Pumpkin Spice

[Rhea Stevenson]

Date: October 23rd, 2013
Location: A coffee shop somewhere in Gelemorte

Today was just one of those types of days. The ones where the weather is absolutely perfect. There was a light breeze that ruffled the Autumn leaves, sending in the crisp smell of Fall with it. The sun peeked through the clouds dotted along the skyline, though it was not too hot outside. Some still wore jackets, as the shaded areas were in truth a bit chilly. Otherwise, though, it was a wonderful day to be out and about. Why waste such a glorious day cooped up inside with artificial air, no sun, and no leaves? Okay, so Rhea would have normally opened a window to let in the sun and wind but still. It didn’t matter what the excuse to be out was, as Rhea had no one to report her travels to.

The streets weren’t crowded like they may have been on a Summer day, but that just made it all the more easier to walk along. At first, Rhea had no plan of course as she walked along the sidewalk of the downtown area, until she came across a small coffee shop nestled between two larger buildings. It seemed rather out of place, with its old fashioned chalk-board menu in the window and rusted metal tables outside. Regardless of the way it looked, the people inside seemed much more intent with their laptops than with the décor. Pushing the door open, happy to hear the tinkling of a bell above her head to signify her entrance. No one, from those Rhea noticed, looked up from their drinks, conversations, or internet devices; not that she would expect anyone to, as that would have made her feel even weirder. Upon entering, her palate was met with the strong overwhelming smell of coffee. What could one expect, upon entering a shop clearly labeled coffee?

Stepping over the counter, Rhea contemplated her choices. She never really drank coffee and wasn’t much of a fan, but the smell and fashion of the shop had intrigued her and she figured she may as well buy something. Various colors labeled sections on the chalkboard; it looked quite similar to the one in the window. Mochas were written in green, iced coffees in orange, milkshakes in pink, and so on. Going with green, Rhea took a moment to read each description on the board. That caramel mocha sounded pretty good, but the pumpkin spice was limited edition for the holidays. “Oh which to choose? Caramel is a wonderful flavor…but the pumpkin spice is only in for this season. I do suppose I could come back tomorrow and get the flavor I don’t choose today but what if something happens and I’m unable to return? Ah!” Rhea sighed, her rambling causing the cashier to raise an eyebrow slightly. He said nothing, though, and continued to wait for the redhead to make an order. “Okay. I’ve made my choice. I want the…” The cashier leaned towards the register expectantly. “Wait…” The man sighed. “Yes! I have decided! Pumpkin it is!” Rhea smiled brightly and fished for her money. Unseen to her, was the gentle smile and eye roll the cashier offered.

With that decided, Rhea stood by the pickup area and read off all of the other interesting coffee flavors. Yes, pumpkin spice was by far the best sounding thing they had to offer. Perfect! Waiting a few more moments, Rhea finally received her drink and went to sit at a table near the back of the store, facing one of the windows along the side wall. Happily humming, Rhea sat down and popped the lid on her coffee, letting the rich aromas dance about in the air and mingle with the fragrances around her. Bringing the coffee to her lips slowly, Rhea took a delicate sip and…

“I don’t like it.” She grumbled, her bottom lip unintentionally poking out slightly while her eyebrows furrowed. So much for coffee choices. Yeah, she was definitely picking caramel next time.

[Vincent Richelieu]

Vincent stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air. The sun was shining. The sky was clear! The temperature wasn’t too hot or too cold! Today was a perfect day to spend indoors on the internet! Stepping back inside, he grabbed his briefcase. The briefcase was quite large and made of leather with a shiny black finish. Inside it were the essentials! His laptop, PDA, their chargers, and several other little devices intended to increase performance.

Walking down the sidewalk, the wind tousled his hair and blew his long jacket behind him. He felt as if he looked pretty badass. Unfortunatley, no one was around to see him as the streets were nearly empty on this day. Especially in the area he was headed. No one really went to where he was going, with good reason. Vincent was headed to his favorite internet café.

It wasn’t long before he arrived at the place. It wasn’t very fancy at all. Not on the outside anyways. There was rust on the tables and door hinges, not much, but enough to be noticeable. The walls had a bit of chipped paint and the sign that bore the name of the shop was so weathered that most people didn’t even bother to try to decipher what it once said. Normally, Vincent wouldn’t tolerate place like this or even refer to it as his favorite internet café, but despite the outside appearance and the general lack of money invested in the décor of the place, it had amazing internet connection and great coffee. It was a business and investment error, but a strategic social move as they had spent all of their money on the coffee and internet connection that they didn’t have much left over to spend on the way the place looked. It didn’t attract many people so the internet connection stayed strong and the wifi wasn’t clogged up. Since the place was never crowded, there was rarely a line and everyone got their order with the utmost quality and very little waiting time. Since they focused more on quality rather than quantity, everything on the menu was over all higher quality, and therefore more expensive than the other coffee shops.

