The Hellhound's Demon

Fear and the Phantoms

"I swear to the Masters, if you eat one more - Kali!" Theo scolded, slapping her hand away from the mushrooms. "I'm using those."

Kali rolled her eyes as she bit into the raw mushroom piece. "You're making a pizza," she said, "not decorating a Picasso painting."

"Appearance is everything," said Theo. "The customer isn't going to be happy with a pizza that looks like it was made in a half-assed way. I have a system, which means all ingredients go on in a certain order, in a certain way, and with exact precision."

Kali yawned and reached for another slice of mushroom. "It all goes down into the same organ, and I'm sure they're not going to pick it apart with 'exact precision'," she said. "They're just going to scoff it into mush and swallow. All your hard work down the drain, or oesophagus." She shrugged.

"You're insufferable," Theo groaned. He turned away and reached for the olives, adding a few to the pizza and then adding the load of mozzarella cheese on top.

Kali watched and waited until his back was turned, as he slid the pizza into the stone oven, and then grabbed a fresh mushroom, biting into it like an apple.

"You bite that thing any harder and it'll bite you back," said Rylie, chuckling.

"I'm hungry," said Kali. "I feel like I haven't eaten all day."

"Have you?" Rylie asked.

Kali looked thoughtful and then shook her head. "I had breakfast, does that count?" she asked.

"That was six hours ago," said Rylie. She turned and rummaged around in a small cubby hole, pulling out a square box. She passed it across the table and Kali opened it to find a large pepperoni pizza inside.

"Wasn't this supposed to go earlier?" Kali asked.

"Wrong order," said Rylie. "Either eat it, or it goes in the trash."

Kali shrugged and lifted a slice out of the box. "Where's Lily?" she asked, tearing off a chunk.

"Upstairs with Master Phant's granddaughter," said Theo. "She agreed to mentor her in dancing. I hope they're done soon; we need more hands."

Fran rushed in, looking rattled. "Table of eleven just walked in," she said. "I could use some help meeting, greeting, and ringing up."

"I'm on it," said Casey, disappearing out onto the floor.

Fran handed over seven more orders and Theo sighed, staring at them. He looked to Kali. "Do you know how to make a pizza?" he asked.

"You put ingredients on a circular piece of dough along with sauce and cheese," said Kali, rolling her eyes. "How hard can it be?"

"It's not that easy," said Theo, stressfully. "Every ingredient has to be put in on a very specific order. If someone asks for Pepperoni and Mushroom, you can't put Mushrooms first - besides, you'd probably eat the mushrooms."

Kali grinned. "You're a control freak, you know that?" she asked.

"I'm serious!"

"...and I'm going to get Lily," said Kali. She grabbed her pizza box and headed upstairs.

"You can't hide up there forever," Theo called.

"Yes, I can," Kali called back.

Rylie snorted.

"What?" Theo asked, shrugging.

"She really gets under your skin, doesn't she?"

Theo glanced upstairs. "No," he grumbled, going back to his station.