dated may have been as bad as Katie or Donna and no amount of work would save the trainwrecks. I better keep my mouth shut.

As he moves towards the bakery, with its window displaying various sweets, a few customers buying things for home in nicely wrapped boxes and a handful of people enjoying some beverage and cookies sitting around small tables, Corn waits to see her reaction. "Should we go in?"

[Skye]

Chuckling a bit.
"I tend to forget names at all times left and right unless I have some form of relations with the person, still Jacob sounded easy to remember and could easily be described away as a common enough name that I just confused your name with someone else's, not that I should need to use your name much in a established conversation." So he worked in a bookstore that could come in handy. "Say do you have any books about flowers you could recommend? I would love to study the flower language."

Shrugging.
"Sounds good, I will stick with cocoa though me and coffee is a bad mix." She had enough natural energy already. "Hehe you could always get married under a waterfall in the nude." Freezing up for a second. "Or wait skip that, I want that wedding so you can't have it sorry." That really could be fun and no annoying wedding dress needed.

"That's good, jealousy is so annoying. If you are loved so will you know it and not need jealousy, if you want more free then go poly. Not really my style though but it was common back home."

"That is easy to explain, I am incredibly blunt and will say whatever I think and act first then think. It's not always the best and can be quite intimidating, not to mention that some people are intimidated when I talk about hunting bears with a bow and arrow, little cowards." Laughing a bit, it was true she could intimidate a lot of people with her ways but the right one would hopefully stay. "How did you land your fiancée?"

Opening the door for him.
"After you, let's see if they have some saffron treats still and some hot cocoa."

[Corn]

"Of course we have books about flowers that ... my employer's wife could recommend. She likes flowers and flower arrangement and things like that. My little sister - I have an older brother and two younger sisters - might also be of help. I will ask them and get back to you. "

He entered the bakery and inhaled the aroma of baked sweets. Pointing to one empty table for two in a corner, he ordered for himself a chocolate muffin and hot cocoa and he smiled when the waterfall suggestion came up. "Not that vintage, no. It would save us a fortune on dresses, but it would be a bit too much for our guests. We're more ... traditional."
Then Skye mentioned polyamory a Corn shook his head. "No, no. Open relationships work only if all people involved are OK with it. Neither of us is jealous but what I meant was more like we trust each other. I have no issues with Maria having a cup of coffee with a coworker when she's away for work -she's travelling a lot and stays away for days - and she has no issues with me having a cup of cocoa with an acquaintance. We are not in that kind of lifestyle either."

Then Skye mentioned being blunt and impulsive and telling people that she hunts bears with bows. She hunts bears with arrows?! Man, I am a little coward too, I guess. He believed her though, but he doubted many sleepers would. So she would appear to be blunt, impulsive plus braggart and dishonest.
"Eh... yeah, I can see what you mean. It would indeed make things a bit harder on the dating scheme." And there's also the issue of honesty... how much she can share about her nature.
"Now, please answer me this: There are bears near Sacramento? I thought ... they lived mostly on the mountains. "

When the discussion moved to Maria Corn smiled. "It is not that romantic of a story. I had moved back from San Francisco to my town, a few hours North of here. We were waiting in a bus stop, she was attractive so ... we started talking. The bus arrived and we found out we were heading the same way, so we chatted on the way. We hit it off, but it was nothing like fireworks. We exchanged a few messages the following days, me asking to meet her casually, her playing hard to get. Not my words, her words. She has said to my sisters later that she was taking so long to answer to my messages because she didn't want to completely discourage me but she wanted me to work for it. So, she was looking for excuses that were plausible and that she hoped would work. A week after we met in the bus, she surprised me with a message saying that she was not far from the office I worked at at the time - it was closing hours - and she had a little free time. I casually told her that I "may" swing by if I can get out of the office in time and other such crap pretending to be more important than I was, while I rushed to my boss, told him about my sister having the oven on and how the house could catch fire and ran to meet Maria, arriving 15 minutes early. To her honor, she pretended she didn't notice. I also pretended I didn't notice she was also early.
Long story short, we had a good time, we clicked. Then we went to a real date and it was good. Then we went to another one. We found out that we liked spending time with each other and our feelings grew. And so on and so forth. One thing led to another, she met my sisters, then I met her brother, etc. Time flew by and she got a good job offer in Sacramento. I actually see her more nowdays than back home, her new job demands her to travel a bit less. I told her I am supportive of her decision, I put a ring on her finger and we moved in Sacramento. "

While in his monologue, Corn has unconsciously opened his cell phone and was flipping images of his fiancé. She had light brown hair, a couple of pounds extra and a sweet "homey" expression.

Corn's Fiancé is not a rare beauty, but Corn is a bit rosy-eyed about her appearance.

[Skye]

Looking a bit overwhelmed.
"To learn their language is good enough for a start, if you can recommend a good book so will I gladly purchase it. Gardening might come after that." Damn there were a lot to take in when trying to understand someone else.

Calmly smiling as they enter, not seeming to react much as she orders a saffron bun with raisins and hot cocoa with marshmallows and sitting down.
"Thought you wanted coffee, not much for drinking it after sundown?" Taking a sip. "Well to each their own, but thats good then the waterfall will not be stolen from me." If she could find someone that would agree to it. "There is a clear difference between trust and being sexually open enough to take in multiple partners. Back home so was it quite normal for the adults to have all sleep around rather freely, there were a few who didn't adhere to it both singles and partners alike but most of them were quite open. So I grew up with it and realized that I did not want it. So if that is not you either so do we have something in common there."

Chuckling a bit.
"Yes those kind of tales can spoke people long before I get a date and as said I can be terribly blunt and to rushed which I learned from my recent date, still it was a learning experience." Smiling a bit. "After moving away from home so did I spend some time out in the Alaskan wilderness, mostly alone sometimes with my trainer but he came and left quite a bit so sometimes it was just me, the wilderness and my bow alone for months. Were some hard years but I needed them."

Listening intently to his story trying to keep a calm face and looking at the pictures not really doing much more than nodding and listening with great care until he finishes and she bursts out laughing.
"Sorry sorry give me a second." Taking a minute to stop and calm herself down. "Sorry about that, it was a really cute story and she looks lovely I meant no offense." Couching out the last of her laughter. "There you see a clear difference though, I would never manage something like that. I would have just thrown out the suggestion of a date in ten minutes and not play hard to get back and forth at all but rather just take a leap and see. Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from you. That is what made me laugh just how different from me it were"

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder so if that is what he sees then it is his truth.

[Corn]

"When you say 'the language of flowers' what do you mean, exactly?" Corn asked puzzled. "Don't you mean flower arrangements etc? "
Alaska. I guess there are pretty few opportunities for dating in the wilderness of Alaska.
"If you have to laugh, I would like to inform you that one of the things we bonded about was our disregard for superstitions, mediums, Astrology, ghosts and such. We are both religious but we don't buy in snakeoil stuff", said the Moros that offered to make snake-oil for the Arrows, can see ghosts and has extensive and deep knowledge of superstitions.