A Day Like Any Other

"I think it's a great name," she beamed, before gesturing to the rest of the tavern "it suits you, you're certainly a ray of sun in this place." A sigh escaped her as she relaxed in her chair a little before continuing. "Things aren't as lively as they used to be," the words were quiet and faded. Her eyes wandered the walls and ceiling for a few moments before resting back on Shintaro. "So, are you from around here? I've never seen you before."

"Me?" He responded, surprised by her choice of subject. "Ha, well; yeah... I've actually lived in Larasic for the past five years but I uh, don't get out all that often so it's not too much of a surprise that you've never seen me before; unless you also frequent herbalists and the library as often as I do!" He tried not to cringe at his own attempt of being funny. He really wasn't good at being funny. He could make people laugh easily enough, but it was more often than not at him, not with him.

She continued to stare for a short moment, taking in his appearance and mannerism. There was something eye catching about him, she thought, or maybe it wasn't about him, maybe it just was him. She blinked suddenly, realising what she was doing, "Sorry," she said quietly, going the very slightest shade of red, hardly noticeable in the light of the tavern. "Herbalists? So you're into medicine then?" She asked, enjoying the conversation with Shintaro itself more than the content.

"Well, medicine yes, but it's so much more than that. See, I'm an Alchemist." As he began to talk about his profession, his face, demeanor and conversational skills all seemed to light up. Alchemy, and more than that; creating things was his passion. Invention was his greatest tool, and to him, Alchemy encompassed everything he lived for. He began on a tangent about his job, how he worked his own hours (which were usually long and tiresome) and rarely earnt money for his work, but loved it all the same. Before he realized it, he was talking her ear off about some sort of herb or another with incredible properties and he had to stop himself rather suddenly. That was rude.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that!" He apologized. "I just... get a bit like that, sometimes..." aah, I can't believe I just did that.

Alexandra for her part listened intently, drawn in by the love he had for his craft. A strangely beautiful thing, she thought. His passion as he spoke was contagious, she found herself on more than one occasion having the sudden urge to interrupt with a question or interject with something relating to a field she knew little about, but refrained from fear she'd disrupt his new found confidence.

When he eventually came to a close she sat in wonder, just staring again, a small, contented smile on her lips. "It's okay," she said, softly, "You really are a strange one, but I enjoyed hearing about your work. You should show me something sometime."

"Of c-course! I'd love to!" He spluttered. He could hardly believe all of this himself.

Not only was this woman sitting here listening to him ramble on, she seemed to be enjoying his company, of all things. He gestured at the barkeep to bring them some refills, noticing that her glass had become empty during his spiel.

"But enough about me," he started up their conversation again "that's a subject I'm far too familiar with- tell me about yourself. I'm sure you're much more interesting."

"Well, it really depends what you want to know, there's a lot to tell. I could start anywhere." Her eyes wandered at the comment, as though something was paying on her mind.

"Anywhere" he sighed "I want to know it all." He said, still somewhere between reality and a daydream. He was content just to listen to her honey-laced voice no matter what she was talking about. Not that he wasn't interested in what she had to say, or anything.

Alexandra pondered for a moment, trying to decide just where she wanted to start, and even, how much she really wanted to tell. She felt oddly comfortable around Shintaro though, so decided to start with her family and where she grew up, about her parents back home and the things that she did as a child. Singing came up many times, by the stream and in the trees; to the birds and sometimes just for herself.

After a while the conversation turned to work and the things she had done over the years and her fondness for cooking sweets, in particular chocolate. She loved the faces of people who tried her creations and their expressions of delight. She recounted at one point the tale of her first attempt and the look of absolute horror on her father's face as he ate it. He told her it was good though and that she should keep striving to be better. In return she humoured him by pretending not to notice the expression on his face.

Shintaro seemed excited by the fact that she liked making sweets- as he very much likened cooking to alchemy and dabbled a bit in it himself. Or maybe experimented was a better word. Some of the things he tried to make came out rather questionably.

