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 breakdancing. 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.
Inside the ever so trendy cafe, Carter has found a place to sit while waiting for Miss Scarlett Fontane. The young man has taken it upon himself to clean up — though it doesn't differ much from his work attire, truth be told. Blue button-down shirt, black slacks, black dress shoes. A bit of cologne later and Carter looks like a contributing member of society. He hasn't yet ordered a coffee, though he's busying himself during the wait with his cell phone. Catching up on text messages and entering whatever 'important' events he can into his digital calendar seems to be capturing his attention just fine, although he periodically glances towards the entrance of the cafe for some signs of the spunky redhead he's supposed to be meeting
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Scarlett is really rather more of a brunette, but the lighting does pick up on the auburn in her hair. She's not really running late, though she is having difficulties getting to the Bean Scene due to the "injury" she's suffered. Her wrist that was only slightly sprained is now in a cast, a sling tied tightly around her neck. A nice man holds the door open for her, and she gives him a smile. "Thanks," she says, nodding her head at him. Flitting glances are shot about the cafe, and when they fall upon Carter, she takes a deep breath and heads for his table.
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"Scarlett!" Carter exclaims, perhaps a bit too excitedly. He smiles at her and stands up to greet her, offering to pull her chair out for her. "Sorry, you must want to go get a coffee first… I'll go with you. I got caught up on the cell phone…" Or rather, he was waiting for her before he ordered. He pockets his cell phone and smiles at Scarlett. "You look nice." Pause, consider wrist. "Except for that. You really did a number on your wrist punching that girl out, didn't you? Is it going to be alright?" He seems concerned, his brow furrowing as he beats himself up for not having stayed behind that night to see if she was alright a little more thoroughly.
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Her gaze shifts to her wrist, and she opens her mouth to explain. Then she shakes her head. "Actually, I did this after that. I swear I'm not a brute, but it's been a rough week." The concern is met with a warm smile. "It'll be fine in a few weeks, it's just a small break. Apparently I need to learn how to throw a proper punch, and not bend my wrist." The counter looks empty though, so Scarlett makes her way toward it with him. "I'm likely going to get a white chocolate mocha with extra whip. My treat, since I invited you out and all that."
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Carter blinks a little bit. Did it AFTER that? He frowns for a moment before eventually starting to smile once more. "If you're going to keep hurting yourself, I'd say that boxing lessons are a must." He follows behind Scarlett, looking more at her arm from behind rather than her behind, as some guys would. Concern fills his eyes once more before he smiles, stepping up to her side. "No, please. Let me buy. After all, it's the least I can do. You've had such a crummy week and everything. No need to pay for someone else's coffee on top of it." When the cashier comes around, he puts in his own order first: caramel mocha, straight up.
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"Either that, or I need to quit punching people. It's not my usual modus operandi, but I've been a tad confused and emotional lately." Scarlett also dislikes telepaths, which would at least explain one of her punches. "I accept, you can pay for the coffee." Therefore, she slides to the side and lets him place his order first. "White chocolate mocha," she adds for the cashier, "With extra whip, please."
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"You punched someone else?" Carter asks, glancing towards her arm. He takes his wallet from his pocket and extracts a ten and a five, laying them down on the counter. "Maybe you should stop punching people, yeah. I'm not in any danger tonight, am I? I can be sort of bad about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Or any time." He chuckles very quietly before the cashier comes back with his change, which he unceremoniously pockets rather than putting it back into his wallet. "Everyone goes through rough patches. I'd say 'don't beat yourself up about it', but that probably wouldn't be funny." Pause. "See what I mean about my mouth?"
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The coffees are going to take a moment, and she lifts an eyebrow at him. "It's a long story, but the short of it is yes?" Scarlett looks toward the cash, then back at him. "Hopefully you won't tell Ivan about the cast? He's already sort of angry at me." She moistens her lips, then quickly rubs them back and forth in a nervous habit. "I wanted to explain to you about the bar, and first off wanted to apologize for insulting you if I did. I just know how you feel about my brother, and thought that maybe you wouldn't want anyone to know you were with his twin sister."
