For Marian, it was just another typical day. For some reason, she'd lost some of the will to make people explode. She'd been feeling a bit down ever since Rusk had dumped a dozen fresh tomatoes into her bag, actually. Really, she couldn't understand why he was being such a big jerk recently. She hadn't even done anything to him of late, and he had never cared a wits end about her testing Collette. She just couldn't understand it at all. He was just so... annoying!

In truth (and it annoyed her to admit this), the pastry chef was on her mind a little bit too often. Sometimes, when she was out on the beach with Collette her eyes would drift past her friend, and to the brother who would be standing near Karina with a small toyherb or something sweet; things that would make a normal girl weak at the knees. However, sleeping for 16 hours of the day on average was not a characteristic of a normal girl. She had to laugh; didn't the boy know that she liked gemstones? She still remembered once when he'd almost caught on and had brought her a diamond...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knocking. "Come in!" she called, still standing uncaringly behind the counter. "Welcome to the Apoth- oh, hi Micah!" She flashed a friendly smile at the blonde haired half-monster, who was now in his third year of marriage. "So, how's Jessa been doing?" Jessa was the name of Micah's newest born daughter. She was well known as the only child to sport the same light blonde hair of the half wooly. Alas, that was the extent of most people's knowledge about the babe. "You know you don't have to knock, right?"

Micah laughed, "It's a formality."

"So, what's the matter?" she said this out of memory, as she always did, "You feeling bad or somethin'?" She grinned slyly and shot him a joking wink, "you wan' a shot?"

The blonde haired boy- no, boy was wrong- the blonde haired man chuckled again, "No Marian, I just came to talk." He reached into his back pocket and produced a green envelope, "Rusk told me to give you this letter."

"Rusk?" Marian spat back. What would he want? The little brat had been nothing but trouble as of late. She didn't realize that she'd voiced this out loud until Micah's soft chuckle brought her out of aloof. "It's true though!" she whined.

Micah chuckled a third time, "Just think about it, okay?" with that he left.

Scowling, Marian took a look at the request, "I need you to make a potion for me," she read aloud in a slightly snarky tone, "Come see me for the details." She scoffed and threw the thing on the counter. She shouldn't go; a part of her reasoned that it would serve him right if she waited a month or two before answering! But, there was a little bit of her that was curious to see what he needed. Maybe it was like Micah and Carmen, and he was trying to get closer to her...Not that she wanted that or anything.

She sighed and tucked the note into her hat and then set off towards the diner with a slight drag on her step. Besides, Collette was probably in need of some new medication!

Marian sat down in the Plaza with the most annoyed expression she'd had yet on her face. "Just wait at the Plaza," she mimicked, angrily scowling and kicking at the poor and defenceless pebbles. He was so getting a shot next time she saw him.

"U-hum."

Marian looked up, startled, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, you!" she muttered with mock-anger, "You wan' a shot!"

Rusk laughed, "I have some ketchup in my bag..." Marian sat down immediately after that, "I need you to make me a Love Potion." Marian blinked at the blonde haired boy. "I need it for... something." She raised an eyebrow at the boy and he blushed feverishly, turning away from her.

Marian winked slyly and chuckled at the boy, "What's it for?" her teasing tone was enough to put him over.

Crossly glaring at the witch apprentice Rusk huffed, "I'll tell you," he muttered, trying to mask the slight stutter from his previous embarrassment, "only after you drink some of this tomato juice I made." Marian's convulsing shudder at the mere thought, was enough to make the boy smile so hard it hurt.

"You're horrible."

Rusk laughed again, catching a quick look at her eyes-they were pinkish red in color. The more he thought about it, the more they seemed like strawberries- the inside of a pink melon perhaps? He never really did like those things on the outside. On the outside, they were girly and obnoxious. What, with all the seeds on a strawberry, and the little pink dots on a pink melon? No, he wasn't one for the supposed cuteness on the outside; it was the sweetness on the inside that he went for.

"Get it to me soon," he said softly, "I'd like it before summer starts..." he looked up, eyes still half lidded, and found Marian to have a dumbfounded look on her face. "Marian?" his strangled call came after the few minutes of mutual staring had become too long, "MARIAN!"

The blue haired witch apprentice blinked quickly, "I...uh... sure, Rusk..." she was trying to find the words that would make this seem any bit less awkward. For once, pondering as to the acceptance of a shot seemed like the wrong thing to do. She stood up, stomach reeling with an unknown force. A little part of her even felt like making the love potion from the proper ingredients this time as opposed to experimenting (of course, she quickly dismissed such a treacherous feeling). Her feet moved by themselves, and she walked straight to the Apothecary while ignoring the weird look she received from the townsfolk with a foreign feign of indifference.

"Good evening, Marian."

Startled, her eyes darted to the source of voice. Before her stood the uni-horned Ondorus and the sous chef Collette. She wasn't paying attention to them as she muttered a quick reply and headed towards her cauldron, still bubbling from when she had left. A bit of her was having trouble registering what had just happened. Why had she frozen up like that? Why had she stared for so long?

A frustrated sigh slipped through her lips as once more she began to stir the bubbling, bubbling pot.

"That was HORRIBLE!"

Micah raised an eyebrow, "Really now?" He turned to his youngest daughter, spooning another bit of a paste made from apples into her mouth and then cleaning off the edges quickly with a damp cloth.

An annoyed huff came from Rusk's direction, "I mean, first she comes in while Karina's there, and then when I tell her, we just stared at each other!" he gave an overdramatic shudder and turned his back to the older man, "It. Was. Horrible."

"What a pwetty bebe..."

Rusk turned to face Micah only to find him with his face close to Jessa's, making unreadable expressions of sheer silliness. A quiet pout formed on his lips and he couldn't help but feel a little left out. After all, he'd known Micah longer! It didn't really bother him that as a functioning seventeen year old member of society he was still jealous of Micah's little daughter.

"Unca Wusk?"

A quick look down had his features melted from a discontented frown to a sufficient smile.

"Awe 'ou in wove wit' Miss Mawian?"

He felt his cheeks heat up at little Tutu's question, but shook it away quickly. "No, Tutu," he said, bending down to her height, "Why do you ask?"

Tutu blinked brightly and her hands returned to their usual spot, resting on her pudgy cheeks. She let out a small giggle and ran back up the stairs to where her older sister awaited. There was a loud squeal from upstairs, and she soon came running back again. She stopped, looking shyly at Rusk and smiled toothily, motioning eagerly for him to come closer.

And as Rusk was a child too (at heart, he cared to mention) he leaned in closer until...

SMOOCH~!

A sloppy, wet kiss was planted on his cheek. He blinked, blood rushing to his face and eyes wide with surprise.

"I'm gonna mawwy 'ou when I gwow awp!"

With that, the two year old dashed back up the semi-spiralling stairs leaving behind a trail of giggles.

As Rusk tried to figure out what had just happened, his eyes landed on Micah and Jessa, both of which were staring at him with their jaws dropped.

"Micah! I'm sorry! I never! I wouldn't!" he was fumbling for words now, "I didn't know she'd do that!" All the half-wooly did was laugh and pick up the unfinished sauce of apples, and placing it gently into the sink began scrubbing gently. "I'll go now, Micah..." Rusk wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. What was up with the girls he knew? First Marian, now this? Was there no stopping them?

"And Rusk?"

He stopped at the large entrance into the Sharance tree.

"She is going to hold you to it, just so you know."