2020-09-11: RPGs and Porn, the Breakfast of Champions
| RPGS and Porn, the Breakfast of Champions | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast time and a conversation involving RPGs and porn! | |
| IC Date | September 11th, 2020 |
| IC Time | Morning |
| Players | Dalvin, Katie, Red, Yakov, and Vivian Starr |
| Location | Prospect Roasters |
Prospect Roasters - Coffee Shop
Prospect Roasters is your standard issue, run of the mill, coffee house. It is faux painted in washes of colors striking a calculated balance between dynamic and soothing. There is a mural painted into the wall of a neverending crowd of people, a welcoming attitude and open feel in the faces of the people. The people are of every breed of humankind, every race, every style of dress, from every culture on earth. Above the heads of the crowd, is the inscription,
"Peace is not unity in similarity, but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences"
The high ceiling holds hanging ceiling fans, slowly rotating the air in the space, moving the scents of food from the back kitchen. The display cases of clear domed glass show the pastries and baked goods for sale to tempt the palate while the classic slate chalkboards display the specials and menu to the crowd in multicolored chalk and bright looping script behind the cash registers and space to collect the orders placed.
Wherever possible there is a friendly reminder that the Roasters charge a higher price to promote fair trade, a living wage, and sustainability for all involved, as well as various charities, and no one goes hungry if they just haven't eaten in a while. There are two registers at the front to make things a little easier with the increased business.
The patrons range from edgy young hipsters to aging hippies and everything in between. There is food to supplement the caffeine fix. The staff consists of a tragically hip couple behind the bar and a disembodied Hispanic voice that echoes through the small window leading to the kitchen. There is always music playing here, eclectic music which swings wildly from genre to genre.
There is a gigantic sign, both above the door and tacked to the counter itself that states:
Due to health code regulations,
only service DOGS and MINIATURE HORSES are allowed.
A smaller sign attached to the larger one on the counter says:
We happily allow well-mannered pets,
on the patio.. :) --Ellie
It's that early morning time again, but Katie has moved from the Wafflemania and ended up at Prospect Roasters. The girl sits at the counter trying to ignore the people who keep bumping up against her as they try and order their coffees and breakfast. She looks tired, sleepy blue eyes, an elbow on the counter, head on her hand, while her other hand picks lazily at a country chicken salad croissant, popping small pieces lazily into her mouth as if she can't be bothered making the effort but has to or she'll go hungry. A large mug of coffee steams alongside her plate, currently untouched.
Entering Roasters, Vivian yawns widely and makes her way over to the counter, getting in line with the other patrons. It is soon her time to order and the blonde gets a black coffee and cinnamon roll. Stepping to the side while her order is processed, Vivian looks around the store briefly before her eyes settle on a certain someone and her face breaks into a grin. She raises a hand in greeting, "Oh, hey, Katie! Didn't see you there." She tilts her head to one side, eyeing the picked at food and the other woman's face, "You look a bit tired."
Blink blink, Katie's large blue eyes try to clear out the blur as she looks up to the voice speaking her name, breaking into a warm, friendly smile at the sight of Vivian. "Hey! A bit tired..", she admits, nodding agreement, ".. I usually sleep /so/ long, but the house feels empty and too quiet.", wrinkling her nose. "Rick has been away for a few days, I'm missing him.", she shrugs a little sheepishly.
"You look good though!" Katie smiles, lazily sitting up a bit straighter, dropping her hand away from her head, "Not /too/ sleepy. Maybe a little bit.", she grins, lifting a hand, placing the thumb and forefinger a tiny space apart to illustrate. "So what have you been doing?", she asks, as if there's some big secret to be told, the girl picking at her croissant, a small piece of chicken tossed into her mouth.
A sympathetic expression settles on Vivian's features as she nods. "Yeah, that must be rough. Sorry to hear your beau hasn't been around. He has at least called you, right?" Her expression turns sheepish and she shrugs, "Thanks. I'm usually up early. It's a relic of my time in service, I guess." She raises her coffee and cinnamon roll, "Just stopped by for a little breakfast of champions here. Sugar and caffeine. Mind if I join you, or would you prefer to enjoy your meal in peace without the crazy blonde chick pelting you with conversation?" Her lips twitch at the self- depreciating description.
"As if!" Katie chirps happily, reaching to catch your free hand, pulling you gently in toward the stool beside her. "I need /some/ conversation..", she chuckles, ".. the kitten doesn't speak much. Sometimes, but not much.", she adds with a cute little grin. "Rick hasn't called, he must be real busy. He went to New York for a case he's working on, but I can't even reach him.", a heavy shrug of her delicate shoulders, "I don't know. He's probably just busy.", though she has some obvious worry that it might be more than that.
