"I can't believe this is the first time I've set foot in this place." Gerard mused as he walked down the streets. Here he was sure he knew every rock and reef on this side of the Nyella, but then there was mention of a mobile, moving city built on the back of a great whale. One would think such a great creature would be easy to run into out on the open water, yet he had never crossed paths with it. Sihajja, the Living Reef was a place he felt right at home even if it wasn't in the water all the time. It was clear from the city's design that the sea was revered and celebrated. The buildings themselves looked like branch corals, and the clustered apartments reminded him of how different coral colonies would build on top of each other. The streets were radial and everything eventually led to the center.

As densely populated as the place was, it didn't have the same stiffness that came with land-locked cities. It was both a part yet not quite as connected to the world around it. The people moved at their own pace and did their work; trade was welcomed but not heavily relied on. The folk here kept to themselves, and to Gerard that was fine. It was much more honest than false smiles and feigned hospitality that hung around coastal cities when travelers came in. This trip was a special one, as Talise was with him today. What better way to experience a new city for the first time than with your better half? 

They wanted the perfect place. A where her mother couldn’t find them. That was before her mother’s fall from earth. While she had been worried she knew her mother was strong but they had also already made plans to visit Sihajja. Matter of fact they had orders cakes to test in the colors they wanted. Seafoam blue with black pearls like the ones that would be around her neck. White gardenias as garnish with the blues to match the flowers they chose to decorate their wedding with.


“Yeah, this place is beautiful. I was shocked when you hadn’t been here as well.” She put her hand in his as she looked around the city. “This was a good place for us to pick to first try out. We do need a venue for our wedding and this seemed like a good place to keep mother’s eyes off of us while we plan.” She pushed herself up and even hovered while she kissed his cheek since he was much taller than her.

“There’s the baker we were told about.” She pointed to a cute little shop not very far. “I hope he is everything we were told… We did send a letter with the colors and garnishes we wanted…” Once inside the building… It went terribly wrong from the start.

“Oh, you must be Mr. and the future Mrs. Vervaine!” An elderly man grabbed a tray of cakes and took a step forward. Talise noticed right off they were a deep navy blue but maybe they were there’s. However, on his way over the elder tripped and the whole tray hit Talise! All over her light colored dress was this navy blue frosting.

“Oh no!” Talise looked at her dress. “These were someone else’s! I feel so bad…” They couldn’t have been theirs.

“No, I’m afraid they were yours…”

“Ours…” She looked up at Gerard and knew this wouldn’t go over well.

"Gods…" Everything was all wrong. The color was wrong, the texture of the cream was wrong, the placement of the decorations was wrong, even the pearls–and then the man tripped sending cake everywhere. Even worse, it went all over Talise's dress. Then, to make matters worse–those cake samples really were theirs. The lower eyelid of Gerard's left eye twitched. "You bungling, ham-fingered CLOD!" He shouted, his voice rising in a crescendo. "We said we wanted seafoam blue and iridescent black pearls, not this navy blue paste and sodding grey hailstones! How dare you dump frosted sugar and whipped cream all over her?!"

At the nokken's outburst, the elderly baker's kindly face soured into a glare almost instantly and his hands balled up into fists. "You'd better watch your mouth, you wad of sea moss! I've been baking pastries long before you were even a fry!" That did it. Gerard's patience was significantly less than a saint's, and with Talise a mess after seeing their order completely off the mark, he was boiling mad. "Well maybe if you were at least halfway competent, you'd at least get the color right!" The bard seethed, glaring daggers at the older man. "You think a green sprout like you can tell me how to do my job?" The man growled. "Maybe you should start by getting your eyes checked after a thorough review of the basics!" Gerard shot back.

