Lunch break

[Storm Wave]

It was about two-thirty in the afternoon before Storm had finally managed to fix the client's computer tower. Fancy technomagical abilities would only do so much when a computer fan catches fire.

How did he even do that? There's not supposed to be enough power running through that thing for it to burn out like that! He shook his head at the very thought. Now that the afternoon guy had come in to cover the store, the fox could finally tend to the horrible black hole that had taken residence in his stomach.

No breakfast and a late lunch. Genius! he scolded himself as he felt the painful twinge of a hunger pang rising from his gut. The wind rushed to him as he walked out the door and onto the street. The smell of fried food from the local eateries greeted him, and he grimaced as his stomach again lurched in hungered protest.

The fox needed to find something, anything. The sooner the better. He walked down the sidewalk through town, passing buildings of little interest to him, until he stopped at the sight of a sandwich board propped up on the sidewalk. Scrawled in chalk upon the board's face was a simple message: FOOD (Hey, they can't all be gems.) with an arrow pointing to an open door. A little on the nose, but extreme hunger had made Storm quite susceptible to the simplest forms of communication. He stepped inside and stopped short at the sign indicating Please wait to be seated.

[Froshana]

Most of the lunch crowd had come and gone over the last couple of hours. There was still a gentle bustling and murmur of other patrons inside the diner, though, as it still had its fair share of customers still there. The smell of food cooking was strong in the air and drifting out the door, making it only further enticing upon entering.

((Ah ha, cue the current prototype of Fro's roommate, subject to adjustments later!))

Already standing there at a podium, a lemur of some sort welcomed the fox with a broad smile. She swiftly dropped the cell phone she had been toying with behind the podium into her apron without so much as batting an eye.

"Afternoon," she greeted, "How many?"

[Storm Wave]

"Just one please." Storm hurriedly replied. "A booth if possible." The fox grinned back, only to have the moment interrupted by the low, guttural rumbling of his angry stomach.

[Froshana]

The lemur gave a nod and she grabbed up a menu from behind the podium and stepped around it.
"Right this way!" she prompted, heading off to Storm's left. She led the way to a booth beside one of the diner's large windows. The menu was set down on the table, as well as a smaller card on top of it. She indicated the card as she stepped out of the way, adding, "This is our specials for today if you wanna check those out."

She only just waited for him to take a seat before asking, "Did you already know what you wanted to drink or did you wanna have a look at the menu first?" The lemur looked at him expectantly as she awaited a reply.

[Storm Wave]

"If you have any clear soda, like a Sprite or 7up, that'd be fine." Storm settled down on the booth's cushioned seat, taking note to try and get a glimpse at what the other customers were eating. There was some sort of tuna or chicken salad sandwich that a cat at the diner's bar stools was halfway done with. Someone was just taking a bite of a rather stacked burger. The smell of cooking grease ,french fries, and onions was coming from the kitchen in back. The fox's stomach gurgled in annoyance at the fact that it was surrounded by food. "Ooh, otherwise, I'm probably just going to jump right to the menu."

[Froshana]

The lemur nodded in response to the drink request. Her long tail swished a bit behind her and she continued to smile broadly as she replied, "Suuure, take your time, okay?"
Her gaze shifted back towards the entrance as it appeared other customers were also coming in. She looked back to the fox again.
"Your waiter'll bring you that drink in just a minute and you can take a look at the menu in the meantime!" she added before turning to go and greet the people who had just walked in. Before she even reached them she could be heard with her, "Hey, guys, welcome in! How many?"

For now, Storm was left to look over the menu in relative peace.

[Storm Wave]

Storm folded the menu open. Though some of the pictures were a tad faded, coupled with the smell of other people's lunches and the general hunger, his stomach lodged one more rumbling complaint at the mere sight of food.

Oh, shut up! I'm working on it! he thought to himself as he skimmed the description of the turkey club sandwich. Yeah. That would do. Something really simple to get a feel for the cook's quality. Plus, there was bacon. You couldn't go wrong with bacon, right? Storm's stomach danced at the mere thought of bacon.

[Froshana]

It couldn't have been more than a minute or two before the aforementioned waiter approached the booth. Or.. waitress, really. The red (well... reddish-purple) hedgehog was already speaking before she even set the glass of bubble-filled soda down on the table.

"Hello, my name is Froshana, I'll be your server today," she greeted with a smile.
A straw was withdrawn from her apron and set down beside the glass.
"Were you ready to order or did you need another minute?" Froshana asked.

