Dear lord... there were so many. Nearly every cover shouted romance... Every body was half naked and glistening,. Andrea felt her cheeks heat and she blushed deeply. These books looked much more intense than the book she had picked up in the mansion, much more... Mature. Had someone turned up the heat in this place?... Yeesh... She would sweat to death in her coat! The gorgon gulped nervously, her eyes shifting about as she closed the space between herself and the bookshelf quickly. No need to have people notice the green girl shifting uncomfortably near the Romance section..

All she needed was the second book in the series she was currently reading, and considering the mass of romantic poses and dramatic wording assaulting her poor eyes... she would be there for quite a while. It seemed an almost daunting task considering how hard her heart was hammering away in her chest- just from being in the immediate vicinity of the books... but, she Needed to find out what happened to the unfortunate heroine of the story, and her bad boy lover, or she would just diiiiieeeee.

Her fingers traversed a few colorful spines, before landing on one that caught her eyes and she pulled it out a little to peek at the cover. “Oh my!” That book was replaced rather quickly, back into its slot as she shuffled away down the line. The next few interests were a little less risque than the first had been, but they still weren’t what she was looking for. She thumbed through the book currently in her hand, before replaces it too and moving off towards the W’s- Her author would be located there...most certainly. A few minutes of searching brought forth her needed novel... and another- which happened to make her blush a bit more than she liked to admit. Deary me, what have I been sucked into... She blinked at the blond, muscular man posing with a swooning woman on the cover, before setting it back on the shelf.

A strong scent reached her nose through the pages of her newest finding, a scent she recognized. Her mind briefly rushed back to the first time she had smelled that... smell, after a meeting in the park, with pirate hats and twig swords. A smile curved her lips. Coffee would be a lovely treat, even if it was bitter and made her nose wrinkle. Andrea swept herself to her feet, book in hand, and glanced about to find the source of that smell. After exiting the aisle, her shielded eyes found what they were looking for and she headed in its direction.

There was a line, she noticed, though not a very big one. She contented herself while waiting behind a rather tall man, with blinking at the menu options and trying to decipher which drink was the one she had enjoyed in the park. It had been dark... and very bitter, but she had enjoyed it all in all after a few sips. The people before her ordered their own drinks quickly, and sooner than she could make up her mind, she found herself standing alone and looking all the more awkward seeing as she still had no clue as of what to get.

What’s a frap-a-chin-o...?

((Location: Full Circle Bookstore.))

Come, they'd told him. Aurumpumpumpum~ To a Full Circle shift, Aurumpum~

Rumpumpum pum.

Rumpumpum pum.

Rumpumpum pum...

Aurum stopped humming to himself as he prepared the mocha. He had too much time on his hands... He turned to snag a lid off the shelf, and set the prepared drink down for the cute blond girl. He told her 'how much'. She paid, then shuffled off. With a sigh, the man turned back towards the coffee machine, and set to work on his next 'ordeal'.

A faint yawn escaped him. You know the kind of yawn that doesn't make a sound, where you're compelled to open your mouth and let your jaw hang as your chest expands and you beat away the breath like an indian Chief? The good, totally needed, momentary escape? Yeah. That yawn. He glanced back at the customer, and offered the middle-aged man with thinning hair an apologetic smile.

Sorry. He'd been up late, studying... and the cooking channel had been marathoning one of his favorite shows. Combine caffeine with Paula Dean, and you had a recipe for disaster. Or, at least, a really calorie-intensive sandwich. With bacon... and a side of ham. And maybe a double chocolate gooey butter cake. Ala mode?

Darn it. Now he was hungry.

He gave the man his drink, and slid the money into the register. The line edged forwards. Next was a 20-something girl with green skin and a book in hand.

He offered a 'mid-morning' friendly smile. "Welcome to Full Circle. What can I get for you?"

She was kinda cute...

>>"Welcome to Full Circle. What can I get for you?"

Andrea twitched. Ack, attention... and a question on top of that. What could he get for her?.... what did she even want? She blinked, scrunching her nose momentarily in thought. What do i want...? There was that Frapachawhatchamacallit, and a mochasomethingoranother, and black coffee. Maybe the black drink was what she had tastes before?

"Uh... what would you suggest for someone who hasn't had much coffee in her lifetime?" She blinked again, the question was sound. Perhaps he would offer something sweet, and she could kick her roommate in the shin later for getting her hooked on the bitter stuff?

One last blink, and she stepped forward. No use standing around in the middle of the store; she didn't want to go horse shouting her order at him. She rested her hands on the counter, before setting her book down to get her wallet out.

