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 Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:17 pm
"A large hot chocolate, please. With whipped cream. And could you add a shot of espresso to that? Thank you."
Sophie paid for her drink and watched the barista behind the counter skillfully draw shots and mix beverages for the other people in line. Apollo's Coffee was crowded, and though most people took their drinks and ran, Sophie was hoping to find a seat. It had been a long day, finishing with a tedious English Composition class that she was all too ready to forget. What she really needed was a rest. A brief rest, specifically. Being idle for long periods just made Sophie more tired than running around all day.
She yawned and leaned against the counter, wishing she'd asked for a mocha instead. Usually she didn't try to overload on caffeine, but days when she had English Comp last were an exception. Leaning against the counter, she drummed her fingers on its surface and wished the place would empty out some more. Her cocoa wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable if she had to drink it on the go.
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Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 2:04 pm
Ian sat by the window with a large soy milk latte and his laptop, with homework and chess side-by-side on his screen. The former was just a reading, and so he had figured that he could take care of it before he even got home from school ... but it had proven somewhat dull, and so he had started up ChessNutz to go with it. Of course, this meant that he would probably be taking up space at the table for longer than he had originally planned, but the seat opposite him was still empty, and he really would not have objected if anyone else had wanted to sit there.
No one had asked, though. The red-haired boy always thought it strange, especially since he knew he looked about as intimidating as a little sparrow. With glasses.
But for the moment, Ian was hardly focused on the seat across from him and whether or not it was occupied. Nor was it on the essay he was supposed to be reading for class discussion tomorrow in History. His opponent had just castled, and he leaned closer to the screen, scrutinizing the digital chessboard display as he tried to figure out why. The opponent's ranking was relatively low, but that could have indicated that he was new to the site instead of just unskilled at the game.
After a moment, the redhead selected his move, and sat back on the tall chair to look out towards the back of the store to give his eyes a momentary break. Then he reached out to grab his lidded cardboard cup and took a long drink of his latte. ... Place had really filled up over the last ... however long it had been since he last looked up.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:19 pm
It took a few minutes, but soon Sophie was happily sipping her hot chocolate and looking for a place to settle in. Much to her dismay, the place hadn't emptied out at all while her drink was being made. While under normal circumstances she wouldn't have minded waiting a little longer, her foam was quickly deflating. Something had to be done, and in a hurry.
She scanned the small seating area again, eyes widening as she spotted an open seat. Perfect! That is, if the table's other occupant didn't mind. The possibility that the seat was reserved crossed Sophie's mind, but judging from the laptop, she doubted it. Still, there was only one way to find out.
Approaching slowly, Sophie set her cup on the table and leaned over. "Excuse me, but are you waiting for somebody?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:25 pm
Ian's attention was back on his chess game by the time the short-haired girl got her drink and approached his table. His opponent in his chess game had made a move that pretty clearly indicated that he was not the smartest of players, and the red-haired boy smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose as he moved one of his own pieces to take advantage.
"Check," he murmured, then looked up as he was suddenly and unexpectedly addressed by a stranger. Someone wanted to share a table?
"Oh, no, you can sit if you like," he told her with a quick smile and a gesture of his hand to the vacant seat. Then, squirming on his own chair a little, he put his foot against the stool opposite him and pushed it out gently for her. "I'll probably be done here soon, too, if you need the electric plug." Ian pointed downwards at the table, intending to indicate the wall plug on the wall under the window where his computer was currently plugged in.
He flashed her another quick smile and took another sip of his own drink.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:05 pm
Success! "Thank you very much, but I won't be needing it. I'm not quite as industrious as you are this afternoon." Sophie had no intention of working on her paper until she had a brief respite. Then again, as she glanced at the screen, it seemed her tablemate wasn't exactly hard at work either. In which case, maybe he could be enticed.
Sophie opened her bag and pulled out a tin box that rattled as she set it on the table. After a brief struggle, she pried open the lid, revealing a neat stack of dominoes. Then, waiting for the young man to finish his game, she sipped her cocoa and drummed her fingers over the tops of the dominoes.
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 6:10 pm
Ian grinned sheepishly as the girl mentioned that she was less industrious than him, and glanced at the screen to see if his opponent had done anything about his attack move in the online chess game.
"Ah, I am not really up to much of anything important," he admitted. "I was trying to read something, but it is not very interesting. I guess I will finish it later. After this latte." He watched her sit and then rummage in her bag for a moment over the top of his computer screen, then sighed with disappointment as he looked back at his chess game.
"Oh, lame, quitting because you know you're going to lose," he murmured, and clicked the button to go back to the main list of games. He glanced between the master list of online potential chess opponents and the girl across the table from him ... and heard her opening a metal case or something?
Logging out of his account on ChessNutz, Ian shut his laptop a moment later to see just what she had taken out on the other side of his computer. "Dominoes?" he inquired, then laughed once and fidgeted as he knew that he was stating the obvious. "I mean, do you play the game, or just set them up in lines and knock them over?" He took another quick drink of coffee and hurriedly added, "Both ways are fun. I'm more of the second type, myself."
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:39 pm
Sophie shook her head. "I don't know about that. Relaxing after class is important. If you keep going at full steam, you'll just explode! And then what will you do?"
To Sophie, rest and fun were vital parts of life. If she didn't take good care of herself, she wouldn't be of much use to anyone else. While she made sure that her work for others outweighed what she did for herself, that didn't mean that she neglected her own needs. Especially on tiring days like these.
