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 Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:20 pm
Jude quite decisively decided not to notice the tangle of their fingers, or the fact that if people saw them they'd think the pair were a couple; his own hand was clammy and cold in her grasp, not exactly that of a knight in shining armor. There were a shocking number of women in his life. If he'd had just a little bit more of a spine, maybe he could have had something. He cleared his throat.
"I don't...I don't worry that much. Just hand stuff in on time and you'll pass anyway, right?" He shot her a very brief look, regretting it immediately. She was looking at him, and that alone was enough to fluster. He tipped his head away and locked eyes on the crowded little coffee shop, mostly full of older kids.
"What are you doing, anyway? If not school, I mean..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:32 am
Porsha paid little mind to the state of his hand in her's, nor the clearing of his throat. Jude was an easily flustered, skittish sort of person, and all reactions of that nature were expected when she insisted on touching him. Or being around him even. She was used to it by now, even found it incredibly endearing.
"I'll still help you know," she offered softly, glancing up at him. "With your homework, or studying." Plum lips twitched up in a soft smile. Poe might have dropped out, but she wasn't stupid. She'd been passing all her classes with average to above average marks. The reason she'd left school had nothing to do with academics.
She squeezed his hand, then returned her cheek to his shoulder. "Odd jobs for now. My mother would love it if I landed an actual job, but the one I want won't hire me until I turn 18. I don't want to settle for working anywhere else." Poe was stubborn, and determined.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:00 am
"Oh." Puzzling, that. Jude took a moment, quiet, to attempt to figure out what kind of jobs wouldn't hire people until they were of age, and everything he came up with was only more flustering. He, after all, was still young, and no one ever hesitated to give him more work.
He also was paid cash, though. That helped.
"What's the job, then?" He flicked her a look, licking his lips, and stepped forward to get the door for her, holding it open, his fingers loosening -- obviously expecting her to slip away from him now that there were people around. College students, mostly, a handful of graduates who worked nearby. He recognized a few of their faces, didn't quite wave.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:09 am
She noticed the fluster, and instead of clarifying right away she let his mind wander. Grinning cryptically. When asked though she rolled her shoulders in a small shrug, chuckling. "The gym I go to all the time. They won't hire me until I'm 18, something to do with a minor being alone with grown men, I dunno." She shrugged again. Carl had explained it all to her when she'd asked him about it some months prior, but she hadn't really been paying close attention. The main points she'd gathered from the conversation was she had to be 18, and then the job was hers. What else was there to hear?
When he held the door for her she did indeed reclaim her hand so she could wander into the familiar coffee shop. Unlike Jude though, she didn't really know any of the people already inside, except the other kid behind the counter. She had managed to get to know the other employees in the time Jude had been working there, striking up conversations while she waited for a chance to chat with her friend, or for him to get off work.
She didn't bother waiting for her young man, but instead wandered right up to the counter, head tipped back as she looked up at the menu. Searching for the peppermint hot chocolate she was no w craving. She didn't see it. Pouting softly, she turned to glance at Jude over her shoulder. He had offered to make her one.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:23 am
He had indeed offered, and he was true to his word. One step inside, a brief hesitation, and Jude headed immediately for the counter -- slipping past the line with his head down so that no one could meet his eyes to give him a hard time, and ducking around to snatch an apron up. The guy on duty grinned at him, said something low, and got a low sigh in reply.
Jude had probably just been recruited to bring the line down. Alas. But he'd make up Poe's hot chocolate first, setting it at the front and blinking at her over the machines. Once he was working, his expression went more serious, more focused. He looked a little more together behind the counter, but only a little.
"...sorry. Give me ten minutes, okay? Just..." He nudged the drink across to her. "There's a lot of people. Just ten minutes. Get a table?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:32 am
The pout faded as he moved forward, and she smiled at him when he passed her and slipped behind the counter. It faltered a little at the exchange between Jude and his co-worker though, her eyes narrowing a little at the grinning barrister and the resigned sort of sigh her friend had issued.
