Fandom Island and Town

It had been a little while since Boc last managed to make it out to thr bakery on a Sundag morning, due to one anxiety or another. So much so that when the staff, happy to see him returning, offered to give him even more than just him usual cinnamon roll, he didn't even feel the urge to argue!

Well, he did protest a little, but not too much, leading him to settle at his usual table in the corner with not one, not two, not even three, but four treats to try!

And there was the anxiety again, over which one to even start with!

[[ a slow Sunday? Sounds fake but we'll see! Open! ]]

Since Boc's excursions and errands the previous day had been a bit more eventful than usual, he considered that he'd met his social quota for the week and could likely skip out on the bakery without feeling too bad about it, but then that would mean skipping out on having his cinnamon roll, and, well, that was far less pleasant, and so he was still there, with his usual cinnamon roll (and something called a cruller? That had been recommended to him by the staff), in his usual seat in the corner, with his usual hope that the trend of things being quiet would continue.

But yesterday didn't have him very convinced, what with how these things usually went, but he supposed only time would tell how correct he was in that assumption, and, until then, he at least had a tasty treat to enjoy while ruminating a bit on some new projects to start when he got back to the shop.

[[ open bakery is always open~ ! ]]

Boc had a new hat! It was the one he'd knitted from his holiday fair yarn, and he was terribly proud of it, replacing his old worn cap with it, at least for his excursion out for his cinnamon roll. And the clerks noticed and even complimented it, which was terribly embarrassing but also felt quite nice, so he was feeling rather pleased with himself as he settled into his usual spot in the corner.

He was already dreaming, too, of perhaps a lovely scarf to work on this week to go with it!

[[ open for all your baked goods needs! ]]

The person taking the orders at the bakery had that look on their face when Boc came in that morning, the sort of look that made him feel very tempted to just turn around and hobble right back out that door, because it meant that something different was going to be foisted upon him.

Granted, he did usually like what they foisted on him here at the bakery, especially since he wasn't one to stray from the usual without that little push, but it came with a sort of excitement that made him feel wary and uncertain regardless. But it was good track record that had him sucking in a breath and bolstering himself rather than just immediately going back to curl up under the counter at his own shop.

"So, then," he said as he approached the counter, brushing some of the oddly sweet snow that had been clinging to his fur off his shoulders before straining his neck to be able to see over it a little better, "what is it this time?"

Apparently, peppermint white chocolate sweet rolls, which was explained to him to be "much more Christmas-y," whatever that meant, but he dutifully accepted the suggestion and loped his way on over to his usual corner table to enjoy.

[[ and, of course, open bakery is open! ]]

So a funny thing had happened last week. One would think that Boc, as inclined toward hermitage and generally avoiding people as he was wont, would have found the quiet of the island in the mass exodus for the school trip to be a blissful relief, bit he'd found her felt....rather the opposite. It was too quiet, he felt, even for him. Because even if he wasn't one to interact or be social with people, he'd grown to find comfort in the thought that he could if he did want to. He missed....well, if not maybe people exactly, but he missed the idea of them, the possibility of them. So many people gone made him feel bit nervous, so, knowing that everyone was back again, he felt that particular nervousness melt away, as if some balance had been restored.

And, in the effort to keep that balance and that unexpected comfort, he hobbled his way to the bakery, to get his cinnamon roll (yes, fine, okay, he'll take thr pumpkin spice one!), and claim his usual spit tucked away in the corner to enjoy it.

[[ i have no idea what kind of day i'm walking into at work so I might be slow, I might not be, but the post is certainly open for all your baked good needs! ]]

After his weekend being a (rather cocky, if you asked him) merchant and then things around the island changing a bit, Boc wasn't having a very good time of things and felt even more tempted to just hole up underneath the counter at the shop, but also, when things seemed to be getting strange, he also felt the need to cling onto something familiar and constant and he hadn't even gotten a cinnamon roll last week because he'd been at Selkie Cove all weekend, so he was making a point of confirming when it was Sunday again and going to go and get one!

There was comfort there, in those constants, especially when so much around him wasn't constant all of a sudden. And it was a good thing, too, that they indeed had cinnamon rolls and his usual spot and everything else like normal at the bakery, or else Boc might have been a bit worried, maybe even panicked!

But for now? Just a beautiful, delicious cinnamon roll, his usual spot in the corner, and hopefully just a nice, normal, routine and downright boring morning!

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

It was Sunday, so, of course, Boc was coming into the bakery for his weekly cinnamon roll. And since it seemed that the bakers hadn't tried to do anything too wild or crazy with the offerings this time around, and it had been (for him, at least) an incredibly quiet week, he decided today was a good day to try something new.

