Festival Shopping // Ezra Aurence & Tia Haiku // Private

appearance~

It happened every year. Magnolia Town would host a special event at it's center. A festival! Not to say that this town didn't hold festivals every other month, but this one was grand in comparison to the others. Vendors and food would gather here in Fiore from all over Earthland for everyone to enjoy! Men, women, and children, both young and old, rich and poor, could come together to taste or indulge in different cultures across the world. It truly is a rich experience.

Ezra had attended each one since he was seventeen, his face well known among some of the businessmen and cooks there. Usually, he would go to these events by himself, but this time around, he had invited a friend. Tia Haiku of Golden Phoenix, no less! Just recently, around a month ago, the two had met on a rather simple but exciting job. It was then that they created a goal to meet each other again. And what better a time and place than now?

Ezra had been up since the early morning, and was now wandering about the outskirts of the festival, searching for his smaller friend and her furry companion. He, of course, had little difficulty tracking her down. With a nose as keen as dog's and eyesight matching that of a beast, he found himself approaching a newly built Moonbucks. Ah, yes, coffee! Like most things, he enjoyed a hint of bitterness, and thus, drank his coffee black.

Next to the Moonbucks sat the wonderfully dressed Tia and her small, cute companion, Chai. Ezra grinned while walking to her from the near distance, "Heeey!
Tiaaaa! !" Ezra shouted, waving one long arm in the air frantically.

Soon enough, Ezra was now in arm's length of his friend, leaning down with his usual, toothy smile. "Howdy! You made it, eh? Heh-heh. See ya got 'erself some caffeine?"

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Ezra had been thrilled to see his much-shorter friend come so far out of town to see him. He didn't exactly plan for anything for them to do, he figured that the they would do anything the festival had offered. But, being the 'host', he probably should've planned ahead. At the thought, Ezra sulked quietly, but would quickly cheer up the moment he and Tia made physical contact.

Ezra knew that Tia was more touchy than she looked, but it still was a surprise coming from a girl who set herself up to look like a shy, reserved bookworm. Ezra smiled warmly and would pull her into a friendly hug before pushing her away so they may look at each other face-to-face. "Guess you fellers got 'erselves some coffee, eh? It's pretty early, I don't blame y'all." Ezra cackled. "I should probably get myself some. . ."

Ezra would rub the back of his head nervously, he would catch himself scratching the scalp of his head or playing around with his hair in general when he felt awkward, nervous, or embarrassed. But it was simply an observation, an observation that he didn't know if other people were aware of or not. He brushed it off his shoulder and would refocus on Tia, who brought up another topic of discussion quickly after they greeted one another.

"Ah, Tia's famous home cooking! Lucky man I am. Lucky, lucky, lucky..." Ezra spoke excitedly, thrilled to fill his belly with Tia's magical meals. "Even so, you ain't leaving this town without trying some of the food. It's a once-a-year thing, you know. Gotta live a little, eh?" Ezra spoke warmly.

Tia would pull out a large container filled with what would seem to be spaghetti, a dish he had not yet tried from Tia. That being said, he felt ten times more hungry than before, and would graciously accept the fork offered to him. "That, we do. We do, for sure."

He and Tia would sit and indulge in her cooking, making his cooking look like something you'd find in a garbage. Really, Ezra didn't have any cooking skills and often ate out, or whatever Fairy Tail bars were serving. When worst came to worst, he would find himself in the kitchen, cooking. It always ended up terrible, sometimes inedible, but he made do with what few skills he had. Ezra would turn to her with bits of sauce on his cheek and around his lips, "Castles, huh? Ain't that something. Had you told me about it, I'd would've come to help ya out! Heh. But me? Eh,
nothing too special. Helped some folks out, worked some jobs, paid the rent on my place... just normal stuff. Ain't nothing too extravagant happened." Ezra shrugged. His life hadn't been too interesting beyond jobs, he prided himself in being a normal countryman who helped folks out when they needed some help.

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By the time Tia had been packing up the food, Ezra had long finished his meal. Strange was it would appear, he was fully capable of savoring his meals in the fastest way possible. He wasn't exactly the cleanest eater, quite clumsy with his food, in fact.

Ezra turned to Tia with bits and smudges of sauce around his lips and grinned from ear to ear, "No, no, thank you for giving me another opportunity to enjoy your food,
lassie." Ezra spoke earnestly, wiggling his nose in excitement, as usual. "A great way to settle stomachs is to get 'movin, ya know! Come on, girl." Ezra chirped as he would softly smack her back. Soon after, Tia had quickly interlocked her hand with his, lifting him up onto his feet, beginning to guide him towards the festival.

Ezra was quite aware of Tia's touchy behavior, and quickly became used to it. Unlike other men, he wasn't quite phased by a woman's touch. The majority of his people back home were big chested women, had one younger sister, and the women back at Fairy Tail were basically family. That being said, he was far from understanding a woman's heart.

