An Event to Remember (Job- Teufel and Sayuri)

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Sayuri would be lying if she said she wasn't excited. She'd heard of the Crystallias Cantus festival long before she'd ever joined the Crystal Swan guild. That was no surprise- it was said to be one of the best festivals in Fiore! She'd passed through Crocus just a month before she joined the guild, and everyone had already been talking about the event. She'd actually debated staying in the capital longer to see it, but she'd gotten a good opportunity to move on and had taken it. At that time she'd never thought she would actually join the well-known guild.

Still, she wasn't just here to see the festival. No, she was going to be working it. She'd been told a few days before that most guild members helped out to make the festival one to remember. Which made sense, of course. So of course she'd signed up to help, although she had no idea what exactly she would be doing.

She knew the event was said to fit the guild's personality quite well. There was supposed to be many live performances, be they bands, singers, or even writers reciting their poems or artists setting up displays of their paintings and sculptures. There was even supposed to be a fashion show, or so she'd heard, with some of the best designers and models in the business showing off their stuff. And of course, there were all sorts of fun carnival games and great food. She'd heard legendary chefs were always hired for the event.

Still, she knew all of those tasks would likely be performed by professionals. She would probably just be doing grunt work and running errands. Still, she'd get an inside look at the festival, and there was even some compensation in it for her to boot. She couldn't wait for the event to start!

Still, they were still a while off from the festival opening. After all, it was still early morning, just barely after sunrise. Normally Sayuri was the type to try and sleep in as much as possible, but her excitement had helped her get out of bed even earlier than necessary. It was amazing she'd gotten any sleep at all. Now the city was starting to wake up, and although the festival wouldn't start until the afternoon, there was plenty of preparation to be done. She'd seen the pavilions being slowly erected as she'd made her was here this morning, and she was starting to pick up the scent of delicious food being put on to cook. Probably barbecue or soups, the kinds of things that took hour to cook. It was making her hungry, even though she'd eaten breakfast not that long before.

For the moment, though, she was still sitting in the guildhall, relaxing. The previous day she'd been told she would end up working in a group. She wasn't very good with people and she didn't really want to work with a stranger, so she'd reached out to one of her guild-mates, who she'd partnered with on a previous job. Thankfully he'd accepted her offer to work together for the event. So now she was waiting for him to arrive. Once he did, they would be able to talk to the volunteer coordinator, lurking behind the bar at the moment, and find out what task they would be assigned for the day.

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During a walk around the ship, Teufel spots a poster with something interesting on it. It was to a event that seemed really big, Teufel took the poster to Nyx which she then told him that she set up a job for him at it already,”Okay so you will be working there to setup a catwalk which will be used for what seemed to be a fashion show, they also gave us tickets for free with a really good pay.” Teufel said,”Okay, but you will let Snowy find me after I am finished and you guys get there, will Ursa and Min be there as well?” Nyx then said,”They didn’t seem interested so they will be staying here and catch up on some sleep or something like that.”

Teufel then started his way to where the event was going to be held, was a tad strange because it was something being set up by many people, but it was a good paying job and he would have fun at the festival after he was finished and it was open though there was something stranger in the crowd. It wasn’t something dangerous but it was someone he had met before, it was the girl he had met during a very weird but good paying job, he decided to meet up with her later maybe but that is if Snowy doesn’t want to do everything before he could get a chance to even get to meet with her again. Once they had gone over everything they let them start on the work that needed to be done.

Teufel was sent to the food cooking area thing to work on the stuff there, Teufel tracked down Sayuri to invite her to hangout with him and his daughter which snowy would love to meet her since she looked so pretty and Snowy is weird like that and just likes anyone who looks pretty or have big breast, the breast one is still a mystery in why Snowy like woman like that. After finding her Teufel then said,”Hey Sayuri, long time no see, I was wondering if you would like to hangout with me and my daughter Snowy. She is a strange one but she is very loveable and very nice to most people. But that is your choice if you would like to come or not.” Teufel just wanted to know if she would like to get to know Teufel a little better since this is their second job together and it would be nice to make new friends with thoses that you keep bumping into. But he saw that she was still working on the food stuff when he came in so he decided to help her out to speed up the work.

