ArchivedLogs:Listening in on Small Talk

Listening in on Small Talk
Dramatis Personae Corey, Hanna, Mariot
In Absentia	2013-06-09 Baked goods, coffee, and conversation, sprinkled liberally with apologies. Stir to combine.
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. It is a rainy day in New York City, adding a certain mugginess to the late spring weather that makes clothing cling to the skin in a decidedly obnoxious manner. It is the perfect day to seek the solace of a wonderfully air conditioned bake shop, and a good number of people have been heading into Happy Cakes Bakery today, situating themselves in the eclectic sitting area to delight in coffee and cakes. The proprietress of the shop, Hanna, is bouncing around behind the counter, taking advantage of the momentary lull in the crowds to restock the bakery shelves with a rainbow of fresh baked goods. She is wearing a tasteful teal green wiggle dress edged in peacock blue, her long hair pulled up into a complex braid that hangs down her back. She is currently in the process of wheeling a rack of goods from the back room, chatting quietly with her barista as she does so. Today, in fact, there is a new section of offerings, these appearing to have been painted with a glorious array of colors in almost impossible seeming patterns - cookies, cupcakes, and even a selection of little cake pops, all decorated as though they had been through a blender with a rainbow. Rainy and oogy days require the appropriate attire, and Corey is wearing a light rain jacket over top a plain green tee-shirt and a pair of jeans. Flicking his hood back as he enters the happy little bakery, he smiles automatically in the bright and comfortable atmosphere. His gazes passes over those behind the counter, and keeping back and away from Jayna he inclines his head to her. He isn't quite sure the range of capabilities, but he doesn't want to inconvenience the lady either. He does turn towards Hanna and raises a hand in greeting "Hello there ladies, you seem a tad brighter and more colorful." Having opted to explore another portion of the city, Mariot opted to combine her efforts with some exercise - after all, running in the rain has a certain appeal to it... However, the humidity has made it somewhat harder work than expected, and the bakery's promise of sugary goodness and a chance to rest have drawn in the Briton. Clad in full-length leggings and a sleeveless top, she is glistening with rain and sweat alike as she slips in and peers around, moving up to the counter behind Corey. Hanna looks up from the case as she hears the jinging bells over the door, offering a cheery smile and a wave to Corey as he enters the shop, before bending back down to finish arranging the baked goods, closing the refrigerated case when she's done. "Hey there Corey, good to see you again. See you left your pet ficus at home," Hanna teases, glancing sideways towards Jayna, who sticks her tongue out in response, "What can I get for you today?" The barista, an earthy skinned young woman of average height wearing a dark blue sleeveless sundress, although her most striking feature is the full head of grass green willow fronds that seem to have replaced her hair at some point, joined into a loose braid that falls to her hips. When Mariot enters, someone Hanna has never seen before, Hanna smiles cheerily, offering an emphatic wave of greeting, "Hello miss. Welcome to Happy Cakes Bakery. Please feel free to have a look around, and ask any questions. Otherwise - just enjoy the air conditioning and lovely smell of baked goods while you wait." "Its alive and well at home. Just giving it watering and light now." Shaking his head with a slight smile, Corey looks towards the case a moment. "Actually, I could go for some chocolate chip cookies I think. And some coffee, just plenty of sugar cream. I'll try not to get too close to Jayna. She probably doesn't need much more time in the spring." He inclines his head to Jayna again, and glances back to the woman behind him in line, and gives her a smile as well, moving off to the side so she can place her order as well. Mariot blinkblinks upon registering the unusual nature of Jayna's hair, but manages to avoid a full double-take. Instead, she offers a smile, raising a hand in greeting to both the woman who speaks to her and the blond guy. "Hello. And thank you." The new arrival's accent is unmistakably British, and educated. "And I should probably order before I see far too many things I might want to indulge in." "Good to hear it's doing so well now. Not that it would apparently do anything else in your presence," Hanna says quietly with a smile to Corey, pulling a pair of impressive looking chocolate chunk cookies from the case, setting them onto one of the oddly colored China plates before handing them over to the young man, "Here you go. Chocolate chip cookies - Enjoy! Jayna'll have your coffee ready for you in just a few moments." Jayna smiles and is already in the process of prepping a French Press of coffee, although the comment about her brings a slight smirk to her lips, "It's ok. I should be far enough past that time frame that I'm not going to pop out in flowers again. In theory." Hanna turns her attention back to Mariot, offering a polite smile, "Ah - well, that is the great thing about a bakery. We don't really go anywhere, so return visits are always encouraged. And we have take home boxes." She shrugs and grins ruefully, resting her hands on her ample hips, "So, what can I get for you today, miss?" Accepting the cookie plate, Corey slides over to a table to set it down to wait on the coffee. The british accent on the woman does draw his attention to her, a curious look passing over his gaze. Chuckling at the response between the two