Night 45: Grani and Skadi, Hot Cocoa with Marshmallow
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
The weather had been growing colder by the day. Many operators who were sensitive to the change of the weather had traded their jackets for furred coats with even furrier hats. As for the the Diner, the chilly night wind blew in from the cracks of the side windows had made people refrain from sampling cold drinks. Thus the Chef had took off the ice cream machine, and the ice cold cola in the display cabinet was switched with warm canned coffee and milk tea. He even set up a cooker for slow-boiled sweet corn cobs on the bar counter in the style of Yan street food vendor and convenient stores.
"Brrrr—ouf, it's so cold outside! Boss, is there anything warm to drink? I'm freezing here!" A petit girl was stomping her feet before the counter, all the while rubbing her hands together and blowing warm breath into her palms. The Chef poked his head from behind the counter. He saw the mounted police face mask worn on the girl's head, as well as the dirty outbound uniform she wore. She must freshly come back from an off-ship assignment, he thought. "There are some canned stuff in the display case, but if you are not in a hurry I can make you some too – hey, I remember you. Aren't you that girl who rode on Bagpipe's shoulder when she was running around the ship? You got an outbound assignment today? Not the best day for it, I can tell." He said.
"Yeah! The wind was really really wild out there!" Grani gestured. With a hop she sat atop a bar stool. "My face was blasted with waves of sand, and even with the mask I could still barely be able to open my eyes...Let me take a look here. Coffee, black tea, warm cystmilk...hmm, I don't feel like any though. Boss, could you please make some hot cocoa? I want hot cocoa with marshmallows. Warm and sweet – it's best for weather like this."
The Chef nodded. He took out a large bag of marshmallows from the cabinet and tossed to Grani. "Pick out the ones you like, not too many though. It'd make the drink too sweet." Then he put a pot on the stove and poured fresh cystmilk in it and turned up the heat. When the milk was about to boil, he added in a piece of dark chocolate and a few spoonful of cocoa powder. As the chocolate melted, he turned down the heat to light. When he saw the milk had turned light brown thoroughly, he poured it into a mug and passed it before Grani with a golden spoon inside. The hot cocoa was sweet and enticing, and she tossed the marshmallows she chose into the mug – the shape of pegasi, stars and pizza pies. Just as she was about to take a sip, the Chef stopped her and sprinkled some more cocoa powder into the drink with a small sifter. He then squeezed in some chocolate sauce, then gestured her to proceed with her drink.
The soft and porous marshmallow soaked up the cocoa and became half-melted. Grani took up the mug and had a sip. The sweetness of the marshmallow had completely mixed into the drink, and made it a lot less bitter. The taste of chocolate tangled in-between her teeth, and what was left of the marshmallows easily melted at the tip of her tongue. The hint of bitterness neutralized the overwhelming sweetness of the drink, and the warmth it brought quickly dispelled the chill of the wilderness. She downed the whole mug in a few gulps with satisfaction.
Grani placed the empty mug on the counter and shivered slightly. Then she let out a long sigh and said "Quite refreshing...Ey boss, isn't that Skadi? Why is she sitting alone over there?"
"Donno, I am not gonna ask her. You go ahead." The Chef said and curled his lips. There had been quite a few rumors and legends surrounding Skadi on Rhodes Island. The most recent one was that this fabled travelling bounty hunter possessed the strength to break the weight-bearing wheel of the land ship by hand then threw it all the way up and into the bridge...It was still far off from that story which told that Skadi defeated six elite combat caster and two heavy centurions of the Reunion with just a plushie, it had still been quite a popular story that spread among the customers of the Diner for quite some time. So even in his familiar territory, the Chef would prefer not to bother Skadi. He wouldn't want to see the deeply loved Diner he had spent his lifetime on reduced to rubbles – It'd be worse than having him killed outright.
"Ah, Skadi is a lot better than you guys thought." Grani waved her hand with a smile. "I'll go and keep her company for awhile. Could you please make two more mugs of hot cocoa?"
Although she had been living on the land for quite some time, Skadi still never got use to it. The winds on the plains would carry the stink of sand and dirt. It was always unbearably dry. She looked at the mountains outside the side window and listening to the sand rustling against it. Times like this she liked to reminiscent about the ocean. The salty unfathomable sea wrapped around her and held her tight like a never-ending dream. It had always made her feel comfortable, and it had been a distant dream ever since she walked onto the land.
When she came back to her senses there had been an small figure sitting beside her. It was Grani. She pushed a mug of hot cocoa with fresh marshmallows toward her and blinked with a smile. "Idling by yourself again eh? Take a sip of this. The boss made it fresh. It was really cold outside today."
Skadi picked up the mug and took a slip. Seasons beneath the waves was never a clear distinction, as deep down in the ocean would only be slightly colder than the surface temperature by Aegier's standard. The difference in "weather" would rarely affect their emotions. Yet the cocoa in her palms was warm, and soon her expressionless cheeks where coloured a pink hue from comfort brought by the warm and sweet drink.
"It's good." She said.
"Good to know! But you gotta mingle too." Grani pointed towards the operators at another table enjoying their meals together. "It was never a bad thing to be in friends' company!" She said cheerfully.
"Um...Maybe...Maybe I am just more used to being alone..." Skadi said after some hesitation. "Besides, I don't know what to say to them."
"Then just start with a greeting and go from there. You don't need a reason to be social with a mug of hot cocoa in your hands!." Without warning Grani dragged Skadi by her arm towards the other table. "I heard from the Yanese that today's the first day of winter. How about we go ask them about what to wear for winter so we both can look good?" She said.
"Wait, the drink..." Skadi turned back and looked at her mug on the table. The pink orca marshmallow inside had melted completely into an unrecognizable lump.
Reminder from the Chef: From today on the Diner would no longer provide ice-cream, shaved ice and other cold drinks. Instead the Diner would start offering hand-crafted hot drinks, boiled sweet corn cobs and hot brown sugar drink with ginger root slices. The weather is getting colder, as such please add more warm clothing accordingly to prevent cold and other seasonal illness brought on by the weather. Thank you.