SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Gavin moved a little to the side to allow Amy to slip past him and totter her way over to the Starbucks, looking back in time to see Natalia holding out her IPod for him.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you." He replied to her as he took the IPod from Natalia's hands and began looking it over. After checking to make sure it was the same basic make and model as his, he gently eased the battery housing away from the frame and slid the spent power supply free. He spun it easily between the fingers of his left hand and grinned at Natalia before continuing.

"I'd love to techno babble my way through this process, but unfortunately I'm neither Scottish nor the chief engineer of the starship Enterprise. So this'll have to suffice for now."

Placing the IPod face down on the table, Gavin slid his right hand inside his trench coat and felt around in one of the pockets. After a second or two of searching he produced another, identical power supply to the one that he had just removed from Natalia's IPod. With a few quick motions he had secured ensconced within the IPod and was sliding the cover shut once more. Once the operation was completed he slid it across the table to her.

"I always keep at least one extra power supply on me at all times." He said before Natalia could start to ask the probably inevitable question, then continued while he had the initiative. "Between homework, gun practice, computer gaming, caring for the animals and the occasional head-on collision with a bottle of 80 proof I often forget to put my electronics gear on the stand at night, so I have my father keep spares on trickle-charge so I'm never left short."

He leant back in the chair with a satisfied sigh. Privately, he was hoping that he hadn't weirded Natalia out with his smoothly executed exposition. It had been something of a gamble to offer to try and fix that IPod, he knew. If it had been an IPhone or any other hand-held he'd have been made to look a right idiot. But this time at least, his tendency towards redundancy had paid off.

Amy watched in mild fascination as Gavin took Koala's iPod, and started fiddling around with the back, taking something vaguely technological from his pocket. Amy wished that she had at least a tiny amount of knowledge when it came to fixing technology. As it turned out, yelling and hitting her laptop only made it worse. Not for the first time, movies had lied to her.

Amy took another sip of coffee, the brim of the cup obscuring her vision, vaguely listening to what Gavin was saying. She pulled a face in mild disgust as the coffee went down her throat; she guessed the coffee maker person had switched from last time, because this cup tasted like utter shit.

When she put the cup down, Amy saw that Gavin had somehow already managed to fix Koala's iPod, and was now leaning back in his chair. That was definitely impressive. Amy had been half certain that he would manage to blow it up or something. Which would have been pretty spectacular, but also pretty sucky for Koala.

"Gav, I still didn't understand half of what you were talking about," Amy said. "But that was pretty neat, I'll give you that." Amy took yet another sip of coffee, as if to see whether the taste had changed in the past minute. Nope. Still tasted like ass. She stared at the cup in utter disgust and contempt before speaking to Gavin.

"D'you have something that could fix this coffee? Make it taste not shit?"

"Oooh!" Koala clapped quietly and took back her iPod. It was kind of strange for Gavin to carry around an iPod power supply thingy, but that's the perk of wearing a trench coat: you can carry around everything, even iPod...er...thingies. The only con is that you look like a shady person.

Amy then said that she didn't understand a word he said, but before she could reply ("Aha, you're not alone. Me neither.), she jokingly asked if Gavin could change the taste of her shit-tasting coffee. That was pretty easy, all you had to do was add sugar. Nothing special.

"Yeah, you can do that with sugar. Unless you don't like sugar, then that would make it taste more like shit. Actually, I've never drunken coffee. I wonder what it tastes like..." Koala started rambling again, leaning forward  putting her right elbow on the table. "I mean, coffee was an adult thing as a child, and it doesn't seen like a teen thing. I mean, like..." She rambled on. And on. And on. And on.

Gavin glanced up at Amy as she spoke. He was starting to feel more relaxed around the pair by now, and he found the smoothly-spoken reply forming in his larynx almost before she had finished her question.

"I'm afraid that sugar is one of the few things that I don't usually have occasion to carry around in my pockets." He allowed himself a grin before his next words. "I could always keep a few packets on me in future, of course, for your pleasure."

Had he been speaking to other men Gavin wouldn't been half so casual. But in the company of these girls he was feeling a good deal more spontaneous then he usually would've been. A stomach full of good food didn't hurt matters at all in that regard, nor did the fact that they seemed impressed with his abilities. Nothing relaxed Gavin more than the knowledge that he was being appreciated.

Must be nice to have your ego stroked like that.

I can enjoy the impression I make on other people, can't I?