women, he shakes his head and takes a bite of the cookie. "Indulgence is a good thing. Lets you know you're alive, and helps to stimulate the economy by making you purchase gym memberships and exercise wear," he says to the British woman in aforementioned exercising attire. Mariot runs her glance over the array of offerings... before chuckling and flashing Corey a wry smile. "I suppose that if I wanted to be responsibly healthy, I should probably have chosen a different shop. Mmm." Looking back to Hanna, she smiles once more. "A hot chocolate, please, and... it's far too long since I've had a doughnut." Hanna looks curiously at Mariot, and offers a cheery smile, albeit a slightly perplexed on, "One doughnut, alrighty. Chocolate frosted, glazed, cake, or old fashioned? They are all quite good - made fresh this morning. Not quite my mom's recipe, but I pride myself on being able to make tasty treats." Once a decision is made, Hanna will plate the doughnut on a China plate - colorfully patterned with a swirling floral design, and offer it up to Mariot. "Jayna will have your hot chocolate ready in just a moment," the curvy woman says with a smile, stopping by the coffee station to pick up Corey's coffee, explaining to the British woman, "You are welcome to wait for it, or we can bring it over to your table." She then demonstrates, by carrying Corey's overly sugary, creamy coffee to his table with a grin. Raising a cookie in salute to Hanna, Corey chuckles and accepts the coffee. "Many thanks. Though I imagine when you get busier it wont be as easy to make the deliveries." Breaking off a hunk of the cookie, he dips it into the coffee and has a bite. "I keep seeing people with your carryout, so I imagine that if people aren't sticking around, they are still coming through at least?" Having accepted her (old-fashioned) doughnut with a smile and an inclination of her head, Mariot opted to remain at the counter - lifting one foot up behind her to stretch run-tightened muscles for a few moments, before indulging in a delicate nibble of her treat while eavesdropping upon Corey's conversation with the voluptuous owner... and sneaking the occasional glance at the frond-haired employee behind the counter. Hanna laughs slightly at Corey's comment, "Oh, when it gets crowded, there's a line out the door, and Jayna and I are rushing around to keep up with the orders. Usually breakfast and lunch rushes, and occasionally a little bit of an after work pick me up crowd but," she offers a shrug, "I'm not gonna complain. People don't always take up the seating area, but the ones who don't stay long make up for it in takeout orders." She chuckles and shrugs, "And thus far, no death threats for being blatantly mutant friendly. Although a young doctor who visited the other day assures me that it may just be a matter of time." She shakes her head, her gold and coffee colored eyes fading to a muted brown for a moment as she considers that. Jayna smiles at the British woman, having caught one of her glances, apparently being accustomed to the stares and curious looks, "It is alright, miss. I know I look different, I'm used to getting looks." The barista turns around, holding a large but delicate blue floral China cup balanced on a non-matching saucer, filled with a perfectly prepared hot cocoa, complete with fresh made whipped cream, and a sprinkling of chocolate powder on top. "Here you go. One hot chocolate, miss," Jayna offers the cup to Mariot, "You can pay when you're done enjoying your treats. Have a lovely day." "Hrm, well matters of time don't always have to happen. Maybe you'll be lucky, and they will be nice to you for fear of not getting any doughnuts." Corey grins at that, then gives a shrug. "I had some warnings from a doctor as well when he told me the news. But you can either live in fear of what might be, or you can live and just handle obstacles as they come. " He breaks the cookie up into little bite sized bits so he doesn't have to keep taking the time to do so mid sentence. "And you can do it bravely, with bright shiny colors. So what brought on the sudden batch of rainbow?" he says with gesture to the counter. "Got a new batch of food color? Or an airbrush?" "It's startling," Mariot confesses, offering Jayna a swift grin as she accepts her drink, "but very pretty. And thank you." Carefully bearing her burdens, she glances around before starting towards a vacant spot in which to commence indulgence... and a bit of surreptitious eavesdropping on neighbouring conversations. Hanna grins, although there's a tinge of sadness in her eyes, made more obvious by the shift in color to a cool green blue, "Sometimes the world is a bit of a scary place. But there's only so much you can do to avoid it, and sometimes, well, you just gotta deal." She smiles, her eyes returning to their normal color almost immediately, when asked about the colors, "Ah, there's an amusing story behind that, actually. A young artist happened in here earlier in the week, and his talents came up in conversation," Hanna explains, gesturing at the incredibly colorful selection, "I offered a trial interview of sorts, involving a blank campus and free reign on colors. Those are the results of the interview. I'm sort of testing out reactions to his work - if people like it, I'll be commissioning more on occasion." The baker smiles, looking quite pleased at her discovery. As the younger British woman takes a nearby seat, Hanna offers a polite smile, and a nod towards her. Giving a smile, and a little nod to the not quite sneaky eaves dropper, Corey chuckles. Glancing back to Hanna, he hrms. "Well its definitely bright and cheery. And better to experiment on baked goods than walls. I can handle rainbow cakes, but if the walls were that color, you'd