"I'm more fond of the game itself," she admitted, a bit disappointed that he wasn't too interested. But at least he was asking, which meant that he might be convinced. "While I like knocking them over as well, it's not really smiled upon in places like this. Actually, I was wondering if you might be up for a round." Sophie glanced at the back of his laptop. "If you've finished your other game, that is."
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:28 pm
"Oh, yeah, I'm done," Ian told her, clicking his laptop shut and leaning down a bit to pick up his backpack-case for it. "Opponent quit when I got him in check. No fun at all."
He was quiet for a moment as he put his laptop away in his backpack and zipped it shut, then picked up his coffee again. Closing one eye, Ian peered down the little hole in the lid to see how much coffee he had left, then looked over at the tin of dominoes.
"Ah, I can play with you, but I have not played in a while," he admitted while squirming on his seat. "So I uh, don't know if I'll be much fun to play with, and you would have to remind me of all the rules." He took another drink of his latte and peered at her for a moment over the raised cup, then quickly glanced away out the window as he tapped the fingers of his other hand lightly on his now-empty side of the small table.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:51 pm
Sophie smiled and shrugged. "I don't know why people quit when the going gets tough. It doesn't work in life, so doing it in a game doesn't make much sense either. But they will have to learn that lesson eventually."
Quite pleased to have an opponent, she picked up her tin and upended it, letting dominoes clatter as they scattered on the table. "Do you have any rule preferences?" she asked, making sure all of the tiles were face down as she shuffled. "If not, we'd better just go with the basics. Only two open ends at a time, draw until you can play, first one to lose all their dominoes wins. We probably don't need to worry about scoring for this game- unless you want to play another afterwards."
Once the tiles were shuffled, Sophie carefully drew seven and looked at them. "If you have the double-six, you go first. I'm Sophie, by the way. Thank you for humoring me." She winked. "It's not chess, but it's fun all the same, I think?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 2:24 pm
"It's also disappointing for me," Ian told her with a bummed half-smile. "I love chess, even when my opponents are not all that good."
The red-haired boy pushed his glasses up on his nose and chuckled sheepishly, blushing a little. "I hope dominoes is the same for you," he added as he took his pieces. "Your rules sound fine, but I will probably suck anyway."
He glanced between Sophie and his hand as he set his pieces upright, then knocked a few of them over by accident as he reached across the table to offer a hand to shake. "Oh, and I am Ian. Nice to meet you!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:57 pm
"Oh, I definitely feel the same way." Smiling warmly, Sophie swapped two of her dominoes and looked up again. "Not just about dominoes, either. That's another rule that extends to life, not just games. Even when the people you're playing with aren't very good, that doesn't mean you should enjoy it any less.
"And if you play to have fun, you'll win even if you lose." Perfectly aware that she sounded like a self-help book, Sophie still felt justified in sharing her philosophy with a perfect stranger. If it helped him see things in a better light, her work was... well, not done, never done, but going well indeed.
She covered her mouth briefly to hide her giggle as her opponent enthusiastically knocked over his dominoes. "The pleasure is mine, Ian. But I think you had better draw new tiles. It wouldn't be fair for me to play with a handicap, not as the teacher."
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 7:32 pm
A smile spread across Ian's features and he nodded. She was definitely right about not quitting. They seemed to agree well enough on that front. And her philosophy also meant that he could try to feel a bit less self-conscious about his lack of skill with this game. Just as long as he did not quit, which he did not plan to do anyway.
... He still squirmed again when she suggested he redraw, but took up her offer anyway. "Ah, okay, thanks," the red-haired boy replied, pushing his glasses up with one hand while he exchanged his tiles with the other. He studied them a moment, then intoned a soft, "ah!" before placing the double-six on the table.
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 11:50 am
It was pretty easy to make Sophie happy, and so far Ian was doing everything right. He was listening to her, he was accepting her help, and he was playing her favorite game with her. It would have been even better with more people- she glanced quickly around the coffee shop, but most other patrons seemed engaged in their own activities. Still, a one-on-one game would be enjoyable enough.
Sophie nodded approvingly as Ian set the double-six down. His going first would let her demonstrate the basics, just in case he needed the refresher. It was her intention to play a teaching game, her goal not to win, but to demonstrate the rules and basic techniques. If she won, she wouldn't have done her job... but he didn't have to know that.
She quietly placed the six-two on one end of the dominoes. While she had a few questions for her opponent, none were important, and she didn't want to distract him.
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Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 9:03 pm
Ian poked through his dominoes for a moment, then placed the two-three beside her piece. This was a nice relaxing break from chess, he thought as he then upended his latte cup into his mouth to drink the last of it before it finished getting cold.
"I'll throw that out when we're done," he murmured, leaning down to set the empty cup on the window sill since the table was occupied for the moment. Then he smiled, glancing between her and the small layout of dominoes on the tabletop. He considered making conversation - almost wanted to, really, because the quiet was sorta awkward, even with the game going - but was entirely unsure of what to say. Ian shifted a little on his seat, grasping the sides and pushing himself up on his hands a moment to stretch his back out.
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:41 pm
Sophie tapped the table twice with her knuckles as she considered her next move. There was a piece that would be best for her to play, but would it demonstrate the finer points of the game? Playing to win and playing to teach were very different, and Sophie still had some difficulty with the latter.
The silence was awkward for her as well. Like Ian, she was tempted to say something, but couldn't think of an appropriate topic. She wasn't the sort of person to talk about her personal life with strangers, even if she was willing to challenge them to friendly games.
Speaking of games... "If I may ask, what about chess intrigues you? I've never really learned the finer points of the game, but so many people seem to enjoy it." She paused to take a sip of her cocoa. "Even though it's easier to carry a box of dominoes than it is to lug around a chess set."
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