Ashley Wren is mesmerized.

Ashley doesn't know why he's drawn to the little restaurant and bakery tucked into the street corner. Maybe because it's 11 O'clock and the frigid autumn night air is freezing him deep to the bone and the restaurant is the only place still open. Aside from a need for warmth, Ashley feels oddly welcome in the restaurant.

There's a group of other magic users at the bar, chugging down drinks like they weren't going to feel it tomorrow. The rest of the restaurant's patrons sat at their tables with their meals or stood around display cases full of cakes and pastries. Ashley's stomach turned at the sight. He's hasn't eaten anything since yesterday, when he bought some McDonald's with the leftover change from his pocket.

I still have five dollars, maybe I could buy a cupcake or something?

Ashley walks up to the counter and takes his place in line, hoping he can at least afford something. Everything here looked delicious to him, especially the chocolate cupcakes.

Ooh, but those cost six dollars. Never mind.

Ashley settled on the triple chocolate chip cookies instead, since they cost four and a half dollars a pair.

The blonde in front of Ashley moved away with her box of red velvet cupcakes, which Ashley couldn't help but admire jealously. Ashley stepped up and fished his money out of the back pocket of his tired old jeans. He's been wearing the same jeans for the past few weeks.

"Um, Hi," Ashley speaks up when he walks forward to meet the cashier. She's got jet black hair pulled back into a high ponytail, the tips of her hair are dyed a dark blue. A few strands hung loosely in her face, over her light brown skin and in front of her blue-grey eyes.

"Hello and welcome to the Glen. My name is Kaili, how can I help you?" She smiles slightly, flashing pearly white teeth and sharp fangs.

"C-Can I have two triple chocolate chip cookies please?" Ashley glanced nervously as his mud-stained shoes, mildly embarrassed at the state of his clothes.

I probably look like a hobo. Oh, god am I a hobo?

"Sure thing." The girl picks up Ashley's cookies and puts them in a paper bag with the restaurant's logo. "That'll be $4.50." She says as she hands it to him.

Ashley handed her each note and counted out the coins carefully on the counter. She scoops them up and puts them into the cash register, not bothering to count out the change.

"Thank you and come again." She hands him a receipt and a little card. Ashley walks towards one of the plush armchairs littered around the sparsely filled room and sits.

Ashley sits and nibbles at one of his cookies, almost moaning from the taste as it flows over his tongue. Whoever made those cookies must be blessed because they have to be one of the best things Ashley has ever eaten.

He doesn't finish his second cookie, despite the grumbling in his stomach. Instead, he tucks it into one of the pockets of his old jacket and examines the card the girl gave him.

It's a scratch card. Ashley scratches of the thin silvery film to reveal his surprise, mildly excited for the first time in ages.

I won a free coffee!

Ashley gets up, almost skipping with excitement as he makes his way towards the counter again. Kaili is gone now. She's been replaced by a taller man with wavy black hair hiding his eyes and skin so pale it looks like he's never seen a minute of sunlight. His nose is slightly crooked like he's broken it before.

The man looks up at Ashley suddenly and he finally gets a good look at the taller man's eyes. They're bright green, like emeralds, and are peering right at Ashley and into his eyes.

Ethan didn't know what to make of the boy when he saw him standing by the checkout counter for the first time. He smelt him first though. Like chocolate and sugar, reminding Ethan of the inside of a bakery. The boy was tiny, the arms of his ratty old jacket flopping past his hands, his hair was by far the most attention-grabbing thing about him. It was a curly black mess and he had lots of it. He looked like he'd been on the streets for a while: his jacket and light brown skin was stained with dust and grime, his jeans were scuffed with mud and a fresh cut ran over his cheek and button nose and right above his soft full lips, all of which were set on a heart-shaped face.

Ethan looked down to meet the boy's wide golden brown eyes. They reminded Ethan of molten bronze. As he looked into the boy's eyes Ethan could feel the swirl of butterflies in his chest and stomach. Both of them stayed silent, neither really knowing what to do or say.

Kaili stepped out from the kitchen, wiping her wet hands off on her dark black apron. She glanced up at Ethan, then the tiny boy he was staring at and let out a deep sigh.

"Ethan, really? I let you man the checkout for a few minutes and you find your soulmate."

Author's Note

No criticism is unwanted.

Reviews

[VLS]

Nicely written (from my point of view). I'm already looking forward to what happens next.