A Latte Problems

[86ed]

I’ve never liked coffee, Jim’s host protested only half-heartedly, knowing that stating what he did and didn’t enjoy had never dissuaded the demon from a whim before. Me neither, Jim concurred but cheerily let himself into the independently owned little coffee house anyway. As the door swung closed behind him, little bells hanging from it chimed in miniature celebration of his entrance. Disgusting! the demon thought and took a quick look around at his pathetically quaint surroundings. His mouth stretched into a toothy grin at the little line of people waiting for their turn to order from the cashier. From the looks of the way the employee furrowed her heavy ill-maintained brows, completely oblivious to the way it was causing a tiny vein to protrude unpleasantly from beneath the skin of her forehead, and was repeating the customers’ orders back to them in a voice only barely above a whisper, Jim was willing to bet she was new. Either that, or she was completely incompetent. He watched with amusement as the fledgling cashier gave the customer in front of her one extra dollar than what the register indicated she was supposed to.

”Gooood morning!” the demon practically announced, joining the frustrated line. The older woman ahead of him turned her head to look at him. Her nostrils flared slightly and then pulled back in, carrying the scent of his heavily applied cologne with them. She smiled politely at him and returned his greetings. He took this as a sign to keep talking to her, but his voice was so boisterous that it was like carrying on a conversation with the entire line. To the chagrin of some of the less patient customers who probably couldn’t wait to grab their morning cup of joe and hit the road, Jim enthused loudly about how nice the weather was and a bunch of other annoying topics that he pulled out of his ass purely for kicks. The woman tried to be pleasant, but he could tell she was beginning to regret having encouraged him with her good manners. Her cheeks flushed a faint pink with embarrassment. By the time she’d finally got her green tea latte he could tell that she was very eager to leave him. He let her go without disputing it and proceeded to a large sofa where he plopped down and proceeded to loudly sip from the large white ceramic cup he had been given since he'd not placed his order to go.

You’re such a prick, his host finally remarked on the situation, Did you really just come in here to piss everyone off? The demon rolled his eyes. No, not JUST for that reason… he answered cryptically but held off on giving an explanation. Removing one hand from his cup, Jim subtly pointed his fingertips toward the glass of ice coffee belonging to a woman sitting with her back to him at a table five feet away. With a quick upward flick of his wrist, Jim nudged the glass off the table just as the woman shifted her elbow an inch sideways. It hit the ground with a sharp, very noticeable crack. The liquid it had held splattered mostly on her semi-opaque white stockings. As it ran down the side of her leg, the coffee left ugly brown streak stains on the once perfect fabric. He ran his free hand through his hair, pretending to brush a few stray strands from his face while he drank in her reaction.



[Excuse the lame pun title. Open to anyone.]

[rachellynn]

Rachel had just gotten off an eleven-hour shift and needed a little pick me up before heading home. Goodness knows what her husband had in store for her when she arrived - a bowl of ice cream splattered on the floor, a new dog, or wearing an ugly t-shirt. To be honest though, he wasn’t quite as bad as she liked to make him out to be. Never the less, she needed a cup of Joe to help her carry on the rest of the day. It had been an interesting one to say the least, having spent most of her shift taking care of walk-ins. An interesting variety of patients, from a child who got a bug stuck up their nose, to old lady hypochondriacs, to hard-core motorcyclists who go their heads stuck in a helmet. The most amusing, she would have to say, was a little old man who insisted she must prescribe him Viagra to cure a case of a common cold. And in response, Rachel had said, “[yellow]Is that what the kids are calling it these days.[/yellow]”

Never the less, she was more than delighted that a Starbucks was located conveniently down the street from the hospital. As Rachel so casually walked into the store to be greeted with an exploding cup of iced coffee as it hit the ground. She couldn’t imagine the young lady felt any better about it; at least Rachel was at a safe distance away and managed to avoid any damaged done to her clothing. Rachel rushed over to the lady, placing her jacket on the chair closets as she attempted to litter the floor with the two napkins that had been lingering on the table. “[yellow]Could we get some help here?[/yellow]” she managed to shout across the room to any barista that might be free at the moment. The young lady gave her a grateful look as Rachel returned her gaze with a sympathetic smile. “[yellow]Hey, it happens. Only a shame for your stockings,[/yellow]” she made little conversation, as her attempts sadly did no good, but a barista came to the rescue with a mop and bucket and with another quick smile, she left such circumstances to the experts.

