This Charming Man[Anis, Nero]

A commonly busy soul by nature, Nero found it difficult to relish in the repose that others welcomed after the grueling toil of work. He was no stranger to it, of course, but the idea of devoting his free time to anything other than paperwork and training was odd. Even so, for one who secretly valued his appearance and presentation to a considerable degree, it wasn't an entirely bothersome fate.

When his rest periods happened to coincide with the days where his favorite outfits and beauty products were on sale? Even better. It was the one period of time where he could freely be himself. His shopping completed, his next route was a cafe situated somewhere in the north. A swift stride would bring him to his location in an instant, and once he requested one of the waiters to place his bags in a safe place, he sat down to look at a mirror, requesting a menu with his other hand.

A few moments of reading the menu, and a Waitress came out. Long blonde hair, decent built, Sanrei gloves? Well, a girl's gotta eat, so there was nothing saying that a Quincy couldn't get a job while also practicing her reishi.

"Good morning, Miss" she exclaimed, with a bright smile. The voice was strange. It had a tone as if it had been shattered into pieces and then glued back together into a relatively fixed position. "What can I get for you?" Anis would ask, holding the pad and pen ready.

If she was perceptive to even the slightest degree, Anis would no doubt see the firm shade of red coloring Nero's countenance. Turning to face the woman entirely, a cough brushed past his lips. It wasn't as if he had been caught red-handed, but lipgloss and eyelash certainly didn't help his case in terms of denying he was a "miss." To avoid the embarassment of having to correct her, Nero simply closed the mirror, pulled the menu up, and voiced his order to distract himself.

"G-good morning... I'll have the breakfast platter and a cup of cofee."

She was one of those, huh? The ones who needed a good spanking and told to be more direct and informative with their orders. Still, it was rude to do that, Anis knew that much. She was well past that time in her life, and so would just speak to the woman and assertation information in a different way.

"Any additions, subtractions or substitutions? Or, just standard platter and black coffee?" Anis would ask, pen ready to be writing.

"B-bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes. As for the cup, I'll take something sweet today. Frappé w-would be preferred."

Regaining most of his composure, Nero simply handed the menu back to Anis as he took a deep breath. He had been thrown on the backfoot momentarily, but since she was only his waitress, there ought to be little else he needed to worry about. It was a minor error and a severe misunderstanding, but for a stranger, he supposed it wasn't a total disaster to be seen in public like this.

"A Frappe is quite different to a coffee, dear" Anis would reply, giving her a gentle smile. It was early, so Anis didn't mind standing around chatting for a little. Wouldn't be the regulars for a few more hours yet.

"You seem pretty frazzled, and I would hate to get such a pretty girl's order wrong. So, why don't you tell me what's going on and maybe I can help you into a better frame of ordering mind?"

This was good, right? Help other people, and in doing so help yourself. Make friends. And with friends, be more distant from the past.

"There isn't anything particularly wrong. This is just my first time ordering here. I usually frequent a different cafe altogether, but if you have any other suggestions... those would be more than welcomed, Miss."

Controlling the pace of his tone to display his composure, Nero, a shade of red still crossing his cheeks, offered a faint nod of the head to assauge her worries. Was it a lie? Not entirely so. He never recalled entering this place before, but there were likely several similar establishments to be found in the city of lights. As such, white lie or not, he could simply receive his order and find at least a moment of repose.

Alright. Don't push after a rejection, that was rude. Didn't know them enough to do such a thing. So here it ended. Good conversation. She fell back on her shop training, and held the pen and paper still.

"Ok. Well, tell me how you have your Frappe, miss. The milk is important, after all. Don't want to have to clean up because you are lactose intolerant. Plus, a Frappe isn't particularly sweet on it's own. It's just cold coffee. So do you want anything with your Frappe to make it sweet?"

"...Mm."

Nero didn't particulary know if cold cofee was the right choice. He wasn't lactose intolerant, and his consitution could handle quite a lot, but he wasn't really proud of the awkwardness he was presenting to the woman, and so he motioned for her to come a little closer. At worse, he could get laughed at, at best, she probably wouldn't even care, but to wash away the unease, he had to admit one thing.

"I'm a guy. I should have clarified that when you were attempting to take my order. I apologize. As coffee, I think my original choice was cappucino. Sugar and cinnamon powder will be just fine."

Well, that was one weight lifted, for what little good it did him.

Anis would come closer, and the girl said he was instead a guy. But that was ok, a penis was fine too. So she would give him a coy, conspiratorial smile.

"That doesn't make the coffee sweeter" she would tell him, before standing back up and writing down on her pad. "But ok. I shall get that out to you in a few minutes" she'd state, nodding and turning to the kitchen to get his breakfast. Hopefully, before he skedaddled in a blind awkward panic.