Chance Encounters [SlowHandsMcGee] [M]

[WinterWorks]

Alice laughed.  There was no longer the sound of rain against the roof. 

"Let's go down to the beach.  I'm out of red clay.  The rain should have exposed some, so it's the perfect time."  She stood up, and glanced at the painting again.  Smiling, she left the room and motioned for Augustus to follow.  She went through the living room, and out a door on the side.  Sitting next to the door, was a large bucket and a garden shovel.  Picking both up, and looked back at Augustus, and began to walk away from the house.  She didn't even bother putting shoes on.  Her house was very close to the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean.  One misstep, and either of them could fall to their death.  Luckily, there was a carved stone path leading down to the shore.  It was rough, and uneven.  Plants had grown over most of it, and some of the stone was broken and worn away from Alice's near-constant use of it.  She'd tripped a fair share of times on trips back up to the house. 

"Watch your step,"  She cautioned Augustus.  Finally, the two made their way down to the beach.  The waves crashed against the sand, and Alice made no attempt to prevent her bare feet from getting wet.  She looked up at the vertical cliff, the rocks still wet from the storm.  Alice scanned around, looking for a portion of the cliff which was more clay and dirt, than stone.  They walked along the beach a ways, until Alice stopped and began prodding the earth.

"This stuff is full of red clay.  The tricky part is separating the dirt from the clay,"  She explained.  After a few minutes of digging, half the bucket was full, and her hands were stained a rusty red color.  She held her hands out in front of her and laughed.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

Augustus followed Alice down the rough cliff side to the beach. He was going to have to do something about that staircase, but later. Augustus took in the warm smell of salt from the ocean once they got to the bottom. He paused a moment to take in the beauty of the ocean. Once Alice turned around to make sure he was still behind him, he grasped back a hold of reality and caught up with her.

Once they came upon the spot where Alice began digging, Augustus observed to see how he could help. She mentioned something about having a hard time to separate the clay and dirt. He knew himself that this would be easy for him to do as they have a clearly distinct texture and he could control each separately at the same time. After she finished a bucket full she laughed showing off how red her hands were. Augustus laughed with her, and then decided it was time for him to prove himself.

"You say it's difficult for you to separate the clay and dirt, but for me it's really simple." Augustus used his abilities to lift the mixture of dirt and clay out of the bucket, and while it was levitating in the air he began to move his arms in a solid motion, pulling them away from each other. As he moved his arms apart the materials in the mixture began to pull apart. You could see the rusty red clay begin to form a ball on one side, and a compound ball of dirt on the other. He then released the arm that was on the same side as the dirt, causing it to fall on the ground in a pile. He then brought his limp arm to the side with the clay, and used them to move the clay back into the bucket. Releasing his arms, and finally releasing his breath, he said, "Alright, there you go. Now to work out those steps back up."

[WinterWorks]

Alice beamed as Augustus effortlessly separated the mixture, and dumped the remains to the side. 

"Oh, thank you so much!  You literally saved me about a day of work!"  She exclaimed.  She peered into the bucket, astonished to see a near-perfect ball of pure clay.  It was much better than she could ever do, just by sifting.  She smiled and looked at him.

"Oh, those steps?  You don't have to worry about those... They're pretty old anyway,"  She said, still feeling grateful for his actions only moments before.  She surveyed the cliff and, feeling accomplished, she sat the bucket down in the sand.  She slowly walked towards the ocean, the water coming up to her ankles.  Gently, she washed off the rusty clay from her hands.  After she cleaned up, she began scouring the water for little shells she could add to her collection.

"I actually look forward to storms.  They refresh everything.  New shells pop up on the shore, clay is exposed, and it gives a boost to the berry plants I use to make my dye.  On top of that, the sunsets the day after a storm are always the best.  Or, at least that's what the legends say.  They're all the same to me,"  She shrugged.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

As Alice explained her enjoyment for rain because of the refreshment it gives to the land, Augustus walked with her through the shore line. "Yeah I agree with you. The storm sucked last night for obvious reasons, but the life it gives back makes it all worth it." Augustus stopped and looked out at the sea. "It's funny how such destruction can lead to such glorious things." After a pause he began helping her look for some shells. "You know I can fix those stairs real easily. Just a few seconds, maybe a minute or two, and I can have them looking like new. I could even add a railing if you want," he offered, laughing. "Also anytime you want me to help you with the clay, that's fine. Maybe I can do a bunch for you tomorrow. And about these so said legendary sunsets, maybe we'll have to check that out later tonight. Maybe," he said teasingly. He then looked forward and continued searching for shells.

[WinterWorks]

Alice smiled and blushed.  She scolded herself when she realized how red her face had gotten. I'm not falling for him, am I?  She thought.  She redirected her thoughts to what he had said about the stairs.

