Welcome to Gaia! ::

A little coffee shop owned by the off island business monger couple, Joe and Mary Smith. Having heard that there was an island somewhere in the middle of nowhere in development, they rushed there and bought a bunch of building and opened various shops that were missing on the island. This is only one of them! Of course, they'll be more then willing to sell it back to anyone with a right prize.... and if whoever decided that they changed their mind and leave the island (or, most likely, die in a horrible death), they'll be more than happy to rebuy it for half the price! This is how they make their money. Until someone take over the ownership of this shop, they'll be happy to run it from the mainland, almost never coming on the island to see how it's going. The employees, NPC or not, are then free to work like always and customers to use their services.

Zelynity had long since given up on trying to get Axel back into his chair or even onto the ground. Rory didn't seem to mind much, so she allowed him to play, even if it meant ramming biscotti a car into his head. She got the urge to scoop him up and sit him down in her lap, but she didn't want to upset him. It had felt like ages since she had seen little Axel and she didn't particularly want to upset him. So, she sat back, laughing occasionally and watching Rory for any signs that he was starting to get agitated. It was practically impossible for her to not sit here and imagine the kind of father that Rory would be, and that just made her laugh even more. She covered her face before taking another drink of her latte. Her hand instinctively reached for Rory's when he spoke. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about the kidnapping anymore, yeah? I know it's scary and I really don't know what happened either. But, it wasn't so bad, right? I mean Usagi is a nice girl and Jacob is wonderful!" She rubbed her thumb against the back of his hand and smiled.

It was strange looking back on what exactly had happened to them and from what she had briefly heard from Rory, their experiences were vastly different. There was only that brief moment when she felt like her life was in danger, but there was never any real danger. Rory had to deal with a walrus in a damp cave! He could've easily fell on a sharp rock and died, while she just had ...cake. "We'll figure it out. I am the best detective this island has ever had, after all! For now, though. Let's focus our efforts on something more important. Like finding you something to get your mind off of things?" She released his hand and sat back in her chair, thinking of all the people that she knew around the island. Surely someone would be perfect for Rory. He was such a good guy! A small part of her had always regretted not trying to scoop him up before, but now she felt as though her job wasn't to have taken him but to help him find his own mate! She wad determined. She would find the perfect woman for Rory. "What do you think Axel? Don't you think Rory should be happy?"

Zelynity smiled at her friend and took a drink from her latte, thankfully, before she had started laughing. Oh it was just so adorable how flustered Rory was getting at the simple mention of Usagi's name. She could tell that even through his fear and unease over the strange events, that he had had a good experience with Usagi. Of course, she was certain that no experience could hold a flame to hers, but this wasn't about her! She had to keep reminding herself that this had nothing to do with what happened to her every time she thought about it. His reaction was only more affirmation that she definitely had to do something for him. He wasn't getting any younger, and she'd be damned if she was going to let this dry spell continue any more. It was at the point when she was going to start to explain her plan to him that Axel started acting up. "Oh! I'm sorry, Rory. Axel, would you like another car?" She smiled at the little fella and handed him a piece off of her half eaten biscotti. "Now you can sit there and drive on the table! I bet you'd like that, huh?" She followed with her best car sounds she could manage.

After, she assumed, Axel had been taken care of, she was able to turn her attention back to Rory. "Oh Rory." She shook her head, now leaning forward with her arms crossed on the table. "I'm bound and determined to find you a girlfriend! There are some things in life that books just can't even hold a flame to." She leaned her head on her fist and looked over at him, picturing him next to every female she knew here. "It's a bit of a stretch here, but I could try to set you up with Catrina? Or we could always go for Usagi, but you know... she's kind of the prize here. Maybe we should ease into this thing. There's two nice girls at the daycare? I think Haruka's mom is single, if you're into the whole cougar thing? Oh Goddess, Rory. I think we're just going to have to go out and find someone. I don't really know all that many bachelorettes." She was getting quite disappointed in her abilities as a good friend. She had thought up this whole big elaborate plan and couldn't even figure out the people to use to get the thing into motion. Maybe he had someone in mind? Oh, who was she kidding. Rory was far too bashful to just bluntly tell her which ladies he'd like to be set up with.

The scene playing out in front of her was honestly a bit too cute to handle. As if Axel's little outbursts weren't absolutely adorable, she had the nervous little Rory turning into putty at the simple mention of finding him a lady. It was enough to make her want to reach out and pinch his little cheeks! But, alas, that was the unfortunate little aunt in her and she needed to sit back and be a dignified woman no matter how much she'd like to siphon that adorableness and take it home with her. "Rory, Rory, Rory." She repeated his name and shook her head in that cliche' tsk tsk tsk way. "You've really got to just trust me on this. You spend far too much time worrying about the logistics of things. Why don't we just try diving on in for once?" She stirred her drink nonchalantly and smiled over at him then glanced over to check on Axel. He still seemed quite preoccupied with his newest treat and so she let him be. "I don't really think there is a certain way that it works. I think you've just got to either let it fall into place or just go for it. And honestly, I mean no offense or anything, but I'm not so sure the falling into place part is working for you." She tried to lighten up her voice as much as possible, worried that he might become offended by her words. She knew that Rory was truly a catch and she wanted to help him as best she could to build up that confidence and get him out there on the playing field.

