ArchivedLogs:Indecent Proposal

Indecent Proposal
Dramatis Personae Luke Cage, Felix, Hanna
In Absentia	2013-05-20 Different reasons to visit the bakery, tasks completed, Luke makes an indecent proposal?
Location <NYC> Happy Cakes Bakery - TriBeCa
Happy Cakes Bakery is a cheery little spot of vintage charm amidst the hustle and bustle of the Manhattan neighborhood, a refurbished pair of row homes that hardly resemble their previous selves - the front walls are almost entirely gleaming glass, with the logo of the bakery painted onto the top, and rainbows of cupcakes dancing along the edges. Eclectically styled, it seems homey and welcoming - if the cross stitched sign by the door wasn't obvious enough - "All are Welcome!" it reads, with the "All" underlined in a sparkling bubble gum pink and yellow dotted line, with the logo of the bakery, a cheery smiling pink and white cupcake, beneath the lettering. Once inside, the walls of the combination bakery and coffee shop are covered in crisp clean white ceramic tile, with the occasional randomly placed tile with an color engraving of a tropical flower, or tile made of reclaimed China. Ambient music reminiscent of the Big Band era plays through the shop, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to make conversation difficult. Tables and chairs in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles fill one side of the room, none of them quite matching each other, but all of them seeming to work together. The other side of the shop is a long series of gleaming glass and chrome bakery displays, filled with colorful sweets and treats of every description. To one end of the counter is a gleaming chrome espresso machine with far more tubes and bobbles than is really necessary, but producing excellent espresso beverages. At the other end is the old style cash register, a chrome and cherry wood relic from a bygone age that dings cheerily with each sale. The wall behind the counter is covered in photos of a tropical island, as well as a pair of shops that look like a smaller version of this one, several including a pair of dark haired women. Luke looks lost. Like, L-O-S-T lost, to be in a place as shiny, and rainbow-y as this. He's in an expensive looking suit, and is standing outside for a fair amount of time, glancing from his smartphone, back up to the sign on the window. Back and forth. A couple times. Finally he sighs, lowers his head and pushes the door open. Inside, he finds it smells like the place looks on the outside, but he's on a mission. He's fought dogs, punched bullets, and broken down concrete walls to defend justice and freedom. He's damn well gonna be able to pick up some cupcakes for his momma. He slips his phone into the pocket of his expensive slacks, flexes his hands once, twice, steps up to the counter and takes a number. He glances around again, taking in the bustling lunchtime crowd, and just sighs. Tug tug. With all the people in here, Cage is prone to ignore a bit of bumping, but then the tugging repeats, and is followed by a tiny, "Excuse me..." Cage looks down and makes eye contact with a smallish African-American boy, maybe 10 years old. The boy looks up at his mom, responsible for holding his other hand, and says, "SEE? I told you it was him!" The mom looks like she wants to apologize, but Luke just smiles at her, and then squats down amidst all these people to be /almost/ eye level with the kid. Luke pushes his sunglasses up onto his bald head and says, "Hey kid, how's it goin?" No preamble, the kid just pulls a folded up piece of newspaper from his back pocket, the one where Cage made the front page. "Will you sign this for me?" Cage glances up to smile at the mom, checking with her first, and then he goes ahead and signs the kid's paper. Then he gently offers an enormous fist for the kid to fist-bump, and says, "You stay outta trouble now, ok?" Luke stands again and the mom and boy move off a bit, waiting for their number. As Felix enters the establishment a few minutes behind Cage, it is obvious that this is his first time at the bakery. His t-shirt proclaims 'Math Geek', with a big arrow above pointing up, and the symbol for pi under. In one hand he holds his sport coat, which is slung over one shoulder, and in the other hand he is carrying a book, 'Beginners Guide to Parenting'. It does not look like he is terribly thrilled to see that the place is packed full of people, but then it is the city. He makes his way through the crowd of people, making sure to pass all the glass display cases, looking slowing at all the goodies, eventually managing to get to the tickets. Well, what an unusual coincidence, "Luke! Funny bumping into you again." he says as he notices the big man standing nearby. Apparently the entire city of New York needed a baked good pick-me-up for lunch on this lovely, if overcast, Monday afternoon. You won't see Hanna, the proprietess of Happy Cakes, complaining about the crowd, and she is quite gleefully taking it in stride as she bounces about