4. BRUMOUS | ZDUHAĆ | WC: 1,080

Ziven glanced at the darkening sky with a grimace, pulling his coat closer to his body as he rushed through the streets. He could faintly hear the chattering nephelai as they went about their jobs, pulling down the clouds and pouring ozone into the air. Ziven looked back up at the sky, eyes focusing on the shadowy figures of the nephelai above, and focusing on his task at hand. That is, buying sweets for his sister's birthday.

Their relationship was one easily described as 'tumultuous,' though that wasn't without reason. Somehow, inexplicably, they'd ended up two very different things. Ziven was zduhać; born weak and awfully tired during the day, while Naomi was inexplicably undine. A spirit of wind and a spirit of water, born from two terribly human parents. At least Ziven could explain away how he ended up a protector spirit. Naomi was just undine. Ziven pulled his coat tighter, carefully sidestepping the piece of sidewalk that jutted up above the others, only to walk headfirst into a light pole.

"God fucking damn it," Ziven snarled, rubbing his aching forehead as he figured out where he was. Ah— there, Sweet on America. The shop was easy to distinguish, with its red and white striped awning and bright blue sign, far from the navy of the actual US flag. Ziven always thought it was endearingly obnoxious. He rushed towards it, slipping between the other pedestrians with practiced ease. He pushed carefully on the door, hearing the bell jingle as it always did, stepping inside quickly as the wind slammed the door shut.

"Hi, welcome to Sweet on America, let me know if there's anything I can do to help you," the cashier recited by rote, a smile plastered on his face. He looked miserable.

"Thanks," Ziven offered halfheartedly, wandering deeper into the store. It better not start raining before he got back home. Today was not the day he wanted to get soaked, and it wasn't like he had any real influence over the nephelai and storm outside of his sleep. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to be so lucky, though. He never was.

Ziven found himself in the chocolate section, breathing in the taste of chocolate and caramel, looking over the carefully packaged tins of little chocolates and chocolate covered fruit. Chocolate fruit was by far his favorite sweet, though he'd be hard pressed to miss out on stroopwafels or other carmel-centered desserts. If he was going to get Naomi a gift, he may as well get himself something, too.

Ziven pulled out one of the paper bags, scooping a generous amount of chocolate covered berries into it and folding down the top to finish with a little Sweet on America sticker. He pulled himself out of the aisle, moving towards the shelves of purely-sugar sweets. Naomi liked the little Lego bricks, the ones that connected poorly. Ziven liked stealing the yellow ones from her. He dumped a liberal scoop of them into a bag, and moved onto the next thing. He didn't actually know what else Naomi liked. Fruity things, maybe? She always asked for Skittles and Starbust when he went and got groceries.

"Hi, Ziven. Can I help you with anything?" a familiar voice asked, startling Ziven.

"Chrissakes, Sally," Ziven forced himself to take a few deep breaths. "I think I just had a heart attack. And maybe, actually. I'm trying to pick out some sweets for my sister's birthday. Not really sure what I should get her other than the Lego ones." He raised the bag of candy dumbly.

"Sorry, Ziven, usually you're more aware of your surroundings. Your sister's Naomi, right? Whenever she stops by she likes to get sour gummies, like these sour cherries, or gummy worms, or really any gummies," Sally offered. "I don't mean to purposefully sell you things, although that is my job, but we have a giant sour gummy worm. You could probably jab fourteen candles into it. Or you could bake a cake."

"I meant to," Ziven admitted. "Bake her a cake, I mean. Where's that giant gummy worm? Anyways, I meant to bake her a cake, but I mistimed when her birthday was, mostly because I slept through an entire weekend and devastated my schedule. At this point it's a little late to bake one myself, and most bakeries that are worth anything you have to order ahead of time."

"What about getting her cookies or doughnuts from a bakery? I know she really likes breakfast pastries," Sally suggested, showing Ziven the aforementioned gummy worm. It really was disgustingly large. Like, horrifyingly large.

"People eat those?" Ziven said, mouth twisting in disgust. "And that's a fair point, thanks Sally. There's a bakery on the way back to our apartment, I'll make sure to stop by. Although it's going to rain hard soon, the nephelai are really hard at work, I don't know about hauling around a box of pastries in the rain."

"I can give you an extra plastic bag to put it in," Sally offered. "How bad do you think this storm will be? Or how long will it last?"

"A week at most, though I'm doubting it'll be more than three days. I'll stop by tomorrow and let you know how it feels, if you like. Today will probably be the worst of it, though I'll make sure nothing gets terribly destroyed tonight. At least, to the best of my ability. This storm reeks of divine intervention, if you know what I mean."

"I know, thank you, Ziven," Sally said. She reminded Ziven viscerally of his own mother, despite the little time they'd had together. Maybe it was because she was just a genuinely kind person, or maybe it was because she smelled like licorice and sweets and warmth. Either way, Ziven always spared a bit of time to guide the winds carefully away from where she lived with her child.

"Thank you, Sally. As always, you seem to know the answer to all of my questions," Ziven joked. "I'm not buying that godawful gummy worm, though. I'll take a bag of little ones and some sour cherries, though. And yeah, an extra plastic bag would be appreciated."

"I do try," Sally laughed. "I'll go help Mark ring you up. Did you get your chocolate berries?"

"I got them first," Ziven admitted guiltlessly. It made her laugh brighten more, and Ziven smiled wistfully to himself. She really did remind him of his mother.