I Love You A Latte § v.3 § Open & Accepting!

[senna_]

── ❝ 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐒 ──────────────────────────────────────

“winnie”__role. the apple cider__location. near pancake palace__mentions. --__tags. yeonmi

Winsley would be lying if she said she was excited to see the glossy drops of rain trickling down her window in the early morning. She liked the sound of it tapping against the glass at night, for it acted as a perfect natural version of white noise, but knowing she had to go out today, Winnie wasn’t looking forward to getting drenched. Her nose crinkled in response to the crackling thunder, which sounded the very moment she pulled back her curtains. It sent a vibration through the room, and from the other side of the room, the antique teapot that sat atop her small round table jingled. Winnie couldn’t back away from her plans – an old friend’s birthday was coming up and she needed to get a gift now in order for it to ship to her friend’s house on time. What happened to April showers bringing May flowers? It had rained most of May, too; it was almost so much so that the plants were having a hard time blooming.

Stepping away from the window, Winnie turned towards her closet to collect her clothes, grabbing hold of an oversized knit sweater, a shorter skirt, and knee-high socks that would fit snugly into her white rain boots. On a brighter note, just because it was rainy didn’t mean it was cold. She was envious of sweet Gracie, who was contently curled up in her blankets, blue eyes watching the rain roll down the window with intent. From the other side of her body, Winnie caught sight of the tiniest flick of the tip of her tail.

“You’ll have a busy day today,” she hummed to her cat in the classic high-pitched voice everyone used on their pets. Gracie turned her head momentarily to offer Winnie a blink, then returned her attention to the window. Smiling to herself while giving her head a gentle shake, Winnie left her cat in peace and left her bedroom to get prepped for the day. She had to accept the fact that her hair was going to frizz, and there was really no way of avoiding it, given how she had just recently chopped it short. Hats were one thing she could not pull off, regardless of how many times she tried. Every now and then she’d try one on with the hope that magically, her curse with headwear would be broken, but it failed her every time. And yet, Winnie knew she’d do it again in the near future.

Never having been an early morning breakfast girl, Winsley only treated herself to a glass of hot water before gathering up her trench raincoat and tall boots. By the time she walked into town, her body would be awake enough to have something small. Stepping outside into the hallway of her apartment, Winnie tucked her umbrella under her arm so that she could lock the door, then headed towards the elevator. Once on the main floor, she lingered in the front entrance, sticking her umbrella out of the space where the sliding doors had been just a second earlier. She cautiously cracked open her umbrella, sliding the top of it up until it clicked into place, then slipped outside, her shelter transferring from the roof to her umbrella.

Although the rain was rather miserable, Winnie had to appreciate the dewy smell that lingered in the air, its natural fragrance strong enough to block out the pollen she usually picked up on by now. Her apartment was only a street or two away from the main strip of activity that took place in Thistlewood. Thistlewood Mall was a bit further, typically a drive away, but seeing how the chances of it being open this early in the morning were pretty slim, she figured she’d stop by a local coffee shop and enjoy some time within that particular early-morning atmosphere cafes always seemed to run off of. Reaching into her bag, Winnie grabbed her phone so that she could check the hours of the cafes. Despite living here for almost a full two years now, she could never remember what opened when. She quickly glanced up to see where she was in proximity to the crosswalk when someone caught her eye. Or, well, something – a gorgeous trench coat that fit the young woman’s figure exquisitely. A grin coming to her lips, Winnie’s eyes shot back down to her phone screen and, tucking the umbrella handle between her arm and the side of her torso, quickly typed out a text to Yeonmi:

____ur not near pancake palace by chance, are u?

Obviously she knew the answer, she could see her friend right there. As soon as the crosswalk symbol lit up, indicating she could safely cross, Winnie practically trotted across the road, awkwardly jumping over a puddle that was a lot wider than she had taken it to be ahead of time. “Yeonmi!” she called out, unsure if her friend actually heard it, or if the wind had been too quick to sweep her voice away. “Hi!”

[Corgi Fox <3]

Yeonmi Lee § The Pumpkin Spice Latte
Location: Outside, heading towards The Pancake Palace
Tags: Winsley

As Yeonmi waited for her turn to cross the street, she took another glance down at her phone, one cheek slightly puffed out as she noticed that she hadn't yet gotten a text from Seojun. "Boo," she murmured to herself, then jokingly added, "No fun." She shook her head lightly with a shrug as she went to put her phone back into her pocket. In all seriousness, though...he must be pretty worn out, today. He pushes himself way too hard, sometimes, she thought to herself. She knew he liked to usually keep busy to keep his mind off of things, but she oftentimes worried about her "brother-by-choice". She didn't like when he'd stay in his shell too much, nor when he overworked himself - a bad habit that he had picked up whilst he was still a member of Starstruck. Of course, she also supposed that such a trait was common in the k-pop industry; after all, she, herself, had a tendency to fall prey to getting into that habit, and more than she'd like to admit, as well.
Just then, her train of thought was swiftly interrupted as she felt her phone buzz in her hand, again. Thinking it may be Seojun's response, her thin fingers promptly turned the screen to face her, once more. She immediately caught sight of the message's sender. Though it wasn't whom she had expected to message her, at the moment, it was another dear friend of hers - Winsley. A bright smile quickly formed on her red-painted lips as she proceeded to read the girl's message, and she quickly started to type out a response: "How funny - that's actually where I'm heading! How'd you kn-" But, alas, before she could finish typing out the text, a familiar voice faintly danced through the air - between LiSA's Headphone Actor playing through Yeonmi's Link Buds, and a gust of wind rushing by, it was hard to hear, but she could've sworn that the voice had perhaps called out her name. This caused her to quickly pull her earbuds out of her ears, and her dark violet eyes quickly darted up to spot Winsley hopping over a large puddle as she trotted across the very crosswalk that Yeonmi happened to be waiting at. Her eyes lit up as she waved, in response to her friend's greeting, excitedly responding, "Hey, Winnie! What a coincidence meeting you here!" She gestured to her phone as she continued, "I was actually just about to message you back! That's actually where I was headed to go grab some breakfast, if you wanted to come with?" She was always more than happy to spend some time with friends, and include them in her plans - after all, the more, the merrier, as she always said.

