5631/Coffee and Donuts

Coffee and Donuts
Date of Scene:	18 March 2021
Location:	Rise N Grind
Synopsis:	Lydia meets Sara at the coffee shop. They have donuts and have a good talk.
Cast of Characters:	Lydia Dietrich, Sara Pezzini

---

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
It's getting a bit late, which means that most people have gone home by now, but Lydia is burning the midnight oil. She's decided to get some atmosphere while she works on her latest book so she ended up at the Rise N' Grind to get some late night coffee and donuts. The décor may be a little bit garish, but boy can they make one hell of a coffee and their donuts are to die for.

She's sitting at one of the neon green tables, slowly working on a steaming cup of coffee (just a little bit of cream and sugar to take the edge off) and staring at her laptop screen. She's dressed in a black, pleated a-line skirt, and a cream long sleeved blouse. As always bioluminescent green ectoplasmic mists swirl about her, particles drifting lazily in the air.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Coming to the end of a very long shift, Sara found herself out in Tribeca. It wasn't her usual stomping ground by any means, but since she was here, her shift was officially over, and she had a number of notes to go over for the day, a cup of coffee and a donut sounded nice... what New York cop could ever say no to that?

The first place she came upon was the Rise N Grind. It seemed decent enough, though it looked like the 80s vomited on it. It was clean, and mostly quiet, so it would do.

Parking her car outside, she makes her way inside to begin the ritual of selecting just the right donut to go with just the right brew of coffee. She's dressed today in the usual NYPD required style: dark blue suit jacket over a white button front shirt, black slacks and a pair of sensible laced shoes.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The tinkling of the doorbell that announces when a new customer comes in catches Lydia's attention. Looking up she sees a familiar face. She never got the woman's name, but things were pretty hectic after the bus crash, and she had retreated pretty quickly to avoid getting caught by the press.

"Hey there!" Lydia calls out to her. "Come join me when you get your coffee. I recommend the crullers here. they're nice and light and fluffy."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara freezes at first, hand touching the side of her jacket where her gun is, but since it is just a friendly greeting and not some low life piece of shit attempting to do something, she relaxes and looks the direction the call came from.

The face was familiar, where did she know it from? It takes a moment before the lights come on and she ahs with a nod. Oh boy.... okay, we can deal.

Selecting her coffee with cream, the blasphemer she is, orders a cruller as well, then makes way over to the table as offered.

"Evening," she offers, perhaps a bit tense but she sits all the same.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia notes the tenseness of her companion, so she smiles as charmingly as she can manage. "Evening," she says. "Glad I get to meet you again. I never got a chance to say 'thank you' for helping out with the bus." She doesn't mention that the last time she saw Sara she was half naked with her clothes all in tatters. Nope. "I'm Lydia, by the way," she says extending her hand.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara sets the coffee down then accepts the offered hand to shake, not putting strength into it, just a normal handshake.

"I'm a bit at a loss here," she admits. "I don't normally come across people who've seen..." she gestures at herself as if that means something. "I'm Sara, and I would very much appreciate if we left it at first names. You already know more than most." She does smile, not trying to be mean or obnoxious, but clearly concerned. Secret identities suck.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The touch of Lydia's ectoplasm is cool and tingly, as if somebody had rubbed mint onto the skin. The feeling fades pretty quickly once out of the field. She holds up her hands and bows her head. "Say no more. I'd probably have a secret identity too, but this," she says waving a hand in the mists, "kind of makes that difficult. It's why I jet before the press can come whenever stuff like that happens." She chuckles and shakes her head. "I mean. I want to be famous, sure. But not for /that/."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara seems to visibly relax at that, even looks almost comfortable in the chair. "I don't do the press for a number of reasons, most of which have to do with my actual job." She takes a moment to collect a napkin from the holder, then tears off a piece of the cruller.

"What sort of fame are you looking for then, if not for... whispy green... whatever that is?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Ectoplasm," fills in Lydia. "You'd think it'd be all goopy, but it isn't. At least /this/ isn't. I'm an author." She grins and cocks her head. "You probably haven't heard of me, unless you're into smutty supernatural romance novels." She takes a sip of her coffee, continuing, "I've got three books published so far. I don't make a lot from them, but it's enough to treat me to coffee and a donut now and then."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Shaking her head, Sara sips her coffee before speaking. "I don't get much time for reading, however smutty supernatural? I might have to make the time for that." She grins playfully, making it uncertain if she is serious or joking. "I admire an artist of any form, no matter what you write, that you wrote at all and it's out there, is impressive."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia blushes a little at the compliment. "I've been writing since I was a teenager. Not all of it smut!" she hastens to amend. "Just that smut sells, you know? You might be surprised with how well it does." She blushes deeper as she admits, "I used to take commissions, you know? People would pay me to write about their characters in a certain situation. If I was serious about it I could probably make a living off of that alone, but I want to do some more serious stuff."

