City of Shadows Mux City of Shadows Mux

Inaugural Meeting of the Chicago Hot Chocolate Club
Players Lina, Phaedre, Javi, Tennyson, Celandine, Chicago Hot Chocolate Club	Hyde Park 5 November, 2022 The accidental creation of a new club...
+----------------------------+ Sky Goddess Coffee +----------------------------+ Through the main doors of the shop, one finds it to be a rather quiet, aromatic haven from the bustle of the world outside even when it's busy. New cafe curtains in a rich red color frame the big picture window which lets in the sunlight or looks out on the street outside. The decor, reds and blues with touches of green, seems very comfortable in style. The wooden floor in the shop area below are newly polished, the old wood gleaming. The walls of the cafe are a dark, red brick, but the furnishings have been updated with an emphasis on handcrafted oak. Designer lights hang from the ceiling to cast their glow over tables and aisles, while recessed lights glow over the counter where a brand new, fancy espresso machine holds pride of place. In the cafe area, there is now a couch and chairs, with smaller tables interspersed between them. Near the window, another large table with comfortable chairs around it looks to be a kind of community table. There is a small stage in the back corner of the shop, enough for a couple of musicians to play. The whole coffee shop is designed for comfort and peace. There is a large, wooden fireplace covered with a cast iron grate, and on cold days there is a comfortable fire burning there. A big bulletin board has been added for community events. It's been a late shift. As a personal driver, you go... well... wherever. Still dressed in her chaffeuse suit, the girl has claimed a comfy-looking living-room style chair near the crackling fireplace. She sips what looks like a coffee cup, though it is topped with whipcream and sprinkles. Her hate rests in her lap, and on top of it, her cellphone, which she's scrolling with the idle curiosity of someone mostly just wasting time. Into the cafe comes Lina, dressed in her usual suit and carrying a laptop bag slung over one shoulder. She has the look of someone who is *done* with the world for today, and she gets into the queue to get herself a bigass hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles. Very similar to Phaedre's drink, indeed. Maybe for the same reason. Of course Phaedre notices! Someone else understands the gospel of hot chocolate clearly! She even approves of going the extra-sized route and wishes-she had picked it. Still, Phaedre is nothing if not generally friendly, and usually quite lacking in shyness. "Oh, wow, you look like you had ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag. Come on, come sit over here, the fire's great!" Yeah. She's talking to Lina. Javi slips in through the door after someone who's leaving, holding it open for them with a bright smile and a slightly exaggerated gesture with his arm -- he even tilts forward a bit at the waist like he's bowing, which gets a little chuckle and a nod from the middle-aged woman on her way out. Once she's gone, he heads in, letting the door swing shut behind him and making his way toward the line, too. But he happens to catch sight of those two hot chocolates one in Phaedre's hand and one being made for Lina -- with whipped cream and sprinkles, no less -- and his eyes widen. "Oh damn," he says, to no one in particular, "yep. Gonna go with that." "Sometimes you've just got to," Lina agrees gravely with Javi's comment as she hears him just behind her. She pays for the drink and then turns to head over to where Phaedre has invited her to sit, setting her drink down on the table and sinking down into a facing armchair with a sigh of 'thank God I'm off my feet'. "You would not be wrong there," she affirms to the smartly-dressed blonde, her accent decidedly Michigander rather than a local one. Phaedre's own accent is not really very specific without a very trained ear. That being said, she smiles, dipping her head into a greeting as the other girl settles, a smile flashed briefly in Javi's direction. "I'm very observant. This time of day, though, it's gotta be work or school... So which is it? Please, regale me with your tales of woe that I might be nosy and satisfy my craving for social interaction." She sips her mug, eyes twinkling with good cheer. "Right?" In contrast to Lina's grave tone, his is //quite// bright, as fits his smile, wide enough that it almost doesn't seem capable of being contained merely by his face, but needs to use the rest of his body. It's directed first at her, and then to Phaedre in reply as he flashes a thumbs up for her choice, too. And since it's now his turn to order, the barista will also be smiled at as he jerks a thumb toward them both. "Lemme get one of those, too," he says. "Big. Like, extra large." "Oof. Turn that sunshine down, kid," Lina comments to Javi, her tone dry, but she's struggling to suppress