Work (Sayumi Arai)

Cicilia Diner Outfit

Spoiler:

Cicilia... didn't like her job at the Sakura-Diner. Not least because of the outfit she was supposed to wear given it's... uh... 'theme', but also because she was forced to put on a nice front to everyone that walked in... even the bastards that would make moves on her every so often. Oh, and it had to be convincing too. No sarcasm, no darkness in her gaze, not an edge in her smile. She must embody the maid-outfit she was wearing or goodbye stable income.

IT WAS UTTER TORTURE!

She'd been working here for at least a month and things haven't gotten any better since the day she walked in. People still stared at her and the other waitresses like they were there for them, the boss was an asshole she caught talking to the other girls in a tone that ripped her patience to shreds AND, if THAT wasn't bad enough, just recently she was actually TOUCHED by one of those bastard-customers! Granted he only put his hand over hers but that look in his eye was clear... She wanted to make him bleed from both of them...

Besides the money it gave her that allowed for her to live in an apartment, the one good thing this job taught her was a lesson in patience... Patience and the ability to look forward to things... like leaving work. Never before had she ever left a place and smiled as wide as she did her side-job...

Now? It was 6:00 pm and the night was... quiet for once. She'd only been flirted at twice today but more importantly half the diner was empty. Huh... Not that she was complaining but she wondered where everyone was... Cicilia stood at the register, leaning forward, her cheek in her palm as she looked out into the streets through the door.

She wondered how long it'd be until this wondrous inactivity ended.

Sayumi went shopping often. Granted, most of the time it was window shopping. She just liked going around, trying on the freshest fashions and sampling the popular scents. She couldn't really afford to buy much of it, but it was fun to pretend a bit. She was so notorious around some of the local jewelers for trying but not buying that she wasn't about to sample their stock anymore as it was a waste of their time.

Today was different. Today she had things to buy. Fabric mostly. She had gone to a few arts and crafts stores as well as her go to textile place. Burdened with a crisp paper bag she had continued to roam the streets browsing around.

Something caught her eye through a window. It wasn't flowers or a pretty dress.... But someone who looked remarkably like Cicilia. She was dressed up almost like some sort of house made talking to people at tables. Serving drinks... Delivering food. She had covertly spied on the woman working through the corner window, back to a wall as she peeked in. That was totally Cilicia. Did she work here? She definitely did.  She smirked, sneaking back the way she came from when Cilicia was busy, heading back to one of the nearby arts and crafts stores.

Ten minutes had passed by the time Sayumi had finished, she had checked her phone to watch the time. She didn't know when Cicilia's work hours were, so this had been a gamble. She let out a happy sigh of relief spying the boxer maid behind the counter looking bored. She leaned in on the large diner window, tapping it with a finger to catch Cicilia's attention.

When the girl turned towards the noise, Sayumi breathed heavily on the glass, fogging it up best she could to obscure herself. Tracing her finger through the whitened glass, she drew a few hearts and smilie faces along the outside before a giant one in the middle. Using her palm she cleared away most of the foggy glass inside the giant heart. She hopped back, striking a pose while blowing the boxer a kiss. It looked like she had made herself into a photo, with a fancy fog heart frame around her. Clearly she was helping Cicilia work.

Movement by the window caught Cicilia's eye, the sound of tapping glass only seeming to draw the attention of her as everyone else was either busy with mundane tasks or eating/drinking... It seemed only she had enough worthless time to notice someone likely chucking rocks at their windo-

Suddenly the glass fogged up right as her eyes flicked to the location of the noise, an unidentified finger scribbling what looked like hearts into the obscurity they created. The boxer's expression was contorted with confusion as she watched one big heart traced into the glass, her eyes suddenly widening as a thought popped into her head.

"No... Oh please no..." Cicilia whispered, covering her mouth as a hand wiped away the fog... revealing a proud Sayumi posed in the center, blowing a kiss right at her...

Oh god. She saw her working... Oh my god, she saw her WORKING!

This was... like... one of two things she didn't want Sayumi to know yet, not while she was working a job where she had to dress like this! She wanted to keep this little thing a secret and she completely BLEW IT! Cicilia stared through the little heart-shaped sub-window the lavender beauty had created, a mix of embarrassment, shock and anger in her expression.

