Café Delight

[Scarlet]

Rushing around the tables of the cafe is the figure of the young redhead woman moving around with practice yet lacking the grace that many of the other maids possessed and were currently showing off. While many of them seemingly danced between the tables almost like they didn’t even have to look where they were going. It almost felt like they were cheating with how easily they could maneuver around the dining room with no worry that they’d trip, fall or bump into a table.

This was something that Scarlet had noticed right away after getting hired at the cafe. She didn’t have the gracefulness of these other girls even if the owner believed her to be pretty enough to work here. All she could do was be a normal waitress, walk around, take the orders and bring them out nicely. Although she didn’t really enjoy wearing the outfit in her eyes it was the only thing that made her feel like she fit in at her job. She only had a few people at her station right now in the middle of the day which wasn’t abnormal, but now she watched a man around her age walk in the front door.

A man with fashionable hair although everything about his appearance just made Scarlet question why. Why did he look like that? Who would knowingly choose to look like that? She realized quickly though that she was judging him in the way she hated being judged. Such a frustrating sensation to catch yourself in a negative act. The man came over to her section and sat right down. Scarlet didn’t even have time to blink before noticing that Toma the assistant manager was already looking over at her to hurry up. Walking right over Scarlet stood next to the table looking down at the guy with her hands in front of her with a notepad. “Welcome, what can I interest you in today sir?”

[Deleted]

Today was unpleasant. The sun was out and shining, it was warm outside, and there weren't enough clouds out to make sure that there were occasional shadows. For once, Arturo wasn't exactly wearing thick and heavy clothing, but he certainly wasn't happy to see that he was still getting warmer than he'd prefer. It didn't help that it was the middle of the day, so maximum sunlight and an ever-growing heat were firmly scheduled on today's agenda. Arturo found himself frowning heavily as his frustration was growing. It's the middle of fucking WINTER. And it's warm today. I didn't believe the app on my phone when it said this but having been out here for a couple hours, I'm now convinced that Global Warming is a thing. This is fucking ridiculous. I need to find somewhere to hide for a while. Maybe grab something to eat.



Arturo pulled off to the side of the street and leaned on a building while he started searching the local area on his phone. He wasn't quite at the shopping district as he'd ultimately just been roaming the more residential areas of Karakura but he was pretty close to the district line between the two. He found that most of the shopping district was in fact, just stores. Not many places to eat. Madolche Cafe and Regina were on the other side meaning he'd have to walk incredibly far if her really wanted to go there. Which from the reviews it sounded like they would be worth the time and energy. Him sweating, however? Not so much. Maybe once he'd try them, he could decide if they were later. However, there was a small cafe that he found and from the pictures of the food they served it looked like they had a decent variety that was at least moderately good.



Best part it was much closer to him than the other two. It'd still take him about 10-15 minutes, but he could make that walk and hopefully not sweat too much. With a quick nod to himself he put the phone in his pocket and pulled out some earbuds so he could listen to the directions. As he started walking his stomach gave an affirmative growl of his decision to eat. He chuckled to himself as he began to make his way over. Try as best he could to keep the walk short, he'd found several pet owners along the way and couldn't help himself but ask to pet each and every animal he saw. Even if they were on the other side of the street. He'd mostly gotten a yes from the owners and had enjoyed the momentary company of some fur covered companions. By the time he finally made it to the cafe it was now 30 minutes later than he intended and treading into afternoon. By his standards anyway.



He opened the door to the cafe and immediately froze, his eyes widening some. In his infinite wisdom to find the closest place he'd not focused on the name of the place nor the outward appearance. Either would have told him exactly what he was walking into. A maid cafe. Arturo was uncomfortable but he couldn't leave. Could he? Certainly not. He was waved at and greeted by several other staff and was being watched by what he could only assume was the manager. To him the first few seconds of being in the cafe felt like an eternity as his mind rushed through plan after plan after plan after plan. Something to give him a decent excuse to leave. Sadly, he came up with nothing and decided to try and act cool. He glanced at the sign which had "Seat yourself." written on it and decided he'd take a small booth for himself. Next to the wall and away from the windows.



