Honey hued orbs slowly opened and lazily traced his new room. Not his favorite color, but a deep navy was an alright color considering his options. The other room was burnt orange. Light internally smirked when he recalled the information that Matt and Mello had told him to keep quiet. They're a couple.
Reflecting on the events from the prior day, Mello almost looked afraid to tell Light and his mother that him and Matt were together romantically. Apparently, Mello didn't want to catch hell from Chef or possibly a conservative Japanese woman whose entrusting them with her son.
Light's tired gaze fell onto his golden oak desk, then to his small closet that was full of clothes. The smell of coffee filled the air with a hint of pancakes. Yawning quietly, the brunette dragged himself out of bed and set his bare feet on the plush cream carpet. He smiled to himself when he heard his mother talking someone's ear off; he lifted himself from bed, lazily dropping the covers back on the bed in somewhat neat fashion. Took a few quiet steps over to his closet and grabbed a set of fresh clothes for the day. His first real day in the kitchen.
Sachiko smiled matronly when Light came out of his room dressed in the mandatory black pants and black nonskid shoes. A simple short sleeved shirt, as per request by the chef. Amber eyes widened when he saw who was cooking. "Uh. L? You can cook?"
The head of onyx hair turned with a smirk ghosting over his plump lips as ravened bangs fell over his eyes. "Wouldn't be much of a general manager if I couldn't fill any possible position, now would I?" He chuckled deeply and set a plate of pancakes down in front of Light's mother. "In all fairness, B taught me."
Scenting the air with a small smile of his own, Light placed himself next to his mother on a barstool. The kitchen was a pale yellow with standard pine cabinets stained a light color. White marbled countertops matched well with the stainless steel appliances.
L leaned against the counter, his palms gripping the countertop. "God forbid that man ever becomes ill. I'm not sure I could do what he does for a long period of time, before it became evident that he was missing. Are you hungry? Should probably eat now while you have the opportunity. May not get to eat again until much later. I'll be taking you and your mother to the airport. They can stand to miss me for a bit. Mello or Matt? Not on the week opening night. They've already headed to the restaurant."
Glancing his golden eyes towards the clock. 10:00 am. "So early? Should I be there now then?"
The raven shrugged his thin shoulders apathetically. "I doubt that Chef will be angry, as you're in the company of his boss." Sachiko chuckled softly at her son's concern and his bosses lack-there-of.
Light started to internally panic shifting his eyes from one end of the apartment to the other, searching for any possible evidence of Matt and Mello's relationship, "So, you're here? Um."
L shrugged his shoulders once again dismissively. "I've already known about Matt and Mello. No one hides anything from me very long. That being said…" His monotoned voice drawled a little while smirking at Light; before clearing his throat. "Anything you wanted to visit or see before departing the country, Mrs. Yagami?"
The older woman smiled reflectively, her wrinkles along her eyes becoming evident. "I was very fortunate to have young Matt as a tour guide yesterday. He took me about the city and showed me the sights already, as to entertain me while Light was working. I do wish I could spend more time here."
The raven nodded discretely while bringing his thumb up to his upper lip and pushing it upwards momentarily before speaking. "Perhaps, if Light does well, I will be inclined to fly your family out for the holiday seasons. Well then. Since there isn't much to do, perhaps I'll head to the restaurant and see if B doesn't need someone to help. I'll be back in a couple hours to take you both to the airport. So get some quality time in."
The sun began to make its descent towards the horizon, painting the sky the earliest shades of orange, splashing pink and lighter shades of crimson onto the clouds. Light held his mother tightly, and her mother-bear hug, just as tight in return. "You'll be good for them?" Light nodded wordlessly as silent tears forcibly made their way out of his honeyed eyes.
Leaning against the black sedan, L glanced at his watch in momentary impatience, then looked away from what he considered family time; before glancing down to his cellphone, beginning to quickly tap on the screen. Ashen eyes departed his phone screen to be met with a sight of Light, steadying his breath and biting his lower lip. Evidence of crying was all over his face, glassy eyed and red cheeked. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, he pulled out a white cloth with a royal blue gothic letter L sewn into one of the corners from one of his pockets. "I like her. I have a feeling we'll be meeting the rest of your family soon."
The raven could feel his breath catch when golden pools flashed upwards with a disarming smile. He found himself smiling subconsciously in return. 'Now I see. Maybe it's the lighting, maybe it's just him. But now I see why he avoids eye contact with you. Or maybe that's why his eyes linger a little longer than they should… Light's eyes are hypnotizing.' L smirked darkly. 'I knew I pulled the right resumes for him to choose from. The fact that he's competent in the kitchen was really just a bonus.' The brunette dabbed his eyes gently with the handkerchief before sniffling and regaining his composure. "Thank you, L. That really means a lot to me."
