Samples!

Who: Jaime and Nic
Where: streets
When: evening (7 or 8 P.M.)

Who said winter always sucked? To Nic, the cold air felt good against the heated flush her skin still had as she left the kickboxing studio behind, shouldering her backpack wearily. Her limbs ached, her muscles burned, but she also felt satisfied with the soothing chill of the light wind on her exposed cheeks. Tonight had been training in multiples, lessons in how to handle fighting more than one person, and although she'd gotten smacked more than once? She was learning. That was the key, she figured as she walked and dug her cigarettes from her sweatshirt. She'd take the hits, the chiding words, the frustration of losing to the more advanced students, so long as every day she spent there was progressive.

And at least the temptation to throw around some bluster wasn't present, not with how bare the streets generally seemed tonight. There was an idle car rolling by here and there, detailed briefly under the streetlights, and the odd person across the street or ahead of her, but otherwise? Nic didn't have much to focus on. But that and her exertion left her far too aware of the grumble in her stomach, and as she lit up, she hoped dinner was waiting, or that her smoke would curb her hunger if it wasn't.

Ahhh... The day was spent wandering. Jamie had wearily walked around the town, trying to familiarize himself with the new setting. It seemed like a nice enough place. A small, quiet town.

Granted, none of it got absorbed considering his brain was half-asleep. Something about buildings and doors and... uhh... Yeah. They were next to each other. And roads in front. He remembered that much too.

At the moment, he was chilling (doubly so considering it was winter) outside the front of his bakery. There was possibly something odd about him just... sitting there, maybe like a wandering hobo or something, but that thought didn't occur to him. Not yet anyway. Oh, oh, and there was that idea about passing out samples. Cookies! He has them.

His back leaning against the wall, with a tray of cookies sitting on his crossed legs (would people want hobo cookies?) and his head hanging off to the side, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. 'Sleeping outside on a cold night. Bad idea.'

But someone passing by pulled him out of his muddled thoughts. He peered closer, wondering if this was his lack of sleep, or if there was someone actually there. Hmm... They looked real... And they looked to be maybe in their teens. A kid wandering around at night! Wasn't that dangerous or something? Even in a small, quiet town...

"Isn't it kind of late?" He half-mumbled out.

The mumbled voice penetrated Nic's vague focus on the snowy sidewalk in front of her. She'd missed something, someone off to her right, and she felt stupid for a moment. Missing that sort of detail would get her killed in this town, she knew. The stupidity shifted easily to a vague anger that felt familiar, a little hostility she could redirect at the speaker. Her head turned, cigarette dangling from her lips with a low glow as Nic spoke before even getting a good look at Jaime. "Sharp, buddy," she muttered, "You should climb up the corner of Washington and take over for the clock there." Then she blinked because, hey, random guy with cookies. "Are... uh... what are you doing?" Nic asked with a curious frown, "Little cold and, like you said, late, to be peddling cookies, isn't it?"

Mmm. Kids shouldn't smoke. It was bad for their health. Lowered their life span. Kids shouldn't have to worry about that sorta thing.

Corner of Washington. Hmm. A clock? Jamie remembered seeing... his watch... Hmm... He remembered seeing corners too. Oh well. For now he'd just have to deal with not understanding what she meant. His eyes drifted from the cigarette to her eyes.

"Samples. Don't mind the cold. Old enough to drink." He merely stated, the latter fragment with a bit of an, 'unlike you' tone. He was too out of it to say more than that.

"Wait, the samples are old enough to drink? Because I don't want one in that case," Nic joked dryly, brow lining in confusion. This guy seemed... a little odd, to put it lightly. "Or if you meant you are? You should be old enough to know better than to sit still in weather like this." Maybe he was suffering from exposure or something. "This your place?" she asked, nodding at the building behind Jaime and studying it intently. It looked like someone was in the process of moving in, and if it was him? Well, he had some bad timing in deciding to move here.

Wait, what?