be better off going for a 70's stoner style I'd think." Sipping at his coffee with cookie floaters, he hrms. "Still you must be doing well attracting ladies here all the way from Britain," he says with a wink to Mariot. Mariot glances across, lifting a brow as she chuckles. "Brightly-coloured food, I can imagine selling well - especially as an occasional thing. Adopting it for the overall decor might indeed be rather more of a shock for your customers...." Whatever else she might have said is forestalled by a buzzing sound coming from the small pouch worn at her race. Grimacing ruefully, she glances down, sighs softly, then fishes out a phone - offering Hanna and Corey an apologetic look, before flipping it open and answering. Quietly, and in French. Hanna shakes her head, "No. Colors are just limited to the new line of baked goods. I rather like my simplistic color scheme, it keeps the attention on the baked goods." She smiles, offering a bit of a shrug, "Kid seems nice. Bit flighty, but damn he's got a way with colors. I couldn't pass up the opportunity." She leans against one of the nearby tables, looking thoughtfully at Corey, "So, how're you holding up? Doing ok?" "Doing fine. I mean, it doesn't really change anything about me. But it makes me a little more cautious," Corey says with a glance over to Jayna a moment. "I mean aside from that, its nothing too bad. The idea of making other people feel better just being around is kinda nice, in theory at least. How are your hands doing by the way? Not too inconvenient was it?" He looks a little sheepish at that. "Good to hear," Hanna says with a smile, looking at her hands curiously, the wear points looking a bit angry and red, but the formation of calluses already starting, "Ah, they're a bit sore, I'll say that. Well, they were. But I'll get them back into shape shortly, and I'll be good as new. Er, old." Hanna laughs, offering a lopsided grin, "I know the feeling about wanting to make people feel better. Hell, that's why I opened this place. Well, that, and I love baking. It makes me happy, so I want to spread that cheer." She glances back towards Jayna, who is cleaning up the coffee pot currently, staring for just a moment too long, possibly. "Sorry about that. I didn't know that would happen when I was boosted. I didn't really have anything much happen to me, outside of feeling like I'd had a nice long nights sleep, But I guess I've always been under the effect of it. So I've never not been at a hundred percent?" Corey says with a shake of his head. "Like the fact that I've not had a sick day in over a decade. But nothing is really suspicious about that, considering that I eat right and exercise anyway. None of it was that odd." "To be fair, I haven't had a sick day in nearly as long, either. I eat like a baker, though, so I don't have that excuse," Hanna laughs as she pats her side, "And exercise is not exactly a hobby of mine. I attribute that to living in Hawaii my whole life - getting sick just didn't happen often. And here - well, knock on wood, I'm fine so far. But it is likely that you don't get sick because of your abilities. Nice little perk, I suppose." She shrugs about the calluses, "It's ok. I'm glad I was able to provide some feedback on the effects on people. Even if it was a bit unexpected. And I've built them up once, I can do it again." She ponders a moment, looking over at Jayna, "Just, next time you guys do that, could you double check with me and Jayna before you try it? We live on the top floor of the building, and, ah, Jayna's houseplants had attempted to reclaim a good portion of the window when I got downstairs. Not sure what it would do to her, boosted." "No worries, I don't really think there's much of a reason to do that particular experiment again. I mean, unless someone is so hurt as to need that kind of recovery that is." Corey looks a little embarrassed at that. "Still, I should probably see about heading off myself. You probably have plenty of clean up that needs to be done sooner than later." He finishes off both coffee and cookies and fishes out his wallet to pay. "Less me sticking around, the less your calluses will devolve." Hanna smiles, "If it comes down to that sort of thing, don't bother asking. Just do it. I'm pretty sure Jayna would just need a hair trim." At this thought, Jayna seems to shudder bodily, and offer a bit of a glare back at Hanna, and glaring, "Not funny. Really not funny, Hanna. I'd just wait til Winter, like normal." The dryad strokes her long hair, smoothing out the long leaves as she does. Hanna nods, "Fair enough. I'll let you get on with your day. I've got to prep for the evening rush, but we close a bit earlier on Sundays most weeks. And I can just do what most bakers do and wear padded gloves. That does also solve the issue." She accepts Corey's money, and nods, "Want me to take your dishes for you? Save you the trip, since I'm heading there anyway." "If you would, thanks." Corey inclines his head as he stands. "Sorry for any trouble anyway. I'll see you another day, and hope you can avoid any of those inevitable troubles." Dabbing off the crumbs with a napkin and crumbling it up, he pulls the hood of his rain jacket up. "Hopefully the weather will be better too, but I think its part of a storm that'd come up the coast." Hanna nods, picking up the plates and stacking them neatly in one hand, offering a little salute of a wave to Corey, "No worries, sweetie. Really. We're fine, but thank you for the concern." She heads back behind the counter, setting the plates into the wash bin and setting about neatening things up. "Have a nice day, Corey. See you next time," Hanna says with a cheery smile, bouncing once again in time with the music of the store, "Stay dry in this weather."