WARNING - Cuteness, minor drama, Cloud being pathetic.
RANT - Believe it or not, I came up with this idea while watching a show called Deadly Women. The episode I saw was about a deaf woman who was inlove with another deaf woman. Her name was Daphne. Daphne became horribly jealous when her on/off girlfriend, Sally, began to hang out with another woman (also deaf). Daphne killed the second woman under the delusion that Sally was going to leave her forever for this woman. Turns out, the girl Daphne killed was completely and UTTERLY straight, Daphne had the wrong idea. Daphne killed her, then chainsawed her body. O.o
No idea WHY that gave me this idea, but wowzerz. How a cafe love story comes from a gorey murder story that had NOTHING to do with a cafe at all, I have no clue. Only similarities is that in both the peeps are deaf.
"Hello, I'm Yuffie!" Said a rather hyper brunet girl. She was much taller then Sora, by at least a head, and wore some of the shortest shorts Sora had ever seen.
Are those even regulation? Sora thought with a laugh, waving back at Yuffie as she energetically greeted him.
"Hello." She said again. It was obvious to Sora that Yuffie wasn't used to sign language completely, as she used the longer version. She signalled to him "hello" using the alphabet instead of much simpler gestures and facial expressions. Her fore and middle fingers stood erect and pressed together on one hand, making almost like a pistol. She tapped it, then made an "e" motion- very quickly moving into an "L" sign. She ended her greeting with an "o", then waved again.
She's most likely not deaf herself. I don't know anyone who still uses the basic alphabet. How is she a manager here? Sora signaled back by giving a simple salute motion toward his forehead, smiling politely.(1) He went on to gently pat his chest once, then make the pistol symbol with both his hands the same way Yuffie did, but he tapped them together- one on top of the other- instead of pointing or bouncing. Then fisted, and pistoled again very quickly with one hand.(2)
"Ah, yes. We met in menu classes! I don't usually teach those, so I should have totally remembered. Sorry!" Yuffie took much longer to signal back, having to spell out each of her words. Sora understood all the same, patiently waiting for her to finish signalling. "Welcome on board, Sora! As I said, I'm Yuffie. I'll be your direct boss under Leon. Today you'll be starting out by food running. We don't like giving the new waiters any tables right off the bat, we prefer you get used to the menu first. Makes things easier. I know you had menu class, because I taught it- so of course you know the menu well... But we like to double check. It also helps with knowing where all the tables are and how all dishes are suppose to look before being walked out. Sometimes the chefs, while in a hurry, miss details or get certain orders wrong- so pay lots of attention!"
Sora began to walk as Yuffie waved him forward after her, the two of them walking further into the store and toward the back again. The cafe hadn't opened yet, it was much too early. Inside there were only a few servers, each cleaning all the wooden furniture and setting up the scented chocolate candles that sat in the middle of each table. The floors were freshly mopped, making the brunet feel a little guilty as he tredded across the clean floor- despite not having any mess to leave behind on his shoes.
Yuffie stopped as they came to the back, standing before the chef tables again. Cloud was working this morning as well, by himself for now. Sora watched him, supposing Leon only needed one person to prep the tables... Either that or Cloud liked to work alone, he did seem awkward with people (except that time with Leon, of course). He turned back to his manager as she tapped his shoulder.
"Alright! Food running. It's just what it says it is, you will be dealing with the food. You'll be carrying it out to the customers as the orders are made. Memorize the table chart, it'll be crucial. And always ALWAYS double check the food receipts, they'll tell you which customer at what seat got what dessert. The receipts will also say how each meal was altered, if there was altering to be needed. Some people are allergic to peanuts, and some of our dishes have peanuts. Very important. Okay?"
Sora nodded, looking a little nervous.
I know I can do the job, I just hope I don't get so pressured about getting it right that my memory starts to collapse... Then again, I am new. I have at least a week of free passes out of trouble, I'll easily remember the table chart by then. The brunet grinned confidently, nodding again.
"Good. Oh, and be sure to say hi to Cloud!" Yuffie grinned over at the bloond chef, who scowled at her unpleasantly. Yuffie sighed at him, then said- her hands down, so she wasn't signalling, "he rejected you again, eh? My brother likes you, I swear, he's just got a stick up his butt."
The blond huffed at her, lifting a bottle of cleaning spray and playfully aiming. Yuffie ducked quickly. Despite the brunet woman not signalling, as Cloud could hear with the aid in his ear, Sora understood what she said. He was very good at lip reading.
"Who is your brother?" Sora asked out loud, in a very sweet voice. Both managers looked at him in surprise. It wasn't so strange that a deaf person could read lips, it was actually extremely common. What surprised them was that Sora was lacking any difficulty with speaking...(3) However, he did speak a little too quietly, his words a little slow- as if to make sure he was speaking correctly.
