[fieldbox="Rory Mikan, maroon, dotted"]The day had passed by peacefully and in a fairly quickly manner. Rory was cleaning off the last table as the last customers made their exit, hearing Taiga bid them farewell and suggest that they come back soon. As he set the dirty dishes with all of the rest, Cecily had returned from her office, reminding them all about what she was speaking about earlier regarding the new dish she had in mind. Apparently, Daniel and Derek had been working on it throughout the day and now the time to taste it has finally come. The moment of truth. The ginger didn't have any doubts of the new dish's placement in their menu. Both Daniel and Derek were very talented chefs and whatever they made was absolutely delicious. Like, foodgasming delicious. It was the top reason why they were so popular. Plus, their amazing service and just how nice the restaurant was overall. Making his way towards the kitchen, where the tasting would occur, he waited for a few moments before tasting the dish himself. As soon as it hit his taste buds, he was in food Heaven. "God, this definitely deserves to be on the menu. Everyone should be able to experience this little piece of Heaven," he stated after he finished his small portion. Focusing on the makers of such a wonderful dish, he beamed at them. "Amazing job, gentlemen. As always," he praised them.
Once everyone had their fill and spoke their opinion on the dish, people were packing up to go with the respective person that they usually left with. Everyone except Daniel, Victor, and Derek since they always stayed behind to clean up the restaurant. As he gathered all of his belongings, Rory went to the front door, where he had opened it, waiting for their Manager. He and Cecily always made their way home together. It was a bonding of sorts that Rory enjoyed more than he liked to admit. It was also because of a subconscious protective instinct that he had over the brunet. One that he could never explain, but knew was there. He wouldn't know what to do if something happened to Cecily on her way home, so he made it his duty to walk home with her as much as he could. Fortunately, she never questioned him before and doesn't seem like she'd do it now. As he waited, he bid a farewell to Taiga, who was being dragged out the restaurant, and Adrian, laughing at their usual antics. He didn't have to wait for that much longer since Cecily was coming right after them. He let her leave first before waving and saying goodbye to the three employees staying back, following after their Manager.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Taiga Tanaka, orange, solid"]"Thank you for coming and make sure to come again some time! Get home safely!"
Taiga let a breath out as the last customers finally left. It had been a busy day, as per usual. She yawned softly as she stretched her arms high above her head. Her attention was then directed towards their Manager, hearing her words, which made her eyes light up. Another new dish, huh? I wonder what this one is going to be like. Ooooh, what are we going to name it? Such thoughts ran through the hostess's head as she went to go taste the dish like everyone else. She hummed from the pleasure and joy that it brought her, smiling softly. From her reaction, it was obvious what her thoughts were: the dish should be in the menu! After gathering her belongings and telling everyone goodbye (giving Derek a squeeze), she was being dragged out of the restaurant; her mind tried to desperately catch up with what was happening around her, registering the laughter of one Rory Mikan as they passed him. Well, it would seem that she was being dragged by none other than Adrian. "A-Adrian...Please, slow down! There's no need to rush," she tried to say as she panted softly, running after the blonde. Honestly, they had a lot of time on their hands after all. Plus, it's not like Taiga had anywhere to be.
Finally, they had reached their destination. As soon as they entered the store, Taiga stopped at the entrance to catch her breath, hands resting upon her knees as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. Despite the short time, and distance, of them running, it felt longer. Maybe it was because of the speed they were running at. Whatever the reason, it had the ginger breathless as she straightened up, finally returning her breathing to its normal pattern. By the time that she did, Adrian had disappeared in one of the many racks, no doubt to find out a dress like she had stated earlier that day. This left Taiga to her own devices as she went to a random shelf that had different colored shirts for a cheap price. These are quite nice...
Her browsing was interrupted as she heard her name being called. Well, more like squeaked. Hearing such a tone, her heart dropped just a bit. Oh God, what did Adrian find? I'm slightly terrified... Swallowing subtly, she could only watch as Adrian bounded over to her like an excited overgrown puppy. Cute. Her thoughts were erased as she saw Adrian thrust the dress forward, holding it out in front of her. Taking this moment to look at it, Taiga was silent as she analyzed it. It definitely was a cute dress...And the color wasn't that bad either. Returning her gaze to rest upon Adrian, she immediately regretted it. Damn it! It's that face! The one she only uses when she really wants something! Lips silently forming a pout, the ginger stared at Adrian for a few moments before being defeated, averting her gaze as her cheeks turned scarlet. "O-Of course, I'll tr-try it on. I had said I'd do my best to do so earlier, didn't I?" With that, she took the dress out of Adrian's hands and went to go try it on. It took a few minutes to find the changing room and even some more actually get into the dress, but, when she did, she exited out of her room, hands wringing together in slight nervousness.
