ArchivedLogs:Everypony Loves Rainbow Dash

Everypony Loves Rainbow Dash
Oh, kids. ^_^
Dramatis Personae Dan, Micah, Colleen
In Absentia	19 May 2013 Chance meetings in coffee shops! Oh, and Colleen is adorable.
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Tucked down an alley, this out of the way coffeeshop is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for. Unassuming from the outside, its inside makes up for it -- spacious, with abundant seating and plenty of plush couches and cosy armchairs along the room's edges. The coffee is good, the prices are cheap, and there is a definitive alternative vibe to the room, from the music they play to the art that hangs on the walls. The real draw to this place, though, stems from its client base -- one of the very few businesses in the city that is welcoming to mutants, Evolve has become widely popular as a hangout with that crowd, and it is quite common to see them among clientele and employees both. At night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits over the coffeehouse. It's still rainy, and still cold. Which, on any other evening, would mean that Evolve would be busy with college students and night-owls sheltering from the weather. Tonight, though, the coffee shop is fairly empty. A rotund gentleman sits at a table in the corner, a bored look on his face as his newpaper folds itself into paper boats section by section. At another table, there is a girl with neon pink hair sitting in front of a laptop, her eyes glowing as windows flash by at blinding speeds. At still another table, a woman in jeans and a cowled blouse shows no discernible mutant power as she sips her oversized mug of cocoa and reads the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel. And then there is Dan. Dressed in jeans and a cabled grey sweater, he's seated at a table with a slightly bemused look on his face as he listens to his companion -- a young girl with amethyst skin and violet hair done up in messy dog-ear ponytails. She's also wearing bright pink jeans and a green shirt with a picture of Applejack. He's sipping at a cup of coffee; she's got a glass of milk and a plate with most of a piece of chocolate cake on it that she mashes a fork into as she speaks. "An' then Mary Ellen said that she could jump higher than Rainbow Dash, an' I told her lyin' was an awful sin, 'cause no one can jump higher than Rainbow Dash." Colleen nods at her father, waving her crumby fork at him. "Remember, Daddy? We watched that one with the Wonderbolts, an' she went so high?" "I remember, kid," the man rumbles, his eyes crinkling. "Rainbow Dash is the one with the horn, right?" This earns him an eyeroll. "Dad-dy. Rarity an' Twilight Sparkle are un'corns. Rainbow Dash has rainbow hair." "Ooooh..." Dan's mouth twitches a bit. "I guess I forgot that." Only, he probably didn't. Micah has broken out his green canvas jacket and nebulously green-brown newsboy cap again, as the weather simply will not comply and let him put them up for the season once and for all. He wears these over a pair of well-patched jeans and a chocolate brown shirt on which a stegosaurus is in the process of cursing a T-rex for his sudden, but inevitable, betrayal. The redhead is whistling as he comes through the door, that part of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” where whistling happens. Though he does have the presence of mind to /stop/ doing this once he is fully in the building. He obtains a café mocha and a blueberry muffin, in exchange for cash and a few smiles and pleasantries, before seeking out a table. He can’t help but grin at the Pony conversation going on as he passes the father-daughter pair. “Kinda what it says on the tin with Dashie. Rainbow mane and tail. Dashes about. Should help y’remember.” A playful wink is added to the comment, aimed Colleen’s direction. The input of Micah brings Dan's attention up, and he nods once, his brow furrowing as he regards the other man. "Hey. Central Park, right? I tripped over you or something." That doesn't sound /entirely/ accurate, though, and his brow knits further as he tries to sort it out. Colleen, however, brightens at this knowledgable input, and she nods. "Daddy never remembers anypony," she says brightly. "But he watches with me. Sometimes we have cereal when we watch." She waves her fork in greeting, perhaps inviting Micah to join them. "I'm Colleen. This is my daddy. Other grown-ups call him Dan, but I just call him Daddy." A forkful of cake is shoveled into her mouth as she continues. "Aunt Katie calls him Danny, which sounds kind of like Daddy. Isn't that funny? What's your name?" Dan's furrow turns into an almost-wince. "Sorry," he says to the other man. "It was probably a little late in the day to give her sugar." Once Micah actually regards Dan (his attention had been more on Colleen to begin with), he recognises him immediately. He's one of those people with a gift for faces and names. "Hm, yes, Dan. There was a bottle on the ground," he clarifies. Colleen's chatter earns a bright smile. "Nice t'meet you, Colleen. I'm Micah. As it happens, I met your daddy once before." He pauses to wave...kind of with his muffin...in greeting to Dan. Hi. He does not sit, however. Children tend to be a bit more liberal with their friendly invitations than their parents may be. "Oh, not t'mind kiddos talkin'. Spend the whole first year eggin' 'em on t'walk and talk, then the rest of their lives tellin' 'em to sit down and be quiet. Talk's