Collin might have been a therapist at the hotel, but until they had more guests, he had to help out with its mundane tasks. His current one: put the newly delivered plates in the kitchen. A simple one for Collin, as carrying a stack of plates was almost no different from carrying a stack of paperwork, which he regularly did in Heaven. The only difference was the fragility.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw a small figure with their back towards him standing on top of a stepladder. From the looks of it, they were cooking something in a pot on the stove. If Collin recalled correctly, this must be the cook.

"Greetings, Niffty." He said, trying to be as friendly as possible.

She turned around with a broad smile that showed her sharp teeth, frightening him just a bit. Eventually, her smile became more relaxed. "Oh, hello Collin!" She replied in an equally friendly tone. "Are those the new dishes? Perfect! Just put them in the pantry over there!"

Collin nodded before doing just that. As he put away the dishes in an organized matter, he couldn't help but be drawn to the smell of what Niffty was cooking. "Is that… Miso Ramen?" He asked.

"It sure is! How did you know?"

"There's a ramen shop nearby our work. I stop by there occasionally for lunch… or I did."

"Well, I'm glad you were the one delivering those dishes because I made this for you."

"M-me?"

"Yep! It's my welcome present to you as a new member of our staff."

Collin was taken aback. No one has ever given him a welcome meal before. He sat on a chair in front of the counter as he eagerly waited for Niffty to finish cooking. Eventually, she placed the finished bowl of Miso Ramen in front of him. Collin couldn't take his eyes off it, not only because it looked delicious but because he was still in disbelief that someone would go to all the effort to make something for him.

"I… I don't know what to say," he said.

"Say nothing then, just eat." She gave the same smile that she greeted him with, which almost made him feel like he was being forced to eat the ramen. Regardless, he grabbed the chopsticks and used them to take a bite of the chicken broth. Niffty leaned forward, excited to hear what he thought.

"This… This is delicious!" He shouted with a gleeful look as he dug into the ramen some more.

"I'm glad you like it!" said an extremely satisfied Niffty. "You're the first of your friends that I made this for."

"Wow, do you do this with all the new employees?"

"No, we haven't gotten any new employees until you came along. But I used to make these for new members of the ramen shop I worked at when I was alive. It was part of our welcoming ritual. "

"You used to work at a ramen shop?" At this point, Collin had stopped eating to chat with his new friend. "I should've guessed based on how good this ramen is."

"Yep! I've worked there for most of my life."

"Oh, what made you want to work there?"

"Well, I learned that a man I had a crush on liked to go there on his slow days at work. Being a police officer in Japan can be pretty boring. I applied so that I could see him more."

"A crush, huh? Did you ever… y'know?"

"No." Niffty's cheerful mood turned sour, "He got engaged before I could confess."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"It's ok. It was a long time ago."

"I know how that feels though. I've had my fair share of crushes that didn't pan out. One time in high school there was this girl I hung out with a lot. By the time I got the courage to confess, she already found a boyfriend. Then there was our first client, a blessed named Agatha. She was super sweet and treated us well, making us feel like we were doing something important. But at the end of the day, she was a blessed, and I was a cherub. There's no way it would've worked."

Niffty sat down next to him and patted his back, "Awww, you poor thing."

"Don't worry about me, we all have problems we have to deal with. Mine is crushing easily."

"I'm sure you'll find someone. You have a better chance than me, anyway."

"Hey, don't say that. I'm positive you'll find someone too."

"Thank you, Collin." Niffty gave the same creepy smile, but this time Collin wasn't scared. In fact, he thought it was kind of cute. She then hugged him, much to his surprise. As he hugged back, he had a feeling welling up inside of him he hadn't had for a long time.

Eventually, she let go, "Now enjoy your meal! I'm going to clean the halls!" Niffty said as she left the kitchen. Collin pondered what he was feeling as he waved goodbye. Only there wasn't much to ponder, to him it was obvious what this feeling was.

He developed a crush on Niffty.