Luke's Diner; Tuesday [10/03].

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis had been quite late for work that day, an event that absolutely would not go without notice by his fellow coworkers, who actually just assumed that he wasn't coming in at all that day, because tardiness did not seem to be in the man's vocabulary. If he wasn't showing up on time, then surely he wouldn't be showing up at all.

They were, however, quite wrong about that, and when he did come in and find them in the process of whipping up some specials in his absence, he asked after them, was mildly appalled by every single one, gave a firm statement of "Absolutely not" and quickly set to the task of saving them all from embarrassing themselves and the diner as a whole.

He did, however, agree to make a concession for at least one of their suggestions, under the argument that him being late should negate him from choosing specials at all but they'd be willing to compromise.

Just go ahead and guess which one Ignis will emphatically insist he had absolutely no hand in. Go on. Guess.

Today's Specials

Sweet Potato Curry with Garlic Naan
Frosted Bologna Sandwich Loaf with Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet Potato Pie Bars

Luke's is open!

And, yes, had a lot of sweet potatoes that day, why do you ask?

Comments

[deathsmajesty]

With Steven having given her a very useful introduction to the app store, Liliana had spent some time finding several that she'd thought would be useful, including one that replaced voice-to-text with just voice,: instead of translating her words to text, it simply recorded them and sent the whole message as an audio file. Like voicemail, but for texting.

And so at some point, Ignis was definitely getting a message from Liliana that asked,

"My darling, did I addle you?"

[chef_chocobro]

The buzz and the subsequent audio explanation that he had received a voice message from one Liliana Vess was quite the unexpected distraction from his work, and it nearly tempted him to abandon that work entirely to see what it was all about. But at that same time, there was that stubborn determination that attempted to insist that he wait until even quite a bit after his work was done to tend to it.

In a way, then, excusing himself after he'd finished up a meal and set it out to a table for a break was somewhat of a compromise, although there was some additional hesitation before he sent his response. Not so much out of general reluctance, just an uncertainty regarding tone.

"Quite sufficiently. Though that's hardly anything new."

[deathsmajesty]

Enough time had passed between her text and his reply that she'd gotten deeply involved in her book and he had to wait for her to finish the chapter before she could respond.

"It's the only reason I can come up with for 'frosted bologna sandwich loaf'. That or perhaps a subtle cry for help. Are you in danger, darling? Reply with a compliment about takeout and I'll have an army of ghouls come to your aid in moments."

[chef_chocobro]

And when the delay, expected as he convinced himself it would likely be, started to push the boundaries of what Ignis himself could allow as an acceptable break, he returned to work, which naturally called for another delay due to a fresh batch of the naan that he'd gotten involved in, and he was deeply contemplating altering his alert settings to something a bit more subtle, as he could feel the glances his phone's announcements were earning him from his coworkers.

Late and actually taking breaks? And an audible bark of a laugh when he finally got to Liliana's response? It was like they didn't even know who you were anymore, Ignis!

"My punishment for tardiness this morning. So, in a way, we all have you, my dear, to thank for such a monstrosity seeing the light of day."

[deathsmajesty]

All right, this pause before her reply was purely because Liliana was prideful and absolutely refused to immediately respond to a text that hadn't immediately responded to her playing with Josu, seeing how high he could jump to catch the ghouled songbirds she was making swoop for him.

"Hmmm. Might this actually be monstrous enough to convince me to repent my actions and mend my ways?"

[chef_chocobro]

And even though after the last few messages, Ignis had delegated any task that might get too involved to Greg and the like, his voice message response to that would not come at all, because this staccato, send and receive and wait was encapsulating everything he found tiresome about this method of communication.

So he would not be voice-texting her back and would, instead, make his temporary absence be known to the rest of his staff and stalk off to some quieter section of the diner and pull up her number to actually call Liliana properly.

[deathsmajesty]

At least she wasn't playing games with answering. Her phone rang just long enough to verify who was on the other end, and then it was promptly answered with a purred, "Well, hello darling."

[chef_chocobro]

"Hello, Liliana," Ignis responded back, the somewhat accomplished note in his voice doing a fine job of covering up any relief that went along with it, although it was more of a relief for the ease at which they could now continue. "As much as I enjoying hearing your voice in any form by which it might reach me, I have to admit, there was a certain...repartee that was noticeably absent in that previous method. But, to your last point, I have to admit, anything so monstrous as to sway you into redemption is nothing I would like to encounter."