behind the counter. She is wearing a lime green silk wiggle dress that hugs her curves as though it were tailored just for her, edged in neon pink piping, with a colorful hibiscus flower painted just above the knee length hemline, paired with sensible, if gaudy, bubble gum pink flats. Unable to give her normal cheery greeting to arriving customers, she glances up and flashes a brilliant smile to newcomers, before going back to filling orders for baked goods and sweet treats at a record splitting pace. Jayna, the barista at the coffee shop, is preparing drinks at blinding speeds, keeping pace with Hanna's delivery of baked goods. The young woman has earthy brown skin, but her hair, curently coiled atop her hair and held in place with two long flower topped hair sticks, is a fresh sapling green, dotted occasionally with tiny white and pink flowers. As the line dwindles down until it is just Luke and Felix remaining, Hanna takes a moment to catch her breath, before greeting the two men, "Hi. Welcome to Happy Cakes, and thank you so much for your patience. What can I get for you?" Jayna, now in a break from prepping coffee, has wheeled a large multi level pastry rack out from the back, and pushes it over to wait for Hanna to restock the cases. "Heya, Doc, good to see ya." Luke flashes a brilliant smile, and offers the smaller man a vigorous, not-quite-injury inducing handshake. "Good to see ya." he says again. Luke is kind of an intense eye-contact kind of guy, and apparently hasn't taken in the title of Felix's book yet. He probably had more to say, but the place has finally opened up a bit, and Luke looks up to see its his turn. Blinking, Luke takes in the bright colors, the beautiful women behind the counter, and he literally skips a beat. He blinks, and finally gets it together, but he's a fairly transparent ladies' man. Its not like he's /oggling/ or anything, but he /is/ a dude. "No patience required. It's nice to see a local business jumping like this." Luke offers his winning smile in turn to Hanna, and then Jayna, and says, "Well, my mom read that review of your place in the Times, and she's been dying to get over here, but she doesn't get around so good anymore. I wanted to surprise her with a six pack of, you know, cupcakes or something?" He definitely ends up less sure than when he started, not at all clear on how one orders cupcakes at a store. Then he sniffs the air, "But, you do have coffee too, right?" As Felix accepts the handshake that has been offered, "What brings you here today?" His question is answered when Luke places his order. Taking a moment to look at the baked goods again he waits for Luke to place his order. Hanna offers a gentle smile to Luke, "Oh aren't you just a darling, taking care of your mother like that. Lemme grab a box for you, and you can pick out what kind you want. Or I can offer suggestions, if you'd rather." With that, the bubbly woman ducks into the back, returning with a pristine white box, divided internally to perfectly fit six cupcakes without mushing the icing abotu. "Now, we've got a few varieties of chocolate, dark, traditional, and white, as well as red velvet. Vanilla is good, and I've still got a few lavender lemon curd cupcakes, if you think she'd like something a bit different. Or, we've got some cherry's and cream cupcakes, too. And Jayna prides herself on her coffee prowess, so once you let me know what you want from here, she'll get you settled with something to suit your tastes." Noticing Felix, she bobs her head in greeting, "If you wanted any kind of drink, Jayna can get started on that for you, then you can pick out a pastry. We're flexible." Luke wraps a thickly muscled arm around Felix's narrow shoulders, apparently the gregarious type to instantly be everyone's friend. "My name's Luke, this is my friend Felix." Ok, they met /once/, but this is how Luke Cage does things. Also, Best Wingman Ever. He releases Felix, and steps up to look more closely at the pastries behind glass. Absently, he points at Jayna and then Hanna and says, "Ok, you're Jayna, so that must make you Hanna, right?" Apparently Luke is slightly derailed from the cupcakes right now, and he also has revealed his reading of the Times review. Not just just his mom. He's probably going to need help getting back on track with his order. Noting that Hanna greeted him, Felix nods his head to her in return. Upon having that big arm embrace his shoulders, Felix looks really uncomfortable and wiggles a bit. But, that big arm does not seem to budge easy, so he noticeably forces himself to just deal with it. He looks ready to place his order, but politely waits for Luke, not that he is about to go anywhere at the moment anyway. Felix remembers seeing Hanna at the Evolve Coffee shop not long ago, so while he recognizes her, he is unsure if the opposite is true. "Hi Hanna." he tries to produce a wave, but that big arm prevents him from lifting his own from anything but the elbow, making his effort seem more comical then anything