InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Present your offerings."

Joanie Wicker | The Wicked Witch of the West (wickedwicker) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-07-16 11:46:00

Entry tags:

glinda, wicked witch

Who: Gabby and Joanie
What: A chance meeting
Where: Starbucks
When: Mid-morning, probably around 9:30 or 10
Warnings: Swearing, cattiness, rhaeg, and any other nonsense Joanie comes up with.

At Hot Wire, nobody even bothered to hide the pecking order. As the youngest there, Joanie was always immediately saddled with the unpleasant and mundane tasks. If something broke, she got to try and fix it before ending up drenched, pinched, or zapped and needing to call a professional. She was in charge of inventory, and ran the autoclave more times in a day than the other artists usually did in a week. Though it frustrated her, she was able to at least grasp why this was - everyone else had already paid her dues, and she still owed them.

So that was why she found herself on the street when she should have been working, making a beeline for the nearest Starbucks. Old Sol and Heather had gotten to work that morning craving coffee and muffins. After bonding over this strange coincidence, they turned to Joanie and placed their orders. Old Sol had given her the money to cover all three of them, leaving her to simply get the goods and bring them back.

Normally, she wouldn't have minded this as much. After all, she got to take a walk away from work, which was always nice, and she was still getting paid. Add that to the free coffee and muffin she was slated to get, and Joanie was looking at the sunny end of a sweet deal. But it was hot, and the heat always made things worse. Luckily, the bruises on her arms had faded enough to allow her to wear T-shirts again, though she still ghosted her face in makeup. It was the bruise over her nose that had stubbornly refused to leave completely, leading to a peachy coating over her nose and cheeks.

Entering the Starbucks, she tried to ignore the feeling of all those little pairs of bohemian eyes on her as she strutted towards the counter. She fit the bill for the sort of indie wanna-be that frequented these places: black shirt, dark jeans, dark hair worn down, and ridiculously pale skin. As she crossed the shop, she noticed that most people there actually fit that "type." Most of them had computers, though some of them had books, and there was even a guy with a scarf in this heat. She resisted the urge to walk up to him and punch him in the face.

As she approached the counter, she noticed that there was one person there that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. A giant mass of blonde hair stood in her way, seemingly existing for the sole purpose of being a road block on Joanie's quest for breakfast. With an irate sigh, Joanie cleared her throat and raised her voice slightly. "Uh, excuse me?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest. "Are you in the line, or not?"

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i_luv_shoes
2010-07-16 11:51 am UTC (link)

Gabby loved Starbucks. She loved coffee in general, but Starbucks always hit the spot - anyone who made the claim it was an evil corporation out to kill monkeys, babies, and children or what have you, yes, she'd nod and smile and let them rant. But she still enjoyed her double shot grande soy hazelnut vanilla cinnamon white mocha with extra white mocha and caramel latte, which she had already ordered.

Then of course some cranky person had to come along to poke her with a stick because she wasn't hunched in a corner with a laptop, writing emo poetry. "Well, considering this is the pick-up area and the friendly employee is taking orders over there - " She pointed. "That would be a no, I'm not in line to order."

Honestly, some people were just looking for an excuse to be stupid or quarrelsome - wait a minute. She did a double take, suddenly recognizing the girl. Flashbacks of freshman year English suddenly came back to haunt her.

"Joanie?!"

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wickedwicker
2010-07-16 12:01 pm UTC (link)

Of course she was in the wrong place. When had that ever changed? Rolling her eyes, Joanie dragged her fingers back through her hair, scalp whining at the force she used. "Right," she said, taking a step backwards. "My bad." Her voice was anything but apologetic, mixed with just the right amount of dismissal and disdain. It was the kind of voice that the Witch would have used, and at any other time the notion might have disturbed her. Instead, she focused on going to get her coffee.

Just as she was about to go find the "friendly employee" - since when did friendly people work in coffee shops? - Joanie heard something that stopped her dead in her tracks. Her name. Nobody knew her name. She was a nobody, a background extra that never made it into the credits. Instantly, she clenched. Who the hell would know her?

She turned, expression defensive and almost fearful as a hand shot to her hip where she had been keeping a hunting knife ever since the Russia trip. The rational part of her brain knew that she couldn't just pull a knife in the middle of a Starbucks, but the irrational part was happy just to feel its shape through the denim of her jeans. It made her feel safer just knowing it was there.

When her gaze locked on the blonde woman, however, all fear melted quickly into anger. "Gabby?" she hissed, eyes wide and full of disbelief. Suddenly, she was in college again. And she didn't like it. For a second, she couldn't even talk. Her mouth was open, but words weren't coming out. After a few moments of struggling, she managed a sentence. "It's been a while," she said finally, taking a step back.