New Dawn: Ice Cream
Summary:
An entirely different era; an entirely different setting. Being shy is painful – Chrno knew it all too well. But being shy also has its consequences. What happens when Chrno doesn't get to say goodbye because of it?
A/N: I got the stroke of inspiration at SIX O'CLOCK in the morning. Then I fell asleep at seven. Then my mum woke me at eight. I said five more minutes…then I woke up at nine. Oolll
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a damn thing…
He loved watching her.
He had no idea when or how that hobby of his surfaced. Perhaps it had all started ever since he first set eyes on her, or maybe he just couldn't help himself.
Maybe. But then again, maybe not.
Yet despite him being ignorant of the reason, he'd still watch her. Everyday, at the little ice cream shop he worked at, he'd be behind the counter – waiting, anticipating…just for her to turn up. And when she did…
…Well, he served her first. He'd hand her her usual order of the tantalizing desert: 3 scoops of strawberry ice cream doused in maple sauce, along with a side sprinkling of chopped up hazel nuts.
Everyday. She came everyday after school.
She'd take the small bowl from him, flashing him a bright smile as she did so. His heart would then do the very familiar cartwheel whenever she did so, and, flushing faintly, he'd duck behind the glass again, away from sight.
When he finally dared to looked up, she would be at her usual table at the parlor, savoring a spoonful of her mouth-watering strawberry ice cream. Smiling slightly, with a hand propping up his chin, he'd gaze fondly at her. He didn't mind the other customers noticing. Didn't matter, didn't care. After all, who bothered about what they'd think? No one, and certainly not him. Anyway, they were too busy caught up in devouring or sucking up to their dates. Literally.
He knew it was too much to ask to go out with her, too much to ask to carry a conversation with her. He was well aware of what they called him behind his back: "Freak", "Weirdo", "Outcast"… It didn't bother him much, but he didn't want to drag her down with her. To his peers she was almost like the belle of the neighborhood, the feisty girl with spunk; …whereas he was simply known as "the lad behind the counter". Big difference, folks. Big difference.
But it never once bothered him. He was already contented, bubbling with warm, jubilant ecstasy to be able to look at her from afar… he couldn't ask for more.
He didn't know why she enthralled him so much. The way she carried herself, perhaps? Or the way she ate her ice cream – pink lips parting daintily to spoon the sweet into her mouth… he didn't know. Or maybe… maybe it was because she just seemed so…so…
…Cute?
He blinked, musing to himself in wonder. Since when was that word in the pages of his dictionary? Since she appeared in his life, a tiny voice at the back of his mind whispered, and he blushed softly at once, returning his attention back to the girl.
Too his horror, those captivating aquamarine orbs of hers looked straight into his ruby ones.
Flushing an adorable shade of rose, he retreated back behind the counter. For the rest of the day, he didn't dare stare at her, only sneak casual glances at her form.
Small wonder he didn't realize that she watched him too.
Rosette loved Sundays.
Not only did that particular day of the week mean no school, but also…
"Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully as the bell jingled lightly upon her arrival.
The boy behind the counter wore that faint, trademark smile of his as he gave her the usual limpid blue bowl with the 3 scoops of ice cream sitting at its curved rim. She grinned as she watched him go red and hurry back to his work, and giggled when he accidentally walked straight into one of his co-workers who just appeared around the corner of the counter.
She practically bounced over to her table, and her sapphire orbs never once left him as he hurried to serve the long line of customers. It was Sunday after all. The day with no school for students and no work for most parents. It left the residents with plenty of time to take their friends and families out to spend quality time together. With the ice cream parlor this crowded, it meant that the lad, Chrno, he was called, would be too busy to notice…It would be safe for her to watch him without getting caught, she hummed happily to herself as she popped another mouthful of delicious ice cream into her mouth.
Ah yes, how Rosette loved Sundays!
Once, there was a time when She was an hour behind time.
Chrno had gotten worried, looking up every now and then, hopeful whenever the bell announced someone's arrival. But it always wasn't her. Not until an hour later.
