ArchivedLogs:Fallback Plans

Fallback Plans
Dramatis Personae Rasa, Micah
In Absentia	31 January 2015 '
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to plentiful artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. After a week of threatening snow storms and another potential city closing storm on the horizon, some are making use of the dance floor to burn off the cabin fever between bouts. Rasa is one of them. Hot and a teensy bit sweaty, ze is making hir way down the stairs back to the coffee shop to take a bit of a break, heading right for the register to order an iced coffee and a large glass of water, the latter of which ze drains immediately. Ze leans against the counter as ze waits for the other beverage, slipping a few bills out of a zippered pocket to pay for the beverage. Ze is wearing strappy bondage jeans with a hole cut in the back for hir tail to stick out, with a tight tank top in bright red on top. Hir skin is covered, as is best in these situations, by a black translucent shirt and opera gloves of the same color. Hir skin is pinkened by the exertion of dancing, with whitish flecks that have an iridescent hue, with shocks of cream colored hir puffing out of the top of hir head and the end of hir tail. In entirely the opposite extreme, lounging instead of dancing, Micah is going for cozy-warm where he is curled up in one of the shop's armchairs. He is dressed in layers: Firefly hoodie over black tee (its front image a parchment page with sketches of Toothless and prosthetic designs) over charcoal henley, patchy fleece-lined jeans, and hiking boots. A half-finished mug of chai latte is on hand, along with a plate of rosemary-garlic sweet potato fries that Micah picks at slowly, dragging each one through a puddle of ketchup before munching on it. It doesn't take long for Rasa's order to be filled, as the ice is on hand and the coffee is nicely brewed. The glass is milked with almond and handed over shortly and Rasa accepts it with gratitude. Ze turns in hir empty water vessel and ze grabs a straw before turning to face the rest of the room. Spying Micah, ze makes hir way over, almost sashaying with the dance beats that filter their way downstairs. Ze takes up a seat next to hir friends' father with ease and looks over at his fries for a moment. "Mmmm. That smells good. Need any help eating those?" Lost in thought slowly chewing at a fry, it takes a moment for Micah to look up and another beat for him to recognise Rasa. "Hey!" the greeting comes faster, a little too-fast for the frymush still in his mouth. Blushing faintly, he swallows the mouthful and tries again. "Rasa, how're you? S'always a ton of fries when y'order 'em solo. Help yourself. S'got rosemary an' garlic on if that matters at all." He gestures to the seat across from him with his half-eaten stub of a fry, shoving the plate from in front of him to the middle of the table. "Y'here with a group of folks, or just gettin' out on your own?" Rasa leans forward and captures a few fries in hir fingers, dredging them through the ketchup before popping them in hir mouth. Ze chews quietly before giving a little shrug. "I came alone for the most part but expected to meet up with people here. It's pretty much the only place to go these days, you know. Everyone else seems to have more energy right now. I figured I'd just get some caffeine and fuel. It might help." Ze flashes Micah a smile before reaching out for more. "How about you?" “Jax tends bar on Saturday nights,” Micah explains before popping his half-finished fry is his mouth to be fully-finished. “I usually keep 'im company at least part'a the night 'less there's somethin' else goin' on. S'/busy/ t'day, though. I can be kinda a distraction when he's got orders flyin' left an' right, so I popped down for a snack. Prob'ly gonna head up in a bit an' see if things're less crazy.” He nods along with Rasa's explanation. “Yeah, there was really somethin' /missin'/ durin' the time this place was closed. S'good that Shane an' Aly was able t'get it runnin' again.” "Ahh. Makes sense. What does Spence do while you guys are here?" Rasa munches a few fries, leaning back now. Ze strips the paper off hir straw and sticks it in hir drink. Ze takes a long drink before speaking up again. "Yeah, busyness