Cake and Gum [Glutty]

The pale man would sigh as he turned his head to stare out of the nearest window.


It was proving to be a rather boring day in all honesty, and perhaps that was why he found himself at this restaurant once again, as much as he didn’t appear to be that interested in his food. Which happened to be a slice of cake with his fork currently stabbed into it like a decoration. What was he here for? Well, that would remain a mystery for now, and it wasn’t like it would matter to the workers here for as long as he ordered something while he was here, which he certainly had.

Crossing one of his legs over the other, Onyx would just glance around the place thoughtfully for the moment, with a low hum under his breath.

~~~~

Onyx had been slightly spaced out as his black and white eyes watched over the restaurant, seemingly more interested in people watching than focusing on his dessert. Then again, food didn’t have legs to run away anyhow, and it wasn’t as if he was going to get kicked out for taking a bit of time, was he now? Hm. That was something to perhaps test one day, albeit the horned man wasn’t quite sure whether it’d be the greatest idea to test the patience of the workers here and then possibly lose a good place to eat at due to getting thrown out. That would be a bit of a shame, so perhaps this particular experiment should be marked as a no go for now…

And speaking of what was going at the moment, he man would be brought back to the land of the fully conscious as he heard a voice addressing him from close by. Blinking a couple times to re-focus himself, Onyx would take a brief moment to locate the culprit, only to have his sight land on an unusual, round and pink creature. Well, he had seen a lot of things here in Junction since he had come to live in this place, but this was certainly a bit of novelty. He had met plenty beings which were on the smaller side, and even pink ones, but it wasn’t so often you’d see one resembling a ball. Living cotton candy..? Or maybe gum? Interesting, as much as he could tell only so much from this distance due to his short distance vision being difficult. Leaning over to rest his elbows on the table, he would give the pink glob a thoughtful look. “I could, but I also don’t have to. Is there a reason why you ask?”

~~~~

Onyx would just tilt his head at the strange pink ball as he considered the statement. “Well, this place sells plenty of food. Can’t you buy your own?” He would assume that the creature was at the very least a more intelligent being as it could speak and all that. So it wasn’t just someone’s pet. And most people tended to order their own food rather than ask for free feeding from strangers. At least, that’s what logic would say, if nothing else. So much for the food though, as his unexpected company seemed to suddenly want to focus on something else instead, and the pale man would narrow his eyes at the other, not really having expected that out of the blue. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t do a whole lot about it, not quite interested in causing a commotion in a public place like this. Plus, he didn’t intend to change his preferences just because someone didn’t like them, therefore he kind of considered the matter a moot point in a way. He would simply offer the pink one a faint, sharp-toothed grin in response. “Well, I am technically a ghost. I wouldn’t be doing a good job dressed as a rainbow. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sketchbooks.” Who could decide what colors were good anyway? This guy here was mostly just pink. Was that any better?

~~~~

The pale man would blink, rubbing his chin in contemplation. “Well…it doesn’t mean you have to work by yourself, does it? You could get a job in a company that cooks food. That way, they would provide the ingredients for you.” It isn’t like a chef in a restaurant has to buy everything they’re about to cook. That would literally make them go bankrupt with how many customers there are to serve on most days. The owner of the place provides for the employees when it comes to the working material.

Onyx would smirk faintly as he got poked. “In a way, yes. Though, I’m not transparent like your typical ghost would be.” It would certainly be interesting to be an intangible being, but it would make plenty other things harder, so he was honestly just fine the way he was. No need to try to be more spooky for no real reason. He wasn’t even interested in haunting people anyway. “I’m not that hungry. I just ordered something because that’s what you do in a restaurant. It wasn’t too expensive either.” That’s kind of why he was just having some cake. He wouldn’t order a full on meal when he didn’t plan on really eating much. Studying the pink blob for a moment, he would eventually just shift to lean back in his chair. “I suppose you can have it. I’ll just get myself some food later when I’m actually feeling like eating.”

~~~~

How? Well, that probably really depended on the place, and whether they were open for hiring in the first place. Every employer had different requirements for who they were willing to accept. There was no straightforward answer to that. “That’s an option yes. If some place happens to be hiring and happens to be satisfied with your cooking skills, then you could get a job. It might take several tries though.” Finding a job wasn’t always easy, but if you were good at something, you were bound to find one eventually, right?

As for the matter of him being a ghost, the pale man would tilt his head with a faint smile. “Each species has its variations, does it not? Not all felines are the same, for example. Nevertheless, my race’s name is Spectre. I just tend to use ghosts as a reference, as it’s the closest thing which most people know about.” It’s easier to try to compare to something than spend too much time explaining everything. He wasn’t a ghost entirely, no, but he did have some features that were kind of similar. Besides, ghosts were typically fairytale beings, and thus made up by people’s imaginations anyway. Who’s to say how a ghost is truly meant to look?

