ArchivedLogs:New and Old Faces

New and Old Faces
Dramatis Personae Elliott, Melinda, Tess, Toma
In Absentia	2013-12-05 '
Location <NYC> Busboys and Poets - East Harlem
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. Evening finds Busboys and Poets crowded even with the relative quiet of the city lately. Many of the tables throughout the cafe are filled with people who look strikingly similar -- not in features but in the grey-blue camo, heavy black boots, of Naval uniforms. Hardly an unusual sight; with the city still technically under martial law there's soldiers of all stripes scattered around it, and /this/ small group of them is apparently at Dinnertime. Elliott wears the same uniform as the rest, carries the same weapon as the rest -- a compact carbine currently strapped at her side. For all the uniform and armament, though, the young woman doesn't look all /that/ on duty, draped kind of /tiredly/ in an armchair with a menu in front of her and a steaming cup of some variety of coffee beverage on the low table in front. Her dark eyes scan the menu over and over, as though she is not really entirely /reading/ it. This might seem to be a poor spot for a homeless teenager to hang out, but somehow she managed to get some funds, and she's decided that she deserves something nice every now and then. She's found some gloves and other winter-y clothes to help insulate herself a bit, nothing high quality, nothing new, but just a bit. She notices Elliott, but pretends not to have. Before her mutation manifested, she likely would have tried to talk to Elliott, not now. Especially not with all these military types here. She makes her way to an empty table and sits down, not really looking at anyone. Today, the Lupei twins are- wait, there's only one Lupei twin! Toma enters the cafe, without his usual sister-companion, looking around, obviously his first time here. He spots Tess, waving, and then takes a seat at an empty table nearby, looking at a menu. Toma turns towards Tess, quietly speaking towards her from the table. "Oh, hello! Nice to see you again!". Melinda slips out from the back office door, talking to one of the head baristas as she re-enters the shop at large. She breathes a heavy sigh and nods to the thing that the other person is saying, but there's an air of distraction in her posture. They are discussing supply runs and vendors, finding out who is receiving what shipments these days and at what prices, the two caffeine slingers helping each other guard against far too high prices. The conversation dwindles to a close as Mel stands next to the espresso machine while her counterpart whips her up a drink for her troubles. While she waits, Melinda's eyes scan the sitting area, studying faces and guns - as they tend to draw her eye too. She's wearing a pair of jeans with a cardigan layered over a tee shirt, in black and green. On her bent arm, a light jacket is draped, with her purse dangling below. Elliott's eyes are restless. In between scans of her menu they lift to skip over and around the room, cataloguing the people as they enter. Taking stock of this conversation, that face; watching Tess as she clearly tries not to be noticed. Her gaze slips away, obviously uninterested in hassling the girl who doesn't want to be bothered; it lights on Melinda instead, her lips turning up in a very small smile. "Do I know you?" she tips her head up to ask across the short distance. "I feel like I -- maybe I'm just tired." Tess glances over to Toma, "Oh. Hi. Uh, sorry about that thing with your... sister? Girlfriend?" She's trying to make sure, and not make assumptions. "Is she always like that?" "She's my twin. Also, yes, she's pretty much always like that.". Toma states politely, looking over the menu. "It wasn't your fault, no worries.". He glances over to Mel, recognizing her, but then watches as Elliott talks to her, curious. "But, yeah, she can be a bit of a freak at times. As I said, no worries.". Melinda's attention shifts over to Elliott when their eyes meet and she speaks. Her own brows rise on her forehead and she considers quietly, her lips pursing. She opens her mouth to speak, but is distracted momentarily by someone handing her a paper cup full of coffee and milk. She smiles and thanks them before wandering over toward Elliott. "I don't know. You seem awfully familiar, but I can't really remember having spoken with you before. I'm sorry if we have and I've forgotten. I'm Mel, if that rings any bells." She extends a hand. Elliott reaches up her hand to clasp Melinda's in a firm grip, shaking it once. "Elliott. I don't -- no, I know. I have this. You work --" Her fingers snap together once before she finally decides: "You make really good coffee, don't you?" Her teeth flash in a quick warm smile: "Should be careful with that word, too. Maybe this disease is just aiming to make everyone less polite." Tess hears Elliott speak, a woman she admires, or at least used to admire, and can't help but look towards her. Still, she's rather skittish about it and will look away if Elliott seems to so much as glance in her direction. "You and your sister get along well?" She asks the half-pair of twins next to her. Toma is still glancing at the menu when he speaks. "Yeah, very well. She calls me her 'balancing Moirail', whatever that means. I'm usually the one to calm her down when crap like that happens.". Toma continues watching Mel and Elliott talk, before turning to Tess to ask a question. "Who is that soldier lady? She seems familliar.". Melinda cringes and shakes her head, a small smile still on her lips. "Yeah, I think it's just the excitement of getting out again, seeing new people for the first time in a long time. Old habits and all of that." Her handshake is firm and her fingers are warm. "Thank you for the reminder. There are other ways to be polite. Apologies words, still, no? And yes. I do make coffee. You must have had some Montague's." Her smile relaxes a little when the topic shifts. "Hope you'll come back again some time. Customers have been slow, but deliveries slower, so I guess it balances out." Elliott does glance in Tess and Toma's direction, but not for long; the teenager's continued skittishness doesn't exactly /invite/ interaction, so Elliott does not attempt to scare her further with unprompted conversation. Her attention turns back to Melinda, instead. "You staying? And yeah, there's definitely ways to still have manners." She gestures in invitation to the empty sofa adjacent to her armchair. "Would you like some company with your coffee, then? If seeing new people's exciting. I have to admit, just plain conversations are pretty delightful to me too." She points an index finger at