..The Autumn Leaf..

[chihiro]

((From 'Evaluations'))

Hmm...I wonder what she has against pizza... Aureus asked himself after hearing the girl's reply. How could anyone not like it, or even have enough of it for that matter? It was something he couldn't understand, but decided not to fuss about. "Haha, sure." He responded before thinking about what else he'd like to eat. There were definitely enough places to choose from, but looking through them all would take time. Luckily for him, Chi peeped up and made a suggestion of her own.

The Autumn Leaf, eh? He thought while examining the sign. Although music and seating weren't what the schizo was normally concerned about when eating, he decided it didn't look too bad, and might even be a nice change of pace. "Sounds good." He said simply before heading towards the entrance...

***


A grin lit up the girl's face as they approached the cafe, pushing open the door and stepping inside. It was apparent at once that this was a nice place, it was less bright than the glaring sun of outside, it wasn't crowded or noisy, there were small circular tables with anywhere from two to four chairs at as well as armchairs, couches and coffee tables to set your food at. Directly in front of them as bit of the way in was a counter, with an assortment of food items and colorful menu boards advertising what they offered, which was almost anything. Chi flaunced up to the counter, leaning on the glossy surface and smiling at the boy behind the counter. The boy grinned, showing off a gleaming set of braces.

'Well, hey there Chi, it's been a while.'

"Hey Stan. I know, I've been busy. How's business?"

'Good as ever. The usual.?'

"Yes please. Aureus?"

She asked, turning to face her friend, still beaming as she asked for his order. This was her favorite place in the world besides the beach. She'd gotten on a first name basis with most of the employees, and often talked to them about their home lives when business was slow. Her 'usual' as she'd come to be known for ordering, was a mug of their famous minestrone soup with a large piece of their homemade bread and a cup of chamomile and passionfruit tea.




((ooc: I based the cafe after one from where I live. Trust me, it's amazing.))

[Aureus]

OOC: Sounds like it.

IC: As soon as he was able to take a look around, Aureus approved of the small cafe. It was kinda starbucksish, except more quaint, less crowded, and without an emphasis on coffee. It was clean, and had plenty of places to sit and enjoy your meal and/or beverage. One thing concerned him though, since pizza wasn't an option, what was he going to eat? He pondered that very question while Chi chatted it up with the boy behind the counter. It seemed she came there alot.

Once the girl's attention turned to him he looked at the boy and said: "Uhh...I guess I'll have a turkey sub with swiss. On wheat." Sure, it wasn't the fanciest order, but it was damn good. Back when Ashley had first adopted him they went out and got subs from the 7-11 all the time. "Coming right up." Stan replied before turning to prepare the order. "Now...where to sit." The schizo said as he looked around. After a moment he decided on a plain circular table. Yup, Aureus was in a simple kinda mood that day. "So, what's your usual?" He asked Chihiro once they had sat down.

[chihiro]

Chi settled into the seat across from Aureus, leaning her elbows on the table, her arms crossed. Dark brown eyes sparkled curiously as Aureus asked about her usual. She glanced down at the table, chuckling.

"Heh, whenever I come here I always get a cup of their soup, its the best, and some chamomile and passionfruit tea...I like tea better than coffee m'self."

She said with a shrug, grinning a bit. She'd probably confused him with her whole loquaciousness with the Autumn Leaf staff, but that was just what she was used to.

[Aureus]

Interesting usual... Yea I guess so. Sounds good to me. You people and your sophisticated food... My food isn't sophisticated... The schizo argued with himself after hearing Chi's reply. It only took a few seconds, and hopefully the dark haired girl wouldn't notice him zone out. "Mhmm...same here. It's much better. I usually have black tea in the morning," Aureus said with his attention back on her.

"I don't think I've ever been somewhere enough to have a usual. It'd be pretty cool though," He continued, musing on the idea. A regular at the 7-11...not something you heard everyday, but it'd still cool. He could go in, throw the cash on the counter, and walk out without having to be rung up. Avoiding people isn't the reason to be a regular. You actually have to talk with people, get to know them. Yea, but that's annoying. The annoyance comes with perks. Oh well...

Unable to think of anything else to discuss, Aureus turned to Levi's stash of random questions. He'd have one himself, but he didn't talk to many people. "So, what kinda music do you like?" The Freshmen queried while running two fingers along the wooden surface of the table.