She watched as Jude set to work fixing her her hot chocolate, offering him a grateful smile when she slid it across the counter for her. "Thanks babe." It smelled absolutely delicious.
The apologozies made her frown though, not at him, but that he'd somehow gotten roped into working when he'd come in on his day off, with a friend. "It's okay, you do what you have to do." Silver eyes flicked back towards the other guy behind the counter, then back to Jude. "I'll be over there," she pointed towards a booth tucked back into one of the corners. It was mildly secluded, and there was a heater right above it. "It's your day off though, don't forget that." Her lips pursed, debating if she should stoop to manipulation to get him to keep from letting himself get dragged into to cover for his grinning co-worker, and decided it was for the greater good. "We're supposed to be hang out."
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:44 am
Jude was too easy sometimes. Her expression, combined with the comment, made his eyes go wide and his expression apologetic as he nodded, and the result that he really was only back there for ten minutes. Well. Maybe fifteen, but hopefully she'd forgive him for that when he appeared at her table with a second drink for her, and a proper coffee for himself. Three cookies. A peace offering.
He sank down opposite her, eyes flashing only once over the line, only a little bit guilty. It was, after all, his day off.
"...um. If you just ask for a shot of peppermint in your hot chocolate, anyone will do this for you." He slid her one of the drinks, and curled his hands around the other, watching her seriously. Making sure she wasn't actually annoyed.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:57 am
Porsha spent her unexpected quiet time staring at the window with her chin resting in her upturned palm, sipping at her hot chocolate. Her mind was wandering, back to what had happened early, Jude's brother and him being out of town, her own home life and how dysfunctional it was. She was glad when Jude finally sank down across from her, it pulled her from unwelcome thoughts.
She blinked down at the cookies and the second drink, then looked up at him and smiled. No, she wasn't annoyed. She would have been if she'd had to sit there for much longer, but he hadn't, her slight guilt tripping had worked. Hey, it was for his own good.
"Thanks." She watched him as he watched her, marveling at how alike the Harrow kids looked. "And I know, but you make it best."
She lifted her original hot chocolate, taking a long drink, then helped herself to a cookie. Nudging the plate towards him so he'd take one as well.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:05 am
Jude didn't take a whole cookie -- instead he broke off half, dipping it absently, feet hooked carefully around the legs of his chair so that he wouldn't bump her under the little table. This place was often described as 'cozy', which meant small, and 'eclectic', which meant mismatched. Mismatched tables, chairs that bumped into each other when you moved too fast, and a small pile of board games in one corner. Jude flicked them a brief look and then dismissed them; scrabble probably wasn't exactly Poe's cup of tea.
"...um." Jude had trouble with girls, but to be fair, it wasn't just girls. He had trouble with everyone. Now he wracked his brain, trying to come up with something to talk about except for the somewhat unseasonable warmth. At least he had the sense to know that was lame.
"I saw Genevieve a bit ago." There. That was something. He blinked down into his coffee, faintly pleased with himself.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:25 am
She gave him a look for the half of cookie he took, then flicked her gaze off to the side, not quite an eye roll. While he dunked, she nibbled. Taking small bites of the cookie until it was half gone, then just popping the rest into her mouth. They were good, home made, and still warm in the middle. The perfect company to mint cocoa.
When she had finished and taken a drink she looked back up at him, plum brow twitching upward at his unsteady attempt to start up a conversation. She waited, and after a second or two he managed something a lot better then 'um', it made her smile.
"Really? I saw her the day too. She was taking a walk, so I joined her. Where'd you see her?" Genie, being their mutual friend, was actually a good topic. The three of them used to be a lot closer, but heading off to different high schools had allowed them to drift apart a bit. Now that they all seemed to be running into each other again, maybe they could get the trio back together.