If there was one thing, he was happy about it was that he was in an air-conditioned space. So, the warmth of the outside was tempered some. Not greatly but enough that Arturo was comfortable with it. However, he wasn't NOT comfortable being within the cafe itself. It was brighter more upbeat and cheerful than he really preferred. And it showed because his clothing was a complete counter to the place. He had a black tunic on with incredibly dark black jeans that were shredded, mostly at his knees, but a few other spots showed. It was namely a styled approach. But then he had his boots that went up to his calves and were noticeably "thick". Almost military in style. Thankfully his pants hid how big they were, but it wasn't that hard to guess just what kind he had.



Calm yourself Arturo. We can do this. It's just a cafe, right? No need to worry too much. They can only serve you food and give pleasantries. Just like any other restaurant. Right? Certainly, we didn't walk into one of those more . . . themed cafes. Where they do stereotypes. . . like the ones that talk down to you. Oh god what if I did walk into one of those? I don't know because I didn't look into this place. Shit! Maybe I can leave? Absolutely not we just sat down. We committed to being here. If we leave now, they'll all stare. I'll be mocked and ridiculed for even thinking about leaving. Oh god are they watching me now? The manager definitely is. I can't tell if he's trying to level me a gaze because I'm so out of place or if he's just trying to stare into my soul. AHHH!



Arturo however found himself near violently taken out of his mental ramblings by his waitress coming up. She was. . . distinctly not like the others. He couldn't exactly put his finger on why but in a way, it felt like she too was something of an outlier here. Maybe it was because of her build? Or perhaps it was because of her more practical demeanor. Where the others looked to be playing a bit this one felt like she was being herself. As far as Scarlet was concerned Arturo was something of an expressionless face, bored and morose. When she'd arrived, his face gave away nothing about his mental antics as he simply turned his head to her and raised an eyebrow. Oh! Right, I need to order something let's just get a drink to start and ask for another couple minutes to look over the menu. And to calm down some. Let's see what they have. . .



Arturo then reached out for the menu that was next to the condiments and glanced over its drinks section. He mentally froze for a second as the names were utterly ridiculous and over the top. Not to mention absolutely colorful to the max. Arturo steeled his resolve and looked up at Scarlet, having found something he was willing to deal with for the time being. "Sorry for being slow, first time here heh. Uhm I'll get the . . . Blue Berry-Go-Round Rush? With the sour glaze on the rim. As for food. . . I'm going to need a couple more minutes. Sorry." Arturo in his mind was smiling apologetically but he was a bit too tense for that, so he didn't smile at all. He just looked to be growing more tired as time moved on.

[Scarlet]

Definitely one of the stranger people to come in over the last few weeks. It had become more and more common or stylish in the last few years for even men to have their hair be two different colors so that part wasn’t really all that surprising. What really seemed off about the newcomer in her section was his disposition. The way he held his head up, the way he responded to her welcome. He seemed scared and anxious, almost like he was afraid someone was going to get him. A very strange way for a grown man to act who wasn’t in some sort of shady business.

Being that she was currently at work though Scarlet couldn’t do anything about it. In truth she didn’t really know what she could do about it to begin with, this wasn’t something that she could help solve, she didn’t know this guy. Perhaps he was just someone that usually kept to himself, stuck inside his room almost never interacting with the outside world, like some bad protagonist in an anime. Scarlet kept her thoughts to herself though as she waited as patiently as she could for the order to be given.

It took quite a bit more time than she was familiar with, since most rushed through the ordering process or hardly even did that for the same reason. They all wanted to speak to either friends or her. When he did order, Scarlet nodded her head forward and gave a false smile knowing it was the policy and she had to follow it if she didn’t want Toma screaming in her face again. Getting the one of the sweetest drinks ready didn’t take long now that she had ruined it a fair amount of times. Something like the Blue Berry Go Around Rush attacked her taste buds, but she hopes now placing it down on the small table in front of the custom he’d be ready. “Do you need more time?”