The Perk - Monday morning.

[mages_suck]

Fenris was stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the weather. He went out in normal clothing, no appropriate outerwear. He conceded that shoes were necessary and grumblingly wore those.

The intent was to go for a walk. That intent didn't last very long. He ducked into the Perk and ordered a large black coffee.

Letting his hands wrap around the mug to warm them up, he eyed the weather outside balefully. Sizing it up as though figuring out where its weak point was so he could kick it there.

It was that kind of day.

[Open!]

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[always_someone]

Norman was still smiling to himself as he made his way to the Perk after his morning class. Potato batteries? In shop class? Leave it to Amaya to go from 'actually making molten metal' to 'lighting a bulb with a tuber' all in the same semester...

He hadn't brought his potato with him to the coffee shop, at least, but he had brought some extra change, which he was going to use to buy the biggest hot chocolate they had, and maybe an extra pastry for the road, or maybe he could catch Tip at the library if she was there and give one to her, or...

Anyway, the barista gave him way too much whipped cream for one hot chocolate while he pondered that, and with the gremlin ghost that he sometimes ran into here pointing at everything in the pastry display, he wound up just flailing and buying a box with one of every pastry in it because somewhere in all of that, he'd gone and overthought it.

So now he had a mountain of whipped cream and too many pastries, and he was sitting down at a table near the window with both, looking a little out of his depth.

Why was he like this?

[mages_suck]

Fenris glanced up. He remembered the boy from the job fair. "Norman," he greeted politely, "How have you been? How is your pink.. jelly creature?"

It wasn't a demon, damnit. It wasn't.

[always_someone]

The squishy pink forces of Hell itself would disagree with you, Fenris.

"I've been fine," Norman replied, glancing up from his excessive drink. "Mostly, anyway. The little jelly guy's been fine too, I think. I don't see it as much as I used to, one of my employees might have run off with it."

Stealing a jelly demon, as you do.

"How about you?"

[mages_suck]

If anyone ever told Fenris it had become a peanut butter jelly time demon he would probably implode from the force of the eyeroll that would happen.

"..Someone.. wanted to take it?" Fenris was bemused. "That's.. well, quite a thing." Quite, quite a thing.

Fenris hadn't yet met Nina.

"Mostly fine?" he inquired. "Myself, I have been fine. The recent holiday allowed me the opportunity to go across the bridge and scarper off with free candy and alcohol. It was not a bad holiday."

[always_someone]

"It's an okay holiday," said Norman, with all the authority a kid from a town with a witch fetish could muster. "I was still getting over October stuff at that point. The island thought it would be funny to turn me into a crab."

Just in time for him to be crowned homecoming prince! Thanks, Fandom!

[mages_suck]

"My sympathies," Fenris offered, "My roommate turned into a snake. It was my first experience, and I believe also his, with this sort of thing."

This island was an asshole.

[always_someone]

"It was my first time as a crab, too," Norman sighed. "And it went mostly okay, right up until I turned back."

In the middle of town. Right by the clothing shop.

Stupid island.

[mages_suck]

"Yes, Fjord had some trouble when that happened as well," Fenris said dryly.

Really, Fjord. Just because there was suddenly a hot naked man in the room was no excuse to pull your sword out and aim it at his throat.

[always_someone]

"It's... I mean, it's kind of jarring, being an animal and then suddenly not?"

...

"Clothes would have been nice," he added in a soft mutter.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Oh....hey, Norman," Summer said, blinking a little in surprise when she realized that, yes, there was actually a person there behind all of...that. "Long time, no see."

And, sure, hey, she maybe hadn't been the nicest to him back when she was still in school, but she'd obviously matured since those ancient times.

"...are those all for you?"

Really, she kind of had to ask.

[always_someone]

"Oh, hey Summer," Norman replied, smiling kind of crookedly at her.

Yeah, she still would totally get along with Courtney.

"They're not all for me, no," he said, deciding this mostly on the spur of the moment as he looked down at the box. "Tip's working at the library today. I think I'm going to let her pick some. Why... did you want one?"

[somethingwithturquoise]

There was definitely a type.

"Oh, no, thanks," Summer held up a hand that soon rested a little regretfully on her stomach. If it hadn't been after a Sunday, she might have taken him up on it, buuuuut... "I am definitely good there, but it's nice of you to offer. And to bring some to Tip, too."

She debated with herself for about two seconds on whether or not she should before she went ahead and asked, "You two a thing yet?"

