[01] A Day at the Cafe -- Open Mingle

[sociallyarcward]

Who: John Miles (Jaune) and/or WHOEVER
When: May 14 [day]
Where: The Blue French Horn Cafe
What: Open Mingle for anyone wanting a place to do an open mingle for in person interactions! Doesn't even have to be with John/Jaune unless you want to -- maybe let me know if you're wanting him specifically. Feel free to set up threads between other characters. Hoping to establish this as a cool hang out |Db


Option 1 - Breakfast/Brunch Crowd
The Blue French Horn was usually a busy breakfast and lunch destination, but Sunday seemed to be even busier than usual. John was in charge of opening today, so if you got there between 6:30 AM and noon, John probably wouldn't have much time to socialize. He had to take orders and bus tables, running plates of their famous beignets or cups of coffee to various patrons. If he saw a familiar face he'd stop by to chat, but otherwise he let the customers have their conversations and hope that staying busy would keep his mind off of the app.

This proved difficult as it insisted on beeping at him occasionally if he didn't check it between rushing from table to table. Normally his mom (the owner and manager of the restaurant) would scold him for having his phone make so much noise, but strangely enough she never said anything. He didn't have time to ask, nor did he really want to draw attention to it. Maybe his mom was preoccupied with her own work. Whatever the case, feel free to take a seat and John will be by to take your order shortly!

---
Option 2 - Lunch/Dinner Crowd
A little later, around 1 PM John is out of his uniform and slumped at a back table. He's exhausted from his morning shift -- but he has some homework to finish up before tomorrow. Not to mention eat some lunch of his own, check his phone, and just relax for a second. The restaurant is still experiencing its lunch rush (or at least the end of it), but now you won't get John as a server. That doesn't mean he won't say hello to a familiar customer or face though. He should start pulling out books, but instead he pulls out his phone. A familiar orange app greets him as usual and he takes a few minutes to check what's been going on.

He won't be on his phone the entire time though, you might also catch him at his homework, though honestly he doesn't want to spend his whole day at the cafe and will probably head out around 2 pm to get some fresh air.

Comments

Option 1

[magicdancer]

Scheherazade (Sherry to her friends) made a habit of going to get a coffee and at least some form of pastry on Sunday mornings. Dance practice lasted a few hours, and she needed the energy. Her mind had been on that strange viral marketing app on her phone, and she kept staring at the screen, even when it was on standby. She sighed a deep breath as she found herself an open seat by herself, slinging her bag into the space next to her. It contained all of her equipment for dance practice. She waved to people who walked by, many of whom recognized her from school. She was a fairly popular face around the campus, after all. It made sense that she'd turn a few heads when she walked by. But her gaze kept turning back to her phone, at that's where it was when someone eventually showed up at her table to take her order.

[sociallyarcward]

John wasn't exactly Mr. Popular himself. A lot of his free time tended to go towards the restaurant now. He had friends mind you...but it was a small group and just a few close ones at that. He made a mental note to swing by her table, but first he had to deliver a stack of pancakes to a woman in a back corner of the cafe.

When he was done he snagged a menu, though most regulars didn't need it and he had certainly seen this girl both on campus and at the cafe a number of times. "Morning," he says as he comes over, "You need a menu or do you know what you'd like?" He isn't really looking at her phone, most people have them out these days so he's used to it.

[magicdancer]

Sherry jumped a bit when John arrived and spoke to her, so focused on the screen as she was. He might have caught a glance at the icon on her phone that had her gaze so intently, before she put it down. "Oh! No, thanks, I don't need a menu. Could I get some beignets and coffee? Large. It's going to be a busy day!" she laughed, keeping her optimistic spirit alive as she smiled up at him.

[sociallyarcward]

John juggled the menu to replace it with a notepad. It wasn't a complicated order, but Sundays were busy so it was better to right down even small orders just in case. John jotted down some short hand and nodded, "Coffee and an order of beignets coming up. You want me to bring out some creamers with that?"

option 2

[kokuyoyo]

It's right as John is walking out for his break that a familiar voice calls from down the street. "Hey, John!" Ciro gives a wave with one hand, the other one guiding his bike down along the pavement. "How are things at the cafe?"

