ArchivedLogs:That Good

That Good
Dramatis Personae Hanna, Lorna	2014-02-07 Lorna makes a trip into the city to see what’s got everyone so hot and bothered about Happy Cakes. She finds out.
Location <NYC> Happy Cakes Bakery - TriBeCa
Happy Cakes Bakery is a cheery little spot of vintage charm amidst the hustle and bustle of the Manhattan neighborhood, a refurbished pair of row homes that hardly resemble their previous selves - the front walls are almost entirely gleaming glass, with the logo of the bakery painted onto the top, and rainbows of cupcakes dancing along the edges. Eclectically styled, it seems homey and welcoming - if the cross stitched sign by the door wasn't obvious enough - "All are Welcome!" it reads, with the "All" underlined in a sparkling bubble gum pink and yellow dotted line, with the logo of the bakery, a cheery smiling pink and white cupcake, beneath the lettering. Once inside, the walls of the combination bakery and coffee shop are covered in crisp clean white ceramic tile, with the occasional randomly placed tile with an color engraving of a tropical flower, or tile made of reclaimed China. Ambient music reminiscent of the Big Band era plays through the shop, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to make conversation difficult. Tables and chairs in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles fill one side of the room, none of them quite matching each other, but all of them seeming to work together. The other side of the shop is a long series of gleaming glass and chrome bakery displays, filled with colorful sweets and treats of every description. To one end of the counter is a gleaming chrome espresso machine with far more tubes and bobbles than is really necessary, but producing excellent espresso beverages. At the other end is the old style cash register, a chrome and cherry wood relic from a bygone age that dings cheerily with each sale. The wall behind the counter is covered in photos of a tropical island, as well as a pair of shops that look like a smaller version of this one, several including a pair of dark haired women. It is a crisp evening in New York City, the sky overhead brilliantly clear beyond the towering buildings. Happy Cakes bakery is a glowing spot of warmth on this chill night, bright lights beaming through the windows and attracting the occasional traveler like moths to a flame. A sugary, sugary flame. Beyond the large windows, cases filled with a rainbow of pastries. Inside, the bakery lives up to its name, cheerily bright, and currently staffed by a bouncing, round woman in a blue and purple checked swing dress, a brilliant purple cardigan keeping her shoulders warm. Her long black hair is pulled up into a bee-hive style, held in place with a bright yellow flower comb. She is currently polishing the glass case with a brightly colored floral towel, obviously beginning to pack up for the evening, though the sign still indicates that they are open for business. Hanna bounces about in time to the music playing overhead, humming cheerily as she works. The distinct sound of a revving motorcycle announces Lorna's arrival at the bake shop. She rides a low-slung, sleek-looking bike that looks like it was built for speed, then speed, and also more speed. It's black with neon green trim, as is her fitted black riding suit. She could almost be accused of doing a neon green homage to TRON. When the bike is parked and shut off, she reaches up to release the clip on her black helmet, and this is the point where the shot would go to slow-mo, playing some kind of time-stop dubstep drop. She pulls the helmet off and shakes out her hair, pockets the key for the bike, and walks to the entrance of the shop. Inside, her helmet dangles from one hand while she looks over the pastries, but then her expression drops a little when she catches on to the 'closing time' atmosphere. "Oh no, did I come too late?" It is the sound of the little silver bells over head that draw Hanna's attention, rather than the bike engine. She perks up and offers a bubbly wave of greeting, smiling cheerily, and chirping, "Hello! Welcome to Happy Cakes!" Hanna bounces behind the counter, still dancing somewhat to the music overhead, "Never too late for sweets. Just was taking advantage of a bit of quite to get started on my tasks for the evening." She leans against the counter, glancing over Lorna's attire and out towards the bike parked nearby, nodding appreciatively, "Sweet ride, miss." Turning her attention back to the task at hand, Hanna smiles brightly, gesturing towards the wide array of sweets, "What can I get for you this fine chill evening? We've got a decent selection left, and if you've got any preferences or questions, feel free to ask." "Aw, /thanks/," Lorna says earnestly at the compliment. She is not doing a very good job of playing the Cool Biker Chick, even if she does look the part. She sets her helmet on a nearby table and stalks the glass with greedy green eyes. "Oh wow, I heard this place was unhinged, but this is incredible..." She seems thoroughly impressed