THE JARS THAT BLEED BEFORE THEY BREAK.

[glassjar]

Congrats! You've somehow stumbled upon the pocket dimension where five people with questionable morals (some more questionable than others) live and operate. Are you here on business? Do you have an appointment? Or are you here to see a friend? (Come on, don't make us laugh.)

Maybe you're here on accident due to some multiversal, magical, or otherwise supernatural nonsense? It's happened before, it was bound to happen again.

You can wander towards the house, see if anyone's home. Or you can explore the lush grounds, and maybe run across the wolfman groundskeeper who might try to usher you out towards the nearest portal, anyway. The world is your oyster, just try to be a good guest.

Comments

[nerine]

[It takes her a second to pin down where she's heard his voice before; a long time has passed after all and so she has to look up to make sure she hasn't mistaken him for someone else.

Monts blinks with mild surprise when she takes in Jacob and the memory finally comes back to her.]

Oh! Hello again.

[Oren and Iona had her caught up for the most part about their particular encounter with Jacob and the other folks. Monts just always happened to never be around when they were customers except for Jacob.

Time passed and she almost forgot about it. Customers come and go after all and she had long learned to accept not to get torn over if someone never visited again. Still, this was unexpected and she was not sure if it was a bad thing or a good thing. And to be fair, Oren had cautioned her more about this Morgan guy rather than him.

Monts looks from her bowl of and back to Jacob.]

Well, I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask. Do you like matcha?

[ghostpranks]

I do now. Your golem friend left a whole load of the stuff as a gift not too long ago.

[Is she aware? He doesn't know. But now that's out there.

Still, Jake can't help but raise a brow. She remembers him, even though it was so long ago... But maybe it's not so surprising, because he remembers her, too. He drums his fingers on the countertop.]

If that's what you're working on now, I won't complain.

You're good with faces if you still remember me.

[nerine]

Oh, is that where most of it went? I was wondering why there were fewer tins around.

[Iona, is probably unaware too; she was just as confused as Monts when they went to the stockroom to take some extra green tea powder home... Interesting.

Regardless, the barista takes out a glass and fills it with ice and then some milk from the minifridge below. To the matcha, she adds some lavender syrup and stirs it in making conversation with Jacob all the while.]

I wouldn't say I'm the best at faces, but our first meeting was interesting enough to stick. What stuck out the most to me during that time was that you were... Agitated? Concerned?

Well, a little of Column A and a little of Column B.

[ghostpranks]

[He scoffs a little, watching her work.]

Both. If I remember correctly, I came in to usher a warning.

[About his brother.]

A lot of good that did me.

[nerine]

[Monts is about to ask, "So what, is he a serial killer or something?" But she decides to play it less forward and just see where the conversation will go naturally.]

Oren and Iona told me about him. [The matcha is poured over the milk and ice and its rich green color softly blends with the white.]

And really, until he actually does anything out of bounds against any of us or other customers, we'll treat him like one. A customer, I mean.

[A steel straw is given to Jacob along with his iced lavender matcha latte.]

As for me? Well, I don't know him and I reserve judgment until I actually see someone with my own eyes and talk with the person in question. Sound fair?

[ghostpranks]

Sounds moronic.

[Sorry, Jake's just this way. He slides the drink closer to himself, but he does manage to murmur a low thanks in the interim.]

You're just setting yourself up for a disaster. Morgan might act nice on the outside, but he's not...

[He frowns, pausing. Takes a sip of his drink.]

People aren't people to him anymore. They're just things, and the weirder the thing, the more tempting it is for him to make it his. And he'll look for the right angle to make it happen. We've accrued a lot of resources over the years. A lot of favors owed to us.

[One more sip!]

So you think keeping the door open to a multiversal cafe, for him, is a good idea? You're crazy.

[nerine]

[Such is the life of customer service... Monts takes his curt response unflinchingly, though her head does tilt in curiosity at how he describes Morgan.]

Mm. Well, it's up to my boss in the end.

[There's a pause as she crosses her arms and taps a finger in the crook of her elbow. Monts has been working at the Grind for a while now and is aware of Oren and Iona's policy. They will place a lifetime ban on only the most heinous visitors. She's never seen it happen. Yet.]

That said, it's telling that you've given us the warning in the first place. So thank you for that. We haven't been bothered by him though.

[For now she'll only be mildly, mildly, concerned for herself. She is one of the Grind's "weird things."]

[ghostpranks]

[Yeah, figures. Up to the boss, until something bad might happen. And by then, it's too late.

It's not like Jake hasn't done bad things. The group he's a part of? Comes part and parcel with the job. But this would be needless, and at the very least, he could try to circumvent it. But try is all he can ever do, and it never feels like enough.]

Don't say I didn't warn you. That's all.

[He's going to nurse his latte a little more. It's good, of course, but it's hard to truly appreciate when the topic is (once more) on a warning not being taken seriously. In his estimation, at least.]

I guess the door to this place hasn't appeared to him in a while, though, or else he would've popped in here before now.

