[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/cXxrzFd.png[/img] [@Write] [@Crimmy] [@HereComesTheSnow][/center] Jericho turned at the sound of Luke's muttering to see the two Mindaros strolling into the cafe, wearing decidedly different hairstyles both form each other and from the last time Jericho had seen them, twenty five minutes previously. He saw the stalk of hair atop Luke's head batting around like a weather vane, and Gratia's gentle smile at him as they passed. [color=9e0b0f][i]Clark Kenting only works when it's not [b]too[/b] obvious, Grat.[/i][/color] Amber eyes rolled softly around their sockets before he looked back from the Mindaro women to the menu, and then back at the long-suffering assistant manager who had been forced into Bianca's screwed up reindeer games. [color=9e0b0f]"Another cappuccino, just like it was before, two green teas, one juice, a cup for water--"[/color] he had no idea if drinking some of Vega's backwash would turn Geni into whatever the hell kind of techno-organic zombie it was that seemed to be shambling around at the head of Vignoble - [color=9e0b0f]"and--"[/color] His gaze turned back towards the tall girl approaching him. [color=9e0b0f][i]April Schwarz.[/i][/color] ...Heh. Those two were smarter than your av-e-rage hedgehog, alright. They had him pegged for a brother in two seconds flat. Down to the quiet manipulation. [color=9e0b0f]"--and whatever it is you want,"[/color] he told the kid, gesturing at the menu. [color=9e0b0f]"But if you get a dessert, finish it before Luke gets back or I'm going to be paying for it twice over."[/color] [color=ffcf40]"Iced green tea! And three oatmeal raisin cookies! Oh oh, [i]and[/i] three chocolate chip cookies!"[/color] Jericho waited for her to quiet down for three seconds before he assumed she'd made up her mind, and then added, [color=9e0b0f]"Might as well make that four green teas, then."[/color] Luke had another sister, after all. [color=9e0b0f]"And--"[/color] Grat would no doubt roll her eyes and curse up a storm about what a patronizing rancid cunt he was if he demeaned her by paying for her family. [color=9e0b0f][i]Ahh, fuck Grat.[/i][/color] [color=9e0b0f]"We're all one party, actually. So if the family that just walked in or the mustachioed guy who came in earlier orders anything, that's included here, too."[/color] Jer fished through his wallet for a few seconds for a hundred-lien note. [color=9e0b0f]"You're pretty close to Beacon. Student business always this good?"[/color] "Ehhh, sometimes. On family days like this. Usually you find Beacon students trying to get into the bars after they come back from their missions. Most kids don't want a latte after a weekly exercise like that," the cashier commented. "Lotta Mistralians this year, though." Jericho's eyes rolled in faint humor. It looked like he wanted to smile. [color=9e0b0f]"Chyeah,"[/color] he agreed. [color=9e0b0f]"Tell me about it."[/color] The Young Devil's eyes found the ridiculous stack of paperwork Bianca'd had printed, only to promptly ignore. They rolled again. The cashier was smiling herself. Clearly her face had none of the self-important frowniness of Jer's. "And speaking of Beacon students, I'm sure they let you roam around like that in school, but here in Vale the police are a little bit more strict." She pointed to his chest. Jericho's face creased into a sulk. [color=9e0b0f]"If you're saying I deserve the harassment I'm getting back there because of how I'm dressed, ma'am, I'm afraid I'm going to have to signal boost this place."[/color] "I mean the weapons, Don Juan. This is a gun-free zone." Jericho blinked. [color=9e0b0f]"A what the hell now?" [/color] [color=9e0b0f][i]No one told me they had laws about my weapons here. What if there's an ambush here in the cafe? Do they want us to fight back with the whipped cream?[/i][/color] He could count twenty ways that someone like Rebekah would utilize this place's layout to massacre everyone present. Only his guns would be able to stop his vent mole of a sister in her autistic tracks. Was this the kind of research Troy Piper had expected him to make before he transferred? [color=9e0b0f][i]Dad, you son of a bitch...[/i][/color] Of course, there was no use blaming his father for this. It was his own research failure. [color=9e0b0f]"So Beacon students aren't allowed to carry weapons?"[/color] he asked, with a faint playfulness that would have no doubt sent Bianca into contractions. Speaking of the birdbrain, Jericho turned over his shoulder and jerked a thumb at her to the cashier, the picture of smartassed feigned innocence. [color=9e0b0f]"I mean...you know the owner, right? She's in love with me, I'm sure she's cool with it."[/color] "Oh, I don't doubt it," joked the cashier back with a wry grin. "Buuuut the owner doesn't write the laws here." [color=9e0b0f]"Yeah, that thought helps me sleep at night."[/color] That got a laugh out of her. That was good; this was a tense situation. He hadn't been stripped of his weaponry as a punishment since his fourth grade kickball tournament, the year before he and Babs were sent to Bastion. [color=9e0b0f][i]Nobody was gonna steal from me then, and [b]nobody[/b] is gonna take from me now.[/i][/color] [color=9e0b0f]"Well, Beacon students can't have guns around. That's understandable,"[/color] the crafty Devil cajoled. [color=9e0b0f]"But what about Atlas students? Are we cool?"[/color] "[i]Are[/i] you an Atlas student?" [color=9e0b0f][i]Watch and learn, April Schwarz.[/i][/color] [color=9e0b0f]"For God and the Kingdom,"[/color] Jericho Piper recited, extending his Gold Stripe student ID and the hundred-lien note for the cafe crowd's order. On his face was the patented, dreaded, rarely used, never-duplicated Piper-half-smile. [color=9e0b0f][i]I do it all for you, Speer. Are you proud of me in whatever fascist anime hell you're shitposting from?[/i][/color] [hr] [right][color=39b54a][i]I am, son.[/i][/color][/right] [hr] "Alright, alright. But don't complain to me when you're paying a five thousand lien fine or spending up to six months in jail." [color=9e0b0f]"Well, God damn it. You were going to be my phone call."[/color] Another laugh. On this day, Jericho Piper truly became a Gold Stripe of Atlas. He turned around and leaned on the dessert case, arching his back gently over the glass with his hands tucked protectively underneath the chest holsters where his two pistols and weapons were strapped to his person. He looked at April Schwarz for a long second, head cocked at the Signal student as he tried to decipher how much future knowledge she'd just picked up from that little exchange. She had one hell of an opaque grin, he'd give her that. Massive and happy, but betraying nothing. Like Babs. Bekah was more like the other one, Dawn; their pleasure was communicated through words and actions, not just facial expressions. [color=9e0b0f]"...So."[/color] What was he supposed to say to her? What was the kid looking at him like that for? [color=9e0b0f]"...He's always been like that?"[/color]