Perfect Piratical Pastry Pals {{Anz}}

"Most certainly," she said, agreeing quietly. She could think of children not much taller than herself who claimed to be older than the universe itself. You could never be sure with these things. But Grant's words meant that he was there from the beginning, as old as SA and older, and had been teaching here when she was a little girl first learning and understanding her magical gifts.

"I be only 28. Ye seem ta' be rather young, twenny'two?"

She giggled, her voice sounding jolly and like the soft tinkering of bells. Twenty two! That was unprecedented. A teacher at twenty two. How preposterous.

Of course, she wouldn't look a complement in the mouth.

"You're a smart man, Grant," she said with a somewhat coy smile.

Shellie reached out and bit into another cream puff, smiling as the sweet filling covered her tongue. These weren't any of her best work--she saved her best work for special occasions--but they were definitely tasty in a way that she hadn't tasted in a while, and she almost wished she had made more.

He blinked--or did he wink? The eye patch made it really hard to tell--and Shellie smiled. The man in captain garb that sat across from her seemed all the world like a huge sweetie.

"Well, of course not!" she sounded a little indignant. "You didn't have someone like me on the ship! ....though, i guess even then, sugar and sea don't exactly mix well..."

She went quiet, but her interest was already perked. She'd always been fascinated with the sea--as she needed to be, considering this island was her permanent residence.

"I suppose that's true. Fleeting delights are still delights, even if they only last an instant."

The witch watched as the pirate ate another cream puff with flare, and fed his bird a cracker. He was certainly an interesting one. Not too many pirates around this school. Then again, not too many people who could boast a teaching record as long as the academy has been around either. It's all about perspective, she guessed.

"Myself?" She asked, placing a hand on her chest. "Well, aside from only working here for a few years, I also own a Bakery downtown called the magic spoon! It's quite lovely, if I do say so myself~"

Shellie smiled and squirmed ever so slightly in her seat, pleased with herself. It wasn't everyday that an establishment like hers--still fairly new and run by someone fairly young--got such good press from everyone else. It helped that the Nices that ran Everything Nice bumped up her sales. She was positively aglow with self-satisfaction.

"That's right. The Magic Spoon, you can't miss it, darling. It's the prettiest pinkest little shop you ever did see, with the best magical view in town!"

When he complimented her and winked (she was sure it was a wink this time from context clues) she smiled. "Come for the beauty, stay for the sweets, I hope."

"It's quite lovely, if I do say so myself."

Shellie smiled at the mention of the mysterious kiss tax, leaning on the table with her elbows supporting most of her upper body weight. "Come now darling, you know I can't exactly start giving away my secrets of the trade. You know what they say about loose lips."

The witch looked up to check the time. Her next class would be starting in a little less than 20 minutes, and she liked to be there a little early to do a little prep work for her students.

She gave Grant a coy smile and backed off from the table, packing up her lunch, but leaving the remaining creampuffs with the pirate. "Help yourself, darling. I do hope we'll get to speak again."