Kai&#x27;s Blog

LET'S BAKE ((im screaming this is gonna be cute af))

15. Gingerbread

[ TEXT FROM: oba chan 😼]: wheres the gingerbread house?????

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: omg

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: uhhhh ill sort it??

[ TEXT TO: kahi kai]: hey kiddo ive got somethin fun 4 us to do!!!!!

So, sure, maybe she’d messed up. Maybe she’d forgotten she’d promised Rei that she’d bake a gingerbread house over the weekend, for the Kahi’s autumn decorations. Maybe now she only had, like, a few hours to produce an entirely decorated gingerbread house. So, maybe she’d dragged Kai into the whole mess in the hopes that they’d be helpful.

Flora flipped the sign on the door over to ‘CLOSED’, not wanting to deal with, like, a million customers while she was trying to become a bakery architect. While she waited for Kai to show up - hopefully they could get ready fast, since she’d messaged them pretty much out of the blue - she started to dig through the back cupboards to find the shit they needed. The baking shit was mostly Rei’s realm, and she felt like she was handling sacred artefacts as she laid out the whisk, rolling pin and baking trays. Finally, the door jangled, and she glanced up, clearly relieved, “Hey, it’s my favourite co-worker! Ready to make some gingerbread, kiddo?”

undeadair:

Flora gave a low whistle, eyes roaming the heap of containers that Kai had dug out from gods only knew where. “You havin’ a yard sale, kid? How much gingerbread d’you think we’re makin’?” She really was, like, so out of her depth here. In comparison, Kai was like a little spitfire. Shit, the things you learned about people, huh? Maybe this’d been Rei’s plan all along. Could never put that kinda shit past the wily old cat.

Her eyes glazed for a second at the question before she found the recipe again and skimmed it quickly. “Uhh… Aw, yeesh, it’s all hand-mixed. Kai, I’m way too fuckin’ lazy for this. Sounds like a lot of hard work. You wanna run over to, like, Kino’s or whatever and see if they’ve got readymade stuff?”

“Oh, dude, now we’re talkin’! Let’s get some fuckin’ ambiance.” She flipped through her playlists rapidly before swiping up the aux cord and plugging her phone in, hitting shuffle. “This mix pops off, my guy. You’re gonna love it.”

Kai was already ducking beneath the counter for a large mixer bowl and throwing ingredients into it with enthusiasm. “Kino’s? Why? We totally got this!” they assured Flora quickly, measuring out a cup of milk. “Could you grab a tablespoon measurement and the vanilla extract?”

They were totally in their element, the art of baking coming back to them like riding a bike. When Flora turned their music on, looking pleased with herself, Kai grinned and started bouncing around as they worked. It wasn’t really the type of music they listened to, but Flora was so proud of her mixes, so Kai loved them too by default.

#gingerthread #undeadair

“google, how do i know if my co-worker is undead?”

#undead dog party #undeadair

undeadair:

Standing in the centre of the park, Flora felt like she was trying to sculpt wet Jello into something resembling a person. Except she was both the Jello, and the person. She’d given in to Kai’s eager texts, feeling bad that she’d barely seen them since October started - wasn’t like she could pick up half as many shifts as she usually did, right? - and had found herself agreeing to some kinda dog meet. Did Kai even have a dog? She vaguely remembered some story they’d told her about, like, seeing a nice dog at the park or something but… oh. Well. They definitely had a dog.

The weights in her shoes and the lining of her bomber jacket stopped her hovering above the ground as she made her way over to them, Kalle skittering around her feet anxiously and letting out a low whine. “Hey, kiddo! You, uh… nice dog! It’s good to see you both!”

Kai and the stray bounded over to where Flora and Kalle were slowly approaching from, the former looking slightly nauseous. The stray started immediately sniffing around the other dog, letting out playful yelps and pulling against the leash.

