2021-03-20 - All That Glitters isn't Sugar

The fog is annoying, but for Vyv at the moment, mainly as an impediment to travelling. He certainly isn't going to drive the Jag in this, for example. Having to walk to work is an annoyance, but he can, and has, and the morning so far has been a relatively standard one for him of various baking and directing his kitchen. Actually, it's quite improved his mood by the time the lunch hour is rolling around, even if he's putting off eating a bit longer in favour of overseeing the first in-store preparation of one of his new Spring recipes.

Spring is coming, and then suddenly, something shifts, and Spring is here. Vyv and Daniel are far from the most similar pair in that kitchen, but at that moment they're the ones reacting in tandem: a lift of the head, a blink. An instinctive (if slightly grudging, on the chef's part) glance at the only other person in the room right now who shines. Did you feel that? neither of them asks.

Yes, they don't reply.

It feels... good. Alive. But unusual, unexpected, and thus unsettling.

And maybe it's the abrupt sense of Spring fever, maybe something else, but somehow suddenly Vyv can't help but think of Bax.

...who rushes into the Patisserie looking ecstatic.

The wave of pure euphoria hits the steadfast stillness of Vyv like a break wall as Bax hits the front counter, out of breath, hands flapping and shoving his hood back from his hair that has gone a bit sloppy on one side. There's the sound without Bax needing to make one that greats, 'Vyv,! Baby I did it!!!...where are you?' Palms to the counter he itches the back of one calf with the toe of his sneaker opposite.

There's a pause.

'Sorry, don't drop anything...that cinnamon?' Grant pauses and tries to identify that for just a moment but even his squirrelesque attention isn't derailed from leaning and looking back through the window kitchenward. There is a pause and he signs to the kid at the counter, pauses and corrects murmuring his order because now he's entirely hungry and eschewed hunting the taco truck as planned to bring Vyv the good news.

A Baxter rarely 'good news's on an empty stomach.

Does this Baxter often do anything on an empty stomach?

To be fair, generally not if Vyv has anything to say about it. It's Martin at the counter just now, not more than a year younger than Bax and always pleased to see him. They went through high school together, though probably never as close friends. The guy's friendly though, and has managed to pick up at least a few words of ASL in passing, though not so much it's not a much more effective plan to go with ordering audibly. Pointing at stuff only goes so far, especially if you want something that isn't pointable.

Meanwhile in the back, Vyv's nearly bowled over by that wave of euphoria, which is to say he blinks again, and this time actually shakes his head faintly to clear it as he looks toward the outer shop. He can't see anything going on out there from where he stands, but right now he can certainly feel it. The cinnamon's set down on the counter, his hands wiped against his apron. [It is. Bax... what did you do?]

He'd like to mirror that euphoria back, but the timing in combination with that feeling just then... yes, the happy is contagious and he can't not be pleased to feel that kind of joy on that painter, especially the way some things have been recently, but there's an itch of dread in the back of his brainstem he just can't quite quash.

Yes. Eat.
(also, poor Vyv.)

Still itching at the back of his calf trying not to combust into a an explosion of paint and caffeine. Bax starts off, turns on heel to take his life into his hands and head into the kitchen, he wisely stops and grabs his fruit tart and puts his buck fifty on the counter. "Soooooorry Marty." NOW with scone he heads back through the area he's willing to invade and heads straight on to Vyv's office; hand waving in a circle and tart taken a bite of.

"<You will never believe it!>" Which sort of goes without saying and he continues telepathically watching that non-distinct point on the floor, free hand gesturing around signing at a faster rate than usual. <"I found her! Bubbe Yaya. The lady that let the crazy Finnish woman fuck up my healing of wolf-cop and splinched my head! I found her and I made her fix it!"> Oh fun. Gotta love stories that start this way.

Martin grins at the backtrack for the snack, and makes an all-good kind of gesture, even if he doesn't look 100% certain about that heading-into-the-kitchen. There's probably no one employed at the shop who doesn't know Chef's Boyfriend as such on sight at this point, though, and if anyone's inclined to be the one to tell him what he can't do here, it isn't Martin and it isn't today. He'll risk getting a telling off for allowing it rather than for not, the way he sees those odds.

It's probably the right bet, even if he doesn't know the extenuating circumstances that make it more so. Vyv stares at Bax as the skater walks through, then points at Sophia, points at what he was working on, and follows onward into his own office, where he can shut the door behind them before he leans back against it. "You... found Baba Yaga," thanks to Ravn, he can make at least that much guess, "and made her fix... your wolf-cop healing." Has he ever gotten the details of that story? Doesn't make much difference to the current reaction either way, really.