Her mind in a muddle of things, she headed to the registers without her jacket, more concerned with her lack of caffeine than anything else at the moment. She ordered a Venti iced coffee, unsweetened with a couple of shots added. Having ordered and paid for the drink, she found herself standing in front of the condiment bar adding a packet of Splenda to her drink, and all in a matter of 2 minutes. Rachel thought that it was quite a record at this time of morning.

Then from the corner of her eyes, she caught glimpse of a young man and gave him a polite smile, catching his gaze for a moment though he seemed more interested on the spill, as her head turned around and the barista was still going at it with the spill.

STATS
TAG jim chandlre
MUSE meh
NOTES had this idea in my head but meh... you'll live, i hope <3
FAHSION t & jeans
WRD.COUNT 508
SOMETHING ELSE uhm ... i love zac efron

[86ed]

What was it about the innate human compulsion to help one another that Jim found so revolting that it churned his stomach simply just from sitting back and idly paying witness to it? It was freakin’ annoying, that’s what! In the first place, it was supposed to have been him to play the role of false Good Samaritan. He had been stalking the unfortunate woman for days, taking note of the tiny details that made up her daily routine purely for the sake of messing with it in small ways such as the one he’d just demonstrated. Today, finally, was to be the day he befriended her through a chance act of kindness. But Noooo! Whoever this woman with the luxuriously long dark waves of beautiful hair and the room-illuminating smile was, she had completely fouled up his plans.

While he watched Rachel assist his target, seemingly fueled by irritatingly pure intentions that made him feel as if the coffee cup he drank from was filled with bile, Jim’s grip on his drink was so tight that it inadvertently turned his knuckles white. Just who does that…woman...think she is? he wondered, to which his host promptly replied simply. She seems nice to me. But then, I bet you HATE that. It was annoying how much pleasure the human was taking in his plight, so he gave him an impromptu time out from contributing his less than helpful opinions. Geez, any cheekier and he would have reminded him of that man he’d inhabited ten years ago. Now THAT one NEVER shut up, and Jim had been forced to blow off a lot of steam during that time by dirtying his hands quite a bit with the blood of countless innocents. He didn’t know the exact number, he had never felt inclined to keep track, hence the word countless.

The pesky little angel of mercy left once she was no longer needed and Jim almost felt inclined to turn his attentions from the spill to her instead. There was something about her demeanor, something magnetic that filled him with a peculiar kind of distaste. In general, he wasn’t fond of humans…especially the nicer ones. Yet the immediate, almost instinctual, dislike he felt for Rachel both fascinated and unnerved him. So engrossed was he in his resentment toward her was he that the moment she unexpectedly locked eyes with him he jumped a bit in his seat in a timid display that embarrassed him a second afterward. Some demon he was, getting spooked by a silly little mortal woman. What would scare him next, a basket of kittens?

Turning back toward the woman and the employee helping with the clean up, Jim’s eyes wandered from what little remnants remained of the mess to a jacket that he knew from observation did not belong to his lady with the white stockings. The process of elimination left the jacket with only one possible owner then. Hopping to his feet, Jim set his coffee down on the little table in front of him. He walked over to where the abandoned article of clothing hung and draped it over his left arm. Following that, he turned and walked right up to where Rachel stood at the condiment bar and politely held it out for her to reclaim. After flashing her his customary ‘I work for Colgate’ smile, Jim decided to break the ice. “Excuse me, M’am…but this is yours, right? I noticed you forgot it. I thought it’d be such a shame if you left without it.” He stared intently into her face, as if it were a puzzle for him to disassemble and lose the pieces to (What interest did he have in putting things together when it was in his nature to take them apart?). “You never know when things are going to take a turn for the worse.”



[Hopefully this post is okay. Just to clarify, he doesn't know what she is or anything. But I figured that the natural dislike would be there, even if he isn't aware of why. Let me know if I'm just completely off base and need to change anything.]

[rachellynn]

When it came to helping people, Rachel was no ordinary being. She was a bit neurotic about it, actually. The need for her to help others was like her life source, like daily food for the soul. If she couldn’t help people, she imagined she’d just wither away in a corner while Kyle talked her ear off. Well, the latter bit wouldn’t be the worst of it. He did that already anyhow. So, in other words, she had no choice but to become a doctor. To fulfill her destiny. How else would she have met her current husband if it weren’t for that either? Everything happens for a reason. Just the same, her need to help the lady in distress was like Jim needing to stalk and torment poor souls. He couldn’t help himself and neither could she. While most people looked on with sympathy, Rachel got down and dirty.

