Who: Zayne Vandriel and Hannah Ryers What: Coffee and computers When: January 30, 2018 Where: Coffee shop
Zayne sat down on the couch in the coffee shop. He had a few more hours before the shopped closed. He ought to go home and get a nap. He was tired. He hadn’t been sleeping well either. He had been spending too much time to reading what he had been finding in those boxes. Remy was trying to find a system and Zayne was trying to learn everything he could about the people and the Faction.
He took a sip of his coffee and pulled out his laptop. He opened up his email and sighed softly. Why did he think for a moment that Dorothea would have replied? He opened up a new message window and began to write again. The same thing he had been writing for a while. He had another idea. He opened up instagram and made a new username - zvandriel. He hadn’t been on any social media in a long time. He searched for username. She had so many fans. She probably didn’t even look at this herself. He had to try this. It was stupid. He had to try it anyway. He added the name and replied to her last image; a picture of her at the Grammys. He wrote “Hi.” and that was it. That was enough. She would know the name. She would put it together. If she saw it.
He shut his laptop, feeling exhausted. This was foolish, wasn’t it? It was one of the few things he could do around here. He could help with the support groups. He could try to get outside help too. He slid his laptop back into his bag and stood up. Maybe he should go home for a bit. He started towards the door and saw Hannah. He felt bad how their last conversation went and he knew how the conversation with Remy went. He could try again. Naps could come later.
He walked over to Hannah and smiled softly, “So I’m trying to introduce rainbow chocolate chip cookies but it’s really hard to get rainbow chocolate chips. They are fast sellers but there are some left if you are interested.”
--
Hannah had only planned to stop into the coffee house briefly. She’d had a long day, and an even longer night ahead of her. Even though they’d gotten another techie, Hannah was still working her ass off. Part of her wondered if it was punishment for socializing the other day. Or maybe it was just because The Man was starting to realize how very unprepared they were for potential mutant revolution since that whole bonfire protest situation. Either way, Hannah needed caffeine to keep herself going and this was the best place to get it.
When Zayne approached her, Hannah was ready to turn and go, figuring he was going to ask her to leave anyway. When he mentioned cookies instead, she wasn’t sure how to respond. “Uh… okay?” This was weird.
--
Zayne inwardly winced. Okay. This second attempt wasn’t going any better. He smiled to her and tried again, “If you like cookies, that is. I can grab you one, on the house. Then you can tell everyone where you got an amazing rainbow cookie,” this wasn’t any better. He reached up and tugged on his hair, “Sorry. This is me trying to extend an olive branch because I feel like I made you uncomfortable before. And I’m pretty doing it again. If you want, I can just grab you whatever you came in for?”
---
Hannah furrowed her brow, watching Zayne as he spoke. She thought it was kind of nice that he was trying to make up for last time, but she was still wary about this. So she’d take it slow. “Coffee’s good. And… I wouldn’t turn down a cookie. Probably better than the food at the barracks.”
--
“Your usual?” Zayne asked. He waited for her answer before heading behind the counter, getting laughed at by one of the employees as he made her drink and grabbed a cookie. He took it back to Hannah and handed them to her.
“I’m a sucker for sweet things,” Zayne said, with a small smile and shake of his head, “I’d love to hire a full time baker and expand on the baked goods here but I don’t think that’s quite in the budget yet.”
---
Hannah followed, hanging out by the counter as he worked. She wasn’t really sure why the employee was laughing at him, but ignored it for now. Taking the coffee and the cookie, she already had money out to pay for them. She handed the cash to him and nodded. “That would probably be cool, I think people tend to like fresh baked things.”
--
Zayne shook his head when she offered him cash and said, “Call this I’m sorry for being awkward before? Coffee heals everything, right?” He held up his own large coffee. He’d probably get another one when the shop closed and he headed down to the basement. He would need it.
Maybe he needed to let it go. She probably didn’t want to be reminded of that. He didn’t want to keep reminding her of that. He tilted his head slightly and asked, “Let me know how the cookie is?”
---
Hannah frowned a little when he refused the money. “Are you sure? I know this place got hit pretty hard, I bet you could use all the cash you can get. I think I can afford coffee and a cookie, not like I spend money anywhere else anyway. Go on, take it.” She put it on the counter and didn’t take it back. “I bet the cookie is awesome.”
--
Zayne couldn’t argue that the cafe needed more money. He had put his own money into it, getting things back and together. He had also put his own money into the support group. He was going to keep both things running as long as he could. He smiled softly.
