Coffee, Coffee, Coffee. [Open]

[Philip Romano]

Class had been cancelled for the day. At least, Lip’s class had been cancelled, something about his teacher’s kid coming down with the flu. So that meant that there was no Marketing on his agenda for the day. Well, that was what he thought until he saw the long fucking document attached to his professor’s email.

It included all the criteria needed for his final project. The one that was worth fifty percent of his grade. Yeah, and there was a shit ton to get done before it was due. Really, he didn’t have to do it today. He wasn’t in high school anymore, so teachers weren’t constantly on him about getting his assignments done. As long as he turned it in when it was due, his professors really couldn’t give a fuck. If he wanted to bust his ass at the end of the semester, scrambling to get his shit together, they'd be fine with it.

Unfortunately, Lip didn’t want to spend the last few weeks of his college career finishing all the assignments he’d put off. So instead of logging off his email and going back to sleep after he saw his teacher’s message, he packed up all his stuff and went down to the local cafe. It was quiet there, and he was one of those basic college kids who liked to do his homework in coffee shops.

Lip ran a hand through his dark hair, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He’d been here for the better part of the morning, and had already gone through three cups of coffee. His papers and computer were basically taking up the whole table. Normally, he didn’t work this hard on a project or dedicate this much time to it so far in advance, but this one was fucking important. And it was his major, so he needed to take it seriously.

And he did, at least, he took his business classes seriously. This project was…something else though. Well, he supposed they didn’t let just anyone graduate. Lip was definitely going to need more coffee though.

[David Reed]

What Dave was doing at a coffee shop was beyond him. Caffeine was so bleh. He just didn't get why anyone would want to be hyped up, much less let themselves get to a point where they were unable to function without the substance to get them back to 'normal.' Besides, what the hell was so wrong with being 'chill' anyways? And yet here he was, bumbling his way into the quaint coffee shop, the faint scent of cigarette smoke drifting with him.

Dave looked over the board with a slight grimace, standing there just a little too long while he tried to find something that agreed with him. Finally he ordered a green tea - it was a little early for drinks just yet, and he would have to get back to the shop eventually - a peanut butter fudge brownie, couple of chocolate cookies, and a banana nut muffin. That should suffice to waste a little more time. Maybe he could even turn it into an hour or two. It wasn't the responsible boss/business owner thing to do, but Dave hadn't asked for it and Alice would always call if something came up.

Carrying his things across the space to one of the far tables, Dave tried to turn his thoughts away from the auto shop. FI hummed away in the inner pocket of his beaten up old jacket, a familiar sing-song calculation of coordinates, distances, and speeds that only he was privy to. There were other voices too - cell phones, laptops and the such just out of reach, the faint sense of their thoughts processing away.

Dave was passing a particularly cluttered table when one rather surprisingly grabbed his attention. Caught off guard, Dave swayed a step or two. The next thing he knew he had not just bumped into the table, but pushed a whole bunch of papers out of order as he caught himself. Ugh. With Dave's luck, the table's occupant was going to be pissed. Especially given the mood his computer seemed to be in.

"Oh man, I am SO sorry. Here let me-" He started, but as Dave tried to balance his goodies and drink and look for a way to maybe straighten out the paperwork it was quickly becoming clear there wasn't much he could do without risking making this worse.

[Philip Romano]

It would be nice if his professor let his class do this project in groups. There was a lot of work, so it would make sense to let them split it up between three or four people. At least for the presentation, which was supposed to be thirty minutes. Lip was good at presenting; it was one of his best skills, but thirty minutes was a long ass time to sit in front of a panel and talk. But still, he was more worried about this paper.

The paper was supposed to be fifty pages, which was essentially the longest thing Lip has ever and probably will ever write in his entire life. He knew most of his classmates had already started. Lip was about fifteen pages in and he still felt like he was behind. It was due at the end of the semester, and normally he didn’t stress about stuff like this, but fifty pages was a lot of work.

He’d resolved to work until at least 4:00pm and then maybe he’d grab dinner with Alex if she was free; he hadn’t seen her in a while since they were both busy with schoolwork. Which meant that he had to sit here for…four more hours.

Yeah, he was definitely going to need more coffee.

