#ff mocha

It was late after hours when you suddenly realized it. You went to bed early and let Black Tea handle closing up, not noticing that while leaving quickly, you left your glasses in the kitchen.

You had grabbed at your novel after an hour of no sleep and couldn’t find your glasses on your desk. You know there’ll come a day where you misplace them and buy new ones. Today is not that day. You get up and slip on your robe and slippers before leaving your room. You take a quick walk down the hall and head down the stairs.

As you make your way down, the soft but growing sound of a symphony touches your ears. It’s light but you can make out a horn section pumping out a steady beat. Why would be listening to music at this time of night? As your kept heading down, the music slowly grew into a quiet but strong waltz. Only then you realized it was coming from the restaurant.

“Either a food soul again, or some really messed up intruder.” You mumble to yourself.

Some would turn on music while cleaning but it’s a little late to be cleaning. Besides, you’ve never heard anyone listening to this music type before.

You reach the end of the stairs and walk down the hall before facing the curtain that leads to the kitchen and ultimately the dining area. If it’s a food soul then you’re fine. If it’s an intruder, then you can easily start throwing knives in random places, hoping one will stick. You take a breath before opening the curtain and peaking your head through.

The lights were low in the kitchen and dining room and made it even harder to see the large figure moving in circles to the music. What kind of a weirdo? You quietly made your way to the fridge and reached up, luckily finding your glasses in their safe spot. You snag a knife off the rack and brace yourself again before turning around.

To your delight, it wasn’t an intruder. To your confusion, it was Milk and Black Tea, slow dancing to the tune. Milks’ head laid on Black Teas’ shoulder with Black Teas’ head on hers. Both their eyes were closed, letting the music move them. You couldn’t understand what was happening. They always seemed friendly on the battlefield and in the restaurant, but never this friendly. You couldn’t connect the dots.

“Guys?” You finally spoke up, causing them to abruptly stop. They pulled away from each other and turned towards you. Their everlasting stoic expressions stayed the same as they looked at you. The only way you knew you weren’t dreaming this up were the light blushes on both the girls’ cheeks.

“What’re you kids up to?” You ask through a stifled yawn.

“Simply finishing cleaning up the restaurant, Master.” Milk answered first, “What are you doing out of bed?”.

“I couldn’t find my glasses and thought to check down here when I heard the music.” At your comment, Black Tea moved quickly to the gramophone and shut it off. “If the music woke you then I’m truly sorry.” She rushed out the apology.

“It didn’t wake me, don’t worry about it. Just hurry to rest after this, okay? With my early to bed today, I’m hoping that we can early to rise tomorrow and get a head start on tomorrow.” You explain to the girls. They both bow their head at you in agreement.

“It won’t happen again, Master Attendant.” Black Tea says and you let out a chuckle.

“If it does happen again, call me. I love a good dance. Good night!” You wave before turning around and head back the way you came. You drop off your unnecessary knife and pass through the curtain. Before hitting the stairs, you swear you could hear the gramophone start again but you pass it as a lack of sleep. Girls will be girls.

Your afternoon was, at it’s very best, boring today. You took the afternoon off from the restaurant to schedule more deliveries to Nevras and you did just that. You managed to get ten in within the week and even got a few deliveries scheduled to the Light Kingdom. That alone took only an hour or so. You only slightly wished it took longer so you could let Orange Juice to look over the restaurant and you didn’t have to for a bit.

But today could be a busy day.

You sigh and in that spirit, gather up your maps and charts. Just as you turn around to leave your office, you see Napoleon Cake running at you.

“Master Attendant!” He yelled as he approached. “Hey, hey, what’s up?” You ask and grab his shoulders, trying to calm him down. “Have you seen Monsieur Brownie? I’ve been up all morning looking for him and his cleaning tools but I have had no luck! Now I know my sugar intake is too low to keep looking, can you please find him for me?” The boy practically begged.

You couldn’t have seen a better performance at the opera. “Don’t worry, I’ll find him. Go to the kitchen and get yourself a sweet from Harthorne Ball, she’s head chef today.” You tell him, bringing a smile to his face.

“Merci Master Attendant! Thank you!” He says and skips off towards the kitchen.

