The Perk, Saturday Morning

[firstofitskind]

The Perk wasn't Liam's usual post-run breakfast spot, to be honest, but Mooby Land was having some sort of... issue... where every breakfast sandwich they made tasted like- well, Liam was assured he didn't want to know.

And the truth was, he wasn't actually that curious, so he'd shrugged and waited until the Perk opened so he could go there for tea and a breakfast pastry instead. Probably the healthier option, anyway.

Breakfast in hand, he found a seat by the window (did anyone ever actually sit at any of the other tables?) and was scrolling through texts from friends back in his own reality as he made his way through that breakfast pastry.

[ooc: open! entertain me before i flee for work!]

Comments

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord, in fact, sometimes sat at the other tables, mostly because he enjoyed people-watching instead of sitting there, feeling like he was on display in the window for the enjoyment of folks passing by. Still, the tendency of other people to sit in windows appealed to him, at least. It meant he could have a good idea of the sort of company he'd find in any one establishment before heading inside.

Liam, it seemed, was on the list of 'good company,' and so rather than passing the Perk by to see if it was quieter at J,GoB, Fjord made his way in, gave Liam a pleasant nod on his way through the doorway, and then went to order a coffee for himself (Amaya had very much given him a coffee habit) before circling around again.

"Mornin', Liam."

[firstofitskind]

Liam looked up from his Global at the greeting and gave Fjord an easy smile. "Morning," he returned. "How's it going?"

[built_fjord_tough]

"I would say, 'same old,' but December seemed well and truly intent on making it clear that there's really no such thing around here," Fjord noted. And then he chuckled and shook his head a little. "Or maybe it still counts when random plates of spaghetti just start showing up around the bar while you're working."

He didn't even know what spaghetty was until last night. And now he had a lot of it taking up space in the fridge at the hotel.

[firstofitskind]

"On the bright side, at least you had dinner available," Liam said with a laugh. He'd been dubious, the first couple of times Fandom's strangeness had involved the appearance of random food, but by all accounts it seemed to be edible and not harmless, so he'd learned to roll with it.

[built_fjord_tough]

"And extra for the bar patrons," Fjord agreed easily. "And leftovers for tomorrow, and the day after... and probably the day after that..."

A pause.

"I should probably buy other food at some point this week." He shook his head in amusement. "And you? How are things treating you?"

[mountaingorilla]

Kagura was eating a donut. Or rather, was eating one of the donuts she'd bought and was now carrying in a large paper sack. She however, was also bored, so she walked up to the stranger at the table.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, curious but also sounding a little like she was entitled to the answer.

[firstofitskind]

"Private communications," Liam returned, raising an eyebrow even as he slid the Global shut. Whoever she was, this girl was certainly... direct. Liam wouldn't admit it, but he was maybe a little bit amused by said direct-ness.

[mountaingorilla]

"Private communications," Kagura repeated, in a tone that was one-hundred percent mocking. "You a spy or a cop? Or are they just love letters from mom?"

She chewed another big bite of donut.

[firstofitskind]

"My mother's dead," Liam said, now less amused.

[mountaingorilla]

"...mine too," Kagura said, chewing a bit, because oops, awkward. She paused for a bit, thinking of how to make this not super awful. Because while she was a menace, she at least had a lot of sympathy for that.

"Does that mean you're a spy?"

[biotic_psychotic]

She'd been dragged out at an hour that wasn't even daytime yet to go for a run. Smirked to herself a little the entire time; buddy boy had needed to work the ache out of some bruises from the spar she'd thrown him in the warehouse. Afterward, to make it through the day without bumping into an urge to stab someone, she went for caffeine.

Strolled on in with her thumbs in belt loops, assessing the room like she owned it. Threw a chin-up nod at people she recognized.

The baristas saw her coming and had a large black coffee waiting for her. The quality service made her smile and tip well. No small social pleasantries from her and that was the way she liked it.

Found a table where she could see the room and kicked the chair she'd chosen around backward. Slouching so she could prop her chin on the back of it, she took a loud slurp of coffee mostly just to be that person.

[firstofitskind]

"Jack," Liam said, with a returning nod of his own. "Settling in okay?" They hadn't talked much, during her visit here in September, but she'd kept Ariel entertained (and well-stocked with junk food for the return to the Mothership), so. That was worth something.