Ciela Bree Monet § The Hot Chocolate
Location: Home, then Victoria's Tea Palace
Tags: N/A

It had been a lovely morning for the brunette-haired girl - being the morning person she was, Ciela had woken up quite early. She just sat on her bed, a sketchbook on her lap - as per usual - and a pencil in the other. She drew a protrait of Cookie and Lapiz, whom were curled up in two overlapping little balls of fur - with Cookie resting slightly atop of Lapiz, respectively - asleep, next to her. She had decided, since she was up so early, that it wasn't such a bad idea to practice her artwork more. She decided to grab a mug of hot chocolate, whip up a quick serving of chocolate chip pancakes, and do just that, whilst listening to the rhythmic melody that the rain carefully orchestrated and danced to - accompanied by the rolling thunder's dramatic percussions, and the lightning's bright, animated flare - on that lovely day. After taking a final look at her finished creation, and seemingly satisfied with it, she nodded resolutely, a pleased smile on her face. Taking one last glance at the rain that was gently tapping against the window, she finally flipped her sketchbook shut. She placed it on her nightstand, then yawned and stretched before looking at the time: 7:05 AM. She needed to get ready for work. She groaned lightly as she finally got out of bed, taking one final glance at her sketchbook. Oh, how she wished she could stay in bed all day, snuggled up with the two pups whilst she drew and watched TV, listened to music, or even just sat back and could listen to the lovely rain. But, alas, her need for a paycheck was calling, and it reminded her that she, indeed, could not do that, today. Just the weekend, and then she'd have Monday through Wednesday off. Motivating herself further to just make it through those couple of days of work, she finished the last bite of her food, and the last couple of drinks of her cocoa, then reluctantly headed to her dresser. Hearing this, the little Corgi and Parti-Yorkie duo lifted their little heads, ears perked, and stared at the girl, simultaneously tilting their heads to the side out of curiosity. As she headed over to her closet, the little pups stood up, jumped off of the bed, and trotted after her, following like the little shadows they constantly loved to be. She smiled as she bent down to gently pat the puppies' heads, then proceeded to grab her work-appropriate clothes, choosing to go with an elegant-looking, yet warm and light, cream sweater dress, complete with caramel-colored tights, a pair of cream kitten heels, and some jewelry: a sterling silver and pearl earring and necklace set, complete with dainty, sparkling diamonds above the pearl pendant and earrings. They were a gift from her parents; so, despite the monetary value, the artistic girl valued and treasured these for the sentimental value, above all else. She then headed to the bathroom, where she took a somewhat long shower - about thirty-five minutes or so - then got dressed, dried and styled her hair into large, silky curls, and did her makeup. With that, she then went to her room, grabbed her purse and her phone, and went downstairs. She fed Cookie and Lapiz, and then headed out the door. She got into her car, and drove off to work. As soon as she arrived, several minutes early, she clocked in to work, greeted Michael and Aurelia - along with some of her coworkers that she had passed - and started getting the tea, watercress sandwiches, and various other little sandwiches, desserts, and finger foods together and ready for the day. It was 8:00 AM, and Victoria's Tea Palace was officially open for the day.

(ooc: Seojun & Nathaniel's last posts are on pg. 1! ^-^ )

[Unravel the Dreams]

Lily Navarro § The Soymilk Latte
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§ Bio | Outside, heading towards downtown | Tags: open, Mentions: None §

As Lily walked down the sidewalk, she held her hand out from under the protection of her navy-blue umbrella. Each drop of rain brought a cold prickle on her skin until her hand grew soaked and numb. Lily had no clue where she was going. She'd just felt restless inside and wanted to go out. Lily had always loved when it rained, as long as it didn't rain an excessive amount. When she was younger, she'd loved to watch the rain beat against the waves and how cozy her beach home felt. Her mom would pile blankets on the couch, her dad would make some yummy treats, and the three of them would read, watch TV, or play some games. Now, she loved listening to the rhythmic pound of the rain falling all around her, even if the memories it brought of her parents felt bittersweet.

And, anyway, water in any form was appreciated by Lily. It attracted her just like bees to flowers or... Or flies to those insect zappers, if her grandma was the one to come up with the analogy. "You're going to catch a cold out there," her grandmother had said as Lily had been tying the laces to her boots. Catch a cold, get eaten by a shark, washed away by a wave--She acted sometimes as if her son hadn't been the marine biologist. Though, to be fair, usually Grandma's concerns were either valid or said in jest, but the rain... The rain was a silent immune system killer in her mind. Bringer of colds and flus.

A brilliant, awfully close flash of lightning spread across the sky followed almost immediately by the loud crack of thunder. Lily jerked her hand back to her side and froze to stare up the patch of sky the lightning had been. Alright, so, maybe wandering around outside in a thunderstorm wasn't her greatest idea, which her grandmother had mentioned as well. Lily could give her that one.

Shaking excess water from her hand and wiping it against her shirt, Lily ducked her head and continued walking at a quicker pace instead of her slow amble. At least, she wasn't in the middle of nowhere. She'd just head to one of the shops or restaurants downtown and wait out the worst of the storm before returning home.