good, I think." Chatterchatter. He /might/ be a little biased. "Is AJ your favourite?" he asks of Colleen, gesturing toward her T-shirt. "Right. I slipped on it." Dan nods in memory, and crinkles his eyes as his daughter gestures to the empty chair again with her fork. "You want to sit with us? If you want to save your ears, I wouldn't blame you." He's smiling, though, albeit small and tipped. "She was a fast learner, as far as walkin' and talkin' went. Sometimes it feels like she's just a big ball of energy." He's apparently doing a little babbling of his own, and he bites it down with a nod. "How've you been?" He sips at his coffee slowly, watching as Colleen continues the mauling of the cake. She doesn't maul very long, though. Revelations of prior interaction gets a widening of brown eyes, and she lowers her fork. "You met Daddy before? In the park? I like going to the park, only Tommy sometimes hogs the swings. I like the swings. Do you like to swing? Sometimes Daddy pushes me, an' I go really high in the air." She pauses to take a breath, allowing Micah to get his question in, and then she smiles brightly. "Oh, no. I like Twilight, 'cause she's the same color as me, an' can do magic. But I like AJ too, 'cause she's a good friend to everypony." "It's every/body/, kid," Dan corrects gently. "She's a good friend to every/body/." That gets a small sigh from Colleen as she gives Micah an eyeroll. See what she has to put up with? Micah doesn't need to be asked twice! Well, he /did/, but not by the same person... Regardless, he is slipping into the empty seat and setting his coffee and muffin on the table in front of him. "'Course she's a fast learner. She's got that Twilie look about her," he says with a playful smile, crinkling up his nose in a bunny-like fashion. "I've been all right. Exceptionally busy in just about every way possible. You?" Micah pauses to sip from his coffee while Colleen launches into her next series of stories interspersed with questions. "Yep, I did meet him there. I like swings, 'cept most of the time they're too low now. I grew up too much. In height, anyways." He giggles at that, starting to pick at his muffin. "I can never decide. AJ reminds me of the best parts of home, but Dashie's the most fun, I think." He leans in to talk to Colleen from behind his hand, as if sharing a secret. "Everypony kinda likes Dashie, though." "About the same," Dan says, toasting with his coffee mug. "This is the first day I've had to spend with Colleen in two weeks. Other than dinner at my folks' house on Sundays, which we just came from." He sips his coffee, watching the other man over the rim of his mug. "You work in limb replacement tech, right? I guess busy's sort of a two-edged sword for you." Colleen wrinkles her nose and giggles when Micah speaks behind his hand. "Oh, I like everypony," she says. "They're all good ponies. And I like Spike. An' the Cutie Mark 'saders." There's more cake-mashing, and she tips her head a little as she regards Micah. "You /do/ sort of sound like AJ," she notes, as if just realizing this fact. "Does your family live on an apple farm, too? I went to a farm once, with my Aunt Katie and Uncle Brian. Also Brendan an' Mickey. I got to milk a cow." She giggles, suddenly, clapping a hand over her mouth. "An' we saw it /poop/." "Mmm, that's a shame. Never enough time for family," Micah replies to Dan with a little headshake. He nibbles at a piece of muffin. "Yeah. S'been work-busy and /life/-busy both." Colleen's antics have him chuckling again. "No, not an actual farm. Did have pretty decent-sized gardens, though. An' chickens." He smirks at the girl...there's nothing quite like the silliness of small children. "S'good to spend some time seein' where your food'n milk an' all come from. An'...well, yeah, that is one thing cows are pretty good at. That an' chewin'." "Yeah. I need to find more," Dan says of time with a small smirk. "Like, get one of those things like that Doctor Whatsit show. The blue box." He curls his fingers around his coffee mug, and wrinkles his nose at the window, briefly, looking at his daughter as she tells her story. "She's talking about the petting zoo," he clarifies. "There's one just outside of the city that looks kind of like a farm." "Nuh-uh, Daddy. It was a /farm/," Colleen corrects, shaking her ponytails vigorously. "With ducks, an' goats, an' lambs, an' the cow. It was fun, especially when the goat bit Mickey on the butt." This earns another giggle, and she crinkles her eyes in a very Dan-like fashion at Micah. "I don't eat lambses," she tells him. "Or ducks. 'Cause they're friends with the Easter Bunny, an' he wouldn't like that." This is a Fact, and she nods her head solemnly. "But I like hamburgers, an' fried chicken, so I eat those. I don't think they're friends with anyone but other animals on the farm." She ponders that for a second, falling back in her chair and tapping her chin with a bit of exaggeration. These are clearly Deep Thoughts that need to be considered carefully. “Doctor Who, an’ the TARDIS,” Micah clarifies, almost on reflex. “Though it’s not good t’cross back on your own timeline. Creates paradox.” He takes another bite of muffin and washes it down with coffee. “I’m sure it was sufficiently farm-like for her purposes.” Micah laughs a bit at this. “You have to keep an eye out for goats. They’ll eat anythin’. Very likely, he thought that Mickey’s pants looked like /lunch/. An’…hm. Yeah, chickens aren’t the friendliest