Spring has Sprung

[Aurelie Enchantez]

Aurelie had managed to make it to the square without her feet delivering her where she was most unwelcome at the moment, but she wasn't entirely sure where to go from there. She'd only just met Sahil and thought turning around to head home because of bad memories about a stupid tree or cafe would look more like desperation than discomfort at the moment.

So, Aurelie found herself wandering around the oldest part of town: the square. All manner of shops and umbrella carts dotted the roads and offered numerous havens to duck into. She picked an ice cream parlor to enjoy, and tiptoed inside, offering a mint chip sugar cone and taking it outside under a shaded sidewalk bench. The combination of cool minty ice cream and humidity was nostalgic and it made her happy.

Some older songs played on the radio and Aurelie sang along as she enjoyed her treat, just tapping her toes in time to the music. Suddenly, though, something else was blocking her little bit of sunlight, she just couldn't immediately tell what from the silhouette.

[Diwata Figueroa]

The sun, peering in and out of the cloud covers, held no candle to Diwata's open-lipped grin. The song coming from the ice cream shop, she knew. It wafted lackadaisically on the light breeze. It was also one of her mama's favorites and she knew every word.

Though, Diwata preferred to dance.

No no, she decided impatiently, body trembling with the nostalgic energy, I wanna cartwheel!

The square had grown sparse in the midday lull… though a crowd wasn't going to stop her anyway. She shuffled backwards a meter or then launched herself forward. Brown arms tensed, the feeling of the thud when her bare palms smacked on the cobblestones - fingers gripping for just a second before pushing off and forward - pulled the corners of her lips up further. Her bowler hat had, obviously, popped off her head in the process.

As she stuck the landing, gladiator soles pounding land triumphantly, Diwata laughed. "Ta daaaa!" she shouted to no one in particular. Another chuckle escaped her when she skipped back to retrieve her hat.

[Aurelie Enchantez]

Aurelie jumped and nearly knocked the ice cream from her cone at a sudden outburst from another woman in the crowd. She seemed rather..jubilant..and it made Aurelie happy actually. First the river guide, now this woman. Spring was definitely in the air.

A smile spread across Aurelie's features as she clapped, best as she could holding a cone in one hand anyway, for the spontaneous performance and joined in with the woman's laughter. It felt nice to be laughing for once, instead of being so quiet and shy. This is how Aurelie wanted to be, like this woman.

Carefree.

[Diwata Figueroa]

"Thank you, thank you!" Diwata called, bowing low to her left, then to her right, then forward, and then she about-faced to bow behind her. When she straightened, the scholar caught eyes with a young woman sitting in front of the local ice cream shop.

"Oh!" Now her hands flew behind her, clasping together in a moist tangle. "Thank you kindly, ma'am~" She knelt in a half curtsy of sorts, palms growing clammy. Her tongue brushed over her teeth behind her smirking lips. "Ah… don't drop your ice cream! It looks pretty tasty, it would be a shame to waste it."

Diwata's eyes narrowed slightly, then she scanned the other young woman. Inconspicuously taking in a large sniff of air, Diwata detected mint and chocolate, a hard hit of sugar, and a distinctly musky smell that made her cheeks warm. Her new acquaintance's laugh tinkled in the spring air; this made her nose twitch. She bit her lip.

To distract herself, Diwata cleared her throat and approached the bench. "Mind if I sit?" Another coy smile punctuated her words.

[Aurelie Enchantez]

Aurelie's smile smoothed its way across her features again, and she gestured to the seat across from her at the table.

"Go ahead," another grin and small chuckle made Aurelie feel light as air. "Oh I won't drop this, promise. I'd never drop my favorite ice cream." A low chuckle escaped her throat as she continued eating. "You want some too?" She gestured to the other woman and back toward the open order window. "My treat for the performance. " Aurelie was feeling the good vibe of the day. A sudden thought crept in of how it would be nice to have ice cream with Sahil too, and she hid a small smile behind another bite.

