Welcome to Gaia! ::

Horace yawned, jaw-cracking, as he stepped into the coffee shop. Starbucks was over-priced, but he'd heard a body could order a caramel macchiato with pumpkin syrup instead of vanilla. He'd need both the sugar and caffeine today. He stopped next to another man who seemed to be staring at the menu quite seriously.

Tall, grande, venti? How should he phrase his order? Horace wanted to get in and out before the true crowd came. Too many jostling elbows. He glanced at the man next to him, recognizing the face, but not putting a name to it. And it would simply be too rude to lean over to read the name tag more easily. Because he could no longer be reprimanded for talking to strangers, he opened his mouth.

"I don't think the menu bites. But, y'know, it senses fear."

"Nah, I'm a new student, even if I see a little old for it." Sometimes, he wondered, if he'd stayed back in Oklahoma - would he had gone to college, been more normal? No, he thought, he'd probably be dead. Oh well. "Taking two classes for now. You're a TA?"

"Name's Horace." He did not extend his hand for a shake. "If you need a hand, I've got two free ones. I can run coffee with you." Horace had enough time.

Horace chuckled. "Said exactly like a teacher. Well, TA i guess." He nodded as Chris continued. "What're you in for? In university, that is." It wouldn't do to make it sound like a prison when it wasn't.

"And yeah, I have time. Not all the time in the world, but close. What'd everybody put down they wanted?"

He frowned as Chris read off the order. What the ******** s**t. "Well, you're in right luck, as I love coffee more than my damn left arm and can recognize all those terms. However, whoever ordered a half caf ristretto is dumb." He chewed on his lip. "I'm not every sure they can do ristrettos... and I don't think skinny soy even exists. Is this... is this some kind of hazing thing?"

Everything else on the list was doable, especially Chris and his friend's easy peasy pumpkin spice lattes. What happened to the age of wonderful normal coffee? He'd had to choke back a gag at the thought of ten pumps of vanilla.

"Why so little sleep - are they running you ragged?" Horace had no idea what being a TA was like. Presumably, it was doing whatever the professor didn't want to do. Probably a lot of grading. "If you want, I can just go up and order for you, since we gotta make modifications?" He gestured towards the list.

"And don't worry about not understanding it. It's a completely different language that most people don't need to know because they are content with classics." He laughed a little. "What languages do you know?"

"Sleep is my best friend." In actuality, though, while Horace loved sleep, it evaded him often. Came with the territory. "And nice! I only know, like, the colors in French, but I'm learning Spanish."

"Here, can I borrow your phone to order?"

Living in Oklahoma, it was impossible not to pick up the very very basics, but it wasn't enough Spanish to do anything with. Horace gingerly took Chris' phone and stepped up to the counter where the bored barista had been watching them. He didn't particularly like touching other people's things, but this was a necessity.

"Got a big order, sorry." The iced, half caff, ristretto, venti, four pump, sugar free, cinnamon, dolce soy skinny latte was pared down into a venti iced half caf four pump, sugar free, cinnamon dolce soy latter. He highly doubted whomever it was would notice the differences. He also added a shot of espresso to the poor soul with the cold brew. For himself, it was just a plain coffee. He'd dump a ******** of sugar in it later. The barista had been looking haggard, but her expression switched to relieved as the drinks got simpler.

Grabbing two drink holders, he tossed one to Chris. "Here - we'll need it. Thanks for getting my coffee, too. Courier's fee." He grinned and then handed the phone back. "Next time, make the one with the cinnamon dolce soy thing pick up the order."