estoria | [ OPEN ]

Who:

lethechained and OPEN to passersby/latte lovers/coffee buffs/just about anyone, really
When: Any day (or multiple days!) between or including IC date 6/11 to 6/16
Where: A coffee shop in the Shopping District
What: Latte foam art and coffee shop AU shenanigans, mostly. Someone’s gotta keep Naminé busy at her new job, right? Feel free to request specific subjects for said art or let her think of something on her own.
Rating/Warning: None!

[ A. ]

[The shop is cute, cozy and pleasant with the smell of coffee so thick in the air that it’s nearly enough to give one a caffeine high all on its own. The sign says there's a special on lattes with a little side note about them including custom art, whatever that means, and plenty of space to sit and wait should one decide to order said beverages – or any other, for that matter. There’s a young blonde girl who can’t be much more than five feet tall bustling around behind the counter, so surely it won’t be long before--]

[Ah, there we go, she’s turned to read off the name of the owner of the most recently made drink. Her voice might be a little quiet for it, but surely one would recognize their own name, right? (Or whichever one they happened to give.)]

[ B. ]

[It’s gotten a bit slow lately, so instead of wandering around in the other part of the work area, that same blonde girl is at the register, regarding anyone who looks even remotely likely to come and order something with a passive sort of interest, whether they’re inside the shop or outside of it.]

[At least she’s attentive? Even if she might be staring a little. (A lot.)]

[ C. ]

[Everyone’s gotta take a break, right? That’s what this young lady seems to be doing – she’s still dressed for work – while sitting at one of the tables, sketchbook laid out in front of her as she draws away with a set of colored pencils. She might, in fact, happen to be sketching several of the customers. She also appears to have an only lightly sipped at drink in front of her, and it’s… actually water, ironically enough.]

[ D. WILDCARD ]
[Choose your own (coffee-related) adventure?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sure. I'll take one of those. [He nods. Why didn't he think of decaf? As usual, his attempts to seem more mature than he actually is have backfired on him. At least she hadn't thought of it either... He pauses and looks at Gabumon.] Do you want to try it? It's bitter, so you might not like it much.

[The Digimon only needs a moment to think.] If Yamato likes it, I'll try it!

I'll take two, then. And a bottle of water.

[...Just in case Gabumon doesn't like it at all, which is a possibility.]

[The way she smiles and nods with some still greater relief suggests that she's just happy to wound up with an acceptable answer, regardless of the source, and she hardly seems inclined to think less of him for not having brought it up himself. (She'd have no room to talk, anyway.) Her hand pauses midway to putting in the order, hovering there as she glances between Yamato and his companion for the duration of their brief communication, and upon it's completion,] Alright. Coming right up. [Only once they've made their decision does she move the rest of the way, telling Yamato the price as soon as it's been processed.]

[Perhaps because she is so new and had to seek help for the suggestion, she hesitates, then offers an almost shy, belated,] I... hope that's enough like what you had in mind. I've only just started working here, so I wouldn't know.

[~~He still has a chance to seem mature--~~]

Edited 2016-04-06 07:22 (UTC)

[Yamato is usually the shy one, so the fact that someone older than him is acting in a similar way leaves him unsure of how to react.] N-no, really...! I'm sure it's fine.

[He stammers through that attempt at reassurance, offering his card to pay. Even if she'd somehow got the order entirely wrong he'd say that, though, wanting to be considerate of her feelings.]

You'll learn more the longer you work here, right?

[His attempt seems to go over well, because the corners of her mouth turn up, genuine and grateful. (And maybe it's a little sweet, too, that stammering.)] That's very kind of you to say.

[Delicately, she takes the card. As she rings them up - and very decidedly does not get their order wrong, because she doesn't forget things so easily - she nods.]

I hope so. [Reaching to hand back the card, she pauses with a little,] -- Ah. Now that you mention it, I've already learned something today. [The whole 'decaf' thing, of course.] I guess that means I have you to thank for it.

W-well... you asked your coworker, right? Maybe you should thank them instead.

[Yamato is getting more and more flustered, quickly taking the card back. Gabumon is watching the conversation, not trying very hard to hide his smile behind a paw. Ignoring his Digimon, he continues,]

Anyway... I just arrived in the colony a week ago, so it's not like I don't know the feeling of learning new things.

Oh-- [She casts a quick, reflexive glance in the direction she last saw said coworker, but they're off elsewhere, and her attention returns to him again.] -- I did. But you're right, I should probably do it properly. Besides, I never would have thought to ask if you hadn't brought it up.

[Relinquishing the card, the only sign she makes that she found his haste at all noticeable is the slight tilt of her head, though it doesn't dampen her expression much. She appears to be oblivious to Gabumon's smile, poorly hidden or not.]

You did...? I wouldn't have known. [Suc...cess, apparently?] So did I, actually. [And that's about when it seems to dawn on her what that means, and the realization causes her to wilt slightly. Mouth lowering into a frown, she eyes him briefly before asking, with a hint of almost gentle tentativeness,] Were you-- in that awful game, too?

Yeah. [Yamato's expression hardens, and he becomes more serious. There's anger in his voice.] My little brother and my friends were there too. Whose idea of fun was that?!

[And all the reassurances of it being just a game or 'just' virtual reality fell on deaf ears. For someone who's spent so long in the Digital World, who's to say ViViD isn't as real as anything else?]

[-- Ah. Perhaps it was a regrettable choice of subjects for conversation, given the tone of his voice. She'll have to watch that. For now, though, her brow knits, frown deepening with sadness rather than anger. (Goodness, for a child even younger than either of them to see that - there's been very little respect for childhood in her life, as no one ever seemed to see fit to go easy on her even when she was essentially a newborn, but she can still recognize the added unsavoriness all the same.)]

That's terrible...! I didn't think--... I hadn't realized there were children there, too. [Relatively speaking, that is, considering she's only a teenager. And he's not alone in ignoring that 'just,' because she knows a thing or two about virtual worlds, too.] But I'd like to know that, myself - whose idea it was. It... didn't exactly make things any easier for those of us who were new.

[Bad first impression, guys.]

[Yamato crosses his arms, and shrugs.] I had Gabumon with me, so I was fine.

[Just in case she was worried about him being an ordinary kid. He and the rest of the team were definitely anything but that, and they'd all seen their fair share of death and violence in the Digital World, so that 'game' was nothing new. Even so...]

It had to be terrible for the people who couldn't fight, or didn't want to...

['Gabumon'? Her eyes are drawn inexorably to his present companion, and she regards him for a moment, brows raising very slightly. Presently she seems to decide that this is probably the person in question, and she offers a little nod by way of acknowledgement.] I see. Then you were lucky.

[Worried... would probably be a good word for it, ultimately, if she were to consider it, but it's only natural for her to be concerned about the well-being of others, 'ordinary' or not. Looking back at Yamato,]

It was, [she can and does say, because she falls - albeit somewhat loosely - into both categories.] I spent most of the time hiding. If there hadn't been people who helped me--... it would have been even worse.

[ OPEN ]

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