Coffee On The Balcony

[Kali]

Kali sat at a table on the balcony of the Nine Muses Cafe, sipping a cup of coffee. It was good, the chocolate-tainted warmth of it a cozy feeling on this mild winter day. The soft snowflakes fell down gently over her, landing delicately on her thick coat. It really was a beautiful sight, Canada in the winter. Jack Frost was a handsome fellow when he flew upon the icy winds.

"Y-you j-just h-h-had to s-s-sit out h-here, d-d-didn't you?" The waitress stuttered, rubbing her arms.

Kali gave an apologetic look. "It's such a nice day. I didn't mean to burden you with it." she said, starting to get up.

"N-no, no. Y-you st-stay. It's-s f-fine." She said, shivering. "D-do ya w-want s-some m-more coffee?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Kali replied, still apologetic even as she sat back down. "But why don't you have a cup?"

"Em-m-mp-ployees aren't al-llowed free coffee."

"I'll buy you one." Kali said. She knew what it was like to save every penny you made. Straight out of the orphanage, she had no savings. One job wasn't enough, so she got two. Then she just kept both because it worked well and she liked the weekly number.

"T-thanks, Miss." said the waitress, going back inside.

[Aras|Ofelia]

Winter was coming to an end. It had been getting increasingly warmer, with only a few flurries here and there rather than the full-blown blizzards Noatak had seen mid-winter. All in all, it was a fairly pleasant day for those who were accustomed to the severe Canadian winters.

Ofelia was not used to Canadian winters. Her reptilian instincts abhorred the cold. But even her talisman had to agree that the screeching of toddler--or perhaps banshee would be more accurate--was a bit too much to handle.

Despite the fact the parents' (fruitless) attempts to calm the child down, he continued to wail unintelligibly. Ofelia had been one of the first to roll her eyes and shoot poisonous glares at the child--which, if anything, made him empty his lungs with all the more force--but the Nine Muses' other patrons were beginning to lose patience as well. It wasn't long before Ofelia decided that she really couldn't take any more. Cold be damned, she was going to the balcony, where her ears might be convinced to stop ringing.

Donning her coat and hat and wrapping her scarf snugly about her neck, she snatched up her tea and marched up the stairs, out the door, and onto the balcony. A young woman was already seated at one of the tables, but Ofelia paid her no mind and plopped herself down into the chair nearest the door. At least she'd get a breath of heated air every time someone walked through.

Daft or crazy? Her talisman's thoughts--and her own. Taking a swallow of the steaming oolong tea, Ofelia let her gaze wander over to the woman and shrugged inwardly. A bit of both, I should think.

[Kali]

Kali watched as a new person person came out onto the balcony. She shuddered. It was the woman that had insulted Jo. She kept her eyes lowered, half of her not really wanting a confrontation, the other half wanting to settle what went unfinished that night. But to do so would be unwise, considering this wasn't Oceana and everyone here was perfectly sober enough to remember. But still, Kali wondered if a verbal argument would hurt. Part of her said yes, and another part said no.

She sipped her coffee, watching the snowflakes fall still. The winter was wonderful, but ending. Kali was sad to see it go. But it would be good to have warmer weather again. She coughed slightly. She hoped she wasn't getting a cold.

[Aras|Ofelia]

Ofelia felt a pair of eyes watching her. To whom they belonged was no mystery; she and the other woman were the only ones on the balcony. And unless the geese flying overhead were staring intently at her (which she highly doubted), the woman was the culprit.

Normally, a curious glance or two was not unwarranted. Noatak had fairly few Asians--even if there seemed to be a lot more around recently--but most strangers had the good grace not to stare so openly. Ofelia pivoted in her seat so she could direct a raised eyebrow at the woman, but she had turned away to watch the gently-drifting snowflakes once more.

Ofelia didn't say a word, but she returned the favor by fixing her gaze on the woman. Snowflakes speckled her dark hair and her winter coat; she had evidently been out here for a while. Lifting its head, the serpent gave Ofelia a slight prod with its tail. Something about the woman was familiar, it seemed to say, and Ofelia silently agreed. She'd likely seen her around somewhere before, but just where they had met was slipping her mind at the moment.

