Pictures in the Dark

[formidable]

General PSL/FUNBOX post for aurajen and formidable. Lots of OC shenanigans. ➢ Cool Mood Music No. 1 ➤ Cool Mood Music No. 2

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[lyrelyre]

[He wanted to see it? She raises a brow.]

You sure we're talking about the same Jake Morgan? Tall guy, dark hair? Always looks like this?

[She crosses her arms and fakes an angry frown. (On her face it just looks like a pout, though.)]

[oren]

[He nods.]

Also recent.

Doesn't give a good impression.

oops that was just *Jake up there, getting mah names all screwy

[lyrelyre]

[She breaks character and actually laughs at that.]

Seriously? That's crazy. He didn't mention it.

[She wonders why.]

Poor lil' Jake. If you told him that, it'd hurt his poor feelings.

[The guy is more sensitive than he looks. And of course Lyra, who doesn't always get along with him, is quick to point that out as a failing rather than a merit.]

[oren]

Sensitive guy.

[See, even Oren can tell.]

Haven't seen him since.

[lyrelyre]

[She sounds a little impressed.] You're pretty observant. You're right, he is sensitive. He's like the exact opposite of his brother.

[But you know, whatever. She didn't come here just to talk about Jake, of all people.] So what's your deal? [Meaning, what makes you special, tall beautiful guy?]

[oren]

What about?

[Immovable as ever! Although it's not as if Oren's playing dumb, he just won't answer unless the question is direct as he is.]

[lyrelyre]

[She's finishing up her cheesecake now, and sitting the fork down with a little clink.]

You know, what makes you so special? In a cafe full of special people?

[What a weird dude. Morgan was right when he said Oren was a man of very few words.]

[oren]

I cook everything.

[SO THERE]

[lyrelyre]

[She rolls her eyes at that.]

...That doesn't count. You know what I'm talking about.

[It appears this Oren is both concise and a smartass.]

[oren]

Golem.

[Oh, okay.]

[lyrelyre]

[.....ok.

Just looking up at him, like she's expecting him to keep explaining......


.......come on, dude....]

[oren]

Not human.

[Look, it takes effort these days to give lengthy explanations and also he needs to check on the snickerdoodles in a few minutes!]

[lyrelyre]

[Her curiosity is more important than some snickerdoodles, geez!!!]

I could have figured that out myself when you said golem. [Ugh. Guess she's going to try to pry.] I thought golems were made of stone? Or clay? You look pretty... fleshy to me.

[oren]

Surface, human enough. All earth materials otherwise.

[And he's something else entirely, something not of this earth. His appearance is attributed to Berna's artistry and taste, but there are some parts of his looks that he casts glamour over in order to hide his true nature.

He holds up his hand and opens and closes his fingers.]

Work mostly the same.

[He can taste, hear, smell, touch, and see. His hair is actual human hair (Berna's). But he's incredibly durable, impossibly so.]

[lyrelyre]

And what about what doesn't work mostly the same?

[She's leaning forward with curiosity, which breaks her usual apathetic body language. This kind of stuff is always interesting to her, even if she tries to hide it under her usual facade of the pretty, affectionate girl who's all smiles.

She's read a lot of books with golems in them (she's a closet nerd, don't tell anyone); she's never met one in real life.]

[oren]

No bleeding.

Keeping the rest to myself.

[Well, in a way that answers her question too. He's got a lot of individuality for a creature made of earth.]

[lyrelyre]

Okay, fine, fair enough. [She can just leave the rest to her imagination or something.]

Where's the other owner?

[oren]

Class.

[He never discloses which school Iona goes to in LA of course.]

Semester's almost over.

[lyrelyre]

Class and running a cafe? Talk about multitasking.

[oren]

She manages.

[It's okay, Oren does most of the work... That isn't to say, Iona's energy and welcoming nature is one of the factors at work that helps bring back customers and her ideas on what to serve tend to be exciting for regulars.]

May catch sooner or later.

[lyrelyre]

Cool. I wouldn't mind that. [She's heard very briefly of Iona, from the same information she heard from Morgan. Of course, Lyra knows her only as "Jackie" right now, and has no reason to think otherwise.]

But this place -- [she looks around at the crowd it's drawn] --looks like it can get busy. Don't tell me it's only the two of you? You'd have to practically live here. Unless it's one of those things where, like, you guys live up on the second floor if there is one, or something.

[oren]

Close enough.

[Iona and Oren share the entrance that leads to their apartment in LA. The Midnight Grind's close to their hearts and right next door even.]

Weekends are the busiest.

[lyrelyre]

That's what I mean, though. No extra pair of hands? I don't care if you're a golem barista savant; here's only so many drinks you can make in a short amount of time.

[oren]

Extra help on weekend. Another person helps throughout when available.

[Marianna "Monts" is a rather popular hostess in the cafe, if a bit off putting because of her very presence. No matter, she's the second person Iona trusts the most to look after the Grind in her absence.]

[lyrelyre]

So like, your own little team?

[She grins just a little. She prefers to think of it that way. She bets that their Midnight Grind team is not as dysfunctional as her "team", though, but it doesn't make it any less intriguing. She likes searching for people with parallels to her own situation; it makes her feel a tiny sense of camaraderie, though she'll never say as much.]

Does everyone get along well? My "team" sometimes fights like cats and dogs, but that's because everyone is so... different, you could say? Basically, I'm surprised you can keep the peace with so many different kinds of people here.

[It's an over exaggeration that the five of them fight so fiercely; they actually get along most of the time, but they have been known to butt heads to the point where the mansion has suffered collateral damage as a result. (She's tries to stay out of fights like those, though. She's not really on the side of brawn, given her powers.)]