Looking at the cinnamon roll, Katie looks around as if trying to hide an incoming secret, then softly tells you, "You should try the strawberry jelly donuts.. like, ohmygod! /So/ good! You might get plump though..", patting her own perfectly flat tummy, ".. you can never stop at just one.", she chuckles.
Another few chunks of her croissant pulled into her fingers and she pops that into her mouth to munch on. "It's weird, I can usually sleep right through until like, ten in the morning, but I was awake at four. I've been for a run already, watching the sunrise in the park, had two showers..", she shrugs. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
A rumbling chuckle spills forth from Vivian as she's pulled into a seat, setting down her coffee and cinnamon roll, "Well, I can't refuse that, can I?" She nods slowly, sipping at her coffee as the loss of contact with Rick is explained. She reaches over and pats you comfortingly on the shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. There's, what... a three hour time difference between there and here? And if it's as big a case as you're saying, he probably doesn't have much time for chatting." She smiles ruefully, "Though he -should- at least send you a voice mail or something. Give 'im an earful when he comes back." The blonde winks.
Trilling laughter bubbles up from the blonde as she looks down at the pastry in front of her, "Yeah, I probably should branch out my pastry selection. I just tried the cinnamon rolls and fell in love. I'll definitely try the jelly donut sometime, though." She does pat her stomach, "Though you're right about getting rolly-polly. I mean, I don't have a car so I walk or ride the bus everywhere and that uses a lot of calories, but still. Sort of why I went to the gym the other day. Need to find a place to work out, right?"
Her smile evens out and becomes sympathetic again. "I don't think its weird at all," she says, "I mean, you're missing your man and not able to get in contact with him. Naturally, you're worried and that sort of stress can play havoc with sleep patterns." She looks mildly confused, "Why two showers? One once you got up and another after the run?"
"Mmmhmm.." Katie mumbles around a mouthful of croissant, having gathered it up in both her small hands to take a bite much too big for her mouth, stuck munching it awkwardly for a moment, leaving the conversation hanging in the air. Her large blue eyes look at you apologetically, a sparkle of humor as if she wants to laugh about it, munch munch munch aaaaaaand swallow.
"Phew, that was a big bite..", she laughs, brushing a few strands of long, strawberry blond hair from her gaze. "I did, I had one when I woke and was going to do some things in the house, but I was like, let's go for a run, and when I got back I was all sweaty and stinky so..", lifting both her hands into an expressive, 'there you go!', shrug.
"I don't have a car either, I don't know how to drive..", reaching into the tight pocket of her jeans and wriggling out a drivers license that is entirely, one hundred percent, oh most certainly real, showing it to you before lifting a finger to her lips, "Shh!", a cheeky grin sneaking out as she pushes it back into her pocket.
"Rick let me try it once with his car, but I drove like ten feet and almost hit a parked car, so was like, nope! Not doing that!", she chuckles. Her chuckle softens into a wistful smile and she nods her agreement, "He should contact me with something, even like a pidgeon with a note tied to its leg..", she grins, ".. I'll tell him off when he comes back.", she nods. "And you should meet him. I think he'd like you."
Vivian's lips twitch in amusement again as she watches her companion struggle with the large bite of croissant. Grunting, the blonde nods her head, "Yeah, I get that. Getting all sweaty is not pleasant." A beat. "Well, getting all sweaty from -running- is not pleasant. There are ways of getting sweaty which decidedly are." She grins and winks.
Her eyebrows arch on being shown the driver's license. Her brows knit in mild concern, "I have to say I agree with Rick on this point. Have you ever seen the physics calculations on how much energy there is in a car? Even at low speed, there's a -ton- of damage that can be done." Still, her light admonishment doesn't last long before Vivian's all smiles again.
"I expect I'll meet him eventually anyway when you get your game rolling," she says beaming, "Even if he doesn't play, I'm sure he'll be around, right?" Vivian shrugs lightly, "But I sure wouldn't say no to meeting him before then. And, yes, he should've contacted you -somehow-. A pigeon is one way. Hell, signal fires ala Lord of the Rings would work." Another grin graces her features and she winks, "Though I suspect electronic devices are a little more practical."
Though the comment causes her normally pale, freckled cheeks to flush red, Katie nods eagerly in agreement with the idea of getting sweaty. "Like, for real! Pleasant and fun, sweaty that makes your toes curl and your belly tingle!", she laughs, touching a hand to her warm, red cheek. "That's naughty.", she chuckles.
"I've seen the Newton's laws of motion, but I never thought to tie them to the speed of a car..", a gentle nibble of her lower lip. "So you know about physics too? What /did/ you do in the army?", she asks curiously, crossing her legs comfortably, one on top of the other. "I wouldn't like to be in a car crash though, I've seen what happens.. I saw one when I was homeless, like, I had nothing else to do so I went to see what all the flashing lights and noise was about and like.. uch..", shaking her head, ".. they tried to hide the bodies, but I saw them.", a look if distaste upon her pretty features, not liking that memory.
