Café Capers! The Raven & The Wrestler!

[Vio]

^{Marsha #1}

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A sunny day with a slight spatter of woolly white clouds in the crystal blue sky over the Polestar Islands was nothing special, nor were the bustling streets of its economic and political capital—the town of beginnings and ends—Loguetown. Although most on this side of the Calm Belt tended not to see the full-blooded folk of more extraordinary races, it wasn’t as if Guerrero Marsha actually stood out as anything inhuman. Her dark olive skin was far from unnatural for a human, closed gills were almost perfectly hidden to all but an observant eye, and the webbing of her extremities was hidden as she kept her digits together. Even her dorsal fin was pressed mostly flat against her back and hidden, as always, by the cascade of muddy brown and golden hair that fell down her back.

The ring of a small bell over the door announced her presence, as it would any customer, as she entered the establishment. A café on one of the many streets that made up the sprawling architectural wonder of a city, it had drawn the Gyojin girl’s attention with something rather simple—the prospect of food. It was no fanciful restaurant or cosy diner, nor a cheap and cheerful pub, but that didn’t deter her appetite. Quaint places like these offered their own kinds of food, from sandwiches to delicious cakes, not to mention wonderful drink options like coffee and hot cocoa!

“Hiii~!” Marsha chirped as she entered. At a little over one and three quarters of a metre, she wasn’t a particularly incredible specimen, but an odd sheen to her skin might have stood out. Dressed in an orange sleeveless top that showed off her midriff, but otherwise kept her covered up, and a matching pair of shorts, the only other notable articles were the cream-coloured towel-like scarf around her neck and the travelling bag over her shoulder—not even a pair of shoes as she walked barefoot to the counter.

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:—}
<sub>A hungry Marsha enters the café!

Notes:— Cat</sub>

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Guerrero Marsha | #e1a95f

[Cat]

Myra 1

The cause of the gloomy mood of the café owner was a mystery to local waitresses. They were quite nervous, and dishes fell on the floor more than usual. Myra was trying to accept this fact reasonably. She could not fire all personnel because they were nervous. Who will take care of customers after that?

“Did something happen?”

The young business owner looked at the waitress who stopped right before her.

“New cakes are prepared; do you wish to check it, boss?”

Myra looked at the clocks, it wasn´t time for a new batch. The chef and whole team were trying hard to persuade her to just leave them alone so they could peacefully do their job.

“No, thank you. Just bring me a hot tea … or maybe ... can I have the blueberry cake if we have it?”

She stopped the waitress when she turned her back to her.

“Of course, it is best with hot cocoa. Do you want one instead of tea?”

The waitress was trying to hide her amusement and relief. This debate was quite common for Myra and her staff. Myra was trying her best to order tea every time…unsuccessfully, so her staff obviously found her weakness. It seemed that she had good employees after all.

“Thank you, Elie”

Myra nodded and let it be. Maybe she could simply leave everyone here and stay on her favorite terrace up. She will see everything from there.

“Everything is all right; our boss just needs a cup of our double chocolate hot cocoa!”

Elie informed her colleagues and thought that her boss didn´t hear her. Young lady Myra Raven sighed and tried to hide her embarrassment. Luckily, she was almost the only customer here if she wouldn´t count the young woman, who came in during Elie’s short speech.

Myra looked at the newcomer with interest. It was a new face, not a usual customer and something was strange about her but she wasn´t sure yet.

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Elie f0e39e
Myra 0e1bb8

[Vio]

^{Marsha #2}

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“Can I get a… slice of…,” Marsha began, viewing the various cakes and similar café standards on display about the counter. Spoiled for choice she was, a finger tapping her cheek as her nose was graced by the scents of freshly baked cakes. And freshly baked meant there was zero chance of coming across something too dry for her palate. Blueberry, mixed fruit, coffee, chocolate; a decision was impossible. “Ahah! A slice of everything, please! Oh, maybe I should eat something savoury, too,” she pondered, food dominating thought for a lack of decision.

