Coffee and Questions

**Crowley** · Jun 18th, 2016 06:45 PM

The coffee shop was squeezed between a shop front and a street corner in Downtown; it spilled lethargically onto the street. To the north, the great park at the heart of the city lay under a brassy sky; the sun a swirl of molten gold as it slowly began to dip beneath the horizon.

Saul Springfield ~~Crowley~~ sat in a rumpled suit at one of the street-side tables. It had been another long day, of dashing to- and fro-; he was glad to find this peaceful space, on the street where the thin crowds wandered, contented, into the reluctant summer evening. While he ate some pie, he allowed himself to appreciate the rank of greenery to the north and the radiant white-and-terracotta of the Presbyterian Church.

He was waiting on Sasha, the dancer he had first encountered at that most curious bookstore and who had visited his pub on opening night. Was it a date? Nope. Nosir! Meeting of minds? Hopefully. Solidifying business contacts? Tentatively. She was a dance instructor and he had a pub squarely aimed at a niche - alternative - market. Would she turn up? The question pressed onto his wounded ego and he found himself drumming on the table for no apparent reason.

Selena L'aire

Jun 20th, 2016 11:55 AM

She’d parked the truck down the block, the short walk gave her an opportunity to take in a few things Downtown. There were many people about given that it was summer. There were also some that looked disheveled, not necessarily by clothing. The ones looking for solace in a crowd in which they didn’t find what they were looking for.

L’aire found the shop and slipped in the door. Maybe coffee in the park would have been a better idea, but she didn’t know how Saul laid down his cards, or whatever it was that was done. Her dress was flowing and summery, despite being colors of her season, yet no one keen to it would be aware. A sundress that was a mix between casual and casual dress, just in case she had misread what this evening was about. It was still strange to be single, even though she had been for much longer than she was with John. The Dancer wasn’t in dire need for companionship, but it made encounters like this easier; or more difficult. Still, she wasn’t entirely alone, there was someone to pass time with whenever necessary.

Strolling up to where this tattooed man sat, she smiled and took a seat. “Hello Saul. How are you this evening?” The smell of coffee was intoxicating; her violets looked entranced by the aroma and couldn’t wait for her first sip of the delectable nectar.

L'aire Dress

**Crowley** · Jun 21st, 2016 05:20 AM

The drumming stopped when Crowley laid eyes on Sasha. It took a moment more for his usually malleable visage to shape itself into an emphatic grin: his face hung, slack jawed, attached to his face.

"Um. Hi. Sasha... Yes! Hi! Welcome. Ah. Please sit. Thats a mighty fine... Ah. You are looking well. Real well." Words tumbled from his lips in a burst of sudden nerves.

"Me? Me? I'm well. I think. Uh. Can't complain."

He grinned a cheshire grin that was perhaps a little too happy.

Jun 22nd, 2016 07:56 PM

The other night, the man who sat across from her was cool as a cucumber. Now, a bucket of bumbling and studdering. It seemed rather odd, yet charming considering the other two times they’d met he seemed perfectly fine. Was she really having that effect on him, or did the man just not do well with one-on-one situations.

He was the one who offered tarot.

Reaching up and tucking her hair behind her ear in a coy or sheepish manner. “Thank you.” She said, knowing he couldn’t quite finish a compliment, but his efforts were noticed.

“I’m glad you’re well Saul. Have you been here before? Did you order already?” Her slender fingers pulled a menu that was situated in a small clip at the back of the table. “I wonder what’s good here.”

“Were you waiting long?” Her violets looking directly into his, as the tattooed man was her only focal point at the moment.

**Crowley** · Jun 23rd, 2016 03:47 AM

"I've uh been waiting a while. It was kinda nice, actually. I've been busy all day. So it was just nice... to sit and just be, you know?"

Crowley stirred and tried to recover himself.

"I've been here a couple of times before. The view, you know, is cool. And its right at the heart of things so its convenient for catching up and so forth. Let me see... The pie is okay... But I find the cheese cake much better. It goes well with the coffee."

Gingerly, he pointed to the particular item on the menu.

"You've eaten already, right? They have a few light meals but they really specialise in suite's here."

