Trio of Doom

Bean Scene Cafe

Bean Scene is a small coffee shop and cafe that caters primarily to a younger crowd. The cafe has always been at least a year late in joining any given fad, and in the past it's been done in western-style, set up as a beatnik hangout, a go-go disco, a fern bar, and once even attempted to cash in on break dancing. A plaque has recently been placed above the door, and says, "No fad is dead until it appears to Bean Scene".
Case in point, the cafe has a grungy feel to it.A grey brick facade has been placed over the walls, the flooring looking more like a worn down metal grid, complete with old sewer grates every few feet. Tables and chairs set about the cafe are quite casual in appearance, made of metal meant to look rusty and splattered with multi-colored paints. Metal street signs hang from the wall amid images of garage bands. Behind the counter is a black chalkboard displaying the available items and costs.


It's early evening, and currently enjoying the aroma of roasting coffee beans. Perched at one of the corner tables is Cooper and Josephine, the two psychics catching up on the novelty of finding people just like them. "Yeah…yeah, I know," the bottle blonde offers with a faint smile swirling her coffee about in the plastic cup. "My earliest memory was of me…you know. Reading someone. So…I know all too well." There is a pause, followed by a hollow laugh. "I figure I could take it from you. If I really wanted…if I was really looking to. But, it's okay. She deserves her secrets too, I guess. We all do." But then, she's posing a question that amuses Cooper. "Seriously? That's what you want to know?"

"I don't have boyfriends. I don't think we can, really. It's…our curse, I guess? Anyway, I don't trust anyone to date them. Men - and some women - are all pigs. But like fucking hell I'm going to keep from having my bit of fun. Drugs help. Alot. So…if you'd like some, I could help you out a bit, get you a discount. I swear, you'll be so blissed out you wont even be able to hear them, and then…and then, all you gotta do is feel. It's fun. Then come morning, you throw them on their ass out your door before they ruin your breakfast with their piggish thoughts. That's how I roll."

Stepping into the cafe, Lillian takes a moment to shake off the icy wetness sticking to her coat. Dammit, it's not supposed to be this cold in Texas! Not that she voices that sentiment, certainly not in front of the locals. Heading towards the counter, she steps in line behind a bulky man who's obviously taking his time deciding what he wants. Patience is not a virtue of Lillian's, so she glances about the cafe idly; that's when she spots Josephine and Cooper. Now, Lillian can't tell if they're more than human on sight alone, nor does she know them, but those are a couple of fine-looking women, and Lillian can appreciate pretty faces - especially ones who are displaying fashion sense, even those going for casual elegance. So she flashes the women a curious smile, if they even look her way.

Laughter from Cooper and Josephine's table, the latter lifting her paper cup in a toast now, "Amen to that, sister. You I can relate to, neh." Softer, she continues, "And that's good to know. I'm a whiskey person myself, but if you can provide the occasional joint… What with American policies and all…" More appreciative, she leans forward, "It's all good, apart from the hangovers, can't for the life of me focus. Do you get that too?" A hunch makes her look over towards the counter, caution and curiosity fighting over a front row seat in her eyes.

Everyone needs coffee. Even mousy librarians. Mischa comes strolling in, wearing his general librarian attire. What he doesn't see is a slick spot from slush in the entrance. He's looking towards the counter quite needily when he starts to trip and fall. Limbs very nearly go akimbo before Mischa grabs the door frame and rights himself, looking around the cafe to make sure a minimal amount of people saw that. He coughs quietly and starts to walk carefully towards the counter, attempting to retain some amount of dignity. Naturally he comes up in line behind Lillian, though he makes no effort to talk to the woman right now. Nor does he leer creepily. Instead, his gaze falls to the women she's looking at. Did they see that? They probably saw that. Mischa takes his glasses off and starts to clean them on his shirt, trying to remain as casual as possible. Totally did NOT just almost bust his ass, noooope.