“What a wild kid.” You laugh to yourself as you put your documents away. You hang up your chart of deliveries before thinking on the problem at hand.

Brownie shouldn’t be too hard to find, right? He loves hanging around you usually but you guess today was a different case. You firstly head up to the food souls’ sleeping quarters. Maybe he’s cleaning his guns on his bed? He doesn’t like to lay his guns on the hard floor after a polish, you know that. You creep past a few sleeping souls and step over a fallen but still snoring Tempura before reaching his bed.

As usual, his bed is neatly tucked at the corners with an extra blanket folded by the end of the bed. You’re not too surprised that he’s not here, being a very early riser and all. You wake up Tempura as you leave the room, letting him get a more restful sleep on his bed.

You walk by and open all the lower level training rooms, only catch some souls in their training. You ask a few if they’ve seen the butler but they all shook their heads. You sigh and walk up to the third floor. He occasionally liked to clean your room and tidy up your belongings but that’s usually after he asks. It couldn’t hurt to try.

You walked into your room but to no avail. It was just how you left it this morning with your sheets spread around and papers knocked about.

“I really should start cleaning this place.” You sigh and pause for a second before leaving and closing the door.

You walk down the hall and look in the training rooms. The food souls training once again couldn’t think of where the man was. This was a lot harder than you thought. You reach the last door on the end and open it to an empty but wrecked room.

“Who doesn’t clean up after they leave?” You question and start to walk in when you see two shadow figures behind the doors on the balcony. Both were sitting next to each other and by the look of a large object on their laps, you could tell it was Brownie. You walked over to the doors before opening them.

Sitting with their legs jumbled together was Brownie and B-52. Well this is a bit surprising.

“Master Attendant!” Brownie exclaimed before hopping up. “Hey, you two!” You greeted them. “Are you okay? Do you need something?” Brownie asked quickly, looking around like he was in the middle of a heist.

“Um, actually, Napoleon Cake was looking for some cleaning fluid for his rifle?” You asked. He paused for a second before snatching one bottle off the ground and shoving it into your arms. “That should be enough for him. Please tell him to return it on my bed after he’s done using it.” He tells you all too fast. Something’s really throwing him off his groove if he’s this nervous.

“Oh, uh, okay then. Thanks!” you say with a small laugh. “Will that be all, Master?” Brownie asks. Your mind speeds at the question when you remember your deliveries. “By the way, are you two okay with running a delivery tomorrow morning by yourselves? I tried to schedule more people but it’s a little tight right now.” You ask, hoping it’s not too much.

B-52 smiles and looks up at you. “We’re perfectly fine with that.” He says in a rather cheery manner. “Well, okay, glad that’s settled! You guys can go about cleaning your guns again. Have fun!” You say with a wave before leaving.

You hear some quiet giggling before the door shuts and you leave the training room. You couldn’t remember when you say them spoke that wasn’t about a mission, let alone as friends. “I guess their similar machinery helps them bond.” You say and let the weird encounter be just a passing thought.

Your sunday morning was off to a great start and you had woken up only two hours ago! Yuxiang promised you last night that she could open the restaurant and let you rest today which you were much appreciative of. After sleeping another hour in, you went to the kitchen and got some breakfast from Sandwich before heading back to your room to eat. You caught up on your book and read over the news before deeming that today was entirely too nice to stay in. You went to the kitchen and washed your dishes before putting them away.

It was a bustling day in the restaurant again, people ordering all types of things off the menu. Navigating the kitchen was a little difficult with all the breakfast orders coming through but you made it back to your room in no time.

You changed out of your pajamas before grabbing your book and heading out to the yard connecting to the ice arena. You walked out and saw two food souls already enjoying the weather.

Macaron and Crepe were sitting on a blanket under a tree looking like they were holding a picnic. “Master Attendant! Come here, come here!” Macaron clearly saw you and beckoned you over. You walked over to the girls with a grin. “Hey, having fun in the sun?” You ask. “Yeah! Look at what Crepe got me!” She jumped up and showed a a cute pastel pink dress over bundled with frills. It was somehow just her color and style.

“That is such a cute dress! Where’d you get it from?” You question Crepe who was now blushing. “There’s a nice boutique that opened in the center of town. I was going to wait for it to go on sale but I thought it was too perfect for Macaron not to have it.” She answer, the blush growing to a steady red.

