#impara17: power of love

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci settles with Aiden at a picnic table and digs into the oreos and she's pretty good about the powdered sugar until Aiden gets it on his cheek...and chin, and dusts his jeans. While she's biting into one, she smirks, at that sends sugar everywhere. She can't help but laugh after the fact, covering her face with one hand.

She feeds Sunflower a bit of the batter part and grins at Aiden, attempting to remove the powdered mess from her face and clothes.

Tonight...was such a good night.

Aiden lets Luci tug him and he goes to stand in line for the oreos. They’ve also got some other deep fried items but he’a so dead set on them. He laughs too, “It’s easier said then done,” he comments because powdered sugar as a mind of it’s own most of the time anyway. When it’s ready, he takes the box and grabs more napkins. There’s a picnic table and he goes to sit.

He bites in, regardless if it’s hot. And fuck, it is so good. Whoever accident created this is a genius.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci smiles at the for now, her stomach doing a soft flip at what feels like a promise. It's nice. She reaches out and tugs onto Aiden's wrist as they step back into the street, making a b-line for the fried oreo stand. It's past the jazz and near the end of the festival, where she started. She moves to stand in line with him, paying for an order of five oreos they can share.

"The trick is to try and eat these without getting powdered sugar absolutely everywhere." She laughs.

Aiden tosses his cup and sticks his hands into the pockets of his jeans. His head tips down as he smiles to himself about her admission, well, she’s not wrong. He wants to tell her too but he bites back his comment because Aiden can’t afford for things to be messy right now. Instead he looks over at her and nods. “For now,” he echoes because he knows that means there will be a later.

He looks out at the crowd and there’s a jazz band playing on the street. They sound good and there’s actually a couple people dancing too, couples. He smiles to himself because he swear he sees blonde hair then his brother but there’s a family that blocks his view.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci runs a hand through her hair and skirts along the side the fence around the cemetery to avoid a couple who is more interested in kissing than watching where they're going. Though she can't blame them...she can't remember the last time she's been kissed. Probably pathetic. She fixes the leash she's got on Sun and keeps walking with Aiden, looking out to the spooky cemetery with a smile.

"Oh I totally agree," And she knows she sounds like a broken record, "It's nice talking to someone who gets it. I just feel like there's another layer or multiple layers to life that we can't see, that pulses along ours. We can't be the only ones existing." Then she smirks, "I'll save you from my alien talk for now."

Aiden hums warmly because she’s not wrong at all. “I don’t see a point in deny things we either don’t understand or don’t know,” he tells her because he has seen many, many things that have exceeded his expectations over all these years. He side steps as a couple of teenagers not paying attention almost run into them. Looks like they’re on a date, he thinks.

He looks at the cemetery and sighs softly. It’s like he’s aware Evelyn is gone, but being with Luci is comfort too. He’s reminded of her but also… not? It’s scrambles his brain a little.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci knows it's probably a foolish question, she remembers her ex kinda turned his nose up at the entire concept of her enjoying spooky stuff. He just thought it was foolish--her aunt always said 'drop him' the minute she began to talk about him. She smirks a little in thought--Aunt Evelyn always had stories about ghosts and vampires and witches growing up.

It was one of her favorite things.

"I totally think so too," She brightens, glad Aiden doesn't completely shut her down, "I believe in all that stuff," Though, she knows it probably makes her naive, "Just seems like in a place like this? That kinda stuff seeps right into your pores."

Aiden sips on his mango lemonade slushie and hums in content. It’s really good. He knows sometimes August doesn’t care much about human food, but considering his girlfriend is a human… he wonders if Ryan is forcing him to taste test everything. Sounds amusing. He glances back at Luci and he thinks she’s having a nice time even though he’s certain her dog keeps side eying him.

Another sip, “I think almost anything is possible,” he tells Luci. “Ghosts, things that go bump in the night,” he’s playing into it a bit but they are also in one of the most creepy cities in the world.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci grins, finishing her chicken and using a few napkins in her pocket to wipe her hands and mouth. She can tell Aiden is feeling full, which she can relate, walking wouldn't be a bad thing. She's so used to being stuffed, she loves eating. Loves sharing food with friends and family...definitely one of her love languages.