That something new came in the form of a slice of what was called chantilly cake, which caught his eye because of the bright fruits it was decorated with. So, with a plate in both hands (and a fork as recommended by the clerk who helped him out, knowing his habit of just tearing his pastries into smaller piece for eating and how that might get a little messy with a cake like that), he headed to his corner table and got settled into his chair to enjoy.

[[ and open for all your bakery needs, of course, with the 'oh god work is killing me this week' sp caveat firmly in place, sigh ]]

They had tried something new at the bakery again with Boc and his Sunday visits in mind, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. The awkwardness that came with special attention was still very present and made him flail a little, but some of it was also sort of turning into feeling almost flattered. It was rather nice, wasn't it? To be thought of? And they seemed to enjoy trying different things and seeing how they came out, so that, too, felt a bit nice.

He was, however, a little uncertain about this one. "We heard on the radio that you like mushrooms," the employee at the counter explained, "and so we made something like a cinnamon roll, but with mushrooms instead!"

And it was true, he did like mushrooms an awful lot, but they warned him that it was more savory than sweet, and since he had such a sweet took, he got a chocolate chip cookie to accompany it, then settled into his usual table in the corner, to carefully break his treats into smaller bite-sized pieces and give them a try.

No, it wasn't like a cinnamon roll at all, in anything but shape and appearance, really, but Boc was wondering if he didn't actually like this a bit better...


[[ you know the drill; totally open and likely sp on my end, sigh ]]

There were no giant cinnamon rolls this week, just the normal sized ones, so Boc didn't feel too bad about getting his usual treat plus a new one to try. He actually rather enjoyed peering in through the display case and considering all the options, and then pointed to one that caught his attention, actually looked up and at the person helping him out, to ask what it was, and was slightly incredulous to hear that it was called a bear claw.

"Because look at it," the employee explained. "See? It looks like a bear's claw."

"Begging your pardon," Boc responded as he squinted dubiously up at the pastry, "but I wouldn't know! I've never been close enough to bear's claw to find out!"

He was, however, perfectly willing to be close to this bear claw, as he took that and his cinnamon roll over to his usual table, tearing off a few bites of the latter before picking up the former and examining it for its alleged bear-like properties. He supposed he could sort of see it, and he thought that he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to eat a bear's claw, even if it was just a name and not actually that, but, well...it didn't take him long to realize that most people, where he was from, would probably leap at the chance....and then be disappointed to discover pastry instead of actual bear claws...

[[ open bakery is open, of course! ]]

Boc probably should have planned a little better before he came to the bakery for his weekly treat, because now that he'd discovered no one would mind him getting two things when he came in, he felt he was at a lost for what to get in addition to his usual cinnamon roll. The danish had been easy last week because he'd been thinking about those for a while now, but now he felt like he could choose from far too many options as to what to try this week that it made it difficult for him to choose.

He ended up with something called a lemon bar, which he'd ultimately picked because he liked the color and the little dusting of what was to be discovered to be a kind of sugar over it, which ended up being a very nice contrast to his cinnamon roll. It was a bit more difficult to eat that in the little torn pieces he tended to prefer for his pastries, so he was also deal with getting used to just taking bites out of the lemon bar directly while still trying to be neat and dainty about it, as he settled into his usual corner table.

[[ open for all your baked good needs, blah blah blah work availability, no clue how the day might end up being! ]]

When Boc hobbled his way through the door of the bakery that morning, like usual, like regular routine, there was already someone at the register making an order, so he'd had to wait a bit. The person was taking a rather long time to decide, which started to make Boc feel a bit impatient; after all, he knew exactly what he wanted! Wildly, he almost thought of saying something about the wait, but, of course, he would never actually say anything! So, instead, he waited, and he let his attention drift over some of the other lovely desserts in the case, contemplating perhaps maybe deviating from his usual cinnamon roll this week to try something new.

Finally, the customer before him had settled on their choices, and Boc had entertained an idea that he did not follow through with, especially when the cashier smiled at him and asked "Your usual today, Mr. Boc?" and that filled him with such a bewildered sense of wonder that such a question would apply to him and that someone would see him as much as the staff here did and still smile about it that he couldn't do anything but bob his head in response with a wavering little, "Y-yes. Yes, please. Of course. My....usual...."

He managed to hold it back while he waited for them to get it and on his way to the corner to stake a claim to his usual table. But once he settled into his usual chair and started to carefully, meticulously pull the cinnamon roll into smaller bites, as usual, he had to smile a little to himself.

Which was, of course, quite unusual, but perhaps it was starting to become considerably less so.

[[ open for all your baked goods needs! Standard work-related bullshit likely to apply ]]

With all the extra treats he'd been given on Thursday, Boc was almost wondering if going in for his usual Sunday cinnamon roll would be too much, an excess that was pushing the limits of what would be acceptable, as if the staff at the bakery would immediately call him out for being greedy and wanting too much. So he was a bit nervous when he came in that Sunday, and, of course, very needlessly so, but if he wasn't inordinately concerned about social graces and little details, then he wouldn't really be Boc, now, would he?