[deathsmajesty]

Boy did she have some bad news about canon catchups for you then, Iggy.

"Remind me sometime to tell you about an argument I had completely over intercontinental correspondence some time," Liliana said with a soft chuckle. "It was an impressively effective form of torture. I was hesitant in the beginning, but I do believe I've come around to appreciate phones."

In the, y'know. Whole week she'd had hers.

"But I didn't see you behind the counter when I passed the diner and while that certainly didn't dissuade me from bothering you, I thought it would be more polite if I bothered you in a less immediate fashion than a phone call might be." Across the line, he could hear the sounds of wind and Josu meowing and...flamingoes. Yes, that was definitely the sound of not-too-distant flamingoes.

[chef_chocobro]

In Liliana's defense, it had been an excellent week of putting that phone to work, though Ignis might be a bit biased in that regard.

And that certainly did answer the question he didn't dare ask of exactly how she'd known about the monstrosity of a special on the board that day, an answer he thought would have mostly filled him with smugness if it ended up being what he'd assumed it to be, but he found that the feeling was quite something else entirely.

"Phones certainly do have their benefits," he agreed, "and were we busier today, less immediate would certainly be optimal. But since we seem to find ourselves with another quiet Tuesday as usual, I happen to have almost an excess of time to talk."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana stopped playing with the bird causing it to fall and giving Josu a mouthful of feathers, sitting up at attention even while she did her best to keep her tone as lazily playful as it had been before. "Oh? Well, that makes no sense to me. It's true I've had fewer of your lunches than either dinners or breakfasts, but I can't imagine them being less than absolutely delicious. There ought to be throngs."

Josu mrowed up at her and she paused to drop a kiss on his furry head and sent the bird winging back up in the air. "I'd volunteer to come liven up your shift in person, darling, but Josu and I are avoiding the construction back home and I'm not certain how you'd feel about the cat in the diner." Beat. "Or cooking for me yet again after you finally escaped my dreadful necromantic clutches this morning."

[chef_chocobro]

"And what a very narrow, daring escape it was," Ignis drawled, the dryness of his tone perhaps just a little spoiled by the faint grin on his face as he said it. "But if I'm not mistaken, the occasional porg has been known to grace our presence here, I'm sure a cat wouldn't be too remiss."

A pause.

"Assuming he's on his best behavior."

Another, somewhat more reluctant pause.

"We might even be able to whip up something for him as well."

[deathsmajesty]

"And, mmmm, yes, I do think lunch would be an excellent idea. I find myself surprisingly hungry for this time of day," Liliana noted, unable to bite back the answering smile from her own recollection of his 'narrow' and 'daring' escape this morning. "I was just going to order something to be delivered to the park, but out of consideration for your entertainment, my darling, I suppose we can make the walk to the diner."

Such a fucking helper here.

"We'll be there soon, and Josu will be a perfect gentleman," she added, going to hang up the phone. "Won't you, sweetest? Unlike your namesa--"

Click.

Likely, she hadn't intended anyone to hear that last bit.

[chef_chocobro]

Well, then. Back to the kitchen, he supposed, once he realized that little aside had, indeed, filtered out into silence. Once there, there was a heavy sigh before he could bring himself to ask after a particular cut of fish and reminder to himself that one of the greatest chefs he'd ever had the pleasure of knowing had also once prepared a meal for a cat, in her very own world-renowned restaurant, no less, so it was hardly anything for him to do the same...

[deathsmajesty]

A cat may look at a king, Ignis. Did she need to get Steven in here to talk about how important the ancient Egyptians considered cats? Because she would.

Several minutes after the call had ended, in walked Liliana, Josu lying in a basket, surrounded by feathers, looking very pleased with himself. Nobody really needed to know where those feathers came from, it was fine.

She settled into a seat, tucking the basket under the table, and crooked a finger at the busboy. "My dear, when you have a moment, could I bother you for a bowl of water for my cat? Thank you, pet." She didn't ask him to alert Ignis to her presence, mostly because she assumed that he'd just somehow know. His perception score was incredible.

[chef_chocobro]

Yes, well, Ignis didn't exactly hold most kings in very high regard, either. Take this slightly-higher-than-standard regard for the victory that it was, Liliana.

