Being stuck in this town proved mildly problematic, mainly in that Chesha needed to do (possibly) the unthinkable: she got a job. It wasn’t classy, but at least it wasn’t waitressing! They skipped the “realize this was a mistake” phase entirely just by taking note of her “tail.” Given the thing’s bulk and possible tendency to bonk into other patrons or tables, maybe even other waiters and so kept her to the kitchen. The couple running this place held a kind heard though and hadn’t wanted to turn her away, especially when she tearfully told them she’d run low on funds and really, really didn’t want to face possible theft for something as simple as a meal. She’d broken their dear little hearts with an orphan story and pleading for this job so she could at least buy food as necessary. It’d resulted in her getting even a little room at their nearby abode even if it was more like a large closet than a proper room.
 
At their home she proved her culinary skills, enjoying even a little bit of pseudo father-daughter time as she and the husband made dinner for the trio. Breakfast provided another little excuse to test her and for the pale girl to show off her skills – while admittedly receiving a small lesson on different egg styles. They weren’t something she’d really experimented with before, sticking often to scramble for its simplicity and easy mass production for a group of people. She might not be immediate sous chef of the place, but he’d admitted another pair of hands certainly wouldn’t hurt for the popular port town’s crowd.
 

The only thing she didn’t particularly like was keeping an apron tied over Alejandro even if it kept him clean. He and one of the other chefs went so far as to completely cover his face, citing that they didn’t want him possibly drooling or somehow making a mess for “precaution and safety’s sake.” Whatever. They just didn’t know what kind of help he could be in some situations that was all.

Work was going good so far, aside from the fact that she had murdered someone and was not sure how she would go through life if she got caught out on it. Instead of sitting in her room at the tavern and mulling over what to do for the future, the Fishman female had decided to try out one of the popular restaurants that called Loguetown it's home. Entering it would show it was quite the pleasant place from what she could see, though not of the high end in staff as the upscale one Viktor had taken her to. It was clear they would hire, even with no experience, and that they made do with this by the owner's making sure everyone was doing their job and checking in on them from time to time to see what they needed to do to keep everything up to standards.

The waitress that sat her down asked what she wanted to drink, which was just a simple glass of ice water, and would come back with it a few minutes later to set it down before asking if she was ready to order. "Yes. May I have the steak sandwich breakfast meal? Medium rare on the steak, and I want the egg on the sandwich to be over medium. Instead of fries I want to have it more akin to breakfast like the sandwich, can you have the cook do hash browns instead? And rather than the sausage it comes with, I would like to substitute for bacon; crispy." The waitress would quickly write down her order before grabbing the menu and walking off to give the order to the cook in the back. Hopefully it would be as good as the rumors she had heard about the place.

With the wife seeing to the front end Chesha only really had to worry about the husband, the other chef, and the dishwasher. In her own little world that bubble quickly popped as a bubbly voice called out for an order, placing it on a rotating metal wheel with small spikes jutting out. “Waiters” quickly became tacked on as she reached for the piece of paper at the head chef’s insistence, the other two already well into some orders themselves. Well it may not have been direct contact so she’d give them a “.5” and be done with it, reaching for the paper to read. ’Hmm…what’s wrong with fries in the morning? Medium rare? But rare’s so tasty…maybe this poor soul doesn’t know yet…’Over medium egg?’ I dunno, I think hard boiled sounds pretty tasty right about now. All righty…how to fix this…’
 
Looked like the first order would be a challenge, but one Chesha heartily accepted! Skillet clanged against the stove as she shimmied it against the flames, stirring the contents up. Strips of steak browned around the edges, the girl careful to keep some pink in them so the person could relish in the deliciousness that was meat closer to its original state. Tossing in a few bell pepper and onion strips she placed it atop some freshly toasted bread from the griddle, slathering on some cheese to the freshly cooked pile and letting it melt atop. Swiss for its simpler taste so it wouldn’t overpower the rest, but remain present. A small dash of pepper for a good morning kick finished it off!
 
The hash browns simmered as she placed the finishing touches on the sandwich, the things blessedly easy enough to cook but…a bit boring really. Thinking it over she added a bit of water and mooshed them, creating a pseudo mashed potato substance instead that retained some of the firmer strands of hashed browns and a tiny bit of the crunch from spots of survivors of the mashing. Sprinkling a light spattering of chives she nodded in approval.
 
