Starring:
Summary: Discussions of crazy books, crisis(es?), social studies of powers and naps!
Date It Happened: February 8th, 2007
Log Title Coffee, Drugs and a Nap
Common Grounds
Benjamin isn't one to typically haunt a coffeeshop or similar establishment, however tonight, he is in Common Grounds. A plush chair is claimed down in the lower area and his briefcase rests near his feet. He's already a nervous sort, so the steaming mug of coffee sitting nearby is decaf, and it's getting mostly ignored. Instead of doing any of the work he usually takes home at night, there's a book open in his lap. Hardbound, it looks more like a textbook than a novel. His gaze is downcast as he works on reading the pages. Some of it requires rereading as the content is just a little over his head and hard to grasp onto. The noise level of the shop around him isn't bothersome, he's able to tune most of it out.
Bekah has just collected her order. She has some kind of large coffee drink and a pastry, as well as a battered back pack slung over her back. Bekah heads down to the lower level, claiming an empty armchair not far from where Benjamin is sitting. The coffee is given first attention, as caffiene is a wonderful thing, with the backpack sitting forgotten for the moment at her feet.
Next in line is one Paige Williams, who pulls the blue toque off her head and tugs her hands free of her mittens as she steps up to the counter. "Hey," she chimes politely to the server on the opposite side of the counter, appraising the menu briefly. "Hot chocolate, please. As big as you've got." She's ready and armed with a five dollar bill and a bright smile for the server. Once her order is in, however, she drags her heavy backpack to an empty table and sets about the chore of digging out school books. In fact, she's still dressed in her school uniform, it would seem, as she lays her coat over the back of a free chair at her table. By the time her drink is ready and waiting for her, she has two different textbooks stacked on the table, each marked with little post-its in different colours, along with three notebooks and a binder so full of paper it looks like it might burst. …clearly a hard-working student.
Outside of the coffee shop, in an alley outside, Clint brings himself back into existance from his apartment. That might explain why he's not wearing anything for the cold weather. He pops inside of the shop, and gets in the line. Always a line at this place. He's not used to waiting, but good things come to those who wait..
Behind Paige is Xade, who is as warmly attired in an overcoat and driving gloves, if somewhat colder in his address of the barista. A medium is ordered, house blend, and he glances back over his shoulder after Paige's bookbag shuffling before reaching around into his back pocket for his wallet. His coffee is paid for in exact change, with no tip, and he steps aside to wait in a brooding sort of impatient silence.
Benjamin glances over at Bekah, catching her movement from the corner of his eye. He gives her a polite nod as he reaches to claim his mug to take a drink of its contents. The pause for a drink gives his brain time to take in (hopefully) some of what he's been reading. DNA, genomes, evolution.. Why did he bother picking up this book? "I'm an accountant, I deal with numbers, not science," he mumbles into his cup.
The door opens once again, and Eliana joins the growing line. It doesn't take long for the young woman, her pink hair slightly tossled, to grow impatient. With her hands deep in the pockets of her coat, Eliana goes up on the balls of her Converse-clad feet, then starts to rock between them and her heels. It creates a sort of soft thwacking sound on the tile floor - a rhythm to the horrible waiting.
Bekah pauses in her coffee consumption to at least unzip her own jacket as she looks over towards Benjamin, nodding in greeting before she looks with interest at what he's reading. "But much of science is numbers." She points out, apparently not shy around strangers. She starts to pick at her pastry as she slouches back in her chair.
Hot chocolate in hand, Paige reluctantly settles down into a chair at the table strewn with books, her expression becoming one of pained disgust as her eyes pass over the titles of the textbooks. She drags the smaller of the two textbooks to sit in front of her, flipping it open to one of the marked pages. The green notebook, too, gets opened up to a well-worn page. When she picks up a pen to make notes, however, she gets about two words written out before dropping her chin into her hand and doodling little sketches in the margins of her notes.
Clint taps his foot, grumbling a little bit, "C'mon, c'mon.." Finally, he gets up to the counter, and orders his drink. The same thing he gets every time. Large cafe mocha, with double whipped cream. Once he pays, he steps off to the side to await his drink, looking around the room briefly. Hey, there's that girl from the park again. He waits to see if Paige happens to look in his direction, or if she's too distracted with her 'work'. Assuming she looks at him, she'll get a wave.
Pink hair and obnoxious thwacking are enough to earn a stare from Xade. It is the kind of stare that one generally does not want to attract from creepy strangers in coffee houses. Fortunately, it's fairly short-lived, and ends when his coffee is pushed out over the counter. It is with a measure of skepticism that he pries up the lid to squint in after signs of a potential spit-taint.
