songerein | [Open Mingle] Entry 003

Entry tags:

[Open Mingle] Entry 003

Who: Kazuma Asogi, Soldier: 76, Susato Mikotoba and anyone else.
Which: Open mingle
Where: The Wild Harvest, located on the ground floor of Kazuma's home.
What: Soft opening for a small pub called the Wild Harvest.

A new pub has opened in Reverein, though the news is only being spread through word of mouth, or if people just happen by the place this month. Kazuma isn't exactly new to managing a pub, but he wanted to be sure he does it right this time. So he's keeping things small and simple, while the crew work out any issues that may come up during the month.

The place already has a much more welcoming feel to it compared to the Hydeout, like a quaint little neighborhood pub. Right next to the pub was a garden, part of it growing into the pub itself. There's a herb station setup if people want grab something else to add to their dishes, though at the moment, the selection is limited until they can grow more plants. There are garnish and spice noodle dragons also roaming about, and they will occasionally add a little extra to a customer's food or drink.

The menu itself is moderately simple, listing various eastern and western style street food dishes. There is also a note that reads: Can request something to be cooked off menu, as long as there are ingredients.

A sign has been put up near the entrance, listing the seasonal specials for the month.

Hot Chocolate (Alchoholic and Non)
Eggnog (Alchoholic and Non)
Cinnamon Apple Spice Tea
Meat Stew.
Roast Fowl.

Note: Meat will vary depending on what's available for the day.

Another can be found at the bar, this one being a "help wanted" sign. While Kazuma is satisfied having a crew he can trust, he could probably do with a full time bartender and bouncer. There are only three staffed at this pub right now. Kazuma is handling the front the best he can. He's not as conversive as his Hyde counterpart, but he'll try since he'll be the one most people will see. Occasionally 76 can be seen at the bar handling drinks, otherwise he'll be preparing the food along with Susato in the kitchen. A few times she'll peek out from the back to help clear tables, talking to the others during down time as she adjust to working a restaurant.

[This is basically an open mingle log for people to use the pub setting for whatever they like! Kazuma, Susato and/or 76 may also tag in, unless specified. Pub and garden area are open to the public.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh, there will be plenty of chances to embarrass him when she returns. Tifa has some questions about her new boss and fellow garden enthusiast, but there is one thing before she rushes off—]

Just Tifa's fine. [No Miss! They are all friends here.] And you better be! I wanna hear some stories over some lunch, if you've got the time.

[ She called Ryunosuke Mr Naruhodo for well almost a year, and she lived with him, so that would certainly be a tough habit to break! She will try, though. The last thing she would want to do is disrespect her wishes, and her polite smile is the last thing Tifa sees before she pokes her head into the kitchen.

Stories? ...About Kazuma? Oh, boy. ]

[ With that at the back of her mind, Susato doesn't exactly keep track of how long it takes her to slice the duck once she's finally happy with it. She certainly brings her presentation A game, though, thinking back to all the restaurants she's been at over the past year to make it look professional as she can.

When she finally brings it out, it is still steaming, and arranged quite neatly with a healthy side of vegetables that they've started growing right here in their new garden. She carefully takes it from the tray where she was carrying it, setting the dish in front of Tifa. On either side of it, she places the silverware, and an extra set of napkins within arm's reach. ]

Here you are. I do hope you'll tell me what you think.

[ ?! No, staying to actually see her reaction would set off her nerves like crazy. It's not normal for staff to just hang out with the customers while on duty, anyway. Things are pretty slow-going though, at least for the moment, and Tifa specifically requested it...

That is, if she was not just saying that to be polite, or something. ]

[The chair on the other side of the table squeaks when Tifa gently nudges it out from underneath with her foot. It isn't hanging around if Susato is joining her, right? It feels less awkward than her standing around at the table.

She gives herself a moment to take in the food—the smell especially that makes her stomach grumble, and how it's so neatly arranged on the plate. The vegetables look fresh too, and she wonders if it was Kazuma himself who'd grown them in the garden. He'd taught her how to properly plant tomatoes, so it seemed fitting that he'd do the same thing here!

And whenever Susato does join her—or rather, if—then she'll take her first bite at last, and when she does, she has to bring a hand up to her mouth.]

It's like it's melting right on my tongue. This is fantastic!

[And she isn't just saying any of this to be polite!]

[ The chair squeaks, and that is all the gentle push she needed, apparently. On top of there being a lull in business, Susato recalls (vaguely) that breaks are a thing that working people have to take sometimes. So she happily takes a seat after another look around, giggling at her response.

She sees no reason to suspect that it is ingenuine, at least. ]

Excellent! Then, your compliments to the chef-- [ Then she mimics Tifa pointing to herself from earlier. ] Ah, wait. That would be me.