[chihiro]

The dark haired girl laughed at Aureus' comment about it being cool to have a usual. She'd never really thought about it before, but she thought it was kinda neat. It gave you a sort of 'in' in the secret society that was the Autumn Leaf, or any place really. Gave the impression that you knew something everyone else didn't.

"Hah, yeah I guess so."

Her expression took a thoughtful turn when he asked her what kind of music she liked.

"Umm, well I like quite a bit. Anything that's easy to listen to, like doesn't scream your ears out, or basically that's good as far as musical quality. I don't like rap."

She added bluntly yet truthfully.

[Aureus]

Aureus couldn't help but smile at the last part. Mainly because he didn't like rap either, but aside from that not many people just came out and said it. It was nice to talk to someone so honest. Chi's taste in music wasn't bad either. "Same here kinda. I don't like Rap, Metal, R&B, Country, or Pop. Other than that most things are fair game. Rock, Classical, video game music, SKA, Punk, Instrumental, etc. Mainly rock type stuff though. It's what I grew up on. Bands like Sum 41, Blink, Green Day," The Pillar said.

[chihiro]

Chi nodded as Aureus listed off the genres of music he didn't like. She didn't very much like those either. She absently twisted a strand of her long black hair around her finger as he spoke, recognizing the bands he listed off.

"I'm pretty much a rock girl myself, but it depends on my mood. Sometimes I go for the lighter stuff if I fell thoughful or down, and I'm pretty avid about techno as well.."

She said, thinking about the raves she sometimes found herself wandering into when she felt like breaking out for a little while. Just then, Stan showed up with their food. The dark haired freshman offered a smile and a 'thanks' to the boy before turning to the food sitting in front of them.

"Didn't I tell you this place was good? It looks delicious.."

She beamed, picking up the large piece of bread and breaking off a piece to dip in her soup.

[Aureus]

"Techno's not bad," Aureus replied while Levi enthusiastically shouted in his head: Techno rules! More than once Levi had gone out only to find himself in large, dancing crowd. It was just in his nature to be that way. If it wasn't, he wouldn't exist.

When their food arrived, Aureus politely thanked the boy after Chi. "Yeah, it looks awesome," he said before picking up the sub and taking a large bite from it. Not only did it look good, but it tasted heavenly. Maybe even better than the ones from the 7-11, but that would make sense as these were prepared fresh. Aside from being distracted by his food, the schizo decided to let the girl pick up the conversation.

[chihiro]

Chi laughed as he approved of the food, her chocolate eyes glinting.

"Do I know how to pick 'em, or what?"

She grinned before taking the piece of bread she dipped into her soup and popping it into her mouth. The warm soupy goodness washed over her, and everything was good with the world. That's what she loved about this place, it was like a little get away from the idiocy of society and the general stress.

"So, tell me a little more about yourself. Having gone through so much in a short amount of time, I don't think I really know you yet."

She set her bread down and picked up her cup and wrapped her hands around it, siphoning off the warmth as she looked at the boy across from her.

[Aureus]

"You sure do." The Pillar said contently after swallowing a mouthful of meat, bread, and cheese. And he meant what he said. The little cafe really was an awesome place to eat. It had that whole quiet, humble, down to earth kinda feeling. It was the perfect place to just sit and relax. Aureus mentally noted to come back every now and than, probably with a book.

After Chi had asked more about him, the schizo mulled over what he should and shouldn't tell her. Though of course that had to compete with what he felt like telling her. He trusted her more than anyone at 259, and why shouldn't he? Her ideas seemed to be similar to his, and she had helped him twice when he needed it most.

"Well, I was an orphan for all of what I can recall of my childhood. Never knew my parents err anything. Not much happened when I was young. I wasn't adopted by Ash 'till about four years ago, and have lived with her ever since," He said, unconsciously withholding the details of his first adoption. Levi wouldn't allow the boy to bring those memories to the surface. He would cage them for as long as possible. Protecting Aureus, that was his job. "For fun I practice kickboxing, read more books than I can remember, skateboard, and run," He finished. That was all he felt like discussing for the moment, and even though he trusted her, he wouldn't mention Levi. "What about you?"

[chihiro]

Chocolate brown eyes widened when Aureus mentioned that he was an orphan, but she held back from saying anything because he probably got a lot of empty sympathy all the time. Aww, that's too bad. Aww, I'm sorry. Aww... He was probably sick of it. He didn't seem too bitter about or anythinga s far as she could tell, it was probably just a fact of life, something that made him who he is, and that's alright. Her expression lit up when he mentioned reading and skateboarding. She was a huge reader herself, and though she preferred recreational rollerblading to skateboarding, it was basically the same concept. Tres cool.

