J,GoB; Sunday Morning [06/23].

[beautiful_boc]

There was some excitement, from the employees, when Boc came in that morning, the sort of excitement that at first made him wince and worry that he'd gone and done something wrong, but he very quickly realized that it was that strange phenomenon that seemed to happen on this island every once in a while of people actually just excited to see him.

And even more bewildering, they were excited to see him because they'd made something special for him.

That something special happened to be an absolutely massive cinnamon roll, inspired by something one of the bakers had seen on something called TikTok. Apparently, he'd seen one and immediately thought of Boc and his weekly cinnamon rolls and whether or not he'd like to try one so big.

So not only was he being given a cinnamon roll so big he thought it might take him all of a week to actually finish it, but it had been made specifically because someone was reminded of him.

It was a lot to process, so much so that he couldn't even think of the words to protest, he just numbly accepted this and went over to his usual table with his giant cinnamon roll and then just start there staring, slack-jawed, at it for a good long while.

When he finally did start tearing off his little pieces to eat, it was mostly just because it seemed rude not to, after all that extra attention had been spared just for him, of all people!

[[ and of course open for all your baked good morning needs! ]]

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[mustbeawitch]

Lydia was already seated by the window, cup of tea and red velvet cupcake in front of her, because this week she was determined to make it to church in case Captain Flint judged her for missing the service. (LOL)

"Good morning, Mr. Boc! Happy Sunday!"

[beautiful_boc]

Surely, this was an excellent plan that would certainly be executed to completion and without flaw!

Boc's big eyes moved from his big cinnamon roll over to Lydia, where he startled a bit from having been so distracted as to not even noticed her there. "Oh! Good....goodness, I...erm, that is...ah...mmm." He cleared his throat a little, shaking his head as if to clear out all the stammers, then he nodded to her. "Good morning, miss, of course. And...and happy Sunday! You are...you are doing well, I hope?"

[mustbeawitch]

And she hadn't even been under a don't-notice-me! Although she could hardly blame him; his cinnamon roll did quite draw all of one's attention. "Oh, yes, quite well!" she assured him. "I am on my way to church." Sure you were, Lydia.

[beautiful_boc]

Boc was rather used to things being quite ridiculous in scale back home, but he'd never imagine a cinnamon roll quite so large!

(Granted, he'd never be able to imagine a cinnamon roll at all before arriving here, but that was not quite the point...)

"Oh?" he asked. "Are you?"

She looked quite stationary, at the moment, if you asked him, but nobody had, so...

"And what is it you do there?"

Wasn't much to do in most churches around the Lands Between except hope it didn't rain or wasn't home to some horrible thing...

Or, well, if you were lucky, chat with a merchant or a turtle pope. Miriel was kind to all, even Bocs, though Bocs didn't make it out that way very often.

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia waved a hand vaguely. "Oh, you know, you sing, and listen to the preacher talk about God." You could really tell she paid a ton of attention in church and got a lot out of it from that description. "And all the things God doesn't want you to do and whatnot." So much attention.

[beautiful_boc]

"And what sorts of things," Boc couldn't help himself from being quite curious, head tilted as he tore off another piece of his cinnamon roll, "wouldn't your God want you to do? Are the gods here very...kind?"

He whimpered, somewhat apologetically. "I'm very sorry," he said, "if I shouldn't be asking so many questions, but I do wonder. Where I'm from, as you know, is very cruel, and so are the gods, while here, it's quite different, isn't it? Everyone is so kind and nice and will even go and make you very large cinnamon rolls without you even asking, just because they thought you might like it!"

And if his voice sounded like he thought this was quite preposterous, well, that was exactly what he thought! Which wasn't to say he was ungrateful, of course, but still!

"So, I was thinking...if people here are so kind, then perhaps it's because they have had kind gods. It would explain a lot, I should think..."

He looked at his cinnamon roll again, though.

"It would explain a bit," he amended, "at least..."

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia was really the worst person to ask about theology, Boc, but she could see how they had gotten to this point. "Well," she said, "God is supposed to be all about love and charity and whatnot, but He also seems to have a lot of opinions about what people ought and ought not do. It's rather tedious, actually. I'm not sure God has anything in particular to say about giant cinnamon rolls, but I hope He wouldn't be against them.

"And some of the people here have other gods, of course, although back home everyone would tell you none of those other gods are real, but what am I to think when one of them is teaching Arts & Crafts at this very school?" Most confusing!

[beautiful_boc]

Well, Boc wasn't exactly one to know much about it in general, but if Lydia was going to to church and all, it seemed like it might not hurt to know a bit more about it!

"I should think," said Boc, who, a moment after that, seemed to sort of catch himself as he corrected, "erm, if you don't mind me saying so, that teaching Arts & Crafts is something most gods should be doing, rather than some of the things I hear about them doing in places like back where I'm from. A lot of rules there, too, but mostly just them trying to find ways to go and break them and make things more difficult for everyone else."

