Look, Sooner or Later You'd See Someone You Know (Alicia)

Isaac's number had come up. This customer was a young teenage girl, just about Isaac's age. She seemed like a first-time customer, so she didn't have a favorite guy or girl to call upon yet. Those were often some of the best for training new employees. The customer didn't have an expectation of the business yet, and the employee couldn't fall back on a laundry list of their favorite things. It was a symbiotic combo, easing both of those involved into their time at the cafe. With those factors in mind, selecting Isaac was a natural choice. He picked up the establishment's menu and wiping towels, adjusted his hair and bow tie, and made his way over to the table.

Upon approaching, it was time for the customary greeting. He bowed to the table of one, suavely saying "Welcome home, princess~!" That was they were supposed to say, at least, because mistress made things sound way too weird. "How may I serve you today?" See! That would sound super weird if he called her mistress first!

However, upon noticing the girl, his smile faltered for a quick second. She seemed familiar. Way, way too familiar. But he couldn't put his finger on it. Or, rather, he could put his finger on it, but refused to believe it. Alicia had never mentioned a younger sister before, and yet her spitting image was sitting right before him. Nevertheless, even as recognition sparked in his eyes, he refused to let his smile fall for more than that second. First rule of the cafe was to never drop character. Second rule of the cafe was to leave real life at the door. Even with his burning curiosity, his hands were tied as to the identity of this mysterious clone.

Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't sleuth things out with the tactical application of some leading questions. As he gently placed the menu and wiping towels on Tiny Alicia's table, asked "I hope your day has been going well today, yes?" Depending on how much of a talker she was, this might have been a good way of getting a first look as to who this person was. Or, at least, seeing if she sounded anything like Alicia and her family.

The voice sounded just like a member of Alicia's family. Hell, the voice sounded just like Alicia. But the tone of the voice, along with her age and appearance, were too completely different. Poor Isaac had no idea what was going on today. It obviously couldn't be Alicia, because it just plain couldn't be. At the same time, how could it not be Alicia? It was so obvious! His brain was currently shifting through a ton of prospective scenarios. Curse from any angry wizard? Digimon in a holosuit, impersonating her? The world's most awkward glitch in the matrix? Whatever the case, this was really gonna stick in Isaac's craw for a while.

But he had a job to do, damnit! And that meant pushing past confusion to treat the customer right. "Aw, a long day? I'm so sorry to hear that, princess," he said, the suave tone in his voice completely failing to match his confusion inside. "Is there anything you might need a hand with? If so, you'd need only say the word and I'll do anything I can to serve~." He could only hope that said word wouldn't be tailor made to mess with him in every fashion imaginable. This day was off to a confusing enough start without Not Alicia asking for a massage or anything like that.

Thankfully, it seemed right now her cup of tea was menu suggestions. Part of Isaac was relieved. Part of him also saw this as a golden opportunity. If he could compare her responses to Alicia's usual tastes, he could get a hint as to whether it was actually her or just some walking improbability. From their interactions, he had a feeling she was the mild sort of person. Not into anything sickly sweet, nor into an overly forceful flavor. Especially with how stressful and tiring both the Digital World and human world could get on most days. He stooped down to look at the menu, flipping it over to the specials section and politely gesturing it towards what looked to be a pancake stuffed with bean paste and chestnuts.

"Perhaps we might interest you in this Dorayaki, princess? It has a mildly sweet flavor to it, with a consistency equal parts firm and soft.  And its so warm, too! The kind of food you can just savor, nothing too strong or too fleeting. It would be the perfect snack for a princess in need of relaxation, no?" Well, he'd certainly been working on his sales pitches!

Isaac heard that. And if it wasn't for the fact that he needed to keep his game face on at all times, that probably would've gotten his eye twitching a little. Seriously? This was happening now? At this point, something had to be intentionally messing with him. By now he'd be willing to believe that Alicia had discovered the fountain of youth in the Digital World or something and decided to celebrate by catching him off-guard at work. No, it didn't matter how she knew he worked there. Life seemed to enjoy picking the most convenient ways of toying with him, even if the explanations never made as much sense as they should.

Nevertheless, it was time to get to work. He bowed to Maybe Alicia at her request, thankful for the chance to get away and clear his head. "As you wish," he said. "It shall be prepared for you to perfection." With that he walked off, head held high and pace perfectly measured out. The walk to the kitchen was mostly uneventful, and plagued by Isaac's thoughts basically running in circles. It wasn't Alicia, and yet it had to be Alicia, but how could it even be Alicia? Whatever. The pastry smelled delicious. Isaac could always count on the chefs hear to whip up something amazing to make him forget his worries for a second. Now he'd just have to make it to Alicia's table and serve it to her specifications. Often that included options like sugar or whipped cream, syrup and chocolate sauce for drawing designs-.

Suddenly, Isaac had an idea.

He brought over his plate, making sure to carefully balance it. If there was one advantage about annoyingly tight pants, it was that the constrained movement made it far less likely that he would spill anything. The pastry itself sat in the center, still nice and warm, with small bottles of the various flavorings forming an orderly ring around the plate. It was a little tricky to carry still, but his stance was as firm as his resolve right now. Nothing was going to break his stride until he made it back to the table. Upon reaching Maybe Alicia he placed the plate before her with a flourish, clasping his hands and tilting his head slightly. "Does everything look to your liking, princess? And how would you like me to flavor it for you?"

