The Perk, Monday Morning

[smilestopscars]

If anyone had spotted black fox running about yesterday, chasing gremlins and generally looking like it was having the time of his life, yep, that had been Ezra.

He was back to being a guy today. And he felt he had more than earned the hot chocolate monstrosity in front of him on this fine morning. As well as his pre-class lounging at a table at the Perk just in general. Also he thought of it as making himself available. So really, it was like a public service.

... Mostly he was distracting the barista with idle flirty glances.

[ooc: Open post, for your Ezra-bothering and other Perk needs!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

After that weird invasion-- whatever the hell it was-- yesterday, Dante wasn't keeping Rebellion far from his grasp. Considering it was a part of his soul and hence always close in his grasp, that mostly just meant he'd been walking around with it on his back for most of the day.

And he had been walking. His vigilance was back up after it had finally gone down last week, and with the gremlins gone, he was walking it off. Eventually that meant venturing into the Perk to get some coffee, tossing a burnt-up cigarette stub down on the pavement on his way in.

[smilestopscars]

That was enough to get Ezra to stop flirting with the barista. Momentarily, anyway. Elbow against the table, chin resting on palm, he glanced over towards the door.

"Well, look who it is."

[rebelseekspizza]

Hey, a non-shitty surprise. That was novel.

Dante looked his way with a faint smirk. "Hey Ez," he said. "And... hey Ezra's giant... chocolate... thing. What the hell is that?"

[smilestopscars]

"Hot chocolate with whipped cream."

A beat.

"With extra whipped cream."

... Another beat.

"And chocolate chips."

[rebelseekspizza]

"That can't be healthy," Dante said, shaking his head. Then he grinned in the general direction of the barista. "Gimme one of those."

YOLO was pretty much his speed.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's, too. If the Coterie didn't kill him, overdosing on sugar might.

"Excellent choice, my friend!" Ezra commended him. "It'll rot your teeth but it'll make you happy, so, really, it's still a win."

[rebelseekspizza]

'We're gonna die anyway, so what the hell' was a totally healthy approach under their circumstances, honestly.

"Eh, my teeth can take it," he said, leaning up against the counter and shooting the barista a grin.

Picking up where Ezra left off? Sure.

[future_sandworm]

Leto looked up from his cup of coffee. That boy had a certain kind of attitude, he observed, smiling to himself. Fandom attracted a curious combination of people, as usual.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante knew when he was getting looked at, so he threw a shit-eating grin at the guy over his shoulder.

"...Holy shit."

Freaky eyes.

[future_sandworm]

Leto looked amused. "I take it you haven't met my sister. Or perhaps you are a visitor for the weekend too?"

He took a sip of coffee.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Just got here a week ago. Who's your sister?" Dante said. "And what the fuck is that?"

[future_sandworm]

Ah, rudeness or just a peculiar culture? Leto studied the boy more closely. "The Lady Ghanima Atreides i my sister and she's a teacher here. And I'm afraid you have to be a little more precise in your questions."

[rebelseekspizza]

A demon lord's mistress was going to refer to Dante as 'one of the feral ones' some day. That was probably as accurate a description as any.

"The eyes," Dante said. "Are you some kind of demon or something? You don't look like one."

His go-to was going to stop being 'demons'... sometime.

[future_sandworm]

Leto, pleased that he was still in Fandom, stopped by for a coffee. The weekend had been quite entertaining, and he had to admit he wasn't looking forward to going home, other than to see Alice and Hania.

He ordered a coffee and looked around for a table.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra glanced away from his eyeing of the barista, and, hey, pretty stranger.

Ezra gave him a nod over his overly chocolate-y drink.

[future_sandworm]

Being in a great mood, Leto saw no reason not to introduce himself to a perfect stranger. After all, that was something he never had the opportunity to on in his own universe. With his coffee in hand, he smiled and returned the nod.

"Good morning," he said. "Are you a visitor for the anniversary too?"

[smilestopscars]

"Nope, I'm one of the current crop of friendly neighborhood high schoolers." As amazing as that was to the people back home. He smiled. It was about as charming as it was predatory. "But I take it that means you are just visiting."

What a shame.

[future_sandworm]

Charming and predatory was an interesting combination, Leto had to admit to himself. He took a seat at a nearby table.

"I am," he replied cheerfully. "Although I was a student once too, and my sister is still a teacher here." If the boy had ever met Ghanima, the blue-on-blue eyes would no doubt be resemblance enough.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra hadn't, but he was making note of the eyes (so blue) for later reference.

Also, he was a fox. He couldn't help seeming like one even in his human form, sometimes.

"Really? What does she teach?"

[justbeingbay]

Yeah, so Bay had fallen through a portal Saturday like everybody else, but she really hadn't been in the mood to deal with island weirdness. (To be fair, she hadn't been in the mood to deal with much of anything since Emmett dumped her.) She spent the weekend holed up in her hotel room.

But room service and vending machine snacks only got her so far, and she finally ventured out for sustenance. She walked into the Perk ... and found herself looking at herself.

Well, sort of. The self she'd turned into during one of the island's wackier moods, anyhow.

"Hey," she said to the dark-haired boy. "So this ... actually probably isn't the weirdest question you'll get today, because this is Fandom, but is your name Dominic?"

[smilestopscars]

Ezra smiled widely at her. "That depends," he said. "On how long you'll keep interacting with me if I say yes."

Because she was very pretty, you see.

[justbeingbay]

She would very much agree with that statement.

Bay smiled reflexively at being flirted with. "I turned into a boy for a pretty long time while I was here," she explained. "Like, not just a weekend. It was a whole alternate reality thing. Anyhow, he looked like you and his name was Dominic Vasquez and I promise I am not a crazy person."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra let out a little chuckle. "I'm sure you're perfectly sane," he said, nodding. "Just a victim of Fandom's whims." He was already familiar with those enough not to doubt her. "But I'm neither a Dominic nor a Vasquez. Ezra Sagishi, at your service."

[justbeingbay]

"Nice to meet you, Ezra Sagishi," Bay said, with a tiny smile as she offered a hand for him to shake. It seemed like the proper thing to do after a boy declared himself at your service. "I'm Bay. I guess there are only so many faces in the world. It's inevitable I would run into somebody with one of mine, especially with Fandom whims in there."

[smilestopscars]

"I suppose so," Ezra agreed pleasantly. He was privately a little miffed anyone out there might look like him. But then again, it was really one more particularly hot person for him to flirt with if he ever ran into them. So it evened out somehow. "Also I believe this means we're not even vaguely pseudo-related, and that's good."