Autumn chocolate.{Open}

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

My character: Roxanne Beauchamp

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November 1 - 9:oo am...ish
Atlanta, Georgia



Roxanne placed the last tray of freshly made chocolates in the glass display case. She had been working all morning to get these chocolates made and it was well worth it, they looked delicious. While she had the lighted case open she rearranged a couple of the sweets around before nodding in mild satisfaction and closing it up. The small French woman ran her hands over her loose black skirt to smooth it out as she straightened up.

The shop was still closed and she looked around the display room for anything she could do to bide the time till she opened. Turning shapely on her heel as she thought of something, she quickly made her way around the counter and grabbed a broom. Humming, she made quick work of sweeping away the dust that had settled from the previous night. The tune was a familiar one to her; it was one that her mother had often sang to her and her brother. Her movements paused, at the thought of her mother. In place of the sadness she used to feel she now only felt a calming acceptance. As she looked around the shop she wished her mother would have been proud of what she had made for herself.

Replacing the broom behind the counter she picked up a heavy wooden sign. It was hand painted by her and she had been working on it for a week. It was very simple but very colorful and bore the name “De L'espoir et du Chocolat” which was French for “Of hope and chocolate.” As she made her way around the corner she tripped on something and nearly fell over, just barely catching herself before completely losing her balance which would have sent her falling on her face. “What is the point of seeing the future if I can’t see stuff like this…”she thought to herself, with a slight sarcastic air. Looking down she saw that the object she had tripped over was a ladder. “Well…I’ll be needed that won’t I…” the irony did not escape her and with a soft sigh she leaned over, grabbing the ladder as she made her way over to the door.

She tried several times to get the door open but after several failed attempts and almost dropping the new sign she placed the items to the ground and unlocked the door, pushing it open before grabbing the ladder. Setting the flimsy metal ladder on the ground she shook it a couple of times to make sure it was level before stepping up to remove the old sign. She considered leaving the old worn sign in the shop until she could dispose of it later, but figuring that it didn’t take her too long to walk a few ways to the alley nearby and throw the sign in the dumpster she closed the shop and locked it before heading down the street, sign in tow.

As she walked she continued to hum to herself. It was turning out to be a beautiful day. Autumn was just settling in and it was her favorite time of the year. Waving with a smile to some passing guards she grabbed the heavy sign with two hands and tossed it up and over into a dumpster. It had taken her slightly longer than she had thought it would and she hurried back to her shop. Climbing back up the ladder with the new sign in hand she locked the hooks in place before climbing down carefully to assess her work. She smiled. It looked perfect; just as she had pictured it. Gathering up the ladder she reentered her shop, flipping the closed sign around to open on her way.

So she wouldn’t trip over it again she placed the ladder away in a small storage closet before returning to the counter. As she sat on the small stool behind the shining case of chocolates the tune she had been humming developed to have words.

“Il semble que quelqu'un ait convoque l'espoir
Les rues sont des jardins, je danse sur les trottoirs
Il semble que mes bras soient devenus des ailes
Qu'a chaque instant qui vole je puisse toucher le ciel
Qu'a chaque instant qui passe je puisse manger le ciel
Les clochers sont penches les arbres deraisonnent
Ils croulent sous les fleurs au plus roux de l'automne
La neige ne fond plus la pluie chante doucement
Et meme les reverberes ont un air impatient
Et meme les cailloux se donnent l'air important”

As she continued to sing in a soft soprano voice she pulled a large sketch pad over to sit on her knees. Armed with a graphite pencil she slowly began to stroke the lead across the page with an almost loving tenderness. Despite using the art to aid her ability, she truly enjoys to draw just for the sake of drawing. Even if the picture had no meaning it was still relaxing just to feel the pencil dragging across the paper, or the cool sensation of fresh wet paint between her fingers.