Maid cafes were famed for the elaborate decorations they placed on their desserts. Whether Alicia preferred the nutty tastes of syrup or the sweet tastes of chocolate, he knew there was no way she'd pass up a chance to observe that craftsmanship. And if it wasn't Alicia, well, they obviously would have come for the maid cafe experience anyway. If as predicted she gave Isaac the go-ahead to bring out the syrup or chocolate, he would start drizzling quite a familiar pattern onto her pastry of choice.

A dragon.

The hair falling into place was one thing. After all, Isaac was already 99% convinced this was Alicia. It was the hair flashing a metallic grey that really sold what was going on here. Slowly, Isaac's confusion gave way to a strange mix of relief and irritation. On one hand, it was good knowing that Alicia hadn't been kidnapped, cursed, possessed, or de-aged. On the other hand, was she seriously still going around in Digimon form? He thought Elliot was getting on his case for using Devidramon too much, but at least he wasn't using his form in the middle of the freaking real world! At this point, he was starting to become worried Alicia would stick this way.

This raised so many further questions, too. Like why Alicia even wanted to come into a cafe primarily staffed by teens to get doted on. Couldn't she have picked one more meant for adult clientele? Although that probably also meant things came off a bit more lewdly. If there was one good thing about working in a place with teens for teens, its that things never really got too suggestive. Made Isaac feel way less worried about working at the place, to be perfectly honest.

Okay, Kisara put her up to it. That made a lot more sense. Although how Kisara knew he was working her today, Isaac had no idea.

He would have loved to directly address Alicia on this matter, but there were still the watchful eyes and ears of other employees and customers. He had to keep real life and the job separate, or other customers would start asking why they didn't get the same special treatment and rights to information. IF he was going to talk to Alicia he'd have to do it in a sufficiently subtle fashion. "Ah, has she? Well, regardless, I'll make sure your stay here is truly one to remember!" he chirped, as if talking about an awkward bet between two friends rather than a magical spirit enjoying her fair share of hijinks.

"Now, you said you were having a long day, yes? I would be more than happy to be an ear for your troubles, if you'd like," he offered, looking around the room as if hinting that further communication would have to be a bit more private. Fortunately, suspicious-yet-consensual whispering happened all of the time around here! If Alicia wanted to talk about what the hell was going through her head, now was the optimal time.

So after all of this time and buildup, it turned out the reason Alicia had for popping in and messing with him boiled down to "because I could." Okay, sure, it had a healthy side dose of Kisara complaining at her about it, but it wasn't like Alicia hadn't ignored her requests before. It seemed pretty clear that the two of them were both in on the plan from moment one, even if Alicia needed a little bit of convincing first. Frankly, Isaac felt like he would've been way more annoyed by this if he wasn't so relieved that Alicia was okay. As is, he was just kind of mildly peeved.

Still, she wasn't a half bad actor. She made Isaac confused enough to pause, if only because a very Alicia-like person was doing actions that were very much not Alicia-like in character. And she did a surprisingly good job at adding a more youthful, soft quality to her voice. He nodded and smiled as she brought up that little fact, mostly keeping quiet to give the impression that he was listening to a client's concerns. Besides, the jury was still out on how he was going to respond to that apology, because frankly Isaac wasn't even sure how he wanted to go about that.

Finally, he came to a decision. "It's fine," he whispered back. "But please, promise me one thing. Mai doesn't hear a word of this. Long story short, I'm working my butt off to get her Christmas presents, and I do not want that cat out of the bag yet." He hoped Alicia would be okay with keeping mum. Really, it was the least he could do when she messed around with him since getting here!

He then moved back away from Alicia, snapping back into character. "Why, yes, I'm sure you're a marvelous actress!" he said, tying what he said back into their last "conversational point." "It would be my pleasure to see some of your performances sometime, princess.

Is there anything else you would like me to do for you, by the way? A drink? Or some games, perhaps?"

Isaac nodded as Alicia made her promise, smiling. Her secret would be safe with him, just as his would be with her. Now without the pressure of a thousand misdirections hanging over either of their heads, they could start really having some fun with today. Predictably enough, as Isaac broke away from the whisper, Alicia had slipped right back into her character as well. What started as a prank was now a group production, and Isaac had the feeling that this was going to be a nice break in between dealing with legit customers.

"Ah, interested in games, Princess?" Isaac asked, his eyes lightning up a bit. "We have plenty of video and board games here that I am sure would catch your fancy. If you have any favorites, it would be my pleasure to check the back room to see if we have them in store," he explained. "But before I get too ahead of myself, what would a pastry be without a drink? While you think about games, how about we play another to settle that matter? Its a simple game, you see, but if you beat me you get the grand prize of one free coffee." That was one pulled out of Asher's handbook, and Isaac figured that with the topic of games breached now was a great time to bring it up.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out three cards in grandiose fashion. One was a club, one was a heart, and one was a diamond. He showed them to Alicia as he explained the game. "All you'd need to do is pick a card, and see if I can guess which one you've chosen. If I am wrong, then we shall celebrate your triumph with a free coffee for you! What do you say? Would you be interested in giving it a try?" he asked.

If she indicated in the affirmative he would give the cards a shuffle. It wasn't too easy to make shuffling look glamorous when working with a grand total of three cards, but he still did his best at keeping it fast paced enough to look interesting. He then fanned the cards out so that she could select one of her choice, jokingly covering his eyes with his other hand to assure her that he wasn't peaking.