[PRP] We've Come Far, Kid. (Gene/Xiu)

[Carhop Cavalier]

It was one of those very rare quiet hours of the day, in which there was only one customer in the Cafe' and they were keeping to themselves, sipping on coffee and reading a newspaper. Gene, silver hair pulled back into a loose bun, was lovingly polishing the espresso machine, and Xiu was doing something in the back, probably cleaning too. They always seemed to be cleaning - who'd have thought running a cafe would involve this much cleaning?

The espresso machine shiny and free of any stray grounds, the Doppelganger threw her head into the kitchen, smiling at her partner.

"Doin' okay back here, hon?"

kaiyuxmi

 

[Kaiyumi]

Quiet days like this had initially discouraged the baku, who had feared an unsuccessful business, but now she came to cherish them. The time they had between rushes of customers was rare, and this was especially true during the breakfast and lunch hours. The fact that things were so peaceful now meant that she and her friend had a chance to take a breather.

She had been in the middle of wiping down the flour-powdered counters when Gene popped her head in. Returning the smile with a bright one of her own, Xiu cleaned up the last bit of the mess and went to rinse out the towel. "Yup! Just taking this opportunity to clean up the mess I made from earlier today." She was always in a scramble to dole out freshly baked goods in the early hours of their opening, and the kitchen tended to be frosted in flour, sugar, and icing by the time most of their satisfied customers filtered out of the door.

Xiu gave a little stretch before trotting over to where Gene was with a grin. "How are you recuperating from the lunch rush? I ever thought that this place could get so busy sometimes!"

Carhop Cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

Gene was always impressed with Xiu's work ethic and execution. Neither of them had really been trained or worked in professional environments (Gene had Bloodbucks and Starsux), and frankly? The duo still had a lot to learn about business management and what in the name of Jack they were doing.

But it was working. That mattered, somehow. Two young women without much to their names had struggled through school, fought off Hunters, Horseman, and Titans - and now they owned a successful business.

Gene rolled her neck as if to crack joints that weren't there, a tiny smile playing on her face. "Oh, you know, just hanging by a thread." She giggled, a dismissive wave of her hand. "Luckily the regulars are a bit more patient when they see we've got a full bar and hardly any seating room.

It was lucky they had regulars at all. She was amazed every day by the surge of the same faces coming in at 1:00 on the dot, eager for sandwiches, pastries, coffee, and tea.

"I just wish I could serve more of them at a time, ya know? I don't like having to put one plate down and see another customer watching their neighbor eat for a minute or two."

kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

Xiu grinned fondly at the mention of their regulars, ever appreciative of their patience and their patronage. A part of her just wished that she didn't have to be that patient all the time, but she supposed that was just how that went. She supposed that they could one day renovate and expand their cafe, but truthfully, she was rather fond of the way it was now: small, warm, and welcoming. The one thing she had wanted the most with opening a cafe with Gene was making sure that it was a nice, relaxing place for Amityville students to hang out at--Jack knows that they need it--and she felt that she and her friend had achieved that with what they had now.

That being said, it wasn't like she was adverse towards the idea of change. Xiu found herself frowning thoughtfully at Gene's words, folding her arms across her chest. "I know what you mean. It's hard having to prepare things and they run out to ferry them to customers, only to see that others are still waiting." She loved that she and Gene could interact with the customers, but she had to admit that it wasn't the most efficient way of doing things.

"If only we had extra pairs of hands," The Baku found herself murmuring, "Some things are tougher than I thought they'd be with only two people..."

Carhop Cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

"Do you think we have the budget to hire a few students part time?" Gene ventured, having obviously thought about it before. She'd wanted to hire some of the kids she knew - if not only to keep the women from working 60 hour weeks, but also to set a sort of anchor point for the school should anything happen.

The cafe was small and homely, probably only seating about 25 creeple at a time, but it would do.

"I don't think we'll need to make the space any larger -- I love how small it is. Keeps rent lower, too. Plus it sorta feels like a living room, ya know?" She sighed, looking over the dining room and offering a cheery little wave to their last customer leaving. "Intimacy is what we strove for - but I don't think another two sets of hands would detract from that."

kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't consider that," Xiu admitted with a little grin, pleased that Gene had brought it up, "I actually looked over our budget again recently and asked uncle for his opinion, and I think we would have enough to hire some part-timers to help out." It would help a lot in the long run, that was for sure. She and Gene would be able to concentrate more on making the drinks and food than doing that and serving all the customers, and they'd probably still have the opportunity to duck out of the kitchen to socialize.

