14021/Rapid Brew Coffee Connection

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Rapid Brew Coffee Connection
Date of Scene: 02 February 2023
Location: Sundollar Coffee - Avenue of Tomorrow
Synopsis: Carin and Irie bump into each other at Not!Starbucks. Then Toni shows up and Irie takes off before a little coffee date is had!
Cast of Characters: Carin Taylor, Irie West, Toni Ho




Carin Taylor has posed:
    Sundollar Coffee. Just ilke every other Sundollar Coffee. They're everywhere. They make the same coffee. The same pastries. The same everything. But today, today there's a redhead in the shop. She's wrapped up in a big, baggie hoodie to fight off the cold. She's wearing a black, nondescript backpack, too, with the hood up but her hair easily visible with how it peeks out past her face. Her shoes are as bright red as her face and she's wearing... what seemingly are rather nice pants. Peculiar.

    What's she up to? She's ordering a slice of lemon cake and a giant hot mocha. Biggest one they serve.

Irie West has posed:
    Who needs one redheaded speedster when you can have two? There's a crackle of Speed Force lightning and a red and yellow blur and suddenly Irie is there dressed in her Kid Flash costume. It's mostly yellow with black highlighting and red trim. Over it she's got a black leather jacket, and red biker gloves adorn her hands.

    The teenager pulls her goggles from her eyes and sets them on her forehead and grins when she sees that there's no line. Oblivious to the stares she garners she walks up to the counter and places her order. "Two cheese danishes, a blueberry muffin, a couple of banana bread warmed up and... oh! A large decaf pumpkin spice latte!" Order ordered and paid for, she steps back and now seems to realize that people are staring at her. "What?" she says defensively. "I needed a light snack!"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    While to others it might be a sudden crackle of lightning and blurring, Carin watches it all happen. She sees the door open in slow motion as someone's stepping out to leave, and while it hangs there after the hand releases it, letting in the cold winter air, there's the Kid Flash. Smaller than Carin but totally larger than life, as heroes tend to be. Maybe Irie catches her staring, maybe not. And not staring in that 'whoa where did you come from!?' way, but that 'I'm watching you in realtime' way.

    She's taking her plate and her cup when all of this happens, and those bright green eyes of hers just blink when Irie mentions a light snack. If the staring didn't give it away, her ivory white skin and that green lightning bolt on her face might, she's an odd one. "...maybe I should get a cheese danish, too..." she muses aloud, that being her only real reaction.

Irie West has posed:
    Of course Irie noticed. She probably gave Carin a little wave as she entered, before heading up to the counter. Now that she's laden with her 'light snack' she wanders over to the other speedster, grinning. "Hi!" she says, her voice chipper and friendly. "I'm Kid Flash. er, Irie West." She juggles her pastries until she can get an arm free with with to offer a hand to shake. "It's cool to see another speedster out in the wild. How fast can you go? I've gone so fast I broke space-time a couple of times, but that's really not something to brag about. It does nothing but just cause all sortsa problems. Like going back in time and meeting your dad before he ever met your mother, and then you have to be all quiet when he asks you about her because you don't want to spoil them meeting organically and falling in love and then they might never have had you in the first place and then you get into a paradox and paradoxes are //not fun// let me tell you."

    Does she ever take a breath? "Anyway. Hi! I think I said that. What's your name?"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin's only carrying the two things, so it really isn't hard at all for her to get a free hand to shake. She just sets the slice of lemon cake on top of her coffee cup. Easy. But she does indeed shake that hand. Her body is warm. A little over-warm, maybe. "Um..." she frowns, clearly having some troubles with the... social aspect. Not that it's an issue with Irie talking a mile a minute. When she's actually got a moment, she shakes her head slowly.
        "Oh. No. I... I can't.. go /that/ fast.... at least... I've never tried...?" she gives an unsure, lopsided smile, seeming a little overwhelmed. "Carin," she then says, clarifying and introducing herself properly. She glances around at everyone looking at them. "..do you.. wanna.. grab a table? And eat? It's... really cold out... and I'm kind of thirsty..."

Irie West has posed:
    "Sure!" chirps Irie, oblivious to Carin's discomfort and just goes to the nearest table and plops herself down in it. "It's okay," she says. "Sometimes it's good to push yourself to know your limits, but not if it's gonna hurt you or, you know, break spacetime. Like... I don't think I can do that //again// any time soon, since there were kinda special circumstances behind them."