[She's going to try to not be rude and scarf the entire dish down without making some conversation—it was her who asked Susato to join her anyway, and she'll even slide the plate closer to the middle to share in case she's feeling like it—but it's proving to be a difficult feat.]

Have you been cooking long? Professionally, or otherwise?

[Once again, this just proves that food is the one universal thing that can bring any two people together.]

[ Susato doesn't react to the plate being pushed--she wouldn't dare even consider taking any for herself in this context, but there's definitely room in the future for these two to share a meal together.

She shakes her head, reacting mainly to the word 'professional.' ]

Oh, no. This is the closest I've come to cooking in a professional setting, but... I've cooked for family for about as long as I can remember. My grandmother taught me--well, when I wasn't studying.

[ In old-timey Japan, this sort of thing is just what girls did. ~Gender roles.~ ]

Ooh, studying what?

[Forgive her for any and all questions she might be asking.

Tifa is, by nature, a curious social butterfly and whether she's working the bar or not, she had always taken an interest in learning about the people she comes to meet. Never know when she's going to learn something interesting from someone, and there are even more surprises to be had when they all come from different worlds. Those kinds of things—listening to others, especially—came with the territory.]

I never got to finish school myself, but there are so many things out there to learn...

[There's a nostalgic, whimsical sort of air to the way she says it, thinking back to the old days in Nibelheim where she did get to do all those things that came with being a teenager.]

[ Susato also finds peoples' experiences to be endlessly interesting, so she doesn't mind the questions at all. It's actually a bit of a pleasant surprise to be on the receiving end--she's not used to people taking an interest, usually.

Maybe Tifa will change her mind though when she hears the answer. Who knows. ]

The law. [ There is a slight sparkle in her eyes when she answers. Yeah. ] I was always surrounded by textbooks and the like. I was expected to be Kazuma-sama's faithful judicial assistant, to support him as he became a lawyer.

[ Things... did not go to plan, but rather than get into all that, Susato decides to return the question with her own. ]

Um... why were you unable to finish school?

[Oh, Susato! Don't turn this around on her! She wants to know more about the law, and what kinds of things studying it entails—truly! But... to answer the question...

There's a noticeable stretch of silence that follows, but Tifa fills it by taking a bite of her food, enjoying and savouring the flavour as she tries to find the best way to answer. What really happened isn't exactly lunch talk with someone she's just met, but she doesn't want to be dishonest about it either. So, once she swallows her bite—]

I had to move away from home suddenly, and the place I moved to wasn't exactly the best place for a fifteen year old to be. I had to take some time to recover from an injury too, and by then, I guess that's when I stumbled into the bar a few years later.

[And it kind of took over her life then. Not that she minded. She thrived there.]

Sometimes I think about going back... finding something I'm interested in and going from there, you know?

[ She is patient, though it's a challenge to both not stare at Tifa while she eats while at the same time seeming interested in her answer. In the end, Susato ends up feigning interest something else--a spot on the table she idly wipes away, for example--until Tifa starts speaking. Then she's as attentive as ever. ]

I think that would be wonderful. [ Obviously, appearing in Reverein has thrown a wrench in those plans, but Susato still thinks it's admirable. Fostering a love for learning is something she definitely supports. ] ...I am sixteen, and I also left home for the first time, a little over a year ago now.

[ She's guesstimating, and adding Reverein time. ]

It was always meant to be temporary though. A study abroad, so I'm not sure I would call it moving. In fact... I was travelling back when I suddenly appeared here.

[Her sigh is as whimsical as ever.]

That must have been really nice, though... to be able to study somewhere else.

[Being able to see the rest of the world, or at least another place within it... She's on her way to do just that, but there's a difference between seeing the world because you want to, and seeing it because you're on a mission to save it. Maybe after all is said and done, and things have quieted down again, she would take up the former. For now, at least, she has a whole other universe to explore.]

What was it like?

[ What was it like? What was it like. The wistful, nostalgic look that comes over Susato's face probably gives Tifa a clue. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows; they battled their fair share of demons on their search for truth, but she missed her London family very much.

How does she put it into words? ]

It was... rather a lot. Overwhelming, in a lot of ways. Mr Naruhodo and I, we basically hit the ground running as soon as we made land, and it really doesn't feel like we stopped.

But I met some of the most wonderful people who made our stay worthwhile. I do hope I get to see them again.

I'm sure you will.

[That other name doesn't quite ring a bell, but she does look around the restaurant, as if expecting him to show up somewhere in here too, if he were here at all. She and Kazuma must be close, to work together like this, so she does wonder he was part of it, too.]

Is this Naruhodo guy here too?

[ Susato looks around the restaurant too, wondering if he was actually going to show up on his own or whether she was going to have to Susato Toss him through the front entrance.

...... ]

He will be.

[ Tifa guesses right, at least. ]

He is Kazuma-sama's best friend. He won't miss the Wild Harvest's grand opening.

