The Ropes [2430-2-3 Mon 1:30 pm]

[Iod]

The best part of the noon rush was when it ended and the restaurant cleared out again. Iod enjoyed the tips too, obviously, but the end of the rush was great, if only because you finally got to take a breather after busting your ass taking orders and getting food out to people.

He was restocking the napkins in his section when Derek walked over, the new hire tagging along behind. Iod got his first look at her. Derek hadn't mentioned that she was one of the winged people, but that was fine. There were enough of them around the spaceport, espeically over on the cafe side. You were less likely to knock people over with 'em on that end, unlike in the restaurant side.

"Failyn, this is Iod, one of the servers. Iod, Failyn. She'll be working in the cafe." Derek made the introductions, and Iod stuck out a hand to shake.

"Pleased to meet you. It was about time Derek started hiring more pretty girls, and less ugly dudes." He flashed a grin at her. "It's hard to make good tips when there's no eye-candy to draw customers in."

Derek was used to Iod by now, and he just ignored the whole exchange. "Make sure to show her where everything is. I'll get Titanian to cover your tables." The owner gave Iod a friendly pat on the shoulder, and smiled at Failyn, "If he gives you any trouble, just come get me."

"I'll give you plenty of trouble!" Iod shouted at Derek's back as he walked away, smiling again when Derek just waved Iod off. He turned his eyes back to Failyn, "Welcome to the madhouse."

[Failyn]

Failyn didn't know whether to be totally excited or completely nervous. She had gotten the job!!!! But now she needed to KEEP it, and today was her first day. The owner guy - she had forgotten to pay attention when he mentioned his name, whoops - seemed nice. Then again, he gave her a job. That was a great incentive to think someone is nice. He had mentioned that he was too busy doing something to show her the ropes - to herself, she called it "initiating" her - so he was taking her to someone that could. Failyn would have thought it would be someone that actually worked in the cafe that would show her how to, well, work in the cafe, but instead it would be in some restraunt that Mr. Owner Guy also owned.

As they entered the restraunt, Failyn got a look at who would be helping her as Mr. Owner Guy beelined straight for him. He had yet to look up, so she could openly examine him. Her first thought? "...Pretty Boy. Not as in pretty boy pretty boy, but simply stating to herself that she found him vaguely attractive. She'd seen prettiER guys, but he was nice.

"Failyn," Failyn snapped her wandering attention to Mr. Owner Guy, "This is Iod, one of the servers." And here she was thinking it was his profession to fold napkins. That would have been much more original. "She'll be working in the cafe." Iod-kid (Kid, though he was probably older than her) held out his hand. In taking his hand, Failyn looked down at it, and then past it. He was an Octupus person!!! He could tell her how merpeople stayed warm!! Failyn brightened, as if some of the sun she was always soaking in suddenly reflected back out of her.

Her dad often worried to himself that she was too childish. It wasn't natural for someone to be as easily pleased as Failyn. Not that it was necessarily bad for his only child to be happy, but he simply did not know what to make of it. Had he known Failyn kept the child as a proctective layer to hide her feelings on the inside, he probably would have worried a bit more. She wasn't depressed or psychopathic or anything, but most people just didn't hide their feelings as effectively, or even try to.

In her happiness, Failyn completely missed the exchange between Iod and Mr. Owner Guy, and was only vaguely suprised when MOG was suddenly gone.

"Hey!! Can you tell me how you guys stay warm under the water?" she asked excitedly.

[Iod]

Of all the questions he thought he'd get from the girl, that wasn't one he'd been expecting. It caught Iod a bit off guard, but he recovered fairly quickly, grinning as a retort came to his head, "You tell me how you guys can stay so cool up here? It's hot as blazes most days. The sun's right there, and there's nothing around to cool that sucker's rays off."

Iod wasn't entirely sure how it worked, besides that you simply got used to wherever you were born. It was always cold underwater, so you didn't really need to get used to it. That did meant that you always a little too warm when you were top-side, but that was something most merpeople could get used to. Plus, there was something about the way their blood circulated, but Iod barely understood that himself. Explaining it to someone else would have just been a comedic farce.

