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 Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:38 pm
Who: Anita Bishop, Cruz, Tango, Minerva (Snoof) & Mordekai Kantor (Rookeries)
Where: Gambino Island, Anita's apartment & nearby coffee shop
When: April 12th, 2014 immediately following
Weather: Clear at first, then overcast with light rain inbound
------ Once they were out in the hall, Anita slowed down to a slow and casual pace. Her hands tucked in her pockets as she giggled, glancing over her shoulder to see Mordekai catching up.
”I hope the drive wasn't too bad,” she noted once they were side by side. They stopped at the elevator, which she called with her elbow rather than removing her hands.
Cruz had read her perfectly before; it was unquestionably bizarre to her that Mordekai would just show up out of the blue without a word like this, much less just to grab a coffee. Maybe he was in the area, though for what she couldn't be sure. Lab business, maybe. Checking on things when Duncan couldn't. That made sense. A hell of a lot more sense than him driving an hour or so just to pop by.
Maybe it slipped his mind to check before hand.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:10 pm
Mordekai had a difficult time slowing down once he neared where Anita was. He ended up stumbling the last few paces and rested his palm against the wall parallel to the elevator. He stepped back next to Anita and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. It was April and still fiendishly cold for him, in Gambino especially.
"Oh--" he shrugged, and offered Anita a lopsided smile, "Nah, wasn't so bad. More surprised I remembered how t'get to your place, but goin' 'round Lab helped a lot. Keep forgettin' how nice it is in Gambino alla time."
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:15 pm
”Nice,” Anita laughed, ”And you were only here once, good job.” It was kind of surprising, even with Lab as a marker. Maybe Duncan's birthday and his forgetfulness then was just a fluke; lack of sleep, stress. He seemed in good spirits today, so Anita was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
”Heh, yeah. Once Summer gets rolling it can be brutal but I'm not really built for the heat, either.”
The elevator doors opened with a pleasant ding. Anita stepped in with a small hop and waited for Mordekai before pressing the ground floor button. It was a testament to the building's quality that the elevator didn't squeak or lurch. Once they were headed for the front door, she gave a short wave to one of her neighbors as they went to take another elevator.
Anita took a deep breath once they were out front and sat on the railing of the stairs. She grinned while sliding down, nearly having a misstep on her landing but managed to stick it with a quiet 'pfff' at herself. ”It's just a couple blocks down,” she gestured vaguely to a strip of shops in the distance, ”The walk'll be good for me, if you really don't mind-- I had trouble waking up this morning.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:15 pm
He managed to smile a little wider. "'Ey, thanks!" He wasn't sure why she issued a good job, but he took it anyway. He knew it was a little silly to go around Lab just to get here, and he remained quietly appreciative that she didn't care to comment on it. He glanced up at the elevator when it lit up, and followed after Anita into the compartment.
"Brutal, huh? Ah, sorry-- Gambino worse'n Aekea 'round that time of year?" He was hardly around Aekea anymore these days, but certain parts of the city made living in the American south feel incredibly mild by comparison. He wandered back to the thought a bit while enjoying the silence of the elevator, his hands crossed over his arms to fend off some of the retroactive cold from the breeze.
He looked up at the ceiling and raised his brows a bit when the elevator slid back open; he bowed his had politely to Anita's neighbor and followed to the side and slightly behind her. He stumbled a bit to stop walking when Anita misstepped, then offered a sympathetic laugh and 'you're okay' before pacing down the stairs. By habit, he walked down them fairly quickly, and he glanced back at Anita once she spoke.
"Gotcha." He looked over at the strip when she pointed, then nodded, "Yeah! Don't mind at all-- 'd be kinda silly drivin' that short a distance anyway, ah?" he uncrossed his arms, then frowned slightly, "Oh-- sorry t'hear-- you feelin' okay otherwise?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:18 pm
”Ah, man-- it's a different kind of heat. Aekea and Gambino are like apples and oranges,” Anita shrugged and scoffed. Couldn't rightly compare the two.
