ArchivedLogs:That Coffee Smell

That Coffee Smell
Dramatis Personae Melinda, Micah, Teddy Welker
In Absentia	20 September 2014 Just before closing at the coffee shop.
Location <NYC> Montagues – SoHo
Montagues harkens back to the day when SoHo was filled to the brim with artists, with its mismatched furniture, all plush and decorated heavily with carved wood, but remains trendy enough to keep its newer patrons by making sure that furniture is clean, in good repair and inviting. The antique tables all have been reinforced to seem less creaky. The real draw of the cafe is the smell: fresh roasted coffee mingles with perfectly steeped teas. Spices from crisp pastries mingle with the tang of clotted cream but don't overwhelm too much the scent of chalk on the menu boards. It's getting later in the evening and the atmosphere at Montague's is mellowing out. There are clusters of chairs pulled together, small groups or couples settled in for good long conversations. The staff is still serving up drinks, but more at a leisurely pace. There's restocking and cleaning going on around the scenes and the food menus have been switched to pastries and premade items. The head manager, Melinda, walks out from the back, her hand pulling her cell phone out of her pocket from time to time, as if checking for an impending message. She looks a little relieved to find it not there. She heads toward the pair of registers and instructs one of the cashiers to close up for the night, the other is asked for what he wants to drink. She's off to the espresso machines next, starting to prepare a couple cups of cappuccino for the staff. It is late to be arriving at the coffee shop, but the door opens to admit one Micah nonetheless. The smallish young man is dressed for the coming chill of the evening in a blue and green plaid button down shirt worn open over a powder blue Totoro face tee, faded bluejeans, and sneakers. His auburn hair sticks out all at angles from beneath an olive newsboy cap. As he ambles over to the counter, it isn't quite toward the cashier, but off to the side where Mel is busy with her cappuccinos. The smile he offers in greeting is warm and comfortable. "Hi, sugar. Was in the neighbourhood at a store an' thought I should stop by for a bit, see if y'need a ride home after closin', since I'd be headin' that way anyhow." Ohman, that coffee smell. All the way on the other side of the street, Teddy's sensitive nose got whapped by it, and he just totally changed direction mid-stride to beeline it to the cafe right through a gap in passing cars. Unlike the smaller Micah, the Alaskan native, the veritable mountain of a man, absolutely huge in his late September shape, with barrel chest and... barrel legs and barrel arms and barrel gut, if we're being honest, fills the doorway as he rumbles on through. He's all over the chillier weather, wearing boots and jeans and a t-shirt that has a very sad-looking cartoon bear and the words 'I thought this was a BEARfest' along with some mention of some small beerfest in Massachusetts from a few years ago on it. And rocking an absolutely killer beard, to go along with the hairy forearms. Anyway, he continues that beeline to the counter. "Ohman, coffee." Mel looks a little startled when Micah comes in the door, but she relaxes when she takes in his mood. She keeps on with the drink preparation, a small cloud of steam appearing while she froths the milk. She gives her friend a small smile when he makes his way over, a warm greeting in return for his. "A ride would be lovely. I'm just about done here. You want anything to drink on the road? I can make you a flavored cocoa if you're not in the mood for caffeine." Her brows start to climb her forehead as the larger shape appears behind Micah and makes his way over as well. She blinks a couple times and glances over at the cashier before lifting her voice. "What's your pleasure, sir?" Micah's eyes close briefly, smile pulling wider in a pleased expression. "Mmm, cocoa. Fall comin's makin' me want /all/ the warm drinks. Anythin' spicy's good, thanks, hon. No rush on anythin' for me, though." He turns as the large form behind him all but casts a shadow over him, though his response to the other man is to chuckle a bit. "Y'definitely came t'the right place if you're lookin' for coffee. An' just in time, too." His teeth catch his lower lip, stifling additional giggles at the shirt, if not suppressing his amusement entirely. "Man it smells /amazing/ in here," says the big man, as just a general comment maybe to himself more than to the others, and he takes in a hefty inhale after to really draw it in. "Oh, I just want a coffee. Like, a big coffee. How big does big run here?" he says, a merry smile showing in and around that beard while he gestures with his big mitts in a largish drink sort of way. "And like a snack. Are you snack-selling, still? Ohman it is kind of late, isn't it? I am super sorry if you guys are trying to close up right now, I was just totally walking down the other side of the street and it smelled really good and so I just kind of wandered over because I've been hoofing it around the city all day and my brain was, like, 'ohdude, coffee, that's a great idea, Teddy,'" he rambles, voice deep and bassy and like a bunch of weather-worn rocks headed down a hillside. "So, cinnamon with a dash of nutmeg in your cocoa, or were you thinking of switching over to chai?" Mel glances between the shorter man and the towering