Natalia's voice cut across his burgeoning internal monolog, bringing Gavin back to reality. He listened to her for a moment, then realised that she was beginning to ramble. The rational side of Gavin urged him to interrupt, but then morbid fascination encouraged him to let the girl go on until she realised what she was doing.

If you had a stopwatch, you could probably running a pretty lucrative gambling game on people like this.

For once, Gavin didn't bother to contradict his subconscious.

Amy jokingly tutted when Gavin said that he didn't carry any sugar around with him, making the sound as overly dramatic as possible. The pause between his words lead Amy believe he'd finished talking, and she opened her mouth to speak. Gavin had something more to say, however, and Amy's mouth stayed opened, this time out of slight confusion. There was something about Gavin's phrasing that seemed... iffy. Maybe it was his use of the word "pleasure", which, thanks to the internet and like-minded friends, brought on a whole range of alternative connotations than its definition in the dictionary. Maybe it was the grin beforehand.

Or maybe I'm just over thinking the whole thing. Most likely answer. Hell, guess that means I'm awake now, if I'm actually thinking.

Amy decided to ignore her doubts for now, and continued saying what she'd been planning to say earlier.

"You've got that great big Swiss-Army coat thing, and you don't have any sugar in it anywhere? Disappointing, Gavin. Disappointing."

It was at this point that Koala started talking about coffee. At first it was just a few queries and statements about the drink. Then she started to ramble. And ramble. And contradict her own sentences, and go back on herself, and say things she'd already said. It was rather entertaining to watch. Amy had to wonder whether Koala had never had coffee before, because this was the sort of thing that generally happened after you did. Eventually, Amy decided to put her out of her misery.

"Hey, Koala. If you wanna know what coffee tastes like, here." Amy slid her coffee cup across the table towards the other girl. "Try some of mine. Although yeah, this might not be the best specimen of coffee in the world."

(Oh god, sorry for holding this up. I had no idea that it was my turn)

"...so, yeah, why would you drink something bitter? I heard that it IS bitter, but that's just something I saw on TV- WOAH WOAH WAIT! What if it's a conspiracy against kids, made by anti-coffee people!" Koala gasped comically. This usually got a laugh out of elementary school children, but probably not soon-to-be high school graduates. Hopefully they found the humor in it.

Koala finished her rambling monologue and was soon offered coffee, albeit not the best. Sadly, she had moved her arm just then, so the coffee spilled over onto her arm. And Amy's. And her iPod. Koala swore silently as she wiped off the iPod and Amy's arm. Her own arm could be wiped off later.

"Oh Christ, I'm sorry. God, I can't control my arms sometimes. Heh." The Polish girl added sheepishly as she dried off the arm and the iPod. "So, well at least we got rid of some bad coffee." Koala hoped that would break the awkwardness of the incident. She reached for the tissues that she had thrown earlier and applied them to the wet areas.

I wonder just how long somebody can talk without actually saying anything.

It was a slightly cruel thing to think, but Natalia's ramblings didn't really illicite much more of a reaction from Gavin. When the punchline came, he chuckled dutifully at it. She was amusing in her unpredictability at least.

Then she spilt Amy's coffee.

Gavin's right arm had been resting on the table when Amy had returned. It was still there when she had leant over to pass the coffee to Natalia. This meant that his trench-coat was in the path of the resulting spill. At least, it would have been had not years of reflex control kicked in and automatically wrenched his arm away at a speed that would have given sheet lightning a nasty surprise.

The first sensation he registered after the last drop of spilt coffee had fallen was that of pain. The muscles in his arm were registering their objection to suddenly being wrenched from their relaxed positions into wakefulness by starting to ache rather sharply. He doubted that any real damage had been done, but his right arm still twinged unpleasantly as he began to massage it gently with his left hand. He stared ruefully at Natalia. It had been her fault, after all. Gavin wasn't one to automatically hold a grudge, but she had almost spilt coffee of his beloved trench-coat.

"You know . . . you should be a bit more careful, that stuff could've scalded you." He said in a slightly remonstrative tone, scooting his chair back a few inches in case any further liquids were spilled.

Oh dear. Koala had just made a silly comment about... well, Amy wasn't entirely sure. Something about the bitterness of coffee, and a group of anti-coffee people? It was even complete with a huge, exaggerated gasp, which really, was only a few steps up from terrible puns. And Amy did like her terrible puns. Combined with her general tiredness, she couldn't help but start giggling.

