2370/A Bit of Craic

A Bit of Craic
Date of Scene:	07 July 2020
Location:	Cafe Lalo
Synopsis:	Having fun means bending an ear and some rules.
Cast of Characters:	Meggan Puceanu, Siobhan Smythe

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Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Meg doesn't have a pile of money to spend on breakfast, or lunch, for that matter. Vouchers don't come with her scholarship at Columbia. But when she can scrape together a few dollars, she seeks out somewhere new beyond the chain digs near her corner of the city. Enter Cafe Lalo, something far more keeping to her idea of a cool cafe. For a girl raised on TV and the Internet, it fits the bill better than a Starbucks. She has a metal, insulated coffee mug in front of her, reusable rather than forcing someone to wash or toss a paper cup here. The current act of pouring her mocha melange into it takes a few moments, but the metal container borrowed from the barista is fairly hot and she has to be careful not to spill things. At least two irritated patrons, older and silver-haired, are shaking their heads at the blonde woman.

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
Another silver haired patron is in the place but she's here for other reasons. She is approaching the manager about a possibility of live music at some point in the place. She comes out of the back with the manager, smiling at her even as they chat until she is about to turn to get a coffee herself. She grabs an order, likely placed previously and then smiles, "Oi!" She calls out to Meggan and starts over toward her with a grin, "Meggan, right?" She walks up with a grin and takes a sip of her coffee, setting her guitar down by the seat across from Meggan and settles in, "How 'ave ya been?" She asks and tilts her head.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
That mocha smells heavily of chocolate and grandiose luxury at $5.95 a pop, but it's a drink she intends to stretch with some extra milk and water. After returning the pitcher to the barista, the blonde adds a dollop of full cream and stirs it up with a metal spoon rather than one of those sticks that gets tossed after a single use. She sniffs her drink and then straightens, standing on the balls of her feet with an easy balance. It's that "Oi" that turns her head and her shoulders hunch, almost as though she expects someone to accuse her of something. Like her name: "Aye, I'm Meggan," she answers. Meggan runs her fingers through her hair, picking up on no ill intentions she can immediately sense. Or maybe it's just how a relaxed coffee shop is, lulling her. But a smile comes to her lips for Siobhan. "Fancy meeting you again! It's been a bit. Good day, though. And yourself? Right as rain, I hope, Siobhan?" The name's easy to remember, as it slips around the tongue with a kind of definite ease. She looks curiously at the guitar.

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
"That it has. Didn't think I'd see ya again so quickly in a city so big as this but life is odd." She looks at Meggan's gaze and then turns her gaze down to the guitar before patting it, "Oh, this?" She grins and looks up, "I play fairly often and often for money." She chuckles and nods her head, "Was just here seein' about getting a quiet time ta prove my worth." She nods and smiles even as she looks back to Meggan, "Looks like a good drink." She gestures to it, "Smells good anyway." She chuckles, "Not really my style, dough." She shakes her head and shrugs.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Feels rightly the size of a country, this place. That's how it goes, doesn't it? Round we turn and there's a friendly face," Meggan agrees. The lift of her smile brightens so much it practically transfigures her expression to one of sheer delight. Putting the lid on her cup, she twists it shut while Siobhan pats her guitar. "It's lovely. Are you finding work around here, then? I'd love to hear you play if you have a time set up. They'd be fools not to appreciate someone with a gift for music." It's a foregone conclusion that she does, of course. "Ah, this is pure poison. Half chocolate, but that's going to get me through a few days to study."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A smile and she nods, "I suppose sometimes it is the little dings, no?" She then smiles as she looks over at her guitar before looking again, "Yeah, dere are a couple o' places where I'll be playin'." She nods her head, "I 'ave been playin' a few different places and look forward to play at more." She grins and gives Meggan a club across town where she'll be playin' on Thursday before she looks back down at the guitar and then up at Meggan, "I am very much enjoyin' my time here so far if I'm bein' honest."

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Something like that." Meg gives a nod, her hair floating behind her in a golden snap. She's got a fair amount of it hanging down her back, guided into a lazy braid from mid-spine down. "Anywhere you can recommend? I don't get out t'all them and it'd be plenty nice ta support you and other artists." She tips her head a little. "I plenty like Greenwich but 'tis awfully expensive an' they charge far too much. Ain't made of money." Her shoulder lifts a little bit at that as she sips the mocha, eagerly listening to where Thursday's venue turns up. A grin, then. "I reckon you've found yourself a gig or two. Jus' watch, you'll be headlinin' things sooner or later."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A laugh and then she shakes her head, "I don't know about all dat but I hope to do better." She nods her head and Siobhan shrugs before she looks over to the window and then back at her, "Dere's a few places around like de one I mentioned but I haven't found a ton yet." She shrugs and laughs, "I'll let ya know if I find more dough. I'd check around at the few cafes and such."

