i'll follow you down. but not that far. // maggie

[Sterling Dea]

Sterling listened as his polished brown shoes clicked against the sidewalks of Simbol. Calmly he walked in the direction of home as he counted the endless orbs of luminescence glowing high above him in the nighttime sky. Sure, it was a bit risky to be walking alone in a city notorious for crime in the middle of the night, but it wasn't like there was a whole lot else he could do. Ster always walked to the nearby Ruby Tuesday's to do his shift—heck, if he wasn't on his skateboard, he walked everywhere, as he rarely ran into any threats. Even if he did find a threat one day, he didn't have the money for a car.

As the rizaki was walking along, a scent decided to stimulate his senses. Sterling stopped walking, and twitched his nose just a bit in order to get a stronger whiff. Mm... Tea. After serving a ton of that at Ruby Tuesday's and not getting any of his own, that was just the smell to tempt him into taking a detour. His slate blue eyes fell to the watch on his left wrist, which read that it was... um, late. He couldn't really read it all that well in the dark. Well, if he was late to get home, while Crys might decide to go out searching to join him in what shenanigans he was surely pulling off, Kay would go under the simple assumptions that he had to take extra hours. It was pretty safe to go ahead and go off track.

Curiosity further brewing up inside his chest, Sterling started to follow the smell to find a tea house. The supposedly cat-killing sensation strengthening, the rizaki walked up to the little section of Simbol, and paused, wondering if they'd recently closed down and that the smell was still wearing off. For a supernatural creature, most of his senses were like the broken ones of a human, so how could he be certain of anything? Just to be safe, Ster went over to the nearest opening he could find to see if anybody was still inside.

[Maggie Bishop]

Maggie stood behind the counter, checking on the supplies that she had on hand. She had to make sure that she was well stocked in the teas that she needed the most for the week. Of course she had her regulars, and then kept her in business more or less. It was late and she figured Del was asleep, given that it was a Thursday. Georgina, because no one would dare call her grandmother, was either asleep or reading in the apartment upstairs of the tea house where they all lived. As she counted and measured she simply breathed deeply of the heavy aroma caused by all of the various herbs and spices. It was a perfume that nearly almost always clung to her now.

She was happily trying to make sure that everything was going to be set for tomorrow. She usually got a bigger crowd come the weekends after all. She got a good flow from some college kids in Miami, and the kids around here as well. It was a relaxing place to say the least. Maggie started to boil some water for herself. She yawned and checked her watch. She would probably close in another hour or so as it was getting late and she was getting tired. She tapped her bare toes against the floor. She couldn’t remember the last time she wore shoes, probably about two years ago. She rolled up onto her toe to get a jar off of the top shelf. She added some of the first flush flowering Darjeeling to the water and waited for it to infuse.

That was when Maggie sensed something, well either sensed it or smelled it. She was not sure, in fact she was not sure what it was quite yet. She had a sense for those outside of her own race in a way. Perhaps it was all the stuff that Georgina had taught her over the years. Then again it could just be some other internal sense. Either way she headed to the door, not seeing anyone out of it yet. She opened it and stepped out into the dark alley. The only light came from one streetlight, the open door behind her, a few windows, and of course the clear night sky. This didn’t actually add up to very much. That was when she spotted the young man. “Would you like to come in?” She didn’t wait for a response, instead going back inside but leaving the door open.

[Sterling Dea]

Sterling barely picked up the sound of a question, and realized it was directed towards him. After all, was anybody else peeking somewhat conspicuously inside the tea house? He could see no other of the sort. In response, the rizaki glanced up to see a young woman, surely not too far from his own age, reentering the building. She'd asked if I'd like to come in, right? he checked with himself. Ster was pretty sure that was what he had heard, though, and followed her steps with a "Sure."

Just as always, Sterling wasn't applying his senses. Within the given environment, though, he could tell something felt... down to earth? Natural? Whatever it was, it was much different than the urban feeling he'd just abandoned at Ruby Tuesday's. The lingering scent supported his thoughts. Ster didn't really know what others thought, but he liked to consider tea as a drink that follows similar traits that he'd tried to use on the environment. Since he usually had faulty senses, he was probably miles off from the majority of the public's opinion, but what did he care?

"I was just walking by, and I smelled tea—good tea," he decided to explain his position. It must have been strange to see this guy just standing outside of the tea house.

Wow, maybe I need to drink tea more often, Sterling noted to himself, as well as the fact that he was... Well, taking note of more things than usual.

[Maggie Bishop]

Maggie had already ducking back behind the counter after all. She was not sure what to do besides work, though she was starting to tire out a little. Still it was better to let someone in than keep them out, unless they meant harm. She didn’t think the young man outside could possibly be any kind of dangerous. She had a feeling at least, despite what he was, oh and she knew what he was. She had a gift like that, she could smell it a mile away. She could try to explain that, but that’s about it. Instead she just worked to put away some dishes.

By the time he had come in she was ducked down behind the counter. She caught another whiff of him, of what he was. She always knew after all. After a moment she stood back up and got her first good look at him. Instantly she knew that he had to be harmless. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and it curled slightly. She looked him over, longish brown hair and fairly generic work clothes.

”Yes, of course, sit anywhere you want.” There were no other customers there at the moment. She checked her calendar, she had some natural medicine stuff to, but it wasn’t that early.

Maggie brought over one of the books and put it down, dropping off a bell with it. ”Here, take a look and give me a ring when you are ready.” She shot him a smile before going to wash some of the dishes.