And he was about to go get more, as he drained the last sip from his current cup - he would probably be shaking with caffeine by the time he met up with Alex - when someone knocked into his table, sending all his papers askew.

Lip grumbled under his breath, but didn’t want to make a scene in front of everyone in the store. He had to be here for the next four hours and didn’t want to get kicked out. And the older boy apologized and tried to help fix them, but he had a shit ton of stuff in his hands and Lip could only see their situation heading for disaster. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” Lip said, though since he was so hopped up on caffeine it came out gruffer than he meant it to, or that was his excuse at least. He shuffled all the papers up himself, moving them away from the edge of the table. “I got it.”

[David Reed]

Yup. Definitely ticked off. That was Dave's conclusion as he caught what he thought was a hint of stifled anger in the voice of the table's occupant. "Hey, was just trying to help," he said as he pulled his hands back in gesture of letting go.

That's when it happened. There was no telling just how... maybe from how he'd bumped into the table or teetered to catch his balance, or trying to fix the mess he made, but as his arms came back he could feel the clunky old GPS box that was FI slip loose from his pocket, headed straight for the floor. There was no time to think. Dave's hands went straight to catch her, the hot cup of tea forgotten mid-air.

It was a long shot though, FI already much closer to the floor than Dave's reach, but he moved fast, much faster than his previously clumsy nature would have made seem possible. Still, it wasn't quite fast enough. FI snapped against the tile floor just as he snatched her up. The alarm was clear on his face. The spilt and splattered hot tea as well as any casualty it may have caused quite literally forgotten.

"FI?" he asked, half turned away, lest anyone be part of this personal moment. There was a pause before her voice came to him "Yes Dave?"Oh thank god. He'd have to make sure she was still whole, but at least for now she seemed alright. The real question now was how much trouble HAD he caused...

[Philip Romano]

Lip didn’t think it looked like this guy was trying to help. If anything he was like a walking hazard with all the shit he was carrying. Seriously, isn’t it like an unwritten rule that when you’re carrying that much stuff you should just automatically watch where you’re going. What if he’d spilled his coffee on Lip’s notes…or his computer? Lip didn’t even want to think about that.

Of course, he was being a little bit overdramatic. Alex would have told him that if she was here, and so would a few of his other friends. Alex would have told him that it was partially his fault for spreading his papers out like he owned the place. But Lip was grumpy because of his project and hopped up on caffeine, so there was really just know telling what his reaction would be.

As he was shuffling up all his papers, trying to condense them into a smaller pile and grumbling under his breath, the other guy basically threw his coffee, or whatever the fuck he ordered, on the ground in an effort to catch something. The cup bounced off the table which opened the lid, spilling some of the contents near where Lip was sitting. Fortunately, the majority of the liquid spilled on the floor and not all over Lip’s papers and computer. Unfortunately, most of what splattered on the floor landed all over his shoes, as well as the surrounding area.

Lip stood up, pushing his seat out behind him. “Dude, seriously? What the fuck?” Who just dropped everything they had in their hands, especially when one of those thing was hot liquid just to catch some stupid fucking toy that fell out of their pocket. People were staring now, and the baristas behind the counter were grumbling about cleaning up the mess, but the other guy seemed way too caught up in the wellbeing of whatever hit the floor to even notice.

[David Reed]

Dave's heart rate was just starting to slow when his attention turned back to his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the guy was now standing. He also looked something more than just a little pissed off. That's when Dave realized his tea was all over the floor. Dave grimaced. He tried moving sideways a half step, but the tea really had gotten everywhere. "Shit."

Surveying the splatter it looked like at least very little had landed on the table. A generous stroke of luck. Dave tried to run his other hand through his hair, but of course it was still clinging to the bag of goodies. Another grimace. He could always just walk away, right? Cut his loses. Dave knew from experience that few people ever followed. Even they did, they were easier to deal with in relative isolation as opposed to a crowded space.

This guy probably would, and it was tempting, but that nagging little voice in the back of his head told him he couldn't. Stupid conscience. Stupid responsibilities. Stupid stuck in this stupid town. Dave wanted to scream, but instead he just took a deep breath and sighed. "Look, man, I'm really, really sorry." The aggravation could probably be heard in his voice, but it had nothing to do with any of the rest of it, and Dave meant it.