He peeled potatoes which he didn’t mind doing at all since it was simple and helped out after they were done with the work, one of the chefs then pulled him away from the potatoes and told him that he looked strong so he should move this massive pot of stew to the outside area. He then picked up the massive pot which was a lot more heavy than he thought but he still could pick it up the pot and moved it to the location where the chef said to put it. He then walks back to where Sayuri was at and continue to help her out for a while, he then said,”You know, i have never seen you around in the guild, but that might be because i never looked for you really. Oh, we should train together if you don’t mind, my swordsmanship is getting rusty and i haven’t really had a sparring partner that is willing to train and spar with me, so what do you say. After all this we set up a training day or are you to busy to train?” It was a bit strange to talk to her again since the last time he saw her, she was wearing a cocktail dress and had a tiny cat with her but now there were working together to make food for the event.

It was maddening on how good it smelled it was, it made people so hungry but the chefs smack people away so they don't eat the for before the event. It did how ever drive Teufel crazy that there were so many potatoes to peel, not only that they had him peel other veggies as well like Yams, carrots, and even other kinds of potatoes. HOW MANY KINDS OF VEGGIES WERE THERE. That what drove Teufel mad, but he kept his cool when he was peeling them even though he was sick and tired of it by now."So Sayuri, how has life treated ya since the last time we spoke together.." It was a bit odd for him to ask these kinds of questions but since they are stuck doing this for a while might as well make the most out of it and have a little conversation out of it.

Mean while with Nyx and Snowy, Nyx is explaining to Snowy that she will be going to a event that Teufel is helping set up. Nyx doesn't want to go because she doesn't like that kind of stuff either and rather stay home while her, Min, and Ursa stay home and watch over everything since they got nothing to do and don't want to go to the event. Snowy was over joyed because she has not been to a event like this in her whole live, she was happy because she felt like she truly have found a home that she will love forever. Back with Teufel, they had him even more pots and these ones were hot and full so it was even worse when he was moving them to the locations they say to move them. It was hard but normal work for him until they put him back to the other station where he was peeling veggies yet again, it was getting on his nerves but he needs to be calm and finish up this work so he can move on to the next set up or be done with this.


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Sayuri was actually kind of relieved when she was assigned to help with the cooking. It was something she'd done before. When she'd first left home when she was only 18, she had first joined a tiny little mage guild, but that hadn't gone very well and she'd ended up leaving after only a few months. After that she'd bounced around from job to job as she traveled, and a lot of those jobs ended up being in food service. First it had just been waiting tables or washing dishes, but then she'd gradually made her way into more hands-on roles. This huge food prep area was much bigger than any restaurant, and it had a lot more going on, but it was still a familiar area for her.

Unsurprisingly, Sayuri was put right to work as soon as she arrived. Kitchens were very busy places, and there was always something to do. The chef assigned her to keep an eye on various sauces and stews that were currently on to cook. Not that "watching them" was really much work. It just meant to stir them occasionally, and the chef still came by to check up on them himself, to make sure she wasn't messing anything up.

He also assigned her to chopping things while she watched the sauces. Mostly things were size wasn't important, like onions. Holy cow they were going through a lot of onions. It was a good thing Sayuri had experience dealing with onions, and knew a few tricks to help deal with it, but it still made her eyes water atrociously. Then again, that made her breaks to stir the sauces a relief.

When Teufel came over she was in the middle of chopping yet another onion- she was sure she'd diced at least twenty by now, and she didn't look up right away. She automatically assumed it was just another of the sous chefs floating around. They kept coming over to check up on her, as though afraid dicing and stirring weren't among her strong suits. Which meant she was taken by surprise when he suddenly spoke to her.

