Lain and Rei

An hour went by, and Anya had helped a handful of customers. She helped an elderly woman by making her a pain relieving salve, and an herbal tea mix that would lull her to sleep at nights. A man had come in desperation, looking for help to allow him and his wife have a child. She'd given him some cloves for luck, dried fig for fertility, and a tea made of ginseng powder and hibiscus for sexual potency and an aphrodisiac.

With a lull in her day, she now sat at her counter, mindlessly shuffling her tarot cards as the coin sat snugly between her breasts. With her hands no longer idle, she wanted to keep it against her skin as a means of comfort. At the time she didn't know why. She ran a hand through her dark, golden tresses after setting the tarot deck down, and a card slipped out onto the counter. Blinking curiously, she turned it over was surprised to see The Lovers.

After sitting a few minutes simply rubbing the coin in her pocket, Anya stood up and went to the front door to flip the sign to "Open". She unlocked it once more, then went over to the small shelf beside the wall of herbs, and picked out some Dragon's Blood incense sticks. As she walked to the small readings table that was covered with a satin blue and silver lined cloth, she hummed beneath her breath. Once at the table, she carefully settled the sticks into the small jar of stones, then picked up the lighter from the table and lit them. Soon, small tendrils of gray smoke wisped through the air and carried the scent throughout the store. She smiled and then set up the sign that simply stated "Tarot Readings 35 crowns", then went to open the register and fill it up for the day.

Aodhe narrowed his eyes slightly, but as he was overcome with the odd feeling, he released Anya's wrist and stepped back. She hurriedly disengaged herself from his gaze and knelt down to pick the coin up. She immediately felt at ease and slipped it back into her pocket. She heaved a deep sigh of relief, then grabbed her drink.

"Goodbye Aodhe," she said a little sharply before turning on her heel and rushing out the door, having completely forgot about her drink. She walked swiftly down the block and rounded the corner to her shop. She took the keys out of her purse and unlocked it before stepping inside and relocking it. Rubbing her temple with her free hand, she went to sit on her stool and groaned.

"Anya? Hello, Anya!" Anya was snapped back out of her thoughts by Aodhe snapping his fingers in front of her. She blinked rapidly; he was standing beside her now, very close to her body, and her drink was on the counter.

"Ah, sorry," she said quickly, her cheeks turning slightly red. This wasn't from an attraction, more-so the discomfort of having him so far into her personal space. She grabbed her drink and went to take a step back, but Aodhe gently grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the coin. She was so startled, the coin slipped from her pocket and clanged to the floor.

"Anya, go out on a date with me?" the man asked, a dazzling smile on his lips. Anya's eyes darted to the coin and then back to his.

"Aodhe, I can't, we're friends---"

"So? Friends can turn into more than that," he interjected almost arguably. "Come on, one date. We can do dinner and a movie."

Anya hummed to herself softly as she walked towards town to open the store, thoughts not really focused on anything. She was rubbing the coin with her thumb, feeling oddly comforted by it. She briefly wondered if that man would return to make more purchases or not.

Once she crossed into the town business center, she went into the small Cafe and up to the counter. As she did, a rather handsome man with short blonde hair and deep brown eyes looked up and grinned.

"Good morning Anya, you want your usual?" He asked, staring at her in an appreciative way.

"Morning Aodhe, and yes please," she replied with a friendly smile. She didn't notice his somewhat obvious flirtatious tone or gaze.

"So how was your night, anything exciting happen?" He asked as he turned his back to her, making her drink.

" Oh, not really..." her trailed off slightly as her mind went straight back to the sinfully handsome man who had came in. Her hand tightened around the coin.