"Sayumiiiiii...." She whined quietly, covering her face in her hands as she turned away. "Why you.... Why now..."

She couldn't see Cicilia's reaction, not from this distance. While mostly unfogged the window was still a bit hard to see through. She cupped her hand near the side of her head as she pressed her face to the glass to peek inside. Cicilia had her head in her hands. She much have seen so flustered by her sudden appearance she couldn't contain herself. Gosh, Sayumi was better at this girlfriend stuff then she thought.

She made her way inside, the front door jingling as the bell overhead was rattled. In pronounced marching strides she went right to the counter were Cilicia was, one crook of her elbow weighted down by a few shopping bags, the other shoulder had her small handbag dangling from a chain. She planted her forearm on the counter as she inclined her chin. "Good evening, fair barkeep..." Oh god she was talking like some character from a fantasy movie. "Your stoutest strawberry milkshake if you please. I am weary from my travels." She was grinning like the biggest doofus that ever existed, clueless to Cicilia's shame.

"Oh my gooooood...." Cicilia whispered as Sayumi sauntered up into the diner, seemingly oblivious to the boxer's embarrassment, requesting a milkshake like she was in some kind of saloon or something. What was she thinking coming in here like this...? Now everyone's eyes were on them to see where this went and the boxer could feel each one boring into her spine... What was she gonna do... What was she gonna say...? Cicilia lowered her hands from her face, revealing the deep pink blush that washed across her nose as cheeks, her expression highly uncomfortable that the girl she loved would see her in such a stupid get-up... Her little act wasn't helping with her self-consciousness either...

That grin on her face though... that stupid, wide-as-hell smile though... She must've been sick with the grins because that smile was infectious. Cicilia couldn't help but laugh at how utterly stupid they both looked and sounded, pushing her embarrassment away for just a moment... Even if she didn't want Sayumi to see her like this... God how she loved how she could blow the tension out of a moment if only for that moment...

"Yes mam..." Cicilia spoke shakily, jotting down a quick note and passing it back to one of the other waitresses to pass back to the kitchen. She stared at Sayumi, trying to think of something to say... Something that would represent all the anger and frustration of her being here and seeing her like this...  But one look into the cute little Lavender's eyes showed how much she judged her, how much she apparently cared about her outfit... which was to say, none. She seemed to be here for her and nothing else... That revelation would've touched Cicilia... had Sayumi not seen her like this...

Walking quickly out from behind the counter, Cicilia would take her girlfriend by the arm, tugging her (gently) to one of the open booths, sitting down in one and expecting her to sit in the other, the boxer having a hard time meeting her eyes.

"What are you doing here...!?" She demanded, her hands pressed against her thighs and balling up her skirt in her palms.

Oh, Sayumi cared about the outfit. She found it utterly adorable on Cicilia. Truth be told, most anything that usurped the Germans tough look she found endearing. While not huge into the maid theme, she had an avid love for Lacey and frilly things which would be why they seemed to show up in her ring attire so frequently.

This was certainly more fancy than Cicilia's other work clothes... Mainly her boxer or wrestler gear. She could help but wonder if the boxer would be allowed to wrestle in her diner uniform. It seemed like it could be difficult though.

She made a small squeak as Cicilia took her by the arm, thinking perhaps she was going to whisk her away someplace fun all of a sudden. She followed along behind, having to actually make an effort to keep up. Something was amiss her. She was ushered to a booth where she plopped down opposite Cicilia, blinking at how upset she seemed to be. She carefully slid her bags under the table. "Getting a milkshake?" She responded softly, not sure how to answer the question being posed to her.

" I saw you through the window and thought I would surprise you... Here." Sayumi leaned forward, having to stand up slightly to stretch herself over top of the table as she reached to try and work off Cicilia's name tag.

"Well you certainly did that." She'd respond a bit harshly, surprised by the venom in her voice. So surprised she had to pause and think back on her words, finding them far too ugly for the person she was asking... Damn it! Why did she have to say it like that? She ran a hand down her face as if wiping off these stupid, ugly feelings... When she looked back at Sayumi, her look changed from one of utter embarrassment to one of exhaustion and apology...

