Days like this... (Antosha)

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin almost turned around and left when he saw how packed the coffee shop was today.

Most days he wasn't the only person there, that was true. But it wasn't like this. A few couples and a group, maybe, but Calvin was usually able to comfortably find a place to sit and be by himself. The only reason that he took the time to find an empty table was because he had just gotten off duty and it had been a long, long day, and he knew that he'd have to hit the store before he went home if he expected to have any coffee there. So the shop it was, as nervous as that made him.

He shut away the noise of the people around him and took out a newspaper. There was rarely anything good in the paper these days, but he supposed that was something that he should get used to as well. It was better to have a less interesting paper and a less violent town. But it wasn't long before he set the paper on the table and used it as a coaster for his coffee. A glance around the room, and he was stunned to find that it was just as busy as it had been when he entered. Was there something in the drinks? He glanced at his coffee and without even a shrug took a healthy swig of it. Couldn't be worse than going without.

He spotted a man that he recognized. Knew would have been far too strong a word, as the two had never really spoken before. But they seemed to have kept a pretty regular schedule for coming here. Without thinking about it, he nodded to the younger man in a silent greeting....

...And right after, wondered when the Hell he got so stupid. For all his time spent trying to be alone, here he was nodding to a semi-acquaintance in the middle of a crowded coffee joint.

[Antosha Vikenti]

It had been a long day. Granted, if wasn't the longest day that Antosha had ever had the misfortune of experiencing. But it was enough so that Antosha would much rather head down to the coffee shop than just go to his silent home and make his own coffee. Silence just wasn't something the Russian liked and he strived to avoid it at any cost. That being said, after leaving Hammel for the day the Russian still went home to feed his animals and let Vegas out. And to set out a small box of stuff he'd gotten for the human stray he'd found over a week ago. Had it really already been a week?

Antosha chuckled softly as he pulled into the rather packed parking lot, raising his eyebrow some as he climbed out of his hearse and headed inside. As he pushed open the door a wave of sound washed over him, causing the panther inside to squirm uncomfortably. Noise was one thing. It was another beast entirely to be surrounded by so many people that even the 6'10 giant would feel claustrophobic. Which might have been a tad bit of an overestimation. But truly, it was like some sort of coffee convention.

Picking his way through the crowd with the ease of an overbearing giant would have, he got his coffee rather quickly. He didn't even have to glare at too many people. Amber eyes scanned the coffee shop, trying to find some place to sit while his black nailed, ink stained fingers picked at the wrapper to his lemon poppy seed muffin. All the tables seemed to be occupied. Which wasn't surprising, given the state of business the shop was currently receiving.

But as the Russian was contemplating leaving, he caught the eyes of a rather familiar looking stranger. The man -whom he'd never once spoken to- nodded slightly to him. Well, that was a good an invitation as anything. Antosha walked over to the table and offered the man a slight smile that turned up just one corner of his mouth. "Would you mind if I sat as well?" His voice was deep, husky in a way that only smokers had, and rumbled from deep within his chest so it had a lilt similar to that of a cat's purr- lazy, slow, but pleased.

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin could have kicked himself when the man headed in his direction. It was nothing personal, it was just that... Calvin needed to be prepared to talk with someone, and even though he was never actually prepared, this was about as far from that as could be. It was his own fault, though, so he decided that he would play nice. He was doing that a lot more often, it seemed like... Maybe socializing was just what people did when they didn't have much else better to do.

“That's fine,” he said shortly. He would have been content saying only that much, but for some reason he found himself speaking again. “I don't think that I've ever caught your name, but I know your face. You come here often, don't you?” He knew that he did. It wasn't like there were other people that looked remotely like this man. He stood out in a crowd... Even one as big as this one.

He would wait out this conversation, see how it went. If he had to, he would just take his coffee and go, though a very small but childish part of him thought that he shouldn't have to, as he was here first. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen this man talking with too many of the other customers either. Maybe he was just as anti-social as Calvin was... Or maybe Calvin had just failed to notice. He was often lost in his own world... But he was beginning to get used to letting other people in.