creatures out there. Pretty much just mean birds.” Dan snorts a laugh. "That's the problem with that nerdy stuff," he rumbles. "You say you can't do that shit, but then that girl in that Harry Potter movie did it without even thinkin' about it." He grimaces. "It's like there's not set of rules for any one thing. It's just whatever a person feels like makes sense." He narrows one eye. "It gives me a headache." He looks at Colleen when Micah speaks to her, but she's completely lost in her thoughts. Or distracted by her shoelace, since she's cocked one foot up to tug at a neon-yellow lace. Then he's looking back at Micah. "You do really well with her. Do you have any kids?" Micah giggles in response to Dan’s laughter. “Well, that’s two completely different universes you’re dealin’ with there. Potter’s all magic. The Doctor is…advanced, uh, wibbly-wobbly alien science.” Because that is a good explanation for anything ever. Dan does receive more of Micah’s attention once Colleen is distracted by /yellow/. It is a distracting colour. “I work with ‘em, mostly. An’, well, my boyfriend’s got a handful. Two teens and an eight-year-old. That’s kinda new for me, though.” Dan shakes his head with a smile. "It's all over my head," he admits. "I prefer spy stuff. It's much more up my alley. Guns and babes...nice and simple." He grins and holds up a finger. "I /do/ like Game of Thrones," he confesses. "That shit is wild." He listens as Micah explains, his eyebrows hitching briefly at the word 'boyfriend', although there's no other reaction other than a small tilt of his head. "Dating someone with kids is tough," he agrees, bobbing his head. "I guess it helps that you're experienced with 'em, huh?" He leans back in his chair. "My brother an' his husband have a son," he offers. "His name is Tommy," Colleen offers without looking up. "But he's not the Tommy who hogs the swings. He's nice. He shares his candy with me an' Mary." "My sister's kid," Dan clarifies. "A couple years older than Collie." He grins as Colleen has nothing else to offer. "Anyway. I guess my point is that it works itself out. New or not. How long have you two been going out?" Micah grins his goofy, lopsided grin. “Yeah, gotta love Game of Thrones. I’m kinda a sucker for dragons, though.” He hesitates for a moment, processing Dan’s reactions to the boyfriend thing. He sneaks another sip of coffee when it is clear there isn’t going to be a problem from it. “Hm…yes and no. The little one likes me well enough. Teens are a tougher sell, though. Harder to read, on top of it.” Micah smiles at Colleen, even if she isn’t looking. “Sharin’ candy /is/ pretty nice. So’s sharin’ swings.” He actually has to stop and /think/ to answer Dan’s question. “Um…about two months, I guess? A little more, dependin’ on where y’start countin’.” "That's long enough to know if the kids like you or not," Dan says with a small grin. "I mean, if Collie didn't like my girlfriend, I don't know that we'd still be dating, and we're at about that length of time." He leans back in his chair and hitches a shoulder. "Teenagers are tricky, but if they didn't like you, you'd know it. They haven't cussed at you or yelled something like 'you're not my dad' at you, have they?" He's probably teasing; his eyes are crinkled as he regards the younger man. "If not, I'd say you're probably okay." "Daddy's girlfriend is nice," Colleen says suddenly, looking up. "Her name is Alex, an' she has pretty red hair. An' she likes to dance. She's gonna help me to dance better." Then she seems to remember the cake, and she gives it a bright grin as she goes back to mash/eating. Dan actually colors a bit, at this sudden influx of information, and he rubs a hand through his hair with a sheepish grin. "Aaaand now you know a little bit more about me," he says wryly. "I should have her be my press secretary." “Hmm…it’s complicated,” Micah replies with a little shake of his head. “Ugh, I mean, that’s what everyone says to the point where it doesn’t mean anythin’ anymore, but… They’ve had a rough life. It’s hard for ‘em to trust folks.” He laughs outright at the cussing and yelling question. “Well, not like /that/, no. The one’s got a mouth on ‘im y’wouldn’t /believe/, but it ain’t got nothin’ to do with his moods, really. S’just how he talks. I honestly just haven’t had the chance to spend a lotta time with ‘em.” His expression briefly clouds with worry. He hides this easily with grinning at Colleen when her attention returns once more. “Your daddy’s got good taste. Hard t’do better’n redheads who like to dance.” "I wouldn't worry about it," Dan says. "I have so many kids in my family, I'm practically an expert. You're probably doing better than you think. Just hang in there." He offers a supportive wink, then, and sips his coffee as he watches Micah speak to Colleen, and his grin tips sideways. "Yeah, Alex is pretty great," he says. "She's bound to drive my ma crazy. I can't wait to introduce 'em." Colleen is making slow work of her cake, and this is regarded by Dan with a small frown before he turns back to Micah. "So, tell me a little bit more about your work," he says. "You look a bit young, to be in that field." He chuckles. "Not that I'm any expert on college or shit. Hell, you could be a doctor, for all I know." And he'll likely be genuinely surprised to learn that. Just as he's genuinely interested in listening to Micah as long as the other man wants to talk. Or until Colleen's done with her cake. Whichever comes first.