Chinese Food and stuff [Waffle/Raphael]

Today, Raphael found himself in a popular Chinese food chain in little Tokyo. They always had different kinds of oriental cuisines in this area, but what made Raphael enjoy it is that these different tastes of home and things of that nature were what made Endymion come together as a whole.

Sure, he would have enjoyed a mini Paris as well, but that was another story for another time. Right now, As Raphael waited to be seated, he took a look at a Buddha statue that had lots of money surrounding it. People were literally littering the statue with cash, but he didn't know why.

"Excuse me..."

Raphael stopped one of the waiters to ask about the statue, but what he found out was that it was there for people to make wishes and request blessings.

But what would Raphael wish for?

Little Tokyo was one of Hono's favorite places to just shop. She was half Japanese but grew up in Germany. She had never visited Japan before, but it was a big part of her life. Her father always talked about Japan. Hono loved Asian food. Mainly her fathers, his sushi was scrumptious.

It was around lunchtime so Hono stopped at a Chinese place. She was starving. The cadet could really good for some chicken and some rice. Hono passed the Buddha statue. Hono scanned the menu. So many options she had no clue what she wanted to eat.

Hono looked noticing that a couple more customers donated money to Budda. Hono wasn't a Buddhist, nor was her father. Though she knew how big the religion was in Asian countries. Hono looked at the patron next to her. "Ay, What do you recommend? I've never been here before" she said bluntly towards him

"Hm?"

Looking towards his left and noticing that the little girl was trying to communicate with him, Raphael thought hard about the kind of food that he would have been happy to recommend to another person.

"Well, the Mei Fun is something that I would definitely give a try. The noodles are in a light curry sauce with chicken, beef, and other vegetables as well. Even small pieces of squid.....then there is the fact that the noodles are not as thick as you would expect, very slim and scrumptious. "

As Raphael's name was called, he started to move towards the front of the restaurant. But he did look back at her as he thought about the wait time.

"If your party doesn't mind, they could share a table with me. That's only if you would like to skip the wait, this place is pretty popular. "

Raphael recommended the Mei Fun. It sounded like something Hono would be interested in. "Alright. Sounds good as hell!" She said her mouth watering at the sound of the noodle dish. She waited in line eagerly. She cracked her knuckles. "My party? All one of me? Hell yeah, sure" she stepped out of line and stood next to Raphael. "I'm Hono." she quickly introduced herself.

"Did my amazing charm win you over?" she teases. None the less Hono chuckled. "Thanks for letting me join you." The cadet had a warm smile. Hono picked up his name from the hostess calling it out. "So Raphael... Tell me about your self." She asks a bit curious as to who this guy was.

"Oh, for some reason.... I figured that you would be with someone already. "

Raphael didn't really get it himself, he thought that she would have been with her family or something along the lines. But she was by herself, which was kind of surprising. People who went by themselves would usually go to the takeout side, but coming to actually sit inside was meant for family, friends, or even a date. Maybe Raphael read too much into it and ended up making a mistake? That seemed to be a reoccurring thing for him at times, making mistakes and misunderstanding things.

"Hono? Nice to meet you... I'm R-"

She spoke quite fast, which got Raphael a bit off guard as they were seated and the menus were placed in front of them. She even managed to pick up on his name just as easily, pretty impressive social skills.

"I'm the owner of the Royal Explorer's Vault, a Museum of pieces and artifacts from around the world. II'm also an archeologist and appraiser.... and.... part time negotiator. Some people ight think of it as a strange combination, but I like to keep myself busy. And yourself? "

The cadet walked with Raphael sitting down at their table. Hono didn't check the menu as she had already made up her mind. She was getting the Mei Fun. Hono never really into Chinese food. She preferred the far superior Japanese food. Hono's eyes wandered around, even if she ate alone she loved looking at the scenery and do some people watching.

Raphael then introduces himself. Hono was quite impressed by him. "A museum owner?! Damnnnn you must be loaded" she joked. "You got a full plate huh? I'll check out that museum sometime. Sounds really cool!" she praised his museum. "I'm a cadet for class zero, I work with my father at this hibachi restaurant." She smiled. "What do you negotiate for?" She raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Well.... money isn't everything. The power usually comes with what you do with it. I...unfortunately...sought out a higher purpose than just making money. I figured that there are some things in life that need to be protected...that DESERVE....to be protected. There are some items in this world that you have to treat like it's an endangered species. In the hands of others, they hardly know it's worth...value... or importance. "

That's what he thought anyway.

"You are fully welcome to visit my vault. I think I have a few things that may interest you."

But she did bring some interesting things, being a member of class zero and working for her father.

"Such a dangerous job and the amount of time at the restaurant. How do you juggle both? Aren't the restaurants the busiest at night? Well, an afternoon and night like this. "

Hono nodded at his statement. She agreed, for the most part, she raised an eyebrow. "Few things that will interest me? Like what?" She asks the man curiously.

