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Post by Zephel on Sept 20, 2013 10:50:01 GMT -5
Once Maki's voice finally resurfaced, Zeph released his breath, in which he has no idea he was holding all these while. Actually, this is when he realized he's still holding onto Maki's shoulders, and with him sitting beside her like this, it might look like he's about to kiss her from another angle.
When Rika spoke up all of a sudden behind him, Zeph almost jumped out of his seat and quickly releases Maki's shoulders as he turned around, his elbow now atop of his seat's backrest. "Oh.... Rika.." He releases another sigh of relief to find someone familiar, and his eyes followed her as she moved to the other side of the table to clean the spill.
"Oh. I'm sorry about that, I'll help--" Zeph was just about to move from his seat to assist Rika, but just as he's about to stand up, his telepathy was suddenly switched on while his eyes are on Rika. Immediately, thoughts began to overlap in his head, voices after voices, it's usually hard for Zeph to keep the voices in a clear audible manner when his telepathy was activated so suddenly.
This resulted him unable to hear her thoughts properly, but he at least can tell that they all sounded sad somewhat. Concerned, he leaned forward to try and catch her eye from across the table, "Rika? ...Hey, are you alright?"
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Rika
Settler
I try not to let little things bring me down!
Posts: 58
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Post by Rika on Nov 22, 2014 7:55:12 GMT -5
Rika cleaned up the table and chair with a cheerful smile. Watching her, it almost seemed like she really enjoyed cleaning up spills. Rika giggled lightly when Zephel apologized and began asking for help. "It's okay, Zephel. You just enjoy your break with your friend." She smiled happily at him while she continued cleaning the spill.
"Hm?" She questioned in a high pitch as she heard Zephel ask in a concerned manner if she was alright. She then giggled again. "Of course I am, silly~!" She replied in a cheerful tone, then pointed to her smile. "I'm smiling, see?" She spoke as though having a cheerful smile proved she was happy. Though, the more she insisted on being happy, the more at ease and cheerful she actually began to feel.
After finishing with the table and chair, Rika stood up straight and stretched her arms behind her back briefly. "Now to do the floor." She spoke while staring at the bit that had spilled onto the floor. "I'll be right back with a mop~" She finished speaking with a cheerful smile towards Zephel and his friend then turned around and headed into the back of the cafe to find a mop.
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Post by Zephel on Dec 8, 2014 21:30:57 GMT -5
"Are you sure..?" Zephel peered at Rika when she insists she's fine. Her thoughts gradually eases though, so Zeph slowly settled himself back to his seat, although still staring in concern at the waitress. "If you say so..." He nodded slowly. Inwardly, he wondered if he's just looking for an excuse to distract himself from Maki. After his outburst, Zephel isn't ready to face her just yet. So he watches as Rika retreated to the back of the cafe and stayed silent for a long while, already feeling awkward.
"Uh... I think my break's ending..." He half-turned to Maki, yet not exactly looking at her. Now even recognizing her presence flusters him. 'Great...' "I...better get to work. ...I'll see you around, Maki." After a pause, he awkwardly stood up from his seat, nodded at her and quickly speed-walked his way to the kitchen. Though, he didn't stop there, he walked and walked all the way to the back, passing by Rika who's walking the opposite way with a mop, and rushed out of the back door to reach to his only abode that he showed Eyami once.
Zephel is fully aware of his temper, and how many things that could trigger it, so he made a place for himself away from people to calm himself down. As he descended through the fire emergency staircase, his little abode is now becoming a place of sanctuary, not only for his temper, but for other...issues. "Ow, ow ow..." He hissed under his breath, finally reaching his destination. Zi-Fi perked up at his scent, but Zeph immediately orders her to stay down. He's not in the mood, and it's probably a bad idea to touch him at the moment.
The element wielder sat down slowly and carefully on a beanbag chair, spreading his legs apart to ease the pain. "First a piping hot coffee, now this... Ugh." It's a bad series of events for his crotch so far, but Zeph tries to pay it no mind as he settles his elbows on his knees and rests his face against his palms, exhaling on the faint scent of coffee and cake in his hands. "I'm attracted to her," he declared to himself, his voice muffled in his hands. There was a pause for him as he tries to breath and reorganize his thoughts. "Damn it."
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Maki
Immigrant
.............. You are?
