Fae grinned up at him mischievously. "Where d'ya think I was gonna go?" Back in the shop, an investigative Grace was sitting on Kennedy's shoulder, a blonde lock of hair in her tiny paws, flicking her large delicate ears from time to time as she examined it, puffling.
(puffling means snuffling in short puffs)
(i made it up)
"I dunno, maybe.. traipse off to Bolivia.. join the air force…" he feigned seriousness in order to humor Fae, shoving a hand into one of his pants pockets.
Fae snorted again, gesturing towards the pottery wheel with one wing. "Where were we?" In her pocket, Smudge awoke, hungry.
(@TopazWyrmlet~ Ah tysm! :) Loving yours as well!)
Kennedy would take her time making her way around the interior of the store, finding herself nestled in a state of comfort as she admired all of the shops beautifully-done pieces, as well as the characteristics of the shop itself. A faint, content tug still gracing her lips, she knew she'd be back to the store soon. Deciding to save a certain couple of areas for her return visit, the girl shifted her direction and made her way back towards the counter with relaxed strides.
The man that had fallen off his stool at the counter lifted his forest green eyes, greeting her cordially whilst setting his book aside, "Hey! Did you find something nice?" He grinned with delight.
Cruz took a breath, "Right, right. Go ahead and take a seat," he allowed her. "See how much stuff you already know, yeah?"
As Fae sat down, nervousness gripped her tightly again. It quickly evaporated however, as Cruz radiated a laid-back, calming energy. Fae relaxed her wings, and began to show Cruz her mastery of basic techniques, slowly moving to harder and more complex items. After creating the base of an elegant water jug, she looked to Cruz for criticism, Leum rolling around in a big pot of clay as if its consistency reminded him of cool mud.
He blinked, pressing his knuckles to his lips with an impressed expression he tried to bury. "Haha… why did you ask me to 'teach' you again?" He humored lightheartedly, "It looks like you already know how to do this better than I do," he grinned with a sprinkle of pride, and interest.
Kennedy looked to the man as she slowly approached the counter, and her lips stretched wider into a pleased and amused smile, her characteristic, friendly outgoingness reborn. "Are you kidding?" She chuckled as she neared the counter, and leaned her weight into it through her folded arms. "Everything in here is just /beautiful/." Her hazel gaze briefly fell to the object in her hands turning it in her fingers to admire it more, knowing she'd never get enough of seeing it. "My grandmother would've loved this place," she added with the softer smile, fondly recalling how her elder had often collected little clay pieces and decorated her cottage with them, and then that time when she and her brother had accidentally broken a a select few from their rough-housing. She lingered in the memory for another heartbeat before lifting her eyes and catching his own, gently brushing the piece towards him. "This one has to be my favorite out of the ones I've seen, though."
(I'm not sure about the variety of items they make and sell, so if this isn't something they make then let me know and I can change it.)
It was a small, oval shaped pendant that came to a gentle point, and had a variety of textures and woven glazed colors that reminded her of a countryside, sparking her imagination about the story and landscape inside the piece. In a small sense, it reminded her of the home she'd left behind.
Fae blinked back, astonished. She shook her head, clearing it. "But you're much better than me!", she exclaimed. "And more experienced! I spend a lot more time molding clay by hand than at the wheel. You probably do both!" Her wings twitched and she twisted her ring, hearing Kennedy pay for her buys behind her.
Augustus laughed a bit, with a tone of enjoyment, "Yeah, I'm glad you like it here. It's been a little rough keeping the place afloat, so I hope I'll see you again to buy more, yeah?" He hoped in a light voice, "This is five bucks," he informed, "Lovely choice by the way! People usually get mad at me since they think, y'know, everything is "so expensive" here. Not my fault an artisan needs to make a living," he conversated, wrapping the pendant in papr and slipping it into a paper bag for her.
"Haha," Cruz laughed a little, chocolate eyes flickering sideways. "I mean, by all means don't stop praising me," he teased, "But I learned by practice, not by skill," he pointed out, "I guess you just have skill, señorita. La tierra te escucha," he exhaled with his prevailing, impressed and cocky grin.
