As Maria heard Carina's whisper and her arm threading around her arm she slightly felt a tingle up her spine as in she was suprised her a bit."you think so?"Maria said in a playful tone trying to social with other people rather than just taking to herself in her head as she usually does.

Carina looked out to see jade still on the floor, Miranda ears sticking up from behind the counter, Kris rambling about sandwiches and Conor wasn't there to be seen. taking it all in she solemnly nodded "Why yes I think we are" before bursting out in a series of giggles. "And I kinda love" Just then she hears the door open and someone come in so she quickly sobers up and says "Hello~!" bright and cheerfully she greeted the newcomer smiler firmly in place "How may I help you?"

Tallie smiled.
"Um, I'm supposed to be the new cashier."

He sighed at the boy "Alright kiddo, redemption time, make me two of each sandwich Jade put on the menu" He tied his long red hair back and washed his hands, then got out the supplies to make the fruit salad, chopping them with well practiced speed and precision

"Hooray, redemption!" Conor crowed, smiling glowingly at Kris and washing his hands up to his elbows in thick soap and sanitizer. Soon, he too was busy at the deli and the grill, making sandwich after sandwich with ease and with skill. Soon enough he had begun to sing, starting softly until he grew bold enough to sing loudly out to the dining area. "I love coffee, I love tea! I love the the girls, and the girls love me!Coffee and tea and the java and me, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, boy!"

Soon the knife was flying, splashes of mustard and mayo staining his apron and flecking his face as he went on. "I love java, sweet and hot! Whoops, Mr. Jade-o! I'm a coffee pot!Shoot me the pot and pour me a shot! A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!"

"Oh slip me a slug from the wonderful mug, and Ill cut a rug just snug in a jug! A sliced up onion and a raw one -- Draw one -- Waiter, waiter, percolator!" He rocked from side to side, clearly in an improved mood as he crooned to the sandwiches, cutting them into little shapes. One pair was very, very carefully trimmed into the shape of cute little foxes. His awkward way of apologizing to Miranda, probably.

Still singing, he put the sandwiches on a tray and waltzed from the kitchen, bringing the food to the ladies and to Jade. "Boston bean, soy beans, green bean, cabbage and greens! I'm not keen about a bean unless it's a chili chili bean, boy! I love coffee, I love tea! I love the girls, and the girls..." He broke off with a little bow, putting the sandwiches out for the multitudinous waitresses. "... and the girls put up with the pain in the a-- that is me!" He beamed, a bit sheepishly.

Tallie giggled at the last part of the song and looked around, looking around for the source.

Jade frowned when Miranda wriggled out of his grip. Slowly he stood though to see who had come in. He smiled at Tallie. "Hey you!" A hand was raised in a small wave to his cashier. He was relieved she was here. Jade was almost certain that if a customer came in and he had to use the cash register it would probably explode. He glanced at it for a moment, then around at all the girls.

When Conor came out with the sandwiches he giggled lightly at the silly song, watching the boy for a moment before once again glancing around at the girls. "Hm.." So many workers and no customers. Jade frowned for a moment then smiled again. It didn't matter. You couldn't rush things like that. "You better hope the girls like you.." There was a glint of mischief in his eyes. "..after all. They outnumber us and I'd hate to see them ALLL gang up on poor little you." Jade giggled.

Tallie waved back with her fingers and walked up to Jade.
"Hi! Do you happen to be the owner?" she held out her smooth hand and smiled sweetly. "My name's Tallie."

Miranda was still crouched behind the counter, though when the song started, she did raise enough to peek over the top. She was trying to find the poor dying animal that was screaming out so horribly. Her ears dropped down a little, mostly to shield her sensitive hearing from the higher notes, as she watches Conor leave the kitchen with the food. She saw the fox shaped ham sandwiches, and thought they looked cute.

What a silly way to apologize. She really hoped he was in fact saying sorry by doing that. Otherwise, it could be seen as a death threat...