"So, Failyn, you ever work in a cafe before?" He set his napkins to the side and headed back to the kitchen, waving for her to follow him around. "Or any sorta food service? I gotta know if I need to give you the whole spiel or just the big-girl parts of it."

[Failyn]

Failyn's thoughts were normally rather broad, either running on multiple courses at once or skipping quickly from one subject to another without ever actually pausing considering any one topic. But Iod's folding her question in on her did something fairly rare: sharpened her focus.

She wasn't sure staying warm without the sun and staying cool with the sun were the same thing, but she couldn't place her finger on why. Perhaps because they had the winged people had wind to cool them, where the sun simply does not reach the depths of the ocean. But then there were blazing hot days when no wind blew, and she did not actually overheat. She supposed it was possible that they stored heat just as her body had learned to release it. For some reason even unfathomable to herself, this idea intrigued Failyn - the differences that are necessary between the races that no one even pauses to think about kind of being almost exactly the same in their oppositeness.

Failyn's thoughts were sharp now, but it would not take long for them to broaden again.

"So, Failyn, you ever work in a cafe before?Or any sorta food service? I gotta know if I need to give you the whole spiel or just the big-girl parts of it." She didn't particularly enjoy the idea of being thought a child, but then "Big girl" wouldn't exactly lend her any respect either. Iod was rather like a human girl, the way he made it impossible to win no matter the response given.

"I haven't ever worked in serving food before, no. But if you don't want to spend too much time, don't. I can figure things out." She was honestly offering the option. Mr. Owner Guy - Failyn's clarity lent her the memory that he had called himself Derek - had told him to teach her, but she saw no reason for Iod to inconvenience himself.

[Iod]

Iod grinned. He liked seeing how easy it was to get under someone's skin, he just couldn't help it, even if it ended up costing him friendships. But Failyn had managed not to raise to the bait, which was a really good sign. People who could roll with it were a lot more fun to work with than people who got worked up over everything.

"It's after the lunch rush, so I'm going to milk this for all it's worth. You never get good tippers in at this time of the day, just stingy old people and women with screaming babies." Iod pushed open the doors to the kitchen. It was large, but that's because it served as the kitchen for the restaurant and the cafe. The chefs were taking their own breaks, since it would be about an hour before they had to start getting things ready for the evening rush. A few of them yelled at Iod and Failyn, either cursing them or suggesting that their reproductive parts were tiny.

Iod just responded by throwing up the finger while giving Failyn the tour, "This is the kitchen, and those jackasses back there make the food. Always make sure you've got your order right before your give it to them because they hate when you try to change it after the fact. If you're always quick and polite, they'll make your food faster. You won't have as much trouble as me, since you're in the cafe and you guys only need to get the occasional soup or sandwich, and you can whip that stuff up on your own if you have to. But you can come back here on your lunch break and get them to make you something, but only if they like you. Lemme know if they give you a hard time and I'll put give 'em the one-two."

He pointed out the other features, "There's bathrooms on both sides of the store, but if you don't want customers hassling you, there's one in the back too, but be warned: nobody ever cleans it. Lockers are on the far wall, we'll get you one of those. And Derek's office is right back there. He's a nice dude, but always knock before going because he hates when you just barge in. I know, I do it all the time."

Iod headed through the other set of doors, into the cafe. The tour was pretty quick, but Failyn seemed like she was paying attention. And even if she wasn't, she'd figure this stuff out, even if she had to the hard way. Derek usually didn't hire people unless they had a few brain-cells to rub together, so it wasn't too often that they got somebody too dumb to function.

Compared to the restaurant, the cafe was bright and airy, with lots of soft chairs and small tables to sit at. There were a few customers here and there, drawing or writing, and some other ones in deep conversation. It smelt like coffee and chocolate cake. "So, here's where you'll be. The girls will teach you how to make the drinks, but mostly what you do is stand at the till, punch in the order, and give them what they want. All the deserts are pre-made so all you do is dole them out of the display case and if you run out, check the fridges in the back to see if there's any extras. If not, take out the display card and give it to the cooks. They'll whip up something eventually, or not, depending on how busy it is."