[Storm Wave]

Bacon... Baaaaacoooon! Storm's stomach was gradually gaining more control. Why oh why did that fan burn out! Why had he waited so long to eat? and how much logner was it going to take before he was satisfied? The clink of a glass onto the table in front of him rustled him from his hungry trance.

"BAC- I mean... Hello. I think I'm ready to order, miss... Froshana?" Storm was caught off guard. The waitress' name struck him, but for what reason he was unsure. His stomach gurgled again, as if to keep him on hand. He smirked nervously, a bit ashamed of his own stomach as he gazed over at the young hedgehog at the end of the table. "I'll take the turkey club, and fries on the side please." He huffed a sigh of relief at the idea of finally being served. His stomach interjected with another growl. "Oh, and extra bacon please."

[Froshana]

The hedgehog was a little surprised by what seemed to be an initial response being cut off, but she maintained the smile and just nodded. She seemed to verify her name with a short, "Mhm!" and a small gesture to the nametag on her shirt.

She quickly pulled a small notepad and a pencil from her apron as well and prompted him with, "Okay, what would you like?"
The order was scribbled down with her left paw rather than her right. At the mention of extra bacon, she made sure to ask, "Um, do you want the extra bacon on the side or in the sandwich?"

[Storm Wave]

"On the sandwich of course." Storm nodded. Though his hunger raged within him, something new was brewing in his brain. Had he met this person before? No, impossible. Hunger must be getting to him. "Though maybe a little bacon on the side, too. Yeah. A couple pieces of bacon on the side please."

[Froshana]

A little extra scribbling onto the notepad and a couple of nods more passed before Froshana looked back to Storm. "Alrighty, got it," she assured him, "Lemme go put this in and I'll have that right out for you. And if you need anything else, just wave me down, 'kay?"
She took a step back from the table to leave, but made sure to allow time for a reply before going any farther.

[Storm Wave]

"Thank you!" Storm shot her a friendly wave as she walked away. He took a deep sip of his soda, hoping that the fizzy drink would keep the hunger at bay for a few minutes as his eyes drifted out the window and into the busy city streets. For a moment, he had time to reflect. Even though Station Square was a much bigger and more populous place than the place he previously called home, the opportunity to become part of the hustle and bustle of urban living was a welcome change.

Grrrrwwwwlllglgl!

Okay, food is coming, seriously. Stop that. I lost my train of thought!

[Froshana]

"Of course!" came the reply before the hedgehog headed off to the kitchen to drop off the order. She smiled to the lemur as they passed one another, but found herself a bit curious about her latest customer once she had a moment to think.
She was accustomed to perhaps a chuckle or a funny face when she introduced herself sometimes, sure. But this fox seemed to have a just noticeable reaction, although not enough that she could really put her finger on what it was...

No time to overthink things, though, as she made quick work of getting to the kitchen and grabbing drinks for the next customers the lemur had seated. She stopped by another table as well to check on the people there before moving off again. There was a small opportunity to stop and strike up a little chitchat with the lemur at the door as well. She eventually walked off towards the kitchen again and this time came back out with a platter in her paws.

Just a little more than five minutes had passed since Froshana had left Storm's table and now she returned with the meal he'd ordered.
"Alright, here we go," the hedgehog said as she set the platter down in front of the hungry fox. She stood up straight again, intertwining her fingers in front of her apron. "Was there anything else you needed or did you want a refill on your drink?" she asked.

[Storm Wave]

Bacon! Glorious bacon! King of the meats! Well, no. Steak was king of the meats. But bacon was like a really prominent archduke or something. Storm had to fight to keep himself from face-planting onto the platter mouth-first. Or at least picking up the turkey club and eating it before the waitress had a chance to speak to him.

"Oh, yeah." he held up his half-empty glass and gave it a gentle shake. "A top-off would be quite appreciated, actually. Thank you." He set the glass down gently at the end of the table, as his empty belly seemed so dance with anticipation. No breakfast, coffee on an empty stomach, and a late lunch had definitely taken its toll on him. Though, even as his lunch lay before him, he couldn't help but bring his gaze back to the saintly bacon maiden hedgehog who had served him. Something about her seemed familiar and he felt incredibly rude for not making the connection. But what was it?

Guuuurrrrggg

Too hungry to figure that out now, gotta eat.