"SOPPING SEA LIMPET!" "BLITHING OLD STONEFISH!" The baker then lunged at Gerard and they were going at it inside the bakery. Cake pans and baking sheets clattered to the floor as the man shoved the bard against the back counter. The nokken threw a punch and pushed both of them back against the cooling racks of other orders sitting by the window. Things had escalated more quickly than resting bread dough on a summer afternoon and the two men were trashing the kitchen. Shouts and insults from both sides peppered the racket as everything was going to the Circles of Infernos in a hand-basket. Gerard and the baker were hitting each other with whatever they could get their hands on, whether it was baking implements or the broken remains of unfinished orders.

Talise’s violet eyes moved straight to Gerard. She knew what was coming. Fate knew what was coming. THE WHALE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING. The baker, however, was somehow left out of the loop about the Nokken’s tendencies. Now he was fighting for her honor and their cake’s honor. How on earth would they ever find a baker who would take them in Sihajja now? This would be interesting.

She took one of the cloth napkins available and worked on her dress silently as the two men fought. “Oh dear, I don’t think it’s going to come out.” She took a deep sigh. Well with the bakery not taking them anymore. Her fiancee was wrestling and Talise was quick to ascend as they tackled over the table. She put her hand under her chin as she floated out of the way.

Soon though the fight broke out of the shop and Talise went outside to watch it. Quickly a crowd came around them and Talise got caught not being able to see how the fight was progressing. She heard the insults and it was getting a bit heated. “Oh that this point Gerard is going to match the coloring of the pearls we picked out…”

A little old fish woman came over to her. “My dear… what is going on?” The woman beckoned her to follow.

“Oh… Well, we were here to get a look at what our cakes would look like and everything just went so wrong.” Talise held up the cloth of her dress. “The color… The pearls… My dress… My love’s temper towards all of the above.” Normally Talise would have had a broom going after the man too but Gerard had it handled and she was more disappointed their search for a baker wasn’t going so well.

“My dear, he hasn’t baked a cake right in a hundred years.” Talise’s face visibly soured at the words.

Fortunately Gerard was too busy pummeling the ornery old baker with his fists to hear what the elderly woman was telling his fiancee. Otherwise, it would make him unleash a fresh new layer of frost over the entire area. They were grabbing at each other's throats and were now rolling on the streets of Sihajja, shouting obscenities with enough ire to make the sea boil and an ill-tempered sailor look calm. The old man was no slouch either, just as much as a spitfire as the nokken. Clearly his advanced age did nothing to soften his blows. As the two men were having a go, the fight caught the attention of several locals moseying over to see what was going on. To anyone's surprise, they seemed remarkably unconcerned in watching the scuffle–as housewives and middle-aged men were pulling out chairs and finding places to sit. It was like this sort of thing was a relatively common occurrence here.

"Ten silvers on the young one." One of the housewives said, leaning over to the one next to her. "Really? With that signori? Twenty-five on him. He's given the guards a run for their money." A man sitting comfortably on a stool with a pipe let out a laugh while slapping his knee. "You see that fire in that black-coat's eyes? Forty silvers or I'll eat my shoes–both of them!" Somehow the locals were placing bets on who they thought would win in the fight. The reaction was almost surreal, until a pair of city guards took notice of the growing crowd. "What's going on here?" One of the guardsmen asked a bystander. A young Sihajjan man with deeply tanned skin leaning against the side of a building pointed at the ongoing tussle. "Signori Lorenzo is at it again. Probably got into an argument with the man about his cakes like usual. They've been going at it for a few minutes now."

The guard with a beard furrowed his brow, and turned his attention to see Gerard emerge briefly before diving down again with renewed fury. Tapping the Sihajjan on the shoulder he asked the man another question: "By the way, which one of them is winning? Twenty silvers on whoever it is." 

“You have got to be joking me!” Talise pulled at her hair. There were a thousand things to do. Thousand things to plan… The one thing they were certain on and the old man had managed to mess it up entirely! There was a frustrated groan from her lips as she began to slowly lose it herself. She took out some coin and threw it at the man taking bets. “Twenty coins on Gerard.” It was the only way to think about it.

