ArchivedLogs:Hopefully Helpful

Hopefully Helpful
Healing is helpful
Dramatis Personae Corey, Hanna
In Absentia	2013-07-02 We are running out of coffee shops...
Location <NYC> - Busboys and Poets
A quiet, artsy spot nestled away on a side street in East Harlem, Busboys and Poets combines cafe and bookstore in a way a Starbucks tacked on to a Barnes & Noble could never achieve. The food is a solid, multi-national cuisine menu that caters to all kinds of dietary choices, and its fair-trade tea menu is extensive. Its weekend brunch tends to draw a large crowd, but there is ample enough seating both at tables and on its many comfortable armchairs and couches that at other times of the week there is never a wait. The walls are adorned with the work of local artists, and tucked in among and alongside the couches are rows upon rows of books, with a definite slant towards the political and the bohemian. It is raining, in New York city, as it often does in the summer - the nasty, clinging rain, that brings with it no break from the heat or the humidity. Dark is fast approaching, and given the recent climate in the city, and the fact that it is a Tuesday night, very few people are opting to be out and around on the streets. Busboys and Poets has a reasonable crowd for the odd evening, although there are seats still readily available for those who want to sit a spell and enjoy caffeine, food, and conversation. Or solitude - solitude is also on the menu for the evening, if it is desired. A reasonably plush armchair away from the crowd is occupied by a plump woman of vaguely Hawaiian Islander descent, dressed simply in a pair of black jeans and an embroidered white caftan, the cuff and collar edged in a rainbow of tropical flowers. Hanna looks as though she has seen better days - her right arm is held immobile in a standard issue blue sling, her left wrist and hand wrapped in clean white gauze, while smaller bandages stand out beneath the thin fabric of the caftan. Her dark eyes look tired, and she is nervously scanning the room, looking for familiar faces in the unfamiliar location. She occasionally checks her phone, never letting it go from her immobilized hand, while she nervously sips from the cup of coffee, a scone left largely untouched on the table in front of her. Shaking off his umbrella outside before stepping in himself, Corey glances through the book and coffee shop for the woman he is supposed to meet. Wearing a pair of denim shorts and a grey teeshirt, the blonde man is for the most part dampened from the rain that has bypassed his umbrella and his sandals squish a tad as he steps on in more fully. He gives a nod to the young man as he passes by and heads towards the bandaged woman. There is a slight frown as his gaze takes in the entirety of her injuries, and he sighs as he takes a seat instead of acquiring coffee. "Oh no. More trouble at the bakery? Or can I be hopeful that it was something more tame and you slipped in the shower?" Hanna jumps visibly at the creaking sound the door makes, but settles back into her seat when she sees it is just a young man entering. Her dark brown eyes seem to lighten visibly when Corey finally enters and makes his way over towards her, at which point she gestures to a nearby chair which has apparently been reserved for him - not that there are any people who wanted to sit near the damaged looking woman. His question about her state gets a slight chuckle and she shakes her head, "I'm not that clumsy, or that old. And unless there was a baseball bat and broken glass in the shower, I'd be damn impressed if I managed to damage myself that badly in a fall." She takes a pull of her tea, eyes following Isaac curiously for a moment, before turning her attention back to Corey, "The bakery is closed for the week, until I can get the glass for the cases replaced. The "gentlemen" from the community came in after hours on Saturday to persuade me to close up shop. There was... some violence. To say the least." A slight grimace crosses her face at that, and she flexes her bandaged hand after setting the teacup down, "So for the week, the shop is short two of the more amiable hangouts. But at least we were just roughed up, not burned down." Shaking his head again at her words, Corey glances over her wounds again to picture just what it was that happened to her. Thankfully his powers require no thought on his part, the font of life flowing out through him into the surrounding area. "If you need me to I can give Felix a call? I know he's been busy lately, but I don't think he'd mind a short jaunt. Is Jayna alright or had she been at home when it happened?" He leans back in his chair a moment thinking, glancing around to the counter a moment, then back to Hanna. There's a decided sigh from Hanna as Corey sits down in his chair, near enough for her to feel the effects of his presence, her eyes drift shut for a moment. "Jayna was working with me. We had just closed up, but I hadn't locked the door yet. I usually don't, never needed to. They walked in, started talking shit, and it drew Jayna from the back," Hanna explains