Forgetting that for a moment, she picks up on your last comments. "Yeah! Like smoke signals or something..", she chuckles, ".. a phone works. Like, /my/ phone works.", then a faint pause, "Does my phone work?", quickly reaching into her pocket to wriggle out her phone, checking the screen, the signal, before nodding. "My phone works!".
At the counter, trying to avoid being bashed by people pushing in to make their orders, Katie and Vivian are sitting having a conversation that seems to be all over the spectrum, going from laughter to mischief, to serious to a little sad, to more laughter and then embarrassment.
Most people wouldn't even recognize that he has arrived, really, the tiny red headed frame of Dalvin still wearing that overly large hoodie of his that conceals most of his stature sneaks into the coffee shy with dreary, sleepy eyes and emitting a soft yawn as he does so. Moving inside, the tiny red head makes his way in a rather reserved fashion, towards the counter, while one hand digs into his pocket searchingly.
Vivian and Katie are sitting at the counter chatting. Vivian has a coffee and a cinnamon roll in front of her, while Katie has a half-eaten country chicken salad croissant and large mug of coffee.
The blonde smirks lightly and rolls her shoulders in a shrug, "Hey, I'm crude. I know it and just decide to own it. I -do- try to restrain myself when in public, though." She grins and winks at Katie.
"Oh, I was just an infantry grunt," Vivian replies, "Though I tested high for engineering on the exam. Thought about enlisting into the Corp of Engineers, but in the end just went for combat duty. But I've kept up with my studies, especially during the time I was a PMC." An impish smile tugs at the corners of her lips, "I'm more than just a pretty face."
Vivian does grimace at Katie's description of the accident. "Ugh, yeah. I can imagine that's not very pleasant. Best we avoid that topic, I think, if only for the sake of not spoiling breakfast." Of course, it doesn't appear she's very much disturbed as Vivian tears off a piece of her cinnamon roll and pops it in her mouth, watching as Katie manipulates her phone. Swallowing, she nods, "Always keep it charged. It's usually the first thing I do when I get back to my apartment... plug in my phone for charging."
While listening to Vivian, Katie finishes the last of her croissant, then gathers up her coffee, holding the mug in both her small hands and resting it on top of her thigh. "I keep things like that private..", she replies to Vivian, ".. especially now I'm with Rick, I don't want anyone else, and don't need to share what we're doing so.. um..", a big, happy shrug of her shoulders.
"Did you.. um..", Katie starts, trying to find the best way of asking, ".. have you.. been in a real combat?", the hint of wonder about how that combat went, if someone died at her hand, hanging in the air. But perhaps she gains a respite as Dalvin falls into her field of view, taking a second or two to place the face before giving a warm, friendly smile and lifting a hand to wriggle the fingers, trying to catch his attention. "Hello! We met in the gaming store.", she reminds him.
Looking back to Vivian, she makes a motion with her coffee mug in Dalvin's direction, "Have you met him? He seemed nice when we talked last time.", she smiles, attention back on Dalvin, "How are you? Are you having as much sleep as me?", she chuckles, the inference that she's not getting much either.
Those lips of his curl into a soft frown as Dalvin continues to dig into his pocket for a moment. Though as Katie gestures for him, he peeks towards her, his cheeks turning into a deep red color and he quietly nods his head for her. Then he steps out of the line to move towards the two girls. "Oh, um, I'm good." He offers softly. "Mostly just... Been working on school work, and now real work."
"Woah, I'm not asking, either," Vivian says, raising her hands in a warding gesture, though she is still smiling, "I have plenty of porn in my collection, I don't need to know what friends do between the sheets." Her lips pull up into a Cheshire smile and she winks, "Doesn't mean I won't tease you, though.
Katie's question, though, wipes the good humor from Vivian's features and her face falls to an expressionless mask. "Yes," she states flatly. Fortunately before things can get any more awkward, there is a distraction! Vivian looks over at Dalvin as Katie greets the man, a tight, somewhat forced smile appearing on her features.
"Sir," she says, nodding in acknowledgment before squinting at the redhead, brows furrowing. "Mmn, no, I don't -think- we met before. If we have I apologize." She extends a hand to the man, "Vivian Starr. Pleased to meet you, sir."
"Vivian might be joining my D&D game.." Katie reveals to Dalvin, ".. I have an attic with like a large table and miniatures and /so/ many books.. you can join if you like?", she suggests with a smile.