L pulled the back door to the kitchen open aggressively as it made a loud and high pitched creak. Light peered into the kitchen to see all of the cooks lined up, standing at attention as Chef paced in front of them. Inspecting their uniforms for cleanliness, wrinkles and possible flaws. His sanguine eyes departed the others at the disturbance before glancing at his watch. 4:45. A tiny smile crept along his full lips. "Alright. Everyone looks to be in order. New guy. Front and center. The rest of you? Take your positions!"
Jogging up to the chef, Light stood at attention. Beyond smirked and made a distinct humming sound from back deep in his throat as he circled around him. Looking for any imperfections in the uniform that the stage wore, before stopping directly in front of him and unfolding a single fold over in the brunette's collar. The chef leaned in and whispered in Light's ear. "That's how you check someone out without getting caught." He grinned in a playful manner at the brightening of younger male's cheeks before glancing at the clock. "You're with me tonight, rookie. I want you to see how we flow before I throw you into the fire. I want you to help me plate and garnish. Tonight, you're my sous chef."
Timidly, Light followed Beyond up to the front of the kitchen, just behind the serving window with a large counter full of final decorations, filled with simple herbs, spices and seasonings, ranging all the way to elaborate and rare flowers.
Beyond watched the clock closely and held his hand up counting down the seconds before 5p.m exactly. "Let's go!" A loud chime rang through the kitchen and the cooks sprung into action. The serving staff coming and going dropping orders off; while others gathered the necessary soups or salads from the set up bar on the farther side of the kitchen, away from the cooks.
Light jolted from his musings slightly when a plate was set in front of him. He watched Beyond expertly, but almost carelessly throw garnish onto the plate in the perfect spot as he simultaneously wiped the edge of the plate with a white cloth. Light mimicked his actions, although a little slower in placing the garnish before sliding the plate smoothly across the counter towards the chef. Only to have the plate caught, inspected and slid out the window, a tiny proud smile traced itself over Beyond's full lips. "Nice job on that one. Keep it moving!"
They kept their rhythm in sync throughout the entirety of the service, Light getting a little faster within the passing hours. L watched from the safety of the dining room, on the off chance the chemistry was thrown off balance for even a second, awaiting for his brother's famous temper. But, as the night continued to smoothly progress, the raven found himself smiling. It had been the first flawless dinner session in a while. His eyes fell onto the two leading chefs and he felt his smile grow more when he saw them laughing with each other as the food flew out of the kitchen. Each plate seemingly more beautiful than the last. His hand instinctively made its way up to his mouth, his thumb pressing his upper lip upwards as his smile grew more, a quiet chuckle came from the back of his throat. "Indeed. The right choice, indeed. Almost a perfect fit, wouldn't you say, Near?"
The snowy haired male stood next to L watching the pair work collectively together, his charcoal stare never wavering. "Perhaps we have found a replacement? Could it be? Only after a single day? Impressive. But, unlikely. I give it a month. Although, there is a strange sense of chemistry between the duo."
The ravened manager smirked as he began his retreat to his office. "Perhaps we found the salt to his pepper."
A hallow huff of laughter came from the waitstaff manager. "As if. He's a boorish, uncivilized, monstrous excuse for a man."
L snickered slightly and spoke between giggles, "Tell me… how you… really feel." Shaking his ebony hair over his eyes as he continued to his second story solitude.
Charcoal eyes scanned the dining room from behind silver locks of hair. His eyes landing on a particular table. One patron seeming to be speaking into the collar of her coat. Near rolled his dark eyes, 'Critic.' Scanning the other customers, he assumed three of them to be "foodies", who were just excited to be in the company of a true critic. It was a common tactic. Bringing a group of people who are critiquing the food; so the real critic can hide amongst them. His eyes narrowed slightly at a young woman who seemed to be more interested in dissecting the food rather than eating it. Caramel hair flowed elegantly onto her shoulders, eyes so intensely blue they almost appeared to be purple; wearing a flowing scarlet night gown, paired with dangling rubies from her ears and neck. 'Her. I recognize her, she was one of the stage applicants. She had an impressive resume. Why choose the louse that you did, Chef?'
Olivia Martin, celebrated socialite, heiress to a popular cooking network in the United States, nearly completed Master's degree in the culinary arts at only the age of twenty five.
The young woman scowled at her plate. "Tch. I could do just as good as this if not better." The group looked at her inquisitively. "How dare he take on a different stage! One who is so grossly incompetent next to myself!"
The red headed woman who sat next to her, wearing a tighter black dress with a tan trench styled over coat hushed her. "Do not draw attention to me. Don't get mad, hunny, get even. Write down what is so terrible about the plate… I'll make sure the world sees his short comings." A devious smirk played along the mysterious woman's plush lips. "And none would be the wiser that such an American sweet pie, such as yourself, would ever say such ruthless things about a fellow chef."
Olivia grinned wickedly as she took a pen and pad from her coat, she clicked the pen open with malicious intent. "After I'm done with him, they'll beg for me to come and help their kitchen…"