While Jude tucked his feet around his chair, Poe stretched her's out beneath the table, and when she bumped into one of his feet she didn't bother to move it, but instead twitched the toe of her boot back and forth, bumping his foot rhythmically.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:53 pm
"Corner store. I was getting milk." Pretty lame; he flushed, well aware, and shook his head a little at Poe, smoothing stray stands of hair back out of his face. His coffee was dark, no milk and only touched with a bit of sugar; proper coffee. The kind that stunted your growth, supposedly, but entirely worth it.
"She, um. She seems to be doing pretty well, huh?" She was still tapping at his foot, and Jude wasn't sure what to do about that. He shifted a little more out of her way, carefully, as if he was worried he was taking up too much space, even curled in against his own chair like that...
"With the...the clothes. And everything."
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:19 am
"Yeah, just the usual complaints of parents on her end. She was a little more toned down, clothing wise, when I saw her. I think maybe the gossip around the neighborhood is getting to her." Poe frowned, brows creasing in annoyance. She liked gossip, even did her part to spread it along and make sure it was worth hearing, but hypocritical or not, she'd prefer her friends not fall subject to the rumor mill.
He'd moved his foot, and Poe raised a brow at him. She was flirting, subtly, and he was so not picking up on the hints. Granted this was Jude, and they were friends. For the moment she'd play nice and leave him alone, he'd blushed enough for the last hour.
"We should all get together again and do something, like old times." She took a bite of her cookie again, then a quick sip of cocoa to wash it back. "Maybe scoop out some of the thrift stores around the city for some vintage threads." Before high school the three of them had been almost inseparable. She had fond memories of playing dress up and watching stupid movies with Jude and Genie. Now they barely saw each other.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:06 pm
"Um. We could do that. I know thrift stores pretty well." He sipped at his coffee, eyes flashing up onto Poe again. Without teasing or prodding, he looked a little bit calmer, his shoulders relaxing, flush only lingering across the very tops of his cheeks and across his nose. It'd probably last a while. That had been dark enough to hurt.
Or maybe it was from the cold. He'd go with that.
"...um. Are there rumors about me?" He fidgeted, blew on his cup, elbows propped up on the edge of the table, and Jude tried to relax fully. Except he never did. Not even when he was alone. And yes, there probably were rumors, centered around the way he dressed [almost certainly gay, they said, especially since he never brought a girl home] and how much he worked. Some muttering about how Jude seemed to think he was above all that , which, well, maybe wasn't entirely untrue. But it was probably kinder not to say that, as Jude blinked at her earnestly.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 9:14 am
"I'll poke at Gen, and we'll try to set something up that'll work around your schedule here. Just right it down for me later, ok?" If there was to be any complications on the ability to get everyone together, it would be with Jude's busy work schedule. She hated that he worked so much, but she understood why, so she kept her opinion on it to herself.
She blinked at him when he asked about any rumors that may pertain to him, and had to drop her gaze down to the melting head of whipped cream in her cocoa. Lips pursing as she wondered how best to answer him.
The quick reply would have been yes, and he probably knew it, but this was Jude, and Poe had always had a mind to keep the young man safe from as much harsh reality as she could. She gave the table two firm taps, then looked up again and offered him a soft smile. "Some, but nothing like the s**t they say about Gene or I. I wouldn't worry about it."
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:56 am
His own attention was turned down into his glass, not as clueless as he might seem at times. Jude could tell that there were words on the tip of her tongue -- words which then slipped away into nothing. He didn't push. He really didn't want to know that badly. "No one tells me anything, anyway." And maybe it was for the best. Dark eyes lifted onto her again and then away as he sipped at his coffee, taking in the business moving around the counter. He, at least, didn't mind work, didn't miss what he might lose by spending so much time here instead of out and about. "I could take a day. You just tell me when and...and I'll work it out." beejoux I'm marking this thread as 'inactive' in my list; if you tag, please let me know via IM or quote? also, we could wrap it up if you want, it's probably near the end.
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