Blue Bottle Coffee Shop [Open to All]

[SageTavers]

She had always been of the mind that coffee was the elixir of the Gods themselves. So. She'd been making her rounds, trying out different coffee shops, with school out there wasn't much else to do. She had spent her afternoons at the library though ... or random coffee shops pouring over GED books. Yeah. She was planning on opting out of the rest of high school, and why not? It wasn't as if she was getting any kind of Social Interaction that would be deemed appropriate for high school students to get. She didn't understand how there were kids out there that decided when they got picked on, bullied and or thrown in the outcast position, that they should blow up the school, or shoot up their students.

Sage's reaction was to finish high school in a Summer instead of dealing with her senior year. Besides. This way. Maybe she could figure out what to do with her life. Seventeen was a shitty age. You felt pretty much helpless with everything, and even if you weren't most people treated you like you were five, but expected you to act like you were in your twenties. It was frustrating really. So that was why she was at the coffee shop that afternoon. She was taking up a rather large table to herself, she'd gotten a few dirty looks but considering she had her laptop off to her right, a note book in front of her with the GED prep book in front of that, and then to her left another note-book though this one with random doodles, though for doodles they were mighty impressive, she just couldn't get the eyes out of her head. The eyes of a killer and the eyes of the dead. There was a sketch pencil sitting on that notebook. She was multi-tasking, if she was reading she was sketching, if she was taking notes then she was going from the notebook of notes to the book, to the internet to double check answers.

She had headphones in, but only in one ear, the other was left out so she could hear her surroundings, even if she wasn't watching them as carefully as she should. She still didn't quite understand how deep things were. Dressed in a pair of shorts, and a tank top, she'd left her flip flops on the floor to manage to get her heels onto the chair with her, tapping the pencil at the moment to the beat of the music as she scrolled through the answer guide on the internet, making a bit of a face because it didn't match up with what she thought. It was going to be a long summer.

She occasionally glanced at her cell phone for messages, so sue her. She was a girl and she was worried about a boy. She'd been checking her phone every half an hour to an hour for what seemed like entirely too long now. At least she'd seen him, she knew he was alive, but how long would that remain? That was the problem. Didn't he say he could make the wrong move and die. Yeah. Those thoughts were very conducive to studying. She dropped her head back, looked at the ceiling, sighed, and unfolded from her seat to get her third cup of black coffee, and then headed back to her table to try and dive back in.

[Little Bit]

There were times that being seen wasn't a bad thing as other times. This was one of those better times. She'd just cleaned herself up some and had found some newer clothes that fit her better. Her hair was still a somewhat wild mess but at least she looked more like someone's kid who just managed to get away from them than a feral little street urchin. She had already picked a couple of pockets so she had some money and knew what it was for.

Food.

She clutched the money in her slender little hand and finally got up the nerve to go into the shop. The smells inside were so much better than the smells outside. She actually stopped once the doors closed behind her so she could take a deep breath in. It smelled like heaven. A flicker of a smile dusted across her face as her eyes opened. She put on a more confident air than she really had and fell into step with the other customers heading for the counter. She was initially shuffled around but then a kindly older man let her get in front of him and then even helped by lifting her up so she could order her food. She shoved her money into her pocket so she could have a hand free to point.

"The big one with sweet stuff. That one."

The older man chuckled and translated as if he had known Little Bit all his life. In reality, he was just someone's grandfather and was used to translating little people speak into adult speak. "I think that means the bear claw." He pointed at the largest of the pastries then looked to the little girl to see if he was right. "Right?" Little Bit gave a hearty nod. When asked what she wanted to drink with that, she frowned. She hadn't thought that far ahead. The man answered for her. "Give her a large milk, please." That earned him a Little Bit frown too. She wasn't going to spend her precious money on that! It was lumpy nasty stuff! But wait! He put her down and then fished out his own wallet to pay. "I'll get it for her." If he was paying for it, she could just leave it then. She didn't argue with the order at that point. She just turned a sunshiny smile up at the man. Maybe he had a second sight that let him see through her facade or maybe he was just a kindly old man. Little Bit was glad she hadn't taken his wallet when she had the chance.

She was handed a plate with the bear claw and the glass with the milk. She sniffed it suspiciously but then flashed a big smile to the man before tromping off to a table like everyone else did with their plates. She put it carefully on a table near a girl that had more stuff than food sprawled on a table. Little Bit climbed into her seat and waited for a couple of seconds before carefully ripping apart the bear claw and shoving a piece of it in her mouth.

While she chewed, she watched the other people in the shop. Her attention fell to the girl with the stuff that was at the next table. Little Bit craned her neck a little to see what the girl was doing. Or rather, at what stuff she had. After all, when the girl left all her stuff to go get something, that meant it was prime pickings. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, Little Bit didn't see anything she could trade for more food later so she didn't touch anything on the girls table. Instead, Little Bit shoved another piece of the bear claw into her mouth and contentedly chewed it up.