He pushed the doors opened and walked in with his general air of dignity and walked up to the counter like he owned the place. The same young man as always was standing behind the counter waiting to take his order. An order that was always the same with few occasional deviations from the norm.

“Good evening, Jean. I will have the usual,” Vincent stated smoothly, pulling his wallet out of his jacket pocket and putting down the required amount for his coffee and stepping to the side to wait until his order arrived. As previously stated, the wait wasn’t long at all. Vincent smirked when he saw Jean returning with his order. It was a specially made mocha with a table spoon of sugar and extra whole milk. He always had them arrange the whipped cream and chocolate syrup to swirl up together just to give it that extra flair. “Thank you.” He then grabbed the mocha in one hand before going to take his seat by the window in the front corner of the place. He wanted to be seen by everyone in and out of the shop. After all, he surely was something to look at. He then opened his briefcase, retrieved his laptop and put on his thick rimmed and very stylish reading glasses. With a sip of his mocha, savoring the taste, it was time to browse the internet.

[Rhea Stevenson]

Rhea sighed and propped her head up in her hand, the other drumming on the table. So many people in the coffee shop had their laptops out, busily typing away, lost in their internet world. Rhea was hardly interested in the internet people, more intrigued by the people walking into the place. It was funny how they could appear so alive when they walked in and then turn into zombies upon entering their laptop’s password.

Watching the door with mild, albeit bored, curiosity, Rhea hummed to herself. She sipped on her coffee a bit, still unpleased with the taste. To other people, it may have been a wonderful drink but Rhea had quickly discovered that it wasn’t for her. Looking around briefly, Rhea noticed a new man walk into shop. He was attractive, classy as well, what with his business suit and all. His choice of coffee, as she had been intrigued enough to listen to, was fairly amusing as well. Staring intently at him, forgetting momentarily that it was rude to stare, Rhea watched as he sat down and opened his laptop. Sighing, Rhea shook her head. Did anyone even come to this place for the coffee?

Being rather bold, Rhea stood, taking her coffee, and made her way across the shop to where this blonde man sat. Getting to his table, she suddenly felt really nervous. What exactly had she planned on doing? Trying to be casual, Rhea coughed nervously and made her way past him. She was going to order something. That was it, of course! Making her way back into the line, Rhea glanced between the blonde man and the menu. Something quick and simple, an excuse to have gotten up. He might not have even noticed her, she could have went and sat back down! No…no…too suspicious. Yeah. Order cookies or something. That would work. Stepping up to the counter, Rhea did just that. Chocolate chip cookies, still warm and soft.

Then came the hard part, walking past that guy again. Was it really that difficult? Yes. Yes it was. Taking a really deep breath, Rhea walked right up to his table and paused. She was just going to say hi. She was being friendly, nothing more. Crap, why was it so trivial to just say hello? Heart flying, Rhea smiled and moved an inch closer to the table, standing in front of the table. If he looked up from the laptop, which she both hoped and dreaded, she would be directly in his line of eyesight. Smiling nervously, Rhea cleared her throat. Oh lord what was she thinking? She was making a fool of herself, he would probably just look up and stare at her, or glare, or laugh, or maybe he wouldn’t look up at all! What if some other customer was watching her? Then she’d have an audience as she publicly humiliated herself!

Her mind was a horrible jumble of confusion as she tried to think of something to say. “Hi” was much too simple. It wouldn’t do at all. “Hello” was better, but still quite lacking. “How are you?”? No, no that was weird. He might assume she’s a waitress or something. Did this place even have waitresses? Rhea didn’t think they. Opening her mouth, only to nearly choke on air, Rhea closed it again. She had probably been standing there way too long at that point. If he hadn’t looked up at her yet, he would shortly. Making this horrible, scared whimpering sound, Rhea sat her coffee down a bit harshly on the table. Her hand shaking slightly as she brought it back up to her chest where she clutched the bag of cookies like a lifeline. It didn’t have to be so weird, why was she freaking out? She had half a mind to dart out of the door and never return to that side of town ever again.

