[mingle log] Working In Paradise

[kokuyoyo]

Who: Anyone visiting or working at the Lazarus Bell Cafe
What: The Cafe's grand opening!
When: December 1
Where: Lazarus Bell Cafe

After a month of carefully preparing everything, the cafe is finally having its grand opening! And since it's a Saturday, that means it's fully staffed and hopping.

Whatever the weather might be like outside, it's perfectly arm and toasty inside of the cafe itself... Although some people on the outside dining areas might like that chill. Or perhaps they're simply looking for a table that's not filled to the brim. Either way, it does't matter. After all, the menu has been updated for the winter season!

There are all sorts of things available for customers: peppermint hot chocolate, elderberry-ginger tea, and turmeric-black tea brew, among other things. Of course, there's also the old favorites that are being brought from the demo cafe that happened during the Flower Festival, so don't worry! You're still free to buy that lavender cake you like so much.

Of course, for the people working during all this, it might not be as easy but hey....

Comments

[singlefaith]

A. Ran's strength is in her cooking and baking skills, so she's taken over the cake and cookie-making for the moment. Both seem to be flying out the door, so it's mostly been all she can do to keep up, letting Chikusa handle the regular cooking.

She can probably be found in the back area of the kitchen where she can spread out, away from the prep area for the rest of the food so that there's no cross-contamination. She's busy, hands tapping an egg there, dashing flour into a measuring cup (though seeming assured enough not to look at it too carefully), working the mixer.

She actually seems to be enjoying herself, though -- there's a small smile that hasn't quite left, and you might occasionally catch her humming. There are smudges of flour all over her, including on her nose.

Catch her at a busy moment, or when it's starting to calm down a little.

B. With all the work that's gone into getting the cafe ready functionally, not as much effort has gone into the decor yet, and that's something that Ran intends to change. Camped out at a table in the corner, Ran is busy cutting snowflakes for the windows in different colors of paper -- white and silver, blues and purples. A boxed tangle of lights -- mostly white -- sit on the seat across from her.

A

[transient_specter]

Makoto's strengths are neither in cooking nor in serving people, so he's been mostly working on hauling things around. For the moment though he... has nothing to haul, so he wanders over to Ran's area. His hands are at least clean - he'd had that drilled into his head, to wash his hands any time he was in the kitchen and not the storeroom - which is good because he immediately puts his hands on the table where she's working, looking at what she's doing with curiosity.

... He knows she's baking something, but what exactly it is, he's not sure.

[singlefaith]

Ran's just finishing up some spiced molasses cookies as he comes over, polishing off the last bit of glaze by drizzling it over the cookies. She glances up as she senses another presence near the table, her smile immediate as she recognizes who it is. "Makoto-san."

"You can try one if you want -- the glaze just hasn't set yet."

[transient_specter]

"Erm." He's quiet for a few long moments, before glancing at all of the baking items around. "... It's not that. I was just... curious. ... About what you were doing. ... I haven't really seen anyone baking before." Ryu-san didn't bake, and any time Onari or the others ever made something with the oven he wasn't really around.

[singlefaith]

"You haven't?" This seems alien to Ran, for whom baking was a normal part of childhood.

But then again, they have such a mixture of different backgrounds here.

With a softer smile, ". . . Would you like to try? I was just about to start on the cupcakes after this."

[transient_specter]

Makoto nods a little sheepishly, glancing down at the table.

"If you'll... tell me what to do. I know how a few things are made, but I'm not sure if the same skills apply."

[singlefaith]

"Of course." He looks so sheepish about it, it's cute. Having finished, Ran slides the tray of cookies to one side, clearing the workspace in front of her. "What kind of flavors do you like?"

[transient_specter]

"I have no real preference, as long as it's not overly strong. My sister likes strawberry... though we haven't really had that in a while." It'd been hard enough getting some food set up in the Ganma world for the newly awakened populace.

[singlefaith]

"Maybe chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes?" Ran suggests. "It might make them a little more seasonal so they'll sell at the front."

[transient_specter]

"That... sure. That sounds all right?" There's a questioning note to his voice. He's. Pretty sure that sounds all right but... well, he's not entirely sure.

[singlefaith]

Ran stretches up to a cupboard shelf for a clean bowl. "Have you ever tried chocolate-covered strawberries?" She's not fully sure where the source of confusion is. He seems so bewildered by all of this.

[transient_specter]

"... A long time ago, I think. I didn't have to eat for ten years, after all." He reaches up to grab the bowl for her. He's a little tall - he might as well use his height.

[singlefaith]

She's about to thank him for reaching the bowl when that comment arrests her at Full Stop. "You-- What?"

She's misinterpreted that, right? Or there's another explanation? People don't stop eating for ten years.

[transient_specter]

He glances at her and shrugs, handing the bowl to her. "I wasn't in my physical body. It was in stasis, and I was in an eyecon. I was essentially a spirit, and they don't need to eat."

[singlefaith]

She takes the bowl automatically, though it's loose in her hands.

This face. Entirely this face.

[transient_specter]

He sighs and nudges her gently. "Come on. Are you going to show me or not?"

[singlefaith]

"S-Sorry." Ran pulls herself back to the moment. "Just . . . how could you do that?"

It's like nothing at home. At home they'd call it science fiction at best -- maybe even supernatural.

[transient_specter]

"... I don't really know all of the systems that they used for it. I'm not the best with technology." He shrugs, and that's... pretty much that. It seems like magic, yes, but he'd been assured that it's definitely science. It's just not science he understands.

B

[mirrors_wish]

Yui has been working on tea orders for the past couple of hours, and now that she's finally on her break, she sees the hard work Ran's doing.

"Oh, that looks great!"

[singlefaith]

Ran glances up mid-cut and smiles. "I thought it might make it feel more festive. And home-like."

A mental sweatdrop and a nod towards the box of lights. "I'm not looking forward to untangling those, though. I thought we could hang them from the midpoint of the ceiling to the corners and it would be pretty, but I'm not sure when anyone last tried to untangle them."

[mirrors_wish]

Yui smiles back. "It really does feel like home."

She peers over at the box and tries to pick at some of the wires. "I think I can start untangling these. I don't know how far I'll get, though."

[singlefaith]

Famous last words before you get eaten by lights, Yui?

"Ah--" Ran doesn't really wish those wires on anyone. "If you want to, but don't feel like you have to. I'm almost wondering if it would be better just to buy new ones."

They are kind of on a budget, though. The school can't provide everything.

[mirrors_wish]

Definitely. She will be regretting this when her break is almost over and she is completely tied up in cords.

"Maybe not. I mean, it'll end up costing too much in the long-run, especially if we already have these. We could always see about donations of decorations, though."