"It's pretty good. .I'm Aurelie by the way," Aurelie cleaned ice cream off of one hand with a napkin - it was a dripping mess at this point and Aurelie was racing the clock - before reaching out for a dap. "I somehow haven't run into you before. I can't imagine how that'd be." Another smirk played on her otherwise smooth features and she went back to her ice cream. This woman was pleasant. A breath of fresh air even. And Aurelie could certainly do with more of that.

[Diwata Figueroa]

"Fantastic!" She strode forward toward her peer and pulled out the chair, plopping down unceremoniously. Diwata wiped her hands off onto the sides of her black shorts. She'd attempted to hide the motion, but her new acquaintance likely noticed. sh-t.

One slender leg draped over the other as she laid her hands in her lap, leaning back into the chair. "Your favorite, huh? Good choice. Partial to peanut butter fudge myself. Well… basically anything with some type of chocolate and peanut butter and I'm a happy camper!"

Diwata placed on hand on her cheek and tapped it with her index finger, taking in Aurelie's face for a second. "I'll bet I know why you like the mint… it compliments your skin super well!" Ah, the nuances of being attracted to the same gender. She'd batted her eyes and smiled extra wide for good measure… but sometimes it wasn't enough. Diwata would find out soon what she was dealing with here. Either way, she wanted to know this quiet woman.

"Treat?" Diwata's attention snapped back to the woman immediately, a painfully simplistic look on her face. Inwardly, Diwata cringed. Wow…I didn't think I was capable of such a cliche. Super sh-t. "Oh… Oh no, I couldn't." Another bat of her lashes, this time some sincerity shining through the cracks in her flirty bravado.

"Aurelie? The pleasure's all mine, miss. I'm Diwata." She tipped her hat and winked softly. "Little old me?" She uncrossed her legs and stretched her arms toward the sky, studying the clouds. "I was probably cooped up with Vasant." Diwata's arms came back down to rest more comfortably in her lap. Meanwhile, her gaze fell back to Aurelie's eyes. "And you? Do you come into town often?" Di's tone inquired gently.

[Aurelie Enchantez]

"Ooh," Aurelie furrowed her brow and stared into the hazy distance for a moment. "That does sound good. Peanut butter fudge.. Damn, now I want some." Aurelie got uo and bought one cup for her new friend, eyeing with just the slightest bit of envy as she slid it across the metal table and sat again.

"My...skin...?" Aurelie blinked a few times before bursting into laughter. She tried to restrain it and almost lost her own cold trea, but regained her control with a disbelieving grin on her face. She shook her head. "That's just silly" she smiled. She repeated the woman's name, Diwata, over in her mind. It was a nice name, very rounded. Pleasant.

"Vasant..?" Aurelie echoed the other name. "That sounds familiar.." her voice trailed off with her thoughts as she tried very hard to recall where that name was from. Vasant. .vasant. . She knew that name from somewhere.

And just as she thought she had it, her stomach growled its displeasure at emptiness. "Uh, wow, rude." She said to her own stomach. Then she blushed a little and her eyes widened, embarrassed.

"Uh. I guess my stomach is..not happy with me," Aurelie tried to half smirk it away. "Hey do you know any good places? I do come into town, but I've only ever visited a few spots.." her voice trailed again as she saw Wendelin's in her periphery. "Uh...you're. .welcome to come of course. I'm prolly just gonna eat by the river though.." she sank into a more relaxed style of talking and casual mannerisms, especially around people more like herself.

[Diwata Figueroa]

Di gasped and, after her insisting it was totally fine and of COURSE I have my own money PLEASE it's totally fine wait come back! ...Her new acquaintance was at the window, all of Di's persistence seemingly ignored. Well, her mama didn't raise her without some manners. She sat as patiently as she could until Aurelie's return, knees bobbing up and down beneath the table.