Cooper looks pleased by Josephine's reaction, grinning in a broad fashion. "Yeah, girl! I can totally provide a little somethin' somethin' - just like, drop by whenever you're in need, okay? Hell, I'll even give you my home address? If you want, y'know." She is happy, and lacking the headache that customarily graces her ever day, and so when Lillian's vague thoughts hit her, she cant help but flick her grey eyes upwards. Ad as a result? Oh yeah - she definitely catches Mischa's slip up. She giggle boldly and without reservation at him. Almost meanly, but she speaks out contradicting the last. "Hey, you okay?" There is no negativity, only friendliness in her tone.

*Nice hair. I wonder which salon they go to.* Lillian thinks out loud towards the two women at the corner table. Her thoughts are interrupted upon hearing the arrival of a new customer, and it's almost instinctive that she turns a backward glance over her shoulder. "Hey!" A rather bright greeting is offered to Mischa when Lillian recognizes him. "We just keep running into each other in the oddest places." Her lilting Celtic accent is unmistakable, yet somehow difficult to place.

Josephine crooks two fingers at Cooper in a hit-me style, at least at the home address offer. Never mind that she's scolding the woman with a mocking shake of her head when she starts laughing over Mischa's little almost touchdown. "Behave, darlin', look he's all shy and stuff." Not that she's above noticing -and- smirking at his show of ignorance. "Great," she muses, "More Europeans. I swear, I meet one more and it's really starting to feel like home."

A 'haaaa…' noise emits from Mischa's throat as first Cooper calls out to him, then Lillian turns to notice him. He raises a hand to Cooper in a semi-relaxed wave, smiling nervously in her direction. "I'm — err, fine. That could have ended worse than it did." Though Mischa is not exactly sure how at this very point in time. Girls are laughing at him. Surely that's a fate worse than death. The librarian puts his glasses back on and smiles at Lillian. "Yes, it's… well, it's been a strange few days, to say the very least. I keep meaning to stop into your shop again. You're actually kind of right down the street from my apartment…" As is this coffee shop. Home sweet home. He chews his lower lip thoughtfully, turning to look back at Cooper and Josephine for a brief moment in which he reddens considerably.

"Oh god, he is shy. How adorable is that? Not even preteens are shy anymore," Cooper comments with excitement to Josephine, narrowing her eyes to try and focus the majority of her attention onto Mischa, for he is being examined as though he's some sort of mystical creature. Like a unicorn. "Mhmm? Oh - right, you're not from here. I'm a southern belle all the way, so… Ahem. Should we go talk to 'em, you think?"

Lillian didn't see Mischa's slip, because it'd be a safe bet she would be at least snickering at his misfortune. As it is, she merely nods to the beleaguered librarian. "Are you now? Then you must stop by more often, I could give you a discount if you become a regular. So you know those women over there?" She trails off as the roadblock of a man finally finishes with his order, allowing Lillian to get up to the counter. "Cappuchino, please." As she fetches a purse out from her designer bag, Lillian turns to Mischa again. "What are you having?"

"That's it, it's official," Josephine facepalms when Mischa starts talking. A few silent seconds she regards Cooper, which ends with snickering, "You go ahead. I still got a /long/ night ahead of me and /really/ need to make me a few of these." She pulls a cell phone from her pocket and wiggles it. With a chagrined glare. Glancing back over her shoulder towards Mischa she adds, her voice nice and audible, "And don't bother leaving scraps, neh, just not my type." Lillian however receives a wink, but only before the reporter turns her back on the counter again to finish her coffee.

Mischa tries to pretend that he doesn't notice Cooper examining him. "I can't say that I do know them, no," Mischa says to Lillian, shaking his head. At this point he's just refusing to make eye contact with them. Or anyone else, really. He mercifully misses the conversation between Cooper and Josephine, lest he faint in the Bean Scene. "A discount? That would be marvelous. I'm going to go need to sell blood after this month. You're a shrewd business woman, Miss Haul." Then he pauses as she asks him what he's having. "Oh…erm, you know those milky drinks that have the strawberry and the whipped cream? Like a milkshake only not? I forget what they're called, but one of those." A second later he realizes he should have asked for something more masculine. Like black coffee. With whiskey. Sigh.

