The Perk, Wednesday Afternoon

[pocketpretzels]

It had been a while since Watts had been by the Perk as anything more than a quick stop before heading somewhere else, so he’d missed the addition of certain fall-themed drinks to the menu.

But now that he was actually taking his time to peruse the (still overwhelming) list of available drinks, he did notice.

“Pumpkin spice?” he vaguely remembered Annie mentioning it, as well as Constable Crabtree, even, saying something about the Inspector’s pumpkin seeds and his coffee… “Why not. I’ll try that. With the oat milk, please.”

No, Steven wasn’t accompanying him, nor did they have plans to meet up today, so he could just stick to the regular milk, but he also liked the oat milk just fine.

[ooc: am i cursing myself by making an open post on a day that so far appears to be slow work-wise? maybe.]

Comments

[begmetwice]

Sometime in the mid-afternoon, Irene tossed her 'closed' sign on the door and went out in search of bolstering hot beverages. And while she liked a pumpkin spice thingie as much as the next person, today her English blood was speaking bit louder.

Though she did also order a coffee to go with her tea. For reasons.

"Detective," she called in greeting, leaning against the counter as she waited for her tea to steep. "Afternoon."

[pocketpretzels]

“Miss Adler,” he replied. “How are you?”

[begmetwice]

"Wishing I was back in France," she replied with a dramatic, put-upon sigh. "And how are you, Detective? Or should I say -- tudo bem?"

Irene's Portuguese was nowhere near as good as her Spanish (or her French, or her German, or her Japanese), but it was good enough for a little stunt-question to demonstrate that she'd heard he went on a little trip, too.

[pocketpretzels]

“Tudo ótimo,” Watts replied, smiling down at his coffee. “Heard about that, did you? Portugal was fantastic.” In good part due to the company he’d had while on that particular holiday.

[begmetwice]

"Beautiful country," Irene replied, having to smile at his smile. That was cute. (She, of course, did not smile similarly when prompted to share about France, how dare anyone suggest as much?) "Marc swung by the shop earlier. I was told you went to many museums."

And while Irene didn't much mind museums herself -- their biggest flaw was that they were such a daytime activity -- she definitely widened her eyes dramatically to convey Marc's obvious disdain. How could you?

[pocketpretzels]

“We did,” Watts confirmed. “In a country with so rich a history it would have been a shame not to. As much as Mr. Spector disagrees,” that was said with a slight roll of his eyes. “And for the record, Steven and I didn’t limit ourselves to museums. We visited plenty of other places as well.” Like a library!

[begmetwice]

Oh, a library. That made all the difference.

"I suspect Mr. Spector might take issue with my preferred holiday activities as well," Irene confided with a grin, and flashed her days-old manicure at Watts to emphasize her point. "I take it you enjoyed yourselves?"

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph didn't usually stop at the Perk for more than a few minutes herself most of the time, and usually those visits happened in the mornings on her way in to work, but her player actually had breathing room today she was prepping a new one shot and kind of creatively blocked, and hoping a change of scenery would help.

And caffeine, of course.

She obstinately turned down all the barista's attempts to talk her into a pumpkin spice drink, ordered the largest salted toffee latte available instead, and got flirted with rather blatantly in the process.

She was still looking amused about that when she turned to find a table and spotted Watts.

"Hey, how's it going?"

[pocketpretzels]

“Miss Gingrich,” Watts acknowledged. “I’m- doing well. And you?” she looked to be in better spirits than when they’d last spoke, at least.

[drumsticksandd20s]

There was definitely something a lot easier about Steph's smile today than there had been last time.

"Not bad, actually, given..." She made a vague gesture. "You know."

She eyed his drink. "Succumbed to the seasonal allure of the pumpkin spice, huh?"

[pocketpretzels]

“So I have,” Watts acknowledged. “It’s not bad. A colleague of mine back home,” yes, in 1909, “accidentally created a similar drink as well and was quite pleased with it, so I thought I’d see what the fuss was about.”

[drumsticksandd20s]

"They're not bad," Steph allowed, "just maybe a little overwhelming for me, so I can never finish them and they end up wasted."

She paused.

"I have to know how someone accidentally created a PSL, though."

[pocketpretzels]

“It was, I am given to understand, the culmination of a series of accidents,” Watts said. “Firstly, there was our Inspector’s wife, who liked to roast pumpkin seeds to eat as a snack. Apparently, she spilled her pie spices all over a batch. These same seeds were then on the Inspector’s desk at work, and some accidentally found their way into his tea. Constable Crabtree then thought to drop a few in his cup of coffee. And thus…” he gestured to his own cup.

[flamesburned]

Since Liz had had her normal small coffee for the week, she decided to stop by the Perk and order a small decaf after her walk. She also ordered a pumpkin spice latte to bring back for Prompto.

“Hello Detective Watts,” she smiled as she waited for her coffee.

[pocketpretzels]

“Miss Sherman,” he greeted. “You’re looking well.”

Not crying, which was an improvement over the last few times he’d seen her.

[flamesburned]

“Thank you,” Liz smiled, which was definitely a change from the last couple of times Watts had seen her, “oh, I wanted to thank you for the otter, Steven told me it was your idea to get it,”

[pocketpretzels]

"You're. Ah. You're welcome," Watts said, scratching at his chin in what was clearly a habitual gesture. "Stuffed bears are newly in fashion as children's toys back home, and I know these days they come in all sorts of shapes, not just bears, so I thought- well. I thought it would be nice. For the baby."

The baby that had unbeknownst to Liz been a source of great anxiety for Watts these past few months. No big deal.

[flamesburned]

“It will definitely be nice for the baby,” Liz smiled, unaware of just how much anxiety said baby had been causing Watts and she would feel bad about it, if she ever knew, “it will be lovely for her nursery,” she told him.

[pocketpretzels]

Well, with Prompto back in the picture that source of anxiety was (almost) entirely gone, so at least there was that?

“I’m- glad you liked it.”

[two_idiots_one_body]

Arthur was just here to get out of the hotel and read (well, be read) his book, and try to figure out this stupid phone thing again, since he'd gotten distracted yesterday.

The barista once more was nice enough to bring him his coffee so he didn't have to try to manage it and the crutches. She was not, however, nice enough to leave out the pumpkin spice.

"What is this?" he asked.

John squinted at his coffee. "It just looks like coffee with a lot of milk to me."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts glanced up from his own mobile telephone at the question.

Interesting. There weren’t too many people on the island whose style of dress aligned more or less with his own.

“Are you referring to the beverage?” he asked, after a moment.

[two_idiots_one_body]

Arthur looked up.

"The man addressing us is wearing a plaid suit. It's not quite the style you wore, but closer to that than the modern clothes we've seen. He has a homburg hat on the table. He has dark hair and inquisitive eyes."

"Yes, I only ordered a black coffee with sugar," Arthur said. "This has a lot of milk and tastes...odd?"

[pocketpretzels]

"A latte, then," Watts told him helpfully. "It's, ah. A variety of Italian coffee? Likely flavoured, which would account for the 'odd'. My own is something called 'pumpkin spice'."

[two_idiots_one_body]

"Is that common here?" Arthur asked. He took a careful sip. It wasn't quite as bad now he knew what to expect, though he still wasn't sure if he liked it. "Italian coffee with flavors?"

[pocketpretzels]

“It is,” Watts confirmed. “The number of choices can be- overwhelming. I tend to keep to the one with chocolate in it. But I don’t mind occasionally giving something new a try.”