[biotic_psychotic]

She knew the face. She knew he was a cop. Took a second to dredge his name up from the murk of her brain. "Liam," by way of greeting and to show she could actually remember this social shit when she tried, "Surprisingly yeah. So far it's all been ok. Crashing with Kaidan for now but I got a date with the apartment manager at one of the complexes for later today."

Took a drink of coffee. "How's Ariel?" Liam's name? In the murk. The name of a child she'd had nominal responsibility for? Branded on her brain forever.

[firstofitskind]

"Disappointed that box of Earth food did not, in fact, last forever," Liam admitted.

[not_a_bird]

Soooo....this place was boring as shit. At least for the most of the week, Sweet Dee had the distraction of getting her apartment all set up and just getting settled, but now that she didn't have that, what the hell else was she supposed to be with her time? She supposed she could be doing something productive, but...nah.

She figured she should at least check out the coffee shop that morning, scoping out the barista with fairly low expectations. "Hey, do you guys have cold brew?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Great! Okay, now, this might sound...a liiiiittle weird," the barista sucked in a breath, because this meant the incoming request was going to something totally normal or something totally ridiculous, "but can you heat it up?"*

"...so just regular hot coffee?"

"No," Sweet Dee shook her head. "The cold brew. But heated up. You can do that, right? With, like, the steam thingy? On the...thing."

"Uh, no."

Well, technically, the barista could have done it, but she wasn't going to. Because that was dumb.

"Ugh, fine, I guess, just get me a latte. No foam. Extra hot."

Miraculously, the barista managed to hold back a groan, collecting Sweet Dee's money and going to make the drink, while Sweet Dee glanced around the place to size it up and the people coming and going.

_________________
*(Actual request made by an actual customer, you guys).

[firstofitskind]

Okay, that whole exchange was... something, that's for sure. Liam was, as always, mildly impressed by the barista's calm in the face of bizarre requests.

The new person got a nod and a friendly smile, though, because while Liam's profession kind of depended on his ability to make snap judgements about people, he was also willing to give them a chance to change his mind.

[not_a_bird]

It was definitely hard out there for a barista.

Sweet Dee caught the nod, returned it, and made a decision while waiting for her drink that it wouldn't really kill her to try and be social around here, would it? Her track record so far wasn't...great, but maybe she was just getting the annoying ones out of the way first. So once she had her drink in her hand (too hot, if she was honest, but far be it from her to want to make a scene or anything), she headed over to return the smile that'd came with the nod and offered an introduction.

"Hi, there. Dee Reynolds. I'm new around here."

Obviously.

[firstofitskind]

"Liam Kincaid," he replied. "Sheriff," he gestured out the window in the vague general direction of the Trooper Station. "How're you finding it so far?"

[unusual_sith]

Coffee might not be caf, but it was a good enough substitute, and they had some really interesting flavours here.

Lana asked the baristas for something interesting and a bit sweet, and ended up with a peppermint white mocha. Which she then had to get a few more shots in, because it was a little too sweet.

So the Sith was going to be hopped up on caffeine and sugar for most of the day. No biggie.

She sipped it as she looked around.

[firstofitskind]

Liam didn't know too many of the students, but he at least recognized Lana as not being one of the newest crop. "That's impressive," he couldn't resist commenting. "I'm not sure I could stomach that much caffeine and sugar this early."

[unusual_sith]

"What? Oh." Lana laughed. "I'm used to getting up much earlier." It took her a moment to place his face, but she'd made a point of learning the people in charge when she came here. "You're the local sheriff, right? Liam?"

[firstofitskind]

"Me too," Liam admitted. He didn't need much in the way of sleep, not when his physiology was partially energy-based rather than matter. And speaking of energy... the amount of it radiating off Lana was definitely something he was making note of.

"Kincaid," he added, mostly because the idea of a teenager using his first name just seemed wrong, somehow. "That's me."

[biotic_psychotic]

Jack looked up and nodded at Lana. "How the he..ck you been, Lana?"

[unusual_sith]

Lana grinned. "Fine, Jack, you? Though I regret to inform you Darth Vowrawn has returned home."

[biotic_psychotic]

"Surprisingly I'm doing ok," she grinned back, "Aww. Now that's a shame. I hoped he was a teacher here too this term."

Jack..no. No, Jack.

"He seemed like a good guy. How's school been treating you?"