In other news, the festival was as bright and welcoming as ever. Soft, warm light pouring into the festival. Birds and famous heroes from stories cut from construction paper and put up by children. Down one street you'd discover the finest of liquor stores, and down another you'd find farmers markets, selling fruits and vegetables the people of Fiore have never seen before. It truly was magnificent. People from different parts of the world coming together in one festival. So many cultures, so many ideas, so much life. It was a smaller version of a world he's never experienced. Ever since he was a boy, he has always seen the same places, same food, same people for all of his life. The world beyond the East Forest was nothing more than a dream to him, it didn't exist. Nothing existed beyond his people, his village, his booze. Nothing more than what merchants would bring from that dream. Magazines of wizards who became heroes through acts of bravery, and ones who became villains through acts of treachery. It went from a dream, to a fascination, to an aspiration, then to a reality. A world bound to no rules or laws and restrictions. There was only as much to the world as you found.

Although Ezra would always come to this festival by himself, he was pleased to bring a good friend with him this time, who seemed just as thrilled as he was when he first came to this festival. Lost in thought, the sudden tightening around his wrist snapped him back to the now in an abrupt and unsettling warning Tia was about to give. Ezra's lips slightly curled into his mouth and his brows scrunched up in worry, only to uncurl and morph into an expression of shock when she exclaimed that he would be this year "Special Bag Carrier".

"Eh? How much are you gonna buy, lassie?!" Ezra protested vigorously, being dragged into the heart of the crowd by his wrist. Although being a werewolf-dragon slayer was cool in theory, his sharp nose seemed more like a burden in times like these. All the must, sweat, strange and unappealing scents that gather in these events are here to embrace his nostrils and send him into a fit of illness, sometimes prompting him to vomit. It never happened. . . yet.

As Ezra braced himself for the barrage of foreign smells, the trio came to a sudden stop as Tia announced something rather disturbing.

"Who did what now? Ayeee...." Ezra fumed quietly, but was not at all surprised by this incident. Sure, the festival attracted all kinds of people, but it even attracted those kind of people. For perverts, this annual festival is a goldmine for cute girls from all over Earthland. Smooth butts, firm butts, big butts, small butts, there was simply an array of butts to grope this time of year. It never actually happened to him, of course, but there have always been stories like these this time of year.

Ezra stroked his beard in frustration, he was usually very hot headed but currently did not have a pervert to be hot headed towards. He fiddled with his facial hair in anger, in a cloud of thought.

Aye. . . this sort of thing does happen a lot, I guess. Some men out there simply can't control their weird, perverted desires. . . Ezra thought to himself. On one hand, he thought of explaining the nature of this festival and the perverts it attracted to Tia, and on another hand, it was vividly disturbing to him that he had a vast understanding of why and when perverts come to strike and why. An encyclopedia of butts and when to strike had been stored in the back of his head and he was unaware of it till now. It was under that guilt and shame that Ezra decided not to inform Tia in simply listen to her vent.

"Aye, aye, it happens, lassie. I'll keep a look out 'fer ya. 'Nothin escapes these lookers, ya know," He pointed to his sharp, golden eyes and grinned, hoping to have reassured Tia of her well being. He would no pervert harm his friend, and much less her day here. Though, Ezra took it as seriously as Chai did.

Their excited booking reduced to a hasty walk after that. Tia, Chai, and Ezra had been making way to the Tea Tree of which they both swooned over. But the walking quickly returned to a booking and the swooning became squeals as they finally arrived. The trio walked into the store, Ezra instantly inspecting the products on the shelves just for something to do, while Chai squealed in her Old English, Tia quickly chiming in.

"Are those rare or 'somethin? I ain't ever had tea besides what they sell at local shops..." Ezra snickered and would enter their general space to look at the same things they were, "y... you ain't 'buyin everything in this store, are ya now?" Ezra inquired, rather concerned. He's heard of people excite themselves over the smallest things, but never of tea.

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Ezra listened attentively to Tia as she explained the product’s value. From the sound of it, it certainly was rare. He honestly had never met someone with such an extensive knowledge on something so overlooked, such as beverages. If anything, it was humbling. Wherever he seemed to go, anywhere he happened to look, magic was present. It had been so romanticized, leaving Ezra feeling rather disappointed. He enjoyed magic, he felt as if it were a gift. However, he was adamant in retaining an identity beyond magic. It was a personal motivation he didn’t tell many people about.

On another note, Tia’s shopping bags had been filled to the brim before he knew it. Filled to the brim with tea products, of course. Ezra’s brows furrowed in concern, as he surely knew any considerate consumer wouldn’t buy all of one product. But at the same time, you had to get what you could in a time where certain things come only once a year. Ezra’s morals and consumer instinct left him conflicted as they approached the register.  