"...I'm sorry." She sighed, looking away. Someone was gonna have an easy time cleaning the tile floor, she noticed. "I just... didn't expect you here, Sayumi... It's been a very long day and you suddenly showing up and seeing me like this..." She shook her head slowly. Well, didn't Cicilia feel like the worst girlfriend ever right now...? Not only wasn't she happy to see her beautiful companion, but treated her coming here to surprise her as some kind of bad thing.

Sayumi wriggled off her name tag and the boxer didn't try to stop her, to preoccupied with her own thoughts... Still, it seemed her fears had been completely unjustified as the lavender cutie had yet to say a single word or comment on her appearance and somehow that only made her feel worse... Sighing heavily, the German got up, walking over to the other side of the booth and sitting down beside the wrestler, and leaning her head on her shoulder tiredly. She didn't care who saw.

"I'm sorry...."

"Seeing you like what?" She managed to work the nametag off, plopping back onto her side of the booth. She looked it over, tutting softly at how bland it looked. She could tell at a glance Cicilia seemed to be taking this rough. Maybe she didn't think she pulled off the whole maid look. "I think you look really cute like that. A little out of your element, but cute. You should wear dresses more. Not necessarily ones like that, but just in general. I bet you'd be really pretty in one."


She rummaged around under the table, pulling one of the bags she brought it up to set beside her as Cicilia came to join her. She seemed rather unphased by the boxer's tone. Perhaps she hadn't even picked up on it, maybe she assumed the other woman was just embarrassed. Regardless, Cicilia seemed to be making this more of a problem for herself then Sayumi ever could. As the boxer set a head on her shoulder she gave her a small peck on the top of her head. "Forgiven. Now... Really serious question. Red or pink? You need some more color." She chirped happily.

She was rooting through her bag and began pulling various items out. Small boxes with flashy Japanese text covering every inch of them. Small books that looked to be the size of a hand pad. Apparently she had brought a lot of things here with her on the return trip.

"mmmmgh." Cicilia protested as Sayumi complimented her on her outfit, but she was smiling. It was a small, shaky smile, still infected with embarrassment but she was smiling all the same... What was she thinking, making this an issue...? It seemed that every problem the two of them had was crafted by the boxer and this time didn't seem to be any different... And yet here the lavender beauty was, kissing her head and telling her she was forgiven...

That thawed her heart quite a bit...

Cicilia looked confused as to what Sayumi was getting at, saying she needed more color, asking for red or pink. D...did she buy something for her...? The boxer blushed... harder at the thought, wrapping an arm around the lavender cutie's shoulders and peering into the bag she was digging through, trying to get a hint as to what she had bought.

"I guess... Red...?"

There were several things on the counter now... Boxes, books... How much stuff did she buy and where did she get all that money? The only time Cicilia spent this much was when she went BIG shopping and that was all for food! The boxer found herself looking jealously at her cute lavender girlfriend before kissing her softly on the cheek.

Sayumi grinned at the kiss, nodding. "Red, okay." She poked one of her nails into the perforated line running around the box, prying it open. In truth, the majority of the items she was pulling otu only ran her 1500 yen, which wasn't very expensive at all. She upturned the box, striking it on her palm into a few brightly colored pens poked out. She pinched the red one and wiggled it free the rest of the way. Giving the pen a vigorous shake, she bit the cap off and dropped it to the side from her mouth.

"Have you been working here long?" her attentions were on the nametag as she carefully traced out Cicilia's name with the pen, leaving a path of glistening glitter gel along each letter to make her name sparkle. She dipped her head, blowing on it softly as she went to make sure it dried. "I thought you just punched people all the time. I didn't know you were punching cards too... Do they have punch cards in diners? That sounded good in my head..." Once Cicilia's name shined brightly in the overhanging lights, she capped the pen to set it aside.

Sayumi picked up one of those small pads. Using her nail again she cut the small plastic wrapper around it loose enough to rip it off. Popping it open it looked like there was a large number of stickers inside. "Stop me if you see ones you like." She held the booklet between them, flipping through the various collections of stickers.