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Late night coffee wasn't a sin, technically, but that didn't stop Alexander from thinking of it as a guilty pleasure as he all but snuck his way through the front door of the café. Snuck as much as the large man could manage, as if he didn't fill the doorway on entry. There weren't many people there to notice at least, so the man in sweats made his way to the counter with a smile.

His overly caffeinated for the hour drink ordered, Alexander moved a table with two chairs, taking up the first chair and sitting to face the doorway. A smile stayed on his face, head bobbing lightly to the atmospheric music being played in the café. It was a serene moment for him, peaceful and calm. His eyes even brushed closed briefly, then again, as he sat there in the music.

The barista called for an 'Alec', which, after a moment of no one else getting up, Alex realized that was probably him. No matter the name, something were just impossible, he guessed. He rose up and strolled to the station, thanking the barista as he took a deep breath of his overly sweet and hot drink. It was something of bliss, if not the best dental practices.

Returning to his seat while taking the first sip of his drink, Alex let out a contented sigh. His eyes swept around the room, taking the café in for the moment. It wasn't empty when he had arrived, but it wasn't a hopping late night spot, which Alex liked. No one begrudged a soul muttering to themselves in a place like that.

"It's been.... a week," he said to himself with a small sigh. "The Al Mualan account to start, but then that weird... Whatever that was. I'd swear it was a nightmare if not the cuts."

"And all those people... Magic. If Gram heard she'd never be quiet about it again, shoving books right back in my hands." He snorted, shaking his head as he took another sip of his drink.

He focused on the window looking out from the café, watching the night sky on the other end. "Some of it was... I don' know. Maybe it was just out there..."

Alexander didn't notice the passerby, too far in his own head at the moment, until the hot liquid splashed up against the table and gave him a start. His own hand jerking for a moment, splashing out a small wave of his coffee. He let out a small yelp of surprise as he shook his hand to rid it of the offending liquid. Too long since the brew to be hot enough to burn, thankfully, but still hot enough to give a sudden surprise. Caffeine or heat, the coffee would wake him up somehow it seemed.

Coming back into the moment Alexander glanced to the blond, smiling gently with a shake of his head. "Oh, it's alright, a little hot coffee never... Well, it certainly helped wake me up," he laughed, shrugging at them.

He looked around and grabbed some napkins of his own, dragging them around the table to help pull up the remnants. He'd never be able to sit around while someone else did work, that just wasn't proper. He scooted aside the table a bit as it dried up, glancing up at the counter with a small grin.

"I take it you were a victim of the children's race track, hm?" He shook his head with a sigh, gesturing to the chair opposite him. "Ah, please, sit, sit. You'll have to wait for another drink at the least. I hope you haven't lost so much of it the cup is empty now."

"You are not burned, are you?"

"So it is also half full," said the optimist, optimistically, with a cheesy grin. "I'll beg your forgiveness for the bad joke, but I couldn't resist."

Alexander resettled in his seat, checking his own cup for a brief moment before shrugging. He had barely lost any being the second victim of the incident, so he saw no worse for ware in the matter. A little coffee lost at the expense of children, such was the cost of the world he figured.

His gaze drifted to those same children for a time before looking back to his new table mate. "I don't know about you, but my mother would've had me back there making the coffee by now, had I done what they did. My father would have been trying to take your clothes for cleaning, while offering his own to you in the meantime." He laughed, shaking his head with a deep breath of memory.

"The world has changed much since we were so young, hm?"

Alexander wasn't exactly good at telling ages with people. His new table mate could be his age, barely older than those same children, or passing twice his age for all he knew. Until someone really started carrying wrinkles, he was effectively age blind. He had at least learned not to assume advanced age, that had gotten him in hot water enough.

"Oh, my apologies. I am Alex. What may I call you?"

"Good to meet you, Ash," Alex said with a grin. He settled into his chair again, taking a sip of his drink. "So, what brings you into a coffee shop late at night? Graveyard shift worker, or just one of those folk who can drink caffeine at any time and it doesn't really do much?"

His gaze drifted briefly again to the kids but he looked back to Ash. He couldn't really do much about the kids, and he wasn't about to be an adult scolding children he didn't know. Part of him supposed there was the element of kids being kids, but the lessons kids were meant to learn had to come from somewhere. He had to stop himself before going down a philosophical rabbit hole, that wasn't needed. He had come here to relax, and what was a better way to relax than meeting a new person? Well, a new and normal person. He had met enough new people lately, but that was another thing.

Alex nodded along as Ash spoke, smiling in agreement with his fellow nocturnal soul.

"Oh, it'll keep me up, but that's not much of a bother. Always been one of those folks who need a couple hours of shut-eye, and I'm right as rain. At least so far, my doctor swears it'll catch up with me one day, and she's probably right. But, eh," he said with a small shrug, chuckling to himself. "But, I appreciate meeting another night owl for the sake of being a night owl."

"So, beyond the coffee shop, what's your plans for tonight then, since you're not working and the night is young?"

"Well, I certainly hope I'm one of the ones it doesn't catch up with," Alex said with a laugh. "But I get you, bit of a don't let the time waste sort, make every hour your own. I respect that mentality."

He smiled as he listened to the reasoning, nodding along enthusiastically. "I did the same thing when I first moved here. I'd try and go out much as I could, see the same place at different hours, learn the pulse of the city. Learn the layout, how the city's flow goes, when places are busy and not. It can make a big difference on how your day goes, depending what you're doing."

"I go walking, so mostly the same. Sometimes I'll go stop in for a late night movie, other times I'll just pop into whatever restaurant looks interesting. It's how I've found some of my favorite places to eat, honestly." He laughed again, shaking his head. "There's a couple museums and the observatory, they have late nights sometimes, so that's something I do every now and again. Find things to fill the time, else I just walk around listening to a book or music."