He's just passing by, honestly- it's good luck more than anything that he's running into his mythology tutor and cooking buddy. It makes the day a bit nicer, especially compared to the worrying event of last night.

[sociallyarcward]

John looks up when he hears his name. His bag is slung over one shoulder and while he's heading out he's not in a huge rush. He raises a hand in greeting, "Oh, hey, Ciro."

It's as he is greeting him that he yawns, not meaning to but there it is. John covers his mouth and smiles sheepishly, "Sorry. I just finished with my shift. Where are you heading?"

[kokuyoyo]

Ciro won't judge him. He's been yawning a lot too, although more from fussing all of last night than anything. So he just smiles a little, shrugging as he comes to a stop. "Understandable. I know the cafe can get pretty busy." So busy, in fact, he wonders how he'll be doing when he gets a job himself...

But that's for the future. "I was just heading out to pick up some things for me and Gen. He's not been feeling well, but I don't have any food stocked up that might help. Speaking of, know any good recipes to stop headaches?"

[sociallyarcward]

"Sundays are probably the worst, but I don't mind getting it out of the way," John admits. Everyone likes a nice Sunday brunch after all. He prefers the quieter times, like right before closing. Sometimes he wishes they could be like cafes in other places that get to stay late and have nightly performances -- but they make due with the curfew as it is and it's not like he's ever experienced it differently.

He considers the question, "Sorry to hear that about Gen. You could try mint tea -- both mint and tea are good for headaches. Also make sure he's hydrated. You'd be surprised how often headaches are caused by not drinking enough water. If he doesn't want water you could always make something with cucumbers." Some people had a weird thing about drinking water -- John didn't get it himself, but he wanted to cover his bases. "Anything else and I'd have to google it."

2

[mutesician]

Louis enjoys music-why else would he teach it for so long? So once class lets out, he can often be found heading over to the Blue French Horn with his own trumpet. Most of the time, if he's there, he'll be performing something on stage. Recently, though, after finding that strange app and talking to people on it, his song choices have gotten a bit more...sinister, somehow. They're still cheery, but he falters a few times while playing.

After playing, he'll usually get some gumbo or red beans, and find a place to sit. He might be grading homework, but he'll always make time for anyone who wants to talk.

2

[draculabackwards]

[Adrian had heard good things about this cafe from other grad students. Good thing as he felt he deserved a little reward for lots of research done on an important paper. They certainly good sandwiches and drinks and he sets himself at up a table, ready to enjoy his meal.

He saw John out of the corner of his eye and Adrian wondered. He looked familiar and it takes him a moment to remember. He'd seen him poking around before at the history department, asking a few questions. Perhaps he'd been interested in going into that as a major?]

You are John, correct? [Adrian asked that question with a rather deep voice, one that didn't look like it should come from a tall, pale student with blond hair.]

[sociallyarcward]

[John was in the middle of his own course work. This term was particularly English/Writing heavy, but he was just in his first year of the Higher Cycle and he still had no idea what he really wanted to make his focus of study.

He was a little distracted by his phone, but he hears his name and looks up and around.]

Huh--wha?

[He blinks, refocusing and notices the blonde man looking at him. He swallows.]

Uh--y-yeah. That's me. What can I do for you?

[This guy recognizes him, but John can't place the face at all.]

[draculabackwards]

I apologize, I did not mean to startle you. I'm Adrian and I'm in my third year of the Advance Cycle of the History program. I thought I saw you the other day asking some questions of one of the professors.

[He could remember those days, trying to figure out what to do with himself now that his earlier studies were done. Luckily everyone had been kind enough to direct him to the history program, so Adrian saw no reason why he couldn't do the same to a younger student.]

[sociallyarcward]

It's fine. After a long morning of work and then having to jump into homework, I was just a little distracted.