a smile in return. "Better come sit over here, so we can officially call this meeting of the Hot Chocolate Club to order," she adds. To Phaedre's query, she admits, "It's always work. I love my job, but I work in law and there's always some shit going on. Today, I had to deal with a guy who genuinely wanted to file a lawsuit against a dry cleaner's - for losing his shirt." Phaedre the girl considers this a little bit as she mulls over her hot chocolate before nodding,"I get it... If you're poor, losing even one shirt can be a blow, but if he can afford a suit, a lawyer, or a dry cleaner, he can probably just afford another shirt. Like... It seems like it's just a client being petty. I have it easy, I just... like... drive all day or night for some rich dude. He's actually pretty nice, in truth, but..." She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "Well, I get to play with cars all day, so it's cool!" Lina's comment makes Javi lets out a little involuntary laugh -- which he immediately attempts to suppress, though it doesn't work //that// well. He did try to take the note, though! It's something. "Can I be treasurer?" he asks, presumably of the Hot Chocolate Club. "Definitely not ready to be president. Too much responsibility." He collects his extra large version and starts toward them both, taking a seat -- carefully, it must be noted, and with a tiny wince, but it's an expression that goes with Lina's story, so maybe that's where it came from. "Man, imagine having so much time on your hands you're gonna get a lawyer over a shirt," he remarks with a nod at Phaedre and a gesture toward her in agreement of her assessment, before he takes a sip of his hot chocolate. "Oh, believe me, he wasn't hurting for green," Lina assures Phaedre with a wry little smile. "Fortunately he didn't get as far as an actual lawyer. They tend to use me to winnow out the shit so that the actual lawyers can focus on what pays." She dips a finger into the tower of whipped cream on her drink, scooping some up to eat. Yum. "I'm Lina, by the way," she adds, then smiles again as Javi volunteers to be treasurer. "There's a lot of responsibility there too, you know. Gotta make sure we're getting the best hot chocolate for our money." "That's probably wise. I'd probably just spend all our money on booze and erotic cakes." This is delivered with a very matter-of-fact tone, followed by Phaedre tossing some hot chocolate down her throat. "Mmmm. Have you ever tried this with peppermint schnapps in it? It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Anyway, you're three hundred percent more lawyer than I am. So, by acclaim, this lady is president. Fay, by the way." "Don't worry," Javi assures Lina with another bright, wide grin, "I know //all// the best places. Like, this?" and here he gestures around to encompass all their cups. "It's good for sure. But the best hot chocolate's over at this spot in Englewood." Cheerfully confident in his knowledge of the best hot chocolate in Chicago, so hey, maybe he's right! However, he's a little distracted by Phaedre's suggestion, and his eyebrows raise as his head tilts a little to one side to consider it. "Definitely gonna try that next time," he says with a nod. "Javi. Nice to meet you." "Oo. That does sound good," Lina muses of the proposed peppermint schnapps variant of hot chocolate. Then as Javi flexes his hot chocolate credentials, she takes out her phone and googles 'cafes in Englewood'. "So, where are we meeting next time, Treasurer Javi?" she asks, needing the name. "Also. If he's treasurer and I'm president, what role are you taking, Fay? Club Secretary?" That does fill out the traditional three roles of such a board, after all. Phaedre, completely unperturbed, reaches into her jacket and withdraws a plastic flask of some sort, offering it to Javi, and nods,"Go ahead. Just make sure you leave enough for each other." As for what role she's taking, she considers then asks,"I want power and to be a part of the org, but I don't actually want to do anything that requires effort. So... Morale Officer?" She purses her lips, as she clearly does not understand corporate roles. "Club Driver? Like, it's literally the only thing I'm good at." "Grind House," Javi replies, leaning over a little bit toward Lina when she pulls out her phone. "Over on 5th." And he might have said more about it, but before he can, Pheadre's passing over the flask. "Oh shit!" He fairly //beams//, setting his cup down and untwisting the top so he can peer into it. "That's what's up." He pours a little bit into his cup, before offering it to Lina with raised eyebrows. "Fay's gonna be the whole social committee. Bringing all the good stuff." "Grind House," Lina muses, honing her google search onto that and musing over the page. "Looks okay," she decides, then tucks her phone away, shaking her head to decline the offer of peppermint schnapps. "Not this time, I'm driving. Definitely next time though," she