(Fall into coffee) Dragons' table

[Wei Lin]

After bidding their goodbyes to their new acquaintances, Wei Lin settled into their seat by the table. They had specifically picked one as secluded as it could be so mortal ears couldn't pick up the details of any conversation that might transpire.

They waited for Dirt Nap with his unholy amount of muffins, settling their chin on their palm and looking around idly.

Continued from Fall into coffee...

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap arrives at the table that Wei Lin has secured.

"Well." He says, "Here we are." He sets down his muffin and immediately starts eating.

"Now. Our work begins." He says. "The thing you want to Change to control, we're going to need to stir it up. In this case, I am a big proponent of the 'band aid off slow' school of thought."

"So. Instead of starving you outright, right off, I figure we'll start with you just living off less than you'd like, in places and types that make you feel less than comfortable. I got just the thing." Dirt Nap says soberly as he starts to eat his third muffin in as many minutes.

[Wei Lin]

Dirt Nap arrived in a crown of the smell of fresh muffins. Good enough to almost consider eating one, but she decided against it, watching her mentor devour the pastries one by one. She knew better than to stand between a man and his sweets.

'Our work begins?' What is this, a third-rate movie villain monologue? She could, but she doesn't say anything aloud. Here, she had no choice, obedience is the game between them.

"Well, it does sound better than me going off in Hunger frenzy on some poor chap," she chuckled, trying to dispel a sense of foreboding. Somehow, she had a suspicion that whatever Dirt Nap considered a good plan was going to suck royally for her.

"Also... does that mean I'll have to change my feeding habits entirely?"

That sounded like one of those hellish kine diets they did to starve themselves silly. It never ended well for them too.

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap stares at Wei Lin, assessing and testing her resolve as always.

"I can only teach what I know." He says abruptly though oh so softly that only supernatural hearing could make it out.

"What works for me. It should work for you too, but it's not necessarily the only way, just the only way I know works." He explains.

"You can still quit any time. I won't think less of you, if that's any concern of yours; it is probably the smart move." Dirt Nap says in a frank tone.

"If you are in this to go all the way, we'll be in the underground, in the sewers, and you will practice just taking what you need from what's available down there without doing any permanent harm to anything neither. Twelve days and nights of that, staying in control without letting your worser half take over will be a good start."

Dirt Nap finishes his final muffin.

"You got the rest of the night to get ready. We start tomorrow at sundown."

[Wei Lin]

She did not hide an eyeroll this time. They were over this 'you can quit anytime' so many times, Wei Lin was getting sick of replying to it. Much easier to show it with her actions and see how long it would take for Dirt Nap to stop suggesting she should turn tail and run.

"Then we'll do it like that, for now. And think of an alternative if it ever comes to that."

Tone of finality. Because she wasn't going to spend their coffee break arguing pointlessly. "It's like you want me to quit or something..." she mumbled, taking a sip of coffee.

...and regretting it soon after, because it splattered all over, as Dirt Nap announced his brilliant plan and she choked on it in shock.

"The sewers?!" thankfully her mouth was too filled with coffee to be too loud for people to stare. "You're doing that thing again, where you're saying something that should sound like a bad joke, but it somehow isn't. And it makes it even worse."

She grabbed a couple of tissues, cleaning up the coffee on the table, her movements jerky with anger. Do I even have any clothes suitable for sewers?

"Yes, get ready... What do you suggest, stack up on sanitizer to shower in later?"

She sighed, glaring at Dirt Nap. "And no, it doesn't mean I'm quitting. That's me, complaining, as you said I could. Seriously, why sewers? What's next, bathing in manure? Actually, forget what I said, because I might just hit you if you make me do that."

[Seryna]

The coffee shop is busy at this time of night.

They had specifically picked one as secluded as it could be so mortal ears couldn't pick up the details of any conversation that might transpire.

Wei Lin becomes aware that there is no such thing as a secluded table that mortal ears cannot eavesdrop on in a public cafe. They have earned startled or offended glances five times since they have continued to speak. As Dirt Nap mentions starving, a man sitting with a woman glance over with frowns on their faces.
"Excuse me, what are you talking about?" The woman interjects, looking between Dirt Nap and Wei Lin. "I don't hold with any sort of coercion to go on unhealthy diets. There could be people with body image issues here, hearing everything that you are saying."
"Body issues? Nah." A man sitting at the next table over with a warmed muffin and a mug shook his head. He set his mug down on the table, looking over.

" 'practice just taking what you need... available... permanent harm to ...?" The man repeats some of what he over heard. "What the hell?"

A blonde woman in a steel grey jogging suit had been quietly looking over at Wei Lin and Dirt Nap. Now she packed up her computer into her computer bag. The woman walked up to the counter, scanning the menu. She glances over to Wei Lin, then back at the menu.

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap notices the woman first, her listening in and typing on her machine.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-10-08 18:57:09	Dirt Nap rolls 5 to Perceive an observer (Wits 2 + Composure 3) (10 Again)	8, 8, 2, 5, 6	2 successes

"We should leave." Dirt Nap says as the others make their discomfort and disapproval known as they overhear disturbing things between We Lin and Dirt Nap. "Our little fantasies are making the normal folk uncomfortable."

Dirt Nap stands up, preparing to leave the shop.

"Do you know her?" He asks Wei Lin very quietly, almost sub vocalizing as he indicates with his eyes, the woman who's been eyeing We Lin for a while.

[Wei Lin]

She could have let it go. Of course she could, quickly filing out of the shop. But she actually intended to return there so leaving behind some nasty rumors wasn't appealing in the slightest.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-10-09 14:03:17	Wei Lin rolls 5 to It's not bullshit, it's art! (WIT+Subterfuge) (10 Again)	4, 9, 3, 8, 2	2 successes

"Excuse me, but people, body issues included, should mind their own business and maybe not eavesdrop on conversations?" she was proud of her own righteous wrath there. A little frown at the woman too, to further the effects of her trained voice performance.

Wei Lin huffed, standing up, her chair skidding over the floor at the force of it. Keep the frown, step into Dirt Nap's personal space, as if seeking comfort, glare at the muffin man.

"Work, that's what it was. If you were listening so closely, you should have heard my friend say 'Our work begins'. I'm a voice actor. He," she pointed at Dirt Nap, before grabbing onto his sleeve. A perfect act of an offended vulnerable woman, "offered to run some lines with me in public to help switch into character quicker."

A final huff before she turned away from the man and fully grabbed Dirt Nap by the elbow, practically hugging his arm, and used it whisper in his ear just as quietly. "Nope. What do you think?"

A final touch to performance, stomping to the counter to grab her forgotten card, giving Dirt Nap a moment to survey the women up close.

[Seryna]

"Uhh. Creepy. Why don't you just get out? Nobody wants to hear that creepy shit."
The man sitting alone at his table responded. He seems unimpressed with Wei Lin.
" Do that shit at your house."

The woman who spoke seems to huff, offended, when Wei Lin suggested not eavesdropping.

"This is a cafe. We can all see you and hear one another. It's not right!"
The woman looks angrily at Wei Lin. The man she's sitting with crumpled a napkin, frowning at Wei Lin and Dirt Nap.

The blonde woman in grey was at the counter. Before Wei Lin's response, she gave a quick look to Sera. A bit surprised. Yet the smile lured out a matching smile from the blonde.

"Can I get a muffin to go? Whatever you think is good."

The blonde's cell phone chirps. The woman gave Sera an apologetic ​look and her thumbs typed a quick reply.

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap stops at the register on the way out and nods, saying, "Thank you kindly for the vittles, Ma'am."

Then he leaves.