quietly, her eyes still closed, "The threatened her. I tried to get to her, but one of them swung his bat at me, knocked me into the pastry case. Broke my arm, and I lost count of stitches." She shakes her head, frowning, "Jayna's ok. We think. They choked her. Until she passed out. Sore throat, bruises. She's shaken up, but not badly hurt." She rubs her bandaged hand through her hair, opening her eyes to glance around to see if anyone else was within hearing distance before she speaks the next part, "I didn't want to be a bother. I really didn't. But I was hoping I could get you to make a house call. Felix lives in my building, so I can see about arranging it with him. We're both a bit hesitant to go out right now. Jayna especially." "I thought things had been getting better, and then the terrorist strikes happened," Corey replies morosely. "And I don't mind coming by to visit. It just would take awhile without the assist, not that I mind. I can just grab a sleeping bag and do a enough over night visits and all." Glancing over at the counter again, he gives a slight smile. "Hold on. A conversation this morose requires more caffiene, and probably a cookie or two. I'll be right back and we can start thinking of logistics. It should still work at that range. I think. Maybe." Shrugging he heads over to the counter at that to put in his order. Hanna nods, "Right. Imagine that. Getting coffee, in a coffee shop." She chuckles, and waves Corey over towards the counter, shaking her head. Settling back into her chair again, Hanna seems to have visibly relaxed, looking slightly less exhausted than she had, her eyes closing again momentarily. When she opens them, the irises have shifted towards a warmer golden brown, although the change is difficult to see unless you have been looking her right in the eyes. Experimentally, she breaks a corner off her neglected scone and nibbles on it, almost immediately wrinkling her nose at the baked good. Apparently she has higher standards. Returning to the table with coffee and cookies, Corey pushes the cookies to the center for sharing. "Imagine that indeed. So you and Jayna need the help at least. Do you know anyone else that's been having issues lately? I don't really have my fingers on the pulse of the city as it were." He sips the coffee, then breaks off a piece of the large cookie and dips it into the coffee. "There have been a few scuffles at Mel's place, but for the most part its not so bad. I guess its kinda different situations though." Breaking off another piece of her scone, Hanna tries dunking that into her coffee, although from her furrowed brow, she doesn't hold much stock in it improving the quality of the baked good. "Yeah. I'd appreciate it. Otherwise the broken arm and lacerated wrist are going to take for freaking ever to heal up. I can't bake with one arm, and I'm not /technically/ supposed to lift things with my left hand, either," Hanna explains, waving said bandaged hand dismissively. "Thus far I haven't seen anything to the point of Evolve, yet. I'm sort of a baking target, in that I openly hire mutants and don't keep them in the back room or anything," she shakes her head, pausing to nibble on the scone, "We have had scuffles, I've had to ask people to leave for disturbing the peace, but this was... nasty. They apparently threatened and closed another shop on the same block. Nice young couple owned it - little thrift shop. They were nice guys." Rubbing at the bridge of her nose, Hanna sighs, "I'm too stubborn to close down. That's probably not a good thing." "Unfortunately, there aren't many good options. Security systems would bring cops that would ignore the problem. Hiring guards would just lead to violence between the guards and the jackasses, and bring down cops." Sipping his cup to get out the floaty bits, Corey stares into the dark brew thinking. "Felix and I are somewhat stumped by the problem. We were thinking maybe some kinda social media thing, make it go viral. Kinda a humanize the mutants thing to make people try to make it less an Us vs Them thing." "Melinda and I were discussing that. I've had offers, well, from various people, for protection of the bakery. Including a few rather intimidating mutants," Hanna says quietly, rubbing her arm unconsciously, as though amazed that it wasn't throbbing in pain. "I want to at least offer some sort of feeling of actual safety in the shop, but well, short of hiring security, that's kinda rough." She wrinkles her nose at the thought of the cops, "Uh huh. I had to file a report, out of necessity for the insurance claim. Pretty sure /nothing/ will come of that. Two mutants attacked without provocation? Must be a normal Saturday night." Shaking her head, Hanna sighs, and flops back into her chair, wincing slightly, "I swear, this city is making me cynical already. Good luck humanizing us. They attacked a freaking /bakery/. I was attacked because I will sell baked goods to everyone, regardless of genetic make up." "People like to be assholes. Especially to nice people, since they're less likely to fight back," Corey replies, perhaps from experience. "And