"Yeah, we can do that." She snickers, standing up and tossing her trash. "They're by the front I think, anyways."

She begins walking with him again and they pass by the gates to a cemetery because it's practically common place here. She chews on the inside of her cheeks, looking up at Aiden.

"Do you believe in ghosts and stuff like that?" She asks curiously.

He chuckles lightly, “No need to government name me,” he jokes as he tries the buttery buffalo and that’s really good too. Then he tries his last dip which is a sweet Lousiana barbecue and of course, it’s good. He wipes the corner of his mouth with a napkin and tosses it away, picking back up his drink.

“Say, we should walk for a bit before finding thise deep fried oreos,” he suggest because he might actually explode. Then he’ll be the first person is two different kinds of history books.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci knows that maybe this is one of those things that shouldn't be so good, chicken on a stick. Many ways to fuck this up, even if it's a large chicken finger. Chicken in her opinion isn't like pizza, no matter how odd the slice or how okay it is, it's still decent because it's pizza. So when Aiden says it's good, she preens with a knowing smile.

"I know what I'm talking about O'Connell." She rips off a few pieces as she goes to feed to Sunflower and rubs between her ears. She's still a little...not herself around Aiden, but at least she isn't growling anymore or snapping. She'll warm up to him.

Aiden smiles lightly as he dips the chicken into his sauce and goes in for the first bite. He chews and it’s crunchy, actually flavourful and good. “Okay,” he mumbles and takes a sip of his drink. “You were right, it is good,” he tells her but he’s getting full so fast. He’s really going to have to pace himself since he had some blood this morning. Not that vampires get sick, but it feels like he could.

“Sweet chilli sauce is great, gonna try the buffalo next,” he says. Which is also good so he’s really gotta hand it to Luci here.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci hums lightly about August and Ryan wandering around, enjoying the festival as well. They seem like they’d be a sweet couple, even though she hasn’t met August yet. Ryan seems sweet and beautiful though, so she’s sure like calls to like. 

She glances at Aiden as he orders for them and she does her best to pay this time around, taking her fried chicken on a stick. Yum. She selects three different sauces, moving with her dog towards somewhere where they can lay everything out. 

“Garlic has to be one of my favorite flavors.” She tells him as she dips a bit of her chicken stick in the garlic ranch. 

“Literally thanking someone for this every day.” She grins. 

“Yeah they had left before I did, so I’m sure they’re out here somewhere,” Aiden says and he looks around like maybe he hears them but there’s so much sounds and people around. “Ryan had mentioned something about some alcoholic slushies she saw.”

Aiden picks out a few different sauces and is ready to try them once they get this chicken on a stick. He moves them off to the side where some tall tables are set up for people to stand and eat. “Alright,” he says and chooses a sweet chilli dip to try first.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci grins and follows him towards the chicken stand. There's this stand for homemade dog treats between the lemonade and their destination and Sunflower sits on the ground in front of it like she knows. Luci snickers and stops at the stand and picks up some of the peanut butter ones, making sure she feeds her dog one before they move forward.

"Spoiled." She teases her even though Luci would totally be the same way...she's big on the small treat culture.

They stop in line for the chicken on a stick and she sips her lemonade, really good and refreshing.

"Did Ryan and August come tonight too?" She asks curiously as they move up. Her eyes go to the small menu that mentions all the sauce selections.

Aiden chuckles softly, rubbing the side of his jaw as he nods. “Well now it’s more interesting when you meaning dipping sauces,” he jokes softly and follows her along. There’s an interesting lemonade stand he briefly stops at. Frozen lemonade isn’t a new concept for Aiden but frozen mango lemonade is, so he definitely gets ones of those and a lemonade for Luci if she’d like one.

It’s perfect and he knows he’s probably the least vampirey vampire sometimes. A lot of vampires thing normal food is disgusting and yet some things he can’t get enough off. Weird vampire flex, but he’ll take it.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci smiles warmly, glad that Aiden's interested in this...baking session she's come up with on the fly. It's just, of course it's nice having someone to talk to about her aunt--trauma bonding and all that. But Aiden's nice, he's thoughtful, funny...it'd be nice to have him as a friend too. Where they can hang out, have common interests and...not talk about Evelyn. That's the balance of healing, right?