That’s probably the cutest thing you’ve ever heard from the girl who adores sales more than her life. “She’s so cute! I love it!” Macaron pounced on the other girl and hugged her. You laughed as Crepe talked on not being able to breathe from suffocation.

“Hope you kids have fun today, heard the weather will only last through the night.” You inform them and look into the cloudless sky. “We will Master Attendant!” They both yelled and you head over to some food souls that are also enjoying their day off.

You greet others as you walk around before finding an empty bench and plop down. You’re only a few chapters off before finishing the book, might as well see it to the end now. You open up to your chapter and start on the page.

Time passed by quickly as you flipped your pages, entering and leaving the main plot. In no time, you had finished your book and the sun was starting to set. You stood up and cracked your back, the feeling of the hard bench etched into your bones. You didn’t regret reading on it but you sure wished you had comfier seats outside. You shook of the feeling of tiredness before rounding back in front of the ice arena to head back inside.

You started to walk and casually looked over to where Macaron and Crepe were sitting before to see them still camped out. Shouldn’t they be inside by now? You walk over to the two girls who are napping right on top of each other. Their half eaten dishes were still scattered everywhere which was a rather large mess. Not wanting them to get caught in the rain, you tapped lightly on both the girls’ shoulders. They both woke up in a daze, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Crepe asked as she got up off of Macaron. “The sun is setting and I would rather have you guys sleep in your beds than the cold grass.” You laughed as they looked at their surroundings. “Oh, thank you Master Attendant.” Crepe spoke, sleep holding her voice. “We’ll clean this up in no time!” Macaron piped in while holding onto a yawn.

“Okay kids. And don’t forget to hang up that dress, Macaron!” You said with a laugh. “I won’t!” She looks at Crepe with a smile. “Enjoy the rest of your day off!” You say to them before walking off. What an adorable pair, those two are.

You couldn’t have possibly found a worse time for the heater to break. Mid winter and a storm brewing tonight, the heater just so happened to shut down after a large bang. You called up the electrician to help but he couldn’t be out until after the storm.

This proved to be a great problem when you only had so many blankets and too many food souls. You tried a buddy system for blankets but everyone fought over who they wanted and the chaos grew to a huge fight.

You wish you could’ve said you weren’t involved. Of course, nothing goes your way.

“I already called Master Attendant!” “I got to them first!” Steak and Red Wine argued as they tugged on your arms. They both latched onto you at the same time ten minutes ago and have been arguing since. You didn’t mind when they fought before but now you’re freezing and this argument is going nowhere.

“Guys, can we please calm down?” You asked but they clearly didn’t hear you over their yelling.

“You’re just trying to hook up with them, you perv!” “Oh, you’re just jealous I’m not trying to hook up with you!” They screamed over you, making you get even more frustrated. You couldn’t take this incessant argument.

“Guys!” You cried, making them both freeze. “There’s a blanket up stairs in my closet. Whoever can get it first wins.” You sigh and before you know it, they were off, pushing to get up the stairs first. You took in a breath and settled down into a chair.

You were tired of their constant bickering over anything and especially over you. Putting them on the same team, you thought, would help their bond but clearly not. You settled your chin on your hands and sighed. These boys are too wild.

You felt your eyes begin to droop when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned and saw Sukiyaki standing there, blanket in hand. “I have a larger blanket if you would want to share with me?” He offered in his usual sweet voice. In your state of tiredness, you happily accepted.

Taking his hand, he lead you to a corner of Ume Ochazuke and Sanma huddled together under a blanket and a few cats. You settled in the middle of all three and took their warmth with gratitude. A spotted cat crawls onto your lap, snuggling into your stomach. You couldn’t be at more peace if you tried. Stroking the cat, you couldn’t but doze off to the sound of light chatter of the food souls.

It was only an hour or so that your eyes were closed but you could already feel the energy coming back to you. You blinked open your eyes and saw many of the food souls were either sleeping or gone, probably back to their rooms. Your group hadn’t moved, all still snuggling up to your body which was now close to overheating. You stretched as much as you could before waking everyone.