voices, sitting back to eat more whipped cream from the top of her drink. "So. I propose the topic of today's discussion is; why isn't it socially acceptable to just straight-up eat whipped cream in public all the time?" "I know where my bread is buttered. Besides, I have a pretty clear idea of what I can and can't handle. If you trust that, then drink up, and I'll drive you home. I literally have a party-limo parked outside." Phaedre stifles a yawn, smiles, and goes on,"I think it's prudishness. Two different exes. Guy and a girl. You'd think being a dude, he'd be a total horndog, but the whole 'licking whipped cream' thing when we went for ice cream made him, like... queasy. He was a huge prude. Wouldn't even be seen in public with me. Tried the same thing on a girlfriend I had for a little bit later, and her reaction was just to, like, pat me on the head. I think... people think of it as kind of inherently sexual in some cases, and in others, child-ish. Meanwhile, I kind of think people should just be happy other people have interests and are happy?" Javi doesn't press it, nodding when Lina passes and handing the flask back to Phaedre instead. "Thanks," he says, settling back and reaching for his own cup so he can take a sip. He takes a moment to consider //that//, too, before he nods approvingly. "Nice." He shifts to cross one ankle over the other knee with another tiny wince, but it's short-lived, overridden by the snort of amusement at Lina's question, and then at Phaedre's reply. "To be honest having a can of whipped cream you just pull out so you can shoot into your mouth while you're hanging out sounds amazing," he admits. "Maybe I'mma start doing that. This club can change the world." "Sounds like your ex-girl had a thing about appearances maybe?" Lina mulls over Phaedre's examples, even as she continues to eat the last of the whipped cream atop her drink, only now reaching for her teaspoon so she can stir the chocolatey goodness that has been revealed. "Ex-guy.. eh, not surprising. I've met a lot of guys who just aren't outwardly demonstrative and hate PDAs. Even just holding hands." She lifts one shoulder in a shrug, clearly not up to understanding why, just that it is so. "That does sound good, Treasurer Javi, though I'd probably get fired if I did that at work. So maybe just for socials." The girl purses her lips, consideringly. First, Javi is addressed,"Back when I drove a limo with a stripper pole in it, I always stocked the fridge with a few cans of whipped cream. Every bottle was empty almost every party. It was crazy. I was charging premiums for each bottle, though, so it was worth it." She takes a long sip of her own drink, before nodding to Lina,"They both did, in different ways... Like... Eventually, I figured out, the guy, Ryan, he just... I don't think he was comfortable being seen around his friends with a trans girl. I think Elsa was just kind of condescending? Which, while irritating, is a little bit easier to deal with. Ryan, one time, we were holding hands in the grocery store, and he saw one of his friends and he just, like... jerked his hand out of mine. Drove me crazy." A pause, and she fishes in her pockets until she finds a card, and slides it over to Lina,"While I am officially someone's personal driver, I moonlight a little. So if you need to impress a client, let me know. A lot of lawyers who need it find they can just bill it to their clients anyway." "Just tell 'em you're president of the Hot Chocolate Club," Javi suggests to Lina, schooling his face into something very serious. Kind of, anyway. He makes an effort, even if he can't quite banish his smile completely. "Then they can't say nothing." Clearly this is the way to go. However, apparently there //is// something that can actually dampen his expression -- Phaedre's story has his eyes widening as his face shifts into incredulity. He makes a little //tsk// sound with his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head as he remarks, "Wow, what a asshole." "Are you okay, Javi?" The first wince she mighta missed, but Lina notes the second one as he crosses his ankles. "And yeah, seconded. Ryan - total asshole. I wish I were taking minutes, so I could write that in like capital letters with five exclamation points," she adds in agreement with the treasurer. Her lips purse for a moment as she considers the suggestion of using Phaedre's party limo for work. "That actually is a solid idea." She takes the card, tucking it into her purse. Phaedre nods in agreement with her new club members. "Like, I get it if they just can't deal. Whatever, plenty of fish in the sea." A pause,"But like... just say so upfront. I don't know what his plan was in the long term." She rolls her eyes, and then waves a hand dismissively,"Anyway, he's gone. I'm seeing this girl very casually, not really even dating, more like 'friends-plus'. But she's just kind of... up for whatever, and no pressure. Eventually I'll find someone to date