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T42 - Thursday 6am-6pm

It was the first time in a long time that the island had been normal enough for Hernando to open the store. The baby signs were proudly clacking around the counter, hopping and arranging themselves near their chosen baked goods. Hernando had a very wide variety of baked goods today. The store seemed to be a little anxious. He gave the counter a few pats while he set everything ready.

The quokka, too, were excited. Bouncing up on the ledge at the window to peer out and churbling to one another cheerfully. Dave was still curled on his cushy bed by the fireplace, watching the activity. It was hot and humid outside and he was still on the hearth. Hernando bit his lip a little; if the vet stopped by today, he really wanted them to take a look at Dave. But that was a small worry, Dave's behavior hadn't changed since he got the cushy bed so it wasn't like it was a sudden chill or anything.

The art on the walls was bright and cheerful. It seemed perhaps the store was also tired of all the shuffling the island had done. All the paintings were of normal outdoor scenes. People gathered on a beach for a picnic, a man sitting on a bench feeding some ducks in the dappled sunlight, what looked like a Rockwell print of children playing in the surf at a beach; others, some watercolors but mostly oils or acrylics. He spent some time simply admiring them before he wandered over to the door and turned the lock to open up.

[T42 is Open!]

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Kanan had been out running.

Damn near all day, Kanan had been out running. He'd felt awful keeping Stance cooped up for weeks on end, and now that the only weirdness around the island that he could figure was a few more students in the shape of animals than usual (which seemed to happen a lot around this time of year, so he wasn't too worried about that, either), he was making up for lost time.

With running. With his dog. In this heat.

It was about noon when he and Stance jogged by the tea shop, mostly just doing a lap by the shore in case the dog wanted to take a running leap into the water to cool down, and that just so happened to be when Kanan noticed that his water bottle was running on empty and, hey, the tea shop happened to be open.

Life back to normal, right? At least for the time being. Which meant that Kanan was parking a panting dalmatian in the shade under the front of the shop, and he was peering inside and waving hello to Hernando with his water bottle.

"Taking advantage of it while you can too, huh?"

Hernando looked up and smiled, "Hello Kanan. Absolutely, yes. I've been staying off the island to avoid the.. unpleasantness. This is quite a nice change. How have you been?"

Dave, curled up on his cushion, might have been giving Kanan the smallest of reproachful looks. Hard to tell on a quokka face.

"... Surviving," Kanan replied, hiking up one shoulder in a shrug as he made his way inside. Giving Dave an apologetic smile. "Things have been..."

Well.

"They've been, anyway. And yourself?"

"I spent time in Mexico with Sparkle, we have a place off the island to retreat to when the, as he puts it, shit hits the fan here. I've been," .. and that was an utterly unrepentant grin, "quite, quite well." He nodded at the water bottle, "Would you like me to fill that with iced tea for you? I have several flavors right now, including a strawberry you might like."

Dave could forgive the lack of visits, the island had been terrible, but you brought a puppy, Kanan. An excitable puppy. How dare you.

Hey! Kanan had left the excitable puppy outside in the shade. He had met you, Dave.

"Strawberry sounds amazing," he admitted, glancing at the bottle. "Though, if you have any takeaway cups, would you mind topping one off with water for my dog, too? Stance has been go-go-go all day. This place hasn't been so great for dogs lately."

He set the water bottle on the counter and smirked, just faintly. There was a whole lot of good mood coming off of Hernando right then. For all they didn't always have the best of luck at communicating, he had to be happy for the guy. Clearly he was having a good run of things, then.

"I can do better, if you want. I have a bowl you could give him now and send you off with a takeaway cup when you head out," he offered, reaching for one of the clean bowls he used for the quokka. While that was filling in the sink, he added ice to Kanan's water bottle and then carefully poured the strawberry tea in. "The island hasn't been so great for anybody lately," he added.

A brow arched at Kanan's faint smirk - and then he realized what it was probably from. A quiet laugh and an eyeroll and hey, Kanan? Enjoy that absolute burst of hedonistic molten marshmallow 'oh my god I love my boyfriend so much' goo. His voice contained none of that when he asked mildly, "Would you like a cupcake?"

See Kanan. See Kanan raise a hand to his mouth and cough, trying to smother a startled laugh.

Look, it was a whole lot of goo on a typical day, but Kanan was feeling this after months of creeping Bad Feelings attempting to batter in his mind. It was a wonder he didn't just die of sugar shock on the spot.

"There are cupcakes, huh? Sure, what've you got with fruit today?"

Which also might have been a reason Hernando had deliberately just melted marshmallow goo into his head, yes. "There are cupcakes," he agreed, "No strawberry, I'm afraid, but there's a quite nice lemon curd you might like if you enjoy tartness. Otherwise I'd recommend the cherry."

"What about one of each? Something to enjoy here and another one for the road." A pause. "Which means I should get a few for Hera, too."

And it was almost a shame Hernando didn't have a connection to the Force the same way Kanan did. He'd be able to witness a return volley of marshmallow goo, right there.

