you want whipped cream? [london]

Lucas was finally off for the night. It was late, and he was working the closing shift.

His shoulder slumped, and his chin tilted to the floor in exaustion from the day. He untied his green apron from the back, and took off the matching green visor, hanging them up on a wooden rack for tomorrow.

Lucas fixed himself one last cup of coffee for his own good, and popped a dollar fifty in the register to compensate for it. He flopped into one of the cozy armchairs, facing the window to watch lights dance against the glass of the darkened window.

He sighed, contented. He noticed that, on his shirt, there was an unidentifiable brown stain on the right breast side of his clean, white, once-crisp polo. Lucas figured it was safe to assume that it was either coffee or chocolate, since he was an artist and that was his medium.

Lucas nestled himself further in the chair, and warming himself with his clothes. He was happy with the amount of work he'd gotten done. He made about $75 dollars, which was enough to take Henry out to lunch. That sounded good.

'Laur, I don't want to go in here,' London whined, having no choice but to walk along with her stubborn daemon. He was about as stubborn as she was.

Obviously, having the same train of thought, both London and Laur did want to go into the shop. To meet new clio, to get something different to drink, to be in a healthy atmosphere when comparing it to the places that they usually went for drinks.

'Mm, smell! It smells awesome. Come on, it won't be too bad. What's the worst that can happen?' Laur replied, stopping at the door and waiting for London to decide whether or not they'd go in. She licked her lips, taking a look inside. It did smell good, and she did have a craving for caffeine. And that boy in there looked really bored...

'Since when do you care what other clio are feeling? I think you're getting soft,' Laur said with a bobcat-smirk. (x]) 'Just open the door and say hi.'

London slowly reached towards the door and abruptly pulled it open, both her and Laur stepping inside. They looked around in awe, not used to...this.

"Wow," she couldn't help but breathe. This seemed way better than the crummy bars she always went to. Then again, she did feel more comfortable there...

Lucas turned around, surprised by the sudden entrance by another clio. He looked at her, and half-smiled. "We're a little closed, but...the door wasn't locked, I guess."

He sipped his coffee. "Do you want something? I can whip it up real quick."

Lucas didn't look that willing to get up, but he was, "Anything you want."

London was startled by the sudden sound of a voice. She had almost forgotten that someone was already in here. She looked him up and down (he was pretty handsome) and decided that talking to him wouldn't be too much of a bother. Plus, he was one of the reasons that she had decided to come inside in the first place.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, apologizing for coming in when the place was closed. "Uhm, you don't have to get up if you don't want to. I can just get myself some coffee." She paused, and thought she might as well be a little more polite. She was trying this new thing called being a friend.

'Since when?' Laur asked. He had always known his clio to be quite the bitch.

'I can be polite every now and then. We're in a coffee shop, not a pub.'

"Unless you were planning on closing up soon. Then I might as well get out of your way."

"Nah, I got it." He set his cup down on the table next to his chair and pushed himself out of the chair. "It's my job," He grinned at her. "What would you like?"

He got out some basic ingredients. "You're not in my way. I haven't finished yet. I'm pretty much allowed to do whatever I want in here after hours. I'm here all the time. I basiaclly own the place." He smirked, "When I say anything, you best believe I mean everything, I just don't have the heart to have sex in this place. It's against code, and my morals." He winked at her. "You know, I'll just surprise you. Go over there and sit down. It's on me."

Before London even got the time to think of what she may have wanted, the boy she was talking to seemed to be off talking about things. She was actually interested in what he was saying, though she was a little weird when he mentioned sex being against his morals (though that was okay, since she had Henry on her mind anyhow), but the awkwardness and embarrassment receded by the time she could talk again.

"Alright, thanks," she said, taking a seat on another comfy chair by the one he was sitting in before. "I'm London, by the way. And this is Laur," she said, petting Laur's head as he sat down on the floor next to her.

Lucas grinned. "You're welcome." He started with his expresso machine, to which he added a scoop of ground coffee beans and ground cocoa. And water. The result, in elapsed time, of course, was a cafe mocha. (I love those. Pretty much obsessed with them. Whenever I have Starbucks, that's what I get.) "You want whipped cream on it?"