Perhaps that was why it took a couple of seconds for Amy to notice something had gone awry. She blinked a couple of times, and looked down at her arm as she noticed Koala wiping the coffee off of it. The only thing Amy could think of to say was "Awww, shit" before she started giggling again. Her tired mood had suddenly fluctuated from "what the hell is going on" to "I don't care, it's awesome anyway."

Gavin seemed somewhat annoyed by the whole thing, although Amy couldn't see why. He seemed to have escaped relatively unscathed, by the looks of it. Amy could face that issue in a second; first, she needed to get her book off of the still-coffee-covered table. Amy did not like getting books damaged or dirty, even ones she no longer read or liked. She had even bought new versions of books because her ones had gotten too damaged. Once the book had been removed, Amy grabbed a handful of tissues herself, and started wiping the table down.

"Hey, it's cool Gav, everything's alright. I think." Amy said, as she continued to clean. "I mean, I'm okay and all, and as everyone knows, that's the most important thing." Amy looked over the table, fairly satisfied at her cleaning job. She placed the sodden ball of tissue at the very corner of the table, before picking up her sandwich, which had miraculously avoided getting any coffee spilled on it.

"But of course, the most important thing is that the food is safe!" Amy gave a mock cheer, before taking a large bite out of the sandwich.

Well, that wasn't the best thing that happened here. It looked like Gavin was pissed off, but at least Amy seemed happy. It was probably a combination of sleep deprivation and caffeine that caused Amy to laugh like that, though Koala was cursing at herself in her head for pissing off someone. Especially someone she had just met, considering that he had fixed her iPod. Koala was embarrassed by the whole situation, and was happy when Amy made a quip about the food and turned the mood around.

"Yeah, it looks like the food escaped unharmed." Koala added, hollow laughter following it. Once both Amy's arm and the table was dry, she began to wipe her own arm, wishing that the conversation would move on. She considered interjecting a few ice breakers ("So, how's the weather at your place?"), but ultimately decided to start a conversation and hope for the best.

"So, speaking of food, do you like a certain one over others?" That was probably the most blatant way of disguising "What's your favorite food?", an icebreaker for sure. Koala's hopes faltered as she answered her own question with a muttered "I like chicken pot pie." and tried to give Gavin an apologetic glance.

The pain in Gavin's unfortunate right arm had subsided by now. He had been rather surprised at how fast he had reacted, but seeing as it had saved his trench-coat it hardly seemed like something to complain about. Besides, he wasn't really that angry with Natalia. It had only been an accident, after all.

"It's alright, I shouldn't have snapped at you just then." He said, giving her a smile. "Also, my favourite food tends to vary depending on my mood."

He cast an eye over his shoulder, and then swivelled round in his seat to indicate one of the restaurants. "I just came from there, as a matter of fact. Hot spicy chicken breast with garlic bread, that's something I'd happily eat every day. Of course, I couldn't afford it every day, and then it would just be routine."

Makes sense that you'd be at your most philosophical when it concerns your stomach. Seneca would've been proud.

Clearly I'm not stoic enough to shut you up.

Just think of me as your eternal yardstick.

You mean something that I'd like to chop up and use as firewood?

Blessed silence. Gavin sighed slightly as he twisted back around to face the two girls again. He cast his eyes up to Amy and raised an eyebrow. "So, what kind of food do you like?"

Amy hardly noticed the slight awkward pause that popped up after her exclamation about her food. Her focus was, for the moment, on her sandwich. She wanted to still eat it while it was fresh, after all. Leaving it in the bottom of her bag and only finding it a month later was not something she wanted to experience twice.

Amy drew her attention back to Koala and Gavin when Koala asked, basically, what their favourite food was. It was a bit of an odd question, and had Amy's brain been in full working condition, she might have realised it as being an ice breaker. Her brain wasn't, however, so Amy simply shrugged it off, and listened to Gavin talk about the restaurant he'd just come from. The food sure sounded tasty, the garlic bread especially. The way Gavin had phrased it, though, Amy just couldn't help but make a reference, adjusting it slightly to suit Gavin's words.

"Plus, if you ate garlic bread every day, then you'd get fat." Amy hoped that at least one of the others got the reference, and didn't just think she was insulting them or anything. Amy took another bite of sandwich before replying to Gavin.

"I could seriously go for some garlic bread right now though. I guess a lot of my favourite food has carbs in. Pasta, sandwiches, stuff like that. Although I really like chicken as well."