“Car je suis l'amoureuse, oui je suis l'amoureuse
Et je tiens dans me mains la seule de toutes les choses
Je suis l'amoureuse, je suis ton amoureuse
Et je chante pour toi la seule de toutes les choses
Qui vaille d'etre la, qui vaille d'etre la
Le temps s'est arrete, les heures sont volages
Les minutes frissonnent et l'ennui fait naufrage
Tout parait inconnu tout croque sous la dent
Et le bruit du chagrin s'eloigne lentement
Et le bruit du passe se tait tout simplement”

The sun was rising higher in the sky and she could see people getting up and going about their lives. The shop wasn't too busy in the morning hours. Business usually picked back up later in the afteroon. For now she was content to sit and enjoy the time to draw without being pressured by obscure nonsensical visions.

[Kuro Boushi]

As a slow Autumn breeze rolled through the streets Kuro's jacket fluttered quickly before returning to his side.As he walked down the crowded streets, people pushing to get to work, or just stay out of the way of the guards which seemed to be in rare form this morning, he began looking around. "It has been some time since I have been in a large city hasn't it." he said to himself as he looked around.

He reached his hand back scratching the back of his head, his right arm pulling the threads on the jacket almost to their breaking point. His tight black shirt becoming untucked from the motion, he looked down deciding it wasn't worth fixing. Reaching with his left hand he pulled the rest free and adjusted it around his belt line properly. Lowering his hand he tucked it deep into his pocket, feeling for any cash he may have had on him, "Gotta get some food." he sighed hearing his stomach grumble.

As he continued to dig he managed to find a twenty tucked deep in his pocket, he continued walking the streets coming to a stop across from a small 'mom and pop' shop. He saw a young lady hanging the sign, as she finished hanging the sign he decided that he would go there for his meal. Waiting for her return, while she ran to dumpster, Kuro began crossing the busy street, bumping into a guard. "Sorry about that, didn't see you there." he said with a smile. The solider giving him a dirty look continued his route.

Kuro arrived the front door of the shop as the girl seemed to begin drawing, he opened the door softly, using his left hand to make sure not to break it. As he let it fall back to closed, he looked to the women, "Howdy ma'am" he said with a smile on his face his eyes slightly closed.

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

Hearing a voice Roxanne looked up somewhat startled from her work. A man wearing a rather bulky jacket had entered and while her large amber eyes looked over his attire suspiciously for a just a moment she shook her head, she wasn't one to judge. Running a hand quickly through her dark brown hair she looked up with a smile.

"Bonjour." she replied her voice giving away that she was obviously a native speaker of the language. Usually she didn't speak French since most people didn't understand it.However the greeting was a common enough one for her to use. And it was somewhat a force of habit. As she spoke her hand flew across the paper, seeming of it's one accord. She looked down only momentarily before replacing the sketch pad on a shelf behind the counter.

The petite woman slid off the chair and rested her arms on the counter leaning over to address him. "Welcome to De L'espoir et du Chocolat. If you'll let me, I bet I can guess your favorite flavor." her voice wasn't as heavily accented as when she had first started speaking English but it was noticeable.

Without waiting for him to answer she opened the glass case. When he had walked in she had smelled and overwhelming smell of peanut butter and the quick drawing she had sketched out proved her suspicions. Pulling out several small pieces of chocolate she placed them on a tray. The chocolate treat was a chocolate truffle with a peanut butter fluff filling. As she placed in on the counter the rings on her fingers clinked against the ceremetic tray.

"Here, try this. If it isn't your favorite the treat is free." she continued with a kind smile.

[Kuro Boushi]

Kuro smiled at the girl as she greeted him, she was a rather pretty girl, "Oh you can guess something like that by me simply saying hello huh?" Kuro smiled at the girl. He nodded going along with her plan, "Free hmmm, I like the sound of that." Kuro said thinking of how little money he honestly had left. Going to lean on the counter with the girl he thought it through and pulled himself back up, "Don't need to fall through the counter."[/i] he thought, his powers had been acting up lately and he didn't want to take the chance of him going full armor and crashing on her.

As she raised the treat to him, he looked at it at first. Candy wasn't really his plan for breakfast but why not. He smiled to her placing his left hand on the treat and taking a bite from it. He crewed for a second or two then looked at the girl, his eyes closing a bit longer than a standard blink, then opened them "That is fantastic." he said tot he girl.

