ArchivedLogs:The Evolve Menu

The Evolve Menu
Dramatis Personae Doug, Eric, Sebastian, Shane	2013-04-13 An argument at Evolve.
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. The evening has worn away into night by the time the door to Evolve opens to admit the familiar face of Eric. Music has just started playing from upstairs, the sharp sounds of electronica coming down the stairs. The police officer has changed into more suitable clothing from a few hours, though tamer than his usual fare. He is wearing a black dress shirt and a black pair of jeans, and he wanders quickly over to the counter. "Heya, darlin'." he says, giving a little wave to the woman behind the counter. "Can I get a coffee? Milk and sugar, please." he asks, as he tugs out his wallet from his pants pocket. He takes out his phone, too, glancing at the time before stuffing it back in. Doug is so Not a Club Kid. He is the geek who is at a happening spot on a Saturday night to...play with his computer. Apparently. The blonde enters just after Eric, dressed casually in a pair of snug-fitting, well-patched jeans and a hooded jacket over a thin t-shirt that reads 'Camp Counselor - Camp Kickawanee Computer Camp' across the chest and is probably a size too small. Black-framed glasses and a laptop bag complete the Geek look, even if the glasses are pushed up on his head at the moment. He rolls up to the counter just behind Eric, and grins before he peeks around the man's shoulder. "Hot date tonight?" Eric turns as he's addressed, and his eyes light up in recognition. "Can always be more than one," he says, voice a soft purr, as his eyes rake the other man up and down unabashedly. "The more the merrier." he turns and leans against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning openly at Doug. "What'd'ya say?" Doug quirks a grin. "It looks like I'm underdressed," he says, with a faint echo of Eric's purr, although his expression is teasing as he returns the looking-over. His eyes crinkle in amusement when his gaze returns to the older man's face. "Who's on the menu, tonight, then?" "Is there a menu?" Shane's still dressed as he was earlier. Pinstriped vest, dark slacks, paler dress shirt. His face still bears scratches down one side, though between this afternoon and this evening they've healed some. The bruising is gone altogether. "Cuz I usually treat this," he waves a hand towards the stairs up to the club, "buffet style." The twins are notching themselves into line behind the older men -- or, well, Shane is. Sebastian is hanging back. He's changed from earlier. Tight purple skinny jeans, though he still has his yellow-on-yellow butterfly-embroidered sleeveless top. Silver makeup shimmering over his eyes. He watches his brother uncertainly, watches Doug uncertainly. Shane isn't uncertain at all. He slips in at Eric's side, curling an arm around the older man's waist. Hand slipping into Eric's back pocket. The grin he gives Doug is /bright/ and very full of teeth. "You didn't tell me we were having /company/." Eric grins and slips an arm around Shane's shoulders, one finger rubbing briefly over Shane's shoulder. "I didn't know that we were." he says, brightly, lips quirking into a grin. "And we may not yet be." he turns to take the cup from the barista who is looking over this conversation with a bored expression. This is, for her, not all that unusual, it seems. Eric takes a sip of his coffee and proffers it towards Shane. "Hiya, 'Bastian. Hiya, Shane." Doug's grin falters a bit when the twins appear, but it remains, even as he's shaking his head. "For coffee, maybe. But not --" he doesn't let that finish, instead taking advantage of that moment to step forward and place his order. "Yeah, I'll have the house blend, with a shot of espresso and one of those bear claws." He fishes out his wallet as he looks back over his shoulder and offers another smile at Sebastian. "How've you been?" Shane's brows hike upwards at Doug's reaction to the twins, or lack of. "Man, you're the /milquetoastiest/ of milquetoast." He snorts, sniffs at Eric's coffee, shakes his head. "You wanna buy me my own?" he asks. Inside Eric's back pocket, his hand squeeeeezes. "We can buy our own," Sebastian says, more quietly. "Hi, Doug." It's subdued. He shrugs in answer to the question. "Sorry. Were you and he --" He looks between Doug and Eric." Eric smirks at Shane and takes a sip of his coffee. "Sure." He gives Sebastian a look and turns back towards the counter. "Whatever these two want as well." he says, tugging his wallet out of his pocket once more and sliding his card across the surface of the table. "Don't worry about it, 'Bastian. You can pitch in for dinner if you want." he says, softly, giving the other twin a look that is almost... gentle? The interaction between Doug and the twins, Eric stays well enough out of. Doug frowns when Shane speaks, and turns a deeply furrowed brow in his direction. "I don't know what you mean," he says, lifting a shoulder as he turns back to pay for his order. To Sebastian, he offers a small smile, and shakes his head as he turns back to face the