else. Hanna offers a patient smile to Luke, trying not to snicker at the large man dwarfing the math geek that is Felix, although her eyes betray her, flashing a touch more gold as she smiles, still holding the neat little white box, "Yes, I'm Hanna. It is lovely to meet you, Luke. I am glad that you are willing to give us a chance to brighten your day," she then pauses an looks towards Felix, "Ah, hm, I believe, I've met you, yes? At the coffee shop? Horribly rainy day, that was. Nice to see you again, Felix. I'll be with you in just a moment, as soon as I get your friend Luke's cupcakes sorted out." She then turns her attention back to Luke, a brilliant smile on her face, "Now, what sort of cupcakes can I pull out of the case for you? Our variety is pretty daunting, but that just means coming back for more is always an adventure. I usually suggest starting with the chocolate and vanilla, since they are the old standards, then moving up towards the more adventurous stuff, like the cherries and cream, and lavender lemon." Luke snaps his fingers as Hanna reminds him about his order. "Oh right! Thanks. Ok, lets see here - you know, this is really not my area of.... expertise. But mom liked the sound of some of that less standard kind of stuff. Can you give me a random scattering of the oddball flavors?" 'Oddball' might have sounded less complimentary from someone else, but he seems to mean it as a compliment. He hooks a thumb at Felix as well. "His order is on me as well, ok?" Felix is relieved that Luke does not keep his arm around his shoulders for very long. "Yes, Evolve, thats right." he says to Hanna with a smile, glad to see that she has remembered. He looks back to Luke, and up a bit, at the mention of covering his bill, though unsure at first, but then he just shrugs. If Luke wants to pay for his goodies, why should he argue. Felix steps up to the counter, " I will have a coffee, black, one cherrie's an cream, one lavender lemon, please. And, uh, do you have any Russian pastries?", which reminds those present that he speaks with a light, but obvious Russian accent. "If not any other four will do. Also one of the red velvet to eat here, please." There's a hearty chuckle from Hanna as Luke finally remembers his original purpose for coming to the bakery, and offers a nod, quickly going around and selecting the 'oddball' cupcakes for him, "Ok. We've got a cherries and cream, a lavender lemon, fresh blueberries with vanilla cream, cinnamon chocolate, vanilla passion fruit, and finally, a vegan keylime cupcake. That sounds like a good oddball mix?" She tilts her head slightly to the side, offering a curious smile, at the offer to pay for Felix's order as well. She turns to Felix with another award winning smile, and asks, "Alrighty, and for you, two cupcakes boxed up to go, and one on a plate? I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with Russian pastries, so I don't have any on the shelves right now. I can try to make some for a later date, if you're interested - I just need to know what sort of things you would like." As she apologizes about the lack of Russian treats, she is pulling four other pastries from the case, gently boxing them up together - an eclair, a chocolate and cream tart, as well a berry cream cup, and a personal sized, self contained miniature layer cake of some variety. She boxes both orders up, tying them neatly with a colorful bow that doubles as a handle, and hands them over. The requested red velvet cupcake is set atop the counter for Felix to take, situated on a colorfully patterned China plate. Jayna has already gotten Felix's coffee ready, setting it on the counter in a darling little China cup, with a mismatched saucer. Her attention turns back to Luke, "And you, sir? Care to sample something from the case? since you're being so kind, and getting cupcakes for your mom, you can pick something out on me." She smiles cheerily, waiting patiently for Luke to make his request from the plethora of pastry. Luke's eyebrows go up and it becomes clear he hadn't considered the idea of getting something for himself. "Well sure, maybe I will. First," He smiles at Jayna and nods, "Just regular coffee, thanks, but with plenty of room for me to add stuff. I'm kinda picky." He turns back to the cakes counter and doesn't see it, so finally asks, "Did you have a... something with with peanut butter and chocolate?" Realizing that he is about two hands short, Felix puts his coat on, at least temporarily. He takes the coffee in one hand and the plate in the other, using his pinky finger to pick up the boxes with the nice loop on the top. As he reaches for the drink, the word 'Penny' can be seen scribbled on the back of his hand in childish looking handwriting, the ink is only a few days faded. He does wait for Luke to get his order, looking around to see if there are any empty tables to sit at. Watching Felix struggle with the handfulls, Hanna shakes her head, trying to take back the box that Felix is trying to juggle, "Felix - I can carry that to the table if you want... it'll make it a bit easier than just trying to go all Cirque du Soliel on us and juggle everything." Jayna nods quietly to Luke, and sets about preparing his coffee for him, leaving ample room for sugar or creamer, or whatever. That too is set on the counter so that Luke can take it to prepare as he would like. Thankfully, the shop has calmed down following the lunch rush, and there are once again tables available for people to take and relax. "we've got a nice dark chocolate brownie with peanut butter fudge marbled through the top layer so it gets nice and gooey," Hanna tells Luke with a smile, plating said confection onto a different style of China plate and offering it to him. "You guys can go grab a seat, we'll bring over the boxes in just a moment." The word scrawled on the back of Felix's hand gets a curious head tilt from Hanna, and she opens her mouth as though to say something, but then pauses, and shakes her head. Luke's eyes brighten as Hanna describes the brownie. Then he walks to the coffee, and proceeds to add WAY too much creamer or sugar than could possibly be healthy. With that in one hand, and everything else being taken to the table for the guys, Luke offers Felix a fist-bump. "Hey, two dudes having cupcakes together at lunch time. Nothing wrong with that." Luke chuckles, not /actually/ concerned about how this might reflect on his, or anyone else's manliness. Apparently he's just aware of the image he must cut. When the brownie makes it to the table, Luke takes a seat carefully, as if he's used to chairs giving way beneath him, and just stares at the dessert for a moment. "Hanna... you probably get this a lot, but will you marry me?" He still hasn't looked away from the brownie. He MAY have actually been proposing to the brownie. It's hard to tell. Felix sets the boxes back down on the counter, realizing that he is indeed trying to carry to much. "Thank you, that would help." When Hanna takes notice of the word 'Penny', it seems to remind him that he had another reason to stop in. He sets down his coffee and cake plate, then reaches into one of his jacket pockets and produces a prepaid credit card, on the back of the card is his name and a phone number, "I almost forgot, this is for Penny. Call me if it needs to be recharged," the card is good for $100. He turns to Luke when offered a fist-bump, and though he does not seem all that familiar with this ritual, he makes an attempt at it, looking comical in the process once again. School nerd, go figure. Felix does not look like he as a problem being seen here partaking of all this sweet goodness. He does look a bit shocked when Luke proposes to Hanna, or at least that is the way he will see it, as his eyes dart back and forth between Hanna and Luke wondering if he missed something. Hanna looks a bit perplexed at the rechargable that Felix is offering her, mouthing the word "Penny" in confusion for a long moment, gingerly reaching out to accept the card, "Penny? I..." she fidgets with the card for a moment, concentrating, it seems, before offering, hesitantly, "Penance? Sweet girl, can't speak, that I know of, sort of spikey and red? If so, alright, I'll put it towards her orders. I had just been planning on letting her have what she wanted, anyway. On the house. If you want the card back knowing that, it's ok." She smiles at the kind man, a bit confused about how he knew the young girl, her eyes having shifted to a sort of warm hazel brown as she speaks. As she brings the boxed up baked goods to the table, Hanna smiles, "Enjoy your food. If you need anything else, let me or Jayna know." She raises a well groomed eyebrow at Luke's question, although her charming smile never falters. After a moment, she chuckles, patting the large man on the shoulder and shaking her head, "Sorry sweetie, you're not quite my type. But I appreciate the offer, and hope it doesn't effect the enjoyment of the brownie." She shoots a glance back over her shoulder to where Jayna is just shaking in silent laughter at the scene. Unless she's asked to stay, she will go back to the counter to continue cleaning up after the lunch rush. Luke watches the gift card exchange with some curiosity, but doesn't comment. Then looks back at Hanna finally, grinning, "Oh, I don't think I'll have any trouble enjoying this. I figured someone snagged you up already." He winks and shrugs, forks himself an enormous (or just Cage-sized) bite of brownie and puts it in his mouth. He chews, and in moments, his eyes roll back in his head, and he just stops chewing, holding the bite in his mouth. "Mmhm." This is followed by various positive sounding grunts and noises. This man is having an Experience. Picking his coffee and cupcake back up, "Yes, Penance, the same.", Felix says with a big smile that is beaming with pride all of the sudden. "You might say she adopted me." Glancing to the book that is now tucked under his arm. Then he waives off the offer to have the card returned. "You