Players:
Summary: Giea winds up in Westchester after failing to take that left turn at Albuquerque.
Date: January 16, 2012
Log Title: Coffee, Tea, or Mutant
Rating: G
Westchester - Grind Stone
The Grind Stone is a quaint little coffee shop with tables surrounded by various shape chares and even a few couches with coffee tables. Baristas in yellow aprons are ready to take anyone's order from a latte to a hot chocolate to one of their many specialty drinks.
With classes over for the day Warlock needed sometime to chill a little so during today’s art class (just to point out nothing was broken this time) he arranged with Jill to head to the Salem Center that afternoon. Dressed in dark bluish jeans, a black long sleeved shirt (with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows), red/brown belt, red/brown sort of Jedi-like boots and steam-punk style goggles on his forehead, running late he stupidly forgot his coat and it is bloody freezing so suggested that they get a hot drink and he'll buy one in one of the clothes shops.
The cold doesn't seem to bother Jill as much as it probably ought to. Still, for sake of appearances if not pure fashion, she's got on a heavy grey sweater with a built-in hood, a red and black tartan wool skirt, and black leggings. Not to mention a full-body holograph of pink skin and blonde hair. As the pair push their way into the tiny coffee shop and try to find a table, she chews her bottom lip before raising a finger in Lock's direction. "Y'know, I've been meaning to ask since we left school, but… why the goggles?"
Finding a table just being vacated Lock leads the way quickly over to it before shrugging, "I just like them I guess, plus if I need to be serious I can take them off my head onto my eyes and do my serious face and people will be like 'wow, things just got serious'", he smiles as he reaches the table before someone else heading it's way, "I would show you what I mean, but you might not be able to handle the now serious situation".
Jill chortles, pulling out a chair and setting her purse on the floor next to it. "I would be blown away by how serious your business just got? Or maybe I'd be afraid you were gonna weld me to something?" She snags a menu, but it's mostly a formality. "Just messin' with ya. I used to live a few minutes away from San Francisco, so I know all about 'weird fashion'. Just never did much of it myself. You should see what goes on in Haight-Ashbury."
With the jingling of bells, Giea steps through the door of the Grind Stone, sniffing the air for a moment to make sure that this is the right kind of establishment. She proceeds, her cane tapping on the floor as she seems rather self satisfied about being at the present location. When she is greeted and told this is the Westchester location, though, she just says, "Westchester?" and seems a bit discouraged for a moment. She purses her lips and places her order for a chai latte, turning and leaning lightly against the counter and fiddling with her watch.
Warlock grins, "You never know, might be some serious welding that needs doing", he puts his schoolbag down on the floor as well, "Hey I’m not w…, ok the boots are a little odd and you could argue the goggles… ok fair point", he doesn't bother about a menu he's just a tea drinker anyway, "What sort of stuff did you see?", spotting the blind Giea making her way to the counter he whispers to Jill, "Should we give that woman our table?"
"Well, the Haight's kind of a place where the 60's never quite died. It's either really cool or really weird, depending on who you ask." The tapping of a cane catches Jill's attention for a moment, wondering if the sound is coming from one of her classmates. But no, Xavier's doesn't have a monopoly on the disabled. Or the differently-abled. A little frown purses the blonde girl's lips before she reaches down for her purse to set it firmly in the center of the table. "We should probably offer, at least. I'll hold the fort so it doesn't get stolen and then neither of us get it." There do seem to be a few vultures already circling.
Giea does not seem to be overhearing anything, her head lightly tilted as the barista speaks to her. "Please speak up," says the blind girl, "my hearing aids sometimes have problems in crowded areas." The barista indeed speaks up, informing her that her drink is ready and handing it to her. Giea leans forward slightly to sniff at it, before she begins the aimless wandering to find a table. "Busy day," she mumbles.
Warlock nods to Jill, "Good luck, this is the moment the DR has been training you for", he too has noticed those eyeing the table, getting up he heads over towards Giea, "Hi, errm do you want our table miss, bit of race for tables here right now", even then two tables away the switch between current table people and new table people is done fast enough he'd almost swear him and Jill aren't the only mutants here.
Jill puts on her own 'serious business' expression, letting people know with just a glance that she's not getting up to leave and they had best look elsewhere for a table. Game face, grr! She peruses the menu even though she already knows what she wants, just to drive the point home.
