Confectionary Wonder

Posted on Tue Oct 31st, 2023 @ 12:02 by Rebecca McMillen & Gabriella Baxter

Chapter: All Hallow's Eve
Location: Bakery - New Cresthill
1956 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Walking through the streets of New Cresthill, Rebecca could almost for a moment forget the troubles that plagued her. Plagued... what a horrid choice of words. It didn't take much to hide her physical differences, but it still felt needed. Baggy track pants hid the tail nicely enough, and shoes were shoes. No one would know. Despite the proximity to Avalon, and the nearly absolute odds that everyone here knew everyone there, it still was something she wasn't completely comfortable coming out with. Not to the general populace at least.

Heightened hearing heard everything, but it didn't take a heightened sense of smell to catch a scent on the breeze. So light, so warm, so sweet. Oh whatever it was, it made her smile. Her tail, tucked away, even gave a twitch twitch. Settle down, girl. Folks might see.

The hunt was on for the source of this wonderful scent. It lead to a bakery, oh the scent of bread and the sweetness of frosting and glaze. This was going to be the death of her, she resolved. This was how she'd leave this world: Death by bakery. She walked in, the bell above dinging as she entered, "Hello." she offered kindly, "I'm sorry but it just smelled so delicious." she continued as she entered and started to look around. She didn't have much, but she'd be damned if she was leaving here empty handed.

"Never be sorry for smelling something delicious." Gabriella was behind the counter, sorting the loafs of fresh baked breads so that they looked appealing in the display behind her. She had turned around to meet the newcomer. "Welcome to the Corner Bakery, I'm Gabriella. Anything in particular that your nose wanted you to find?" She mirrored the woman on the other side of the counter as she passed the different baked goods in the display cases.

"Rebecca, it's nice to meet you." she returned in kind. "And honestly while I WANT to buy one of everything, I think just two loaves of bread will do fine for now. One for now and, well, one for probably right after now." she giggled, "Oh, and maybe one of those for later." she pointed to the sweets in the display case, a banana muffin from the label.

"White or whole wheat?" Gabriella wasn't quite sure if the woman was entirely serious about eating an entire loaf of bread and then following it up with another one and then a banana muffin, but she didn't quite recognise the person either and outside of the holidays that usually meant they were from the castle by the Loch. "Have you come to New Cresthill for work or pleasure?" She reached for the banana muffin and carefully slid it into a paper bag.

"Oh, wheat please. I don't know what everyone else likes, but if they don't like wheat then more for me. Rest assured, the muffin is all mine." Rebecca joked with a smile. "As for me, I'm a teacher up the way, so expect to see me around often. I got a tip that there was a bakery around here, highly recommended. Came around to look, followed my nose, and here we are."

Gabriella smiled, word of mouth was always a nice way to be introduced to new customers, "Who spilled the beans? Claire? Valjean?" Those were the two primary people she did business with. Even though the French chef could be quite pedantic about the croissants, he still came back for more. For special occasions at the school she also provided some of the treats, and she had helped with the installation and instructions of an oven so they could be more self sufficient. She put two wheat loafs into a bag as well, leaving a small gap to let the warm air escape, "Wait for it to cool before closing it off completely, otherwise your bread gets damp. Nobody likes damp bread."

"No, they sure don't." she confirmed with a smile, taking a deep sniff from the vent hole, concentrated fresh bread scent. She gave a wider smile, and there was even a twitch twitch from her hidden tail. Uncomfortable, but still ... worth it. Though, the question hung in the air. She heard about this place, but not from Claire. Not from Valjean. Though it wasn't truly a connoisseur of food. It was a family of suggestions she never had been led astray from...

"A little mouse told me." she offered.

There was a moment where Gabriella seemed to process that, wondered why someone would change the common idiom from bird to mouse, and then decided not to comment on it directly. "It's fine either way, wanted to give them a bit of a reference bonus next time they came in." It only seemed to dawn on her after saying that how serious the woman on the other side of the counter had been regarding mice telling her stuff. Her brows knitted into a frown, as if wondering whether to ask about it more directly. "That's one pound ten for the loafs, 75p for the muffin. Let's call it one pound fifty."

Rebecca pulled out a small fold wallet from her pants pocket, along with some change. Halfway through gathering up the tab, she noticed the look on Gabriella's face. She looked about quickly to make sure it was just them before she continued. Sure, everyone here might have known what went on up there, but that didn't mean she should wear a sign that said 'Live Laugh Lecture Rats'.