She finally glanced over, recognizing him. They'd done a job before. Matter of fact, that one had been at a party. Parties, festivals- she was sensing a common theme here. How ironic. But it was definitely a pleasant surprise. It was nice to see a friendly face. And the invitation to hang out with him after they finished working was a bit of a surprise. But again, a nice one. It would definitely be nice to get to know him a little better. She didn't have many friends, so she was in no position to be picky. And even if she were, she was a strong believer in not judging people before you got to know them.

"I would love to hang out with you and your daughter. It's always nice to get to know people."

She flashed him a quick smile before turning her gaze back to her work. She had no desire to chop a finger off because she wasn't paying attention. Then she heard footsteps and glanced behind her. It was the head chef, here to collect her latest bowl of onions. She couldn't help but wonder what on earth he was using all of them for. It was certainly a frightening amount.

He picked up the bowl, but instead of hurrying away yet again, for some reason he started poking through the onions. Sayuri immediately questioned herself. Had she done something wrong? Were they not up to his standards?

"Have you worked in a kitchen before?"

Suddenly she realized where he was going with that. Apparently her cuts were better than he'd expected, not worse.

"I do have a little bit of experience. I was a prep cook in a few of different restaurants, and was even a sous chef a couple of times, but I traveled too much to stay anywhere for longer than a few months."

The chef nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I need you to dice another pound of onions. After that I'll have you start on the potatoes he's peeling. Batonnet about ten pounds of them. The rest can just be cubed, because we'll be making a mash. Cut the blue potatoes and yams into medallions. Batonnet about half the carrots, and julienne the other half. Save the waste from squaring them off- I'll use it for stocks later. And chiffonade that bag of basil for me. Matter of fact, do the basil as soon as you finish the onion- I need it for my sauces and my sous chef is running behind. Again."

He sighed dramatically, and Sayuri couldn't help but laugh quietly. He seemed to do a lot of things dramatically. Then again, so did most chefs, in her experience. They were also all always in a hurry. She eyed up the bag of basil before replying.

"Yes chef! I should have the basil finished in about fifteen minutes."

He eyed her for a long minute, probably not really believing that she could do it that fast, but he nodded briefly before heading off, muttering. It was good for her that she had a lot of experience with knife-work, even if not all of it was in the kitchen. She went back to attacking the onions with a renewed vigor. There was no way she was going to miss her self-imposed deadline and prove the chef right.

Sayuri had just moved on to the basil when her companion spoke up again, and she smiled ruefully at his comment.

"Fair enough, I haven't been hanging out at the guild hall very much since I joined. I've been pretty busy with jobs over the past couple of weeks, and I've been moving into one of the rooms under the hall, so that's given me plenty to do as well. And I did go visit my sister earlier, so I was away for several days for that too. But I can definitely make time for some sparing practice. I still do my sword drills every day, but it's been a while since I've practiced with another person. It would be great exercise. I just hope I'd be able to hold my own!"

She quickly switched from the basil to the potatoes, having finished the prior just within her promised fifteen minutes. She began her work, cutting them down into long sticks. They were probably going to make some type of french fry with them, which would certainly fit with the festival atmosphere, although she was sure these elite chefs would dress it up quite a bit. They always liked to make things... Fancy.

As she chopped she was careful to toss the potatoes into a pot of water, and the scraps in a separate pot for the chef's later use. It the potatoes were left out they would start to oxidize and turn brown, which didn't make them bad to eat or affect the taste, but it certainly wasn't an appealing visual. She let herself fall into a well-practices rhythm as she began quickly plowing through the mountain of potatoes Teufel had already peeled as she turned her attention to his next question.

"I've been doing pretty well, all things considered. This is a lot better than my last experience with a guild, that's for sure. I'm still getting settles in, though, which is a lot of work. But that's just how life goes." She shrugged slightly before adding in, "How have you been doing?"

