Death By Caffeine [Anyone welcome]

[Alexander Van'Dan]

Alexander entered the coffee shop to familiar smell of mochas and iced coffee. His mind whirled about the events that were to happen in the weeks to come. He found his usual spot and took a seat at the left end of the table. He pulled his notepad out of his backpack and began to jot down what he was observing. For the last while he had been doing a study of people and how they act in public. Though he had to make sure he went to a variety of places, for caffeine had a very different affect of people than other constants. He watched as a mother spoon fed her child and he noted that the coffee had caused her hand to get hyperactive as it shook one way and another.

He took notes for an hour and finally went to the counter to order his usual Strawberry frap. There was something peculiar about the way it tasted today. He noted that the girl that made it was a new employee. She had over loaded it with whip cream. Alexander usually spooned it off anyways. He took out his laptop and began to do some more medical research. The day before, he had stumbled upon a website that was full of what people thought to be mystical incantations that only the "magical" world could perform.

It was at that present time that Alexander noticed a small cat roaming around the outside. He noted that it had tags and immediately arose from his seat and ran out the door. The girl at the counter began to yell at him that he had forgotten his laptop on the table. She felt quite stupid when he re-entered the place with the small kitten in his hands. It turned out that the cat only had tags that said it had received its rabies shot. His hand ran across the coat of the kitten and he began to worry about where the cat came from. He began to post an ad on craigslist and smiled at the animal as it purred lightly.

["Crys" Crystal Fedor]

Music was a strange thing for people like Crys. She didn't feel a fluttering hearbeat, a sense or calmness or an urge to dance. Instead, all she heard where numbers and patterns flying through the chaos, lyrics that meant so much to other people and nothing to herself. So why did the girl have headphones in on that cold morning? She liked to keep on tops with the popular music, since it seemed such a universal thing to enjoy and talk about, and anything to get people on her side was always a bonus.

She stepped into the coffee-shop, the smell of coffee hitting her. She wasn't used to this place, but she dared not go into her usual place. She knew that they would expect her generous tip, and she just didn't have the money to afford it anymore. She walked in, asking for a latte, as she looked around herself. She frowned; it certainly wasn't normal to have an animal in a place like this, and she was certain that it could get closed down for it. Not that it mattered. The guy who had it was cute.

She walked over to his table, looking down at the kitten and then to the boy, offering the sweetest smile she could manage. "Cute kitten," she commented softly, helping herself to the seat beside him as she rested down her drink and stroked the kitten. It certainly was sweet, and its fur was soft against her fingertips. It seemed to enjoy the attention.

[Alexander Van'Dan]

Alexander peered at the small girl as she entered the shop. He watched as she took the small earbuds out of her ears and placed her drink down on his table. A smirk arose to his face. "Thank you very much. I am not sure where the cat came from, but I couldn't just leave it there." He softly stroked the cat's now dirty white coat. He continued to jot things down in his small notebook. The girl must have found it quite odd that he was just staring at people writing little notes. He didn't want her to feel awkward so he explained himself. "I'm going a study on how people act in public when they are stimulated by coffee or other substances." He smiled knowing the girl probably thought he was just weird.

He called for the waiter to bring him a scone with a lot of whip cream on it.

["Crys" Crystal Fedor]

Crys smiled sweetly, looking down at the notes with interest. So, he was interested in psychology, was he? She realised that she would have to be particularly careful around him, and so tried her very best to show emotions. She smiled, her eyes turning over the people in the coffeeshop, trying to find those that she could put the attention on. "Like... that guy over there," she said softly, her head tilting to the man in the shoulder. She was far from subtle, but even without her money security blanket she wouldn't change so easily. "He's, like, blatantly not taking in any of that book. Her eyes are scanning it too quickly," she said, noticing it with a practised eye. She had spent many years studying people in many different situations to make her act all the more believable.

[Alexander Van'Dan]

He gobbled down the scone like he hadn't eaten in years. Which, in truth, he had not eaten one in quite some time. He couldn't resist asking the waiter for another one. He asked the waiter to bring two so he could force one onto the girl sitting across the way from him. He hoped she'd eat it so he didn't feel like a fatty.

Alexander's eyes turned to the man that was hurriedly "reading" a book. He laughed at the girl's remark. "I think he's trying to impress someone." He noticed a girl sitting across the room that the boy kept looking up at. They batted eyelashes at each other and what not. He wrote down his observations and his thoughts on the foolish acts the two were committing.

Alexander then realized he hadn't even introduced himself yet. He put the cat in his backpack that was laying next to him. He left it open, of course. He turned back to the girl and smiled and held out his hand and spoke, "How rude of me for not introducing myself. My name is Alexander. How do you do?"

["Crys" Crystal Fedor]

Crys smiled as sweetly as she could manage, holding onto her drink tightly and savoring its warmth. "I think he's managing..." she said with a smile and a small nod as she saw the girl moving from her seat to the one next to the man.

She turned her attention back to Alexander, "My name is Crystal Fedor, but everyone calls me Crys," she said, wearing her last name as a badge, even if it meant very little since she had fallen out of favour from her father. Still, it was a recognisable name which commanded respect, and without money it was all she had. "And I do quite well, assuming you're not going to use your pyscho-bable on me," she said with a polite smile, though there was a slight, cold threat under her breath.

[Alexander Van'Dan]

"I believe he's managing quite well actually." Alexander watched as the girl moved from her seat and into the one that was setting next to the boy. He smiled when he thought about how weird the way people hook up in public. He wondered if the girl knew he was gay. He cocked his head sideways and looked at the people fighting in the street.

"I never speak psycho-babble, so I do not know what you are talking about" He giggled and and glared at the girl. "It's nice to meet you though Crys" He held out his hand and offered up a warm smile.

["Crys" Crystal Fedor]

Crys took his hand and gave it a short, polite shake, like colleagues meeting for the first time. Because that, to Crys, was what it was - life was another job to be done, and so was socialising. She would take as much pleasure from it as possible without being able to feel anything but the twisted form she got from destruction. "Pleasure's all mine," she said, already trying to think of ways that she could use him to her advantage.

She brushed back her hair with her long, elegant fingers, looking around the room unashamably prying into other peoples lives, her ears hearing all gossip, her eyes seeing what most people would try and make excuses for. "So, whats the goss? You at new the school, I take it?" she asked, her voice high and playful, her eyes bright and absorbing.

[Alexander Van'Dan]

Alexander could sense some firm qualities from the girl, simply by the way she shook his hand. It fit right into his theories about body movement and things of that nature. He wanted to get out his notebook and write some things down immediately, but he felt that might be very rude. He managed to bottle his thoughts until a later time. "Ditto, darling, ditto" he spoke in a phony French accents. Among many things, Alexander was a wise-crack. He liked to make others laugh for it made him feel better.

He took note as she spoke of the light interrogative look in her eyes. She seemed to be very genuine in what she asking and not just plain nosy. "I guess you could say that, though I've been living around here for a bit." He tried not to reveal too much of his personal life all at once.

["Crys" Crystal Fedor]

Crys smiled, leaning forwards, "Oh wow, you're a local?" she asked, suddenly quite interested in the boy. Her eyelids battered towards him, her leaning forwards showing off a little more cleavage than it really should have. Yes, there was the option of being respectful and digified, but then there was the option of making her intentions clear. 'Carry on the conversation, but know that if you, I would' was just the message that she was sending him. "I'm from all around. Travel the world, see the sites. Tokyo was my favourite. The middle-East is a frightening place for red-haired beauties..." she said, wrapping her fingers along her silky red-hair.