Young Writers Society

In between the different realities of the different universes, there's a little establishment called Petal's Café. From space travelers to time adventurers and the every day alternate reality 9to5 ers - everyone can find something enjoyable on the menu at the Café. If it's not on the menu, the replicator can probably help to whip it up.

So stop on in to Petal's Café to see Maebelle and Martha, and take a gaze at the breath taking views - just don't step outside without a space suit.

Hop in the Roadhouse discord for some scheming: https://discord.gg/mzN7Bmd

Wilson appeared in the corner of the cafe with a little grin on her face and looked around with fascination before skipping up to the front counter.

"Hello!" she chirped. "What's the hottest drink you've got in the house?"

It had been awhile since they had been to a place like this, so they decided they were going to enjoy every moment of it. Giving a little stretch as they appeared near the front counter, they looked around at the other occupants of the café.

Their gaze landed on the woman (girl?) standing just a few feet away. Something about her felt different, but they weren't going to question what that was. They just wanted a nice, cool refreshing drink.

"Hi," they said when they reached the counter. "Can I have a lemonade with extra ice?"

They thought for a moment, then corrected their earlier request. "Can it be pink lemonade, actually? Still with the extra ice - I was just walking around the desert, and a cool drink sounds perfect right now."

Mae dropped a few slices of pie off at a rounded booth filled with Vulcans and stopped by a table of octupi to fill up sixteen mugs of coffee. He tucked his tray beneath his arm and hurried back to the counter upon noticing two guests waiting.

When the first asked for the hottest drink in the house, Mae spent a few moments puzzled. He dragged the cloth against the counter and then asked, "Did you mean hot as in temperature or hot as in spice? Because either war, I can whip something up to please your tastes."

The diner owner then slid down to the next person who asked for a simple lemonade. Mae filled a cup to the top with ice and began filling it to the top with lemonade from the standing pitcher next to the pie cabinet. The request for a drink change came midway through Mae setting the glass down on the counter.

"It'll just take me a second to fix this. Would you prefer strawberry juice or cranberry juice in this mocktail?"

Wilson bounced on the toes of her feet, grinning widely as the server fixed up a drink for the person next to her.

"Temperature and spice!" she replied with great enthusiasm. But she withheld the rest of her comments so the lemonade order mix-up could get worked out.

"Strawberry juice, please," they said, giving the diner's owner a smile. "I'm sorry for changing my order midway through - I just completely forgot about how much I love pink lemonade."

Martha was at the waitress station verifying a coupon on an order when she saw special requests starting to pile up. Well not piling up, she had to tell herself. It was completely within Mae's abilities from her time working at the original Petal's but Martha was curious about these two customers.

She punched a few more buttons to get the coupons to work and then stuck her pencil in her hair as she sauntered over to the counter. Mae didn't say anything as she approached, just simply handed Martha a shaker with lemonade inside and a bottle of strawberry juice. Her partner was the mixologist among them but she could manage this as Mae worked beside her.

She shook the mixture until it was noticeably blended. Garnishes were already on her mind while she grabbed a glass from beneath the counter and read Mae's note about extra ice. The strawberry on top was the last step after the straw as she slid it across the counter.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?"

~~

"A super spicy and hellishly hot cocktail is coming right up for you, ma'am."

Mae thought about the mixture to make for a moment and realized she should have asked if this was non-alcoholic or not. She decided to make the base from tomato juice, add in some chopped jalapenos with lime juice cubes and put the whole thing in the blender. The machine rocked back and forth as she added varying spices and dashes from bottles marked with skulls.

She sat it up on the bar mat and then asked the customer, "Did you want anything alcoholic added to this?"

Wilson's eyes lit up at the mention of alcohol. She couldn't really get drunk, but she always liked the idea of it.

"Oh, yes!" she said with a big smile, looking at the drink with building excitement.

"That's good for now," Sam said, grinning.

Grabbing their glass off of the counter, they put the straw between their lips and took a big sip. The drink was just what they needed.

They let out a content sigh.

"This is perfect," they said. "Thanks."

Mae dumped a shot of habanero infused vodka into the drink on the bar and stirred it around with a stick of celery. He slid the glass across the counter, lifting it up to put it onto a coaster next to a bowl of party mix.

"Did either of you want the breakfast or lunch menu?"

Beside him, Martha was filling up a pitcher with lemonade and slices of lemon. The co-owner began her busy rounds around the diner to check on seated customers, keeping her eyes on the door the entire time with the hope of more customers.

Wilson shook her head back and forth as she eagerly took the hot drink in both hands, eyes wide with excitement. "Not at the moment! Thank you!" she chirped, before lifting the glass and chugging it. She did not pause as she gulped and gulped, welcoming the whole wonderfully boiling spicy vodka concoction down her throat.

It took her only a few good seconds to do so, and once it was all gone she placed the glass back down on the coaster with a big grin and looked over at lemonade person. She felt absolutely alive. It was wonderful.

"How's the lemonade?" she asked.

Sam thought for a moment. Were they hungry? They couldn't remember the last time they had something to eat, but their body didn't usually get too hungry on its own.

"I'll pass for now, too," they said, "but I’ll check it out in a little bit."

They turned to the other customer.

"It's good," they said. They gave a small, then stared at the empty glass the other customer had just chugged in disbelief. "I can't believe you drank all of that - your mouth must be on fire right now!"

Wilson smiled widely and threw her head back and laughed in a very theatrical manner.

"Oh, that's nothing compared to how my bowels will feel in about an hour!" she said with far too much amusement for what that all implied. "I can't wait. Digestion is so interesting to me. I like to call it fun. What about you? What's been your favorite thing to digest?"

...That was one way to word a question about favorite food and drinks.

"I've, uh, never really thought about it that way," Sam awkwardly replied. They took another sip of their lemonade. "I never think about what happens afterwards - I just think about the taste when I'm eating or drinking anything."

Wilson laughed. "Valid. I guess I'm just getting ahead of myself. I figured spice would give my digestive system a good hard reset. But once this is over I'll try something nice, like that lemonade. But anyway, what's your name, stranger? I'm Wilson."