“C’mon everyone, let’s all go to sleep. It’ll feel better in your beds.” You say to the trio before standing and announcing to the ones left. They silently left to their rooms, any argument dead in the cold. You turned around to only see Sanma and the spotted cat who pawed at your feet.

“Sanma-” “He wants to sleep with you tonight, if that’s okay?” The food soul asked.

You picked up the animal and nodded your head. “Yeah, that’s great! Thank you.” You said to Sanma. He smiled at your before he walked away.

The cat meowed at his owner before snuggled into your chest. You chuckled and turned out the lights before heading up the stairs to your room. You made it to the hallway to see your door was wide open. Only then you remembered the fight between Steak and Red Wine. “I hope they worked it out.” You said to your friend before you walked into your room and caught a lovely surprise.

With the closet wide open, Steak and Red Wine laid next to your bed snuggled under a blanket. Both had soft smiles gracing their faces as if they’re having too pleasant of dreams. You almost didn’t want to wake them up.

Your new friend had other plans.

He budged in your arms and before you could catch him, he crashed into the boys. Both woke in a large roar of pain and anger. They bolted to stand up and made sure to stand a good few feet from each other.

“Should I ask what was happening?” You ask slowly. They both suddenly began to rapid speed apologies and excuses that you couldn’t understand.

“Guys, Guys, I get it.” Your sentence shut them up. “It was a secret bonding moment, I get it now. No need to hide it!” You say with a laugh.

It only took months to get them to be friends and this is how they do it? Amazing. They both looked at each other before letting out sighs.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone I saw you guys doing this as long as you hurry back to bed!” You tell them in a stern manner. “Thank you, good night Master Attendant!” They both utter out before rushing out. You chuckle as you close your door and settle into bed. “I can’t believe they were that dense over this friendship. I could see it from a mile way, I’m so good at this.”

You figured now was a better time than ever to perish by the fallen. Just a straight shot to the heart or head as long as it gets the job done. You’d rather be rolling in your grave than dealing with the chaos that is who’s on shift for the next week.

Not only is it a big week for tourism, but the Sakura falls Festival begins and everyone wants to attend. You had established that you could close the restaurant during the last couple of nights but you can lose business during the day. This anger resulted in drawing straws then proceeding to break straws.

The chaos that was the back room could put a war to shame.

You collapse in your chair and put your head in your hands. You’re going to get nowhere like this. “Master Attendant, if I may, maybe try being more assertive. They won’t take this seriously if you can’t be serious with them.” Pudding spoke up next to you, giving you a knowing look.

You need to be the most assertive than you’ve ever been. You take a deep breath before standing up and slamming your fists on the table. The room drops all other noise other than slight gasps.

“There will be no more arguing on the matter. If you all can’t pick your shifts then I will do it. If you’re not happy over it, then so be it. This will be anything but perfect but it will work for the week. If not, then so help me Gods, I’ll burn this whole place down. Do you all understand?” The room stayed silent for a few more moments before everyone quietly agreed. “Okay, good. Now this will be random and I will play no favoritism.” You announce as you grab your pen and list of souls. You move your pen over the paper and close your eyes before choosing.

“On Monday morning, Sandwich you’ll run as head chef with...Hamburger and...Zongzi running tables.” You took their grumbles as affirmatives. “Afternoon will be Sashimi as head cook with...Orange Juice and Taiyaki.” You continued like that for a while, going through the list and marking down the names for the schedule. You only stopped when you realized something on Wednesday night.

“At night, we have Pudding as head chef with Vodka and Hotdog.” You said and waited for their voices to pipe up. “I don’t believe they attended the meeting today.” Pudding said to you. Of course you ran into another problem like this.

You stood up again and shuffled your notes over to Pudding. “You’re in charge, you know how to handle this.” You say to the food soul. “I’ll make you proud.” He nods at you. You shuffle out of the room right as it got rowdy about their new leader. You wish you could’ve helped him out but now you’re on a mission.

You can understand some of the younger food souls thinking they can do whatever but this is Vodka and Hotdog. They’re much older than other. They should at least respect you and your need for everyone together.

You leave the area and head up the stairs to the sleeping area. You looked in and glanced around. They wouldn’t hide from you, would they? They seem at least mature enough to own up to their actions.