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Teufel had heard what Sayuri asked of him and he respawned,”Oh I am fine, Snowy is getting a good education, Nyx is finding me plenty of jobs to do, and the latest additions have been improving on their social skills but other then that i have been pretty much busy with taking care of Snowy. Well there was a bit ago where Snowy tried forcing me to get married to this really nice girl but she didn’t want to marry someone who she had never met before which is understandable since Snowy is the strange kind of cute. In his mind this was a normal conversation which made him happy that he was getting used to the normal side of life. After a bit a bunch of news people came in and started asking around in what they think the event this year is going to be like.One of the new people came up to him and asked him what his thoughts were,”Well this is my first time doing one of these, though I do hope that it will be very fun for me and my daughter Snowy too because it is her first time coming to one of these events as well. Now may I ask if you are going to attend as well, you seemed to really pumped up for this event as well, is it that special to a lot of people?” The question he asked was like that because he didn’t understand why people were so excited for this event, did i have something really special in it or do people just like it because of that? So many questions so little time. The reporter answer his questions by saying that it was just a very fun and large event that almost everyone knows about it and goes to it. They soon left and Teufel had his answer, he smiled a bit and turned his head to look at Sayuri and say,”Well then, I do hope Snowy can find many things that she will like. Oh, Sayuri, are you going to wear something special for the event? Nyx said she is going to put Snowy in something called a Kimono or something like that, she said it’s a robe like dress meant to be weared on special occasions or during events in the summer I don’t know. All i know is that it will probably make her look even more adorable.” Even though Teufel wasn’t Snowy’s biological father, he still treated her as though she was her biological father. After a while, Teufel had peeled all that he needed to peel so they put him on a station where he has to cut up meat and grind them up for the meat patties which he could do, the he set up the station on the other side of the table where he would be facing right in front of Sayuri which was a it strange but still at less he can still talk to her without needing to not have someone to talk to. It didn’t take him long before he got the hang of it, he would chop the meat up to fit into the grinder, then crank the handle of the grinder and turn it. The meat will then dump into a pan which will be taken away for the grinded meat to be turned into meat patties for some dishes that needed it, all of this made him feel like it was just a clock, turning all its gears until the strike of the hour hits and they all get paid which seemed a bit grim but Teufel doesn’t know that it sounded grim nor did he think it was grim. Teufel thought clocks were interesting in how it worked which he always had a interested even when he was little. After finishing one slab of meat he would get started on a different kind of meat which is a fish, they told him to cst off the head, remove the meat from the bones and scales and then cut it up until its a looks like it might be a gel or something like that. He did so, the smell was getting to him so he needed to get a mask to block most of the odor from getting into his nose. It was a bit hard to get the bone away from the meat and the scales from the meat but he found a way to do that it was easy, most of it was hard work and they said the bones were going to be put into a stew. When he was finished with the fish cutting, he was told to transport his bone pile to the station where they are going to boil it down into a stew. So he lift the bone pile up and brought it to that station which was full of people with all kinds of different bones from many different animals that were being used in the cooking. Once he was finished with that he got back to his station which they now had him cracking open walnuts, the walnuts were kinda hard to crack open because these ones were very thick shelled and did not want to crack open unless more power was put into them. Once the walnut was cracked open Teufel was out of breath for a quick second do to the thickness of that one walnut, but the rest cracked up easy and without any struggle. Most of the walnuts looked the same but some were very hot for some reason, it was because they were different kinds of walnuts mixed into the pile so he sorted them by looks and temp, by the 10th walnut he saw that the rest seemed to be a normal ones but that did seemed a bit strange how he got some that were different to the ones he had gotten.

Meanwhile on Snowy’s side, she was coming back from school when Nyx stopped her and showed her the Kimoto that she will be wearing to the festival when it was time. Snowy was very happy that it has a snow and cat pattern on it which she loved both of them since she was both of them though she was a bit confused in why she was going to wear this and not her normal set up. She then shrugs it off and started to get dressed in it, it took her a bit to understand that she will need help putting it on which Nyx helped her get into it. After she was put into it the right way, Nyx started taking pictures of her in it which made her cuter than normal because she looked so shy in it. She liked it mostly because it was comfortable and does not make her feel like she was in a oven but she was wondering Nyx was taking pictures of her if she is not coming with her, Nyx just wanted to remember her first time wearing so cute and new. Nyx then handed her the camera and told her to take it with her when she goes to the festival.

