ArchivedLogs:Guns and Horses

Guns and Horses
Dramatis Personae Flicker, Kaylynn, Melinda
In Absentia	2015-07-15 "Complaining never ends." Part of Buzzkill.
Location <NYC> Montagues - SoHo
Montagues harkens back to the day when SoHo was filled to the brim with artists, with its mismatched furniture, all plush and decorated heavily with carved wood, but remains trendy enough to keep its newer patrons by making sure that furniture is clean, in good repair and inviting. The antique tables all have been reinforced to seem less creaky. The real draw of the cafe is the smell: fresh roasted coffee mingles with perfectly steeped teas. Spices from crisp pastries mingle with the tang of clotted cream but don't overwhelm too much the scent of chalk on the menu boards. As the caffeine crisis lingers on and on, the coffee shop slash cafe is seeing a decrease in patronage. Yes, the sandwiches are still delicious and the beverages still tasty, but without the buzz that usually goes hand in hand with those beverages, a lot of the regulars are not really making the effort to come in anymore. The staff is starting to fall away as well, leaving only two people on duty, Melinda and a skinny teenager with curly red hair. The store's manager is leaning tiredly against the counter with a large jar of yellow liquid. She is busily mashing strawberries into it, gently prodding a pestle through the organic pulp. There's a sign on the counter that proudly announces strawberry mango juice, freshly made. It's selling better than the coffee now. Flicker is looking somewhat bedraggled as he trudges inside. A little wilted in his red and black uniform, kind of sweat-damp around the back and armpits, dark hair clinging to his forehead as well. Reflexively, his bright green eyes shift to a table in the corner. There's a very small twinge at the side of his mouth before he looks back to the counter. Puts on a bright smile instead. "... strawberry mango? That sounds -- like exactly what I need. What's the biggest size? Can I have that?" The fabric of a coral sundress swirls around Kaylynn's knees as she pauses in the doorway of the cafe and glances about. She's passed the place a few times while walking about, but it's her first time actually venturing inside. There's a soft smile at the decord, and though caffeine might not be working in the city...that juice looks like a tasty alternative! The woman adjusts her grip on a few grocery bags before moving farther inside and eventually lining up behind Flicker. "That does sound amazing." Her words are said softly and carry an unmistakable southern lilt. The longer Mel mashes, the more orange the mildly orange liquid becomes, her lips pursed in concentration. She has dark circles under her eyes and a wrinkle between her brows that looks a bit like it's uncomfortable. When she hears a familiar voice, she looks up, almost surprised. Then there are two people suddenly and she is blinking rapidly. She takes a deep breath and puts a rehearsed smile on her lips, but unfortunately still sounds exhausted as she speaks, "Oh. Sure. I think we've got a twenty-four ounce cup, if you want to pay for that much. It's a little spendy." She glances over at Kaylynn and looks sheepish. "I apologize. It's just -- well. We have to make money some how and I can get fruit for a good price." Jim can be a help from time to time. "Flicker, you're going to have to share. I think this is my first ... actually happy customer of the day." Mash mash mash goes the fruit. "So I can't just buy the whole /pitcher/?" Flicker teases lightly. He drops a hand -- glaringly obviously a prosthetic, it is not even making an /effort/ to look organic, the mechanical arm painted deep metallic green with a swirling silver smoke pattern on top -- to his side, reaching for his wallet as he quirks his grin at Kaylynn. "It's alright. I don't mind. Strawberries were meant to be shared." Though his smile falters for an instant as he gets to the counter. "Can I get a tomato soup, too? And maybe a croissant? -- You want me to mash for a bit or something, Mel? You look like you could do with. Sitting." "It's only because I've managed to compensate for the caffeine withdrawal with a sugar overload." Kaylynn drops a grin in Melissa's direction before dipping her head at Flicker. "That's very kind of you." Here her mouth parts and she lets out a soft chuckle. Though now that it's mentioned..."You do look tired, you do look a bit tired." Perhaps it's rude to say that to someone she's only just met, but the Texan doesn't mean anything bad by it really. Her brows are furrowed with a bit of concern for the other woman. "Pffft. I've got a job to do. You're off work now. You're the one who is supposed to be relaxing." Melinda shakes her head and pulls out the pestle, laying it on a clean towel before pouring a small pitcher of pureed strawberries in and giving the larger pitcher a few quick stirs before she half turns to grab a glasses. One is super large, while the other is a more standard size. She sets them down on the counter and starts pouring. "Don't worry about me. I just -- well, it was a really long night with an almost riot and I've got a bit of a headache. I'll be fine." "It was a long night." Flicker's agreement is soft. "-- Do you want ibuprofen? I've got." He turns to lean back against the counter as Melinda pours their drinks. "Oh, man. Is that hitting you