Who: Anna and Minato When: After this Where: UCI What: Coffee delivery Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Anna had to run all the way across campus and back again. She didn’t have much time before her class was supposed to start--only a number of minutes--and it was barely enough time to get back and forth, let alone time to stand in line and have drinks made. Well, just the one drink. But when Anna showed up to class with a big, fat brownie for her teacher, it seemed to smooth over the edges a bit. She didn’t get in trouble for being late, anyway.
Class went better than she’d expected. Anna finished her little coffee and tossed the cup in the recycling on her way out to her car. It’d warmed up a bit, and the sunshine felt good on her face and hair. Anna walked the last twenty feet or so with her eyes barely open, hands lifted to bask in the sunshine.
Minato hadn't planned on doing much of anything today, honestly, he had still been in his pajamas when he'd read Anna's message on the Network. The thought of her crying, well, it really did make Minato feel sad and so he decided to do something nice for her. He'd gone to the nearest coffee shop about twenty minutes before she said her class ended, and purchased a caramel macchiato frappuccino for her and a chai tea latte for himself.
The first time they'd met, he'd walked her to her car, and even though it'd been dark out she'd been parked under a street lamp so he'd caught a good look at what she'd been driving. So there he stood, leaned up against her car (actually hoping that it was really her car) with a coffee in each hand while he waited on her class to let out. He turned, catching sight of her exiting the building and watched her with a smile as she walked toward her car. "Surprise?" He stated once she got close enough, and he held out the coffee to her with a smile.
Anna looked up at the sound of the voice near the car, and squinted. Then she lifted a hand to block out the sun, and broke into a bright smile at the sight of Minato standing next to her car with an iced coffee. It was a confused smile, though, and she took a few more steps over. “Hi! What a nice surprise!” She said, tugging her backpack strap off her shoulder to unload the eight hundred pounds of books she always carried around. (Overstatement. The pack probably only weighed about forty pounds.)
“What are you doing here?” Anna asked, her cheeks going pink. “Did you come here to… to see me?” It was like she couldn’t believe that someone would do something so nice for her.
"I did come to see you, and to bring you a coffee." He offered her a smile, and lifted a shoulder. "I figured that even if you got one during your class it wouldn't be as good as what you had earlier." Of course, he didn't know how the coffee on campus was, but he'd had some pretty crappy coffee from small cafes.
"How was class?" He asked with a raised brow, and then he lifted up his own drink to take a small sip. It was good, although he didn't tend to drink a lot of tea but he thought it'd sounded good when he'd been there at the coffee shop.
Anna flushed. He’d come to see her. To deliver her a coffee. She was honored and flattered. Her smile went a little brighter, almost hurting her cheeks now as she stepped forward to accept the iced coffee cup from him. “Thank you for this.”
Reaching over to give him a one armed hug, she replied, “It was good, thank you.” (That wasn’t awkward. Anna was trying to show her appreciation with a backpack on, holding an iced coffee, and sort of tripping over herself.) “My professor loved the chocolate chip cookie! Now I’m gonna have to get my car cleaned.”
He returned the hug, disregarding the awkwardness of the situation. "Good, I'm glad." He replied with a small smile and a slight nod. "That's good, and that well, yeah I'd suggest you do it soon. Sour milk is a terrible smell to try and get rid of." He gave her an apologetic smile and the motioned to her back pack. "Do you have anywhere to be, or are you free to hang out for a little bit?"
And he wanted to hang out, too. Anna was a little baffled. She blushed even deeper, feeling her heart quicken at the words. “No, nowhere to be! I mean, I have to take the car in, and I have a night class later? But I don’t have anything else to do today. I was going to spend it studying at the library, but… well, I think the car is more important.” She paused. “Do you want to come with me? To um, get the car cleaned? I can’t imagine it would take that long.”
He could understand her train of thought on that one, if it were him he'd also want to get his car cleaned ASAP. "Sure, I don't mind going with you." It wasn't as if he had any plans to go anywhere or do anything this evening, so he had all the time in the world. "Should I go grab a towel or sit in the back seat?"
“I’ve got a towel in my trunk.” Anna beamed brightly, glad he wanted to come hang out. The majority of the coffee gunk was on the floor under the passenger seat. Actually, there didn’t seem to be much of anything on the seat itself, so Anna wasn’t too worried. “It looks like the mess is mostly on the floor, anyway.” She pulled the keys from her pocket and unlocked the thing using the fob. After putting her backpack in the backseat, she moved to the trunk to dig out the towel. “Here,” she offered it to him. “Thanks for… well, for keeping me sane. It was a pretty crazy awful morning.”
Minato took the offered towel, and then smiled brightly over at her. "It sounds like it was awful." Minato had had days like that himself. When nothing went right, and life, well it was a downright bitch sometimes.
"So yeah, anything that I could do to help? I'm more than happy to do." Minato shot Anna a smile over the roof of the car, and then moved to open the passenger side door. Putting the towel down, Minato slipped in and shut the door. "Alright, ready when you are." He gave her a grin again, and then buckled up.
Anna took a quick gulp from the coffee drink, and sighed happily. Then she bounced around the car and climbed into the driver's seat. She smiled at him again once she was inside. “I have really bad days after I have really bad dreams. Last night was a doozy. A repeat, but when I'm in it it feels so real.” She started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
“But it's over now and I'm better. I've got a coffee and I've got you.” She corrected herself quickly, “--to keep me company, I mean.” a tinge of pink broke out across her nose and cheekbones as she drove.