Now... what size did she want? She puzzled over that for a moment, before her eyes caught sight of all the snacks and treats scattered about her. her stomach gurgled happily. Shush, you. "And what would you suggest to go with said drink?" She managed a nervous smile back at him as she finally fished her wallet out.

>>"Uh... what would you suggest for someone who hasn't had much coffee in her lifetime?"

A handshake. A coffee first-timer, was it? And she'd be trying his special blends first. Not to sound creepy or something, but he was touched.

He took a moment to ponder this important life question... a finger rose up thoughtfully to his lips. "Hmm... do you like things bitter, or do you prefer stuff that's sweet? I can guarantee the dark coffee I have will knock your socks off, but it's a bit strong for your first time. Maybe something sweet, like a mocha? Oh, and you could dunk some biscotti in that and stir it around" like a little kiddy drink. Maybe she'd prefer some cocoa? The possibilities were endless. "Though, if you really wanted something special, I'd go with..." He paused for dramatic effect, then looked her in the eye with a grin. "A cup of french vanilla coffee with a bit of sugar and cream, and a banana nut muffin to go with it." That'd be an authentic enough experience for her first time. Far be it for him to suggest something extreme, and try and put hair on her chest. He'd never liked hair-chests on women, nope. Call him old-fashioned.

She watched him ponder, all while eyeballing a particularly tasty looking piece of chocolate somethingoranother. Hmm, did she like bitter, or sweet? Thinking back to the majority of the cooking she had eaten during er lifetime, as well as the liquids she had consumed quite often. Lemonade was sour... Her mother hadn't been much of a sugar lover. So... that was sort of like bitter.. what about sweet? There had been a few desserts in her life that she had loved, but out of them all she had to admit that the mousse her mother made was her favorite.

>>"A cup of french vanilla coffee with a bit of sugar and cream, and a banana nut muffin to go with it."

She snapped out of her- Ooooh... Muffin. That was the magic word. It almost didn't matter what concoction of a drink came with it... Though, vanilla and cream did sound quite lovely on a side note.

"Vanilla and cream in coffee? I'm sold. How much will it cost?" Her wallet popped open with a soft click, and she lifted her chin to blink at him while her fingers sifted through the remains of her last paycheck.

Sitting and reading while she sipped at her steaming drink sounded as good an idea as any, she would just need to find a seat far enough away from everyone that her problematic blushes wouldn't bother the other folk. Of course, sitting would come after the making of her drink, and to be honest, she was more than slightly interested in how this particular sweet sounding coffee was to be made...

... so she could steal the recipe and make it at home later.

>>"Vanilla and cream in coffee? I'm sold. How much will it cost?"

Aurum replied with the price. It was a fair price. Unlike Starbucks or the other big fat coffee chains, Full Circle was a reasonable establishment. They made they main money with books. Coffee and snacks were just a side-investment. A deliciously convenient side investment that let him play Mad Scientist with many a brew, but a side-investment all the same.

Aurum waited for her to plunk the money down, then turned to prepare the drink. Unfortunately for Andrea, the French vanilla coffee had already been blended, and prepared in the coffee machine behind the man. It wasn't something like a mocha, where the barista made it in front of the customer, no. Aurum filled the cup with the delicious coffee they already had 'on-tap', and popped a lid on it. He set the coffee down on the counter, alongside a packet of sugar, and some cream. The banana nut muffin danced its massive muffin self up onto a plate next to the beverage.

As Aurum completed the transaction, his eyes fell to the cover of the green girl's book.

Auburn hair and hazelnut eyes. Wait a tick, was that dude glittering?!

"I see you've picked a good book up," He commented. His eyes swung to the main register, expecting to see a particular Asian. He paused. Nope. It seemed today, someone was filling in. Jimmy, was it? Wait. No. This guy's name was Roger. Roger Moore. "Roger can ring that up for you, once you're ready."

She resisted the urge to 'Awww.' at the fact that her coffee was quick too make, and accepted the warm comforting cup. It smelled delicious. "This smells delicious..." Her fingers were already counting her money, doing equations in her head as she figured out how much she had, and how she had to split it. It was still hard sometimes, when she shifted back into a completely different currency.

>>"I see you've picked a good book up,"--"Roger can ring that up for you, once you're ready."

Pausing, the gorgon blinked a few times and handed over her money for the coffee. Her book didn't seem the proper conversation starter...and mighty it was mighty embarrassing to the green woman to boot- who had completely forgotten about the rated mature storybook sitting innocently beside her.