"If you get a tip, you put it in the jar, and all the tips are shared among the cafe staff. It's the same on the restaurant side, though you guys don't have to split with the kitchen staff since you're getting less cash anyway. And if there's any problem, you grab whoever is the on-duty manager, which is usually yours-truly. We'll come sort out whatever the customer's beef is." Iod flopped sideways in an empty chair, legs danging over one arm. "Anything you not clear on, or I didn't bother to explain?"

[Failyn]

Well, Iod seemed to think that the best way of introducing Failyn to the new job was to give her the grand tour. Failyn figured it was as good a place to start as any. The danger, she figured, was what might if her focus gave out before she got through the intro to the new space.

The kitchen was first. The chefs were scary. Failyn was secretly relieved that Iod just blew them off, because she had NO IDEA how to respond to them. But Iod said that they could be nice...so maybe they could still be friends? She hoped so. She wouldn't want to work with someone and not be able to talk to them out of nervousness or stuff.

As Failyn struggled to keep her grip on reality, she repeated all the important information to herself, hoping it would stick once she slid into her normal mindset. She wasn't crazy...just forgetful. So...She noted....Not back bathroom. Ever. Knock for Derek. Iod doesn't listen. Iod doesn't listen. (This seemed like something important about him, thus meriting the extra repeat). Ask cooks for food if out, cafe workers will teach stuff. (Wasn't Iod supposed to be the teacher?) Something about a tip going in a jar...

Failyn glanced out the window, and her focus was shot.

The water was so pretty. Iod was lucky, he got to explore the depths. She could fly, and she loved it, but the sky was the sky. You could ALREADY see what was there. Not anywhere near as exciting.

She realized Iod had stopped talking. Not sure if she was supposed to say something, she decided she might as well start her job. She smiled happily, like she couldn't imagine anywhere she'd rather be - and at the moment, she didn't bother to.

"Well, now that you're in my place of work, is there anything I can get you?" She looked at Iod expectantly, honestly wanting nothing more than to help him get what he wished...Just as she'd feel about almost every customer that would come into the cafe.

[Iod]

She seemed to be keeping up. That, or she was totally lost but was doing a great job of hiding it. Iod approved either way. A big part of the job was serving, but even more of it was always looking like you knew what you were doing, even if you had no clue. As long as Failyn didn't screw up in a major money-costing way, she'd be on easy street soon enough. Hell, Iod 'quit' every two or three weeks like clockwork and Derek kept on hiring him back, even though he could have cut Iod loose whenever.

"You can get me a slice of cheesecake, and one of those danishes." Iod grinned, more than happy to take her up on the offer. "And help yourself to something too! I've got a tab back there, just go ahead and add to it."

He lounged a moment more, and then got up off the chair so he could keep an eye on her. Derek was expecting Iod to train her, not just laze about. Not that he couldn't do both at the same time, but still. He sat up on the counter, not paying any mind to the dirty look that one of the other baristas shot him. Iod got away with a lot, mostly because he liked pushing people as far as he could, and people learned to fight back, or else just let him run all over them. Most of the girls in the cafe found it easier to just let him get away with whatever he wanted.

"Plates and bowls are in the cupboards right behind you, utensils are in the drawers, and all the cups are in the bottom cupboard. Make sure to get dirty dishes back into the kitchen so they can get washed, or you'll catch hell." He continued to instruct as he flagrantly broke most of the cafe's rules about sitting while working and sitting up on the countertop. "And don't worry if you break anything. That shit happens all the time."

[Failyn]

"You can get me a slice of cheesecake, and one of those danishes. And help yourself to something too! I've got a tab back there, just go ahead and add to it." Completely ignoring his latter comment, Failyn nodded her head in acknowledgement and acceptance and headed behind the counter. Although she didn't conciously register it, she must have heard Iod's kitchen-placement-commentary, because she was able to find everything with no trouble. Well, almost no trouble. She had the danish on the plate and the fork waiting to be used when she realized there was no cheesecake where the food should be. Then she smiled. Adventure time!!

