HtH125 – Sweet Serenade Of Savings
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Eclair is on a diet.
The morning light shines through the theatre house windows, on a long dining table, a lush breakfast is set out for the girls. Laid out there is a vibrant array of bright berries in bowls, loaves of freshly baked sliced bread, and whole apples brought out of the chiller. Eclair is clearly not the first person to have woken up in the house, for half a long baguette has been stolen by the forces of chaos this morning, and lay in its upright breadbasket. Eclair does not reach for that hearty staple, nor any of the fruits. Instead, she circles her spoon around a small, thin, plate of vegetable soup.
It is good vegetable soup, mind you. The house chef appears to have magicked up a tiny cauldron of the stuff, and the creamy fragrance wafts warm across the room. It is odd then that Eclair doesn't seem to be interested in any of the finely chopped carrots or mushrooms in the soup. She even seems a little afraid of taking up another ladle of the good stuff, purposely pouring away the vegetables and retaining only a small bowlful of soup.
"... yeah, that sounds about right! We should get to working on that track after eating! Why hello, Eclair!"
The loud boisterous voice that had entered the room belongs to none other than Minara. She is accompanied by another tall figure in purple kimono. This is none other than Hikari, who nods intently at her companion's musical ambitions. It doesn't take long before Minara dives right into breakfast, piling up an assortment of nuts, berries and breakfast cereal.
The contrast between the two plates could not be more stark.
"Eclair, how are you doing on this sunrise kissed morning?"
Half-absorbed in her thoughts, Eclair pops out of her deep thinking state, while Minara searches high and low for the avocado toast basket. "Fine! I'm totally fine, Hikari! I hope you are doing well too!" She quickly spoons up the last bit of her soup, leaving the plate politely empty.
The dramaturg quickly dabs at the side of her mouth with a handkerchief. For a moment, the familiar face of Eclair Baudz returns.
“Eclair, you seem particularly absent-minded this morning,” Hikari said with an encouraging smile. “Why don’t we start our day by enjoying some more breakfast together?”
Hikari retrieves the half-load of baguette and offers it to Eclair, but the girl hesitates, and gently pushes it away, indicating that she had her fill. Her eyes shifting away from the baguette and towards Hikari with uncertainty etched on her face.
Eclair stirs her empty plate, hesitating,
“I’m not sure if there’s much point in eating when my mind is constantly racing,” she confessed quietly.
"Hah! That sounds exactly like my Mother!" Minara mentions, while pouring glugs of milk into her cereal. "Back when I was a kid and my family dirt poor, Mother had this habit of punishing herself and being a complete doomer when at meals! She would frequently go hungry and eat worse and worse meals in front of my brother and me!"
Hikari gives Minara a side-eye at her little story. "And why would that be, Minara?"
"Why else?" Minara's voice becomes high-pitched and soft, unlike her own, "Because we are poor. It drove my brother quite mad, because it wasn't like we didn't have enough, Mother just refused to eat! Not that you all have this problem of course, you all have it way, way better than my own family ever did!"
Though Minara shared the story quite light-heartedly, it did seem to strike Eclair a little harder than it should. Her face goes a bit ashen, and her jaw clenches just a bit tighter. Just as the dramaturg is about to stand up, the purple-haired girl gives her a small nudge on her sleeve.
“Eclair,” began Hikari, “I’ve noticed you haven’t touched your food today.” Hikari's voice carried the same warmth with which she greeted every morning. “Perhaps it would help if we start by sharing one simple thing about our day, just soaking in each other’s company as friends do.”
With one fluid motion, Hikari takes the baguette from the basket, and breaks it in half for the both of them.
The crisp crack of the crust breaking this morning is an all too sweet sound.
Eclair looks up from the breadbasket, her eyes reflecting a mixture of gratitude for Hikari’s concern and fear that she might be inconveniencing her with it. She sighs lightly before responding: “It seems I have overreacted about my worries today, if there is one thing I can promise though, I have no intentions of turning our mealtimes into a self-pitying affair. Let's keep this place sacred... and a little kinder for those who will come after us."
"What? I was just saying!"
Even though Minara mildly protests, she passes a small bottle of chilled yogurt across the table.
This time however, Eclair pops open the bottle, and takes a long swig without a spoon.
“I’m really glad to have friends here at our theatre house,” Eclair concluded with renewed spirit. "You know, I was thinking about a script that I was writing these past few days..."
The friends simply listen.
The morning light streamed through their windows illuminating them over breakfast.
We are trying something different! This is a simul-posting at the same time as the Scribblehub release! Go check out the entire series at this link!