“Yeah, I found him in the park,” Kai said brightly, looking down at the chocolate lab fondly. “I haven’t named him yet, since I’m not sure if he belongs to someone else or not. I kind of hope I get to keep him, though,” they admitted, bending to give his head a quick scratch.

When they straightened, Flora did indeed look a little odd. Almost like they were concentrating too hard on not throwing up. “Hey, are you okay?” Kai asked. “You look a little...I don’t know. Um. Are you sick?”

They almost threw a hand to their forehead. What if Flora was totally fine? That would have been super offensive. Oh, boy.

“google, how do i know if my co-worker is undead?”

Kai was excited to meet up with Flora outside of work for the first time, but they were even more excited to show her their surprise. They’d finally bought a dog leash yesterday, and they were bouncing up and down in excitement as they clipped it onto the stray’s new collar and managed to get the two of them out of the door.

The pair were both visibly excited when Kai spotted Flora waiting in the park. The stray, spotting Flora’s dog, pulled on the leash, hard. Kai was yanked forward, jogging to avoid strain on their arm as they approached Flora.

“Hey!” they called, waving their free arm in a wide arc. “Look what I got!”

#undeadair #((flora doesn't know about the dog yet in this one))#((kai hasnt even named him yet pls help them with that))#((otherwise they'll legit name it Stray or Dog))

LET'S BAKE ((im screaming this is gonna be cute af))

15. Gingerbread

[ TEXT FROM: oba chan 😼]: wheres the gingerbread house?????

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: omg

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: uhhhh ill sort it??

[ TEXT TO: kahi kai]: hey kiddo ive got somethin fun 4 us to do!!!!!

So, sure, maybe she’d messed up. Maybe she’d forgotten she’d promised Rei that she’d bake a gingerbread house over the weekend, for the Kahi’s autumn decorations. Maybe now she only had, like, a few hours to produce an entirely decorated gingerbread house. So, maybe she’d dragged Kai into the whole mess in the hopes that they’d be helpful.

Flora flipped the sign on the door over to ‘CLOSED’, not wanting to deal with, like, a million customers while she was trying to become a bakery architect. While she waited for Kai to show up - hopefully they could get ready fast, since she’d messaged them pretty much out of the blue - she started to dig through the back cupboards to find the shit they needed. The baking shit was mostly Rei’s realm, and she felt like she was handling sacred artefacts as she laid out the whisk, rolling pin and baking trays. Finally, the door jangled, and she glanced up, clearly relieved, “Hey, it’s my favourite co-worker! Ready to make some gingerbread, kiddo?”

#gingerthread #undeadair #((wholesome af))#((this thread watered my crops and cleared my skin))

undeadair:

“Sure, kid - we’ve got no idea what’s goin’ on up there. Better to give a shout out to all of ‘em, so they don’t fuckin’ curse our gingerbread house, right?” Flora shrugged, sucking her teeth. She’d seen enough religions and weird shit in her time - she wasn’t about to piss anything off, in case they sucked her back to wherever her soul was meant to be. As a sheaf of papers was thrust into her hands, the ghost yelped, before laughing. “Jeez, Kai-cakes. Don’t give a girl a papercut.”

Gods, she was so glad she’d called them in - she’d be lost, but they seemed, like, completely in control. Gotta love the young’uns. She blinked as they started prancing around the kitchen, suddenly more confident than she’d ever seen ‘em before. Dutifully, Flora sifted through the piles of paper before she found the recipe she thought they wanted. “Got it here, kiddo!”

Kai was still glowing from being called “Kai-cakes” when they emerged from the back room, balancing a smorgasbord of ingredients on a tray they’d found that was perfect for making gingerbread. What a cute nickname! They hadn’t had a nickname since they were a kid. That was something close friends did, they assumed. They hadn’t really known.

They grinned at Flora over the collection of containers stacked up to their chin, which threatened to topple off the tray. Kai quickly slid the tray onto the counter and began to unload ingredients, spreading them all across the counter.

