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Scenes from an Oak Tree Restaurant [Raeger/Klaus]

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[Raeger chuckles as Klaus flusters over his teasing.] Aww. I didn’t mean anything by it, Klaus. It just surprised me is all.

[He nearly chokes on a cut of tuna as Klaus replies to him— he’s so close to laughing again in reply, but had attempted to do so before completely swallowing the bite of food he’d just taken. He chuckles with his mouth closed, swallows, and pounds on his chest a couple times to get it down faster.] Good! You should sip it from the rim. [He clears his throat, then takes another bite— too hungry to not do so before he finishes his thought. With his mouth full, but one hand still covering his mouth for as much politeness as he can muster:] Tastes better— if you sip it through the foam.

Mm, [he continues, now pulling up enough of the fish that he can get a bite of rice in as well. It’s not as hot and fresh as he’s been serving to customers throughout the day, but it’s still fairly good. He can’t complain.] I’m ravenous. I can’t eat it fast enough, but if I eat any faster— I’ll give myself a stomachache. [He smiles.] Why do I do this to myself?

Hm? [Pauses to lift his hand, watching Raeger instead pound his own chest before Klaus can offer to pat his back, and smiles wryly as he settles the hand back to his glass.] Be careful, I don’t know how to perform a Heimlich unfortunately.

[Chuckles in turn, eyes dropping down to his drink as he ponders this piece of advice.] Really... [Lifts the glass, turning it to the most optimal side to sip from before tilting it up to his mouth and trying it, smiling through the sips to Raeger’s self chiding.]

Hmhm... this is better, thank you. [Licks his foam-covered lip as he lowers the glass, shaking his head as he chuckles.]

Work addiction, seems like. I’m afraid I recognize it because I tend to suffer from a similar case with sometimes very similar symptoms, hmhm. [He gestures with his glass with a weak motion.] When you get into the, er— the zone, I suppose, it’s hard to remember to do simple things. Rather ironic that you work with one of the things most of us neglect, now that you mention it— [Chuckles again, taking another sip from the edge of the glass.] Have you ever though about setting up reminders or something like that?

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Scenes from an Oak Tree Restaurant [Raeger/Klaus]

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[He glances up at the dessert request— then laughs abruptly, shaking his head.] I hadn’t expected you to be into fad stuff like that! I can make a cheese tea, sure. 

[He abandons his donburi for a moment— quick to abandon the things that are for him, even though this drink order was meant to be an accompaniment to his dining time. He pours a glass of green tea over ice, finishing it with a shot of milk, a generous dollop of cream cheese, and dusting a bit of sea salt and powdered matcha on top. It’s one of the newer items he’s had to make given how popular it is lately among the people who stop in, but he has to admit it’s tastier than he thought it’d be when he first tried making it.]

[He sets this down on a coaster in front of Klaus, glancing up at the other man’s face nervously to gauge his reaction (doubly concerned for the newish recipe and also for Klaus’s approval)— then returns to his donburi like the second thought that feeding himself often is. He’s accustomed to eating this sort of meal alone, but tonight he carries it around to the other side of the counter, sets it down next to Klaus, then takes a seat beside him - flashing the other man an uncharacteristically timid smile. It seems his usual charm falters sometimes in somewhat unfamiliar moments, and this is as unfamiliar as they come. Even for as much of a fixture as Klaus has become.]

[As he settles into the seat, Raeger sighs as though this is the first time in his life he’s ever relaxed. He preps his chopsticks, pours himself a bit of soy sauce, then pops a large piece of salmon into his mouth. He allows himself a moment of silence to savor and chew, for once not hustling to make conversation— instead giving himself permission to take another bite or two to start getting some nutrition into his bloodstream as soon as possible. He really had been starving] …

… [After a moment, while covering his mouth with his free hand:] How’s the tea?

Oh, lord— [Klaus winces, smiling before responding with some put-on offense.] It’s not a fad thing, it’s quite good. You make it sound like I’m trying to be young, it just happens to suit my palette is all—

[Chuckles to himself, sipping down the last of the glass of wine he’d been nursing before setting it aside in favor of the glass as Raeger brings it over. He smiles pleasantly, not catching Raeger’s nervous glancing as he pulls it a little closer to look over.] Thank you— it looks beautiful.

[He turns it to look at the green matcha curiously before finally taking the straw between his fingers and giving it a small stir, smiling to Raeger as he returns.] Welcome back. [He glances to the donburi, glad to see that he hadn’t skimped on his meal. With the younger man now settling in, Klaus lifted his glass to sip at the drink and quietly inhaled, sucking down a few swallows of it and lingering the taste on his tongue for a long moment.] ...

[Swallows the last of that taste, blinking and turning a warm smile to Raeger’s half-covered face and replying in a low voice.] Some of the best I’ve had.