Lastly: the piece de resistance!
 
Crispy bacon could be so unpleasant really, but this person didn’t want sausage so she settled for the next best thing: a thick slice of ham! Well two to be fair. They’d find themselves decorated with hardboiled egg cut up into various little expressions – one sported a happy and frowny faces like the masks she occasionally saw atop stages and theatres. The second slice gained a surprised face with its mouth in an O shape while its partner-in-crime appeared ready for a smooth with egg white lips, the eyes of all the faces mere dots of the mushy yolk save the kissy face receiving one in the shape of a cartoonish wink.
 

”ORDER UP!” came the enthusiastic call. Surely the person would enjoy this far more!

The enthusiastic 'order up' she heard turned out to be for her meal. Happy to finally get her food, the woman's smile would be wide and almost cause the cloud to move their way out of the sun's rays so that they could shine upon her. The smile would not last long, however, as her waitress carried an extremely worried look on her face as she brought over the plate of food. It was clear why when she set the plate down. Nothing on it was correct. How did one mess up so badly?

Out of curiosity, the woman cut into the sandwich to find it was quite rare and the eggs were hard boiled. The sandwich was not the only thing ruined, however, as the 'hash browns' looked like something between a hybrid of mashed potatoes as well. "Uh. Do you mind returning this and changing my order? This is nowhere near what I wanted, and I'm not sure how I feel about ham covered with hard boiled egg into entertainment designs when I wanted crispy bacon. Maybe just a breakfast skillet of chicken, scrambled eggs, sausage, onion, green peppers, and a cup of syrup on the side please." The mermaid was unsure as to whether this was a prank of not. Was the cook one of the guys that frequented the tavern? Did they see who she was and get upset cause she was off limits to the touches of the patrons unless she gave a go ahead first? Either way the woman was still hungry, and hoped that they would soon get a correct order so she could eat some food.

Humming and quite pleased as she prepped more quick side items Chesha hadn’t expected a complete return of her plate. The waitress explained she hadn’t liked it and the woman decided on something else…something less complex. Was this a subtle insult perhaps? Did they take Chesha for a fool? Think her so simple she couldn’t cook an easy breakfast or perhaps…perhaps their pallet stood far too weak for her craftsmanship?! Surely that was it, she nodded and accepted the plate because, well, the girl could use a bit of food herself.
 
”I don’t get what’s wrong,” she muttered to Alejandro whilst stuffing a spoonful of the mashed potato and hash brown mix into her mouth, ”I mean it looks positively scrumptious! Oh well I guess you can’t expect people to understand something tasty when it’s dressed up and dancing practically in their faces. Can alarm some people who aren’t used to exotic things. Oh well something simpler I guess….or maybe….hmm…”
 
Being wrapped up in a pair of aprons Alejandro couldn’t really give proper input beyond muffled noises and with things staying on the busier side the pale chef didn’t have time to decipher his mumblings. No! Now was the time to create a masterpiece so her customer could go off with a happy belly and smile on their face!
 
Whipping eggs furiously she sloshed them into the skillet with a flurry of movement, grabbing a handful of prepped veggies she’d been working on a bit ago. Onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and zucchini! Yes, this would be wholly and truly appetizing! However she’d need something to offset the syrup, a bit of an odd choice really for this type of meal, but Chesha could appreciate an adventurous tongue who dared order syrup with delicious pancakes or waffles! Grapping a plastic bucket from a mini freezer with chicken they’d cut naught but an hour ago the girl started them in another pan, tossing in a few spices to truly zest them up and make them an experience for one’s tongue. Their kick would surely be the “pick me up” this person wanted! It would make itself known even through the coated sweetness of any kind of syrup! Maple, chocolate, strawberry, and so many more: it didn’t matter! Though thinking on it simple and plain syrup sounded…boring, especially for someone who dared venture outside the norm.
 

Heating up some, she mixed a few spurts of chocolate sauce into the mix to help give it a little more body, a darker hue, and what she felt like a richer taste. This person deserved to live exotically despite being in this tourist trap! Bellowing another, ”ORDER UP!” Chesha smiled to herself. With the chicken and veggies thoroughly mixed into the scrambled eggs and the dark syrup on the side surely this time the person wouldn’t take one look and nope out of it. They’d take a bite and instantly fall in love!

