RP:Against All Odds

Part of the The Day I Tried To Live Arc

Summary: Brand makes quite the discovery in Mrs. Mallard's, with a bit of help from Onyx.

Mrs. Mallard's Bakery And Tearoom, Cenril

The bakery was as busy as usual during its afternoon lunch rush. Various servers ran about dealing with their customers and getting baked goods of all sorts from the kitchen. Khitti, being the newbie that she was, was currently busy with the sweeping. She had to sweep the -whole- restaurant. Including the kitchen. On top of that, she had to deal with the customers too AND help in the kitchen with the baking when it was needed. It was a tad overwhelming at times, but that’s a job for you. The redheaded female made her way out of the kitchen, keeping to the back the dining area, creating little piles of dust and dirt everywhere and trying her best to keep them out of everyone’s way as she hummed to herself. “Red! Hurry up and get back here! Your cake’s ready to be frosted!” Yessss! This was absolutely the best part of her day. The dirt and dust was swept off to the side and a rather excited redhead could be seen running off into the kitchen with the biggest grin on her face to tend to things before Mrs. Mallard could call for her again.

The best part of working with customers (or perhaps, the least-worst) is that some return regularly, get to know those behind the counter, and make themselves a fixture of the establishment near as much as the coffee pots and pastry trays themselves. The child who entered now just might become one. They’d come in yesterday as well as the day before, ordered far more than they could possibly consume by themselves, and left again. They were someone apprenticing for another one of the shops nearby, no doubt, sent on an errand to fetch a sugary “lunch” for their coworkers. Thing was, though, the child wasn’t exactly talkative. They weren’t rude either, just… unusually terse, for a child. Hello. Yes. Five slices of strawberry cheesecake, and an extra-large bag of double chocolate truffles. Here is your payment. No, I can carry it just fine. Thank you, goodbye… you said your name was Red? Goodbye, Red.

Today, though, the child does not enter the shop alone. Today, they are accompanied by a much older man, a man with emerald eyes and hair of rusted blonde. The child marches in ahead of the man, eyes scanning across the counter and the dining area. Whatever they’re looking for, they don’t find it here, and the man is urged to take a seat while the child fetches a set of menus. The man complies wearily, sliding into a booth and looking very, very hungover. By the time the child finds the menus and returns to the booth, the man has crossed his arms on the table and buried his head in them. He is already snoring.

The bell to the shop let out its usual noisy ring in the kitchen, alerting staff that someone else had walked in. Red had just gotten the frosting made, had the spatula in hand, and frosting even on the spatula when it went off. That grin she’d had minutes ago was soon wiped away as she heard, “Red! You’re up!” The newest employee of the bakery was next up on the list to take a customer and all she could do was make a face at the bell itself. Figures. Notepad and pencil in hand, the woman exits the kitchen, dusts off the powdered sugar from her outfit and approaches the table. “Oh! It’s you again! Are you here for your strawberry cheesecake and truffles? I actually made the cheesecake myself today!” That ever familiar voice would find both Onyx and Brand’s ears, the Dhavislaavian accent still present, though not quite so thick; the owner of the said voice beamed brightly at the child with her mention of conquering the dreaded strawberry cheesecake recipe. “Your friend must really be out of it. Shouldn’t he be at home asleep instead of here?” The redhead, dressed in a knee-high sleeveless peach dress, would lean over a bit to inspect Brand a little more closely. “Maybe he needs some coffee?” The snoring became a bit more evident the closer to him she got, “Maybe a lot of coffee.”

Brand is jolted awake by a sudden pain in his left shin. Onyx is seated across from him, seemingly too engrossed in the menu to be the culprit. “Yes. He definitely needs coffee. Black, double strong, with a single spoon of sugar. I will have sweet iced tea, for myself. And some time to look at the menu for both of us, if you please. We’ll be staying a while today.” Onyx waves her off to fetch the drinks just as Brand is groggily rubbing his eyes. “Gorram sonuva… how long was I out for?” He squints out at the departing waitress. Long red hair. Peach-hued dress. Her backside, her gait… impossibly familiar. Frak. He is still seeing ghosts of Khitti everywhere he turns, as he has for weeks. “Long enough,” replies Onyx, expression neutral. “I ordered your coffee for you.”