"Oh, that's very nice of you," says Giea, a bit surprised at Warlock approaching, and she leans towards him as if to hear him better. "I don't want to displace you and your friend, though. If you're not having too personal a conversation, perhaps I could sit at your table, so we could all be seated? I hate to burden you, though."
Warlock smiles, "Don't think it's too personal, all together works but we should hurry there, the table vultures are circling and I’m not sure how long Jill can hold them off", he turns and starts leading the way back to the table making sure there’s enough room for Giea to feel out the path with her stick, chuckling a little at Jill's serious face.
The blue girl in disguise lets out a breath when Lock comes back. Holding a serious business face is serious business. "Oh, you're joining us?" she asks, surprised but not dismayed. She scoots chairs around to angle them properly for three guests. It's a small, round table but for just coffee cups it should be enough. "Umm, I'm Jill. That's Lock. We go to school not far from here." She lifts a hand to wave at Giea then slowly lowers it, feeling a bit foolish.
"Oh, you go to school around here?" says Giea, smiling lightly as she sits down, "What school do you go to?" She places her cup on the table, feeling for where she's going to place it before plopping it down.
Warlock sits down then freezes a little when Giea asks what school they go to nearby, it was made very clear to him that it was a SECRET school, what to do in this situation?, lie, haven't got a good lie?, distraction! "Jill I’m gonna go order real quick, know what you want? and anybody wanna cookie or something?"
Jill is momentarily glad that Giea is blind so she doesn't see the brief, panicked exchange of looks with Lock. Then she feels bad that she thought that. "Oh, uhh, tall French vanilla, raspberry syrup, whole milk. And a chocolate biscotti, please." She raises an insistent eyebrow at him, like 'you're just gonna let *me* deal with this, huh?'. "Oh," she continues, not skipping a beat. Verbally, anyway. "Private boarding school just up the road a little ways. It's really interesting, there's kids from all over the country and even a few foreign exchange students. School for the 'gifted' but sometimes I wonder how they let me in." If she can't dazzle Giea with a brilliant lie, she can try to baffle her with too much detail.
"Oh. I think my boyfriend goes to a boarding school around here," notes Giea, considering that for a moment, "Which I guess I find kind of curious." She shrugs her shoulders and picks up her drink, "Well, in any case, I thank you for sharing your table with me. My name is Giea Parkin."
Warlock gives Jill a bit of a guilty smile in response to her 'you're just gonna let *me* deal with this, huh?' look before heading off to the counter. After a couple of minutes he returns with a tall French vanilla with raspberry syrup and whole milk, a chocolate biscotti and his cup of tea, putting Jill's order in front of her he sits back down, "Nice to meet you Giea".
Fingers working mechanically, Jill tears open three packets of sugar and dumps them into her coffee. "Jill Pervinca," the girl supplies automatically with no concern for secret identities. "And it's no big deal." She takes a hasty sip, eyes squeezing shut as she burns the roof of her mouth. "Well, this is a pretty upscale part of the state. There's lots of private schools. Do you live around here?"
"Er, no. I think I got turned around. I thought I got on transit in the right spots, but… well, sometimes I have issues with that," says Giea, shrugging lightly. "I will just send my parents a message and someone will come pick me up, I'm sure… It's nice to meet you Jill, er…" She doesn't orient towards Warlock but gestures towards him, "And I don't think I caught your name."
Warlock reaches for one sugar packet which he opens and pours in before opening one of those plastic milk pots and adding that, stirring the tea he kicks his bag under the table, "Oh, I’m Warlock but I pretty much always go by Lock for pretty obvious reasons", he takes a sip of his tea looking around the coffee house.
"Oh, I know somebody else who's just like that," the blonde girl opines. "It must be kinda difficult to travel by yourself, though, when you're-" Awkward pause. "When you're not familiar with all the stops," Jill finishes lamely. Another pause and she blinks a few times rapidly. "Wait, Lock is short for Warlock? Seriously?"
"Warlock? That's an interesting name," remarks Giea, nodding once, "I will call you Lock if you prefer that, though." She takes a sip from her latte and then says to Jill, "It can be difficult. I've had a problem with getting turned around since I was a little girl. My parents would always keep near to me."
Warlock sighs and nods, "Yep, Lock is short for Warlock, my dad thought the name was cool, I thought I’d mentioned it before", he smiles at Giea, "Calling me Lock would be very much appreciated".