“But I already ate a big breakfast… Hm! No, I’ll stick with a slice of every cake you’ve got,” Miss Guerrero announced, smiling widely at the waitress behind the counter. To be frank, it wasn’t a hard order to comprehend, just an unusual one. With that sorted, however, she quickly took a seat and waited patiently, taking a moment to stretch arms and legs. However, being mostly alone aside from the staff, awkward silence wasn’t too welcoming, and so she turned and said: “This is a really nice place, isn’t it~?”

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:—}
<sub>A hungry Marsha orders a slice of every cake!

Notes:— —</sub>

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Guerrero Marsha | #e1a95f

[Cat]

Myra 2

Myra silently smiled and observed her employees. The new customer seemed like a good testing subject for them. Young lady Raven comfortably sat back and waited.

The waitress was surprised by the new order, but she keep smiling.

“Of course, as you wish. Do you want something first or should I bring it randomly one by one?”

It was hard to say if she was so interested in the order of cakes or if she was simply playing for the time. Myra guessed the second option because she forgot to ask about beverages.

“I will bring it to you in a while.”

A young and cheeky waitress pointed at a nearby table and chair and hurried to the kitchen. Myra could see how she was trying to not laugh. Myra sighed, but she also got a nice idea of how to teach the waitress a lesson about local protocol.

The café owner was patiently waiting for her piece of cake.

“Yes, it surely is.”

Myra agreed with her new customer. Before she could talk more, the waitress showed up with a mug of cocoa and a piece of cake. She was observing her with a dangerous smile and when she put everything on her table, she whispered.

“You forgot to offer coffee to her…. So, I will help you”

Myra kept smiling.

“You will bring our guest a complete kid’s menu as the first part of her order.”

The poor waitress looked at Myra with shock but then she cannot decide if she wants to laugh. The girl hurried to the kitchen to prepare the new order. A few minutes later she was returning with a platter with strawberry and chocolate cake and a mug in the shape of a pink llama with an unknown beverage with whipped cream with small marshmallows on top of it.

SPOILER: Click to show

{>>LLama mug<<}

“We decided to bring you everything one by one and because our cakes are the best with cocoa or coffee, I bring you also our lamacoa.”

The Elie was speaking and putting everything carefully before the hungry guest. Myra had to admit, that ability to not smile of this waitress was more than impressive. The other thing was, if their guest has a sense of humor or if she will be offended by cocoa.

[Vio]

^{Marsha #3}

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With that, Miss Guerrero waited patiently. A rather heavy cooked breakfast previously eaten at least kept her stomach from growling in protest. Sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs, mushroom, tomato—double helpings at that! Of course, that was an hour or so ago, and her belly already felt like an empty void. Still, in the comparatively short amount of time she had to wait, she kept her mind and body busy with some simple shoulder stretches to keep herself nice and limber.

And then, it arrived.

“We decided to bring you everything one by one,” the waitress said, approaching with a tray of cake and a curious addition that seemed to captivate the equally curious customer. The smells that permeated the café air were one thing, but it didn’t take Marsha’s nose more than a couple of seconds to catch a whiff of the warm, chocolatey scent emanating from the adorable animal-shaped vessel.

“Aah~!” she exhaled, blushing slightly and clapping her fingers against her cheeks. “I forgot to order drinks! Thank you! It’s so cute~!” If anything, the joke was lost on her, what with the young Fishwoman being heavily captivated by the design of the mug and its chocolatey, creamy, squishy contents. It even had little feet! Admittedly, neither the cake nor the cocoa would last all too long.

“Yummm~!” Though there was at least some attempt at refinement in her consumption of the café’s goods, for the most part Marsha’s aggressive need for food took hold. The first delivery of cake wouldn’t last more than a minute at most, barely a crumb left behind, and by the time the waitress could return with the next batch of sweet treats, the lovely llama’s whipped cream and marshmallow topping had been devoured and the rest of its contents drained by half…

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:—}
<sub>Entranced by the llama mug, Marsha swiftly downs the cake and most of the cocoa!

