Up Early (Isabella/Tomomi)

At the explanation that she gave, Tomomi just nodded with a light "Ohhhh" escaping his lips. Then, as she talked about the chalkboard, Tomomi nodded his head again, happy to learn new things and finding the little bits of explanation fascinating and kind of fun. Squinting slightly to read the chalkboard as they approached, the boy turned to Isabella and gave her a smile. "Sunny Day Cafe... Open 7 Am... To 4 Pem... So, um, that should be a good place, right? Plus, I mean, it looks like they have a fancy price thing going on right now!"

As they got closer, and the elderly mans age was more apparent, Tomomi thought for a moment, before giving himself a somewhat confident nod. "Right!" He declared, before stepping forward towards the stranger, and, with a smile and a wave, began to talk. "Um! E-excuse me sir! W-would you like help setting up? I-I mean, I un-understand if not, but, i-if you want help to set things up, then, it would be, um, no problem! Ah, um, i-if helping wouldn't break like, some rules or something that you have or h-health and safety, in which case I completely understand!" He added, rambling on beyond his initial offer in an obviously anxious manner, leading to the man just setting down the chair and table, and looking at him with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Isabella offered a small nod. Yes, it seems nice and cozy." The blonde would say, eyeing the chalkboard a little more closely as the two of them approached. "And the prices look quite good as well." She would add. A smile spread onto her face as Tomomi stepped in to offer help to the old man, who Isabella assumed must have been the owner.

The older man turned to look at the other with squinted eyes, though his heavily tanned features softened as the boy continued to explain that he wanted to help. The old man pushed the chair slighlty so the seat was under the table he'd brought out, before speaking. "Well now. I certainly would appreciate a hand with them chairs, if ye're so eager to help, little man." His voice had a southern accent to it, a fairly warm tone to his words as he gestured back inside the shop, where one could see how a number of chairs had been put into two stacks against one of the walls. A few more tables were also present, the man moving inside again to grab one of them.

"Ahh wouldn't worry 'bout an health code violatyuns or the like if ye're just carrying some chairs, just dun go hurting yerself, a'ight?" Perhaps the man meant to sound stern in his words, but his tone was far too sunny to really get that across.

Isabella meanwhile, simply observed this, a curious smile on her face, seeing how things would play out. It seemed the two of them would have enough hands to work, and she didn't want to get in the way.

Giving an enthusiastic nod at the old man accepting his offer of help, Tomomi grinned, before moving to follow where the old man gestured, and grabbing some of the stacked chairs, being careful to separate them for easier and safer movement. Trying to mimic the pattern that the man had been doing, four chairs per table in a standard cross with the round tables, and two pairs facing opposite each other for rectangular ones. After a couple of minutes, the duo were done, and Tomomi looked up at the old man with the same grin on his face.

"There you go sir! I hope that helped! A-and, um, as said, no injuries or stuff, so, thank you for letting me help!" He declared, nearly bowing before remembering that it wasn't a thing people did in America and stopping himself, scratching his head awkwardly. "A-ah, so, um, h-how long until you're open mister? I-if it's okay to ask."

The old man slowly swept his gaze over the setup, first once, then twice. A small but hearty smile spread on his face. "Much obliged, little man. Ya saved an old man a good deal o' hassle." He was hen turning to step back inside when Tomomi resumed with his words, and so turned to face him again. "Ahh was meant to open earlier. But that gosh darn cat o' mine snuck out when I went to leave in tha mornin'. Took me near an hour to get tha darn thing back." The old man leans back, scratching the round bald spot atop his head with a chuckle. "But aside from tha coffee needin' a few more minites to brew, the shop's open fur business, so come on in." And that having been said, the old man would turn and walk inside the shop and stepping behind the counter.

Isabella would wait for a moment so as to no intrude, but stepped up to Tomomi after the  owner of the shop walked inside. "That was very kind of you, Tomomi." She would praise him, her hand coming up to ruffle his hair a little. "Why don't you pick out whatever you want for yourself?" She'd gesture inside, where aside from he obvious coffee, there was a glass-doored fridge with a variety of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages inside, as well as various food, from sandwiches and bread rolls and other savoury goods, to slices of cake and pie, muffins, and other sweet things. "And don't even look at the price tags. I'm treating." The blonde continued, a warm smile on her face.