Jamie waved her off lightly. He didn't need no whippersnappers worrying about him. Though it was nice to have someone worry, even though they were a stranger and younger. He could only seem to talk straight with kids. (Maybe that was reflective on his maturity...?)

"Kind of. Bake here."

Nic smirked at the dismissal, shaking her head at Jaime. Maybe he was just the sparsely-worded sort, and he was definitely amusing in that odd-encounter sort of way. "Yeah? You must be new in town, I know this bakery wasn't here last week," she informed him, nodding knowingly, "Got any coffee in there to go with the sample cookies?" Was she being... crafty? Nic was trying, yes. Angling for something to nibble on and a spot of warmth didn't sound like a bad time, after all.

"Yeah." Jamie merely responded to the 'new in town' observation. He looked back at the shop, pondering. Did he have coffee? He was kind of sure he had ingredients to make things, just he needed to pretty up the shop and make it more presentable at the moment.

"Could make some." He got up, holding the tray with a hand, and using the other to open the door.

"Only if it's free," Nic was quick to insist with her smirk still in place, taking a step towards the opened door. "And I should just get this tattooed so people know and I save my breath? But if you try anything, I'll give you a hands-on endorsement of the kickboxing place back that way," she explained with a nod towards the way she'd come, "I'm Nic, welcome to the world's frosty asshole."

"I don't hurt people." Jamie stated simply and matter-of-factly. Well, it wasn't exact truth, sure, he had a tendency to punch the nearest jerkhole in the face, but he tried not to hurt good people, and this kid seemed nice enough.

He set the tray down onto a counter. "Jamie," he nodded. "Thanks." Not exactly the best response, but he thought, when people welcome you, then you thank them. It was only polite...

He made his way back into the kitchen. "How do you like your coffee?"

Following after, Nic glanced around curiously at the unpacked boxes, the lists of ingredients, everything that would eventually come together to make the place his bakery. Really, it was already looking good. "Black with six sugars," she answered, "I'm a growing girl, after all." She chuckled quietly, hands stuffing into her sweatshirt pockets until coffee or a cookie was offered, and leaned against a wall to watch Jaime. "So, um, I know everyone knows about the ghosts? And I'm not trying to fuck with you here, but, uh... did you read any of the news about this place before you came here?"

"Take what you want." And with half a mind, Jamie started to prepare the coffee. The other half was on his guest. Had to pay attention to be a good host, after all. Never know when they might want to talk about ghosts or something.

...Wait.

Jamie knew about ghosts, but he didn't know about the ghosts, and to be honest, there were more frightening things to him than apparitions. Though, he might have to retract any previous thoughts about this being a quiet town...

"No. Threw a dart. Hit Marquette. Moved."

"Your aim sucks," Nic informed him with a smirk, untucking her hands and moving for the tray Jaime had been carrying. She plucked up a cookie, inspecting both ends with a mock-critical air before biting into one. His time spent outside had given it a nice chill, and Nic smiled in enjoyment as she chewed. "Your baking? Much better," she confessed after chewing down her first taste, "Seriously though, if you don't have, like, a lease to pay? Stop unpacking, dude. This town is fucked up."

Aw, well. The compliment about his baking made him happy~ He let himself have a small smile, to break the whole, 'I'm a tired and serious hobo' face. "Thanks." He started to stir the coffee after putting in the sugar. Hmm... A part of him was thinking, maybe he should leave, there were probably a ton of other places he could move... But another part was thinking, well, if you move now, then when are you going to stop?

"Why?" Jamie walked from out of the kitchen, and carefully handed Nic the cup of joe. "Hot." He warned.

Gingerly, she took the mug and slid her fingers through the handle, blowing away a curl of steam before sipping it. "Shit, man..." she said, wondering just how to explain it. Nic didn't want to launch into the whole 'monsters' aspect of things, because who knew if Jaime would believe her? Or maybe he was one of them. She wanted that to be an irrational thought, but it clung enough to keep her prudent. "First? There's the ghosts, but they're everywhere by now, worldwide and shit. We had these... animal attacks too? A lot of people got ripped up by whatever the fuck those things were. And before that there were the gangs, they got a lot more people, they tried burning down part of the city. And I'd need a helmet if I thought things were just over after all of that."