have a business to run." It is not hard to tell that he is one to support the local, and usually small, business establishments. He follows Hanna and Luke over to one of the tables, "Thank you again for the assistance." Then he takes a seat as he is watching Luke, who is apparently already having a 'food orgasm' in his mouth, and smiles, "They really are good.” Felix will offer Hanna a chair, observing that she may want to speak more about Penny. He will then take a bite of his cup cake, and savor it, but not with the same amount of enthusiasm that Luke is showing, then follow it up with a sip of his coffee. Hanna looks around the cafe to make sure that the lunch rush has subsided, and then accepts the chair that Felix offers, settling into the seat with lady-like grace. "Thank you," Hanna says, with a cheery smile. She quirks an eyebrow at Cage's reaction to the brownie, chuckling slightly and shaking her head, "Well, I am quite glad to see that you, ah, are still able to enjoy the brownie so readily." Hanna smiles gently to Felix, "So, you know the girl, Pennance? She had just given us her full name, I wasn't aware she had a nickname. She wandered in the other night, and, poor thing, I just wanted to hug her and give her goodies. Ill advised though that likely would be, given her condition." As she explains, her eyes shift to a sort of mottled deep blue, and she falls quiet. Luke chews and swallows, tapping the table while he does, before downing a swig of hot coffee. "/That/, Ms. Hanna, is /outstanding/. The best brownie I've ever had. However, you can't tell my mom I said that. Which is important, because I'm sure you two will have to meet before the wedding." Wait, didn't she turn him down? Ah, there's the smirk, and the wink. All in good fun. "So how long have you been running this shop, Hanna?" "Yes, I happened upon her in Central Park the other day. Ran off a bunch of kids that were harassing her." Felix frowns for a moment, then begins to smile at his next though. "Since then we have kind of adopted each other. She asked me to call her Penny." He watches as Hanna's eyes change color, intrigued at this phenomenon. After another moment, as though he realizes he is starting to stare, he looks over to Luke, still not quite sure about this whole marriage proposal thing. "Oh, sweetie," Hanna says, patting Luke's sizable arm as she does, "I promise I won't tell your mom you said that. But, trust me, when you find that special someone, I will happily make the cake for your big day. But that special someone isn't me, although I am quite flatered." She offers him a cheery smile, none the less, her eyes flashing back to a cheery golden brown as she does so, "I just opened this shop up about two months ago, now. But before that, I'd had a shop beside my mom's cafe for going on nearly a decade." Regarding Penny, Hanna nods to Felix, "That was quite kind of you to do that. She is a darling," She smiles as Jayna brings over a cup of coffee for her, as well as a plate of cookies, her eyes sparkling for a moment. Nibbling on one of the tea cookies, she smiles, "I'm glad she has a family, of whatever kind. Let me know if you need anything, I'm happy to offer help where needed. Even if that just means baked goods. She's quite fond of the minty chocolate shakes Jayna makes." Cage nods, taking in the glances and the eye-sparkling, and winks at Hanna. /NOW/ everything makes sense. Why /else/ would a woman not be interested in /Luke Cage/? Can't think of a reason, nope. He moves on, playing it /cool/. "Well yeah, actually Penny's been making friends all over town. She had the guts to come all the way downtown to my office. Gotta give her credit for that. She's got spunk, and nice folks like you all watching her back. Things can only go up from there." "I am really fond of her." The smile on Felix's face broadens at the mention of family. "You can do one thing for us. Stay in business so we always have a place to go." He has another bite of the cupcake followed by a sip of coffee. Contently leaning back into his chair, he watches as the plate of cookies arrives, and looks between the cookies and his cupcake. At the mention of Penny going downtown, his attention moves again to Luke and he is obviously curious as to why she was there. "I do not think you ever mentioned what you do Luke?" Hanna snorts at the look on Luke's face, grinning slightly at the realization waving off of him at that point. "If either of you would like a cookie, please, help yourselves. I'm just snacky - I didn't get much of a chance to eat lunch since the huge crowd apparently decided to skip lunch for sugary sweets." She smiles at the mention of Penny getting around town, "I'm glad she's able to get around town. She seems to have gone quite far since I first met her - she was a bit, ah, twitchy, and very nervous when she was in here. Was decidedly curious about Corey, who was in here at the same time." Hana takes a moment to sip her coffee, and nibble on one of the cookies, smiling