Winterwings x Juneberry

J

Juneberry

Guest
Original poster
The town of Vesuchi was a bit of a strange place. It was a big city near the shore, and yet the people of the city were quite more like those of a small town- people tended to recognize each other, and rumors were quick to fly all about from one end to the other. Every day was simple for most people, and that made it easy to get used to. This was the case for nearly everyone, and that included Chloe Kitski.


The young blonde had woken up early that morning as well, when the bright sun was beaming down upon the bakery in which she both worked and lived. The light harmed her eyes when she first opened them, her blue irises contrasting greatly to her dialated pupils, but she was the type quick to ignore such a momentary and common pain. Hiding her headache, she was quick to change and prepare for the day as usual. She was a bit of a clumsy girl- she nearly fell putting on her socks, and then tripped on the third to last step downstairs and fell on her face. The clumsiness was natural to her, and being half asleep didn't really help. However, she didn't let it stop her from heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.


After making her simple meal, she packed it into a tupperware container and fled the bakery entirely, unlocking the door to let in one of her coworkers that lived down the road. She left the store to him after a proper greeting, and made her way to the park. Chloe wasn't the type to enjoy monotony- she didn't hate it, but she preferred a change now and then. As such, breakfast in the park seemed like a lovely change of pace.

Sadly, she hadn't expected there to be a somewhat deep crack in the pedestrian path off the main road. Her foot catching itself in the slight hole, she fell to the ground, the tupperware container of food in her hands being thrown a couple yards away from her as she made impact. With a groan, she made it to a crouch, wincing as she moved. The foot caught in the crack had been twisted awkwardly. Trying to walk with the twisted ankle was not going to be fun.
 
Aiden had been out for a walk for quite some time, a few hours, actually. He liked walking around without any specific goal - just walking around, looking at people passing by. It was as if he felt like he was a part of something bigger, but he had never been able to explain it. Not like anyone had asked him about it, he thought, as he wandered down the road. He liked the little paths in the park - there were usually plenty of people there, and it wasn't as rushed as the streets in the citites seemed to be. It was a nice weather, he thought, as he glanced up at the sky. He was wearing a brown coat with black buttons, a pair of jeans and a black hat. His hear was brown and was cut almost in a pixie cut. His eyes were a mixture of green and gray, and his skin was rather pale.

His day had been quite boring, at least some would think so. Aiden, on the other hand, liked it that way. Of course he wouldn't like his days to be boring and all predictable all the time, once in a while it was fun if something unexpected happened, but he liked the usual, as well. He had seen the sun set - actually, he had been outside even at night when the stars were shining on the sky. He liked that time, he would be almost all alone, and everything just felt so peaceful.

Aiden tilted his head as he spotted a girl. There was something not quite right about that, he thought, as he approached her. It looked like she was lying on the ground. He looked around, but there seemed to be no one around except from himself. As he got to her, he kneeled in front of her. "Do you need help?" he asked and gently grabbed her arm to help her to get up. He noticed her foot that didn't look too good. "What happened?" he asked concerned.
 
"I'm fine," Chloe answered him with a surprised look. She didn't bother to protest when he grabbed her arm lightly to help like she normally would, since it seemed to make it easier on her painful ankle. "It's just a sprain...I'll be fine." She laughed nervously as she stood as straight as she could, dusting off her jeans and the lower half of her white blouse, which went down to her thighs in length. When she felt mostly stable, she moved her hands so that she could take his grasp off her arm.


Glancing at him, she noted his general appearance to remember it later on, then smiled vaguely. Shaking her head a bit to get her long, straight hair out of her face, she let her gaze become more relaxed. "Sorry for startling you like that...But use me as a reference to be careful of cracks in the sidewalks. They're popping up more lately. Troublesome little buggers they are..." She laughed nervously at this factor.


As she thought for a moment, she held out her hand. "I don't think we've met before, have we? I'm Chloe Kitski...I work over at the bakery down the road. It's nice to meet you, mister...?" She implied for him to say his name, while smiling in a friendly fashion. He was interesting, though she wasn't sure why. He was also unfamiliar, which surprised her. However, there was something about him that kept her attention as she scanned him with her eyes. Something she couldn't quite trace.
 
Aiden smiled slightly - she seemed nervous. Not like he minded, but he liked her way of talking, he wasn't sure why. Someone else would just walk away, letting him know how stupid it was of him to help a stranger, but this girl seemed to be thankful. At least, she didn't seem to be mad at him for trying to help her. Aiden had experienced a lot of complaints when he had tried to help people, which has brought him to the point where he, nowadays, rarely helped anyone that he didn't know, since 99% of the times, he'd get yelled at. Meeting this girl who didn't seem to have a problem with him helping her, even though just a little, made him feel better for a moment. People like her made him have some faith in humanity, after all.

"No, I'm pretty sure we haven't met", he said, looking at her, from top to toe. He was slightly surprised by the fact that he hadn't seen her before - he recognized most of the people even though he'd just seen them once or twice. "I'm Aiden", he said with a bit of a smile on his lips. Chloe, he thought. "Well, that could explain why we haven't met before. I haven't been to the bakery", he said, thinking that maybe that's where she was heading. Or not. He was careful about assuming things, people usually didn't like that. "So... how's your foot? Are you sure that it's alright, no need for someone to take a look at it?" he said, realizing that maybe he sounded a bit too concerned. "...I guess that's your business, after all... were you heading somewhere?" he asked.
 