Her attention eventually fell to the glass of milk. It didn't look like milk she'd had before. It was whiter and there were no lumps. She used both hands on the large cup of milk and dragged it closer. To her surprise it smelled different than the milk she had before. It was sweet and actually smelled inviting. She decided to chance it and took a drink. Her eyes widened when she found that she really liked it! This was actually really really tasty and it wasn't lumpy! She drank almost half the glass before she put it down and studied it. She would have to remember this place. Milk that was cold and not lumpy was awesome!

[SageTavers]

Sage was one of those females that rarely carried a purse. Generally speaking cash, credit cards, and drivers license was stuffed into the front pocket of whatever she happened to be wearing. She did have a bag on the floor near her table though, but at the moment it was void of anything considering everything was laid out on the table. The kid could have stolen the laptop but she'd have to give up her Bear Claw, because it'd be undeniably hard for the kid to hide that.

One-head phone out. Observation. It was how her father had raised her. Always be aware of your surroundings. Even if she was lost in her own thoughts it was hard to miss a child walk into a coffee shop by them self, hard to miss an old man helping so generously. She had her head tilted only slightly to the side to listen to the interaction, a small smile curled at the corner of her lips when she heard the old man tell the cashier that he would get the items for her.

Faith in humanity restored. Well. Maybe not completely. She was still pretty certain that ninety percent of people were shit. Color her jaded. When the girl took up a seat at the table next to hers Sage couldn't help but let those light blue eyes flit in the direction of the girl. She couldn't have been more then seven or eight, she was small, and after glancing around the coffee shop she was certain here were no adults there to claim her. It had that ever present anger of Sages bubbling up to the surface almost immediately.

Who left a kid that young to fend for themselves? Even if it was for an hour or two at a coffee shop. Adults were absolutely ridiculous. Though she was sure if her parents could have gotten away with it, and not taken flack, considering who her father was they might have tried it. She sat in silence for a few minutes, at this point she'd lost interest in the GED book, the laptop, and the book that had notes in it, and was randomly drawing in the sketchpad.

Before she'd realized it she'd quickly sketched the profile of the young girl and she glanced down at the sketchpad leaning forward a bit. She could go idly by, ignore the kid like everyone else, and go on with her day, her life, never thinking twice about it again. Instead she was shifting lightly drumming her fingers against the table top to the sound of her music for a second, glanced at the girl eating the Bear Claw.

"Kind of a light weight no? When I was your age I could have eaten a Bear Claw and an Apple Fritter about the size of your head...usually out ate the adults."

She said it with a bit of a smile on those lips though. There was something about the way that little girl had drank that milk that had her a tiny bit boggled. Really? Had she just challenged a kid to a food challenge? She hadn't spent much time around them really. She was an only child and she was not in any way shape or form the type to babysit the neighbor kids.

[Little Bit]

Little Bit froze when she was spoken to by the girl that Little Bit had been watching. Her blue eyes swung toward the girl as blond brows climbed up her forehead. She didn't catch what the phrase light weight meant but she kept watching the older girl and kept listening. At the mention of the fritter, her little face turned so she could look at the food behind the counter. She didn't know which one a fritter was but she assumed it was big.

She shoved another piece of the claw into her mouth and chewed, thinking about what the older girl had said. After she swallowed, the little girl boasted, "I can eat anything." And she had as a matter of fact. Anything at all because when you got hungry, you ate anything you could get your hands on. She took another drink of her milk and this time almost drained it completely. "Adults waste food." And that was her life saver actually.

Her lips puckered up as she thought but she didn't say anything. Instead, she took another bite of the bear claw. It was very quickly disappearing from her plate. She hadn't had to buy it so she could use some of her ill-gotten gains for another one.

[SageTavers]

Sage watched as the little girl watched her. There was something calculating in her eyes as if she were trying to pick apart what Sage had said, and try and figure out the best response. When the girl state that she could eat anything, for whatever reason it had Sage smiling from ear to ear for just a moment before she shook her head. The kid had no idea but in Sage's head that was a complete, total, challenge. How fall had Sage fallen that a conversation with someone as little as her was amusing her?

Adults wasted food. It was an understatement really. "Adults, wasteful pains in the asses they are." As if she weren't an adult, though ... in Sage's mind she wasn't anywhere near adult status, even if to the girl she probably was. She was getting up rather suddenly and pointing to her stuff. "Make sure this doesn't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

She went right back to the counter, she had taken her mug of coffee with her so she could down the contents and then ask for a refill, before she pointed to the fritters and asked for two, she dug the cash out of her pocket to hand it over and told the cashier to keep the change, what little there was.. She managed to balance two of the plates in her hand while carrying the mug in her other and sunk back down in her chair a minute later. She reached over and set the fritter down in front of the girl.

"Prove it."