She took a small drink and continued trying to map out their next course of action. Sure, he was saying that he was perfectly happy with the way things were, but she knew that she had once said that too. She had once said that to herself when she was in a pretty vulnerable spot, and that was a bit of the reason why she felt even more anxious to help him out. There had to be someone or something that could fit perfectly into this little plan. Maybe all he would need was a little bit of motivation. "Okay, I think I've got an idea. How about we just take this in small steps? Don't think of girlfriend at this point, a lot of relationships start from good friendships. So, how about we set you a goal that you will talk to 10 girls by New Year's. By talk I don't even mean flirt or anything, I just want you to legitimately have a conversation with 10 women. Any women at all, well that don't include me or like children or something. They have to be within the realm of possible datitude." There she was making up words on the whim as she spewed on and on about her glorious plan. Yes! Surely this was going to work and surely Rory would at least start the New Year with a much higher self-esteem, if not a lady.

"I, too, am an adult," Umi told Yuri, smiling. "Sometimes, it is nice to treat someone else--especially when it is Valentine's." Not that she considered this a date, exactly. But the coffee had been her suggestion so it didn't seem right to make Yuri pay for her own.

Fortunately, since everything on Nirvani was close by, it didn't take them long to reach the coffee shop. Umi stepped up to the door ahead Yuri and pulled it open, holding it for the other woman. "Besides, I am glad to finally have the chance to meet someone else on the island, who is not a colleague at work, or a client. So you can think of my paying as a thank you for already making this Valentine's Festival better than last year, yes?"

Because, really, at least Yuri seemed to be willing to talk to her. June hadn't done anything but ignore her, then randomly talk about his past relationships. Then again, Yuri might do the same thing as soon as they settled in at a table. But at least it wasn't uncomfortable to have that sort of talk with another woman--it was just a little awkward when it was a random older man.

"It was not as great as it might have been?" Umi said, stepping inside after Yuri, and following her to a table. "He seemed a bit distracted; I don't think he was was very interested in being there with me and then he left. In a huff. There was no--how is it--chemistry?"

Umi took her seat as the other woman sat as well. She didn't correct her about the 'date' thing, but did at least answer the question. "I work the gym as a trainer. Sadly that is about the only thing I do here besides stay at home--my father is recovering from an illness and so I help my mother look after him. What about you, Yuri? What do you do here? Do you have family on the island?"

She knew, at the very least, that she had an ex-husband and children. But it felt kind of awkward to insinuate that June had talked to Umi about her because that was just a little weird in and of itself. And it was an uncomfortable topic. So she would just feign ignorance. At least for now. She was kind of itching to know what was going on with the two of them, though, she had to admit.

"Oh, I do not think he was a 'jerk,'" Umi said. "He seemed to be distracted by...another woman. That is all. Perhaps, I thought, he is not ready to date. I do not know." She shrugged helplessly, realizing just how awkard this line of discussion was. Thankfully, they quickly moved on...sort of.

"No, but you are also slim," Umi said. "And you are not a trainer? If I do not keep to exercise all the time, then I will gain weight. It cannot be helped--my mama is, well, plump. So I have to work hard to not follow, you know? I am always jealous of the people who have a natural figure without all the constant work."

She glanced back toward the counter, having no idea what to order. Coffee outside France was weird. "Un...un petit noir?" Except she had no idea what it was here. She didn't think it was called the same thing. "Perhaps I will come with you? I have not ordered coffee here before--I do not know what is what."

And now she was going to have Yuri decipher the menu for her. This was going to be fun.

"Oh..." Oh. So basically they were at a coffee shop, having coffee...when neither of them appeared to be big coffee drinkers. That was sort of funny in a stupid way. Umi hadn't really had any plans for the date because she was expecting to be paired with a guy and she was sort of hoping he'd have plans. So the coffee shop had kind of been the first thing that popped into her mind for something to do--banking, of course, on Yuri actually liking coffee. Which it didn't seem she did.

Umi wasn't at all interested in women but she didn't want another Valentine's Day bust so she suddenly reached out and grabbed Yuri's arm by the wrist. She was determined to at least make their time fun.

"Yuri--I do not think...it's just that I was thinking maybe this is not the best place for our date, no? Maybe we should go somewhere else? I heard there was a hot spring in the mountain? Maybe we can go to find it? Or if there is a another place you want to go. I don't think we should sit and stay in a place if neither of us really like it. We should go somewhere fun!"