At what the old man said, Tomomi nodded his head, listening. So, they also had a cat? That was cool! Cats were cool! Part of the boy hoped he'd be able to see that cat while they enjoyed their coffee, but, that was just wishful thinking, and even were it to show up, he wouldn't exactly want to cause it distress by interacting with it when all cats tend to want to do is do nothing, or their own thing. So, he turned to Isabella, just in time to receive praise and head ruffling, the boy giggling slightly. He never understood why she did it, but, he liked it. Not like his hair could get worse anyways.

Then, as she gestured inside and said he could pick something out, the boy had a moment of his eyes lighting up, looking up at her with glee for a moment while getting inside the cafe, eyes scanning around before quickly turning to her, seemingly about to protest against it before she declared not to look at the price tags. At the idea of getting it as a treat, Tomomi gave a bright grin, before looking around, and eventually pointing to a simple chocolate chip cookie. "A-ah, um, c-c-can I have that and a cup of c-c-coffee then please? A-and, are you um, sure you're okay with that? I-I can pay for myself if you want! S-since I am taking up your morning and all!" He declared, although not entirely unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

Isabella would the boy inside, having to contain herself at the sight of his expression of child-like glee. She would wait, and let him pick out what he wanted. and pick he did. Coffee, and some simple cookies. It did make her wonder if he'd actually been looking at the price tags despite her specifically requesting him not to do so, but she wasn't going to start questioning him about it.

When he asked if he could have the thing he'd pointed to, The blonde merely nodded, smiling, but it was his last words there, about taking up her time that made her smile turn to a more neutral expression. "Tomomi..." She left the words hanging for a few seconds, to make sure she had his attention. "I want you to understand, Tomomi, you are not taking up my time. If anything, you're giving me something worthwhile to do with my time, by spending it with someone I like." She reached forward with her right hand, placing it gently on his shoulder.

"If I hadn't run into you when I did, I probably would have gotten a taxi, gone back home, booted up Webflix, and then spent the rest of the day watching whatever pointless drivel they have on there. And then afterwards I would have been frustrated because I wasted one of my few days off doing practically nothing." Her tone had gotten perhaps a bit more serious and sharp than she'd been intending, but then her expression softened. "And..." Again the words left hanging, and her cheeks seemed to blush just the tiniest bit. "I... Like to see you smiling. So it's all okay. Pick out whatever you like, and go tell the nice man. Okay?"

At Isabella's explanation, Tomomi stared up at her with wide eyes, not even having noticed that he had said something down about himself like he had. His enthusiasm dropped for only a moment as she explained, but then quickly revitalised as she explained that she liked to see him smiling, grinning cheek to cheek. Nodding his head vigorously, Tomomi waited for Isabella to remove her hand from his shoulder before spinning on his heel and walking up to the counter, looking at the cookies again for a moment before holding up a finger. "Ah, um, excuse me mister! Can I please have one of those, um, chocolate chip cookies, and a, um... Cup of coffee please! Oh! A-and miss Isabella, what is it you want to drink and eat, or, just drink, or, just eat, or, well, um, what do you want?" He called, waving slightly as he turned to face Isabella once more. He liked Isabella. She just let him be himself, reliving the years of childhood he missed.

Also, cookies!

The energy the boy showed when he seemed to finally accept her small offering of generosity was quite a heat-warming sight, yet looking at him like this would bring about a sudden pang of sorrow clutching in her chest. But the woman did no let it show. The boy had been through so much pain, Isabella thought he would deserve to smile as well, regardless of how much that might remind her of certain thing.

She would wait for Tomomi to start giving his order, before following him to the counter. The blonde waited for him to finish. "I'd like a cup of coffee as well, and... A slice of that mixed berry cheesecake looks like it would be nice so I'll have some of that, please." She spoke to the owner, who took the order with a hearty nod. As Isabella began pullng out her wallet, she would look to Tomomi. "Would you like to go and pick out a table for us while I pay the nice man, Tomomi?" She would ask of him, as she pulled out her card.

As Isabella said what she wanted, and went to pay, Tomomi nodded, grin still plastered all over his face. This was a pleasant start to the morning. Stepping with light feet, Tomomi went back outside, intent on picking a nice table. Of course, none of them really made much difference, and there wasn't a lot to choose from, so, the boy did the best he could. Pointing at each table in order, he muttered to himself. "一二三四, 探しているテーブル"

Eventually, his finger fell upon a single table, Tomomi nodding to himself with pride before quickly sitting himself down and waiting patiently for Isabella to pop back out, waving with a grin when she eventually returned. "Thank you again very much!"

