The click of the heel of her boot on the paved blocks of the city seems unusually silent as Notos carried in oppressive summer showers in on the south wind. She pulled the hood of her rain jacket all the tighter barrier between her and the muggy air the dutiful Anemoi had breathed down onto their restless city. The release of rainfall and the evaporation produced by the sun betting down as relentlessly as always left plenty of room for the winds to churn to life a humid hell for the masses to slog through. It would figure that the day she decided to run errands that it would be pouring cats and bloody dogs. She wasn't dressed for the weather and she had gone through all the trouble her hair which was now a crown frizz and broken dreams. How perfectly fitting. She supposed she should count her blessings that it hadn't been something must worse on the winds then a little storm or two.<br/><br/>Someone shoulder checks her and she stumbles, already turning to confront the person already offering some benign insult to her intellect. The urge to teach some manners to this member of the menfolk flung her at once when she saw the face of the person in question. Hardly a boy but not quite yet a man, she knew him very well. He didn't run in any circles she did, but they were present in a manner of speaking. The young man looked regretful, if not guilty, imminently.<br/><br/>"Sorry, Ms. Yaxley. I wasn't watching where I was going," the younger man murmured in obvious guilt, his hand coming to rub the back of his neck. He's already gone a solid pink color which, frankly, is quite fetching for him. He would be quite the ladies man once he realized his female peers would adore his easily flustered nature if he didn't lash out after. A young woman, she had found, like a boy with a pretty blush. She sure knew it had done one of her late husbands quite a few favors.<br/><br/>"Jacob. I thought you'd been working on that temper of yours." She steps under an awning of a building and the young man follows almost dutifully.<br/><br/>"I still am, ma'am. It's been slow goings."<br/><br/>"I supposed it can't be helped them."<br/><br/>"Where you headed, Ms. Yaxley?"<br/><br/>"The Circle."<br/><br/>He looks a little surprised, "In this weather? Awful day for it."<br/><br/>"Well, I didn't quite expect things to get this bad. The forecast said we'd have a pretty sunny afternoon. This downpour was supposed to be much later."<br/><br/>"You can never trust the weather forecasters."<br/><br/>"You think I'd learn." She laughs softly.<br/><br/>"Want me to walk you there, Ms. Yaxley?" The young man offers, almost a little hopefully.<br/><br/>"Oh, that's hardly necessary. You're headed to the opposite way."<br/><br/>"I wouldn't mind. It would be very cool of me to let a lady walk alone in this. What if something happened to you?"<br/><br/>She laughs, a tinkling kind of thing, "How gentlemanly! I'm sure Charline would be very impressed."<br/><br/>The poor guy stutters turning a red color, "Ms. Yaxley!"<br/><br/>She has to cover her mouth so she doesn't laugh directly into his face. The kid, after all, had told her about his girl problems in confidence. She should take it easy on him. Then again, what kind of 'friend' would she been if she didn't tease him every chance he got.<br/><br/>"I'll be fine on my own. I can handle myself."<br/><br/>He rubs his neck, soothing his own embarrassment, "You sure you don't want the company."<br/><br/>"Very sure. Don't let me distract you from what you were doing."<br/><br/>He looks a little conflicted, but nods. The kid bears her a farewell and takes off back into the rain with the same hurried walk as before. Clearly in a hurry for something. Millicent was glad she hadn't held him up any longer.<br/><br/>She ducks out of the cover and heads a few more blocks up the street before she slipping under another awning. It's a deep purple and the front of the shop is marked with tabletop gaming adds and promises of incense and oils for burning. She shakes herself off as best as she can before she pulls the door open and steps inside.<br/><br/>The insides are modest enough for the crowd it caters too. There are retro gaming board games and card games line the walls along with collectibles and trinkets. A small section of the store holds the mentions oils and incense - along with glass blown pipes and the like. There are two tables inside, along with a small retro tv with two chairs. There's a card game tapping at one table and something that looks like and at the other. She's gained half of the attention of a couple of the players.<br/><br/>At the counter, there's an older woman who startles upon seeing her. She snags a small towel from under the counter and bustles over to drop it over her head. Bustling slightly, "You're dripping all over my floor!"<br/><br/>"Sorry, Gretal. I can't control the weather."<br/><br/>"You could have brought an umbrella!" The woman snaps before leading her behind the counter to a door leading to the back rooms. Demanding she finish toweling off before she goes back.<br/><br/>It was employee-only unless you're in the in-crowd. So, of course, one of the players at the tables lean to see what's going on and his friend leans to smack him shaking his head gravely. Regulars knew better. The back rooms weren't for them and they pretend not to notice the strange mix of people coming and going from there. The shop was a great place to hang out - there was no point in running it by getting nosy.