“Okay!” they announced, skipping over to Flora. “Do we need a mixer for this frosting?” They were still bouncing up and down on the balls of their feet. Oh boy, this was going to be so fun! What a classic holiday activity. Suddenly, they had an idea, and snapped their fingers in excitement.

“Would you put on some of your music?” they asked Flora, smiling from ear to ear. “I think we need some...” they giggled and dipped their voice into a dramatic accent, “...ambiance, as it were.”

free-eden

For every "★" I get, I will post a fact about my characters.

frostysparrow

You can specify any number of characters you want. You may also specific something you want to hear about, but not too specific. :>

ex: ★ Fears

#((ask me about kai and helle!))

♛ lattes.

#lattes.#jardinsoleil #((we can probably end this thread here if u want? kai has their shift ahead of them))

jardinsoleil:

“If you insist,” she said, with a smile. “Just the latte, s’il vous plaît!” she joined the line at the back, absently checking off reminders on her phone.

After this was done, she reached into her small handbag, putting her phone away and taking out her wallet in preparation of paying. It took a small bit of searching to locate her credit card, as her wallet was in a small state of disarray, but she soon found it and waited.

Jaune found herself thinking about what the rest of the day held in store for her— a mani-pedi, watching a movie or two at the cinema, checking out some of the stores on the island and purchasing some groceries (because she couldn’t have only candy for dinner, she had to have something with it), and then seeing if there was perhaps anywhere she could enjoy some fine dining.

The weather, sadly, wasn’t too great, but if it cleared up a little than she could enjoy a long selfie photoshoot at the City Park. After all that, she could go home, pour herself a glass of wine, watch some Netflix, and bring the day to a peaceful conclusion. Ah, yes. Jaune couldn’t wait.

Before she knew it, she had reached the front of the line. She smiled in anticipation of her latte, excited to kick her whole me-day off.

Flora threw Kai a grateful look as they darted behind the counter, clocked in, washed their hands, and scooped up their apron. As they looped it over their head and deftly tied it behind their back, they made their way over to the latte machine started preparing the drink for their new friend. Jaune seemed awfully nice, Kai thought, eyeing her at the back of the line as Flora tackled her last customers. Long before Jaune had reached the counter, Kai had the drink ready.

While they waited for Flora to finish up, they thought about how grateful they were to have this job. It had brought them their best friend at the moment, Flora, and introduced them to lots of new people. And now Jaune! They had a feeling she might become a regular.

After Flora’s last customer was served, she patted Kai on the back on her way out, throwing the apron haphazardly to the side. Kai, for their part, shook their head and smiled as they clipped on their nametag and slid the latte down the counter to Jaune.

“That’ll be 3.50,” they said, moving to stand at the register. “Hope you like it!”

♛ lattes.

#lattes.#jardinsoleil #((v short sorry i couldnt think of anything else for rn))

jardinsoleil:

Jaune’s eyes flickered a bit with thoughtfulness as Kai mentioned hearing but never actually seeing a librarian. She didn’t comment, however, knowing a little better than that. “Online college sounds fancy,” she noted, tilting her head with curiosity, wondering what that was like. She didn’t take too long to linger on the mechanics of it, though, continuing to listen to Kai speak about the library with fascination.

“Sounds like quite the impressive library,” Jaune said, feeling rather pleased. So much for getting to know people. All plans to potentially make friends on the island were mentally replaced with trips to the library, reading book after book and taking occasional sips from an opaque water bottle filled to the brim with wine. How ideal.

She was so caught up in her daydream, she almost didn’t hear them. Thankfully, she caught the statement, snapping out of her reverie and gazing at the cafe. She could already see patrons inside, and it looked cozy and welcoming. Gratefully, Jaune thanked Kai for holding the door open.

“Well, only if it isn’t too much trouble,” Jaune fretted, in response to their question. “It looks quite busy in here and I don’t wish to slow you down— anyway, you already walked with me all the way here, and I know I’m a bit of a chatterbox, so it can’t have been easy.” She gave a bit of a laugh.