By then, before he even saw her, he heard her – yelling at someone trailing behind her. He didn't take much notice of it at first, only breathed a sigh of relief to know that no misfortune had befell upon her. He rose to give her her bowl of sugary desert –
– only to stop short in his tracks at the sight of the guy behind her. He was good-looking, that, Chrno couldn't deny. Compared to him, Chrno was just a stumpy, awkward-looking duckling (to him, that is), but that didn't stop jealousy rearing up from within him like a snake.
That day, Rosette's smile failed to raise his spirits.
The boy was about Rosette's age, with hair a shade lighter than that of the colour of the girl's, just as his blue eyes were a tone fainter. Chrno dimly registered how identical their smiles were before he shoved the thought to the back of his mind.
It no longer concerned him, no matter how much he wanted it to.
The expression on his face must have shown what he was feeling, for Rosette's smile faded as she exchanged a quirked eyebrow with her brother. Why was he…?
Joshua simply shrugged as he pointed at the table his sister always took, "C'mon, Sis! I'm starving! I wanna try the new ice cream flavor!"
The boy's ears perked up at the single syllable. The rest of the sentences drifted away into nothingness around him, and only that one word echoed again and again in the confinements of his mind.
…Sis?
Relief flooded him like it never had before and at that moment, he could have laughed out loud. The overwhelming desire to laugh was aroused in him once more as he saw the look on his brother's face as soon when he beamed brightly at him.
As Chrno skipped away into the crowd, his shift over, Aion could have sworn his younger brother finally fell victim to Insanity.
One day, after his daily hot bath, the young teen found himself staring doubtfully at the mirror in his bedroom. He gazed at his reflection in the smooth glass which mirrored his violet hair water-logged and sopping wet, and having the same frown he had embedded upon his features.
His lips detached from each other and he paused, hesitating for a brief moment before…
"Rosette," he breathed into the mirror.
At that very moment, Chrno felt a queer tingle down the length of his spine and felt a shiver run through him. A peculiar, indescribable sense of bliss surged throughout him just as her name slipped past his lips like honey…
Chrno was in trouble, with all four walls closing in on him, and he knew it. He had to sit down, to think it through, to decide what to do…
Too bad Destiny had Aion had to walk past his room there and then.
The platinum-haired man laughed and engaged his younger brother in a tight head lock, ruffling the silky locks of amethyst as he did so.
"Aw, the little baby's all grown up!" he cried dramatically as Chrno indignantly struggled in his grip.
"So…," he looked at Chrno straight in the eye. "When are you gonna ask her out?"
The younger of the two turned bright maroon and muttered an incoherent jumble of words before succeeding in wiggling out of his brother's grip. He raced down the stairs at that very moment of freedom and took the chance to dash out the door, away from his brother.
Aion blinked in rapid succession, the grin on his face turning into that of a sad smile.
He knew the boy may forever stay like this – forever refuse to go over, forever refuse to say hello. But change would have to over take the boy if he wanted the girl.
…The Christophers were moving.
It was a cold and rainy night. Outside, the wind howled mournfully as the forces of nature decided to voice the God's anger.
The breeze, the rain, the thunder, the lightning…they all whipped around like a raging typhoon with no planned course, no planned order. They liked doing that. They liked doing that a lot.
He was the only one there then, doing his homework in the dim light of the ice cream parlor which was lonely and empty.
The sign which hung outside read "closed".
Chrno looked up, then sighed, and looked back down at his work. He wouldn't be seeing her today, he thought rather doefully as he made to pack up. Given the weather, he wouldn't be seeing anyone at all. His gaze hovered upon the small blue bowl he had set aside while hoping otherwise. Then, his breath got hitched within his throat as his head jolted up, his crimson gaze widening.
What the…
"Rosette?!"
At once, he tore forward and wrenched open the glass door, the bell's chime drowned by the roar of the wind.
There was no doubt about it – that smooth honey-blonde hair and alluring navy pools…it was Rosette.
His eyes widened even further. Quickly, without much of a thought, he dragged her into the relatively dryer (Du-uh) shop, looking at her properly under the light. She looked the worse to wear – her clothes drenched from head to toe, clinging to her petite figure… a puddle was steadily forming at her feet as she shivered, hugging a white, rectangular slip of paper to her chest which was miraculously dry.