[Kali]

Kali squirmed slightly when she felt someone watching her. She didn't like the feeling, ever since her interactions with the Hunters. The brick in the window, the Hunter in the forest, it was a bit upsetting. But thankfully, this was just a coffee shop, and nothing really bad happened here.

She drank another sip of the mocha, glancing at the other woman of the edge of her mug. It was the gal from the Oceana fight. Kali looked down, around the balcony, anywhere but the woman.

[Aras|Ofelia]

The woman glanced quickly at her, then looked away. Now it was clear that she was trying her very best to look at anywhere and anything but Ofelia. What, was the sight of her so abhorrent that the woman couldn't keep her eyes on her too long? She'd been the first to initiate the staring; Ofelia couldn't be blamed for returning the favor.

Even in the brief moment their eyes had met, Ofelia had caught a spark of recognition. Still, she couldn't quite place why the woman looked familiar. Why not ask? It would be the quickest way to find out.

"Excuse me," she said, out of habit and not of any pretense of politeness, "but do I know you?"

[Kali]

Kali shuddered. Half of her wanted to lie and say that they had met peacefully. But it always paid to tell the truth, didn't it? "Oceana." she answered, finally looking at her. She pondered if she should add that it had been they whom started the barfight. Maybe the girl would have been too drunk to remember. She barely knew who Kali was or if she even knew her, much less what she had done that night.

Trying to make it sound just a little better, "You were with that man when you came. He was supposed to take you home. And another of your friends came in. A woman." Kali offered, trying to be nice. She really didn't want to spoil a nice day like today.

[Aras|Ofelia]

The woman only had to say 'Oceana' for Ofelia to know exactly who she was. All other details were unnecessary. She may have been drunk that night, but Ofelia remembered enough that the events still rankled her.

"Ah, Miss Bartender. Sorry I haven't shown up in a while--have you found some other customers to insult?" She didn't want a confrontation, it seemed, but the same couldn't be said of Ofelia. "And how's your desperate friend doing? Has she managed to find a man?"

Taking another sip of tea, she smirked. The woman had been more than ready to snap at her that night; what was stopping her now?

[Kali]

"Oh, no need to apologize, really." she sneered. She was glad Ofelia hadn't been back. "And only as many as have tried to insult me. So no, I haven't insulted anyone." she smirked.

At the mention of Jo, Kali kept herself from clenching her teeth. "My friend is doing just fine, thank you very much. And for your information, she's not desperate." Somewhat of a lie. But Kali wouldn't say that. Jo just needed to find someone special. Everyone wanted that, and no one could be blamed for what they wanted. She didn't know if Jocelyn had found somebody. She hadn't really seen her around recently. "And it's none of your business."

Kali tried to keep to herself, attempting to regain that peace that had been there before Ofelia had spoken up. She sipped her coffee, and gave up. "How about yourself? Do men still flee from your every step? Or don't you even see them hiding anymore?"

[Aras|Ofelia]

"You insulted me first." That was near the beginning, when she hadn't been completely smashed; most of that she could still recall. (The getting out of Oceana and getting home part was the bit that had become a disjointed series of fuzzy images in her head.) "'Bitch,' right? Very eloquent."

The woman's hackles raised at the mention of her friend; Ofelia had struck a nerve, as she new she would. She'd leaped immediately to her friend's defense that night--even though any rational person would have ignored the words spoken by a drunk--and it was no surprise that she did so now, even though her friend was not present. "You're very welcome. And you might want to find yourself a dictionary, dear, and look up 'desperate.'" A pause as she searched through her memories--and drank her tea. "And 'whore,' too, while you're at it."

The woman had risen to the bait. Ofelia smirked; she hadn't had a good argument in a while. "Oh no, they still cower at my feet. I prefer it that way. Of course, it's more than I can say for your friend." Another stab at the friend--it seemed the be the most effective way to get this woman to snarl and snap.