"You win how much do I owe you for it?" he asked, "Oh and do you have tea or water by chance?" he asked. He had planed on getting a few supplies with his last bit of money but this was more worth it, maybe he could do some labor someplace to make some quick cash. His empty bag was still on his shoulder, he lowered it and dropped it down, the small pocketknife made a slight chime as it hit.

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

Roxanne's eyes sparkled with delight seeing that he liked it. She made these chocolates to bring people happiness and it always warmed her heart to see people enjoy them. Hearing him say that she had won her smile widened even more.

"For payment..." she thought for a moment, her face taking on a mock serious look. "how about a conversation?" her smile returned and she leaned back up "I love meeting new people."

Her flat black ballet shoes hardly made any noise as she made her way around the counter although her voice held a hint of melancholy as she spoke "So few new faces come into the store these days. I guess people are too caught up in their worries to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures in life" Stopping she paused for a moment, as if she was still pondering that thought. It was only a moment and she snapped out of it quickly, her sullen face replaced by a brilliant smile. "So if you have the time, I would love to sit and chat."

She moved over towards where there were some chairs and tables gesturing for him to have a seat. Pulling out a chair for herself she was about to sit when her posture perked up "Oh, i'm sorry, Water or Tea, well you are in luck Monsieur; I have both, which would you prefer?"

[Kuro Boushi]

He smiled at her comment about payment, "A conversation you say, that's a pretty steep price if i do say so." Kuro laughed a little at his own joke, he sighed deeply, "Oh I slay me." he commented to himself, patting his leg. He looked over to the table the girl had began walking towards, as she went to sit he stood by the table. When she questioned his drink choice he smiled at her, "Water is fine miss." he responded waiting standing by the table till she returned.

Waiting for her he looked around the small shop, then asking, "This a family business or you just work here?" He was curious if it was in fact a "Mom and pop shop" or some chain thing that just popped up. "I mean you have be having some problems keeping it going if it is only yours." he added.

He clenched his right hand, it wasn't feeling right, he didn't like it, he brought his arm up and slide some of the sleeve back trying to look at his arm. The shine from the morning sun reflected from the armor and he opened and closed his hand. "Everything looks fine, guess just getting achy from lack of sleep or something." He sighed and thought to himself. It had been nearly three days since he got a full nights sleep and nearly six months since he had slept in a bed. "I would kill for a warm bed." he thought out loud.

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

Hearing him ask for water she smiled before turning on her heel to go to the back room. There was a small refrigerator and inside was a chilled picture of water. She liked her water colder than the tap would give it, although she didn't see the need to buy one of those more expensive refrigerators with the filtered water dispenser. Keeping the water from the tap in a pitcher was just as effective she found, and much cheaper. As she pulled a glass down from the cabinet above her and filled it with ice she heard his question and shook her head slightly.

"I'm afraid it's just me. I've had others work with me before..." she trailed off lost in thought. Everyone she had ever had work with her had either given her away or almost figured out her secret. Putting her in jeopardy as well as themselves. Choosing her words carefully she continued. "...but it never really worked out. Something has always come up, or happened...and well, I've just found I work better alone." Once she had filled the glass with water she returned to the room to see him still standing. While she was rather touched by his manners in such a casual situation as this, they seemed almost over the top. The effort however was refreshing. Not everyone tried these days to be so polite.

Hearing him speak of wanting a warm bed she looked over at him with a mildly cautious look in her eye. That that was a rather strange thing to say out loud especially in the company of someone one had just met. Regardless her kinder nature wouldn't let the comment slip by without question. "Do you have a place to stay for the night? Atlanta is a rather large city, but you don't as if you are settled." Placing the glass on the table near him she motioned for him to sit, as she pulled out the small metal chair for herself and sat down. She folded her legs up so that she was sitting crosslegged in her chair, a habit she had developed over time. It might not have looked all that comfortable but it was to her.

[Kuro Boushi]

"I am just kinda passing through, I don't like to stay in one place for very long and I'm personally not a big fan of big cities." He thought to himself, "Mainly since this fricken war started and I can't show my arm."[/i] He waited for her to sit then sat across from her, he was raised with his morals and manners so he would never sit before a lady. "I am thinking of possibly a hotel room for once in a great while but I may just camp out again to save the cash." he shrugged looking over to his back which he had left on the floor by the counter.