She must have gotten wet while trying to shield that from the rain, it occurred to him as he slipped his baggy jacket over her. Like every other day, he vanished behind the counter for a moment before reappearing, but this time in place of the ice cream was a steaming mug of cocoa.
"Drink up," he smiled. It was only when he realized that the mug was still in his hand did he realize that she had not budge from the spot where she stood. Confused and puzzled, he set the mug back on the counter before going around it, reaching out to her in concern…
…only to have his hand slapped away none too gently. Hurt and baffled, he drew back his hand and continued to observe her in silence.
To his surprise, her bottom lip quivered before she tenderly shoved the envelope into his arms without a word then dashed back out into the raging tempest, a crystalline substance which was a dead ringer to tears running down her cheeks.
Slightly dazed by the rush of events, his crimson gaze followed her running and shrinking figure. It was only until it was entirely swallowed up by the darkness and rain did he revert his attention back to the envelope.
With trembling fingers, he opened it and slid the piece of paper inside out.
…a picture?
And so it was. It was marvelously done, drawn in quick pencil lines smooth and elegant. It was a picture…a picture of…him. He stared down at the sketch in wonder. How did she know…?
The picture showed him in the ice cream company's jacket and cap which fell over his eyes, his head upon his arms as he was blissfully unaware of someone staring at him, drawing him in the most perfect details. He vividly recalled the first few days of adjusting to his part-time job when he was not used to juggling both job and school in one hand. He had been overwhelmed by exhaustion, he recalled, and fell asleep on his job.
He smiled. To think that she actually…
In his happiness, he caught sight of a tiny, neat row of letters at the bottom of the paper out of the corner of his eyes. Curious, he squinted at it, trying to decipher it, to figure it out…
Scarlet pools widened and the corners of his eyes prickled sharply as he fell victim to a soft wash of tears. So this was why…
As he sank to his knees on the cold tiling of the floor, droplets of water plopped softly upon the picture and trickled downwards, smudging the fine, swift lines and leaving dirty grey marks in their wake. He didn't notice; he didn't care. He simply sat there, shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs as he clutched at the innocent object which held the single word which tore his heart apart:
…Goodbye.
At the counter, the bowl of ice cream remained untouched.
The next day, she never turned up. Nor did she turn up the day after, or the day after that…Chrno knew she would never turn up again.
And she never did.
But he never gave up hoping.
The Sun rose, high and blinding in the noontime's sky. The ice cream parlor was still there, only a bit older; and the bell which hung at the handle was one and the same, only slightly rusted and its old shine lost to it.
Despite all that however, it creaked under the weight of too many customers.
Giggling, gossipy schoolgirls, to be exact.
The "awkward boy behind the counter" no longer existed. Instead, in his place, there was a drop-dead-gorgeous high school senior who sported a long purple braid. The company's ice cream cap fell over his eyes as it always had, but now, instead of referring it as "dorky", the schoolgirls now referred to it as a kind of "casual elegance".
Oh, had he grown. From the awkward, ugly duckling he was, he had grown into a teen, halfway to adulthood, with a kind of shy, gentlemanly charm. Which turned a lot of females on, I may add. It's pretty amazing what two years could do to a boy.
It's pretty weird how time changes others' perspectives; Chrno ruminated as he rolled his eyes. Another schoolgirl was being dared by her friends to talk to him. Shyly, twiddling her fingers, she went up to him. Chrno saw her throw a frightened backwards glance at her friends who gave her supposedly encouraging thumbs-up signs. He cocked his head questioningly to one side, waiting for her to finish what she had to say out of politeness.
Had he been Aion…let's just say the girl would have dashed away in a flood of tears. His brother could be very very direct at times.
Anyway, the schoolgirls left like they always did – disappointed. But Chrno had a vague suspicion they would be there to bug him again the next day. He seriously considered quitting. There was no need for him to work anymore, not that he had won the scholarship and that Aion had found a nice, stable income.
