Arrow (arrowroro) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-10-17 19:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | gabe santorini, ~ro clark |
Sweet Treats
Who: Ro and Gabe
What: Dessert with new friends
Where: Brasserie Le Breeze
When: Backdated, roughly same day as Brianna/Derek/Radek
Ratings/Warnings: None!
Ro was finishing up for the day at le Breeze. Everything was racked and wrapped and the pastry assistant had just finished clearing down their area of the kitchen. Across the kitchen, the savory chefs were kicking into high gear in advance of the dinner rush. It was just about time to head out and start thinking about her own dinner. She was just going over tomorrow’s prep list when one of the servers approached the counter.
“Hey Ro, there’s someone asking for you. Says his name is Gabe?”
Ro immediately brightened. “He’s a friend here for dessert. I’ll bring him something, be a few minutes. Thanks.” The server, a sandy-haired young man of college age looked interested at the word friend but didn’t say anything, only nodding and stepping back out of the kitchen.
Ro swung by her locker to change out of her chef whites and into a T-shirt before coming back into the kitchen. She grabbed a couple plates and stepped out through the swinging doors looking for Gabe. His dark hair was easy to spot and Ro set down a plate in front of him and then one for herself.
“Hello!” she said cheerfully, taking a seat. “I didn’t know what you liked but baklava...nuts…” she shrugged and then smiled hopefully. “This is a chocolate hazelnut mille feuille with hazelnut cream and an espresso ganache.”
A smile spread across Gabe's face as Ro sat down, his eyebrows lifting as he looked at what she had brought them. "These are definitely not baklava but anything with espresso is always going to get my attention," he grinned, eyes darting from the desserts to Ro's face and back again. The aroma of coffee reached his nose and he sniffed appreciatively. "And if it tastes as good as it looks and smells then I can't wait to try it." As he reached for the dessert fork he added, "by the way, nice to see you again."
Ro picked up her own fork, cutting down into her dessert and enjoying the satisfying crunch of the flaky pastry crumbling. "Hey, you too," she said brightly. "I know it's not out of your way since you live here and everything but it's nice you stopped. Hope the food is worth it."
"Let's see," the wizard responded with a mock serious judgemental expression as he loaded his fork and lifted the morsal for closer observation. "Excellent presentation, perfect balance of aromas, delightful combination of crunch and silky smoothness," he observed, trying to channel some of Ronnie and the types of comments the chef had used during the conversations they shared during the three nights he had stayed with Gabe the previous full moon. He managed to keep a straight face as he finally placed the fork in his mouth but within a few seconds had to let out a hum of complete appreciation as the combination of flavours and textures flooded his mouth. All he could do was nod enthusiastically as he savoured it, then swallowed, already reloading his fork.
Ro grinned. "Somebody's been watching Top Chef. But thanks. I'd hate to turn you off dessert." She attacked her pastry cream with enthusiasm, taking a few bites before asking,"So what have you been up to? How's the very mysterious family business?"
Gabe chuckled at the reference to the TV Chef show. He'd only learned of its existence through clientele down in the Caribbean, and then Ronnie. He'd never seen an actual show. "Generally it's all 'smooth sailing'," he replied with a smile, knowing full well she wouldn't understand the pun. "Just the usual rough spots, and one item that's keeping us all on our toes. But where's the fun in life if it was just calm waters all the time?" he replied.
'You refer to your uncle as a rough spot now?'
'For the moment, I will front him soon.'
'Not soon enough.'
Gabe covered the roll of his eyes with a look of enjoyment as he formed the next mouthful of the dessert into his mouth.
"That was a lot of boat puns," Ro offered with a delighted smile. Sure Gabe had said absolutely nothing in context but he'd said it with style and she could appreciate that. "Is your vague family business in shipping? Do you ship? Have you shipped?"
