T42 - Friday

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando was a little tired. They had worked in shifts through the night again to keep the snow clear. It had finally stopped. By the time he made it out of bed, showered and headed into the store, Kaidan had cleared the doorway of the final drift and, Hernando noted, also cleared the sidewalk back in the direction of town.

Stifling a yawn, he set out pastries. Instead of taking a position behind the counter he made himself a cup of coffee and went to lounge in one of the comfy chairs by the fireplace.

Dave hopped up into his lap. This surprised Hernando a little. The quokka still looked grumpy but seemed to be seeking affection so Hernando tentatively began stroking his fur.

The sign was still in the window.

T42 is Open!
Come in!
The fire is warm, the tea is hot.
There is also cocoa.
We still don't recommend the coffee.

Small candle lanterns hung from delicate chains. The colored glass added a festive glow. Hopefully the light would guide people in from the cold.

[Open and snow-monster free!]

Comments

[uncertain_dume]

His trek through the streets of town had left Kanan near the T42, wearing a long coat and one large hat away from looking every bit the cowboy that he sometimes emulated, whether he intended to or not. He had been a man with a mission, though, and part of his trek had left him soaked to the elbow with melted snowman backsplash.

Snowmen plus a plasma blade meant water, funny enough.

So his hands were somewhere approaching numb by the time he passed Hernando's shop, and he had promised Dave he'd swing by...

Clipping one weapon to his belt and holstering the other, Kanan slipped inside, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to work some feeling back into his fingers.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando took one look at Kanan and rose from his chair to make him some tea. "Kanan, please come in and warm up. Would you like a snack? How are things out there?"

Dave was warming his bum near the fire. He looked up sleepily and pointed his grumpy little face at Kanan.

[uncertain_dume]

"Cold and full of evil snowmen," Kanan offered, rubbing his hands together as he made his way deeper inside and turning a little grin toward Dave. "Funnily enough, it isn't the coldest or the most evil I've ever had the pleasure of running around in. I'm actually kind of enjoying it."

Because he was a dumbass space cowboy.

"How are you holding up around here?

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando shook his head with a small laugh. "Mostly just snow outside. Much shoveling. Only two snow creatures have come by. One was mauled to death by the quokka," and just let that thought sink in for a moment, "the other was told it wasn't welcome and it left."

He truly loved his store.

"It is warm in here, I have tea and a book to read in a comfortable chair by a fire," Hernando assured him, "It's quite nice for me. Kaidan left some time ago to go on a patrol. Though he called it 'practice'."

He plated a cupcake and made a cup of tea for Kanan. "Is this what you felt come in?"

[uncertain_dume]

"I'm pretty sure this is what I felt come in," Kanan agreed. "The bad feeling's gone, anyway, for all that means."

Hell, could've been indigestion.

"Good to know they haven't been giving you much trouble, anyway. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a pack of attack quokka living with them."

[hernando_fuentes]

He slid the tea and cupcake across the counter. "I think the quokka may simply have wanted the carrots," he said with a smile, "though Dave would not let them eat them. He urinated all over the vegetables and buried them in the snow."

Dave usually enjoyed carrots. It had been an odd moment. Dave had seemed smugly pleased with himself after.

If what Kaidan said was true and the snowmen were angry about global warming, Hernando's private thought was that they had left his store alone because it had effectively transformed itself to something carbon neutral.

He didn't really care why so much. He was only glad they were leaving him alone. Sitting this trouble out didn't bother him.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan was reaching for the tea pretty much right away. It was probably a testimony to how much that cold water up his arm was getting to him that the cupcake was going to have to wait a minute.

"Spite, you figure? Or was there something about them he just didn't like?"

Not that Kanan would put either past Dave, but it really did seem like something that might be important to know down the road.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando simply shrugged. "The others went toward the carrots. Dave was there in front of them. He nipped and boxed at them until they backed away. I have never seen him do this."

Dave was grumpy. Dave didn't ride herd on the others until this day, that Hernando had ever seen.

He pursed his lips a moment while regarding the sleeve. "Can that go in the dryer? I could dry it for you if it can."

[uncertain_dume]

"It can," Kanan replied. "It's soaked clean through, though."

So, not just the jacket, but the shirt he was wearing underneath. He wouldn't be so damn cold, otherwise.

"The fun of fighting creatures made of snow, I suppose."

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando thought about it for a moment. "Strip it off. I'll bring you a towel and a blanket. None of the shirts I have would fit you," he suggested.

He did not wait to see if Kanan would follow the suggestion. He turned and walked down the hall to his home to get the promised blanket and towel anyway.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan's mouth fell open for a second, and then shut again as he watched Hernando walk off before he sighed, made certain his pockets were empty, and shrugged out of his coat, taking a few moments to start unbuckling his chest armor. His pauldron had stayed at home since it didn't exactly fit under the coat, but his arm was still armored besides, so there was a bit of a process in order to get out of it all, setting plates on one of the tables as he worked.

Freezing out there wouldn't do anybody any good. He was willing to roll with it.

[hernando_fuentes]

That was the logic behind the suggestion. Hernando returned a few minutes later with a towel and quilt that he'd thrown in the dryer to warm. Kanan looked like he could maybe use the additional warmth. They were handed over without commentary.

[uncertain_dume]

Kanan gave a small nod of appreciation before shrugging out of his shirt, setting it with the coat, and then reaching for the towel first and foremost.

"Thanks," he said, simply, working to dry off his arms for a moment before pulling that quilt up and around his shoulders.

... Oh, that was nice. Yes, he could appreciate that it had been warmed first, and he blew out a little breath as he kind of sank into a chair, bundled up in it.

[hernando_fuentes]

Hernando nodded a welcome and abducted Kanan's clothing to put in the dryer.

Dave stretched. Bum in the air and small forepaws spreading forward on the carpet. He gave a yawn and smacked his little grumpy lips.

Next he hopped up into Kanan's lap. It was a lap, you see. Maybe he wanted to help with the power of a hearth-warmed quokka. Maybe he just wanted scritches.

[uncertain_dume]

"You know," Kanan murmured down to Dave as one hand reached to scratch behind an ear, "people are going to start thinking we get along or something, at this rate."

Kanan would be fine with that. He certainly didn't seem to let the idea stop him from scratching the quokka with one hand, cradling his tea in the other.

[hernando_fuentes]

Dave didn't care what people thought. He tilted his jaw a little so Kanan could more easily reach that spot - yes, there.

He was smugly satisfied about defending his territory.

It was good to be the king.