The Perk, Saturday afternoon

[grenadesandohana]

Captain Steve McGarrett was on shore leave from his work in the Navy and so naturally he'd chosen a tiny, adorable town in order to relax from all of his stressful...Navy stuff.

He was now sipping a giant coffee and doing his best to relax while still wearing his uniform (because how else would people know he was in the Navy, right?)

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[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden, of course, as a proper Cupid-in-training, headed straight for the picturesque coffee shop because between that, a failing family farm, and an adorable artisanal bakery and/or chocolatier, this was the best place to find people in need of a helping hand with love.

Not her, of course. She was a Cupid and Cupids only facilitated love, they didn't experience it. Ignore how that directly contradicted her parental lore, the budget wasn't big enough for anybody to care about continuity.

Heading inside she immediately saw a possible candidate for love - a Navy...person because who knew what that random insignia on his uniform meant? She went to get herself a coffee while studying him. Yeah, he looked like someone who hadn't found love yet. Possibly someone who didn't even know the importance of it!

Perfect! She was definitely gonna get her wings with this guy.

She got her tea and settled at the table next to his. "Excuse me," she said. "You look like a Navy Sailor on shore leave!"

[grenadesandohana]

"I am," Steve said, smiling. "I'm Captan Steve McGarrett," because captain was easy to remember, "just off from my tour in the Med."

That sounded impressive, right?

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Very!

"Thank you for your service!" Arden said because you had to say that to all military personnel, it was like a law or something. "I'm Arden. I'm so glad you decided to come visit our quaint little village, where we totally have all the correct and necessary permits for filming! What made you decide to come here? Was it the adorable view? Or maybe one of our fifty world-class bakeries, each of them in danger of going under because baking and running a profitable business are two different skillsets?"

[grenadesandohana]

"It was the military discount at the B&B," Steve said. Because Steve was thrifty. It was one of his three personality traits.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

He had three? Definitely leading man material!

"Could it also be...that you're looking for love?"

[grenadesandohana]

Steve chuckled heartily. "I'm much too busy for love."

Of course he was, what with all the sailoring.

"And I think you're a little old for me."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh gosh, not me!" Arden said quickly. "No - look, I trust you--" having exchanged like maybe ten lines of dialogue and all "--so I'm going to tell you a secret!" She inhaled. "I'm a Cupid! Well, almost. I will be soon, once I earn my wings. And to do that, I have to help people fall in love! But not with me, unless we can find an age-appropriate character, in which case those rules will be rewritten."

[grenadesandohana]

"You're a Cupid," Steve repeated, laughing. "Sorry, kid, but I don't believe in love."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh no, what an unexpected plot twist!" Arden cried. "Well, you don't have to believe in love, because love believes in you." Whatever that meant. "And I'm gonna help you find it, so there!"

[grenadesandohana]

"I'm pretty sure love doesn't believe in me," Steve said with a laugh. "I'm almost...35...and still single."

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

For a moment, Arden flinched away because thirty-five was so old but then remembered he was an actor, not an actress, and that it was okay. Whew!

"Well, that won't be true for very much longer!" Arden said. "Because now that I'm here to help, true love will be yours in about ninety-ish more minutes, even though it was somehow span at least another day." Beat. "And you've probably got a birthday coming up soon to make the other part not true, but let's not focus on your age except when you're using it to pine over your lack of love life."

[grenadesandohana]

"Oh, yeah, if I'm 36 and a bachelor, I'll be alone for the rest of my life," Steve said like that was a normal thing to believe. "I've just...accepted that."

[wildgalegirl]

On a stool in the corner, Charlie sat, strumming her background music. Strains of a song whose refrain seemed to be along the lines of, 'Coffeecoffeecoffee!' filled the room to be replaced with, "In the Navy" as more appropriate background music.

Unless they couldn't get the rights or something.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle was just a student here at the fancy college in this tiny town, escaping her home life and pining over a lost love and worried she would never find love again.

Never mind that she was not quite 19 yet. She was clearly destined to never find love again after losing her older lover under Mysterious Circumstances.

A coffee and a treat would help to salve her wounds for the moment. They always did. If she was sighing and looking wistfully out the window, well, that was all part of her healing process.

[grenadesandohana]

Steve gave her a tiny grin. "Lost in your thoughts?"

Well not now that you've interrupted her, Steven.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Not lost," Belle said with another sigh. "I know exactly where I am."

In her sad, sad thoughts about how she was never going to find love!

"Did I sigh too loud? I didn't mean to."

[grenadesandohana]

"Do you think you're in a coffee shop?" Steve checked. "Otherwise, I have some bad news for you."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I do," Belle confirmed. "The coffee shop down the hill from the school where I attend on a scholarship to help me escape from my home life in a mysterious war-torn country. A coffee shop where I used to sit with...someone I'll never see again."

Because her love had disappeared under mysterious circumstances! Was he dead? Maybe! Had he run off? Maybe! Did he have amnesia somewhere? Maybe!

[grenadesandohana]

"Were they in the Navy too?" Steve asked. Because he was in the Navy. It was another one of his personality traits.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"He wasn't," Belle said with a moody glance out the window. "He lived here. He did enjoy boats."

Had he been a professor? Had theirs been a forbidden love? Was he married and went back to his wife? This unimportant to the plot at this time!

[grenadesandohana]

"Ahhh," Steve said. "Shipwreck."

Because that still happened enough to jump to that conclusion, apparently.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Oh, I hope not!" Belle exclaimed, dropping her pastry on the table in dismay. "He might never be found then!"

Or he might wash up on the beach. You never knew. Or maybe he was already on the island, somehow!

[grenadesandohana]

"Eh, it happens."

This might be why you're single, Steven.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Often?" Belle asked nervously. "I hadn't ever considered a shipwreck..."

Steve, you were certainly not endearing yourself to this young woman.

[grenadesandohana]

"Well, not a ton, but I know people," Steve said, nodding.