Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
The Exile Kiss; Open
Topic Started: Oct 28 2016, 11:20 PM (318 Views)
Zesseract
Member Avatar

A skeleton crew of 3 arrived on Saturday, as the somewhat new Lounge Adyton opened its cellar door for both coffee addicts and bookworms once more; with it bringing all the heft of its eccentricity to newcomers and loyal customers alike. The owner, one Ishikawa-san was something of a bibliophile, and a militaristic one at that; given the chance he'd talk your ear off on what his interpretation was for some passage in a book by Murakami, or the numerous allegories presented in Saramago's Cain, and though counter to Ryou's general policy of minimum contact with others, he couldn't help but admire the forthrightness of this character, that had seemingly sprung out from one of his books. The lounge, like its owner was oozing with personality, as even before you took a single step within the actual coffee shop, something seemed amiss. The glass-front cafe, has been carefully scouted for its entrance, as a series of stone-tiled steps descended unto the 'cellar' cafe, which while on surface level, evoked images reminiscent of the basements below Greek temples, and oracles. Beyond the glass-front, lay the pillars, 'stone' skirted by lacquered walnut wood and supporting the 'above floor' of the cellar, and the pairs flanking either wall neatly framed simulated alcoves that acted as private booths for customers.

An island counter of piano-lacquered wood, stood at its center, in a sort of half-circle that was chock-full of strange machines, their argent lights accenting the darker tones of the woods below them, and behind that a kitchenette that was hidden behind a 'stone' wall. Interspersed throughout the small cafe, a couple of small coffee tables of the same finish as the counter dotted about the place, flanked with chairs on either side. And as if the style of the place was not enough to overwhelm the senses, there were even some who attested to the presence of a strange earthy smell, accented with cinnamon, chicory and other coffee 'spices'. And while Ryou had yet to experience this, he wasn't about to express his disbelief before customers; however, -and- most importantly, the Adyton featured a modest library which lined the walls of the two side walls of the establishment, as cases had been built into its small recessions. It was this sort of forthrightness that had pulled Ryou into this place, and eventually lead him to work here.

As he dropped this month's 'picks' in special stands on the center of the many tables, he mused about the out-there sort of picks for this month, 'Disqualified from being Human' and 'The Lake', not only a couple of decades apart in publishing date, but also touching upon VERY different themes. As he wondered what sort of strange binge Ishikawa-san was now on, he deposited the last pair of books on station 6 and proceeded toward the returns cart as he attempted -once again- to return the library to a certain semblance of order before any customers might come in. As school had only just ended, he expected a couple of hours before the rush actually hit, unlike weekdays however he wouldn't be leaving early today. "Ok, let's just try to get through this, then." he vocalized, as a sort of mantra before his shift -in earnest- had begun.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Miharu Yoshikuni
Member Avatar
Exotic Butters
"Oooh...this place looks promising~" a person said as she peered through the display window of the cafe.

The person in question was Sayoko Fukada, bibliophile and bottomless food pit, a librarian at Reitaku High School. The short pale woman with long dark hair and purple eyes stood outside the cafe eagerly. She hadn't even paid attention to it until she saw the bookshelves inside. She had been on one of her book hunts--as manifested by the large trolley bag she was carrying stuffed with numerous hardbound volumes. However, as was the case of everyday, she got hungry pretty fast and she had been deciding on whether she wanted to binge eat at a Chinese restaurant, or nibble on a multitude of different pastries while enjoying hot coffee.

She would have settled for any old cafe, but the place struck her new, or at the very least she had never been around it.

A book cafe! That's just genius! she thought to herself.

A place where she could read and eat outside of her own home. Who knew? Libraries definitely didn't allow that, and while she snuck the occasional chips and cookies at the school library, to be able to eat out in the open while reading The Peloponnesian War while eating an eclair? It was her calling, alright.

Tugging along the heavy trolley bag, Sayoko opened the cafe door and looked around. The smell of coffee and hot bread was about in the air. She groaned as she lifted her bag slightly so the wheels wouldn't scratch the floor as she moved. She went over to the counter.

"E-excuse me!" she hollered perkily. "Would it be alright to ask for a cafe au lait and um...well, what's fresh out of the oven among your items?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Wagoo

Who believed this was a smart idea?