    She starts chowing down on her muffin, somehow making it disappear in what seems to be a few bites. "Do you have to eat a lot, too?" she asks. "Like, me and my family have to eat //all the time//. Big Belly Burger cringe whenever me and Bart show up, 'cause they know they're gonna have to deal with an order that could feed an army." She gives Carin a lopsided grin, "It's good for when you're hunting for a Belly Meal toy, though. We got two whole sets of Sonic figurines in one sitting."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    For a speedster, Carin seems to be taking things very, very slowly. Maybe it's the unease. The discomfort. But she does take the seat across from Irie and starts to nibble on her lemon cake. "Brother?" she asks, tilting her head. "..oh.. Impulse..?" she asks, hazarding a guess. "...if.. um... family resemblance..?" she gives a lopsided smile. Then she nods slowly, "I.. do. Sometimes. I try not to go too fast, though?"

    Whoa. A speedster? Not wanting to go too fast? What is with this woman? "..cuz.. I can't.. like.. protect my clothes and stuff.. unless it's special.. material.." she keeps her voice a bit on the quieter side for now. Maybe she's trying not to draw too much attention to yourself. "..but.. your super-suit there protects you yeah?"

Irie West has posed:
    "Yeah, Impulse!" Irie says, grinning widely. "Well. And my brother, too, but he's not in this timeline yet, so I kind of miss him despite how annoying he can be." There goes one of the danishes."

    She nods, "Yeah. Friction can be kinda an issue, but the Speed Force kinda takes care of that somehow." She shakes her head. "Nobody really sure how it works, or why it does some of the things it does, but it comes in handy when I'm going really fast, else I'd end up bursting into flames and nobody really wants //that// to happen." She cocks her head curious, "Have you got a super suit to help out?"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "Speed Force... right. I've uh. Heard of that.." she purses her lips. She coughs quietly at the mention of bursting into flames, looking away for a moment. Then she looks back at Irie, nodding. "Um. I've got. A few things. Clothes. Special ones... but my body... it's..." she tugs the sleeve of her hoodie back some, revealing the opaque whiteness that is her flesh. "...um. Modified. Else I'd... probably just disintegrate? I thought rug burns were bad enough..." she coughs, giving a half smile.

    "So you .. Speed Force folks.. and... Rave too... but she can, like... turn into /light/. That's... all so amazing..." she laughs, finishing her lemon cake and then taking a long, slow drink of her coffee. "Mmh.. I wonder how many other people get... cursed with powers that could just... kill them.." she asks, almost rhetorically, sighing.

Irie West has posed:
    "Ah," Irie says, when Carin shows off her skin, and she nods enthusiastically. "Teflon skin. That'll come in handy. You gotta cover your bases."

    "Light? Man, I don't think I can go quite //that// fast," she admits. "I don't think I want to try to push myself to see if I can. It's one thing to break timespace by accident, it's another to try to break relativity on purpose."

    She seems to consider Carin's last question thoughtfully, downing one of her banana breads and chasing it with her latte. "Mm. Probably more than you think. I'm sure there are a bunch of mutants whose powers hurt them more than it does help. Are you a mutant? Is that how you got your speed?"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "N-no, not.. Teflon..." Carin actually laughs softly. "Um.. kevlar underlay... actually...." she flexes her fingers a little, the skin pulls taut over something subdermal. She shakes her head, "I think my best is... mach 3? But I don't.. if I try to go faster I might hurt myself. I need to... maybe... learn how to do it better? Is that... possible? Like. Can you learn to speed better?"

    She's sitting at a table in the coffee shop, across from Irie, with a massive cup of coffee in her hands. Biggest size they sell!

    "Yeah... they sort of.. awakened. I think. My memories are still.. really hazy from back then for..." she pauses, purses her lips, then looks away. "..reasons."

Irie West has posed:
    Irie grins, pleased that she could get a chuckle out of the quiet woman. "Mach 3 ain't bad, though," she says. "Gotta be careful 'bout those sonic booms though, if you don't have anything to mitigate it. Last thin you want is to be running down the highway and blow out all the cars windows." She looks thoughtful at the question. "I'm sure you can. I'm not really the one to ask, though. The Speed Force takes care of a lot of that for me."

    Irie is dressed in her Kid Flash costume, and has what looks like a big pile of pastries, muffins, and other goodies that she's been steadily chowing down on.

