Participants:
| Scene Title | Wake Up And Smell The Coffee |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Three people brave the still melting streets, converging on a coffee shop in Harlem. |
| Date | May 28, 2010 |
Harlem
Under normal circumstances, some would consider the streets of Manhattan to be some sort of winter wonderland, a wonderful white playland that, really, everyone should be able to enjoy. Robyn Quinn couldn’t be more sick of all of it, it just could not melt fast enough. But at least now, it was warm enough that she didn’t feel like she was going to freeze, even warm enough that she could ditch her scarf and jacket.
Still, as she yawned, she couldn’t shake the feeling that being cooped up inside all day had thrown her off somehow, she’d been really tired all day. Tonight, though, was going to require that she set aside her tiredness and prepared for what was probably going to be a long night of music and fun. Which brought her to her current task – Manhattan was still largely closed down, save for some isolated areas around the borough, and that simply wouldn’t do when Quinn needed to get some new lights and music before tonight. So, feeling stiff and lethargic, she slinks down the streets of Harlem, looking for something, anything that might be open for her to shop at, at least kill some time.
So far, things were looking too good. A sigh produces a small cloud as Quinn stops her tracks looking up at the clouded sky.
Elaine Darrow has had an interesting month. Almost a month ago, she had abruptly found herself in an entirely new situation, and one that involved her no longer having to live on the streets. Naturally, this was a good thing, but one thing that really ended up happening was her abruptly entirely-indoor living. For a month, she had been stuck inside, rarely able to venture out into the cold. Now that it was a much more safe environment to venture out, she was itching for a walk, for /something/ to do outdoors.
Wandering slowly down the street, Elaine peered carefully into the windows of some shops, trying to determine if anyone or anything was moving inside that could have meant the store might be open. There had to be /something/ going on. Hibernation was not in the nature of the people in New York. As she pulls back from a window, sighing in frustration, she notes there's at least another occupant on the street. Life!
There's vehicular life too, Ambulance pulling up outside a coffee shop. Beans freeze good, and people will always want coffee. "I'll grab what I can, go find a space to park, I'll be back soon as possible" Heavy jacket with "PARAMEDIC" across the back, a toque that pink hair in a braid spills out from under and navy colored gear, Abigail's back on the job. Medical leave done thanks to Peter and negated, the former blonde closes the door while the red and white vehicle eases away in search of a safe place to park.
Eyes follow the ambulance, watching it as it pulls into view and to the coffee shop. Quinn hasn’t made it quite that far down the street, but as she sees someone climb out of the vehicle and amble into the building, her face lights up – that was as good an indication as ever that the place was probably open. Turning fully in its direction, she begins a rather lazy, leaned back stride towards the building. A smile on her face, she initially begins to pull her headphones up over her hears – more for the cold, but music is always a plus – but as she meanders on, another person catches her attention, prompting a head nod of recognition.
Elaine is taking a moment to note the sudden movements. There's an ambulance (which, admittedly, first makes her wonder who was hurt), someone headed into a coffee shop, and someone with headphones. Given that it was likely the headphone-wielding woman would also head into the coffee shop, she moves that direction, peering around carefully. "Hello?" She calls, really, to whoever will answer.
Hand on the door, Abigail pauses to look at who spoke. Who knows in this day, they're already stumbled upon two incidents that hadn't been called in. It was still cold outside. Not opening the door yet, she cranes her neck, eye's landing on Quinn and then on Elaine who spoke. "Hi" She offers. "Are you… in need of medical help? Or just calling out for someone?"
Backpedalling a bit, Quinn pauses and turns to look for the voice, placing it with the woman she’d just given the nod to. Smiling, she lowers the headphones back down and offers a casual wave to the woman. “Heya. Firs’ time out since the storm broke?” The question is asked with a similarly casual manner, Quinn’s hands burying in her pockets as she waits for the woman to get a bit closer – it looked as if they were going to the same place anyway.
Hearing the question, Elaine takes a second to quickly look herself over, as if reassuring herself of no injuries. "I don't think so. Plus I think I'd have to be sorta dying to really ask for medical attention, no health care and all." She scratches the back of her neck, looking a touch embarrassed. "Didn't mean to startle you." She glances quickly over to Quinn, grinning. "Well, not /quite/. I've been out once to a friend's house, but I didn't really get to /walk/ anywhere or anything… kinda nice to get out and stretch my legs."