The freshman girl swirled the tea in her mug as she thought of something to say in return. What could she say? She wasn't used to opening up to anyone, ever. They weren't interested, and that was just fine with her. A pretty face, and that was it.

"Umm...well...hah, I also read more books than I can remember, I'm a bit of an artist, my father's a martial arts master, but I don't want to follow in his footsteps. My brother does, Kashi, he's 20..."

The girl trailed off slightly as her mind began to wander about her family. Dangerous waters, something she'd rather not think about or else she'll end up spilling her entire life story. She wasn't ready to expose Aureus to anything like that yet. He was the only person to get as close to her as he was, she rarely trusted anyone else unless she was planning to manipluate them. The thought had never crossed her mind to do that to Aureus, because she was sure he was the only one capable of showing her how terrible what she did really was. It was better if he didn't know. Taking a sip of her tea, she changed the subject.

"Ash..was that the woman who came to pick you up that night? She seemed nice."

She commented with a smile, it was true. If her parents had had to come out in the late evening to pick up their wounded daughter at a strange boy's house...she couldn't even imagine it.


((ooc: whoa long post...*falls over*))

[Aureus]

The look that flashed through the girl's dark eyes was expected. He didn't see it that much, but he still knew what it meant. She felt bad for him, though she was nice enough not to voice it. Thankfully he didn't have to put up with sympathy that much, simply because he never told anyone anything about him. Chihiro was one of the first he really trusted with even that amount of information. Regardless the focus was now off of him and back onto her.

For a while Aureus had assumed she was well read, mainly because most people of intelligence were, and she was definitely smart. However it seemed she had brought up something troubling as she trailed off after mentioning her brother. Luckily the conversation picked up again when she asked about Ashley. "Yeah, she's the only family I have, and to tell the truth she's more like an older sister than a mom." He said with a laugh. He was sure that asking about her family wouldn't be wise, so he tried to think of something else to talk about. "You said you're a bit of an artist, care to go into more details?"

[chihiro]

"That's pretty cool."

Chi smiled as Aureus talked about Ashley. She never had an older sister, but she could imagine the feeling. All she had was Kashi, and he was currently studying in Japan to become a marital arts master, just like her father. She hadn't really talked to him in over six months, and even in the time before that, he was too wrapped up in his studies to pay any attention to his little sister. Everyone seemed preoccupied in her family. Her father and brother in their studies, her mother in her drink. So that left Chi basically to her own devices, one of them being her art.

The girl's smile widened a fraction when Aureus inquired about her hobby. He seemed to be interested, which was more than she could say about anyone else she knew. It was strange, but kind of nice at the same time.

"Um, well, I draw quite a bit. Anything, buildings, nature, people, whatever's in front of me. Same goes with painting but I do that less often since drawing is a more portable medium. I don't know..I kind of just like art in general, it's a good escape."

She couldn't remember how many times she'd brought her sketchbook down to her spot on the beach, and one time had actually run home to get her paints to immortalize a red streaked sunset. It was an outlet for just about every emotion she's ever felt, and it showed in her work, but she was the only one who ever saw her finished products.

[Aureus]

"Cool, not many people have the passion to create anymore. At least those I've seen." The Freshmen replied. Sure, he saw people who took art classes and all, but not all of them really loved what they did. Why do something if you don't put your all into it? Even if you were going to fail, you should always try your hardest. That's how you learn. Over and over Aureus had been telling himself this about his position as Pillar. Others relied on him now; The kids who weren't strong enough to protect themselves. He had been one of them, and knew how it felt. "You'll have to show me your drawings sometime." He said with a smile.

[chihiro]

"You can see them, I don't mind."

She said with a shrug, as if it was nothing. But none that her own two eyes have ever really viewed her work. There were some times when one of her family members would actually walk into her room and see it, or a random student would look over her shoulder as she drew during school, and then there was the one time where the man Hiroko had drawn on the sidewalk with her, but other than that, no one had really seen her work. It wasn't that she didn't want people to looka t it, it was just that it never crossed her mind to show anyone.

She took a few spoonfuls of her soup, it was cool enough now, filling her with a warm fuzzy feeling as it went through her. Yum. She loved the food here, and the company wasn't that bad either.