You're all so lucky.

[Tifa drops her gaze down to her food then, warmth passing over her smile, but there's a sadness to it, too. It makes her miss her own friends from Gaia—Cloud, Aerith, Barret, Red... what she wouldn't give to have at least one of them here with her right now to enjoy this meal with Susato. She's absolutely sure that she and Aerith would adore one another.

But she isn't one to bring the mood down, so she takes another bite of her food before steering the conversation back.]

You know, I wonder if I'd be able to see some of these places in a dream sometime.

[ Lucky... Susato holds onto that word. Kazuma had not been so lucky, being alone for so many years, but they are together now. She isn't a mind reader by any means, but she senses the sadness behind Tifa's words, and she can more or less guess the cause.

Susato also is not one to bring down the mood, however--not purposefully. So she welcomes it when Tifa changes the subject. ]

Like in a dreamscape? I believe there are those who have tried. They may not be exactly as we remember them, however. There are always distortions, and... and just a general weirdness about dreams.

[ She sadly can't describe it in a more scholarly way. ]

That said... I try to respect it when I see that someone's dreams have been recorded. [ She is nosy, but she'd like to think she isn't rude. If it's something private or personal that she doesn't understand, she'll try to leave it alone. ]

[Tifa wishes they had the luxury of leaving some dreams alone, or that there was some mechanism to kick herself out of them when she happened to dreamwalk into them. There were a lot of things she wished others hadn't seen the way that they did, or things she felt she wasn't supposed to...

But not all of them were terrible.]

Mm-hmm. I did get to visit one place called Lindblum, a while back. That one wasn't too bad, but I guess it would all depend on the dreamer, huh?

[Tifa would never allow anyone to Gaia if she could help it. Least of all Midgar.]

Maybe one day, we'll find a way to do it. Those tapirs haven't exactly been the most helpful. Seems like something we could take advantage of, you know?

[ It sounds like something to work towards, at least, of which Susato is always a fan. She wonders if she'll ever have the honor of showing someone Japan, or Great Britain. What would the Japan or Great Britain of her dreams even look like...? Would she start to lose details, forget after a while...?

Nope. Not thinking about that. ]

It would be fascinating, I think. There are so many different cultures that have been brought together here. To be able to learn about them, to share information... it would be quite remarkable.

[ And it would almost make this place worth it... maybe. Almost. ]

I've never heard of Lindblum... Did you get to stay long?

Long enough that we could put on a live improv show on stage.

[For an audience of zero, of course, but it was how much fun they had with it that mattered. Tifa had never been up on a theatre stage like that one, so it was a first, and a memory she holds near and dear now. The dreamscapes can be fickle and sometimes scary, but good things can come out of them, too.

Tifa's expression turns whimsical.]

It was this big city high up in the sky, with a ton of airships and a castle that towered over it. With a business district, and a theatre district... If you ever meet Zidane, make sure you ask how he did it.

[ ...Immediately she's picturing the Crystal Tower, with hot air balloons flying all around it. Nothing like airships, and Great Britain certainly wasn't high in the sky, but she's enjoying letting her imagination wander.

Zidane. She'll remember the name. ]

That sounds impressive. I don't know that I could ever accomplish something like that. Were you nervous?

[ Maybe Tifa's an actress or something! ]

[Tifa's laugh is stifled by another enthusiastic bite of her food.

If only she were as skilled an actress as Zidane... or Jessie, who would be proud if she saw the kind of dramatic show they were able to put on. But she does tip her head thoughtfully.]

Is it strange that I was, even if there was no audience? It was more like a... rehearsal. But going up against a pro actor is a lot harder than I thought it'd be.

[ No audience? ...Well, that does change things, but not enough that Susato would change her mind about what she's said. She happily watches Tifa eat, sympathizing with what she says. ]

It is certainly difficult when it feels like everyone is leagues ahead of you, but I'd wager you picked things up quickly.

[ Tifa seems like the type... Susato smiles. ]

Maybe we could even have a show here, once we are more established. Even just music would bring quite a bit of life to the place, I think.

Doesn't even need to be a big show.

[There's something of a gleam in Tifa's eyes, an idea forming there before she can stop it.]

You'd be surprised by how many people like karaoke. Especially after they've had a few drinks. I used to have them every week back at Seventh Heaven, and it'd draw in all kinds of people. A lot who'd never come by on any other night.

[ Unfortunately, she lived before the time of karaoke. She does seem intrigued, though, as the word seems Japanese in origin, but otherwise there is little indicate she knows what Tifa is talking about.

Seventh Heaven, though--she'll tuck that away as the name of the bar where Tifa used to work. ]

That sounds so grand! It could attract a lot of business, too. [ . . . ] But h, how does it work, exactly?

[Open Mingle] Entry 003

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wrapping!! 🎀