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The Perk, Friday Evening

Another week, another excursion back to Jono's own reality, to do more training with the New Warriors. The moment he returned to the island, he decided that he was going to do something that didn't constitute work. And so returning home to the Boards right away? Right out.

He'd found himself a table by the window this evening, and was nursing a cup of coffee as he looked idly out at the people passing by on the street. Fandom's idea of 'bustle' was far less hustle than New York, but that was refreshing, really. After a few days of alternating between Jubilee's astoundingly hard-ass training regimen and making faces at posters glorifying the Initative while trying to stay out of notice in plain sight, Jono could really handle a bit of hustle-free bustle.

And maybe some cream in his coffee. Whoever brewed this batch put enough grounds in to make it strong enough to sit up and bark.

[Open Perk! Hi!]

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After moving into her new place, April was on a mission.

It was a simple mission, really; that much was obvious from how efficiently she articulated it to the Perk barista.

"Coffee."

See?

Mission thus accomplished, she flopped down in a seat not far from Jono's and offered him a nod.

Taciturn girl, April.

There were definitely worse missions to be on, weren't there? Even if coffee on a Friday night meant no sleep in the near future... sleep was for the weak, in any case.

Jonothon offered the girl a return nod, lifting his cup and pulling down the collar of his coat a moment later so that he could have a mouthful of what had to be the most bitter coffee he'd drank in recent memory.

"Barista must be new," he offered, as a sort of wry explanation for the face he made a moment after taking that mouthful. "It's usually better than this."

For her part, Hayley wasn't expecting to run into Jono. She figured it was an inevitability around here, but... well, it was still awkward. But she was bound and determined to make sure it was like things were just fine, so after she'd gotten her own coffee she'd made her way over to greet him.

"So, uhhh, hi," she said, giving him her best 'completely casual' smile.

Hayley was being met with a raised eyebrow. That was one hell of a casual smile, right there, when it came coupled with such a horribly awkward sort of greeting.

"Hayley," he replied, not so much casual as carefully neutral. "In the mood for a bit of Friday evening caffeine, are you?"

April paused before taking a sip, then steeled herself and went for it.

Then she set the cup down quite calmly, and turned to fix the barista with a terrifying death-glare.

"He needs to learn," April informed Jono in a monotone. Not so much to ward off any potential judgment as to simply explain the death glare. It was pretty scary, after all. Merited explanation.

"Apparently so," Jono agreed, smirking just faintly.

He didn't know who in the world she was, but Jono had already decided that he really rather liked her attitude.

"Suppose he'll bear that little lesson in mind the next time he decides to triple the amount of coffee he puts into the brew?"

"Who's not up for a bit of evening caffeine every once in a while?" Hayley said. "It's the spice of life. At least, well, the legal spice of life. There's a whole lot of other things that could spice up your life that ain't as wholesome."

Casual smile, casual smile, casual smile.

"He'd better," April said, still keeping an eye on the barista. "I can find out where he lives."

That part, she said just loudly enough for the guy to hear. Because April was charming.

"Mm, yes. I've had experience with a few such things over the years, believe it or not."

Jono? Was not exactly what anyone would call a good influence. And he never had been.

Hayley snorted a little laugh into her coffee cup. "Yeah, that's not exactly somethin' I find hard to believe," she said. "Can... can I sit down with you?"

She could've just said hi and moved on, but she wanted to stay.

"Heaven forbid," Jono mused with a chuckle ad a shake of his head. "You must be new to the island hm? The locals aren't nearly paranoid enough yet for anything otherwise."

With a look like that, who wouldn't be?

"As of Wednesday, yeah," April confirmed. Which was more than enough time for her to have acclimatized to the weirdness enough to not be put off by Jono's, er, pigmentation. April was a fast learner, you see. She took these things in stride. In a tone that conveyed that she was giving her name and not listing a random month of the year, she introduced herself, "April."

"I won't stop you," he replied after a moment's pause, gesturing idly to the seat across the table from him. "It's been a long week and I can't guarantee the quality of conversation, but I'm not exactly waiting for anybody else to stroll up and fill that chair."

Still neutral. So, so neutral.

"Jonothon. Or Jono, if you prefer. I'll answer to either, really."

Or Chamber. Or Decibel. He was really collecting the alternative titles these days, it seemed.

"So, what brings you to the island, April?"

April shrugged. "Something about a summer job," she said. "I need one. Or whatever."

And Pawnee was a boring, boring place.

After a pause that indicated that she wasn't accustomed to two-sided conversations, she asked, "You?"

Well, Fandom wasn't that much more exciting. Except for when it was. And when it was, was it ever.

"Something like that. Not so much a summer job as a ticket out of London when I needed one the most. But it keeps me busy. Out of trouble, or... something."

No. No it didn't. Not by a long shot.

"Well, I guess I'll have to fill it for you," Haley said with a little bit of a shrug. She then sat down, resting her arms on the table for a moment.

"Not that I fill much of anything, these days. Except orders over at Luke's."

April twirled one finger in the air very, very sarcastically.

"Whoo."

"Ah, Luke's. And how is that treating you, these days?"

He idly ran the tip of one finger along the rim of his coffee cup, though he didn't take his eyes from the woman sitting in front of him. The weekend when the daughter they'd never have arrived had done a fair bit to ease his worries about her, but that didn't mean he trusted her. Not enough to look away.

If Hayley knew what he was thinking, she'd have been hurt. Not surprised, but hurt.

"It's work," she said. "The boss is nice, the customers are nice, but it's... well, it's a living." She sighed and stared down into her coffee. "Quiet and steady."

"Whoo," Jono agreed, smirking faintly. "It's not all terrible. A job in the theatre, and Portalocity can get me to New York whenever I feel the need to see bright city lights."

So, essentially, the island wasn't all that bad because... he could... leave.

"The bars aren't too terrible, either."

"Same old tedium, day by day?" Yeah, Jono knew that story. "At least the island is good enough to mix things up every now and again. Keeps things from getting too dull?"

Said the one with a pretty hefty chunk of technology under his coat at the moment, there to help facilitate those insane excursions he tended to make to his own reality in order to punch things. Punch them with his voice.

"Got a job at one of them," April said after a moment. Possibly fishing for someone to come by bearing tips, yes. "Caritas. Saturdays. I get to tape up the zombies."

That was indeed a very small part of her job description and Kitty should never have mentioned it to her.

"Yeah, I guess not all of us have ancient evil lurking in our veins to keep things interesting, huh?" Hayley said, trying to make a joke. She smiled, hoping he'd laugh.

Fair enough. That was generally the bit that tripped people up the most when they were new to the island.

"I'm always so impressed that the guitarist can play so well, given the way his fingers are rotting off," Jono offered. "Saturdays, you said? I might have to start heading that way after my shifts in the office at the Boards, then. See what interesting drink specials you can come up with."

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The Perk, Friday Evening

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