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha briefly nodded at the man's answer to his abrupt question and slid into the vacant chair across from the table of the nameless man. The Russian was sure he'd never spoken so much as a word to the older male, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to create a friendship from something as simple as there being no other available seats. Amber eyes flashed briefly as he sipped from his piping hot cup of coffee and he gave a half smirk to the nameless one. "You could say that. I enjoy coffee too much to stay away. And, as it is, anything to do with cooking hates me. Coffee made by me is rarely as good as this."

He held up the cup of coffee as way of further explanation and glanced around before another small smile graced his face. "Even if there are too many other people." He tilted his head to continue sipping the coffee before he spoke again. "My name is Antosha Vikenti, it is a pleasure to sit at your table." With that, Antosha held out his black nailed hand to the other and maintained his easy amiable smile.

((Sorry))
((Sucks))

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin almost laughed at the comment about cooking hating him, but he wasn't sure that it would be the kind thing to do. He was just kind of perplexed as to what cooking had to do with coffee... But then, wasn't it meant as a joke? He did let out a delayed kind of snort, not letting him think about the consequences of it. “True that they do know their business well. Probably some things that are difficult for the ordinary man to get a hold of,” he commented. He surely hadn't found creamer at the store that tasted anything like this, but maybe that was error of the user. Treating it like a conspiracy theory might be a bad thing to do depending on the man's mental state but Calvin thought he seemed... sane enough.

“Calvin Brewer,” he said with a small smile, reaching out and shaking Antosha's hand. “Funny to think that had there been fewer people in here, we might never have ended up at the same table.” He was kind of joking around, as though this was a huge undertaking. But it kind of was, in its way. One didn't need to know him personally to know being social was probably near the bottom of his list of priorities. “You work near here?” he asked, assuming that he was too old to be a student of Hammel.

That didn't mean that he wasn't a meta. Calvin didn't discriminate - a dangerous person was a dangerous person. But he always kept his guard up just in case.

[Antosha Vikenti]

If Antosha had known Calvin didn't understand the connection between cooking and making coffee, then the Russian might have kindly explained there was no connection. But the other man let out a snort, granted it was rather delayed, so Ant didn't feel the need to explain the joke. As if he knew it hadn't come across well in the first place. "Perhaps they import the beans?" He suggested calmly, swirling the cup gently before taking another drink from the slightly less scolding coffee. Eventually an odd thought tugged at his brain and the panther realized he hadn't yet tried to depict if the man across from him was one of his own or a normal person. Maybe he was getting even better than he thought with his distaste for the non-metas.

The Russian gave the man, Brewer, a sly sort of smile at the joke about them ending up at the same table. "Sounds like someone would make a movie off of it. What is the phrase? Fateful encounter? Something like that." He shrugged it off, not really needing to know the specifics. "Me? I am working at Hammel... If you can call work if it is unpaid. I am actually finishing my teaching degree this spring. Will be hoping to be paid to work at Hammel by fall." His answer was soft and still rattled around in his throat. After a moment he nodded, taking a drink of the coffee before asking. "And you?"

((Still sucks...
Today is not a good reply day.
Tomorrow ain't lookin' so hot either))

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin hadn't considered the idea that the beans might be something special. He remembered with an almost fond misery what had happened the one time he had gotten beans, and not grounds, for his coffee maker. To put it simply, he just hadn't known what he was doing... And he'd needed a new coffee maker. He was much more comfortable in a place like this than risking ruining something else. Like a lot of things in his life, this was one that he wasn't keen to talk to anyone about... Except, perhaps, on his death bed.

“A movie? I suppose that I would fit right in.” The irony of his name being Brewer hadn't been lost on him. “Though I think, a few more donuts for realism, don't you?” This time, it was his joke that would likely fall flat, as his job wasn't something that had come up... yet. He hadn't been aware that there were internships at Hammel, which is kind of what it sounded like when Antosha said that he was not being paid for his work. “Well, what are you planning on teaching?” he asked, as he couldn't seem to tell much about Antosha... Some people just screamed history teacher or grammar perfectionist. He had no idea what he would be teaching. “I'm a police officer... How long have you been in this town?”