[Kali]

"Correction: You insulted me first. An insult to my friend is an insult to me." She said coldly, drinking her coffee between every few sentences, trying to calm herself. She wasn't going to give Ofelia that satisfaction of making her angry. Not like she was at Oceana.

A smirk came over Kali's face. A dictionary? Hm. "Why would I need one of those?" she asked innocently. "I'll just ask your mother. I'm sure she could tell me all about what those words mean." she set her mug down on the table.

"And from what I've heard, most women like their men elsewhere besides their feet." Kali said coolly, a bit of cold humor in her voice. "Not that you could accomplish much else. Men can barely stay at your toes before they run at the sight of you."

[Aras|Ofelia]

"Tch. Defensive. I was merely making an observation." Ofelia calmly sipped her tea, savoring its warmth. "If you insist she isn't desperate, you need a reality check. Anyone who'd let herself get felt up like your friend did is, if nothing else, desperate."

She barely even reacted to the jab at her mother. A while ago, she would have--but at some point, she realized her mother wasn't likely to feel insulted when she was six feet under. Still, that didn't stop Ofelia from wishing, in the back of her mind, that her mother were here; she could come up with the wittiest insults.

Ofelia brushed aside the nostalgia, allowing it no outlet. "Of course she could. She studied very hard when she came all the way from far China." Another smirk. "Your mommy neglected to tell you what those words meant? Ai-yah."

Another stab at her supposed inability to get herself a man. Really, could this woman come up with nothing better? And she was supposed to feel insulted by her remarks. "Oh yes. Sometimes, they make tasteful decorations when I arrange them artfully among my furniture." A pause as Ofelia drummed her fingers thoughtfully on the table. "Unless that wasn't what you were talking about? Where do most women like their men?"

[Kali]

Kali looked up. "My mother was killed the night I was born. My father too." she said, a bit sadly. "I can't even remember what she looked like." Nor did she have a picture. Kali tilted her head to the side, wondering about that. Maybe she could pay a little visit to the old orphanage later and see if they had any records. It would be nice.... just to have that little something.

She chuckled softly as she mentioned men among the furniture, picturing the sculptures of Italy. She took it as a joke, what Ofelia had said about the art. It was funny, but she was too deep in thought to laugh very much. "Nice one." she said. But with another sip of her mocha, her thoughts went back to her mother. She didn't even hear the woman's last question about where most women liked their men. What would her mother have been like? On a snowy morning, it was hard not to think about the past. Winter seemed so timeless here.

[Aras|Ofelia]

The woman's voice had gone soft, nothing like the snippy tone she'd been using moments ago. What was she, master of mood swings? And now she was expecting Ofelia to pity, even sympathize with her by playing the 'dead parents' card. Ofelia did, however, have to grudgingly admit it partially worked; though she had moved on after her own mother's death, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of empathy for others who had suffered the same loss. Either the woman was a skilled actress, or her sorrow was genuine.

"Hm." Ofelia set down her mug with an audible thunk. "Is this how you always end your arguments? By invoking a taboo?"

Her talisman nudged her with its nose. Pay attention, it seemed to say. Hiding a slight frown beneath her hand, she replayed bits of the conversation in her mind.

Ah--her parents. Why had they been killed? If she was indeed telling the truth--Ofelia had not detected a lie--it wasn't too much of a stretch to leap to a certain conclusion. Adrift in her own thoughts, she continued to watch the other woman, and waited.

[Kali]

"Hm? No. No taboo." Kali shook her head. "Forgive me. I was just thinking, that's all." But then again her thoughts escaped to her mother. Did she like winter days like this? Maybe once she, too, came here for coffee out on the balcony, when the snow was soft. Kali wondered if she was like her mother. Or completely different, she would never know. She sighed, her breath white with warmth in the cool air. She couldn't help but wonder. It seemed a winter day was just a trap of thoughts, with a nice coffee. From which Kali could not escape her ponderings. She hadn't thought this much about her mother in ages. Most of the time she just shrugged it off. But not today, apparently. She wondered what it was like, to have a mother. To have a father. Or to be held and cuddled in the winter. She missed them, those two that she had never met.

"What was your mother like?" she asked out of the blue.