Affurgato Mingle: December edition

[necromanswers]

♥ Who: Open to all
♥ Where: Affurgato
♥ When: This week
♥ What: A grant reopening of the best restaurant in town!
♥ Rating: probably PG/13ish?



What a sad, sad month November was. The local cafe, Affurgato, has been closed. However, at the start of this week, a surprise notice is sent out to all communicators:

Affurgato's open again! Come save your sorry tongues from those replicator meals. Or come pet a cat, if that's more your jam. We don't judge here, we only charge.

Also: it's Candlenights! Bring the staff a present. If we find it interesting enough, you might get something extra in your meal. What do the staff like? Well, that's your job to figure out. <3

The restaurant hasn't gone through any sort of redesign, but it is somewhat decked out more than usual; soft colourful lights line the outside, candles on every table (fake or magical, so they are cat-safe and non-flammable), and even Ditto appears to be a little more seasonal this month. Hard to tell whether or not he's okay with this, he's a tough read.

One notable difference is that Lup isn't out running front of house as much, with the kitchen more bustling now that they're down one chef. She's keeping up pretty well, but the seating arrangements have been shuffled around to make the max capacity a little lighter to maintain things if there happens to be a rush. The menu is gently simplified, but the ingredients taste better than ever, and for this week in particular, fresh turkey dinners are back on the menu, alongside a crunchy treat that is called "fried unicorn dick", but is... probably just a battered candy bar. Probably. Maybe. Who's feeling brave?

On the 9th in particular, a fresh message goes out to friends of Honerva, gently pestering them to swing by the cafe for an open mingle. And maybe you should volunteer for a little bit at the cafe, serve, assist Honerva... it's terrible for a lady to have to work on her birthday, after all. You know, if it was her birthday. Wink.

On that day in particular, every visitor gets a free slab of delicious and delicately frosted cake.

Come on over, Havenwellians! Or whatever you're called. The cats have missed you! And you've missed the food, no doubt.

Comments

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Even Honerva doesn't know how they're "supposed" to be used in her culture, but still, this was... juxtaposed between the new and familiar--yet unfamiliar, to have that reintroduction to a taste so far gone out of memory. And it was light, and yet... something in it called to her, from across so wide a divide and...

... It is such a unique taste, that one wonders how they could have forgotten at all. If the sight of it is enough to cause a little flutter, and the scent, the the taste... she's quiet for a moment longer, even at Lup's prompting, ears slumped in consideration before perking up alertly, reaching for Lup, please be in embraceable range, she's so moved that she simply cannot utter it in words. ]

[necromanswers]

[Oh no, a hug, how terrible. Lup laughs lightly, arms up to return it, squeezing gently.]

Happy birthday, you big nerd.

[She'll take that as a successful baking adventure, then.]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ It's her turn to give a little laugh, once the hug has been imparted. ]

... The sensation went far beyond words, I would say. Even with the most unfamiliar ingredients you are capable of so much. Thank you, truly.

[necromanswers]

It was a joint effort. You and Pyra grew the juniberries, right? I just found a use for 'em. I'm glad they didn't sour the experience.

[For... multiple reasons, really. She hadn't wanted Honerva to be distressed by her own nostalgia, and she's also very glad that the berries have a more practical taste than what their name quasi-implies.]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ That's alien berries for you, defying expectation. ]

No... quite the opposite. I have realized that I often... spend a lot of time fearing certain things, and time is precious enough. The existence of the flowers here, not trusting myself to be moved by them, or their significance...

[ She smiles, a little wryly. ]

... But together, perhaps through our joint effort... it has made it easier. To not dread so much the potential for old memory and revitalize it through new experience. Perhaps I am being mushy again, but I have to say it.

[necromanswers]

Aww, quit it before you make us both all weepy.

[She shifts a hand up, giving Honerva's hair a playful pat.]

You carry a hell of a lot of understandable caution around on your back, and I get it. Still, it's good to see you let go a little.

[shroudedsecrets]

Even though we had discussed having a day like this all those months ago, I... did not realize it would be like this. All of this care...

[ And it felt touching and personal, even nestled within the holiday, even while technically "at work", she might have forgone the occasion entirely if Lup weren't ready for the world again anyway. Or perhaps it would simply been later. ]

[necromanswers]

It's not even that much work- everyone deserves a cake on their birthday. You celebrate too strongly the smallest of effort, you know.

[She knows why, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily healthy, so.]

It's fine to want more out of life.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Perhaps especially now with the changes around them, her emotional levels are much more charged. ]

... you well know that I do not wish to take even the smallest efforts for granted. Besides, these traditions are new. More importantly, you are here with me.

[necromanswers]

An incredible observation.

[Lup looks undeniably pleased despite the dry response. She tugs back, but doesn't go far, leaning her side against Honerva's as she draws a knife seemingly out of nowhere and offers it out.]

Go on, then. Cut yourself a slice. It's another important tradition that the birthday girl gets to choose her own piece.

[shroudedsecrets]

Is that right?