"Well, if you can fix them as easily as you say, then be my guest."  She gestured down the beach to where the stone steps were.  She smiled, and bent down to collect a light pink seashell from the clear water.  With the tip of her finger, she scorched some of the shell, leaving behind a beautiful black design.  She could make this one into a necklace. 

It was a warm day.  The cool water against her toes made her want to go back up to the house to get her swimsuit, but Augustus was still around.  She could go swimming any other day, when he wasn't here, being the focus of her thoughts.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

"Well alright," Augustus said. He walked over to the stairs and began working his magic, quite literally. He took a wide stance, and reached his arms out as if he was grasping imaginary rocks. Tightening his fists he twisted his arms and quickly pulled them back. The ground shook for only a moment as the shoddy rocks formed into an actual stair case. As Augustus shifted his arms in different directions, the rocks began to tighten and form into near perfect rectangles. There was now a wider, about 4-5 feet, staircase with flat steps and a linear slope. Compared to the old cliff side that Ali once called a staircase, these new steps appeared like perfect works of art. Each one equal in size and shape. Taking a moment to release his breath, Augustus stood tall and brought his arms around so his fingers touched right in front of his face. He then pushed his arms down to the ground, before finally lifting them up. One by one a small pillar emerged from the ground making a short wall on the side of the stairs which over looked the water. The wall followed the stairs down so you could easily see over it at any point. *Phew* Augustus let out. Walking back over to Ali with a smirk on his face, "How do you like that?"

[WinterWorks]

Alice walked over to Augustus, who was standing proudly in front of the new stone steps. 

"Oh my gods, you did this just with magic?"  She asked, astonished.  Quickly, she ran and stood on one of the steps.  Her hand lightly gripped the railing.  Everything was so smooth.  She turned back towards him.

"Thank you so much!  I feel as if the tables have turned.  It's I, who appears to be now in YOUR debt!"  She exclaimed, smiling broadly.  She ran her hand along the rail, coming back down to the beach. 

"I would hug you, if you weren't a stranger,"  She said, laughing. 

[SlowHandsMcGee]

Augustus laughed. "Yeah I did that," he stated, "and no, you aren't in my debt. Let's just call it even now." He smiled. He thought about what she said with the hug, and he loved the idea of that. Augustus had a protective side, and even if the hug was just a friendly "thank you", he still felt as if he would be protecting her by doing so. Why do I want to protect this girl? Why am I getting these feelings for her? I don't know her at all. Maybe I should just leave tomorrow. He thought to himself. Brushing aside these thoughts, and his desire to give her a hug, he offered if there were any other favors he could do for her.

[WinterWorks]

Alice smiled.

"No, I agree, we're even now.  I uh...assume you want to be headed out soon...  Let's head back to the house,"  Alice said.  She began walking up the newly-reformed steps, looking back to make sure Augustus was following.  Part of her hoped that he wouldn't be in a huge hurry to leave...

[SlowHandsMcGee]

Augustus watched as Alice walked up the new stairs to go back to her house. To his surprise she had forgotten the bucket of clay. He quickly ran over to the bucket and picked it up before following her back to her house. Augustus noticed that she was looking at him different now. He couldn't tell what it was, but he thought he liked it.

Once they got back to the house he set the bucket down next to the house and headed for the couch, unaware of what to do next. "So do we need to do anything before we go? How far of a journey is it? Do we need to bring supplies?" Augustus noticed that he was putting extra caution into a simple walk to town. He felt that rush surge through him again. He wasn't sure why but he felt protective over Alice. They were starting to form a bond. This was nothing Augustus felt before, however he enjoyed it.

[WinterWorks]

Alice laughed.

"It's not very far.  Only about a 25 minute walk down the mountain,"  She said.  She ran upstairs, grabbed a satchel and her leather hand purse, and came back downstairs.  Giving Augustus a nod, she walked out the door they'd gone through to get to the beach, and walked around to the front of the store.  The faint path that substituted for a road, led down the mountain.  Glancing behind her, she gave Augustus a reassuring smile. 

"There's a mage who makes fabrics in town.  I've been meaning to take a look at what she's got this week, but I've just been putting it off.  You'll like town.  Everyone's so friendly.  It's an open market today as well, which means plenty of fresh food,"  She said excitedly, as they made their way through the sparse forest, following the dirt road.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

With Alice's reassuring smiles and words Augustus walked confidently next to her down the path and into the woods. In the woods there were a plenitude of animals that Augustus loved pointing out to Alice. "And look, there's a hiding turtle!" Augustus excitedly pointed out. Alice gave him a quizzical look as if he was crazy. This specific species of turtle was great at hiding so he knew she probably didn't see it. He went up to the trunk of a tree where there was a pile of stones. He knelt down picking up one of the stones, and to his expectation four legs poked out of it, and soon after a head. He looked over at Alice and smiled. Setting the turtle back in it's resting place, they continued down the path. "So um, do you want me to leave tomorrow?" Augustus asked, worried to hear that she would. He so far was loving his time with Ali even though they were complete strangers.