Khitti would return minutes later with both drinks, the mug and glass balancing precariously atop her tray. She’d been paying enough attention to notice that Brand was awake, but her mind was elsewhere, her line of sight occasionally focusing elsewhere in the restaurant in the off chance that she might be needed for something else. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” was offered to Brand, her fixation now on managing the drinks and setting them on the table before finally focusing on him, “You look--” And then she finally saw him and that face of his. “--gorgeous.” And then her brain melted. “I-I-I-I mean you look amazing--TIRED. Amazingly tired.” Cue that wide-eyed deer-in-headlights look and very obvious blushing--her face was suddenly as red as her hair! “I mean.” She cleared her throat, and tried so very hard to put on a professional demeanor (spoilers: it didn’t work), “My, uh, name is Red and I’m a fully functional adult human being that can make words and think properly and take your order. Because that’s my job. Yes.” She either wanted to hide behind her tray or hit herself with it until she passed out; it was really hard to say right now, but the look in her eyes betrayed her internal screaming despite the seemingly innocent flash of pearly whites that she offered along with her excuse for her actions. Please don’t think I’m weird. Please don’t think I’m weird. You’re really cute and you’re going to think I’m weird. “L-Let me know when you two are ready. I think I hear someone from the kitchen calling me.” For once, there was no one calling her, but that didn’t stop her from walking as quickly as possible to the other room.

Brand maybe didn’t process any of that, because he turned pale as a vampire and still as the dead as soon as he locked eyes with ‘Red.’ And it might be for the best, given the woman’s stammering. Not until she’d zoomed off again did he wheel on Onyx, practically hissing. “What in the seven gorram hells d’you think you’re up to? This is NOT some frakkin’ game.” He snatched the sugar bowl out from the child’s hand and ferreted it out of their reach. They were calm, too calm, even smirking faintly. Brand’s anger boiled up at the sight all the more.

“If she’s an illusion, she’s not mine,” shrugged Onyx, stirring what sugar they’d managed to get into their tea and taking a sip. Not quite as sweet as they would have preferred, but it would do. “Unless someone as strong as Facilier himself is out to torment you, we would notice a trace of magic, would we not? Otherwise, it seems she’s flesh and blood. I don’t suppose she had a long lost triplet hanging about with identical tattoos?”

Brand scowled. They both knew the answer to that. But if she was real, and she was alive… “She said her name was ‘Red’.”

“She doesn’t remember herself,” Onyx confirmed. Their gaze met Brand’s before falling back to the menu. “This is my third time here in as many days; I wanted to be sure before I mentioned it. She doesn’t remember herself, and she doesn’t remember me. It seems she doesn’t remember you, either.” They took a long swig of their tea until the bulk of it was gone. “Total memory loss. A clean slate, free of all your many -- she's coming back. Figure out what you want.” Onyx buried their nose in the menu.

“Oh man. He sure does look angry,” Red deduced to herself as she peered out the little window of the door that separated the two rooms. She didn’t linger long though, instead tending to the cake that she’d left, giving Brand and Onyx time enough to talk, hopefully cool off, and figure out what to eat. The carrot cake was finished and two small slices cut and plated before they’re brought out for the two. “Sorry. I don’t know where my head’s at today. It’s probably still out in that ocean where they found me.” Red slid the plates across the table in front of them, “Those are on the house, but I can get you whatever else you want too. And, obviously, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it. I just felt bad is all; it’s been a hell of a day.” She withdrew a bit of blue ribbon from a pocket in her dress, and tied up all of that red hair except two long sections that were more or less her bangs. “So… did you figure out what you wanted?” Another attempt at a pleasant smile is made, this one a lot more genuine. “I can leave you be if you still need more time…?” Red looked between the two, trying hard not to stare at Brand and those eyes of his.