Novalie Hayes § The Strawberry Lemonade
―――――――――――――――――
§ Bio | Outside | Tags: open, Mentions: None §

Nova woke from her deep and peaceful sleep to a little attacker jumping on her face. Heart racing from the sudden weight on her, Nova jerked up. Her hands flailed around wildly, ready to fend of this attacker. Because she was half asleep enough to be confident in her abilities to fend off an attacker with a few halfhearted, unorganized slaps.

Instead of an attacker, a panicked mess of white fur fell onto her lap. Peony twisted her legs until she had righted herself, and she tilted her head to look at Nova. Her rosy colored eyes gleamed with judgement. As if Nova was entirely at fault for being spooked by a rabbit jumping her while she was asleep and "overreacting" to it. "Peony! Again? We've talked about this." They had, in fact, discussed this numerous times. Nova was not at the beck and call of Peony. Peony should not wake her up by leaping on her face just because she wanted food. Unfortunately, Peony had not accepted this yet. It could be because Nova didn't speak rabbit. Or it could also be that her rabbit was just stubbornness incarnate stuck in a little body.

"Give me a minute to wake up," Nova said. Her rabbit leaped off the bed. Nova brushed her hair from her face, blinked her eyes a couple times, and reached for the water on her bedside table.

Thump! With a gasp, Nova whipped her head up just in time to see her bunny beat the floor again with her hindlegs. "Don't give me an attitude!" Peony leaped away, flicking her feet at Nova. "I should be the one annoyed at you! You woke me up!" Nova crossed her arms. "Just for that, I shouldn't feed you." Arguing with a bunny was pointless, though. The truth was, Nova was most definitely at their beck and call.

With a sigh, she got up and poured her bunnies their morning pellets. As the pellets dropped into the bowl, and her bunnies made their mad dashes towards the food, a flash of light came through her curtains followed by a loud boom! Throwing the food on her dresser with a mental note to put it away later, Nova hurried to her window and tugged the curtain aside. A smile spread across her face at the steady, soothing taps the rain made as it hit her window. She let the curtain fall and then raced out her room and down the hall to her brother's, poking her head through the cracked door.

"Emery, it's raining hard," she said. "And it's the weekend."

Her brother pulled his blankets over his head. "No. Not today."

He said that, but Nova knew she already had him. He knew what came next. "Breakfast," she enticed. "Pancakes or pastries or..." The 'or' hung there uselessly as her useless brain tried to think of something else to add. They always got either pancakes or pastries. That was what she got for trying to shake it up. "...something else good."

Her brother stayed still under his covers, possibly weighing the positives with the negatives, as he always did. Either that, or he was just putting up a show like he did every time Nova wanted to get him out of bed in the morning. Her family was a whole bunch of melodramatics, down to the rabbits. Her brother finally popped his head from the covers. "Fine."

Nova grinned. "Be ready in 10 minutes." She went back to her room and rushed through getting dressed--just a simple long, blue t-shirt, leggings, and a jacket tied around her waist--and taking care of her bunnies. She then waited for her brother at the front doorway with their umbrella in hand.

Not that Nova was counting, but he was ready in 11 minutes, and she knew it was purposeful. He'd make a very good rabbit. "Alright, let's go. I'm not going easy on you this time," Nova warned, as she shoved open the door and unfurled the umbrella. She would shove her brother, pull the umbrella, tilt it just right so the gather droplets fell on him... Anything so that he got more soaked than her, and she got to pick where they ate that day.

"You're just trying to find an excuse for being easy to beat," Emery said, getting into the spirit of the competition. He ducked under the umbrella beside her and grabbed the handle, placing his hand just under hers, as the two of them set out to the downtown area.

[Furrydogs12]

Mei Lin
Age: 22 | Occupation: Mentor/ Tutor
As Seojun walked toward the counter, Mei Lin’s eyes drifted back toward the window, her thoughts blending with the quiet rhythm of the rain outside. She’d been hoping for a moment to enjoy her coffee in peace, but as her order was called, she glanced up, hearing the soft thud of a light bump from behind her.

Turning slightly, she noticed the guy she’d been standing behind—a bit taller than her, with an almost apologetic air about him. He immediately flustered, mumbling in a mix of Korean and English, which made her pause, a small, curious smile tugging at her lips. It wasn’t often she heard Korean spoken here. She figured he must be new to town, given how he stumbled over his words.

His apology was quick, and his flustered expression was kind of endearing. Mei Lin found herself giving him a small, reassuring smile. “No, it’s fine,” she said, waving away his embarrassment with a gentle tone.

When he explained that he had lost his keys and was now retracing his steps, she nodded in understanding. The slight look of frustration on his face was relatable—those small, annoying moments could always turn the day around. She glanced around, too, in case the keys had somehow been left on one of the counters or tucked into a corner.

“Hmm,” she said thoughtfully, scanning the area with a small frown. “I haven’t seen them anywhere.” Her eyes swept across the shop, lingering briefly near the door where people were coming in and out. “Maybe you left them near the door when you walked in?” She shrugged lightly. “It’s easy to overlook little things like that.”

His awkwardness seemed to deepen, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he checked his pockets again. Mei Lin, still standing just a little to the side, watched him with a soft amusement. It wasn’t often she got involved in these little hiccups of daily life, but something about his expression made her feel like he needed a bit of reassurance.

“I’m sure they’ll turn up,” she said with a small chuckle, her voice calm and gentle. “Maybe someone will notice them and turn them in. Or, you know, it’s one of those things that always shows up in the most random place later. You might find them in your jacket or something.”

A brief silence followed as he looked back toward the counter in mild exasperation. Mei Lin, always one for small gestures of kindness, felt a slight pull to offer something a bit more comforting. She gave him an understanding look, her smile returning. "It’s always those little moments that catch you off guard. But don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.”