To show he really did mean it, Dave carefully and deliberately set his remaining things on a nearby empty table and pocketed FI securely away before stepping over the pool of lost tea to intercept an approaching barista. He assured her that he had the situation handled and took the collection of napkins and paper towels himself.

"Seriously, can I at least get you a coffee or something?" he asked the guy. Dave could at least try to make this right.

[Philip Romano]

If it was Lip who’d spilled his drink all over the place, he probably would’ve just grumbled a quick apology before beating it the hell out of there, really only upset that he no longer had his coffee. He’d done it before, though he’d never actually spilled anything on someone, save for beer at those frat parties. But that was different. It was a feat not to get anything spilled on you at those shit holes.

Still, he was pretty pissed that this guy had so carelessly tossed his drink on the floor, after knocking into his table, just to attempt to catch some fucking toy. Granted Lip didn’t actually know what had fallen, but seriously, how important could it have been? “Dude, why would you just throw your cup on the ground?” Lip ran a hand through his hair, letting out a huff. He was being a bit overdramatic.

At least the guy had the decency to look sorry, which is probably more than what Lip would have been able to muster up. But Lip was still kind of pissed, though probably more just for the sake of being mad than anything else. And for the fact that it was probably going to be hard for him to get back to work after all this.

The voice inside his head was telling him to stay cool. This wasn’t a big deal. Nothing got ruined or destroyed. It was fine. He didn’t want to make a scene. If this was a few years ago, Lip probably would’ve chewed the poor guy out for just bumping his table, but he wasn’t that much of an asshole anymore. Right?

“Nah, man. It’s fine.” He said, though his voice was tight and the frustration was surely audible. He didn’t need anyone to buy his coffee, he could buy it himself.

[David Reed]

Dave shrugged. Technically he hadn't thrown his cup on the ground. But regardless most people wouldn't understand why he'd drop everything for FI. "She's my best friend," he said with a quirky little grin, by way of an answer. He dropped the handful of napkins into the spilt tea and used his foot nudge them around. Once the majority of the liquid was soaked up, he squatted down to pick them up and use a couple of paper towels to finish the mess.

Of course his answer begged more questions than it answered, but Dave waited until he was done mopping up. Placing the dripping napkins on the empty table next to his bag of goodies, Dave pulled out a chair. He took a seat and reached into his pocket to pull FI out again. "This is FI." Dave held the clunky old GPS up to see. "FI, say hi to... I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Hi, I'm-sorry-what-was-your-name." Came the little robotic female voice. It was said in nearly the same tone as any old GPS, but there was a flair. A little bit of extra pep. Dave put a hand to his face, pressing at the bridge of his nose as he shook his head slightly. "No, FI..." But it wasn't worth it. It seemed she still didn't understand the difference, but he could try to explain that to her later. "Nevermind, are you sure I can't get you something by way of an apology?" He HAD nearly taken out the guy's computer.

Dave's father would have insisted, but Dave didn't care for that overzealous businessman approach. Instead, he reached into his bag of goodies to help himself to a cookie.

[Philip Romano]

Lip definitely did not understand why someone would throw everything on the ground for some toy. Maybe if it was really expensive or something, like a phone or laptop, but not for whatever this guy had in his pocket, which was neither of those things. But when he referred to whatever it was as his ‘best friend’, Lip was clearly very confused.

And when he pulled out an old GPS Lip was only even more confused. That was what he almost dumped 12 ounces of coffee or whatever the fuck he was drinking on his computer for? He was pretty sure they didn’t even sell those things in stores anymore. Weren’t they built into your cars now?

What the fuck?


“Ahh…it’s Lip, but dude, you know that thing's…not a real person right?” The look on his face clearly illustrated his thoughts. And then it spoke, but it sounded just like every other old GPS or technological device. His fucking iPhone could do the same exact thing. It wasn’t like this one was anything special. Lip didn’t even think it was worth anything; they’d probably just throw it in the garbage or something if he tried to trade it in at the store.

“Uhh…I mean you don’t have to…I’m getting another one now anyway.” Lip wasn’t sure if he should accept any kind of beverage or food from someone who seemed like he was fucking nuts.