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for Five
Ever since Nicky got his lay of the land, he assessed what to do with the situation. He had a place to hole up, which he checked for listening devices and made sure his vantage points were clear. He investigated places he could purchase weapons and made sure he started to set aside cash for the purchases. He went to the farmer's market, met a lovely old woman, and got a good recipe for gazpacho.
He missed Joe.
Of course he missed Joe, but it's only been a few weeks, and he and Joe have been on missions apart longer than that. Back before instant communication, sometimes it would be months between letters. In his mind, he's treating it like that.
Nicky's new mission is one going very poorly. He's just stepped out of a coffee shop, sipping on their Americano, and it is...well, dishwater disgusting is a kind way to evaluate it. Spitting the coffee back into the cup, he throws it out in the nearest trash before taking a small notebook from his front pocket. Eyeing the shop behind him disdainfully, he neatly crosses it out.
"Che cazzo," he mutters, both disappointed and a little frustrated. How is it that he can find a pistol easier than he's able to find a good cup of coffee in this city?
He missed Joe.
Of course he missed Joe, but it's only been a few weeks, and he and Joe have been on missions apart longer than that. Back before instant communication, sometimes it would be months between letters. In his mind, he's treating it like that.
Nicky's new mission is one going very poorly. He's just stepped out of a coffee shop, sipping on their Americano, and it is...well, dishwater disgusting is a kind way to evaluate it. Spitting the coffee back into the cup, he throws it out in the nearest trash before taking a small notebook from his front pocket. Eyeing the shop behind him disdainfully, he neatly crosses it out.
"Che cazzo," he mutters, both disappointed and a little frustrated. How is it that he can find a pistol easier than he's able to find a good cup of coffee in this city?
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He's walking past one of the shitty ones when he spots someone walk out and spit their coffee right back into their cup.
"Yeah, you don't want to drink anything out of that place," he comments, "I think they just pour all the leftover coffee from the day before back in the pot."
That'd be one explanation for how subpar it is.
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Still, he wonders if the advice of someone who does not look finished with puberty is really what he needs. "It was disappointing," is Nicky's calm understatement.
"You should as if you know a better place?"
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"Not hard to find a better place, if you know where to look," Five says, though he's aware that's a non-answer, "There's a place a couple of blocks down. Not the best, but definitely more drinkable than the dishwater you just had."
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And there is no good coffee.
He squints at the boy, wondering if he is an expert from experience. Of course, changing times mean that he has no idea what culture the boy is from or how old he is. "You speak from experience?" Nicky wonders. "What's the name?"
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"The coffee makes up for the name," he says, and by now he's already turning to head off, "Follow me, I'll show you."
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If that bothered him, he would never really stop being bothered.
"And what do I call my coffee saviour?" he wonders.
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As far as Five goes, he's still getting used to not looking his age. He'd been closing in on a month when he ended up in Darrow, and even now, it hasn't been much longer. He doesn't think he'll ever not be bothered by it.
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And he could do that. He could cut the tip and get a new one that never tasted such awful coffee, but as Joe would say, it would be a touch dramatic.
"I am struggling with finding the things I'm used to," he explains. "Coffee is only one."
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After the apocalypse, he was never in place for very long when he worked with the Commission. Setting the timeline straight meant a lot of travel, and not a lot of time for finding a regular coffee shop.
"I take it you're not from around here. Different time, or just different place?"
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"Place? It was London," he admits. "I was hoping that I would be on my way to Malta," is a regrettable thing to say, because he's definitely not going now. "And you? Same time, or place?"
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And that's without getting into before he was able to make it back home. Or his time with the Commission. Or the job he was actually on in the 80s before he ended up in Darrow. He's going to have to come up with a more streamlined way to explain these things if this is how people in Darrow tend to make introductions.
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"I prefer to have the coffee before I hear any stories, though," he confesses. He walks, brows furrowing. "What month in '63?" he asks curiously.
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He and his siblings were nearly directly responsible for another big event. The last big event.
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"Only one question," is what he says aloud. He waits a beat, just enough to make Five have to lean in. "Was the coffee better or worse, there?"
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"It was a whirlwind trip to be honest with you."
As he talks, Grinders comes into view, and Five gestures in that direction.
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"If it came to give you an appreciation for coffee that made you this judgmental, then I'm happy for it," Nicky admits. "Otherwise, I fear there will be a very expensive machine I need to purchase in my future."
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People apparently appear and disappear seemingly at random; if the guy who owns Grinders goes, then the business likely goes with it.
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"Or is there something that makes people go out of business?" he asks, a touch darker. "A group of people that need to be dealt with?"
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And who's to say that the proprietor of his favorite place to get coffee won't be next? Nicky's assumption almost telling, though.