But she also knew when she was no longer needed and therefore, continued on her way to get her cup of joe ... iced joe. Her concern no longer focused on the lady now that she was in more than capable hands of the experts. Now, dabbling in her own duties, fancying up her drink to her desire, she caught glimpse of a boy and they met eyes. She gave him a polite smile, the kind you do when you accidentally meet gaze with a stranger, but it only seemed to scare him a bit. Suppose he didn’t expect her to give him such a warm greeting. Never the less, nothing to be concerned about or offended by instead, she’d go on her merry way.

To say the least, Jim returned the favor and not having expected it, she jumped slightly as he approached her. Gazing at the jacket for a moment before realizing what she was looking at. Her eyes widened slightly in realization and a smile crossed her expression, her gaze falling onto the owner of this extended bodily part. Well, if it wasn’t the boy she’d seen earlier. “Yes, that is mine, in fact. You’re so sweet. Thank you,” she haphazardly placed the lid back onto her drink in haste to relieve the jacket from the boy’s hand. “You’re right about that. There are things in this world you have no control over,” she gave a slight laugh.

STATS
TAG jim chandler
MUSE meh
NOTES ugh is the word i will use
FAHSION t & jeans
WRD.COUNT 391
SOMETHING ELSE n.a.

[86ed]

That smile of hers really was so very pretty. Had he actually been fond of such expressions on humans he might have been inclined to like her for it. But actually it was just the opposite and so his unjustified hatred for her could do nothing but grow in the space of just a few seconds. It didn't matter to him that he didn't know what kind of person she was; he couldn't have cared less. All he knew was that she had put herself in his path and unless something came along to distract him from her he would find a way to make her pay for it with some of the suffering she had saved his original target from. As far as he was concerned, it was the least that she owed him. Someone had to pay the pound of flesh and it didn't matter whether it was taken from one pitiful human or the next. One was just as lowly as the next. He just wasn't sure how it would come together yet and the only thing he could do was try his best to learn what he could about her in the hopes that it would help him later on toward that end.

Out of the need to come off as the exact opposite of what he truly was, Jim good-naturedly shared in her laughter without thinking of any of what she said as being particularly funny. From experience, he knew that humans tended to favor subtle mimicry of their behavior when it was not done in the spirit of malice. It made them feel as if they were being approved of. Quite pathetic, he thought, but he hadn't had any hand in making them. That was some other guy's misstep. Since he no longer had anything to occupy his hands, he idly stuck them into the pockets of his coat and gave a slight nod of agreement with her words. "Well said," he observed, "And you're welcome." He paused and strategically cast an empathetic glance over his shoulder at the girl Rachel had assisted. "It'd have been a sin to let such a kind person leave ill-prepared for the elements. And I hear there's a bit of a bug going around."

He would know. For the past month or so he'd been doing all he could to wipe the used Kleenexes of his sick co-workers on various door handles, counters, and other high-traffic areas around town in the hopes that it would spread like wildfire. It was a gross task, but someone had to do it and he could think of no one more pleased to inflict suffering than himself; so it all worked out quite nicely. After squeezing one of the aforementioned tissues in his palm and then releasing it, Jim brought out his right hand and extended it to Rachel in the form of a belated handshake. "Right. Where are my manners? I'm Jim." He waited a beat before prodding her to give him something more appropriate than what he was calling her in his head to attach to her face. "And you are?"

[rachellynn]

Rachel gave him a slight smile as he chuckled along. With her wallet in stow, she draped her jacket over her arm as she secured the lid of her drink, testing it out by lifting it from the top a few times before feeling completely satisfied. She nodded lightly. Working at the hospital, she was completely aware of the bug. She grabbed a sleeve to put around her cup even though it was a cold beverage. “Jim!” she said politely as she reached forward and across herself to take his hand with her free arm, quite oblivious to the germs at hand. “Rachel. It’s a pleasure, Jim,” she emphasized with a friendly smile. “So...” she continued to say as she clicked her wallet open to stuff the receipt in, but she somehow miscalculated the balance of her arms with her coat over her arm and her fingers slightly slipped. Her reflexes were quick but not fast enough as a piece of paper drifted from her wallet and slowly fell to the ground. “Oh, shoot,” she said as she tried to peer over her things to see what she had dropped. “Clumsy me,” she bantered lightly as her eyes fell upon her husband’s face, a photo she kept of him and herself in her wallet. Absentmindedly a smile crossing her lips.