She found herself nodding in agreement, pausing to wave goodbye to their guest before turning her gaze back to Gene. "Yes, I think so too! I really love the idea of having some Amity students here to help us out." How many, she wasn't sure, but so long as it was just one or two extra pairs of hands at a time she was sure that their cafe will still retain the same, comfortable atmosphere that they desired.

"...Any experience in doing interviews, Gene?"

Carhop Cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

Gene clapped a little, beaming brightly at Xiu and her uncle, though the man wasn't there at present. "Not really, to be honest. I've been interviewed, but I dunno if that makes me necessarily qualified to be an interviewer..."

Another item on the chalkboard of things they probably should have learned before opening their own business. But, she supposed, no one person in all of Halloween could possibly know everything about opening a small business. Everyone had to learn on the job, right?

"I'm sure we can work it out, though!" She nodded, maneuvering around Xiu to grab one of the unsold sinamon rolls from that morning's service. "I'd like to keep it open to only students, though - Jack knows how much those poor dears need a retreat from that school."

kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

"Yes, I'm sure we'll figure it out between the two of us," Xiu smiled reassuringly, ever positive, "We'll just have to do a little research and consider this a learning experience." They had had plenty of those since starting the cafe. Who knew that the business world could be so tough, even for such a little establishment like theirs? She was glad that things had worked out so well, though.

"I agree--I'd also like to only hire students." Shifting her weight from one leg to the other, the baku seemed slightly sheepish as she toyed with her earring, "I guess I still feel really strongly about the school and the students, even though we've already graduated. Then again, considering everything we went through in our years..."

Could anyone really blame them for being so intent on keeping the students safe and happy?

Carhop Cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

"Well, we didn't leave them with much of a back up plan." Gene sighed, shaking her head and sitting on the sterilized counter top, floating a few inches above it to avoid any cross contamination from her skirt. "So it'd be nice to, you know, keep an eye on them."

Listlessly she gazed across the counter, to the students passing by their windows. Some of them didn't know what was out there; the legacies, the Hunters, Ancients, conniving Horsemen. Some knew the full terrors of all of them.

"Though I don't think I want a spy network, necessarily. Leave that to Shun."

kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

"Yes," Xiu laughed, clasping her hands behind her back, "I think we can leave the 'spy' business to aniki, though I suppose that this place will kind of serve as a little information network for us in a way anyways." With students coming and going, it was only logical that they'd end up hearing bits and pieces of the latest happenings, and Xiu was grateful for that. It would help them stay in the loop of things.

"Things seem to be relatively peaceful lately though," she mused as she went to retrieve an extra plate of spookies she had baked earlier, offering them to Gene, "At least, we haven't had any reason to rush down to Amityville to help ward off some kind of disaster."

Which was, of course, a good thing. Their own three years had been fraught with challenge after challenge.

Carhop Cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

"Yeah, I've always preferred to let Shun do the ground work. He's good at it." Gene smiled gently, sticking a straw in a plastic cup she'd filled with coffee that morning and put into one of the small reach in fridges that were perfectly at Xiu's hip height. "Dunno how he does it though - we probably never will. It's a little surprising how much we trust him; but he's always been there." Shun's missing eye came to mind, even though Gene hadn't been there for that particular incident. She didn't need to be to know that Shun had taken one for the team.

Jacking Hunters... If she wasn't so attached to Xiu, to Amity, she's prowl the Haunted House as much as she could.

"Maybe the asses in white have finally decided to keep us out of the crossfire. Now that the Horsemen are gone, hm? Maybe we'll finally get another long period of peace."

kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

"That's just the type of stuff that aniki does," Xiu grinned, shaking her head as she imagined herself trying to go out and gather intel as the reaper did, "And but of course! He's one of the people that I trust most of all in my life." The baku seemed up puff up proudly as she said this, her tail swishing behind her. It was funny to think how she had once been scared of him.

Xiu smiled weakly at Gene's words, her brows creasing with worry. "That would be nice, huh? Though I have a feeling that this definitely isn't the end of the conflict. They'll probably come for all of us soon enough again." Which was inconvenient but not complete terrible for those of them who had dealt with dozens of hunters in the past. She was worried about the new students who were constantly enrolling in Amity, though.

Her first encounter with the hunters had been during that field trip where Red had "died". That had been about as terrifying as one could imagine.

Carhop Cavalier