2023.11.18 Coffee Shop Dreams
| Coffee Shop Dreams | |
|---|---|
| Art is inspired while drinking excessively sugary beverages | |
| IC Date | November 18, 2023 |
| IC Time | Afternoon |
| Players | Dasia, Iolanthe, Lyra |
| Location | Prospect Roasters |
| Spheres | Changeling, Mage |
It's still ripe in the day for business at Prospect Roasters... And indeed, the place IS packed. Nearly all of the seats are filled to capacity, save for the one in the back corner which is often left unbothered. And, seated there with a large cup of some sugary caffeinated drink, is Lyra. Dressed down compared to her usual. She sits on the edge of the booth seat, legs crossed, with a book in hand that looks to be nothing more than a shitty drug store romance novel.
There is nobody else around her... Whether by way of intimidation, or by majesty? That's hard to tell.
--- --- --- --- ---
ENTER DASIA, decked out in... Prada, today. Handbag, sleeveless turtleneck, stylish shorts that are short enough she'd probably be sent home for violating any school's dress code (like, it could be micro-skirt level short), with knee-high socks and a pair of high heeled booties. Mostly green and black, with the occasional splash of gold when there's metal. She arrives when the line is fairly short so it's quick to get through (how serendipitous), getting her own sugary abomination... it's hot chocolate but practically half of it is whipped cream. She does not fear diabetes, it seems.
She gets the beverage, smart phone in hand so she can scroll a bit while she wanders towards the only seat available, it seems. When she arrives, she gives a glance from her phone. "Is this seat open?" she inquires.
--- --- --- --- ---
The grandeur of the new arrival does nothing to distract Lyra from the pages of her book... Afterall, this close to the campus? Fashion students probably dress in more ostentatious outfits than even that!.. Ostentatious as it surely is. It is only when Dasia arrives near Lyra that the woman's silver eyes flit upwards from the pages of her book, and briefly glance around the rest of the room at large... She considers for a moment, letting out a soft sigh as she does.
"If you're averse to the patio, then I suppose it wouldn't be proper of me to tell you no. So please, go right ahead." The woman's voice is gently Welsh... Those slight consonants. The slight extensions.
"Of course, I have to ask that you 'do' keep to your own business. Though I expect by your dress that you may be the type to insist." She picks her book back up as she speaks, turning her attention back to its pages. The angle of her head suggests she IS still, if passively, acknowledging Dasia's presence however.
--- --- --- --- ---
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Dasia rolls Intelligence(2) + Gremayre(3) (5 dice) vs 9 for 2 successes.
1 3 +9 +9 9
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->
<OOC> Lyra says, "It is a symbol you've seen in old lore. Heard about. It's a sigil that looks suspiciously like a sigil that Lilinot tend to wear."
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Dasia presses her lips together, the corners quirking up in a little smirk despite herself. Not quite enough for the smile to reach her eyes, though. That leads to wrinkles. And wrinkles are the enemy.
"The patio would be fine, but you seem like much better company that the people mulling around out there at the moment," she replies, sliding into the booth. She takes a sip of her sugary monstrosity through the tiny little coffee straw - tiny, to minimize just how much it will mess up her lip gloss - and arches a thin, microbladed brow. "Would that I could keep to my own business without bothering you... but my business is finding beauty in the world and making art of it." She lifts her shoulders just a touch in a shrug. "It seems I've found some, now I have to sort out what kind of art to do."
--- --- --- --- ---
"And how does that business tend to pay?" Lyra asks, her silver eyes remaining glued to the book in hand rather than her interlocutor. "I'm not against you using me as inspiration if you must, but I would request that you not sell the piece when it's through. I have a 'thing' with my likeness being seen by people I can't directly interact with, you see." The woman could not, perhaps, seem any more disinterested than she presently does... Or at least, the book is holding her interest more than the proposal.
It might make for a good pose, potentially.
"What kind of art do you think you'll do tonight? Unless I'm mistaken, I don't seem to see a pad of paper or a tablet immediately on your person."
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"Well, I hadn't expected to find beauty in the coffee shop, so I didn't bother bringing any art supplies with me," Dasia replies. "And as to your first question, it pays... well... differently, depending," she says, vaguely. "If you would like to be compensated, I would be more than happy to gift you... a painting, or a sculpture... whatever the muse ends up inspiring when the time comes," she says. "And of course, if you wish to keep the art from being sold, I have no problem keeping it in a private collection, that only those who truly appreciate the art might see it."
Or nobody, as the case may be.
"So you'd be interested in this tonight, then? Or is there another time you'd prefer?"