[John was a little surprised that someone from the Advanced Cycle was coming to speak to him. He was only in his first year of Higher Cycle after all.]

O-oh. Yeah, I was. I just started the Higher Cycle and was getting a head start in trying to figure out what I wanted to focus on. I'm just not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life, you know?

ALL OF THE OPTIONS

[probablynoteren]

1. Somnolent Sunday Blues (OTA!)

[If you're crazy enough to be up and about already at 7:00 AM sharp on a Sunday, you'll find a member of Green Valley's best and brightest looking neither his best nor particularly bright at a table near the window -- his hair is sticking straight up, but really it always is, and it's entirely possible he's chosen the window for the bit of early morning sunlight coming through it, like some kind of fussy heliotropic plant.

Haruka's bundled in a ratty dark red hoodie, one of his favorite go-tos to protect his uniform from stains and stray leaves, and is staring (or glaring?) intently into a cup of abyssal-grade coffee like it contains the depths of the universe. Usual Monday morning fare, except it's Sunday because he has things to do at school and a quick shift with the cafe later anyway; he's probably a regular around this time.

He's being uncharacteristically bad at noticing anything going on around him despite normally being a stalwart morning person; the only real sign he's alive at this point is that if you watch him for long enough, he'll actually start to nod off into his coffee.

Save him from a rude awakening, maybe?]

2. Splendid Sunday Greens (John)

[The table at the window is now empty, but there's a forest-green and silver scooter parked outside within stone's throw distance, laden conspicuously with what looks like a decent pile of potatoes and a fat eggplant or two; the school cafeterias and restaurants take most of the harvest, but every once in a while there's a surplus for the club members and others to take advantage of. It's getting on into the afternoon, and Haruka's done his rounds and a couple of runs for the cafe, rushing in and out in between the lunch-goers.

He's still moving slower and sleepier than usual -- even for a Sunday -- but John is eventually excavated from his nest of non-books at the back of the place when Haruka plops the bags of vegetables on the table and peers over the top of them at him. There's books mixed in somewhere with the produce, along with his phone, because he's organized; and despite being in different grade levels they sometimes commiserate about homework together.

The bags have been through a lot, so possibly a potato or two rolls across the table too, but that's neither here nor there.]

Hey. I couldn't find one of my books... The English one. I might have left it here.

[Left unspoken is the fact that Mrs. Thanisch is going to eat him for breakfast if he doesn't at least attempt her latest assignment. She might anyway, but it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon and therefore a more optimistic hour.]

2

[sociallyarcward]

[John had been fairly engrossed in his work. So much so that he hadn't realized Haruka had arrived until there was a thump. Out of his peripheral John saw a potato rolling across the table and reached over to catch it. He placed it back on the table and looked up at his friend.]

It might be in this pile...I kinda just grabbed a stack. If not we might have to look under the front counter.

[John couldn't count the number of times either of them had left books around the restaurant and usually he, his mom, or his sis would make sure to toss it behind the front counter with other lost and found items.]

Running a delivery or are these veggies for you?

[probablynoteren]

They're mine. Most of them, I thought you guys might be able to use some potatoes.

[Haruka gently herds the potatoes and the dirt they're tracking away from John's textbooks (though apparently having his own rolling in potatoes is Just Fine, whatever) before starting to pile a few more on the table, along with an eggplant. His own parents aren't always home for dinner, and while he can cook for himself he can't actually eat three peoples' worth of vegetables before they go bad.

Thus, whenever he has enough to share, he'll bring some over for the local family restaurant; they usually treat him to a meal on his shifts, anyway, so it's just helping stock the kitchen a bit.]

Sorry about the mess. I was looking for it and didn't have time to put anything away.

[By which he means that now there are some textbooks and papers spilling out from between the potatoes. He's going to start going through John's pile, though, just in case. You really never know what you're going to find between three (and more) students forgetting their shit everywhere in the middle of a busy cafe.]

[sociallyarcward]

We can always use potatoes.