Cooper eyes Josephine for a moment before nodding and heading to her feet. "Shy means sweet. I don't have a type - I like to experiment all along the spectrum. Anyway, I think I totally will go check what's up with them, since they're oh so interested in us. Oh! Right!" Quickly, her address is jotted down on a napkin and offered to Josephine.

Lillian just sort of stares at Mischa, before peering at him like he's grown a second head. "Alright, it's my treat." She turns back to the cashier and lifts two fingers. "Two cappucinos, please." She announces, deciding Mischa can use a less sissy-drink, at least. With a brief exchange of credit cards, receipts and signatures, the two cups are delivered. Lillian scoops one up and steps away from the counter, her gaze shifting back to the two women at the corner table again. *Did she just wink at me? Hey, she looks like a fun-loving type.* She thinks out aloud. *I wonder if we should go say hello…*

Josephine pockets the napkin after a quick glance at the writing, nodding, "I'll be in touch, Cooper. But just for the record, what's wrong with amazingly handsome, nice butt and a killer grin?" Just for the record. Scraping back her chair, she rises as well. « Have fun, Girl Wonder… »

Cappucino? That's…not what he asked for. But Mischa will take it. He doesn't seem too put off. He gives a fleeting glance towards Cooper and Josephine, flashing a toothy grin in their direction that's more friendly than anything else. He turns back to Lillian and digs his hands into his pockets. "So, that guy last night…with the duck feathers or…spinach, whatever…do you think that he was okay? I guess at least he wasn't violent." And Mischa is still brooding over the fact that he distinctly smelled /dog/.

Lillian points at the cappuchino on the counter meant for Mischa, because she's not a waitress! "That Orion fellow?" She is already heading towards an empty table, seeing that Josephine and Cooper are leaving. "I am quite certain he was /not/ okay. Who goes around at 10 at night, skinny-dipping in a pond in a park and ends up with roadkill in his mouth? That wasn't spinach. Although I think he liked you, judging from the way he sniffed at you." She flashes him a teasing, lopsided grin as she takes a seat now.

That name rings a bell with Josephine as she passes Lillian setting up her table, and the woman's departure slows /that/ much. She considers Lillian, then walks past, the mischief bright in her eyes. A light finger trailing so very accidently over the back of Lillian's closest hand, arm, elbow, arms, shoulder, into the nothing past that. And Jo walks on, even has a polite little smile left for Mischa.

"Yeah, kind of my thoughts exactly. But who are we to judge? I thought I smelled dog though. I'm…uh, allergic." Mischa nods a few times before he takes his cappucino and moves to sit down with Lillian. "As for the roadkill thing…" He really can't think of any way to justify that. Who the Hell DOES have roadkill in their teeth at ten o'clock at night. Let alone any OTHER time. When Josephine smiles at him, he smiles back somewhat nervously. "Friendly couple of girls there, I guess. Either that or they were both laughing at me." He lets out a sigh and makes a dismissive hand motion as if to say 'what can you do?' before looking back to Lillian.

That "accidental" brush freezes Lillian in place for just a moment, her surprised gaze falling on the departing form of Josephine. Slowly, the look of surprise is replaced by an uncertain smile, clearly wondering. "Huh. Very friendly." She nods in agreement to Mischa, and resumes settling in to enjoy her cappucino. "Well I for one am quite glad there were no dogs last night. So, what is going on with all the sniffing? That man was sniffing you, and you can /smell/ dogs? Most of the time you hear or see them, not smell them."

Mischa didn't seem to notice any accidental brushing. He takes a sip of his cappucino and adjusts his glasses, nodding to Lillian. "I have a hypersensitive sense of smell, I guess. Dogs just smell awful anyway." Mischa glances around the coffee shop and shrugs his shoulders a bit, letting out something of a chuckle. "As for the sniffing thing? I don't know. I think he might have been on something, you know. That would explain it. Maybe PCP…" He trails off and takes another drink of his cappucino, looking towards Lillian again.

