The Perk - Sunday Morning

[onlyajones]

Jo was a little lost being in this strange place, she was used to there being a lot of people around and doing things for her and so she decided to go into the Perk and see what she could get and because she had been in there enough and was pretty consistent with her order it hadn’t taken long for one of the staff to recognise who she was so she had been offered a hot cocoa.

Jo gratefully took the mug and was relieved that she didn’t have to try and get something on her own and she did like hot cocoa so she found a table by the window to sit at and drink and see what was going on.

[open!]

Comments

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon had gone out wandering again, and this place looked interesting. He wasn't ordering anything, so much as exploring.

[onlyajones]

Jo looked up when saw someone new enter, “hi,” she said shyly.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Equally shy, Jon looked over at her, then away, then back and waved a little. "Hi."

This was going to be a painfully slow conversation.

[onlyajones]

Jo returned the small wave and after a bit of an awkward pause said, “I’m Jo,” she offered, finally remembering her manners.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I'm, um. I'm Jon. Hi." Jon edged a little closer, cautiously.

In the background, the barista started making tea.

[onlyajones]

“Hi,” Jo said again because apparently it needed to be said, “I woke up here yesterday and there was no one from home, I’ve never been on my own before,” she said, eyes wide as she stared at him.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Me too!" Jon said, his eyes going wide. "I mean, um. I go off on my own a lot, but my gran's not here, and I don't recognise anything. I was in a big flat all by myself."

[onlyajones]

“My parents weren’t here and neither were any of the servants,” Jo told him, “my room at home is massive and the room I woke up in was smaller,” young Jo hadn’t quite worked out that not everyone lived in sprawling estates and had several dozen servants.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I-I didn't think anybody had servants anymore," Jon said nervously. "Um, except for...for the queen and such."

A barista came and set tea down in front of him, and he looked up at them, startled. They smiled and went back behind the counter.

[onlyajones]

“My family does,” Jo informed him, “we live out in the country, dad says it’s safer there on account of the war,” Jo didn’t really understand what that meant but she knew sometimes there were food shortages that even her dad couldn’t get stuff all the time.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"But...but the war was ages ago!" Jon said, frowning a little, confused. "My gran remembers it, I think."

[onlyajones]

Now it was Jo’s turn to feel confused, “the war started the year after I was born,” she told him, “it’s still going, at least I think it is …my parents host a lot of benefits to raise money for the war,” she said.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Well, um. What year were you born?" Jon asked.

[onlyajones]

"I was born in 1938," Jo told him, "why, what year were you born?"

Jo hadn't really figured out that she was in a completely different year yet or that not everyone was from the same year she was.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"1987," Jon said slowly. "But that doesn't make any sense!"

He hadn't figured it out yet, either.

[onlyajones]

"1987?" Jo repeated, eyes wide as she tried to work out how many years that was, "that's ...that's ... that's ages away," she finally settled on because if 14 year old Jo couldn't do Math, 6 year old Jo had no hope. "You're from the future?" she blinked, "I didn't know people could people be from the future!"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I'm not from the future," Jon said, "you're from the past." He thought for a moment. "You're as old as...as my grandma!" He giggled from the sheer silliness of it.

[onlyajones]

Jo blinked and then she laughed as well, "I'm only 6 though, I'm not old enough to be a grandma," she considered, her grandmothers' were really old, she was still really confused about everything.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"But you will be one day," Jon said. Unless something got her. You could never tell. He would have warned her about Mr. Spider, but nobody believed him. "I bet you'll make a good grandma."