Scene #7483: New Horizons: The Roost

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	Welcome to The Roost. https://imgur.com/a/0w8zBgG It's a small little coffee shop, up on the second floor of the museum. Coffee bar with stools, table, and a small little stage area. Compared to the museum itself, in which Blathers has grand ideas like 'Walk through aquarium', it's tiny and cozy. It's also manned (hawked?) by Kale right now. He's measuring out a fresh pot to brew, and occasionally breaking from prep to check something on his phone (which elicits some frowns). At the moment, the island's multiversals are alone up here.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry takes the stairs two at a time, emerging into the second-floor cafe with an uncharacteristically easy smile on her face. Her wand's carrying case is, of course, slung over her back- but today she's carrying a small tote bag too, clacking softly with its loose contents at every step. "Mister Hearthward! I wasn't sure- you take your coffee black, don't you?" She slides onto one of the bar stools, looking distinctly pleased with herself. "Where I'm from, it's... you usually mix it with milk, to lighten it up. I know you wouldn't do that, so-" She hefts the tote bag up onto the counter and tilts it forward, showing off dozens of small white plastic cups inside. "I brought some non-dairy creamer instead! It'll be closer to what most folks here expect. What do you think?"
Hellwarming Trio	After the last big party celebrating... Something or another (they're not sure what), the pair from the underworld are actually looking rather chilled out today as they lounge away in the coffee shop on the second floor. Enjoying the lazy warmth inside, neither Utsuho nor Rin look like they're going to be running around much at all today. The first has her face flat on the table, and the second is a little more sensible with her chin resting on it. Barely. Rin: "Can I get a coffee, too? It smells good." Utsuho: Incoherent muffled noises. Rin: "Right? But... Let's try it without extra stuff first, 'cause then we can find out what it's like on its own." It takes a while longer for Rin to actually get up from her seat to join Kale and Strawberry Princess over at the counter, and even longer for Utsuho to do the same. The non-dairy creamer in particular gets a curious look from the pair. Naturally, Utsuho is going to snag one to just drink on its own if she isn't stopped.
Go Shijima	"Yo, Kale, Strawberry." It's hard not to recognize the sound of Go's voice. "Hey, you two," he adds, as he strides in, giving Reiuji and Rin a little wave. He casually takes a seat in time to hear the latter two discussing coffee. He takes a seat opposite Strawberry, wearing his usual lopsided grin. "You guys've never had it before? It's bitter," he warns amusedly. There's no effort beyond that to stop them. With a turn off his head towards Kale, "Have to say, I didn't expect it'd be you behind the counter. What made you decide to do that?" Then, with that grin returning once he's had his answer: "Can I get a cup, too? I kinda wanna see what that nondairy creamer's about." There's a few moments wherein he's just taking the place in, enjoying the warmth of the upstairs cafe. After his cup is served, he doesn't go for it right away, letting it cool. After a peer into the cup: "So, what's up, everybody? Kale, you look like somethings on your mind." He can't hide that something's on his either. But he seems to want to talk about something else.
Kale Hearthward	"I still have some doubts about... certain things, but I've come to accept that I shouldn't begrudge people for their culinary choices. To a certain degree," he adds. "Still. Thank you." He takes the tote bag and brings it behind the counter to inventory and put away later (but not before Utsuho snags one for herself, which Kale neither prevents nor comments on.) "Two black coffees, one with nondairy creamer, coming up..." "... Trying it out, really," says Kale. "Not sure it's something I'd want to do long term, but..." "... It's peaceful, which is... kinda novel. And all I have to really worry about while I'm here is this one shop? Taking inventory, making coffee, cleaning up..." The cups are poured, and set out on the bar.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry's hand intercepts Utsuho's wrist. It's not the same breakneck spinal-reflex speed as when she shot the orange, but still remarkably crisp. "Don't," she says in a quiet voice. "It'll taste awful on its own. Okay?" Not waiting for a response, she lets go. If Utsuho still wants to chug pure substitute creamer after being warned, that's her business. At any rate, she's too distracted by Go's entrance to keep an eye on it; she twists around in her chair to get a look at him. "Hey, Mr. Shijima! It's- you've never had nondairy creamer? I thought, you know... a lot of Japanese people are lactose intolerant, aren't they? Or- wait. I guess that'd mean everyone would drink it black then, right?" It's a clever line of thought, but she looks more chagrined than anything. Once Go's settled in, she turns to watch Kale work. The repetitive, routine motions; the zen satisfaction he's taking in them- it's meditative even by proxy. "There's something peaceful about it, yeah. Have you ever had a hobby before, Mr. Hearthward? ... Oh, and one with creamer for me, please!"
Hellwarming Trio	Go gets a wave from both Utsuho and Rin, the former stopped from chugging down that coffee creamer only because of Strawberry's reactions. "Does it? Hnn. Okay, I'll save it for the..." Utsuho has already forgotten the word. Somehow. Rin, meanwhile, answers Go with a resounding "Nope!" before picking up her cup. "We've been looking around. There's a whole lot of stuff in the Multiverse to see and not enough time for it all." She takes a sip, then coughs lightly with a distressed face. "Kh... How do people drink these stuff?" Utsuho shrugs lightly as she takes the cup from Rin, not sipping right away to instead nod in agreement with Kale's and Strawberry's assessment. "It's real different here, yeah. Could be a bit more... Fiery, but getting some fresh air and cool wind isn't bad sometimes." After a brief sip, Utsuho too flinches at the taste of black coffee. It seems neither of them are particularly used to it, although the raven doesn't stop sipping repeatedly despite that. She even adds the coffee creamer to see if that helps! It does, a bit. "Were you looking for something more exciting? Because I found this one spot with a lot of weird things in the ground. Could just keep digging and see if we find another hell down there."
