Low points in high places [Tagging Verity]

[rogueinladysclothing]

Apologies are not something that come easily for Amelia, especially when they're deserved. True, she's only managed one true apology when several are needed, but she finds waiting for resolution after the fact to be even worse.

She hardly goes out anymore. The Fox and Crosier has all the essentials for living, so her only reason for visiting the Commercial District or the Forum is pure curiosity, but even that's in short supply these days. The weight of her actions, of the consequences of a poorly made decision, rest heavily on her. Most hours of the day are spent in the yew tree outside her window, trying to figure what to do next, debating if it's worth going out into public.

On yet another warm and pleasant afternoon, it's in those tree branches that Amelia finds herself. Dressed in the clothes of Verity's world, her hair down, her hair pin being turned over slowly in her hands. She looks as terrible as she feels, but as no one comes to see her here, she doesn't really care.

Someday, she's going to be embarrassed about her current appearance, especially the fact that her hair is full of leaves from the tree.

Comments

[brave_heart_verity]

"No. It'll get easier with practice, just like your other skills. And I'm here to help you, not punish you." Will Amelia allow an arm around her shoulders? "How about we put these away and go for a walk? I think you need some chocolate."

[rogueinladysclothing]

Verity's allowed to do pretty much anything related to comfort to Amelia. The girl has no idea how it works and since Verity seems to have gotten pretty good at it, she'll follow the other woman's direction. Once the arm is around her, she'll pull herself closer, though.

"Chocolate? What's that?" After setting aside the buttons, she raises an eyebrow at Verity. No, her world doesn't have chocolate. Seems Verity gets the chance to introduce her to that as well.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Chocolate is..." Huh. How do you describe chocolate? "It's a sweet. A type of candy, made from part of a plant and milk and sugar. It's really... there's nothing like it. But almost everyone enjoys it."

She pauses to call a goodbye to Alex, and nudges Amelia to do so as well, before they head out on another adventure.

[rogueinladysclothing]

Amelia offers a smile and a wave to Alex as they head out of the shop, though the tailor is already quite absorbed in adjusting his sketches and measuring out muslin for Verity's mock up. He does give a distracted wave as they make their way out, though.

"What plant would make a good candy?" The thought confuses Amelia, but she's also extremely curious. If Verity tells her that hops candy is a thing, she's going to be in a world of trouble if she gets back home. With a brother who's apprenticed to a brewer, that could be dangerous knowledge.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Vanilla, licorice, mint, most fruits, candied flowers..." She smirks at Amelia and gives her a little squeeze. "Just try a piece? If you don't like it, that's fine, there's plenty of other candies around."

It isn't a long walk to a confectioner's. Nexusites do love their sweets. This is a nice, old-fashioned (to Verity) kind of place: bins of penny candies, boxes of candied fruits and nuts, bars of good chocolate and some truffles. Nothing's overly fancy or expensive, but everything's tasty. The air is laden with the scent of sugar and spices. And, perhaps the best selling point, the workers are all a little plump and can often be caught sampling the goods. "One question: do you prefer all sweet, or some bitter with the sweet?"

[rogueinladysclothing]

"Hmm, I suppose you have a point with all of those..." Sweets aren't really a thing in her world yet, but if she ever gets home, she's going to be bringing some ideas to certain people. "And of course I'll try a piece. I have to learn everything I can while I'm here, right?" Verity gets a small smile with that.

The candy shop is a place Amelia's walked by dozens of times, but never wanted to walk into before now. She's always been a person who was content with the sweet flavor of certain fruits if she was feeling peckish for that sort of thing. The aroma of spices makes her feel at home, though, and she smiles as she looks around.

"I've... never really had candy before, so I'm not sure?" It's a very strange thing to say, but it's true. "I don't usually like overly sweet things, though, if that helps."

[brave_heart_verity]

Sweets do require a lot of sugar or honey, so it's not surprising it's slow in coming. And they really don't want to come into it the way Verity's world did. But if the supply of sweeteners isn't a problem, it would definitely be a good new business for the family to invest in. They've already got the spices. It's a match made in heaven.

"It's fun to try new things. And this is a nice one." Amelia can take her time looking around. Verity knows exactly what they're starting with and heads straight to the chocolates. "Not too sweet. I know just the thing."