[John chuckled. Though the cafe was known for its begneits and po-boys, his mom had a pretty great hashbrown recipe that they sold for the breakfast hour.]

No problem. I'm sure we've brought in worse.

[John has to fight the urge to start cleaning it all up now. He's still in restaurant work mode despite being off the clock. His mom was always very strict about the dividing line between when he was on duty and when he was off. If he wasn't in uniform and on the clock then he shouldn't be working. And, since she was the boss and his mother, he tried not to break her rules too often.

He does, however, start looking through some of the books in a separate pile.]

What does it look like again?

1!

[1in_perfection]

It's a testament to how successful this café is as a business, with how crowded and pressed for table space it is this Sunday. Michelle half considers retreating back to her dorm room with the press of people... but no. She's convinced herself that a bit of fresh air and change of scenery will help assuage the worries in her head.

And really, with how hard she's been studying she deserves a beignet at this point. So Michelle allows herself to be herded to a tiny booth by the windows; with how crammed it is she's almost sharing tables with someone else.

Someone whose head is on a steady course towards a coffee cup. After Michelle places her order, she considers for a moment. And then decides she needs a good deed for the day. She sets her books down on her neighbor's table with a good, audible 'THUNK.'

"Pardon the intrusion. But generally, I don't think coffee is advised for waking someone up in quite that manner."

[probablynoteren]

It's considerably busier than when Haruka came in, though he hadn't noticed that, either in his morning stupor; else he would have been a bit more conscientious about deadeyeing his coffee for so long. But what's done is done: he ends up nearly jumping out of his skin when Michelle's books land in front of him, but luckily for both parties and the books, he, the coffee and the table all successfully stay upright.

Haruka blinks a bit bemusedly at the books that have magically appeared on his table, and half-expects to see John himself at the other end -- except for, you know, belatedly registering that the voice was female. And that he's still not all that far away from dunking himself like a donut.

"Ah... Thanks. I didn't think it'd be this hard to stay awake." He's as much of a morning person as a high schooler can be, but the whole fiasco with that strange app and its side-effects had kept him up longer than would have been advisable on a regular Saturday. He'd been tempted to sleep in, but... slacking off this close to the blossom festival wouldn't be a good call. He gently nudges his cup a little further in. Just in case.

[1in_perfection]

"We're closing in on the end of the school year. I think it's to be expected that fatigue is a constant companion." Michelle answers... and perhaps scoots her books off a bit to the side. now that they've done the task of waking her booth neighbor up. No point in tempting fate, and nearby coffee cups with toppling over.

"Granted, I'm having a difficult time placing you, without the uniform. But... I believe odds are, we attend the same academy." She finds herself saying, and quietly marvels in the back of her head at how easy socializing is, for it being this early in the morning. Maybe the amount of time she's spent puzzling over her own phone app has worn down the more cautious sides of her personality.

Or maybe it's just the prospect of receiving beignets. She doesn't hesitate to put in an order for them, once one of the staff drops by the table.

1!

[sunderings]

[ 7:00AM sees Solange smartly dressed in a tan, double-breasted trench, its broadcloth weave light enough to be worn over Green Valley's uniform without running warm in the height of the springtime sun, but so too insulating enough to keep the brisk chill out on overcast mornings such as this one. Altogether, it is a practical piece for a practical student who prefers to start his days early even on the weekends, taking his work (beginning of term papers to be graded) to the local cafe so that he might enjoy the (admittedly mediocre) coffee with (by far more superior) beignets.

And so, it is not precisely chance which leads him to spy Haruka (the younger student is nothing if not a cafe regular), but it is certainly a pleasant surprise to find a familiar face...! A familiar face with a distant expression and drooping eyelids? Ah... is it possible?! Is Haruka the one (for once) who is about to fall asleep?! ]

Ha-ru-ka. [ Closing the distance between them, Sol seats himself opposite of Haruka at the window-side table, a hand outstretched so that a careful fingertip might touch to the middle of the younger man's forehead, propping him up. No, no one will be nosediving into their coffee, not on Solange's watch...! ]

Do not tell me that you've begun to follow my poor example. [ That would be worrisome, indeed. ] You haven't been overworking yourself, have you?