Go Shijima	"I get that," says Go in response to Kale, taking a sip once he's satisfied it's cooled down enough. "I like it here, too. Same reason." Strawberry's observation draws a soft chuckle. Sip. "I usually take mine black," he says. "But only 'cause I tend to chug it and then get underway to wherever I'm headed. If there's no sugar, or no creamer, there's less for me to put away, y'know? As for other people back home... I wouldn't know, really. I didn't start drinking coffee 'till I was 15 or 16, and I was in America by then." He does seem to have a lot of shirts with the names of states on them. This one, in fact, is red and names the mysterious far-off land of Arizona. It also has GO on it, in a font similar to the jersey of a college sports team. "It's an acquired taste," says the self-admitted chugger to Utsuho. "Plus, it wakes you up, so... there's that." Go shrugs lightly, and takes another sip. "If you don't like it that way, lots of people take it with sugar, and creamer--yeah, you get it," he says with a smile, leaning forward to watch Utsuho administer it. The backpack slung around his shoulder is set on the empty seat to his left. From it, he procures his camera and a compact laptop. The former is connected to the latter with a cable, to facilitate a file transfer.
Kale Hearthward	Kale fixes up one for Strawberry too. "Hobby - sort of. The theater, which I was hoping to make more of a profession than a hobby, but... well." "... And digging in the ground reminds me too much of the farm I grew up on. Thank you, but pass on that." Kale checks his phone again, and frowns at it. "..." "I keep trying to get him out here to see what I'm doing with the island, but he's always so busy..." he says.
Strawberry Princess	Strawberry doesn't ask who 'he' is. The understanding is implicit. Instead, with a little grimace: "It's tough. To be- apart, like that. ... What does he do, that keeps him so busy? I don't remember if you said." Taking a little sip of her own coffee- raised eyebrows and sparkling eyes serve as a compliment to Kale's talent- she cranes her neck, trying to get a glimpse at what Go's been photographing recently. It's a bad angle for sneaking a peek, but her height helps.
Hellwarming Trio	"A wake up drink? Yeah... Yeah, that makes sense. It's pretty gross even with the creamer stuff." Utsuho replies to Go and doesn't stop drinking despite her comments on the taste, already getting through a good half of the cup before Rin even considers sampling it again. Rin quickly regrets that and leaves the rest to her friend. Utsuho isn't flinching as much at the flavor now, at least, although it does't quite look like she actually enjoys it. "Is it 'cause of work? Can't he take a break or something?" Rin asks Kale, meanwhile, as she shifts arund to eventually rest her chin on the counter outright. Even after that bit of coffee, she still looks like she's feeling lazy today. "Or is it someone at work? You're tough, right? Just beat them up if that's what it is."
Kale Hearthward	"He's... in politics, and with the assassinations three months ago things have been... very busy," says Kale. "I can't exactly beat up a whole country."
Go Shijima	Go angles his computer so that Strawberry can see, smiling warmly at her. There's a couple of pictures, transferred to a folder, which he opens and clicks through for her benefit--and probably also Utsuho and Rin's, knowing how curious they tend to be. Nature seems to be his point of focus with wildlife and landscapes from a few different worlds (including the island) taking precedence. There's a few of him and of Tomari suited up. Some of those didn't turn out, and must have been taken using the camera's timer feature--but one in particular, the two of them having landed beside one another, evidently following a finisher, looks very dramatic, and both of them are captured in center frame, with a view of Tokyo's bay behind them, waves crashing against rocks overlooked by a pier. There's also a picture he clearly snapped to bully Tomari, taken just as the detective was turning his attention to Go, and making him look drowsy as a result. Finally, there's one of himself, S6, Tomoe and Sierra, inside some spookily lit dungeon-looking room, all fresh from a fight. A spread of loot, including what appear to be spent casings too shiny to have truly been fired (perhaps they're currency). Each of them has some sort of wacky novelty weapon, except for S6, who wields a baseball bat, and Go, who's holding up a shotgun shell and grinning widely, making a v-sign with his other hand. "That sucks," says Go to Kale. "Feeling like there's nothing you can do is the worst."
Hellwarming Trio	The screen angling is certainly appreciated by Rin, as she joins Strawberry in peering at those pictures and snickering at the goofier ones. The ones with the poses, naturally, have her getting ideas and even angling her hands in similar ways as though the cat was subconciously thinking about how to use them herself. Utsuho, meanwhile, is actually focused for once! "Maybe /you/ can't, but have you tried?" Her tone isn't necessarily an insulting one, but more a combination of matter-of-fact and genuine inquisitiveness. "How strong are these people, anyway? Are any of 'em real heavy hitters, or is it just a lot of average nobodies?" Sensing the imminent danger, Rin turns to Kale with a distressed hand signal as if trying to get him to cut Utsuho off right there. Or to slit her throat? It's not very clear, but there is definitely a concern on the cat's face right then and there.