The Perk, Monday Evening

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Most nights Allie was content to roam the island on her own. Occasionally though, she felt like company. Even if it was just the barista at the Perk.

Tonight the barista had made Allie something that smelled strongly of cinnamon and hazelnut. It was cooling on the table while she poked about on her phone, checking through the list of free classes available for auditing. It wasn't quite the same as enrolling herself, but it was a start.

Comments

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Tony had a crippling caffeine dependency problem and way too much free time now that he was without classes or the job he had planned after graduation. So, there he was at the Perk, phone in hand as he wrote an email to the head of admissions at MIT.

He placed his order, not looking up until he had compiled his thoughts in a vaguely comprehensible manner. "Hey."

New person. Who was possibly not new. God, he needed to get out of the lab.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie looked up from where she'd been trying to figure out exactly who Homer was and why he was important enough to feature prominently in a class.

"Hey yourself," Allie replied. "Isn't it getting a little late for caffeine for most people?"

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"It is?" Yes, Tony. It is. "Wow, I did not notice it was that late."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"It depends on how you look at it. It's early for me, but I'm a...what's the saying? A night owl," she explained. "I won't sleep till the sun rises."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"I usually sleep when I pass out on the keyboard," Tony admitted. "What day is it?"

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Last I checked, it was Monday," Allie told him. "I don't have a computer, well besides my phone, but I've occasionally passed out with that, or sometimes a book in my hand."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Yikes. I totally missed Sunday." Great job there, Tony.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie raised an eyebrow curiously. "You slept through it? Or you had something going on that completely held your attention for twenty-four hours?"

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Work and last minute college applications." Which also involved taking down the Hammer Multinational server several times.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"So you're one of the graduates then?" she asked. Allie was only a little jealous. "Congratulations."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Thanks," Tony replied with a distracted smile. "It's just high school, though."

Said the genius.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Genius could only take you so far if there was no one there to teach you how to read.

"Maybe for you, but where I'm from we don't have opportunities for anything like it," Allie said seriously. "Most people don't even know how to read."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"...Oh. Um." HE'D OFFER TO HELP, BUT HE IS NO LONGER A BILLIONAIRE. SORRY, ALLIE.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

She wasn't going to hold it against him. Besides, even the Stark fortune couldn't rebuild an entire world.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be so depressing."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

Pff, like that would stop him.

"No, it's just... I probably need way more coffee for this kind of conversation. And maybe more than four hours sleep."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Forget coffee, a stiff drink is probably the better choice." It would let her vicariously drown her sorrows. "But that's a conversation for another time. After you've slept. For now, well, do you have a name?"

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Tony," he said, attempting to shake off the funk as he offered a hand. "Tony Stark."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Allison Sekemoto," Allie replied as she shook his hand with her own, slightly cooler one. "But most people around here just call me Allie. Nice to meet you."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"You new in town or am I really just that bad at getting out?"

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I've been around since October, so you might need to get out more," she laughed. "Although I do keep weird hours, so it does make it hard to cross paths with people on a normal schedule."

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Which I do don't have," Tony assured her. "I'm luck to remember not to drink coffee that's been sitting for days."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie's own coffee slowly cooling as it sat on the table untouched. "Oh yuck. Isn't it bitter and nasty at that point?"

Impressive Tony, you've got the vampire shuddering at the thought of cold, old coffee.

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"I've eaten coffee grounds." HIS ADDICTION WAS SAD.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Yup, definitely shuddering there. "That desperate for a buzz? I mean I've heard of chocolate covered espresso beans. But that grounds?"

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"In my defense, the world was ending then." Again.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Okay, good enough reason." Apparently Allie had been on the island long enough that she didn't even question if he was exaggerating or not. "Did it work?"

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Well. I did stop existing for a while."

So, no.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Huh, and she thought being cut off from her own dimension was a problem. "That could be a difficult. But since you're sitting here, I guess you got it all worked out?"

[I must sleep. Great SP OK?]

[hoorayimrich.livejournal.com]

"Thankfully, yeah. I would have--well, not felt anything because I didn't exist. But it would have sucked still."

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Especially if you had friends that were worried about you." It was something that happened in the Fringe. People disappearing at random, victims of a vampire on the hunt.

[gdiumbrella.livejournal.com]

Alice was out of her work, and instead of heading right back to her room to get drunk go to bed early she decided to make a detour.

"Hey, Allie. What are you having?" Alice asked, because her nose was acting up.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I'm not exactly sure," Allie admitted. "He was babbling something about cinnamon and hazelnut half-caf something or other. I just liked the smell of it."

"How have you been?"

[gdiumbrella.livejournal.com]

"It looks...interesting." To say the least.

Alice shrugged like a sulky teenager. Really. "Fine, I guess. You?"

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"Killing time mostly," she replied, before holding up her phone. "But I'm debating a few online courses just for something to do."

[gdiumbrella.livejournal.com]

"That alone would make you far more proactive than me, so I'd say go for it."

Alice then tried to imagine herself going to classes...and cringed.

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

There was a reason Allie was starting out with online classes.

"I figure I might as well take advantage while I can. There's nothing like it at home."

[walking out to karate class. Back around 7:45]

[gdiumbrella.livejournal.com]

"It's a good move, knowing more things can only help you down the road."

And you could sound like a smart person if you wanted to!

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure how much knowing who Homer is will help. But it can't hurt." A more practical class would be something like World Rebuilding 101 or Dystopian Survival 202. Sadly Allie couldn't find them in the course catalog.