ArchivedLogs:After Piercing Coffee

After Piercing Coffee
Dramatis Personae Kaine Jack
In Absentia	2015-03-11 Kaine and Jack stop for coffee at Evolve after Kaine gets a new piercing. ((Content Warning: References to genital piercing))
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. It's a little after lunch time, and Evolve is about as packed as always. But it's also break time at Xavier's, and that means a few recognizable faces from the school are out and about, one of those faces belongs to Kaine, who isn't quite as dressed up as he usually is, wearing a pair of DC comics Joker converse hi-tops, loose fitting jogging pants and a simple purple Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. There's an odd hitch in his step as his attention moves over to the other teen he has in tow, "Kind of surprised that the e-mail actually worked. No complaints though." That other teen is looking vaguely uncomfortable. Well, as uncomfortable as he can look. At the moment he's just a pair of sneakers, old and worn jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie as worn as the jeans. Jack isn't too dressed up either. "Why wouldn't it work?" he asks. "I thought you checked to make sure it would before coming out here." "I had /hoped/ it would work. Which is basically the same thing, still planned on coming out and getting coffee anyway." Kaine replies with an easy shrug, heading up to the counter, tugging out his wallet. "Can I get a cinnamon latte and," he trails off, attention turning towards Jack. "Want anything?" "Still can't believe you...man..." Jack trails off, shaking his head. Fear of needles or not, he came along into the city anyway since his friend asked him to. "Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll have a hot chocolate," he says, scrounging in his pockets for some of the bills and change he's got left. Kaine waves off Jack's money, passing his cash to the person behind the counter. "Well, I've been meaning to get it done. Worst is over now, just two more to go. Then I'll start on tattoos, but probably not until after I have a job lined up. Gonna have to get a retainer once I graduate and start looking." "Thanks," Jack murmurs, slipping his money back into his pocket. "Isn't the worst going to keep going for a bit? Gotta heal up?" he asked. The mention of graduation makes Jack let out a breath. "I was worrying about that kind of thing way too much before. Got some good advice from Rasa though." "More worried about all you guys I actually talk to regularly heading out." Kaine replies with a huff of his own, passing over the hot chocolate and taking up his coffee, heading over to an unoccupied table. "And yeah, could take more than six months for it to heal up properly." Jack arches an unseen brow. "All us guys heading out?" he asks. "What do you mean?" Jack's a little confused. He gives a faint nod of thanks when passed his drink. It floats in front of his empty sleeve, an invisible hand holding it as he follows Kaine to a table. "Six months...man...do not need to think about that," he shudders a little. "Graduating." Kaine explains, taking a sip from his own drink. "And yeah, gonna have head down to restock on saline, or have mister Jax bring me some when the stuff I have runs out." A hand comes up to gently flick at the ring in his left ear, "Glad my ears didn't get infected." "Oh," Jack sighs. "Yeah...that. Still not sure what I'm gonna do then. Maybe I'll stick around the school if I can. Or something...trying to enjoy having a life again instead of worrying too much about it for now," he shrugs. THe invisible teen takes a sip of his drink and nods. "Always good to avoid infections." "When they get the clinic fixed up, if it isn't already, sure they would hire you on as a janitor or something until you can find something to do." Kaine suggests, attention drifting over the other faces in the place. "Not sure what I'll do, but I have a bit longer to think. The major part is finding somebody that'll hire you, or convincing banks to give you a loan." "Haunted janitor," Jack laughs a little. "Yeah, I was thinking that or maybe trying to talk Shane into letting me wash dishes or something," he says. "At least you've got the mechanic thing going for ya. Only thing I was really good at isn't exactly an option for me anymore," he shakes his head. "Someone I know suggested self employment though. Might try to talk to him again soon." "Yeah, you'd make one hell of a private investigator." Kaine says, taking another sip from his drink. "Or haunted houses come Halloween. Take the cheesy mask off and have no head. Ton of odd jobs you could do." Jack rubs the back of his neck and looks away. "I was actually...thinking about that one. I mean I like reading mystery novels and I'm pretty good at sneaking around," he admits sheepishly. "I just have no idea where to even start with that," he says with a little laugh. "Man...Halloween is pretty awesome. I mean back when I was...on the streets, it was a night