"H-How does it l-look?"[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Derek Castle, blue, dashed"]Before Derek had realized, the end of the day had rolled around and everyone was making their departure after tasting the new dish. After returning Taiga's hug and telling her to have fun with Adrian, remembering their earlier conversation, the blunet had set to cleaning the restaurant. Or, well, the kitchen since Victor focused on majority of the restaurant. He had been humming softly and wiping down the counter when it happened. Everything had seemed to occur in a blur, yet, at the same time, in slow motion. It was a strange feeling as he raced to where the loud crash! came from, heart beating wildly inside of his chest, pounding against it. Like it was trying to break out. As soon as he made it to where the commotion occurred, his attention was focused on the fallen Victor and nothing else, dismissing the overturned table. He faintly registered footsteps behind him as he dropped to his knees. Without truly thinking, he reached out for the blonde, pulling him closer until he was practically cradling him against his body. He eyes scanned the state that Victor was in, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead and frowning slightly at the unusual warmth that greeted him. He let his hand slip from its position, resting somewhere against Victor's body.
"So... what should we do? Wouldn't it be best to take him to the doctor?"
Derek snorted at the suggestion. It wasn't that serious, after all. The chef could nurse him back to health all by himself. That's how mild Victor's situation was. But he could understand Daniel's concern. The waiter did just collapse without warning. "No, he's alright, Daniel. I'll just take him back to his apartment and watch over him until he wakes up," he stated as he continued to stare. I really need to stop. This is the worst time to be staring. He was getting ready to gather his things and Victor's so they could head out, but was stopped by seeing Victor open up his eyes. At his sad smile, Derek furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His words didn't help to alleviate said emotion either. Before he could question him, he had lost consciousness once more, leaving Derek left to mull over what just happened. Hallucinating? Too? Did he know that he wasn't feeling well? Idiot, why didn't he say anything?! And why would he hallucinate me of all things? Tch, whatever. I've got to get him home. Huffing in annoyance, he had to set Victor back down in order to get their things. Scooping him back up so that he was being carried bridal style, Derek called out a farewell to Daniel, reassuring him that Victor was in safe hands, before heading out.
It didn't take that long to reach Victor's apartment. With them being neighbors, it was less than a piece of cake. He had to rummage around for Victor's key, cursing softly throughout it all. Finally finding it, he opened up the door and closed it shut behind him. He stood at the entrance as he let his eyes adjust to the darkness. Once they did, he located the couch and laid Victor upon it. Placing their things down near the couch as well, Derek located the light switches and flicked a few on, wincing at the sudden brightness. There was a moment of stillness as the chef figured out what to do first. Remembering how hot the blonde had been earlier, he set on taking off his vest. It was the least he could do without things becoming...weird. Cheeks dusting a light pink, he set off to get a towel and soak it in cold water. Yet another non-weird act of kindness to get Victor to cool down. It was only a few minutes before he returned and placed it on Victor's forehead, pushing his hair out of the way. Now...to find something to preoccupy myself with. Maybe I can make some soup for him? That depends on what he has in his kitchen...Well, let's just go see. With that in mind, Derek set off towards the kitchen.
It did take a while, but Derek had finally set on some ingredients to make a delicious soup that would, hopefully, help with Victor's sickness. It was bit frustrating, but he had pulled through in the end. As he was letting the soup marinate, he had decided that it was time to change the towel on Victor's forehead, wanting to keep him cool. While he was doing such a thing, he should probably figure out what his temperature actually was. He had the other towel and was returning back to the living room when he noticed that Victor was wide awake and sitting up, causing the chef to frown slightly. He shouldn't be sitting up. Silently, he changed the old towel with the new one and gently pushed Victor back down on his back, sitting near him.
"What... what happened?"
"Huh? Well, you passed out when Daniel, you, and me, were cleaning up the restaurant. All we heard was a crash; next thing we knew, we found you sprawled out on the floor," Derek stated in a monotonous voice. His gaze focused on the vacant air before him. "Daniel thought we should call a doctor, but I told him it was fine and that your condition wasn't that bad. In fact," he let his gaze travel to rest upon Victor, "if a certain idiot had said something earlier, I'm certain this could've been avoided," he finished with a huff. It was obvious that he was a bit irritated by said fact. Not because he was stuck with taking care of Victor now, but because he had been worried sick when he heard the crash! and could have been spared of said fear if something was mentioned earlier. Shaking his head, he returned his gaze to the vacant air in front of him. "Anyway, I said I would watch over you until you woke up, but I ended up starting to cook some soup, so I'll stay until it's done. Then I'll be out of your hair," he stated as he got back up on his feet to check on the soup.[/fieldbox]