The response to her question hasn't been ignored, of course, Katie seems to have a good tie on peoples emotions and she turns her gaze to Vivian, pausing for a moment to let the moment settle, for whatever is flowing through Vivian to make her so expressionless to reside, if only somewhat, then she reaches over and lightly rests her hand upon the womans knee. "I didn't mean anything..", she says softly, ".. I shouldn't have asked. I..", she pauses, a curious tilt of her head, as if trying to puzzle how to explain it, ".. I wanted to share something with you, but maybe another time.", she nods. The girl couldn't feel anymore apologetic or understanding toward Vivian, it's in her posture, her tone, her her gaze..
"You look too old for school.", Katie says, changing her attention to Dalvin, "What are you learning? I'm guessing like..", looking him over for a second, ".. art.. or maybe acting.. are you going to be an actor?", she smiles.
At the first comment, while Dalvin approaches, regarding porn, his cheeks flare into a much deeper blush. Quietly, he peeks away from the girls shyly, looking towards the patrons of the cafe until Vivian speaks to him again. Turning back towards her, he loosely shakes his head. "Oh, um, no, I don't think so either." He offers softly, and reaches his hand out gingerly to accept the handshake. Gingerly, in this case, apparently having a double meaning as his grasp is faint and light. "Um, Dalvin. Dalving Marelsson."
As Katie mentions Vivian joining the D&D group though, his lips curl into a soft smile and he nods at her. "Oh, um, awesome. Do you have a character in mind?" He asks, and then peeks back at Katie. "Oh, -your- group." He accepts with a blush, and nods. "I... I've been preparing mentally for... Kameshi's thing... But, um, yes. I would love to." He accepts shyly. As she mentions his schooling though, he smiles softly and shrugs. "I'm going to school for computer science with a focus on web development."
Vivian's handshake is, in contrast, quite firm and her hands a bit rough and calloused; a worker's hands. She grins at the redhead, though there is still a somewhat forced quality to it, "Great! I usually can recall people fairly well. Good to know I'm not losing my touch, Mister Marelsson."
The short-haired blonde takes a moment to sip on her coffee, quieting down and letting the other two speak. Her eyes shift over to Katie and the blonde pauses before offering up a wry smile. "It's all right," she replies in a low voice, "Just... not something I talk about often. I understand you didn't mean anything by it." She does quirk a curious brow and nods as Katie mentions telling her something, but since it can wait, she turns her attention back to Dalvin.
"Nope, not yet," Vivian replies with a shrug, "Don't know the setting or what sort of other characters will be in the party. I'll go with something we need. Usually that tends to be Cleric." Her lopsided grin is more genuine now. She nods slowly. "Computer science and web development. Sounds good. Enjoying it so far?"
Lifting her coffee for a small drink, Katie keeps both small hands around her mug, large blue eyes gazing comfortably over the top until she's certain Vivian is alright, then she watches her and Dalvin chatting. "It's a normal D&D game, like, fantasy with all the classes and races..", she nods, ".. nothing /too/ weird. Adeline wants to be a Ranger, Rufus said he wants to play a Necromancer..", she chuckles, ".. I don't know about that. That's all so far.", she replies, lowering her mug back down to rest upon her thigh, still cradled in her hands.
"I bought my first computer like.. a month ago..?", Katie tells Dalvin, "I'm learning my way through but computer science sounds /really/ complicated. I know how to reach a website but not make one.", she chuckles. "You must be real smart. You're a redhead like me!", she grins, "Of course you're smart."
A soft smile follows back towards Vivian as Dalvin withdraws his hand, and then he shakes his head lightly. "Not losing your touch just yet, no." He mentions shyly, likely trying at a light tease. Though for the conversation about D&D, he considers the situation for a moment, and purses his lips.
"I actually have a really cool death domain cleric concept. A necromancer that sort of... Replicates the Priests of Rauthma from Diablo, but in this case, a follower of Kelemvor. Similar concept, using divine sort of necromancy from Kelemvor, to shut down those who would extend their life unnaturally." He explains softly, and then pauses. "But, since we have a cleric and a necromancer, I'll probably play a tanky barbarian character. Make him an ancestral guardian subclass, human with the tough feat... So he'll have a million hit points each level up."
As the girls discuss computer science with him though, his lips curl more and he finally claims a seat with the two of the. "If you need any pointers, I'd be glad to help you." He offers shyly to Katie. "I tutor at the college too, so it's not outside of the norm for me to help you learn something I know well already." He murmurs, and then he peeks back at Vivian and nods with a light smile. "I am, yeah. Already... Picking up work for it too. I've been hired to develop a website for someone. And... One person was talking about having me make... A different website, but I think they decided against that."
"Adeline and Rufus," Vivian says slowly, pursing her lips in thought, "Don't think I've met anyone by those names, either." She grins at Katie and shrugs absently, "I know you said it's classic high fantasy, but what sort of other setting details are there?" Her lips twist in amusement as she looks at Dalvin, "I was thinking maybe a wizard, honestly. The idea of slinging around spells by sheer force of will tickles me to no end. I mean, it's just so -ridiculous- that it's fun." Her shoulders roll in another shrug, "So if you want to roll with a Cleric, I'll happily give it up." She sighs exaggeratedly, shaking her head, "No one ever wants to be the Cleric."