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Anything is better when it's headed up." Sipping her mocha, Meggan makes a bit of a face. Strong on the chocolate, a bit too strong. So going back to make changes with the milk is called for, now that it's cooled a little. "What sort of places d'ya like best? You want some dive club or you prefer it be classy, more like a bookstore?" These questions aren't too rude, she can hope, approaching them with interest. "I'll let ye know if I hear anythin'. Sometimes I do. Met a Themysciran princess the other day, so ye never know."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A blink, "A princess?" She chuckles and nods her head, "Wow." She grins, "Dat's pretty impressive. I personally don't mind where I play. As long as I make somethin' and people enjoy demselves." She nods her head and then she looks down at her guitar again, "I just want to make people happy and enjoy myself, too." She chuckles and shrugs even as she looks back up at Meggan, "Ya know?" She asks and nods her head.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Meggan Puceanu gives an honest nod at that mention of a princess. "Right beside me, sitting an' watchin' a show at that." She smiles a little. "Hard not ta feel a mite overwhelmed, truth be. I don't know many royals an' how you behave around them?" Not quite mystified, she gives Siobhan a bit of a shrug at that, leaving it between them in countries where monarchs have been.... problematic, to say the least. Still, though, she gives a nod. "Life's too short to nae ha' fun and help others and yourself be content. Chase happiness an' you'll nae catch it, unless it comes from within, I figure."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A laugh and then she shrugs, "I haven't a single clue on how to act around 'em." She states and then Siobhan sips her drink and lets out a pleased sigh, "All I know is how to be me." She grins, "And I can't really say that I care to be any other way." She then looks to Meggan before looking down at her drink, "Well, I have a reason but I just know pain. I know what it is like to have to deal with dings ya can't fix." She looks up briefly, "No need to always be sad, right?"

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"She was friendly and approachable, but tha' is what it means ta be a hero, I reckon. Nae that I'm rubbin' elbows wi' them too much." She grows that smile a little more, then buries it behind the mocha softened by more milk. It's enough to sip without too much fuss, but she is still cautious of the heat. A look back to Siobhan raises her brows, but it's more of sympathy and compassion than a question. "World has plenty o' pain without addin' to it, that's for certain. We focus only on the bad an' things will never change. Bu' give someone a light o' hope, they can raise that into the far horizon."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A smile and she nods her head, "Dat's how I feel." She grins a little and then she idly rubs a hand over the top of her guitar case, "If I take away a bit of pain for a night then I feel like I've helped." She nods her head, "It's enough, hopefully, to bring people out of deir funk. Ya know?" She then shrugs and then looks down before looking up with a blink, "Dat's enough about me. Ya over dere speakin' to princesses and de like. What are you up to?" She asks and smiles.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Good reason as any to be a singer. Like a nurse or a doctor, bu' you've got a different instrument. Guitar is plenty more friendly than a scalpel if y'ask me. I don't care much for 'em, scalpel and the rest." Siobhan gets that sunny smile again. "Keep up what ye do. Nae enough of us able to contribute like that, though I wish we could. Get away from the obsession wi' money, you reckon, we might ha' a nicer world around us. Bu' that's no surprise and you get me started, I may never stop." She's got years of activism online, the rebel child to the rebel crusader waving a green banner, proving that.

Constant looks or passing people give reason to pay attention but their presence is like a low hum in mind. Not much of one, anyway, that she wants to ignore. Calm settles in like a warm glow, driven onward. "Me, I'm tryin' to find my place. Always have, I suppose. Some things I see outta joint, but there's no one who wants t' fix them."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
Siobhan laughs a little, "Now, I wouldn't go dat far. However, I appreciate de words." She then shrugs and looks down at her coffee briefly, sipping it before looking up, "All the same, I do wish people would enjoy life more." She shrugs, "Not somethin' that lasts." She then looks at her with a blink and tilts her head, "Outta join, huh?" She asks and laughs a little, "Well, sounds like a heroine to me." She winks before sipping her coffee and looking out the window.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Maybe Siobhan wouldn't, but Meggan already has. Is that all that matters? The curl of her smile lifts up, warm with a promise of a tease. She edges towards one of the tables to give her feet a break, but standing on tiptoe essentially all the time has to wear her tendons out. "Something lasts when you make it an idea. Least that's what I heard someone say." Probably on telly, but it doesn't matter. "I don't count much as a heroine. I mean, look 'tall the people out there fightin' all the time. I jus' faced some awful robot threatenin' folk. They were tryin' to hide in the Congress buildings an' it looked fit to hurt them. Not much countin'."