“Ah…ahm….hello. I just thought that you looked lonely over here or something. I mean, you have a computer and are probably far more interested in that, haha.” Rhea laughed timidly, her speech rapid and barely understandable. Waving her hand, Rhea looked away for a moment before her gaze snapped back to the table. “Oh my goodness. Do you speak Creig? What am I doing?” …even though she was still speaking that language, one which the blonde probably didn’t even understand. “I’m so sorry. Um. You looked lonely and I bought extra cookies and I was wondering if you wanted one and I’d really like it if you said yes because…because…well I don’t know, but I think cookies and coffee go good together. I don’t know, I don’t drink coffee.” She took a really deep breath. Talking quickly had exhausted her air supply. Sticking a hand out straight in front of her like a rigid doll, Rhea smiled as best she could, though it probably looked a bit scary.

“Hi. I’m Rhea.”

[Vincent Richelieu]

Vincent opened his laptop and started to browse. For a second he was just aimlessly wandering the Internet, trying to get his mind off of the current situation with the virus. Soon he would be doing a relief mission and it was important for him to be calm and collected. Shaking his head, he decided that it was best for him to do more research on general healthcare. It wasn’t really his forte, organic things. If humans were more like electronics, things would be easier. He was also a bit curious as to how the virus could possibly take sight away. How could it kill someone? Perhaps if he has a better understanding about how things worked, he could understand the virus and therefore understand what the people were going through. That would make the relief effort much easier for him, but perhaps worse for his conscience…

It wasn’t long after he started getting engulfed in reading about the optic nerve, learning how it works and how it could be potentially damaged. It was quite fascinating as he never really paid much attention to what could happen or how his body worked. He just knew how to make it work and look better. Right when he was getting into the zone, a person had cleared their throat in front of him to get his attention. He looked up to see a girl with red hair and blue eyes. It wasn’t until she started speaking that he felt a pang at his heart. The girl started babbling in some language he didn’t understand. It reminded him of another girl…Zhanna. She had met him in the same way, babbling frantically in a foreign language and they had bonded, but Deadlight took her after she went back home to Drachma. Vincent shook his head; he was too good to be upset over some woman. He returned his attention to the girl in front of him, who was now speaking Rouenian.

Lonely? He looked lonely? Vincent Richelieu didn’t get lonely! Hmph! He supposed his concentrated face could seem pretty lonely. He wasn’t lonely, per se, but he wouldn’t mind the company too much or free cookies. After all, anytime he was around someone else, it was an opportunity to show off how amazing he was. “Hello Rhea. My name is Vincent Richelieu, Head of Fort Rose. Take a seat.” he said with a light chuckle while motioning to the seat across from him.

[Rhea Stevenson]

Rhea gasped lightly, distinguishing her surprise with a cough. “Richelieu? Mr. Vincent Richelieu? Pleased to meet you! I work under you. I mean not under you!” Lord was she blushing when she finally took the opportunity to sit down. “I mean, I work in Fort Rose, under your command. You may not have seen me around though, I uh just recently enlisted.” She gave a slightly nervous sigh. With her luck and social skills around attractive men, she was bound to get fired or something. Yep, fired from the military. Rhea honestly didn’t think that it was possible, but at the same time she didn’t doubt it in the least.

Deciding to not stare at him, Rhea took a napkin and reached into the bag of cookies, withdrawing one wrapped neatly inside of the paper. She didn’t want to touch it for fear of messing it up or something. Besides, she doubted that he would want to eat something some stranger had been touching. Placing the cookie on his side of the table, Rhea took her own cookie and nibbled slightly on it, afraid it would be like the coffee and cause her to recoil in disgust. Surprisingly, the cookies were much much better than the coffee! Eyes lighting up in delight, Rhea took a larger bite and hummed in contentment, her eyes closing as the gooey chocolate hit her tongue. “Mmmm~ So good~” She then seemed to recall that she was in higher ranking company, handsome company at that, and tried desperately to hide the pink tint she knew was there.

“So…um….what are you looking at?” She asked before she could catch herself. She couldn’t ask those types of things! It wasn’t something a stranger asked! Rhea blushed even more, her whole face was going to catch on fire if she didn’t get a hold of herself. What if he was looking up porn or something? Top government secrets? Something private. “I’m sorry, I uh don’t mean to impose, I was just…yeah ignore that…..” Trailing off, Rhea picked up her coffee again in order to shut herself up, grimacing when the pumpkin flavor hit her palate. Yeah, it was still horrible.

[Vincent Richelieu]

This girl was getting quite flustered in front of him and it was honestly quite amusing. He enjoyed when he caused a girl to blush and trip up with her speech.  No doubt Rhea was intimidated by his glorious face and amazing body along with the fact that he was basically her boss. He supposed commander would be a better word for what he was. For a brief moment he was concerned as to why he didn’t recognize the name Rhea as one of his recruits, but as she had been a new one, it made sense. It was also strange that someone was recruited and he didn’t find out about it. Someone would have some questions to answer later.

