The Early Bird Opens The Shop (Worms are Gross)

[Phineas Behkit]

After blindly fumbling for keys, banging his foot into the raised doorframe, and accidentally allowing the metal gate to fall onto his head, Phineas had already had enough of the day and just wanted it to be over.

Unfortunately for him, it was 5:33 in the morning and a Friday, which meant that the workday would appear to drag on approximately four hours longer than normal.

Managing to turn on the lights and make his way to his office without further incident, Phineas sat his briefcase and laptop bag on a chair and stretched, still partially asleep. Babylon was a bad idea last night; he'd ended up getting a mere two hours of sleep after all the dancing he'd done (if only it had been more than dancing).

Heading back out to the front counter, he sat on a stool, propped his feet on the black marble, and leaned against the wall, waiting for his first shifters to show up while trying to catch a quick snooze.

[Danny Kasher]

Danny entered the shop and waved a hello at Phinny. Usually he would accompany that with a friendly greeting, but his mouth was entirely too busy yawning at that point to manage.

Stretching, he finished the yawn and headed behind the counter and into the breakroom, stowing his stuff in a locker. He pulled his hat and apron from his bag and put them on. Another yawn struck him as he headed out behind the counter, but luckily this was a short one.

"Mornin', Phin," Danny said, beginning to start up the coffee.

[Phineas Behkit]

Phineas grinned at his employee's arrival and stood up, also stretching. It appeared as if it was too early for the both of them.

"Good morning, Daniel." he greeted warmly, helping the boy with preparations. The scent of coffee beans was enough to perk him up, even for a moment.

"Is it alright, calling you Daniel? Your friend, ah, Dexter, yes? He calls you Danny. Would you like me to also call you that?" he asked casually, making conversation. Phineas hated strict manager-employee relationships and did his best to become familiar with everyone he worked with.

[Danny Kasher]

((Are you making Dexter, sister?!))

Danny turned and smiled at his boss, a smile that reached his eyes.

"You can call me whatever you want, boss," he replied. He then stood at attention and saluted him briefly, before laugher overtook him and he turned back to fiddle with the espresso machine. Phinny was a great boss - Daniel had only been working at this place for a couple of days, but already it had his other jobs beat. Plus, Phinny had an awesome accent... it made Danny want to travel.

[Phineas Behkit]

[Maybe, maybe not...]

Phineas gave a hearty laugh and grinned, genuinely pleased with his choice of cashier. He was a nice boy.

"Please, Phineas is okay. Boss... not so much. Alright, Danny?" he said, not really asking, just implying that formalities didn't matter to him. Suddenly, a thought struck him.

"Ow. Damn, that hurt!"

[...just kidding.]

"Do you like coffee, Danny? It would be a shame, to work in a place you could not enjoy." Phineas inquired curiously.

[Danny Kasher]

"I love the smell," Danny replied as he finished, wiping some bean dust on his smock. "I wonder why coffee doesn't taste like it smells - if it did, though, I would basically just hand my paycheck back to you though... so I suppose it's not all bad," he reasoned aloud, moving down to the next appliance with a grin. "I do love hot chocolate, though... so maybe just half my paycheck then. What about you, Phineas?"

[Phineas Behkit]

"Ah, I see. Well, no worries -all hot chocolate is free for you. Like, a... what you say, ah, benefit. For working so hard." Phineas replied, patting Danny on the shoulder as he walked over to the alcove where the ovens were located. He needed to get moving on the cinnamon buns; they were homemade, so naturally everyone wanted them, and he spent half the day baking to meet demand.

"A muffin, if you're hungry." Phineas yelled over the sound of the ovens being turned on, gesturing to the large crate of pre-packaged muffins he had under the counter. He couldn't make everything.

[Danny Kasher]

Danny looked up from the machine in surprise as Phineas spoke. What an awesome boss!

"Thanks," he replied, genuinely grateful, after a couple seconds of shock. He couldn't help but look forward to his first break as Phineas graciously offered him a free muffin as well. Normally he didn't take things like this... but he was a teenage boy who happened to have not brought lunch with him that day.

Good job choice, he congratulated himself as he got back to work.

[Phineas Behkit]

"Is no problem." Phineas replied, adding ingredients to form the dough. After a time, he grabbed a baking sheet and a rolling pin from a cabinet aside the ovens and began turning strips of dough into rolls, until the sheet was full of cinammon goodness. The buns would only take fifteen minutes or so, which left Phinny just enough time to get himself a cup of coffee and check his emails, which he proceeded to do.

"Danny? Would you turn the sign to say 'Open'? I forget most times." he yelled from his office as he looked at the clock. There were still eleven minutes until opening, but he wasn't very uptight about that kind of thing. What was a few extra minutes of work? Not to mention hardly anyone came in before six fifteen-ish.

[Danny Kasher]

Danny smiled to himself - he had been about to ask Phineas if he should do that very thing, as he had finished with his prep duties.

"Not a problem!" he yelled back, making his way to the door. As he flipped the sign, he remembered with a sigh - he had to finish that essay on his break. Damn. No muffin. Still, hot chocolate was a definite possibility. How appropriate - the essay was on the effects of dark chocolate on the body.

[Phineas Behkit]

After completing assorted tasks in his office, Phineas went back to the ovens and watched the buns rise, a warm golden color.

