Sweet Tooth. [OPEN]

[Oswald "Oz" Disney]

It wasn't like he enjoyed it.

Oz was never the type to really indulge in vices in public, but this was different. Some people had cigarettes, some people had alcohol, hell.. some people had the really hard stuff, too. However, none of these sinful treats really appealed to the lucky rabbit. It was in his blood to be a good little boy, and unfortunately in his blood to act somewhat childish. At this moment Oz could feel himself resenting his goody goody family, but the thought was miniscule to the smell of freshly made fudge flooding his senses.

The boy was standing idly by, waiting for the fresh tray to come out from the culinary station behind the counter. Rocking back and forth on his heels, he vaguely thought how stupid a grown man would look waiting this excitedly for candy. But he'd rather swallow sweets than his pride, so he stayed still.. uncharacteristically patient as a tiny, awkward smile graced his lips. Oh he could taste it now... the immaculate blend of cocoa, cream, and marshmallow.

"Mmm.."

"What was that, sir?"

"Er...nothing! I didn't say anything."

Dammit. This was humiliating. He was 60% sure that the chefs were enjoying torturing him as he waited.. and waited.. watching in silent disgust as the far younger children were served his treats while he had to wait! Didn't they know who he was? Oz Disney! Didn't it ring a bell!? ...No... he couldn't pull that off anymore. He was certain he wouldn't have anyway if he still had his heart on him. Where did that damn thing go, anyway?

This delicious venture was proving to be a mistake. The only thing Oz managed to do thus far was embarrass himself with the quiet 'yummy noises' while his temper slowly grew shorter and shorter when his sweet tooth was being denied it's craving. The lower lid of his left eye twitched when he turned to look outside through the window. Dammit, he was losing daylight.

[Eve La'Quinn]

Eve had been waiting for more than two hours already, and she wasn't exactly the type who liked waiting. Quite the contrary, actually. She tended to grow impatient rather often. Especially when certain annoying, sorcerer-wannabes were sent out to do a simple task and they take hours before they come back. Eve let out a scowl as she marched down the street, now forced to get her own ingredients. Seriously, how hard was it to find a rat heart and a tube of fire ants?! Faraway had a lot of those stuff, and they didn't even have to be brought from the shady parts of town. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

She walked down the crowded street, bumping elbows with the different strangers of the city, most of them just going about their normal day, no one really standing out. No one, except Eve. It wasn't particularly hard to stand out when you're walking in the streets in a scarlet red dress and high heels, head held up high with a glare that shot out lightning bolts. She wasn't pleased, and she wasn't afraid to let everyone else around her that she wasn't. And her apprentice? Well, let's just say Oz was going to feel the wrath of a sorceress forced to walk in heels.

She passewd by a couple of stores in the market, noticing most of them when she worked the fruit stall. Of course, everyone else was oblivious to her sideline job. After all, she kept a pretty good disguise. However, something made her stop in her tracks. A certain scent locking her into place, as though being drawn to it like a siren's song. It was a mixture of aromas: a hint of mocha, a dash of strawberry, and a lot of others that she couldn't describe. Following her senses, she paced towards the candy shop and swung the door open. The sight that greeted her made her forget about the sweet sensation.

"Two hours. That's how long I've been waiting. And all you've been doing is waiting in line for this?!" she bellowed, causing some of the customers to throw confused and judging looks in her direction. She was sure she would have done the same, had she been in his position, but there was no way that Oz had to know that. As far as she was concerned, she had to strike fear in him to keep him strung up.

[/blockquote]

Notes: Hope you don't mind that I jumped in.

[Oswald "Oz" Disney]

Oh boy.

Oz could have sworn he heard the clap of thunder and the howling of wolves accompany that voice. A rush of hot blood flooded into his face, knowing that he was finally caught. He didn't want to turn around to face the woman of his nightmares. Her scolding was enough to make him want to run screaming, it had been subtle... but effective. Not only was he embarrassed beyond recovery but he knew that he wasn't going to get out of here with his fudge. Could he recover his cool around the customers? Probably not without getting turned into a pile of frogs. All attention was on him and Eve now and he began to juggle a few options in his head.