You start on your way over to the training rooms when you hear a loud laugh echo into the hall. That certainly wasn’t Hotdogs’ voice but Vodka never laughs? You couldn’t understand so you ventured down and finally into the room it came from. The scene was odd to say the least.

Vodka was laying on a white pristine couch with Andre, laughter still coming from her. Hotdog had distanced herself from her and was painting a large scale replica of the other woman on a canvas. The paints looked like oil but still blended beautifully. The painting was honestly coming together amazingly but that doesn’t mean they should be skipping the meeting for this.

“Hey guys?” You ask and they both whipped their heads at you. “Master Attendant! Come look! I’m attempting to paint Vodka and her beautiful features but I don’t think I can do her the justice she deserves.” Hotdog says with sadness leaking in her voice. “I’m certain whatever you draw, Andre and I will adore it!” Vodka laughed, almost startling you.

“How much did you get her to drink to make her laugh?” You ask Hotdog.

“Not one drop! I’m completely sober and feeling better than I thought I would!” Vodka interjected before Hotdog could talk. Hotdog nodded back to you as you stood there shocked. Vodka is actually sober. You shouldn’t be this shocked but you really did not expect that.

“Well, the only problem I have with that is that we had a mandatory meeting today and you two didn’t show up.” You tell them.

“Oh my, was that today? That completely slipped my mind somehow! I’m so sorry Master Attendant, really!” Hotdog faced you and apologized, worry lines already etched into her skin.

“It’s fine this time but please don’t forget the next time. And you’re both scheduled in the kitchen Wednesday night, before I forget.” You tell them and received a cheer from Vodka. “I love working with Hotdog! Isn’t that right Andre?” She asks her bird, earning a caw from him. You and Hotdog laughed at the antic before Hotdog went back to work.

You’re clearly not pulling them from their work anytime soon. “I’m going to head back to the meeting now or what’s left of it. Please come to the next one guys, I don’t want to ask twice.” You said and got agreements from the two girls. With that, you took your leave. You couldn’t believe out of everyone, Hotdog was the one that made Vodka laugh. What an unexpected friendship, those two made.

You had ten minutes. Only ten minutes before the Saturday dinner rush. And nothing was ready for the wave of pain. The ingredients haven’t been touched, no pastries are prepped and worst of all, nobody is stepping up to claim their head chef spot for the night. You get that it’s a scary place to be in, but so close to the deadline, it’s unacceptable.

“Does anyone know who’s on tonight?” You call out to the food souls once you reach their resting quarter. All you receive is no’s. You couldn’t stop the sigh from coming to your lips. The only definite answer you’ll get is from your chart and that’s buried under a ton of delivery orders.

Figuring that it’s your last hope, you rush down the stairs. You got to the bottom and ran into the debriefing room. Your desk was piled high with papers that you dove into, searching for the necessary document. You shuffled through piece by piece, analyzing all. What felt like hours later, the parchment finally showed up, earning a scream from your brain.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.” You chanted as you searched for Friday. You find the date and check the names.

Coffee and Chocolate.

You couldn’t believe it. They always adored working in the restaurant especially when they worked together. They were harmonious in the kitchen; why would they be skipping then? You check the time and curse under your breath. 5 minutes before rush. This is anything but good.

You ran out of the room and back up the stairs. You reached the sleeping quarters again and barge in. “Pancake!” You yelled in a panic. Within seconds, he showed up in front of you. “What’s up?” He asks.

“I’ll give you two days off and take you shopping for a month if you take over head chef tonight.” You tell him. You hope your desperate tone wins him over. He furrows his brows together for a second before smiling. “Yeah, no problem boss!” “Thank you!” You hug the small food soul tightly.

“Now hurry along shift is in like two minutes.” You tell him and he immediately scurries off. You face the rest of the souls in the room who were suddenly interested in the floor or the ceiling.

“Do any of you have any idea where Coffee and Chocolate could be?” You ask the group. They all shook their heads and went back to their own activities. You rubbed your head as you tried to think of where they went. You can either think the training rooms or outside. Those are the only two places they could actually hide.