of free and easy food even if it was junkfood." Kaine flashes a grin at Jack's comment. "Yeah. So, find anybody to flirt with yet?" He waggles his eyebrows slightly, though his hair half-obscures the gesture. Jack sputters a little, almost choking on his drink. His blush is unseen but its there. "I uh..." he squirms a little on the spot. "There's a guy I want to get to know better...but I haven't seen him in awhile and I'm not sure it'll work out...so uh...no not really," he says. Jack bites his lip before speaking again. "What about you?" "I like to mess with Hailey when I see her, but that's about it." Kaine replies with a slight shrug. "I'm not really too worried about it, you know? At the end of the day, it'll be what it'll be." He grins nevertheless, taking another drink. "You like her or just annoying her?" Jack asks, still blushing. He shrugs a little and takes a sip of his drink before looking down into it. "Yeah...just...I dunno. I used to think being alone was pretty much my only option. Then...something happened and I saw it's actually possible that someone could want a guy like me so..." he trails off, shrugging. "Actually going to try to flirt and see if things play out now that I have the option." "Don't know her well enough to tell which. And I don't annoy her on purpose, it's like trying to be nice to her annoys her." Kaine explains. "And you're hella cool. Just because we can't see you doesn't mean somebody doesn't want to be with you. Just takes the shallow factor out of it." "Well, good luck if you're going to keep it up," Jack offers. "I get the impression air might annoy her," he adds. He looks down again, giving a small quiet laugh. "Yeah...just never used to think it was possible. Hell, didn't even think about coming out until I met Shane and his dads." "I think most people would be more disgusted you're see-through." Kaine says with a wave of his hand. "If an asshole doesn't want to have anything to do with you because you aren't attracted to who they think you should be, fuck 'em." He brings his latte up, but pauses shy of his mouth. "Don't fuck 'em, but fuck 'em." he amends, finishing the ship. Jack laughs a little, blushing more. "Yeah, I get it," he says, waving it off. "Just one of those things..." he trails off. He drains some of his drink before leaning back in his seat. "So you got any plans for the break?" "Aside from saline soaks and movies? Not much." Kaine turns his attention towards the door for a moment, before settling back on where Jack's face should be. "If I can manage it, swimming. Definitely some lifting and some yoga. But not much else." "Can you even swim with...uh...that?" Jack asks awkwardly. "Wouldn't you have to...wrap up in plastic or something to keep the water out?" he asks. There's a pause as he thinks about how strange the questions are but he shakes it off. "I'll be hitting the gym more too." "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." Kaine grimaces slightly at the thought. "Don't think I'll try it for a bit. Gonna finish catching 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' though. Only got to watch the first part of it the other day." Jack nods a bit. "Why'd you only catch so little of it?" he asks. "Trying to watch between exams or something?" "Hailey showed up. Been experimenting with her powers a lot and the light from the tv hurt her eyes, so I shut it off." Kaine stretches, twisting to the side until his back cracks. "Haven't gotten around to watching it again." "Oh," Jack replies, letting out a breath. "Well, plenty of time now. Break means less people being around and more free TV time," he says. "Yup." Kaine dips his head slightly. "And I'm not going to be going for a run anytime soon, so that means TV breaks where I'd be out doing other things." Jack winces a little, shaking his head. "Here's hoping you heal up soon then," he says. "Maybe I'll come watch a couple movies with ya." "Whenever! Good movies are always good, but good movies with friends are great." Kaine reaches up to tap the side of his head, like he just shared life changing information. "What happens if a person with a kick ass healing factor gets a piercing?" he asks suddenly, brows furrowing. "Does it heal around it, or try to grow to it?" "Hopefully we don't run out of popcorn," Jack jokes. The sudden question has Jack's head tilting to the side. "I uh...have no idea. I mean it could like...never heal until they took the thing out maybe or try to push it out," he shrugs. "Could be something to bring up in a class." "Would probably head up like a regular piercing, then close up immediately once they take it out." Kaine lifts his shoulders in a slight shrug. "Anyway, wanna go ahead and head back? Kind of want to watch Rocky Horror again." Jack drains the last of his drink and nods. "Yeah, let's head back," he agrees. "Think I'm gonna hit the gym when we get back. Feel like burning off a little energy." Kaine nods slightly, finishing off his own drink before pushing up as well.