Cloudy Sunsets (open!)

[Aspen Turner]

(Aspen's Outfit)

It was the mid-evening that found Aspen Turner sitting on the Pilot Ridge's lake's dock.
The dock was void of people, so the young twenty-one year old situated herself on the end of it and laid back to watch the sky slowly blush with the oncoming sunset.
Her bag beside her, sparsely filled with no more than just a book, her crummy, old cell phone and her wallet. While tempting as it was, she chose not to pull out her book. Instead, she stared skyward.

Clouds.

No heavy, water-bearing ones. Just light, well-spaced globs of fluff. The kind you imagine an angel sitting atop.
A chill breeze pulled a rogue strand of Aspen's hair from the dock and over her face. Smiling privately, she tried blowing it out of her face like she'd seen people do in the cartoons when she was little. While it didn't seem very successful, it entertained the young woman.
It was lonely, with no one else around. She had grown up with the constant hustle and bustle of farm workers. While she missed the presence of family, she was too nervous, too afraid to return. So, she stayed in Pilot Ridge, a little too lonely and a little too shy.

Cue charming knight, a small voice in the back of her mind said with a sardonic chuckle. Huffing a small sigh, she focused once again on the clouds.
Every cloud was either a calf, a pig or a horse. Too many things reminding her of home.
Peering upwards and around, she checked to see if anyone was there. She didn't think there was anyone, but she could be wrong. The sun was ever drifting slowly behind the treeline, leaving the area nearby, the trees and other surroundings shadowed. Within the next hour, that sun would be sunken and gone, plunging Pilot Ridge in to black.

While she didn't much like being outside in the dark, the lake was relatively nearby her residence, within about two miles. Such a walk, even made at night, was tolerable, even for her. Her bike was parked in the grass near the other end of the dock and would carry her home in minutes if she needed it.

But sometimes, a girl just needed. And this evening, Aspen needed
to see the sunset.
Still, with almost an hour to wait, she wished she hadn't come quite so early. But a sunset, her father taught her, must be appreciated in its fullest, from start to finish.

And that meant waiting.

She rolled over on the thick wooden panels and scooted towards the edge of the dock. Leaning her head over it, she gazed at her reflection in the water. The water, still and clear as an unblemished piece of glass, showed her reflection perfectly. Reaching an arm down to the water, she let one finger tap the surface, and broke her image apart, leaving her distorted features rippling. Unrecognizable.

[Kali Caraway]

"The blueberry muffins are a definite favorite, so we'll need more blueberries and sugar. Make sure the berries are fresh! No good getting them all bitter and shit. Oh! And pick up more yeast, because I have this recipe to make home made pizza, and I think it'll be great, if not, then I'll feed it to Larz." The vibrantly red headed woman chatted on the phone while her eyes attentively watched the world around her. Sometimes she zoned out when she walked, and she didn't exactly want to trip and rip a knee out of her pretty white cargo pants. She had a knack for not being able to wear white, but she really liked these pants, so she'd try to keep them clean.

The reason why she was walking towards the lake and not inside her store was because her co-workers had threatened to drug her if she didn't take a break, willingly. She hadn't been home to her house-house in a week, except to shower and feed Larz--the health inspector guy was due to pop in so she didn't want Larz to upset her near perfect score. Not that she was ashamed to have such an awesome pet. The inspector guy just wouldn't understand. At this moment, however, she was on the phone going over the list of groceries one of the cooks was picking up from the store. She just completed her list when she reached the lake and she hung up the phone to actually enjoy her break.

Once her phone was stored in her pocket, she hummed a tune to herself while she walked along the path. She knew she needed a break, but she really didn't mind sleeping on the couch and cleaning the store at five in the morning. She loved it, actually. Kali's Kafe was something she had made, from the ground up, and it was hard to leave her baby in the hands of her employees--not that she didn't trust them or love them equally, she did very much, it was just hard to hand someone the reins, even for an hour or so.

She paused, both in walking and humming, when she came across a woman laying down at the docks. Normally she wouldn't have batted an eyelash at someone who was by themselves, but with they way she was laying in particular, with her hand over the edge and possibly in the water--well she didn't want the girl (that might even be hungover or still drunk) to fall into the water and drown. Her meddling senses wouldn't let her keep walking. She redirected her feet to take her to the end of the dock where she looked at the girl, a sort of compassionate and curious expression set her features.

"You alright, there?" Kali asked, her voice made her jump a little. It was odd for her surroundings to be so quite--she was used to the Kafe environment where she had to raise her voice a bit. "I mean, you're not about to fall out and drown on me, are you?"

[Aspen Turner]

Aspen had felt the dock rumble as someone grew closer to her. It made her nervous, but curious at the same time. She pretended not to feel it; not to notice. But inside, she wondered who it could be? Did she know them? Was it a friend? A foe?

"You alright, there?" She heard the voice say. Not being one she recognized, she turned shyly to look up at the source. It was a young woman, standing close by with a semi-concerned expression.
She felt she recognized the young woman, but where from... "I mean, you're not about to fall out and drown on me, are you?"
Instead of answering like a normal human, Aspen's jaw dropped a little and she just stared. Ah, the horror of response.

Shaking her head slightly, she peered back down at the water, then once again up to the familiar-looking woman. Shaking her head more definably now, she said, "N-No, I was, um, just looking at the water. Er, my reflection. On the water..." Aspen took her bottom lip in to her mouth and chewed for a second before saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you... uh... think that something was wrong. Or..." Turning back to the water, she felt her cheeks heat slight, "...something."