“I’ll take another large bag of the truffles. You can pack it to go. I’ll just eat some here.” Onyx was quick on the draw, but not so with Brand. He stared, mute and mouth agape, from the menu to Khitti to the cake and back to Khitti once again. Onyx kicked him again -- it was undeniably them this time -- and Brand snapped back into something vaguely human. “I’ll, er. I’ll take a sandwich: ham, egg, and cheese. Don’t worry about… your head.” Yes, Brand, smooth. Super smooth. As smooth as the lump in his throat and the knot in his chest. “Someone found you in the ocean?” And it wasn’t him? And nobody told him?!

Khitti wrote down the order real quick-like before she managed to forget, then awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “Uh, yeah.” A pause as she stuffed her small notebook and pencil back into her pocket. “I, uh… this is going to sound really stupid but… I think a mermaid saved me.” She hesitated, then showed Brand her left arm--specifically, that mermaid tattoo of hers, “She kinda looked like this, but I was really out of it, so I could’ve just been imagining things. The Cenril guards--and even Mrs. Mallard--said that if it was a mermaid, I wouldn’t even be alive right now.” The redhead shrugged, then eyed the floor, awkwardly scuffing the tile beneath her with bottom of her shoe. She didn’t mention the fact that it had felt like everyone was hiding something from her, but it was likely just all in her head; she just hadn’t gotten her bearings yet when it was spoken of. “I… should not be boring you with this. Let me go get your food for you. I’m standing here talking and you’re probably starving.” Pivoting away from the table, she’d head off once more, leaving them to talk again as she went to fetch their foodstuffs.

Brand huddled over the table and his cake after Khitti left. “That’s one of the mermaids we saved,” Brand whispered, but Onyx seemed not nearly as intrigued. “Every action has a reaction,” they responded between mouthfuls. “She saved the mermaid, the mermaid saved her. This is a surprise to you?”

Brand looked puzzled, and maybe a little annoyed. “She was -dead-, Onyx. I saw her fall, and it wasn’t into the gorram ocean. There was nothing -to- save, much less there. How did she get there? Does this--” There was that lump again. “Does this mean it worked?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” Onyx quipped, eyes gleaming. Brand could swear they were enjoying this.

“Ah, yes, silly me. It’s as gorram simple as, ‘Hello stranger, I don’t s’pose you’ve suffered a mysterious thirst for blood and disturbin’ the dead lately?’ “

Surely both of them thought she was insane. As one of the chefs in the back made Brand’s sandwich and gathered Onyx’s truffles, she’d watch quietly through that same window as before as the two whispered back and forth. It didn’t even occur to her that maybe she should be a little weirded out by how well-spoken the child was? It felt as it should be there. But, with the blonde… she just felt… sad. Really sad. And she didn’t know why and that really bothered her. What if this was the only time she saw him? Well, it didn’t matter if she did or not. He was just a random customer and nothing more. Both items were wrapped up nice and neat in little paper wrappers with some string and was soon delivered to the undead and their captain, “Here you both go.” The redhead opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Her mouth would close, but then soon opened again, one thought replaced with another, “Whenever you’re ready to pay, someone else will have to tend to it. I’ve asked one of the other girls to keep an eye on you for when you’re finished. I, uh... “ Red motioned towards the door, “I’m going out for lunch and won’t be back for some time.” It really wasn’t all that long--a half hour, really--but she didn’t want them waiting around for her. Brand wouldn’t get his opportunity to ask her anything because she’d make sure to not linger this time, “You two have a good day, okay?” She tried her best not to stare at Brand again, but when she did manage to make eye contact once before leaving, she’d offer him that warm smile of hers again, then she’d be off and headed for the door.

Brand’s eyes ping-ponged from Khitti’s retreating form to Onyx. A clean slate, they’d said. Another chance. No pressure, he just had to not frak it up this time, right...? Khitti moved beyond the door, and finally his decision was made. “Hold the deck, Onyx,” Brand blurted, dashing for the entryway, leaving his first mate behind with the cakes and the drinks and half the man’s sandwich.