Now you've done it. You've got her talking about her passion. She'll never shut up, now. "I've got a more serious book that I'm working on. Still supernatural about a down on her luck PI that gets in over her head." She snorts with a grin, "Real original, right?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara nods as she listens, a sincere smile touching her lips. She seems to have found the young writers achilles' heel, and she doesn't mind at all. It's nice to talk about something other than the usual who killed who and why they did it.

"It is an original idea. The character's, who they are, what they feel and do, that's all you. There may be people out there who are like your character, they aren't your character. You make her, you breath life into her. What made you go with private investigator, if I may ask."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"I got an idea for a mystery, and the kind of people who solve those kinds of things traditionally are police detectives and PIs," Lydia answers. "I don't really know enough about policing other than what I can find on a google search, and the PIs have some good, familiar tropes that I can use as a hook."

She shakes her head, picking at her own cruller. "Not that police detectives don't have their own collection of tropes, but most of those are pretty out of date and out of touch with the times."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
This response makes Sara laugh, which for a moment makes it look like she is laughing at Lydia, but once she manages to collect herself she explains.

"I'm a police detective, have never thought of myself as out of date or out of touch with the times however." A broad grins comes ot her face as she says this, eyes sparkling. That just made her night. "If you'd ever like some advice beyond google search, feel free to call and ask." With that, she breaks her own rule and slides Lydia one of her cards from the force. Name, rank, pricinct and phone number both cell and at the office.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia blushes furiously at the laughter. She fidgets in her seat as she hastily tries to explain, "No! I mean... no, that's not what I mean. I meant that the /tropes/ surrounding police detectives were out of date and out of touch. Stuck in either the fourties or eighties, depending on which you look at."

She takes the offered card and looks at it, nodding. She pulls out a messenger bag and grabs her wallet out of it, sliding the card into it. "I... thank you for trusting me with this," she says. "I know it's a risk with your secret identity and all that." She rummages around in her wallet until she pulls out a receipt that she no longer needs, and writes her name and number on the back. "Here," she says, pushing the piece of paper across the table. "In case you need somebody to write you some smutty fiction for you."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara chuckles slightly, "No, it's alright. I know you meant the tropes, I couldn't help but poke a little fun." She offers a smile, then accepts the receipt. From the inside pocket of her jacket she pulls a small note book in a leather case. The receipt is tucked into a pocket inside the case, then replaced to her pocket.

"Perhaps I would prefer you to write stories that move you, rather than what makes you money right now. A short story, about that PI perhaps, to get things started."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Oh!" exclaims Lydia. "I've already done that. Cat's Cradle. It's a collection of short stories about the detective in question. She' been a side project for many years. Cat Blakesly, witch, detective. Usually gets in over her head. In love with a vampire. That kind of thing." She grins, "It's one of my published books!"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara ahs and nods, "Now that I might be interested in reading." She takes another sip of her coffee, then has to adjust the sleeves of her jacket having just opened it made it all wonky.

Settles back in the chair, she crosses one leg over the other and nibbles on the cruller. "Since you do know," she says more quietly. "If you have questions, I will try to answer the ones I can. I'm not going to poke into why you have ectoplasm, I'm assuming some sort of mutation, and that's all that needs to be said unless you're comfortable with more."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia grins, "You can find it on Amazon," she says. "Just search for my name and it should come up. she nods, "Yeah. I'm a mutant. Out and proud, as they say." She looks a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of asking personal questions to the detective. "I don't know..." she says, "I don't want to pry."

She eats a bit of cruller and washes it down with coffee as she considers whether or not to ask. "So the armor," she says, eventually deciding to ask. "I take it that it's not a mutation." Color touches her cheeks as she asks, "Does it do anything other than protect you and shred your clothes?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Continuing to munch on the cruller, Sara waits. They always ask, it always comes to one question that starts it.

"It creates weapons as well," she offers in answer. "Anything hand held. I have no idea why it shreds clothing, but it does, every time, no matter what I've tried. It is not a mutation however, it comes from an external source."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia scowls. "That's... inconvenient," she admits, imagining what it would be like if every time she uses her powers she'd get stripped half naked. She shakes her head. "I bet you have a change of clothes stashed somewhere wherever you go. I know that's what /I/ would do."

Another thoughtful pause before she asks, "How did you come across it?" She hopes she's not being to prying.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara chuckles, taking another sip of her coffee. "I have clothing in numerous places, and do my shopping at the Salvation Army to save money."