It was warmer than she originally anticipated once they got to walking through the parking lot. Still, an occasional breeze fluffed their hair and the cool sea air offered a light chill when things got moving. Instead of taking the hoody off entirely, Anita just let it sag off her shoulders when the air was stagnant and cloying, then pulled it back up when things became too brisk.
”Yeah, true that,” Anita grinned. ”Ah, I take a while anyway. I feel fine after, just need a half hour or so to really get my gears turning. I'm great, now.” To prove her point, she skipped slightly on her heels. No missteps this time. ”How 'bout you? Things goin' alright?” Anita glanced at Mordekai to smile, assuring that the question was innocent.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:19 pm
"Ah-- guess that makes sense..." He was always grateful for warmth, though the occasional breeze did keep him on alert. Either way, he was able to stop crossing his arms and enjoy the weather, now, and he hummed and smiled a bit as he glanced up at the sky-- clear and blue. "Both of 'em can be kinna nice in their own way. Or a pain in th'a**. Kinna like apples an' oranges?" s**t, he was losing the metaphor.
Mordekai rested his hands back inside of his jacket pockets and walked Anita; he nodded at her explanation. "Ah-- gotcha-- Duncan's the same way, kinna." He laughed quietly at Anita's slight skip and offered a lopsided smile at the question, brows raised. "Oh, I been doin' okay, thanks for askin'. Been keepin' busy, farm's always goin' crazy spring an' summer, but things are kinna slower since the boil," he smiled more evenly at her, "'Bout you, whatchu been doin'?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:21 pm
Anita laughed. She had to agree, even if the metaphor was becoming confused.
”Is he?” She hummed while trying to envision Duncan's morning routine. Certainly there was tea in there somewhere, and gardening. Anita listened intently, walking while keeping her eyes on him. The walk to the strip of stores was practically memorized.
”Ahh, that's good. Crazy all the time with work is so exhausting.” Anita flashed Mordekai a short grin before looking forward. ”My schedule's just gonna keep picking up until Summer ends. Been fine, though.” What had she been doing? Working. Tending Cruz. Tending Tango. ”Was just gonna sit on my a** today, so this is nice.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:21 pm
Mordekai nodded. "Yeah-- he gets up early an' does his li'l routine to kinna wake 'imself, wish I got the dedication f'that kinna stuff..." Mordekai didn't quite know where he was doing, but he trusted Anita, even if he couldn't spot a Starbucks yet.
"It can be, but s'rewardin' 'nough..." he nodded in sentiment, "Yeah, farm's th'same. Good t'know!" he laughed, "Sittin' on y'a** is good too, but 'ey, I'm glad this is okay. An' man, I haven't bought a cuppa coffee since Christmas."
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:22 pm
”Hmm, I dunno if I have a routine really. I just roll out of bed and want to get some food in me before trying to tame this,” Anita scoffed and plucked up one of her braids to toss it back over her shoulder.
The mention of Christmas made Anita chuckle. ”God, I think the last time I got anything here was-- s**t, probably last Fall. They have decent snacks, too. Ooh! I forgot about their cake pops. I'm gonna get one.”
While it was hard to see before they got across the main stretch of road, the coffee shop was just around the corner, hidden by a crafts store and a sushi joint. Anita pointed it out, leading them up the stairs and holding the door open with her butt once Mordekai caught up. The interior was yellow lit and , while it was a bit packed thanks to lunch rush, it was fairly quiet. Most customers were running in and out, leaving quite a few tables open.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:23 pm
He laughed when Anita plucked at her hair, and pat his own, ”Don't really got a routine, either, an' I don't even got hair to worry 'bout. But yea! He gotta whole routine, s'all kinna English-like.” Duncan didn't even really sound like a butler, but he was the most English person Mordekai knew. Which, to him, translated into tea instead of coffee and meat pies and etiquette.
”Damn long time, wow!” he chuckled, ”Starbucks got snacks...? Sorry, ain't been in 'em much-- ah-- what? They sell cakes?”
Mordekai focused more on looking around the remainder of the strip the more they walked, rather than focus on finding the Starbucks. He raised his brows and picked up the pace once Anita pointed the coffee shop out, though, and thanked her for opening the door before walking in. And, God, it was so cold-- he crossed his arms again and stood at the line. He glanced up at the menu.