Notes:— —</sub>

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Guerrero Marsha | #e1a95f
Elie [NPC] | #f0e39e

[Cat]

Myra 3

The young lady was sitting in her comfortable chair with a view of the whole café. She expected many things from her lesson to her waitress. The few minutes before Elie showed up with a trace of the child´s menu, Myra spent covering her curiosity by observing her mug of hot cocoa.

When the first part of the order was delivered, Myra hid her face behind her big mug of cocoa and was secretly listening. She was shocked by the reaction of her customer. The only thing that took her interest was the design of the mug but then that girl was only interested in her dessert and in the content of the llama mug.

Myra was disappointed, but also, she was proud of her employee. She had done a good job. The only question was if she can handle the whole order of their visitor with such elegance. Young lady Raven decided to trust the waitress and cook in this matter.

The only thing she decided to do was to enjoy her cake and drink.

The waitress was in quite a different situation. She didn´t expect a quest with such an appetite.

“Oh, I am glad you like our cakes. I will bring you another.”

She tried to hide her surprise and hurried for another piece of cake. She took the clear plate, and put one lemon cake on it, but then she shook her head. It wasn´t a good combination with hot cocoa so she put it aside and chose caramel cake with fresh pansies on top.

“I hope you will enjoy this one”

Elie friendly smiled and winked at her customer.

[Vio]

^{Marsha #4}

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One by one, the waitress delivered items to Marsha’s table. One by one, she consumed them without second thought, wrapped in the wonderment of what was certainly good quality in both service and servings. And with each helping, it perhaps became more and more apparent that the woman’s stomach might as well have been a bottomless pit. But, perhaps fortunately for the café’s staff, there eventually came an end to the steady stream of sweets—the moment that Miss Guerrero had quite legitimately sampled the entire menu.

“Aah~! That was all so good~,” Marsha chirped, swallowing the last mouthful of cake, and perhaps a little ignorant of the stack of empty dishes that had gradually accumulated. “I’ve gotta say! This place is great~! Solid service, a fresh atmosphere, and great food and drink? You’ve got it all! …Ah… I better pay for all this too,” she continued with a smile, fetching out a purse with a fish design. It was at that exact moment, however, that the Gyojin girl realised the folly of her ways, eyes widening in realisation as she noted the lack of weight to her purse. A severe lack of bills and coinage…

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:—}
<sub>Having had her fill, Marsha attempts to prepare payment, but coldly realises her lack of funds!

Notes:— —</sub>

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Guerrero Marsha | #e1a95f
Elie [NPC] | #f0e39e

[Cat]

Myra 4

Her new customer was eating cake one by one at the speed that Ellie had a problem bringing a piece of another one rightly decorated in time. Myra was observing everything with silent interest. The situation seemed to be a perfect test for her employees, and it also help her to think about something else for a while.

Young lady Raven took out a small notepad and started writing which small mistakes was her staff doing.

And then the time had come. The girl had the opportunity to taste every cake in the café and she looked satisfied.

“I´m glad you like our cakes. I will prepare you a check,”

The waitress was smiling and headed to calculate everything. She was so concentrated on that task, that she didn´t notice the nervosity of her customer. The fact, that there is customer without supervision forced Myra to frown, but she didn´t do anything and observed it.
The waitress returned after a while with a check, prepared to show it to the girl with a big appetite, which mirrored in the size of bill.

[Vio]

^{Marsha #5}

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What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Anxiety fired on all cylinders as the waitress made to total up the cost of the woman’s feeding frenzy. With barely a thousand in cash to her name at present, Miss Guerrero could have perhaps afforded a simple hot chocolate and slice of cake, but she was so much more than knee deep into debt that she might as well have been swimming in the red. I can’t just walk out! That’d be dishonourable! For what she was, the mental struggle of dragging herself out of this mud she had gotten into was far more difficult than any physical exertion.