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Carter shakes his head a little bit, letting out something of a sigh. "If there's ever one thing you don't have to worry about, it's the possibility of me speaking to Ivan on a non-work related business. I'm not going to meddle in your family affairs." The last thing poor Carter needs is for Ivan to be mad at him for something non-work related, and distinctly Fontane-related. He quirks a brow at Scarlett's explanation, shaking his head. "No, it's fine. We're not dating or anything after all, and we weren't on a date… I was just a bystander that night." He winks at Scarlett, giving a blithe shrug of his shoulders. "How I feel about your brother doesn't make me ashamed to be seen with you or something. And you're not normally a fighter, I get it."
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The coffees arrive, and Scarlett grabs hers with her left hand, then starts back for the table. Part one of the explanations are finished, and she'd really like to sit down before getting on with part two. "Thanks. Ivan means well, but sometimes I just really wish he'd stay out of my business. This is one of those times."
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He follows Scarlett over towards the table, coffee in hand. "Understandable. I can't really say that I have a meddlesome family, but if I did, I'd probably want to strangle them. Or maybe punch THEM in the face." He shrugs his shoulders and smiles at Scarlett, lifting the cup to his mouth in order to blow on the hot vapor coming from the vent in the lid. He senses that she's going to say something else, and if being politics has taught him anything, it's that silence is often a virtue. He waits for her to go on, considering the hot coffee in his hand.
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Good hand cradling the coffee, Scarlett grins at it — the coffee that is, then sighs. "It's complicated. That guy at the bar, he's dating Ivan's girlfriend's sister." That explains how she knows him. "He was teaching me how to defend myself, and the truth of it is there's been some flirting." As well as a kiss, then a punch which is why the hand is now wrapped in a cast. "The girl I punched was one of those annoying… telepaths." No point in hiding it, Ivan's told her that he suspects Carter has some sort of power. "She was spouting off about stuff that she didn't fully understand, and—" Giving her head a shake, she looks over at him. "Complicated, but that's the gist of it really."
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It's debatable whether or not he's able to fully understand once he gets past Ivan's girlfriend. Ivan has a girlfriend? And he doesn't? What fresh hell is this? Carter manages to wipe the look of sheer disbelief off of his face before taking a scalding hot sip of coffee that he holds in his mouth for a long few moments in an attempt to literally bite his tongue from whatever he wants to say about that. He swallows it down after a moment and nods understandingly to Scarlett. "A telepath." That does explain it. He doesn't look at the girl like she's plum lost her mind, in any case. Carter smiles at Scarlett a little bit before giving a faint shrug of his shoulders. "It's fine, really. I'm not doubting your reasons. After all, if you were on a hair pin trigger, you'd probably have punched me in the mouth for colliding into you that day in the park."
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"Possibly, or killed my brother by now." Scarlett rolls her eyes just a little, then takes a small sip of the coffee. Rather than getting a scalding hot mouthful, she gets the whip cream topping, and licks her lips. "Crap. I think it's supposed to be a secret," she says after a quiet moment. "That Ivan has a girlfriend, I mean. Something about her being in the public eye, and him being so big at the mayor's office." The mug of coffee is lifted to her lips again, and another mouthful of the very unhealthy whip cream topping is taken.
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"Can I let you in on another little secret?" Carter asks, before he leans in and conspiratorially whispers, "Your brother isn't as big as he likes to imagine." After that, Carter pulls away and winks at Scarlett before taking another sip of his coffee. With his tongue nice and numb, the heat no longer burns him as much as it did. "I have to admit that I'm a little shocked that Ivan actually HAS a girlfriend, but. Whatever. Secret is safe with me." He smiles at Scarlett a little bit, chuckling. "There've been times I wanted to kill my elder sister. Though we don't have underlying warm fuzzy feelings. We just really hate each other."
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"That's pretty much how it's like with me and Ivan." Scarlett pauses as she finally gets a sip of the scalding coffee. The mug nearly clatters to the table, but she's able to set it down without making a mess. "Ow. Except I do care for him, even in his more idiotic moments." There is likely some big story about Ivan and his girlfriend, but it's not really hers to share. "It's the hair. I think a lot of girls like his hair. At least, that's what it was back in high school and I doubt it's all that different now."
