mechanical cuisine 2/3 (post 3)

“Break’s over, people, let’s go!” he barked, just to hear the awww’s of protests. He pointed at the clock, which indicated that more than the allocated ten minutes had passed, and then at the door. Slowly the rec. room came alive; Kakkhan’s men and women shuffled past him with mulish looks, jokes, and nudges (or punches, if you were Tomori). Rubbing at his arm, Kakkhan had to smile at how Maho and Hitomi, Eliku and Kyō, and Tomori fell onto the DS2000 series. Lackey zoomed in a few moments later to jump loudly onto his feet next to Hitomi, who screamed as she always did. Wincing, Kakkhan took a moment more to appreciate his people, then took a step forward.

“Lackey!” he roared. “Quit doin’ that, you’re gonna give somebody a heart attack. Everyone else, get going before Ohno gets down here!”

Panic at the Garage: bodies jump-started into motion around the DS2000; the buzz of tools working whined out; Kakkhan jammed his visor down and got to work.

:-:-:-:

Four days later, the Pastry Shoppe opened. The Tigre Bianca had a rash of customers that day, however, so it wasn’t until lunchtime that Kakkhan and co. got to go over and check it out. He had to admit, as he approached, that it was a pretty place, although he could see that it barely had enough space for the booths that lined the spacious window.

Still, it had been extensively remodeled, for it looked nothing like Madame Foote’s Shoes. The front had cute window dressing, a hanging menu blackboard, and more seating in the form of a bench. The inside of it was light and airy, making the tiny space liveable, although perhaps the booths would have been better placed against the far well rather than next to the window. The counter and its display case took up the remaining space, but for good reason.

“Look at all this!” Hitomi said. The sweep of her arm took in the rows upon rows of brownies, pastries, cookies, truffles, chocolates, cakes, and even small sandwiches (that of course where more expensive than any of the rest).