She tosses her trash as well and gently tugs Sunflower to follow them, a laugh slipping out of her chest as she grins at Aiden,

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing." She nods, "The hype is real. There's also a lot of dipping sauces too! So good luck picking them...I try to limit myself to three."

Aiden tosses out his napkin into a nearby trash bin and nods. “That could be something I’m interested in,” he replies about this baking session. It seems rather harmless although he realizes he’s beginning to dig up this past grave he buried when he has to leave Evelyn and New Orleans to keep up the facade. Fool me once…?

He begins to walk with Luci again to find this infamous chicken on a stick she keeps mention. “I hope you realize you’re realling hyping this chicken on a stick, so it has high expectations now.”

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci raises her eyebrows, impressed. She's not sure she would have guessed that about him? But maybe she should have, given how much he seems to love sweets.

"Well I'd love to try those sometime, maybe we can have a baking--" She almost bites her tongue on the word date and blinks, "Session together. You make cookie bars, I'll do the cupcakes."

She has another bite, humming at the sweetness of the icing and the moistness of the cake. It's perfect. She looks over her shoulder as she sees some other booths.

"Alright, next goal is to find our chicken on a stick." She nods, matter of fact, determined.

Aiden licks his thumb and steps to the side with her. He likes the sugary thin icing that’s drizzled over the cake. Powdered sugar and milk, who would have thought? He smiles and listens to Luci talk about cakes and tarts, all delicious sounding things. “Not to brag but I do make these pretty good cookie bars,” he tells her and laughs. It’s not that impressive but it’s something.

“Tarts are good, think the pastry is the hardest part,” he tells her. “The texture has to be right.”

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci smiles at the guy behind the booth and they move to the side, standing in a spot that isn't as crowded so they can enjoy this bundt cake without getting it all over themselves. She hums as she licks some icing off and then scoops a bit onto her fork for Sun.

"Not weird at all, everyone has their quirks." She grins.

She then thinks about the question, really trying to suss out…

"Well, bundt cakes, actually, I just like using that fun pan and flipping it over." She smirks and has another bite, "But cupcakes have been really fun, I'm trying to get good at tarts…it's hard to fill them with great filling and then mastering the flaky pastry part, you know? I want them to be perfect."

Aiden chuckles softly and shakes his head, “Don’t worry about it, it’s probably a weird dislike anyway. If it’s mixed in dips I eat it, there’s just something about icing I’m unsure about.” He looks over some and then picks out the snickerdoodle, offering some cash to the man and takes the mini bundt to split with Luci.

“What’s your favourite thing to bake?” He asks her, taking a plastic knife to cut the cake in half and hands it over to Luci. “We didn’t have cakes like this…” he trails for a moment. “This good growing up. Just the store bought ones that are kind of dry, you know?”

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci licks her lips and raises her eyebrows,

"Oh! I didn't realize you didn't like cream cheese, I'm sorry--practically shoved that taster down your throat." She smiles a little, shaking her head at how wound up she can get over sweets and baked goods. She supposes her and Aiden have that in common.

She meanders over some other flavors and points out lemon raspberry or snickerdoodle, "Those look like they have regular icing..." She chews on her lower lip, "Whatever you want, I'll share. I'm not picky," She teases him, feeding a tester to Sunflower when she begs with big eyes.

Thing is, Ryan and August finding out he’s been hanging out with Luci wasn’t going to be a secret forever. How could it have been? He was more so keeping it to himself because he’s the type of person to assess and then speak on. This might be a little different given the circumstances but… maybe they understand in a way. He’s more surprised August hasn’t said anything to him.

“Yeah, but it it’s got the cream cheese frosting, I’ll have to dock some points from it,” he tells her, scanning to see what other flavours are here as well.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci hums a bit. She doesn't know either of them very well, but she could sense that Ryan was happy. It was the way she said 'boyfriend' and in the sparkle in her eyes. She has to admit, she misses that part of being in a relationship, that comfortable happiness that sugarcoats your day.

"That's good for them." She smiles, "She seemed smitten." Gotta be some good genetics in this family.

