Childish Need For Cake [Open]

[Devon Wentsworth]

Devon had been back for three weeks now and he still wasn't used to the cold. When he had been back home it had been grey and rainy and miserable, but he had still been able to go out with not many more layers than he would have worn in autumn. There had been no frosts, no below zero temperatures and certainly no snow. It had just been a fairly average, mild winter.

And then he had come back to Pilot Ridge...

The Brit hadn't seen snow like this since he had left Switzerland when he was eighteen, and he had been hoping to never see it again. The cold didn't suit him, at all. It made his already feeble joints and muscles sore and it really sucked to wake up feeling like every cell in his body was aching. Why couldn't the school have been in California or Hawaii or somewhere warm instead?

Needless to say, the art teacher was in an uncharacteristically grumpy mood as he headed into town after a long day at the school. Classes had gone well and he'd managed to keep upbeat and positive all throughout the day, but it had taken it's toll and Devon felt tired and run down when he eventually made it to the mall. It was just the cold, that's all it was. Nothing to do with homesickness and missing his mum and brother, not at all. Just the cold.

Heading into the brightly coloured store, Devon was of course well aware that a balanced and nutritious meal would likely serve him far better than the sugar and fat laden treats he planned to devour now. He didn't really care. If now wasn't a time for a pick-me-up, no time was. He knew he could have gone to Ferris instead, but... well, he did feel a bit bad about being around there so often, especially since he had been round there pretty much every day in the fortnight following his return from England. Ferris never complained, not seriously anyway, but Devon knew his friend deserved a night off.

Settling down at one of the booths in a quieter corner, Devon looked over the menu as his fingertips lightly drummed on the table to the rhythm of A Horse With No Name by America. Bloody thing had been stuck in his head all day.

[Deleted]

Junpei was crawling about the mall, shopping for new clothes. Not just for him, but also for his girlfriend, Yue. He'd known her long and well enough to know her size enough to be able to buy things for her. And if it didn't fit, Junpei had no problem with just bringing it back. Or maybe giving it to someone else. But Junpei had an eye for fashion, strange as it may be. It may have been the artist in him that could coordinate color and designs together to come up with a look that would suit his little girlfriend just by glancing at it.

At least he hoped so! Junpei didn't want to assume. But it was inevitable that he might, unintentionally. He also didn't want to overstep his boudaries. But…it was just so much fun and brought Junpei so much pleasure to dress up his girl like a doll. He hoped she didn't mind.

After collecting a few bags full of stuffs, and a few items that he probably didn't need, like a pair of headphones and a new case for his computer and tablet - and while he was at it, he may as well get Yue a pretty necklace - Junpei decided he was hungry and needed a snack to replenish his sugar levels. He didn't expect there to be any place that sold energy drinks, so Junpei was going to have to settle for sweets.

Doughnuts, in fact. Those actually looked pretty good. Upon entering the shop, bags in hand, he stepped up to the counter, intending to take his treats to go. It was only then that he spotted a familiar face hiding in the corner. With a bright smile of "oh my god what a coincidence" magnitudes, Junpei forgot about his mission and decided instead to go greet his art teacher.

"Mr. Wentsworth!" he said, slurring over the proper name with a heavy accent and sending the instructor a very enthusiastic wave. "Hello! How are you?"

[Devon Wentsworth]

The menu in here did look tempting at least, anyway. There was a hell of a lot of sugaryness and he could almost feel the diabetes setting in as grey eyes flicked over the page, but sometimes that was what was needed. It was a childish urge for a cake, and he knew it was, but he didn't care. This was America, land of the free and all that nonsense! If a thirty year old man couldn't buy doughnuts for dinner here, then what was the point in moving over here in the first place?

Sat at the booth, Devon did consider sending a text to Cade. Nothing in particular, just a bog standard 'hey how are you?' message. He had been in touch with his big brother a lot since he had got back from home and it seemed that Cade had been missing Devon just as much as Devon had been missing him. Well, that was how Devon chose to take the “it's 5am stop phoning me!” messages, anyway. Devon had just slid his phone out of his pocket in order to text Cade when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

Looking up from the menu, Devon easily tacked his trademark grin on over the frown and waved back to the young boy, turning slightly in his seat so he could face Junpei a bit easier. The cold was doing nothing at all for his suppleness. “Hey, Junpei! Good to see you. I'm doing pretty good thanks, how about you?”

Placing the menu back down on the table, Devon had decided to go for something bacon-y followed by something banana-y. Yes, it was definitely a day for multiple courses of doughnuts. Fuck it, he'd have a milkshake too. Give it a year and he could just lie down and roll to work like a beach ball. A long fingered gestured to the bags Junpei carried. “You look like you've been busy. Got anything nice?”

[Deleted]

Oblivious little Junpei would not have noticed the quick change in the art teacher's expression, as if he were trying to fix it to be presentable for an audience. No, Junpei pretty much just saw what he saw in people, very rarely reading too much into the subtleties of their body language. So he was blissfully unaware that there was anything amiss with Devon's moon.

"I am doing well, thank you," he said with a slight bow of his head. "I am not thinking to see a teacher here. It is very strange to me." Meaning it seemed a little awkward to meet with a teacher outside of class, especially off campus. Sometimes it was easy to forget that even teachers had lives outside of academia.

Junpei merely stood there with the bags in hand, not making any move to either retreat or join Devon at the table. After all, it would be rude to do either, the former for assuming he was invited and the latter for the one to initiate conversation in the first place. The Japanese boy hadn't even begun to think what he wanted to order, however.