She followed the boy with one eye, as she moved her card closer to the reader. She smiled as the machine made a small beep, and she pulled the card away. "Thank ye for your patronage, miss." The old man behind the counter said as he already busied himself with placing the ordered items on the tray. A slice of the cheesecake, spoon, small plate with not one but two of the large cookies. That last one in particular made the corners of the blonde's mouth creep up another fraction of an inch.

The man next placed two empty coffee cups, each atop its own saucer onto the tray, along with a tiny pitcher of white liquid, probably milk, and a small bowl with a few sugar cubes sitting within. As he did this, Isabella picked out a few napkins from a dispenser next to the cash register, and folded them up onto the tray. Finally the man came to pour some freshly prepped coffee into the two cups. "Thank you very much." Isabella would say, before picking up the tray and walking out, where she'd find Tomomi seated already. The woman walked over, setting the tray down. How heartwarming his expression of gratitude was.

She beamed him a smile, and took a seat, opposite to him, grabbing one of the saucers holding a coffee cup and lifting it closer. "Oh, it's nothing special. Just ocnsider it a reward for helping the nice man just now."

As Isabella set the tray down and took a seat, Tomomi waited patiently with his continued smile, before picking up his own saucer and cup and taking a sip. As Isabella explained it was nothing special and that it was a reward, Tomomi took another sip, before setting it down and putting a finger to his lip in thought. After a brief moment, the boy lit up, before shrugging with a giggle.

"W-well, um, thanks! But, I don't really think a reward is needed for helping people. I mean, isn't that just what you do? I mean, not everyone can give rewards for helping right? But, those people might just be the ones that need help the most. So, I think anyone could use help, whether they ask or not." He declared, nodding before taking his cookie and nibbling at it like one would imagine a princess, covering his mouth and taking small, light bites.

"Still, thank you very much! And I will ask again, but, are you um, sure that it's okay? I-I can pay you back if you want!" He declared emphatically, before nibbling at his cookie, waiting for a response before continuing. "B-but as I was saying, yeah. I mean, helping people is fun! I mean, I'm usually the helped, but, s-s-still! Like, how I met my best friend! A boy named Cecil, who is slightly older than me! He's just so great! Like, he was the first person to really talk to me as me, and accept the fact that I not good with words some times, and apparently I was one of the only people to be allowed around his house and also also also, there was this one time, where we watched Aladdin, that Destiny film, and it was my first time ever seeing that film, and the yellow Djinn was all like ptoosh, and, and, and!"

As he continued on, the boy soon found himself getting significantly over the top, before blushing bright red, and setting his cookie down sheepishly after having just gestured wildly with it. "A-a-ah, um, s-s-sorry about that."

She lifted her own cup off its saucer, and brought it to her lips, taking a small sip that was followed by a content hum. But she didn't take her eyes off the youth as he spoke, explaining his stance on helping people. "You're right, it is what one should do. And some do say that the act of helping is in and of itself its own reward." She smiled, before taking another sip. Her hands then set the cup down, instead reaching for the plate with the piece of cheesecake on it. "But with what the world has come, I think it just helps to give people just a little something , just to continue helping those in need. Those who are as helpful and kind as you, Tomomi, can end up with people trying to take advantage of your kindness."

Her spoon sank into the cheesecake, the edge of the utensil slicing through the soft mass, before encountering a bit of resistnce in the cookie-crumb base. But a bit more pressure broke through, the spoon hitting the plate with a small clink. Her index finger and thumb shfited, cupping the piece into the spoon as she listened to the boy speak. "I think you've much better uses that you could put that money toward. Just trust me, it's fine. I'll most likely have made back whatever this might have cost before my second hour of work tomorrow is over." She spoke, her voice taking a slightly sterner, but still soft tone.

She would slip the piece of cake to her mouth as Tomomi seemed to get quite excited. The name jumped out Cecil. She bit down. That was some nice cheesecake. She'd place the spoon back down and waited for him to finish, the blonde unable to help as the edges of her mouth crept up a little further. He was so cute when he got that excited. "Oh, I don't really mind." She responds as he apologizes. "You kinda remind me of a puppy when you're like that... Does that... sound weird?" She'd trail off a bit, before chuckling, perhaps a bit embarrassed at the awkward analogy.

"But you mentioned a Cecil. You wouldn't happen to mean a blonde young man, green eyes, about this tall? Goes to Seven Stars?" Isabella then inquired, one hand rising up to show a rough estimate of Cecil's height.