Studying + Coffee = Relaxation? (Lucy)

[Alexander McKenzie]

The best parts about university had to be the varied schedules, and the fact that Alex now had an entire afternoon to just sit back and relax. Of course, his version of unwinding was normally doing a little bit of reading for class, coupled with coffee.

He was huddled in the corner of one of the local coffee shops (much better than Starbucks, in his opinion). He didn’t have work, so he was happy to chill out before heading back home. Today was actually a good day. His morning classes had gone well – he’d aced a quiz in biology, and the lectures had been fascinating. After having lunch with Ann, he’d headed back into town for some quiet study time. At home he’d be distracted by television, so he’d set up shop in the cafe.

His biology textbook was out on the table, and his jacket was tucked neatly behind the small of his back. His t-shirt offered a clear view of his tattoos to whoever happened to glance his way, but he honestly didn’t care. He wasn’t there to be on display, he was there to study.

And drink coffee.

Being nineteen, and being short, had advantages. No one could tell him coffee would stunt his growth. His growth had been stunted a long time ago, and he had made peace with that.

Sipping the latte he’d been brought earlier, he skipped over his notes, reading about genetics now. This was peaceful.

[Lucy Holiday]

Lucy was pretty damned proud of herself at the moment. She had managed an entire month without a blood transfusion! That was a pretty impressive victory considering the junk she was on. This treatment knocked her on her butt way more than the others. After three rounds, she finally felt like she was figuring out how to bounce back. Of course having a team of oncologists, pediatricians and biological manipulators helped - but Lucy liked to take a little credit!

Her hand was still clutching her cbc report as she strolled into the cafe with a broad grin on her lips. She grinned at the paper for a few minutes before shoving it into the back pocket of her dark wash denims. Almost normal platelets, normal red blood count and not so bad white blood count. Oh yeah! Total reward time! And Lucy's reward of choice was a chai tea latte. She was totally psyched to give Avi the good news, but that latte just had to come first. Avi would understand! She was in class at the moment anyway. Lucy pushed the strands of her short and sassy wig out of her face as she marched right up to the counter. Yep, wig. Lucy was learning that wearing a wig was a lot less energy consuming than creating the illusion of hair.

It didn't take long for her to order her drink and give the girl behind the counter an extra tip. The girl just giggled and thanked her. She was used to Lucy and her odd little hair changes. With the steaming beverage clutched in her hand, Lucy turned around to stake out her usual table. Only...someone was already there. With a curious tilt of her head, Lucy studied the boy for a moment. He looked...familiar.

Of course she knew it wasn't polite to stare, but she couldn't help it. Not only did he look familiar, but something on his arm caught her eye. It was a support ribbon. Lucy could spot one of those from a mile away. After a moment of hesitation, Lucy decided to go investigate. She tugged down the hem of her multicolored sweater before walking up to the guy with a polite smirk on her face. "Hi. Cool tat." As soon as the words left her mouth, the realization hit her - the hospital waiting room! That's where she'd seen him. She bit her lower lip softly before sharing that little epiphany. "Haven't I seen you before?"

[Alexander McKenzie]

If there was one thing Alex was grateful for, it was that routine testing was nothing compared to the wicked treatments he’d gone through as a child. Slowly, he’d colored over all of the little scars. The last one remained on his chest, but after his talk with Ann, and the sharing of his plans to tattoo over it, she’d discouraged him from executing said plans. That he really didn’t need to cover up the things that made him who he was.

He was happy as he took another swallow of coffee. Relaxing against the back of the booth, he fixed his glasses and kept reading, interested in the genetics section. Now they were out of the basics, like photosynthesis and plants, and into the more interesting parts of biology, he was so much happier. Plants were so dry.

He didn’t notice Lucy until she was actually close to him and speaking. Startled from his reading, he jumped slightly and looked up at her. “Oh. Thank you.” Self consciously, he brushed his fingers over the orange ink before looking up and offering a playful smile. “Or did you mean one of the others?” While his left arm was mostly taken up with the ribbon, his right arm was a near sleeve of various artwork he’d done over the last few years.

He studied her carefully as she questioned whether they knew each other. He was good with faces, and... he was sure he knew her from somewhere. But where? He thought back, until he hit gold. He just wasn’t sure if she would want him to announce it in the middle of the cafe.

“Maddock?” He kept his voice low out of consideration. It was his best guess. If he was wrong, he’d just look like an idiot.

Oh well.

[Lucy Holiday]

Lucy gave the dude a small apologetic smile as he jumped. Oops. Sometimes Lucy forgot that not everyone was used to her being so...annoying bold. Some people might even consider Lucy rude. Lucy just considered herself to be very social...and curious. A fun mix! After his initial reaction, Lucy was glad that he didn't seem to be irritated with her. His playful smile assured her she wasn't going to get bitched out. Lucy tilted her head curiously and let her eyes wonder over his other tattoos. "Well, they're all pretty kick ass, but yeah...that's the one I meant."

In her brain Lucy was already picturing it violet and surrounded by little butterflies or something as she wondered what it would look like on her arm. She let her chocolate brown eyes flicker back up to his face with an admiring smirk. Sure, Lucy walked around Hammel with illusioned body art, but that was nothing compared to having the real things. Now that Lucy had taken a good look at him, she was absolutely certain that she'd passed him a couple of times on her way to get her blood drawn.

Hearing his soft reply, Lucy nodded. "Yeah. That's it." Without waiting for an invitation, Lucy pulled out the chair across from him and sat. She took a long swig of her latte before speaking again. "So...umm...is it for you. Or, you know - for someone else?" Lucy asked as delicately as she could. Sure, some cancer patients were open about talking to each other. Others, not so much. Especially the younger ones like herself. Lucy sometimes got fussed out for being curious. Sipping her chai tea again, Lucy waited nervously to see what direction this conversation was gonna go.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Really, Alex should have been used to being snuck up on. Between Conrad’s little brothers (Jean, mostly), and sometimes Conrad himself when they were younger and more playful, he should have been a little accustomed to it. Maybe he was just out of practice. At least he recovered quickly.

“Thank you,” he murmured with a little smile. It was always nice when someone else appreciated his artwork. Compliments on body art designed by the tattoo artist were nice enough, but when you’d done all the artwork yourself? It was so much better. “I actually designed them all.” There was a tiny note of pride in his voice. Not enough to be full fledged bragging, of course. Alex wasn’t like that.

And he wouldn’t be opposed to designing one for Lucy. He’d already designed a lotus flower for his girlfriend, and a few designs for older students at Hammel. All she had to do was ask.

Between his vast array of piercings and his tattoos, Alex was hard to miss in a crowd (unless they were all miles taller than him). He was used to being shied away from, especially by young kids (usually with overprotective mothers). It really was a shame. He was a nice guy under all the artwork, honestly. It was because of this that a) he was surprised that Lucy joined him, and b) he didn’t shoo her away. He just dog eared his textbook and set it aside to give her his full attention.

... Even if she wanted to talk about that.

Lexy took a quick sip of his latte before clearing his throat. “It’s mine,” he admitted. He slipped his t-shirt sleeve further up his arm so that she could see the inked work at the tip of the ribbon. Survivor. “Nine years running, I’ve been clear. I, um, was diagnosed with leukemia when I was six. And relapsed when I was ten.” He wasn’t going to bore her with the technical name of the thing, or any of that. And now she’d opened the topic, he swallowed and gave a little nod towards her. “And you?” It had been a long time since he’d had a one on one conversation with someone else with cancer. Not since his parents had encouraged him to attend support group meetings.