There's a wave of Abigail's hand, brushing away the apology as if it was actually something that was in the air. "Not a big deal, but you should get in here if you plan to. I don't know how long they'll have power" But Elaine has a friend and Abigail flashes Elaine a smile before heading into the coffee shop herself.
Hearing Abigail address Elaine, Quinn perks up a bit, resuming her pace lest she miss her opportunity at a pick me up she desperately needs before tonight. “You make an excellent point,” she says with a nod to Abigail, still grinning. After a moment, she spins around, walking backwards as best as she can as she faces Elaine. “Aye, I know that feelin’.” She gives Elaine a quick look up and down, nestling her headphones back comfortably around her neck. “Been stuck in a hospital m’self for the past few weeks, couldn’t really do much to get out.”
UNless you wanted an iced coffee" The southern toned paramedic points out. There's not too many people in, very few in fact, but surely as word spreads, there will be more as the city unthaws and power comes back. "Ahh, someone was trapped at the hospital as a shelter? I'd hope it was that and not that you were there because you were sick" Abby offers her hand to the two people. "Abigail"
Quinn’s smile grows at Elaine’s recognition of her nationality, and in return Quinn gives an acknowledging nod. “Yep, and never in my years back home did it ever get as cold as it ‘as been here.” Turning back around and walking normally, Quinn is forced to come to a rather sudden stop to avoid running into Abigail. “No, nothing wrong with me, just takin’ shelter. I’d almost rather there had been, though, it would have made things a right bit more interesting.” Pulling a hand out of her pocket, she shakes Abigail’s and then steps aside to allow Elaine past her. “Quinn. Pleasure t’ meet you both.” She’d been saying that a lot more than was usual even for her lately. The snow had certainly done one notably thing, besides shutting down the city: bringing people together.
"I have nothing against iced coffee, I just don't want it on days like this." Elaine admits. "Oh, and I'm Elaine, it's a pleasure to meet you both." She accepts the hand after Quinn's done shaking it. She takes a quick glance around, rubbing her arms a bit. "Man, I'm /really/ glad to be gettin' out."
“Well enjoy the warming weather, and the coffee, hope your homes get electricity soon" Abigail offers, collecting coffee that they'd ordered. She had to find out where Peter had parked, and hoof it back to it before the coffee got cold. But then as fates have it, there it is, pulling up in front. "Stay safe"
Quinn frowns a bit as Abigail takes off – shame to see a new face take off so soon. Turning back to the other girl, she flashes a smile. “You ‘n I seem to be on quite the same page today.” She yawns, raising her arms to stretch as loudly as she can manage. “There’s a bit much snow still for my taste, but what can ‘ya do?” Reaching the front of the line, Quinn spins back around, eyeing the attendant behind the counter as she places her order.
Elaine waits for Quinn to order, grinning a bit. "Yeah. I normally like the snow, but not /this/ much. Maybe if there was more like… a foot, y'know?" Once the other girl has finished ordering, she orders her own coffee. "So you got stuck in the hospital for shelter? I'm sure glad I got holed up somewhere else. Mighta braved the cold rather than been in there…"
“Ugh.” Quinn’s shoulders slump, even as her the rather eclectic drink she’d ordered is delivered – three shots of espresso, sugar, cinnamon, whipped cream, lord knows what else. Hell of a pick me up. “I can’t begin to tell you how borin’ it was. I did try headin’ out into the cold a few times, but it took until the yesterday to actually get anywhere. Nearly got quite literally stuck until someone helped m’ out.”
The drink looks good to Elaine, though her own vanilla latte has an extra shot in it as well. She picks up her own drink as it's delivered. "Yeah. I wanted to head out several times, but I saw what happened to one or two people who headed out and had to have a bunch of people going to look for them. Was a bit of a mess, and I'd feel guilty making everyone look for me just cause I was bored."
Quinn gives Elaine a thoughtful look and a tilt of her head. That'd never really occurred to her any time she'd wandered out into the snow. That did make her feel a bit guilty. "Fair enough, I suppose." She fidgets in her seat a bit, slumping and yawning. "So, what brings 'ya back out here, anyway?"
Elaine glances around again, then sips her coffee. "Really, I just needed to get out. That and I was craving some conversation with some new faces. Just needed something new, I guess. What about you? Bored? Needed to escape from that hospital?"
“I got lucky, I got out yesterday. Place’s without power, but liveable, you know? Don’t need much to be able to play music, at least, though m’ phone’s running low on power.” Probably because she keeps using it as an mp3 player and not as a phone. She couldn’t wait until Brooklyn had power again, but she could make due until then just fine. “I’m out now ta’ get some things for tonight. Goin’ to a party.”