Yuffie blinked again, tilting her head. She asked, still not signalling, "you speak so clearly!"
"Oh..." Sora began. "I had hearing until I was sixteen. I was near an explosion and it... busted my ears, I guess you would say."
"I'm so sorry..."
"It's fine. I do well, despite having lost my hearing. It just made it hard to find a job." Sora chuckled at them, perfectly cheerful.
"I can hear fine, but my older brother was born deaf. He had surgery to hear again a few years ago, then started this cafe." Yuffie looked so proud.
"Oh, so your brother is Leon?"
"Yep!"
That explains why she's so high ranked. "Congratulations."
"Thanks! You're so polite, Sora." Yuffie turned to Cloud again. She huffed, walking around the table to grab Cloud by one muscular arm. He was attempting to sneak away while she was busy talking to Sora. "You gotta stay and explain your job!"
"Why? It's not as if he'll be a cook..." Cloud grumbled in discontent, still dragging Yuffie. He was much stronger then she was, but where was he to go anyway? He stopped and sighed, looking miserable.
"He might have to be used as a prep cook, though! You gotta explain it to him!"
"Can't you let me just drown in my own misery...?"
Sora wasn't able to see the whole conversation, but what he could was a little funny. He did feel bad for Cloud though.
Poor Cloud... He did look so happy to Leon last week when we met. He must really care about him. I wonder why Leon would reject him? After all, Cloud is very good looking- and Leon is very obviously gay. Sora went wide-eyed, looking a little shock as he continued to wonder to himself. Yuffie and Cloud, meanwhile, continued their conversation- Sora too busy thinking to see Yuffie glomp the poor blond, or to see Cloud fall down into about a pound of dough thanks to said action. What if... What if Leon says 'no' because Cloud has hearing problems? Leon doesn't have them anymore. I know a few people, once they can start hearing, they think they're too good for deaf people... Poor poor Cloud..
Speaking of him, Leon walked out from the back where his office was, his brow twitching as he noted the blond with a face full of dough and Yuffie cackling. The smallest brunet looked up at the manager, forwning slightly... doing his best not to assume.
It's wrong to think badly of others before knowing them... but still.
Cloud growled at Yuffie as Leon walked to him, too angry to notice the store manager helping clean his face off. Sora laughed and smiled, completely relieved, as Leon gave Cloud's powdered cheek a long lick, then made a disgusted face from the taste of plain dough. The blond burst into red all over his face, looking many times happier then he did.
"Wait, I thought you rejected him?" Yuffie asked, shocked to see the display of affection.
"I never said that. You assumed it." Cloud replied for the brunet, who immediately snuggled up to the manager. He looked like a content kitten, nuzzling and squeezing Leon's waist and chest- a complete one-eighty from his bad mood.
"Then why were you acting so depressed and mad?"
"You already forgot?" Leon gave Yuffie a flat look, his arms loosely hugging the blond- who was still attempting to drown him in affection. "I'm going on a trip next week. I told him today."
"Oh yea... That." Yuffie scratched the back of her head and laughed. "I knew that!"
Sora felt so lost, staring between all of is managers, trying to keep up with the conversation. It was rather hard though, giving him a headache. He gave up and sighed, which caught their attention again.
Yuffie blinked at Sora, quickly apologizing. She signalled it this time. "Sorry sorry sorry!"
Leon's flat expression turned even flatter. "Learn proper sign language already! You've been living with me for twenty years, just do it!"
"This is proper sign language!" Yuffie argued. "Besides, you didn't need much signalling when we were growing up, you were an awesome lip reader."
That explains that. Sora chuckled. It was a little hilarious how quickly his questions were being answered, as if his managers could read his mind.
Yuffie turned back to Sora. "Next week, Squa-"
"It's Leon."
"Leon will be leaving for a few weeks on a trip to check out the new location for a new Quiet Cafe." She explained happily, looking so proud again. Her eyes even seemed to sparkle. The girl in short-shorts turned to Leon again, hands down. "So, why not take Cloud with you? You might not be returning for a long time."
"Because he's taking my place as temporary store manager. I can't trust you." Leon said quite simply, turning his head to give Cloud's lips a quick peck. He let him go after that, turning back to his office. "I better not hear anymore crashing. We open soon!"
Cloud looked so helpless, hesitantly letting Leon go. He turned back to the remaining brunets then toward his work station, looking so lost and forlorn. His eyes even seemed a little watery. Such a big guy, being so clingy to even bigger guy...
Sora tried his best not to chuckle at him.
Sora was brought through the kitchen again, getting instructions on how to work the ovens, clean the back, work the soda machines, and even when to change the coffee. He was introduced to the table beepers again and the table chart, then given a very quick test on which table was which when he was walked back out onto the floor. Afterward, he was taken to the back again.
