Ahni woke up from a dead sleep with early morning light seeping through the window. A slight roll of her head to the right to see if he was still there. Which he was. The man slept like a rock. She probably could jump up and down on his bed without waking him. Good. I'll be able to do something nice for him, and he'll be surprised when he wakes up... She smiled brightly to no one in particular before she rolled out of bed. The half-elf sent a look around the apartment, thinking of what she could do for a good deed. It was so obvious that she slapped a hand to her forehead. She looked around again, making a mental list of things to get. Amber eyes fell upon the multitude of cranes on the table. Gods, there must be....hundreds! He must have done a few more while I slept... Then she padded into the kitchen to look for the essentials. Good, he already had cleaning rags and a broom. More items were added to that mental shopping list before she felt satisfied enough to get ready to leave.

Onteer, her scooter, was in the back hallway of Antonio's Pizza Palace, waiting patiently to take her back home to the Glen, so she snatched Kajiya's keys and stepped out of his apartment, of course making sure to lock the door behind her. One could never be too careful. She bounded down the stairs calling for Onteer, which started up as soon as its voice command module could register her calls. "Hello, Antonio!" Ahni waved to the owner of the pizza place as she threw open the back door. She moved too quickly to catch the look the man gave her, a combination of shock and surprise for having a self-starting scooter and for being entirely too cheerful at such an early hour.

Once outside, she adjusted the goggles on top of her head and stretched. "Okay, Onteer, I suppose you should just take me around the Marketplace a few times." As she crawled into the seat. "I have an idea of what I need to get, I just don't know where it'd be. And I know you won't help me. Cause you're just a muh-sheen." The half-elf giggled at her silliness as Onteer puttered off down the alley into the Marketplace proper.

Amber eyes scanned the shopfronts for anything that would catch her eye as she rambled on. "Let's see....I need cleaning stuff. Then I need, um....fishing line. I think that'd look lovely, don't you, Onteer" Of course you don't know what I'm talking about, you just listen to my directions....Oh! Stop here, please!" She'd finally learned that yelling at her scooter only caused it to slam on the brakes, so maybe a more polite tone would work better in keeping her on the seat. A millisecond after stopping, the half-elf was off the seat and running toward the entrance to a general store.

Inside, she was quick to dash to the front counter. She didn't have much time before Kajiya woke up, and she needed as much time as she could get. His apartment was an absolute mess. "Excuse me, arwen en amin, I need a bit of help finding some things....Would you be so kind?" Amber flicked to emerald as the half-elf gazed at the salesclerk. Hopefully, her term of endearment sounded polite and proper to the woman and not an insult, as it certainly was not. The woman responded almost immediately to her, though it was only to ask for a few moments to finish her current task. Ahni's hands clasped in front of her, waiting for the lady to finish whatever job she was doing. Her mental list of items swirled in her head. She didn't want to forget a thing, she wanted the surprise to be perfect.

Finally, the woman turned around. A very handsome matronly lady she was, and looked as if she knew the exact location of everything sold in her store....and maybe a few extras. "I'm sorry to make you wait, dearie, I just had to finish up that inventory order form! I would have forgotten, so many things to be done, you know." The saleswoman chuckled a little, wiping her hands on her apron. "Now, you just call me Mrs. Tuckett, there's no need for all of that fancy Elvish. What can I help you find, dearie" I'm the owner of this fine establishment, you know, and I know just where everything is here." She chuckled again and leaned her elbows on the countertop in front of her as she kindly regarded the modest half-elf.

Blink. Blink. Blink. Ahni was in a slight state of shock at hearing the woman call her out on using Elvish. Usually those who didn't understand just....sort of stared at her until she translated. Eventually, she got over her shock with a few quick shakes of her head. Coppery hair went flying out in every direction, of course. "I-I'm sorry....Usually, people don't..." Ahem. "Anyway, I'd like to get a few things, and I'm....kind of short on time. Would you mind helping me, arwena —- er....Mrs. Tuckett?" Hopeful look on the poor girl's face. She rocked back and forth on her bare feet, nervous about how he'd react when he woke up....Then she leaned forward to mutter the contents of her mental shopping list to the owner.