seriously, but it's nice to just be kind of... appreciated." Phaedre sips her hot chocolate slowly, quirking an eyebrow at Javi,"ARE you okay?" "Huh?" Javi's eyebrows raise as he turns to Lina at the question, and it takes him a second to pull his mind onto the new track. He gets there, though. Good job, Javi. "Oh! Uh, yeah." There's a briefly guilty flash across his expression, for whatever reason -- apparently he really doesn't have much of a poker face. "I'm good," he confirms. "Just had, like...a weird night?" He reaches up to rub a hand over the back of his neck, taking another sip from his giant hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles on it. All three of them who are seated together have one, actually. But it does look very delicious. "But yeah," he continues once he's swallowed, looking back to Phaedre (and consequently glossing right on over the question about how he is), "fuck that dude. Good for you." Lifting her mug of hot chocolate (now sans whipped cream thanks to snacking), Lina raises it almost toast-like to the notion of Phaedre having fun with a no-pressure partner. "A weird night ending in injuries? I'm not gonna push, but if you need help, say somethin'," she tells the treasurer of the Hot Chocolate Club. "So anyway. Maybe we need to campaign for normalising public consumption of whipped cream. And other things that make people happy." Phaedre finishes off her hot chocolate, and leans back in her chair to just 'digest' or something. She tilts her head to Javi, for a moment, then asks,"Weird night? In Chicago? Say it ain't so!" She barks out a laugh, and crosses one leg over the other then, humming to herself thoughtfully,"I know this lady... full disclosure, she's a massage therapist, and YES she's that kiind of massage therapist, but she does legal massage work too, and if you're sore, I bet she could like, get you some relaxation the legal way, if you're sore." She considers, before arching her back and streeeetching. She rises up, and says,"That's my number on the card. Call, we can hang out in a sort of planned way, and there will be whipped cream." Into the shop stumps Tennyson with his cane, coat, gloves on, and shades. He's not a complete unknown to everyone but it isn't terribly common for him to show up in this particular place. He does glance Lina's way, but only has a small half-smile for her. Not everyone wants to be seen in public with him, he knows well. Best to let others make the move in mixed company. Other than that, it's for the counter he goes. "Yeah," Javi admits with a wry laugh. "Not even the fun kind, either. But I'm good. Thanks, though." He lifts the cup toward Lina with a nod, taking another sip -- which is //almost// a disaster, since Phaedre's offering makes him laugh again, this time a little incredulously. However, once he composes himself again he's grinning, and he flashes her a thumbs up. "I'll let you know," he assures her. "See you at the next meeting, yeah?" His gaze is briefly drawn toward the door opening, and consequently Tennyson, who he watches curiously for a second or two before he looks back to his companions. Celandine follows just a few steps after Tennyson, a black wool coat and bright purple hand knitted accessories keeping her warm against the November chill. She's clutching a broken off baguette in her arms. "Look I told you you can totally use bread as a weapon, it just needs to have a thick crust! Ok so this one wasn't as tough as I thought but still. Next time I'll get like a sourdough or something, leave it out for a day or two and you can totally brain someone with it." She grins big at the idea of inflicting pain upon someone. Glancing over to the door, Lina spots the grump with the cane, returning his half-smile in kind. "You're late, Tennyson," she calls over to him. "Get your party-approved drink and come on over, before we draw this meeting of the Hot Chocolate Club to a close. You can bring your friend too." Yes, she's assuming Celandine is friends with him, since there's some kind of conversation about bread-related weaponry going on? Then, her gaze turns back to Phaedre and Javi. "Is Chicago really full of so much weird?" she asks of the club's appointed driver and morale officer. "I've been here maybe four days. Still trying to figure it all out." "Bread as a weapon is a Terry Pratchett invention, Cel. This isn't Discworld. We aren't dwarves. Crusty pumpernickel isn't Battle Bread. And for the last time it doesn't count when you just stick your fist in a loaf and punch somebody with it, that's just punching!" Tennyson and the discussions he gets in with Cel. He picks up on what Lina says to him though and looks a little confused for a second, but you don't get by far in this world without being a little quick on the uptake. "Give me aminute." he tells her, ordering well...hot chocolate. Because that actually does sound good. Celandine's entrance draws Javi's gaze back that way, and he can't help but notice