It wasn't every day you met a museum owner. This was definitely a nice change of pace.

"I'm not really sure... My dad's restaurant isn't that busy, and I have really flexible hours," she explained. "It's really relaxing at times."

"Well, statues of world-famous chefs that started in the eastern Asian sides of the world, getting famous with which their world renown cuisine. Or even authentic cookbooks and recipes of these people who started off with only a small pamphlet and ink pen. Just the history of what they used to get by and still made some delicious meals with the knowledge. Some were way before their time, it's things to admire and appreciate since that's the basis of how far we came. "

Hearing more about the restaurant, Raph thought he could pay a visit sometime.

"Mind if I come by when you are working? I'd want to fully experience what your family restaurant has to offer, and I'm thinking you could give me the best suggestions of what you are famous for."

With that being said, the waitress came and Raphael ordered a small pork fried rice sweet and sour chicken. It was a simple meal, but little did Hono know, what Raphael really wanted was the Wonton soup that came with it.

"That sounds like something my dad would like" Hono replied to him. "He's more into that cooking stuff than me, But he's taught me a thing or two" The history of restaurants and cooking as a whole was certainly interesting. Hono thought for a second.

"yeah of course," she said trying to act polite. After all, Raph allowed her to sit with her. "It's called Oishī! It's in the backlight." She said. "Our sushi is really good, We're not really famous..." She chuckled.

"Do you have any history on theater?" She asks, her eyes widened and her face lit up, as that was what she was most interested in.

The waitress came, Hono ordered the Mei Fun she was recommended. She hoped it was good.

"You can be unless you are satisfied with what you have. That is also ok, but I don't think that there is anything wrong with having ambition, to be the top of your craft. "

There was nothing wrong with wanting to be the best, to have an obsession with your craft. Raphael actually preferred it to be so, more people needed to act on their desires instead of letting it pass them by. Whenever those opportunities do go up in smoke, what really kills them is the regrets that take their place. In this stage in his life, Raphael was going to make it all the way, or even crawl if he had to, all in order to get out of his brother's shadow.

He didn't hate Gabe, he just wanted his brother to see him as an equal.

"I do, the mask of the phantom of the opera. Some good stuff, that play. There are a few mysteries surrounding it's spiritual relations, like ghost sightings and hauntings in old theater rooms that held it's presence. "

"Being a cadet really helps my family out, my dad just is really passionate about food, so we keep up the restaurant." She explained. She smiled a bit, "I like having a small community of regulars, feels like a family you know?" She asks as the waitress brought Hono a glass of water, she sipped it as she spoke.

Next Raphael mentioned Phantom of the Opera. "Nice! I fun one!" She said tapping her chin. "I think I did a few years back... I was, Christine." She explained. She placed her head on her forehead and leaned back dramatically. "Oh, tonight I gave you my soul and I am dead!" She resited a line from the play, before laughing a bit.

"Hell yeah, you better let me see it~," She said pointing at Raphael, she seemed excited, "I'll come to visit it sometime, So... do I just ask for you at the front desk or something?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Family huh? Such a powerful word........."

Raphael was appreciative of everything that his foster family gave him, but they weren't his real family. It almost seemed as if the good graces that he received was a compensation for something that he could never truly have.

"So besides working for the government and also serving as a chef, you also took an interest in acting? Yo be honest with you, I kind of wish I met you earlier, I would have liked to see a play like that first hand. I always wondered which character would have embodied me the most in order to give it a try. But still, it would be much more interesting to be in attendance for you. "

As for the front desk comment.

"Would you be satisfied with my personal number?"

Hono was a bit surprised he showed interest in her acting. She smiled a little bit, "You can come and watch, we always love having people show up." She told him. After a few seconds, their waitress returned slipping Hono a bowl of food noddles. Accepting it and thanking the waitress. Hono grabbed some chopsticks and began eating it up. It was amazing.

"damn! thanks for recommending it!" Hono said her mouth full of food, she had terrible table manners. She slurped up the noodles. "We're working on some play the drama director wrote," She explained swallowing the mouth full she had.

"Oh, Uh sure" she got a napkin and wrote her number out on it. "You're lucky~ I don't normally give my number out on the first date, rich boy" She joked giving him one of her signature nicknames. She gave names to everyone she met. Hono slipped the napkin over to his side of the table and went back to her noodles.

it was that point that Raphael gave a genuine bout of laughter when it seemed that Hono enjoyed her meal.

"Hey, if you keep having reactions like that, it'll make me want to pay for this meal myself since you enjoyed it so much. I mean, I feel as if the one thing you can't fake is how much you like something tastes, and that first initial reaction is probably how you really feel about it."

He was paying for the bill anyway. She kept him some company and as a little bit of respect for her assertiveness, Raphael felt like he should treat her.

"Well i guess a second date so you could make me feel like I worked for it?"