pleasantly, sitting back and letting the other two converse. "Yeah, she seems like a good kid," Cage says, leaning forward to add a cookie to his ridiculous lunch pile. Sitting back he says, "Oh, and since the trial and all, I opened up a P.I. service. Hire out as a bodyguard sometimes too. Here..." Luke reaches into his jacket pocket and produces a couple of business cards proclaiming him to be the owner of Hero for Hire, at an office off of Times Square. "It keeps me busy, in between mutant-rights marches, you know?" The famousest of mutants smiles and shrugs. Everyone knows, why not say it? Recognizing the new name, Felix turns to Hanna. "Corey? The same one that was at Evolve the other day?" Reaching for the cooking plate at about the same time as Luke, he pauses and waits for his turn to take a cookie and places it on the plate next to his cupcake. "Oh, Yes, thats right, you did say that at the bookstore the other day." Apparently Felix can be somewhat forgetful. He takes one of the cards and puts it in his pocket, maybe this time he will remember. "Bodyguard and P.I., thats interesting. Sounds like that really works for you." "Impressive. A P.I. and a Bodygaurd," Hanna says to Cage, smiling slightly and regarding his card, "Mind if I take one? I keep having people come in looking for missing people, for some reason. I'll pass your card along to the next group who comes in. And do me a favor - let me know when the next march is - I'll gladly walk. And donate baked goods." She frowns, looking a bit concerned at that thought, her eyes fading to a matte brown, "Anyway. Yes, Corey was the young man from Evolve that evening. Quite charming, he's been in a few times since then. I sadly don't get out to mingle with people as much as I would like." She shrugs, glancing around the shop, "Well, not too sadly." Luke listens noncommittally to the talk about this 'Corey' person, but apparently he doesn't know the guy. Then he shrugs about the compliments regarding his profession. "Yeah, well, I barely got any schooling on the inside, you know? And I'm a little old to go back now. So yeah. Like mom says, do what you know." He shrugs and wolfs down just about his whole cookie in one bite, and chases it with his cooling coffee. "You're on, for the next march though. You're coming too, right Felix? It's just, there's still a small number of us out there, right, so we have to stick together while we can. Its like every other movement this country has been through." Cage SHH, your brains are showing! "Some of us are doing stuff that makes us all look bad. Some of us are trying to make it better for everyone." He shrugs. "We'll get there." Felix smiles, "Corey is a really nice fellow, he has a good relationship with Penny as I understand it." He finishes up what is left of his cupcake and follows up with a drink of his coffee. "It is good to get away from work every now and then. I go to Evolve often, if you ever want to meet there ." Reaching into his pocket he pulls out a business card, wait that is Cages card, out of his other pocket he produces his own business card and offers it to her. It does not look like he is intending to solicit a date, just offer her some company. Turning to Luke at the mention of going to the march, "I, umm, am not sure. I am not big on crowds, or standing out. How about you put me down as a maybe." Hanna chuckles, "I'm sort of a bit of a fail mutant. I seem to have gotten a minimal expression of it - my eyes change colors." She shrugs and points up at her eyes, which are now back to a cheery coffee and gold color, "No control over it at all. Just completely betrays my mood on a whim." She shakes her head, "Never the less, I try and make this place an accessible and welcoming place to all, no matter their status. And I would like to push for there to be more acceptance and equality." The bubbly baker looks over to Jayna, who has started cleaning the espresso machine in the after lunch lull, a cheery humming coming from the dryad. She accepts the card from Felix, tucking it away somewhere beside Cage's card, nodding, "I intend to get over to Evolve some time soon. It was a pleasant place." "Hey," Luke says gently, leaning forward, suddenly slightly serious. He gently puts his palm flat on the table between he and Hanna for emphasis. He glances over at Felix briefly, still not sure what his thing may be, but his focus is all on Hanna for now. Smiling, he says, "Theres no such things as 'fail' mutants, ok? I know you're just kidding and all, but we gotta embrace positive language first." Somebody embraced social justice studies in prison! He jerks his other thumb over his shoulder in a non-distinct direction, "Or /they/ never will." "I think you have done a fine job making this place feel welcoming." Felix seems is pondering if he should dunk his cookie in his coffee or try it the way it is first, when the Luke leans forward looking serious, Felix sits back. Paying closer attention to what is being said, and nodding in agreement