You set to work, bolting to the rooms and looking inside. Door to door, you opened it up and looked inside. You only deemed it as not the one after a few good seconds of really good looking. Soon enough, you check all the second level rooms. You head upstairs and check behind the doors there but to no luck. They weren’t in any training room unless they were extremely good at blending into shadows.

You ran down the two flights of stairs before getting to the yard. Your body hurt from the stairs but that didn’t stop you from taking a lap around to check all corners. Neither of the two showed up, making your anxiety rise.

They didn’t leave, right? They didn’t have a reason to leave, unless you really are bad with feelings. You try to remember if they ever got on your bad side but nothing strikes up a red flag. Maybe they’re in the kitchen right now and you just completely missed it? You run inside and into the kitchen.

Of course only Pancake was in there, sauteing spinach. “Oh, hey Boss!” He noticed you as you thought which seemed like a bad idea. He swung around with the pan to greet you and ending up splashing hot liquid from the spinach. You almost bit your tongue off trying to hold your scream back.

“Boss! I’m so sorry, oh Gods I’m so clumsy! I didn’t mean it, I swear!” Pancake promptly cried over your now red legs. “Don’t worry on it! Just get back to work please!” You say through gritted teeth. There’s still sauce all over the ground and with a sigh, you went to go get the mop.

You swear this job will kill you. You leave the kitchen and get to the supply closet. You rip the door open out of anger and pain but very much regretted it less than a second later.

Chocolate and Coffee were both in the closet and apparently deep into a heavy makeout session. The sight alone threw you for a whole new loop. They’ve been here all along. Making out all along. You were angry to say the absolute least.

The light flooded the room and finally made them notice they weren’t alone anymore. They pulled away with a pop and turned towards you. “M-Master Attendant! What a surprise!” Coffee said first. The redness and awkward smile explained everything to you.

“You two stay right here while a clean up a spot. I don’t even know how to explain how much you’re in trouble.” You tell them before yanking the mop out. Your head was blank as you went to the kitchen and mopped the mess. You checked for anymore spots and deemed it better before returning to the two food souls. You get back and put the mop away before looking at both.

“My office. Right now.” You tell them before dragging them down the hall to it. You push them inside and close the door.

“Master Attendant-” “Listen-”

“No you two listen. It is a Saturday night, busiest night of the week. You two volunteered for chef duty tonight and you don’t even bother to show up! What the hell!” You yell at the two souls. “How can I trust you guys with my life when I can’t even trust you two with the restaurant?” You ask them. They both avoid your gaze.

“You both would rather be making out with your best friend without helping-” You stopped in your track as you realized what you said.

Best friends. Making out. Best friends making out. Your mind clicked in place.

“Wait, are you twow a thing?” You ask them. They both looked at you before each other. “We’ve been together for a a couple months now but yeah.”Chocolate tells you. Your head flips. “Oh wow.” You state simply.

The room falls silent for a minute, your thoughts needing a little time. “Okay, I’m going to go lie down and think about life choices. Punishment will be given tomorrow, just leave.” You tell them and they rush out like they can play in a puddle after a rainy day. You could do anything but digest this, You thought you were perceptive but here you are.

“Even Steak and Red Wine?” “Yep.” “Wow.” You discussed your couple problems with the only girl you knew could relate: Tiramisu. With both Milk and Black Tea dating then Coffee and Chocolate dating, she was the ultimate fifth wheel. “Some food souls are just perfect for each other and notice it too before their time is up with each other.” She explains to you. “I know but it’s just...” You trailed off before resting your head in your hands. “Just what?” She pressed. “I just thought I was good at calling those shots. I always thought I was super perceptive on this stuff but I guess not.” You sighed. “Maybe you were good with people? If you haven’t noticed, there’s a difference between humans and humanized versions of common foods.” Tiramisu responded. “That didn’t make you guys sound weird at all.” You laughed with her. “I mean, am I wrong?” She let out in between laughs. You settled down and observed the food souls around you. Sitting under the bright sun, you can start to see the differences in relationships between food souls. It is such an odd but beautiful thing to see food souls loving. These ancient souls back from the dead like this and living and fitting in like humans. It’s so crazy for you to watch yet you adored it greatly. “You know, if you really want to understand a food souls love, you could date one!” “You’re dead to me.”