    "Mm, that sucks," she says, nodding. "I haven't had any memory issues myself, but some of my friends has had them. One of them was stuck in a dream and totally forgot who she was!"

Toni Ho has posed:
Somebody is late. Late, late, late. Late enough that she, like Irie, basically runs into the coffee shop. She's not that fast, though. Toni bursts in, dressed in a black skirt suit, maroon tights, low heels and her dark grey wool coat. Her pink hair is tied back in a bun, and her glasses fog over a bit as she swivels her head, looking for Carin. She tilts them down, and would recognize that hair anywhere.

She walks quickly to the table, and just sits right down next to Carin, smiling pleasantly. "Sorry I'm late. Meeting went too long. Ugh. Old white men." She pauses, her smile somehow getting brighter. "Did you make a friend?"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "Oh.. um. The memory stuff isn't from... the mutation... it's.. from other stuff..." Carin says, looking a little uneasy as she sips on her coffee. "And, yeah. I have to be.. really careful. No mitigation. Lots of... wind issues. Not for me but... around me. It's a... really cool power to have!" she beams for a moment, then slumps into her chair. "...just... has a lot of downsides, you know?" she offers.

    Carin is wrapped up in an oversized hoodie and her red speed sneakers. There's a backpack hanging off of one arm, against the coffee shop wall, and her pants... look like, to perhaps Toni at least, SHIELD-issue kit. Probably for her speed too. When Toni comes in, though, she blinks in surprise and her smile broadens. "..Toni.. I ... didn't know what you wanted, so I didn't order. I um. Finished the courier run..." she nods to the backpack. "..did.. you want something? And... n-no. Not.. friend yet? A..ah.. acquaintance, I think?"

Irie West has posed:
    "It //is// neat, isn't it?" Irie replies with a grin. Her phone, then rings, and she picks it up. "Hi Maddie!" she says brightly. "What? No way. //No way//. Okay. I'll be right over." She turns to the rest of the food and seems to stuff it all into her face all at once. "Sorry. Gotta go. It was good meeting you, Carin! I'll see you later!" And then with a flash of yellow and red, she's gone.

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni seems to be bursting with pride. Carin talked to a person and was having a chat and it was great to see. She starts to move to give Carin a brief, public acceptable amount of cuddling when Irie, uh ... stuffs her face in the way only someone connected to the Speed Force can and is suddenly not there anymore.

"W-wow. That was ... Huh. I think I need coffee after that."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "...she's... fast..." Carin says quietly. She offers up her own big cup. "...real fast.. I um. The Speed Force is... a thing. You know?" she gives Toni a lopsided smile. "...just a mocha..." she explains. "I already had some lemon cake but..." Her bright green eyes focus on the pastry case again. "...I was thinking of a cheese danish now, too. You.. want to sit and sip? Maybe... watch the rain?"

Toni Ho has posed:
"I've read reports on it. It's a thing, alright. Wonder if I could make something to tap into it...?" She shakes her head, one lock of hair working loose from her bun to drape along the side of her face. "Nah. It'd probably blow up and teleport me to some hell dimension."

"Have a danish. You deserve it. And there is not much in this world right now that I'd enjoy more than sitting here watching the rain with you."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "I don't know, it wouldn't be worth it I think... she uh... was talking about like..." she rubs her face with her hand. "...breaking reality and the timeline and going back in time on accident? Do you... um..." she looks unsure, then sad. "...would you want to risk going back to... to before... I dunno, your job? Your.. suit? .." she bites her lip, looking a little hopeful but still sad. "..me? B-because if.. there's important stuff back then... you should... totally try it! Yeah!"

    She glances back at the pastries again, "...do you want one too?"

Toni Ho has posed:
"I have absolutely no desire to time travel," Toni says, shaking her head. "Go back and, what? Drag my dad out of a cave so Tony Stark would die instead? Not my style to let anyone die, and if my dad didn't die, I don't think I'd be where I am today. No engineering degrees, no S.H.I.E.L.D., and most importantly, no you." This time she does go for the cuddle. It is fierce, but maybe a touch damp from the rain outside. "I wouldn't trade this for anything, and I don't think my dad would want me to."