--- --- --- --- ---
"My mistake." Lyra replies, "I had thought you intended to sit right across from me and sketch on a piece of paper. Or, perhaps, pull out a canvas and set to painting. I'm not entirely interested in going any particular place for the purpose of art, I'm afraid... But the thought is flattering. Yes, I 'am' flattered." Still, her eyes are on her book. Still, the book is at this point intentionally kept as the subject of her interest.
"We've only just met, after all... And my wife and I have an agreement. No going off with strange women we've just met under the promise of being given art." Now, at last, those silver eyes flit up from the pages.
She's amused.
"Again, it's not that I'm not flattered. But neither of us know the other's name... And that's a crucial first step to any sort of business."
--- --- --- --- ---
Iolanthe is, like many people, inclined towards the consumption of both food AND beverages! And this place has both! A true hoard of riches! So, she has come inside to see what it is like. Admittedly, she doesn't really need to pay for food, as it is literally her job to cook for people, but it is nice to get some variety in life. So, here she is. She heads to the counter and very seriously scrutinizes everything on offer. Such variety! Some of these things she does not even understand. People invent new ways to adultrate coffee every day, it seems. How can anybody be expected to remember? But she does spot Lyra, and gives a little single finger wave.
--- --- --- --- ---
Lyra and Dasia are seated in the dark corner... A place out of immediate sight in the event that the place was busy. But as luck would have it, the combination of the lack of business and the significantly attention grabbing mien of Lyra make it easy to spot them. The same, perhaps, could be said for Iolanthe as the white haired woman looks away from her conversation to offer a fingerwave of her own right back. But of course, she doesn't stop there.
"Hey! Goodness me if it hasn't been a while... Why don't you come join us once you've got your fix?"
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"Mmm. A pity," Dasia says. "Or an opportunity, I suppose. If the only thing holding you back is an agreement with your wife... I'm sure something can be arranged." The corners of her lips quirking up in another micro-smirk. "Perhaps an anniversary gift, or something.
Ah, it's the name and mystery of it all. Or at least that's part of it. She takes another quick sip of her liquid diabetes. "Dasia. Dasia Ameen," she introduces, digging around in her handbag for... well.. something. "It isn't exactly a business card, but you can come by the Palace and see some of my earlier works..." She pulls out a menu/advertisement for Scheherazade's Palace and offers it to disinterested woman.
--- --- --- --- ---
Iolanthe gets her order... half coffee, half chocolate, a shot of orange syrup, a shot of gingerbread syrup, and a slice of carrot cake. She quickly moves over to the table, as invited. "It has! You need to drop into my little kingdom more often, we're doing dim sum this week!" As the chef, she essentially decides the menu, whatever anybody else may say. "And hello to you, too." She looks over Dasia, and smiles pleasantly. She likes getting to meet very INTERESTING people. And Dasia is definitely that!
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"I'll consider it." Lyra replies, her attention once again going back to the pages of her book... For just a long enough moment to mark the page, and set the thing down atop her bag in the seat beside her.
"Dim sum, mmm? That sounds wonderful. I'll have to make the time for it some time or another, but I've been 'very' busy with research and other academic pursuits. My trip to Prospect, as a matter of fact, is something of an oddity with regard to my schedule." She glances to Dasia, finally replying...
"Lyra Grey. I own and operate the Lady of the Lakes in Chula Vista, and spend 'far' too much time in Otay Lake." She does take the advertisement and, indeed, sets it within the binding of her book as a marker rather than in her bag.
"If I have the time, I'll consider giving the place a visit."
--- --- --- --- ---
Dasia inclines her head in a nod of acknowledgement, before giving a glance to the newcomer. That glance turns into a weird look, where she blink-blinks a few too many times before she gives another micro-smile with just the corners of her lips and another nod in greeting. "Mmm. Dasia," she introduces once more, just in case she didn't catch it the first time around.
--- --- --- --- ---
Iolanthe takes a seat after laying down her goodies. She holds her hands out to Dasia. "Iolanthe. I am the chef at the Murder of Crows." She turns to Lyra "Though I am still open to doing some moonlighting if you still need someone. The Murder is a nice place, but the clientele are very meat and chips, burger and a beer, so I am not making much traction with fancier food. And flipping burgers is definitely not something they need my presence to manage."
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"I'm not making much traction with fancy food either." Lyra admits, "The fancy food is only at the Lady because the chef insisted, you know... I would've been a fool after all to let Donny go with how good a cook he is. He's come around, though... Elevating the cheap recipes. It was what I had hoped would happen, and it's part of what put us on the map. Have you considered trying to do that with your simpler dishes? You'd be amazed, I expect, what can be accomplished at the same price point."
Business she knows, it would seem, is a good way to get Lyra's attention.
"Maybe you 'could' moonlight some time... I'm all for elevation of female owned establishments."