Gabe’s smile spread and expanded into a soft laugh. “You could say that, yes,” he admitted. “My family has been involved in shipping for as long as boats have plied the Mediterranean. Sail, steam, diesel, yachts, cruisers, freighters, all the above and those in between,” he continued, then added, “I grew up with the magic of the ocean on my doorstep and the sea air in my lungs, which of course begs the question how on earth did I end up here in the middle of the desert!”
So many boats. Ro had spent the occasional afternoon out on the water but overall she very little about sailing beyond boats float. "That does beg the question," Ro agreed. She carefully scooped pastry and cream onto her fork. "You should answer it. I love a good story."
“Well,” Gabe sighed, “long story short? I’m here in the desert due to a good friend moving back here after we worked together for a number of years down south, in the Caribbean mainly. Yes, on boats,” he grinned. “I needed to base myself here in the US for a while, and figured I may as well do it where I know at least someone,” he added with a shrug.
“How about you? Tell me the story of Ro.”
Ro gestured with a fork, in an almost dismissive way, the movement providing new angles on the tattoos crawling up her arm. "I am not that interesting." She couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up, aware how that sounded. "I'd done some travelling but I wasn't doing much. Needed to find something to fill the hours. Culinary school did that. Vegas seemed fun so I came and got myself a job and here I am."
Gabe’s eyebrow arched. “There’s more to that story written on you,” he suggested, nodding to the tattoos he could see. “Tell me about those.”
Ro extended her arm in an open invention for Gabe to take a closer look at her arm. It was clear that the tattoos on her forearm had been added piecemeal as the mood. Not much of Ro’s upper arm was visible under her shirt sleeve but the colors peeking out from there looked more unified. “I like to look at pretty things. I love the color, the art. I like knowing what people see when they look at me.”
Not every tattoo was an immaculate work of art. There was a spray of simple multi-colored stars, a simple pattern of V-shaped lines, what looked like a lipstick coming out of a bullet casing, a collection of ferns fronds and leaves, and a pair of birds. “I got this in Spain,” she offered, indicating the birds. They had black heads, white chests, and a tan body that faded into azure-tipped wings.
Gabe nodded, running his eyes over her arms, the temptation to reach out and push her sleeves up very strong, but resistable, “Tell me about the birds,” he asked, “I have a rather close affinity with animals of all types and species, moreso marine, but birds have their own special place for me.”
“These are an azure magpie something. From what I understand, they can only be found in one specific region in Spain. I like birds. Can’t pin them down, they can always fly away. They’re free.” Considering that Ro had the word ‘forward’ in script on her neck just above her collar bone, it was easy to infer she wasn’t good with being tied down.
“So you’re a free spirit in every way,” Gabe returned with a grin and wink. “Birds certainly have freedoms us mere earthbound mortals don’t get,” he added, then nodded at the stars. “They get to fly closer to the stars,” he added. “Ever wondered what it would be like to wander around up there, among them? The stars?”
Ro tapped her fork against her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I think I’d like to float in space. Just be weightless.” She raised her arms simulating what she imagined it might look like to be in zero gravity. “What about you? Where would you go if you could go anywhere?”
Gabe laughed softly as she ‘floated’. “Astral traveling,” he replied, “like on Aladdin’s magic carpet, as in without all the trappings of mechanical support we need to keep us alive in space!” he laughed. “Almost nailed it once, but yeah, ran out of oxygen, woke up with the biggest headache!”
"Wait, what!" Ro leaned in, fascinated. "Did you go to space? Did you try to go to space? What is happening, what did you do?"
Gabe’s eyebrows waggled as his lips closed around the fork, drawing the utensil out and savouring the mouthful of sweet dessert. “Tried,” he said as he finished the mouthful and swallowed. “Emphasis on the word tried,” he continued. “Had a little help from some ‘friends’, who got me close, but they weren’t designed for that level either.” He looked a little rueful at the memory, shaking his head. “Stopped trying after that.” He studied his fork for a moment before looking at Ro. “Have you ever been diving? What you’re talking about is exactly what diving is like, floating weightlessly, in ‘blue’ space. Have you tried that?”