”You’re going to drink so much tea that you explode, lassie. . .” Ezra protested quietly. Although Tia’s shopping spree left Ezra conflicted, his idea of a bloated, short woman was too silly for him to remain so glum. ”Though I reckon I can see ‘ya as a small, fat lady.” He cackled.

After Ezra relieved himself of these silly thoughts, he was able to pay attention to the person in front of them. She had long, white locks and what looked to be smooth, white skin. Her eyes radiated a sharp purple and had a rather fit body figure. Very attractive, indeed. She and Tia had conversed as she made the purchase, the woman shocked at the amount of tea Tia had bought. Ezra smiled and shrugged, Well, anyone would be shocked at that amount. How much tea can one girl drink? thought Ezra.

During this process, the raven haired man discovered something new about his furry friend, Chai. That she was an aggressive haggler who came off as extremely intimidating if she did not get what she wanted. And like so, she got what she wanted and the trio left the store humble and satisfied. Well, at least Tia and Chai did. Ezra was more in awe than anything, and the bag in which Tia had made him hold held such a strong scent that Ezra felt ill. His nose burned and his throat felt dry, but quickly became use to it.

”Well, there’s a store I always go to every year. . .” Ezra tilted his head in thought and would step in front of Tia and guide her to the location.

On the seemingly outskirts of the festival was a series of “adult” shops ranging from adult films, literature, photography, and products. Of course, Ezra wasn’t interested in this and was actually looking for a store smudged in between an adult film and an adult toy store. What was in the store?

Ezra kicked the door open and took one deep breath, ”’Ere we are. My buddy runs this place and sells liquor and beer that I like. I reckon you ain’t much of a booze person, are ya?” He smiled earnestly. The strong, bitter scents of all kinds of alcohol gathered here in one building. Some smelled of citrus, while others looked and smelled like battery acid. It was a business of accumulated palates and tastes from any and all consumers who happened to buy a product here at Ciel’s Liquor.

It didn’t come to mind that Tia might be under the impression that he frequently bought adult things, or that he was some kind of pervert. In fact, he was so casual and oblivious to the impression he was making, that he didn’t even mention the nature of the stores nearby. It was just him, Tia, and Chai, three friends buying suspicious alcohol in an avenue of stores that probably sold illegal products. Fun.

”Ciel? Ey! Are you in here? Ciel?” Ezra hugged the bags close to his chest and yelled over the register for what seemed to be the store owner. There was no answer. He clicked his tongue and sighed in his gruff sigh, cupping his large hand over the left side of his mouth and shouted, “Keeeeelllly!!~”

Almost immediately after, the sound of glass bottles shattering and metal tubs falling to the hardwood floorboards pierced the silence, and down the once silent and empty hallway came running a blonde, short haired woman wearing all kinds of tacky rings and necklaces and sharp glasses. She gave off the appeal of a sarcastic, sexy librarian from movies.

The woman threw herself on the counter, with her belly against the stone but most of her torso held over it, with pocket knife held to Ezra’s throat. ”Who are you and how do you know that name?!” she demanded. Her eyes were filled with confusion and anger, her lips puckered up in the equivalent of a man puffing up his chest, and opening her eyes as far as they could. She looked almost silly.

Ezra smiled nervously while looking her in the eye, “Come’n now. How many country boys do ya know that know that name, eh?” He testified, snickering confidently. It was these things that make Ezra so noticeable, the ability to laugh in a situation where it just so happens a seemingly crazy woman held a knife to your throat.

”You aren’t. . .?” The woman hissed.

“Ezra Aurence, indeed. Howdy, Kelly. Ain’t you as fine as you were when I last see ‘ye. Heh-eh.” Ezra jested, stepping back with his same toothy grin. From that point on, the two had exchanged handshakes and talked.

“Well look at you! I didn’t recognize you, Ezra! What happened to that red hair and where did those tattoos come from? You now and you from last year are like black and white! And what’s with all the tea?” Kelly gushed, slapping his shoulder.

Ezra shook his head and shrugged with a disappointed, weak smile. “Could call it a family tradition, ya know. ‘Somethin like that, I reckon. Oh, and this?” he turned to Tia and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her and radiating friendliness, “my lady friend and her lady friend, Tia and Chai. They love tea. Lots’f tea. Tea, tea, tea. I bet she owns Tea-shirts. She really likes tea.” Ezra grinned, bursting out into a hearty laughter.

“Haha! So it seems! Your girlfriend?” Kelly would twist her finger in her hair as she asked. Ezra’s once happy and hearty energy morphed into something more uncomfortable and agitated.

“I’m as single as you are deceitful.” Ezra grinned with mischievous eyes. They both knew she was born a brunette.

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