"Oh, uh… huh." Just when you think you know somebody… Though still clearly surprised, Jill quiets down so as not to embarrass Lock any further. Her hands wrap around her coffee cup, absorbing the warmth into her icy cold fingers like a sponge. "So, umm, Giea. That's a nice name too. If you didn't mean to come here, where were you trying to go?"
"Upper East Side," says Giea, shrugging lightly, "That's where I live. Inside the city. There's a coffee shop like this one around where I live, I like to go there sometimes if I have someone to bring me. I thought I made it on my own. Oh, well. I'm sure I will try again at some point, and maybe next time I'll succeed. And thank you."
Warlock takes a sip of his tea, "Upper East Side is a nice area, I spent a few days there over the new year period", he's not a fan of the city as a whole though, the police force worries him, he frowns a little at his cup of tea, places like this rarely know how to make it right.
Jill drums her fingers against her coffee cup, frowning. "Okay, umm, wow. I'm not the biggest geography buff out there, but you're, like, thirty miles from where you meant to be. Maybe forty." She lifts her head, eyeing Giea askance. Could she and Nick be related? … Nah. "Not that Westchester isn't a nice place, 'cause it is." She dunks the biscotti in and out of her coffee, sufficiently tenderizing it from the consistency of tempered steel to something more manageable.
Giea seems to consider what Jill says and remarks, "Perhaps I accidentally fell asleep on the bus. Lost track of time…" She furrows her eyebrows slightly in thought for a moment before saying to Warlock, "It's a nice area of town, yes. My parents do pretty well, so I'm fortunate."
Warlock shivers a little his lack of coat still getting to him even indoors, "Jill I’m gonna run into one of the clothing stores and buy a jacket, I’ll have my phone on me", getting up he grabs his school bag, "Nice meeting you Giea", with a wave Lock is back out in the cold!
"Alright, I'll give you a call if I finish up or decide to head back." Jill nods after Lock and his shivery departure. She nudges his tea cup, finding it still largely full. "Man," she complains softly to herself and plunks her chin into one palm. "Wish I could afford to just buy a new jacket every time I forget mine." And so, now here she is sharing a table with an (almost) complete stranger. "I know you, uh, didn't exactly mean to come here, but, like, is there anywhere you'd like to go? I could show you around, if you're gonna be waiting for a ride anyway."
Giea tilts her head slightly and says, "I'm honestly not sure what's around here to be shown, but I'm willing to come along." The young woman smiles slightly and says, "Don't worry too much about not being able to afford the new jacket, though. It instills a value for the things you already have if you don't treat them as disposable…"
Jill's head dips and her shoulders squeeze inward with embarrassment. The holographic projector trips some internal sensor and brings a rosy blush to her cheeks. "I didn't, like, mean… that I was jealous… or…" And yet she was the one to bring it up. "Okay, maybe a little," adds the girl hastily. The confession seems slightly easier to a stranger, somehow. Jill toys with her coffee cup just to keep her hands busy. "And truth be told, there isn't a whole lot to show anyway. Nothing that you couldn't do anywhere else."
Giea smiles and takes a drink from her latte and then nods, "I suppose it's probably a lot harder to show me the sights, too. I think my boyfriend, Mason, has that problem…" She adds, "It's okay if you're a little jealous of someone. Quite normal, actually."
"Envy's actually supposed to be, like, good for the species. An evolutionary trait or something." Jill fidgets, then sags slightly in her chair. Oh what the hell. If Giea hasn't been offended yet, maybe Jill ought to be less concerned about it. "And, err, yeah. I guess it would be hard to show you the sights." The connection to a boy named Mason goes completely over her head. "It's just, y'know… don't take this the wrong way, but I'd feel bad just getting up and leaving you here. Especially if you don't really know where you are."
"Well, if you'd prefer to leave me, or if you have other things to get done, it's fine, I really don't mind being alone for a little while. I have books here," says Giea, lifting her bag lightly off the floor offering a pleasant smile. "But I do like having someone to talk to."
"Well," Jill starts to make an excuse then stops herself. She chews the inside of her cheek like a wad of bubblegum for a moment. "No," she finally admits and lets her troubled expression melt away into a crooked smile. "I don't have anywhere I need to be." Swapping her empty coffee cup for Lock's leftover tea, she begins adding far too much sugar to it. Businesslike, she steeples her fingers under her chin. "So. Tell me about this boyfriend of yours. Is he cute?"