She adjusted the handle of her own drink, holding her matcha latte with a little more attention now, but her gaze still rested on him. “If not,” she added, her tone light, “at least you’ve got your coffee, right?” She gave him a knowing look, a small quirk to her smile. The way he’d been scanning the shop, she could tell he was a little more focused on the frustration of his missing keys than anything else. Maybe a little distraction might help ease the tension.

[senna_]

── ❝ 𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐈 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 ──────────────────────────────────────

role. the cappuccino__location. downtown; outside__mentions. --__tags. lily

As expected, Rori’s alarm went off at five-thirty in the morning, his phone vibrating obnoxiously against the face of his bedside table in anticipation of the day. Groggy, Rori grumbled to himself, rolling onto his stomach to bury his face into his pillow for a quick second, before flipping onto his other side so that he could reach for his phone. The moment the sound from the device stopped, rumbling thunder took over. He didn’t have to go outside to know that it was pouring; the consistent drip drip drip coming from the eavestroughs was all he needed to hear. What a miserable day. He knew the team had been planning on travelling outside the town today to work on a gorgeous winery about half an hour from here, but bad weather meant bad drivers, and surely it would take longer than originally anticipated.

As if on cue, his phone turned off sleep mode, and almost instantly received a text message. Squinting his eyes to shield his gaze, Rori cautiously flicked on the lamp beside his bed, pausing for a few seconds to adjust to the heightened amount of light in the room, then opened his phone screen. Much to his surprise, it was a text message from his boss:

____Job’s off for the day, company asked to reschedule.

Rori simply blinked in return, a bit surprised that a rainy day like this would result in a complete day off work. A chain of thumbs-up reactions was sent in response to the message his boss sent into the work group chat, and he followed suit before tossing his phone onto his bed, eagerly flicking the switch on his lamp again to kill the light. Another hour or so of sleep certainly wouldn’t hurt.

When he awoke the second time, the rain only seemed like it was coming down more aggressively than before. Although his room wasn’t as dark as it had been at five-thirty in the morning, it was still pretty gloomy, and Rori yet again found himself struggling to adjust to the light that filled the room when he flicked on the lamp. There hadn’t been any follow-up messages sent within the time he had dozed back off, affirming that he did indeed have free agency for the day. That certainly wasn’t something Rori was rewarded with often. Unfortunately for him, he was a go-getter and knew that lazily spending the day in his rental unit wouldn’t do him any good. If he were to stay at the house, he at least needed a solid plan that required some sort of hands-on action.

Well… He glanced at the time on his phone’s lock screen once more, then removed himself from the comforts of his covers. A little stroll would be good, even though it was raining pretty hard out there. The more he dwelled on it, the more he found himself leaning in the direction of spending some time at the gym. Because of his busy work schedule, Rori didn’t often find the time to go, or at least not in the mornings. He decided on wearing shorts with a plain white shirt, but tossed on a tan corduroy button-up that would provide him with a bit more warmth in case it was chilly outside. Now that he was more awake, he wasted no time gathering his necessary belongings into his gym bag, then removed himself from the coziness of his home for the time being. Setting up his umbrella to shield him from the bullets of rain shooting down from those menacing grey clouds, he set off towards town.

One of the nice things about Rori’s rental unit was the location: it wasn’t even close to an exaggeration when saying he was a street over from downtown. He lived in a nice neighbourhood, a quiet one, and although the main room was a bit busy for a small town, it was still far quieter than when he lived back in London. This morning, the roads were practically empty. It seemed like it was going to be a lazy day for everyone. And yet, ironically enough, Rori was almost positive he recognized the woman under the navy blue umbrella, standing at the corner that he was currently walking up to. A soft, almost imperceptible smile played at the corners of his lips as he walked closer to her.

“Oh! Hey there,” Rori greeted her, his tone polite, but not completely into the I’m chatting with a total stranger stage. “Lily, right?” Of course it was, Rori remembered that almost right off the bat. There were a few little things about her that he had gotten acquainted with – one of the perks of aiding her grandmother, he supposed. “How’s everything going at the house?” It was a pretty sad topic of conversation to jump into, but it was safe. After all, he had been there enough times to have a pretty established layout of the house sketched out in his head. And that’s how he recognized her face.

[Corgi Fox <3]