She leaned forward to intercept the half-elf's mutter. "Why, I'd be happy to help you, little dearie!" Mrs. Tuckett's smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. Her head tilted thoughtfully as she thought about everything the girl had said. After a few moments of silence, she nodded. "I got all that and more, miss. Now, you just wait right here, and I'll be right back. Shouldn't take me more than a few minutes." With another chuckle the woman bustled off, leaving poor Ahni nervously ruffling her hair as she continued to rock back and forth on her feet. She busied herself with inspecting the merchandise on the shelves behind the counter. Her head tilted slightly, both to listen for the saleswoman and in confusion at an item. Toh-bak-oh' I must remember to ask Kajiya later what that is... And she continued to wait at the counter, silently musing over things called 'cigars', despite the few people situated in a straight line behind her. She shouldn't have asked the woman to help her, the poor lady had a business to run. Finally, Mrs. Tuckett slid behind the counter again, arms loaded. Ahni gave the owner a bright smile and fished out her money pouch. The items were paid for and bagged, then handed over. With a cheerful 'thank you' and a waggle of slender fingers, the half-elf left the building to return to Onteer. Her three bags were deftly loaded into the storage space on the rear of the scooter, and one call sent it puttering off again. She slumped back in her seat, one hand reflexively adjusting her goggles. Emerald flicked to gray then back. What if he didn't like it' What if....it was too much?

The door opened after much struggling. She tried to keep quiet, but that stupid door sure didn't make it easy. Somehow she carried her two large boxes, one canvas bag and two paper bags into the apartment without being too terribly loud. The food went into the refrigerator, and everything else was neatly placed to one side. She then marched to the middle of the studio and looked around, hands on her hips. Where to start, where to start... Laundry would be easy. She had no idea how he washed his clothes, so she just made a pile for them in the corner. Hopefully the gesture wouldn't be overlooked. And anyway, it would take her entirely too long to wash them her way....Once the clothes were swept away, she began to round up the dishes. Ahni searched high and low, eventually rounding up every glass, every plate, every piece of silverware. I should talk to him about using utensils....most redundant thing ever thought up, I say! Are our fingers not good enough" She giggled very softly, then peered at her sleeping March Hare. He shouldn't wake up for at least a few more hours....She stopped mid-stride a few feet away from the kitchen counter. It was covered in origami crabs. She would never be able to wash dishes with those in the way! Sighing very faintly, she gingerly placed the dishes on an empty spot on the counter and started to rifle through the folded crabs. As she searched, her voice lilted up in a very soft song.

"~Hello, I've waited here for you Everlong Tonight, I throw myself into And out of the red, out of her head she sang Come down, and waste away with me Down with me Slow how you wanted it to be I'm over my head, out of her head she sang...~"

It took her quite a while, but finally she had every different type of crab sorted into its own little pile. The pile for fiddler crabs had been moved to the almost-covered dinner table. Quickly, she unpacked the items purchased from the general store: a spool of fishing line was placed beside the stack of fiddler crabs, followed by a needle. The dish cleaner made its way to the space previously occupied by fiddler crabs. A small box of thumbtacks were the final item from the general store; those also went by the fishing line and needle. The half-elf plopped into a chair to begin the most tedious task of her reorganizing: fixing the mess made by all these paper animals! She pushed the fishing line through the eye of the needle, her tongue poking slightly out of her mouth in concentration. She knotted the string a few times for safety, then carefully began to string fiddler after fiddler. She made a small knot after every crab to keep it in place. After a while, the pile disappeared. Her idea was a success! This, of course, made her happy, so she danced around a bit before actually finishing her task. The string of fiddler crabs were attached to a thumbtack and, after much scrambling and straightening and climbing of a chair, stuck to the ceiling.

She admired her handiwork for a moment or two before jumping down from the chair and starting on the next breed of crab. Horseshoe. She deftly maneuvered another thread of fishing line through the eye of the needle and was thumbtacking another string to the ceiling in no time. Ahni tried to keep the ends out of the way, then decided to tack them to the wall closest to the door. There. They'd be out of the way but still visible....hopefully Kajiya would approve. Speaking of, she chanced a glance toward the bed. And winced as he started to roll....oh good, he was still sleeping. She jumped from the chair and padded back to the kitchen. Rock crabs next, and they were strung up in record time! With all this practice, stringing up the hundreds of cranes would be no sweat....Finally, she gathered the origami hermit crabs into her arms and transported them to the table. She paused, needle and 'thread' between her fingertips, thinking. This could quite possibly be the best idea I've ever had... With a soft giggle, she began to carefully thread the needle through hermit crab after hermit crab. Once finished, that garland joined its fellows.