trio. "Oh, no. This was just a coincidence. I came in here to grab some coffee and work on some stuff." His smile shifts, turning wry as he lifts his eyebrows. "You know, typical Saturday night excitement." "I mean," Shane says, "that talking to you is like talking to a fucking robot. Who doesn't understand human interaction. You go from friendly to asshole in nothing flat and then from asshole back to tight-smile-nothing-ever-happened /also/ in nothing flat and what the fuck is even the point of -- mmm, triple espresso," he orders, derailed from this train of thought by /coffee/. "-- for me, too," Sebastian pipes up quietly. He frowns, looking between his brother and Doug. "-- He might just be, you know, polite, not everyone wants to pick /fights/ all the --" "Fucking bullshit," Shane says. "/Polite/ is one thing. /You're/ polite. /Jax/ is polite. Pretending you never had a problem to begin with isn't polite it's just creepy. Hey," he squeezes Eric's ass again. Leaning into the older man's side. "does your thing against fucking people high count if I /tell/ you I want to screw you while I'm sober?" "-- you know he's still a cop, Shane," Sebastian frets, "you /probably/ shouldn't be making plans to, um." "You gonna arrest me?" Shane raises his eyebrows. Eric gives Shane a look and he shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "No, I'm not gonna arrest you, but yes, it does." A brief pause, as he looks over Sebastian. "And, your brother is right. I am still a police officer." he says, softly. He takes another sip of his coffee and looks over Doug. "And let's... take it easy, Shane, everyone." he says, gently. Doug colors under the verbal assault, and his eyes narrow. "Maybe," he says, in a dangerously neutral voice, "I'm not interested in holding grudges with a sixteen year old kid. Maybe," he says, his eyebrows lifting and his jaw setting. "I don't want to cause a scene in a coffee house over teenage drama. And maybe -- just maybe -- I'm not interested in having a threesome with him, either. Especially," he says, his voice slipping out of neutral and beginning to rise, "after he made it plain that we weren't fucking /friends/, even though I've never been anything but friendly /to/ him." He lips curls, and he lifts a hand to jerk at the strap of his bag as he turns back to the counter. "Eighty-six that order,' he says. "I'm not staying." "What in the fuck did any of that have to do with anything?" Shane isn't asking Doug this. He's asking it to Sebastian, eyebrows raising. What actually /is/ to Doug is: "Might be you're not really as good at /being/ friendly as you think you are." "Shane --" Sebastian frowns, and glances at Doug uncertainly, "I'm sorry, he --" This is kind of apologetic, kind of timid, but to /Shane/ he is neither of these things. Just firm. "Be /nice/." It's kind of striking how immediately Shane's expression shifts at the change in Sebastian's tone. He winces, stands up a little straighter, takes his hand out of Eric's back pocket. "Sorry," he says, reflexively, to Sebastian. To Doug, too: "Sorry." But to Eric: "That's a stupid rule. I mean it's /consent/ you're worried about, right, and dude, I /want/ to fuck you." Eric looks a little confused, tilting his head one side to study Doug. "Don't drag me into this, Doug." he says, softly. "I've never been anythin' but nice to you, and I'd still be your friend if you want me to be." he says, softly. He squeezes Shane a little bit tighter, a curtailing gesture, in some way. "S'not stupid. You might change your mind." "I'm not dragging you into anything," Doug says to Eric, reaching up to jam his glasses down on his nose. "We're good, as far as you and I are concerned. You, too," he says, motioning to Sebastian. "But I'm done with this," comes with a motion at Shane, "until he pulls whatever stick is up his ass about me /out/. I've never done anything to him, and he knows it." Shane's shift in expression and demeanor is noted icily before the blonde turns his attention on Sebastian. "You should do that more often," he says, and begins heading for the door, leaving his money behind on the counter. "Call me," can only be to one person in the group, even though he doesn't look back to confirm it. Then he's gone, in search of a quieter coffee house, perhaps. Shane doesn't bother with any response to this. He's focused back on Eric again. "About you? Doubt it." Sebastian winces. He dips his head and heads to give their orders to the cashier. Eric can pay. "You really do antagonize," he chides Shane quietly. Shane wrinkles his nose. His gills flare. "He's a prick." Sebastian shrugs. "You don't need to provoke it." Eric raises a hand in a little wave to Doug, a slight lilt to his smile. "Right." he murmurs, his eyebrows furrowing slightly in vconfusion. "I don't... understand, what is going on." he blinks several times, then takes a long sip of coffee. "Right. Well..." he blinks, several times. "Did you two have some bad sex or something?" he asks, a slanting smile on his lips. Shane just /snorts/, at this, kind of amused, kind of disgusted. "Let's dance," is all he says.