Seojun Park § The Mocha
Location: Starbucks
Tags: Mei Lin

While Seojun still felt a bit embarrassed about the accidental run-in, he at least felt a bit relieved, seeing that the woman didn't seem upset, and in fact seemed not only friendly, but also rather understanding of his predicament. He nodded a bit as she responded, returning a small, polite smile as she assured him it was alright. If there was one thing he wanted to avoid, it was irritating or annoying someone. That, and it was admittedly also a relief that he wouldn't have to start his morning being "scolded", so to speak - or, rather, perhaps in better terms, being told off by someone; so, while it was certainly the least of his worries, at the moment, that slight issue not being a thing allowed him to loosen up, somewhat. Still, his frustration by not being able to track down his keys was certainly still evident. He was pulled away from his brief digression of thoughts, however, when the woman started to speak, yet again, explaining that she hadn't seen them around, anywhere. Upon hearing her suggestion of the possibility of him leaving them by the door, his gaze briefly turned towards the entrance, watching as someone else pulled the glass door open, walked in, then released it, allowing it to slowly swing shut, again - though, it seemed to get caught on something, resulting in it being just slightly left ajar, rather than closing all the way shut like it usually would. Though, he hadn't immediately noticed this minor and easily missed detail, as he had looked back over at the black-haired girl before it had even finished closing. "Yeah, I suppose that could be true," he agreed, wondering if he had perhaps accidentally dropped them on his way into the cozy little coffee shop. Thinking back, he had lightly and fluidly twirled his keys around his index finger - a bad habit that he had gotten into quite a while back - before sliding them into his pocket. Perhaps he hadn't noticed that he dropped them, some time in the process? A strange and rare occurrence for him, as he was usually quite observant, and typically would've noticed, right away, though it obviously wasn't impossible, with this situation being a perfect display of exhibit A.
Again, his attention was immediately pulled back to the woman as she suggested that they'd likely turn up somewhere eventually, reassurance laced throughout her tone, a small chuckle adding a bit of a more lighthearted atmosphere. "Hah...I suppose you're right," he conceded with a seemingly nonchalant shrug, then smiled a bit, adding, "Either way, whatever will be will be." After all, she was correct; oftentimes, silly little moments like this are oftentimes just a case of simple errors, and could easily be resolved, whether it be through the means of finding a misplaced item, or simply having it replaced. Worst case scenario, he takes a trip down to the locksmith, and gets his keys remade, he supposed. If that were the case, it can't be helped; an inconvenience, surely, but easily resolved, in the great scheme of things. Certainly not the end of the world, when it comes right down to the matter at hand. Truth be told, he sometimes needed to lighten up, a bit more, and not fret over the more miniscule things in life so much, anyway. It was a bad habit that he had picked up after his time in the music industry, and a habit that he really needed to get out of; though, it would take a bit of time, especially considering everything that had transpired in his life, in recent years. As the girl smiled and made mention of the fact that he'd at least have his coffee to look forward to, in spite of his missing keys, he chuckled. "Well, you've definitely got a point there. At least it was just the keys, and not my wallet; otherwise, I'd have neither to look forward to," he responded, a slightly joking tone in his last remark. Though, the keys could definitely be replaced and dealt with more easily than the wallet could, so he supposed that he could at least count his blessings there.
"Seojun!" one of the baristas suddenly called out as they placed his sandwich and coffee on the counter where customers were to retrieve their orders from. "Oh, speaking of which, there's my order," he mused with another light chuckle, and excused himself for a brief moment to pick the order up. He grabbed his beverage and his food, then returned. "Well, maybe some breakfast will jog my memory," he said, half jesting before taking a quick drink of his coffee. Adjusting the little white and green paper bag that conatined his sandwich, so that he cold hold both that, and his coffee, in one hand, he politely extended his hand to the girl. "I'm Seojun, by the way," he said; sure, the barista had already called his name out, so perhaps it was obvious. But he figured that properly introducing himself was more polite.

Nathaniel Jaxon O'Hara § The Vanilla Frappé
Location: Home, then The Tiny Mug
Tags: N/A

Riiiing! an alarm clock obnoxiously bellowed out at far too loud of a decibel. The lump under the pile of warm, cozy blankets and sheets jumped, obviously taken off guard by the abrupt noise, and nearly rolled off the bed and onto the floor. Nathan yawned and tiredly rubbed his eye as he extended a hand forward - as he was lying on his side, facing the direction the noise was coming from - and smacked the screeching oblong clock until he had finally shut it off. Cracking an eye open, he could see that it was 5:00 AM; he had just an hour to nab some breakfast, get showered, and get to work. Yes, it was the weekend, but he picked up a Saturday shift for a coworker to help them out. So he'd be there for about 5 hours - not that he minded, as that wasn't too bad of a shift, and he actually enjoyed his job at the little local coffee shop.
With his slight time constraint in mind, he grabbed a white hoodie, some black and white Vans, and some jeans, and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After he was finished, he he headed to the kitchen, where he made a quick plate of eggs and corned beef hash. His dog, Mocha, quickly and jauntily trotted her way into the kitchen, hoping for some scrap or morsel to fall into her clutches. The little Chocolate Lab/Golden Retriever mix puppy wagged her fluffy little tail and licked her chops as the aroma of eggs and bacon wafted through the air, causing her to drool a little. As Nathan was finishing up cooking his meal, he noticed the pup, who whined because of how desperately she wanted the meal. He took the food off the heat, and headed to her dog bowl with a small morsel of egg. He crouched down, and started petting Mocha. "Mornin' Mocha! How'd you sleep?" the Irish boy said cheerily, before getting her food, and scattering the egg around the food. He then rose back up to his feet, and ate his food while Mocha devored her food quickly.
After he was finished, he gathered his belongings, and headed over to The Tiny Mug.
When he got into work, he started prepping for customers. After a lot of cleaning, it was 8:00 AM, already; opening time, and customers started trickling their way in to the little coffee shop.

[Furrydogs12]

Mei Lin
Age: 22 | Occupation: Mentor/ Tutor
Mei watched as Seojun took a moment to reflect on his misplaced keys, his expression thoughtful but surprisingly calm. It was nice, she thought, to see someone not immediately getting frustrated over something so small, especially when it could easily set the tone for a bad day.

She couldn’t help but smile when he agreed with her suggestion about the keys possibly being left by the door. It wasn’t a stretch—he had been distracted, and it was just one of those little things that could easily happen to anyone.

Her smile grew a bit as he shrugged off the situation with a nonchalant attitude, and she felt a flicker of reassurance that maybe he wasn’t the type to sweat the small stuff. It was refreshing, really. “Yeah, sometimes you just have to let things go,” she said with a light, easy chuckle. “No use stressing over it. The keys will show up when they’re ready to.”

When he made his joke about the wallet, Mei laughed. “Yeah, for sure. I think losing the wallet would definitely be the *real* catastrophe.” She thought about it for a second—imagine losing all your cards, your ID, and whatever cash you might have had. Definitely worse than missing keys, for sure.