Lillian takes a nice, long comforting sip of her cappucino, following it up with a lick of her lips. "Why is Dallas so cold? I came to Dallas because I thought it is supposed to be warm here." She whines a little, before going back to the topic at hand. "I am not familiar with the effects of PCP, but that fellow was acting awful like a dog. The sniffing, the roadkill, the smell you caught. He might be even be one of those werewolves you and I were chatting about." She says it offhandedly, either she's being facetious, or werewolves are just an accepted fact. Accepted fact in /her/ world, anyway.

The quip about werewolves gives Mischa pause. For a brief moment he looks startled before he laughs and shakes his head. "You almost had me going there for a minute." No, she DID have him going. Mischa flushes a bit and clears his throat, taking a long drink of his coffee — which he's mercifully managed not to spill everywhere. "I don't know why Dallas is so cold. I was born here. We should probably be thankful it's not as cold as Russia, as my parents like to remind me every time they hear me complain about the chill…" He lets out a chuckle and watches Lillian for a moment. "If Orion were a werewolf, that'd explain the dog smell though." It's uttered very quietly. "Or else he has a pet dog and he's being incredibly coy about it."

Lillian lifts her chin and smiles politely at Mischa. "It may be that he had a pet dog, true. If that were the case, then he was stealing food from the poor pooch." She rolls a shoulder noncommittally and leans back in her chair, running both hands through her hair and finally relaxing. "So do you always get flustered so easily?" An abrupt change of topic here! Lillian tilts her head with a wry look on her face. "Or do you just get flustered around women?"

Mischa doesn't really have an answer to that question, so he sits silently for a moment and looks down at the lid of his coffee. Until he hears Lillian's question to him. Naturally, it makes him flustered. "What? Oh…I…" He coughs into the palm of his hand and looks around the cafe, eyes flickering back towards Lillian after a moment or so of deliberation. "I've always been shy, I guess women just exacerbate the problem. Not that women are a problem." For a moment he decides it best to just stop talking. Until he opens his mouth again. "I mean, I like women. It's just been a long time since I've dated or had to deal with any outside of a professional capacity. Lately it's been raining them."

"You are the first guy I've met who would complain about that." Lillian's wry look blossoms into a lopsided grin again. "You should try to go out on a date some time; I'm sure it would be fun. You never know if a girl is interested in you until you go on a date, yes?" She makes a face as her gaze turns towards the cafe's door for a moment. "Like that girl who just left - I wasn't sure if she was interested in you - or me, for that matter." Lillian chuckles a little, clearly finding the idea funny. And maybe intriguing! "Oh, if you are shy about asking a girl out for a date, I might have something that can help you."

There's a brief wince from Mischa as he listens to Lillian. He can't help but grin sheepishly at her. "I…well, I sort of have a Valentine's date tomorrow. It should be…interesting. I think she's only doing it to be nice, but I guess I'll consider it something of a practice round. It's been…" Mischa does the math in his head. "Almost ten years since I really dated." He takes a long sip of his cappucino. He quirks a brow as Lillian mentions the notion that Josephine may have been interested in her. "You're a little more perceptive than I am, evidently." He pauses and leans in, lowering his voice. "No offense, but I don't like using magic as a means to get what I want. It seems…wrong. I prefer to let things take a more natural course."

Her smile is broad and friendly, not in the least bit offended by his refusal to use magic to get a date. "Absolutely. You certainly don't need it if you can manage it on your own." Lillian nods sagely as she scoops up her cup for another sip. "Still, ten years is a long, long time to not have a date. Here." The cup is put back down, and Lillian stands in order to pull her chair around the table, until it's right next to Mischa's. Retaking her seat, the brunette turns to smile at the librarian. "Let's see if you remember how things are done, before you go on your date tomorrow."