Ren had successfully found a way to pass the time on his first Saturday, and it was spent exploring Nagashima. The rest of the week, he had been just looking at what was along his route between school and home. However, the view of Nagashima from Reitaku's roof was one that had created an itch, and by today, he had packed a set of normal clothes to change into while going around the city (his parents wrongfully believed the lie he told them about trying out a literature club). Changing out of his uniform had proved to be a smart decision; this neighborhood of the city was nicer than the more cramped Inner City where his family's apartment was located, and it showed in the red uniforms he saw others around his age wearing. They're much nicer than Reitaku's, he had mused. They paid him no heed to the tired looking boy with olive eyes and cargo pants though. He was walking to swiftly looking about the place.

Soon however, Ren had noticed Lounge Adyton. It's smell was the first to greet his nostrils, wafting within with the aroma that he considered the nectar of gods- coffee. Black, cream and sugar, French style, Italian style, even Swiss. Ren's willpower never had a chance, and he soon walked down the stone steps, into the cellar. The decor was unexpected, reminding him all too much of when an American back on Okinawa went off about Greece (the only part that remained in his memory being something about pillars). The assualt of smells continued to hold Ren in its grip however, and with it, he continued to poke his nose about everywhere.

Thus, he discovered the library part of Adyton, and was reading a piece of fantasy about how a physicist was secretly traveling across different universes saving the various alternate Earths. It turned out to be a fantastic comedy, albeit unintentionally. This has to be read as a joke... right? Ren had to hold back chuckling at the work.

Then a lady went up to the counter asking for coffee, and Ren's stomach grumbled. He placed his bag on the chair, put the library book on the table he was sitting on in the corner, and marched up to the line. He still had enough Yen to take the bus home and buy himself a snack- it might as well be some coffee that would hopefully be better than in a can.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Zesseract
Member Avatar

"Of course ma'am, would you like me to add an extra shot of syrup to your drink?" asked Michiyo-san, who seemed to man the coffee machine entirely through muscle memory, as she didn't so much as stare at the different levers, baubles and gauges anymore. "We've caramel, chocolate, mint and hazel. " Admittedly not as crazy a selection as a place like Starstruck coffee might have, but they hadn't required anything more -at least- not for now, since this was implemented.

As he shuffled off the last couple of books onto their designated perch, Ryou allowed himself a quick glance around the place to see if something else needed doing at the time. They really were down to a small crew this day, and while the Adyton wasn't exactly large, it'd be a bit of a challenge to keep everything running simultaneously with two of the stations remaining unmanned. It's partly the reason why Ryou had decided to drop by over the weekend, not out of some sudden bout of altruism, but because some of the people were away, so they'd be a bit less remiss in allowing him to take on other responsibilities apart from the usual stocking and maintaining of the book collection. Perhaps not behind the actual coffee machine, as putting someone other than Michiyo-san in charge of it would be tantamount to sabotaging the entire operation, but he'd managed to convince Taiyou-san to teach him how to work the kitchenette over some basic preparations.

It seemed a couple of new faces had wandered through the glass-front, and with the kitchenette being manned, he thought it'd be a nice first stint to try something more customer service related. As he approached the counter, he straightened up his 'uniform' and attempted to put on what he considered a friendly face, -no smiling though- he'd once tried and succeeded only in scaring off onlookers. Giving a polite bow to the bookish-looking woman, he offered "Welcome to Lounge Adyton, would you like some help with your bags, miss?" Well, at least you're identifying necessities and trying to be proactive, I suppose it's not a terrible start.. His words were followed with a simple gesturing motion towards one of the alcoves in the lounge. "If you'd allow, I can help you to one of our seats." He really didn't understand how the usual hostess managed to keep up the whole act, though he guessed that not being untoward to others certainly helped.

There had been another person to walk through the glass-front, and descend the steps leading to the Lounge, and something about him had caught Ryou's eye, but as he was currently trying to suppress himself in front of the clientele he couldn't be bothered with trying to recollect anything at the time. Whatever line of thought that could've crossed Ryou's mind, perished then as Michiyo called his attention, "Ah, Ryou-kun could you check with Taiyou-san when you're available?" to which Ryou replied with a simple nod.
Edited by Zesseract, Oct 29 2016, 11:16 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Miharu Yoshikuni
Member Avatar
Exotic Butters
The woman clapped a little too delightfully when given the options of syrups.

"Oh, mint please, good sir~" she said a little giddily. Her eyes couldn't help but wander around as she spoke. There were so many books that she hadn't touched her. Granted, she was sure she'd come by familiar volumes, but she would probably re-read them all the same just for the sake it was a different copy of the book. Sayoko liked to believe every book felt different in one's hands.

