WHO: Sydney Sage Ivashkov and John Mitchell WHAT: A vampire and an ex-alchemist walked into a coffee shop… WHEN: Saturday WHERE: The Attic WARNINGS: TBD STATUS: Closed/Started in Gdocs, continued in comments
Coffee was the fuel that powered Sydney’s life. Without her coffee, her brain felt sluggish and useless. Her best ideas had always come when she had a cup of the delicious brown elixir in her hands, and today was no difference. On her second latte of the day, Sydney was sitting at a table in the corner of the local coffee shop, going over papers and papers of notes she’d made about Madison Valley and everything that was going on here.
None of it made any sense. So far as she could tell, there were no patterns, except for the fact that something…bigger always seemed to happen in the summer. And since they’d only been here four summers all together, she wasn’t sure if that was really statistically significant.
She sighed, turning to the coffee to help her through the frustration. She would figure something out. She had to. It was what she had been trained to do - fix things.
***
With Annie and Tom both gone, and Kate seemingly stuck as a small child, Mitchell had no one to leave Eve with. She was a baby again, just a couple weeks shy of her first birthday even though she’d been five just a few days earlier. He had her in a carrier seat, which she was almost too big for, and she was sound asleep.
“Do you mind if I put the baby down here and go to the counter to get myself a drink?” He drank tea because Annie made tea all the time. But Annie was gone, and he was going to consider switching to coffee instead. But taking the carrier to the counter and dealing with trying to carry it and his drink would be a hassle he’d just as soon avoid.
“She’s asleep, she won’t be any trouble.” And if anyone tried to do anything like take off with the kid, well, Mitchell could move faster than the average human. He wasn’t worried.
***
Sydney didn't hate babies. In fact, she missed Declan desperately even though she knew Adrian would be taking good care of him back home. It was shocking to her how a child who wasn't even biologically her own had insinuated himself so much into her life, but it was why it was.
“Certainly not,” she said, looking up at the man. There was something that struck her about him, something she couldn’t place. But she couldn’t figure it out.
“Go get your coffee, I’ll take care of her.”
***
“Thank you. I won’t be but a few minutes.” He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake leaving the baby with a stranger, but most people in town were trustworthy, At least for something like this. And he could get to her in a matter of seconds if he needed to. It was fine.
He went to the counter and ordered, somewhat distractedly because he kept looking back at Eve and the woman he’d left her with. With his coffee in hand, he made his way back over and sat down.
“Thank you. It can be tricky to try and juggle the carrier and the coffee.”
***
Sydney had started back on her work as the man had gone to get his coffee, once in a while rocking the little one as she seemed to like it. When he returned, she looked up at him again, again a little confused by the feeling she got off of him.
She didn't know what he was, but something was telling her that he wasn't completely human. Of course, it would be horribly rude to ask outright.
"How old is the little one?" She asked instead. "I have one at home who is two and a half."