Next was the tale of tailoring, and that after moving to Larassic some 60 years ago, she had taken up making clothes. It was another outlet for creativity that she enjoyed, and the beauty that she could produce. On occasion she would even sell them: young girls in plain but elegant hand crafted dresses, older men with perfectly fitting outfits for a special event, and anything in between. Sometime after being to sell her clothing, she decided to provide the clothes to those that needed them. She didn't need gold anymore than what she earnt already, and so strove to provide those of lesser fortune.

All the while there was the singing, everywhere she went, she would sing. Children loved it and more often than not, she ended up with a small crowd of them wanting to hear a song. Sometimes they were simple songs, other times epics woven by the thread of music. Nowhere existed that she didn't want to live through song, taverns, shops, fields; even if it had to be within her own mind, a song was always brewing, ready to pour forth. (She even gave Shintaro a small example, singing about their encounter thus far).

Shintaro had to control himself from crying right then and there.

She was so unbelievably, unequivocally cute.

And he was trying very hard to be manly..

Later came dancing as she tried to find a way to adapt her body to the flow of song. It took many long months, but eventually she began to find a rhythm and melody in her whole body, a way to not only sing but perform her music. It quickly became popular for people to ask her to dance even when she wasn't singing.

Eventually the harp was added as a layer unto its own, but as Alexandra continued, and the time began to pass, her tale slowly became more somber and melancholic. The light of her flame had begun to fade and now the energy through all of her recounting was all but lost. The tales of music were coming to a close, and a storm felt as though it was on the wind.

After finishing the last of what might have been her eleventh drink, she let out a heavy, emotion laden sigh, before resting her head in folded arms upon the table. "Sorry," she spoke after a long silence.

"N-not at all!" He spoke drearily, stifling a yawn. He'd amassed quite a collection of glasses himself, setting down his fifteenth, if you included the ones he drank earlier in the day.

"This was great. Just this." He smiled in content, patting the table with his empty hand, probably half asleep judging by his expression. "I don't get to shpend much time with p-pretty ladies like yourshelf very often. They usually just laugh at a distance, or at least-" he hiccuped in the middle of his sentence, "I asshume they're laughin' at me."

He started laughing, hands still both on the table. It was rather loud considering the tavern had gotten a lot quieter this late. "But not you!" He was speaking jovially, almost yelling. "You went and put up with me for a whoooole night!! You're amazing!" He was genuinely very pleased with himself.

Alexandra just looked at him, a small smile on her face. Her eyes told a different story though, unfocused and lost, as though the weight of many years had suddenly struck like an anvil.

Shintaro's demeanor dropped along with hers, snapping out of his drunken stupor and realizing how distressed she seemed. Maybe it was all of the alcohol, or maybe there was something else bothering her. Either way she seemed way too out of it to respond to him anytime soon.

He had a closer look to make sure she was okay (he was well versed in healing, after all.) and then quietly left their table and made his way to the only barkeeper left.

When he got there, he asked the man if Alexandra lived somewhere nearby, as he intended to make sure she got home safely. The man nodded, noting that they had been sitting together all night enjoying eachother's company, and that she had been familiar enough with this man to give him her name. He gave Shintaro the directions to her house.

Wandering back over to their table, he gently lifted one of her arms over and around his head so that he could take most of her weight.

"C'mon" he said lightly "Let's get you home."

Without much resistance, she shifted herself to lean on Shintaro, finding it surprisingly difficult to move without his assistance.

And together, they made their way out of the tavern.

The evening air was quite warm.

Or maybe it was the buzz he got from drinking as much as he had that made him feel that way.

It certainly could have been the beautiful lady half hanging from his side at the time that was doing it. Infact that was probable. Much more likely.

Turns out that she only lived a few blocks away from the tavern, probably because she worked there he assumed. It made sense; that's why he lived so close to the Library at the mage's college, after all. Being that she lived so close, it didn't take them very long to get to her house at all. They were only passed by a few strangers in the streets, some of them giving him an odd look to which he bashfully turned away and tried to ignore.