Posts: 29
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Post by Maki on Dec 9, 2014 0:51:06 GMT -5
As Zephel jumped in surprise from a voice Maki didn't hear, Maki's eyes widened slightly. She felt his hands leave her shoulders as he changed his sitting position and stared at someone else. Maki followed his gaze for a moment to see a girl cleaning up a coffee spill on the table. She suddenly remembered how Zephel had spilled his coffee just a bit ago.
Maki glanced back at Zephel, she saw that he was still looking at someone else. Her expression had returned to its normal blank state and she looked down in front of her at the piece of loaf still not even a quarter finished with how slowly she eats. She reached for her fork again and broke off another small piece of the loaf to eat. As she had returned to her food, all presences around her seemed to fade away again.
She hadn't even noticed when Zephel began to speak to her again until he said her name upon saying he'd see her around. Maki paused with her fork in the loaf breaking off another small piece to eat and instead looked over to where Zephel had sat. As she pieced together that he was saying goodbye for now, Maki was already too late in responding. She watched his back as he hurried to the back of the cafe. She wasn't sure why but, seeing that caused the heavy feeling in her stomach to return again. She looked down at her stomach in confusion with her usual blank expression, then sat forward in her chair again, brushing it off.
As she returned to her loaf and tea, everything around her seemed to phase out of her line of sight again. She was absorbed in her food until she was done. When she'd finished, she pushed her plates to the side, finally noticing the potion bottles on the table still. She remembered Zephel placed the energy potion and recipe there, but there was another potion bottle there as well. She reached out and picked it up, pulling it towards her face to examine it for a moment.
As she realized it was a potion for treating burn wounds, Maki finally remembered that Zephel had burned himself with the coffee spill earlier. She then remembered she had taken this out and put it on the table before. She must have forgotten to mention it when Zephel had returned to the table. Maki placed the bottle back on the table then took out her pad and paper from the bag she had beside her. She tore off a piece of paper from the back page and wrote in a legible manner "For burn wounds.," then placed the piece of paper underneath the potion bottle.
She wasn't sure if Zephel would be coming back soon or not, but she was comfortable for the moment, so she decided to pull her book back out and resume her studies. She found the page she had paused at, opened up her notes, and continued reading while scribbling down notes in her own form of short-hand. Considering her ability to concentrate and forget all of her surroundings, it would be quite possible for Maki to end up remaining in her seat, studying, until the cafe closes or at least until someone manages to break her concentration.
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Rika
Settler
I try not to let little things bring me down!
Posts: 58
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Post by Rika on Sept 14, 2023 20:22:17 GMT -5
Rika just flashed a bright smile at Zephel when he asked if she was sure she was okay, glad when he seemed to give up his concern. She headed back into the kitchen with her cleaning supplies and traded them in the closet for a mop. As she grabbed the handle of the mop, she paused again, taking a few slow deep breaths with her eyes closed. I'm okay, she thought to herself as she breathed, then smiled again while bringing the mop out of the closet and began to fill the bucket with water.
As she was beginning to head back to the front with the mop, Rika paused for a moment as she saw Zeph enter then speed past her without a word. She turned and watched him quickly head out the back door, suddenly wondering if he was okay and if something had happened with his girlfriend, she now assumed, that she didn't witness. After realizing she was staring at the door now for over a full minute, Rika broke herself from her trance and smiled again as she turned back around to head to the table to clean up the rest of the spill.
When Rika returned to the table, she noticed the other girl was now fully engrossed in slowly consuming her loaf and tea. "I'll just finish cleaning this spill for now." She piped up in a cheerful voice with a bright smile at her, expecting even a small response from the other girl. When none came, her smile fell slightly. She then shook her head to shake off the feeling that she was being ignored and began to clean up the rest of the spill on the floor with the mop.
As Rika was just finishing and putting her mop back in the bucket, she noticed the girl had pushed her plates to the side. "I'll be right back to collect those. Do you want anything else?" Rika tried speaking to the girl again, her eyebrow lowering slightly when she still seemed to be ignored. Rika let out a small sigh, then took the mop and bucket back into the kitchen.
When she went back for the plates, she noticed the small bottles on the table had now been neatly arranged with papers under them. "What do those do?" Rika asked again, wondering if this time Zephel's girlfriend would at least acknowledge her. The girl seemed completely absorbed in her book now and writing quickly in a notepad and completely ignored Rika.