"Would like a bun, yes?" he called out distractedly as he pulled out the tray, the heavy scent of cinnamon beginning to meander around the shop. Grabbing a ladle from a utensil jar, he dipped it into a warming pot of icing and let it sit while he snatched a black plate from a stack of clean dishes. With a pair of tongs, he plucked two of the pastries from the sheet and placed them on the plate, adding a thick swirl of icing to each one.

Taking the rest of the buns and laying them on a cooling rack, he set it aside and went to the cashier counter with the prepared breakfast/desserts.

[Danny Kasher]

"Yes," Danny replied before he could stop himself. The smell of cinnamony goodness was completely overwhelming in the best way possible. Phineas could have asked him to clean the toilets with his toothbrush and he would have agreed, as long as that smell was in the air.

Danny walked over to the condiments counter and checked the levels of everything before ducking underneath to grab some extra spoons and french vanilla creamers. As soon as he was finished, he went back to the cashier stand, ready to do Phineas' bidding.

[Phineas Behkit]

"On the counter." Phineas called, currently preoccupied with the biscuit warmer that had every intention on causing problems for him. It refused to turn on, even after the few nudges he'd given it, and he was getting frustrated. He wasn't going to give in to an appliance, however, so he kept his cool and continued toying with the heating duct

[Owen Banks]

Owen entered the shop, quickly taking note of the scent in the air. So did his stomach, apparently, as it let out a rather loud and embarassing growl. Immediately flushing, he grinned as he covered the offending region with his arm rather haphazardly. Normally, he wouldn't stop during his morning jog to get breakfast. This morning was proving to be different.

As he peered around, he thought that the place didn't look quite open... and yet he knew the sign on the door had said they were. Not thoroughly convinced, he approached the counter and attempted to get the attention of the man who seemed to be trying to turn on a machine.

"You sure it's plugged in?" he only half-joked. Experience had taught him... well, it had taught him a lot of things, including he wasn't above such simple mistakes.

[Phineas Behkit]

Phineas glanced up with a flustered smile at the man, scratching his head with the hand wasn't in the machine.

"Ah, I think so. I am not so good with machines, see..." Phineas said, abandoning the warmer to stand upright and face Owen.

"You would like something to eat, maybe? Your stomach says you would. What can I do for you?" he continued, grinning for a different reason this time. He'd heard the growl from his tinkering behind the counter - that was some hungry man!

[Owen Banks]

"Ah, neither am I. You are open then?" he asked, wanting to be sure. He used to work in a shop much like this one, and knew how annoying early customers could be.

Owen laughed and looked at the floor as the man behind the counter mentioned his stomach. Stupid internal organs, embarrassing him in front of cute guys. And this guy... well, he was rather cute. Okay, stop it brain, time for food. Stomach says so.

"May I have a hot chocolate and one of those sticky buns?" he asked politely. Their scent was driving his stomach mad.

[Phineas Behkit]

"Ah, neither am I. You are open then?"

"I am forgetful turning the sign sometimes, but as long as Danny turns it, it is right. Says Open, is open." he explained, tapping the side of his head before making a brief gesture towards the door.

Phineas picked up on Owen's bit of embarassment and smiled slyly. He was cute, and if his order pertained to him at all, very sweet.

"May I have a hot chocolate and one of those sticky buns?"

"As you like." he said, turning to the tray of cooling buns and grabbing one with tongs. Retrieving a logo patterned napkin, he set the pastry on top and called out to Danny.

"Busy, Danny? He would like a hot chocolate."

[Danny Kasher]

"Already on it," Danny replied, dispensing hot milk into a mug. Another reason he loved it here - this wasn't a Starbucks. When you ordered something, you got your money's worth. The mug was gigantic.
Soon after he'd finished with the milk, he stirred in their special hot chocolate mix and finished it off with a swirl of chocolate on the top, which was more decorative than anything. Carefully, he placed the mug in front of their customer.

[Owen Banks]

Owen nodded in thanks to the boy who'd made his drink, and looked up expectantly at the cashier. The cashier with the amazing accent, and beautiful eyes, and... STOP! BRAIN! He shook his head a little bit and refocused. Food. Shutting up growling stomach.

Cute bo-NO! Food.

[Phineas Behkit]

Phineas smiled in a way that seemed as if he could read every one of Owen's thoughts.

"$4.23 is total... ah, is the total." he said, slipping a complimentary chocolate coated spoon next to the bun. "Cash or charge?

[Owen Banks]

"Ah... cash," Owen replied with a small smile, flashing his very white teeth as he dug into his back pocket. Emerging (unharmed, thank the gods) with his billfold, he opened it and retrieved the only bill available - a five. He never walked around with much cash.

As he handed the money over, he looked down and noticed the spoon that was next to the bun. He hadn't -- oh. Oh. The brief look of confusion on his face was quickly replaced with a grin as he looked back up at the cashier.

[Phineas Behkit]

Phineas took the money and gave the change with hands that might've lingered a bit too long on Owen's.

"Thirty-seven cents is your change." he said as he placed the coins in Owen's palm, offering a a wink and a smile as well. "Thank you for business."

There weren't any crowded tables, so Owen could take a seat anywhere - including the front...

[Owen Banks]

((hum... did you mean seventy-seven cents, or did you want to give him the wrong change? I am just checking before I go and post something that you didn't intend to happen. =) ))

[Phineas Behkit]

[seventy-seven. my bad. ^^;;;]