For Amelia's first chocolate: the traditional dark chocolate ganache truffle.

Now I want a dark chocolate ganache truffle!

[rogueinladysclothing]

There's so much to take in that Amelia doesn't even know where to start. It's best that Verity leads, which is why she seems grateful when she's lead to the chocolates.

The chocolate is taken with great care from Verity and examined carefully. She smells it, raises an eyebrow at it, then pops it in her mouth. It takes her a minute to fully chew and swallow the truffle, given she's trying to get everything she can out of this experience. Her face is awash with many emotions as she eats, but eventually she ends it with a smile.

"That was... different from anything I've ever tasted before in my life. I think I like it, though." The smile becomes sheepish as she nods toward the case. "Can I try another?"

Me too. I did not think this plan through.

[brave_heart_verity]

It's kind of fun to watch her tasting the chocolate. Verity's never seen someone have it for the first time before. There's no rushing because this is too wonderful a thing to rush, but when she asks for another it's already waiting. Sea salted caramel enrobed in more dark chocolate. "This one has a caramel filling. That's sugar and milk without the chocolate."

The chocolate cravings are reeeeeal.

[rogueinladysclothing]

"So, sweeter than the last one?" Amelia's going to try it anyway, because she wants to try everything in this store now that she's had one delicious thing.

This next truffle is eaten equally slow, but ends with a slightly confused look. "This... caramel - it's a strange thing. It evens out the bitter of the chocolate, but I feel like when it's all that's left it's too sweet. Perhaps I simply ate the chocolate wrong?" She wouldn't be surprised at all if she had.

And so close to Halloween, it's a sin.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Somewhat," she admits. There's a range of options, and Amelia needs to learn where her tastes fall within that range.

"There's no wrong way to eat candy. If it's sweeter than you like, that's okay. Hmm... ah. Bitter orange. You like oranges?" There's so many possibilities, Amelia'd get a tummyache if she tried one of everything. But she's welcome to examine the little cards explaining what each kind of treat is. "Or salted almond?"

I'm looking forward to all the candy people will be bringing to work on Monday. XD

[rogueinladysclothing]

There's probably going to be at least a few grumbles about tummyaches in the future as Amelia learns about all the sweet things the Nexus has to offer. For now, she'll only eat when Verity hands to her.

"I like oranges a lot - and raspberries and strawberries, too. They're all very delicious." Really, if it's a fruit, she's probably going to like it. "Almonds are okay, but not my favorite. I much prefer pecans or walnuts,."

I'm looking forward to hitting up the half-price candy on Sunday.

[brave_heart_verity]

Everyone has to learn their limits. Just wait until she finds out about chocolate-flavored booze.

"Bitter orange, then. And that's probably enough for now, it'll make you sick if you eat too much too fast." The chocolate is soon handed over. "We can buy some to take with us for later, if you want?"

Me too! It always feels so good to get a bag or two of cheap candy.

[rogueinladysclothing]

She still has to learn more about booze before she can discover the deliciousness that is chocolate-flavored booze. A lesson for another day, perhaps. Foreshadowing? Never!

As with the other chocolates, this one is savored nice and slow. It gets a very approving nod even before she fully finishes it. "I'd love to take more with us for when we're done with pizza, yes." ...apparently she's not taking Verity's comment about getting sick to heart. She'll just have to learn the hard way. "This bitter orange chocolate was very good. Are there more like it with other fruits?"

Oh yes. Love chocolate.

[brave_heart_verity]

Proper adult drinking is a lesson for many evenings. It's something Verity's still working on herself. They may need Samus to supervise.

Verity smiles at the reaction, arms folded comfortably across her stomach. "Yes, there's all kinds of fruit fillings. We can get you a sampler box of those so you can try them all out. And, I shudder to tell you this, but... there's such a thing as dessert pizza. It has chocolate on it. I'll make you one some time."

Om nom nom chocolate!

[rogueinladysclothing]

If Samus will even agree to see Amelia again, then sure, she can supervise.

"A whole box to bring back with us?" Her eyes widen at that. If she knew what Christmas was, she would say this is just like Christmas, but better. "I'd love that. The more I can try, the better." She's going to be so sick later, because she's not going to be able to contain herself when she has a whole box of chocolates in front of her.