[WinterWorks]

Alice shook her head and laughed as Augustus pointed out a well camouflaged turtle. 

"Um... Well...  I don't see the harm in staying just one more night..."  She said, shrugging her shoulders and giving a faint smile.  Along the path, they each pointed out things that caught their attention, and by the time they arrived in town, Alice was sure that Augustus's sides hurt as much as hers from laughing.  Smells of fresh breads and soups filled her nose as they began passing shops crowded with people.  To her left, an old woman stood behind a frail wooden bench which was covered in bowls of soup.  Behind her, was an entire shelving unit with bags of dried ingredients available for purchase, for those who'd prefer to cook at home.  She smiled a toothy grin as she and Augustus strolled past.  Alice returned the smile.  She turned to Augustus.

"Like what you see?"  She asked, gesturing with her arms at the bright open market. 

[SlowHandsMcGee]

As they entered the market Augustus was in awe. He had never seen anything like this before. There shops nearly everywhere, with rows between them. He was nervously staying close to Ali because the large crowd frightened him.

"Yeah, I mean it's amazing. I've never seen this many people all getting together just to sell stuff before." After a while of walking through the market Augustus asked, "So is there anything you need in specific or do you just enjoy looking around? I know you mentioned cloth or something earlier?" Augustus was getting slightly more used to the crowd and distanced himself from Ali slightly, which to his surprise was something that sent waves of discomfort through him. What is this feeling? Certainly I'm not this close to this girl already, am I? There's something about her that I've never seen or felt in another person before. It's almost as if I have a strange curiosity for her. Like I want to get closer to her. Hmm, maybe I can push off leaving for another day or two.

[WinterWorks]

"I usually only come to town for specific items, but when I do, I tend to browse a lot.  Let's head over to Cerifina's shop.  She's the mage I was talking about earlier,"  Alice said excitedly.  She gently grabbed Augustus's wrist and pulled him through the crowd. 

"There,"  She pointed.  It was an actual building.  The buildings were all attached to one another, with shops inside each of them.  As soon as they walked inside the shop, Alice was bombarded with hugs.  Two small children, a boy and a girl, each clung to one of her legs.  They shouted and laughed incomprehensible gibberish, excited to see her. 

"Chloe, Camrin!"  She exclaimed, scooping the children up in her arms.  She laughed as the children asked a million questions.  "What are you getting today?  A nice dress? Are you getting dyes for your paintings? Momma says we can each come pick out a pot to paint when we get our allowances!!"  They shouted.  Behind the counter, Alice saw their mother, Cerifina, come out from her sewing room in a panic.

"What are you two do- Oh! Alice!"  She exclaimed.  Alice smiled sheepishly, setting both the children down.  They flocked to their mother, repeating the same questions they had bombarded Alice with.

"Goodmorning, Cerifina.  How are you?"  Alice asked politely, as if the chaos only moments before had never happened.  The middle aged woman smiled a wide grin.

"Absolutely glorious!  That storm last night was really something, wasn't it?  I was out in- oh? Who's this?"  She stopped mid-sentence, gesturing towards Augustus.  She cracked a smile and lifted an eyebrow.  Alice laughed, feeling her face turn pink.

"This is Augustus.  He's a friend of mine.  Nothing more.  He's not from around here,"  She said.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

Augustus was shocked when Ali grabbed his wrist and pull him through the crowd to find one shop in particular. He had never met a girl that insistent before. Her hand around his wrist, although only for a few minutes and in a rush, he enjoyed it. Her hand soft and feminine. This made him smile and fill with joy, and he couldn't comprehend how a simple action or touch could make him feel this way.

Once they reached their destination Augustus looked up at the store. It was one of the only building around. All the other shops were simply tents or counters. Once they entered the building two small children ambushed Ali and began hugging her and questioning her as if they hadn't seen her in forever. This frightened Augustus so he took a step back.

After a few moments a lady appeared. She must have been friends with Alice due to the their greeting and conversation. This must be the fabric lady she was talking about, Augustus thought to himself. Shortly into their conversation the lady, who's name seemed to be Cerifina, noticed him, and began asking question about him. This made Augustus take a step back, nervous of meeting a new face. Once Ali answered her question of who Augustus was, there was something about Ali that seemed off. Her face turned red, as if she was embarrassed.

"So where are you from? How did you meet Alice? Why are you with her now?" the lady fired questions at Augustus. He wasn't sure how to respond.