“Thank you,” Zayne said, “This place… it did lose someone great. I just hope I can do half as well,” he laughed softly, “I definitely didn’t come here expecting to learn how to run my own coffee shop.”
---
Hannah offered a faint smile and nodded in understanding. Getting caught up in this whole mutant radiation thing changes lives for a lot of people and brought them to places and things they never thought possible. Just because she had to work for them, it didn’t mean that she didn’t understand how people felt. “I bet you’ll do fine. You’ve got the heart for it, that’s got to count for a lot.”
--
Zayne tugged on his hair again and nodded, “I do like interacting with people. I always have. Besides coffee is this wonderful liquid of pure joy. We have to share it with everyone, don’t we?” Zayne smiled to show that he was teasing. Maybe it was because he never really drank coffee growing up made him love it so much now that he was older. Or maybe because it allowed him to pretend to be a morning person.
---
Hannah sipped her coffee and sighed happily. It really was wonderful liquid of pure joy. She smirked and looked around the shop. “Well, seems like people like this place, whether they like coffee or not you never can tell. It has a nice atmosphere though. So, yeah. Good luck with everything.”
--
Zayne liked making people happy and hearing that happy sigh, it made him happy. A lot of things weren’t like how he hoped or how he thought they would be but knowing that something as simple as coffee could make someone happy? It helped.
Zayne looked around the shop and nodded, “That’s what I’m hoping for. Plus with the support group…” He shrugged, “I’m sorry. I’m holding you up, aren’t I?”
---
Hannah nodded a little, listening to Zayne as he talked. “No, it’s cool, I’ve got a little time before I need to get back to the dungeon. How did the support group stuff go after I left? Did a lot of people find it helpful?” She was genuinely curious, not for any evil governmenty reasons. She just wanted to know if something good was happening around here somewhere, a little less doom and gloom was always a good thing, even if she wasn’t involved. --
“They did,” Zayne said, “Or at least it has been so far. We have had a few meetings since. Not everyone has returned and some new people have come but I think that’s enough. If it’s helping some, if it’s keeps us strong and, most importantly, it gives us hope.” he paused and saw that she still had her ID tag. Did she not go to the protest? Did she not agree with the protest? Or maybe she was afraid? He wouldn’t make judgments. He didn’t know enough, “You are still welcomed to come, even if you don’t think you need support. Sometimes just being there is enough.” He meant for others, to know they weren’t alone and they were all in this together.
---
Hannah just nodded a little but said nothing. She definitely needed and wanted the support. But she also didn’t want others to side-eye her because she still had her ID, or because she worked for the government, or just because they didn’t know her or trust her. She understood why they did those things, but it was hard not to take it personal. She’d been through too much shit in the past few years, she didn’t want to have to deal with judgement now because of it. She took another sip of her coffee. “You know, if I didn’t think it was a bad idea, this place would make a pretty cool internet cafe.”
--
Zayne looked around and nodded, “That would be a really cool idea.” He thought it was probably a bad idea because people had their phones and laptops now. They had the internet. They didn’t need to go anywhere for it but a place to socialize while interneting was interesting. Or something like that. He glanced to her, “Why do you think it’s a bad idea?”
---
Glancing around, Hannah shrugged, trying to stay casual but she wasn’t very good at it. “Don’t want to piss off The Man. They already resent us having internet access here anyway. You probably get blocks and shit all the time. Having an internet cafe, as innocent as it would be, I don’t think they’d like it. Then again, I have yet to see one thing people do that they do like.” Other than suffer and die. Wow, way to think morbidly, Hannah.
--
Zayne knew he was probably playing with fire a bit by trying to contact his sister. He was trying to keep it as innocent as he could. He definitely was trying to make it not a cry for help. Though today was risky. Maybe he should delete that Instagram account. Except now that he did it, he couldn’t delete it. What if Dorothea saw that one message? What was that was enough?
“I’m pretty sure I already piss them off,” Zayne said, “Not that I want to cause trouble but I’m sure burning my ID card didn’t exactly win points in my favour.” Having an internet cafe would just make things worse and that wasn’t the heat he needed to have on himself. Or by association, Remy. “No, you’re right. Even if they don’t like much of what we do, I don’t want to poke the beast too much, you know?”