A bit backwards in her response to the girls comment about being able to eat anything. She tore into her own fritter and popped a piece into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a minute.

[Little Bit]

There was another instance of the little girl freezing. Who was this girl with the stuff all over? She looked like a grown up, all right but she didn't talk like one. And she was giving Little Bit a task? Guarding? Okay. So after the girl walked off, Little Bit took to staring dead on at anyone who walked by the table, a little growly sort of look on the young face that had to be laughable but nobody tried to touch the stuff so in her mind it worked.

She shoved the last of her bear claw into her mouth and washed it down with the last of her milk. Her tummy was happy full at that point but then a plate got put down in front of her with another round of food. Had to be the fritter that the girl had talked about. Prove it? Her lips pursed again. It was wasteful to eat two meals at one sitting but the girl was sitting down and now eating hers.

Challenge?

Oh yeah, it's on.

There was a quick little grin and then Little Bit grabbed a big bite of the fritter and dug right in, serious about finishing first since she'd caught on it was a race. Amazing how fast little people can make food gone, isn't it?

[SageTavers]

Sage recognized that it probably wasn't the best idea for the kid to eat a Bear Claw, chug a glass of milk, and then follow it by a fritter, which was why Sage had taken the bigger of the two BUT come on, the kid had enjoyed the Bear Claw entirely too much not to offer her a little something else.

She tore into her fritter with a little grin on her face and it had Sage picking at another piece of her fritter and popping it into her mouth.

"You know, in case you just can't do it ... I hear they have to go bags if you can't finish what you got there."

She popped another piece of Fritter in her mouth, giving the impression that she was going for gold, but she was eating smaller pieces at the moment.

"So kid, what's your name?"

[Little Bit]

Her tummy was going to be aching if she finished both but she wasn't thinking about that. She was just watching the other girl and gulping down the big bites of fritter that she was chewing up. Her face had big cheeks from the latest bite. Eyes drifting over to the girl when the girl talked about 'to go' bags. To her mind, a to go bag was a pocket. But the way the girl said it, it was different. Her eyes actually caught hold of another customer leaving with a bag. Now it made sense. They were going to eat the food later.

She took another few seconds to chew the latest big bit in her mouth before she finally swallowed. She almost took another drink of milk but the glass was empty. She stared into the glass for several seconds as if that might refill it but no go.

Without looking at the other girl, Little Bit answered the question. "Alice." She'd once heard a story about a girl that went down into a rabbit hole and she'd liked that. She always thought of herself as in a rabbit hole when she slid into the sewers. She always wondered if she would find the Red Queen or the jabberwocky down there. Her eyes slid over to the other girl with all the stuff. "I'm Alice."

[SageTavers]

She watched the girl as she watched the customer leave with the bag, and there was a little light almost and so she just leaned back in her seat just a bit. She watched as she picked up her glass of milk, starred into it, and then glanced behind her shoulder, the Cashier was watching the entire ordeal and all Sage did was give a bit of a nod and the man was coming out from behind the counter with a smaller but fresh glass of milk.

See. Even the Cashier knew that stomach couldn't take much more food and or liquid so the smaller glass was handed over.

"I'll take this."

He took the plate the Bear Claw had been on, and the empty glass before stopping by Sage's table to see if she needed anymore coffee yet. Seeing that she didn't he went back to doing the other aspects of his job. Sage turned her attention back to the girl who had said her name was Alice.

"S'a very nice name. Do you have a striped cat hiding somewhere?"

Come on, what human being didn't instantly think of Alice in Wonderland when they heard the name Alice?

"Well Alice I'm Sage."

She was itching, dying to ask the little girl where her parents were, wanted to do some extreme yelling at someone. Only because she had a lot of pent up anger and frustration she had yet to get out at the moment.

"Though...I'm pretty impressed with how much you ate, I was totally kidding, there was no way I could have eaten that much when I was your size. Very impressive."

[Little Bit]

She was not going to let him take the plate with the remains of the fritter on it and even swept a couple of crumbs from the bear claw onto her little fritter plate before the guy could make off with it. Her brows went up though when she saw there was more milk. After the guy was gone, she looked at the girl and then to the milk. She wasn't going to ask. Little Bit just took the glass and washed out the dry in her mouth with several gulps.

"No. I don't have a pet." She couldn't keep her own belly full so there was no way she could have a pet. And she'd taken the question far to literally. Her little head tipped slightly when the other girl named herself 'sage'. That was a different kind of name.

"I will eat the rest later. I won't waste it." Hell, if anyone tried to take it from her, she might just bite them. She meant what she said. She would eat it later. She almost smiled at the compliment but instead just lifted her arm. "You eat when you can eat." And as much as you could. That was a lesson she learned the hard way at the beginning. But she'd come through okay. She looked outside and gave a little frown. "I should go." And she got up, starting to fill up her pockets with the rest of the fritter.

What had startled her? Ooh, just the cop outside talking to someone.