It was nearly empty of supplies and he had lost his tent and sleeping bag, giving them to a small group of users he had meet traveling across the state. He had maybe another full set of clothing, his small knife, half a days supply of water and no more food. "Really should have keep the sleeping bag." he muttered to himself, "Those things aren't that cheep." he sighed then looked back to the girl.

He probably looked crazy at this point, ranting to himself for that long, "Sorry ma'am I got distracted, my name is Kuro, Kuro Boushi." he said offering his right hand not completely thinking. "It is very nice to meet you, miss?" he questioned.

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

Roxanne listened as he spoke of traveling across the state. Her original suspicion of this man grew. Not many people could travel easily now that the governments had most of the cities on lock down and most of the people who did were criminals running from the law or Users. Sometimes those two were one in the same. Even as she thought this she berated herself in her mind. Who am I to judge him. I've had to run most my life, I've just been fortunate that Francis left me money.

Hearing him introduce himself she broke herself out of her revelry and smiled. "I'm Roxanne Beauchamp, pleasure to meet..." she trailed off as she reached over to take his hand, her eyes moving from his face to their clasped hands. Even with the glove, his handshake felt, off. The size difference wasn't so much a surprised. He was a much larger person than her. For him to have larger hands was expected. What concerned her was that his hand didn't give way under her touch. His hand was hard, almost as is it wasn't real.

Looking back up to him her amber eyes viewed him curiously. "That is quite a handshake you've got there Monsieur Kuro." pausing for a moment she thought. Even if he was a user, he had obviously meant her no harm, or else he would have taken some action sooner. And if he was running from the law, well, she had been there before.

Her eyes never left his face as she spoke. "There is a bed, in the back room. It's hardly used, and I can't promise how comfortable it is, it's kinda makeshift, but you're welcome to it." Her kind nature usually ruled over her common sense and she hoped she wouldn't regret this. He seemed nice enough though.

[Kuro Boushi]

When by the time he had noticed he offered his right hand it was too late, the small girl had already taken it, "Ya, well you know I try?" he tried to play it off, but knew it wouldn't work. He didn't mind much if people knew of his powers, but due to the fact that they were in a government city there was a chance it could quickly turn into a problem and he had no intentions of being locked up.....again. As they released hands,he looked to his hand.

"Oh well thank you ma'am that is mighty kind of you but I don't think I can accept and put you out like that." He smile at her, "But that is kind of you." he looked to the girl, she was being very kind for hardly knowing him, most people wouldn't even give him a second glance and she was willing to put him up for the night already.

He decided that he was gonna have to explain, He reached with his left hand and took off his right glove, "This helps with the strong hand shake." he smiled at her, "I'm a user, armor formations is my thing, thus why I am traveling and kinda short of money right now." he smiled at her. Expecting the normal reaction, freak out, report him and get him taken away. "I'll leave now if you want." he said grabbing his glove, then going to get up.

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

Seeing him take his glove off, exposing his armored hand she just started at it. "Didn't see that coming.." she thought to herself. As he stood to leave she just blinked a few times as he mentioned that he was going to leave "He thinks i'm going to report him..."

"No, wait." she called out standing up. "Erm..." she looked nervously over to the wide window in the front of the shop. "Put the glove back on. Look, I kinda have a similar issue. Well, mine isn't as noticeable, as, that" she motioned to his arm. "But you remember how I could guess your favorite chocolate. I could do that because I can see into the future. That is the one you would have chosen for yourself." she gave a weak smile "So I guess I kinda cheated..."

She looked over towards the door before looking back at him. "Regardless...you still owe me a conversation"

[Kuro Boushi]

"Another user hiding amongst the crowd."Kuro smiled at the girl, "I was leaving since I assumed, well I thought you wouldn't want a user in your shop." he nodded at the girl. He pulled his glove tightly back on his hand, flexing it some, making sure it held together. Releasing his clenched fist he tucked his hand in his pocket and began walking towards the table.

