Time for a change [for Radio]

[sumarusfinest]

He'd put off making a decision.

What did Katsuya think would change in the time he waited? His brother wasn't coming back. His job was more of the same. And his personal life...as devoid as it had been. At this rate, he was making excuses to not do something that would give him happiness.

But Radio had kept offering. Kept insisting she was sincere about the opportunity. And the prospect was thrilling. Opening a bakery in the Nexus? Being able to do what he loved daily? Why would he not want to? Other than the cynicism that something was bound to go wrong because these things never work out for him, that is.

He's wanted to say yes since the moment Radio offered. So he sends her a text, finally. It's simple, short, and concise.

If the offer is still open, I am interested.

Comments

[off_the_air]

"You've wanted this for so long and never got around to it? Katsuya, you really need to learn to allow yourself to do what pleases you." She pauses just long enough to wink before continuing. "It's how I live my life, and let me tell you... Never a dull day. Let's consider this the first step on the path to the new, free you, and we'll work from there, okay?"

Then she nods, sips her own drink, and says, "I am eager to run my own business. It's been years since I managed something like this. Managing people is fine, managing funds are fine... But it's better when I get to do the two at once."

She looks him over and with a smile asks, "So will you be a manager, or a baker, or both?"

[sumarusfinest]

"Still. Better late than never, I presume?" He takes her teasing in good stride, pausing only to sip at his drink and really, Radio has good taste in beverages. Unwise or no, he's inclined to let her choose for him more often.

Hearing that she's excited as well only fuels his desire to get this done. He's still better at fulfilling others' wishes than he is his own, even though in this case they're one and the same.

"I...confess I hadn't thought about it. I'd like to be a baker. Have some creative say in the menu....but. I wouldn't mind training staff either? We should look into hiring a chef. My skills in savory dishes are much less extensive than my pastry skills." He even has an idea of a candidate, but Radio may as well, so he sips at his drink again.

[off_the_air]

"Hiring a chef," Radio says, nodding her head. She takes another sip of her drink and comes up smiling. "I think that sounds like a good idea, but I also think the Nexus is a big place. Unless you've got someone in mind, that means we're going to have to do our part to bring bakers to us. A cupcake casting call, if you will. But... You brought up the subject, and that suggests, to me, that you might have someone in mind. Do you?"

[sumarusfinest]

"I may indeed. An acquaintance and a regular of the Nexus proper with a fine skillset under his...pelt, I suppose." He chuckles into the cup a moment before shaking his head. As long as she's alright with the fact that--

"He isn't human, but I hope that sin't a problem? He goes by Ice Bear."

[off_the_air]

"A bear? Katsuya, the scandal!" Radio clutches at imaginary pearls.

...And then she winks.

With a gentle tilt of her head she says, "I've met Ice Bear. Or... An Ice Bear. I'm sure there are a lot of them around here. But let me see if I can put the pieces together: He speaks in third person, he offered me cookies when I first met him, and he's a massive polar bear. Does any of that sound about right? I'm curious, though, how the two of you met. Baking convention? Skating rink?"

[sumarusfinest]

"All true things." The officer confirms with a chuckle and a nod of his head before he taks another sip of his drink while she continues. Her sense of humor is one that makes it difficult for him not to smile along with her, the corners of his mouth twitching into a reluctant grin.

"Actually yes. At the time there were many children turning up in the Nexus, so I baked a number of things to bring to them while they waited to find their ways home again. I ran into Ice Bear around that time."

[off_the_air]

"Listen to you... Feeding lost children, befriending everyone..."

Radio leans backwards to try and get a look at Katsuya's back, then looks up just above his head with a skeptical expression.

"Sorry, don't mind me," she says casually. "I'm just looking for your wings and halo, because you must be some kind of angel. Are we going to have to name the bakery 'Saint Katsuya's Cookie Hospital'?"

She swats at him playfully with the back of her hand and, smiling slightly, asks in a calm and quiet tone, "What were you thinking of calling your very own bakery? You must have some idea..."

[sumarusfinest]

"Hardly. I've fought angels. They have less of a sense of humor than I do." There's a hint of mischief on the police officer's face as he says this, but he is entirely serious. He's fought things people consider to be gods.

The question of what to name the bakery seems to stun him. His mouth drops open slightly and he just gapes.

"I...honestly hadn't thought about it." At all. He blinks rapidly. "It would need to be catching, wouldn't it? To draw customers?"

[off_the_air]

Ohhh Katsuya, there you go, flaunting the marvelous things you've done. Radio's eyebrows rise just slightly... Just enough to show that she's so impressed she has to try to hide it. It wouldn't do for Katsuya to see too much genuine awe and enthusiasm from her, after all.

"It would need to be catching," she agrees, because that's a safe direction for the conversation to go. "And I don't think it would be out of line for it to have your name in the title, or someplace important to you. Now, I know this is a scary suggestion, but bear with me here... Think about yourself. Think about some thing, some place, or some person that means something to you... And we'll see if we can't make an inspired name out of that. If nothing else, a working title."

[sumarusfinest]

Really in Katsuya's experience they're not much different from demons, save for that they're more manipulative and less honest in some regards. Which, he supposes makes sense given that they think they're the righteous. Doing the Lord's work and all that.

All gods are something he's suspicious of if he's being entirely honest. He has not had a good track record with them.

"I don't really need my name in it.." Katsuya frowns thoughtfully. Something important to him. Well, that's easy, really. "I'd like to invoke the idea of family or friendship. Those kinds of special bonds. You know? That's...more than anything else. That's what's important to me."

[off_the_air]

"Friendship... Special bonds..."

Radio tilts her head and stares off into the distance as she considers these things. She has such deep experience in both those fields, surely she should be immediately inspired with a name for the bakery. And yet here she is, thoughtless, vacant, staring...

"Oh!" she suddenly exclaims, and with it comes the Grinchiest of grins. She points a finger toward the sky and says, "We'll open the bakery without a name and convince people to come in by letting them suggest a name! After they've bought something, of course. One pastry, one entry. It's community-building, Katsuya! Simple customer relations. People. Will. Love it.

"But what do you think about it?"

[sumarusfinest]

"Do you think so?"

The officer's brow furrows in thought as his hands idly play with his drink cup. Fidgeting while he ponders the suggestion. Letting the people, the selfsame people who have given his life so much more meaning in the last few years, help name the bakery?

"I think as long as no one tries to name it something childishly inappropriate it's a wonderful idea."

[off_the_air]

Katsuya's last comment catches Radio just as she was about to put her mouth to her drink. She whispers a laugh into the rim of the cup and tilts her head at him in an amused, knowing way.

"People will try, Katsuya," she assures him. "The key is not letting them succeed. After all, at the end of the day, it is your bakery." Yes, keep reminding him of that daunting fact. Surely that'll take the edge off.

Couldn't resist

[sumarusfinest]

"If someone suggests a name after a bodily function I reserve the right to put a ghost pepper in their pastry."