"...I.. uh... It's not for me, actually. I'm, um, picking it up for a friend... my roommate, actually. She's a big romance buff. Loves the sappy stuff and... hairless men... " With yet another shielded blink, Andrea trailed off. She had said quite a bit... more than enough to explain the situation anyway...

Oh boy, would Verdy ever have her head if she were here. Andrea cast a careful look about her- just to be sure. The action brought her eyes to 'Roger' and she blinked. Roger had a line. Andrea did not like lines... Especially since that tall man was there again and he had smelled awfully funny....

And not the HaHa funny either. Her forehead wrinkled and she glanced about, spying the many occupied tables and chairs.... and one empty one. "Is that the only register?" She turned a questioning glance his way and took a rather large sip of her hot drink. Her 'I didn't expect this kind of hotness' drink. It took everything in her not to spray the liquid in her mouth all over the nice Barista .

She did cry a little though... Not tears that rolled down ones cheeks, just a wetness at the corners of her eyes as the stinging in her mouth stopped and her tongue and throat throbbed painfully for a moment. She uncurled the fingers that she had slapped over her lips, "By, thabt iths gud coffeh..."

"...Do you have any icth cubes?"

>>"This smells delicious..."

Aurum smiled at the compliment. It should. Scent was half the flavor with hot beverages. He hoped she'd enjoy every bit of it.

>>"...I.. uh... It's not for me, actually. I'm, um, picking it up for a friend... my roommate, actually. She's a big romance buff. Loves the sappy stuff and... hairless men... "

"Right." There she went, making excuses about it. He'd hit the nail on the head. Usually, it was the guilty ones made excuses that hasty... complete with 'uh's. There wasn't anything to be ashamed of, reading that junk.

It wasn't like it was some sort of ploddingly-written Witch Detective story for teenage girls. Not even Ami would touch those.

>>"Is that the only register?"

The girl asked. He opened his mouth to answer, but was cut short as his eyes fell to the 'warning, hot' label on the drink.

"W-wai--... nevermind..." He'd tried to warn her... he should have told her when he'd given it to her, Aurum realized. Poor thing. Her first time, and she burned her tongue...

Would he have to apologize? Would she be angry? Would she...--

>>"By, thabt iths gud coffeh..." "...Do you have any icth cubes?"

Compliment his blend, and ask him for frozen water. "Sure." Aurum turned towards the ice machine. Couldn't make frozen lattes or iced tea without ice. He grabbed a small cup, and rattled out cubes until it was half-full. Then, he turned to hand it to her. "Sorry. I... kinda thought you'd see the warning label. It's hot..." He offered an apologetic smile. If she wanted to yell at him over it later, that was fine...

just so long as Rosali the fill-in manager didn't find out... she was a real monster.

The transition from hot to cold in her hand passed unnoticed as she set her coffee down and accepted the cup of ice form him. It was needed, and well appreciated.

>>"Sorry. I... kinda thought you'd see the warning label. It's hot..."

Andrea shook her head slightly, her gloved fingers dipping into the cup to withdraw a single cube of ice.

"No, no ith-" Pause. "...Its my fault. Honestly I'm not used to drinking things in paper cups...or anything this hot, really."

She managed a faint smile as she popped an ice cube into her mouth, to numb the suffering of her poor tongue. "Thank you for the ice," Her eyes landed on er book once more as she tucked her wallet back into her bag. "... do you really think it's a good book? ... or were you just trying to be polite?"

She flushed slightly, her eyes darting back to the line she was to check her book out in. "...If you hadn't guessed already, it's not for my friend... and I'm a terrible liar. I am however, rather new here and it's the first thing i've gotten hooked on." Besides a certain street food...

She paused, thinking for a moment, before she added, "..maybe you have some suggestions for fun things to do?...or read?" her smile became just a little more pathetic, "I'm a tourist, you could say."

A perma-tourist...

>>"No, no ith-" Pause. "...Its my fault. Honestly I'm not used to drinking things in paper cups...or anything this hot, really."

She apologized. A flutter of relief hit him. She wasn't mad, just tongue-burned. Well, that was good (and not good). She was managing to talk around the seared flesh, at least. Somewhat positive.

Or not?

>>"Thank you for the ice," she smiled.

"You're welcome..." He smiled back. Could he feel the vicious slug-monster eyes of Rosali on him? Or was that just the feeling one got when they were embarrassed about some mistake they made, and just wanted to get back on the right foot?

Her eyes fell to the reading material.

>>"... do you really think it's a good book?" She quested for truths. "... or were you just trying to be polite?"

