+--------------------------------------------------+ 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.
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It's lovely in Chicago! A gentle breeze, a gentle warmth. The baking heat of summer has been relieved by a hint of autumn's breeze, and it's so far from winter, so far from the cold.
That makes the tiny, dark corner in the otherwise perfectly pleasant coffee shop a bit of a shock. Ji-Ho is hunkered low at a table with his eyes up on the door. He has empty cups at his table. Most of them are even his. He's all thumbs, mashing the screen of his phone as he texts. He's a longer by nature, but in his time in Chicago he's made contact with at least _two_ of his fellow Lost, maybe even _more_, and among them is Fiametta.
_I need help_, he's said, and sent her a location, and a time, and a promise to buy her a coffee that was mostly made in the implication of a lot of coffee emojis. History says he might not go through with it. Money tends to come and (mostly go) for him.
Right on cue, the fire-haired young woman makes her entrance. This is a little unusual, because like many people who look about her age /and/ in her occasional occupation, she's not known for her promptness, unless she has a certain someone else who might wish to get there on time or early. It's a measure of worry, then, that after that message, even if surely it isn't an emergency if coffee is on order, that she's clearly hustled to get there right on time.
Dark blue eyes search the coffee shop as her brows crease with worry--and then relax ever so slightly as she spots Ji-Ho with his bulwark of empty cups. When she's near enough that her soft glow might touch his shadow, and it's easy for her usually soft-spoken voice to be heard, she speaks. "Ji-Ho." The worry hasn't completely left her voice. "Is everything all right?" Her gaze goes to the cups. "I see you've...tanked up."
Even the shadows that crowd the corners where Ji-Ho inevitably finds himself brighten as Fiametta steps forward. She attracts attention; she draws the eye. Then the eyes glide on past him, past his table, past his empty cups.
Even though he's waving his hand, trying to get attention. "Hey, hey--." Ji-Ho drops his elbow to the table and his chin into his hand and sighs as his eyes -- or, well, his _gaze_ -- returns to Fiametta. "Sorry, you might have to order your own coffee." Maybe he'll pay her back!! Her eyes see past the face he wears, as they all see through to each other, and it leaves it difficult to read his expression, such as it is. His voice, however, betrays a thin thread of anxiety, with his accent coming through stronger, old and strange. "No, it's fine. I mean, mostly fine. I'm a little freaked out I guess?"
That anxiety plucks at something in her, and for a moment her brightness grows a little stronger, embers starting to glow in her eyes. She's careful to keep them mostly averted from him, though, so that brief flash of temper isn't even remotely directed at him. "Did someone hurt you?" Her tone is still soft and gentle, but there's a little crackle in it, just below the edges of hearing. Her hand rests easily on the table, palm up, a silent offer for touch, if he needs it--but she's so very careful to make sure to not impose.
"It's all right, Ji-Ho. I can get my own coffee. Can I get you some more too?" There's a smile in her voice now, at least. "I did some work, so it won't even be all on Razi's dime. What's happened?"
The darkness reaches for Fiametta, drawn toward her light in exactly the way shadows are not. Ji-Ho's fingers curl, twitching and pulling closer in against his palm -- but the darkness shadowing his body, the darkness _of_ his body, falls across her. Just for a moment. "No." His tone lightens and the anxiety thins as he releases a breath. "Ugh, I've probably had too much coffee, honestly. I'd just about vibrate out of my skin with another. Someone identified me. Sort of. Pegged me, anyway, as weird. I don't know if it was a hunter or -- what. They aren't following!" he adds really, _really_ quickly. "I'm not like, dragging someone here to creep on you."
Her hand remains, her lips curving gently just a little more at that brief shadow. Perhaps she gains just as much from that sliver of trust, and all-rightness. "No sugar then either, probably." There's a quiet giggle at that, a sound that probably isn't heard too very often. "But look at the menu. If you want something to eat let's get you that too." Her tone isn't pushy, though there's a decided air of protectiveness about it. She goes still as he continues, but then nods. "I know you wouldn't--even though you /can/. If that happens. You don't need to face that shit alone, you know. I'd rather that happen, dragging someone to me, than the alternative." She considers thoughtfully. "Do you need a place to stay for a day or two?"
"Blegh." Ji-Ho drags his hands over his face. "Mrrgh-blegh!" It's more emphatic this time. "The idea of food sounds worse than someone walking up and being like 'hey you're a big weirdo and I know it' right now." His foot jitters under the table. The shadows tremble in the corner, as they would under the flicker of firelight. No one notices.
Maybe they should.
Ji-Ho looks anxious all anew, fresh and ruffled. "I think dragging anyone else into the path of trouble is worse than food."
