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Mia had just cinched her apronstrings behind the small of her back when the kitchen doors flew open by the reckonable force of Delilah. [color=6ecff6]"What - "[/color] With two stalking strides, Delilah slammed a piece of paper torn out from her waiting pad on the stainless steel countertop in front of Mia, the metal surface rippling with the sound of thunder. Behind her, the kitchen doors oscillated slowly shut. The chef looked quizzically at the disruption, and Mia shared with him a look of astonishment over the crown of Delilah's head.

"An [i]expresso[/i]," Delilah said with strange calmness, juxtaposing her heavy breathing and shuddering shoulders. She spat the order out with venom, and Mia half-expected a sludge of something black and viscuous to be on the floor at her feet.

[color=6ecff6]"All...right,"[/color] Mia said, pupils sliding from the corners of her eyes resting on Delilah to the spare machines in the kitchen, hands moving through a familiar routine to get the order out. Delilah never moved, but rested the heels of her hand on the table. Metal groaned beneath her rigid arms. As the cook muttered something faintly about realtime hulks, Mia glanced at her again in her peripheral vision, and the concern intensifying she abandoned the expresso to stand before Delilah across the table. [color=6ecff6]"What happened out there?"[/color]

"The expresso was ordered by some bangin' woman sitting out there with Solenne, that's what's the matter!"

Mia pried Delilah's flattened palms off the tabletop before she could leave dents. [color=6ecff6]"A relative then?"[/color]

Delilah scoffed. "Come off it. Do sisters come to cafes looking like they could make any guy drop dead with a snap of their fingers to see their brothers? Aw hell no!" An indrawn breath. Mia sucked in a sharp gust of air and Delilah's chin tilted upwards as though in triumph that Mia understood even slightly the gravity of the situation as she saw it.

Mia took several steps back, to get the drink ready. [color=6ecff6]"Don't be silly, Delilah. Solenne is bound to have some old friends."[/color] [i]Very old friends[/i]. She balanced the mug on a serving plate and slid it over the table to Delilah. [color=6ecff6]"You're more anxious than I am,"[/color] she said with a light laugh and a smile that felt plastic, her insides twisting as she said words for herself to take comfort in. 

"Because you're as naïve as they come!" Delilah threw her hands up, and Cookie rapped at her elbows smartly as he manoeuvred his way around her. Turning, she slumped against the edge of the table. "Men are dicks," she huffed, eyeing the espresso. "And I'm not serving that, in case I sock the daylights out of the girl out there. You go on out and fight for your territory. And give him your number too, because he has the gall to ask for it now."

[color=6ecff6]"Solenne is not a piece of land,"[/color] Mia reminded her admonishingly, picking up the ceramic mug and dish. As she backed out of the kitchen carefully, she gave Delilah a brittle smile. [color=6ecff6]"Don't worry."[/color] And she turned around, into the hustle and bustle of the cafe, ice in her veins as her eyes flew to Solenne.

Opposite from him - just as Delilah had reported - was a brunette beauty. At their table was a familiar face. Dan.

As she glided her way through messy chairs and tables, she felt a faint tingle on her wrist, as though the magic of the ink still hadn't faded completely. Or maybe it was the nervousness that everything Delilah had been alluding to wasn't as much of a lie as Mia had tried to believe. She came up behind Solenne, and set the expresso down on the table in front of the pale woman. 

[color=6ecff6]"One expresso,"[/color] she said. A hand came up to slide over Solenne's shoulder blade, for no other reason but for the benefit of the girl before her. [i]You're being just as ridiculous as Delilah[/i], she chastised herself. She smiled at Dan. This time her lips did not feel too rigid. [color=6ecff6]"It's good to see you again, Dan. Delilah's in the back for a while. I'm guessing you would like a drink?"[/color] Before the grin could slip, she turned to the lady. A friend of Solenne's would be no enemy of hers. [color=6ecff6]"Mia,"[/color] she said by way of greeting.