(I had to google translate that lol)
Fae blushed, tucking her wings around her from pleasant embarrassment and chewing on her thumbnail. She was getting pretty used to Cruz's signature grin and general demeanor. "I– I could maybe make you a dragon right now?" She posed it as a hopeful question. Her mind flashed to her dragons at home, all 28 of them.
(fun fact: most clay dragons I mention here have actually been made by me)
Oooo!
And xD I have a bit of over enthusiasm for spanish class ;) ))
His expression softened a bit more off its cocky edge, "Yeah, that'd be real nice of you,"
(lol :D)
Fae, still blushing, scooped a handful of clay out of the pot and indicated towards the table. "Can I sit there?" Cruz nodded. "Guide me, 'kay? Tell me how big you want it to be, the gender, certain features you'd like to add, etcetera.", she said, kneading the lump of clay with a practiced fluency and expertise. Grace glided over and perched elegantly on a finished vase, watching with great interest and polishing her scales (somewhat vainly) with a piece from a damp rag she found on the table
Kennedy's lips remained fixed into a quiet smile, listening to the man speak as she retrieved her little wallet from her pockets, and her fingers smoothly unfolding it and worked on removing a five dollar bill as he placed the item in the bag. She glanced at him as he finished, her eyebrow elegantly lifting to form an expression of unamused disbelief. "Yeah, it's completely unreasonable of you to sell artwork as beautiful as this for a price as expensive as five bucks. Utterly ridiculous that you think you need to make a living this way." She slid the money across the counter to him as she returned her wallet to the butt pocket of her jeans, the slight, sideways curve on her lips betraying her heavy sarcasm. "You should know better."
Just then, the door to the shop somewhat roughly swung open, and a dark-haired male that looked to be in his young twenties took a step into the threshold of the store, his brown eyes briskly sweeping the interior of the building, and instantly landing on Kennedy. Upon seeing her, his lips pressed into a fine line and his jaw clenched, glaring at her with a burning look in his gaze.
Kennedy naturally glanced in the direction of his movement, though when she recognized her brother, her expression shifted entirely, and she looked away with a clear, deliberately relaxed mask on her face as her hand moved to retrieve the back from Mr. Pontecelli. Lifting her gaze to give him a smile, though it was slightly more forced now, she spoke in her natural sing-song voice as though her brother wasn't standing there a yard or so away, "And you can bet I'll be back here. Just need to find someplace to work, so I have enough income to purchase more…" The corner of her lips twitched as she gingerly took the bag.
@TopazWyrmlet~ Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't notice Grace was on Kennedy's shoulder until just now! Pretend I acknowledged that xD She would've responded with delight and intrigued curiosity, attempting to've placed a gentle, respectful touch on the dragon's snout.)
(@St0rmFry, no worries! Grace probably would've tilted her head, pretending to be bashful, and blown Kennedy a cheeky little kiss, blinking her large violet eyes innocently.)
(@TopazWyrmlet~ Kennedy would've laughed in delight and beamed at her, before taking them on their way. Would Grace still be on her shoulder in present time, or would she've hopped off already?)
(she would've hopped off, very satisfied with all the attention.)
(Aighty, sounds good.)
:)
Cruz nodded, "Yeah, 'kay. Is it possible to make it like, lava colors?" He asked her, "Lots of spikes and stuff, like obsidian and granite," he described for her, smiling at his idea.
Augustus nodded, his gaze deterred from her to the gruff looking stranger that entered his shop. And immediately he could feel the effect of hidden tension. His eyes travelled back to Kennedy, lips breathing a murmur, "I have pepper spray if you need that," he informed to her. It was always better to be safe than sorry
Fae smiled at him. “Sure!”, she said, beginning to shape the clay now, pulling the beginnings of a head from the central mass of soft, wet clay. “‘Bout this big?”, she asked Cruz, holding her hands about a foot apart. “Or do you want it smaller?” Smudge clumsily took flight from her shoulder, landing awkwardly on Leum’s back and tumbling off cutely.
"No, I like that," he nodded vigorously with enthusiasm.