She pauses, glancing at the pastry case, squinting a little. Yes, she's using the zoom feature on her glasses. "Ooo, apple danish. That sounds wonderful."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin actually squeaks when she's cuddled like that. It's so enthusiastic, so fierce indeed! But she sort of melts into it, too, unable to help giggling. "..t-thanks Toni..." she mumbles, blushing deeply, practically glowing in that hood of hers. "I'm glad, though. Seriously glad. I um. Meeting you has been.... kinda magical. Just. Feel bad you had to see me... at my worst a couple of times..." she mumbles and wiggles into the hold.

    "Apple?" she asks, maybe thankful for the distraction as she wiggles to escape Toni's grasp. "What kind of coffee too? My treat tonight. I mean we worked today but... coffee date.. right?"

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni clings for a little longer, giggling as Carin wriggles herself free. This amuses her. It will always amuse her. "Don't feel bad about it, Carin," Toni says, finally letting her go to look her in the eye. "I saw you at rock bottom, and still love you. You're more than just your trauma." She pauses, going a little cheeky. "Just wait, it'll be your turn to see me in a hole at some point."

As for the coffee question, she considers. "Dark roast, black with like, four sugars in it."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    It isn't like Carin is trying to escape too quickly. She loves this contact. This embrace. This feeling. She meets Toni's eyes and smiles, leaning in and bumping noses with her, pure affection. "...and I promise I'll be there to help dig you out. Or.. hold your hair back while you puke..." she gives a lopsided smile. "..it's really pretty hair.." she says quietly.

    Then she's up, on her feet, leaving the backpack on the chair. "...got it... you like it pretty hard and sweet, huh?" she asks, entirely not sure if the opportunity for finger-guns and an exclamation of 'Phrasing!' will be the next thing out of Toni's mouth. "...and our danishes."

Toni Ho has posed:
Tony smiles softly, tinging just a little pink at the nose-bumping. "My twenty first birthday is in a few months. You're absolutely going to have to hold my hair," she says, grinning. "I promise not to puke in the bed."

When she gets up, Toni follows Carin with her eyes, just admiring her natural fluid movements. Strangely, at the entendre, she does not fingergun or quip, she just turns a very bright red, and giggles nervously. "Y-yeah...I guess." Mmm. Danish.

Carin Taylor has posed:
    It really doesn't take long. A black coffee is poured quick and Carin grabs the sugar shaker from the 'condiment' bar. She comes back with two danishes, blinking and smiling at the look on Toni's face. She really is fluid when she moves. It's like she's putting more effort into moving slowly than she does when she's zooming around. Poor girl.

    "Here you go..." she states, pulling up her chair again and plopping her bag on the floor between her legs. "...God... another two years until I'm 21..." she sighs, shaking her head. "So you'll party and I'll carry you home? Promise me you won't get drunk and go flying in your armor? That... would be uncool..." she pouts. "...do they even let you just joyride in that/"

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni watches Carin do the incredibly mundane act of buying coffee and pastries. She has this sleepy, dreamy smile on her face the whole time. She's down bad for Carin, and it shows.

When the other girl comes back, she makes comical grabbyhands for the coffee, closing her eyes and smiling at the warmth seeping into her fingers. She just luxuriates in that for a moment.

"I won't drunk fly my armor. I'm not Stark. And you can carry me home whenever you want, just ask!" She giggles again, blowing on her coffee to cool it. "I mean, I can joyride in it. I just have to submit forms and call it a test flight and then log data. Which takes me no time, so."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    There's not even any real butt on display! Her hoodie hangs down over her upper thighs, and those loose-ish pants don't even cling to her well-toned legs! In fact, Carin's never looked this frumpy before, not even at the apartment when it's usually just underwear and said hoodie. Super comfy. She puts the sugar on the table, too, before getting cozy.

    "...so you go on rides? Can.. you take me on one? Again? Sometime?" she asks, fidgeting a little, picking up her danish and taking a little nom of it. Then there's a soft laugh after she swallows. "..I uh. I can't carry you home? I mean. I can try? I don't, like, have super strength or anything though..."

Toni Ho has posed:
Frumpy or not, Toni loves Carin. She thinks she'd be pretty in a burlap sack. That's not the point, though. Carin seems happy, and it's just a recursive loop that makes Toni happy, which in turn feeds back to the redhead.

There are worse recursions.