Her eyebrows do arch in mild surprise as Katie reveals her complete newbie status with computers. "Huh. Well, I guess that sort of makes sense with your background and all," she says absently, "It's not like Bobbi had one before really recently either, so..." Vivian takes the opportunity to rip off another piece of cinnamon roll and devour it. "Computer science is a lot of math and logic, really," Vivian states, "Not that I've studied it extensively, but I know enough to be dangerous. I know a bit of multidimsional calculus and linear algebra, but not all that much."
Vivian flashes a bright smile at Dalvin and gives the nervous young man a thumbs up, "Hey, that's great! Already getting work." A pause. "Is it for that terrible laundromat in that run-down strip mall?"
"Oh, you'll like them.." Katie replies to Vivian, ".. Adeline is /so/ sweet.. like, sometimes over emotional, but nice.", she nods, "I only met Rufus once with Adeline so I don't know if he'll come.". Looking more seriously at Vivian, she gives her a thin smile as she adds, "You remember I said I don't really have friends? I'm like.. I'm being hopeful that I can start a game. Maybe it'll work out.", she shrugs, not sure it really will, it seems.
"So, the world is like..", pondering for a moment, trying to find something that might be similar, but gives up and continues, ".. it's like the real world, back in the middle ages, but with real magic and different races, that kind of thing. It's half real half fantasy.", she chuckles, then looks at Dalvin with her large blue eyes widening, "Wow! You really know the system!"
"I want to play a barbarian one day, like, a multi class of barbarian totem warrior, and a circle of the moon druid. It's like, you can change into a raging bear and then when it dies you can change into it again, and even then you've still got all your barbarian hitpoints. You're /so/ hard to kill!", she grins, swinging her legs back and fore happily, as she's too short for her feet to reach the floor.
Back to the real world, she nods to Dalvin, "That would be nice. I'd like to learn more, computers are /everywhere/. I /try/ and do accounts and things, Rick has me looking after his accounts, but then I end up playing Candy Crush.", she grins.
"Oh, um, I can play either... Really, it's fine either way." Dalvin murmurs towards Vivian, his lips curling into a soft smile as he settles himself into his seat more near the girls. "And.. Um, yeah that's kind of the whole thing with all of D&D. All of it's just... Fantastical. Barbarians are just... So angry they can't be killed. Rogues do a million points of damage, with sneak attack..." He muses softly, peeking back towards Katie and smiling softly at her. "I used to play, back at NYU." He offers, and then he peeks back towards Vivian again. "It's up to you. Which would you prefer to play?"
"Oh, um no. It's for a jewelry shop." He tells Vivian softly, granting her a soft smile. "Doctor Perlman owns it. A really nice lady. The other one was... A um..." He starts, and the blush deepens. "Someone was starting to ask me to make a porn site for them... But I think they decided otherwise." He does peek back at Katie with a smile, and nods his head. "Sure. You have my number, right? Just text or call whenever you want me to come help you learn."
Slipping into the coffee shop is yet another redhead. The world shifts and the planets align. Doom is coming. OR. Red just wants to pick up a coffee and it's pure coincidence. She's in a light hoodie and her hands stuffed into her pockets as she wanders over to the counter, waiting in line as she reaches up to pull out earbuds and stuff them into a pocket. Then a hand rises to muss her mane of red hair a bit more as if she could sense it was looking more tamed than she preferred.
Vivian, Katie, and Dalvin are sitting at the counter chatting. Vivian has a coffee and a half-destroyed cinnamon roll in front of her, while Katie has a half-eaten country chicken salad croissant and large mug of coffee.
The short haired blonde nods slowly at Katie before smiling reassuringly, "I'm sure you'll be able to pull up something." She pauses in thought, "Mm. There might be someone else I could invite if you don't mind. She's rather new to town as well, so might be looking to meet some new people. Plus, she's good with computers, so she'd probably be interested in chucking a few multisided dice."
A rumbling chuckle tumbles out of Vivian at Katie's description, "I was hoping for something a bit more specific, like cities and maybe a bit of history and such, but all right. Just generic fantasy is fine." She chuckles at Katie's enthusiastic gushing about Barbarians before turning her attention to Dalvin.
"Well, if you're fine with being a Cleric, I'll run with a wizard. Get the fireballs and chain lightening ready," Vivian states, reaching out a hand as if casting a spell before grinning impishly, "But the most useful spell is, of course, Grease. So many uses."
