Late Night Pastries

Lico swings his door open to head out when he’s faced with his neighbour who is wide-eyed in surprise, one hand carrying a straw basket and the other raised, a second away from knocking.

“Amy.” Lico greets and eyes the basket curiously then back up at his unexpected visitor. “Hello… It’s late, what brings you here?”

Amy, the neighbour, looking dazed, staring at Lico quite too closely and longer than appropriate, quickly comes to and clutches on the basket he’s carrying. “Lico! Hi! I- uh, came to give this to you…” He unfolds the cloth covering the basket to reveal baked goods, the scent of freshly baked pastries wafts through them.

As the aroma hits Lico's nose, he sighs in pleasure. Amy’s baked goods are his favourite, the best in town, he takes a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship. “Thank you Amy, it smells absolutely divine, like as if it's  fresh out of the oven…” He pauses in realization and gives Amy a curious look.

Feeling caught, Amy flusters and avoids eye contact, he waves his hand over their faces. “Well… because it is.” He looks back at Lico and returns with a sheepish look. “Had trouble sleeping, what with all the missing people cases, so I baked to distract myself. I saw that your lights were still on so I thought we could have some late night snacks together?”

Missing people cases?  Lico ponders, he’s been too focused on the commission work that’s due soon he hasn’t been catching up with news. “I apologies, I wasn’t aware of such things happening, I’m actually just about to head out to find materials in the woods.”

“What!” Amy exclaims and goes to grab for Lico’s hand. “No, you can’t! It’s dangerous out there, especially at this hour.” Lico flinches in shock but doesn’t move to free his hand, instead he just stares at where their hands connect and feels giddy. His free hand goes over to cover Amy’s in reassurance. “It’s okay Amy, I know how to take care of myself, I’ve been walking late at night for a long time. I’m aware of the dangers. I just need to head out for a bit, it’s a short distance. I need some materials for this commission I’m working on, my client is expecting it tomorrow evening. You can wait for me here and when I return we can have snacks together, is that okay?”

“No no! This one’s different from other times.” Amy says, fearful. “Can’t you ask for an extension?” His grip on Lico’s hand tightens, while the other holding the basket falters, forgotten by Amy. Lico notices this and slowly unfurls their hands, gently taking the basket from Amy and place it on the coffee table nearby.

“I’m afraid I can’t.” Lico sighs. “The client needs it for something important, so I have to get the materials tonight.”

When he turns back at Amy, the other bun just looks about seconds away from crying. Lico feels a pang in his heart. “Amy, I’ll be fine. I’ll bring a weapon? If that makes you feel better.” He looks around his house to find something he could use and spots a golf club in the corner.

“Here, I’ll use this- though it feels funny to be carrying this around.” He’s not one to golf, it was given to him by a friend who lives in the capital and has just been collecting dust in his living room. Lico brandishes the ‘weapon’ to Amy.

Amy wipes his tears and takes the weapon. “I’m coming with you, this one’s mine.” He holds it close to his chest. Lico looks flabbergasted now. “Wait- no, I can’t make you do that, especially if it’s dangerous as you said-“

“It will be safer for you if there’s someone to watch your back, we can watch each other’s back. Two is better than one.” Amy says sternly. Lico continues to look at Amy in shock, but this time with the feeling of admiration and warmth in his heart. He’s never seen Amy like this but Amy’s always been strong-willed and that’s what Lico respects about him, so he caves in and nods.

He heads back to the door and opens it while extending a hand to his visitor. “Then shall we head out, my dear knight?”

The two head out of the woods, Lico strolls through the night comfortably knowing his little neighbour is guarding over him as they hold hands. Amy is looking quite the opposite, the bun is looking around anxiously, ready to fight anything or everything that emerges from the dark. He clutches the golf club in one hand and Lico’s in the other, making Lico wince in pain.

“Amy, don’t worry, you look absolutely terrifying right now and no one would dare come near.” Lico says as he pats Amy's hand. That seems to calm Amy down as he looks up at Lico with a glint in his eyes. “Really?” Amy asks, his tail wagging. Lico chuckles. “Yes, now come on, the things I'm looking for should be right over here.”