"I will absolutely take you on a ride whenever you want. Just tell me when." She pauses. "Maybe not when I'm wearing a skirt, it gets caught in seams and is really uncomfortable." She is not delicate. She dunks the danish in her coffee then takes a big bite before the delicate pastry can disintigrate. She chews thoughtfully before she swallows. "Well, you can at least call us an Uber and make sure I don't get too sick."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    CArin is, indeed, very happy with Toni around. She's utterly smitten with the pink-haired science genius girl, and instead of getting all fluttery and nervous around her, she seems to instead adopt a much more... comfortable stance. And comfy she is. So much that she leans against Toni for the time being, listening to her talk.

    "Oh, yeah, that doesn't sound good. We can trade clothes?" she gestures. "...like... is the suit here? Or can you summon it? You can have my pants and... I can take your skirt... and..." she's just rambling on, waving her danish around and making small bits of it flake off on the paper plate she was given before she just drops it and puts her face in her hand. "...oh god I'm sorry, is.. is that too much? Asking if you wanna swap clothes so... so you can cradle me in your arms and fly us home?"

    She peeks at Toni between the gaps in her fingers, most of her face hidden but that crimson on her cheeks making her seem like she's late for Christmas or early for Valentine's Day.

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni just watches Carin go on her little ramble, just in absolute joy with her excitement and enthusiasm. It's so stinking cute. She loves it. "Sadly, as much as I'd love to see you in a skirt, we're just going to have to travel the normal way. I haven't quite gotten the remote activator to work right. So it's not too much, but it's not happening today."

She rests her head on Carin's, enjoying the warmth and the closeness as she sips coffee and just ... murders that danish.

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "Oh... so you ... maybe next time!" Carin says with a laugh. "...but um. About the skirt. We can still swap? I mean.... getting home, it'll be cold. Like. Real cold today.." She turns her head and steals a kiss of Toni's temple. "...and then... I don't mind being in a skirt... because... I run so warm, you know? We can trade and we'll be okay. I think we're close in size..." she muses, then returns to drinking her coffee.

Toni Ho has posed:
"We're pretty close, but you're a bit ... hippier than me," Toni says, with a smile. She shifts to whisper in Carin's ear. "Not that it's a bad thing. You're very attractive."

Yeah, she just wants to see her blush again.

She takes a long pull of coffee. "It's really okay. I'm wearing tights. I'm honestly pretty warm, but this sounds like an excuse to go shopping to buy you some skirts and dresses."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    If it's blushing Toni wants, it's blushing Toni gets. Not that she has to try hard! Carin does, indeed, pinken. Or maybe she never stopped? Regardless, her cheeks take on that lovely crimson hue and she makes a sound somewhere between a squeak and a whimper. She tries to melt into a puddle, or at least into her hoodie, and only half-succeeds. "..thank you.." she mumbles, picking up her coffee with both hands and pushing it into her hood to drink at it.

    At the talk of shopping, though, she peeks over at Toni. "..what... like... right now? Or... tonight? Or.. something?" she asks, head tilting. "...I mean... we're done with work for today, right...?" she asks. "..and.. we uh... don't have a curfew.. do we? I mean we're adults but.."

Toni Ho has posed:
"We can go right now if you want. I don't have anything to do," Toni says with a smile before she just slugs the rest of her coffee. "I'm, how do you say, flush with cash and in the mood to spoil my girlfriend."

She sets the empty cup down on the table, and glances sidelong at Carin. "We can figure out what kind of style you want to go with. Personalize your wardrobe. You deserve better than ratty old hand me downs."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin finishes her danish finally, and her coffee is big and in a to-go cup. She holds it in both hands and blinks at Toni. "W-wait... r-really? Nobody's ever..." she frowns, just staring at her, incredulous. "...are you sure?" she asks quietly. She's rife with self doubt now, still rather amazed that it's an offer to... actually get her clothes. And not cheap second (third, fourth, etc) hand stuff.

    "Um. If. If it's okay. I don't.. know where the shops are here in Metropolis, really, so..."

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni looks at Carin, eyes sympathetic and sad, but a small smile on her lips. She shifts, reaching a hand out to cup the other girl's cheek gently, running a thumb across her face. "Carin, I want to. I want you to have nice things. I want you to feel pretty. I want you to see yourself the way I see you."

She leans forward, kissing Carin on the tip of her nose before she rises. "I don't really know either, but that's what Google is for." She reaches her hand out towards Carin, to help her to her feet so they can venture out and do some Retail Therapy.