its up to you to decide what is best. Intimidating guardians will either keep threats away, or make them up the ante. No guardians and they may come back anyway simply because you are still open." Sighing he breaks the cookies into bite size pieces. "And yeah, this city has something about it that likes to beat the joy and happiness out of people." Hanna nods, "Oh, they can be. Some like to be assholes. Others have perfected it as an artform." She shakes her head and sighs, taking a piece of one of the cookies and dunking it in her coffee, "I refuse to let the city get me down more than it has. Times are tough, and they don't seem to be getting better, but dang it, if ever the city needed some happiness in baked good form, it's now." She takes a deep sip of her coffee, sighing slightly, "As soon as I heal, anyway. Melinda is going to help me clean up all the glass and icing. And blood. Can't open with the amount of blood I left all over the place." There's a little bit of a wince, "Thanks for coming out and talking to me. I do appreciate it. And it's kind of nice not being able to feel the stitches pull every time I move." "Let me know when you're planning on doing the clean up and I can see about swinging by as well. Hopefully you'll be all better before that point," Corey says with a pointed look. "And if you want I can spend a few nights over even without the boost. Its better than nothing after all, and you wont have as many questions from a doctor about suddenly being out of a cast. Being out in three weeks is one thing. Being out the next day? Questions, etcetera. Mind you, certain docs wouldn't be so bad for it. Theres a nice one who works at the Clinic now and then, at least before the clinic asked mutants not to show up." "Doctor Saavedro?" Hanna asks at mention of the doctor, keeping her voice quiet, "I've met him once. Need to find his card - the hospital refused to let Jayna back with me, when I went in for stitches." She grimaces and shakes her head, "I would appreciate the sleep over possibility. I mean that in the most platonic way possible. I am worried that Jayna is hurt worse than she is saying, but honestly, not much I can do to help her, and most doctors won't even look at her." She nods slowly, "I'll let you know when we get the cleanup going. We just ordered the replacement glass for the case today, so it should be in soon - rush order. Cleanup will happen just before that - so I've got a few days still. Hopefully I'm a bit less broken at that point." "Yeah that's the name. Nice fellow. He was the one who did my blood work for me." Corey gives a nod at that, and looks at the now empty cookie resting place. "Well, all I need is a sleeping bag and I'll be fine. I don't get the whole back and neck pain from sleeping on floors really." He gives a little smile at that and finishes off his coffee. "If you want to start tonight I can see about swinging back by my apartment and get it. Faster you get better and all." Having finished off her coffee and scone, as well as pat of Corey's cookie, Hanna starts stacking the plates and mugs gently on top of each other, grimacing slightly at the prospect of moving, especially moving away from the comfort that comes from Corey's presence. Slowly, she rises to her feet, leaning heavily on the chair for a moment to steady herself, "To be honest, I would appreciate it if you could. I've got so many injuries, I'm pretty sure my body is playing rock-paper-scissors in order to figure out what to handle first." She wrinkles her nose, shrugging slightly and stretching, after having been sitting for so long, "You know our appartment number at the Lofts? Just go ahead and buzz us - I'll let you in. And if you want, I think I have an air mattress - you may not get cramps from sleeping on the floor, but that doesn't make it comfortable. At the very least, the air mattress will add a bit of cusioning." She looks at Corey with a decidedly mom-like concern, attempting to cross her arms over her chest, and of course failing due to the sling. "I really do appreciate it. I'll see you in a bit?" Hanna confirms, starting to walk towards the counter, he movements stiff from sitting for so long. "Yeah, should be there in a half hour or so give or take traffic and cabs. And really I don't mind that much. I can set up the air mattress when I get there, you don't need to strain yourself that way." Corey gives her a smile and a little shrug. "And I can always bang on Felix's door and see if he's in. Do you know he has his computer set up to talk to him? Its kinda Star Trek like, but I guess thats not too unexpected for a computer guy living by himself." He chuckles a little as he heads for the door, glancing out to see the weather and starts unwrapping the umbrella just in case. "Alright. See you then. I'll knock on his door on the way up. And... for some reason the computer thing doesn't shock me as much as it should," Hanna says with a laugh, heading for the door. She apparently lacks and umbrella, but doesn't mind so much, offering a salute to Corey before heading out the door to hail a cab for herself.