Amy paused for a few seconds, chewing another bite of her sandwich, before grinning and speaking again.

"And brownies and cookies and cake are always awesome, too."

Well, that icebreaker worked, but Koala really had nothing else to work with, other than fattening garlic bread and such. Koala awkwardly entwined a strand of hair on her fingers for a while until she finally had an excuse and left.

"Oh, damn, what time is it?" Koala asked nobody in particular, checking her iPod timer. "Damn, 2:43. I've got to get home and do some homework, so see ya at school." With that, Koala collected her things and departed from the table, en route to home and do some homework.

(Koala Kowalski continued elsewhere)

The reference sailed merrily over Gavin's head. He was smart enough to realise one had been made, and it irked him that he couldn't place it. Being in a position of ignorance was not one he sat in well, even with something as trivial as this. Years ago, such a thing would have actively annoyed him. Fortunately he had long since realised the wanton stupidity of allowing himself to become upset at missing such a simple bit of information. Information was power, but not all information was strictly relevant.

It still managed to surprise him at times just how much simple, everyday things like this could hit him. The old emotional response was stil there, just buried a long way down. He mentally pushed it a little deeper and gave a sigh and a wry smile to Amy.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid that one went over my head somewhat. Care to enlighten me as to where it's from? Something tells me that as soon as I hear it, I'll slap my head and go 'oh my, how could I have ever missed that'."

He chuckled softly at his own words. Taking yourself seriously was all well and good, but it never helped in situations like this. He allowed himself to lean forward over the table again, his arms folded on the tabletop as he gazed at Amy.

As Amy was munching away at her sandwich, waiting to see how her reference would actually be taken, Koala suddenly asked the table at large what the time was. Amy leaned down to reach into her bag for her phone, but as before she could even begin to look for it, Koala answered her own question. Amy straightened up, putting the phone in her pocket, a look of mixed shock and concern on her face. Wow, shit, really? It's already quarter to three? Shit, how long have I actually been here?

... Actually, what time did I get here in the first place?

Frowning briefly, Amy put her thoughts aside for the time being, waving goodbye to Koala. That just left Gavin. Amy brought her attention back to him, taking another few bites of her sandwich. There were only a few mouthfuls left. Shame. It had been tasty, much better than her second dosage of coffee, anyway.

"What, the whole 'garlic bread makes you fat' thing?" Amy asked in response to Gavin, after finishing off her mouthful of bread and chicken. "Err... Scott Pilgrim, right, yeah! The, uh, movie. I dunno about the comic book... things."

As Amy finished off the rest of her sandwich, her earlier thoughts about the time came back to her. There was something niggling in the back of her mind about the time around now, but Amy couldn't quite place what it was... She vaguely remembered a comment made by a parent, or...

"Oh, shit! Shit, shit, shit!" Amy suddenly leapt out of her chair, mind almost in full gear now. "I completely forgot, my dad's out and mum's going somewhere at three, so I need to look after Destiny and Lilly. Again." Amy hurriedly got out her phone, checking the time. Almost ten to. She'd probably have to run home, something she was not looking forward to, but she'd be able to make it. Just.

Amy hurriedly grabbed her book and practically empty coffee cup, and carefully put them in her bag, despite her hurry, before slinging the bag over her shoulder.

"Sorry 'bout this," Amy apologised to Gavin. "But leaving a four year old under the care of a moronic eight year old is not a recipe for a good time. I'll see you at school too!" And with that, Amy made her leave, breaking into what could barely be described as a power walk.

God, she hated running.

((Amy Bachelor, in Adapting The Orchid Thief))

Sometimes Gavin wondered if he should have a tighter schedule in his life. Now, as both Amy and Natalia left, was one such time. He let them go with a wave and a polite farewell, then leant back heavily on his seat once more. He could've gone home, but his meal had left him feeling lethargic and satisfied. It occurred to him that he seemed to always be the last person left in a group when it disbanded. Not that it bothered him. Right now there was nothing he wanted to do but sit and relax.

Of course, what Gavin wanted to do and what Gavin needed to do seldom coincided at the time. The restaurant had been his weekly treat, but that hadn't taken away the urgency of what other things he needed to take care of this weekend. He had things to write, a plan to draw up. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and began to head towards the exits. This had been a pleasant little diversion, but now he had to get back to serious issues.


((Gavin Hunter - Continued in A Breath of Fresh Air))