Benjamin's coffee sloshes in his cup as he sits up sharply at Bekah's words. A slightly embarrassed look crosses his face at having been overheard. "Sorry.. didn't mean to say that aloud. It's just.. theories and this whole book.. Give me straight up mathematics over scientific equations any day. Even if I ignored the equations, nevermind. I'm babbling. Sorry, I don't normally babble to strangers like this. Except lately."
The look that Eliana exchanges with Xade is less than kind as well, and it's just as reactionary. She punctuates it with a grunted sort of huff before she steps up to the counter and places her own order with a contrasting, beaming smile. A medium chai with whip and one of those generic krispy treats as well, if you'd please! Then it's off to more waiting, but after paying and tipping to seal the promise of hot beverage and tasty snack, Eliana seems to be in a more patient mood.
Bekah looks over to that book again and then shrugs with a laugh. "Well, that makes it normal for lately." She decides before she adds. "If you can figure out the big concepts, the equations make more sense." Bekah states her own truth on science and then goes back to picking apart her pastry, some kind of scone.
Paige is only all too willing to be distracted from the books laid out before her, and the familiar face in the line garners a bright smile and a wave in return. She sits up a little straighter in her seat, flipping the page in her notebook as if to cover up the doodles. Because, let's face it, drawing in the margins is a little embarrassing when you're not a great artist. "Hey," she calls to Clint, waving a hand to invite him over.
Clint walks over with his coffee and sits down at Paige's table, "S'up, Paige?" He asks, as he glances over her books, trying to figure out what she's working on. Maybe he can help her out. He did graduate college, after all.
Satisfied that the baristas did not manage to hawk anything into his cup in the two seconds that he wasn't paying attention, Xade gives Eliana a rigid looking over and turns for the stairs leading down into the less formal lower area.
Benjamin sets his cup aside and rubs at his temples with his hands. "I don't think I want to figure out the main concept, because this is crazy." He marks his page in the book and holds it up for Bekah to see the cover. 'Activating Evolution' by Chandra Suresh. "I don't know who is crazier, the author for writing this or me for reading it. This is.. it sounds like he couldn't let go of the comic book superheroes of childhood or something."
As much as it may /seem/ like Eliana is stalking the poor Xade, she really just wants a cozy seat without the restrictions of a table. Once she has her coffee and treat, the young woman smiles graciously to the barista and starts toward the stairs as well. Once there, she'll most likely sit somewhat close to Xade, if only to observe him. So maybe it /is/ stalking, but the pink-haired writer has a purpose beyond random fascination, and the coffee will help to achieve that. Seated, Eliana pulls out a thin moleskin notebook and a pencil and thumbs the latter open before she takes a sip of her drink.
"Biology." The way she speaks the word betrays no small amount of disapproval, and Paige sets her pen down with a quiet slap as it hits the page. "/So/ not my forte, but my dad will pitch a fit if I don't get an A this term." She uses a finger to scoop off and eat some of the whipped cream off her drink. "They're making us dissect little baby pigs next week. Isn't that awful? Poor things."
Bekah is sitting in the lower area, near Benjamin and she shrugs at his book. "Crazy, yes, but yet it does make you wonder. What could evolution have in store for us next? What is the genetic code capable of?" She stops the questions to turn her attention back to her coffee. "Though in here, I'm more interested in the wonderful chemical that is caffiene."
Clint hmms a little bit, "Biology, eh?" He asks, "Sorry, not exactly my major, either." He says, as he hmms a bit, "Well, let's see…Disecting pigs? Yeah. That's terrible.." He doesn't really think it's a big deal, but he also knows how to talk to girls, so he'll play the whole sensative to little baby animals role out, if he has to do so. He takes a drink of his coffee, and hmms a bit, "So I think I saw once on Mythbusters that humans are pretty close to pgs, as far as like, organs and skin and stuff goes, so maybe that's why they're making you use pigs.."
Xade takes the time to shirk out of his overcoat one side at a time once he's reached the bottom of the stairs, gloves creaking when he reaches to drop it on the nearest hook. Apparently ignorant of the fact that he's being followed, he then moves to drop himself heavily down into the poofy chair nearest Benjamin and Bekah, coffee set at his feet so that he cain straighten to start on his gloves. "'Ello." He smiles. Maybe just a little too cheerfully.
Benjamin looks at the book with a dubious sort of expression on his face before setting it back in his lap. "I've never thought about it before," he says to Bekah, sounding a little thoughtful. "It's not really something that comes up in my life. I must be having a mid-life crisis and that's why I picked this up." He looks over at Xade, and gives a distracted nod to the newcomer.