It's a small town and a year long relationship. If they're new, well, they'll catch on and likely be hilarious. For all Vyv's fine tuning Bax's stride is just as loose and lumbering as if propelled by his stream of consciousness. When Vyv asks he goes to explainbut...ooh...one- just one more bite. Glancing up he wiggles the tart to him and says not bothering to swallow first, "Thiff iff effewent." So good.

When Vyv asks that it was Baba Yaga he found thee's an mmhmm with a nod. Then a pause and a shake of his head. "Mmm no. That got sorted. Dunno how but that month we ...before I showed up at your apartment with the painting." He pauses and rolls his eyes skyward and back to Vyv "Really weird month. Nonono, remember how you ad Ravn said something blah blah blah all my dead broken relatives that old lady Addington threw in the sawmill couldn't be fixed? They're WRONG." GOD he looks triumphant...and so very Manic right now.

"Bubbe gave me a bum deal and I remembered she still owed me a favor, and a good one. So. I called her on that aaaaand she fixed it." he's brimming with excitement. As his hands go out there's a crumb that flies off the tart, pauses in mid air and goes back to stick to the gelatin top of it. Ahem. "...sorry." Uhhh yeah toning down the exuberance. Oops. "I did it, Vee!"

"You made a wish." Disbelief, but not the sort it would have been two or three years ago. Around here, wishes actually might be horses -- but if so, one damn well better look them in the mouth. "You made a wish, with someone who might actually be able to grant it." No pun intended, or even acknowledged, right now.

Vyv looks a touch torn, which isn't exactly common. In some ways, this almost makes sense as a solution, and-- it's not as though he didn't notice Bax was having trouble with this situation, or that he's not inherently in favour of happy Baxes. On the other hand, he's read plenty of fairy tales and other stories in his life thus far. And he's lived in this town almost two years, now. It's enough to have him barely even noting the appreciating of the tart (...but barely, not not at all; it's not yet emergency enough for that). He leans in a little, watching the painter closely. "What did you ask for and what did she say, exactly?"

Bax pauses just shy of combusting into a cloud of pure sugar and blinks reasonably adding, "well it sounds better than 'statute of demands'." The corner of his mouth flicks up at the accidental but also literal pun. "Yes, we found a source of 'ranting' wishes. I don't...want to be a ghost and I don't want them to have to be either."

Remembering 5 minutes ago is hard. There was food and a hell of a lot of adrenaline in him and Vyv's got a little flour schmutz on him. Adorable. So cute. Just like- oh right... remembering. Ummmm.... "Uhhhh..." yeah this feels promising already, "Can I use my wish to repair the souls of the Baxters that got broken by the abandoned sawmill? I want fixed what the sawmill broken 'cuase that wasn't fair." The smile warms and he looks at Vyv's eyes chasing the thoughts and emotions there, and then the mild imperfections in him that are little affectations of his art altering him, and back.

Kitty pauses outside the shop. She's pretty sure this is the one Grant ran into, and she peers into the glass trying to determine if her brother is inside.

No sign of him at the counter. But there did seem to be a selection baked goods. And if the smell wafting from the shop was any indication, very tasty baked goods. Her stomach gurgled and her decision was made. She opened the door and headed up to the counter.

"Hi, two questions," she greets the person behind the counter, "One, could I please have one of those things?" She points at a particularly interesting looking concoction of fruit, nuts, and flaky pastry. "And two, have you seen a my brother? About yea tall," she holds her hand up just above her own head before reaching into her purse for money, "purple hair and the energy of a chipmunk on amphetamines?" She hands the money over waiting for baked goodness and hopefully a positive identification.

They're the best baked goods in the state, and possibly as far as L.A. -- and only stopping there if Vyv's other shop is performing up to his personal standards, which it damn well better be or there's going to be Words. If you don't believe they are, just ask him.

"Oh, hey, you're Bax's sister?" the young man at the counter asks cheerfully, looking at her a moment as though it might show, "...though I guess technically that'd make you a Bax, too. Baxette?" It's friendly, and comes with a grin as he moves toward the indicated pastry. "One, absolutely, and two, also absolutely, but, uh--" a pause, glancing toward the kitchen, "he went in to see Chef. If you don't mind hanging out out here a sec, I can go let them know you're here." Money and pastry are exchanged, the former traded in turn to the till for a receipt that's offered to Kitty as well, and unless she demurs, the other current member of counterstaff gets a fleeting warning that he's on his own for a moment as Martin heads to the back.

Meanwhile, in the back office, Vyv watches Bax like the world might depend on it, which is unlikely, but possibly slightly less unlikely than usual. No, that 'um' is not a promising start. Still, his eyes narrow a touch at what's related, thoughtful. "Did you make the wish, or did you technically just ask whether you could?" Probably won't matter, but it seems a good thing to know. "Fix what the sawmill broke. The souls, specifically? That is, did you specify that?"

