Professor Ozpin is (greatnpowerful) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-08-28 16:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, nora valkyrie, ozpin |
Who: Nora Valkyrie & Professor Ozpin
When: Backdated to sometime in June
Where: Emerald City Cafe
What: Random meeting
Rating/Warnings: None?
Status: Complete when posted!
When it came to coffee houses open at all hours of the night, there were typically very few options to choose from. Around the colleges such places were a bit more common. Emerald City Cafe was one of those places. A rare family-owned shop amongst chains, its primary selling point was that the regular coffee was not only very reasonably priced, but bottomless as long as one remained in the cafe. The addition of more expensive drinks and baked goods kept the cafe in the black more often than the red while keeping a constant stream of students and locals patronizing the place.
Of course, the secondary income from housing his office didn’t hurt matters either.
Never one to cheat his own store, Ozpin placed his dollar in the register and retrieved his mug for the evening.
So this was one of those things that Nora did. This was a thing. She hung around in cafes (or the library) all day, using up the free wifi, writing up her blog posts, and answering youtube comments. This was her job, really. She was making things work. Sort of. Kind of. Hey, it paid what few bills she had. And pretty soon she was going to have enough to upgrade her equipment. That was good, right?
Tonight was one of those nights where Nora was on her own. She had a handful of really good friends, and spent a lot of time with them, but every once in a while (the moon was blue, wasn’t it?) everyone was busy doing something else. It hadn’t quite registered in her little head yet that Ren had left her on her own tonight. Blissfully unaware, she sat in front of her laptop with a cup of ice water.
From his vantage point at the front of the cafe, Ozpin studied the scattered patrons as he waited for the coffee in his cup to cool long enough to have that first sip. Everyone seemed to be content in his or her own world. Wonderful. A handful of students had a variety of blended and iced beverages scattered amongst notes and textbooks. In another corner, a man closer to Oz’s age sat with a pot of tea and a weathered journal. He recalled the man was an adventurer and the two of them had had a very lively talk about the sea a few months back. Perhaps he was editing his account. Best to leave him to it and ask at a later date.
Eventually, his eyes landed on the woman with a cup of ice water. Ozpin gave a silent sigh as he watched her clatter away on her computer. He kept the coffee inexpensive, but even then, he knew that there were times that money was too tight even for the likes of Emerald City Cafe. Neither he nor his mother had ever turned away anyone for lack of patronage and he was proud of that fact. Sometimes, all you needed was a place to weather the storm.
A few minutes later he had carefully made his way over to the table, cane in one hand, two mugs held together in the other. Ozpin set the cane against the table so that he could gently set down one of the cups in front of the woman. “I’m afraid I was a bit scatterbrained this evening and ended up pouring myself two cups. Rather than pouring it back, I wondered if you would help me with this unfortunate dilemma. I trust you take cream and sugar in your coffee?”
Nora looked up as the older gentleman came by with the cups. At first she assumed he wanted to take the chair she wasn’t using at her table, and was about to say please, by all means, take it when he bent down and offered her the mug of coffee. Nora sat up a little, breaking into a warm smile, and closed her laptop so she could give him her full attention.
This was one of those things that happened from time to time. I ordered two by mistake, or They messed up the first cup, so they had to make me a second one, or whatever. It was people being kind and generous, and coming up with excuses to save her pride or be humble or any number of reasons. Nora was willing to play along. She accepted generosity without putting too much emphasis on it.
“I do take cream and sugar in my coffee! How’d you know?” Nora asked, holding her hands out to accept the mug.
“Call it a hunch.” Ozpin gave her a patient smile as he passed the cup over to her. He waited until she had accepted it before settling his own mug properly in his hand. Nowadays, noticing someone’s preferred drink was considered far less heartwarming than when he was the young woman’s age. He would hate for her to think he was some sort of stalker. That would definitely not be good for business.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He waved the mug in the vague direction of her laptop. It was a gesture that suggested he was long used to carrying it in his hand and would frequently forget its presence. “You seemed to be quite intent on your work. May I inquire as to what you were writing?”
“Well, I appreciate it! Thank you.” She lifted the mug to her lips and blew across the top before taking a sip. Of course, another girl in her position might have been wary of some random guy bringing her a drink, but Nora had seen this guy around. Besides, the cafe had plenty of people. She didn’t think he’d single her out to murder her in a busy cafe. She felt safe here, for some reason.
“Oh! I’m a blogger? It’s what I do. I write things. I was writing about the changing of the season, actually. How it’s turning from spring to summer?” Nora gave him a smile. “I like summer, don’t you?”
Ozpin took a sip out of his own mug, enjoying the taste of the strong, bitter drink. He may have grown up on tea, but he had come to enjoy the taste of a strong cup of coffee. “Summer is a wonderful season. A break for the mind and the perfect time to connect with nature and our fellow man at the same time.” He enjoyed his summer classes. They went by quickly, but the amount of work that the students would manage to complete in such a small amount of time was amazing.
It was a pity that this girl was not one of his students. Or perhaps it was simply a matter of perspective. Ah, there was a thought. “You wouldn’t happen to review local coffee houses on your blog?”
“I haven’t done any of that yet…” Nora knew where he was getting at, though. She had a ton of followers, and some of them maybe were local. If she gave him a good review? Well, it would be good for business. And if he posted something in the shop about her review, then she might get more followers that way. It was basically a win-win for both involved. “You think you might consent to me posting a review?”
“I have been considering some more, well, modern methods of advertising.” Ozpin admitted. He leaned thoughtfully back on his cane. He was no stranger to the advantages of mutual marketing. Actually, he was a great supporter of such things, especially when it benefited local entrepreneurs. “Of course, I would not expect you to review something you have yet to try. Perhaps we can work out an arrangement for you to critique and review our menu?”
“The whole menu?” Nora asked, eyes going wide. That was a lot of food and drink to try. Then again, maybe it could be a fun thing on her blog. Weekly or even bi-weekly reviews of the different products at different shops? She could get more local subscribers that way--even though most of that review stuff was done on Yelp anyway. But hey, she wasn’t ruling it out. Especially if she could get food and drink at a discount? “That sounds like a daunting task.”
“Definitely not a task for the faint of heart. Or stomach, for that matter.” Ozpin’s face was serious, but there was a knowing smile threatening to overshadow it. A regular advertisement for his cafe was exactly what he was looking for and this would be an efficient way to do so. “Of course, I don’t expect you to review the entire menu in one sitting. Maybe once or twice a week would be more appropriate?”
“No! Yeah! No!” Nora nodded, grinning, and glanced up at the menu once more. “I can totally do that! Twice a week? Sure!” She hung out in the cafe often enough. It would be a good excuse, really. And hopefully encourage her to try something new! Nora loved trying new things!
“Great! I’ll let the staff know as well. Please feel free to ask them any questions about the menu or the cafe in general.” Ozpin’s eyes sparkled. He was glad that the girl had taken so well to the idea. The girl? Oh dear. He hadn’t caught her name. They had skipped over that part, hadn’t they? To remedy the problem, Oz shifted his mug to his other hand so that he could properly offer her his right. “Oscar Diggs. If you hadn’t guessed, I’m the proprietor of this cafe. I look forward to reading your reviews, Miss…?”
“Nora!” Nora nearly spat her name out in her excitement. She took hold of his hand and shook it. “Nora Valkyrie. It’s nice to meet you mister Diggs.” She was very much looking forward to working with him on this project. Funny how good things could just fall into one’s lap sometimes!