"Want to share a red velvet one?"

Aiden stops when Luci does and takes this mini cake from her, laughing a bit as she kind of shoves it at him and he nearly drops it. But he eats it and it’s incredible. He swipes crumbs off of his beard and hums in content, grabbing a napkin.

“Oh,” he smiles a bit because he doesn’t think Ryan would have sought out Luci anyway. So he knows it’s a coincidence and the Quarter is small-ish. “Yeah, she’s a good person. Balances out my brother nicely,” he says, not that Luci knows August but he thinks enough is said with that. “They kind of recently got back together.”

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci smiles a little as they keep going and then she stops by this place that has mini bundt cakes, her eyes going wide in excitement. She reaches for a tester, red velvet, and hands Aiden one too. She pops it into her mouth and nearly moans--

"Oh my god, that's so good." She has to get one. She looks at the flavors and then back up at Aiden, nodding her head.

She hopes it's alright she's mentioned something?

"Yes, she came into the cafe. Her name was on the cup and I just kinda...asked her if she knew you two. She was so nice--and beautiful." She's got the kind of glow that Luci wishes she could posess.

Aiden thanks the lady working the booth as he eats the sample then keeps on moving with Luci. He slips one hand into the pocket of his fitter jeans and keeps an eye out for any other booths that might bring some interest. His head turns to look at Luci and smiles as she speaks about her day with such enthusiasm and he’s glad her day was good. But he gets side stepped as she mentions Ryan.

“Oh, you did?” And it’s not accusatory or anything but he can start to connect the dots in his brain that if Ryan has met Luci, then her and August know he’s been talking with her, hanging out. He doesn’t think it’s going to cause a rift but he’s not sure.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci watches Sunflower for a few moments, just making sure she can read her body launches correctly. She’s only ever snapped at one guy who wouldn’t leave her alone while she was trying to walk her. She’s always been wonderful around families, kids, men who don’t pose a threat. The last thing she wants is for her to snap at Aiden…especially since she’s not quite sure why that would put her dog on edge. She knows that animals have a sixth sense, but she just…she feels like she’s gotta be off about Aiden. He’s been nothing but sweet and thoughtful. Maybe Sun just has to get used to him. 

She wanders the festival with him, grinning as they occasionally stop at booths to do samples. The Mac n cheese? Life changing. 

“It was good!” She hums, tossing the empty cup in the trash. “I worked at my internship this morning and then took a cafe shift mid day. Busy but good. What about you?” Then she blinks, “Oh I totally forgot to tell you, I met Ryan the other day.”  Though he probably knows.

Aiden rounds to the other side of Luci and he understands why her dog is so cautious. Nature vs nature, he literally dated a werewolf so he knows. He smiles at Luci and nods as they begin to walk around. There’s so many smells and it’s a little bit intoxicating in a good way. He looks around at different tables and booths.

“How was your day?” Aiden asks her as they begin to scope out. He spots a mac and cheese booth and he can’t help but stop, and take a sample of it to try.

[lucifitzgerald]

Luci nods, petting between Sunflower's ears,

"Yeah, that'd be good. Like I said, she'll settle, right Sunflower?" Her dog seems to chuff in response but Luci smirks and looks over at Aiden as he stands on her other side. She wants to...for some reason, go off into this tangent about how she hasn't dated anyone in a while. So the only man she's had over her place is...pretty much her dad.

But she doesn't.

She hums a little at his question, "Let's walk! We can discover stuff on the way." She grins, her eyes taking in his overall look for the night. Despite how she met Aiden and...maybe it's not the most uh, pertinent, she has eyes and he's very handsome.

Aiden weaves through people until he goes to a meeting spot. He only has to watch a few moments before he sees Luci and Aiden smiles to himself. Although there's a trick of the sunlight and the various people passing her that has him seeing Evelyn back in '56 and then distort back to Luci right here, right now. He blinks a few times, shaking it off as he offers her a small smile.

He looks to her dog and takes a step back, not really for himself but for her dog. "It's alright, I understand. I can walk on your other side so it doesn't bother her, if that's better?" Aiden offers. "Did you want to go there first or look around?"