by the displays, and flashes Hanna a friendly smile, her face framed by the dark green hair. "Well honestly, I wanna bite of everything, but everyone talks about the cupcakes so I'd better start there. Do you have any that are citrusy? Or maybe berry flavors?" Hanna smiles and chuckles, moving over to stand beside the case, chuckling lightly as she looks over the selection, "Glad to hear people are still talking about us in a positive light. Unless they were calling /me/ unhinged. Which would not be the first time I've been called that." She studies Lorna for a long moment with warm coffee colored eyes tinged with gold flecks, a thoughtful look on her rounded features. "Citrus or berry... hm, we usually have a lemon blueberry cupcake closer to the spring and summer, but not so much right now," Hanna muses aloud, tapping fingers on the glass as she thinks, "I have an orange-spice cupcake - it's got a nice sweet blood orange undertone with cinnamon and clove flavors. Or there's the standby of chocolate raspberry cupcake - devil's food cake, with a fluffy rasperry butter cream, and a berry glaze drizzle over top. And I can make an attempt at the blueberry coffee drink, if you'd like some more berry flavor to go with the cupcakes." As she speaks, she is pointing out the cupcakes - there also appear to be at least one caramel-cinnamon cupcake, a crazy-colored rainbow cake, complete with psychadelic colored icing, and double chocolate and "plain" vanilla cupcakes. Lorna laughs, a light and cheery noise. "Oh, all good things. But then all my friends are mutants it seems. Or friendly at least. I don't really have much time for bigots, you know?" Her smile is broad and genuine. "Oh damn lady... Those are good choices. Well ok, I've had raspberry chocolate, and I bet yours is really good. But I /have/ to try that blood orange cupcake. And then just a regular coffee if it isn't too much trouble?" "Always good to hear," Hanna laughs warmly, her eyes seeming to brighten with the expression. Nodding in approval of the cupcake choice, "You want that for here, or boxed up to go?" Her tone doesn't indicate that she has a preference, but she is actualy reaching for one of the little China plates to serve the cupcake on. "It's a relatively new recipe, but I've gotten some good reviews from people today," she explains with a gleeful smile, plating one of the cupcakes - a brilliant red-orange cake, topped with fluffy cream-colored icing, topped with a candied orange peel - which she sets on the counter for Lorna to take. "You want room for milk? And light or dark roast - Jayna's been having a ball with roasting beans lately, so we have some of each," she heads for the coffee station, prepping the requested beverage while humming cheerily. "Here is great, thanks," Lorna says, beaming as she takes the plate. "Um, light roast please. No need for milk though." She holds the plate in hand and doesn't worry about finding a table. Instead she walks over to stand across the counter from where Hanna is preparing the coffee. Lorna slides her fork through the frosting and cupcake, slicing off a bite and popping it into her mouth. It's luck there are no other customers in the store just then though, because the noise that follows is entirely inappropriate for public. Her eyes roll up, and she bends her knees to a half-squat before straightening up again. She groans and opens her eyes again, speechless. Hanna sets about grinding the beans and preparing the coffee, French Press style, which takes a few minutes. The baker is just turning with a brightly colored coffee cup when Lorna expresses her enjoyment of the pastry. She nearly drops the empty cup, glancing back at the mostly empty tray of cupcakes in the case, and then to Lorna, her eyes having faded to a cool-blue color for the time being. Pausing for a long moment, as though cataloging if she saw anyone eat one of the cupcakes today, Hanna finishes preparing the coffee in somewhat nervous silence. The cup of coffee is slid across the counter towards Lorna, and Hanna chuckles lightly, "Ah, enjoying the cupcake?" "Geez, I'm sorry," Lorna says, blushing. She sets the plate down to pick up her coffee and take a sip, just holding in both hands, probably to warm her hands even further after the freezing cold motorcycle ride. "I just... I've been on my mom's co-op for the last month, and everything there is all natural, locally grown, etc etc. And that means... pretty much no sugar like this. They have some sweeteners, but good god, girl..." Lorna takes another sip and then raises the cup in a kind of salute to Hanna. "Well done. My name's Lorna, by the way." Leaning a hip against the counter, Hanna chuckles, shaking her head, "No need to apologize. I'm used to people enjoying my work, just rarely quite so vocally." Regardless, the curvy bakery looks quite pleased with the reaction, and the assertion that it was just a really good cupcake. "Glad you like it, though," Hanna says, idly snagging her own cup of coffee from the counter and raising it in a salute before taking a sip, "I try to use