…But he couldn't bring himself to do so. Part of him said that it was because he had grown attached to the place after working there for so many years; the other part of him said it was because he'd grown use to working and would feel weird to simply idle about.
Chrno knew it was neither. But he left it at that.
Chrno sighed as he leaned back, gazing at the almost untouched tub of strawberry ice cream. It seemed as though nobody could appreciate the old-time favorite now. Not when there were many new fascinating flavors to choose from. Oh no. Strawberry was now one of the flavors hidden by the many new tastes. Absent-mindedly, as he propped his chin up, gazing at the tub with nostalgia, he wondered if she still liked it as much as she did two years ago, or had gone after some new flavor with zest…
The lad shook his head vigorously to clear his thoughts. No, he scolded himself firmly. Don't dwell on the past!
But he couldn't help doing otherwise.
Outside, with his back against the glass walls of the shop, Aion sighed. Out of the corner of his violet eyes, he saw his younger brother having coffee with the past again. Exasperated, Aion rubbed the back of his head idly as he dialed a set of numbers onto his cell phone.
"You'd better thank me for this," he sang almost childishly as he lifted the phone to his ear, waiting for the other line to pick up.
"Hello? Miss Rosette? I'm Aion, Chrno's elder brother…"
Chrno was all set to close the shop for the day when the bell jingled, announcing a customer's arrival. Thinking it was another one of those annoying schoolgirls up to her tricks again, he sighed, clearly irritated.
"I'm really sorry," he begin, whipping around to give his junior a good telling-off, "but for the last time, I – "
He stared, gaping, mouth still opened from his unfinished sentence hanging in mid-air. She stared nervously back at him, her feet shuffling uneasily.
"…hello?" she enquired timidly, flushing faintly.
Chrno closed his mouth and rubbed his eyes. Hard. Then he opened them again.
No, he wasn't hallucinating. She was here, she was here!
He wanted to tell her so much, but he simply couldn't find the words. His greeting got lumped up within his throat, just as his hand, hard-wired by the old times, twitched instinctively towards the strawberry ice cream.
So instead, he smiled shyly and asked, "The usual?"
She blinked…
…and her face split into that of an oh so familiar grin.
"The usual," she agreed. And after she took her ice cream and had her back turned to sit at her usual spot in the parlor, she hesitated, then turned again to look at him.
"Join me?"
There was a hint of a pleading note in her voice which Chrno did not hesitate to obey. He grabbed the chocolate ice cream – his much loved flavor ever since he was a toddler – and plopped down beside her, returning the smile.
This time, she blushed. Then him. And they both burst out laughing.
Time passed quickly and seeped through their fingers like sand would. Soon, night fell, and she got up reluctantly, announcing that she had to go depart.
He looked up, horrified.
Already?
Even though she had already moved back and that he would see her again a few hours from then on, he didn't relish the prospect of her leaving again. Of her leaving him again. What if something happened? What if something bad took place and they would never meet again? What would he do then?
She couldn't help but smile at his expression. "I'll be back tomorrow," she promised, turning to leave.
That is, until a warm hand pulled her back.
She had meant to look at him curiously, to hear what he had to say. She never for a moment expected the ever so shy boy from her childhood to meet her with his lips, to engage her in a passionate lip lock…
…but hey, who's complaining? She kissed back with much tenderness and ardor than she had ever given, or he had ever received.
After a few heavenly moments in Elysium, Rosette pulled back to gaze at Chrno straight in the eye. A soft clash of red against blue.
"Hnnn," she murmured thoughtfully, running a small pink tongue over her lips, "I may just get to liking chocolate ice cream yet…"
He caught her eye and smiled.
The next day, he handed her the serving of ice cream she ordered: 3 scoops of strawberry ice cream doused in maple sauce, along with a side sprinkling of chopped up hazel nuts…
…with a familiar scoop of russet-colored ice cream sitting defiantly on top.
As she leaned in to receive the blue limpid bowl, she caught his eye and the two of them shared a bashful, secretive smile.
He was contented, bubbling with warm, jubilant ecstasy…
… he couldn't ask for more.