he is otherwise quiet right now. Hanna is actually a bit startled by Luke's reaction to her self depricating humor, and her eyes flash an acidic yellow green in response. She takes a deep breath, and shakes her head, closing her eyes momentarily, before opening them to reveal themselves returned to their "natural" color. "Fair enough, I can see that line of resoning. I will avoid referring to myself in that way, and would never dream of calling someone else that," Hanna says, bowing her head slightly in apology, "I am sorry to have mispoken so. I, ah, believe the words came out a bit wrong." She takes another small jam tart from the cookie plate, nibbling on it idly, before washing it down with a sip of her own coffee. Luke sighs and sits back, "Shoot, I'm sorry. I get like that some times. Ain't my place to preach nothin, that's for sure." He laughs and holds up his hands, "My bad. Spoilin the mood in here. Sorry guys." He waves his hand in the air as if that will clear it of his own faux pas, and smiles, asking, "So how long you and Jayna been together?" Yep, good job making it /less/ awkward. Felix has dunked the cookie into his coffee, distracted, he just did what was natural. As he realizes that he has been sitting there holding the it in the coffee, he looks down at his hands and then takes a quick bite. He feels a bit more relaxed when Luke lightens up. But, then he really looks perplexed at the mention of Hanna and Jeyna as a couple. "Wait I though you wanted..." he is looking at Luke, "but you knew... " All he can do is look down and shake his head in confusion. "I had no idea." Felix really is oblivious to some things, maybe it is because he is a nerdy intellectual, maybe it is because he is a foreigner, even though he has been here many years. At Luke's question, Hanna's cafe au lait colored cheeks darken to a warm red, the pinky tone continuing into her eyes as she glances furtively between Jayna and some point on the table near the cookies. Apparently, this is what happens when someone catches her off guard. "I, we..." the usually out spoken woman seems a bit tongue tied, the sense of heat and fluster seeming to spread momentarily outward, although that could just be social awkwardness at someone else's discomfort. She again closes her eyes and settles herself with a deep breath, although her eyes still remain a cherry pink color when she opens them, "Jayna and I are not currently a coupe, sir. Once upon a... yes, but, our only relationship at this time is that of good friends and co-workers." The blush coloring Hanna's cheeks, and the stifled laugh from over near the esspresso bar, indicates that it may not be the whole story, but it is about all that is going to be said on the matter. "So, enjoying the cookies? Would you like a refil of you coffees?" Hanna asks, back to business as a welcome distraction. Luke leans over to respond to Felix in pseudo-confidence, "I'm not completely blind, man, I mean..." And then Hanna looks so embarrassed and Luke feels like a jerk. "Oh geez, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- I just- You two look so great together." He shakes his head and raises his coffee to finish it off. "I'll take you up on that refill though." He raises his volume for comedic effect, "Purely Platonic Friend Jayna, may I have a refill please?" Quietly again he says, "I really have a knack for sticking my foot in my mouth, don't I? You'd /think/ feet this size, it would be harder to do, right?" "Cookies are great." Felix looks back up at the two with a sleigh blush of his own. "No refill for me, but thank you. I should probably be going soon. He does not seem to have a problem with the contents of the conversation, more his inability to see things. Looking at Luke when he makes the first comment, "You really have no filter Luke.", then Felix lets out a little laugh at the comment about foot in mouth. "It's fine, Luke, really. You aren't the first to ask that, nor will you be the last. It just," she pauses, standing up and straightening her dress as she does, "Caught me a bit off guard. That's all. I apologize for my, ah, reaction." She returns to her cheery smile, her eyes having returned to a warmer brown, tinged ever so slightly with gold. "I'll be right over with that refil, sir. I, unfortunately, need to step out of the conversation, and go get things settled and ready for the after work rush. If you'll excuse me." Hanna curtseys politely, smiling warmly, "I am not rushing you out, just needing to get back to work before Jayna starts throwing coffee beans at my head." A buzzing inside Luke's jacket pocket leads to him pulling out his phone and having a look. A look of total relief comes over his face - escape! "Of course, Hanna, I understand. And it looks like I'm needed back at the office anyway. Jayna, any chance I could get that in a to-go cup?" He stands up to go, gathers up the box for his mom, and turns to Felix. "You should come by the office some time, Felix. You've got my card. Take care, all!"