“Please… Please tell me you aren’t joking.” Talise’s voice was desperate as she stared at the old fish woman.

“I’m afraid not Child.” The woman gave her frown as Talise began to tear up.

“Everything was hinged on getting this cake done… We had such a hard time finding someone who would take our request.” That’s when the giant tears came from her eyes and she began to give in to frustrated crying. “All I wanted was our wedding to go perfectly and now it doesn’t seem like it will…”

The old woman looked like her heart was broken as she listened to the tiny half fairy’s tale of woe. “I might be able to help…”

Things were starting to simmer down as the fighting was dragging out and both sides were coming to a draw. Then, Gerard happened to glance over and catch a sight of his fiancee that made the blood in his very veins froth like the raging sea. Talise was crying. Crying–all because of that sodding old fool's fault! There was a pause in his punches as the balmy air dropped several degrees to being absolutely frigid, and the humidity in the air was turning into a slick layer of frost radiating out across the street. The sudden change was drastic enough for everyone to notice, and the guards were actually alert instead of sitting back and watching things go. Enraged and livid, the nokken began jabbing his finger in Talise's direction as he shouted at the top of his lungs. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! DO YOU SEE THAT?! YOU'VE MADE MY FIANCEE BURST INTO TEARS–ALL BECAUSE YOU COULD'NT BLEEDING TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO SHADES OF COLOR!!!"

Now the guards were on their feet, and they deftly put themselves between the irate nokken and a soon-to-be shouting baker. One handled Signori Lorenzo, while the other was keeping the bard occupied. The one facing Gerard calmly spoke to him as he held him by the arm. "Sir, I understand you are upset. Please excuse this old signori for his bad palette–his old head hardly keeps things all together. It's been a bad habit of his for a while. It's not like he does this on purpose, he just does."

The guard handling Lorenzo was doing his best to placate the old baker. "Signori, please there is no reason to bring something like this out into the streets." Lorenzo, taking offense shook a finger at the bearded guardsman. "You're siding with the sea-moss aren't you?! You young fry are all alike–no respect for your elders!" The guardsman tried to calm him down with words, already familiar with the man's tendencies. "Oh no, of course not Signori. Why would you ever think of that? No one in the entire city can make cakes like you do." The last sentence was said with feigned flattery and a pinch of sarcastic humor, but the double meaning was subtle enough to sail right over the baker's head. This was enough to make the old man change his scowl into a smile, and the guard quietly escorted Lorenzo elsewhere while dispersing the crowd.

The sharp chill in the area was defrosting, as Gerard too was calming down. "Why on earth is he still running his business?" He grumbled, still sore over the series of flagrant mistakes. The guard gave a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. "It gives the man something to do."

It had been more than just two shades of colors but Talise couldn’t help but be appreciative of Gerard’s fight for her. “Any young man who would go to war over your tears is a good man,” the old fish woman spoke to her in a gentle voice as she cleared Talise’s tears with her own handkerchief. “Now stop those tears.”

“I just want it perfect for him and I. So I don’t have to ask my mother for help. We’ve been trying so hard to get everything ready and I want to give Gerard the world.” Now Talise wasn’t someone would be so spoiled but this was the one thing she wanted to go right.

The old fish woman got a smile on her face as she beckoned Gerard over. “Young man come over here for a moment. Let this old fish get a look at you.” Talise felt generally sorry that she kept calling her old fish woman in her head but she was glad that the woman had a good sense of humor all around. “I’ll help the two of you out. I used to study under Signori when he was much younger than what he is now. Believe it or not, I’m a few centuries younger than he is. I would love to help make your cake for you. We’ll make sure it is right before you leave and that I have all the colors correct. Do not fret little ones I shall make sure Signori doesn’t have his hands in this one.”

“You would do that for us?” Talise perked up immediately and put her arm around Gerard’s. “We would have to find someplace to stay in the city until you were done.”