She hmms softly at the second part, considering. "I think it best to say, it found me, on one my cases, and leave it at that. I wasn't exactly thrilled by it at first, but I've come to accept it as a part of my life now."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"It doesn't look like you shop at the Salvation Army," Lyida says. "I mean, you look well put together." And pretty, but that's her inside voice talking. She bobs her head in understanding. "So it's one of /those/ things," she says. "You know, The Chosen One kind of deals. At least you don't have a prophecy written about you," she jokes. "Sorry. I always kind of think of things from a story perspective."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Again Sara nods with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, it's exactly one of those things. I accidentally touched it, it chose me, I'm stuck with it until I die. If there is a prophecy, it's not one I've read, but for your intrigued mind I will tell you there were other who had this before me, and there will be others when I'm gone."

The last of the cruller disappears and another sip of coffee washes it down. "I do actually shop at the Salvation Army, but I also know how to make adjustments so things fit better. When you go through as many articles of clothing as I have, you learn to get thrifty, but thank you for the compliment."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods. "That tracks. Do you know how far back it goes? I imagine something like that is ancient. I can't imagine somebody in, say, the Victorian era would create something like that." Especially not when it shreds all your clothes.

She nods again, "Yeah. I haven't really learned how to do alternations on clothes, myself. Or knit, or really anything home-ec type except for knowing how to cook myself a healthy meal."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
The answer to this question takes Sara a moment to decide. There is only so much information she feels comfortable offering, and yet at the same time it's nice to be able to talk about it. Another problem with secret indentities, you often feel so alone.

"I can't give you exact dates, but I can say it is far older than you can possibly imagine. I can't cook, but I can nuke a frozen burrito with the best of them. Thanks what ever God or spirit or whatever that I have a friend who /can/ cook. He allows me to stay with him, even after the accident that... well, lets just say there is about a year of my life that have pieces of the memory missing."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia scowls at that. "That must be frustrating," she says. "Just having chunks of memory /gone./" She finishes off her cruller, and drains what's left of her coffee. "At leas you have your friend to give you a good meal every once in a while. Does he know about your armor?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
"Yeah," Sara replies with a smile. "He knows all about me, in fact I think he knows more about me than I remember fully. The things I've forgotten are small, little things here and there. It is /exceedingly/ frustrating, but right now I'm focusing on betting back to work, and taking it one day at a time, while trying to figure out what the hell happened to me."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"It's good to have somebody to talk to about these kinds of things," admits Lydia. "It'd be rough if you had to keep it all to yourself."

"Look, I know I can't really do much, but I'll offer anyway," Lydia says. "If I can help in any way, let me know. You and your friend are probably better suited to real detective work, but if you need somebody who can lift a car, I can do that. Amongst other things.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
A soft smile touches Sara's lips, "Thank you for that. I know it's not an easy thing to have these abilities, especially with how the world around you can sometimes treat you. I've seen some of what you can do, we would never have gotten everyone out of that bus without you. I could move all the wounded in time, some would have drown. Don't sell yourself short. If there is ever a situation I think you could help, I will call. If you can't help, so be it, but I will make the offer all the same."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia dips her head solemnly. "I... I keep finding myself in situations where I need to use my powers to help people. You know that terrorist attack in Mutant Town a couple of months ago?" Yes, she's calling the Friends of Humanity terrorists after they set a bomb off at a charity event schoolkids put together. "I was there. I was also there at the riot in DC." She shakes her head, "I'm not a hero. I'm just an English teacher turned writer who keeps finding herself in these situation."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara cants her head slightly, eyes sparkling as she looks Lydia over, "And I'm just a police detective trying to protect the city with in the law. We are all 'just' something, that doesn't mean our actions aren't heroic. I don't consider myself a hero either, I do what I can to help those in need and I've been gifted with something to help with that."

Another drink from her cup and it is empty, a sad moment for any cop. "They are terrorists. I don't care if you're human, mutant, alien... it doesn't matter. You are a living, breathing being and deserve the same rights and privileges as everyone else in this country. The world needs to catch up with evolution, but in the mean time Lydia, you can count me as an ally. Should you need me for anything, as a police detective or other wise, you call me and I will be there. Deal?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia grins at Sara, "Deal." There's a bit of silence as she plays with her empty mug as she tries to think of something to add to that. "I'm glad I met you," she says. "You're good folk."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara waves that off with gesture of her head and a smile, "Thanks, but I'm me. If that's good, then I'm glad for it. I should probably get my butt home. The roommate is likely pacing the living room in wonder at this point."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia stands to say goodbye to her new friend. "Hey," she says. "I liked talking with you tonight. I was wondering if you want to do it again. Maybe over lunch sometime?" she asks hopefully.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara nods, "I'd like that. Just give me call. If I'm not arm pit deep in a crime scene, I can usually take lunch at my leisure. Sometimes even when I am..." she doesn't expand on that.

Standing she extends her hand this time to shake, "Be safe getting home, Lydia."