Then, as the barista called out his name, she was a bit surprised by how smoothly Seojun seemed to handle everything. He didn’t seem flustered by the small hiccups of his morning. That was a good thing, in her opinion. As he grabbed his order, she watched him return with the coffee and sandwich in hand. When he mentioned breakfast possibly helping jog his memory, she raised an eyebrow in playful skepticism. "If only food could fix everything, right?" she teased, but the lightness in her voice matched his.

She held her breath for a second when he introduced himself. Even though she had heard the barista call his name, it still felt like a nice, proper gesture. “Mei,” she replied, shaking his hand. "Nice to officially meet you, Seojun. Hope the sandwich does the trick," she added, a small grin tugging at her lips.

[iqtrash]

𝒯𝒽ℯ ℋℴ𝓃ℯ𝓎 𝒪𝒶𝓉 ℒ𝒶𝓉𝓉ℯ

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Eli Willows | Location: Home -> Starbucks | tags: open | mentions: Mei Len & Seojun

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Crack! Boom! The thunder made the young man jump, a slight tremble in his hands. There was no logical reason that storms made him nervous, but they did. Fears were like that, incredibly irrational. He leaned against the cool bathroom counter, closing his eyes. One of his Aunts had once told him to count to ten while taking deep breaths. It may not erase the irrational fears but it would steady his heart rate allowing him to finish getting dressed for the day. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. On his last exhale another crack of thunder shook the building. It didn’t startle him nearly as badly as he was no longer so focused on his skin care routine. That’s the thing about being raised by a single young woman, there was certain things that were instilled in you that never really left even when you leave home.

“You’re a grown man and it’s just a silly storm.” He muttered glaring at his own reflection in the mirror. He didn’t have work today but he still wanted to stop in and see how some of the arrangements he had suggested came together. Taking one more deep breath Eli finished applying his sunscreen as it was the final step of his morning routine. He had laid out his jeans and red flannel with a black T-shirt on his bed. Worrying his lip for just a moment he wondered if it would be too warm with the storm, but decided to keep the outfit he had already laid out. Once dressed he grabbed an umbrella. He locked up his apartment door, attaching his keys to the belt loop on his jeans. He glanced at the door across his way wondering momentarily about his new neighbor. She’d given him home made cookies the other week and seemed like a sweet woman. He sighed shaking his head slightly.

His walk out of the complex was quiet outside of the pitter patter of the storm outside. It was still early in the day, the flower shop still having some time before it would open, he made the decision to stop and get some coffee. Although cooking may be something he prided himself in he still struggled in making a good cup of coffee. He stepped out into the less than ideal weather, holding his umbrella high although with the breeze it only did so much.

This sucks. He sighed as he walked briskly through the streets to get to his destination. He pushed open the door to starbucks, grateful to be getting out of the storm. The soft jingle a warm greeting with the strong aroma of coffee. He passed a pair that looked familiar, Mei Lin and Seojun, he believed but he couldn’t be sure as he only gave them a brief glance.

He settled into the small line, looking over the menu. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. He let out his last deep breath just in time, as he stepped up to the counter.

“Hello. I’d love a honey oat latte please.” The lilt of his accent he could never seem to shake making him far more formal than intended. He gave a soft smile to the person ringing him up before going to wait for his usual beverage.

[Corgi Fox <3]

Seojun Park § The Mocha
Location: Starbucks
Tags: Mei Lin, Eli

He nodded softly at the girl's response, having to say that she was spot-on. It was definitely frustrating, for sure, though he shouldn't stress too much about the more miniscule and easily fixable things in life...after all, he had been through so much worse, before, as most everyone has - this was likd nothing, in the great scheme of things. And Seon...even worse, that one fateful day. All these years later, he still wasn't over it, even though Seon, Yeonmi, and all the others insisted and assured him the accident wasn't his fault. A pang of guilt throbbed at Seojun's chest as he tried to rip himself away from the thought. Why was he thinking of that, all of a sudden, anyway? Choosing to ignore it, his attention again returned to the girl, and he responded, "I suppose you're right about that, and if they don't, I'll just get new ones. It can't be helped, at that point." True, they were fairly expensive to replace, but after his time in the industry, suffice to say, he was more than well-off enough for it to be nothing to him. Not that he flaunted his wealth around, and in fact would prefer to not brag about it. Unlike Yeonmi, who was nothing short of a material girl that enjoyed living in luxury, he preferred to be more subtle about it. Sure, he had a nice home and nice things, but he isn't putting it out there and making it known to the world. He preferred a simpler lifestyle, and not making the headlines, anymore.
He let out another soft chuckle as she responded, bringing a quip of her own to the conversation. He added, "Oh, right? That would definitely be exponentially more frustrating. And I wish food had that ability, that would admittedly be nice." He had to admit, he was a bit surprised by how cooly and easily he was conversating with the girl - especially since they were just meeting. Sure, it was mostly just awkward small talk, but he was a very quiet, closed-off person, these days. It wasn't every day that he'd carry on a conversation like this beyond asking about the keys, thanking them, and then quickly continuing his search for them. However, she was just easy to talk to, for some reason. Or, perhaps it was because of her profession, and being able to help people with certain teachniques from said profession - obviously, not that he knew that, however.
As the girl introduced himself, he nodded with a smile. "Nice to meet you," he then responded after shaking her hand, chuckling as he continued, "Yeah, I'm hoping it will, for sure." That's a nice name, he thought to himself. It seemed quite fitting for the girl, somehow, though he couldn't quite pinpoint why, exactly. Perhaps because of her calm and collected demeanor? He quickly shrugged the thought off, however.
Just then, the bell on the door gently rung out, again, announcing the arrival of yet another customer. The individual entered the quaint Starbucks, walking up to the counter to place his order. As the door tried to close, it again was abruptly halted, and Seojun could've sworn he neard a gentle and familiar jingling, and his gaze wandered back over to the door. Sure enough, there were his keys, accompanied by a little puddle of rainwater that had trickled in, due to the door being ever-so-slightly ajar. Before he had a chance to go grab them, however, one of the baristas was already at the door with a mop, when she noticed the keys. She picked them up, and walked in his direction with a smile. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, earlier; by chance, are these yours?" she politely asked, holding the shiny new silver house key, and the key fob to his 2024 Ford Bronco. He nodded, relief washing over his expression as he responded, "Yes, those are mine - thank you." She cheerily nodded, "No problem," before handing them to him, and heading back over to the small puddle.
Getting a brief glance of the boy that had just entered moments ago, whom had curly, strawberry blonde hair, he recognized him - Eli was his name, if Seojun's memory had served correct - and offered a small, polite smile and nod as a brief greeting. He didn't know him very well, but from what he did know of the boy, he seemed pretty nice. Just then, another loud roll of thunder drummed throughout the town - even lightly shaking the ground slightly, causing the empty ceramic coffee mugs and plates for dine-in orders to gently rattle around a little - followed by a brilliant strike of lightning flashing across the sky. That storm's definitely not letting up any time soon, he thought to himself, hoping that he still had an umbrella in the trunk of his car. Not that he minded - he enjoyed the rain quite a bit, to be honest. But he also didn't want to get drenched, and understandably so. Taking a look, it also looked like the rain was picking up a bit more; a total downpour.