”They have so many things...”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:24 pm
”What?” Anita laughed and gestured to Mordekai's head, ”Got plenty of hair.” She supposed Duncan was pretty English. Butlers never crossed her mind with him, but she and Mordekai were in a similar line of thought with tea and etiquette; the man was very polite.
Mordekai's surprise just made Anita laugh harder. She lightly hit her thigh with the back of her fist while they walked and shook her head. ”Not whole cakes, cake pops. You'll see.” Then it all compounded into genuine amazement and Anita covered her mouth to stop her laughter from escaping too loudly in the atmosphere of bohemian concentration.
”They do. If you're hungry, they have hot sandwiches and stuff,” she pointed to the menu, things like sausage egg and cheese biscuits standing out the most to her, ”And those are what I was talking about.” A small stand of a few different colored cake pops sat neatly in the display case beside rice krispy treats, brownies, muffins, and cookies. ”You know what you want?” If he rarely ventured into Starbucks, he might need some time to figure things out – she certainly did her first time.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:25 pm
“S'not really all that much up there, though...” he pat his head down and laughed, “Not that 'm complainin'. Don't think I can pull off long hair, ah?”
“Oh--” he laughed sheepishly when Anita pointed out the cake pops, “s**t, ain't I stupid-- ah-- right, thank you.” He wasn't so hungry, but the idea of a hot sandwich was tantalizing-- he moved closer to the food bar to check the price of a ham and cheese, then set it down quietly. He glanced back at Anita and nodded.
“Ah, yeah, prolly go with an Americano like always...” he stepped back from the food bar and continued holding his arms to fend from the cold. “How 'bout you?”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:26 pm
Trying to picture Mordekai with long hair just turned him into some freckled member of an 80s hair band in Anita's mind and she couldn't keep a straight face.
”Aw, nah, not stupid,” she shrugged. He didn't really seem like a cake pops kind of guy, why should he have known what she meant? They were a pretty childish treat.
Anita hummed as she scanned the display and gnawed lightly on her lower lip. ”Guess we both got our staples, I always get a vanilla frap. Gonna get a chocolate, annnd... oh-- that is salted caramel, wow, one of those.” She paused for a moment to stare at the rest of the sweets, then nodded. That was enough.
The line was moving at a decent rate, and before long Anita placed her order. She hurried out of Mordekai's way when she was fumbling with tucking her debit card back in her wallet, then instead of standing there awkwardly with the rest of the line collected her things and moved to the waiting area. Her driver's license was accidentally displaced in the shuffle and, while Mordekai placed his order, ended up removing each of her various cards and spreading them as unobtrusively as possible across the counter. Debit, license, GameDepot membership, pharmacy membership, credit card, book store, in order from least important to most for ease of retrieval.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:27 pm
Mordekai chuckled along as Anita did, his smile growing the more she laughed; he was glad he was entertaining, at least! He glanced back up at the menu at mention of the vanilla frap, then turned his attention toward the cake pops again. They were cheaper than the sandwich by far, and would probably fill him up, but he wasn't overly fond of sweets; he hummed in thought. “Alla those sound great,” he noted idly.
He ended up ordering just an Americano anyway, so he was quick to pay with some cash in his pocket and move for the next customer. Mordekai glanced over at Anita as she rearranged her cards, then stuffed his hands back in his jacket pockets. He raised his brows a bit. “Gotta lotta cards!” he laughed quietly when he caught glimpse of her license, “God, I gotta get my ID renewed...”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:28 pm
Anita scoffed and shook her head as she tucked each card back in systematically. ”Too many.” When one decided not to slide in easily, she stuck out her tongue and blew a small raspberry at it. It cooperated afterward. At the mention of his ID, Anita picked hers up and checked the expiration. Still had another year on it. The picture was unflattering, as well, her hair a bit messy and she looked tired but she managed a smile anyway.
”Yeah, better catch it quick,” she folded up her wallet and tucked it in her back pocket, ”Don't want it to run out on you or you gotta go through bullshit tests all over again.”
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