Owner	Pose
Billy Kaplan	Monday night. Winter break is over and classes are back in session. Why do breaks always pass so quickly? So here's Billy, back at his usual table. He's pouring over some psychology journals he got off the shelf. On his table is a steaming cup of the house special orange-liqueur infused coffee, a plate with two thick-boi slabs of cherry cordial-soaked cake, and a vape that he is idly turning in his fingertips. Several regulars and staff member pass from time to time and greet him by name. He always has a quick, warm smile and a friendly greeting. Seems like he's a people person and must spend no small amount of time here at Coffee of DOOM.
Rebecca Ryker	The sound of a man's voice comes from outside. He sounds strong, vibrant, and downright rude as he says, "No! I can't get there right now, I have to deal with something first!" He is talking on his celphone, seen through the window. A caucasian male, with a small goatee and black hair, he has a child with him. And is not having a good day. "I don't care what we have to set up. Fine, if you can't do your job then you're fired. I'll be there in five minutes to fix your mistakes." He hangs up, then he looks at the child that he's with. He is clearly not happy. Pointing to the ground beneath his feet, he says, "You, will stand right here. Do not move." He doesn't explain anything, simply turns and walks away, leaving the child behind. Said youth does nothing, clearly used to this kind of treatment. However, the kid's eyes look around, glancing about. They see the book shop, and eyes widen. They're almost drooling, here.
Billy Kaplan	With a small frown, Billy watches the exchange. He isn't going to interfere with what appears to be a father and daughter, but it doesn't mean he has to like it. When the harsh-spoken man takes off, Billy stands up and slips on his black leather jacket. He grabs his vape off the table and heads outside. "Damn it's cold out here," he says to no one in particular, but Rebecca is the only one near. Billy leans back against the store and takes a draw from his vape and lets out a trail of vapor in the air.
Rebecca Ryker	Eighty pounds if she's soaking wet, the girl (probably?) looks up as the door chimes upon opening. She takes a step to one side, manners clearly wanting to not be in the way. She doesn't seem to expect to be spoken to; it makes her squint a bit, looking up at Billy. Then she nods, wrapping her arms about herself. As if she's only just noticed the weather. "Is," she says softly, looking him over. She glances back into the store, to the table where she had just seen him, then back. There's an acknowledgement in it, she clearly knows that he's here due to her. "Sorry," she says just as softly. "Is my fault."
Billy Kaplan	Raising his eyebrows, Billy peers curiously at Rebecca. "It's your fault that it's cold out here?" He doesn't say it with the sort of tone that people take when someone else just said something ridiculous. He asks the question like he genuinely wants to know the answer, like it would never even occur to him that there is no possible way it couldn't be the girl's fault. He's seen too much weird shit to go around discounting people's claims. "Did you do something to affect the weather?" Again, pure curiosity in his tone.
Rebecca Ryker	She turns her eyes away from the awesome store, back to him. It's his tone of voice that does it, she was not expecting that. "No," Rebecca says, her voice sounding a little bit confused. "I'm sorry you were bothered. I saw you reading." She indicates inside with a raise of her chin. She lets things be silent for a moment, obviously not one to need chatter. Until she whispers, "I want.." But she does not finish the sentence.
Billy Kaplan	Billy draws again from his vape and then stuffs it in his jacket pocket. "That's a shame," he says off-handedly when Rebecca denies responsibility for the weather. "Because if you were the one who made it cold, maybe you could make it warm." He flashes a friendly smile to the girl. Nodding in Rebecca's direction, Billy asks, "What is it you want?
Rebecca Ryker	Rebecca looks at Billy, a flash of fear appearing on her face as he asks that last question. She shakes her head, her mouth shutting with a vicelike look - she is not going to answer THAT, it seems! She closes her eyes, takes a moment to calm her breath, and squeezes herself tighter. "I have to stay right here," she insists. "Right here."
Billy Kaplan	Billy peers down at the ground, at the spot indicated. Worry lines crease the teen's brow. "Because of your father?" he asks calmly. There is no judgement in his voice.
Rebecca Ryker	Rebecca seems unable to answer that question. That would require admitting out loud that her father is part of this. She is not allowed to say such things, so she finds herself a bit tied up. She instead lets Billy come to his own conclusions, while she looks back into the book store. "I wonder if I could afford one," she says. Then turns her head upward to BIlly. "Are they expensive here?" She's never been to the store before. "Books, I mean." Yes, of course she means books. Yet she seems to feel a need to explain.
Billy Kaplan	Billy jerks his thumb back toward the shop. "Well these books are here for people to sit and read for free. If you wanna come in, you can share my cherry cake and read. I'll be happy to explain to your father that it was just too cold to wait out here for long." He offers another of his warm smiles. "What'd'ya say? Wanna come in and get warm?"