"Well, um... I'm a traveler," Augustus managed to get out, his shyness clearly getting to him. "I came across Alice's shop yesterday and got some food, but when I left... well I sort of had an argument with some lightning, and Alice basically saved me, and brought me back to her place for the night. So this morning I decided to help her out to pay her back and she wanted to come to the shop for some fabric. I decided to come with because, well I've never seen a market like this before, and Alice thought it would be fun." Augustus looked towards Alice for some support.

[WinterWorks]

Alice nodded. 

"I figured I'd show him around while he was in the area.  Give him the full tour, you know?" She said.  Cerifina raised an eyebrow, but didn't push any further.  She bent down and urged her two children to the back of the shop, through a doorway which was covered by a colorful blanket, rather than a door. 

"Alright then. What can I do for the two of you today? Alice, I know right where you're headed- you don't need help from little old me.  But you, sir- that's quite the raggedy shirt you've got there.  Follow me, let's see what we can do for you." Cerifina motioned for Augustus to follow.  Alice laughed.

"You're in good hands.  Go pick out something nice for yourself," Alice reassured him.  As the two went to the other side of the shop, Alice took to browsing the dresses.  A simple blue one caught her eye.  It had white embroidery around the neck and back.  An elegant look.  She also browsed some more casual ones, and kept her eyes open for a new lace up top to replace her old one.  She silently wondered if Cerafina was up to her old nosiness while she was with Augustus.  She was a kind woman, but she was exceptionally prone to gossip.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

As soon as Augustus heard that the lady wanted him to go with her to pick out new clothes, without Alice, he freaked out inside. He wasn't going to show it, but the only reason her was even there was because of Alice, and although Alice said she was safe, he still felt discomforted.

"What's wrong with me clothes?" Augustus said once they were away from Alice.

"Well for starters, look at all the rips in them. You can't go around town like that," Cerifina explained. "If you have any chance of letting Alice stay with you, you're going to have to dress a little bit better than that," she said giving a slight smirk to Augustus.

"Well... Who said I wanted to stay with her?" Augustus asked. Cerifina ignored him and started humming while looking through the clothes. "Fine. But I prefer dark colored clothes."

"That's fine dear, as long as they aren't ripped and stained. Come with me over here." Augustus did as told and followed Cerifina. She picked out a darker gray shirt with a simple black jacket to go over top. For pants she picked out a dark blueish black pear of jeans. Augustus put on the clothes, secretly enjoying them. He hadn't had a new pair of clothes in quite some time and figured maybe it was time for some new ones.

With that set they walked back over to Alice while she was rummaging through dresses.

[WinterWorks]

Alice turned to see Augustus come back with Cerifina from the other side of the store.  She had an armful of clothes to be purchased.  She had decided on two dresses, a pair of pants, two low-cut lace tops, and a pair of boots.  It was more than plenty for a trip into town.  She smiled when she saw Augustus.

"Ooh good choices.  I presume you've got enough to pay for those?"  She asked.  She set her clothes in a basket, and wandered over to a shelf of dyes.  She wasn't picky with the colors she chose.  Alice was nearly out of every dye she had, so she chose a large number of them off the shelf.  These would last her another few months.  When she sure she was done picking out the colors she needed, she once again turned to Augustus.

"We pay over there.  Perhaps Cerifina will show you how she manages to make all these beautiful fabrics,"  She said with a grin.  Once they paid, Cerifina led them to the back of the shop.  There, hung a multitude of un-dyed clothing.  Cerifina proudly stood in the center of the room, holding out a wool scarf.

"Alice says you're not accustomed to magic?  Have a looksie at this,"  she said to Augustus enthusiastically.  Slowly, ribbons of color began flowing out of Cerifina's palms, and onto the scarf.  The color soaked into the fabric as if it were liquid, instantly dying the scarf.  Cerifina fuddled with the plaecments, easily erasing and re-coloring as she pleased.  Colors swirled around in the air, mixing and separating as she figured out what patterns and designs to place into the scarf.  When she settled on a beige with purple and gold stripes, the ribbons of color slowly drew back into her palms.  When no trace of color remained, Cerifina held out the scarf to Alice.

"What do you think?"  She asked.  Alice placed the soft fabric up to her cheek, feeling it.  The design was remarkable, as always.  Whenever she came into the store, Cerifina made a habit of asking Alice for advice in designing some of the clothing she dyed.  Alice nodded and handed the scarf back to her.

"This one is lovely.  It should sell quickly,"  She replied, smiling.  She turned to Augustus.

"I told you- it's everywhere.  What did you think of her show?"  She asked him, placing her hands on her hips.

[SlowHandsMcGee]

After paying for the clothes and seeing Cerifina's show of magical colors, Augustus was slightly in awe. He had never seen anything so magical and beautiful before. The light show seemed to have create colors he couldn't have dreamed about. "Wow that was really cool," Augustus said. After a few moments of awe Augustus asked, "So is there anything else we need at the market?" He was impressed by everything, but really wanted to get away from all the people. He had enough for that day.