JGoB's, Monday Morning

[lockestheway]

Peter hadn't even originally planned to come to this reunion in the first place, but the timing had been fortuitous; he'd needed a break, somewhere to unwind. Emotionally, that was. He was still hard at work, and had been hard at work all through every party and attack of insanity that had occurred yesterday.

Which was why he could be found here this morning, idly using one hand to occasionally ferry a pastry to his face while the other one was firmly placed on his tablet. He had emails to write, and a Portalocity connection home to set up.

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[istherecoffee.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the longer he stayed in Fandom, the more he remembered Krycek, and the more he missed him. So Jake was avoiding the Perk this morning. Yes, the Perk was the Plentiful Land of Coffee, but JGoB's also sold coffee. He could do this. The important part was that he got coffee without being overwhelmed by nostalgia.

He gave a nod to the person with the tablet and made his order.

[lockestheway]

Peter nodded absently at the... okay, that was a complete stranger. Was it?

He tilted his head to make sure. ... Look, he'd never been very good at remembering faces. Too busy.

Then his tablet made the wooshy email noise and his attention was gone again.

[istherecoffee.livejournal.com]

Jake was pretty sure he had never met this person before in his life. Right now that was actually very relaxing. He leaned against the counter and waited for his very involved coffee order to arrive.

[lockestheway]

Peter had never understood the point of coffee that required a full fifteen minutes to make, but then he was an on-the-go kind of guy. He flashed the barista a look of something that could've easily been mistaken as sympathy if you didn't know him.

She shrugged merrily at him.

[istherecoffee.livejournal.com]

It didn't take a full fifteen minutes. Jake wasn't quite that patient this early in the morning. ...It took thirteen.

He nodded his thanks to the barista and went to sit down. He found a seat that was within eyesight of the other person in the cafe, but not too close by. Because that would have been weird.

Yum, coffee!

[lockestheway]

Peter made a mental note of the time, even as he kept his eyes back on his tablet.

"I don't know how most people ever get anything done," he muttered to himself.

[istherecoffee.livejournal.com]

Well, okay, Jake wasn't strong enough to resist that one. "Coffee," he said, loudly enough for Peter to hear him. "The world runs on coffee."

[lockestheway]

"This is coffee," Peter said, pointing at his mug. "I don't know what Eldritch drink you have."

[istherecoffee.livejournal.com]

Jake cuddled his coffee protectively. "Good coffee. It's not really coffee unless it involves a decent amount of milk and flavour."

It was possible that there were several coffee cupping societies who'd strongly disagree with that statement.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's smile was a little wistful in the doorway. It had been a long time since they'd said goodbye to their version of Ender's brother. "Ho, Peter."

[lockestheway]

Peter looked up from his tablet, broadcasting 'you're disturbing me' in that casual way he'd long since mastered. "Skywalker," he said.

[momslilassassin]

"It's good to see you again," he said, ignoring the 'you're disturbing me' vibe as always.

[lockestheway]

Peter let out a loud sigh. "I should've known you'd show up," he half-complained. "What are you and my brother up to now?"

[momslilassassin]

"We moved to a new planet," Ben said, "and had a little girl."

[lockestheway]

"Yes, you told me about her," Peter sighed. "How big is the little brat now?"

[momslilassassin]

"Val is about so big," Ben said, moving his hands to demonstrate, "and she's not a brat."

[lockestheway]

"I'm sure time will tell on that one," Peter said.

Stop being a dick, Peter.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"Didn't expect you to come up for air long enough to be at this thing," Quinn said wryly as she paused by Peter's table, iced coffee in hand. "Hey there."

[lockestheway]

"I needed a break," Peter said simply. Then he looked up, and brightened somewhat. "Well, if it isn't Quinn Fabray," he said, "Here I'd given up on meeting anyone I actually liked this weekend."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Quinn smiled. "What can I say? I live in hope of at least making somebody happy I'm around."

Between Peter and Bruce, the weekend was turning into quite the ego boost.

"Not enjoying the glory that is Fandom island?"

[lockestheway]

"I'm here because I needed a breather," Peter admitted. (Not from work, that was clear. "That doesn't mean I'm particularly fond of the place, but I'll live."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"For me it was morbid curiosity," Quinn decided. "Senior year starts Tuesday. Not exactly a great time for a road trip, and yet..."

He shrugged. Fandom had its pull.

[lockestheway]

"It's a little easier than a road trip, at least," Peter said wryly. "So college, huh? How's that going?"

In deference to how unannoying she had been in high school, he was not going to start this by getting snooty about how important his own job was. (He was slightly less inclined to do that these days in general, unless really tempted, like when dealing with an uppity barista.)

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"Well, after Fandom and Lima, New Haven's pretty dull," Quinn said, rolling her eyes at herself. "But I'm dealing. Double majoring in theater studies and economics, and I'm trying to decide on a graduate program. What's going on with you?"

[lockestheway]

"The various superpowers of my world have been at war for several years," Peter said, "So three weeks ago I announced my initiative to form an intercontinental state to ward off aggressors."