JGoB, Monday Morning

[chosehumanity]

There was only so much time any man could spend in a house with Arnold Rimmer, and Mitchell had realised that you weren't likely to do a lot of joining humanity when you were skulking around a place at the back of the island all the time.

So in an attempt to acquaint himself with his new neighbours, he got up fresh and early to make a run for the bakery. (Okay, the baked goods themselves might have also had something to do with it) He was in a well enough mood upon arrival, ordering a selection of a few things before taking a seat.

He popped a cookie into his mouth and got to people-watching.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

People watching a JGoB on this particular day would reveal a rather large man entering the bakery. Max had discovered a fondness for the place since he had met Ghanima on Saturday.

He looked around, on the off chance that he might meet another attractive female on this trip too. Then he shrugged and went to peruse the many baked options.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell glanced up from one of the pastries he had been peeling bits off to eat. Big man. A body builder of some kind? Or a wrestler? He should be making conversation, that had been the point, like people did.

"Hey," he called, leaning back on his chair, the picture of relaxed, "Watch for the pink, glazed ones; I'm not too sure about their safety."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max glanced over at the speaker and flashed a grin. "I'm not sure I'd trust a pink-frosted pastry under normal circumstances, but the warning is appreciated." He ended up selecting a large cinnamon bun with raisins before moving over to Mitchell's table.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked. "I'm Max."

[chosehumanity]

"Of course. I don't own the table," Mitchell said, by ways of an answer, and grinned back. "I'm Mitchell. One of the new staff."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"I'm new in town myself," Max chuckled as he slid into the seat. "I have to admit that I'm rather liking the place."

[chosehumanity]

"It's a nice kind of strange," Mitchell agreed, pulling another chunk off the-- what was it? The remains of a doughnut-- he was holding. "If somewhat unexpected." Glitter rain, anyone?

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max laughed. "Unexpected is an understatement, but it beats a legion camp."

[chosehumanity]

"A legion camp?"

As in a Roman legion? For the umpteenth time, Mitchell was confronted with the fact that unorthodox didn't even cover it. He chewed down on the bit of doughnut as he gave Max a curious expression.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Sort of like a Roman legion!

"Military." Max suggested. Then he grinned. "Career military."

[chosehumanity]

That explained the build and the general demeanour; Mitchell knew the type. In many ways, he was the type. "Really?" he asked, "Is there a war going on where you're from, or is this a peace time visit?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"There's always a war going on somewhere in Alera," Max chuckled. It wasn't an amused sound, though. It was more exasperated and wry. "At least it's kept me in a job."

Which was a lousy trade-off.

[chosehumanity]

"Oh, yeah," Mitchell said, just as wry, "There's always that."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"What about you? How'd you end up here?" Not that Max had actually explained how he had, but...

[i-lovedfalling.livejournal.com]

Haley had been avoiding the bakery up to this point. She had seen it before, but she had always managed to talk herself out of going in. As always, her concern was that she had to stay in top shape, and top shape did not include chocolate pastries and cookies.

Walking through the door, she looked a bit conflicted. She stood still, mumbling to herself the reasons why she shouldn't take another step towards the counter. It really wasn't so serious and she probably looked a bit crazy, but she felt like she should at least try and fight the temptation once more.

[chosehumanity]

"The cookies aren't going to bite," Mitchell called, good-naturedly. "It's all right to indulge once in a while."

[ so, so crashing. SP? ]

[i-lovedfalling.livejournal.com]

Haley quickly looked to the man as he spoke up and cracked just a little bit of a smile. "You sure?" She asked, almost somewhat desperately. "I mean, they may not bite, but they will definitely cancel out my morning run if not my whole day's workout."

(Yeah, no problem. Sweet dreams!)

[chosehumanity]

"Oh, yeah," Mitchell said, in good humor, "You can't upset that equation. What if the roof comes down?"

[i-lovedfalling.livejournal.com]

Her smile got a bit wider and with another quick second of thought, she gave in. "Alright, you obviously have no idea how much rides on the size of my ass..." Haley said teasingly as she stepped forward regardless. "..but I'll take your advice on indulging and give you credit for getting me to stop mumbling to myself."

[chosehumanity]

"I'll happily take the credit," Mitchell replied, leaning back in his seat with his own coffee. He glanced at her. "You'll be fine." He stirred in it with his plastic spoon. "I'm Mitchell," he offered.

[i-lovedfalling.livejournal.com]

"Haley." She said as she quickly put in her order and turned back to face him as she waited. "Nice to meet you." If she had a optimistic man for every time she was indecisive; life would be much easier.

[chosehumanity]

"Nice to meet you too," he returned, "Haley." He took a sip of his coffee. "Are you new here as well?"

[i-lovedfalling.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. I've been here a couple weeks, but I think I'm still considered fresh meat. After all, I'm still just getting used to the gremlins thing." Haley said before she paid, grabbed her chocolate chip muffin and milk carton, and came over to his table.

"Mind if I sit here?" It would be weird for her to sit somewhere else and attempt to have a conversation, but she still wanted to ask.

[chosehumanity]

There was a split second when Mitchell could hear her heartbeat pounding in his ears. He looked up at her, deciding to speak through the noise in his mind. "You don't see me stopping you," he said.

The pounding slipped away again. He brought his coffee up to his face to keep it that way.

[i-lovedfalling.livejournal.com]

"Still figured I should do the polite thing and ask." She said as she sat and took a bite of her muffin, finishing before speaking up again. "I'm not really good at doing that on a large scale, but I can handle it here." She shrugged.

"The coffee decent here?"

[chosehumanity]

"The coffee's good," Mitchell nodded, setting it down. His hands were shaking a little again, so he kept them cupped around the beverage in question. "So... you said something about gremlins?"