When they got to her front door, he helped her to stand upright, making sure she wasn't too out of it. "Have you got your key on you?" He asked.

"Oh," she answered blankly, "yeah, it's here." Fumbling through pockets she eventually produced a small key to the door. Her hands trembled as she went to insert it into the lock, something more akin to distress than intoxication.

As she struggled with the door, he held her up to steady her, making sure she didn't topple over as it swung open. When the door did open, he helped walk her inside too, strangely feeling a little more courageous than normal. He walked her inside and followed her direction which led right to her bed. He fought with his nerves to stay calm as he assisted her to lay down and check one last time to see if she was okay. She certainly seemed alright physically but he had a feeling there was something else wrong. Either way, he was sure it wasn't something that a good night's rest and a sleep in wouldn't fix. That always worked for him.

Deciding it was the best course of action, he bid her a quiet and gentle "goodnight." Before turning to leave out the way he came.

"Shintaro," she called after him, before a brief pause, "You can stay if you want to."

Shintaro stopped dead in his tracks. What did she just say? He mustn't have heard her correctly. There's no way that she just asked him what he thinks she asked him.

Or maybe she meant it differently. Probably a "You can stay for a cup of tea and then be on your merry way" sort of thing. Hesitantly he turned around, and faced her form, still lying on her bed looking a little disheveled.

"O-okay." He said quietly, unsure of himself.

He stood there awkwardly for a while, trying to decide what the right course of action was.

Was it lame of him to admit that he was 28 and had never once been inside a girl's bedroom alone with them? This was foreign territory; and it terrified him. He thought he may have felt more comfortable back in Hell right now if he couldn't get his frazzled nerves to calm down.

Sitting up, Alexandra's hair now hung loosely around her face. She looked up at him, a scared look in her eyes almost pleading him to stay, as though she couldn't bear the thought of being alone tonight. She held out her hand unsteadily, beckoning him back over.

Each step faster than the next, he anxiously walked over to the bed and sat down besides her, his movement jagged and uncertain. He wasn't really certain what he was supposed to do or how he was supposed to react to a situation like this, so he was just planning on following her lead. She says sit down, he sits down. She says jump, he says 'how high?' That sort of thing.

Although every time she moved or went to say something he'd feel his heart almost jump out of his chest. The feeling was nauseating, to say the least.

Her gaze followed him the whole way as he sat down next to her, this man who she'd barely met. There was something safe and reassuring about him. Suddenly she was overcome with emotion out of nowhere, perhaps it was the alcohol and the memories, or perhaps it was the way he'd treated her so kindly. Without even thinking, she embraced him in a tight hug, tears slowly cascading down her face.

HELP was the first thing that went through his mind W-w-what do I DO?!

He was really glad he at least had the self control not to say that out loud. That would have been awkward. As if this wasn't awkward enough. He had no idea what was wrong, was it something he'd done? Or said? He couldn't remember anything he may have said to offend her, but then again they had gotten pretty drunk. Either way he wasn't going to find out like this, and decided the only thing for it was to ask her outright.

"A-are you okay?" He asked her tentatively (Even though she was very obviously not) and reached an arm around her to complete the hug, hoping not to overstep his bounds. The last thing he wanted to do was mess up and do something she didn't want. But it sounded like the kind of thing a screw up like him would do.

The returned touch only caused her to clutch him tighter, the tears now being accompanied by a quiet sob. After what may have been an eternity for Shintaro, the sobbing started to die down.

Alexandra leant back from the hug, one hand still on his shoulder while the other wiped her tears away. She nodded at him, a small acknowledgement of the question he had asked, a tiny smile on her lips now. She stared into his eyes, completely captivated by them, the vivid amber betrayed a multitude of emotions: concern, nervousness, confusion; but most of all she saw a deep seated kindness in them. She just kept staring, utterly entranced by how beautiful they were.