hard, too? It's been rough on my -- housemates. On a lot of -- everyone." The look he shoots sidelong to Melinda is kind of wincing. Kind of sympathetic. "But I'm feeling optimistic, you know? That it'll be over soon." "Riot?" Kaylynn lets out a soft whistle and shakes her head. She might be trying to decide if they're talking about a real riot or a protest against ineffective caffeine! "Maybe it'll come back before everyone goes into full on caffeine withdrawal. Though...I feel like some people are already in that boat." The chocolatier lets out a tiny sigh before glancing at the glasses of juice and then reaching into her purse and pulling out her wallet. "Um. Yeah. It was in the news. People picketing outside of a medical clinic." Melinda fishes out some paper covered straws and places them next to the glasses, quoting each of them a price for their glass size. She rests her elbows on the counter to one side. "An ibuprofen would be lovely. I just... my... yeah. Head needs help." She exhales and considers for a moment. "Optimistic? I'm not sure... well. I don't know how much longer any of this is going on. We haven't had caffeine for weeks. I feel like I should get over all this and be just as peppy as my friend here." She meets Flicker's side long glance and sighs. "I just... like caffeine too much." "Hopefully /you're/ not in that boat, though. It doesn't look like a fun one." Flicker digs into his pocket for his keys, tugging out his keychain; there's a very tiny pill case attached to the heavy bundle of keys that he screws open, tipping out a small handful of very un-exciting drugs into the palm of his prosthetic hand. Allergy meds, dramamine, aspirin, ibuprofen, dayquil. He plucks out two Advil to offer to Mel before returning the tiny-pharmacy to his keychain and then his pocket. "It's way easier to just never start a habit than to kick it, though. And it was a -- small riot. People are -- always looking for stuff to be mad about, I guess. It used to be that loud out there every /day/ when we opened. Thank goodness /that's/ quieted down." "Ah...I should probably look at the news more often." Or pick up a newspaper! Kaylynn looks a bit sheepish at the moment. "If it's not caffeine for someone, there's always something else. I'd probably be a mess if I went a day without chocolate." There's a curious glance to Flicker's tiny pharmacy before the southern belle tilts her head to the side, "Do you always carry that around?" She'll nod to the bit about the riot though, "Now /that's/ the truth. Maybe complaining about something else gives them an excuse to avoid complaining about their own lives." Melinda fishes the pills off the surface of his palm, glancing up at his face with a grateful smile. She turns away to fill a small glass with water and ingests the headache relief. "Oh, I'm fairly sure people find ways to complain about their own lives and that of those around them and about the weather... and the food and ... well, complaining never ends." She wets her lips and wrinkles her brows. "How are you, Flicker. Are you..." She might be gesturing to her head suggestively instead of just rubbing at her temples. "I'd probably go into withdrawal /pretty/ quick if you unplugged me from the internet." Flicker has a small chuckle for this. "So everyone has their things, yeah." He drops a hand. Pats at his pocket. "This? Yeah. My keychain probably has Too Many Things usually. Pocketknife. Lighter. Flashlight. Lockpicks. -- Boy Scout." He is a little sheepish with this admission. "You never know who's going to need --" His fingers wave towards his own head, even as he gives Melinda a small nod. "I did read that complaining helps people feel better!" He says this pretty cheerfully. "Only it's never worked for me. I read it on Cracked though so who knows how true that is." "I guess we've all got our addictions and our forms of stress relief. Though I find complaining too much just makes me /more/ stressed." Kaylynn wrinkles her nose for a moment before glancing over to the keychain again. "And true, better to be prepared than not." The lockpicks are particularly interesting! It's then that something clicks in her mind, "Ah...I completely forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me! I'm Kaylynn." "Drink your juice before it warms," Melinda reminds the pair before putting the lid on the pitcher and moving it down to a refrigerator, out of sight for now. "Cracked, eh? How about the gospel of Buzzfeed? Is that canonical in truth expressed by the internet, or is that false?" She refills her water glass and leans against the counter, sipping. It really is slow in the cafe. "M'name's Mel." "Buzzfeed is totally lower than Cracked on the Truthiness totem pole." Flicker's hand tips downwards to demonstrate. He extends his hand -- the actually flesh one, even though it is the left and not the normal Handshaking side -- out towards Kaylynn aftwards. The mechanical hand reaches for his glass of juice. "I'm Flicker. Pleasure. And thanks, Mel. I had outside shift today to deal with the remnants of Angry Protesters so it was -- sweltering." His head shakes. "My mind was -- not on work. Thankfully they weren't -- too rowdy." His shoulder rolls slowly, eyes shifting back to Kaylynn. "So is it just chocolate for you or do you have some other stress relief with all the caffeine dried up?" "I always thought the fresh section of 9gag was