[ She appreciates Lup being dry to counter her sappiness, it's probably needed, but her pleased look says it all. She accepts the knife, looking back down at the cake. ]

I am glad we got a picture before this. Let's see now... how about here...?

[ So much choice involved, when it's hard to want to break the composition of the cake. Yet from that small tasting having an actual whole piece would certainly be an experience. After a moment's consideration, she finds a spot that seems right to start in, a nice, normal sized slice. She's even being nicer to herself by taking a little more than she might have ordinarily. ]

[necromanswers]

[Lup fetches a couple of plates and forks for them, waiting for the pieces to be sliced. The inside of the cake is a simple layered design, vanilla with sprinkled confetti adding a bit of rainbow colour to it.]

You can have as much as you want, it's your cake. Eat the whole damn thing if you wanna.

[shroudedsecrets]

It looks so lovely and colorful. [ Here's her slice, and there's one for Lup now, while she mimicks lifting the plate in a toasting motion. ]

I very well plan to. Although there is plenty to share, and then we could take the rest home for a treat.

[necromanswers]

[Lup grins and echoes the gesture, dragging her chair closer with a foot and plopping down to sit adjacent.]

Good thing I baked a mini for us... though maybe we could send a slice or two to Carl and his necromancer crush. If you're feeling generous.

[shroudedsecrets]

Perhaps... though I admit, I had considered the possibility of someone else.

[ It would be generous, but she is not... as particularly close to the boys, with the oddity of the split household, though Carl could certainly take a few slices home from here if he wanted. ]

[necromanswers]

Hell, it's your cake. Do whatever you want with it. I'm just looking out for our waistbands.

[Though Honerva's got a beau now right (ohoho) and is far less fussed with that sort of thing than Lup is, so maybe she would be happy to keep the whole cake to herself. Lup isn't gonna judge either way.]

[shroudedsecrets]

Aren't you always?

[ She trusts Lup to be on top of that, at least, amusingly. Granted, what she says next comes out far more shyly. ]

I was thinking... of sharing some with Lotor. If... he were interested.

[ And if not, the boys are still on the table. There really is no way she could have a whole cake, even if Lup had made it specially for her. ]

[necromanswers]

Lotor, huh.

[The mysterious Other Child.]

Seems like things are going better this time around, huh?

[She's... polite, but secretly guarded about that. In the fleet, Lotor had been cold to Honerva, and while it was understandable considering the circumstances, she's not terribly keen on someone she cares about getting hurt again.]

[shroudedsecrets]

... They are.

[ As much as she's been holding her breath the entire time. The time spent with him in the fleet before now had been her longest impression of him, warranted though his rejection then may have been.

The fact that he did not remember that encounter, the fact that he'd had time and space in another universe, and was also aware of his potential fate, she had certainly relayed to Lup before. But there had been so much... and Lup herself was dealing with a lot. ]

Far better than I could have... even imagined. He surprises me all the time.

[ She's smiling, it's her birthday, though her ears can't quite hide the small dip, the weight of it all. ]

[necromanswers]

[Lup hums faintly, her tone agreeable; she knows well how heavy this sort of thing can be. She'd danced on eggshells with Taako in the fleet, up until the end. Small fights and doubts and emotional wrestling matches, always trying to determine whether things were safe or if it would all spiral and she'd lose him again. That fear is familiar, and she can only imagine it would be similar for Honerva and this tentative peace she might have with Lotor after everything they've both gone through.]

It's probably gonna be messy for a while, as you figure each other out. You're doing good, though. Be sincere and roll with it, and I think you'll be okay.

[shroudedsecrets]

... Yeah.

[ A soft exhale, but it means something, to have that from Lup, who had been there through the pain and helped her navigate something she very likely would have responded to poorly overall. Of course it was a mess, it could not help but be one, and Lup certainly knew how frightened she truly was. But more than that, too, there was... a chance. ]

We are yet strangers, and there are expectations to battle. But the moment he... looked at me, and acknowledged that I... was not that person he'd known before... even that alone was so much.

[necromanswers]

It's... a lot, I know. [To be seen, recognized. She'll remember that moment for the rest of her life.] Congrats, though. It's just more proof that you're not alone anymore.

[She sets her hand on the table between them, palm up, offering. A simple reassurance perhaps, but sometimes that's just what they both might need.]

[shroudedsecrets]

... it is.

[ Simple, yes, but she remembers the first time Lup had asked for a hand hold, and the significance it's held for them since, as she takes her hand. ]

I learned that when I met you.

[necromanswers]

A lesson well learned, then.

[Lup gives her hand a light squeeze, casually and effortlessly welcoming the contact.]

We're gonna have to give Taako some shit for missing out, next time we see him. It'd blow his mind to see you doing something so normal.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ The contact is happily welcomed, so much more secure than that first time so long ago, before she laughs softly. ]

Yes. He always seemed surprised, when I would do something different than what he would expect of me. Especially if you would deem it "normal".

[ Which, she could understand, from that cautious perspective. ]