"Dessert... pizza?" One of Amelia's eyebrows races toward her hairline. "That sounds... I'm not really sure, but I feel like I should be scared. Should I be scared?" Given Verity's reluctance to mention it, she's pretty sure she should be scared.

We're like Cookie Monster. http://on.fb.me/1XGqhjF

[brave_heart_verity]

She did say until Verity had forgiven Amelia, right?

"A whole box. You can get boxes with different numbers of chocolates," she explains, pointing to the display of empty boxes pinned to the wall. "The little ones that hold two or three are for little gifts, or party favors. The big ones are when you really want to impress someone--or have a need for several of every flavor."

She leaves Amelia to think about the dessert pizza while she requests the fruit sampler chocolate box. While it's being packed up she explains, "It's a dessert that looks like a pizza. Cookie crust and candy toppings."

My god that's terrifying.

[rogueinladysclothing]

Amelia doesn't know that, though. She's under the impression that Samus is done with her. Period.

"I don't think I need all of them at once." Amelia laughs softly. There are still plenty of days left in the Nexus for her to come back and buy more.

Again with sweet things her world doesn't have, or at least have the same name for. "What's a cookie?" She's used to the term biscuit, and even then it's not what Verity is used to. More bread like, less sugary sweet.

Happy Halloween!

[brave_heart_verity]

Well, then they'll have to see if Samus likes Verity more than she dislikes Amelia.

"No, definitely not. You'd be too sick to see straight if you tried to eat that many at once."

She pauses to pay for the chocolates, which buys her time to think about how to explain cookies now. "Cookies are... a sweet batter cooked in disks usually. Some people call them biscuits."

And a slightly early Happy Halloween from the West Coast!

[rogueinladysclothing]

It's worth a try. Besides, Amelia owes Samus an apology, too.

"Ahh, biscuits I know. They're a treat usually made for after the evening meal - dessert, as I've come to learn it's called. They're not usually very sweet, though. Perhaps the recipe changed over time?" Now that she's begun trying sweets in the Nexus, Verity's likely to need to introduce her to all of them. Between her and Katsuya, they should be able to cover most of the baked goods pretty easily.

:D

[brave_heart_verity]

"Some are sweeter than others. I know how to make all kinds of cookies, from fruit and nut balls that don't get baked at all to fancy stenciled and gold-leafed delicacies that almost shouldn't be eaten." She gives a little shrug. "It's different combinations of ingredients and a few techniques, but there are endless variations."

Is Amelia going to want to explore any of the other candies and colorful things before they go?

[rogueinladysclothing]

She blinks at the explanation of Verity's far reaching repertoire. "They put gold onto cookies?" She thought buttons made of gemstones were extravagant enough, but this tops it without question.

Amelia gives the place a general once over, but she doesn't seem terribly interested in anything else right now. She's more than happy to wander on to pizza.

[brave_heart_verity]

Yeah, that's a hell of a thing, isn't it? "Sometimes. Gold is edible, so it's a great way to spend a lot of money showing off. I've seen it on all kinds of food. Honestly, if I were going to spend that kind of money, I'd get truffles." At least she has standards.

They can go onward to the pizza, in that case. Probably for the best that Amelia not get any more sweets right now. Best for her stomach, anyway. "You still have an appetite for pizza, right?"

[rogueinladysclothing]

"I... can't even imagine..." And really, she can't. The idea of "gold leaf" doesn't make sense to her, so she's stuck picturing someone shaking gold off of a dirty coin onto a cookie. It seems less than pleasant.

Verity's got her hands full with the box of chocolates, so Amelia's going to grab onto her arm once they're outside. "Definitely. We can get the small pizzas still, right? So we can try multiple things?" So excited about the smallest things. Seems being set free from the weight of her responsibilities in her world is helping her open up.

[brave_heart_verity]

"You're probably happier not bothering too much about it." Maybe some things are better off not even imagined.

It's not so big a box she's encumbered by it, but if Amelia wants to hang onto her arm, that's fine. She's certainly getting more tactile. "Yes, we can try lots of different toppings. We have to figure out what your favorite is, after all. Everyone has a favorite kind of pizza."