He's running this through potential problems, and not much liking what he finds, a hand moving upward toward his hair and then stopping, from years of habit; the hat's still on, too, given he's just been baking. He paces. "Bax, we don't know what that's going to do. If they're just reconstituted, especially with the Addingtons doing that to them fresh in their minds, they may just go on to wherever souls go and take the Arts with them, close off the Veil..." He looks at the skater, and stops still suddenly, studying him a little more softly. "...but it was a good wish, I suppose. Not a wise wish. Not necessarily a good idea." They'll find that out with time, presumably. "But a good wish. If Ravn's right about the stories..."

A light knock on the door interrupts. "What?" he snaps in its direction, loud enough to be heard through it; on the other side, Martin takes this as permission to open the door and poke his head in. "Sorry, Chef. Bax's sister's out front. Want me to bring her back?"

Bax is never hard to find. He pauses at the knock looking surprised and then remembering, "Oh. Yeah... and Kitty's here." Oh yeaaaaaaah. He pauses though looking to Vyv a little bit with a wounded look at the lack of immediate reception answering, "I mean she did the thing and we agreed on it. So... yeah. I mean I gave her some specifics but man fuck what the Addingtons did to us. My great grandma didn't do anything to deserve to be kibble. I'm dekibbling. my. family." It's a fine point he's not relenting but his tension fades as Vyv agrees it is a good wish. His shoulders slump a bit having expected more wooo. "Yeah yeah, changes. How bad can it possibly be that it's not worth it to do the right thing." Eyes lift and go tot he door and he mumbles to Vyv, "Kitty's trying to break in. She was there. She can tell you it was great though, really!" He waits for his sister to enter biting his tart again, "Tell em." So descriptive.

Does Vyv want Kitty sent back? Is this precisely the time? ...well. She was there, Bax says. And it'd be rude to make her wait out there. Not that this stops him disallowing plenty of other people back, but... He gives Martin a small, curt nod, and the young man smiles brightly while also very swiftly departing and heading off to lead Kitty in. It's a short trip. There's a couple interested glances and quick passing nods of acknowledgement and greeting as she's led through, but the kitchen is a busy place, and currently down a pair of hands.

Said pair of hands takes the moment to grasp the base of Grant's skull as their owner steps in, and draw him in close enough to be kissed on the forehead before Vyv steps slightly away again, to a more presentable arrival-of-sister sort of positioning. Aside (arguably) from the deep sigh that precedes it, he doesn't have a chance to say much before the door opens again and the sister in question can join them.

Kitty is half-way through her pastry when the clerk returns and motions for her to follow. She tucks her purse closer to her body, to avoid inadvertently bumping into something on the way through the busy kitchen. Grant is indeed in the office tucked away behind the kitchen. She is relieved to have caught up with him so quickly. "Hey, no fair running off leaving me in the dust." She chides her brother gently, "Especially when there is tastiness to be found." Kitty raises the hand with the half-eaten pastry to emphasize her point. A small frown crosses her face, "But you ran off so quickly after talking to that old lady in the park, what were you so excited about?" Before he can answer, Kitty's manners catch up to her mouth and she realizes how rude she is being to the owner of said office.

"Oh crap," she mutters, flushing in embarrassment "I am so sorry," she turns to Vyv, "Hi, I'm Grant's sister Kitty. Pleased to meet you."

Bax is... agitated. Manic, adrenaline crash, insecurity, and some rebellious feelings of fear and resentment make for a nice bout of anarchy as he looks to Vyv just vexed when his head is grabbed and the fear becomes more real until... it is not. Well it did punch some of the energy out of the mania driving him. He looks up to Kitty and says a bit less enthusiastic than he would normally as he went from woo-hoo to hit s bugging him. "Kitty, Vyv. Vyv, my sister Kitty." He does use the sign for 'sweet' with the fingers for V for all the notable reasons she's got in her hand. There's a pause and he's leeeeeaning over to scope out what she picked up.

"I was telling Vyv I made a wish with bubbe out there who owed me big and after a bit eeeeeh" his handwaving vaguely palm and tart up, "she finagled a deal to fix what it is that got broke."

The purse-tucking is a good idea; there really is a lot going on in that kitchen, and while it's set up to make the necessary movements around it by multiple people who may be carrying hot things or liquids go smoothly, Kitty's a random factor rather than one of the usual elements. Martin's scarcely less so, really. He closes the office door behind her tactfully and presumably threads his way back out to the counter; at least there's no crashing cacophony out there suggesting he's failed the flow on the return.