Silently, with a sly grin on her lips, she sneaks around and behind Conor. She doesn't let him know she's there until she wants him to know. She gives out a small growl, not a threatening one, but a playful one. Perhaps by startling him, he would see that he really freaked her out earlier. She did still want to apologize for scratching him, but a little fun had to be had first. "Cute ham sandwiches. They look familiar." She was standing so that she was leaning forward, with her hands behind her back, clasped together above the base of her tail. Her ears were up and focused forward, and her eyes were on the fox sandwiches. Behind her, her tail, poofy like it should be, swayed gently in an amused way.

---

((Sorry if she seems out of character... I can't keep her being scared all the time... Her natural happiness wants to come out... If you guys think it's too soon, I can rewrite this with her cowering somewhere and forcing Jade or someone to dote on her... But this *points up* is the way she normally is. Sly, tricky, easy to play a joke, always looking for a laugh...))

"Yee-ipe! You're right there, Jade!" Conor put on an expression of false humility, lowering his eyes at the girls in mock-bashfulness. He looked about for Miranda, hoping to hand her the fox-sandwiches before someone else snatched them up. He made the mistake of looking everywhere but behind himself, which meant her soft growl nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"Argh!" He yelped, twisting around with her plate still perfectly balanced in his small hand. Heart thudding against his chest, he turned bright pink, smiling like an embarrassed fool. After hemming and hawing for a moment, he offered the plate to her. "I'm not much of a caricature artist, but I thought you might find it flattering. Or insulting. Either way, they're for you." He refrained from apologizing with his words, instead trying to hand off the sandwiches and slink off back to the kitchen, his metaphorical tail between his legs.

---

((Not at all out of character! Mercurial moods work well for a fox-girl. And I think that she and Conor will have a ridiculously hilarious prank back-and-forth. xD))

He smiled at Tallie. "Yup. I'm the owner. Jade." Of course his attention was quickly drawn by Miranda's antics and Conor's yelp. He raised a brow and then just grinned at the two. Honestly as long as everyone got along and nothing got broken, Jade would be very pleased. "Well...glad to see you two are getting along now." His attention returned to Tallie. "How may I help you?"



][Jade's moods are usually off the chart on one end of the scale or the other. so there really isn't anything I could do that would make him out of character. heh.][

Tallie shrugged.
"I was just wondering what you wanted me to do first?" she adjusted her black messenger bag that was on her shoulder and sawayed her weight uneasily from one foot to the other.

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(BTW I've been grounded till the end of the school year...and got my cell phone and laptop taken away...so idk how much I'll be on, but I'll try to get on every chance I get, k? Just keep posting and I'll promise I'll do my best to keep up!!! >.<)

Jade smiled at Tallie and shrugged a bit. "Well. Not much to do really. Since we don't have any customers yet. So..you can just..relax and hang out." Jade shrugged again. "But.." He looked around at all his employees. "When customers do come in we have to be all business like. Not too much horsing around. We don't want to scare the customers off or anything like that." Jade inhaled and glanced towards the kitchen.

He slipped between the doors, then back out. Tossing an apron to Tallie before he slipped back into that kitchen to see what delicious thing Kris was probably cooking. Coming up behind the red head and peering over his shoulder. "Mmm. Smells good. What is it? Can I help?" Already Jade was reaching for a random seasoning or three.

Grins and swats his hand away before he could put anything into the meat he was marinating "I'm making dinner for us for tonight, my pops mad at me again, hope you don't mind but i'm crashing at your place until he cools off" He turned the meat over and rubbed his mixture of spices into the meat "I hope you like roast beef"

"Oooh. I love everything you cook." He was still peering over Kris shoulder, eyeing the meat for a moment before he reached over and snatched up some garlic. "It'll need lotsa this..right? Garlic is good." Then Jade had danced back from Kris and was prancing about the kitchen grabbing up all kinds of spices and marinades. Half of which he didn't even look at the labels of. "And this..and that..ooh maybe some of this..Mm..." He inhaled deeply. "This one smells nice, so some of that..And.." Jade stopped rather suddenly. "Potatoes!" He dropped the spices he was holding and dashed towards where the potatoes were. "I can peel them. I've gotten better at that. I don't cut my fingers quite as much anymore." Already he was reaching for that peeling knife, before he had even gotten to the potatoes.