Nathaniel Jaxon O'Hara § The Vanilla Frappé
Location: Home, then The Tiny Mug
Tags: N/A

Riiiing! an alarm clock obnoxiously bellowed out at far too loud of a decibel. The lump under the pile of warm, cozy blankets and sheets jumped, obviously taken off guard by the abrupt noise, and nearly rolled off the bed and onto the floor. Nathan yawned and tiredly rubbed his eye as he extended a hand forward - as he was lying on his side, facing the direction the noise was coming from - and smacked the screeching oblong clock until he had finally shut it off. Cracking an eye open, he could see that it was 5:00 AM; he had just an hour to nab some breakfast, get showered, and get to work. Yes, it was the weekend, but he picked up a Saturday shift for a coworker to help them out. So he'd be there for about 5 hours - not that he minded, as that wasn't too bad of a shift, and he actually enjoyed his job at the little local coffee shop.
With his slight time constraint in mind, he grabbed a white hoodie, some black and white Vans, and some jeans, and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After he was finished, he he headed to the kitchen, where he made a quick plate of eggs and corned beef hash. His dog, Mocha, quickly and jauntily trotted her way into the kitchen, hoping for some scrap or morsel to fall into her clutches. The little Chocolate Lab/Golden Retriever mix puppy wagged her fluffy little tail and licked her chops as the aroma of eggs and bacon wafted through the air, causing her to drool a little. As Nathan was finishing up cooking his meal, he noticed the pup, who whined because of how desperately she wanted the meal. He took the food off the heat, and headed to her dog bowl with a small morsel of egg. He crouched down, and started petting Mocha. "Mornin' Mocha! How'd you sleep?" the Irish boy said cheerily, before getting her food, and scattering the egg around the food. He then rose back up to his feet, and ate his food while Mocha devored her food quickly.
After he was finished, he gathered his belongings, and headed over to The Tiny Mug.
When he got into work, he started prepping for customers. After a lot of cleaning, it was 8:00 AM, already; opening time, and customers started trickling their way in to the little coffee shop.

Seon Lee § The Chamomile Tea
Location: Home, then outside, heading to Barnes & Noble
Tags: N/A, Yeonmi (briefly)

Boom! Clap! A strong roll of thunder, which also lightly shook the home, followed by a brilliant strike of lightning, erupted. This resulted in Link's head shooting up, ears perked, his bright ice blue eyes scanning the area around him. Then, his eyes narrowed as he huffed out an annoyed sigh, yawned, and laid his head back on his paws as he tried to get back to sleep. Seon chuckled softly at the Husky's reaction; he was such an expressive dog, and his facial features sometimes made him appear almost humanlike. It was rather amusing to observe animals' traits and personalities, in his opinion - and it was always interesting to see how they'd behave and interact with each other, as well as with people.
Just then, three other flashes zipped into the room - one was Zelda, and the Golden Retriever/Chocolate Lab mix quickly retreated to Link, snuggling up beside him almost instinctively. She seemed to calm down almost instantly as Link lazily rested his head atop hers. Seon smiled warmly; the two had an inseparable bond, and between that and how their personalities oftentimes reminded him of the popular video game characters, he thought the name to be rather fitting. The other two, Yeonmi's dogs, were Coco, a Chocolate Yorkie, and Chanel, a black Scottish Terrier. They immediately both jumped into Seon's lap, shaking lightly. That was somewhat strange to him, as they typically weren't afraid of thunder or lightly. Still, considering how it was strong enough to shake the house a bit, he figured it was likely more because of that than it was the noise. He gently started petting the two pups, and scratching behind their delicate little ears. "You're alright, it's just from the thunder storm," he said, speakinh softly and reassuringly as the two gave his puppy dog eyes. He was honestly a little surprised, as Yeonmi hardly ever left her dogs at home. Though, he figured that perhaps she was going somewhere that didn't allow dogs. The two eventually started calming down as they gently nudged their heads into Seon's hands whilst he petted them.
He thought for a moment, then carefully picked the two dogs up, gently tucking them under his arm together. "Why don't we go out for a bit?" he asked, causing Yeonmi's two dogs to perk up and immediately start wagging their tails. Seon used his free hand to help push himself out of the chair, letting out a slight groan as a slight twinge of pain shot through his knee. This caused Link and Zelda to both look up at him with concern, ears perked. Letting out a harsh breath, he set the two dogs on the ground, and then walked over to the entryway, where 4 leashes hung on the end of the coat rack. He grabbed them, and called the four dogs over, who instantly came to him with no questions asked. He clipped one leash onto each dog, grabbed an umbrella, and headed out the door. While he was cleared to drive, he didn't really want to, at the moment. A little fresh air never hurt anyone, and he was encouraged to do more walking by his physical therapist, anyway. True, he still walked with a limp, and there were still times when it hurt and ached, but he had made a lot of improvement, so it least wasn't as noticeable, now - nor is it as obvious to someone at first glance.
He finally decided on Barnes & Noble, as it was within a decent walking distance for him, and also allowed pets inside. With that, he nodded, and guided the dogs in that direction. When he came to a traffic light, a thought occurred to him. He looped all of the dogs' leash handles around his wrist, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and texted Yeonmi: The dogs and I went out for a walk. We'll be at Barnes & Noble, if you want to join us, later. She always worried about him, so he tried to make sure he kept her up-to-date about where he was, especially if he was alone or just with the dogs. And, with that, he continued on his way with the k9 companions as soon as it was safe to do so.