STATS
TAG jim chandler
MUSE meh
NOTES ugh is the word i will use
FAHSION t & jeans
WRD.COUNT xxx
SOMETHING ELSE sorry so short. my head's just not in it xD

[86ed]

Oh, he was such a bastard trying to make such a nice lady sick. At least that was what Jim 1 was thinking, though the demon knew that there wasn't a lick his little man could do about it. Even his bitching could be silenced, which was really only mourned for a short while. He noticed that, while hosts usually had very strong feelings to express to him when he allowed them to, their wills were very quickly broken and far too easily checked as time wore on. Assuming he chose the right one, anyway. To err was human, which was why he admittedly hated that he did not always get it perfect either. There were a few a mistakes in his closet, none of which he very much liked to speak of because it was such a source of embarrassment and he was quite vain despite his low status in the hierarchy of demons. His justification was that at least he hadn't made as much a disgrace of their kind as some had. He was still killing the humans, not desperately trying to make them his friends. Well, scratch that, he was; but that was for strictly impure reasons and was nothing he particularly enjoyed. They were really such whiny creatures. When they weren't self-loathing and interesting, they were just downright chatty and a complete waste of time and energy.

"Nonsense", he told her with a charming smile, "But allow me." Bending, he picked up the wallet-sized photograph before allowing his gaze to sweep over it. His stomach twisted. Discipline alone withheld his rage at the sight of a face that was not one he could soon forget. Pleasant expression widening in spite of his innermost feelings, Jim glanced up at Rachel nonchalantly and held it up for her to look upon as well. He studied her face for the nature of her reaction, which would in turn tell him more about what he meant to her. She had smiled at it, as women were apt to do under many a circumstance. Even when they felt the opposite, he had learned. That being the case, he wanted to make sure that they were as happy as they looked. "Who's this handsome gentleman, Rachel?" he asked with an upward movement of his eyebrows. "Of course", he added with an affable chuckle, "Pretty women always have one of these." Holding it out for her to reclaim, he gave an approving nod of his head. "I think you suit each other."

[No prob. ]

[rachellynn]

For all Rachel knew, she was just having a pleasant conversation with a friendly stranger. She didn’t have any reason to think otherwise. It wasn’t like Jim here was sprouting red horns and huffing out steam from his nostrils. Even then, she’d more likely to call 9-1-1 thinking he’d come over with a sudden fever and sooner splash her iced coffee in his face too cool him down a little. Not even Rachel was too busy to pass up a friendly face. She enjoyed these little encounters. So much of her life was so serious and obligated, it was nice to just have a friendly chat with no ties, or then again, possibly make a good friend. Either way, there could be no harm done, right?

She was allowed to adjust her jacket more securely to her side as she took a step back to allow Jim more space. She peered down at the photo with him, a smile still present on her lips. “Kyle,” she lifted her eyes from the picture to Jim with a pleasant smile. “He’s my husband,” she said fondly. “And thank you. I quite like him. Think I’ll keep him around for a little longer,” she gave a slight laugh, just in case he thought she was being serious. The longer she spent around Kyle, the more it seemed she bantered at others in the same fashion. “Well, you’re just all sorts helpful today, aren’t you?” She reached out and took the photograph from him, giving him a quick grin before slipping the picture back into its place in her wallet. “Were you here alone, or am I keeping you?” With a click she shut it closed and stuck it into her bag. Then reached forward with the germified hand and adjusted the straw in her coffee as she lay a lazy hand on the lid, grasping the edges. But just as she made in the groove to chat, a slight vibration came to her side and she peered down at her pager. Glancing up with an apologetic expression cross her face, “That’s the hospital. It was nice meeting you, Jim. Have a good day. Sure you’re the type to brighten antoher’s day,” she grinned at him, placing a hand on his arm and giving it a light squeeze. With that she walked passed him and out.


-finished-

STATS
TAG jim chandler
MUSE meh
NOTES ugh is the word i will use
FAHSION t & jeans
WRD.COUNT xxx
SOMETHING ELSE sorry so short. my head's just not in it xD