The green girl's cheeks lit up a shade of red darker than their usual coloration, and she avoided eye contact to unveil a lie. Aurum had to admire truth-telling.

He kept up the smile. "I don't actually read romance novels, no. That doesn't mean I can't compliment a best-seller." And there was nothing wrong with reading. Though, perhaps there were better things to devour than 'candy'?

>>"..maybe you have some suggestions for fun things to do?...or read?"

She gave him a weak smile as she explained herself.

>>"I'm a tourist, you could say."

"Tourist?" He inquired. Aurum paused a moment to consider her question. He held his chin, and looked up towards that spot on the ceiling one often looked to for inspiration. "I'm more fond of mystery novels, myself. Or cook books. Cooking is fun." He returned the focus to her. "Do you like to cook?"

>>""I don't actually read romance novels, no. That doesn't mean I can't compliment a best-seller."

Ekk, she tucked the book under her arm. Out of sight out of mind. She hadn't realized it was a popular book.

>>"I'm more fond of mystery novels, myself. Or cook books. Cooking is fun." - "Do you like to cook?"

She beamed. Cooking was one of the things she could do... to a point. "Yes actually. have you ever had Moussaka? My mother taught me to make it from scratch. Oh.. It's absolutely delicious when its prepared right...."

Her stomach gurgled quietly once more and she blinked, where was her muffin? After spotting the yummy pastry, she snatched it up and took a small bite- followed by another ice cube, for her still smarting tongue. The muffin was good, much better than she had first expected- but now her stomach was fixated on some good old fashioned home cooking...

oooh... how she wanted some chocolate mousse. "What about yourself? Do you cook?"

>>"Yes actually. have you ever had Moussaka? My mother taught me to make it from scratch. Oh.. It's absolutely delicious when its prepared right...."

She was beaming. Aurum grinned right back. "No, actually. What is that?" It sounded good, but he'd never heard of it. Now he was interested. Maybe she'd teach him about something new?

>>"What about yourself? Do you cook?" She asked.

Aurum nodded. "Yeah, I--"

You know, it was always fun how, whenever he was on-duty, the lines for coffee just seemed to halt if he was talking to a pretty lady. Like magic. Like a stop sign. Like a magical stop sign of mystery. Someone really had to check phenomenon out with scientific tools some day... unfortunately, today was not one of those 'magical stop sign' days. The person behind Andrea coughed.

Aurum glanced to the brown-haired man in glasses, and smiled apologetically. "Be with you in a second. So, as I was saying, yeah." He retreated into the realms of cooking and girls. "I'm actually a part-time chef over at the Golden Bee restaurant on," he recited the address. "I'm always on the lookout for good new recipe. Maybe you could share it with me some time? . . . What's your number?"

He snagged a pen and a post-it note from nearby, and prepared to jot.

>>"No, actually. What is that?

oh... a Moussaka vir-...erm... Someone new to the dish! Images and words befitting of the food sprang to mind, but before she could jump into a semi rant on it- complete with detailed cooking instructions that the proper way to eat it, she heard a cough from behind her. Whoops... She was holding up a line..-ish..thing.

>>"I'm always on the lookout for good new recipe. Maybe you could share it with me some time? . . . What's your number?"

She blinked... uh oh... a number. Andrea lacked a phone. She struggled inwardly for a moment, trying to find something to say as quickly as possible, before she realized that she could use her work number. Alisa surely woulden't mind a phone call... as long as it stayed a single call...

..Now she really would have to go buy a cell phone...

"my number, ah..." Hurriedly, she told him her work phone number, then slipped to the side out of what was forming into a line. "I'll tell you all about the recipe later then, oh, I'm Andrea by the way."

She paused, whispering a quiet 'sorry' to the man who had been behind her, and waited for a reply before she would doddle off to purchase her book. She gathered her things to her while she waited, and took another small bite of her scrumptious muffin.

Mmmm... muffin.

>>"my number, ah..."

He scribbled the number down as it came. That... there... and that one... did that look enough like a '5', or would he mistake it for an 'S'? As she finished the recitation, he looked up from her. Got it.

And she was already slipping away.

>>"I'll tell you all about the recipe later then, oh, I'm Andrea by the way."

"Aurum," he replied. "You take care." Slipping the pen and post-it into his pocket, Aurum turned his focus to the man.

Beyond the man, lurking near the bookcases, a slug monster lurked... no, wait. That was Rosali. His mistake. Aurum hurried out the man's order, and set to work on the next customer, dipping down down down into the drown of midday traffic.

((Thread, end.))