milliways_bar | Breakfast at Milliways

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Breakfast at Milliways

Before her first shift, Dinah's been busying herself behind the Bar and in the kitchen, acquainting herself with all the rats and the mechanics of the place. It was a surprise to discover the bar was magical for one.

Taking it in her stride, or glide as the case maybe, she writes the following up on the specials board:

Breakfast Specials
Fluffy buttermilk pancakes with blueberries
Scrambled egg with bacon and toast
Half Grapefruit

And stands behind the spotlessly clean bar, bright smile in place.

"What'll you have?"

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The specials board meant nothing to Lando. Might as well be in Jawa, for all it's worth, he thought.

But he was hungry, having left the Lady Luck without breakfast. And he figured that if his understanding of the strange alien droid called Dinah was accurate, he could get something decent.

"Good morning, Dinah."

"Morning Mr. Calrissian," she says with a beaming smile, producing a glass of fresh orange juice and passing it to him before he can ask for anything.

"Get you some breakfast?"

"Thank you," he says with a smile. A smile he didn't quite intend. But she's just being so nice and so friendly, that not to smile would be poor manners.

"I would love some, Dinah. What are the choices?" He sips the juice.

"Hmmm. This is tasty. Not entirely unlike Fruit Fizz. What is it?"

"Well, anythin' really," she replies with a smile. "It seems the bar can produce about anything you can think of.

"But I recommend the blueberry pancakes. And that's just freshly squeezed orange juice."

"Ah. I suspected it was some kind of juice. But we don't have oranges where I come from. Or pancakes, either. Care to tell me what they are before I order them." Lando is eager to learn more, though. The wheels in his head begin to turn.

"Well, oranges are a type of fruit. Grown in the southern coastal states," she explains and produces one, on a plate with a small knife for Lando's inspection.

"Just take the peel off there and you'll see."

"And pancakes, well," she fetches a plate of fluffy pancakes covered in blueberries. "They're a fired batter product. Eggs, flour, and buttermilk."

He looks at the pancakes, and smiles in recognition.

"Of course. We have a variety of names for that. Sometimes it seems like no two people call them the same thing." He takes the plate and begins eating.

"Not bad. But just a little on the sweet side." He takes a second bite and then considers the orange.

"A citrus fruit. But I've never seen one this color. Aptly named, at least." Lando cuts it gently, as if trying to keep the peel intact, and slowly gets to the pulp inside. He cuts a small piece.

"Oh. This is good. Sweet but tart enough to tamp down the sweetness. This could sell well, I think." He has that smile of opportunity.

"And these items are native to your world?"

"They sure are," she says with a beaming smile. "And there's some money to be made in them, from what I hear. I had a man on me a few years ago made his fortune in oranges. It's not just the juice: the zest is used in cooking, the oil is good for a polish and aromatherapy, and the flowers are ever so pretty as well.

"What do you have for breakfast where you come from?"

He picks up the bulk of the orange and studies it. He lets himself not think about the idea of passengers in her. Really, he doesn't.

"Yes, I can see that. Citrus fruits at home are used in a similar fashion. Which would mean that I would probably not try to make my profits off the secondary uses, and only off the fruit and the juice. What planet did you say you come from? I'd want to meet some of the people from them and explore this further." He puts the orange down, and eats some more.

"What do I have for breakfast? Of late, exo-protein wafers and stim tea. The choice of food in the fleet is very limited, as is the time to eat it. I haven't had something like this in a long while. Not since I left Cloud City, in fact."

"I'm from Earth," she replies. "The U.S.A. specifically. We cover most of the country, so I can't be more specific than that.

"Well, what would you have in Cloud City? I'm sure we can get it for you."

"You're from..." Lando's brain begins to jump the tracks, os to speak.

"How can you be from Earth? I've met humans from there, and they're your size. None of them could possibly fit inside you...

"Dinah, what are you?" He begins to wonder, as so many have at Milliways, if one of them is insane.

She laughs, softly, almost a chuckle.

"I'm a dining car," she repeats. "I just look like a person, is all. Now, would you like somethin' else to eat? The pancakes were too sweet, right?"

"Oh, right. They were too sweet." No way is he going to figure this out. His best conclusion? She's delusional. Maybe a droid with a faulty logic circuit or two. Well, he thinks at least she's harmless and friendly and does seem to answer my questions.

"Can I get some wastril bread with Sarkanian jelly, and a stim tea?"

She smiles and removes the pancakes, watching as the Bar produces the breakfast he asked for.

"There you go. Wastril bread, huh? I'll remember that for next time."

"Thanks, Dinah. I'm not averse to trying new things - indeed, I think that if the chefs on your Earth would use less sweetner, the food would be more than acceptable. But sometimes, it's good to be able to have something familiar." He spreads the jelly on the bread and takes a nice sized bite.

"Yes, that is much better."

[ooc: sorry for the delays - boss calling me into impromptu meetings today.]

"Oh, I'm sure I could find you something savoury," she says. "Not everythin's got sugar in it."

"Tell you what, Dinah. This will do for now - it's only breakfast, after all. But if you are likely to be behind the Bar again, I'll let you surprise me.

"Who knows? I might even find somethng that I like so much that I don't try to sell it to the galaxy." He smiles, and without realizing is it being just a touch flirtatious.

"That's a deal then," she says, smiling sweetly and being just as flirtatious. "Next time I'm serving, I'll give you something that ain't too sweet."

He smiles back, and wonders if maybe she isn't a droid. Which might mean she's a seriously deluded human with fairly cold hands. Not truly a comforting thought. But not as odd in some ways.

Lando stops thinking about this and eats his bread and the orange, but leaves the juice.

"How often are you on?"

"Three times a week," she says happily. "My choice. I think I'll be on Thursday, probably."

Then I happen to be here on whatever day is your 'Thursday', we can see what new breakfast specials are possible." He gives her a very charming grin, and then finishes his breakfast, taking out a couple of Imperial coins, the image of the Emperor noticeably scratched a bit.

"Thank you for the breakfast."

"You're very welcome," she says, taking the coins, and looking around hopelessly until a small saucer appears in a rather pointed way. She grins, and deposits the coins on the saucer, which vanishes along with them.

"Well, ain't this place somethin'? Have a good one, Mr. Calrissian."

"You too, Dinah." He gets up, smiling, and heads off fortified and ready for adventure.

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Breakfast at Milliways

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