Brand crossed the threshold a moment later, the bell sounding behind him. He must have looked frantic, almost wild-eyed at the thought of losing her again. A nonsense thought, as surely she’d be back here the next day, but he was certainly not in his most rational frame of mind at the moment. “A ship,” Brand called to her, heart pounding as if he’d run a hundred miles to catch up to her. “I have a ship. Name’s Tranquility; she’s docked at the wharf. In case you want to… see if we can find your mermaid again.” He leaned back against the window, feeling suddenly quite ridiculous. What the hell kind of person chases after someone they supposedly just met?

Khitti spun around, blinking first at the fact that he followed her and then at that wild-eyed look of his. She hadn’t gotten too far before he’d made his exit and his offer, so it didn’t take long for her to close the gap between them. “We could, but I’m not even sure that I’m meant to find her.” Peering up at him, she tilted her head, studying him carefully. “Has anyone ever told you how pretty your eyes are? They’re so green--like emeralds.” Like the ones in my dream. She got lost in those eyes of his, crimson brows knitting together as she tried to decipher her dreams but was met with nothingness and instead just look entirely confused for a bit. “Do you know me…?” she’d ask quite suddenly. “Everyone else thought I was crazy, about the mermaid, but you… you’re the first one that actually -tried- to help and… you seem familiar. I probably am just crazy, though.”

Brand ’s mind worked double-time as she stared. How much of the truth should he reveal? It could be for the best, after all, that she’d forgotten all the hardships that had led to this point. Certainly, she’d smiled more in the last half hour than she had in months. But without her memories, was she even really the same person? And what would the Khitti he’d known before have wanted?

Dimly, he recalled long-ago conversations. She’d spoken of what had happened to her with anger and self-hatred and regret. Long before a cure was ever in reach, she’d considered herself a monster, not fully vampire but barred from humanity. And seeing what a human life could have meant for her had been so traumatic that she disappeared into the Frostmaw woods for a full two weeks.

The thoughts spanned only the space of a single breath. He inhaled and so did she, her chest rising, her face flushed rose pink. She stood so close he could swear he heard her pulse. So she really -was- human, then. Maybe he was only trying to justify that fresh start he so wanted with her, but it didn’t seem right to make her revisit all she’d suffered to make it here, not after she’d earned a chance to be free of it.

“No,” he began, “I’m afraid I don’t know you. Spent a lot of time at sea, though, and I think I know your mermaid friend. You’re definitely not crazy.” He stepped away, reforging the gap between them. “Lots of creatures have beached themselves on Rynvale’s shores of late. It’s entirely possible she’s one of them. We might not find her -- but I’d be willing to help you look if it’s not far out of my way.”

There’d been so much hope in those olive-green eyes as she stared at him, seemingly entranced by his very being. Just being there, with him, she felt… safe? She felt warm. It was a feeling she couldn’t quite place when, but she knew she’d felt it before. The deja vu was hitting her something fierce. But… she was just imagining things, it seemed. “Oh.” And the hope was gone. “I’m sorry.” And she took a step or two away from him as well, furthering the space between them. She tried not to look disappointed, but she couldn’t help it, so she turned away to eye the street that stretched towards the shoreline, one hand bringing that long ponytail of hers over her left shoulder, the other hand raising to meet its twin and play with the crimson locks idly. “My mistake. It’s been a long day, like I said--my head’s a mess.”

Maybe no one was looking for her, she decided silently as those same green eyes watched the sea in the distance. A silence lingered between them for some time, the woman deliberating things carefully. “I’ll go with you,” she said at length, quietly. Pivoting on the ballet flats she wore, she’d face him again, that smile of hers returned once more. “I’ll go with you, but... you have to come see me sing tonight and then you can show me this ship of yours.” A hand is thrust out between them, the appendage waiting to seal the deal if Brand dared. “If you go, you’ll have to tell me your name though, so I can make sure you get in for free.”