Rika's expression dropped completely for a moment as she stared at this girl who kept ignoring her very existence. She looked down at the empty plate and cup in her hands, thinking about what she overheard today and how she felt in response. A small smile began to form on her lips again as her eyes looked a little sad. When she raised her head again to look at this strange girl engrossed in her studies, Rika's smile grew a little more and her eyes softened. "I hope the two of you will be happy together.", she said quietly before finally turning away and heading back towards the kitchen. She put the plates by the sink for the dishwashers to take care of, then headed back into the women's changing room to sit on a chair near the lockers and started to cry.
Sure, she liked Zephel, maybe more than she realized. He was the first person she actually met twice in two different countries. That had to be some kind of fate, right? He was always kind and caring, even if he shows it in a rough and irritated way sometimes. When they went to the amusement park together, he was always protecting her from her own clumsiness. She was more than just a nuisance though, right? She had a purpose, didn't she?
Thinking about her purpose, Rika thought of her other job at Herbal Healing in Fijion. She was supposed to start a night shift there tomorrow, using the day to travel. She thought about the people she'd help and the beaches. Her tears had calmed as she thought about the beaches. It would feel so good to just cleanse herself in the ocean and come out refreshed. Rika sniffled as she raised her hands to wipe at and dry her eyes. Maybe she could ask one of the other waiters to cover the rest of her shift. It was quiet in the front right now anyway, so maybe it would be okay if she went back tonight so she could go to the beach during the day tomorrow before her shift at the clinic.
Feeling decided, Rika sniffled once more and gave one more wipe at her eyes as she stood up and smiled. She forced her smile to be a bit brighter as she left the changing room again to find the nearest waiter to ask them if they wouldn't mind covering the rest of her shift. She felt lucky that her fellow waiters were really nice and said yes and she then happily skipped back to the changing room to change back into her regular clothes and gather her things to leave.
She looked down once more as another wave of sadness passed through her, then shook her head and smiled again. "To the beach~", She announced to herself as she left the changing rooms and headed outside the cafe to make her way back to Fijion.
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Post by Zephel on Apr 5, 2024 8:14:59 GMT -5
In trying to make sense of his thoughts and feelings, Zephel ended up meditating in his little sanctuary. Feelings are difficult for him to process at times. When he had no memory back then, confusion always led him to the path of anger and resentment.
Nowadays, he had made peace with the fact that he can be his own person despite having no memories. He wanted to have a healthier reaction to confusion, so he took up meditation at some point. At first, he felt it to be useless, but the concept of mindfulness has really helped him out in achieving some semblance of control over his reactions.
The sudden vibration in his pocket surprised Zephel out of his thoughts. It's his phone alarm, reminding him that his break is over. Being the head of the kitchen, he had certain benefits. Longer breaks being one of them, since he starts work before the crack of dawn anyway. With a sigh, Zeph returns back to the kitchen and went straight to work, though his mind is constantly plagued by Maki.
At the end of a long shift, it's finally time for the kitchen crew to head back for the day. The bakers have prepared what's needed for the cafe to stay open until the evening, so it will be just the frontline staffs handling the orders and register. They're capable enough, so Zeph never worries. He heard Rika had gone off for the day while he headed for his locker.
While following the rest of the kitchen crew out through the backdoor and exited the cafe, something still tugs his thoughts. 'I wonder if Maki is still there... Nah, it's been hours, she would've left by now. ...Would she?' He was planning to fetch his pets, but now curiosity gets a better hold of him. Zeph turns straight around and walks up to the front of the cafe, where he could see the guests inside from the glass doors.
And there she is, right where he left her, studying without a care for the world.
Despite himself, Zeph felt his heartbeat quickened and unconsciously hid himself by turning around from the glass. He took a moment to figure out what to say to her, and after a brief mental back and forth with Orphion, the element wielder finally enters the cafe. He acknowledge the curious staffs with a quick wave of his hand and heads straight to Maki's table for the final time today.
He doubts she would notice him, so he settled himself on the seat across from her. Zeph is inwardly grateful that Maki is still stuck in her own little world. That's when he notices the potion bottles on the table, one of them unrecognizable. He pulls them towards him, reads the note under it and breathed out a chuckle.
To get her attention, the silver-haired simply puts her hand-written note over the page she's currently reading. Once she looks up, Zeph wags her burn wound potion gently with a smile, to show he got it. While holding her potion with both of his hands, he wasted no time to get to the heart of the matter, "Maki, theoretically, if I were to be interested in pursuing a relationship with you, how would you feel?"
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