Another young gentleman walked up to her and offered to carry one of her bags. Sayoko giggled and shook her head. Her pin-straight black hair seemed to shimmer as it did.

"Oh, no, no, it's fine," she said. "I carry around this much stuff on book sales all the time."

She let out a small sigh and smiled.

"A book cafe," she said to the man. "That's not something I come around very often here. Either I'm searching in the wrong places or you have something really special around here. What made the owner think to put up a place to read and dine? It's absolutely brilliant."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Wagoo

Ren perked up at the mention of extra syrup shots. They even have caramel available! While he had gone to Starstruck sometimes whenever he was visiting Naha, he never quite liked it as much as he thought he would. Local blends or the stuff from a vending machine more often than not proved to be more suited to his tastes. As far as Ren was concerned here, the Lounge Adyton was under the category of 'local blend'.

Then somebody walked up to the lady in front of him, offering to carry her bag. Ren's face lit up in some surprise with recognition mixed in with it, but didn't say anything. I don't want him to say something bad to me....

But he walked away, and Ren sighed with relief at this. Soon enough, the lady in front of him mentioned wondering why the owner came up with the idea. "Well, you come for the coffee, but then you stay for the books, and soon enough you're there so long you decide to buy more. It helps get customers back into the line faster. Though I'm sure it helps the owner probably got to this niche first."

Ren's gaze had shifted from the lady's face to the bag. He began to wonder why she was holding so much at this, and before he understood what he was saying, he spoke up once more. "Why do you carry so much around for just book sales anyways?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Zesseract
Member Avatar

"Sure thing, ma'am; and for you, young man?" asked Michiyo without missing a beat, her words soon followed by the sound of steaming milk being jetted into a black stone mug. "We'll have your beverage ready in a moment ma'am.", she added as her had darted behind her to reach for the mint syrup to be blended into Sayako's coffee. Deftly her hands wove in and out of the many different 'stations' she'd built around herself in order to expedite all of many functions of running the counter, having it down pat was a understatement for Michiyo. As for Sayako's question that was a different matter : "It's been the star in the owner's eyes for some time, and after consulting with a couple of like-minded friends, he finally got the sort of capital to put up a place like this, that's the short way of putting it. If you're not strapped for time, then he usually comes by at around 4, I'm sure he'd enjoy telling his story."

Ryou breathed a sigh of relief, as having witnessed how heavy the bag seemed was enough to get him to worry about the actual practicality of his offered help; he may as well have asked someone else to help him, help the customer carry their luggage around the place, What is she lugging around in that thing anyway? he let his musings nestle into the back part of his mind, vanishing behind the wall behind the counter. No doubt, Taiyou-san had finished preparing the first batch of consumables to be handed out to the patrons. It was a strange gesture, giving out free food, but then he supposed that as long as the customers continued to order coffee it wasn't so much a loss; clearly Ishikawa-san had a vision above and beyond the concept of a literary cafe, but Ryou just wasn't seeing it at the time. It wasn't as though he was giving out platefuls of the stuff, but he'd never heard of a place that gave something above complimentary bread for a meal.

Ryou excused himself from the bookish-looking lady, and from the strangely familiar guy standing behind her, Michiyo could handle them, she was like an octopus, able to keep up with multiple tasks with the same efficiency as if her limbs possessed minds of their own. As he rounded the corner behind the wall, he was greeted by the sight of Taiyou-san as he added the finishing touches to the first batch of consumables. The smell wasn't as overwhelming as the general coffee smell, and while subtle, did not have leave that strange cloying feeling which Ryou associated with pastries. As Ryou took a tray with which to distribute the pastries, Taiyou tossed a quick sprinkling of glass sugar on some freshly prepared beignets, these little cubes of fried pastry dough with brown sugar and topped with fried plantain slices & cinnamon. Ryou nearly stumbled with that last gesture, but managed to catch himself before heading back out, looking a little more his usual grimacing self for it as he went about placing these bite-sized pastries on the tables of the different patrons.

By this time, Michiyo had finished preparing Sayako's drink, and seamlessly as she'd produced it, she set it before her on the counter. "If you need creamer, milk or anything, Ryou-kun should be able to assist you with that." she said, offering a small smile at Sayako as she turned her attention to the young man in cargo pants. "How may I help you, sir?" again, not missing a bit, and as soon as she'd said that, she'd seemingly produced another couplet of cups & saucers with which to serve the next person in line.

