Who: Blossom and Kate Bishop When: Recently Where: Cafe What: Random Encounter Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
So, Kate was starting up her Pro Bono self defense classes again, and she needed new students. Making a flyer was pretty easy, and then Kate headed around to all the coffee shops and bars and stuff, the kinds of places where people gather and look at the walls--when they’re not eating or drinking or chatting with their friends. Kate figured this was a great place to find new students for her self defense classes. And some of her self defense students hired her on for personal training, or came to the archery range for classes there, too. So this was a win-win situation. Everyone was better able to defend herself, and Kate got more students.
It was a cloudy day, looked like rain, so Kate thought she’d get a cup of coffee after pinning up her flyer to the community message board. She finished with the pins and then headed in the line to purchase her coffee before she’d head to the next place.
Blossom didn’t really have the time to get a part time job, she’d filled up her schedule with classes and extra studies, so it just wasn’t feasible to settle in another several hours of her day -unless she could figure out how to stop needing sleep. But some of her friends did work certain hours, and she occasionally managed to work out a time to actually talk to them about non-class related things.
But they still needed to work, and Blossom didn’t like looking like she was just hovering around like a spare part, so she’d buy a drink and then attempt to look like she was asking a work related question so that no one got into trouble. At least it wasn’t too busy and Blossom wouldn’t be holding things up. She was still thinking on what she could get when someone came up beside her, “Oh, you go on ahead first, I haven’t decided yet.”
Kate wasn’t exactly the type of person to let someone else go ahead of her in line--especially at a cafe where she was hoping for a big, huge, to-go cup of coffee. “Yeah?” She asked, sounding a little suspicious, a little surprised. “You sure?”
“Mmhmm.” Blossom just added a mega watt smile, something that was actually relatively easy for her, she tended to be fairly sunny in disposition. “I really have no idea what to get, so I’d just hold things up. And if you already know what you want, there’s nothing worse than an indecisive person in front of you humming and hawing.” Blossom pushed her hair over her shoulder, shrugging as if ‘what can you do’, while watching to see if her friend was finished doing the table clearing round -which she wasn’t so more procrastinating in line it seemed.
“I always get the same thing.” Kate said, almost apologetically. She shrugged one shoulder as she stepped forward, then ordered a plain coffee, large size, black, hot, yadda yadda. She pulled out her wallet to pay for it, and glanced back at the woman behind her again. “Did you decide?” Then Kate turned to the barista, “I’ll pay for whatever she’s having, too.”
“Oh, I’m--” so she was sort of sure she was getting a caramel something, mostly because she liked scooping the caramel off the sides, “Are you sure? I mean, that is so nice of you, but you really don’t need to.” Especially since all Blossom had done was let the other female go in front of her. “Can I just have a regular caramel latte?” Foamy, milky and sweet, Blossom was a big cheat when it came to coffee.
It tended to be more sugar than coffee.
“Yeah, sure,” Kate said, giving the other woman a slightly forced smile. “I’m here spreading good will, anyway, so…” She motioned to the stack of flyers she had in her hand. “And you were so nice and everything.” It was obvious that Kate wasn’t very good at this gratitude thing. She was awkward and clumsy.
The barista swiped her card and handed it back over. Kate didn’t have to sign anything.
“Oh? What’re you posting up for?” Blossom tended not to look at too many of the flyers in the coffee shops, mostly because she ended up wanting to go to all the things that they were advertising for. And it was just impossible to fit that in along with her classes, the volunteer things she helped out with and her studying. But Blossom was much better at the people person thing, less awkward, more sunshine and rainbows.
“Self defense classes.” Kate produced a flyer and offered it up to Blossom. “I run a pro-bono self defense class for women and teenage girls.” It was a cause that Kate was passionate about, mostly because it was something she’d suffered from in her past. “I believe that every girl, every woman, has the right to be safe. To not walk around in fear.”
“That is so good of you.” Blossom scanned over the flyer. “Maybe my sister and I could come?” Since hey, they might get super powers, they should totally be fight ready, self-defense was probably more Bubbles’ speed too. “My other sister does this stuff like… Professionally? I don’t know, it’s her job or whatever, but she’s way advanced for trying to keep up with. Classes could be good.”
Especially if Bubbles was going to date that vampire boy-man-person. Blossom figured she’d at least pitch it to her bubbly younger sis. “It’s so good that someone does these, especially around campus. Some people just need to know it.”
“It’d be an honor to have you and your sister in my class. And your other sister, too. I’d love to meet her. Does she teach Self Defense classes?” Kate asked, moving over to the part of the bar where the barista would pass over the other woman’s drink.
“And pro bono. I do these classes for free, man. It’s a good gig. People really appreciate it. I just hope that I’m passing along the right information to the right girls so they’ll get the most out of it.”
“Buttercup is an MMA fighter? She started going to training and stuff while we were in high school, she’s very good. But she trains super hard all the time, I don’t know what her schedule is like sometimes. But I will totally mention it to her.” But Bubbles might enjoy it for the ‘badass’ of it all, since they weren’t exactly brimming with super powers now, it was safe enough surely.
“I’m sure that they do appreciate it. All you hear on the television is of girls that are taken advantage of, and if they just know how to get a little bit of time, they could get away. I’m mostly positive you’re helping lots of people.”
“Thanks. That’s great. I’d love to pick her brain about how I can make my classes better.” Kate said. “I’m doing all this without a game plan. You know what I mean?” Kate lifted the coffee in her hands to sip from it, finding it piping hot, but not tongue-burningly so. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the coffee and sighing.
“Thanks. I like to think you’re right.” Kate gave the other a smile. “I should probably go post the rest of these flyers. My email’s on there. Let me know if you think of other places I can advertise.”
“Sure.” Blossom just nodded with a smile, figuring at least she could see what her sisters thought about things. Even if they weren’t entirely up for it, Blossom figured she could go, maybe mention it to some classmates.
“Thank you again, for the coffee. It was very nice of you.”