Melinda with a wider smile. "Montagues, that's right. I have. Been there a /few/ times. Should start going again. I'm glad to hear business is even open again, that's refreshing." Tess glances towards Elliott again. "She's a kind of spokesperson type." The girl informs Tomo, "Advocates for registration and such things." She's not sure what to think of Elliott's stances anymore, so she tries to keep her information neutral, without judgment in either direction. "Friends of Humanity, I think." Toma's curiousity kind of downplays, as his face shows a mix of disgust and disappointment. "Oh, Friends of Humanity. I see then. A shame, she seemed interesting.". He continues to contemplate the menu, before continuing. "Do you come here often? Do you know what's good here? Don't know if I should order or not yet.". When Elliott looks over at the other two, Melinda follows her gaze for a moment, a stiffing of her spine and straightening of her shoulders follows recognizing Toma. She looks away with practiced grace, giving Elliott a grateful look when the seat is offered. "Yes, definitely. A conversation with someone that I haven't felt crammed into an apartment for tense weeks is a wonderful idea." She moves over and settles down, laying her jacket down next to her as she gets comfortable. "Part of getting the business open again is the opportunity to get out of the house for a bit. Of course, it's been all phone calls and tracking down vendors - but it's getting better." She stops rambling and draws in a breath. "Excitement again. How about you?" Elliott's continued habitual scan of the room catches Toma's disgusted look, and her smile twists a little wryly. She looks back to her menu, her free hand lifting to rub tiredly at her eyes. "Oh, god, I know. Weeks spent crammed into -- no, barracks would've been /better/. It's so good to get out and see new faces. Have you been able to get supplied alright?" Her smile warms again at the last question. "School, really. That's been my excitement. Gladder than I ever though I would be to get back to class." Her lips press together with a small huff of wry laughter. "For all the law is kind of /obsolete/ around here at the moment. It won't be forever." Tess shrugs at Toma's response, kind of a 'don't care to discuss that' shrug. She glances to Elliott again, frowning when she overhears the word school. She sighs. "I miss school." She kind of mutters, meant for herself but it's louder than she intended. Toma pauses, after noticing Elliott's glance, to comment to Tess. "You don't go to school? What do you do all day?". Toma looks into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and counting how much he has in it, before putting it back in his pocket, looking at the menu again. "Would you like me to order you something? I have some extra cash on me.". "There's something refreshing about routine. I bet studying in the library sounds amazing right now, when you might not have relished it the same way before." Melinda settles back against the soft back of the couch and takes a sip from her coffee. "Supplies are coming. We generally end up with different brands than we're used to, or odd assortments rather than a full stack of one thing. It's the dumb little things that are the problem. You know the little cardboard sleeves that keep your fingers from getting burned? Those are incredibly difficult to get right now for some reason. And stirring sticks. Who would have thought I'd miss little straws or stirring sticks to help get the sugar mixed in." She rolls her eyes a little, a small wrinkle appearing between her brows when she over hears Tess. "It /is/ the small things, though, isn't it. Honestly I could handle the chaos pretty alright, we're kind of trained for chaos, but oh /man/ I really just wanted some /orange/ juice." Elliott's smile is crooked; she reaches for her coffee, sipping it slowly and leaningback in her chair. "It's okay, though. Or it's getting okay. I even," she confides with a twinkle in her eyes, "had /mail/ delivered this morning. A solicitation from NARAL, seriously, at my door on paper. First mail I've gotten in nearly a month and what is it, hitting me up for cash." Tess notices the glance Melinda throws her way, and then glances to Tomo again. "Thanks, but... not today. I saved some money up, I want the satisfaction of having earned this coffee." She's drinking one, it's not a big one, and it's an ice-coffee, but she paid for it. "Maybe I'll ask if I run into you when I'm a little more strapped for cash." Now Tess is avoiding Melinda's glance, too. "Alright then! But I might be strapped for cash then too, so, you never know.". Toma smiles, stating politely. "I'm going to go get a drink then.". Toma stands up, heading up to the counter to order a drink, pulling out his wallet. "I don't actually think I'll be able to look at a pack of instant food again for a long time. And noodles will be off the menu for a while." Melinda pauses and reconsiders. "Okay, maybe ravioli." Melinda listens, looking away from Tess and Toma when the girl starts avoiding Mel's glances. She takes a longer drink and has to hold her fingers to her lips as she snorts a small laugh at the topic of mail. "I'm still waiting on mine, but I'm sure it'll be bills of some type. Maybe I'll actually send out holiday cards this year so people in the area can get some good paper in their mail boxes." "Lasagna for me. I will never get sick of lasagna." Elliott drains the rest of her coffee, setting it back down on a coaster and then dragging her napkin close. She jots down an address and a phone number, sliding the napkin across to Melinda. "That sounds like a really great idea, actually. If you get around to it maybe you can stick me on your holiday list. I've gotta get this lot back to work." She picks up her cup, lifting it in lazy salute to Melinda. "-- Oy. Two minutes, guys," is called out more generally to the room at large, which triggers a wave across the room of people hastily finishing their food and drink and clearing their tables. Elliott meanders off to return her cup to be washed, before heading back outside. Tess takes a slight sigh of relief as Elliott leaves. She finishes her ice-coffee, for which she had already paid, and gets up after a bit of lazy sitting. "I guess I'm off too, getting a bit too hot." She tells Tomo, before she starts to walk off. Figuring he can figure out why that's a problem. Melinda takes the paper napkin and smiles, looking it over before sliding it into her purse. "Okay, Elliott. Count on it. One holiday card coming up. Hopefully before all the holidays are over." She lifts a hand to wave goodbye to her, then settles in to relax and finish her coffee.