“You could probably get a room over at a nice little place called the Coral Nest. Just tell them that you are getting married and need to stay in town. They will help you out.” The old woman pat Talise on the head and turned back. “My shop is just up the road… You can’t miss it. Jeanne’s.” And off the old fish woman went with her mission after Talise gave her a detailed list of things she needed for the cake.

“Should… we go find this inn?” Talise’s violet eyes looked up at Gerard. “You have some bruises… I should put some healing ointment on them when we get there.”

His anger now dwindling, the elderly Sihajjan woman's words were like cold water thrown onto a pile of smoldering embers. When she offered to help them remedy the mess of mistakes that baker had made, he was genuinely surprised. He raised an eyebrow when she mentioned studying under that irascible codger, but anyone could likely do a better job at this point. At least they would get the colors right, for once. Talise was much happier, which was all that mattered to him right now. When she wrapped her arm around his, he looked down and briefly had a small smile before resuming his usual grim countenance. The lady even gave them recommendations for lodging while they waited, and before they parted ways he gave a short bow. 

"Thank you, Mrs. Jeanne. I can't say enough how much your kindness means to us." If only everyone in the world was as considerate as her…maybe being around people wouldn't be half bad. They were by themselves as the streets resumed their typical pace, and his fiancee looked up at him with her amethyst-violet eyes. "Should… we go find this inn? You have some bruises… I should put some healing ointment on them when we get there." Reaching up to feel one of the spots that was turning blackish-blue, he grimaced. "Alright, let's take a chance on it. After what just happened, we should find a place to rest and put it behind us. We'll both need it, come tomorrow. Now I don't say this often, but I believe we can trust Mrs. Jeanne's suggestions." This was speaking volumes coming from someone who had the tendency to doubt others and scrutinize the tiniest of details. Mrs. Jeanne had been a godsend in more ways than one.  

With his hand in hers, he looked about before turning back to her. "Let's see what this inn is like." The name gave him the image of a large cluster of fan or branched corals all anchored upon a moss-covered bounder on the seabed, but you never know. The buildings themselves reminded him of branch corals, especially how they seemed to weave in and out altogether.

The bad day was sort of getting a little bit better as they discussed going to the inn that was suggested to them. “I think so… It’s been a long stressful day and I am really beginning to hate planning weddings if one more thing goes wrong.” This had been an utter disaster and Talise looked rather exhausted from all the excitement and disappointment of the day. She winced softly as he touched one of his bruises and sighed softly. “I hope we can… I am putting a lot of faith in Mrs. Jeanne to make things right now.”

Talise had never thought she would get married and now here they were with every disaster on their doorstep as they attempted to have a beautiful ceremony. Together they walked hand in hand as they made their way towards the inn that would house them for the night. Her violet eyes spotted the Coral Nest as soon as it happened in their line of sight. It was actually hard to miss with its brightly colored sign made from actual coral. Wooden letters were laid delicately in between the branches of the coral spelling out the name of the inn. The inn looked rather nice to Talise’s surprise.

Once they were inside Talise managed to get them a rather nice room thanks to using Mrs. Jeanne as a reference. They didn’t even bother to check to see if they were telling the truth as Talise had the key handed to her. Up two flights of stairs, they found themselves in a rather large room at the end of the hall overlooking an aquatic garden that seemed to be in the center of the building’s courtyard. The room was decorated in delicate purples and blues much like the sea. There was a washroom attached to the room as well most likely because of how expensive the room sounded. The half fairy closed the door behind them as she moved to the window and peeked out at everything. “Do you need help putting on the ointment? I don’t mind doing it.” She looked towards her fiance a bit concerned now as she came back over to him and made him sit on the bed.

“You did a good number to yourself… or rather the old fish man did to you.” She was delicate and gentle as she applied the healing ointment to his skin. “I wasn’t expecting you to defend me like that but I should know better by now.” Her voice was quiet and gentle as she almost whispered to him while tending to his bruising. “Do you hurt anywhere else that I can’t see?”