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 Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:29 pm
Her tail began to wag in pleasure--and relief--when Gene let her know that she liked the tea. Lifting her own cup, she took a deep breath and inhaled the scent before taking a little sip, letting it spread through her body and warm her. Emitting a quiet, happy sigh, she set the cup on the table before moving to perch on the arm of her couch.
"Oh--we didn't live too far from here actually," She smiled, flicking her tail, "Just a little outside of town. My parents are pretty traditional, so we had a...well..." Xiu made a face, "I guess it was kind of a small...zen garden type thing? We had even had a little pond with koi fish!"
She brightened up at the mention of cherry pie, but her expression fell into a slightly disappointed smile as she remembered that yes, they were out of season right now. Alas. "That's right, and unless we use the canned, preserved stuff..." The baku made a face. To be fair, there was nothing wrong with the canned stuff--baked goods still came out tasting pretty amazing--but she preferred to use fresh ingredients when she could. Thus, when Gene suggested mini apple pies, the ghoul immediately grinned and hopped off of the couch.
"Sounds like a plan! I have fresh apples, so...!"
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:07 am
Gene could just imagine the home and garden of Xiu's parents, full of small pebbles, sand, fish, butter and dragonflies, and certainly a still water pond with an artificial waterfall. Jack that sounded lovely - she'd have to try to visit some time. She took another sip of tea, features relaxing even more - it wasn't coffee, but it was still good.
Getting up with a wide grin, Gene made her way to Xiu's kitchen, standing aside to let the Baku get the apples and whatever else they would need. Jack, did she need to learn the how and what of baking, as well as tea brewing. Not master it, per say, but at least learn how to do it for when Xiu was away. The Baku would need to learn how to roast, grind, and brew the coffees, too.
"This is going to be absolutely amazing, Xiu." The ghoul beamed while musing aloud, more than a little antsy to talk about their plans. "Just think of the possibilities! We might even become one of those little joints that they feature on skelevision!" The excitement was clear in her voice as she continued on wistfully,. "High quality pastries, the finest of drinks, and the most chic of meals. It'll be delightful."
A sigh as she began to hover a few inches off the ground. Then, she was back on her feet, a small frown on her face and her head angled slightly.
"What are we going to call the Cafe?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:37 pm
Clearly pleased with the idea of making mini pies, Xiu briskly moved around her kitchen to find what they would need, pulling a number of different spices out of her cupboards. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice...what else did she need to grab? The apples, of course, not to mention flour and...
The baku grinned as gathered everything, listening to Gene speak and feeling a spark of excitement pass through her. Although she had been extremely eager about the cafe idea before, knowing that she wouldn't have to go through this alone--that she and the ghost ghoul would get to be business partners--made her all the more eager to get everything prepped. "We'll definitely be one of the best cafes around," She agreed, her tail swishing behind her, "It'll take a little time and some hard work, but with the two of us, we'll come up with the most amazing menus!"
It didn't take long until the baku had all the ingredients and utensils set out on the counter. As she washed her hands in the sink, she paused to blink at the other ghoul at the sudden question. A-ah. That was...
"...That's a good question," She admitted, frowning and furrowing her brows as she considered some possibilities. Xiu hadn't even gotten that far back when she thought that she was going into this alone, so she didn't have much of a base to work off of either. What was a good name that both of them could agree to?
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:57 pm
Gene thought on their predicament for a few moments, biting the inside of her bottom lip as she made a little hum in the back of her throat. They would need a name that suited the both of them, of course - bit it had to be something fresh, a little cheeky even. There were plenty of "Moonlight" and "The Bean"s out there, as well as cliched tea shop names like "Brew" or "The Peak." They needed a name that would stand out and pop loudly in the faces of the public, but was subdued so it wasn't just another novelty cafe.
She sighed, shaking her head and holding up her arms in defeat. "I've got nothing."
She pouted for a beat or two, and then went back to smiling. Oh well, they'd come up with something later. It'd hit them eventually.
For now, there were pies to be made and conversation to make.
And learning. Lots and lots of learning.
Step one, wash the hands. Even Gene knew that one. She was lost afterwards, though.
"So...just tell me what to do, hon." She smiled, hovering by the flour and measuring cups and such.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:20 pm
Xiu could not claim that she had any sort of forte in naming things. That was, it would be easy to come up with a quick, stereotypical cafe name on the spot, but where was the fun in that? No, they needed something attention grabbing, something like...