He turned quickly on his heels and grabbed jades wrist, pulling him away from the peeling knife "No no no darling, remember what happened last time? yeah i don't think your allowed to peel anything any time soon. Why don't you make us some desert though, i love your cakes" He snatched up the knife and put it in a pocket in his apron, then after cleaning up all the spices he stuck the roast in the oven

He blinked when Kris had grabbed him looking up at him innocently. "But I've gotten better at it." He protested softly and only for a moment. Smiling at Kris and then bounding over to where the eggs were kept. "I'll make the best dessert that's ever been made." He wriggled a bit, excitedly. Snatching up milk and a few other things he would need to make a complicated but delicious painted cake. Jade was soon humming softly as he worked. Mixing the cake batter and adding a bit of vanilla and some choc chips to the batter. Soon pouring it in a deep odd circular dish and then popping it into one of the ovens and turning the timer on.

"Icing. lotsa icing." He mumbled softly and pranced around the kitchen getting all the different colored icings and edible cake paint he would need for decorating the cake when it was done baking. He continued to hum. Mixing some of the paint colors to get other colors he needed.

Miranda snags the plate of sandwiches with a quick "Thank you! So Cute!" and lets Aurthur run back to the kitchen. She could actually picture the tail he had metaphorically between his legs, but it was a basic appendage, not any specific type of animal.

She was munching on one of the adorable sandwiches when Jade said the line about horsing around and not doing it when there were customers in the cafe. She knew there was no one there that didn't work there, but still, his words seemed to apply to her. That was how she saw it anyway. Somewhere in her shock, she'd finished the sandwiches, crumbs and all, and was holding the plate over her chest, the edge resting against her collarbone at the base of her throat.

Her eyes widened when she realized that Jade wasn't out there anymore, he was back in the kitchen again. With the intent to take the plate into the kitchen and wash it, she heads after her new friend and employer.

She stops in the doorway just in time to hear the chef say that he was crashing at Jade's place. She could only hope her box was still in the alley a block away. She knew it was going too well. Something had to come to remind her of where she belonged.

She took the plate to the sink, washing it thoroughly and rinsing the dish with the scalding water to clean off the soap. Unsure of what to do with it after that, she sets it down on a dry part of the counter and walks back out without a word to anyone. Her tail was limp behind her, her ears flopping to the side, and her gaze vacant. It was as if she'd been doing this sort of thing for months instead of just a few minutes. Or like she'd done it before. Just to have something to do, she walks around the cafe, straightening the chairs, wiping anything that looks like it needs it.

With nothing left to do, she stands at the counter, looking at the door, her mind completely elsewhere, and her tail in her hands again.

Jade had smiled and waved at Miranda once he'd realized she was in the kitchen. Though when he had noticed she seemed to be on her way back out. Jade pranced around the kitchen a bit longer, checked the timer on his cake. Bounded over to see what Kris was doing and then he was out of the kitchen. A brow raised slightly when he saw Miranda gripping her tail again and rather quickly he was next to her and gently placed his hands gently on hers.

"Miranda..I've something to tell you." Jade paused for a moment, though still smiling. "Kris needs a place to stay for a night or a few..I'm not really sure how long. He'll probably sleep where ever I sleep so there will still be plenty of room for you as well. I mostly just wanted to talk to you about the sleeping arrangements." He frowned slightly. "There is only one bed, but we have a couch..I was thinking that maybe you'd like to sleep in the bed. Kris and I can sleep on the couch or I can put him in the floor and keep the couch to myself." Jade grinned at that.