On the topic of websites, the blonde grunts and nods, "Yeah... I think I met Doctor Perlman. She organized a free party on the beach a few days back. Great barbecue." Her grin widens further as the shy redhead mentions the -other- website. "Aww, that's a pity. Porn is a bit of a hobby of mine."
"A hobby?" Katie squeaks in surprise at Vivian's final comment, leaning back into her seat as if she could see more of the woman that way. "I don't think I should ask..", she chuckles, but she does anyway, ".. you haven't like.. you didn't.. I mean, have you..?", she grins, a mischievous twinkle in her large blue eyes.
Hearing Dalvin's comment about NYU, Katie looks at him more seriously and asks, "Is it dangerous there?", a gentle bite on her lower lip, "New York.. like, could someone disappear and nobody would notice?". It's a weird question, but one Vivian might understand the reason behind. Shaking her head as if to clear it, she turns her gaze back to Vivian. "Oh! Um.. I haven't though about it that much. I was writing the story and didn't think of the rest of the world..", she chuckles, ".. I'll work on that.", she nods, not having realised she should be putting more effort into it than she originally thought. "I've never even played before.. like, I know how to play, but I never have.", a sheepish shrug of her shoulders.
"I still have your number..", she tells Dalvin, ".. I'll call you or text you or something, especially when I get stuck.", she grins, "You can be my tech support.", she chuckles. Watching the new redhead arrive, she gives the woman a polite and friendly smile as she nears, offering a soft, "Hello!", before turning back to her conversation.
"Who is your friend?", she asks of Vivian, "I met someone like that recently too, from out of town and good with computers. How weird would it be if it was the same person!", her large blue eyes widening, the anticipated amazement of what that would mean for the world! Not much of course, but she makes it look so amazing.
Waiting in that line and making her way to the register, Red makes an order and doles out some cash to pay for it. Lots of small bills she digs out of her back pocket. The change is tossed into the tips jar. With a bit of a sigh she heads over to wait by the barista, though there's a glance at the three at the bar. A faint curl of her lips forms at one of the topics of conversation at least. As she passes, Red murmurs quietly, "Rogues are the best." But she keeps moving instead of stopping for conversation.
The blush on Dalvin's cheeks grows as Vivian mentions porn being her hobby, and he shyly peeks away, shifting nervously in his seat a bit. "Um, yeah." He offers, peeking back at Vivian and shrugging a shoulder lightly. "I guess... Um, it just... Wasn't meant to be... Um, a thing."
"You can use a prebuilt world, Katie." He offers softly towards her, his attention shifting between the two girls. "You could even rework it to just use the world from Pathfinder, which seems easier. Gods, too, and tinker around with domains a little bit. Make it easier on yourself, and rename cities in your story to match with locations in Pathfinder. Or, homebrew something." With that suggestion made, he grins back at Vivian. "Only fireball. It's the only spell you'll ever need, and the solution to all of our problems ever." He says playfully, and the he peeks at Red as she murmurs quietly nearby. "Situationally."
"Oh, um... I mean, no more dangerous than Prospect, I suppose?" He offers back to Katie.
"Yeah," Vivian replies to Katie from where she sits with the woman and Dalvin at the counter, "There is surprisingly little to do in the military when one isn't training, performing maintenance, or fighting. You have to do something to eleviate the boredom. That's where I first got into DnD, actually; we had a little group where we played." She shrugs, "But not everyone could play at the same time all the time, so I looked into other avenues of entertainment. Porn just happened to be it." She grins impishly at the redheaded woman, winking, "What, did you think I was -in- porn? Ha! Like I'm attractive enough to pull that off. No one would pay for that."
The grin somewhat fades from Vivian's features as Katie asks about the safety of New York. Oh yes, she knows the reason behind that question, but she keeps tight lipped, instead just busying herself with the cinnamon roll and coffee. When the conversation switches back to DnD, the blonde lets out a trilling waterfall of laughter. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll do fine. I mean, that sort of thing isn't -required-, but fleshing out the world can certainly help with roleplaying." To the other question: "Her name's Vic. I met her at the laundromat. The really crappy one at the Fifth and Third strip mall." She tilts her head to one side, genuinely curious, "Is that the same person?"
When Red walks by and Katie acknowledges her, Vivian smiles at the woman and nods her head in greeting, chuckling at the statement. "Rogues can certainly be fun. Backstab is awesome." She nods in agreement with Dalvin, grunting once, "Yeah, there's no shame in using prebuilt setting blocks, or just tweaking a few. Having a little structure to work off of is fine." She smirks at Dalvin, "Tell that to the wizard who unleashed a fireball in a small, sealed corridor. Sure, it killed at the zombies... but also ate up all the oxygen. TPK."