---
Hannah just shrugged that off. “A lot of people burned their ID cards. They’re not thrilled about that, but they’re not on a manhunt either. So don’t stress too much. I agree with not poking the beast.” Hannah didn’t want to get in trouble. But she also hated seeing other people get in trouble. Sometimes she had nightmares about the things she saw happen on those damn monitors.
--
That was comforting to know. It was good to know they weren’t going to come after Remy for that. It was also interesting how much Hannah knew. It was no wonder Remy wanted to recruit her. Zayne was not going to bring that up, especially how it went after? He didn’t want to push Hannah away.
“Some poking is necessary,” Zayne said, “Otherwise we’ll never get change for anything. I was talking to someone at the protest and she didn’t seem to see the point of it because it was a hard road. Anything worth isn’t easy,” he was walking down the path he just thought that he shouldn’t, “I think keeping the coffee house as a social place works. Everyone needs to be social and if you are anything like me, there is a definite need for coffee,” he paused, “Though an internet cafe would probably bring all the computer techies in and I wouldn’t say no to one of those right now.”
---
Hannah didn’t necessarily disagree, but she was careful and when and where she shared her dissent. Sipping her coffee, she studied Zayne curiously. He seemed like a really nice guy. Too nice for this sort of place, it seemed. Arching a brow, she couldn’t help but be intrigued. “What do you need a techie for?”
--
Zayne hesitated and reached up and tugged on his hair again. Should he share? It wouldn’t hurt and it’s not like he was telling her who his sister was.
“I’m trying to get in touch with my sister. I don’t want to tell her where I am because I’m pretty sure that would make the government angry but I don’t want her to worry either. I just… miss her,” all that was true. He did miss Dorothea. And Florence and even Jefferson. He also had intentions to tell Dorothea what was going on but first he just needed to get in touch with her. “I’m not exactly sure what anyone can do to help, however.”
---
Hannah listened as Zayne spoke and nodded a little. She felt kind of bad, she honestly hadn’t thought of her family since she first went to prison. Then again, she’d been kind of preoccupied with little things like survival since then. But she understood, in a way, the wish to get into contact with family again, even if she’d kind of blocked that part of her life out. “Well, what have you tried so far? Not everything is blocked.”
--
“I have an old email account of hers that we used to email each other when we were younger,” Zayne said. He hesitated, “We weren’t talking before I came here so I doubt she’s looking at that email. I also just poked her on Instagram? But she gets a lot of comments there so I doubt she’ll see that either. That was just a stab in the dark.”
---
Hannah nodded, thinking about it. She could help him, easily, but if that backfired, they would both get into a lot of trouble. “Comment on photos, videos, memes, shit like that. Anywhere on social media that she’ll see. As long as it’s not like… something stupid like some anti-establishment meme. Cat photos, food videos, anything like that will go through the filter a little easier than direct contact. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
--
That was the problem. He didn’t know what she saw. He knew she was busy and he knew that a lot of the time her social media was handled by an assistant. Sometimes it was her. Or that’s how it used to be. Sometimes it was him and he remembered a few times fans would caught on that “Alistair is trolling Dorothea's accounts!” which they found funny.
He smiled to Hannah and nodded, “I’ll have to try that. If it’s too many things, will it be noticed? Or not just because it’s non-important things?”
---
“Anything in excess sends up a red flag. Try a few different things randomly. Different times of day, different types of accounts. Mix it up. If you don’t have any luck then, let me know.” Talking about this in public felt like a bad idea. But where else was she going to talk to him about it? It’s not like he could come back to the barracks with her, and if she went to any mutant’s house they would automatically be screened closer. She could hack his phone and let him know, but that felt kind of wrong, at least when it was a sensitive subject like family.
--
Zayne smiled to Hannah and said, “Thank you. That really helps. I really hope that’s enough.” He had to keep trying. If Dorothea replied, well, then he would have to figure out the next step but first he needed her attention and that seemed impossible.
---
Hannah nodded and offered a little smile. “Hopefully that will work. Good luck. I should probably get going though. Still got lots of work to do.” Hannah gave a little wave and turned to go. She made a mental note to keep an eye on Zayne’s internet usage to make sure nothing got flagged.
--
“Good luck at work,” Zayne said, “and thank you again.” He returned the wave and pulled out his phone. Still no response on anything on Instagram but now he had a plan. Plus he could tell Remy that he may have mended the bridge to Hannah a bit. Or maybe not because he didn’t want to scare her away. Either way, he felt positive.