There was quite the wait for her food the second time around on her order. Did that mean the cook was going to refuse to cook something else for her? Would the waitress have to apologize to her and let her go on her way to find somewhere else? No, if that happened she would simply go to management for this place and complain! She had a right to simply get what she ordered, and that's all she wanted right now!

Another 'Order Up' would be heard, the same cook's voice ringing out from the back to announce a plate was finished. Mentally crossing her fingers, Hure would watch as the woman set he plate down with a long sigh. "I am so sorry Mam. It seems the new cook is trying to get their creative juices going in the food she is making for you. Want me to just take it back? I can tell it's not what you ordered exactly." The mermaid frowned, though not in anger at the waitress. The pink haired girl was just disappointed at the effort needed to get the food she wanted.

Looking at the food it would seem that there was some extra added to the skillet. While she was fine with spinach and zucchini, the woman did not like the taste of mushrooms. The chicken looked odd, a sniff telling her it was spicy. That  was no good, Hure couldn't really handle spicy unless it was in a small dose. Based on smell this one was quite spicy and would most likely keep her from eating it as is. On top of all of it her syrup had ended up mixed with some chocolate. While she would have loved to have chocolate, the blue-eyed woman did not feel that it would go well with what was before her.

"I know it's a pain, and I'm really sorry, but I can't eat this. It smells much too spicy for me, and I would rather plain syrup than having chocolate added in. That and I hate the taste of mushrooms. If you could tell the cook to do the same thing, but leave out the spices and mushrooms, I will gladly eat it; barring no other surprises please."

"No mam, I am the one sorry. We've never had an issue like this before, and I'll make sure to talk to the manager later when I get the chance. I'll even try to get you a discount on the food you get to eat today, half price and free drinks. Let me go get you a small glass of wine for your trouble once I drop off this order and refused plate!"

Hopefully by now the picky person took their first bite and fell in love with the carefully worked plate. Or so she hoped at least, Chesha taking a hefty bite of the sandwich. By now half of it disappeared in between chopping and dicing up vegetables for future use, working to keep up with the demand the other two made. The other plus of working in the kitchen was seeing just how furiously and fast these two could whip up plate after plate of demand, and without sacrificing quality as they tested here and there. Cooking for one, many, or a multitude of orders: their lifestyle came with a certain amount of hectic chaos she found enjoyment in, and all the while the three of them could even snack on things that didn’t pass muster for one reason or another. They did refuse to send out something that wasn’t up to their personal snuff, starting anew and working all the harder to make up for that small mistake.

A voice caught her attention, the same waitress as before only this time glowering for some…reason…oh. What? No. Couldn’t be. Eyes blinked, white eyebrows turning down a bit at recognizing that plate. ’Another one turned down? What is wrong with this person? I’m only half done with the previous plate too…’ Not that she’d turn down eating this one, finding herself curious how complimentary the sauce might actually be as she’d really only tried it with egg. Perhaps that’d been the mistake? Though again it looked like the person hadn’t even touched the damn thing, deciding from looks – yet again – alone that they didn’t want it. That is until the waitress mentioned a severe dislike of spice or something.

Hure Verkehr saw the waitress go up to where the cook set down plates and return it, the cook unable to be seen from where she sat. There seemed to be talking, though it did not seem pleasant from the body language that the waitress was using while she spoke. Hopefully, the woman had not upset the cook too much with the second returned plate. The mermaid had seen angry cooks do some pretty disgusting things to a plate that got brought back, or someone being difficult on purpose for no reason but to cause problems. The female Fishman would start to get antsy in her seat as she thought about all the nasty things that could be done to her food without her knowing until it was too late, or never figuring out at all! Spitting in her food, adding something that was gross that she could not taste, and other dirty deeds that would be considered illegal if one were to be caught.

As she sat there she noticed the female waitress talking to a man before going off behind an employee only door. Blue eyes stared at the door and pondered on what she would be doing as she sat there. Her stomach would growl as she waited there, getting hungrier by the second. Who would have known that eating out could be so difficult? At this point she could have gone for a swim and got some fish to cook on her own and had an easier time about getting breakfast.