When Lillian moves her chair beside Mischa's and proposes this idea, he looks thoroughly stumped. Or at the least, hesitant. "Err. Yes, well… I tend to keep to myself. What is it you're proposing, Miss Haul?" Mischa asks, before he starts to busy himself drinking his suddenly delicious cappucino. He doesn't even bother to try to explain that he technically paid for that date…and that it was for charity. Still, he turns towards Lillian and takes his glasses off, but doesn't entirely make eye contact.

"Well, what are your plans for your date? A movie, perhaps?" Lillian suggests helpfully. Yes, her mused gaze is on his face, up close this time. Reaching up, she carefully takes his cup, and slowly pries it out of Mischa's hands to put it back on the table. "You and your date are in the movies like this, sitting side by side. Do you know what you are supposed to do?" She asks, brows quirked as she leans in closer to the poor librarian.

Mischa shakes his head at Lillian for a moment. "No. I invited her to that party down at Bloody Mary's." Beat. "Before I realized that it was a vampire bar…" This is said naturally a little quieter, afraid of who might overhear. As his cup is pried away, he looks a little lost without it. Very slowly he moves to wrap an arm around the back of Lillian's chair, looking unsure about his own actions before he clears his throat. "Look, it's just been a long time since I've been with a woman, I'm not a complete wanker." Or at least not much of one. He leans in to Lillian and attempts a subtle stroke of her hair. "What shampoo do you use? That's nice."

A look of bemused surprise comes over Lillian's face. "Hey, that's not bad!" She exclaims with a broad smile on her lips. "But, talk about her hair, not the shampoo. Tone down on the commercial side of things." She offers helpfully before adopting a slightly more serious tone. "Watch yourself in vampire bars. Especially when a woman acts too friendly - you never know if she is interested in you or your blood." As if making her point, Lillian lifts a finger and tickles him playfully under the chin.

"Your hair is pretty shiny. And soft." Then Mischa coughs a bit and smiles at Lillian, tilting his head. "I told you I still had /something/ left in me." He pauses and nods his head a bit. "I daresay that any vampire might be a little disappointed in my blood, I bet it's not tasty at all. But thank you, I'll keep that in mind. If it's any consolation, I'm fairly sure that the girl I'm taking isn't…a vampire. After all, I've seen her out and about in the day— okay, you weren't really talking about her." Mischa shuts up again and sucks in a deep breath. The chin tickling makes him flush a distinct bright red, and…is he making a purring noise?

Is he? Lillian seems to notice it, but doesn't stop her from continuing the tickling. See, she is quite attuned to feline behavior, and all this is reminding her of kitties. Leaning closer as well, she blow softly into the librarian's ear, before giving his earlobe a playful little nibble. If anyone in the cafe is looking? Meh, who cares? "So, best be prepared to handle it when your date decides to do something like this." She whispers in his ear.

Mischa turns even more red when he realizes that there's a low rumbling coming from his throat. He leans away from Lillian's hand and starts to stand up, effectively knocking his chair back onto the ground. Ear nibbling evidently set him a little on edge there. "If my date d-does something like that, I'll be prepared." No he won't. And it takes him a few minutes to realize that he's knocked his chair over. He stands it back up and clears his throat. "Well, Miss Haul. Thank you for the coffee…and the enlightening…uh, lesson."

She leans back quickly, nicely avoiding getting caught by Mischa's panicked jump to his feet. Initially surprised by disproportional response, Lillian slowly resumes her teasing smile. "You are welcome." Now she slides her chair back to its original position. "Oh, and do tell me how your date went. I have a weakness for good, juicy gossip." She flashes him a wink, and picks up her cup for one more sip.

Mischa nods to Lillian a bit, though his mind is a million miles away. "I'll be sure to do that. Just promise not to offer me anymore aphrodisiacs or sexual enhancers. What an insult." He winks at her and picks his coffee cup up, throwing it away as he starts out the door. He manages not to bust his ass on the way out.

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