Exciting.

Jamie being apart of the whole supernatural scene, was already slightly aware of all the weirdery that's been going on in the world, but... Sigh. He was actually kinda hoping there were places that went untouched.

Guess his aim really did suck.

Crossing his arms, he wondered... Was he going to move? Did it scare him? Did he care?

No, and a little, yeah. But not enough to run out of town ASAP.

"I'll be okay."

Nic's reflex was to tell him 'your funeral' or something along those lines, except that now she knew it really could be. In fact, the only businesses in the area to not have suffered in the last year were the funeral homes. "Well, just... stay in when it gets dark and shit, okay? All the local fucking crazies seem to think they're vampires or some shit, steer clear of that scene if you can." Crafty! A warning without a clear admission of what she knew was out there. Nic wanted to pat herself on the back for even that baby-step towards learning how to handle the world she'd only just discovered.

Jamie chuckled to himself at the warning. Shouldn't she be following her own advice?

"Not afraid of vampires." He looked up at her and smiled a bit slyly. Did they think they were vampires because they were vampires?

"'sides, you should watch out for yourself." He nodded at her.

"I'm all good," she assured Jaime with a grin, quickly stuffing the other half of her cookie past her lips and chewing it slow, savoring it. She'd definitely need to point her mom at this store. "Been taking 'whup your punk ass' lessons at the kickboxing place, and I have people I can call if I don't get home before it's totally dark. Just for a ride or whatever." And she had Caleb's knife, although Nic knew she wasn't ready to really use it in a critical moment yet.

Jamie nodded. "Good." Well, it was always good to have a plan. He had half a mind to be one of her options for a ride home but... Maybe he shouldn't offer just quite yet. He figured that would give him a creeper vibe, and that was always a bad one to give off. Especially at night and... Hm... His eyes drifted over to the window as he reminded himself it was almost time for all the kiddies to be home.

"Do you have to get home soon?" He asked curiously.

"If I want to have a social life, yeah," Nic confirmed, glancing back out the front windows of the building and frowning at how the dark had settled. It happened so fast here in the winter time, she'd need a car soon if she didn't want to drive her mother or Caleb crazy with worry. "If I don't call from a friend's house or just get in, I'm grounded." Which was so suburban and clashed with how she presented herself, but Nic genuinely respected her mother, and her word was (almost always) law.

"Don't wanna be rude, but maybe you should go home now." Jamie shrugged. "Want cookies and coffee to go?"

"Is the pope's hat shaped like a dick?" Nic asked as an answer, holding up her mug for a slurp of coffee. "Hell yes I'll take some freebies, I'll even point my mom down here for when she buys treats for the people she works with." All in all, this was nearly the perfect cap to her day. The only way it'd be better would be if she walked out of Jaime's shop to find her quirky little stalker waiting for her, smiling that dangerous smile.

Jamie allowed himself a small chuckle as he went back to the kitchen to pack up the samples. Well... it was a good thing he wasn't in this for the money, huh? As he put the cookies in the small box, he wondered... Was it the best thing to do to stay here? And he answered to himself in his head: Every town being ravaged by supernatural forces needs a good bakery.

He exited, holding the small box by a tied string in one hand, and a styrofoam cup in the other.

"Take care."

When had she become so personable? It was probably the exhausted edge she felt just pushing right past her normal cynicism. In any case, it meant that Nic had managed not to offend at all, and that was a plus she supposed. She'd just work doubly hard to piss someone off tomorrow. "You too, and thanks," she said gratefully as she took the parcel, "Next time you're offering goodies? I'd recommend a hat." Nic smirked back at Jaime one more time as she turned and breezed out the door, somewhat hoping she'd get home unseen. She'd been a little too positive today. Of all the things to criticize myself for... she mused as she headed back into the dark.