Brand gave her hand a single firm shake. “It’s a date.” His smile immediately curdled into a grimace. A date? Really? “I mean, it’s one of those days.” Oh. And he was still holding onto her hand, too. The man reeled himself back like a fishing line now, almost stumbling on the cobblestones behind him in an effort to create a less intimate amount of distance. “A long day, like you said. Don’t worry about it. Sometimes the stars align just right n’ make everyone a mess for a few.” Superstitious nonsense. “At least, that’s what a fair few of my crew would have you believe.” His gaze drifted off long enough to spy Onyx within the shop, chewing on one of their truffles and looking extraordinarily pleased behind their usual impassive facade. They were watching this whole mess unfold, he was sure of it. “Brand.” He locked eyes with the woman before him once again. “The name’s Brand. And I captain the Tranquility, the finest ship you’ll ever see. Where’s this show of yours at?”

Khitti stuck out her tongue as he stumbled over his words, “If it’s a date, I think you’d have to buy me dinner too.” Was she flirting with him? She was definitely flirting, and that grin of hers only got bigger as he stumbled away. “The finest ship, eh, Captain Brand? I s’pose I’ll have to make that decision on my own. If it’s not, you know, the finest, I’ll have to tell the whole city.” The redhead turned somewhat, pointing off towards the north side of town, “The theater. Have you been there? They’re good people. They let me borrow their band too as long as I give them a cut. There’s not been much of a crowd, unfortunately, but it’s just a side job anyway. Can’t make it big without my name out there, you know.” There was a bit of a side-eye before she turned to face him again, “Guess it’d be better if I actually knew who I was before I got to all of that. S’pose I could just make up some stage name anyway. Red’s alright, but it’s not spectacular,” mused the woman. She waved her hands then, “I’m going on and on again and you could be eating. I’m sorry.” Cue awkward lip-biting and a bit of blushing. If he hadn’t thought that she was alive before, the reddening of her face would definitely tell it all.

Brand pivoted away from the window and leaned up against it as Khitti carried on. He wouldn’t give Onyx the satisfaction of seeing his face right about now. He wasn’t quite blushing -- no, he could thank any gods that might exist for a complexion that didn’t easily show it -- but all the same, he could feel the blood rising to his cheeks and his tongue tying itself into a good strong fisherman’s knot. “S’fine,” he managed eventually. “I’m keepin’ you away from your food as much as you’re keepin’ me. I’ve seen the theater before; I’ll meet you there before sundown and we can grab a bite before your show?” That would give him time enough to warn the crew not to say anything… and time enough, perhaps, to send a raven Lionel’s way. “Maybe we can brainstorm on your stage name, too.”

Thankfully for Brand, she could no longer detect the blood that was rushing into his cheeks, trying to betray the awkwardness that he too felt. “Food? Oh. Right. Yes. Uhh. I’m not really eating, to be honest. And, the less money I borrow from The Boss, the better; I’ve only been here a week and I feel like I owe her my weight in gold. But! The inn’s got to be paid and I’ve got to eat -at least- once a day.” The redhead didn’t really seem all that bothered by this, surprisingly. “I’ve just been going to that cliff that overlooks the ocean. Helps me clear my head a bit after all the busyness of the restaurant so I can finish my shift.” But, she was rambling again. Why did she feel like she could talk to him for hours? “Before sundown. Food before the show. Got it. And yeah, I could definitely use the help.” Offering him one last warm smile for now, she’d give him a bit of a salute before heading off down the road, “Bye, Captain.”

Brand ’s knees failed him as Khitti turned away, and he slid halfway down the window before recovering himself. Oh, and how he would have ridiculed or resented himself for such a display, once… but there was no stopping the giddiness that overtook him now. She was alive. Khitti was -alive-, and she was human. The cure had worked. Against all odds, the cure had worked. And memories intact or no, he was lucky enough to see her again, to touch again, to --

“I understand it went rather fortuitously?” Crunch, crunch, crunch. Onyx was at his side as if they’d been there the whole time, crunching on the hard chocolate shell of a truffle and holding a to-go bag of Brand’s food outstretched.

Brand staggered back to his feet. Now that Khitti was gone, he remembered just how exhausted he was. Maybe he could work a nap in before the show, too? “So far, smooth sailin'. But it’s me, Onyx. Never underestimate my ability to frak somethin’ like this up.”

"Of course, sir. I would never."