"Aiden, hm? Your name suits you...A nice name for a nice person, as they say. It's nice to meet you." Her smile was genuine despite her anxiety. Chloe was the type with lots of energy. She tended to be talkative, but ironically wasn't very comfortable with people. People nowadays weren't the most kind to deal with, however, so that may have been part of her aversion. The fact that he seemed kind so far wasn't hard for her to recognize, but it took her a moment to decide if she thought it was a farce or not. Benefit of the doubt, Chloe. She had to remind herself this before noting his concern, snapping out of her awkward daze to reply to his kindness.

"I'll be fine, I think. I'll be careful not to put too much pressure on it...I'm a fast healer." Actually, she was faster at hurting herself- but she wouldn't bother to note the fact that she was just used to being clumsy and getting injured due to it. "My foot is fine. It's just an ankle sprain. Rest and food are my friends. Actually, I was heading to the park for just that. I thought a meal at the park would be a nice change of pace, since I don't have work today." Her smile seemed to have less uneasiness and was more spirited than prior. "How about you? On your way to anywhere in particular? Whenever you're not busy, feel free to come to the bakery. I promise, our food is really tasty! Though I might be biased in thinking that... You'll have to test my bias on your own by getting something. Though I'll give you something on the house to help you decide, since it'd be rude otherwise."
 
Aiden nodded slightly, thoughtfully. "Well, that's good to hear", he said, as he heard that she was a fast healer. He smiled briefly as she said that she was heading to the park. He shook his head a little, what was he going to say? Seriously - he wasn't on his way somewhere in particular, but it felt weird if he'd join the girl to the park, since they didn't know each other at all. On the other hand, she kind of invited me, he thought, as she said that he could come to the bakery when he wasn't busy. "I bet it tastes great", he said, although he wasn't listening that carefully any longer - right now, it felt more like she was rambling. He wouldn't say he minded though - a talkactive stranger was better than a silent one, he thought.

"Actually, I was just going for a walk", he said, looked at her and then glanced around. For a moment, he felt as if he had missed out on what was going on around them - an unusual feeling to him, as he didn't speak to strangers, or anyone, outside like this, very often. "If you don't mind, maybe I could join you?" he said, looked at her again and gave her a bit of a grin. "Meal at the park, you say. Anywhere in particular that you usually go? I haven't eaten in the park before, to tell you the truth", he said, as he began to walk.
 
She hadn't even realized she'd been rambling. It was rather natural to Chloe to show quite a lot of spunk, and talking rapidly with quite a bit to say improved that farce. When he asked to join her to go to the park, however, the girl was quite surprised. "I don't know if I have quite enough for two people, but...I'm sure it shouldn't be too hard to share. So...Sure! Sounds fine to me." She gave him a cheerful, toothy grin in response to her own words. It was rare for her to bond with people, and she didn't actually think of herself as bonding with him at that point. However, it was also rare of her to spend time with people outside work willingly. That day, she had decided to make a change of pace of the usual goings on in her life, though. So, she decided to include that into her unusual day.

As he began to walk, she was quick to follow, trying to think about where to eat at the park. "To be honest, I don't eat there very often. I usually just eat at home. But...A picnic once in a while is very nice. It's boring to just do the same thing every day after all!" She giggled a bit as she spoke aloud, mulling over still where to eat. "As for where to eat though...I guess the best place to eat would be the pond? There are benches there, and it's a nice view too. The ducks are quite lively this time of year. We can give them any leftover bread, though I doubt we'll have any!"
 
Aiden nodded as she spoke - it sounded good. He thought of where to eat, but couldn't think of any - honestly, he wasn't used to be outside like this. Especially not eating with someone. As she said that she didn't eat out very often, he hoped that she at least knew a place where they could eat, or, buy something, he thought, if they were going to sit in the park. He glanced at him and smiled slightly, she seemed to have a lot to say. Maybe she was just nervous, he thought. He didn't mind if she spoke since he didn't. "Eating near the pond sounds like a good idea", he said, although he hadn't thought that much about it. What could go wrong? To him, it sounded like a good idea, although he hadn't been there, as far as he remembered.

As they entered the store, Aiden looked around, quite surprised. He hadn't been in a store like this for a long time, he usually just went to the small stores with the usual groceries that was necessary - toilet paper, food, toothpaste, and things like that. This store had plenty of food on the shelves, and it had been a long time since he had been to a store like this. It seemed to be a mixture between a bakery and a regular store where you bought food, he thought, as he stood next to Chloe, trying to decide what to have.
 
Chloe found it easy to choose from the food that they had at the store. She was rather used to the area, and she'd grown up there- so even if she didn't go to the store often, she knew it well enough to know what it had. She'd noticed long before that shops in the area only rarely had a change in what they had available, usually only varying based on the season. Otherwise, things were fairly lax and simple. So, she knew what she liked and would enjoy already.


She made her way to one of the shelves, looking for something in particular that she couldn't seem to find. It took her time to look among the shelves for that particular item, which was strangely simple when she finally found it. Lifting up a jar of apple sauce, she sighed with relief- it was in the wrong spot and the last one there. Taking that jar with her, she looked over at Aiden curiously. "I don't know what you're hungry for I'd help you look. I'm going to go get a sandwich to go with my apple sauce and I'll be set."
 
Aiden watched as she didn't seem to find what she was looking for at first. He glanced around the store and looked for something that he'd enjoy himself, but the truth was, he had no idea. She seems to know this place, he thought, as he looked over to her again. It made him feel a bit stupid standing there, as if he had never even been there once - and maybe he hadn't, he wasn't sure.

"Good for you", he said with a bit of a smile on his lips as she said that she would be all set once she had that sandwich. He glanced around the shelves for something. "Is there anything you'd recommend?" he said jokingly, looking at her, grinning slightly.