"Not just anyone," Fiametta says gently. "But there's a reason why it's good to have someone be able to watch your back, sometimes." There's a momentary sadness that flits across her face, soon playfully chased with something murky and a little feral, though not directed at Ji-Ho. She does eye him thoughtfully, though as he mentions being called a big weirdo. And then she eyes the amount of empty coffee cups that could probably put a dent in an army's need for prescribed speed, and then back at him. Her voice lowers just a little more. "Ji-Ho, is that exactly what they said, because...ummmm...." The elemental purses her lips a little, as if trying to find just the right words. She gives up with a gentle sigh. "There's all sorts of strange folks in the city, and not just us," she decides. "It can be scary. But I like turning scary back, when it's needed. I'd never do that without you saying you wanted that help though," she reassures him.
"Haha." Ji-Ho's teeth flash in a sudden, wide grin. His 'haha' is deadpan, but the humor that lights his expression and brightens his voice is real. "Oh, I see. I see the subtext. The 'Ji-Ho, sometimes you _are_ a little weird' and totally guilty! Absolutely!" He takes no offense. How could he? He's a total weirdo who sits in the shadowed corners of a room. "But he was weird, too," he says, quieter, and he fishes out a business card to slide it across the table toward Fiametta. "Can you give that to Razi tonight, too? Darwin Page, some kind of drama coach or teacher or something. Can you see if he's like, you know. Whatever. Or if he's coming after us? Because it'll be all of us, if he is."
"I can do that," Fiametta promises, though her brow furrows again a little, with that protective concern. She picks up the card, and takes it, and then pockets it. "So you're sure he's not followed you since, it was just that he saw you?" she asks. "I'll let Razi know. But you'll let me know if you need to have a crash space that you wouldn't usually, right? I'll ask him about that too. Or even if you'd feel safer having somewhere to be for a few hours. I know a club isn't your scene, but when I'm working, I can make sure there's a place to sit and no one will approach or bother you." But then she smiles at him. "But yes. We'll try and check him out. And don't be shy about letting either one of us know if he's starting to become....bothersome."
"I'm as sure as I can be," Ji-Ho says, which _might_ not be that reassuring at first, but then one stops to consider the whole of his everything, and he adds, "I've even gone diving and checked with the kinds of locals most people can't see, and they haven't seen him, either. If he's following me, _they_ haven't seen him, and _I_ haven't seen him, so either he hasn't, or--." And he gnaws at the curve of his lip now, and slouches deeper into his chair, as if he can pool into a shadowed puddle and drip, drip, drip away. "Or he's really good. I don't wanna follow him directly since he already spotted me, but--. You know." He shrugs, broadly, and then drags his hands over his hair pushing it back into a great fluffy mess. "Maybe I'm jumping at nothing. All this stuff at Court about traitors probably doesn't help."
"It hasn't been that long since so many were taken back," Fiametta says softly, a near whisper. "Even if this guy is just...well, if he's harmless. I don't think being careful, and watching out is ever jumping at nothing." She half-smiles at him, shrugging one shoulder. "Or maybe I'm just used to needing to be very situationally aware too. Part of the the biz, I guess. Even before I was--before. And it still wasn't enough. It's why we need each other too, I think. Or at least that's what I tell myself."
"I'm ... unlearning bad habits, I guess," Ji-Ho says. He's thawed under the continued warmth of her presence; the jitter in his foot has stopped; the tremble of his shadow has eased. It would be obvious, even if he said nothing else, that he's reassured by her words -- but he _does_ say something, he _does_ add, "Thanks. Texting you was ... hard. But you make it easy."
"You're not alone," Fiametta assures him solemnly, on unlearning bad habits. "I need to remember I don't need to go into every situation with claws out and blazing. You were very smart to be cautious. And I'm glad that you reached out." She wrinkles the bridge of her nose a little at him, impishly, chasing that with a soft smile. "I think we should meet up for coffee again, even if it doesn't involve /other/ weird people." Though her tone is inclusive, as if she's teasing not just him about being weird, but herself as well. "You sure I can't get you a smoothie or something?"
"No, I'm good. I'm gonna ghost as soon as you turn your back, anyway," Ji-Ho says with a sly sliver of humor, glancing at her sidelong as he scopes the thinning crowds. "Fiametta: I owe you." He says this gravely, as any fae would, in acknowledgment of what is owed and a promise to pay. "But next time -- next time it can be smoothies, maybe."
"All right," The Elemental says solemnly, both an acknowledgement and acceptance of his self-assessment, as well as the favor owed. "Can't help but be strange, but don't be a strange-r, Ji-Ho. I'm sure Razi will be in touch soon." She looks up to offer him a shyly pleased smile at the mention of MAYBE smoothies. "Okay," she whispers. "See you later." And with that, she turns away and rises from the table, her bright glow fading a little, as if to bow to the Darkling's desire to escape. She doesn't look back, as she makes her way out, but the gentle smile on her lips doesn't fade at all.
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