{~*Corner Sweets*~}

[Avis habilis]

Dave smiled at the clambering kitten. "Hi there pocket cat!"

He fumbled in his pockets for a moment. The search yielded five square chips of mica, three silver coins, an almond-sized amethyst, and a roll of bills held closed with a small twist of wire. Dave unwound the wire and rifled through the bills, separating currencies.

"You know," he said, "It's been ages since I had a cappuccino. And a croissant?

"Oh, and I could use a newspaper, if they've got one."

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi giggled and placed the kitten on the counter, telling it to behave. She went around the counter and refreshed the store with a wave of her hand. She ducks under the counter and brings out a warm croissant. She turns to the coffee pot, remembers Ally's warning about it being tempermental and gingerly starts brewing coffee. She hands him the plate with the croissant and a newspaper off the stand behind the counter. "So, what brings you here?"

[Avis habilis]

"Ouf ... business trip. Scouting locations."

Dave glanced at the price on the paper, did a little mental math, and handed over what he hoped was the appropriate number of useable bills.

"Thanks," he said as he pulled off one horn of the croissant and scarfed it down. "This shop has a really unique look. Has it been here long?"

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi takes the money and makes change, handing him the change. She turns to make the capuccino. She thinks for a bit, "Well, it's been here longer than I have but that's not saying much. I would guess quite a few years." She smiled at the kitten, petting it. "What sort of business trip? If you don't mind my asking."

[Avis habilis]

"I work with a friend. An artist. Photographer. He does a lot of model shoots on location."

Dave stuffed the change into his pocket. He peered out the front windows, then turned back to Aoi.

"That's a great courtyard, for instance. And the iron work on the fence - superb. You don't see many examples of that outside of the South. Some kind of cellar under that I suppose."

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi smothered a giggle. "Yes, there is a cellar but no one goes down there." She glanced towards the door leading to the cellar. "You say you work with an artist? I'm an artist as well. What line of work are you in then?"

[Avis habilis]

"Um ... well, it's a bit dull." Dave shrugged. "I'm in public safety. Risk assessment. State government kind of thing." He popped another chunk of croissant into his mouth and chewed slowly. Absently rifling through the sections of the paper, he folded the sports into a neat square and set it in front of the kitten, hoping to keep it distracted enough that it wouldn't settle itself on top of the rest of the pages.

"I might be in town for a while. Any place you would recommend I stay?"

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

She sighed and put the cup of cappuccino in front of him. "There is a quaint little bed and breakfast just up the street. Don't worry about her, she is well behaved." She beckoned to the sugar kitten. "Leave the man alone dear." She scolded the kitten gently.

[Avis habilis]

"She's welcome to the Sports section," Dave laughed. "Mine climb all over anything I'm trying to read. I don't give a damn about sp..."

His words trailed off as he looked more closely at the kitten. "I ... uh, sorry, but is she ... This'll sound strange, I realize, but is she covered with spun sugar?"

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi smiled and released her little fairy, the fairy joined the kitten on the counter. "They are both created from spun sugar." She twirled her hand, letting the fairy go where it willed, circling Dave's head a couple of times before exploring the store again."Do they frighten you?" She asked, curiously.

[Avis habilis]

Dave blinked, squinted at the fairy, blinked again.

"No, not frighten. Surprise, though." He scratched his stubble thoughtfully. "A lot. Did you make them?"

He picked up the cup of cappuccino but hesitated, brows creased. Then he glanced over at the half-eaten croissant, sighed, and took a long pull of the coffee.

"Perfect," he pronounced, slucking foam from the rim of the cup.

[Avis habilis]

Three more pulls and the cappuccino was gone. Dave scraped the last of the foam from the cup with a spoon and ate it.

"Perfect," he repeated with a contented sigh. "Aoi, I've got to run. It's been a pleasure meeting you. Your creations, too. I'll probably drop by tomorrow; hope to see you then."

He opened the door cautiously and took one ginger step outside. After a moment, he sighed again and strode out, closing the door behind him.

[Mordred]

Slowly waking, eyes blinking, stung, Rex sat up straight. Hmm, that was Aoi's voice, that's for sure. Yet looking around, he saw nobody. By the look of the place, it must have been some odd dream. Looking down, he noticed the cup of coffee.

Madness, yes, it has this way of never leaving you alone, old man, he thought to himself. Old or young, unsure yet really it didn't matter. This place could be alive and kicking while it was he who babbled somewhere making no sense. Maybe it was all just a dream, anyway. A girl with wings? Wasabi encased in chocolate? No way. The desert got to you. Plain and simple.

Still, the faint aroma of sweets lingered in this place. And the voices, Aoi was definitely one of them, and another name he heard seemed to be... Dave. Shrugging, Rex popped his feet up on the table, grabbed the hot cup, and sipped. Falling into madness was one thing. Accepting and embracing it, made it nearly enjoyable.

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi smiled, noticing that Rex was awake. She sent her kitten to scamper over to him. She sighed, sitting down at a table she pulled out her sketch book and started sketching Dave.

[Mordred]

Again... sounds. Rex realized his madness was connected to this place. There was something, he realized staring down at that everlasting cup of hot coffee, not entirely right here. Chairs scraped, coffee brewed, various other sounds lent their chaotic ripples through his senses.