"You sure?" It echoed in the silent room. He was freaking out, on the inside at least; but he was more concerned with her right now. Something was obviously upsetting her quite a lot, and he felt pretty powerless about it all, considering. He just wished there was something he could do to help.

"I'll be fine," came the reply, a slight cracking in her voice as she tried to be brave for him, a wide, if not strained, smile on her face. She realised now it was making her feel worse seeing him so worried over her and she wanted him to be happy, just as much as she wanted to forget the pain she felt.

She looked at him again, taking in everything, not just his eyes. Before she knew it, she was moving on impulsive, leaning forward to kiss him. It was a slow motion, and by the time she'd noticed what she was doing, she'd already started smiling genuinely again.

Shintaro's brain went into overdrive as she leant closer.

What was she doing? Was she going to eat him alive? OR was she doing what he thought she was doing? He didn't know. He couldn't tell. Normally he was a pretty perceptive person, but right now he was as clueless as they come. He could do nothing but brace himself.

She leant in and closed the gap between them, her eyes closed and a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

Shintaro however had his eyes wide open, staring with disbelief at what was happening. His glasses had fallen askew, but it didn't matter. Even with perfect 20/20 eyesight, his vision still would have been blurry. It took him a moment to adjust to his surroundings again after the initial fireworks going off in his mind, but once he had, he took the most initiative he probably ever had and pressed back into the kiss himself, his hand instinctively moving to the back of her head to support her.

It was, strange, at the very least. But it wasn't bad. Her lips felt unbelievably soft. Like, he didn't know things could feel that soft. He was sure she'd kissed plenty of people before, but for him this was a first. He wouldn't have had it any other way, though. It was amazing.

Alexandra held the kiss for a long while, enjoying the closeness and intimacy of the embrace. He wouldn't have known, but it'd been a very long time since she'd kissed anyone. Pulling away, she looked at him again, eyes locking with his, a happy glimmer in her own.

The lights from the street outside filtering into the room next door was the only thing illuminating them now. It was dark, but light enough so as they could see each other's faces clearly, and their eyes seemed to shine in comparison, locked onto each other's gaze.

A worry tugged at the back of her mind at how things might play out, but for the moment she was content to enjoy how things were. She watched his expression closely as he stared back at her, awestruck.

A breathy "wow..." crept from his lips and she had to stop herself from giggling, as she leant back in to kiss him again.

So it wasn't a fluke? The thought crossed Shintaro's mind.

He had a really bad tendency to overthink things, and this was absolutely no exception.

There usually tended to be a reason behind these kinds of things. Cause and effect, as it were. But this time he was going to leave behind all the theories and notes and just go based on instinct. If he thought about it too much, he was bound to screw up anyway.

They sat there in the dark room for a while longer, just being together.

Before long her kisses started to get more forceful, hungrier, and he gladly complied, mouths being parted to grant each other entry. She didn't need to ask permission from him, and at this point he was sure they both knew that. One of her hands reached around the back of his neck, holding his head in place; in an attempt to make each kiss last that little bit longer, before they inevitably had to break for air each time before diving back in again.

At some point, without Shintaro having realized it, they'd ended up laying on the bed, her leaning over him. He pulled her close with one hand behind her head, playing with her silky black hair, and the other at her lower back, leaning into her waist.

She started to tug at the collar of his shirt, which was high along his neck and getting in the way. He was about to take a breather and help her out, but it wasn't necessary; she'd figured out the clasp on her own within moments. Before either of them could say another word, she started undoing each hook in turn all the way down his torso, and then preceded to pull the shirt over the back of his shoulders and completely off of him.

Shintaro turned a deeper shade of red (If that were possible) and watched her expression anxiously for a moment as she stared at his half-naked form, judging him, before turning away in utter embarrassment. He was not a physically strong or attractive man by his own standards. Looking in a mirror, he would just get depressed about his lacking physical features.