Accepting the cookie she gave to him, he took a bite, grateful that she didn’t touch it with her hands. He certainly wouldn’t have any of that.  He didn’t particularly like strangers handling his food with their grubby hands. Her hands weren’t particularly dirty, but still, he didn’t want her touching all over his food. Since she was polite enough to not do so, he mentally gave her props in his mind. Vincent took another bite of the cookie as he hadn’t really paid attention to it the first time. It was a pretty good cookie; obviously a hand baked cookie rather than cheap processed junk that most shops sold. The chocolate wasn’t as fancy as he was used to, but by no means terrible. The texture was pretty good as it was soft and really smooth. The quality of the cookies, like the coffee and internet connection, reminded him once more why he put up with the not-so-great décor of the place.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one enjoying the baked treat. Across from him, Rhea made sounds of approval and then seemed to be embarrassed by it when she remembered who she was sitting across from. It was quite amusing and caused him to chuckle. With a smirk that expressed his delight he said “They are indeed good. The coffee, cookies, and internet connection are the only reasons I dare to bring myself into such an…unsophisticated place.” There was a specific tone of disgust on the word describing the establishment.

Remembering his laptop was still ajar, he returned his attention to the article he was reading before being interrupted. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but the screen was just calling to him. Obviously this caught the attention of the girl across from him as she inquired as to what he was looking at. It certainly was brave of her to so openly question her superior so openly and she quickly realized what she had done as she withdrew her question. Vincent contemplated for a second whether he should tell her or not. She was new to the Infantry so she might not be worthy to know. But then again, she probably already knew about the situation anyways. He also couldn’t afford to pass up on the opportunity to get help from someone. But of course he wouldn’t present it that way! No! He would make it seem like he was simply doing his job. He would make himself seem professional, superior, and, of course, desirable.  

“I was actually doing some research on the Deadlight Virus. As you know, I am the Head of Fort Rose and King Wolfgang is planning on sending me on a relief mission. It is my job to know what I’m dealing with so I can be properly prepared for whatever could happen. It is important to get a good understanding of the virus before dealing with it. I would hate to be infected myself. Or to have any of my people infected. That would be a terrible thing.” Indeed it would be. If he was blind, he couldn’t see himself anymore! Not to mention that Gelemorte would be short an Infantry head…

During his explanation of his research, he saw a peculiar thing. She made the most disgusted face when drinking her coffee! Immediately Vincent’s hero senses went off! Another opportunity to make himself look better! “Ah! Do you not like your coffee or something? Let me buy you a new one. After all I’ve got money to spare.”

[Rhea Stevenson]

"...coffee, cookies, and internet connection are the only reasons I dare to bring myself into such an…unsophisticated place."

Rhea felt a stab of pain at those words. She lived in this area, and frequented shops like this often. So he hated shops like these? Of course he would. He was of much higher ranking than Rhea, she was a lowly recruit where he was leading the whole damned fort. Rhea unknowingly let a frown cross her features and let out a quiet sigh. She spoke before she even realized she had opened her mouth. "Oh...oh of course. Why would someone such as yourself want to come in a place like this? Haha..." What would the man do if he knew Rhea lived in the area, and was of the same standard as the decrepit building they were in. So much for ever getting close to Vincent, he would surely walk away if he were to find out about the lifestyle she lived.

She didn't expect an answer when she asked him what it was he was looking at. Of course, she did expect it to be something work related. Deadlight in fact. "Of course...that's why they wouldn't let me into Venice. I was looking fo-...hmm..." She trailed off, taking another sip of the horrid coffee. Vincent didn't need to know what she would have done in Venice. They were colleagues of war and that was all. Especially considering the fact that he seemed much too sophisticated for Rhea, much to her chagrin.  

She was preoccupied with thinking, that she hardly noticed when he spoke again. Her coffee? Indeed, it was rather bad tasting. She looked up and met Vincent's eyes, opening her mouth slightly in surprise. She didn't need another one, hell she had only bought one to get into the warmth of the building. She wasn't poor, or homeless or anything but she certainly didn't receive the type of income that Vincent did. She could have bought another coffee for herself if she really wanted to, but with rent and food and all she'd be short later on. Rhea studied Vincent for a moment. He probably had tons of money to spare, something that made her both envious and angry...maybe even a bit sad.

Regardless of her feelings, Rhea wanted to enjoy the time that she had with the man before he sent her away and went back to his fancy office in Fort Rose. "You don't have to...but, I'd appreciate it a lot."

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