individual, trying to keep the orders straight. "We're closing in an hour. I think we've got enough time for a coffee or two for you." As she speaks, she pours the steamed milk into cups, using a spoon to control when the foam covers the liquid within. When she's done, she rinses both the milk container and the spoon in very hot water before returning to the counter. "The largest cup we have is 24 ounces. You can have as many of those as you like. There's even a carrier for up to four cups. Did you want straight coffee, or were you looking for espresso mixed in?" "Perfect," Micah replies with a nod and a slight touch of one fingertip to his nose at the cocoa description. The image of Teddy drinking coffee out of a barrel with a handle attached mug-like is only hinted at by the grin tugging at the young man's lips. "They got some pastries an' whatnot but you're prob'ly limited t'what's already in the case at this hour," he informs the larger man pleasantly. Might could be that he's been here a few times. Teddy claps his trap shut when Mel says that order that totally does not involve him, his expression shifting apologetic because he totally did not mean to cut or intrude or anything like that. Derp. "24 ounces is grand," he says, when he's addressed again, sheepish smile showing with the words. And then he kind of leeeeans to the side to try to scope out whatever pastries might be lurking. "Oh, shit, you can throw an espresso shot in there? Is it good? I've had an adventure day, why the hell not, I'll try that. And, uh, whatever pastry you've got hanging out that's just gonna get pitched when the place closes up, I will so buy that, too." The smile turns into a grin with that, those overlarge canine teeth of his showing. And then he eyes Micah a little, one eye squinting down. "Dude, I feel like we might work together or something." Mel turns to look back at the cashier and shoos her off to the pastry cabinet to fill Teddy's order. She then starts prepping the next set of drinks. "Oh, we can put espresso in to nearly everything. Not... that we have any espresso filled pastries at the moment. You might be able to get those down at Evolve, if they've been stocked recently." At this, she glances over at Micah, a question mark on her face. He can answer that, apparently. She starts lacing a paper cup with chocolate syrup next. "S'good if the caffeine isn't gonna keep you up all night, anyhow," Micah replies of the added espresso shots. His eyes widen at the mention of /maybe/ working together. "Ohgosh. Apologies, hon. Here I been just goin' along like y'should know me already. I forget I'm not always as easy t'recognise as other folks at the school. I'm Micah." With this, he pauses to thrust a hand forward for greeting-shake purposes. "I teach a class now'n then. Practical stuff mostly, that they didn't offer before. Also, Jax's m'husband an' two of our kids're students there. Shane an' B?" He nods in answer to Mel's question. "More'n likely. Shane likes keepin' all the caffeinated an' coffee flavoured stuff around. S'usually some kinda coffee pastry. Also chocolate-covered coffee beans. Coffee ice cream. Kinda...yeah. Lotsa coffee." A shrug and grin pair up with his last statement. "Ohyeah, I know Evolve," the big man rumbles, nodding along with it. "But I'm good on the coffee count. Big-ass cup o' coffee with a shot of espresso sounds like exactly what I need." He beams a moment at Mel, watching a moment or so while she handles drinks because honestly that stuff is really kind of fascinating when the pros do it, compared to his bumbling around with instant coffee at home. And then he looks back to Micah with an 'aha!' expression. "Ohman I /knew/ it, you totally smell a little like Jax." He pauses there for a beat after as his brain clicks over. "Uhhh I mean--wow that sounds /really/ rude without context--I have a sensitive nose, and like there's a lot going on in this place so I wasn't sure I was getting what I was getting right and uhh. Yeah. That." He rubs at the back of his neck with a big hand, even as the other mitt swallows Micah's up in that handshake. "Sup, I'm Teddy, although you can totally call me Mr. Foot in Mouth right now." Mel has a small laugh at Shane's caffeine addiction as she sets the machine to fill a shot with espresso, then starts to steam milk for Micah. There's a small raised eyebrow at Teddy's smell comment, but she just starts shaking her head. "Bah. That's nothing. When you spend enough time with the twins, you get over stuff like that -- except when they point out who's had sex recently and with whom. I am not sure I ever get used to that one." Possibly why Mel doesn't get any that often. She turns and heads over to one of the coffee urns and starts filling their large with the good stuff, the aromas mixing in the air as both machines pour out a slightly different roast. She pauses when she remembers the milk, leaves Teddy's cup as she remedies the situation. "Iii... think I might be done for the night." It is a fortunate thing that Micah doesn't have his drink yet, or there could be an honest spit-take involved. Instead he giggles again, a hint of pink picking up in his cheeks. "Oh no, it's okay. Yeah, I'm kinda used t'the strong sense of smell thing." His head nods toward Mel in agreement, though his blush only deepens at her continued commentary. The giant handshake earns another smile. "S'nice t'meet you more formally. Don't worry 'bout it, s'all good." Still looking a little sheepish--he's apparently having one of those nights--the big man looks back to Mel with both heavy brows hefted skyward as far as they can go. "Ohman, yeah my nose is not /that/ sensitive when I'm kicking around like this," Teddy says. "I think I'd go nuts if it was, trying to be in a big city." Scratching absently at a spot on his chest, he proceeds to fish his wallet out of a back pocket with his other hand so that he can pay for his treats. "Oh yeah, man, it's super nice to meet you, too. Everybody's always so busy, I swear, I still haven't met like.. ...half of the faculty. It's crazy." "Heh. Well, it's not your fault that I think of that when people mention smelling other people. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. I apologize." Mel finishes Micah's drink and slides it across the counter to him before returning to Teddy's with a shot of espresso in hand. She pours it in and finishes pouring the rest of the coffee. "Room for cream?" She asks, slowing the pour. The cashier returns to the register with a box of pastries, pushing it toward the customer side. "I can help you over here." "Mmn, yeah. The keen sense of smell can be useful, but mostly it seems like a thing I'd rather /not/ have." Micah accepts the drink with a smile and nod along with his verbal "thanks." He sidles over to the register, though he leaves room for Teddy to go in front of him for his slightly more complex order. "There's always so many things an' assorted crises goin' on there. I think they have the best of intentions, but once more pressin' matters come up, they eventually forget to reschedule basic things that get postponed." His hand fishes into his pocket for his wallet as he talks. Teddy chuckles, a rich sound from deep in his chest, and waves a hand. "Don't apologize. That's the kind of thing that sticks with you, I think." He narrows his eyes at his drink at her question, debating, and then finally speaks up with, "Yeah, okay, a little bit sounds good." Sometimes, he likes his coffee black. And then sometimes, he apparently likes his coffee with a shot of espresso and some cream. Because why the hell not. He totes his wallet and card over to the cashier, all eager-beaver with the box o' pastries. "Yeah. There's kinda always something, seems like. That's okay, though. Stuff not getting rescheduled, I mean. That's life, you know?" Melinda nods and leaves a finger's width for cream before capping the cup and putting it on the counter next to boxed pastries. She sets down the cashier's drink and then transfers her own drink into a paper cup and leaves it on the counter as she starts toward the back. "I can understand busy. It seems like never-ending crises some days." She purses her lips and disappears around the corner. The cashier is patient and ever there, partially leaning on the counter. "Don't mind her. She's pretty tired. We get to the end of the night and she's nothing but morose. A little sleep, a little time with her kid, she'll perk up." She takes the card and swipes it through the machine, handing it back with the receipt. "Have a good night, sir. Think of us again, next time you're wandering." "Does seem that way," Micah agrees, the brim of his cap tipping down with a small nod. Hazel eyes track Mel's movement out of the room. "S'hard t'be chipper when you're tired. She'll do well gettin' off her feet here soon enough." He steps forward once Teddy's transaction is completed. Finally sliding his wallet free, he draws out actual cash for such a small purchase, passing the bill over to the cashier and tucking the change into the tip jar when it is returned. Card swiped and signed for, the big man nods with brows flat. "Yeah, for real. Long days can be killer." His serious expression, though, fades out and is replaced by something akin to a little kid getting their hands on candy, when he scoops up coffee and pastries. Aww yisss that expression says. "Aww yisss," Teddy also says out loud. Because. Awesome coffee and pastries, right? "Man, carride home is gonna be great, now. Dude, Micah, I'll see you later? Hopefully around the school. Maybe. We'll see. Depends on how busy shit is." "See you later, Micah." The cashier replies, taking her glass and a step back to sip her cappuccino. Mel isn't long in the back. She returns wearing a jacket, with a purse slung across her chest, and an arm load of paperwork. "Okay. I think I'm good." She grabs her coffee and moves to mill next to Micah. "Unless you were looking to hang out for a little bit? I mean, I don't want to rush you." Teddy is given another nod and smile as her gaze travels in his direction. "Have a good night, hon," Micah responds to the cashier. He chuckles light-soft amusement at Teddy's enthusiasm for his snack. "S'always nice t'have a sweet end t'your night. I'm 'round the school less'n the average teacher, but way more'n the average parent, so it all kinda comes out in the wash. See you 'round. G'night!" As Mel returns, he points to the to-go cup his cocoa is in. "Ready t'head out soon as you are. Figure you're eager t'get home t'the little flower." "Good night!" Teddy bids, and shuffles coffee cup and box o' pastries to one hand, somehow, to wave. This wave continues to include Mel when she reappears, cheery in nature despite the size of the mitt wagging around. And then the mountain of a man makes his way out, sipping at the coffee as he goes. A generally pleased rumble of a sound escapes him just as he disappears out the door.