Safe and Sane

Memorial Day weekend meant that most people had three days off and intended to spend it either in sloth or trying to cross off as many things as they could from their "to do" list. The club was prepared for both cases.

They'd cleaned and restocked all the rooms, put up some new decorations and made sure everything was bright and shiny.

They'd also stocked up on burgers, dogs, and other picnic essentials and put grills and tables in the back parking lot. There was a threat of rain but if that happened, everything could be hauled indoors to one of the fire-safe play rooms. (Of course, that hadn't stopped some wit from putting an "in case of fire" sign on the inflatable kiddie pool.)

The main lounge had tables stocked with drinks and finger foods for those who didn't do meat or simply weren't the picnic type. Friday afternoon rolled around and everything was set.

Kitty all but stumbled into the club, somehow regstered a familiar face and crossed to the couch to flop across Jesse's lap. "Coffee?" She asked hopefully, turning her head to look up over her shoulder at him with wide eyes.

Devon took a deep breath the minute he got inside the door of the club and asked, "Who wants to be an ecoterrorist with me?"

It was Wednesday again, and the weather wasn't quite so pleasant as the week before and everything was slightly less bright. Almost as if to make up for it, some strange concoction with too much caffeine and way too much sugar was being served as the special for the day for anyone that dared try it.

All in all, it was the set up for a pretty good day.

There was a Thanksgiving theme at the cafe. Wicker cornucopias were on every table, pumpkins everywhere, pumpkin spice offered for lattes, pumpkin pie, muffins, cakes, pecan pie, lots of strong coffee. But the most obvious were the horrified looking cafe workers in their pilgrim costumes.

There were pumpkins. Mulled cider. Pie. Sweet, scary treats. Long suffering cafe employees dressed in costumes.

Kitty was in the garden, peering behind a shrub. She turned when she heard a noise, but her face fell a little when she saw another person. Then her smile brightened again an instant later.

"You haven't seen a ginger cat have you? About yae big," she indicated with her hands a small cat, but not a little kitten either. "Only he looked hurt."

The cafe had caved and gotten ice cream. 15 different flavors, cones, cups, and a dozen different toppings in addition to the normal drinks and muffins.

The windows and doors were open, the fans were going, and the music was playing.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. A little cloudy, but still warm, in the nineties outside. The air was on inside and there was, for some reason, a slip and slide and a little wading pool in the garden.


There was a little spread of food; salads, chips, pretzels, hot-dogs, hamburgers, chicken, constantly replenished.

Kitty had grabbed a copy of Colin's checklist like she'd promised, and was looking through to see about making sure she never accidentally tripped him down again. Even if the thought of him being down for her did make him squirm in all sorts of good ways.

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Worried that she'd been forcing him into a situation he didn't really want, even if by accident, she quickly picked up her phone and rushed off a text message to Colin:

Do you need to stop driving me around? - Kitty

Colin had on sunglasses, despite the fact that it was ass o'clock in the evening and the sun had long since set. Also he was inside. It didn't matter, it hid the fact that his eyes were closed and he was fast fucking asleep in an arm chair in the lounge.

Jesse came into the club, dropped to his knees in front of the couch. He flopped forward onto it, and crossed his arms over his head. "My God I need laid," he mumbled into the cushions. He looked up after a moment, with a slightly sheepish smile and said, "hello," to the person who was sitting there. It took that minute for him to realize there was anyone there.

Kitty tapped her foot while the phone rang. She wasn't nervous, or impatient, she just had a tendency to fidget. Come ooooon, Colin. The phone had rung a grand total of three times and she was already wandering where he was. OK, so maybe she was a little impatient. Or something.

It was a warm, cloudy day. The temperature hit 92 at noon and stayed around 85 into the early evening. There were cold drinks, hot drinks, but also, weirdly, a lot of chocolate.

A lot of chocolate. Chocolate biscuits, Chocolate cookies, cakes, lollypops, candies, dipped pretzels. Good chocolate too.

If asked the baristas rolled their eyes and explained "Over order"

It was a Monday evening.

And there was cake. A lot of cake. Some pizzas. Some music playing in one of the lounges.

It was just a nice, quiet evening.