She set what she had down in front of Iod and smiled in a more servile manner. "I'll be right back with that cheesecake."

As she wandered back into the kitchen, she wondered if this was a test of Iod's. He did mention the chefs could be scary. Or maybe she had just decided the chefs were scary? She didn't remember...Either way, scary chefs. But it would be mean of Iod to test her so soon. She just started. Literally - he was her first customer. But maybe he thought she was good enough to be tested already? She smiled at the thought (illogical though it may be...He had never seen her work).

She walked up to a chef that didn't seem too busy, but was also obviously not on break.

"Uhm...excuse me, I'm sorry, but may I please have a slice of cheesecake for a customer?" She didn't mention it was Iod...somehow she guessed that mentioning who the cake was for would not get her the slice. "I will also need an entire cheesecake when you have some time (I realize you're really busy), but the cake was asked for now and I really don't want to turn my first customer down." She smiled hopefully.

She wasn't sure if it was acceptance or rejection when the chef grunted, but he DID point towards the fridge, so she figured she was okay.

"Thank you so much!" She carefully sliced a little bit away from the whole of the cheesecake, and brought it out to Iod.

"Here you go, sir. I'm sorry it took so long to get it to you. Would you like anything to drink with that?" She smiled again, glad - despite the time - that she was able to bring him what he wanted. Then the frown slowly turned into a self-directed dissatisfied frown. She should've asked him about the drink BEFORE she left to get the cheesecake, and it was completely dumb of her to not think of that in the first place....

[Iod]

Iod helped himself to the danish while Failyn was in the back getting the cheesecake. She seemed absent minded, but she hadn’t panicked when there hadn’t been cheesecake in the display. And she’d known enough to go to the kitchen to get some.

She seemed about as flaky as the pastry, but she sure wasn’t useless, and as long as she wasn’t useless, that girl could be as flaky as she liked. Iod brushed the crumbs off of his shirt, putting the partly-eaten danish back down when she returned.

“Nah, I’m good for drinks.” He reached out and gave her a pat on the shoulder, “Good job. Now don’t forget to mark this down on my tab. We all get a little leeway with food now and again, but if you hand out too many free things, Derek will come down on you like the hand of Dagon. Or whatever you birdbrains believe in.”

Iod couldn’t stop the grin on his face, even as he helped himself to a forkful of cheesecake. Most winged people were pretty easy going, but Iod still felt the need to try wind people up in any way possible. It looked like it might be hard to do that with Failyn, who was either too flaky to let things sit, or was doing her damnedest to act like she was. It didn’t really occur to Iod that Failyn could be both at the same time.

“Oh, and your breaks. If you’re working less than six hours, you get one fifteen minute break. If you’re working the full eight hours, you get two fifteens, and half an hour for lunch.” He took another forkful of cheesecake, swallowing before speaking again. “Most of us just go hang out in the alley on our breaks, or we hide in the very back of the kitchen. You’ll pick this stuff up easily enough.”

[Failyn]

Iod didn't seem to think she had done too badly, but Failyn was still annoyed about the mistake she had made. But she was grateful he hadn't said anything...For some reason, she could take any insult or offhand comment without taking it personally, but she always seemed to be hurt by criticism, no matter how light or constructive it was meant to be. It probably had something to do with her eagerness to please people. If there was criticism, they weren't pleased. Or, that's how she seemed to see it, anyway.

"Now don’t forget to mark this down on my tab. We all get a little leeway with food now and again, but if you hand out too many free things, Derek will come down on you like the hand of Dagon. Or whatever you birdbrains believe in.” It was a good thing he had reminded her, because she might have honestly forgotten. That would be a bad idea in the time to come, so she mentally chided herself...sort of. The more reasonable side of her hoped the more carefree side of her would get the message. Unfamiliar with the prices, Failyn had to glance at the sign. $1.27 for the danish and $7.23 for the slice of cheesecake. Well, wasn't that a bit unreasonable. Without having to do the calculations, the total in her head automatically equaled $8.50. Just because she was distracted didn't mean she wasn't intelligent, and she had a specialty for math. She wasn't positive, but she suspected she had inherited her intelligence from her mother. Surely her mother, someone who worked in space, was smart?