A. Run like hell.
B. Kiss ass.
C. Blame someone else.

"Uhhh..."

Bowing his head, Oz scratched behind his ear as some sort of nervous habit. With all the color drained in his face, he knew that there was absolutely no way he could play this off as Mistress La'Quinn just being some crazy woman he didn't know accusing him of something he didn't do. This was so bad for his image right now. He rushed to fix this, leaning over to whisper to her as the customers refused to shift their glances.

^{"It's not my fault! I was hungry! And they said it'd only take a few minutes for it to be ready. I've been waiting here for half an hour! ...I did get the heart, though..."}

Oz wasn't above lying here and there... He really had been trying to procrastinate as much as possible when it came to the fire ants. Even if it meant window shopping for a minute or twenty, he'd rather be mistaken for a metrosexual than have to handle those nasty critters.

To assure his mentor he at least completed the task she had given him 50%, he reached into his coat pocket and subtly took out a small box to show her. Inside it was a rather tiny heart, but one needed for... whatever she had been wanting to do with it. This dark arts stuff... he knew his father wouldn't approve. Then again he was never his father's favorite, or so he thought.

ooc; Not at all! She's amazing XD <3

[Eve La'Quinn]

The sorceress was not pleased, and she made sure it was obvious in her glare and her face. However, it wasn't as though she was expecting things to go smoothly. After all, the boy had let him down on previous occasions. Did she really expect things to be flawless this time around? Regardless, it felt good being domineering. It gave her a better feel of her power, just like she used to have over her deceased husband.

Deep inside though, Eve couldn't blame Oswald entirely. The scent was just...well, let's just say no words could give justice to the amazing goodness of the pastries. He knew that the Candy House had always been a favorite of the children, but she never had been drawn to it, until now. Acting more annoyed than she actually was, she forcefully took the box from her apprentice's hands. She flipped the lid open, scrutinizing the material to make sure it was definitely what she had asked for.

"Passable. I was expecting a bigger and riper heart, but I guess this will have to do," she uttered, rolling her eyes as she shut the lid and tossed it back to Oswald. Truth be told, they didn't need a heart or fireants for any specific spell at the moment. Magic wasn't always like how TV showed it. Most simple spells could be done with basic household items. And using things like a rat's heart were for spells way beyond Oz's level of aptitude. But Eve figured it would be interesting to see him run around to get the material. Plus, she was running low on stocks anyway. Might as well get some now.

She folded her arms over her chest and tapped her heel rather impatiently. "Well, if you're going to stay here and wait for your candy, you should at least get me some. I'd take some strawberry taffy." She tried to hold back the smirk slowly forming on her face. She was definitely enjoying this. Her step-daughter never was one to be obedient, and now that there was someone who would obey her, she was going to milk it. She didn't care if he was only doing so until she finished her lessons, but it didn't matter. Temporary was better than nothing.

"As soon as we get our purchases, we're heading back to The Tower, alright? We're way behind schedule and you're not getting any better at your magic. Getting worse, if it's even possible." She gently blew on her fingernails, as she stood there, still tapping her foot as they waited for their sweets. The treats here may smell like heaven, but the service sure was hell.

Notes: awesome! Oz is amazing too! :3

[Oswald "Oz" Disney]

"Guh!" Oz reached out for the box as it was tossed back at him, fumbling for it to make sure it didn't hit the ground. The last thing he needed was a tiny heart jumping out of the box and bouncing to one of the customer's feet. Once he managed a steady grasp on the box he made a sudden realization. Why obtaining this heart had felt so uncomfortable. Big. Ripe. Rat heart.