Meandering in, Yakov yawns and stretches as he gets in line, looking like he could use some coffee, almost dozing off standing up several times. His shirt is partly tucked into his wasteband and inside out, his right pant leg is stuck above his calf, and his sunglasses are actually upside down on his face, but he seems oblivious to these issues. He is not alert enough to talk RPGs, not that he'd really know much about them, as he nears the front of the line.
"That's just a mean GM." Katie replies to Vivian with a flash of a grin, "Or one bored with being a GM.", she chuckles. "I'll have to go to the gaming store again, I don't have Pathfinder, but that sounds good..", she nods to Dalvin, ".. I'll see what else they have too."
Lifting her mug of coffee, she takes a small drink, realising it's started to cool so tilts the mug back and finishes the last. The mug is placed on the counter and she cheekily rubs the back of her hand across her lips. "Phew..", tilting her head as she looks at Vivian, "Sooo.. you only watched it? I don't do that..", she lies, ".. my computer doesn't let me.", trying to push down her grin but failing badly.
"Like, you shouldn't do it, but you are /so/ pretty, you could do it if you wanted. But you shouldn't.", she adds again. With a little wriggle of her bottom, she slides to the edge of the stool then drops down to her feet, happily swinging her arms back and fore at her sides. "I'm going to the firing range now. It was nice seeing you both again.", she smiles, looking from Vivian to Dalvin and back again, "We /so/ need to play, it'll be lots of fun even if I'm bad at it.", she chuckles.
Red just moves along and ends up just waiting a few moments for her cup of coffee. The woman unzips her hoodie and lets it drape open showing just a white t-shirt beneath before she slips into a seat, leaning back with a sigh as she cups the coffee in both hands. Her eyes seem focused on the steam rising from the liquid rather than the room around her as she shucks off her slip on Cons and squirms a bit to tuck her legs under her.
Whether or not Vivian is attractive enough to do porn... That's a conversation Dalvin doesn't touch on with a ten foot pole. Though his cheeks are certainly telling enough, being redder than the hair on his head in that deep, clear blush of his. That, or the subject itself is enough to have him shyly curling in on himself a bit. "Oh, um... I can... Help with that." He offers towards Katie, about her computer, and then seems to blush more for that. "I mean... If you want?" Yes, he'll help Katie watch porn...
"I just meant you can use the world of Pathfinder, if you like. And use the mechanics of D&D." He suggests back to Katie. "Just... An idea.
"He wasn't bored with being GM," Vivian states with a dismissive wave of her hand before grinning, "But he was a bit mean. Mean, but fair. He just always gave us enough rope to hang ourselves. Which we did often."
A rumbling chuckle tumbles from the blonde as sees the blush on Dalvin's face. "Yeah, I only watch it. I have quite a collection, y'know," Vivian eyes Katie with a mockingly suspicious expression, "You don't huh?" She pauses briefly to finish off her cinnamon roll and down a portion of her coffee before sighing in satisfaction. "Do you have parental controls enabled?" she asks of Katie, tilting her head, "'Cause those are pretty easy to get around."
Vivian smiles wryly, a faint red hue rising on her cheeks as she scratches one, "Well, thanks. That's nice of you to say, Katie." She flashes the other woman a wide grin, "And don't worry about not being good at shooting. It's a skill like any other. Practice and you'll get better eventually as long as you keep at it. See ya later, Katie!" Vivian gives a cheery wave and wiggle of her fingers.
Going back to her coffee, Vivian does a double-take at Yakov as the tall man enters, recognition arising on her face. She raises a hand in greeting, "Oh, hey there! You're..." she squints her eyes, brow furrowing in concentration, "... Mister Opheris or something? Right, you said to call you Jack! Sorry, hello Jack."
Reaching the front of the line, Yakov braces himself against the counter, and yawns again, "Quad... *yawn* ripple sprezzo." his tongue wagging as he tries to get a taste out of his mouth, "And one them Nut Teller and Bannaner Croy-saints." his drawl actually stronger than usual, "Oh, and four them jalepeno, steak, egg, cheese, tatoes and mushroom brakefast britos... iffen you please." fumbling around in his pockets for means to pay for his order.
Looking over as the pageboy haircut military girl greets him, Yakov blinks a few times, then seems to perk up a bit, "Hi... I... I'm sorry, brain's not workin... can' member yur name. Nice seein ya again. How ya bin?" moving to wait for his order and scratching the bit of stubble forming on his cheek. He definitely doesn't know Dalvin's name, seeing as their last meeting was confusing to them both, and if he ever met Katie, it probably was in another life or something. He hes glance to where he thought he saw Red, but maybe he was hallucinating that...
"I know, thanks for the idea.." Katie replies to Dalvin, touching a hand to his shoulder as she steps away from the counter, shifting around him and into the freedom of the room. "See you later, Vivian. It was /really/ good to talk to you again. Thanks for helping me wake up.", she chuckles, "Or was that the coffee?", she teases.