The metal tabletop was vibrating when Aurelie returned. As soon as her new friend had put the ice cream in front of her, Diwata's face could hardly contain her smile. "Oh!" Now the woman was wiggling around in her seat. "Wow, thank you so much! I... didn't expect you to go and get me one." Here her body calmed as she winked an eye coyly and scratched the back of her head. "You're a doll~"

Diwata had manners, it's true... but the balmy day and her favorite flavor combination right under her nose made it just about impossible to really muster any more niceties. Spoon gripped tightly, she shoveled a couple large spoonfuls into her mouth. A truly joyous grin was plastered to her face.

The joyful scarfing was cut short. "Oh, what?" She said around the delicious dessert, daintily wiping at her mouth. "Vasant? Yeah, he's basically my boss. He's the, uh, head of the Aniguise Morphology Department. He's cool an' all, but it's pretty stuffy over there." After a moment of stuffing her gob more, Di was finished. "Mmmm," she said, "Thank you again... I really needed that."

"Actually, the river sounds great! Isn't the school's cafe supposed to be good?" Diwata pondered for a moment, not exactly letting Aurelie go completely unobserved. "But chilling out by the river's good with me. I actually don't come into town to eat that often. The Aniguise gang is pretty close. Vasant's cooking is hard to beat, too. Once you've eaten Vasant's, that's all you'll wants!" She giggled, thinking about how silly her supervisor looked whenever he told her that. "So, really, it's your call."

[Aurelie Enchantez]

It was all Aurelie could do to smile and laugh; Diwata's manner was so lively.

"Doll, please. " Aurelie laughed and waved it off as she listened more. "OHHH! Lycanthropy department! Lucky! I've been interested in joining. I heard y'all do some cool stuff with Morphology! Is that right?" She listened eagerly for more and then heard Diwata's suggestions on food.

"I'm kinda trynna stay out if the school right now.. " Aurelie laughed in her low chuckle. "Hm. Any kebabs? Those are always a favorite at barbeques back home.. But I want real ones, not just skewers of veggies. That's white food man.. " Aurelie caught herself and ducked her head, looking around to see if anyone else had caught her, and clearing her throat.

"Yeah.. Eh. There's a nice spot by the river under a big tree.. " where I was terrified of being struck by lightning like a month ago and tried fruitlessly to flirt with a bartender from across the street so I'd rather not go there after all, at least not alone, because I feel like I'll die if I do... Her thoughts reeled and she had to make herself start breathing again after letting her mind rattle all that off silently. "O-or one by the dock I guess too. "

Aurelie finished her ice cream and dumped the cup into a trash bin nearby. She scanned the streets and found exactly what she was looking for. "There's a genuine article! You're welcome to tag along. I don't exactly know much if anybody in town and school is on hiatus so.. " She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could and held a hand above her brow to look at the cart again before taking a few steps forward.

[Diwata Figueroa]

Di smirked as Aurelie deflected her coy little petname. However, the woman was taken aback for a moment as Aurelie expressed exuberant interest in her department. "
Well, I'll hook you up with Vasant, then. Just let me know a time and a place and he'll be there! I'll make sure of it." She beamed bright as the sun above them, proud of her networking and/or potential flirting skills. Two birds with one stone, as they say. Great job, team!

"White food? HA!" She let out a boisterous chortle. "You're all right, Aurelie..." she trailed off, chuckling to herself. She chucked her trash into the nearby bin and turned back to her new acquaintance. "I'm down with whatever - you bought me my favorite treat, I'm in your debt!" She threw out her arms and held her wrists together, miming she was now handcuffed and chained to Aurelie. A few passersby did a double-take, but she didn't much care. Theatrics was always more fun with an audience, anyway. She laughed again, adjusting her hat.

Despite her dramatics, Diwata did notice Aurelie seemed on edge, for whatever reason. Wonder why she wants to avoid the school... she does seem pretty reserved. Maybe some sort of drama. Well, lucky for her, I'm an expert in the art of seduct-- I mean... distraction~ "Those kebabs over there smell amazing! As far as location, whatever's clever. So long as there's food, I'm pretty chill." Di stood up and stretched her arms up wide, grinning. "I have only one condition - I'm buying!"

And then Diwata tore past Aurelie and down the road toward the kebab stand, laughter trailing behind her.