He had forgotten about his daemon, who was perched on the counter, on a little perch thing. "It's nice to meet you," he said, bringing it over, catching Imogene on his finger. "I'm Lucas. You'd know that if I'd had my apron on." He grinned, "And this is Imogene."

In the back of his mind, Lucas thought the name London sounded familiar. "Are you London Louis?"

"Well it's nice to meet the both of you," she said. What was going on with her? Was she actually making a friend? Since when did clio care for her -- and when did she start caring back?

'Relax, these are all good things,' Laur said. But neither of them had expected what Lucas had said next. How the hell did he know her name? Was he from Solas? Had someone been talking about her?

And then it came to her. Maybe the two of them had hooked up. He didn't look familiar...maybe she had been drunk that night. Dammit, this was awful. That was what she got for hooking up all the time.

'You don't know that you hooked up with him. Maybe he just knows who you are,' Laur said, trying ot be comforting, though he was going through the same thing that London was going through: worry.

"Uhm...yes, actually, I am London Louis..." She paused, still a tad bit freaked out, if not extremely freaked out at the possibilities between the two of them. Had something happened? "How did you know that?"

Lucas grinned. "So you're the love interest of my best friend."

He sat down on the chair, where he had been, picking up his coffee and letting Imogene perch on the back of the chair. "Allow me to explain; my best friend's name is Henry McCall. He's been talking about you for about two weeks now. Well, he talks about you...then I talk a little about Aven. I haven't exactly ever got over him, anyway, that's how I know you. And I also believe we're in the same Eilemaiden as well."

London's eyes widened as he explained himself. She held the cup of whatever he had given her in her hands, too weirded out to really do much. Henry had been talking about her? Henry? How strange. From what she knew, no one had ever talked about her to someone before...this was an interesting sensation, that's for sure.

"Henry McCall has been...talking about me?" She couldn't help but say it out loud to herself, just to make sure she wasn't going insane. She couldn't really believe it, though it did make sense.

'And you like him back, right?' Laur asked.

'No, definitely not. Crushes are for the weak; I don't have them,' London said. This was always what she told herself as well as Laur and anyone else who inquired.

"Huh," she muttered, wondering if she should dwell on the subject of Henry or completely ignore it. She decided to at least move past it a little. "Oh, and right, you're in Solas. I thought you looked a bit familiar."

Lucas nodded. "Like, nonstop, dude. I hardly ever get two words in. I mean, its cute and all, and I guess I'm getting what I deserve because when I was dating Aven Silver, it was like that was all I can think about."

He kicked off his shoes and put his feet up on the wooden table in front of his knees. "He's really cute about you, though. He's always like, 'I don't deserve someone as beautiful as she is.' And that sort of mumbo jumbo. He totally does deserve you. He's wonderful, you're wonderful, you guys would be perfect."

London looked down to the drink in her hands, trying to avoid being seen, considering she was blushing a bit.

"That's uh...cool," she said, not sure of what else to say. This wasn't like her to like clio, or care if they liked her. This was what she was constantly avoiding: getting attached to clio, liking them...it only ended in devastation and abandonment anyways.

'But maybe this boy is different,' Laur said. 'Maybe you should give him a chance.'

"But I'm not really into the whole...'dating,' 'relationship' thing. I guess we'll see what happens or something," she said, her cheeks returning to their natural color. She took a sip of her drink and looked back to Lucas.

Lucas grinned. "Hey," He sipped his coffee, "it is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less."

He quieted for a few seconds, staring into his own cup. He looked back at her, his smile bigger.

"Hey, before we get off this uncomfortable topic, why don't I say one more uncomfortable thing. I could set the two of you up. You'd be super cute together."

His toes wiggled excitedly in his socks, "What do you think?"

"Set us up?" London repeated, looking off into space at the thought of her being set up with someone. She wasn't so sure she could handle that.

"Uh," she said, sort of unsure how she should respond to that. "I'm not sure if that's what I really...want right now..." She was hesitating. It was what she wanted. Something stable and adorable. She was just too scared that it would fall apart.

"What's he like?" she asked, not really sure. They hadn't talked too much, she didn't think, though it was more than she usually talks to clio.

