[Finished] Back in reality

[Saaga Sun]

Walking along the street her arm locked in Narye’s , Saaga looked around and observed people walking past them and cars driving by. She had to make room for a small toddler at one point, who ran by him so fast she thought she was going to step on him. His mother jogged by and hurriedly said sorry before disappearing in the distance. Saaga had always enjoyed walking around this particular district since it was so lively and filled with interesting shops, including of course her own workplace. It was like walking in a candyland or something. She was so absorbed in her little pastime that when Narye asked about the matron she just looked at him for a moment and blinked.

“Huh? Oh, no I didn’t really pay attention to her. What? Does it bother you?” she asked him tilting her head a little to the side.

Of course they had a pretty big age gap, but she didn’t really find it too controversial. Even the airbender councilman, whose name she did not bother to recall at this time had married a woman who was much younger than him. And she had seen a childhood friend or two get married off to men who could have not only been their fathers but more like grandfathers. Though she had to admit that she would’ve drawn a line there.

Coming to the shop, she looked around and saw no one she knew coming over. That was good, since she would not have wanted to stop to explain anything to them.

“Yes. Hopefully soon,” she smiled and seeing him lean in for a kiss, she hesitated a moment. Just how slow did she want to go, or was this expected? Not wanting to let him stand there in wait, she shrugged and chuckled, reaching to answer his plea.

It wasn’t a very deep kiss, but still she felt a warmth in her chest and her heart seemed to be trying to flutter out through her mouth. She would have liked to continue for longer if not for someone clearing their throat just behind Narye and addressing her by name: “Miss Sun!”

She was so surprised she bit down on her lip, nearly biting Narye as well. She untangled herself from him and looked at the displeased face of a wiry old man with a long thin white beard and silken white hair combed on a tight top knot. Her face was bright red when she bowed to him.

“I’m sure you don’t need me to explain to you why this kind of behavior is very unseemly. In broad day light even. Hrmph. If you’re quite finished, I expect you to continue working. I’m not hosting a charity,” master Zhang said, his voice oozing with displeasure.

Looking over at Narye, his eyes narrowed and his lower lip quivered as if he would have liked to say something more to him especially. Then he shot a look at Saaga and walked by them, his old fashioned robes rustling furiously.

Saaga had never felt so embarrassed; at least she did not recall such a time. She covered her face in her hands and fought the urge to scream, though it was hard knowing her boss was probably waiting by the door and looking on to see that they did separate as quickly as possible. She did not dare look.

"Uhm...So now you've met my boss," she said from behind her hands, feeling increasingly awkward.

[Narye Matsuya]

It wasn't a deep kiss. Nothing near like the kind of kisses they shared the night of the Masquerade Ball. In Narye's mind, this was a, for lack of a better phrase, a casual kiss. Sure it was intimate, that was the nature of kssing, but it was something they could share to feel closer to each other and not necessarily feel guilty about. Narye kept himself from embracing her fully or pulling her closer. It was just a gentle kiss goodbye.

Or at least that's what it was supposed to be. Narye noticed the little bite on his lip first and thought Saaga was trying to make something more of their kiss. A moment later, his ears caught up and he realized that someone was behind him and obviously disapproving. For just a second, Narye thought it was the tea shop matron and wondered why she would follow them all the way out there to interuppt them.

All the same, Narye also panicked a little and nearly jumped away from Saaga like she was about to explode or something. Whipping around to see whom was addressing them, Narye saw an elderly man with a very perturbed look on his face. First thought: It was her boss. Second thought: Please, don't kill me.

The only thing Narye could do was stand there, shocked and red in the face. The matron's look didn't bother him at all, but somehow actually being caught in act was far more embarassing even though it was basically the same thing. Out of a shared sense of embarassment, he scooched a little to the side to kind of put himself between Saaga and her boss. His look burrowed into his skull, but Narye was compelled to stand up a bit and not be looked-down on.

He maintained eye contact with Zhang as he stomped past them and into the shop, almost daring him to say something. As soon as he was in the shop, Narye turned to Saaga and immediately felt sorry for her. Figuring that he had to go now or face making Saaga's predicament worse, Narye leaned over in front of her, to bring him to her height so he could whisper hurriedly to her. He tried to hold her hands away from her face so he could look into her eyes with a reassuring smile.

"I'm SO sorry, Saaga. I had no idea he was there. I'll make it up to you somehow some other time, alright? I'll just get going now. Don't let him get to you too much, and I hope to see you again."

He gave her a peck on the cheek.

"See you some other time."

With that said, Narye walked away from the shop, waving at Saaga and trying to make himself look like he wasn't too fazed by the interruption. Still, the little tea time more than made up for the low points and Narye really hoped that there was something to be had between him and Saaga.

[Saaga Sun]

As Narye pried her hands away from her face he could probably see an expression that had difficulty deciding whether it wanted to go for utter embarrassment or sheer annoyance. Saaga had managed to find a new kind of feeling from her growing repertoire; the kind where she felt embarrassed and disappointed by the interruption at the same time. She looked at him sternly and then let her arms flop to her sides, sighing in defeat. What was done, was done. She could do nothing but buck up and go inside to face the music.

“It’s not your fault. Last I checked it takes two to do that,” she said, rubbing her temples a little frustrated. She should have just kissed him on the cheek or hugged him or anything else but that. Or better yet, she should have made sure her boss was not standing right there.

When he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, Saaga let her fingers brush his hand fleetingly for comfort. Really, he seemed to be more sorry than she was. She was annoyed she had to go through the ‘talk with the boss’ again and she was embarrassed he had seen them, but she wasn’t really sorry about it.

“I’ll see you again, if only so you can give me some compensation for this. Call me next time,” she laughed a little, managing to make a joke even if her stress level was rising rapidly.

She waved back at him, watching him walk down the street away from the shop. As soon as he was out of sight she turned and walked in the shop, looking like she wanted to smash something. Not that she would touch any of those precious glass objects, even when angry. There was too much love and effort poured into those things. What she wanted to smash was sitting at the counter reading a newspaper.

“I should hope that man is your fiancé,” the old man said to her in a snappy tone and turned the page much like he would swing a whip.

“He’s not,” Saaga replied, sounding angrier than she’d intended and louder too, for not long after she’d said it Tseng’s head appeared in the workshop doorway, looked at the both of them curiously and then disappeared again, back to work.

Saaga walked to the cleaning cabinet next to the workshop door and took out a broom. She might as well clean up and try to ignore the old man’s complaints.

“Are you in love with him?” he asked and turned another page, more gently this time around.

She nearly dropped the broom, catching it just before it hit the ground. What was he saying? Seriously. She thought about it though and bit her lip as she started to sweep the floor.

“I don’t know.”