"So your a cheater face." Kuro smiled at the girl waiting for her to sit before he would, "Being able to see the future must have a lot of perks." he nodded thinking of all the times where knowing what would have been coming could have helped. "So you know what I am going to do next?" he asked. He hadn't ran into a future seer before so he had a few normal questions he wanted to ask.

"That I do missy that I do." he responded to her comment about owing her a conversation, he had no problems spending some times hanging out with the attractive young women. "So miss Roxanne what would you like to talk about?" he asked her smiling largely closing his eyes while looking at her.

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

Seeing that he wasn't going to leave she sat back down.

Hearing him say that her power had "perks" she laughed, but the sound held no humor behind it. If you counting being thrown into a fit of insanity every time you're powers activate, then sure, it has perks. Smiling at his question of being able to see what he was going to do next she shook her head.

"I can't see your next moves. The ability doesn't really work that way..." she fidgeted with the rings on her fingers. She wasn't really used to talking about her powers with others. It was rare that she ran into other users who would actually talk openly about their powers.

"It's not a clear vision, it's more like...a collection of feeling, sounds and smells. I feel through all my senses what is happening, and from that, I can decipher what is happening. It usually helps to draw it out, gives me a better picture, and it makes the "vision" go away. I have just recently been able to focus the power to see what I want to see, and even then, i've only been able to manage seeing what kind of chocolate people will choose. It's really not as great as it seems..." her face kinda fell as she trailed off on that thought. Often times the only visions she got had strong emotions tied to them and the strongest emotions people feel. Over time she had learned to deal with the effects of phantom pain, but it was never pleasant.

Looking back over she let a smile slip back over her lips. "So, is it just your arm that is affected?"

[Kuro Boushi]

Listening to how her powers worked Kuro was very interested as the girl sat down, he sat across from here. He liked talking about his powers, he enjoyed the conversation since it was something that few could relate to and it was personal to each person. "I think its still a really cool power, being able to see the future even if it is just in random bursts. Its good that you are training them thought maybe one day you will have more talent on what you see." Kuro smiled at the girl.

When she asked about his arm Kuro nodded and looked down at his arm, "Its kinda easier to show then explain..." he gripped the glove, tossing it on the table, then taking off his jacket. As the sun came in through the windows of the shop the light reflected off the armor giving it a slight orange and red shine. He brought it up to his face and clenched his fist tight, then opened it, "Its nice not being cooped up in that jacket. " He nodded to her.

He placed his hand on the corner of a table lifting it with no problem, "You know that was suppose to be heavier to prove more of a point, but ya, I have just about limitless strength with it, also its impenetrable, so I mean I can block just about any damage with it." He smiled "Oh and I can do this." he focused causing the armor to spread across his chest and down his other arm. "I can do that across my whole body but it really wears me out after a few"

[Roxanne Beauchamp]

She smiled politely at his comment about her having a "cool" power. Her option about her abilities varied from his, but she wasn't going to make a point of that now. Her eyes followed his movements nervously glancing between him and the window as he removed his glove and jacket.

When he picked up the table her eyes widened and she leaned back a bit, looking between the table and him. Halfheartedly she reached her hands up, trying to get him to replace her table to the ground as her eyes studied the armor as it crept over his body, covering his other arm.

"Well, that seems much more useful than mine in any case..." Her eyes were still glancing over to the window. His armor was doing a splendid job of catching the sun's light and she rose from her chair. "Why don't we move to the back room. I don't want to chance anyone spying your through the window..." she started to make her way back over to the room she had gotten his water from.

The back was at one time meant to be a bedroom, or maybe a large storage room. For her purposes she had turned it into a miniature chocolate factory. There was a large oven in the back and sprawled out along the tables were a variety of different tools. She ground up her cocao beans herself in a large stone mortar and while it was a difficult job for someone of her size, it made for better quality product than using the pre-ground stuff. Stuffed in a back corner was the bed she had mentioned earlier. It wasn't so much a bed as it was a cot.

Now that they were out of sight from the window she relaxed a little. There was a strange nagging sensation at the back of her mind but she decided to ignore them. "Why do you wander around so much. I was under the impression that there were several "havens" for people like us on the outside."