A party?" Elaine lights up a little at the prospect. "So you're into music, huh? My… boyfriend's into that sort of stuff too. What kinda party are you going to?"
Quinn responds with a shrug, taking a long sip of her drink. “Just one t’ celebrate the end of the snow and all. I’m actually DJin’ it, ’m really looking forward to it.” She leans back against the corner, her grin fading a bit.
"Good! I'm glad to hear that people are actually still getting out and doing things. So you're a DJ, huh? That's pretty cool." Elaine sips her coffee.
“A few places are managin’ to stay open, despite th’ spotty power. Went to a club last night even. Kinda encouraging to see people wasting no time in getting out and enjoying themselves. Pretty much th’ whole city deserves it.” As she takes another long sip of her drink, a hand fumbles in the front pocket of her hoodie, producing her phone. With her free hand, she starts messing with the touch screen, scrolling through various things. “Yea’, I’m a DJ. Right bit’a fun, but still not as fun as actually performing.” She places the phone back in her pocket and turns to the counter, grabbing a napkin and producing a pen from her jean pocket.
"Oh, the clubs are already opening up?" Elaine seems to think for a moment. "Maybe Magnes will want to go out to one sometime." She looks to Quinn. "Yeah, I can imagine there's a big difference if people know it's you actually playing the music." Another sip. "I know way too many people that are seriously into music these days."
There’s a beat as Quinn takes a sip of her drink before she suddenly seems to choke and cough, turning to stare at Elaine. “Magnes? Like, Magnes Varlane?” It wasn’t a name you hear often, it had to be the same guy.
Elaine blinks for a moment, a little surprised by her reaction. She takes another sip. "Yeah, Magnes Varlane. He's my boyfriend." She's coming to learn that quite a few people have at least /heard/ of Magnes… and for man, many different reasons.
A rather loud laugh escapes Quinn as she slaps a hand down on the counter, looking amused as she possibly could. “Small feckin’ world!” she exclaims, reaching for another napkin to clean up the small mess she’d made coughing. “I said I got stuck in th’ soddin’ snow, right? Magnes was the one who helped me get unstuck. Made a thick point’a making sure I knew his name.” She chuckles again, shaking her head.
There's a sudden /grin/ at Quinn's words. Elaine can't help but laugh. "Yeah, he /would/ be the one to pull you out of the snow. He's got somethin' of a hero complex. It's how I met him. He saved my life and I've been stuck with him ever since. He's a good guy, but he really kinda /does/ have to save everyone, I think." She sips her coffee. "Y'know, I probably should have told him I was going out. Hope he doesn't think I'm off stuck in the snow."
Quinn continues to have a wide smile. “At least you know he’d come looking f’r you if you did, right?” She sighs, following with a quiet bit of laughter. “Ah, I wonder if this is some kinda sign or somethin’. I promised him I’d audition for ‘is band this weekend.”
"Oh, I know he would. He's a good guy." Elaine laughs, then nods a bit. "You should! He's really into his music. He was hoping I played drums or something almost five minutes after I met him. Really wants to put his band together. He's definitely dedicated to it." Her coffee is sipped once more, speeding up her pace in her drinking of the beverage as she's noting it getting cold.
“He asked me the same question,” Quinn notes before taking a final, long sip of her drink. Chucking the cup straight from her seat at a trash can, Quinn misses terribly. She makes no immediate movement to go retrieve the fallen cup, instead turning back to Elaine. “Glad to know that before I go in. Too often I’ve done somethin’ like this just to have it fall apart ‘cause no one really cared.” Finally getting up to properly dispose of her cup, her hands return to her hoodie pockets, and she shrugs. “Anyway…”
"Hey, I'll put in a good word for you, if it makes any difference." Elaine smiles, getting to her feet as she goes to throw her own cup away. "I'm sure it'll all go well, y'know?" She glances at the counter. "I think I just might get s'more and bring it to Magnes. I'm sure he's wondering where I ran off to."
A nod is given in response, even as slumps a bit and lets out another loud yawn. “Right, right,” she says as she tries to speak through it. “No need to keep anyone worryin’. Let ‘em know I said hey, and that I’ll be callin’ him sometime this weekend.” The phone is removed from the hoodie pocket again and Quinn begins fiddling with it once more.
Heading over to order the coffee, Elaine glances back to Quinn. "I'll definitely let him know. I'm sure he's looking forward to it." She waits for the coffee, and once it arrives, she heads for the door. "Have fun at your party, okay?"