calling_logs | I don't want somebody to love me... [open]

Who: Thomas and YOU!
What: a simple meal as Thomas and Margaery get used to one another
When: Post-exploration trip
Where:Carmichael's Deli, City of Tomorrow
Notes & Warnings: None so far! It's just song lyrics.

What's Thomas doing in the City of Tomorrow?

Looking over possible storefronts to purchase for what he's hoping will become Coiffure Cup's second location. That's why he's his laptop and a few printed out listings that he's checking off, circling, or X'ing out as he does his research on the various locations using some of the demographic information he was able to find.

Because the thing of it is, he really likes this place. Like... really likes it. Especially since he can come here without being unavailable to his brother much. But he doesn't have to deal with his sister's bullshit, or the small amount of bullshit that he actually minds from Harry, and hey, he might even be able to find an utterly out of this world Christmas present for the cranky beansprout.

But the thing of it is, if he's going to spend a decent amount of time here, he needs a local cashflow source and a local location to get his fix. Which means... a salon. And given how well his salon fusion has worked back in Chicago, he sees no problem with making a franchise of it.

Of course, all of the things around him make sense for someone working on this goal except, perhaps, for the black and white california king who's coiled up around his shoulders. Her name happens to be Margaery, you see, and she's something of a souvenir from his time on 'Demon' Island. For the moment, she's resting and soaking in his warmth happily enough, but there may be a few whispers in his ear as she notices a tiny detail or otherwise passes judgement on the various locations that he's looking through.

All in all, a rather relaxing afternoon, all things considered. But do feel free to interrupt...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thomas looks physically pained. Like this is actually hurting him. Like--

"Okay," he says before the agony can sink in any further, "what qualities of coffee do you like? Do you like a more bitter roast? Dark, light, medium? Columbian beans, Jamaican, Hawaiian? Floral and malty? Chocolatey and fruity?"

Steve couldn't look more lost if he tried. "Caffeine?" A pause and "I don't know anything about coffee." Obviously.

He breathed in deeeeeep and breathed out.

"All right, next time I head home, I'm bringing one of my sampler packs from the company I order from and we're trying a bunch of types."

He'd been aiming to try and make sure he offered coffee that Steve liked. Now he was going to have to do a bit more to accomplish that.

"...Total waste of time. If it's black and not loaded down with a bunch of other shit, I like it." He's so confused by this guy. In good ways mostly, but confused.

He crosses his arms and looks over at Steve. Margaery joins him.

"Have you ever done it?"

"Coffee tasting or had caramel chocolate whipped cream coffee? Because no to one and yes to the second."

"I said nothing about that second one," and he's very firm on this point. He's not talking about Starbucks. He's from Chicago, not Seattle.

He's talking about coffee.

"But if you haven't done the first one then you don't know if it'll be a waste of time."

He sighs, heavily. "I'll give it a shot for you, just don't have too many expectations. I'm not a refined guy."

"No one starts refined," he points out as he starts moving along the street again. They're almost to the second site.

"That's why they call it 'refined'. You have to get there."

He starts walking, and: "Yeah, sure, fine. You can refine me - or try - on coffee. You start messing with anything else, I'm going to complain."

"Oh no," he says with a shake of his head, still trotting along, "I'm not doing crap other than giving you the opportunity. You take a sip of each of 'em, pour em' all in a cup and decide you like that better, I won't say another word."

It's the opportunity. That's the important thing.

That? That gets a warm, sunny, sweet smile from Steve. "Okay, then it's a deal." Suddenly? He was interested and excited, not resisting it.

He just grunts in reply, but it's a pleased grunt. Honestly, he drank whatever the hell his assistant brought him most days, whether it was right or not. But it was the principle.

It didn't take a master detective to tell a few things about Steve. And given his upbringing, he'd figured out quite a few more. Just because he'd never 'played' the game didn't mean he couldn't do it. It took just as much skill to stay off the board as it did to function on it.

Then he was pointing.

"That's the other site. Way bigger, more renovation, but I don't think I'd ever have to move on that one. There's a maximum size to this kind of place that you don't want to violate, after all."

He moves on, conversationally and literally and attaches his attention on the new location. "...Let's check out the roof."

Blink.

"All right?"

Things he was not expecting to get asked: that. Things he doesn't really mind: also that.

He likes roofs.

He also likes Thomas.

Best combination. "How good at climbing are you? I can help."

He glances at the building.

"Good enough."

Especially since there was an up to code-looking fire escape that he could use.

"Just up to the roof?"

"You don't spend a lot of time on roofs? What kind of person are you?" Mock shock, but he nods, and then takes off. He'll even use the fire escape, though it's way more boring than using window ledges.

"I spend my time in buildings, not on them," he says but he starts to follow, glad that he's got a nice full tank in case he needs to use it. Without exerting himself, he's a great deal slower than Steve, but he's not in a rush. He'll get to the roof, one way or another. And Steve will almost certainly be there waiting for him when he gets there.

Nope, because while Steve could go bounding and climbing up, he's sticking close to Thomas. It's just rude not to. "Then you're missing out on half the fun of being somewhere with tall buildings." Even when eh was short and little. "Nothing beats a good view."

"And I can get a great view from inside those buildings too," he points out as he makes his way up to the top.

"Nah. You can get an okay view, in places, through glass." Not the same, Thomas. Not the same at all. "And you don't get any of the wind and air."

"You mean the thing that knocks you off buildings and the thing that comes with the thing that knocks you off buildings?"

But he's going up.

"I'm not gonna let you get blown off the building." He waits for Thomas to get onto the roof before he climbs up after him. "And it's not that dangerous, anyway, as long as you don't stand on the edge." Said the man standing on the edge.

"I didn't say I was gonna get knocked off," he said with a playfully pompous little shake of his head. "Though you look like you're aiming for it, trapeze man."

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