"Okay, so do you still have that little menu booklet?"
Sora produced from an apron pocket a small, laminated booklet on a ring.
"Good. In there are all the pictures of all the dishes we have, use it as a reference for whenever you're about to run food out. Don't rush! Even if it means the customer may have to wait an extra minute to get their food, we would rather the customer wait then get the order wrong and have something even worse happen. Okay?"
Sora nodded at her, putting the little booklet back into his pocket.
"Always check." Yuffie repeated, then smiled brightly. "Well, I think that's about it. Everything else you just sort of pick up and learn along the way. Just remember that the most important rule is safety, safety, SAFETY!"
"Miff Yuuffie."
Yuffie turned as she heard a slightly muffled-sounding voice call her name. Sora turned with her, seeing a young blond girl standing at the entrance/exit of the kitchens. The blond girl was a little short, all in white, and very pretty- with crystal blue eyes and a shy smile.
"Ah, Namine!" Yuffie lifted her hands. During the time when she was with Sora, she had pretty much stopped signalling- even though that meant she had to repeat herself a couple times (as she speaks rather fast on a normal basis). "Namine, this is Sora. The new trainee." Yuffie turned to Sora. "Sora, this is one of our trainers, she'll be personally seeing to your 'education' of the cafe. She'll show you how to hold a tray, how to handle a bad situation with irrate customers, and how to tell where each seat at each table is."
Namine slid her hands across each other gently, as if she were wiping something off her hands. They were flat on top of each other, her bottom hand's palm facing upward to the ceiling. She then quickly lifted her hands, fisting both except the pointer fingers. The pointer fingers dropped into the fist, then lifted back up. She soon tapped the knuckles together. To end the gesture, she pointed at Sora with another sweet smile with one finger.(4)
Sora did the same thing, then shook hands with her. Namine's hands were very soft, if not a little cold from the air conditioning. Sora immediately thought that, if he were not gay, he might find it easy to fall for this girl. He also thought, immediately after that, he had to know what lotion she used.
"Yay!" Yuffie bounced in place and clapped her hands, making Namine giggle. "Now that we're all nice and introduced, let's open the store and have some fun! You can meet the other servers while you work."
Sora nodded, watching Yuffie run off. The brunet was pulling a chain of keys out of her tiny pocket, which simply dumbfounded Sora
How does she keep anything in those little pockets, much less a bunch of keys?
Namine tapped his shoulder to get his attention again. Once more, she was grinning- a little more so now that she got to speak top Sora alone. Though, she only had one thing to tell him.
She cupped her hand so the palm was facing Sora first, then gently made a forward half circle- her hand's palm ending up facing the ceiling. Still moving casually with her hands, she fisted her left hand with only the pointer finger straight up- her other hand also fisted with the point finger up, but instead of having it stand before her face as her left hand did, she had her right hand's finger jet upward into a circular motion from the side until the tips pressed together. Both her hands were lifted after that, both hands flat and facing opposite walls, with the left hand in front of her right. She slid them both downwards. To end her sentence, she made a "c" symbol with her right hand on the right side of her chin, then bounced her "c" over to the left side, ending it with a quick slide down directly from the left side of her chin.
Welcome to the Quiet Cafe.
Namine smiled. Her right hand lifted, her three middle fingers in a loose fist as her pinky pointed out and her thumb stood straight. From that, she quickly moved both her hands again, her right going to the side of her head- giving it a light tap- as her left was in front of her face. Both were straight. From there, she gave her fingers, not her hands, two quick jumps. She pointed at Sora, then she fisted both her hands and tapped the front of her left wrist over the back of her right hand. To end her message, she simply waved both her hand before her chest- her hands held out with her fingers together, thumbs seperated, and palms up. She giggled again.
I hope you enjoy working here.
1.) The very simple version of saying "Hello" in sign language. Looks like a salute.
2.) Sign language for "My name is".
3.) Sora may speak normally, but those who are born deaf or who have lived with hearing loss for a long time would typically have a lisp or very obvious difficulty with speaking. Since they can't hear, they would not know how to sound out words completely. I explained why Sora speaks alright, but he's the ONLY deaf character (and there are five completely deaf characters) that can. And that's ONLY because he had a lot of time to learn. Namine, on the other hand, obviously does not have the same advantage.
4.) "Nice to meet you".
BIG PROPS TO Zaya FOR INTRODUCING ME TO AN AWESOME AND SIMPLE ASL SITE. Super appreciated.
I'm sorry if those two sentences seem HUGE, I just wanted to make sure the description was correct and well understood. I'm afraid to say, only the simple stuff that anyone would say to greet or ask other people is... well... simple. Anything specific, I'll have to make into big descriptions like that. But I don't mind doing it if it'll help people understand the language a little.
Read, review, no flames plz.