Jun 24th, 2016 05:13 PM

“Oh my goodness. I’m sorry if I made you wait that long.” Although, L’aire thought she came at the agreed time. “But, sometimes sitting by yourself is enjoyable. All the rushing we all do, sometimes taking thirty minutes to ‘just be’ as you put it, is necessary.” Pausing briefly, her head slightly turned. “Is everything okay?” She may not have known this tattooed man well enough to ask, but it wasn’t about to stop her even if Saul already said he was 'doing well.'

“Yeah, the view is pretty nice.” Looking out the window briefly, she softly grinned at the poele walking by then her eyes returned to Saul’s. “Cheese cake?” Her violets were alight with the thoughts of the delicate desert on her tongue.

“If you need to eat, go right ahead. Myself, I can always eat dessert.” There was never a time she turned it down at a restaurant. The Dancer worked out enough, and ran around enough that a delectable confection on occasion didn’t matter.

“What sort of light meals?”

**Crowley** · Jun 25th, 2016 12:34 AM

"Yeah. Cheese Cake," Crowley beamed. "I tried their croissant with ham and cheese once. Worked perfectly. I'll take some of that cheese cake anytime! Anyway... I... uh... eaten already. But cheese cake. Yum."

He saw the incline of Sasha's head and the question in her eyes. Stubbornly, he tried to ignore it; in much the same way he had been struggling to recognise the tremors and the butterflies that had been plaguing him since the episode in the Museum.

"I'm good. A little stressed. You get that in my line of work sometimes," he said quickly in an attempt to deflect the question.

"How have you been? The dance academy going well?" He placed the question as he tried to recover some balance, watching as the delightful woman looked over the menu.

Jun 25th, 2016 11:27 PM

“Croissants!” L’aire’s eyes grew even wider. It had been quite a while since she’d treated herself to one of those either. “You know, since I only had a salad earlier on… maybe I could doubly splurge.” She laughed, but was totally serious.

Making an audible understanding sound. “Saul, it’s okay. You hardly know me. I don’t expect you to suddenly open up. And if I expected you to, that would be the pot calling the kettle black.” Other than Rick and Terri, there was only one other person she may open up to, but the Dancer was fairly positive he didn't care to listen anyway.

“I’ve been fairly well. Busier than usual lately.” Which the Fairest couldn’t explain to him, but doubted he’d ask. “Summer with the kids is an all day thing. Some of them are only allowed to take lessons when school is out, which is a shame really. There are a lot of little ingénues who should be dancing more, alas their parents stifle them.”

“The adult lessons usually taper off in the summer. Mostly because of family vacations, summer parties all of that. Family time comes first to many, which I completely understand.”

**Crowley** · Jun 26th, 2016 01:47 AM

Crowley nodded.

"That... That makes a lot of sense, actually. This must be a bumper time of the year for you; and yeah, quite tiring. But in a good way, right? Summer was a good time for touring; though I admit, I preferred the winter months. More the the aesthetics than the weather, you know. Uh... We dealt with some dark themes and the darker nights seemed built for it."

Now it was his time to make a supporting noise, a sad sound as he recognised how it felt to watch a talent slowly crushed and withered.

"It happens far too often, right. Sometimes people just need to learn to rack off and let others be. If you find where someone's gifts are, you don't kill them off because your own life took a different path. I dunno. People lack courage. Its disappointing. No. Its sad."

He took a breath and struggled with his emotions.

"Hope seeing it doesn't crush you. Rise above, Sasha. Sometimes all you can do is keep the fire burning on that hill. You know. Shine for those who can see it."

Jun 28th, 2016 10:19 PM

“Oh, yeah, tiring in a good way, of course.” It’s what kept the Fairest in touch with the real world, grounded in a sense. “So, why did you give up touring, if I may ask? It sounds like it was such an adventure.”

L’aire hadn’t heard some of his vocabulary in a long time. She’d been to Sydney with the traveling troupe a few times. Locals said things like Saul did, it was kinda cute. “I think some people had courage once. Then someone extinguished it, hardcore. Look at shows like X-Factor or American Idol. So you think you can dance wasn’t as bad, but still, people’s hopes were crushed with one person’s judgment for all of America, or the world for that matter.”

Needless to say, the Dancer didn’t like reality TV.

“So no, it doesn’t crush me personally.” Someone else did that, but crushing wasn’t the words the Fairest would have used.

“Shining isn’t always easy.” Flagging down wait staff so they could place their order. For some odd reason, L’aire felt a little naked without a cup of coffee when the smell of beans was intoxicating.

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