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A drabble written for GBComm's Paul Appreciation Day. Seasons change. Flowers bloom, leaves color. Rain falls, snow drifts, thunder crashes. People slip in and out of the door, blurring together despite their uniqueness. He always insists that they come for the perfect sandwiches and the excellently brewed coffee. The protests fool no one, though they all accept it with a smile and a nod - all except for one. The atmosphere is festive as his freeloading customers celebrate their latest success. He doesn't mind either - and not because the victory means a small slice of their tab paid off. Their rowdy banter manages to attract rather than repel the customers, and Paul shakes his head as he sets the clean glasses onto the shelf. He frowns at the water spots on several, rubbing them clean with a rag, and accurately guesses that Ginji must have been helping Natsumi dry them, for he knows his employee is far too conscientious to have left them that way herself. He knows her, as he knows them all, as a patriarch knows his kin, for they are essentially his family. He'll never say it - not in a moment of passion or a candle's glow of sentimentality. It isn't his way, after all, even if it's there in his eyes to be seen... And hiding the eyes was hiding the truth, was protecting the little he had built here, the little that had become a lot. But there is one who seems to know without knowing, and as he dances his way over to the counter with an empty pizza pan. "Master...?" Paul looks up in surprise - for once, he'd been so lost in thought that he'd not heard the approaching footsteps over the noise. "Another pizza, retrievers?" he smiles and Ginji nods enthusiastically. "Master... I was thinking..." he starts as Paul slices it. "I was thinking that you might be wrong about the sandwiches thing." "Is that so?" There's a quirk to his smile as he spins the pan to slice again. "You don't like my sandwiches?" "Oh nono, that isn't it at all..." Ginji replies hastily with a wave of his hand. "I was just thinking that... that as good as the sandwiches are, there's something else..." "Mmm..." It's neither confirmation or denial. "Being here, with everyone... it's like... I think it's like home. I say think because, I guess I don't have anything to compare it to..." He takes a breath before finishing the ramble. "But everyone always says home is where the heart is, home is warm, home smells like good food and... that home is family. And... and... and this is my family, isn't it? You and Natsumi-chan and Hevn-san, Shido-san and Madoka-chan, Kadsu-chan and especially Ban-chan... isn't this my family? And maybe... maybe this is everyone else's family too?" His expression is anxious and thoughtful as he waits for an answer. Paul slides the pizza across the counter, reaching for a moment to pull his glasses down his nose. His eyes meet Ginji's and answer with gentle affirmation.
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©1998-08 Tamzen Marie Baker |