Seika liked to spend her days off at the park in Magnolia Town. Even though it was such a popular, crowded city, there were a few places to get a reprieve from all of the noise. As much as the girl liked excitement and the feeling of chatter flowing through her ears, she also needed the peace and quiet at times. Especially today. It was the day that she had left home, only, one year later. Seika felt strangely disconnected from everything back there. Even though she hadn't seen her parents in so long, she didn't exactly miss them. It was strange. Perhaps one year wasn't enough to start getting homesick; although, the more Seika thought about it, the more she was homesick. The Pergrande Kingdom, as unfriendly a place as it had become to her after she gained the use of magic, had been wonderful. Everyone worked hard, at least everyone that she had known. It was difficult to be noticed by the crown, so all commoners were in the same boat, poor with practically nothing left. Even merchants and the landowners were drained by the monarchy, but somehow, everyone made it by. Seika could remember working with her parents in their cafe, trying to draw latte art. After she managed her first semi successful rosetta, she had excitedly asked her mom if she wanted to drink it. Instead of doing so, her mom had told her that she would love to but proceeded to ask her who would love to more? The answer was simple- her best friend. Ever since she could remember, they had lived next door to another family, the Yato family. Another girl the same age as her, Ayane, was both in her class and also neighbors with her, being born into the Yato family just under half a year after Seika was born into her own family, the Tanedas.
Ayane had been happy to drink Seika's latte, and afterwards, she had told her, the biggest smile on her face and foam on her lip, "I think it tastes great! Someday, when you're a famous baker, Akies, and you own your own cafe, will you hire me? Let's be partners!" At the time, Seika had been the more reserved one, between the two. She wasn't exactly shy, but she didn't like to talk to strangers, or even people she barely knew. That meant when working with customers, she had to constantly force herself to speak louder and project her voice enough to properly take orders. It was still nice to work there, though. Now, remembering it, Seika thought about how much she had loved working there. Recently, she had applied for a job as a bartender, and she was hoping that would be a lot of fun. Even if she did need a step stool to see over the bar properly, it would just be a blast from the past. Furthermore, she hoped that she would be able to also work in the cafe during the day. While she had admitted to Mister Ahote Laspor that she was also part time employed at Dagger Corp, the openings had seemed willing to hire her part time as well. There was no way to be sure, of course, but Seika felt hopeful about the entire thing.
It was strange, thinking of Ayane. Normally, Seika simply didn't have thoughts of her previous best friend flow through her mind. Though she didn't actively have to push them out, they simply did not appear or try to enter her stream of consciousness. Was she a bad friend? Had she never actually cared about Ayane, to forget her so soon? Although... the girl guessed it wasn't really "soon," since she had stopped talking to the girl a few years before leaving the Pergrande Kingdom, anyway. That combined with the time she had spent as a runaway meant more than five years had passed, and the last time the two had seen each other, they had parted on bad terms. Only ten years old, the two of them had been. Even though she rarely felt this wistful and contemplative, in this moment, today, Seika felt... old. It was kind of a nice feeling? But at the same time, she somewhat missed her younger days. From the back of her mind, Seika felt Aphelia snorting in amusement. You're not old by any means, the spirit told her in a matter of fact sort of way, to which Seika shook her head. That hadn't been what she meant, and both of them knew it. But to be completely fair, Aphelia was right. It was only strange and perhaps not right of Seika to be calling herself old when there were people having genuine crises about age and even dying from it. One other person's crisis or self doubt does not make yours invalid, the cat informed her stiffly from far away. Seika ignored that and instead decided to focus on Aphelia. Obviously, she had been listening to the mage's inner musings. Yet, where was she?
Apparently, Aphelia had decided not to show up so she could be pet in person and instead had opted to just peep in on Seika's personal thoughts and reminiscing of old memories. In all truthfulness, it was a bit nice to know that someone else knew about her situation. Though there was not really a large burden of old memories, just thinking about applying for the job there had somehow brought back ideas of having to use a step stool to see over the counter and making her first successful latte art back in the Pergrande Kingdom. The mind was a weird thing, Seika decided as she slid off of the bench, her thighs imprinted with the interwoven pattern of the metal. She winced at the feeling of skin peeling off of the material, even though it was somewhat satisfying, as blood flowed back into her legs, it also hurt. Seika could feel Aphelia's slight concern over the pain before it devolved into silent laughter at the cause. Whatever. It had been a nice break, even if part of the mage was more somber for it.
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