’Okay, guess I can understand that. I mean some cultures use spice to make their food exciting so I guess she comes from some place with a plethora of options that don’t need sprucing up or make eating the same thing day in and out a new experience.’ Taking a forkful of the scrambled egg and dipping it in the sauce she couldn’t fault them for not liking the thought, the taste…just not quite there. ”Fiiine. I’ll do it again…” she mumbled, the person on the other side of the opening berating her a bit more before the head chef shooed her away.

”I know you want to help them experience new things,” he consoled her in that gentle voice, a hand on her shoulder and a smile hidden beneath his thick mustache, ”it stings when people don’t appreciate that, but not everyone’s going to be adventurous either. For now stick to what the customer wants and we’ll try your ideas for dinner tonight, okay? When making your food though don’t just think about what the customer wants – you weren’t wrong there – but try to think of how best to help them with this plate of food. Food is our energy for a fair bit of the day and breakfast is the most important as it’s a ‘breaking of the fast!’ Try to think of how best to bring out each ingredient so they don’t over power one another, but instead enhance each other!”

Enhance the flavor…ingredient harmony…she hadn’t quite viewed it like that before. The notion of each thing added vying for attention and yet as the chef maybe you had to talk them through it, see peace, and come together for a greater purpose? Chesha rather liked the sound of that. Staring at the scrambled plate she admitted that the spice on the chicken came a little heavy handed and while it might’ve worked with some things to help counteract the spiciness and dull it down…here it might overrun everything and you wouldn’t even appreciate the zucchini, mushrooms, or the eggs themselves. Well maybe not the mushrooms if the person disliked them. Shame, Chesha liked mushrooms.

It would be a few minutes before the waitress would show back up from behind those seemingly mystical doors. Well, at least they felt that way with how long the mermaid had been staring at them without doing anything else. Her head would snap back to looking out the window that she was sitting next to so that she did not seem weird to the worker that was coming out. The flight of birds drew her interest even as she was snapped back to reality by the familiar voice of the one that was waiting on her this morning.

"Again, I am SO sorry mam. The manager said he'd give you half price on the meal and sent me to get a nice breakfast wine for you to enjoy while you're here. Have as much as you like, the entire bottle is free. Whatever you do not drink you are free to take with you. Just refrain from getting intoxicated or drinking outside, I would hate for the authorities to arrest you because of our service!" The woman would say all this while deftly opening the fancy bottle and pouring a full glass of the liquor for the female Fishman.

"Thanks, for everything. I know it's a hassle to keep sending back dishes and I would love if you could send my apologies to the chef dealing with my food. Let them know I'm not trying to be a pain, and that I just want what I ordered." With that the waitress would walk away while the girl took her first sip of the wine. It was not strong, but it was a good flavor for this time of day.

Harmony. In some ways she hadn’t been wrong on the execution. Letting the vegetables cook with the egg juice would allow both the regular onion and green onion flavors to mix into them and become one. The meats required a bit of cooking before she could allow them to join the transformation given the tricky nature of both pigs and fowls. Unlike other meats these ones held problems if left undercooked so their initial time started in a skillet separate. Cut up further into smaller pieces than what they’d previously done however meant their process would speed up a little. Chicken first she determined, doing a very light dust of chili powder purely to get tongue senpai to notice the chicken given its more demure flavor compared to sausage. More than anything Chesha didn’t want precious, shy chicken kohai to be passed over in the presence of the more outgoing pig kohai. Bringing the sausage and chicken together she gave the skillet a few shakes, letting them intermingle like some sort of co-ed dance – and letting a tiny bit of the flavors mix – before transferring it to the egg scramble.

One of her hands went to the dial, turning the flame up from the low setting to medium and she started churning the ingredients together more and more, stopping only to add a bit of salt to help downplay some of the chili powder just in case it proved a bit much. Besides it’d help boost the eggs a little compared to the meat and even veggies.