"Henry? Oh he's wonderful. I've known him my whole life. He's honestly the sweetest boy ever and he's always here for me." Lucas smiled. "He's so genuine, and gentle. He went to the gay meeting with me..." He grinned, sipping his coffee. "And he was there for me when Aven came in, and I was upset. He's always been there. He's my best friend."

Lucas nestled himself in the chair. "Let me know if you...change your mind."

The boy sounded absolutely wonderful and perfect in every way.

But he was definitely not London's type! There was no way.

'London, you don't have a type,' the bobcat said, mentally smirking. 'You have to date someone to have a type, and you haven't done that in quite a while.'

'In ever,' London corrected. She had never actually dated a guy...she'd hooked up with plenty, but never held a guy's hand or cuddled. She just hadn't found that guy yet.

"He sounds really nice," London said. "But I don't know if I deserve him. I'm not the best clio...I think he'd deserve someone pretty and smart and...not someone who sleeps around a lot. Someone who would treat him well. And I don't know if that would be me." Her self esteem was astounding.

Lucas averted his eyes to let her have what seemed like private thinking time. When she spoke again, he looked at her. "He is really nice. Don't put yourself down like that, you could give it a try..."

Lucas hadn't expected her to say she slept around a lot. In fact, he didn't expect her to be the type. It took him entirely by surprise. "Just one date?"

London looked down to her drink, taking a tip of it and thinking for a minute.

'What could one date do?' Laur questioned. 'It couldn't be too bad.'

'That's true. One date wouldn't be so bad,' London said. 'Maybe it won't end in the usual hook-up...this guy seems more real than that.'

'Do it,' Laur said, looking to her clio. 'For us, and for the poor guy chasing after you.'

"I'll do it," London said, a smile growing on her face. "It couldn't be that bad."

Lucas' smile covered his whole face. "Really? Oh, awesome. I mean, I know it'll make him talk about you more to me, but I'm totally ready for it. How about tomorrow night? You needn't worry about him. He's a true romantic. He'll do the whole, pick you up at seven with flowers. The whole bit."

Lucas got up out of his chair and danced around a little. He leaned down to her, and kissed her cheek. "It'll be great. I have to close up soon, doll."

London couldn't help but laugh a little at how excited Lucas was. She didn't even think about the fact that Henry was in another Eilemaiden; she was too excited, though she wouldn't admit that.

She stood up from the chair, finishing the rest of her drink, which had been fantastic. "Do you want me to help? It's the least I can do."

Lucas nodded. "Sure!" He said, dancing over to the counter. "Just wash your mug and put it in that cabnient." He pointed to it behind the counter. "Here's mine, I'm going to sweep up real quick, then we just have to lock up. I'll walk you home."

Lucas grabbed a broom and 'broomed' the whole place. "Oh, London, I'm so excited for your guys' date."

London nodded, walking behind the counter and washing the two cups out with a smile. "I'm glad you're excited. I guess I am, too. I've sort of...never been on a date before."

She was glad that she had someone to talk to. She had never trusted anyone before, but Lucas seemed like a genuinely nice, caring guy. She liked him a lot, and was glad that he was helping her come out of her shell. She was still a stuck-up bitch, but Lucas didn't deserve it like the others did...those who usually chill at bars, like she does.

Lucas dropped the broom. It hit the floor with a clatter. "You've never been on a date before?" He stooped sheepishly to pick the broom up. "Like...seriously? You're beautiful...You're honestly telling me no one's ever taken you out before...?"

Slowly, watching her, he continued to sweep. Quickly he thought about how interesting it was that she just, on a whim, it seemed like, London had come in and they'd become friends over coffee. "Seriously?"

"Well...technically, I have been taken out before. But I've never been on a real date that meant something by anyone who wanted any more than just...a hook-up." It was a bit embarrassing that she had to admit this, but she did it more for herself. It was sad that this was what she had become, and she was relieved that she was going of her norm and going on a real date with a real guy who wanted the real her.

"Oh..." Lucas looked away, nibbling on his lip. If that didn't sound familiar, he didn't know what did. He then smiled, and looked at her again. "Well, it's never too late. You're young, you're beautiful, and you'rer going to have fun with Aven- I mean, Henry tomorrow night."

He blushed with his mistake. Lucas took the broom back over to the corner where it went. "All done?" He asked, "We should probably get you home pretty soon."