So obtaining his cinnamon roll this week went as it did almost all week, without a hitch, without a problem, and he retreated with it to his usual table in the corner that turned out to never be as well-hidden as he hoped it was, but was very good for making sure no one caught him too much by surprise. Of course, his mind seemed to be drifting an awful lot that morning, as it had for most of the weekend, thinking about some of the clothes at the store, and how beautiful they were, and how most of them were, naturally, for more human or human-shaped people. Sure, the variety for body types and species was phenomenally vast, it had to be admitted, but, oh, how much easier it would be, to just be human. He wouldn't have to worry so much about offending people with his very presence, if he were human, or people wouldn't just be kind to him out of pity...

He was very thoughtful indeed as he pulled apart his cinnamon roll into its usual bite-sized pieces, with his terrible (albeit useful) claws, and thought about a rumor he'd heard once or twice, about an ember egg in the possession of none other than Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, capable of the most wonderful forms of rebirth and transformation....

Not that it mattered, anyway. Even if he could return to the Lands Between, he certainly wasn't sure he'd want to, even if he'd always feel it was a place he deserved more than somewhere like this, in the end...

[[ and open for all your baked good needs! I'm still on con time, so I'll be sporadic and slow, but I just couldn't miss Boc's cinnamon roll day if I could help it! ]]

Boc had started to keep track of the days. In a way, anyway, with a little tally system in a notebook that he kept by the nest he'd made for himself underneath the counter at the shop, because being a tree had thrown him off the rhythm he kept, and the fact that Arden had apparently been a bit worried about him because he hadn't shown up for his usual cinnamon roll sent him in a little bit of a frenzy. He didn't want anyone worrying about him! He didn't think anyone should be worried about him! He didn't know what to do with someone worrying about him. He worried about everything quite enough to be adding to the general amount of worrying in the world!

So, to prevent any such worrying in the future, he was dedicating himself to actually understanding the passing of days here so that he could avoid it. Which meant that he now knew, thanks to asking some of the employees of the shop about it, that today was Sunday, and Sundays were when he went to get his cinnamon roll. He knew that Thursdays were the day when things seemed busiest, and Fridays and Saturdays were usually the days when parties occurred. That information he gleaned so that he could ensure that those were the days he absolutely stayed in the shop, and then Mondays and Tuesdays sounded like good days to usually go exploring, if he felt so inclined.

All of this was greatly on his mind that week, as, that Sunday, he went to the bakery, got his usual cinnamon roll (which they seemed to have prepared the moment they saw him walk through the door! Not that he could blame them; he wouldn't want to have to interact with him any more than necessary, either...) and hobbled on over to his usual table in the corner, climbing up on the chair and getting settled, and thinking he rather liked the sound of the day today. Sunday. Who didn't love the sun?

Well, actually, a lot of people, really, usually his own kind, but he rather liked it, and he was thinking maybe he'd indulge in a bit of sun-inspired fashion work this week...

[[ open bakery is of course open! ]]

It was Sunday, not that Boc really realized such a thing yet, it was more of a feeling of how many days had passed since his last cinnamon roll, and so he was back at the bakery for another one again, although he had considered maybe skipping it this week since he did have all those lovely scones and jam from Nell earlier in the week. That would have held him over for quite some time, but as he tried to go about his work that morning, he found his mouth salivating often and his mind wandering toward delicious fluffy dough and sweet swirls of cinnamon until he really couldn't do much at all until those cravings were satisfied.

But, remember his last visitation to the bakery, he did think to ask the clerk what sort of icing he usually got, and, in learning it was the glazed version, he kindly requested to try the cream cheese frosting this time instead, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. Apparently, it wasn't any trouble at all! So Boc was quite pleased by this as he, his plate with its cream cheese frosted cinnamon roll balanced beautifully on its center, made his way to his usual corner table, pulled out his chair to climb on into it, and settled in to enjoy and think about some of the alterations he had to do to a few pieces at the shop before Friday.

[[ open bakery is open, of course! with the usual occasional bouts of unexpected work demands on my end, alas ]]

Oh, no. Oh, dear. It appeared that a rather worrisome had indeed occurred, and Boc found that he had developed quite the sweet tooth...well, for those cinnamon rolls at the bakery, anyway. But since last week managed to pass by just fine without much incident beyond a very strange song, he figured he could stand to risk it again.

And crouched in his chair in the corner table digging into another delicious pastry, he was being reminded that it was well worth the risk!

[[ about to curse myself by posting on a shockingly slow Sunday, but of course it's open for all your bakery needs! ]]