as much local stuff as I can, and it /is/ organic. Just... I refuse to do forcibly sugar free stuff. Just don't taste right most of the time." Hanna smiles brightly, her eyes having settled back into the coffee-brown and gold color, "Lovely to meet you, Lorna. I'm Hanna." Lorna nods her enthusiasm at local organic, holding up her hand to agree. "Oh yeah, I totally support that too. But /no sugar/?" She shakes her head, obviously flabbergasted. "And they wonder why I couldn't stay." She chuckles and sets down the coffee so she can take the plate again, forking another bite into her mouth. She takes a deep breath through her nose while she chews, but doesn't over-express this time. "Well Hanna, it's nice to meet you too. Honestly, this shop is a gift to New York. How long have been here? I've been away for eight years so I'm kind of out of the loop." Hanna laughs heartily at the continued talk of the co-op, "I grew up in a sort of open community in Hawaii. My mom ran a lovely little hippy cafe, back before it was cool - but even she refused to go without good old fashioned sugar. Needless to say, I picked up my habits from her." She sips her coffee, smiling cheerily still, "Opened up shop last March, just in time for New York to have some interesting times." There's a heavy sigh at this, and she rubs at her shoulder idly, glancing to one of the cases. "I'm glad you think so - we opened up here because if anywhere needed a bit of cheer, it's New York. And who can say no to cupcakes?" "Obviously I agree," Lorna says with a grin. Up close, the physical expression of her mutation is even more apparent. Either she's the most meticulous, detail oriented dyer in the world, or it grows in that way. Even her eyebrows are the same green as her hair and eyes. Standing at the counter and taking another bite, Lorna sets her fork down so she can unzip her jacket, revealing a black t-shirt with the slogan: Physics is like sex. Sure, there are some practical results, but that's not why we do it. She picks up her coffee and swirls it a bit, before inhaling the aroma and taking another sip. If Hanna notices the dye job, she doesn't mention it. The sign by the door states that all are welcome, and with that comes the unspoken agreement not to pry to closely, it would seem. The proprietor's eyes don't seem fit to settle on their own color tonight, shifting through shades of brown and gold, occasionally tinged with green depending on the point in the conversation. She snorts slightly at the revealed t-shirt, smirking as she reads the slogan. "So - eight years away? What brought you back to the Big Apple?" Hanna asks, sipping at her coffee, "If you don't mind my asking, that is. Can't imagine it's for the mutant friendly, non-violent atmosphere." The baker smirks with the dry humor, sipping her sugary coffee idly. Lorna snorts her agreement with Hanna's assessment. "Oh it's the rent control, you know?" Lorna eats the last of the cupcake with a smirk, and sips at her coffee. "Well, I went to high school here, and kind of fell in love with the place. Went away to do my PHD, but now I'm actually back to work at my old school, if you can believe that." She shakes her head as if the idea amuses her, goes to take another sip of coffee and finds the cup empty. "Well, that might be my cue," she says. "Do you have a four-pack box to put four more of those in?" "Oh, god, the rent here," Hanna groans, the sarcasm heavy in her voice, "Such a /lovely/ thing. Don't even get me started." She chuckles and smirks, shrugging and collecting the empty cup and plate from Lorna. "Good reason, teaching. I don't have the patience for it, but cheers to you for taking it on." For the first time, her eyes actually flick up to Lorna's unusual hair color, but still no comment. "We do in fact have takeaway boxes, yes. Singles, four, half dozen, and then full dozen boxes, to suit any sweet tooth," she explains with a bright smile, heading back towards the cupcake case, "More of the same?" Lorna nods and then holds up her hand, "Actually, make it three of the orange, and one of the raspberries you mentioned. A girl likes to options, am I right?" She grins and produces some cash from a zippered jacket pocket. Hanna boxes up the cupcakes as requested with a practiced ease, neatly packaged in a pale pink and yellow striped box, sealed off with a cheery little logo sticker. She hums quietly while ringing Lorna up, finally bundling the box up with some striped twine to make a neat little handle for ease of carrying. Handing back the change and reciept, Hanna smiles, "Alrighty. Thanks for stopping in and chatting, Lorna. Enjoy the cupcakes, and hope you'll come back and see us again soon." A somewhat warry glance out the door, though her tone remains upbeat and cheery, "Have a safe rest of the evening out there." "Oh yeah, you can count on me being back," Lorna says with a smile as she stuffs a couple bills into the tip jar. "It was nice talking to you too. See you 'round." She winks, scoops up the box in one hand and her helmet in the other and heads for the door.