“Uh…,” Marsha exhaled as she saw the waitress return to the table, bill in hand—it might as well have been the draft of a short story with how long it was, spanning a length of paper that had been softly folded twice over just to be carried without snagging on anything. She swallowed as it was placed before her. An unreasonable amount it was not. Affordable in her current monetary predicament? Definitely not. Defeatedly, she accepted the best way out of this was honesty. “I– I’m sorry, but I can’t afford the whole bill with what I have on me,” Marsha said, presenting the sole thousand berri note she had to her name in one hand and holding the other up as if in some kind of surrendering gesture, a nervous smile on her face. “I– I can get more, though! And then I’ll come straight back and pay the rest, if that’s alright?” Here she was hoping that the manager was reasonable…

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:—}
<sub>An anxious Marsha tries to find a way out of her predicament by promising to pay back the rest soon (omitting the fact she has no more cash to her name)!

Notes:— —</sub>

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Guerrero Marsha | #e1a95f
Elie [NPC] | #f0e39e

[Cat]

Myra 5

The café owner observed the situation with a frown on her face. As the whole situation was more and more wrong.

On the other side, the waitress was able to keep her professional behavior and kind smile. She listened to the guest with interest and sighed. Then she looked outside of the window. It was such a nice day and now was probably ruined by this girl.

“I … understand.”

She was able to control her tone.

“So you probably forgot most of your money in your hotel or home?”

She sighed. It must be it. No unpaying guests when the boss is nearby.

“It is not a problem, I suppose we can find someone who will accompany you.”

Myra bent her head and stood up. There weren´t enough employees today to let anybody as warden to this non-payer. She slowly walked towards the table and the waitress stopped talking and waited.

“Helllo. Is something wrong?”

Myra asked calmly and waited for the response of her customer. She looked at the girl before her more closely and had her doubts about her ability to pay. She had bare feets, so she mayby didn´t have anything valuable. It was troublesome.

[Vio]

^{Marsha #6}

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“So you probably forgot most of your money…?” Marsha blinked. The waitress’ assumption was giving her the benefit of the doubt, but that couldn’t have been more distant from reality. Miss Guerrero’s entire funds were on her person, her ability to get more being entirely dependent on whether or not she could put her skills to good use. And whether or not she could do so in a timely manner was an entirely different question.

^{“Uh– Well,” the Gyojin began:
“That’s nice of you to offer, but–”}

“Hello,” another voice greeted them. “Is something wrong?” It was the woman that had been sitting by her lonesome at another table—a figure that Marsha had assumed to be another customer like herself. The scrutiny in the woman’s eyes was completely overlooked, her true identity a mystery to the mudskipper as Marsha took a moment to process what she believed was charitable potential. Were that the case, it would have been greatly appreciated, though the source of the debt would have been subsequently shifted across.

“Oh! Hi there,” the brunette began, staving off nerves and embarrassment at her predicament as best she could, and mentally cursing her own appetite for putting her into this mess. “It’s nothing– Ah, well, I guess it’s not ‘nothing’… I don’t have enough money to foot the bill for all this,” she smiled awkwardly, raising the check with all the anguish of a soul facing extortionate loan sharks. “And,” Marsha added, doing her utmost to retain a smile and laugh off the palpable tension thicker than mud, “I don’t actually have any other money. I was trying to find a job I could do, but I got hungry, and… Ahehe… Here we are…”

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SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synposis:—}
<sub>As the situation grows in tension, Marsha tries to explain her predicament to what she assumes is a fellow customer!

Notes:— —</sub>

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Guerrero Marsha | #e1a95f
Myra Raven | #0e1bb8
Elie [NPC] | #f0e39e