Abashed, Fae nervously gestured towards her creations. "Satisfactory?", she asked, anxiously twisting the colorful enamel ring she always wore on her right ring finger. Had she done a good enough job? She bit her lip.
Roleplay?
He nodded with a short lift of his chin, "Yeah," he wasn't smiling as he would under normal circumstances. He wasn't wearing a negative expression- simply resting interest, instead of a smirk. "Me los encantan,"
( "I love them" )
Slightly confused, Fae felt almost trapped, although she didn't know why. "What else is there for me to do?" She stroked Leum's rough scales as he lumbered cutely over.
"Ahm, yeah. I dunno," he looked at his fingernails.
Fae felt tense all over, but she tried for a smile. "You said earlier that you could teach me to–to make something… Maybe if you have time…?" Leum, who was currently sitting on her hand, gave her ring a concerned twist, looking up at her in askance as if to ask what was wrong.
"Sure." He replied, "You seem tense," he pointed out with a bit of a head tilt.
Fae fought back a blush. "F-First day, I guess. I didn't want to disappoint anyone.You two are so much better than me." She chewed on her lip again.
"With work you'll get better," he responded, finally pffering a smile to ease the atmosphere between them.
Fae smiles, grateful, as Cruz led her over to the pottery wheel.
He invited her to sit down on the quaint, worn wooden stool in front of the wheel.
She did so, folding her wings politely so that she could pay attention better as Cruz began the lesson.
He plopped himself haphazardly down onto the stool, "And, you'r okay with getting messy? Being a girl and all." He teased playfully, squinting his pair of mischevious, dark honey eyes.
In response, she sank her hand into the wet clay and smeared it up her arms, grinning cheekily. "Teach me."
"Damn.." he laughed, "You've impressed me." His cheeks mirrored the cheeky, playful smile, exposing his upper row of teeth with a relaxed and genuine enjoyment. "Though now August's wife is mutilated." He referenced the joke she overheard on the phone that morning, with their inside joke of August's "clay fetish". Cruz definitely wasn't passing up an awesome joke like that.
Fae snorted with amusement. "Boys…", she grinned. "And I thought you were actually going to teach me something!"
"Hey! I'm getting there!" He lightly slugged her shoulder.
She swatted him back. "So….." Fae gestured for him to begin.
"Okay, okay," he humored, resting his messy, glaze and clay stained shoes on the pedal to begin turning the wheel with measured pushes. Wetting his hands in order to lubricate the clay, he began to smooth off the lumps.
Curious, Fae asked, "What are you making?"
"A basic flowerpot," he answered.
A petite girl wearing off-brand white Vans, jeans, and a navy blue jacket over a white t-shirt wandered her way down the street, her arms lightly, yet securely folded about her torso as her steps guided her with aimless ease. Her hazel eyes skimmed the shops as she strolled, releasing a pent-up breath at finally being free from the torture cage her house had become. She knew her older brother would be looking for her soon, and would most definitely want to kill her for wandering by herself in the town they’d only just moved to, but she needed to get out, and had no regrets about risking her safety for the sake of her sanity. She let herself study the buildings and other happenings as she drew her way down the path, curious and willing to explore, but also feeling extremely, uncharacteristically withdrawn and careful, shaken off her groove slightly from the rare fighting that had just occurred in her house. So she just took the time to focus on her breathing, letting herself see what there was still to see.
As she came across the pottery shop, she couldn’t help but let her steps falter slightly, her gaze getting caught on the beautiful articles being displayed in the window. Gingerly tucking some of her just-past-shoulder-length blonde hair behind her ear, she turned her body a little to admire the objects, her eyes studying their every curve and every detail of their design. Being an artistic person herself, and using it to ease whatever nerves she felt (which didn't used to be all that common, though it was about to be), it was only reasonable that she took the time to just gaze at what she saw.
A couple minutes passed, and feeling a bit more relaxed and intrigued, she turned her head to send her gaze past the window, and noticed the door was open. She thought a moment, before slowly stepping towards it, deciding she might as well get a closer look. Tenderly pushing her way through the door and slowly crossing the threshold, her eyes slowly skimmed the interior of the charming little building.
As expectedly, Augustus was sitting at the front counter with his feet propped up and leafy eyes downturned with complete engrossment into his novel. Occasionally he's turn his lips to blow hair from his face, or roll his head to give some relief to his cricked neck; the position he was sitting promoted him to keep slouching.
The girl noticed the man sitting on the counter, and studied him a moment with the faint touch of a curve at her lips in case he were to look in her direction, before turning her focus away and sending her eyes on their journey throughout the store. Instantly catching the sight of several pottery pieces that interested her, her arms fell away from her sides as she moved into the depths of the buildings and rows, the characteristic life in her stride renewed as she strolled down an aisle, her pointer finger gently brushing along the shelf as she skimmed the individual works of art, appreciating and instant liking taking to her eyes at what she saw. Her lips gently twitching upwards in a faint smile, she slowly made her way down the row, and eventually paused by a certain piece, moving to carefully admiring it with both sight and touch, well aware to be ginger, as it was breakable. 'They're not even that expensive,' she reflected happily as she turned the piece in her hand, thoughtfully examining its every angle.
Her serene thoughts were sharply i terrupted with a sharp, strained "Oh snap!" And the sound of Augustus slipping ungracefully off his stool.
Fae whipped her head around sharply upon hearing a crash coming from the shop. She stood up hurriedly and rushed to see what was happening, hair flying into her face as her headband fell out. "Mr. Ponticelli, sir? Are you all right?", she said as she helped him up.
"Yeah, yeah," he laughed, reaching for his book. He pushed himself off the ground with help, "Just lost my balance is all. Thank you, Fae," he chuckled with embarassment.
The girl started in alarm, looking up and about with wide eyes as her fingers tightly gripped the object, almost enough to break it. She blinked as she tried to calm the sudden rush of adrenaline, having been wrenched out of a significantly deep state of thought. With the slightest of hesitations in her start, she quickly strode back down the aisle with somewhat long strides, loosening her hold on the pottery item, though forgetting to put it back. She stepped partially out of the aisle and glanced around, before catching sight of the scene. She blinked in surprised concern, and stepped completely out of the aisle as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, shifting her weight slightly in their direction, feeling a will to help, but not exactly knowing if she should, or how to go about it.
Fae noticed the strikingly beautiful girl standing awkwardly next to one of the aisles, the internal struggle written on her face. "Hi there, how may I help you today?", she inquired politely, walking towards her as Grace landed nimbly on her shoulder, regarding the new customer, her round orchid eyes blooming in curiosity.
Augustus pulled himself back up to his stool, shaking his head like a wet dog.
The girl looked from the man who was righting himself back onto his stool, to the winged girl who hurried to his aid, and was now speaking to her. She caught her eyes for a second as she approached, stunned by the sight of her wings and the lithe little dragon on her shoulder, She regained her wits a heartbeat or so later. Blinking, her lips stretched into a small smile, her eyes regaining their characteristic, inquisitive sparkle as she hurried to reply, "Oh, um, I was just looking at all the pottery,", her hand shifting the item it held into the other hand so she could gestured to the shelves as she spoke, her eyes following her own motions. She then glanced back at Fae with a softened, delighted look, her free hand slipping into her pocket and the smile still present on her lips as she added in a quieter tone, "It's all so beautiful in here…"