“Cheaper food is sometimes better than the expensive ones anyway.” In most cases, it wasn’t even really worth it to buy something costly. Unless you were having a celebration and wanted to make a big boom. Does a cake taste better when it costs twice as much? Really depends on the person’s tastes after all. To be fair about this situation though, he probably would have eaten it eventually. He was aware that it cost him some money, of course. When the pink blob launched itself at him, he would blink in mild confusion, staying mostly still. “You’re..welcome.” Well, that was not a reaction he expected, but as long as he wasn’t being crushed, he supposed he could live with it.

In any case, he would shake his head in mild amusement as he watched the round being devour his cake. “Onyx Rhine. It’s a pleasure.”

~~~~

“Good luck to you then.” At the end of the day, it would be all up to how hard the little one tried to get itself hired. There wasn’t much else Onyx could really do at the moment outside of simply saying that the option was there, which he had already done. Though the talk did make him wonder about the pink blob and its maturity level. Then again, he couldn’t assume about other species and what they were typically familiar with either. Junction could be such an odd place in terms of being able to understand others easily. So many different races and cultures meshing together.

The pale man would rub one of his ears in thought. “It can get a little bit repetitive, yes. Besides, there’s no point in me telling all the details to someone I barely know. I prefer to stick to the basics.” There wasn’t much need for people to know anything and everything about his race just because. Assuming he ended up knowing them better, perhaps, but otherwise? Handing out too much information freely could even be dangerous. You can never be completely sure about someone’s motives.

“People generally don’t cook legitimately inedible things. The only way to come across that would be if you tried to eat things off of the street at random.” When it’s a dish, it’s clearly made to be consumed, even if it can happen to not be of the best quality. Completely inedible would be strange, as it wouldn’t even qualify as food at that point. In any case, Onyx would shake his head. “It’s fine. I’ll pass this time.” It wasn’t going to kill him to not eat this one piece of cake, really.

~~~~

“It is somewhat unnecessary, I would say. You don’t need to know someone inside out to coexist with them sans special cases. Thus there really is no need to tell details to somebody unless you yourself wish to.” He would bet there were plenty people who did not like sharing their origins with others. It’s not like they could get sued for that or such. It was simply their choice. Albeit it could make things harder if they decided to withhold an important thing about themselves and got themselves in trouble thanks to that. The pale man would narrow his eyes at the pink blob in thought. “Well, you are you. Perhaps that is enough.” As interesting as it would be to hear about new foreign species, it wasn’t necessarily the end of the world if it didn’t happen.

Onyx would offer the round creature a somewhat amused smile as he shook his head slightly. “I personally don’t find broccoli to be that bad. There’s a difference between a food being inedible and you simply not liking its taste after all.” Everyone had some foods they just couldn’t stomach swallowing down, but that alone didn’t make them bad food. Someone else could say that it was the best thing in the world. “You don’t really have to. It’s not a big deal.” It wasn’t like he lost half his fortune here, and he wouldn’t necessarily want to have the little guy tracking him all the time just so it could pay him back eventually.

~~~~

“Perhaps so. We learn things in mysterious ways at times. Though, have you never met others of your kind before?” If that was the case, how was the creature born? Was this an example of a self reproducing species? Even then, a new ‘baby’ had to come from something. It couldn’t just spawn randomly in the air, or could it? How strange. For a living thing to be born without knowing what it even really is. Though there was also the chance that the little one just forgot. It was hard to tell. “Hm.” Onyx would pause a bit at the question, shifting slightly to cross one leg over the other as he pondered the matter briefly. “…well, if it doesn’t poison the person, or cause them a serious sickness, then I would say it is theoretically edible. Albeit hard to swallow down, apparently.” Just because it tastes like shit doesn’t have to mean it’s actually shitty for you. But of course, you will probably choose a meal that also tastes the way it should, so being an awful cook is not the best idea ever. Nobody settles for horrible quality when they can get better than that.

The pale man would raise an eyebrow at the show of defiance before he gave a faint whistle under his breath. “If you insist. I just hope you aren’t about to stalk me to fulfill your promise.” Well, guess he could always give out his contact info to avoid that. Might as well joke a little though. “I’m decent I suppose. I can cook food for myself just fine, though I would not call it a hobby or an activity I would spend excess time doing.” He had no intentions of becoming a chef, really. It was not his cup of tea, even though he was able to prepare a meal decently enough.

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