the bread, and the snippet of conversation. His eyebrows raise, and his head tilts thoughtfully to one side. He can't do //too// much considering about the theoretical uses of bread as a weapon, though, before Lina's question brings his attention back. "I mean," he replies after a moment, "it's not //not// weird?" He shrugs; and then, providing a very aptly timed example of it, "If you were, like...throwing old rolls at someone from high up it'd prolly hurt a little if you hit 'em in the head." "It totally counts! Why else is there an official difference between boxing and street fighting?? What you have on your fists totally matters!" Celandine is feeling strongly enough about this to get (more) animated, waving the broken baguette around in general and at Tennyson in specific. Looking at the rest of the group in here, Javi and Lina, "Right? C'mon, you know I'm-- ooh, hot chocolate. Yes please, one for me too please." And she cheerfully adds an order for herself to Tennyson's order. "Treasurer, make sure to take dues from these new members of the club," Lina comments, a wryly amused smile on her lips. "Welcome to the inaugural meeting of the Hot Chocolate Club. Also, the ancient Greeks used to make dildos out of bread. Not sure if they were actually used or just symbolic, but I'd imagine being battered with a crusty bread dildo would hurt." With a grunt Tennyson pays for Cel's cup and tells her, "The difference is rules. Boxing is a sport, street fighting is winning by any means." Then he takes his cup, crosses the room to sit with Lina, gives Javi a look. What kind of look? Apologetic. Why? "...good way to get a yeast infection." he deadpans, having a drink from his cup to cover up the smile. That's why. Well, Lina's certainly given Javi something else to consider! His nod in response to the directive to collect dues is a little distracted as his eyes go wide, and his gaze strays to the rest of Celandine's baguette almost despite himself as he lifts his hot chocolate again to take a sip. Unfortunately, this one is a bit less well-timed. Or //very// well timed, depending on one's point of view, because it's right when Tennyson delivers his line, which has him letting out a very surprised laugh. Kind of, anyway. It's more of a choked explosion, since some of that chocolate absolutely goes down the wrong pipe -- and some of it absolutely spills down the front of his shirt. "Shit!" He's still half-laughing despite some pretty clear embarrassment, and he stands up quickly, setting down his cup. "Sorry, fuck. Oh my god." He mutters something else under his breath in Spanish as he makes zero eye contact with anyone as he turns to go grab some napkins. "I'd rather stick with talking about bread used as a weapon for fighting. If you wanna flirt tho, don't mind me." Celandine grabs her cup, and joins the rest. Then she points at Tenny, smiling at Lina. "He is super single, just FYI." Mmm, hot chocolate. She grabs a pile of napkins and offers it to Javi, "I saw a video on Youtube where a dude made a pretty good knife from bread. I bet you could make something nasty with like crispbread and stuff." "Are you matchmaking?" Lina asks of Celandine, eyes wide and expression innocent, even as she leans sideways to murmur something to Javi in Spanish, her tone mildly reassuring. Then her attention goes back to the two newest members of the club. "Let's hope they were just symbolic, then. Though, hallucinations through infection-induced fever could explain some of the wilder prophecies and visions." "That," declares Tennyson simply with a grin, "is magic." He seems proud of making Javi have a face-explosion. He looks between Lina and Celandine then and grouses, "Why ARE you carrying that bread around? How old is that? That thing is mummified." Then by way of explanation he tells Lina, "Used to watch her and her sisters when they were kids. They're like my nieces." He's going to ignore the matchmaking attempt and hope it goes away. Javi takes the napkins from Celandine with murmured thanks and starts to wipe his front with one of them -- at least his shirt is mostly black, so he's saved from looking like a total mess. Just a minor mess. Whatever Lina says to him does seem to settle him a little bit, and he flashes her a grateful smile as he sits back down again. He's at least steadied enough to speak up again, turning to Celandine. "Like, a shiv?" he asks. "Or like...a knife knife?" "Always, if he actually gets a date his mood will improve. At least that's my theory." Celandine gives a toothy grin between Lina and Tennyson, before scoffing at the latter. "I told you! It's a weapon! And it's only three days old, I baked again it to make it tougher. I broke it off over a dude's head, and you can cut paper with the jagged bits! It's not ultimate or anything but it's good as a proof of theory." She has a drink of her hot chocolate, then smiles again at Javi's question. "Better. He used the bread to make a bread knife! Here, look." She