Post by Devi on Jul 22, 2013 17:59:29 GMT
The scent of freshly ground coffee hung deliciously in the air, a welcome smell for a girl who had been up nearly all night. Gwyn was completely exhausted, yet here she was along with all the early morning commuters. Men and women in business suits were zipping in and out of the coffee shop with their lattes, macchiatos, americanos, and cappuccinos. Gwyn, dressed in jeans and a Rolling Stones t-shirt, could have passed for a college student, if nobody looked close enough to spot the faint creases that were just starting to form at the corners of her eyes. That’s what she got for smiling so much.
Stifling a yawn, Gwyn waited patiently in the line of caffeine addicts, eavesdropping on every conversation within hearing distance. It was a habit of work, this eavesdropping, and Gwyn knew the man in front of her was a bank exec (he talked way too loudly on the phone), the man behind her was late to his hospital shift (he wore scrubs and kept looking at his watch impatiently), the woman at the table a few feet away was an ESP Technopath (strong enough to make her a talented and intuitive web designer, but not strong enough to be considered threatening) with a weekend deadline and her companion was a client (by the look of his frown he was trying to understand something the technopath was explaining). All of this and she hadn’t even had her morning coffee yet.
“Gwyn! Haven’t seen you in like a week!” the barista- a teen fresh out of high school- exclaimed with enthusiasm that impressed Gwyn at this early hour. She rummaged around for a tired smile.
“Hi, Cassie, I’ve been out of town,” the wind elemental replied. Of course, by “out of town” she meant in the forest, but Cassie did not know she was an Elemental and she never would. She gave her plenty of gossip without needing to know. Cassie was a good kid- not the brightest crayon in the box and a definite ditz- but she was sweet, and she had no qualms about telling Gwyn anything and everything that came to mind.
“You’re usual?” Cassie asked, already punching in the order on the cash register.
“Please,” Gwyn replied.
“That’ll be two dollars flat.”
Cassie always gave Gwyn the employee discount.
After paying for her coffee and telling Cassie they would catch up after the morning rush, Gwyn moved off to the side to wait for her order, crossing her arms comfortably across her chest and chewing on her thumb nail absent-mindedly, her attention focused on the conversations around her as she listened for any tidbits of information worthy of investigation. ESP plans. New business moves. An interesting news article. Something like that.
Stifling a yawn, Gwyn waited patiently in the line of caffeine addicts, eavesdropping on every conversation within hearing distance. It was a habit of work, this eavesdropping, and Gwyn knew the man in front of her was a bank exec (he talked way too loudly on the phone), the man behind her was late to his hospital shift (he wore scrubs and kept looking at his watch impatiently), the woman at the table a few feet away was an ESP Technopath (strong enough to make her a talented and intuitive web designer, but not strong enough to be considered threatening) with a weekend deadline and her companion was a client (by the look of his frown he was trying to understand something the technopath was explaining). All of this and she hadn’t even had her morning coffee yet.
“Gwyn! Haven’t seen you in like a week!” the barista- a teen fresh out of high school- exclaimed with enthusiasm that impressed Gwyn at this early hour. She rummaged around for a tired smile.
“Hi, Cassie, I’ve been out of town,” the wind elemental replied. Of course, by “out of town” she meant in the forest, but Cassie did not know she was an Elemental and she never would. She gave her plenty of gossip without needing to know. Cassie was a good kid- not the brightest crayon in the box and a definite ditz- but she was sweet, and she had no qualms about telling Gwyn anything and everything that came to mind.
“You’re usual?” Cassie asked, already punching in the order on the cash register.
“Please,” Gwyn replied.
“That’ll be two dollars flat.”
Cassie always gave Gwyn the employee discount.
After paying for her coffee and telling Cassie they would catch up after the morning rush, Gwyn moved off to the side to wait for her order, crossing her arms comfortably across her chest and chewing on her thumb nail absent-mindedly, her attention focused on the conversations around her as she listened for any tidbits of information worthy of investigation. ESP plans. New business moves. An interesting news article. Something like that.