While she put the total on his tab, her mind rolled over the comment "birdbrain." It seemed quite likely her brain had some similar qualities to that of a bird...they both had similar physical functions, after all. But if that were true, that would make Iod an octopus brain.

She tilted her head to the side, oddly...well, birdlike. "I wouldn't have pictured you as a solitary type of person."

[Iod]

Her comment caught Iod completely off-guard. For a moment, the grin slipped off his face, and he thought that maybe she'd heard. Everybody heard, eventually, but he liked having a few weeks before they realized what happened to Iod, and started making excuses for his assholeness.

But a moment later, the grin snapped back up, just like it had always been there. She was just making an unrelated comment. Failyn didn't know yet, and if he was lucky, he could keep it that way for a while. "You're going to be shocked by what sort of guy I am. I'm full of secrets. I'm just like the sea: deep, salty and full of fish."

He took another bite of cheesecake, and offered her a forkful, "What about you, birdie? Do you travel with a flock, or do you wing it on your own?"

[Failyn]

Failyn noticed Iod's smile slipped. Not knowing the cause, she instantly blamed herself. What right did she have to go about making assumptions about people? It was none of her business whether he was solitary or not. It was none of her business to CONSIDER whether he was solitary or not. Why did she think she could be so noisy? And now she had made one of her customers unhappy...her FIRST customer....She held back a wince as she mentally kicked every single internal organ she had.

She was slightly greatful when Iod interrupted her internal rant. "You're going to be shocked by what sort of guy I am. I'm full of secrets. I'm just like the sea: deep, salty and full of fish," he replied. She noticed he didn't actually confirm or deny the solitary thing. which was none of her business. Iod offered her a forkful.

Most people probably wouldn't accept a forkful of cheesecake from some guy they had met half an hour ago, especially if said guy had already shown/admitted himself to be a troublemaker. But then, Failyn wasn't exactly known for taking things seriously. She thanked him, accepted the fork, and took a bite.

It could use more chocolate. Not that it was chocolate cheesecake. It wasn't - it was vanilla. But then again, if it was chocolate cheesecake, it would already have chocolate and probably wouldn't need more. Probably.

"What about you, birdie? Do you travel with a flock, or do you wing it on your own?" Clever boy..."Wing it"....Ha. She handed the fork back.

Her first reaction was to say she winged (wung, wang, wanged? How do you even put that in the past tense? (She is in the habit of winging it on her own...that would work....) Even if she had a dad she still spent a lot of time on her own. But she wasn't alone. She had the animals. They made good friends, and she would feel bad if she just dismissed them because they weren't winged person like her. Well, she wasn't one, she wasn't the other, so she guessed..."Neither."

And, to prove that Failyn's thoughts were all over the place, she JUST NOW started to think about what Iod compared himself to...the see. Deep. salty, and full of fish. The sea was also blue. Did that make him sad? And colorful...well, she'd bet his language was that, at any rate. And the sea was also beautiful...."Well, you're full of yourself, aren't you?"......CUSTOMER. HE WAS A CUSTOMER. AND SHE JUST CALLED HIM FULL OF HIMSELF. She blushed, and immediately stammered an apology. "I...I'm s..sorry. I totally didn't mean that. It...sorry...."

[Iod]

Iod dug into his cheesecake while Failyn considered her answer. Neither then. That was an interesting thing to say to what was otherwise a yes or no answer question. This chick was proving to be interesting. Hard to wind up, willing to think about his off-the-cuff questions-

Her comment caught him off guard, and Iod just laughed. The moment she started apologizing, he just laughed harder, until there were damn near tears in his eyes. Iod got himself back under control, waving his fork all over the place, "No, you totally meant it, and you're totally right. I am full of myself. But that's because I've got plenty to be full of!"