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Sayuri almost cracked up when Teufel mentioned his daughter trying to marry him off to a complete stranger. Kids could be so weird sometimes, so she supposed it should hardly surprise her. Then again, the only little kid she'd ever been around was her younger sister, and she had been more inclined to ask you to kill someone than to marry them. Kiyoko may have had a few anger problems... Still, Sayuri hadn't been all that much older than her, so she hadn't been the one who had to really deal with the situation.

She wasn't sure, though, if Teufel would appreciate her laughing about that story, so she didn't want to risk offending him without need. If she knew him a little better there may have been a sarcastic remark, because she had an interesting sense of humor, but she decided that's wasn't a safe option either, so she avoided that too. Which left her with the question of what to say to respond to that.

"Oh, what a shame. Your daughter surely has a good sense of taste, so surely it would had to have been a good match, right?"

Okay, so that was slightly sarcastic still. But she kept the tone light and playful, so hopefully he would realize she was joking and not, you know, suggesting he ought to have married a total stranger. She wasn't the best at dealing with people, so she wasn't sure if she'd committed a social gaffe or not. She wasn't exactly sure how to follow that statement up either.

Thankfully, she was spared the need to come up with a follow-up by the sudden invasion of the press. Ugh. Talking to people was bad enough. Talking to someone who could air your personal information all over every magazine they could get their hands on? Not exactly her cup of tea. She kept her head down and hoped they would pass her over in favor of those who seemed more eager to talk to them. No such luck.

"And how about you, miss? Are you excited? Do you think the festival this year will manage to surpass last year's?

Really? And how should she know if it would be better than the festival last year? She hadn't been here last year? Still, she refused herself to look like an idiot. Or rather, sound like one.

"Oh, I've heard the guild has been preparing for this for months now. It's going to be amazing! One of the best displays of art and culture in Fiore. And I've been told it's going to be worth sticking around after dark..."

The last sentence was told with a bit of a conspiratorial tone, as though she were hinting at some big secret. Truth be told, she'd heard talk of a pyrotechnics show that was planned for later, so it was actually true. In fact, everything she'd said was technically true. After all, she knew that there was a committee that planned this event, although the members tended to rotate around a bit. It was an informal committee, but still... And it was true that the displays of art and the musical performances would be impressive. After all, Crystal Swan made a point of sponsoring art, no matter the type. Especially magic, which in Sayuri's opinion was definitely its own kind of art.

She was relieved, though, when the reporters finally shuffled out to find someone else to harass, and the kitchen went back to being quiet. Well, perhaps quiet wasn't the right word- kitchens could be rather noisy at times. But that was background noise, which was different. She was able to relax a bit again.

And she couldn't help but laugh at Teufel's comments about kimonos. He it was clear that he really didn't know what a kimono was, and that for some reason amused her. Not that she looked down on him for it, of course. There were plenty of things that she didn't know herself. She grinned at him.

"That's a pretty good description of a kimono. In fact, this is a kimono."

She gestured at the garment she was wearing at the moment. It wasn't anything special, just one of her casual ones, dark green with a few silver patters scrolled across the edges.

"My family was very traditional, so I always wore kimonos growing up, for everything. I still do wear them most of the time. This is just one of my simple ones- you know, cotton, and sturdier than a lot of them, for daily use. The nicer ones are made out of silk, which is a lot lighter in weight. But then again, that's also because formal kimonos have multiple layers. Usually the hems and sleeves of the outer ones are shorter to show off the colors and designs on the other layers."

She trailed off, pausing awkwardly for a long moment before she continued.

"But I'm sure that's more than you ever cared to know about kimonos. But I'm sure your daughter will look adorable in it. And I'll probably change into a nicer one myself if we do get the chance to enjoy the show a bit."