He nodded, holding up one hand of bags to show off. "Yes, I am shopping for clothes. And a gift for Yue-chan." After all, Valentine's Day was just around the corner and he'd been told it was tradition in the United States for the boy to offer gifts to the girl, not the other way around like back at home. Junpei didn't want to make a mistake, so he was being very careful about getting things like that right. He was very excited, however, and decided to drop the collection and pull out the necklace he'd found for his girlfriend, wanting to show it off to the teacher. "She will like this I think," he said as he held out the gift.

[Kai-Belle Hong]

The mall. Again.

Kai-Belle felt like she spent too much time here. And she wasn't really much of a shopper. She actually, just liked having some place to go. Something to do. She got tired of sitting in her dorm or studying. Kai didn't have many friends. Being an empath, it was easy to tell when people were authentic or not and Kai got tired of all the fake people out there. Some said she should keep trying.

Some people; being her parents.

But, Kai-Belle was tired of trying. In fact, the ballerina found her stomach grumbling just as she came across a bakery. She hadn't been there before and she found herself stopping to look in the window at all the tasties that were on display. Luring people into the shop.

It was working.

Her dark brown hair had slight curls to it today, probably do to the moisture in the air. It fell all the way down to her waist loose and her tiny ballerina body was in a pair of jeans with leg warmers on the lower half. A sweater tunic dress that was a pearl color. She had a bag from the book store, and a small one from the music store. She hadn't had ballet class today so she didn't have her bag and things with her.

Inside, she looked around. Is that the art teacher? she thought to herself. She wasn't very good at art, well at least not anything that took a pen and a pencil, she was a good dancer. She moved to a table near the other two, one was a boy she had not ever met, and sat down picking up the menu on the table reading through the choices. She didn't want to interupt the two, having a conversation.

Oooo mint chocolate cake.... my ballet teacher will kill me but that sounds heavenly.

[Devon Wentsworth]

Devon was usually not the sort to have to put on a bright smile – any of his friends would be able to attest to that. The art teacher was laid back and easy going, usually the first to offer a ridiculous joke or bold bark of a laugh. It was just... difficult right now. No matter how much he kept telling himself that it was just tiredness and jet-lag and it being winter... he knew really. He knew that he was homesick. He just wasn't quite ready to admit that yet.

“Good, I'm glad to hear it!” The grin must have lacked its usual authenticity but Junpei didn't seem to notice it; or he did and simply chose not to comment on it. Either way Devon was quietly grateful. He gave a quiet, chuckle at the boy's mention that it was odd to see a teacher here, and he nodded as he ran long fingers through his dark hair. “Yeah... Sometimes grown-ups need a sugar fix too. We pretend it's all spinach and tofu and baked potatoes, but... sometimes you just need doughnuts, y'know?”

Devon looked at the necklace that Junpei held out, grey eyes running over the delicate little metal flowers and the caterpillar. “Oh wow, that's real pretty. I'm sure she's going to love it!” It was easy enough to fake real enthusiasm around Junpei; he was always so upbeat and happy that it made it so much more simple to keep the rain-clouds at bay for a while. Long fingers indicated to the seat opposite, an open invite for Junpei to sit with him if he so wanted. “Have you got plans for anything special to do?” Out of the corner of his eye Devon saw a girl he thought he recognised from around the school sitting at one of the other tables, so he offered her a small polite wave just in case. It never hurt to attempt to be polite, and if she chose to ignore him then, well, that was up to her.

[Deleted]

Junpei indeed did not notice how strained Devon's smile was at that time. The Japanese boy was very superficial in reading others. No, Devon would have to let his little act slip for more than a few seconds for Junpei to understand. It was for this reason that Junpei was so easily fooled into trusting others, regardless of their intentions. When he was still at Eisai, Junpei did have a small collection of friends who often took advantage of his position as a Hirai, And because he always liked to make his friends happy, Junpei usually just complied with whatever they wanted, usually with them asking for money or some other sort of expensive thing.

Even for a time, Phoenix was using him like that, but now he considered the other boy one of his closest friends. So for that, Junpei knew it was worth it to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Junpei nodded with equal enthusiasm as his teacher joked around. He was always so funny, even if Junpei didn't really understand the subtleties of humor in English. But he tried to respond anyway. "I do not think I know a meal that have spinach, tofu, and potato. Maybe you can show me this one day?"

"I think so too." Junpei thought he would approve of the necklace. Really, Junpei had excellent taste, if he did say so himself. Keeping up the bright smile, Junpei took the seat that was offered. "I do not know. I am thinking I want to take Yue-chan to dance, but I do not know how." He laughed at himself. His dancing skills were non-existant.

Junpei peered over at the girl that Devon was addressing. He didn't recognize her, but then, Junpei still didn't know many people. So it was only natural that he'd be curious enough to ask. "Mr. Wentsworth, do you know this person?"

[Kai-Belle Hong]

Kai had ordered her chocolate mint cake and then she got one a coke. There was no way that she could do a shake or anything on top of cake she was going to feel bloated enough with all the sugar. Still the diet coke seemed kind of obselete considering it was going to sit next to the cake. But, she felt better when it came to her conscience.

She looked over at the teacher, out of the corner of her eyes who was talking with some other guy about her age. He probably went to the same school as she did but she had never seen or paid attention to him. She wasn't stuck up she just tried not to notice or be noticed if at all possible.

Then she noticed the teacher look right at her and wave. She blushed but she gave a little bit of a wave back. She couldn't help it. She was a nice person through and through. She just didn't give herself the opportunity to make friends or get to know people often. She rose her hand and gave a bit of a wave back and noticed the student looking at her now too.

Her blush deepened. He was Asian as well. Though she didn't recall having met him. She gave a bit of a smile. She didn't know either of them.

"Hey..." she said sheepishly, "How... goes it?" Could she be any more of a dork?