#cafe rhodolite is on its third year of operations

[syneilesis]

Yves's ambition of running a cafe makes me think of a modern setting coffee shop AU.

Like, Yves owns the cafe and he also bakes the pastries.

Jin, Nokto, Leon, and Luke are baristas. Leon charms the customers into becoming regulars. Jin and Nokto flirt with them at every opportunity, much to Yves's scandalized horror (the customers love the flirting, though, and it's why they come back to the cafe frequently, apart from the heavenly pastries). Jin is also assigned with the task of monitoring Luke in case he eats every pastry with honey.

Licht doesn't want to be a barista, so he hangs out in the kitchen while Yves bakes, taste-testing and all. Whenever there's some trouble outside that may disrupt the cafe operations, Licht is sent out to take care of it.

Much as Chevalier's pretty face would attract new customers, his intimidating aura would probably deter a lot of them. Either way he's not interested in baking or making coffee or talking to people. He does, however, donate the books he's already read ("I've already read those books, Showoff; do whatever you want with them."), so Yves designed the coffee shop to be a library cafe. Sometimes, whenever there's legal trouble or a similar situation, it's Chevalier who steps in and settles them.

Clavis is banned from the cafe, to no one's surprise. There was that incident way back when they were starting the business that involved an unwanted renovation ("Clavis, oh my god, why is there suddenly a waterslide inside this building?!") and creatively experimental recipes ("Clavis, for the love of god, no more exploding croissants!"). For everybody's sake Chevalier had to intervene, so he had Clavis scope out competition and other information-gathering/market-research-related tasks. He does sometimes sneak in the cafe and leave some surprises, to keep everyone on their toes.

Of course, Sariel is their accountant who rules with an iron fist.

Emma and Rio are cafe regulars. Emma loves everything Yves bakes. Rio always ushers Emma to their favorite spot beside the impressive bookshelves and does the ordering himself. This way he can cut off those flirty baristas who've been eyeing Emma ever since they first stepped in the cafe, months ago. The one with the silver hair and foxy smile is on cashier duty today, so Rio engages him in a minute-long stare-off before he finally grits out their orders.

The customer behind him clicks their tongue.

"I'll serve your order on your table when they're ready," Foxy Smile says with a smug smirk.

"No thank you," Rio replies, trying to keep his own smile on his face.

A few minutes later, Rio goes to their table with a tray of their order and finds Emma reading one of the books in the shelves.

"They have such a good selection of books, Rio!" Emma says, and Rio's smile looks more natural now. "There's a name on the first page of this book. C. Michel. I wonder who could it be. I'd like to talk to them about this book!"

For some unfathomable reason, Rio has a bad feeling about that. So he distracts Emma with the food and says, "Here you go, Emma. They've added new variations. Let's try these croissants first."