Eventually Ryou returned to the two customers in front of the counter and offered them the beignets. "Courtesy of the Lounge, sirs." he put simply, as he handed Sayako a small saucer with the pastry, and proceeded behind her to hand the other customer's due, as he got closer he couldn't help but look straight at him, only to realize his feeling of familiarity had been more or less confirmed. Making a concerted effort to maintain a serviceable attitude, he extended the small saucer towards Ren.
Edited by Zesseract, Oct 29 2016, 11:54 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Miharu Yoshikuni
Member Avatar
Exotic Butters
Sayoko couldn't help but beam. She'd love to learn more about how someone got up an idea like this. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and nodded.

"Well, yes, I would definitely be interested," she said. "I really do hope I get to have such an opportunity to meet such a person."

To her surprise a question was redirected at her, though it hadn't come from her current conversant. Turning around, she saw another young man. She responded in a playful smile.

"Well, where else would I put away my darling children after I go about town searching for them?" she said. "If I see one, I can't help but just pick it up and take it home with me. And that is what's happened today and every other day. You could say they're my life."

She said this last part while giving the trolley bag a firm pat. The thing was beaten up and frayed out, but it seemed to somehow stay standing.

"My apologies, I hope I wasn't keeping the line up, young man. Mmm, though you do look familiar. Are you a student at Reitaku perhaps?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Wagoo

The response Ren recieved from the lady in front of him was not what he expected. 'Darling children?' That... that doesn't sound too good- wait, it's books. He gulped briefly before catching himself and putting on a respect-filled face. "Oh, you collect books as a hobby then, miss?... I see." Ren's gaze then turned over to the trolley bag, and his expression had some awe to it. "What brand is that bag? It seems to last awhile in usage."

The lady's apology helped Ren focus a bit more, and didn't come across as weird at all. He put on a slight, innocent grin. Oh, you weren't miss. Don't worry, you've been anything but holding the line."

The incoming question, while still normal, was unexpected. "Oh, ehm, why are you asking, miss?" Ren's eyes darted back to his table, which still had all his stuff. His bag was indeed poking out the sleeve of his Reitaku uniform, and he sighed at his mistake as he turned back to the lady. "Yes, I am a Reitaku student. Why do you ask?"

The front counter called Ren for his order, causing him to turn away from the lady and to the front. "I'll have whatever's standard, but put in some creamer and two sugar cubes... and a caramel shot." Ren smiled his grin once more, and it was clear he was indeed genuinely enjoying himself for possibly the first time since he came to Nagashima.

Then came the grumpier one, catching Ren off guard and offering a beignet each to him and the lady. "Oh, thank you." He was about to open his mouth again to say something further, but the grumpier one had already walked away. Ren sighed, before turning to the lady once more. "Sorry about that, I became a bit distracted."
Edited by Wagoo, Oct 30 2016, 06:12 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Zesseract
Member Avatar

"One cup regular, 2 sugar, cream and caramel -coming right up!-" declared Michiyo, hands gliding deftly through the series of knobs and levers that comprised the bulk of the coffee machine. Meanwhile, Ryou watched in rapt attention, taking in Michiyo's dexterousness as she manned the station, it was a bit daunting really. (I'm going to have to do that eventually, just seems like right now's a poor time to do it.), he grimaced at the thought of one of the steamers catching him in the face before he decided to rejoin reality with the rest of the people in the cafe. Looking towards the woman in line, he thought he caught something along the lines of the owner and his story for how he went about making this place a reality, "I...think it's something he put down in his memoirs, actually." he said without thinking, as the mental image of a small leatherbound tome made their presence in his mind's eye.

It was a curious thing, the book, it read like the sort of journal a trailblazer or colonist might have written during the age of exploration, Ryou had fanned through the pages once or twice, but never really paid much attention to them. Ishikawa-san's theatrics proved to be a bit much for him, and reading about them didn't exactly put him at ease, but he couldn't deny the sort of awesome personage he'd built for himself. A wave of jealousy welled within him for a moment, not out of desire to have created this singular story about his life, but that Ishikawa-san in spite of himself, was still someone you preferred to keep around, rather than he. It's a strange thing for you to be so vain..., he mentalized, as he looked at the two customers. "I know it's a bit soon, but there's a reading night we have going on Fridays, we grab a play and split the different roles amongst staff and customers, I think it might be to your enjoyment.[/c]" he said, trying to face both Ren and Sayako, "I'm sure some fresh faces should liven up the practice."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Uptown Nagashima · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1