The baku threw her own arms up in the air. "No idea. We still have time to figure it out, though!" And of course, there was a lot of other stuff that they had to start planning too, like the actual business part of all this. Xiu made a note to find out if any of her friends came from a business-running family so that she could get some basic pointers, and then turned back to eye everything she had set out.
"Okay, first, we make the dough for the crust since it has to be refrigerated! This part's easy. Just two cups of flour, and..." She moved to measure out the salt and the shortening, the latter of which she placed beside a pastry blender. "You'll want to cut in the shortening like this," She held the tool in her hand and demonstrated the movement, "Just to about...pea-size!"
Meanwhile, she started washing the apples so that they could be sliced and prepared once the dough was in the fridge.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:38 am
Following Xiu's instructions and carefully cutting the shortening into the flour and salt. Okay, this was easy - just cut it into little pea sized bits and place it in the pastry blender. There, done. Now to....
....
Better ask Xiu. "Um, hon?" Her tone was cheery, but showed that she had zero idea as to what she was doing at the moment. Baking was...an adventure, most of the time. Like those hockey puck spookies she'd fed Mort once. Yeah, that was...
Awful.
Bringing herself back to Xiu and the real world, she smiled brightly as she awaited instruction. She'd be a good student, at least.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 1:55 am
Apples washed, she was in the process of peeling them when Gene spoke up. Grinning, the ghoul set down the apple and the fruit knife to poke at the extremely dry concoction. "So! What we do now is we add a little bit of water--just a little bit. It should still be crumbly, but just stay together."
Setting aside the peeled and half-peeled apples, she split the mixture in half so that she could demonstrate. In total, she only ended up adding a teaspoon or so of water until it got to the desired consistency. "It's better to add less than more!"
Patting off her hands, she went to finish peeling the last of the apples, grinning from ear to ear. "You'll have to teach me about coffee too sometime, Gene. I'm...pretty helpless with it, to be honest."
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:27 am
"Ooooooh!" Gene's eyes went a little wide at the process, suddenly seeming to understand it. Less water was better - she'd need to remember that, she noted as she put a teaspoon of water into the dough, getting the desired texture. Oh, thank Jack she'd gotten that right. Ruining Xiu's hard work would have spoiled her entire day.
"Oh, coffee! Yes, I'd love to teach you some time; maybe we can make that our next little date?" She smiled at the thought as she watched Xiu peel apples. "Do you want me to teach you how to brew or roast?"
She looked at the dough again, remembering that it had to be kept cold. "And now we refrigerate it, right?" She asked, pretty sure she'd at least seen that on the skellivision.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 3:53 am
Xiu leaned over to check Gene's dough, and then beamed up at the ghoul in approval. "Perfect! I think you have a knack for this, Gene!" She grinned encouragingly, only to let out a small, sheepish laugh at the question about what the baku wanted to learn about making coffee. Clearing her throat, she set aside the last apple with a shake of her head.
"I, well um...everything, preferably. I'm not sure how different it is from tea, but I don't think I've ever made coffee in my life, to be honest." Her drink of choice from childhood to now had always been a variety of different teas. Although she liked coffee (so long as it was full of cream and sugar), she never made it herself.
Nodding at the question, she went to grab some saran wrap to seal the pieces of dough. "Yup! The next step is pretty simple too--we just slice up the apples and add a mixture of spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and other things." Shoving the wrapped dough in the fridge, she handed Gene a few apples and a knife before grabbing some for herself. "So, if I may ask, what made you want to open up a cafe?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 10:36 pm
Gene laughed a little at Xiu's praise, smiling but waving it off, as if it were a fluke. She really didn't have a knack for baking - she was just good at watching and duplicating. It's what her species did, after all.
A small smile when she said that she wanted to know everything. Gene could teach her a lot, of course, but the art of microbrewing and roasting required a coffee rich palette. Xiu would either have to become a connoisseur of the black gold, or just trust Gene's judgment. Input and suggestions would always be welcome, however.
Cutting the apples carefully, Gene gave a little giggle at her question.
"Well...I work at Bloodbucks, and I found out how much I really love making and serving coffee in my time there, but the atmosphere is just so...stale? Yeah, stale." She moved on to the next apple, putting the pieces of the first one aside. "And to be honest, I think they charge too much. I guess that's what really inspired me to want to own my own cafe - plus I just can't see myself doing some lame desk job, or being a Trick or Treater, and I'm certainly not Boogeyman material."