[Unravel the Dreams]

Lily Navarro § The Soy Milk Latte
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§ Bio | Outside, heading towards downtown | Tags: Rori, Mentions: None §

Lily paused before crossing the street as she saw a figure head towards her. She needed a minute to place the guy through the rain and grayness, but, once he got close enough, she recognized him as the electrician her grandma had hired pretty quick. She'd interacted with him a few times since then, enough times that a genuine, even if small, smile appeared on her face as he greeted her. And she didn't really feel much dread at the prospect of a potential awkward interaction.

"Good morning. Yes, it's Lily," she said. She shifted her umbrella from one hand to the other, so she could see better without the handle being in her way."And Rori, right?" She knew his name. Even though she kept to herself a lot, she prided herself on being good at remembering names, but she felt the need to double check since he had asked about her name.

She nodded when he asked about the house. "The house is good," Lily replied. "Whatever you did to fix the outdoor light is working. This has been the longest time it's gone without blinking erratically." Lily kind of missed how their outdoor light would start blinking like an overcaffeinated firefly, but she also didn't miss the days when an explosion felt imminent. "My grandma keeps talking about how impossible it is to find a good, honest electrician." Her grandma also had talked about how hard it was to find a good-looking, hard-working young man with a whole lot of implication in her tone, but... Lily didn't... that didn't need to be shared. "She really appreciates your help."

Rori already knew that, probably. Grandma didn't keep her gratitude hidden, but it probably felt nice to hear it anyway, right? "Anyway, how about you? How are you doing, I mean. Not... how your house is, but..." Lily pressed her lips together to cut off her rambling before she made a fool of herself. This is what she got for being such a social recluse, and she had been doing so good too.

Novalie Hayes § The Strawberry Lemonade
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§ Bio | The Tiny Mug | Tags: Nathaniel, Mentions: None §

Nova lost, and now she was drenched. "You little cheater!" she screamed, chasing after her brother while rain poured down on her until she was so soaked she could barely feel the chilling rain. The wind blew Emery's laughter to her, and she watched the umbrella in his hands bob up and down.

"You didn't say rules applied!" Rem shouted back.

"I didn't think I'd need to say the rules applied. I thought you'd just know to follow them!" Rule number 5, or maybe 6--Nova couldn't remember. But one of those rules very clearly said no snatching the umbrella from the other person. They could pull at it, but they had to make sure both player's hands were on the umbrella.

"It's a boring rule anyway," Rem said, but he stopped and let her catch up to him. A huge grin spread across his face as he watched rivulets of water drip from her hair down her face. "This is more fun."

"Uh-huh, I bet it is." Nova tugged at a corner of her shirt and wrung water from it. She had to hold back her own grin as an idea came to her. "Alright, fine, baby brother, you win." Emery was already frowning at being called her baby brother, but he made a noise of protest when she lunged forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. The water on her instantly soaked into his clothes.

"Nova!"

"What? I'm just trying to give you a congratulatory hug."

Emery struggled against her, and she kept him trapped in her hug for a few more heartbeats before she released him. But not before messing his hair with her hand and making it stick up everywhere. His shirt was darkened with water now, and she laughed at the annoyance on his face, as well as the way he was trying to hide his own amused smile. "Okay, where do you want to go to eat?"

"The Tiny Mug," Emery replied. "Dessert for breakfast." She knew he was taking pity on her a little, since he usually chose to go to get pancakes.

"Alright, then, to the Tiny Mug we go," she said, throwing her arms around his shoulders. The walk was thankfully a short one, which was good because she was shivering by the time they made it to the door. Her hoodie, just as soaked as the rest of her, did nothing to help warm her up. She loved this game, but she also hated it so much. Especially since she had a cheater brother who won all the time... But only because she let him, of course.

When Nova stepped into the Tiny Mug, it finally sunk in that she was dripping water everywhere, and she finally realized that she should feel self-conscious. Sure, Nova and her brother usually walked into their chosen restaurant or cafe a little wet from the horsing around, but never this bad. Her drenched hair stuck to her cheek and forehead. Her clothes were making her more chilled than anything, and water was dripping onto the floor, creating a puddle quicker than she expected. She looked so much more like a mess than she usually did.

Good thing you brought a change of clothes, but...

Emery bounded over to claim a table by a window, leaving Nova to stand there awkwardly by herself. "Um..." She looked up at the person at the front counter and was both embarrassed and relieved when she saw a familiar face. Nathaniel. Well, he might never let her forget this, but at least he wouldn't get angry and snappy with her. "Heeey, Nathan." She pointed at the puddle forming at her feet. "So, I'm going to clean this up... Promise. Just as long as you don't kick me out or anything."