And even if Ignis hadn't already known, as if his ears hadn't already been trained to hear the next opening of the door and for whatever sounds may follow to clue him into whether or not she'd arrived or, instead, it had been some hapless other customer that then had to deal with having committed the unforgivable offense of not being her, there was no way that busboy wasn't going to let him know regardless.

Look, Tuesdays had gotten very dull at the diner, lately, and this whole escapade had been like daytime television. And after a somewhat terse word of gratitude to the busboy for his pertinent information, Ignis elected to bring both the bowl of water and the incredibly fresh preparation of a fish pate out to the table himself.

"Well, with this kind of service," he observed, "I certainly hope he tips well."

[deathsmajesty]

Well that just made sense. Kings (and gods!) were generally trash anyway.

Josu had no idea about tipping, but did headbutting for pets and nuzzling the side of Ignis's leg count for anything? He really was an affectionate boy.

He had been named well.

"He is terribly spoiled and might not even realize how special he's being treated right now," Liliana teased. "Once can only hope his owner is aware of this exceptional service and is appropriately grateful for it." She dimpled at him, reaching out to slide her fingers through his. "Hello again, darling. What do you recommend?"

If he said 'frosted bologna sandwich loaf,' she was leaving with that fish pate and eating at Mooby's for spite.

[chef_chocobro]

The most those nuzzling headbutts against his leg were counting for was a dismal regard for the bits of fur that were doubtlessly now clinging to his trousers, but those thoughts were quickly swept away by the unexpected brush of fingers between his and the small jolt it sent through him that he wished he could say he managed to control.

And it was a very near thing, the most obviously terrible suggestion right there on the very tip of his tongue, but he actually liked Liliana (far too much, really), and so his wry response took a slightly less treacherous route.

"That all depends," he said, "on how you feel about sweet potatoes."

[deathsmajesty]

Oh darling, soon there would be whole swathes of people ready and happy to tell you that liking Liliana Vess was a fool's game and any amount was too much. As it was, there was currently only one person, but nobody should care about Jace Beleren's opinion anyway.

"Mmm, oddly enough, that's not the axis upon which I'm considering my choice," she replied. "Not flavor, but emotion."

[chef_chocobro]

As it so happened, that was a conversation that Ignis had attempted to have with himself several times over the last few weeks, but he had seemed stubbornly, utterly determined to remain unconvinced.

"Mmm." A thoughtful hum. "Well, in that case, I may have...a few ideas. Would you like to hear them, or are we in the mood for a little soupçon of the element of surprise?"

A question certainly not asked to buy himself just a sliver of extra time to make a decision in the matter, of course.

[deathsmajesty]

Oh, darling, you would probably be far happier if you listened to your you.

Whatever Liliana had meant when she'd said that was discarded instantly, leaning forward with her chin cupped in her hand, eyes eager. "My darling, I feel like we've talked about how much I adore surprises, even though I will want to know immediately what it is," she said. "So...this soupçon you've offered and perhaps a tiny little bit of a hint on the side?"

[chef_chocobro]

Yes, that had...consistently been a problem for Ignis, really...

"If immediacy is high on your list of priorities," he stated, "then I'm afraid I already have bad news for you, but rest assured, I'll not nearly as disappointing on either flavor or emotion. I daresay, one is quite often intrinsically tied to the other."

[deathsmajesty]

"Surely you've seen how impatient I can get when I really want something," Liliana said, innocent as a lamb and clearly referring to nothing beyond this conversation. Definitely not anything from earlier this morning. "Though, it's likely you're giving me far too much credit. The emotions I was talking about were..." She smiled up at him. "...that pleased, preening pride when you make me something special and off-menu, versus my enjoyment of having you here to talk to me, rather than losing you off to the kitchen."

Since she probably wasn't allowed to follow him into the kitchen while he prepared her meal for, oh, any number of reasons.

[chef_chocobro]

Yes, Ignis did actually enjoy this job immensely; it would be rather bittersweet to have to then lose it over indecency.

"Ah," said Ignis, and there was, in that moment of understanding, just the faint hints of the beginning of that preening pride there already. "Well, then. It certainly encouraging to know that the novelty has yet to wear out."

Not that he was worried about such a thing happening, of course; he was clearly just being quite facetious.

[deathsmajesty]

But it sure would be fun up until they got caught...

She squeezed his fingers, bringing their palms together for a moment. "Not even when the rules get in the way," she said with a soft laugh. "And I find myself in a rivalry with truffles."