grabs a phone out of her pocket, clicking only once to pull up an obviously favorite video. "Nieces? Thankfully not -actually-, then? Or that would make you the brother, or brother-in-law, of someone I've been told is quite unpleasant?" Lina glances over to Celandine, remembering their brief conversation about the woman's parentage. "Or at least, fickle and unreliable." She lifts one shoulder in a slight shrug, and sips her rapidly cooling hot chocolate. "Still, it's good to see you again. I can be your beard, if you want to keep the nieces sweet," she adds, her smile wry. Tennyson shakes his head to Lina with a significant look. "No. I am not the brother of that person." He gives her a mildly suspicious look over his cup of chocolate, then tells Celandine, "Stop trying to curse this poor woman." Bread as a weapon. It deserves a new way of scoffing that hasn't been invented yet. He then looks to Javi, seeking some refuge from craziness. "Hello, I'm Tennyson Reed. Pleasure to meet you." "Oh yeah?" Javi leans over toward Celandine when she pulls up the video, apparently quite content to watch it. "Man, you really can find anything on YouTube, huh." It's an idle musing, since his mind is only half-on it -- the rest is busy trying to figure out the ins and outs of the rest of the conversation happening, though as often happens when attempting to focus on two things at once, especially when one's focus seems to be a little scattered in the best of times, he doesn't actually do a great job with either. The name, though. That cuts through. "Oh! Hey. Nice to meet you, too. Javi." A beat; then: "Reyes." And //then//: "Sorry your not-brother sucks." Well, at least he got something. "I'm not trying to curse her, I'm just trying to make you feel better, so lonely." Celandine gives Tennyson big shiny eyes. She cares! Then the grin again, and she buries her face in the hot chocolate. Mm. Oh. "I'm Celandine Gale," half muffled, "I and Tenny are-not-related. He is a Friend-of-the-Family." These are phrases she's had repeated so often you can almost hear the trademark after them. "Some people will try to do anything, then record it so the rest of us don't have to," Lina agrees with Javi's sentiment about YouTube. "I'm sure Tennyson doesn't need a good woman to cure his loneliness, Cel. There are plenty of bad women out there who'll do just fine," she adds, her smile ending up slightly crooked before she finishes the last of her hot chocolate. "I think she's trying to set me up because she saw me checking out the nice butt of that nurse I told you about." Tenny says to Lina. That would be Grace he's talking about. "Javi Reyes, I've heard your name around. It really is a pleasure to meet you." There's a nod of appreciation and even some respect from the man to Javi, and then he looks between the table sitters. "So what's this about a hot chocolate club?" "Right?" Javi says with a nod toward Lina. "But I mean, to be honest that's how I learned how to fold those sheets with elastic." He's still semi-watching Celandine's video, though, and it seems to have come to a very interesting part, because his eyebrows raise. "Huh." He's not //necessarily// going to go home and try to replicate a literal bread knife -- but he's pretty clearly considering it. At least, until Tennyson's reply, which has him looking fully away from the screen and at the other man. "Yeah?" The surprise is just as obvious as all his other expressions seem to be, but it's short-lived. "Well, glad it's 'cause of good things." He reaches for his chocolate again, continuing, "So Lina's the president and Fay's the social committee, and I'm treasurer, and next time we're meeting at Grind House in Englewood 'cause that's where they got the best hot chocolate in Chicago." It's offered to both Tennyson and Celandine, as of course they are both invited. "I care!" Celandine responds to Lina and Tennyson, draining her hot chocolate. "I just want you to be happy, I care a lot." Big big innocent eyes. She grabs a napkin to wipe her mouth, and as the video comes to an end she pockets her phone once more. Putting her bright purple knitted hat back on, she reclaims her gluten weapon and rises back to her feet. "But for now I must go find more things to beat up with this. For science!" And she's gone, exit, stage right. "Ah - good luck with that," Lina calls after Celandine as she makes her grand exit. Leaning forward, she sets her now-empty mug down, resting her hands on her lap. "And then there were three. So if I am club president, Javi is treasurer and Fay is morale - how do you feel about being club secretary, Tennyson? We could use a refining influence." Tennyson watches Celandine goes and says to the table with a sigh, "...I love her like family but my god she is concerning." A shake of his head and he seems to consider Lina's offer. "I accept. But I suggest we meet at Uppercase Books. They have a nice place downstairs that serves good chocolate and