She did need to make it up to the guest a bit though, albeit couldn’t help wanting to spice things up a little bit…in a manner of speaking. Scraping the meat skillet clean more to rid it of the previous spices she added more oil and a few slices of bacon. Immediately the sizzling returned as she watched them, waiting until they’d turned a darker shade of red before drizzling a few drops each of syrup. The spatula helped spread it so there’d be more of a sweet hint to the bacon rather than an over powering flavor, and waited until it’d reached proper crispitude before plating that next to a small cup of normal, boring syrup. Not much she could do to change that.

”ORDER UP!” She called out, a hint of excitement in her voice this time before munching more on the breakfast sandwich plate from earlier. It’d turned out a bit better than her spicy chicken scramble.

The first cup of wine would be completely drunk before she began to worry again about her third attempt at getting a palatable plate of pleasing poultry and other items in the skillet. Would she get something good? Or would it be something so foul that it would no longer be considered a skillet with fowl in it?

The second glass of wine would be poured, this one only three-quarters of the glass filled, before she heard the same voice say that an order was ready. The excitement in her voice made her worry increase. Had something gone wrong with this order? Had the cook decided to do something she would not notice until she had actually eaten it? All of these thoughts ran through her head as the waitress set the plate down at the table.

"Well, it LOOKS right from what I can see. Want me to wait around for the first bite?"

"No, I should let you help other customers. If something is wrong I'll wave you down when I get the chance." The waitress would thank her before walking off, leaving Hure with her new plate of food. It smelled good, not spicy like before, and it looked like it didn't have as much of the odd items mixed in. It was clear there were extras, but they were things that mixed well with it. A small bite would prove it to have a slight taste of what she thought was chili pepper. It was in a small amount, not enough to ruin it, and actually made the flavor appealing to her tastes. Adding the syrup to the skillet would mean it would be a near perfect plate this time, and the bacon that had been plated as an extra side item looked nice and crispy.

Spoon after spoon filled with the mashed hash brown mixture stuffed the girl’s face until both cheeks bulged akin to a chipmunks. Patience might be a virtue, but all Chesha learned was that virtues kind of sucked. Each second ticked by and the waitress didn’t return with the third plate. She couldn’t concentrate on another task though until she felt sure that woman wouldn’t return with harsh words and another failure. Hopefully this one had been a home run rather than a complete strike out.

Little by little she swallowed the large lumps of food in her mouth and little by little she returned to chopping up whatever the other two called out being low. Eyes would shoot back towards that little window since Alejandro couldn’t keep a proper lookout right now with his face utterly covered and muffled. Yet as the minutes ticked by and she worked to keep things stocked with ingredients, helping out with side bits like toast, bacon, and a few other odds and ends the two main chefs didn’t have time for the woman only returned to pick up other orders or place new ones for them to fill. The woman even thanked her as she passed over plates after adding the last little touch here and there.

This meant two things: either the customer liked the food, left in an angry huff and gave up, or choked to death.

Given the lack of panic and abundance of casual chatter she veered away from option three. Not unless a lot of heartless scum filled the dining room – a possibility she couldn’t fully rule out. A quick look confirmed a fair few families and “normies” so…no probably not dead. If option two had been the defacto choice then surely the plate would’ve come back? So….maybe she decided to just accept it and stuff it down her gullet. With a shrug Chesha pushed it out of her mind, handing her finished plates of food to the dish washer, her belly quite satisfied as she worked on another table’s order.

The more she ate the more she realized that this plate was actually way better than she had come to expect because of the first two. The crispy bacon had had syrup added to it while cooking, at least she believed so with how it tasted to her as she crunched it with her teeth. and the syrup shot added to the skillet was all that was needed to make it perfect for her tastes! A few minutes would go by as she silently, and quite quickly, gnawed through a good half of her meal before the waitress came by.

"So, how is everything? Please don't tell me you're just eating it because you don't want to cause any more problems." It was clear the waitress was worried. She had every right to be with how the first two plates had gone down.

"Well, unless I find a surprise in the rest of this plate, everything is great! Let the cook know I've enjoyed this one. Also, can I order some truffle fries to go? I want to eat them as a snack later and don't want to have to go to another restaurant later to get food or cook for myself. I'm not the best cook, I can do fish and the basics for sides and vegetables and that's about it."

The mumbled 'oh thank god' was forgivable as Hure would have, most likely, done the same thing if the mermaid had been in the same position. The worker would quickly walk off to do as they needed for their job.