Kai shook their head quickly. “No, no, it’s been really nice to meet you! And it’s no trouble at all. Rule is that Flora’s shift ends when she finishes with all the customers that are in line when I walk in. So you’re my first customer! Hop in the back of the line, but I should have it ready for you by the time you get to the front.” They let the door swing closed behind them, the bells on the hinge giving a cheery jingle.

“So,” they ventured in their best barista voice, “what can I get you?”

♛ lattes.

#lattes.#jardinsoleil #((no offense taken they are a tiny child and need protection))

jardinsoleil:

“My, you’ve been here quite a while!” Jaune said, looking quite impressed. “Anyways, don’t worry about sticking to your own stuff, I do too, for the most part. Socializing can sometimes be tiring..” she brightened at the sound of the word ‘library’. “Oh yes, I’d love to hear about the library!” she said, earnestly. “I love to read,” she explained to Kai, enthusiasm clear as she spoke.

“Libraries are some of the most interesting places in the world, and you are instantly cool if you regularly visit them,” she declared, with passion. “I mean, for one, there’s all of the books! And books— why, they’re like a whole universe you’re holding, all in your hand. I love to read. Books, magazines— even cereal boxes if there’s nothing else,” she gave a sheepish chuckle, looking lost in thought for the briefest of moments, before focusing on the present.

“Oh goodness, I can already see myself with a glass of rosé and a big stack of books waiting to be perused,” she gave a content-sounding sigh. “So you spend a lot of time at the library, hm? Are you also a fan of literature or do you like the library more for the peaceful atmosphere?”

When Jaune expressed genuine interest about the library, Kai immediately perked up. “I’ll tell you all about it!” they announced cheerfully as the pair approached the Kahi. Kai was so lost in awe listening to Jaune tell them that they were ‘instantly cool’ for being what a lot of people considered a ‘nerd’ that they stepped right into a puddle without even noticing.

They nodded along happily as Jaune waxed poetic about reading, and could feel their new-person nerves melting away, so that by the time they were asked another question, they were actually excited to answer.

“Hm, I don’t know if you’re really allowed to have wine in the library,” they wondered aloud. “Although I doubt anyone is going to stop you. I’m not sure if there are even librarians, to be honest,” they added thoughtfully. “I hear them, but I’ve never seen one. Huh.” They paused for a moment, thinking, but quickly recovered.

“Yeah, so I’m a college student, actually. I take online courses through the school here, but I spend a lot of time studying at the library! They have a lot of great resources. I don’t have much time to read for fun anymore, but they do have a bunch of great novels as well. All the classics, plus some fun YA fiction which is probably not the best way to spend my free time, but...” they trailed off, chuckling a little self-consciously.

“Anyway, here we are!” they said, making a little gesture at the cafe. The tables and chairs outside were deserted due to the less-than-ideal weather, but through the windows, Kai could see that the place was packed and looked cozy as ever. They raced to hold the door open for Jaune. “After you,” they smiled shyly, waving Jaune through. “Can I get a drink started for you once I clock in?”

♛ lattes.

#lattes.#jardinsoleil #((kai is suffering someone pls help them))

jardinsoleil:

“Oh dear, I didn’t mean to startle you! I’m sorry,” Jaune apologized. The drizzle didn’t bother her enough to make her don anything protective. Her eyeliner was so waterproof that she could go swimming in the ocean and come out with her wing as sharp as it had been when she’d drawn it on this morning. Rain also had a tendency to make her feel like she was in that scene from Singin’ in the Rain, dance sequence and twirling umbrellas included, so she quite liked it.

