Logs:A Whole New World

A Whole New World
Dramatis Personae James, Naomi	2023-09-25 Guess I know where I’m getting Breakfast AND Lunch now. (followed by still more monstering.)
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. The drizzly rain is off again this Monday afternoon, the lunch rush well and gone through the cafe. Outside it, Naomi has been stationed here for a few hours, in an OCCUPY LASSITER t-shirt half-obscured under her forest-green windbreaker, her hi-tops only a little damp under the cuffs of her black jeans, forehead scaled shined and glossy and striking. She's been playing the steel drum next to Evolve's outdoor seating, the sign inside the case next to her reading "MONSTER UNIVERSITY FUND!" Underneath: "TAKING REQUESTS!" and then even bigger -- "NO MORE 'UNDER THE SEA', SORRY." She's no longer taking requests at all, it seems -- in between sips of a hot chocolate acquired inside, she's slowly packing away her drum into its (XAVIER'S SCHOOL labelled) case, much more quickly trying to sort and pack away the coins and bills into a hip pack strapped across her chest. It felt weird. Walking the streets of New York, after spending a lifetime in a town he never thought he’d get out of. Not that he never wanted to, a childhood full of ridicule over something as simple as looks made sure he felt that way every day-not to be helped by his parents, his landlord, or his slimy boss. They all made sure he felt like nothing more than an animal, a “smart” animal, but only feared once he bared his teeth. At least he could be thankful life had prepared him for this. Walking out at 16, living on his own, supporting himself, New York wouldn’t be possible without it. He couldn’t say the same for Billy, though, who hadn’t done much since the day they’d gotten here. He’d been there for the sightseeing, the food, but had broken out the weed stash as soon as they were alone. He wasn’t sure what Billy’s motivations were here, but he knew his. A fresh start. He’d gotten them both jobs in about two days. They were set to start working as Stage hands on Sunday. He figured he could use the lighthearted atmosphere to take his mind off of the chaos of not being in his familiar, quiet little town. He cursed under his breath as rain began to fall. Rain and him didn’t mix. No, scratch that, rain and FUR didn’t mix. He hated the feeling of wet, matted fur if he wasn’t in the bath or a shower. Besides, he’d been told it made him smell. He was a decent, hygienic person despite his looks. He pulled out his phone, checking google maps for the address. “ Evolve Cafe..” he said aloud to himself in a deep, booming voice. He pocketed his phone, and pulled out a crumpled disposable rain coat. He hadn’t looked at the forecast but it was something he always had with him anyway. As he headed in he noticed a girl, packing up a drum set. He read the signs, just as she was putting them away. “Guess I got here too late for the entertainment.” She turned to him. He stared at her, surprised at the scales. If he had anything else to add it had died on his tongue. "Aw, sorry, sir, I'm packing up, maybe next time though!" Naomi chirps, bright and Southern as sweet tea, before she turns and looks up at James. She has no eyebrows to raise but there is a strong sense that they would be rising right about now, green eyes going wide-wide. "--Damn," sounds not scared but almost delighted, "for another monster I can do an encore, no problem." He continued to look at her in awe, and then confusion. He expected her to be scared, but she hadn’t even flinched. But there was that word.. monster. Because of course whether they were intimidated or not, that’s how he was always going to be seen. He tried to mentally shake it off, it wasn’t her fault, everyone had a reaction to him, most were.. not great. He was used to it. “ Oh, no, of course not. It’s pouring out here, I’m sure you’ve got other, dryer places to be. I’m sure you were great, I’ll have to catch you tomorrow. Here—“ He pulled out his wallet, and slipped her a slightly crumpled ten dollar bill. “Always willing to help out a budding musician. I’d offer to get you something warm but it looks like you’ve already been inside.” He still couldn’t take his eyes off her, he internally scolded himself, knowing it was rude and that it was likely making her uncomfortable but her eyes, her scales, they were just so.. obvious. “ hope.. the coffee is any good.” He said in a rush trying to ease his own awkward embarrassment and failing. He wanted to cringe at his own lack of people skills. "Gee, thanks!" There's that too chipper performance again -- Naomi notices it this time, the brown skin on her cheeks flushing dark as she takes the ten. "I ain't here tomorrow, though, I got school. Maybe next long weekend or something I'll be back? College applications ain't gonna pay themselves." Her gaze is not as unerringly on James as his is on Naomi, but she's glancing up and catching his eyes after the bill is tucked away. "Ion like coffee," is Naomi's review, "but the hot chocolate's good and free-ish." She raises her cup in demonstration, goes to take a sip -- seems perturbed to find it empty. Glances up at James again. "--You 'fraid of snakes or something, sir?" “ What?-No, uh,” He huffs out a nervous laugh and scratches his neck. “ I’ve.. dealt with my fair share of them..” This was not going well. Not only did it decide to rain, but he’d managed to offend someone. Just his luck. “ Well, uh, I’m going to..” he jabbed a thick thumb behind him at the doors. Guess I’ll be seeing you again here soon.” He tried to give her a friendly smile but had no idea if it actually looked that way. His teeth usually got in the way of that. He couldn’t tell by her face what she was thinking now, all he knew was that he didn’t want to become her big brother’s problem. He hoped she didn’t have one spying nearby just waiting to try and lay into him. Naomi tilts her head -- "I don't mind none if folks are," she's offering, a little more concern creeping into her voice. "Jus', you was staring like you never seen a mutant like me before, an' I thought, maybe it's the snake thing." She bites at her lip, peering up at James' fur, at his expression. "Probably," she's allowing, "since this the only place guaranteed to serve us." She's shuffling back towards her drum, now. "...You new to town or something, sir?" “ Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.. it’s just.. I was the only one like me back where-I just moved here from Texas a few days ago. If there were any, none like you of course. Not in a bad way, great look on you,” Well. That didn’t sound creepy at all. Nice going He thought. “Anyway, I’ll uh, let you finish packing up.” He turned back to towards the door, then turned back, as an after thought. “ Is this really the only place around here? It’s that bad huh? You know if someone spit in my food back home, at least I still got it.” It was a bitter comparison but he had to know if he was going to survive here. "Oooooh." Naomi is nodding sagely now. "Was same for me an' my kin back in Georgia. Don't worry 'bout it, I gotcha now." She's glancing through the doors now, eyes, narrowed in thought, then back to James. "More of us right inside. It's def the only place that's guaranteed -- everywhere else," she shrugs. "Betcha Taylor can tell you who serves folks with fur better than me though -- he works here, you can't miss him." Now she's going back to her drum for real. "You'll figure it out. Best part of New York --" and her grin here is wry, "-- we ain't so alone out here." “ guess I know where I’m getting Breakfast AND Lunch now.” He smiled. She was odd, but she probably thought the same about him. Maybe he just wasn’t used to talking to such a happy person. It was a nice change from all the passive aggressive or fake polite crap he got from just trying to exist in public back home. It wasn’t perfect, but he could already tell it was better in some weird way. “ You stay safe out there.” He finally tuned to enter the coffee shop, not sure what sort of environment to expect, but mentally preparing himself for a whole new world of which he’d only scratched the surface of just minutes ago.