"Understandable." Minato agreed with a small nod. His dreams had only just begun, but he could understand how they could be stressful. His were stressful enough as it was, and brought back too many memories that he'd like buried. Minato cut his eyes over at her, a small smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. "Well, I'm glad that I'm able to keep you company." He truly was grateful that he could keep her company since he enjoyed hers so much.
Shifting slightly in his seat, Minato took a sip of his own drink and then let out a sigh. "Do you mind me asking what you dreamt last night?"
Anna could feel his eyes on her, but did her best to keep her own on the road. Last thing they wanted was to get in a crash! She felt warmth bubble up within her at the thought, and then her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“My heart was frozen by a blast from my sister's ice magic. I was dying and… and I thought the cure was true love's kiss. But the man I thought would kiss me… he didn't…” she cleared her throat. “It was all a lie.”
"Ah," Minato gave a small nod, he remembered her mentioning that one of the times that they'd talked about their dreams. "Well, he was a fool." Minato replied, turning to look at her fully. "Actually, I believe the word is asshole, but that's neither here nor there. I'm sorry." He reached over to place a gentle hand on her arm, "Does that happen often? Repeats of the dreams that is?"
Anna would have shrugged, trying to downplay it, but his hand on her arm felt warm and comforting. She could feel herself relax a little, the tightness in her shoulders fading just a bit. “Sometimes.” She answered. “I’ve Dreamed a lot. I mean, it’s been years now, I think, and… there’s only so much that I dream. It’s like, my Dreams end when it’s over--when the stuff with my sister’s power is over. Then I get bits and pieces again. Last night it was the bad part. The worst part.”
Minato slowly removed his hand, brows furrowing low over his eyes. "I see. Mine are, still sporadic, short sometimes even to the point where I'm not sure if I've dreamed at all." Minato lifted a shoulder, and then took a sip of his drink. "I could imagine that was the worst part." He knew all too well how much it sucked to be rejected by a person you cared about.
"But the brightside is, today is another day, and with enough coffee I think we'll be able to turn it around for the better."
"They're that much like the world we live in now?" Anna asked. "...yeah. I guess there might be trust issues there? I guess. I don't know. It really depends on how long it's been since I've dreamed the worst dream." It was weird for Anna to be so... somber. She had her moods, just like everyone else, but they came and went quickly, without warning, and normally the didn't last this long. The normally perky, happy, bubbly girl wasn't used to feeling so low. She wasn't really sure what to do with herself when things like this happened. It felt foreign to her not to have a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Not that she was stepping at the moment, but driving. A bounce in her drive? That didn't sound safe.
Thankfully, the full-service car wash wasn't far from the school, and Anna turned into its driveway to pull up to the window and purchase the deluxe package. The guy told them they could wait inside the lobby, where there was a cafe and a gift shop. Should take about half an hour for the shampooing of the seats and stuff.
Anna handed over the keys and climbed out of the car to lead the way inside. "Anyway, you’re right. Today is another day." she said, as she turned to him. "It's over now, and... I've got a new coffee. So that does make things better."
Shaking his head, Minato smiled softly. "No, they're not. It's just that they're so short it's strange." He couldn't really explain it. There was one time he'd merely dreamt about whispering his son's name in the dreams in an attempt to calm him down so the Kyuubi wouldn't break the seal. Again. "It makes sense that there would be. The trust issues that is, and I don't blame you for having them." Minato could also understand that. It was why most of his life he hadn't even entertained the idea of settling down with anyone until recently. It had a little to do with his age, but mostly it had to do with the fact that he was finally ready to move on.
It appeared, however, that fate wanted to do something else to him and set him back by making him dream about his ex as though they'd lived a life where he was in love and happy.
He exited the car, following behind Anna. He gave a smile to her, "Exactly, on all accounts." He hoped that he could make her day just a little brighter, even if it was something as simple as bringing her a cup of coffee. Finding a seat, Minato sat, and brought his own drink back up to his lips again for another sip.
Anna slowed her pace a little so he could catch up, and together they moved into the lobby of the car wash. While Minato found a table, Anna paid for the wash, chatting animatedly with the woman behind the register. Then she came back over to where he was sitting and sat down across from him. "I feel like I should be going to counseling." She admitted, smiling sheepishly. "So many of my issues come from my Dreams, and they sort of reinforce my life here. Like, I was sequestered in my Dreams for all of my childhood and formative years because of my sister's secret powers. And in my childhood here in Orange County, I had this weird, auto-immune disorder that no one could quite diagnose, so I practically lived in a bubble my whole childhood."
She sipped from her coffee cup. "Oh, yeah. I'm a mess." She probably should have considered how her words might affect anything brewing between them. She probably shouldn’t be talking up her crazy qualities to a guy she’d gone on a few dates with. But it was classic Anna to speak before thinking.
Minato listened carefully to what Anna was saying, not really affected by what she was saying except that he felt bad that she'd experience so much for someone of her age. "That's unfortunate that you had to go through that. Both here and in your dreams." He shifted slightly in his seat, stretching his legs out in front of him before crossing them at the ankles, "You're not a mess. You've just lived." He shrugged one shoulder, offering her a reassuring smile.
He liked her, enjoyed her company and didn't think any less of her or anything crazy for that matter when she blurted out things before thinking them through. Truthfully he thought it was rather adorable. "I think that everyone here might could use a bit of counseling. Especially with the dreams the way that they are." He glanced back over at her, and shook his head, "But personally? I think you're fine just the way you are, Anna."
Anna blushed deeply at his compliment. “Thank you very much, Kind Sir,” she said, and then gave him a warm smile. “To being crazy--but not the only one who’s crazy.” She said, lifting her coffee cup as if in a toast. Today wasn’t turning out to be such a bad day after all.