[mustbeawitch]

"Yes, I suppose God usually is all about rules," Lydia mused, "although not so much about breaking them, in my experience. I think He usually frowns upon that."

Anyway.

"That's quite the cinnamon roll you have there this morning! Is it a special occasion?"

[fears_no_one]

"Miss Bennet," Flint said with a slightly awkward smile. "Good morning."

[mustbeawitch]

"Captain Flint," Lydia said with a smile in return. "Good morning!" Look at her, totally on her way to church! "I trust you are enjoying a pleasant Sunday thus far?" Especially now that it had sugar in it.

[fears_no_one]

"I am," he said. "I decided to come here on your recommendation, in fact."

On his way to not going to church!

[mustbeawitch]

Flint's honesty was to be commended and Lydia could do with some of it toward herself on this matter, tbh. "Everything I've tried so far has been very good, although some of it I think you will find exceedingly sweet. The frosted items, in particular." Good God, there was so much sugar in frosting. Lydia had scraped half of it off her cupcake into a little pile on the edge of the plate. "And it's really amazing how many fruits they have available, even when they are not in season." She was still not over that.

[fears_no_one]

"I thought this bounty was because it was summertime," Flint admitted, going back to staring at the counter's offerings.

Save him from getting a bran muffin, Lydia!

[mustbeawitch]

Even the bran muffin was probably more sugar and spice than he was used to. Well, perhaps not the spice part; the West Indies were substantially better for that sort of thing than England. Especially if you were stealing them off ships bound for England.

"As I said the other day, I am partial to the raspberry danish myself," Lydia told him, "or the apple tarts are quite good. The scones are also quite nice, although they are a bit different from the ones I've had at home. Do you have a fruit you're particularly fond of, sir?"

[fears_no_one]

"I'm partial to citrus," Flint admitted, "but I will try your raspberry danish and see."

[mustbeawitch]

Very important to avoid scurvy!

"There is also a lemon bar," Lydia suggested. "It's made with a sort of--like a custard but it's not a custard, I think," because she predated lemon curd, lol, "upon a shortbread crust."

[fears_no_one]

After Miss Bennet's endorsement of the shop, Flint had made his way across the park to investigate for himself.

The place certainly smelled promising, even if the choices were supposed to be overwhelming...and then he spotted Boc's cinnamon roll.

"That's how big they are?" he said, voice growly and clipped. "I could feed half my crew on that!"

He wouldn't because they were murdering fucks who didn't deserve sugar, but still! He could!

[beautiful_boc]

"Oh," Boc's wide, surprised eyes were now nervously lifting toward the unfamiliar face. "Oh, no, mas--sir, they're not usually this big at all! They made this one special...for..." His brow knitted with worry and concern over the lack of logic in it, "...well, me, somehow. Not sure why they'd go and do that, but they did. They're usually much more reasonable."

[fears_no_one]

"That was very kind of them," Flint allowed.

An unfamiliar concept for him, really, but he could recognize it!

"What is it called?"

[beautiful_boc]

"Incredibly kind," Boc agreed, sounding quite miserably about it, really. "Yes. They...really needn't have done that..."

It made very little sense to him, too, Flint!

"But it's called a cinnamon roll," he offered. "On account of the fact that it's got cinnamon in it and it's all rolled up, see?"

He took a moment, needing both paws to do so, to hold it up and better show off the whorl on thr bottom.

"They're quite good, easily my favorite, though I haven't had the chance to try many others, yet. Anything with fruit, as well. The fruits are so lovely here, I think..."

[fears_no_one]

"Summer is good for fruit," Flint agreed with a nod. "I'm just aghast at the sugar use," he admitted. "It was very dear where I'm from."

[beautiful_boc]

"We didn't have it much, either," Boc's head bobbed along in understanding, "where I'm from, but where I'm from's more than a bit different from here. Where are you from, sir? If...if, that is, you don't mind me asking? I've probably not heard of it, but that's alright, you've probably not heard of where I'm from, either. No one here so far has, and that's probably a good thing. It's a terrible, awful place."

Even if he did miss certain aspects of it here and there, but, well, to him, that just sort of went to show how there was good in nearly everything...

[fears_no_one]

"I have also met people from several places I've never heard of," Flint admitted, "and I consider myself fairly adept at geography. I am from Nassau, in the West Indies. My name is Captain Flint. Where are you from?"

[beautiful_boc]

"My name's Boc," he offered with another bob of his head. "Boc the Seamster. And where I'm from's called the Lands Between. We've got more moons there. And the Erdtree. That's what I think I miss the most about it, really. Do you miss Nassau? Or the West Indies?"