The Perk, Sunday morning

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

The coffee and the apple pie looked exactly the same, as did the staff. River sank down on a chair by a table next to the window, leaning her head on her elbows as she stirred the coffee. She did miss the food at Fandom. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. She missed everything at Fandom. She missed friends, youth, hope, dreams, emotions - she missed having a life besides fighting.

She took a bite of the apple pie. It tasted the same too.

[open]

Comments

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

After leaving Roy's, Kerrigan made her way down to the Perk.

The staff scurried for her coffee as usual.

It was nice to know things were back to normal (and she wasn't going to think about how quickly this place had started to classify as 'normal'). She sat down with a cup of coffee, paying little attention to anyone else.

Mmm, caffeine.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River looked up, but she didn't need to see who it was. Still, it was a surprise, and it showed on her face. She hadn't expected her to be here, or even alive. She also hadn't expected her not to age a day.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Something weird was going on.

Kerrigan's attention snapped away from her coffee as if she'd been stung.

Wait. Calm down. She cocked her head. River.

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"River!" Dawn greeted her friend as she tried to decide what kind of coffee to order. "You look great!"

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

"Dawn!" River looked up, her lips turning into a crooked smile. "You look better."

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"Better than what?" She asked, deciding on a mocha.

[robinthefrog.livejournal.com]

"Hey which one are you?" Robin asked with a friendly wave. Hey how did he knew what people looked like now? People he hadn't seen for 20 years.

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

It was odd how much everything seemed unchanged, really.

Teddy half expected to have an invasion or something of the like right about now. But there was one thing he was very pleased was the same.

The coffee.

"Oh, you have no idea how hard it is to get a decent cup of this in court."

[southernbender.livejournal.com]

Katara shook her head, looking amused as she cradled her cup of hot chocolate. "Can't Emperors-" she mimicked his tone from earlier, "-import their own?"

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

He inhaled the aroma of the coffee, eyes closed and looking blissful. "Frivolous," He replied simply. "They have something similar, but the smell is never right."

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

"You have no idea how hard it is to get a decent cup of anything on a space ship," River replied. "Or food for the matter." It didn't help if you were wanted by the authorities either.

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy nodded knowingly. "It never keeps long enough," He agreed with a small friendly grin.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

Cassandra still hadn't managed to run into anyone her own age yet. So she wasn't really surprised to find River was twenty years older when she saw her. She was surprised by how... different River seemed. Not just older, but something more.

She frowned slightly, then offered a polite nod of greeting.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River gave a nod back. Cassandra looked quite the same, she noted, just like Kerrigan. Fandom could indeed be odd. She gestured for her to take a seat.

[iseewhatyoumean.livejournal.com]

Cassandra hesitated for just a moment, but this was River. So she nodded and managed an almost-grin as she slid smoothly into the seat. Her eyes scanned River up and down as if to say 'you've changed'.

[likethegun]

The past twenty years had done nothing to destroy Sam's love of coffee. So he was pleased to see the Perk still standing, right where he remembered it.

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Deep in memories of Buffy after speaking with River, Dawn wasn't watching where she was going and was about to bump right into him on her way out of the Perk.

[likethegun]

Sam managed to avoid the collision by grabbing the woman by the shoulder to stop her. "Whoa, hey," he said, and then broke into a grin when he got a good look at her. "Dawn?"

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River looked up, trying to remember his name, and ended up finding it in his mind. Sam. Dawn's boyfriend.

[likethegun]

Sam felt the vague sensation of someone poking around in his head, and smirked when he looked and saw River. "Hey," he said, with a friendly tone.

[robinthefrog.livejournal.com]

Over the years Robin had developed a liking for frozen mochas. Particularly chocolate covered banana flavored.

He blamed Sheetz and all those long road trips.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

There was that little frog, what was he called again? His eyes had frightened her, and it amused River to think of that now.

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

A Squishy was good for nostalgia, but not for actually dealing with Fandom, so Evelyn headed into town for some coffee.

And it was right there, just as she remembered. "One venti espresso, please," she asked the boy behind the counter.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

She sensed Evie before hearing her voice. River looked up. "I've missed the coffee of Fandom," she announced.

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack popped in for some coffee during the morning. Ah, Fandom. Hard to believe, after all these years.