kind of helps to make the time fly. Must be super boring to just stand around cleaning up and listening to the inebriated as they chat up bartenders. Sure, some of the stories might be entertaining, but most of them are probably... more slurred than not." Ze takes a quick sip then adds. "Yeah. It's nice to dance again." "Sleep, mostly. He's still only nine," Micah explains with a grin. "I usually get 'im t'bed b'fore I follow Jax over. He does have sleepovers with friends sometimes, an' then I might come /with/ Jax." He takes a long drink of his chai before starting to pick at the fries again. "Helps that Jax is one of the bartenders. I mean, I enjoy the people-watchin' in gen'ral. But it's also nice t'watch 'im work sometimes, too." "Kinky." Rasa replies with a laugh. Ze munches a few more fries. "Anyway. Nightlife's good. Get to feel like a normal person, you know." Ze picks off a long leaf of rosemary and nibbles on it quietly. "The school's okay, but sometimes, when it's the only place, then well, I get to feeling trapped. Which is strange now, because now I worry about leaving. But yeah, can't stay a kid forever." Micah's cheeks flare brighter red at that declaration and subsequent laughter, though he chuckles as well. “S'a balance, is why. Not especially strange, far as I parse it, anyhow. S'/nice/ t'have a really safe space. An' the school is that. Losin' havin' that be the default day t'day is terrifyin'. But don't nobody...well, hardly nobody. Want t'be /stuck/ havin' t'stay somewhere, neither. S'good t'have options. Freedom.” He toys a fry through the ketchup in a meandering pattern. “Feel like a normal person.” "Hmm. Yes. Options. Freedom." Rasa laughs softly and shakes hir head. "We'll see how that goes. Twitchy waiting on college entrance letters." Ze takes a long sip of hir coffee, pulling more than a third down this time around, frowning at the liquid. "Where did you go after high school? Where did you apply?" Ze turns hir gaze toward Micah, golden irises taking on a slightly more burnished color as ze studies his face. “Yeah, that process'll make /anybody/ a might twitchy.” Micah finally eats the thoroughly ketchup-laden fry. “There actually ain't a lotta schools that offer the program I went into. So's I only applied at UVA, University of Hartford, an' University of Pittsburgh. The closest ones, y'know? I was in-state at UVA an' got a scholarship, early acceptance an' all there. I mean...Pittsburgh's kinda. Blech. An' Connecticut's just...very...tiny. An' /uniform/ in its population, y'know? UVA's at least up in a part of Virginia that weren't...where I come from. Which was a plus.” He spins his mug in his hands a bit. “Where'd you apply? What're y'lookin' t'study?” "I... don't know. I'm kind of looking into computer sciences because I'm hoping it's a job where I can do it without being seen if I don't want to. Yeah, I'm working on trying to get better at keeping up a standard appearance, but everyone has an off day, you know?" Rasa stirs hir glass with hir straw, watching the ice cubes clink around inside. "I went for some close locations. If I have problems with those applications, I'll maybe try for online classes and find some sort of job in the city." “Hm. Have y'talked t'Dusk 'bout it? He does 'xactly that. Dunno if his version of computer stuff is the computer stuff you're int'rested in, but he'd prob'ly be good for some tips.” Micah leaves off the fries for a bit to sip steadily at his chai before it grows cool. “S'a good plan. Sounds like y'got fallback plans for jobs /and/ for school. S'all...'bout as much as y'can do 'til the letters roll in, right?” "He's where I got the idea. Haven't exactly spoken to him about it, as in taking up the occupation myself. Of course, I haven't been pursuing it specifically until lately, and he's been kind of busy, all things considered." Rasa gives another little shrug and finishes off hir coffee, moving forward to snag another small portion before rising. "I'm trying to be prepared. We'll see how well it works. I'm about due for another round upstairs, so I'll see you up there later, yeah?" “Busy...most certainly has been.” Micah just nods at this. He lifts his mug as the teen starts off. “Prob'ly be up soon as I finish m'drink. Have fun, sugar.”