"Sentences With Technically Don't Usually End Well," She Murmured, Knowing 'but' Was Coming. Leyla Chose

Though Leyla did not have much of a sweet tooth, she was in the area to find the cat cafe and thought she might go for a small cup of something. Perking up as she heard the woman next to her murmur something about a bad day and cookie dough, Leyla offered her a supportive smile and a shrug to her question. "Will you judge me if I say vanilla?" She asked, knowing most people did have a true favorite ice cream. Cookie dough in ice cream, though, did sound like the makings of a sugar high for days, but she didn't tell the disappointed woman that. "I don't eat a lot of sweets. All of these flavors are actually making my head spin a little."

who: kennedy & open [ 2 / 5 ]

where: the creamery

Kennedy had a particularly stressful day, running around town doing errands for an upcoming wedding. She knew what she was getting herself into when taking the job, but she still found herself a bit overwhelmed from time to time. So she decided to treat herself to some ice cream, knowing she had a bit of a sweet tooth and deciding to indulge in it as some type of reward after the hectic day. Glancing at the flavors, she noticed they were out of her favorite flavor. "This day just keeps getting worse," she mumbled to herself and glanced over at the person also waiting in line. "What's your favorite flavor? They're out of cookie dough which should be constituted as a crime." she was joking of course. "But if you say mint chocolate chip, I will be judging you."

I don't think I'm meant for this world It wants me straight, but I huddle up and curl But I don't want to give up the fight It's black or white, it's wrong or right, and I am just a girl

Is it too late? For me? How will I be remembered when I leave?

Part of Leyla had wanted to get a place on her own, close herself off completely at the end of a long day. No one to tell her when she needed to stop working sounded divine. But she had learned the importance of coming into the light, and so she made the choice to surround herself with people. Bleary-eyed from looking at the numbers from the weekend on her laptop, she went to make herself some tea. The 'hmm' reached her ears before she realized anyone was in here. "Tea," she corrected as she grabbed her teapot and began to fill it with water, "lavender to relax. Would you like some to go with your snack?"

WHO: Darrius & @leyla-tehrani

WHERE: home; coastal area

WHEN: August, 2023

School would be starting soon, and although Darrius loved teaching at the community center, he absolutely dreaded the last few weeks before the first day. Sure, he could play it cool and say that he loved coming up with lesson plans and deciding what they would learn and when and why and how, but there was that extra layer of stress that sometimes led to him needing some sort of sweet treat. That was why he found himself with his head in the fridge, sorting through jars of this and that, and letting out a 'hmm,' only righting himself when he heard someone else enter the kitchen. "Are you looking for a snack, too?"

DOOM PATROL: AMENDS PATROL

Leyla laughed as they both moved for her phone, navigating around each other to not go full comedy of errors. Stopping, she let him get it, just holding her hand out for it. "Thank you. I invest in solid cases, not the first time my phone has hit the ground," she said with a warm smile as she brushed some grass and dirt off it, "but our conversation was done anyway, my employees probably wish you'd bumped into me earlier." She laughed again before teasing, "so you think you can manage to get that where you're going without taking out small children along the way or do you need some help?"

“Oh!” Vince said quickly as he realized she had dropped her phone. He tried to strategically move down to grab it, swerving his body quickly enough so that they wouldn’t bump into each other again, making a bigger mess of things. He laughed and grinned. “Hope the phone’s not too damaged, though. You can say there was a big doofus who doesn’t look where he’s going which is why the call got interrupted,” he chuckled.

"You're welcome," she said softly, "I actually picked this up at What's The Tea recently. Their tea is really fantastic." Watching as he grabbed a fork for his fruit, she then placed the teapot on the stove to heat the water. "I'm the employee I have to tell to go home," she offered with a bit of a laugh, "and still keep working." She had always been bad about giving up control, still trying to do absolutely everything herself. "I always liked school--well, the work part anyway." She was about to ask about the fun of lesson planning when he answered that himself. "Words easily blend together after a while, right?" She perked up at the mention of the dogs, her favorite roommates in all honesty. "If you ever need help with them, someone to check on them while you're in class or something, I love dogs."

"Thanks," he offered her a bright smile in return, before locating a fork, deciding not to be a total barbarian that afternoon and picking at the fruit in the bowl, chewing through a piece of pineapple thoughtfully. "Makes sense. You're your own boss, and you best employee, right?" Unless she had someone else who did the dirty work! And even then, she probably still deserved a raise. "I do, at the community college," he nodded. "This is the time of year where I start gearing up to teach again, hence the snack break. Lesson plans are only fun for so long," which could be sad about any type of work, he was sure. "That, and I gotta take the dogs out in a few."

Oh, I hate the paperwork! I like the math part, actually, but the paperwork still feels like mountains. The inventory, food cost, payroll, taxes, oh my! I don't know how to shut it off, honestly, I feel like I'm basically working 24/7. I probably do need to outsource some of it. I can't stop thinking about it, I feel like I'm in love all over again.

So my least favorite part of owning my own business is all the paperwork that comes with it. I don’t know why people will willingly voluntarily do math in their free time, but I’m really glad that I’ve got software to help me with all that. And then a family friend to make sure everything is good and dandy. Do you have this problem too? @leyla-tehrani

Leyla knew it. Though not the world's best judge of character, she was pretty confident in her guess this time. "I thought of making a Pumpkin Spice mocktail, but I worried I'd be too cliche, so I settled for Autumn Spice and Pumpkin Pie as separate beings. Maybe I should reconsider?" She smiled brightly at the woman's selections, "no drink minimums here. The only cutoff is closing time, and even then, I'm flexible." As she started on her drink, she asked, "did you enjoy Creek Fest? I've never seen people so invested in town activities like they are here. I mean, New York events were busy, of course, but it's just a different energy if that makes sense."

Grinning widely at Leyla's assessment, Nari nodded her head eagerly. "I am a girl who loves a seasonal specialty. Which is me admitting to be one of those pumpkin spice latte people," first day that Cobblestone broke out the fall menu, Nari was in line. And if Maw Tales was going to have a good drink to make her think of falling leaves and jack-o-lanterns, golden sunsets and brisk walks in the morning, then she was going to tae it. "How about…" she licked her lips thoughtfully. "Let's go with the Autumn Spice first, and then I'll try the Pumpkin Pie Martini mocktail next? No rule that says I can't have the best of both worlds, right?"