Rebecca Ryker	It takes Rebecca a moment, but when she speaks it's a different person entirely doing so, when she says, "Oh Lord yes, get me the hell out of this chill." Then she turns and gets inside, quick like a bunny. The door hangs open behind her, and she can be seen standing underneath the heater's draft, eyes closing in bliss.
Billy Kaplan	Okay. That's a thing that just happened. Blinking a few times, Billy follows the girl into the warm shop, shedding his black leather jacket. "What's your thing? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Tea?" Billy moves to his usual table. He slings his coat over the back of his chair. "Help yourself to some cake," he says as he gestures to the two thick pieces of cherry cake. He flops down in a chair and motions to an empty chair for Rebecca.
Rebecca Ryker	"Not coffee, that's just awful," the girl says, her eyes opening as she thaws. "Can I really read anything here? You're not teasing me." She rubs her eyes with her fists a moment, sighing, and looking around the place. She glances at the cake, then slides in and stuffs half of a slice into her mouth. She looks at the front window then, as if just now realizing this could be a test that she just failed. Her father is not there, glaring at her and motioning her to return to his side. She seems to smile, realizing this might be real she looks to BIlly again. "I'm Bekka."
Billy Kaplan	When a server walks by Billy says, "Hey, Millie. Lookin' great tonight! Could you please bring my friend Bekka a hot cocoa with whipped cream and crumbled Oreos?" She whisks off like a good NPC to get the beverage. "I'm Billy Kaplan. And yeah, all of these books and journals are for people to sit and read. Go nuts!" He indicates the psychology journals he has stacked on the table.
Rebecca Ryker	'Bekka' snorts slightly, then realizes that she's being rude. Manners override - activated. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. You're being a gentleman sir. I could just read all of them, I'd sit here for two weeks and go through them all, one at a time. I wish my house had a better library. It's all technical manuals and jargon." She looks up, waving to Millie in passing, and glances at the doorway again. "I've got maybe ten minutes before, you know." She shoulder shrugs that way. "Could get through one in that time..." She gets up, looking for a book. Ten minutes for an entire book. Yikes.
Billy Kaplan	The hot cocoa with whipped cream and crumbled Oreos is set in front of where Rebecca was sitting before she goes up to select a book. The smell is enticing and Billy resists the urge to order one for himself. He takes a big drink from his coffee. "You can read a book in ten minutes?" he asks curiously. "That's seriously impressive. I've heard of people who can speed read but it's very rare. You're the first I've ever met."
Rebecca Ryker	"Skimming, more like," Becca says as she reaches for a book and takes it out. She glances up to Billy's face, then blushes and pulls her shoulder length hair from her face. "I'm used to only having a few minutes with a book. I take what I can get. Trains the memory, you know?" Then she lowers her gaze, and starts flipping pages. If she's not speedreading it's an excellent proximity to the fact.
Billy Kaplan	While Rebecca is focused on the book, Billy very quietly murmurs something under his breath. There is the gentle electricity of minor magic in the air for those rare individuals who can sense such things. "Weird that you picked that book," Billy says as he reaches in his school backpack and pulls out the exact same title but shrink wrapped and brand new. "I ended up with this and don't have time to read it. Why don't you take it. It'll be nice knowing someone is getting some use out of it." He slides the book across the table toward Rebecca.
Rebecca Ryker	Becca pauses. She blinks away her focus, her eyes having been scanning pages at hyperspeed, trying to keep a little bit of the content for later. She seems to reset, taking a deep breath, then says, "I...'ll put this back then." She does so, making certain that the book is in the exact right place. She takes an extra moment, making sure to square off the shelf so it's perfect. Clearly she's got habits, not to be known that she was touching things. She walks over and looks at the book, the cocoa, and the cake. Then she picks up the book and clutches it to her chest. "I...should...I should get back. Thank you Billy Kaplan." Her eyes flick to the door, and they widen. "I gotta go!"
Billy Kaplan	Billy reaches his hand across the table. There's a slip of paper in his hand. Gods, it seemed like the hand was empty. How did that happen? "It was nice t'meet you, Bekka. Here's a bookmark. Use it if you're ever in trouble." Use a bookmark if you're ever in trouble? That's odd. Should Rebecca accept it, she would see the name Billy written on it followed by a phone number.
Rebecca Ryker	Rebecca's eyes flick around, then she reaches out and makes the paper disappear. Shoving the book into her shirt, she dashes to the door. Then she pauses. "You're a good guy, Billy Kaplan," she says. Then she ducks outside, going to exactly where she's meant to be. Just in bloody time, too. The man who claims fatherhood to Rebecca stomps up, not even glancing at her. He is talking on his phone angrily, something about supplies and forms, and when he passes Rebecca he doesn't even bother to speak to her. She's clearly expected to follow. Rebecca vanishes in his considerable wake, but just as she's leaving the view of the window she flashes Billy a smile. Which is SO GONE when her father looks at her. You know, if he ever does.