The half-elf stretched mightily and rolled her shoulders. Time to get to the dishes! ...probably one of the easiest tasks on her list of chores. She turned the faucet on hot to fill up one of the basins. Two rags, one for washing and one for drying, were found and placed beside the dishwashing liquid before she turned toward her boxes. Gingerly she picked up the more-square box. Her lip caught between her teeth as she lifted out two ceramic platters, almost identical, in the shape of maple leaves:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/PhoenixFireNymph/fall_leaf_bowl265115749_std.jpg

Carefully, she placed them next to the sink, then turned the water off. A few plates were dropped into the hot water. She decided to let the plates soak a bit before scrubbing them; this would give her time to regroup and think about everything else that needed to be done. It had been almost an hour since she finished shopping, so that would give her....she looked toward the blinds....another hour, maybe two' I really need to step it up....I'd hate for him to spoil the surprise by waking up too early... Ahni rubbed her hands together and again looked around the apartment. The floor still needed to be swept, the random crumpled-up paper needed to find its way to the trash....and of course, the cranes. The cranes would be her one of her last tasks, as it would take quite a while to string them all up. She sighed and, with a ruffle of her wild hair, got to work. The plates had been soaking long enough, so she quickly washed and dried them before refilling the sink with glasses and cups. A quick pat of her hands, and she grabbed up the broom. Again her voice lilted into song.

"~And I wonder, when I sing along with you If everything could ever feel this real forever If anything could ever be this good again The only thing I'll ever ask of you You've got to promise not to stop when I say when She sang...~"

While sweeping, she picked up any and every errant paper-crumple. A neat pile was made on the dinner table until she finished with the broom. It didn't take long. Ahni swiftly swept the dirt and dust into the trash can, then did the same with the crumpled papers. All her work had her feeling a bit toasty, so she pulled her tunic over her head. Her hands moved to her goggles to adjust them, then down her white undershirt to make sure everything was as it should be. She padded over to the sink to wash and dry the glasses there. A few forks and spoons were tossed into the still-hot water, and she turned her attention to the leaf plates. The resident potter at the Atelier del Sol had told her not to be so careful with them; they were made tough to withstand everyday wear and tear. With a sigh, she dropped the two platters into the water. She stretched again before beginning to scrub the last few dishes. It only took a few more moments before everything was dried and put away. She placed the leaf plates on the end of the counter until she needed them.

"Let's see..." The half-elf looked around again, amber eyes resting on Kajiya's sleeping form for a little longer than necessary. He looked so precious with his hair such a mess....Silently stalking over to him, she bent to place a soft kiss on his temple. She sighed deeply and brushed a few stray hairs from his eyes. Amber flickered violet....Focus! Blink. Blink. She peered around for her next chore, another obvious one. Reorganize and condense the space taken up by his paper menagerie. The mantle would be a sufficient place to start. She quickly bounced over, hands tugging at the hem of her undershirt. She'd spent so much time with him lately that her clothes were starting to smell like him....which wasn't entirely a bad thing. The large elephant migrated to the very end of the mantle, and she scooted the monkeys closer together. She glanced over her shoulder - the frogs on the dinner table would certainly be able to fit! It took no time at all to scoop up every little frog and rearrange them along the mantle. And of course she couldn't help but make a few hop. She giggled softly, then turned to survey the state of the apartment. The bears could move to the coffee table, there was still some room among the little birds, but the dogs and cats....They would have to be strung up like the crabs. So she set to work 'sewing' the origami pets, though the dogs with bent legs were put to the side. They were special and could live on the mantle. Eventually, she had a string of puppies that hung from an empty corner of the kitchen. The string of origami kittens hung near the dinner table. She adjusted the little birds and bears on the coffee table, trying to make as much space as possible.