DC sentinels. Right. Not much worth worrying about.

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A blink and she walks over to a table with Meggan, settling into a seat and gesturing for her to take one, too, "I was just meaning you were putting tings right and that's good...I didn't know you were actually something like that." She laughs a little and settles in herself, "Sounds pretty impressive all the same. I just sing...well that and I do really well with languages." Ya know, publically. She looks to the side, really unsure about ever calling upon that curse. She instead just looks up after a moment and smiles, "Sounds pretty impressive."

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Falling into the chair with a bit of a wiggle to straighten it up, Meggan doctors her mocha with a bit more. "Languages? That's impressive, how many d'ya speak? I can imagine tha' gives you a lot of range. Learn different songs, right?" she asks curiously, leaning forward to pay further attention. "And nae, it wasn't impressive. Outright scary. What if I weren't enough? There's nae much I can do, not like Wonder Woman or Superman or Capt'n Britain."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A blink and then she laughs, "Every little bit helps." She states simply before she looks to the side and then she says, "I'm not usually very secretive with dis but I also don't tend to spread it about so." She grins a little and then looks down a moment, "All of them." She looks up with a grin, "As long as I hear it." She taps her ears, "For just a bit. I can speak it." She shrugs, "No matter what language I hear. If I can hear for a little while, I can speak it." She nods her head.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Meggan's eyes go wide at that, though she looks quite intrigued. Not the look of someone about to panic, but the fact is, she's got pointed ears herself hidden under her hair and that more or less marks her as strange. "You can do that? Why, that's gotta be the greatest thing in the world. Listen t' any movie, talk t' anyone. Long as they have you, no one feelin' lost and alone in the city, right?" Framing things to the positive there, it doesn't dawn on her to see it any other way.

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A laugh and then she shifts in her seat, "In a lot of ways." She states softly and then looks to the side, "It's a bit of an odd thing." She states softly and looks back over, "I'd rather not be known for it, though. It's somethin' I can do. Not somethin' I chose to do." She nods her head, "Ya know?" She asks and then shrugs, "My music is somethin' I make. Not something I just can do." She nods her head.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Oh, aye. No need t' advertise it unless you choose like being some kind o' translator, I figure. That's always a nice backup plan, but plenty good when ye travel, right?" Meggan's eyes are still rounded, but soft with the possibilities, their shade a limpid blue that's lifted a bit to the spectrum of gray. "Can and choose. Powerful understandin' there, to see the difference 'twain the two. Not all do."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A smile and she chuckles, "I assure you. I definitely see the difference between can and do." She nods and pats her guitar before she leans back against the chair and streches out her legs to the side. She shakes her head softly before looking over to Meggan, "That being said..." She reaches into a pocket of her guitar case and pulls out a sheet of paper and slides it over to Meggan, "That's my name and number." She nods her head, "In case ya want to talk again or end up curiosu about my music."

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"Thank you," says Meggan. Not just reflexive, that is absolutely meant well as she gives it a curious look. Holding it up gets a bit of a grin, and then she looks around. Must be a pen somewhere. "Be right back." Popping up, it takes her a few seconds to explain to the barista what she needs a pen and a recyclable sleeve for a cup for, scribbling out digits and a handle. Because finding her is about as hard as going #climatechange. Seriously, she owns the most real estate for that hash tag short of a bad president. Bouncing back over, she slides over the sleeve. "There ye go. A coffee promise, or tea, as ye like."

Siobhan Smythe has posed:
A smile as she takes it and she nods, "Sounds good." She then looks at it briefly before she opens up another pocket on her guitar case and slides it away. She then looks back to Meggan and grins wider, "Well, I don't want to eat all of your time up." She shifts some, "I should probably be going. Can't just sit around all day as much as I might like." She chuckles and nods.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
"You're right. They probably want me to leave at this point anyway." Gesturing lightly over her shoulder, Meggan nods to the offer. She springs up, paper in hand, and then takes her mug. Out into the great wide world. "Thank ye! I appreciate it, I hope you know."