Quite delicious— the matcha really elevated the flavor, if I’m going to be honest... [Takes another, smaller sip, licking the taste off of his lips and nodding to himself.] It’s subtle, but it’s quite good. [Smiles to him aside, already setting up to take another sip.] How’s your dinner, at long last?

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Scenes from an Oak Tree Restaurant [Raeger/Klaus]

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More than alright. Just gimme a sec to put this down.

[He takes the full bus tub to the sink in the back, returning a moment later to wash his hands. He glances up as Klaus continues talking— and the recommendation on his own meal draws an incredulous, snarky grin from the chef.]

Yeah, do you? Fantastic rec. You know I taste everything I serve, right? [He laughs, shaking his hands off into the sink and drying them on a clean towel by the sink. His smile cant help but melt into something more sincere as he continues.] Heh— thank you though. It always makes me happy that you enjoy it.

[He waves off the offer for help, still not quite separated from work-mode— still not quite ready to admit he needs help of any kind. Which, truthfully, he doesn’t quite yet. If he’s going to cook himself something, he’ll put off sinking into the dish pit for a little while longer.] No, no, I’m okay. I just have to figure out what I have the most left over of to make myself. [He scans the last of what meal pieces he has left over— then starts making himself a donburi with the bits of everything he has left. Lucky for him and his newfound desire to get off his feet as quickly as possible, it takes minimal cooking: he adds the raw bits of the last of his fresh fish selections for the day, and the last of the veggies he didn’t use. He even manages to finish off the very last of his final batch of rice.] Nice, [he compliments himself in a mumble.] That feels pretty good.

[He calls to Klaus as he’s plating:] What can I get you for dessert?

[Blinks, then smiles, a little taken aback to not have thought of that and looking off to the side with a nod.] That— makes sense, not sure why I hadn’t thought of that before. I suppose no better way for me to say that I enjoyed it than to recommend it to the very man who served it to me. Hmhm...

[Sips from his wine glass once more, following Raeger’s end of night routine with a mild interest. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen the other man go about closing up for the night, but he didn’t always end up staying so late out of his own concern of being a hindrance. At least asking to stay made him feel less troublesome, and now he felt as though he was learning something about the experience.]

Interesting— a good way to reduce waste. [Muses, turning the wine glass in his fingertips for the liquid to rock back and forth.] Hm, the sort of standard that falls apart if you serve anything that you dislike... I hope that’s not the case.♪

Hrm— [Speaking of dislike, he ponders the desserts and sips his wine again, speaking over the top of the glass as he calls back to him.] I’ll take a glass of lassi if you have it— iced cocoa or cheese tea if not. Anything I could have as I finish the wine.♪

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Scenes from an Oak Tree Restaurant [Raeger/Klaus]

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[He’s pretty used to Klaus still being there at the end of his shift— after all, Raeger is no stranger to leaving the restaurant open an hour or two later to cater to the very last of his patrons, and Klaus is usually among them. The older man comes in for dinner nearly every night that the restaurant is open, and often arrives toward the end of the restaurant’s hours after a busy day of work, himself.]

[Raeger would probably find it weird and uncomfortable if closing didn’t mean Klaus hurrying to finish off his nightly bottle of wine in order to let Raeger lock up. He’s nearly become a permanent fixture of the building— as much so as any of the tables. There’s something really comforting and familiar about it, and Raeger wouldn’t have it any other way.]

[He glances up as Klaus tries to catch his attention. They’d been chatting a bit off and on earlier, but he’d allowed Klaus to go quiet when the other man seemed lost in thought— and had taken to starting bussing the rest of the tables. He smiles, ducking his head modestly at the offer.] Busy’s behind me, you know. End of my shift means end of busy.

[He sighs, considering— resting his bus tub against his hip for a second, and setting a free hand on the stomach of his uniform.] Come to think of it, I’m starving. I haven’t had a chance to eat since breakfast. If you don’t mind giving me a second to make myself some dinner, I’d really appreciate if you wanted to hang out while I ate. I hate shoveling food down alone at the end of the night.

[Smiles, relieved, glad for the offer to be well-received.] Wonderful, of course I wouldn’t mind at all. I come here for the company, myself. Who am I to judge? Hmhm— I might very well buy a dessert to sit and enjoy with you, if that’s alright.

[Well, with that settled— he turns his attention back to his plate, finally taking the last bite of his meal now that he knew it wasn’t the end of his night. He allows himself to chew it over, savoring it before dabbing his mouth on his napkin and placing it over the cleared plate.] This terrine was delicious, by the way— highly recommend it, if you have nothing in mind.

[Turns his attention to a quick glance over the quiet restaurant, taking the moment to wash the last bite down with a few sips from his glass of wine.] Is there anything that I could help with? I wouldn’t want to get in the way, but the sooner you can eat, the better. I know what these long days are like.♪ [Chuckles more pleasantly than chastising, moving his silverware and napkin onto his plate.]

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