“The Kahi, you say?” Jaune asked, curiously. “Well, if you work there, I’ll take your word for it. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kai,” she took their hand and shook it. “I’m Jaune, and that would be wonderful! I am indeed new— extremely so, actually. I moved in about a week ago, but I’ve been decorating my new place, so I haven’t been getting out much. The canopy for my bed came in the mail this morning, though, and that was the last bit I was waiting up on— it took very long to arrive, and goodness, the shipping fees were a killer, but,” she sighed. “That was to be expected, and I suppose they will continue to be.. anyway, to celebrate that I’d finished decorating, I just thought I’d have a little ‘me day’. That’s why I’m getting the latte.”

“I think I’m rambling..,” mused Jaune, after a brief moment. “I’m really only half-awake. The latte is less of a want and more of a requirement,” she joked. “So, that’s me, what about you? Have you been on the island a long time?”

Kai shook Jaune’s hand cautiously and listened to her rant as they turned onto the main street towards the cafe, Jaune trailing along behind them. They didn’t have any problem listening to their new acquaintance talk; Kai was in the habit of keeping quiet while other people held the conversation. With Jaune, however, they found their mind racing, struggling to keep up with the words flying at them a mile a minute, especially so early in the morning. Jaune wasn’t the only one who needed a cup of coffee.

They admired Jaune’s enthusiasm as she rambled on, mentioning things like canopy beds, shipping fees, decorating, and “me-days” that Kai was little acquainted with. Jaune was certainly living a whole different life than Kai was. They suddenly felt like maybe they should be looking into canopies and me-days too. Lost in thought as to what purpose a canopy could possibly serve in their small apartment and when they would find time for a me-day anyway, Kai almost didn’t hear when Jaune posed a question and reacted to it belatedly.

“Oh, um, sorry, ah...I grew up here, yeah. I mostly stick to my own stuff though, so it’s not like I know everything about the place. I can tell you whatever you need to know about the library, though!” They gave a little self-deprecating chuckle. “Yeah, I’m pretty interesting,” they joked softly.

♛ lattes.

Jaune finished decorating her bed. She stepped back and surveyed her work with pride— there. It was done. Every last flourish and distinctive touch was finally complete. These first few days had been difficult. Jaune had to be very aggressive with her alarms to wake up every morning so that she would have enough time in the day to unpack, and a little later, to personalize her little space.

Anyway, because of how well-disciplined she’d been lately, Jaune had devoted the day to rewarding herself for all the work she did (especially consistently waking up before 10:30 in the morning). She had to start off with a great morning, so it only made sense that a well-made latte was the first requirement. She could practically taste it already— the rich shot of espresso, the steamed milk, the light layer of foam; the perfect balance between the creaminess of the drink and the subtle coffee flavour.

There was only one problem, and that was that she didn’t know where she could find a latte on the island. Jaune got dressed, clasping a golden necklace around her neck and popping in her contacts, and grabbing a small hangbag before heading out of the door.

“Hello!” she greeted them brightly, or as brightly as she could in the morning. “Do you happen to know of a good place to get a latte?”

#lattes.#jardinsoleil #((kai is a mess pls excuse them))

Kai startled at the sudden voice, and found themselves about two feet away from where they’d been a second ago. Yikes, they really had to work on that jumping-in-terror thing. It took them a second to register exactly what was going on, and why their usual walk to work had taken a turn it didn’t normally take. They weren’t used to strangers speaking to them until they got behind the counter. There was a painful pause as they pulled back the hood of their raincoat and processed the girl and her words.

“Ah, yeah. I’d recommend the Kahi. I, um, I work there actually, so maybe I’m biased, but I’m on the way to my shift. I could show you where it is, if you want?” They pulled the hair at the back of their neck in embarrassment. Why did they make such a bold assumption? This friendly person just asked them a question, and they responded with a long-term commitment? Who does that? Not to mention if the stranger actually took them up on it, they’d have to walk with someone they didn’t know! All the way to the Kahi! Which was like, five minutes, but still. That was five minutes of conversation they didn’t have planned.

They made an attempt to interrupt their own agony by initiating a social interaction that wasn’t terrible. Kai’s right hand flew out, almost of its own accord, for a handshake. “Um, I’m Kai! Are you new here?”