"Well, whatever their reason is," Paige replies, closing the notebook with a somewhat childish scrunch of her nose, "I still don't like it." Taking up her drink and drawing a long sip, she considers Clint for a few seconds, canting her head to one side. She traces the outline of the cup with the tip of her finger, hesitating before she asks, "Hey, um, did you hear anything about that bank robbery that happened the other day?"
It doesn't matter to Eliana if what she perceives as a group is an intentional one or not. Being down here underneath the busier part of the shop certainly makes it easier. Eliana takes another, longer drink from her cup before she settles back in her armchair, angling herself so that she can watch the cluster out of the corner of her eye, pencil poised. Taking a deep, quiet breath, the young woman does what she's practiced for years - conciously elevate her heart rate. It takes some effort, but within a few seconds the organ is beating a bit faster, and the odorless, colorless, tasteless gas is leaking through Eliana's pores. Still, it will take some time for it to reach the ceiling fans that are circulating the air.
Bekah looks over to Xade and nods. "Hey." She says before giving Benjamin a shrug. "I guess we all live different lives. And have different interests in debating what is and isn't popular. Too early in my day for that anyway." Eliana gets a quick look as she sits down, but not much more notice.
Bekah gets a nod not unlike the one Benjamin gave him, and Xade drops his gloves into his lap to lean back down after his coffee. The dark, somber grey of his suit doesn't quite fit with the poofy chair he's selected for himself, but he seems comfortable enough when he settles back into it, and sips his drink. "You don't look like you're havin' a crises to me."
Benjamin glances down at the book and drums his fingertips against the spine. "You have a point," he falls silent, not really one for random conversations with strangers. He doesn't really get out much. Or talk to people. Xade gets a faintly uncomfortable look, "I don't know what they're supposed to look like, but it sure feels like one at times."
Clint hmms softly to himself, as he sips his coffee, "So anyway, what school do you go to, Paige?" He asks, trying to make friendly conversation at this point. He's just trying to be nice, since she's one of the few people who's recognized him so far..
Clint hmms softly to himself, as he sips his coffee, "I saw something about it on the news, yeah." He says, "Why, were you there?" He asks. He shakes his head a little bit. Some people are so…Overt when it comes to that. He could have robbed that bank without so much as opening the safe door.
Bekah looks over to Benjamin and shrugs. "I think they're supposed to look like horrible combovers and ridiculus desires for outrageous sports cars. But then maybe they look like reading books you think are crazy. Who knows?"
When she catches Bekah's look, Eliana looks down to her notebook, trying to appear uninterested in the group. But the fact that she's a bit nervous now that she's been 'spotted' only helps in the production of the gas, and soon it's flowing easily as Eliana's heartrate mimics what it would be if she were steadily jogging.
"Mmf." It's supposed to be a denial, as evidenced by the way Paige shakes her head in response to Clint while taking a sip of her drink. "No. But I met this girl in the park who said she was. She didn't look too bad, but she said she was almost killed. Creepy, right? Supposedly some other girl threw someone into a wall or something. Guess the guys weren't too smart, huh?"
"Combovers, definitely," Xade agrees, voice muffled down into his cup while he follows Bekah's glance on a delay and narrows his eyes briefly back at Eliana. "I think Pinky over there is followin' me. You into that comicy stuff, then?" The latter is addressed to Benjamin's book, along with a short nod in its direction.
Benjamin laughs at Bekah. A little too loudly and too full of humor than he normally would intend. But suddenly? He's feeling a little too good and it's not the coffee, as he's having decaf. "Maybe the next part of having a crisis.. is believing crazy books. I mean.. say this is true.. I could have a super power. A really lame one. But it's all got to be in my head, because this," again he holds the book up, waving it a little, "Cannot and does not happen." There isn't exactly a crazy look to his eyes, but close enough. He sounds almost.. giddy.
Well, poor Clint. He's starting to laugh a bit as a result of the gas in the air…He giggles a bit, "Those guys were stupid." He says, about the bank robbers, "I coulda gotten in and out of there, no problems.." He yawns a bit. He feels really good…But yet feels tired for some reason too. He's not even sure what's going on with him, "Man. I thought coffee was supposed to give you a pickup.."
Seeing fruits of her efforts surges Eliana's heart, and she can't help but slowly grin as she starts to write, logging Benjamin and Clint's reactions. The gas continues to pour from her pores, and, thanks to the speed of it's exit and the fan, is soon pushed down on the 'targeted' group.
Bekah rolls her eyes over to Benjamin. "Well, then maybe you just need to believe in yourself and it's not a midlife crisis at all, but just learning more about yourself. Who knows what can and can't happen." There's a bit of edge in her voice before she rolls her eyes at Xade. "Maybe she likes you or something Junior High like that."