I love getting to use this dumb icon

[probablynoteren]

[Solange's save is careful enough that it takes Haruka a few moments of blinking to even realize that there's now a finger in his face, between him and the zoomed-in version of his coffee, and then it takes a couple more blinks before he registers the rest of Solange's existence at all.

Once it gets to that point the words finally filter through, too, and then he's busy jolting back in his seat and slapping a hand to his forehead in surprise. It ends up being half a facepalm because he has to get around both Sol's hand and the coffee, and then he just looks embarrassed between his fingers.]

... Solange...? Sol. [he's still not entirely used to calling his upperclassman by name, notably because Solange is usually asleep or Haruka is way too busy turning soil to think about terms of address beyond hey and you, he's a heathen like that] I'm working enough, for the festival. It's next week.

[It's a true and applicable explanation, but his eyes also slide away almost immediately. Ostensibly it's the continuing embarrassment at being caught napping by the champion napper, but also: there's no way he could explain that his phone appears to be haunted and it kept him up at night, jumping at shadows.

There's very little he wants to explain about that, anyway.]

Option 2! OTA

[1in_perfection]

It’s not often that a café inspires fear and dread in Michelle. Especially when she was only just here for breakfast. And yet here she is, standing at the entrance and doing her best not to have that spooked feeling show on her face.

“Come on, stop delaying. And act like someone your mother can be proud of,” Michelle whispers to herself, using that to steel her nerves.

“And it’s a baking assignment. You don’t need to overthink it.” But saying as much does nothing to slow the breakneck speed her mind is working at. It DOES however get her feet moving into the café and up to the counter. She clears her throat, remembering she needs to inquire on one thing.

’Ask about the pasty selection, and if they can share how long the dough is set out to rise. That’s the one thing you need to do.’

“Excuse me… I need to ask-“

And in a blink, her confidence is gone.

“N-never mind. I need a spot to study and order a drink, that is all.” She sighs out, and finds herself beating a hasty retreat over to a booth nearby. She doesn’t seem to even notice that there’s someone sitting there, already.

[themortalhalf]

Ren rarely eats out, especially in the mornings, never the type to roll out of bed unless something or someone makes him. Like responsibility. Or a very persistent cat. If Ren had a choice, he’d rather sleep the morning away, wait until the sun was more awake than he was to stir. But that’s an opportunity he’s rarely able to indulge, and today was no different.

Today, he has things to do, last-minute errands to run, and with the city under strict curfew, he has less hours available to him than he used to. The café is one of his stops. And when Michelle approaches his booth and finally notices him, she’ll find Ren already there, sitting at the booth with a cup of coffee, and two creole muffins, already finished with his breakfast wrap, the plate pushed neatly off to the side.

He’s writing words down in a small notebook he’s brought with him. It’s a list of ingredients, cooking times, random bits of information. His notebook is a bit disorganized, handwriting rough, but legible. Perhaps it’s for an assignment exactly like hers, or for something else entirely. Either way, it takes Ren a few seconds to notice her, but when he does, he looks up, eyes registering the young woman in front of him. He thinks he recognizes her. From school, probably. Not that he knows why she’s suddenly at his booth.

“Need something?”

[1in_perfection]

She... she doesn't flinch per se, because that would show how off-guard Michelle is. And she'd prefer to think she has better control than that. But there is a twitch in her shoulders, and Micelle's head snaps up more quickly than she'd prefer.

"I-I was simply..." And telling, how she doesn't deny straight away that she doesn't need anything.

...And after a moment, she gives out a sigh. Because he's managed to catch her flat footed as is, so she may as well speak a bit. And maybe regain a grasp on her situation, in the process. (There is the small factor this boy seems familiar to her, too. But she decides that for now, it should be only a small factor... and little else.)

"...Out and about, for school assignments. And I was stopping by here, as it was on my way."