[nerine]

Mm. A little ominous, huh?

[Monts don't play with Jacob's nerves, that's not nice.

It's just gonna be the both of them for now so Monts gets to work on making her own drink. She'll keep talking to him since it's kind of interesting to sus out any other details that might be relevant.]

The door just kind of works the way it wants or if the desire or need to return here is strong enough. Who knows? For me, it was just a stroke of dumb luck.

[ghostpranks]

[Yeah, don’t. He’s already wound tight enough as-is. Let him live.]

Meaning what? It just showed up for you randomly?

[nerine]

["I was on a murderous rampage and then my future boss punched me."

No one needs to know that story, much less him. Monts shrugs as she whisks her tea.]

I guess so. This and that happened and now I'm one of the few baristas in this cafe. So it worked out in the end. I really do like working here. There's no other place where I can chat with a medieval fantasy knight about how an espresso machine works.

[ghostpranks]

[Is it really that straightforward, he wonders? Surely not just anyone can pop in and ask for a job.]

“This and that”. Why do I get the feeling you’re skipping over the important parts.

[nerine]

That's because I am!

[She's so chipper about it too. Her own latte is finished but Monts keeps stirring it with her straw before partaking.]

Besides, I'm just a barista. Nothing that magical about me besides the cafe we're in.

[ghostpranks]

[Yeah. It's not surprising that he doesn't win a straight answer from her. If he remembers correctly, she never doled them out in the first place.]

Bullshit. Nothing "magical" about the rest of us, either. [His little crew, he means.] Doesn't mean that we're not special.

[Jake just rolls his eyes, though. The look loses some of its edge when he takes another long sip.]

[nerine]

[Monts hums as she sips through her straw.]

Special huh? Mm.

[Her blue-green eyes contemplates the word almost seriously.]

At any rate, I mostly make drinks, serve food, and make conversation. I don't think I'm trying for anything considered special.

[ghostpranks]

["Special". He certainly means it.]

I'm not saying you're trying. I'm just saying you probably are. "Special" isn't something you always ask for, or want.

[Believe him, he knows.]

It just is.

[nerine]

[Monts falls silent, thinking. She wonders if she wasn't the way she... Well, was... If the Midnight Grind would ever appear before her. Or maybe she wouldn't be lonely enough for that to happen.]

Seems like you've been through a few things.

[What, with the way he speaks about his brother and how he was bad news.]

Guess you don't live a normal life, do you?

[Her on the other hand? If it hadn't been for Iona and Oren, Monts wouldn't have the life she had with her grandparents currently. The cafe is literally out of this world but it made her actual home feel precious.]

[ghostpranks]

What do you think?

[It comes out harsher than he intends, but then he tries again.]

...No. The people I live with, the life I've chosen for myself... I abandoned "normal" a long time ago. We've all been through a lot. [Done plenty worse.] That's how it is.

[And that's just how it will be. He's trying to accept that these days.]

[nerine]

Hm.

[And he's not happy about it at all. Like being stuck between a rock and a hard place for so long, it's hard to imagine yourself elsewhere. Monts sips her drink regarding Jacob neutrally.

And then she asks a rather... Peculiar question.]

Does it hurt?

[ghostpranks]

[He arches a brow at her.]

Does what hurt?

[His grip around his drink, though, tightens incrementally.]

[nerine]

...

[She sets down her glass and points first to her head.]

Here.

[And then she puts a palm over where her heart would be.]

And here.

[ghostpranks]

[He watches both gestures closely. Pinches his brows together.

(Feels something ugly stir in his chest. Feels like a concoction of glass and oil.)

He clicks his tongue, harsh and dismissive.]

Came here for a quiet drink, not a therapy session.

[Sorry Monts. Your Social Link is not there yet.]

[nerine]

[Therapy for him, or is it therapy for herself? Is it even that?

She's seeking something elusive so that maybe she could make some sort of connection and not feel so untethered.

Or she might just really wonder how he's dealing with himself.]

That's all huh?

[But Monts, ever so airy and amiable, smiles at Jacob and even manages a quip.]

If you wanted quiet, you need to come in when Oren is behind the counter. Lord help you if it's Iona.

[ghostpranks]

[He doesn't like to ruminate with someone else. He does enough of that himself. Morgan always tells him that he overthinks, that he feels too much; that maybe his head and heart isn't where it needs to be for work like what they do. Jake's started to believe he's right, and not in the way where he wants to take a step back and leave. No, in a way where he needs to try to shear away the things that make him a bad fit. He can't be a bad fit.]

Yeah, I remember. She's got a mouth on her.

[Yes, we're moving on from discussion of hurts and other things he'd rather skate over.]

[nerine]

You know, when it's me, I can take what customers dish, but with her, try to not be an overt asshole?

[Oh, how she advises him so blithely.]

I give her crap too— the employee needs to keep the employer on her toes after all— but seriously, Oren will get testy if he thinks she's being disrespected.