Oh, god, what if they weren’t new? What an awful thing to say to an islander. Kai was dying inside. Why did this always happen?

LET'S BAKE ((im screaming this is gonna be cute af))

15. Gingerbread

[ TEXT FROM: oba chan 😼]: wheres the gingerbread house?????

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: omg

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: uhhhh ill sort it??

[ TEXT TO: kahi kai]: hey kiddo ive got somethin fun 4 us to do!!!!!

So, sure, maybe she’d messed up. Maybe she’d forgotten she’d promised Rei that she’d bake a gingerbread house over the weekend, for the Kahi’s autumn decorations. Maybe now she only had, like, a few hours to produce an entirely decorated gingerbread house. So, maybe she’d dragged Kai into the whole mess in the hopes that they’d be helpful.

Flora flipped the sign on the door over to ‘CLOSED’, not wanting to deal with, like, a million customers while she was trying to become a bakery architect. While she waited for Kai to show up - hopefully they could get ready fast, since she’d messaged them pretty much out of the blue - she started to dig through the back cupboards to find the shit they needed. The baking shit was mostly Rei’s realm, and she felt like she was handling sacred artefacts as she laid out the whisk, rolling pin and baking trays. Finally, the door jangled, and she glanced up, clearly relieved, “Hey, it’s my favourite co-worker! Ready to make some gingerbread, kiddo?”

#gingerthread #undeadair #((yaaaaaaaasssss))#((this put me in such an autumn spirit))

undeadair:

“Oh, thank gods, I picked the right person.” Would’ve been a fuckin’ kicker if Kai had showed up and told her they couldn’t bake. “Might have to make you the boss for today, kid. I’m, like, next to useless with all of this.”

Flora wrinkled her nose, “Man, I dunno. I think it’s from scratch - like, can you get enough mix imported to the island in one go..? Rei left some recipe cards, uh…” She vanished below the counter for a moment, accompanied by the sound of clanking, then reappeared with a sheaf of papers, “here. Well, like. This is all her shit, but the gingerbread recipe is in here somewhere. And then we’ve gotta, y’know, construct an entire fuckin’ gingerbread house.”

“Gods, plural?” Kai laughed, flipping through the papers in an attempt to find the correct recipe. They located it quickly and shoved it into Flora’s unprepared hands with a triumphant shout.

As Flora perused the recipe, Kai raced around to the other side of the counter to read over her shoulder. “Oh, this won’t be too bad,” they said, tapping their chin. “The mix is easy, we just need to get the consistency right so it won’t break when we cut it into the pieces for the walls and roof...and then we need to get it to stick together. That’s the hardest part.”

They thought for a moment, then snatched the recipe from Flora’s fingers and skipped towards the back room in search of ingredients and a large flat tray. “Find me your stickiest frosting recipe!” they announced, throwing out an arm and pointing at the stack of papers dramatically before disappearing into the back.

first day!

#first day!#undeadair #((they suffer))

undeadair:

Woof. So maybe the kid wasn’t a natural after all. Flora kept up the encouraging smile behind Kai, locking eyes with the customer and raising a firm eyebrow, making sure they knew she had things all (well, mostly) under control. Man, was she ever this bad? She hoped not.

It took a lot of effort to move herself away from Kai The Human Disaster and head over to the espresso machine, pulling a shot. Surely they couldn’t do anything too disastrous in the time it’d take her to make a latte, right? Flora glanced over her shoulder periodically, smiling with relief as they succeeded in doing everything - sure, they took a while to wrangle the till, but nobody was perfect. Carrying the latte over and setting it on the counter, she gave them both a grin winking at the customer, “Not bad, huh?”

“You did it, buddy! Good job!” She laughed and ruffled their hair. “Not bad at all, right? Almost a pro. You’ll be Rei in no time.” Aw, they were doing their best, ‘n’ she couldn’t fault that. “How’re you feelin’? Ready for a full shift?”