coffee. Very smelly. Very olfactory. What say you, Mr. Reyes?" "Lemme know if you're taking requests," Javi calls after Celandine -- and speaking of looking at the backs of people, maybe he watches her retreat a little bit longer than is strictly necessary. And perhaps more appreciatively than idly. But it's not //that// long before he's turning back to the other two and draining the rest of his hot chocolate in one go. Despite his assurance of his knowledge of the best hot chocolate in Chicago, he doesn't immediately dismiss Tennyson's suggestion. He weighs it carefully, giving it its due consideration, before he says, "Okay, sure. Why not? I mean, if it's okay with the president. I just take care of the cash. Can't be making decisions." His grin is back as he looks to Lina for the final word. "We already have 'The Grind' on our list, as apparently they do the best hot chocolate in Chicago. Perhaps Uppercase Books could be after that?" Lina suggests. "We should try various places before making a final decision as to where we should conduct our business." Despite her formal wording, there's a smile on her lips. "How does that sit with you, treasurer and secretary?" Tennyson takes his cane and taps it lightly on the floor as if it's a gavel. "Motion for the assembly: I move that we make it a mission to assess available hot chocolate businesses in Chicago and rank them." Then he contemplates his cup and says, "...this is a strong start." "Okay," Javi confirms, looking from Lina to Tennyson. "But if there's gonna be a bunch of us we gotta figure out how we're deciding what's the best. 'Cause, like, I know what //I// like in a hot chocolate but maybe we should make one of those things. What's it called?" And his gaze shifts again between the other two as he continues, "When you got the categories and you got the scores and there's little boxes that say what you have to do to get that score?" It may not be the best explanation (though he clearly feels that either of the other two would know better than him), but after a second his gaze shifts to settle somewhere in the middle distance, instead of on either of them. And for whatever reason, that's what jobs his memory enough for him to add, "A rubric." "Mmn. Some kind of scoring," Lina affirms to Javi's suggestion, then smiles briefly at Tennyson. "Agreed. We'll need a list of them to work through. Can I leave the list of venues to the two of you? I've got some forms that will convert into a proper set of scoring criteria easily enough." "A rubric." agrees Tennyson to Javi, nodding as he adds his vote to the word's correctness. "The point is well made though. We should have as neutral and broad a scoring system as possible. Possibly even multiple categories. Best hot, best cold, best over, best holiday options, things like that. What do you think?" Javi settles back with a satisfied smile when Tennyson confirms it for him, shifting a little so he can reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. "Yep," he says, "I could come up with some places. Gotta be //in// Chicago, though. If it's outside the lines it don't count." That seems to be his only addition to the rules, but he nods again, gesturing in agreement as Tennyson continues. "Sounds good. If we're gonna do it we should do it right. Here," and he leans forward to pass his phone to Lina, "lemme get your number." And whenever she puts hers in -- assuming she does -- he will also pass it to Tennyson to do the same. "Best cold? This is the Hot Chocolate club," Lina murmurs to Tennyson, even as she adds her contact details into Javi's phone and passes it back. "And over.. what?" Clearly she isn't quite following his lines of thought, as enlightened as they are. "We can be the Hot Chocolate Club and still judge cold. What is a cold chocolate but one that was once hot?" As he says this Tennyson takes Javi's phone and inputs his number. Then he uses Javi's phone to text an emoji to it, and just like that he also has Javi's number. Then it's passed back to Javi. "I meant to say best ever. I was thinking of something else." he explains. "Maybe wait until the summer to do iced," Javi suggests as he reaches to take his phone back from Tennyson. "Been here like ten years and the winters still get me." And even though it's not //that// cold yet, and certainly not in the cafe, a little shiver runs through him in anticipation of it as he turns to survey what Tennyson has sent to himself. A little laugh escapes him, and he starts to tap the screen again. He will see your emoji, Tennyson, and raise you the wave, the cup with hot liquid, the 100, and the trophy. And after another couple of seconds, Lina receives that same emoji string, too. With Javi organising contact details, and Tennyson taking care of those lists, Lina now stands, absently straightening her suit jacket. "Right then. See you gentlemen at the next meeting, if not before," she murmurs, her smile warm. She scoops up her purse and turns to head out.