"Oh /could/ you?" Paige, too, feels her mood beginning to lift without any particular reason why. Lifting a hand to toss her dark hair back over one shoulder, she stifles another little snort of laughter. "How could *you* get in and out of a bank without problems? I mean, you're /famous/. Someone would /recognize/ you," she continues, speaking in a teasing sort of tone. Her fingers trace designs on the table top, and while she isn't the least bit sleepy like Clint, she seems to be just as giddy.
Dark brows knit at Benjamin's laugh, and Xade has time to look a little muddled before he chuckles as well. At what, exactly, even he looks a little unsure as he lifts his coffee and mutters, "S'probably it," in an aside to Bekah. His cup is rested on his knee, still steaming, and he blinks slowly at the lights on the ceiling, oddly sluggish for all that the tainted air and the coffee should be having the opposite effect on him. Eventually, there's another slow blink and a sniff, and he's out cold, throat exposed and bristly head lax against the back of his chair. He immediately begins to snore while the coffee on his knee adopts a precarious tilt towards the right.
Benjamin doesn't seem aware of the drugged effect on himself. "Is it warm in here? It seems warm in here, or.. huh? Believe in myself?" He raises a hand and loosens his tie around his neck. Confusion is in his voice, along with amusement. Still laughing at really nothing he turns back to Bekah, "I don't know what to believe anymore. My wife divorces me, people fall asleep around me, and some of my coworkers have worked themselves like rabid insomniacs! It's all in my head, coincidences, has to be… SEE That's what I'm talking about!" he practically shouts and points a finger right at Xade as the guy passes out.
Well, /that's/ not supposed to happen. Eliana turns a little more in her chair to peer at Xade, and thankfully his snoring gives her a more outward reason to do so. Even without looking at her notebook, Eliana writes furiously. This is new. This is different. This is /not right./ Her slight panic cases her heart to beat faster still, pumping more concentrated gas into the air.
"Well.." Clint starts out, "See, first thing I'd do is.." He pauses, as he looks at the heat coming off of his coffee, "Oooh.." He gets totally distracted from explaining to Paige how he would break into a bank without getting spotted. He rubs his face a bit, "Mmmmf…Man.." He wants to get out of here…But there's people around, so he can't just bamf out like he knows to do..
Bekah looks over to Xade and then to Benjamin. "Maybe you just hang out with a lot of really tired people." She suggests. "Or maybe you're just so boring you put them to sleep." And right now there's apparently no stopping what she's thinking from coming out of her mouth, sarcastic tone and all.
"You… don't look so hot," Paige says to Clint, although she's hard-pressed to muster up any actual frown for his condition given the intoxicating effects of Eliana's power. She grabs her drink to try and finish it, which does little but elicit an appreciative murmur that distracts her from actually helping Clint. "Oh my god, this hot chocolate is /amazing/," she purrs, trying to get more of the drink from the cup despite it being empty. When she is absolutely convinced that there is nothing left, she looks back to Clint and seems to remember her previous intentions. "Do you need air? Let's go." She offers a hand to Clint in order to help him up and, presumably, out of the coffee shop.
Benjamin looks down at his hands as he spreads them in front of his face. "If this is a super power, I really want to return it because.. this is so not what comes to mind when I think of super heroes." He throws his head back and just /laughs/. It takes him several moments to stop laughing and to catch his breath. A hand raises to wipe away an imaginary tear, "That's exactly what my ex-wife said. Fudge to this. I got enough of that during the divorce. I'm going home to my illegitmate daughter who suddenly appeared in my life. Or maybe I'll go sing and dance in a fountain. Which sounds like a great idea." He shoves his book into his briefcase and rises.. then belts out with, "Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight," as he heads for the door. He's not bad really.
Shouting appears to have no effect on Xade's state of unconsciousness. Shoulders sloped and knees wide apart, he doesn't so much as flinch when his coffee cup tips past the point of no return and topples off his knee, either. Thump, splash. He's going to need a new pair of shoes.
People are leaving? That's fine. Eliana narrows her eyes at Benjamin in particular when he stands up, and pauses in writing. She sets her pencil down and lifts her fingers to whistle once at him, short and sharp. "It's not always good to tell everything you know," she offers in a voice a great deal softer than her whistle was, then picks up her pencil and looks back to her notes as if Benjamin no longer existed.
Hurrying after Clint after hastily gathering up her books and coat, Paige reaches out a hand to help steady him - which would be better, if it weren't for the fact that the second her fingers brush against his shirt, it takes just about everything she has not to grab it and rub it against her face. It's distracting enough that she seems to completely forget that she's walking up a flight of stairs; her toe catches an edge and she falls flat against the stairs, her books scattered on the landing above. Is she hurt? Not at all. Lease of all her pride, it would seem, as she bursts into laughter as soon as she hits the ground. "Whoops."