Staring down at the cup, he nearly took a drink. But then had a new thought. It's you! This cup, always there... waiting perfectly! Drugging me, making me go more and more insane with each damn sip.

Standing up, it was as if the soul inside that cup came alive. Staggering, feeling it's claws clenching around his throat like a vice, Rex realized he had to leave this place. It was the source of so much that had gone wrong. From childhood, a wild black magic. The people, though, they seemed fine. It was just some force that targeted him.

Trying to run, he lurched towards the door, pulling it open to the raging darkness outside. In moments he was gone.

[Avis habilis]

The sun had already swung well around to the west by the time Dave reappeared. He opened the gate with less trepidation than he had shown at the door the previous day, and lingered a while in the courtyard. From an inner pocket of the same rumpled, shapeless jacket he had sported the day before, he produced a camera. Wedging himself into one far corner of the fence, he crouched and took a shot looking back toward Corner Sweets' vast bank of windows. Straightening, he crossed the courtyard and snapped another picture aimed at the spot he had just vacated. It wasn't until he had repeated the process at the other two corners of the yard that he went to enter the shop. Even then he paused to take a picture of the door before opening it.

"Afternoon, Aoi," he called as he stepped inside. He was clean shaven today; hopefully that would mitigate the crazed hobo vibe he was pretty sure he had given off the day before. Dave took another picture of the open door, then closed it behind him.

"Hi there, sugar kitten," he added on spotting the confectionery cat. He paused, tapping the camera pensively in the palm of his hand. At length he seemed to come to a decision and slipped it back into his pocket.

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi looked up as Dave addressed her, "Good afternoon Dave. Taking more pictures, I see." She noted the camera in his hand. She ripped out a piece of paper from her sketchbook and gave it to him, the picture showed Dave as he had been yesterday gazing at the sugar kitten. She stood up, her black skirt replaced with a deep maroon. "What would you like today?"

[Avis habilis]

"What's this?" Dave said as he took the sheet. "Hey, thanks! That's a great likeness." He grimaced a bit at that, noting the disshevelled state of his clothes and the quizzical look on his face. He had traded yesterday's peculiar linen peasant shirt for a button-down blue cotton one, but kept the cargo pants.

"Uh, just coffee today, thanks. Black, no sugar, please." He eased himself onto a stool at the counter.

"Yeah, pictures," he added, as if Aoi's remark had just registered. "I hope the owners won't mind." He paused to scratch idly at the back of his neck, frowned, and yanked. A cardboard tag came away in his hand with a snap. He stuffed the tag into a pocket.

"So is art your hobby or your vocation?"

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi giggled softly at his grimace and went around the counter to get his coffee. Putting it on a saucer, she gave it to him. "I'm sure the owners wouldn't mind much, we get all sorts of people in here." She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I am an artist, dancer, teacher. All forms of art are both my hobby and vocation, although my specialty is this." She waved her hands and a 3-D picture of Dave as he was appeared on the table, revolving slowly.

[Avis habilis]

The coffee was a medium-bodied Costa Rican, nice and fruity, without too much acidity. That latter point was what Dave appreciated most about it as he coughed it into his sinuses at the sight of the image.

"Chyort vozhmi'," he muttered when he could draw breath again. He carefully set the coffee down and leaned in to examine the tiny duplicate. It was perfect, and minutely detailed. There were the half-ripped pocket on his left pant leg, the scuffs on his green leather shoes - even that cowlick he could never get to lie flat.

He slowly raised his eyes from the image to meet Aoi's gaze.

"You're a woman of many talents. More than I thought possible."

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi laughed, "Don't look so shocked. That is mild." She nudged it toward him so he could look closer, "You can touch it, it's okay. I use these 3-D images to help me when I'm drawing and my subject moves." Gesturing towards the kitten and faery. "Inside Corner Sweets, anything can happen." She winked.

[Avis habilis]

Dave nodded. "I'm beginning to see that."

He studied the spinning figure of himself for a while, brows furrowed. Eventually he took the flaps of its jacket between thumb and forefinger and tugged. The jacket didn't budge.

"So just what's visible on the outside," Dave mused. "Interesting."

He thought a while longer, then cast a glance around the shop. He and Aoi appeared to be the only occupants, if you didn't count the cat and fairy. Satisfied, Dave reached into an inner pocket and pulled out a something flat - a small green copper rectangle, studded with a number of silver symbols. He lay it on the counter next to the figure.

"Does that seal mean anything to you?" he asked, eyes on Aoi's face once again.

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi gently touched one finger to it, watching it flare softly. She smiled and pulled out a rectangle identical to it. "What is it to you?" She barely breathed, her eyes alight in excitement. She hadn't seen the seal in ages, since before she came to the Corner Sweets. She worked hard to school her features, her old lessons coming back to her.

[Avis habilis]

Whatever answer Dave had been expecting, it plainly wasn't that. For full on ten seconds his expression alternated between shock and relief.

"I've never seen it do that," he said finally. "I've never seen anybody's do that."

He peered at Aoi's seal. It was indeed identical to his, right down to the test symbols: the eye in an open hand, the stack of seven circles, the crossed daggers, everything.

"To me? It's my badge."

[XxUnDeAdMiStReSsXx]

Aoi flushed slightly. "I used a small spell to make the recognition visible." She glanced between the two seals. "I see, to me it's a reminder. What made you leave?" She was curious about him now, she had not seen anyone in a long time.