New Environments [VIOLET]

It had only been a few weeks since Aidan had arrived in the City of Lights and the entire ordeal was utterly overwhelming. His classes were going nowhere, so he had quit weeks ago. And upon hearing this, the boss of his ramen shop was looking to open up a second location somewhere highly populated. Aidan know how the ramen was made, had all the recipes for the various broths memorized, knew how many ingredients to use, and he had even held down the fort on his own on dozens of occasions. That's why the boy was number one candidate to open up this new location in the City of Lights.

But Aidan had never been, and on top of that he was only given three weeks to set up and prepare everything. All the machines, utensils, he had to organize everything. It was a lot. The stuff was already paid for and sitting at the location, but it also took him time to set up the broths, the minimum amount of veggies he'd need for a day, all the ramen cooked and packaged for all the meals, all the...

He had opened just a few minutes ago and just now heard the bell on the door ring. He was so busy chopping things up for later that he could only look passingly over his shoulder and give a cheery, "Welcome! Menus are in the basket right there. Feel free to order whatever, but we do have deals on tonkotsu today just so you know."

Exhaustion.

Violet pulled her hair back into a ponytail to get it out of her way, tying it up with a black ribbon. She had the mind to chop most of it off, but knew that was the frustration talking. She loved her hair, so cutting it was something she knew she would definitely regret later. With a pit in her stomach, she looked around for something to eat at this hour. Her night shift was finally over, so she was desperate for something to eat. It was then that she spotted a new place.

Making her way inside, a little bell went off. That was a familiar method. She stepped inside and looked around. She could tell it was a ramen shop, but had not been able to try any yet. Hearing the man from the back about the menus, she picked on up and started looking through. Well, this was a pain...

Violet sat somewhere free and tried figuring out the menu. She wasn't sure what a lot of this was, including the item he said was on sale... She would need help, so she waited for him to come out, staring at the menu with a furrowed brow.

It would only take a minute or so before Aidan came out from the back with veggies in hand. It was a ramen bar so most of the work was done from the other side of the counter. Pots were set on stoves, bowls of veggies were sitting out ready to be used at a moment's notice, ramen was set in packets just off to the side, and eggs visible through the glass door of a fridge just waiting to be used.

"Can't tell what to order?" He asked politely, a big dumb grin on his face at having his first proper customer. "I don't blame ya. It's a lot." Dumping the contents of the bowls in one big pot and setting them aside to be washed later, he turned to his customer and pulled a towel out from behind the counter to start wiping his hands clean. Everything was one big serious of motions dedicated to one surprisingly difficult task. "Tonkotsu is pork ramen. Pork broth with pork meat, some eggs, couple veggies, little bit of katsuobu- uh, dried fish shavings. Mostly to sit in the broth and give it more flavor. Promise you won't taste much of 'em."

And with a wry chuckle, he turned back to the giant pot and began gently pressing down the veggies with a massive ladle to make sure they got properly soaked and cooked. "Of course we have other stuff too. Chicken flavor, beef flavor, some soy stuff if that's what you're into. Feel free to pick whatever."

At least the guy had the welcoming smile part of the business down. There were some shop owners that lost that sort of skill. Looking a little embarrassed, Violet tried figuring something out quickly, but gave up. With a sigh, she looked to Aiden.

"Yeah, sorry. I've never been to a place like this before."

Violet appreciated the explanations he gave. When he got to the 'dried fish shavings,' her face soured, as if biting into an unripe lemon. He seemed to tell that put her off a bit because he defended the meal quick. It just made her chuckle.

"Um, I'll go ahead and try that pork one. It sounds just fine."

Violet closed up the menu and began waiting silently. She tried not to stare, feeling awkward and rude when she did, but she often found herself watching what different things he was toss into the pot. She knew her way around a kitchen in the sense of baking, not cooking. You want a cake, pie, cookies? Violet could do it! But watching this was like watching a different art style being performed.

"So... Do you enjoy this type of work?"

Aidan took the girl's order with an equally big smile and immediately set to work. Everything was already laid out, all he had to do was grab a bowl, fill it with concentrated broth, equal it out with some hot water, fill it with noodles, egg, pork, some seasonings and veggies, and then he was done. Violet's steaming bowl of fresh ramen was being set in front of her, a pair of chopsticks laid neatly across the top, by the time she asked him if he liked his job, to which Aidan just laughed.

"Most people don't like this kind of hard work. Getting everything all together and just right is actually a lot harder than you'd think. Can't let anything run out or I won't be able to serve the right food, so it's a constant game of keep-up for what's effectively just a bowl of fancy soup." He explained, giving the girl a respective bow as was tradition in the service, before turning right back around and doing exactly what he said. Straining more noodles and beginning to wash them to help them cool down so he could package them later.

"But yeah, I'd say I do. Not many people appreciate it, but I'm a simple guy. Hard work for a good meal is a good payout in my book."