She was hoping that that would be the case. For all she knew the chefs might decide to keep them here throughout the entire event. Then again, once all the prep work was out of the way and a lot of the sauces and garnishes were ready and waiting, the regular staff ought to be able to handle the parts that were cooked to order and the plating. They probably wouldn't want amateurs messing that up anyway. That was the part that took the most skill and practice, and she definitely wouldn't want to touch that, not with the sheer scale of this event. That was too much pressure for her liking.

She finally finished her attack on the vegetables, tossing the last of the carrots into a bowl and taking a moment to look around the kitchen. She noted that there were a lot less people prepping and a lot more of the actual cooking. She spotted someone searing scallops, and that drove the point home. No one would cook those unless they were going to be served immediately- they would be ruined otherwise. It seems that the event was finally underway, and she figured the chefs would be busy for quite a while. And maybe they would prefer not to have her and her companion under their feet. She figured it was worth taking a shot, so she grabbed her bowl and headed straight for the head chef.

"I've finished these. Is there anything else you need us to do at the moment? Or do you think we might be able to go see what all this work had been for?"

She made sure to keep her tone friendly, and thankfully, it elicited a positive response.

"Huh? Oh, no no, you two go take a break. We can handle the cooking from here. Enjoy the festival- you've earned it. But come back at the end of the night to help us clean up here."

She had expected as much. Kitchens tended to accumulate messes, and no matter how hard you tried to keep it in check, it always seemed to spiral out of control. But she'd gratefully take the break. They'd been here since the early morning, and a quick glance out the window told it it was late afternoon already. In fact, it was probably close to sunset, and in the summer no less, when the days were the longest. She headed back over to Teufel.

"Well, the head slave mast- I mean, chef, has generously agreed to release us until the festival is over at we have to clean all this up. Want to make a break for it before he changes his mind? We can meet up somewhere after I get changed and you meet up with your daughter."

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Sayuri had been hovering, yes hovering seemed like the best word, outside the cooks tent for what seemed like an eternity now, although she supposed it probably hadn't been all that long. She'd meant to meet up with her earlier companion, but he hadn't shown up. Sad, that. Still, she supposed something must have come up when he'd gone back to his place. Things happened, after all. There was no point in waiting around forever, and she would have to go help with the clean-up at the end of the night, so she ought to enjoy herself while she could.

She straightened the fancy kimono she'd changed into, then scanned the festival around her. What to do first. There were some carnival games off to one side, but those were usually more fun when you had someone to play them with. There was the food tasting, of course, but she'd been sampling bits and pieces while she helped in the kitchen. That left the art exhibits, she supposed, and she'd heard there was even a fashion show somewhere around here.

She was about to head off that way when she was suddenly accosted by a total stranger! Well, maybe not a total stranger. Once she had a moment to take in what was going on she realized that she recognized her from around the guildhall, so she must be another member of Crystal Swan, although Sayuri was too thrown-off to recall her name right now. They definitely hadn't planned anything. But she was smart enough to hear the emphasis in the other girl's voice and recognize it as a cry for help. That's when girl code kicked in. There was an unspoken rule among women- if another women is being bothered by someone, you are suddenly her best friend and are inseparable. Everyone knew that. Even if that "someone" happened to be the entire press...

"Oh! Yes, I was just waiting for you! I'm so glad you made it. I think we should go to the art exhibits over there. I hear they're positively incredible!"

Then, summoning her courage, she offhandedly mentioned to the nearest members of the press, "They don't like pictures in the exhibits, though. You know, copyright and all that. Anyway, we really ought to be going now!"

She began leading her new companion in that direction, heart racing. Had she really just told the press off? Yes, yes she had. And she didn't feel the least bit sorry about it. She had done it politely, after all. They would get over it. She just hoped her choice of media-prohibitive venue would work and the hoard wouldn't follow them inside. Sayuri was not a fan of crowds. Or reporters, for that matter.

She lowered her voice, so that only her guildmate could hear her. "I'm sorry, I can't quite seem to recall your name. Nothing personal, I'm just terrible with them. But hopefully I can help get this lot off your back. I assume that's what you're trying to do, right?"

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