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Dasia extends her own hand to Iolanthe, palm down with her fingers curled just so, somehow extremely formal despite being in a booth in a local coffee shop. "Mmm. Meanwhile, the Palace stays within the realm of fancy food all the time," she says. Well. Fancy for the locals, at any rate. Proper middle eastern and vaguely associated cuisine.
--- --- --- --- ---
Iolanthe samples her cake carefully, but seems satisfied with the results. "It is a shame, I have so many things I want to experiment with, but nobody really in the demographic who would buy it. And I do not want the hassle of actually owning a business. I am sure you can understand that. People who are very creative often mess things up when they start a business because they don't have a brain that works that way. I am sure I could manage, but it would be endlessly tedious. I am all about the fine things, not boring work.!" She sips her drink then shivers. "Oh my! Is this even legal?" The stylized handshake is savored for a moment. "I think I need to visit this Palace. I have travelled, a lot. And I do love middle eastern food. Have you ever had a truly wonderful koshary? It's the food that built the Pyramids. Egyptian national dish of sorts, and has been for thousands of years. With good reason!"
--- --- --- --- ---
When the two start to speak about Middle Eastern food, Lyra's attention turns away from them again... She doesn't seem to mind, of course. She finally does take up her cup of coffee however, bringing the caffeinated sugary nightmare to her lips and taking a gracious draw.
"The way you make that work," Lyra starts, setting the cup down, "Is by occasionally offering new stuff as a free sample. Maybe add one thing to the menu and test it out... Have your servers up-sell it. If it doesn't hit, you take it off. Before you know it? You're the Cheesecake factory with thirteen active stations at once in the kitchen."
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Dasia arches a thin, micro-bladed brow at Iolanthe. "We have a fairly good koshary at the Palace," she says. "It's been some time since I was in Egypt, so I wouldn't know what to compare it to, but you're welcome to come by and give it a try." She lifts her sugary monstrosity of a drink and sips some more of it through the teeny coffee straw, all the better to minimize contact with her lip gloss. She glances to Lyra. "The trick to solving the tedium is to hire someone to deal with all the bullshit paperwork for you."
--- --- --- --- ---
"I shall talk to management about it," Iolanthe states. "They mostly let me go my own way. SO long as I keep feeding people, I get some experimenting room in the kitchen. But nobody really goes to a rock bar for a fine dining experience. Maybe I could get them to do theme nights. I'd love to get everyone to dress up and eat real oriental food. Or explore proper South American cuisine." She brightens, which is hard as she is always perky. "I shall visit the Palace then. Koshary is so very bad for you, but all the best foods are. It's all carbs. But oh my, such good carbs! I'll be good and have a glass of juice with it, to be healthy." More cake, more decidedly excessive noises of delight. "I am sure some people like paperwork... look, who did it? What genius though a carrot could be a cake? It's so wrong. and so very RIGHT!"
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Lyra nods... By now, she's picked her book back up from the table and opened it up again. Her focus is, again, on those pages as the other two talk of Koshary.
"I'll have to consider stopping by the next time I have a free evening. Goodness... I don't think I've had middle eastern food since my last trip to Palestine, as a matter of fact... Real hummus. Nothing quite like the stuff from the source. And the olive oil over there..? Utterly unreal." She nods mostly to herself, then adds...
"Theme nights sound like a good idea. And of course, keep tabs on what sells well and consider adding it to the main menu. You'll expand your clientele too."
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"Yes, well as mentioned, you are both more than welcome to come to the Palace to sample whatever you like from our menu," she says. "And if it's not *on* the menu, I'm sure there's someone there who knows how to make it, as long as it falls into the right area code." She lifts her shoulders in a shrug, as her phone chimes. She thumbs it on while taking another sip from her cup. "Ah. I hate to cut and run, but it seems I'm needed elsewhere." She starts to slide out of the booth. "Do be sure to bring your wife when you come by. Perhaps after, I won't count as someone too strange to offer you artwork, mmm?"
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Dasia rolls Perception(4) + Kenning(4) (8 dice) vs 8 for 5 successes.
4 5 7 +8 +8 +10 +10 +10
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->
<OOC> Dasia says, "OH SNAP"
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Iolanthe beams. "I will definitely come to the Palace. And it was wonderful to meet you. I would love to talk with you more. Exchange travel stories and so forth!" She then swigs down her drink with remarkable haste, and stuffs most of the cake in her mouth. "Itf too guh tuh eee sluhly!" She rises and bobs a curtsey. "See yuh buff agaun sunn!" And she is off. As chirpy and... peculiar as ever. It's not entirely sure if Iolanthe is on the same planet, sometimes. She does have some off habits.
