CHAPTER VIII : PURPLE ANEMONES

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WAIT DON'T GO!

PURPLE ANEMONES REPRESENT PROTECTION FROM EVIL.

key
- trigger warnings!: none.

key- trigger warnings!: none

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NIHACHU'S BAKERY, MANBERG.

OF COURSE Y/N SPENT THEIR FREE TIME TO SEE NIKI, sitting in their usual booth at the bakery and ordering their favorite foods. surprisingly, it wasn't that busy today. nobody really sat at the booths, just coming in and out for a quick to-go order.

that made niki happy. she didn't have to work much. instead, all her focus was on you—a job she would happily work full time for. you two were chattering as always, her staring at you with a compassionate smile to which you returned, jabbing some small flirtatious lines that made her cheeks flare up. you thought it was cute to see her flustered and having no comparison to being as witty as you, a quality she admired highly of you.

before long, the small chimes of the bells on top of the door frame rung, revealing a man in a fancy, double-breasted suit. since no one was behind the counter, niki felt a small hint of bitter disappointment, excusing herself from you in order to tend to the customer.

however, her expression softened when she saw who it was. "oh hello callahan! it's a pleasure to see you." she greeted cheerfully, leaning on the counter as the man dubbed as callahan proceeded to take out a notepad and pen, writing on the paper for communication purposes. the paper read, "it's nice to see you too. i'll have my usual :)"

niki nodded, smiling at him before going off to get his order. while he waited, callahan happened to survey the room out of instinct, his eyes inevitably landing on you. upon looking at him with further inspection, he had light brown hair similar to corey's shade but slightly darker, a glistening, dark pair of ocean blue eyes, and small reindeer antlers protruding from his head.

you decided to give him a friendly wave, him smiling and waving back. as niki came back, callahan wrote on his notepad eagerly, messing up his writing just a tad, biting his lip in order to focus on not scribbling off the paper. he only does that when he's anxious, angry, or excited. "who is that sitting at the booth??" the notepad read. normally, niki was reluctant on showing you off, not really wanting anyone to know who you were. after all, you were only hers.

despite this, she knew callahan and trusted him to be respectful within the depths of her soul, and decided to make him an exception to your alluringly ethereal presence. she motioned for him to follow her, carrying his order on a tray. just as you were eating, you noticed niki coming back with the man, having an arm loosely wrapped around his shoulders.

"hey, y/n/n. i wanted to introduce you to a good friend of mine. this is callahan. callahan, this is y/n." as she finished the small introduction, she set down callahan's order on the table. you smiled up at him, finally seeing him up close. you have to admit he was pretty cute—his features were pleasantly soft yet his darkened eyes, which only resembled ocean waves the more you stared into them, made a bold statement that complimented his face—and it was rather rare to see a reindeer hybrid in town.

you stuck out your hand for him to shake. he tucked his notepad and pen within the crook of his arm, and didn't hesitate to return the gesture, shaking your hand with a firm grip. "it's very nice to meet you, callahan. you have a pretty name too." you complimented, making him feel flushed. his lips contorted to a grin as he wrote out on his notepad, "thank you so much :D"

callahan sat across from you and joined in on you and niki's conversation. you learned a lot about him, especially the fact that he's mute. in-spite of this, that didn't hold him back from communicating his personality to you, both of you sharing the same humor and finding his little drawings of faces beside his writing endearingly entertaining.

behind the words he wrote in ink, he found you extremely attractive, and most of all humorous and easy to talk to. as the two of you began finishing up your orders, you dismissed yourself, wanting to go back to the presidential house. "well it's been very lovely spending time with the both of you. i'll have to get going now." you stood near the door. "awww wait no." niki whined, her expression almost contorting into a pout, making all of you laugh.

"i'll see you around. auf wiedersehen,
y/n/n!" she beamed while you smiled at her. before going out, you noticed callahan going up to you, presumably leaving the bakery as well. you held the door open for him as he said goodbye to niki then turned to you with a smile. "i work at the tailor shop up ahead. wanna walk together?" he wrote on his notepad.

"of course!" you chirped, making him grin happily. the two of you walked in comfortable silence, but it didn't take long for you to find him grabbing your wrist gently and pointing up to a shop's sign that you both stopped in front of. the sign read "callahan's collection co."

you let out a short ah, gazing at the displays at the windows. the intricate designs in the double-breasted suits reminded you of pops. speaking of pops, you could probably buy him a pocket watch. "hey callahan, if you don't mind, may i look around your shop?" his eyebrows raised in surprise, but he immediately nodded at you, holding the door open for you with confidence.

he was surprised to hear that you may have liked suits. although there were no customers, he was glad his shop looked clean for your arrival, the cozy grey architecture mixed with wood panels already enticing to anyone's eye. while looking around, you began to talk to him, explaining about your family. "you know, these suits aren't really for me- well- at least not what i initially thought. i'm actually looking around for my grandpa back at home. i'm getting him some gifts. maybe a nice suit or a pocket watch could be one of them, yeah?" you looked over at him, seeing callahan nodding along and pointing to different displays of where he kept pocket watches and other jewelry.

before you could continue speaking, you were interrupted by the harsh sound of bells ringing on the door. unlike callahan's entrance from earlier in the bakery, this entrance sounded swift and eager, and the burning sensation already pouncing on your back felt eerily familiar. you turned toward the person who you knew was gazing daggers into you, and you were met with asher's eyes staring right at you accompanied by a gigantic smile.


WHY IS HE LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?


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