The Perk, Saturday Morning

[justonecondition]

So it turned out that there was a difference between spending all of one's time bustling from place to place doing medical work in a developing village somewhere, and spending all of one's time being a hermit in a hotel room in Maryland, and the difference was in coffee accessibility. Well, there were many differences, and it was kind of awful to suggest that there was only one, but in this case, the most relevant difference pertained to coffee accessibility. Because there was a coffee shop here, and because Bruce could actually justify going to it, he could not in good conscience hole himself up in his hotel room indefinitely. Because coffee.

So, a full week after arriving in Fandom, Bruce made it to the coffee shop. Then he ordered a coffee, sat down facing the window, and tapped his foot as he drank his coffee and thought about making his way back to the hotel as soon as he was done.

Having this much relaxation time was weird, but voluntarily spending it in public was even weirder.

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

The coffee was also better here than at the dorms. This was Natalie's reason for coming by instead of hermiting. Part of it, anyway. She was feeling restless and walking around helped with that, too.

While she was purchasing her coffee, she exchanged a few words with the barista about how she was not Kate. Like establishing you weren't someone else was a perfectly normal thing to do.

(One of the baristas still had a grudge. It was easier to just go with it.)

[justonecondition]

In between sips of coffee, Bruce offered Natalie a small wave. Right, this was why coming to coffee shops wasn't usually a huge priority for him. Because people.

"Good morning."

He was curious about the Kate thing and it showed on his face just a bit. But he didn't want to bother her by asking or commit to a conversation, so he settled for being curious.

[whenshewasnice]

At least Natalie wasn't going to get aggressive with small talk or anything. She gave him a little nod, picking up her cup of coffee.

"Good morning, professor." She'd seen him at the picnic, talking to Clint and other teachers. It didn't seem like much of a stretch to assume he was one. As for the curiosity she thought she picked up... "The Kate thing's a doppelgänger issue."

[justonecondition]

"Oh." Okay, adding that to the list of things that happened here. "I hadn't heard of that happening. That sounds... inconvenient."

Also, her voice sounded familiar, but given that he'd received voicemail messages from basically everyone and their mother yesterday, that was probably only to be expected.

[whenshewasnice]

"You get used to it." Even if she gave the barista a mild look which suggested that after two years it would probably have been best to just give it up already. "Along with other Fandom quirks."

Like the phone thing.

[justonecondition]

"Yeah, still acclimatizing to some of those," Bruce replied, idly scratching the back of his neck. "Yesterday was interesting."

[whenshewasnice]

"The phone thing?"

Yeah. That one.

Her tone was milder than her feelings. "That was unfortunate."

[justonecondition]

"Maybe a little disorienting," Bruce agreed. Which was an understatement, given the nature of some of the calls he'd gotten. "That ever happen before?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Once before in the time I've been here, I think," Natalie replied. "If it was a more regular occurrence, we probably wouldn't trust the phones with anything private."

[justonecondition]

"Well." Bruce wouldn't really trust them for very private matters anyway, but then he was a pretty paranoid guy. "After some of the calls I got yesterday that were clearly meant for someone else, I wouldn't blame people for being more cautious. After receiving one or two voicemails that sound a little strange, you'd think people would think to communicate another way."

[whenshewasnice]

"Before doing things like pleading to strangers about how they need help for something they've never heard of?" Natalie asked, dryly. Not that she'd done any such thing. She took a sip of coffee. "Sometimes we're not so bright."

[justonecondition]

Okay, maybe that had sounded harsh. "Admittedly I tried returning a few calls too," Bruce admitted. "It was just a confusing day. But it seems to be done with now, if the phone silence is any indication. Hopefully people will be able to keep this in mind the next time it happens and avoid embarrassing themselves."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie hadn't taken it as harsh. This was pretty much just how she talked, at least to strangers. In alternating tones of mild and dry. "Well, it always takes a while to realize what's going on, and by then it might be too late."

It certainly had been for her.

"But of course recognizing people by voice alone isn't everyone's strong suit, so that helps with possible embarrassment too."

[justonecondition]

"That's fair," Bruce conceded. "Some people might luck out. I guess I should be lucky that I'm new. And... less prone to embarrassment than some other people might be."

[whenshewasnice]

"How so?" Natalie wondered, mildly, as you do. And with a sip of coffee. "Or is it just that you're new?"

[bitten_notshy]

Jack, mocha in hand, spotted the new teacher he'd spoken to at the picnic and went over to say hello.

"Bruce, wasn't it?" he asked. "Hi. How are you settling in so far?"

[justonecondition]

"And I don't usually spill big secrets over the phone anyway," Bruce said, mildly as you please. "So the pool of things I could say to get me there is much smaller, which is fortunate."

He still said plenty of awkward things, though, if not actively embarrassing. Was doing so right now, in fact.

He paused as that bit of narrative occurred to him, then held out a hand. "Uh. I'm Dr. Banner, by the way."

[justonecondition]

"It's, uh, it's an experience," Bruce settled on, giving a bit of a wry smile at that. "Yesterday was interesting. How are you?"

[so_hawkward]

Clint was glad to have a quiet Saturday to relax and not do a ton of different things. One thing on the list was getting some coffee, and since Kitty still wasn't back to normal, he came into the Perk with a squirming lion cub in his arms. Hopefully, his charming smile would help the barista not make a fuss about that.

[whenshewasnice]

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Banner," Natalie replied as she reached out to shake his hand, because she could be polite when she wanted to. Peter didn't trust her manners enough to send her to meet people for just no reason, after all. "Natalie Adams. Fandom High graduate, and TA."

[justonecondition]

...What. Bruce paused with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth.

"Is that a lion, Agent Barton?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Nothing to complain about at the moment," Jack said. "Yesterday -- it took me a while to figure out the phones were misbehaving. It's disorienting, isn't it?"

Of course, he'd kept returning calls even after he was almost sure they weren't for him, purely to amuse himself.

[justonecondition]

Especially since Natalie's manners were probably better than Peter's, in most circumstances.

"Nice to meet you too," he said, because Bruce could be polite... sometimes. When he didn't feel threatened. Fortunately, that was now. "What are you TAing for?"

[justonecondition]

"Just a bit," Bruce agreed. "I guess now I know not to rely on the cell network to communicate anything important while I'm here."

He didn't sound overly upset about that, just wry and mild. Even without that demonstration, Bruce probably wouldn't have used the phones for anything important anyway.

[whenshewasnice]

You just wait until she stops blinking at you, Bruce. "Archery 101," she said. "I believe I saw you talking to Clint at the picnic? It's his class."

Yes, Clint. Not Professor Barton, or Mr. Barton, or anything. But that should probably not be surprising.