A nearly devilish smile curled along his lips as a vision of tearing out Mickey's heart with his bare hands flashed through his mind. As quickly as it came, the thought was quickly discarded, and Oz was stunned with himself. Never before had he ever really imagined himself harming his brother, so why now? After all the shit he had been through before... why was it just now that he was imagining tearing a hole in his own brother's chest cavity? With a shudder, he decided to push the vision as far back into his mind as he could possibly manage. He began to wonder if all this black magic crap was to blame for it... or maybe his integrity was rotting away with whatever was left of his heart somewhere out there. Luckily his mentor's voice was enough to snap him out of it.

"Well, if you're going to stay here and wait for your candy, you should at least get me some. I'd take some strawberry taffy."

Was she serious? Oz dared himself to look at her face for any indication that she may have been screwing with him. But alas, no joking smile to be found. Did she even have the capability to make a joke that didn't have to do with reprimanding his ability as a student? Nonetheless, he was relieved to hear that she also couldn't resist tasty treats . He only nodded to her, listening carefully to any further instruction. Now wasn't the best time to be a smartass after being caught goofing off when he should have been working.

"As soon as we get our purchases, we're heading back to The Tower, alright? We're way behind schedule and you're not getting any better at your magic. Getting worse, if it's even possible."

One jab after another. Oswald wasn't exactly what you'd call a patient person, but he rarely reacted with physical aggression. His sharp tongue was his only weapon. So instead, the boy just smiled pleasantly and stared straight ahead at the chefs slaving away on their purchases. He couldn't help himself anymore, and he assumed the old lady probably didn't want to embarrass herself further. Dare he take that step into hell? After milliseconds of debating what would be worse - Eve's methods of punishment or missing out on the satisfaction of humiliating her in public, he decided exactly what he would do. And it would be worth it.

The boy drew in a soft breath with that little smile of his still present, not daring to look at her in the eye. After a few more seconds of mentally preparing himself he felt a hot wave of adrenaline as he muttered loudly to her in a cocky, false tone.

"Yes, Granny."

[Eve La'Quinn]

Eve was about to make her way to one of the empty seats in the shop, figuring that her dessert would take longer than she'd have fancied. However, something made her stop dead in her tracks. An echo of some sort that lingered around her ears. She bit her lip, half-hoping, for the apprentice's sake, that she didn't exactly hear what it was she had heard.

"Yes, Granny."

Those two words played around inside her head, in the voice of taunting little children, in those high-pitched, pre-adolescent days. She grunted, pretending that it was just the wind playing tricks on her hearing, but no. She couldn't. "Yes, Granny."

"Yes, Granny."

"Yes, Granny."

Those two words rang like loud banging drums. And this time, there was no mistaking it. She clenched her fists tightly, digging her bright red nails into her palms. She clenched her teeth, biting into her lip forcefully. She then turned around to face his apprentice, a fiery glare burning in her eyes. She inched towards him, taking slow steps, her heels tapping across the marble tiles of the floor.

"What did you say?" she asked, her tone colder than usual. Not waiting for an answer, she asked again, raising her tone. "WHAT did you say?!" She didn't care that the bystanders of the store were staring at her. She took another step, now inching closer to the boy. She moved her fingers to his face and grabbed him by the cheek, pressing firmly. She dug her nails into the soft, plump cheeks of the young boy, not afraid to leave a mark. The boy should learn some manners.

"Listen you little rat." Her voice no longer sounded like her regular voice. Instead, she sounded more raspy. As though there was a thorn caught in her throat. "Let me remind you that you are under my apprenticeship. And as we agreed, I am going to finish taking you under my wing. However, I never said anything keeping you human in the process. So unless you want to learn sorcery as a slug, you will shut up and show me respect."

She let go of the boy's cheeks, seeing the marks on his face and the shocked looks from the customers of the bakeshop. Eve rubbed her hands, as though wiping the dirt off of her hands before turning on her heel and heading out the door. [/blockquote][/size]