particularly informative. Nothing on there's a lie." Kaylynn says this with such deadpan that it might sound like she's being sincere at first. Really it's the way her eyes crinkle up as if she were smirking that gives it away. Normal side or not, Kaylynn reaches out to give Flicker's hand a firm shake. "And a pleasure to meet y'all as well." She finally takes the glass of juice now and brings it to her lips for a sip....and seems to like it. "This tastes as amazing as it looks!" There's a brilliant smile for the woman before her expression turns just a hint more sly. "Darling, where I come from we play with guns for stress relief...unfortunately that's not so easy here. Chocolate's about all I need though." "Well. I think I'll stick with Colbert for my truthiness for now." Melinda steps away from the counter and nods her hair to the pair. "I have some work to do in the back. I will leave you two to your juices." Melinda lifts a hand and waves, wetting her lips before noting to Flicker, "I... may bring Tola by to see her father tomorrow. May have some free time. When are you off?" Flicker's scarred hand shakes Kaylynn's firmly, his smile bright and eyes brighter at her reply. "Oh /gosh/, yeah, you've found it. Better than Wikipedia if I need to find information. -- Oh, tomorrow?" He purses his lips briefly in thought. "I'm free all daytime. I got stuck with the swing shift all the rest of the week." He takes a gulp of his juice, his eyes crinkling up in pleasure as well. "This /is/ excellent, Mel. Thank you." Brows quirk upward at Kaylynn. "Chocolate -- definitely a /kinder/ stress relief. Where do you come from?" "Thank you again!" Kaylynn dips her head in return towards Mel and offers the woman a smile. She takes another sip of juice afterwards, smiling at the taste. It really is good! "Texas. And before you ask...yes, I have ridden a horse to school but just once and there was a good reason for it." There corners of her lips move upwards in a smirk and there's a bit of nostalgia in her features. Oh those were the good old days! "Okay. I'll definitely see you then. You two have a nice evening." The cafe manager peels herself away from the counter and heads to the back of the shop, leaving only the curly headed staffer to work the register. Flicker hides a chuckle behind the lip of his glass. "I don't doubt there was. Guns and horses. Sounds like a party." His smile is crooked as he takes another sip, lowering the glass afterwards. "Utah, here. We're not too far removed from guns and horses, either. Though I never rode one /to/ school -- at least not," he admits with a touch of amusement, "till I moved /to/ New York." "To guns and horses!" Kaylynn lets out a small laugh and raises her glass. "Just pretend it's whiskey in this or something." Her eyebrows raise a touch at his next words however, and soon the chocolatier's head is tilting to the side curiously. "Now /that/ sounds interesting. Riding a horse to school in New York of all places!" Flicker raises his glass as well, though with a small blush darkening his cheeks faintly red. He takes another sip afterwards, leaning back once more against the counter. "Oh, it's less interesting than it sounds. I didn't go to high school /in/ the city. It was kind of -- out. In the -- upstate. But. Horses. How long have you been /here/? Kinda starts to feel like there's no New Yorkers /from/ New York, sometimes." "About a year maybe, probably a bit less...not that I've gotten out much. Friend of my grandfather called me up here to help out with his shop right before he retired. I've barely seen anything but the four walls of a kitchen since I got here honestly." Kaylynn shakes her head, sounding rather happy despite the 'complaining'. "Well upstate or not, riding a horse to school probably gave you a taste of home. That's good sometimes, especially when it's so far away." "Kitchen -- you cook?" Flicker drains the last of his drink, looking slightly disappointed as he tips the rest of the juice down. "Cafe hours can be pretty brutal, I know. Kinda a shame -- maybe not much by way of guns or horses but there's still a lot of really interesting /New York/ to see. Where's your shop?" "Er....not exactly." Kaylynn's eyes slide to the side for a moment and she wrinkles her nose. "I can't make any /real/ food, dinner items and all that. But," And now her expression brightens as she glances back, "I do make chocolate. It's called Au Petit Chocolatier and it's not too far from here. You should drop by sometime!" And here she pulls a business card out of her purse with an address. "And if you're looking for an occasional alternative to all that medication you carry around, I can help with that too." Whatever that means! "Oh, man, /chocolate/." Flicker's eyes light, a small bounce in his posture as he looks over the card. His smile is all the brighter when he pockets it. "I will /definitely/ be stopping by." He gives a bright smile to Kaylynn before he turns for the door. "It was great to meet you. I guess I'll see you around, then. Stock up on my sweets." His colorfully decorated hand lifts, waving somewhat stiffly. "Have a good evening!" "Great!" Kaylynn grins, and as he heads for the door she lifts a hand to tip an invisible hat in his direction. "It was a pleasure to meet you as well. Take care now!" And with a final little wave, the Texan's eyes are back on that juice. It's just so darn good!