Kai bounced around a little bit, wringing their apron with tight fists, knuckles turning almost white. “That was scary! But fun.” They grinned as Flora fluffed their air, feeling proud of themselves and hoping Flora felt the same. The praise Flora had offered - in front of the customer, no less! - raised their spirits and calmed their anxiety.

They couldn’t help themselves rushing forward to give Flora a hug when she suggested a full shift. Kai wasn’t sure if they were ready, but Flora was the expert, so who were they to argue?

“I’ll try my best!” Kai announced, giving her new co-worker a silly salute and bounding over to the drink recipe book. They excitedly flipped through a couple pages of complicated but exciting beverages. “Anything else I should know?”

LET'S BAKE ((im screaming this is gonna be cute af))

15. Gingerbread

[ TEXT FROM: oba chan 😼]: wheres the gingerbread house?????

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: omg

[ TEXT TO: oba chan 😼]: uhhhh ill sort it??

[ TEXT TO: kahi kai]: hey kiddo ive got somethin fun 4 us to do!!!!!

So, sure, maybe she’d messed up. Maybe she’d forgotten she’d promised Rei that she’d bake a gingerbread house over the weekend, for the Kahi’s autumn decorations. Maybe now she only had, like, a few hours to produce an entirely decorated gingerbread house. So, maybe she’d dragged Kai into the whole mess in the hopes that they’d be helpful.

Flora flipped the sign on the door over to ‘CLOSED’, not wanting to deal with, like, a million customers while she was trying to become a bakery architect. While she waited for Kai to show up - hopefully they could get ready fast, since she’d messaged them pretty much out of the blue - she started to dig through the back cupboards to find the shit they needed. The baking shit was mostly Rei’s realm, and she felt like she was handling sacred artefacts as she laid out the whisk, rolling pin and baking trays. Finally, the door jangled, and she glanced up, clearly relieved, “Hey, it’s my favourite co-worker! Ready to make some gingerbread, kiddo?”

#gingerthread #undeadair #((pure and wholesome holy SHIT i love this))

Kai gasped like the kiddo they’d been christened and threw off their raincoat, revealing a cozy autumn sweater underneath. “Gingerbread?!” they practically screamed, bounding over to the counter and taking in the baking materials strewn around with wide eyes.

They picked up the direction sheet reverently, scanning its contents. “Oh my gosh, it’s been years.” Kai had always loved gingerbread, because their grandma used to make gingerbread cookies when they were a kid from the extra dough left over from their holiday gingerbread houses. They just remembered smearing frosting all over the walls in a desperate attempt to keep the structures standing. Year after year, the finished product looked anything but professional, but Kai still missed those days.

They put the directions down and bounced up and down on their toes a little as they regarded their co-worker and new friend. “Do we have a box, or are we...baking from scratch?”

thealchemicaldoctor-blog

((first interaction ask meme)) Kai hesitantly manned the counter on their first official day as a Kahi barista. Flora had gone into the back to organize a new shipment of supplies, so Kai was on their own. To their anxious dismay, the bell jingled and a new customer walked in and approached the counter. "Hi, can I take your order?" Kai recited, gripping their Sharpie tightly with one hand, the other hovering over the selection of small, medium, and large cups.

Ah. This was unexpected. Esmé had come in to get a quick drink and say hi to Flo before her shift started, and instead, she was face to face with someone she did not recognise. How long had they worked here? She was sure Flo was the solo barista here. Huh. Never mind, as long as they could make a good cuppa joe, am I right?

“Uh…large black americano please! Extra shot if you can. I’ve got a busy day at work ahead!”

She tapped her fingers melodically across the counter as she waited for the coffee to be made. Flo must be out the back taking stock or something, maybe even already taking a break despite Esmé most likely being the first customer of the day. “Ah! My coffee. Thank you!” She took a sip. Man, this newbie could make a good coffee. “Wow. This is good! So uh…are you new here?” She squinted at their name badge, “…Kai?”