Taking a hop-skip closer, she quietly tells Vivian, "The woman I met was called Vic too! Spooky!", she grins, then steps back and twirls, a boop-de-boop coming from her pocket as she does. Pulling out her phone she looks at the received message and her eyes widen, "Oh! Kameshi has a superheroes game she wants to play.", she says, giving a little smile to Vivian and Davlin, before starting to type a response message as she makes her way toward the door.
Lifting an arm, she wriggles her fingers behind her, calling back a parting, "Bye!", as she goes, then the fingers return to tapping out a message.
A similar text appears for Dalvin, actually, and he withdraws his phone and peeks back at Katie, smiling softly and nodding at her. "Oh, um, see you later Katie." He murmurs softly, and then turns back to Vivian, left with only his blush as he is abandoned by Katie... To her. "Um, well..." He murmurs softly, shrugging a shoulder loosely. "I'm not here to judge. Whether you watch... Or... Whatever." He offers, blushing more fully.
"Really?" Vivian murmurs back to Katie, "Small world, ain't it?" Chuckling as the spirited young woman exits, Vivian drinks her coffee before Yakov sleepily acknowledges her.
"Vivian," she says with a smile, "We met a few days back at the gym. You offered a wrestling match if that rings a bell." She winks impishly at the man before shrugging, "Mostly the same. I need to head back to the gym with my records to get that discount and join. How about you?"
Dalvin earns a confused look, Vivian's brows furrowing. "Eh?" she asks, "Why would that be a judgable thing? Everyone watches porn! Hell, it goes back to the dawn of civilization. Every time there's a new information transmission medium, it first gets used by the military or commerce and then porn. Right from when the first words were spoken to the creation of writing systems and up through modern computing devices." She grins impishly, "You could say that the history of porn is the history of humanity."
His head rattling a bit, Yakov nods, "That's right... well cept I was talking more boxing than wrassling, but still." he gets his plate and drink, immediately taking a long gulp of the beverage without seeming too concerned with the heat, then saying, "You were gunna git yer proof of service papers together for the discount, right?" he hears the porn commentary, and ponders a moment, "That seems to stack up. Cave Painting, Higher-o-glyphics, Aphrodite Morpho, Galatea, Venus de Milo, Marilyn Monroe, Traci Lords, Pamela Anderson, and so on..."
he continued conversation about porn ensures that the blush on Dalvin's cheeks remains bright red, vibrant for all to see, and witness the shy response he provides to Vivian. "Oh I um..." He murmurs softly, stammering as he goes. "I didn't.. I just meant that.." He starts, his cheeks redder than his hair at this point. "You know... Yes. Everyone... Watches porn."
"Was it boxing?" Vivian asks, pursing her lips in thought before shrugging, "Eh, either way. Good to see you again." She nods several times, "That's right. I keep meaning to do it, but stuff just keeps getting in the way." Another broad grin expands on her features and she points fingerguns at the tall man. "Darn tootin'! Archaeologists have found ancient Egyptian porn. It's more... descriptive than purely visual, but it's still a use of communication technology to further the cause of porn."
The blonde smiles wryly at Davlin, "Well, 'everyone' is a bit of an exaggeration on my part. I mean, folks who are completely asexual likely don't watch it. Or, if they do, they probably skip the sex scenes and just are engrossed in the story." A beat. "And yes, some porn has story. Some studios specialize in that, actually. Porn with plot."
Nodding, Yakov smiles, "My brother showed me a few of them. There's actually sorta a fine line tween sleexy b-films and porn with plot, Roger Corman specializes in that kina stuff." he offers a hand to Dalvin, "Name's Yakov Opherman, but most folks just call me Jack." maybe trying to help the other guy out by steering the suject to formal introductions and such.
An unrelenting blush, it seems, Dalvin sweeping his gaze shyly between Vivian and Yakov as they discuss porn. His lips part as though to say something, and then close again, likely deciding better of it. Then his attention shifts towards Yakov at the introduction. "Oh, um. I'm Dalvin." He murmurs softly. "It's nice to meet you, Jack."
"Roger Corman specializes in making films on time and on budget," Vivian says with a snicker, "But the point you're making is sound." She looks about to say something else when there is a buzz from her pocket and the blonde pauses. She digs around in said pocket and produces a smartphone, peering at the screen and pursing her lips. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tappity-tap.
"Well, looks like I had better be going," the blonde says, slipping off her seat and quickly draining the remainder of her (now cold) coffee in a few quick gulps. She takes up her trash and flashes a bright smile to both men, "Very nice meeting you, Mister Marelsson. And seeing you again, Jack. Bye!" With a wiggle of her fingers, the blonde moves towards the exit, tossing her trash away in the appropriate receptacle in one smooth motion.