His energy brought some back to Violet, so a little of her exhaustion dwindled. As the ramen was set in front of her, she gave him a small smile and thanked him. She picked up the chopsticks and put them in her hands like a newbie would. She knew how to use them, but it was clear that she did not grow up with them.

"Hard work ain't for everyone, so I get not wanting to do it..." Violet said, practically admitting that she was one of those people. If it weren't for the need to eat and buy things like clothes, she'd not be working the basic retail job she had only recently got. She would rather be a pop star or an actress. That could be fun.

Violet took her first bite, struggling only a little to get the noodles up. She was getting better at this! To her surprise, she actually enjoyed the taste. Soups weren't her favorite thing, but this came out good. She quickly took a second bite, eating a few of the veggies. "Wow, this is pretty good. I'ma bring a friend next time."

"This shop is new right? I haven't been here long, but I don't remember seeing it before. What brings you to the City of Lights? Or... at least this part of the city. I don't exactly know where you were before. You coulda just been down the street."

Just hearing that the girl wanted to bring a friend next time only widened the boy's genuinely kind smile. "That makes me very happy to hear. I only started this whole thing a year ago back in Karakura, and, well, that wasn't my shop. Was just an apprentice." He admitted, which also lead him into answering her question as he kept on working the various chores he needed to keep the shop running constantly.

"The boss wanted to open up a location here, has been for quite some time actually. And I wasn't... wasn't really into my classes at university. Didn't feel like they were going anywhere. And then I got attacked by a Hollow... and then met this chick who investigated spiritual stuff, and another who could, like, summon a Hollow mask from thin air, among uh, several other weird things. A bunch of people that could do cool things that made me feel kinda lame, so I, uh... yeah. Moved here when I heard there were more people like that around here."

But his true intentions were just too silly to say out loud. He wanted to see if he could live that sort of grandiose lifestyle of fighting monsters despite how dangerous it might be. And even if it wasn't his job, maybe he could do some cool stuff too? It was comically childish and he didn't know how else to put it together in his head, so he did his best to see if he could leave it off like he was just interested in people like that, storytelling, or that it made him feel safe or something. Anything to make himself not look like a kid in grown up clothing.

"Wow, you've had an interesting year, huh?"

Violet was impressed by the number of things he hed witnessed. The most she could say she's done is meet a member of the Vandenreich. Of course, she loved having Solomon around, but she didn't think he could summon a hollow mask o-. Oh, god. Violet just realized he met a vizard. How is that not the coolest thing? In between bites, Violet spoke up and was clearly very interested in his stories.

"You met a Vizard? I've read about them, and they're apparently getting more common, but I've never actually met one before. Were they mean? Did they go crazy when they put their mask on? Dad said Vizards were like... diseased and they could spread it from spiritual being to spiritual being, sometimes even humans... Well, it was Dad who said that, and he's kinda an asshole, so... probably not true."

"A what?"

Aidan was painfully oblivious to the spiritual world. Was this common knowledge he should have known? First the one chick coming to him talking about flash stepping or whatever, now another girl who could immediately tell that woman was a viz-something. Was that the term for that? He tried to act normal about it but there was a hitch in his words and his movements as he worked, but he recovered pretty quickly.

"I- She sort of just summoned it in her hand. Are they supposed to go crazy? She kind of was just bragging about how she could like, cross countries or something in a single step. And also about how she could shoot lasers, or something." He mumbled, though at recollecting it all he couldn't help but chuckle. It was pretty absurd, he had to give the woman that.

"She didn't do any infecting. Maybe if she touched me, but she just had ramen and moved on with her day after I told her she sounded like she was making stuff up. Maybe I'm in the wrong. Over the past month or so I've met a bunch of people like that. Hard to gauge it all when you haven't seen it, y'know?"

The short stop in his tone showed Violet she may have over stepped. There was no need to bombard him with those questions. To her, this kind of thing was every day life, common knowledge she studied since she was young. She didn't really think of the strangeness it could seem like to others. She calmed down and sat back on her stool, letting him explain what he remembered. He described it like someone new.

"Sounds like a bragger to me; I guess anything is possible in this world though." Violet rubbed the back of her head, a bit embarrassed by her behavior. "Honestly, I don't know. Some gain control, others go nuts and attack their own friends. From what I understand, they can be dangerous." Violet shrugged. She never met a vizard in the first place, and doubt she ever would. If she did, she expected her death.

"So, yeah... I can't blame you for being skeptical of someone bragging like that. I know they can move real fast, but across a country in the matter of seconds? If the county was the size of town, maybe." Violet took a few seconds to enjoy some more of her ramen. She was careful not to slurp because it sounded gross and she didn't want the broth going everywhere, but a rogue noodle betrayed her. Grabbing a napkin, she wiped off her face. "Noodles shouldn't be allowed to be messy..."