As Pen stared at the water, she could also see the reflection of the woman standing on the dock. She knew she looked familiar; the flaming red hair, faint scent of warm blueberry muffins... So, a baker. Or an employee in a restaurant? Or maybe a dessert chef? Aspen sighed. Too many choices.

[Kali Caraway]

Kali expected she caught the girl a bit by surprised, if the slack-jaw was anything to judge. Although, Kali's phoenix hair style tended to have that effect on people. As the girl spoke to her, she didn't get drowned by the smell of alcohol, so she relaxed her shoulders. She was glad this girl wasn't giddy out of her mind and hiccuping back vomit. That would be bad. No one wants to be drunk in public so early in the night--at least not anyone who cares about their image. Kali? She'll drink whenever she frickin' feels like it. However, she usually reserved that side of her for the weekends, or her day off.

She sat next to the girl without an invitation, because she wasn't about to just retreat from this chance at making a friend (or potential regular costumer, Kali was a glutton for networking.) She folded her hands in her lap as her feet hung off the dock, she wasn't even mildly concerned that when she got up, smudges of the dock would go with her. She forgot that white things needed looking after (which was one reason why she never wore them, but she is now so there you go). She chuckled a little to herself as she wished she had brought a bit of a snack with her, so she could share it with her new stammering friend.

"I find it better to assume the worst, so when it turns out nothing is wrong, no one is disappointed. And if it turns out something is wrong? Then I'm prepared, right? My dad always used things like that." Kali chuckled, and then turned her shoulders to look at the girl, she held out her hand and smiled warmly. "The name is Kali, well at least that's what I go by. You?" She asked with a friendly smile. And that was pretty much Kali. She was immediately comfortable in any surrounding, and completely friendly to any and all people in her general vicinity.

"Have you been in Pilot Ridge long?" Kali could draw several assumptions from the girl, and any one of them could be right, but to avoid any offending or just making herself look like an ass, she decided not to guess what the present was and just wait until it was opened. "I've been here a couple of years--I went to school here anyway--just came back after I got out of college and now I run a Kafe. It's loads of fun. I think this week I am gonna make pizza, and maybe some sort of three layered ice cream cake. Oh! I forgot to tell him to get more butter, hopefully he remembered." Kali rubbed her fingers together in her lap while her thought pattern left what she had started originally. However, she blinked once and her focus was back on the girl beside her.

[Aspen Turner]

Aspen watched anxiously as the woman sat. Aspen said nothing, but stared at her new companion.
As she gazed, her mouth slightly open, she realized she probably looked something like a deer caught in headlights. Turning away, she took a steadying breath and composed herself. Smile. Daddy always said you made people happy when you smiled.

"The name is Kali, well at least that's what I go by. You?"

Aspen was relieved at the simple question, as it seemed to retain some sort of magical ice-breaking quality. As if a name was the key to a vault of conversation, relationships and happiness.
The woman, Kali, seemed settled and laid-back, which helped Aspen relax gratuitously.
Feeling a slight confidence boost from the calm atmosphere that had settled around them, Aspen took the woman's hand and opened her mouth to respond.

Instead, she refrained, for Kali just continued speaking.

This may have bothered some other people, but not Aspen. Kali was, evidently, a 'rambler', as her papa used to call them. Ramblers were a kind of folk who spoke to two people at once. Their companion, and themselves.
Aspen had grown up in a zoo of ramblers. Kali didn't realize it, but her continuous pitch was unusually calming to Aspen. She subconsciously began to smile as the young woman commented on her cafe and her butter. I remember her, now! She owns Kali's Kafe. Aspen had occasionally stopped at the store to purchase something to munch on before heading to the library for work.

Once the girl stopped talking and began fidgeting, Aspen opened her mouth, "My name is Aspen. I've been in Pilot Ridge ten years and I love it." Though her answers were mechanical, they came out smoothly. Her heartbeat had slowed down and she felt happy in the presence of her new companion. And hopefully, Aspen thought, A new friend.

[Kali Caraway]

Kali was happy that the girl shook her hand. She reminded Kali of a timid little thing and Kali was worried that one wrong move would send her running away. She folded her hands back into her lap, her fingers squished between her thighs, after the handshake was over but her brow furrowed faintly when the girl didn't give out her name, right yet. She supposed it was because she didn't leave much of a gap for the girl to talk. She reprimanded herself for it and promised not to do that in the future, or at least try not to do it.

Kali just ran on a faster speed. That pause to her was more than long enough--however this girl struck her as the quite type. If Aspen admitted to being a semi-regular customer, Kali would have beamed even brighter than her hair. She loved meeting her regulars (and not so regulars) outside of the shop. It was like bumping into a teacher at a grocery store; unexpected and a little awkward. "Aspen like the city? Awesome. My parents named me after alcohol." Kali laughed at her own expense. Her entire family was named after alcohol.

"Oh yeah, this place is amazing." Kali certainly preferred the meta-friendly atmosphere. Mostly thanks to the school but even most residents of Pilot Ridge didn't know Hammel was all meta. It is a well kept secret in plain sight. She scratched at the skin behind her ear for a moment, because of the length of her bangs, they tickle that spot constantly. "Whatcha do for a living? If you don't mind me asking. Some people get offended by those sorts of questions. If you think I'm bein' nosy, just tell me and I'll back up." Kali winked to show she wasn't being serious but at the same time meant what she said. If she crossed any unknown boundaries, she wanted to be told that she just crossed a line. Those things are invisible, and there usually wasn't a proximity alarm. She leaned back on the dock and put her hands out behind her to hold herself up, her leg bounced aimlessly against the