ArchivedLogs:Pulling for You

Pulling for You
Dramatis Personae Marinov, Alice
In Absentia	2018-05-28 "I love my sister and all, but this /cupcake/ is the best."
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 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. With it still being a day off, Marinov has come out to one of their usual haunts. And it seems a few other people have had much the same idea, with the cafe relatively bustling on the nice spring day. While their bag is sitting on the chair of a nearby table, Marinov is currently standing nearby to get a closer look at one of the paintings on the wall with their glasses resting on their nose. They are presently wearing a dress, cut up to their mid thigh, that is patterned in a way to be reminiscent of stonework and slightly tinged with blue, along with a few pieces of jewellery. A swirling purple portal opens in the space beside the end of the counter and Alice hops out of it, turning to wave over her shoulder before the oval shrinks and closes. Her curly hair is pulled back and bound up in a red-and-black patterned scarf and she wears a cropped denim jacket over a tightly fitted red t-shirt with a graphic of a heart containing a stylized strand of DNA over the word 'ACCOMPLICE', black jeans, and heavy black boots, but she's wearing little jewelery by her usual standards. She gets a large red-eye and a cupcake and looks around for an empty seat in crowd. "Heya!" Her chin jerks up at Marinov. "Mind if I join you?" Up close she looks tired and flushed, her hair starting to escape from its scarf. Marinov's ears flick up to 'very alert' when the portal appears and Alice appears on through it. "Hey!" They nod towards the table that they have laid claim to and say, "I don't mind at all, I was just taking a look at what's new artwise... I don't think I've seen that one before." They quickly remove and fold up their glasses and blink a few times to adjust to the change in perception. They take the couple of steps back to their seat and lean up against the back of the chair, in front of which there is a large cup of tea. "What's new?" Alice looks up at the art. "Oh yeah, I think this month they're showcasing immigrant artists? Or Asian ones?" She squints at the card beneath the nearest painting. "...Or both?" Setting her beverage and pastry down, she sinks into a chair herself. "Been at the protest down Columbus Park, but my sister sent me away for a caffeine and calorie break." She takes a careful sip of her coffee and sighs happily. "You've met Blink, right? She uh...sorta works at your school. Enjoying your day off? Or are you done for the semester?" "Yeah, I've met Blink. She's saved my ass before," says Marinov. They sit down as well, leaning back against the chair. "Been enjoying the day off. It'll be exam week starting tomorrow, and after putting work into this year's Something Different, I'm enjoying the downtime the long weekend provides. Even though I should be, like, studying and making sure I don't fail." They shrug with their best approximation of a 'what can you do' expression. "What's going on at Columbus Park?" "That's my big sis." Alice smiles, big and bright, as she starts peeling the wrapper from her cupcake. "Aspiring protest mom. Just the ongoing protest against NYPD's treatment of mutants -- not a huge crowd, though there's more today because we have some BLM folks with us. Coalition building and all that, you know?" She puts the cupcake back down. "Finals week usually means you have time to study, right? No classes. Something Different really /is/ something, though. You got whole crew for that, right?" "Blink's your sister? She's real cool. And her clothes are just so fucking rad," says Marinov, the statement punctuated with a firm nod. "Good that there's more of a turnout for the protest, all kinds of people out there get fucked over by the NYPD, it's a real shame." They shake their head and lift their tea to their mouth. "And yea, it's really great the amount of support that I've had with Something Different. Makes me real happy to see it, like, actually happen thanks to everyone." "Yep! She's pretty much the best." Alice takes a big bite of her cupcake. Shakes her head. "Nah I change my mind. I love my sister and all, but this /cupcake/ is the best. She makes her own clothes -- some of mine, too." Washes down her cake with a big gulp of coffee. "You do fashion, too, yeah?" Marinov laughs, "That cupcake does look real good. Seeing folks eating those, makes me wish I could taste sweet." They nod, "I heard rumours that she makes her own clothes. Just makes sense, I figured it was custom work at least. I do the same, yeah, most of the stuff I wear I put together." They gesture vaguely selfwards. "I have big dreams of making it in fashion. When I was a kid I made doll clothes, and then just started making bigger clothes." Alice nods. "High fashion is /brutal/, but these days I feel like there's a lot more like...community-level fashion design? If you consider that to be 'making it.'" She downs more coffee. "/I'd/ buy your clothes, for what it's worth. You know, when I'm not quite so broke. /And/ if /I/ make it big and become a star, I can hire you to design my couture for the award ceremonies, right?" She stuffs the rest of the cupcake into her mouth. "Even though my wildest fantasies are more on the side of wearing big sunglasses and calling everyone around 'dahling', I recognize that's unrealistic and I'd consider making it to be like... surviving while making something worthwhile. Especially if it helps get mutants with sorta different body builds clothed," says Marinov, tilting up their cup of tea as well. They laugh and nod, "Well, I'm pulling for you to become a star, then! 'cause I'd for sure do design for you." "You know..." Alice taps her chin thoughtfully. "You could probably wear big sunglasses and call everyone 'dahling' regardless of how much dough your designs rake in." She pulls out her phone and swipes out a quick message with one hand, only glancing down periodically at the screen. "But I appreciate all the support I can get -- and I'm pulling for you, too." She rises, draining her coffee and setting the mug on her plate. "I should be getting back to waving signs and yelling at cops, but it was great running into you!" She stops and backtracks after a couple of steps and adds. "Oh, and I'm not trying to cut into Evolve's business, but I work at Liber T in East Village, and I'm gonna have hella shifts during the summer. You drop by some time, I'll comp you a beverage, yeah?" She waves and heads off again. "Be safe!" "I think for now I'll refrain from leaning too much into my fantasy persona, but maybe I'll consider the additions to my vocab. And yeah, I'll for sure stop by sometime." Marinov chuckles and nods, "Alright, get back to it, those cops sure as hell aren't gonna yell at themselves. You stay safe too, dahling." They raise a hand to wave farewell to Alice.