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Carter leans forward a bit in his chair, grabbing a napkin just in case Scarlett ends up spilling the coffee. When she sets it down, he leans back once more and looks vaguely relieved. "Ivan is lucky to have you then." He leaves it at that. No use rehashing his own family history at the moment. Scarlett came here to discuss herself, after all. "Ah, the hair. He does seem fairly proud of that mass growing on his head. I hope no one ever shaves it as a strategical tactic. I mean, it would work. But he'd be crushed. Maybe it all goes back to Samson and Delilah." After that he pauses and takes a long sip of his coffee. After he's swallowed, he smiles somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry, just a theory."
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Scarlett laughs. "I wish I'd thought of that in high school. He would have deserved that, and hearing him scream when he woke up with no hair would have been worth it." She is the good twin, and would never have actually done it, but the thought is amusing to say the least. "You know, Park Boy, you should stand up to Ivan a little more at work. I know he can be a jerk and all, but if he knows you're not going to back down you two might even get along. Even if only grudgingly." The coffee mug is carefully lifted back up, this time she blows across the surface in order to cool it a little before taking a small sip so as not to burn her tongue again.
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"You keep calling me Park Boy, I'm gonna have to call you Punchy." Carter winks after that and takes another sip of his coffee, running his top teeth over his tongue for a moment. "Unfortunately, Ivan holds a few more of the cards than I like to let on. If he were to go saying something to the mayor, I'd probably get a stern warning. I spend a lot of my days just trying to fly underneath Ivan's radar, you know? The less interaction with him the better." He pauses after that and lets out a very quiet sigh. "You're right though. I know you are. Who knows? Maybe I'll tell him to get his own damned coffee Monday morning." He grins very briefly at Scarlett after that, letting his gaze roam the coffee shop.
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"Sorry," she says, chuckling softly afterward. "I tend to give people nicknames. Slugger for the guy that broke Ivan's head, Park Boy for you since that's where we met." Scarlett blows across the top of the cup again, very lightly, then sips from it. "I don't blame you for wanting to fly under his radar, I really don't." He's far too much like their grandfather for her liking. "You know, you didn't look at me like I was insane when I mentioned that drunk chick was a telepath."
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Carter can't help but laugh at Scarlett's final statement, grinning brightly at her. "Lets just say that I'm not as close minded as most people in regards to the supernatural. After all, there are vampires. Why not telepaths? Why not witches?" He says the last word a bit coyly, smiling at Scarlett afterward and taking a sip of his coffee. The blonde shrugs his shoulders very faintly. "Anyway, I don't really mind Park Boy. It's better than hey you. Or 'the boy'." He doesn't elaborate on the final, a dark cast coming into his eyes for a split second before he smiles at Scarlett easily once more.
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"Witches, hmm? So should I be watching the skies for broomsticks?" Scarlett has heard all the jokes from various family members, Truth of it is, with her control over the wind she could likely fly off on a broomstick if she desired to. "I've actually been doing some reading on telepaths. Seems a lot of mediums and the like are mouthy like that too. Guess it runs in the genes." Now that the coffee has cooled enough, she takes a larger sip. "I can call you Carter. Giving you a nickname just makes it all the more special."
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"No broomsticks… just occasionally some beads, leather, string, what have you. More of an arts and crafts project than anything else," he mumbles quietly before glancing down to his wrist watch. "Ugh. I'd like to stay longer but I have to draw up the minutes of a meeting for Monday." He quirks a brow at Scarlett's words, half-grinning. "So, all telepaths are wise asses? I'll keep an eye out then for anyone who knows too much and is a smart aleck." Carter moves to stand up, smiling at Scarlett. "Whatever you call me, I hope you do it again soon. Maybe on a date sometime? I'll give you a call."
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Scarlett eyes him with his comment about crafts projects. Talk about hitting close to home. "Be careful out there," she muses, "you never know who's listening in on your brain." Smiling back at him, she takes a sip of the coffee again then nearly chokes again. Clearing her throat, she nods. "Please do? I enjoy talking with you, and I have a feeling we may have more in common than I first thought." She'll let him be on his way, she's going to finish the coffee and take some time to think about her strange, strange week.