Didn't need the Force. Kanan wasn't exactly subtle whenever he said her name. Hernando smiled, "I'll put a box together for you. She will want the cinnamon and she might enjoy the dark chocolate. It's sweet but also quite sharp. Which one do you want for here?"

"The cherry for here, I think," Kanan decided. "I'd guess the lemon curd can probably hold its own against the chocolate flavor if they get jostled around on the way home."

Because of course he was going to get Hera both of the cupcakes Hernando had suggested. How could he not?

At least he hadn't turned green at the mention of dark chocolate? Hernando nodded and boxed them, plating the cherry and sliding it and the refilled water bottle to Kanan. The bowl was filled so he added a few ice cubes to it for Stance to either cool off with or play with and brought his water out to him.

There were many ridiculous noises as Hernando greeted the excitable puppy who had clearly never had any attention in his life, ever.

As many ridiculous noises from the man as the dog, Kanan mused, listening for a moment, and then chuckling and making his way over to take his usual seat near Dave, chair pushed back far enough that his lap was wide open, should a certain somebody want up into it.

Not you, Hernando.

Your loss, Kanan.

Dave did, grudgingly, hop into the proffered lap. His nose nuzzled imperiously at one of Kanan's arms. He was disgruntled. Moreso than his normal state. He was a creature of routine and the island had disrupted it far too often for his liking lately. He was supposed to have people to pester. Wasn't that the whole point of the tea shop? Lure people in, acquire scritches? Dave certainly thought so.

Hernando returned and smiled to see Dave perched in Kanan's lap. "He's been very quiet lately," Hernando offered, "Zack said the vet would make a house call to get all the quokka checked out. I want her to give Dave a good exam to make sure he's got everything he needs."

Kanan nodded a little at that, reaching and giving Dave the scritches necessary as per the agreement.

"Things have been inside-out so much, he's probably mostly just agitated about his expectations all being turned on their head," he offered, scritching away. "There have been more than a few weeks in a row where having people make their way in would just be grossly irresponsible, but if you want, I can swing by and check up on them whenever you're away. I don't mind."

He and Dave needed their quality time.

"Kaidan has been checking up on them and feeding the fish but if you would also like to, by all means, please come spend time with the quokka," Hernando offered. "I know Dave has missed you."

Dave gave him some stink-eye. Quit sharing his business, mortal. Hernando saw it and chuckled. Then, sobered a little, "No, opening the shop would have been a very bad idea during some of those weeks. It would have made people feel like they needed to come check on me and it wasn't safe to travel. Or.. it would not have been safe for me to travel and I would not have wished it on anyone else. That last week.."

That last week had seen a whole new set of scars on his boyfriend. "I don't want to be here during such a week as that and I certainly as hell do not want Sparkle here. It's best that I not be here, because I would only be someone's liability, and I am selfish enough to want him with me." After a moment, he offered, "We have a couch that pulls out to a bed, if you need to escape this place for awhile, Kanan. You're welcome anytime."

Kanan breathed out a soft laugh at that, finding himself actually kind of touched by the offer.

"I appreciate that," he said, and meant it. "Though I've got my own escape," and Escape, "if I need it. I'm hanging in there so far. It's... grueling, really. But so far, so good."

Not good.

Kind of terrible.

His head had only just now stopped turning inside out in the wake of last week, and it was almost time for another one, wasn't it?

"Likewise," he added, after a pause, "if you find yourself stuck on the island and you need a safe means of getting back out again, give me a call." He paused. "Kaidan's been having a difficult time lately," since that last one, "so having a Plan Besh can't hurt."

... 'B.' That would be, 'B."

"I will call if I need help," Hernando promised. He bit his lip, "I heard. On the radio, about Jack and Kaidan. I texted him and he said he was fine but it is precisely when he says he is fine that I'm not sure I should believe him. Have you seen him? I thought to go over perhaps after work tonight or tomorrow morning. Maybe see if I can't catch him during his run."

Kanan nodded faintly, frowning as he scratched Dave between his little quokka shoulders.

"I've seen him," he replied. "He's... functioning. I wouldn't say he's okay. I wouldn't suggest catching him off-guard, either, though. Be a friendly face, but let him open up about it on his terms. It was... much."

To say the least. Kanan sighed.

"That place," he added, "preyed on people's biggest regrets and hurts. Did its best to get into people's heads to open old scars and guilt in the most monstrous ways possible. That's what Kaidan's contending with right now. "

"I don't ever try to catch him off guard," Hernando said soberly, "That would be a very bad idea." He listened to the rest and frowned, "I'll see if I can catch up with him tonight. Perhaps bring him and Jack dinner." He didn't get along with Jack, no, but she was important to Kaidan - and Sparkle - and he was no less worried about her if she'd been with Kaidan in that place.

She seemed like someone who might have an awful lot to regret.

A rueful glance at the pastry case, "Maybe I'll bring a large box of pastries with me."

"I imagine the pastries would be appreciated," Kanan replied, smiling wryly. "When I stopped by, Jack was out cold and Kaidan was making every damn biscuit he could manage, but sugar might go over well anyway."

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T42 - Thursday 6am-6pm

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