Sweet Tidings[SL](Zavie)[Afternoon]

The air held a calm stillness to it, even with the activity in the street. There weren't too many people, not by far, but the atmosphere still held its breath on soft murmurs. The soft breeze licked at Ritsuko's face, a gentle reminder that the existential chill from that morning still existed unchanged from her memory. While not as cold as before, the lingering feeling remained. Not stillness. Emptiness. Exhaustion. The feeling after a long hike or a return from the beach, it's as if the energy that was supposed to be there... wasn't. As if the World itself was done trying for the moment. That was fine for her, she was done trying too. All the emotional fervor from that moment had left her feeling drained and vacant. There was no further use in being inconsolably upset or unreasonably angry if there was a use for it in the first place. It was tiring to feel as strongly as she did, the intensity ached at her mind. There was never any time to unwind or catch her breath, it was always a hundred miles a minute whenever she was involved. While accustomed to it, the forlorn musician could do without it for at least one day. A brief respite would feel good for her nerves but she knew it wasn't coming, not for a long time. Those days were few and far between. She had things to do.

Kano needed his money. Ritz wasn't the promising type, never had been and never will be, but when she set herself to something there were few things that would stand in her way. She was a fighter, after all, it's all she ever knew how to do. It'd be her way or no way at all and she'd resolved herself to return the same kind of kindness shown to her by who could be her only real friend. Even if he was a trusting bleeding-hearted fool, people like that deserved some kind of reward for being better than what they could be. Ritsuko had broken his trust and spat in his face. She'd never get that trust back and maybe she deserved that, but she could make an effort. It was the least she could do. The tiny guitarist was actually on her way to the Backlight for a gig with Lion's Heart, work wouldn't expect her in today and it was the only way she could earn some scratch in between. But she'd be spending all day there and needed to prepare, both physically and mentally.

She cut a wide arc through the scant groups of people as Ritz slunk through the pathways of Little Tokyo with the posture of a beaten dog, a blank and tired look across her shaded face. Aoide weighed heavy on her shoulder as the weary traveler shuffled her feet to her destination. As much as she'd hate to admit it, people needed certain things. Things like comfort to avoid from jumping off the deep end. It'd be a long day at Suzie Q and she'd need something to tide her over, the concessions over there were typically expensive. Smart business model, bad for poor people. She could do with some snacks to keep her energy up. Even more Ritsuko could do with at least one conversation not focused on death or loss or dragged down by the weight of tragedy. Some kind of human interaction that was simple, light-hearted, and wasn't laced with heartbreak. Which made her mind drift to The Heartfelt Bakery and the sweet little boy that was there. The troubled young woman wan't naive enough to think she'd be able to return to yesterday's carefree attitude and warmth when she was feeling frayed, but one good thing was worth another shot. It probably couldn't be worse by much.

Ritz's shadow loomed over the door as she stood before the quaint little shop. This was it. She tried not to get her hopes up as she ran a hand along her face, rubbing away her weary expression and returning it into something more neutral. The tiny Japanese woman was actually going for cheerful but that'd take time and effort she wasn't up to spending at the moment. Maybe in time. Maybe never. It's not as if she really wanted to anyway, but it'd be polite to at least show the same level of enthusiasm as Zavie did. Breathing a heavy sigh and turning her head skyward, Ritsuko would make an attempt to let go of everything before she entered the bakery. Just leave it at the door. This was a safe place, she shouldn't need to worry here. Tentatively she took a step forward.

The troublesome young lady honestly hadn't known what she expected from coming here. Even as she took her first step across the threshold there was doubt. She never anticipated anything good, it never seemed to work to her benefit. So much easier to keep in her dark little mental hole and remain unscathed from disappointment. Just because she enjoyed herself the other day wouldn't mean that today would be the same. There could be someone else here or maybe no one here, it was foolish to expect anything to happen the same way twice. ...but all of that doubt subsided when she locked eyes with the little blond boy. Her neutral expression warmed to a more friendly yet subtle smirk as she strode closer to him, letting her poor attitude stay at the door where it belonged.
"Hey little man, it's nice to see you too," she greeted in kind.

As he'd frown in concern Ritsuko would match his expression, cocking her head to the side as she bent down to his level. Her frown changed to a puzzling grimace as she attempted to process exactly what he was talking about.
Burn? What burn? I didn't get-
"OH. Oh, nah, don't worry about it, it wasn't nothin'" she'd wave away. The forlorn musician honestly hadn't remembered that part, she was pretty far gone last time she'd entered the store. Most of what she recalled revolved around the nice little boys and the cookies that she was tasting for the second time a few hours later. Sweets on a drunken stomach wasn't a good idea, but she hadn't been in the right mind for good ideas. But that was in the past, she was sober for the moment and could use a pick-me-up for her lengthy evening playing music for whoever knew the fuck who. She didn't read the message that thoroughly, just knew Mike wanted her at some casino in the Backlight because Roddy's wife was in labor. In the meantime she had a whole day to spend doing whatever she wanted. It'd be nice to take a load off her mind and talk with the nice boy for at least a little bit.

"Sooooo did you ever come up with that name with your friends?" quizzed Ritz, squatting down with her hands around her knees as she became shorter than him. Bending down hurt, her abs were still pretty sore from the other night. Her legs were just as aching but at least she could stretch them this way. If she remembered right he liked the name Magatama, but it's not as if she knew what sort of "team" he was talking about. Probably like some sort of clubhouse or whatever, maybe junior soccer league? Did Endymion have sporting events for kids like that outside of school? Ritz had never paid attention enough, it wasn't really something she could get involved with anyhow.
"Is that like for a sports team oooor...?"