((MY TURN FOR BAD RESPONSE! ))

[Antosha Vikenti]

((Watch this for a bad response-))

Antosha's eye sparkled with amusement even more, a wide smile pulling at his lips. "We should meet at a bar, instead. The Brewery." A deep chuckle escaped him as he smiled. Confusion crossed his features at the other's response of there needing to be more donuts. Since Antosha was unaware of what Calvin did for a living, he had no idea that this should have been a funny joke. Or at least relatively funny. Even that seemed like a bit of stretch with all things considered.

"I am going teaching art." He said with more amusement, gesturing some to the tattoos peeking out from under the sleeves of his shirt. "Not much else I am good at. But what about you? Any job?" With that said he gently crossed his ankles and took a drink of his coffee. When the answer came, though, he blinked in surprise but nodded his head. "I've been living here for... Almost six months now... Before that I attended Hammel for close to six years. Maybe five? I cannot recall for sure." He trailed off with a shrug before nodding to Calvin. "How long have you lived here?"

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin shrugged and nodded at the same time, a smirk coming to his face. A drink wouldn't hurt right now if he were to tell it true, the sort of day that he had been having. “Don't tempt me to ask for a change in location, because I will do it.” He looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “Though I suppose it would be important to ask how old you are before I did any such thing.” He was joking about it all, though his expression did nothing to support that fact.

He glanced at the tattoos adorning the other man's arm. He had an appreciation for that sort of art, he supposed, though he would never get a tattoo himself. “Did you do the designs yourself?” He smiled at the question of how long he'd lived there because it was one that he didn't hear that often. So many people knew him at least on sight. It was almost refreshing. “I've been in this town my whole life. It never does get dull, since there are always new people moving to town for the school. It's kept my job exciting, to say the least.”

[Antosha Vikenti]

"Well I would think it is too early to have drinks of that nature." Antosha responded easily, still chuckling softly at his own terrible joke. After all, how bad was it to make the most obvious connection between Brewer and a brewery? One letter was all the difference he saw. Antosha's eyes narrowed some in amusement before he gave Calvin the sort of wink that would be worthy of Stefan. "I am old enough to know what I like." He was joking as well, but flirting was just in his nature. "But I am 24, so old enough for the bars as well."

Once he was sure Calvin had gotten a good look at his tattoos, Antosha stopped trying to display them and instead focused on getting the burning coffee into his system. "Mm.. Most of them were my designs, so long as I had the ability to do what I want." He explained easily, not caring about sharing since the information wasn't all that important to him. A small shock went through him at how long Brewer had been in town and briefly wondered why he'd never met the man before. "Hm, but you must have some regulars you see in your line of work? Care to share or is it need to know basis?"

[Calvin Brewer]

“Good. Then I'll less likely be arresting you in the near future,” Calvin said with a smirk on his face. It was sad how much of his job dealt with drunks these days. Antosha struck him as the type that probably did drink on occasion, though he knew better than to make those kinds of assumptions aloud. When he winked at him, and said something that was possibly suggestive, Cal didn't think much of it. When he spoke his age, after all, he was thirty years younger. “I can't even remember what it was like to be twenty-four,” he said slowly, an amused grin coming to his face. “By the time you hit fifty, drinking's usually either lost its appeal or become a way of life.”

As was often the case lately, Calvin wondered how it would be to switch careers. He didn't think that he would. It just wasn't in the cards. But it was always interesting to hear what others did, what other paths there would be available to a person. He shrugged a bit at the question. “Well, I don't think that I should give names, but there are definitely repeat offenders. There is one man that loves to walk around in the nude at night. Not much chance of getting caught, I suppose, and yet I've had to see all of him at least five times.” He shrugged as though the image burned into his head wasn't as offensive as it really was. “Mostly the drunks, though. Hard to break certain... habits. Lifestyles.”