"I've been in boats a few times." People with money sometimes liked to take her sailing. "I haven't done much beyond snorkel. I'd like to go diving. And," she added with an accusing stab of her fork in the air towards Gabe, "I'm still not sure whether or not you actually tried to send yourself to space."
Gabe laughed softly at her tenacity and raised his eyebrows again. "Astral traveling is not physically sending one's body to space," he replied, tapping his temple with a forefinger. "It's usually done without the physical. Unlike diving, of course, where it's definitely a physical activity and one where us mere mortals do have the gear that can help us down there." He paused before adding, "if you enjoyed snorkeling I suggest you try diving. I think you'll love it."
Ro looked at Gabe appraisingly until she settled on impressed. "You're smarter than the average bear, aren't you?"
He wasn’t quite sure what he’d said to garner that assessment, but was happy to take it.
’She doesn’t know you very well.’
‘She doesn’t know you at all.’
‘We can change that.’
‘Not right now, wouldn’t be really appropriate.’
‘… ‘
“I will bow to your great skills at creating amazing foods,” he returned, scraping together the last of the delicious dessert. “Though I do know some, even some bears, who might disagree with you,” he added with a grin before popping the last forkful into his mouth.
Ro had been called mysterious on more than one occasion but Gabe gave her a run for her money. Still he was upbeat and friendly and she'd take that any day.
"Well, there's no pleasing some people," Ro commented after licking her fork clean of cream. "Right now if you're pleased with your dessert, I'll take it and everyone else can go screw.”
“They can, and good luck to them,” he chuckled in reply, returning his fork to the plate, slightly sad there was no more, but also very satisfied. He watched as she cleaned up the fork and leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand, elbow propped on the table. The cafe area of le Breeze was comfortably informal and part of why he enjoyed staying there, it did remind him a little of home, the European vibe coming through in the decor and atmosphere created by the staff.
“So how long have you been working here?”
"Maybe a month, six weeks?" Ro wasn’t great at keeping track of that sort of thing. "I'm new. I was lucky they had the job when they did."
“Yeah? Seems like a pretty good crew here,” he commented, glancing across at the bar staff with whom he was getting to be on first name basis now. “What’s the boss like?”
"She's," gorgeous, "great. Knows her stuff." She studied Gabe a moment. "A bit like you, actually. Very friendly and enthusiastic."
Gabe’s eyebrows shot up as he darted a look at Ro. “Well, she must be great!” he laughed, covering his slight embarrassment. “She’s certainly easy to talk to,” he agreed, “but seems to be working all the time. Does she ever take days off?”
Ro shrugged. "Maybe? Possibly? Maybe not? I don’t really know her life. Do you know Brianna?"
Nodding a little Gabe replied, "only since I started staying here, in the hotel. Not before. Guess that sort of makes her my landlady," he grinned.
"Well, I like her," Ro said decisively. "Be nice to her. No unnecessary complaints."
Gabe nodded, replying “aye, aye, Captain!” with a teasing grin, giving a playful salute to the pastry chef with the hand he’d been resting his chin on. “Nice to hear she’s as good with the staff as she is with the clients.”
Ro saluted back, grinning and with a laugh. "No worries there." She covered her plate with her napkin, the universal sign of being finished. "I'm glad we have nice people staying here. It was nice talking to you, Gabe. You ever want more dessert, you know where to find me."
The wizard nodded, placing his own serviette on the plate in front of him. “And if you want to try flying underwater, let me know. I head across to the Coast every so often, to get some salt air in my lungs. Can introduce you to the wonders of ‘flying’ without an aircraft.”
"Oh yeah, sign me up. I am all in for that." Ro was dying even to know how much of what he said was literal. Magic existed, she knew, and it could do some amazing things for those who knew how to use it.
She pulled out her phone, typed something into and showed Gabe the screen. "That's my number, I'll be around." Once she was sure he had it, Ro waved goodbye and headed out into the Vegas evening.