[Froshana]

Froshana picked up the glass from the table. She could see how eager he was to dig in so she made a quick nod and replied, "Alrighty, I'll go get that real quick for you. Enjoy your meal!" She turned and headed off with the glass in paw.

Granted, she returned fairly quickly anyway and so Storm was only alone with the much-awaited sandwich for under a minute. Upon her return, the glass was set back down by his platter, clinking softly as the ice shifted within.
"There you go. I'll be back to check on you in a little bit, okay?"

[Storm Wave]

Storm was already three bites in when his drank came back, crumbs and a drop of mayo in the corner of his mouth and everything. He quickly dispatched them with a wipe of a napkin and swallowed hard.

"Ahhh~ No problem." The fox nodded and took a sip of his freshly topped glass. Lunch. He knew there would be a time when something so simple would seem like a luxury, but he hadn't figured it would be today.

[Froshana]

Seeing that he was clearly enjoying the food, Froshana gave a smile and nodded in return. With that, she turned and headed off to another table to check on other patrons while letting Storm have some time to eat his meal. For now she tended to her usual, going from tables to the kitchen and all sorts of back and forth. If there was a slow moment, she might trade a couple of words with the lemur as well. They seemed to be a chatty pair, given the opportunity.

It would likely be at least until his glass looked like it needed to be refilled again or he seemed to be slowing down in eating before the hedgehog would stop by again to check in and see how he was doing. Whichever had happened by this point, she paused by the table.
"How is everything? Still doing good?"

[Storm Wave]

The sandwich was gone. In fact it was gone so fast, that even Storm wondered where it went. The extra bacon was also gone. All that was left were half the fries that had been there before, now resting up against a scattered pool of ketchup. But the beast that dwelt within the fox's gut had finally been satisfied, and with groggy content, it rested. The painful hunger was slowly giving way to the crawling warmth of a food coma, even as Storm still picked at the fries.

"Oh yeah. Everything was fine." He beamed as the waitress returned to his table. "If it's alright with you, I'll take my check now."

[Froshana]

Froshana bit back the initial urge to reply with asking if it wasn't alright with her that he ask for the check. Customers didn't come in for backtalk after all. Advice from her boss was kicked to the forefront of her mind and, instead, she opted for a different question.

"Sure thing! Didn't wanna order any dessert this time? They have some cherry pie today that's awfully good."

[Storm Wave]

Pie? Nah, there was no time for pie right now. But you know what...

"I actually need to get back to work soon, but how about boxing me up a slice of that pie to go?" Storm grabbed what was left of his drink and took a quick sip. "Sounds like just the thing I'll need to make it through the rest of my..." he paused for a moment as a yawn overtook him. "...my action-packed life of adventure." He shook his head at the thought of another three hours of standing in front of three computers while virus scanners and bug fixers probed every file. Life-affirming stuff.

[Froshana]

The hedgehog nodded once more. "I think it'll have just enough sugar to keep you going," she agreed, "I'll go ahead and get that for you along with the check, then."

Once again, Froshana turned and started to walk away, pausing to check in at another table she'd been waved over to. It was a quick request and the waitress was off again. She returned in a short time, however, dropping off extra napkins at another table and setting down a slip of paper and a pen on Storm's table.

"Alright, there's that and your pie'll be out in just a minute."

[Storm Wave]

The hedgehog began to walk away just as Storm was probing for some joke response to needing more sugar. Nothing was coming, unfortunately. Another missed opportunity. He pulled the receipt over and gave it a once-over.

Your server today was: FROSHANA

Uh huh. And I'll eventually figure out why you're so familiar, girl. The fox huffed a little at his situation and filled out the receipt, making sure to tip her reasonably well. He dropped his debit card on the small slip of paper and slid it towards the edge of the table as he tossed another small handful of the fries onto his mouth.

[Froshana]

Before too long, the receipt and debit card were picked up and promptly replaced with a small box wrapped up in a bag.

"Here's your pie and I'll run this real quick," the hedgehog said, sliding the bag closer within reach and allowing time for perhaps a brief response before darting away again. Just another minute more and she came back to the table yet again, setting down a receipt and the debit card together.

[Storm Wave]

Storm gathered up the small box, wiped the corners of his mouth one more time, and readied himself to head out. yeah, he'd probably be back, if only because this place was conveniently placed near his job. Speaking of which, he fidgeted for his wallet, pulling out a CompuMax business card and a pen. Carefully, he scribbled something on the blank backside before placing it on the table beside his plate.

Ask for Storm if you need something looked at.

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