She was soooo out of the loop on those things! Well, excepting whatever the squirrels decided was chitter-worthy for the week, anyway.

[always_someone]

Were you trying to make Norman's ears go red, Summer? Because that was how you made Norman's ears go red.

"A thing? Yet?"

Hello, Summer. Meet Deer-In-Headlights Babcock.

[somethingwithturquoise]

As a matter of fact, a reaction like that was what helped her decide in those two seconds, so Summer was just going to give herself a mental pat on the back there.

"I'm gonna take it that's a nooooo then," she said, and, hey, at least she tried not to smirk too much. "So, what have you been up to, then? Anything interesting?"

[always_someone]

"I mean, I was a crab for about a week, which led to me getting arrested, and there was a tattoo, and-- can we back up to the 'yet' part again?"

Because she had said 'yet.'

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Mmmmmmmmmmm." Summer narrowed her eyes as she clearly gave that question some serious consideration, even though she knew the answer was going to be the swift and conclusive, "No," that she gave.

"I mean, yet's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? That other stuff, though. I mean, obviously not the crab part, that's, like, whatever, no big deal, I was a squirrel for a week, but getting arrested? And a tattoo?"

Summer almost looked impressed. Almost. She was holding that until she had better deets.

"It's not in a place I'm going to totally regret asking about, is it?"

[always_someone]

"Not unless you've got a weird hang-up about wrists," Norman replied, tugging up his sleeve to show off the little ghost.

It was tiny and adorable and he'd totally fight anyone who didn't like it. Probably.

"It's more exciting than the arrest bit. Marginally."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Figuring she might as well run some errands before dropping in on her little delinquent at the store, Summer made her first stop the Perk. Nothing quite like a Perk PSL to fuel your day, after all.

She gave Fenris a little wave when she saw him sitting there, waiting for her drink to finish up before heading over. It...hadn't been a long wait. They'd started the drink pretty much the moment she walked in. Not that they wanted to imply she was predictable or anything, noooo, perisih the thought.

"Hey, Fenris," she offered, once her drink was in hand and she drifted that way. "No snake today, huh?"

[mages_suck]

"Fjord is back to being entirely Fjord-shaped," Fenris agreed, "I shall tell him you asked after him. How are you, Summer?"

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Pretty good, really," Summer admitted, after taking a moment to double check and make sure, nodding slightly. "Fingers crossed for a pretty normal week, though. It feels like it might be, but you never know. Did you wind up missing any body parts or having limbs wind up in places they shouldn't be last week at all? Sounds like it was kind of a thing."

[mages_suck]

"Nothing happened to me, no. My roommate, on the other hand," Fenris smirked a little, "was having some trouble whenever he would reach for anything."

Fenris found it a little bit like karma that a human-shaped Fjord who wanted to eat hadn't been able to grasp food. When he'd been a snake, he'd refused all attempts to feed him. Fenris wasn't quite past that, even if it was logical. Logic didn't enter into it.

"It would be nice to have a normal week. What would that even look like around here?"

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Man," Summer snorted slightly, "Fjord seems to get stuck with all the fun stuff, huh? And they do happen, sometimes, normal weeks, though, admittedly, it seems to mostly be before or after being hit with something pretty wild. The before one's the worst, puts everyone on edge, you know? Defensive. Just waiting for the other foot to drop. Me, I just try to enjoy them as they come, but not a whole lot really gets to that level for me, anyway. My gauge for what's really weird has been pretty wonky for...years now."

[mages_suck]

"It seems so. Thus far, none of the island's events have happened to me," Fenris said and calmly drank his coffee. Really, the only event he wanted to happen to him was an invasion. Robbery. Monsters. Something. A reason to use his sword and his training.

"This island is so strange," he shook his head. "My world has a host of weird but nothing like what happens here."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"How long have you been here now?" Summer ventured, her head tilting thoughtfully. "That seems like it's own kind of weird, not having anything weird happen to you at all, but, I mean, hey, that's not necessarily a bad problem to have. What's the flavor of weird where you're from like, though?"

[mages_suck]

"A month and a half?" Fenris said vaguely. He had not quite figured out how this world's calendar worked.

"Where I'm from, we have the Blight," he explained. "It's a demonic uprising that happens every few hundred years and begins a battle to kill the Darkspawn before they can taint more of the world. The last one just ended."

Fenris took a drink of his coffee. "In the quiet years, there are always blood mages, bandits, slavers, occasional Qunari invasions. Normal things."