Then Ahni stood and stretched. Good, the dinner table was clear of all species of origami except for crane, the dishes were done, kitchen was clean, the floor was swept, clothes were neatly(") piled in a corner....Almost another hour had passed, and she squeaked with surprise as soon as she noticed. Have to hurry! She padded to the dinner table, then began to string cranes onto fishing line. While 'sewing,' she continued her song.

"~Breathe out, so I could breathe you in Hold you in And now, I know you've always been Out of your head, out of my head I sang And I wonder, when I sing along with you If everything could ever feel this real forever If anything could ever be this good again The only thing I'll ever ask of you You've got to promise not to stop when I say when She sang...~"

It took her almost half an hour, but she finally got almost every crane onto a line of thread. Amber eyes gave a cursory glance over the remainder. Eleven. Not bad at all, they could even stay on the dinner table. Three strings of cranes found themselves swooping over the bed, both ends tacked up on the ceiling. She thought he'd like that....The tally had been tacked up beside his bed so he couldn't lose it. Then of course she gazed at him, and of course she lost track of time. Again. She squeaked and rushed into the kitchen. Slender fingers scrabbled at the second white box for a few moments, then pulled out a glass vase:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/PhoenixFireNymph/P06369-P00037f.jpg

Ahni placed the vase in the center of the now-clear dinner table and took a seat. This would be another time-consuming task. She somehow found an origami daylily in the stack of cranes, and she began to gently unfold it. Kajiya hadn't taught her how to fold anything quite yet, as they'd always been, er....busy....So she would have to rely on reverse-engineering tactics to complete this task. She pulled a sheet of orange from the neat stack on the table and set it in front of her. After a few moments, she had a crudely-made daylily in her fingers. A piece of green came from the stack to serve as a stem, then the flower was placed into the vase. The unfolded daylily remained as reference as she continued to fold flower after flower in almost every color. Eventually, a lovely bouquet of multi-colored daylilies appeared on the dinner table. Now for the hard part... She whispered a few words in Elvish and waggled her fingers at the bouquet. Amber eyes shut tight as she worried that it hadn't worked....then the room suddenly smelled of lilies. It was slightly overpowering at first, so Ahni whispered a few more words to dull the scent. She jumped up from the table and bounded to the door to see if she could still smell the flowers. Which she could, but very faintly. Giggling, she dashed to the refrigerator. Finally she could make the food!

In fact, there was nothing she really needed in the icebox, so she dashed back to the door and through it. Down the stairs, she almost ran into Antonio. With a blush, she bowed her head to him and very politely asked to use his oven. And his dough. And a few other things. She was quick to offer payment for everything, possibly even a little more than necessary. It never hurt to have people on your side, you know. Antonio, of course, obliged and stepped back as the little half-elf whirled and rushed around the kitchen. A little dough, sprinkled with cinnamon and wrapped around a pat of butter, baked in the brick oven for some time. Once they came out, she rubbed some more butter and sprinkled just a little more cinnamon on them. She made five biscuits, two for herself and two for her March Hare. Antonio received the fifth one with a bright smile and an emphatic 'thank you' before she dashed up the stairs again. The biscuits fell to the leaf plates in a hurry. She whirled to the refrigerator and pulled out everything but the juice. She found a knife in one of the drawers and began to slice up the three cheeses: marbled cheddar, monterey and swiss. Uneven, chunky pieces formed into three small piles on both plates. Occasionally she popped a chunk into her mouth....She couldn't help it. As she worked, she finished her song.

"~And I wonder, when I sing along with you If everything could ever feel this real forever If anything could ever be this good again The only thing I'll ever ask of you You've got to promise not to stop when I say when...~"

The end of the song also heralded the end of her chopping, and both leaf platters were almost overflowing. Slices of green and red apple cozied up to the three mounds of unevenly-cut cheese. A large cluster of grapes sat between two peeled figs and 2 cinnamon-butter biscuits. On the very end were thin slices of cucumber. She plucked two clean glasses from the cabinet and poured pomegranate juice into them. The half-elf sighed happily.

A plate in one hand, a glass in the other, she silently made her way to Kajiya's side. "Melamin... Wake up, I've made breakfast~"