Another apple done, and she moved onto the next.
"Same question for you."
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:54 am
There was definitely a lot that Xiu would have to learn for this job. Coffee, making the perfect sandwich...and there was definitely the business aspect of it. However, despite all the hard work that would have to go into planning for this (and all the interior decorating she and Gene would have to do, but that part would be fun), she really wanted this cafe for herself and her friend. No matter how much effort it would take, she would do it.
Slicing up the apples into neat, even sections, the baku listened intently as Gene gave her reason. Aah, that made sense! She could definitely understand what the ghoul meant by stale--big coffee shops like Bloodbucks were never quite as welcoming or lively as some of the smaller cafes she had been to. The prices were...well, those were definitely also an issue, and something that she and Gene would have to work on once they got their own menu up.
Grinning when the question was turned back to her, the baku giving a little shrug of her shoulders. "Similar reason, kind of! I mean, can't see myself as either a Trick or Treater or part of the Boogeyman squad, but it's also just because I love to bake and make tea. It's wonderful being able to share these things with other people, especially when you see the way they smile and relax after they've had a bad day." Smiling, she tossed her sliced apples into a bowl which she then set between herself and Gene.
After a moment of pause, she piped up with a quiet, "To be honest, I wanted to do something that would keep me relatively close to Amity too. I mean, even when I leave, I don't want to lose contact with my friends in the lower years. Can't help but worry about them, you know?" Considering everything that they had been through so far, no one could probably really blame Xiu for fretting.
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:28 pm
"Ah...makes perfect sense." Gene replied, thinking about her answer. Being close to Amity would be lovely - her first real home would always hold a special place in her core, after all. Plus, she was sure things would still happen even after sh'd graduated - and the younger ones would need someone to turn to when they couldn't talk to the teachers about Hunters, Horsemen, and threats in general.
"You know...I think it would be good for us to set up the cafe as close to the school as we can." She put her own apples into the bowl, setting the knife down and collecting whatever little juices had been lost with a towel. "Just in case they need to talk about...things. We could provide information and advice about, you know..." She trailed off, looking around for a second as though someone were listening in.
"Hunters."
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 9:38 pm
Xiu glanced up at Gene, positively beaming. "I was hoping that you'd say that," She admitted, her tail wagging behind her, "I wanted to stay as close as possible as well. We'll be there if anyone needs help from some graduates, and it'll be a good way for us to stay in the loop too, you know?" Things weren't just going to end for them once they graduated Amityville. The issues with the Hunters and the Horsemen affected all of Halloween, not just the students in the school.
With the apples all sliced up, Xiu asked Gene to lend her a hand as they measured out all the spices and other things that would be necessary. Before long, the filling was done, and the crust dough was removed from the fridge, rolled out, and cut into little circles. Shaping each of them so that they lined one of her muffin tins, they filled each pastry with their apple mixture and popped it into the oven.
Phew!
While they where baking, Xiu got started on washing everything. "So, about the cafe name...maybe we should start brainstorming now, hmm? Something that fits us both..."
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:52 pm
Gene nodded at each point Xiu made, smiling in agreement. They'd be in the loop to the point that it would seem as if they were still students. Well, more like really cool students who owned their own cafe.
No, that was a dumb image. They'd just be really in the loop, and there to help whoever needed it.
Once they were done with the actual mixing and combining part of the baking, Gene began drying the things Xiu would wash. "Hmmm...yeah, it definitely needs to have something that reflects on the both of us."
What would reflect on both of them, though? Gene was a Ghost, Xiu was a Demon, a Doppelganger and a Dream Diver. "Triple D?" She mused aloud, shaking her head as soon as it came out. "No, that sounds like some kind of gaming store, or auto parts shop."
She shrugged, continuing to think on who they were and a name that would reflect them. "Any ideas on your end?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:18 pm
Hmm hmm...this was definitely a bit of a dilemma. In the end, the name would be a very important part of their cafe. They needed something that would grab attention, maybe something elegant and classy, like...
...Uh.
"Well...what kind of traits can we take from both of us? I mean, I'm...a baku, so half could be about...dreams, or flowers, or something. What about you?"
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