Inside the office, the chef is watching Bax when the door opens and draws his attention that way for the moment instead. It's an appraising sort of look, sizing the woman up with eyes that flit from detail to detail, recording each one and fitting them together to a total picture. "Vyvyan Vydal," he replies, inclining his head to her slightly; the accent is decidedly British, rather posh, the voice of myriad movie villains, or at least their next door neighbour. "Vyv, generally, as he says. Grant's boyfriend." Though surely Bax has at least told her that much? Or their father, if not... "How do you do." It's not a question. It doesn't go up at the end.

She gets the faintest of smiles, perhaps for the appreciation of the pastry, perhaps simply for being Grant's sister, and he gestures to the chair on the not-his side of the desk, offering, "Do make yourself comfortable if you like. Bax says," and he does not sigh, though there's the tiniest pause that might have considered accommodating one, "you could tell me more about that interaction. You don't happen to recall the precise wording, by any chance?" If it occurs to him at all that this could sound like a decidedly odd question, there's no sign of it in tone or expression. But then again, she's local, Bax is her brother, and she does seem to have the shine herself, after all...

Kitty is happy to finally put a name to a face, Grant has indeed spoken of Vyv. She waves off the offer of the chair as politely as she can, at least for now. She frowns in concentration, trying to recall the exact words. She honestly hadn't paid them too much attention at the time. She had been more focused on trying to determine if the old woman was running some kind of scam, or if the whole thing was a very elaborate prank.

"He said he wanted to fix what the sawmill broke." She shrugs looking back over at her brother, and then moves her pastry out of his line of site in a protective 'hey, this one is mine, get your own' gesture. Although she notes, taking the time to note what remains of Grant's own selection that they have managed to pick near identical items. "Is that what you're so worked up about?" She asks her brother, "Or do we just need to cut back on your sugar intake?"

There's a lot of emotion to unpack but in the presence of family he seems to slowly mellow out. When Kitty clarifies he gestures 'That' though there is one last failed grab for the goodies in Kitty's mitts. The last comment gets a bit of a grumble, "My sugar intake? He's the one with the chocolate factory." There's a deep breath and trying to remember. he takes another bite and shakes his head, "That wrinkled old lady said they can't help fix what happened to our people. So I shopped around for a better offer and haggled a bit cause she gave me a shoddy deal first time around so I ask her ya know what kind of shill are you giving me a faulty wish ya know I want a refund. she said eh she'll do me one better give me a new wish. Okay says i. I tell her I don't abide what happened with my family. I want fixed what the Sawmill broke. Boychik, she says easy peasy. Consider it done. Then? A woosh aaaaaaaand I abandoned my taco hunt in the fog to find you and let you know the good news, baby. And you look at me like I got a grenade. So that's what's up." There's a pause and he points to Kitty, "And I found my sister. We got her moved into Dad's. Though if you move she should totally consider taking your apartment. It's super pretty."

Vyv is rather pleased with this face/name connection as well, if still a bit distracted with the rest of the... everything. "I create them, I don't eat them," he retorts to the grumble, allowing with a small, negligent wave, "mostly." Hey, quality control is important.

A small nod to Kitty's confirmation of what her brother said, and Vyv's hand comes up to rub his temples a moment as Bax goes through the more detailed recounting of events. "You've read stories and seen movies, zenko. A wish is a grenade, if it's made to someone or -thing that can make it so. You told me how the one you're replacing went. More pertinently, you told me how the one Itzhak made went..." His hand drops to the desktop, fingertips drumming two light tattoos against the wood. "But. If Ravn's right about the stories..." he repeats, taking a breath. "A wish for a kindness to others with no ulterior motives or intention to play it as a game is at least the one most likely to turn out all right in the end." And for all that he's still clearly not sanguine with this situation (how odd it must all seem to Kitty, taking this seriously!), there is a momentary subtle softening in the way he looks at Grant. A perceptive person might suspect something in this of being part of what he likes about the younger man.

A deep breath, a slightly exasperated exhalation. Well, what's done is done, right? "Welcome back to Gray Harbor," he says a bit dryly to Kitty, "He's not wrong, though, my apartment is gorgeous. You could certainly do worse than Bayside if you're looking for a place."

Zenko.

It's a word of power. A name. A reminder that great power comes great.... something. And just like that the bonfire of pure elation is doused with the waters of reality. Fingers find him; his sister's voice, his lover's council. It's a small wound that stings his hope with that small healthy spark of fear that something could go wrong. Bax's hand pauses in the air, then comes to rest on Vyv's shoulder, and down his arm to drop his hand into the Chef's; the texture of flour still there. Head bows and comes to rest against Vyvan's collarbone when the painter admits, "I just need anything for them to be okay, and I can't do this alone. We need all the help we can get, and I need... you. Both of you."

It's a very big ask that was made in a very big voice about to be answered in a very, very big way.

This is time 2,836 when Vyv wished he wasn't right about things.