Closed Making Friends

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily had really felt inspired after she'd spoken to Alice. At least, after she'd calmed herself down again. Still, it had gotten her thinking. So, she'd done some digging, rented out a stall, and then proceeded to spend most of the day before baking like crazy. Now, Lily sat at her very own stall of baked goods. At least, for today. She'd only rented it for eight hours, and she had already had an hour go by without any customers. She was trying not to get discouraged, playing a bit with the honey colored braid that had been resting on her shoulder.

 

[AJ Ari]

New Zealand was still taking a lot of getting used to. Mostly, AJ found he had a lot of time to himself, between practice and games, and he was at a bit of a loss of how to fill it. He wandered around the market, idly browsing a few of the stalls and enjoying the Spring sunshine. Spring in October was so weird, but AJ was at least enjoying it.

He lingered by one stall, admiring a selection of cupcakes that hopefully tasted as good as they looked and trying not to be too awkward around the girl standing behind the stall as he tried to make up his mind if he wanted anything. "I uh, I'm torn between-" AJ started, double-taking as he glanced up to smile at the girl, realizing she looked vaguely familiar. "Sorry you look... Have I seen you before? Wait, I think you were with.. Blake? Once," he said, trying to place where he'd seen her face.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled as a customer appeared. She straightened, giving him her best smile, but she couldn't help but feel like he was familiar. She studied him, smiling as he started to ask about her goods. She hesitated as he did, and unthinkingly she leant in a little bit. Her eyes lit up as he mentioned Blake. "Oh! You're a Quidditch player!" She smiled brightly, clapping her hands together. "Blake's boyfriend Lars is one of my closest friends, I might have been with him," She smiled, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "My name is Lily," She offered her hand out.

 

[AJ Ari]

Professional Quidditch hadn't exactly been something that AJ had set his heart on in school but he couldn't deny it was cool to have someone identify him as such. Even if that someone was just a friend of one his teammates. "Hah, uh yeah, I am. I play beater," AJ said, nodding as the girl, Lily, explained. It was bit a of a relief to hear she wasn't exactly Blake's friend. A friend of friend. AJ could handle that. It wasn't that he hated Blake but he wasn't exactly keen to run into him outside of practice and games if he could avoid it. "I'm AJ," he said with a sheepish smile, taking her hand and trying not to blush. Lily was pretty and everything around her smelt faintly like vanilla and AJ had to admit it was all going to his head a bit. "I'm kinda new to the area, do you do this market thing a lot?" He asked, glancing back down at the selection of muffins curiously.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily shook his hand, immediately noticing how strong his grip was. She pulled her hand back, playing idly with her braid. "It's nice to meet you AJ," She greeted, smiling shyly. When he asked about her stall, she shook her head. "Oh, this is my first time actually," She told him, biting her lip. "You're the first one to stop by here," She admitted, giving him a gentle smile. "I've made everything myself... you can try something if you'd like, the first one is on me," She encouraged, motioning to the treats, her heart skipping. What if her treats were no good?

 

[AJ Ari]

"That makes me feel a bit better then," AJ said jokingly. "Both market newbies." He felt emboldened when Lily offered him something for free, trying to figure out if she was going to trick him into buying like 40 cakes or if she was being friendly. He'd been having a lot of mixed feelings about kiwi hospitality since moving here and she was a refreshing break, sales strategy or not. "I dunno if that's a very good business strategy," he said slowly. "Maybe I could pick two and we can uh. Eat them together? Over coffee. Or wait, over... Tea? Is that a thing here? You go get tea?"

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily giggled softly at the mans words, looking over her options before picking up a hummingbird muffin. "It's not so much a business strategy as just being friendly," She explained, holding out the muffin to him. "We do go get tea, but I'm stuck here for another seven hours. Still, you should try this one, on me. My best friend, Elliot, he was originally American too, I had a lot of fun giving him this one," She smiled gently at the man. "It's like carrot cake, but with some pineapple too. Very popular here, I think you'll like it."

 

[AJ Ari]

AJ smiled when he managed to make Lily laugh, feeling something warm in his chest at the sound. It faltered some when she emphasized she was just being friendly, and doubly so when she gently turned down his weak offer to go out with him. At least she was being nice about it, and he was getting a pity muffin out of it, so he couldn't really complain. "Oh, uh, great, thanks. And I'm actually Canadian," he said, taking the muffin and picking at it awkwardly. "But I should let you get back to work, sounds like you've got a long day ahead of you," AJ said with a small smile. "Hopefully I'll see you around?" He offered as he stepped away. Lily had been right, the muffin was sweet, but delicious and maybe if Lily only wanted to be friends, it couldn't hurt to stop by again next week. Or the week after...

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled, leaning a bit against the top of her stand as he took the muffin. "Oh, I've never met a Canadian. Is it nice there?" She asked, unthinkingly twirling her hair around her finger. She smiled, biting her lip gently. She was almost disappointed when he said he should go, but she couldn't force him to stay. She straightened, smiling shyly. "I would really like that, yeah," She agreed, hoping that this meant he would be a regular at her booth.