"If credit is due, give it to Valjean. He's good people. Takes his kitchen seriously." she started, finally putting the rest of the tab down on the counter. She noticed the look, the puzzled expression, the consideration.

"Go ahead and ask." she offered, as though to get it out of the way. There was a soft smile on her features, like she was trying to take it in stride, but this was a trick she had done before. "The answer is, I guess, exactly what you're thinking."

"I don't mean to pry." Gabriella found that if there were things people wanted to share more explicitly they often did so of their own volition. Prying into them usually had an opposite effect. "Would you like some tea with that muffin?" Her father had commented often on her wanting to turn the bakery in more of a comfortable space for people to linger a bit. It was taking up space they could use for selling more stuff, but she figured that if she could charge 75p for a cup of hot water she'd be making money hand over fist anyway, with no need for extra shelf space, "or did you intend to share it with friends?" She couldn't quite resist prying just a little.

Rebecca smiled wider, "No no, I need to be able to open up a bit more, so..." she relaxed. "Oh I'd love some tea, please." the mousey blonde responded, now far more casual in posture than just a few moments ago. At the notion of sharing, with friends, she shook her head. "Oh no no no, well okay yes but not what you think. The fresh loaves are for my friends at the castle. People friends." she clarified, "Anything a little old that can't be softened up? Yes, that's for them. The Not-People friends."

"I use it as a reward for not coming into the castle to find food on their own. Valjean doesn't want them in his kitchen and his methods of deterrence are a bit violent for my tastes. Most of the time, they're just a little confused and scared when someplace that smells like food all of a sudden gets loud and angry." she offered, "Mind you, that's IF any of this..." she pat pat patted the bread, "... makes it that far. The muffin, is mine." she mock clutched it like it was the One Ring.

"But yes, I can talk to mice." she finally confirmed, after an entire exposition of how she could talk to mice.

"Oh." As Gabriella poured the tea she felt a pang of guilt for all the mouse traps she'd set over the years. The bakery was a prime location for them to come sniffing around and mouse or rat infestations would probably kill her business faster than if she were to stop selling bread altogether. "Can you tell them to steer clear of this place?"

Rebecca gave a giggle, "I can certainly ask, but it'll help if there's something in exchange. They like to come into places because it's warm and full of food, plus people scare away everything that wants to hunt them. So it's really a good deal for them. I can see if there's another place for them to go, where there might be some broken up pieces of bread that were going to be tossed out anyway?" she hinted with a smile. "The mice around here are going to eat like kings at this rate. Just, promise me one thing: No exterminators. At least, not for mice, or rats. Bugs, go for it." she shivered, she didn't like bugs. "But if there's a mouse problem, or there's a rat giving you squeak, just let me know?"

As a baker and business woman the thought of throwing out bread, even old ones or aesthetically less pleasing ones, even if it was for bribing of rodents, hurt. "We have a zero waste business." There were always farmers and chefs around the town that could use the old loafs. "I think your Chef even gets some of the day olds at a discount. I'm sure you've had croutons sourced from here. Or whatever silly thing the frog has cooked up with them." She thought about the idea that humans scared away rodent's natural predators and figured perhaps it was time after all to get a bakery cat. "I'll be sure to keep you in mind." Another smile as she pointed towards the tea, "that one's on the house, welcome to New Cresthill."

"Really? I appreciate that." Rebecca smiled. It was really good tea. "I can certainly try to talk to them. I understand that business doesn't work on handouts without a return, and oh yeah... I've had some of those croutons." she smiled wider. "So I can try to convince them to keep away but I really can't make any promises. If you have to, I'd prefer if you get a cat rather then set traps."

Rebecca wasn't a fan of cats, considering... but she was a much bigger fan of a cat over a steel bar snap trap.

"I appreciate the welcome, thank you so much." the mousey blonde offered. "I'll make sure everyone on two feet knows about this place."

"Dinnae mention it. Enjoy." Gabriella waved off the thanks and got back to behind the counter. It was always good to make a good first impression and have people come back, and tell their friends to come there as well. All for the low low cost for hot water and a teabag. "Spread the word, not everyone has insider's information like you do." She looked distracted for a moment before adding, "Say hi to Claire for me."

Rebecca gave a nod, "I will." before she returned back to the tea. A simple combination, but the meaning behind it was nice. She'd take her time before bringing the cup back over to the counter once she was finished. Gathering her bags of bread (and her personal muffin), she gave a last quick smile and a wave before she departed.

Could she convince every mouse in Cresthill to avoid such a place? And at what point would 'Convince'... become control?