It had been a hell of a long time since he'd had this much fun bantering with anybody. He was going to have to give Derek a high-five for hiring Failyn. Iod took another bite of cheesecake, and grinned at her, "You know Birdie, I think I'm really beginning to like you. Is there a Mr. Big-Wings I need to watch out for? 'cause if there is, you should let him know right now that you've met your future husband and that I'm better in bed than him."

[Failyn]

Failyn was relieved when he blew her comment off, and even agreed with her. He was nice. Had she decided that already? Failyn didn't remember....But either way, it was what she decided now.

"You know Birdie, I think I'm really beginning to like you. Is there a Mr. Big-Wings I need to watch out for?" Completely mistaking what he meant by that comment, she thought he meant her father. Which made the follow-up to that extremely awkward. cause if there is, you should let him know right now that you've met your future husband and that I'm better in bed than him." Failyn clamped down on her thoughts. Don't think about that comment, do not apply that to a mind picture, OH GOD don't think about that....

"Nope...none," she squeaked, still trying not to think about what he said and her father. She was relieved when a customer walked in. "I'll be right back."

The customer provided her an opportunity to fall into helpful mode, finally erasing the last part of that conversation.

The new customer was a human woman. "Hello, ma'am. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, please. I'll take a low-fat cappuccino, and a croissant," she said briskly. She seemed awful hurried to Failyn. Why was she in such a rush?...

"I'll be right back with that. Is there anything else I can do for you? You seem rather rushed."

The woman hesitated, but Failyn's open nature rather enticed people to talk with her. "Well, you see, I haven't eaten in 24 hours, which is why I need this food. But I need to pick up my tickets for the next ship, which leaves in ten minutes. So could you please hurry with that food?"

Something nagged at the back of Failyn's mind that this was NOT part of her job description, but she ignored it. She was here to help the customer, no? That's not a limited objective. She called to one of the other girls to get the food. "If you tell me your name and flight number, ma'am, I'll be right back with those tickets." People probably normally wouldn't give out tickets to a person if the tickets weren't for them, but, again, Failyn didn't exactly look devious.

"Georgia Reynolds, flight 984."

Failyn disappeared from the shop, and five minutes later magically reappeared holding tickets. "I also warned on of the ladies at the door of the terminal you were running late, and to hold if they see you coming." Failyn noticed she had her food, and smiled. "Good, you're set to go. Hurry!" She watched as the lady hurried away, and then turned back to Iod.

"So...what were we talking about? Something about the sea....Did you need anything else?"

[Iod]

Her reaction was not at all what Iod was expecting. He frowned and watched her hurry over to help a customer, wondering what exactly had popped into her head. Maybe Failyn had bad experiences with boyfriends? Or maybe she was the girlfriend sort. He shrugged, and decided to let it slide... for now. He'd pick at her later, once she was better settled in and he knew where more of her boundaries were.

Iod watched with a bit of confusion, and mostly amusement, as Failyn rushed out of the cafe to pick up the woman's tickets. That was not at all part of her job description. But she had gotten Saison to put the food together before she went running out to get the woman's tickets, so it wasn't a complete disaster. "Grabbing your tickets isn't normally part of the service around here." Iod told the stressed lady, "So you better tip extra." He flashed his extra-charming grin at her for good measure. It seemed to have worked, because she put some extra coinage in the tip jar.

Iod finished his cheesecake by the time Failyn showed back up, and handed the plate back to her when she asked if he needed anything else. "Nope, I'm good. Though, next time you dart off to get somebody's tickets, make sure Derek isn't around. He approves of good service, but only the kind you can accomplish in the shop. You're not getting paid enough to go running across the spaceport for strangers."

He hopped down, and gave her a friendly pat on the back, "But, it did keep her from getting cranky. So as long as you don't get caught, you can probably keep that up. Any questions about how stuff works, or are you picking up what I've been putting down?" Iod usually hated human things, but he did enjoy some of their phrases. They were colourful and he loved adding colour to his vocabulary.