Miranda slowly turned to look at Jade, her eyes wide and unfocused. Her ears were flat against her head, and though his hands were over hers as she gripped her tail, she continued to wring the already bruised appendage. "They just took my box away in the trash truck. I don't have anywhere to sleep tonight. They just hauled it away. They didn't even ask if it was anyone's home, they just took my box..." She was looking out the front window again, albeit with the gaze of one that could just as easily been blind as seeing. Her eyes didn't focus on anything even in the process of turning her head. "Where am I going to sleep since they took away my box...?"

Had she not heard a word he said? Jade frowned deeply, his heart was aching. He pulled her hands away from her tail gently, but he didn't let go of her hands. "Poor, silly child. Come with me." His voice was so soft and so gentle. Jade did not wait for a response before he was gently tugging Miranda away from that counter. Guiding her through the back of the cafe and towards the stairs that led up to the apartment above.

"It probably isn't as grand as your box, but it is the best I can do." He never once let go of her hand, but his grip remained gentle and light as he took her up those stairs and through the open door. They came out into the small kitchen and then through that doorway into the small living room that was occupied by a couch a little table and a t.v. Nothing fancy really.

He guided her down the short hallway, stopping in the middle of it once to open a door. "Heres the bathroom, with a shower..so you can bathe when ever you like and as often as you like." He giggled. Sometimes Jade would take three or four showers in a day. He continued to the last room, the one at the end of the hallway and opened the door. Jade gently pulled Miranda into that bedroom and sat her down on the bed.

"This is where you will sleep."

She followed Jade of course, but she did give the front door one last look before she was led out of line of sight. The apartment was small, only the size of the cafe down the stairs, but it was decidedly bigger than the box she picked out in the alleyway. She made mental notes of where everything in the apartment was, and how to get to them.

When Jade sat her down on the bed in his room, she couldn't help but tense up, fear entering her eyes and actions. If that's what he wanted, she would fight him to run away, but she was somewhat confused all the same. Is that why he led me up here? And showed me everything? He said this is where I sleep, but this is his room. She would wait for him to make the first moves before running to the nearest exit. "I...I'd really rather sleep on the couch... Please...? ...couch..." She was shaking, trying to keep calm in this moment where she'd have to fight for herself again. Her tail was under her butt, but pressed so tightly against her legs that pits of fur poked between them. Her ears were flat against her head and she was looking out of the room toward the couch and door out of the apartment.

"Couch?" Jade blinked, shaking his head a bit. "Don't be silly. You'll sleep in the bed, the couch is where me and Kris will sleep." Jade was a bit hesitant. Miranda seemed a bit fearful, but he couldn't figure out why..at least, he didn't think he had done anything scary. He had finally let go of her hands, though his grip had been very gentle and light anyway. He pat her on the head softly. "Don't be silly. I wouldn't make a lady sleep on the couch or the floor. You get the nice bed all to yourself."

He gave her shoulder a light, reassuring pat before he moved away, moving towards the door. He turned to smile softly at her. "Right..You can have another look around if you want before coming back down stairs. Take all the time you need or want though. No rush." Then Jade was moving out the door and back down the hall and through the living room and then the kitchen. Soon he was back downstairs in the cafe.

"Still no customers, then?" Jade frowned slightly as he came back into the main room of the cafe and glanced around. True he hadn't been upstairs long, but still. At least someone could have ventured in. Oh well. Everything would be fine.

the ding on the door was not a surprise after the sign on the front walk. "interesting sign they have up, wonder if they're still hiring" after smoothing out her shirt and making sure there isn't a stain on her pants from her lunch she walks up to the front counter. letting her eyes rove over every one within trying to remember their faces she gentlt chides herself. "slow down girl, you'll have plenty of time to remember their faces if they hire you" turning to the cashier "excuse me but is this place still hiring?"

Jade hadn't been standing behind the counter long when the girl entered. He had smiled brightly, then that smile faltered slightly before brightening back up. "Yup. I'm hiring. I'm having a special on hiring, if the position you want is still open, and you can start today then I'll hire you with no questions asked. No annoying, nerve wracking interview or anything like that." Jade was bouncing on his feet.

"I'm the owner. Jade Delacroix."