Coffee Break

Coffee Break
Date of Scene:	24 October 2012
Location:	WildKat Cafe
Synopsis:	Mercade and Riku run into each other again in the WildKat Cafe. Over some food and coffee, the pair catch up on things, and Riku gets focused on a goal....
Cast of Characters:	Riku, Mercade Alexander

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Mercade Alexander has posed:
The Wildkat Cafe. A nice little place in the corner of Traverse Town. It opens and closes irregularly, so you never can really tell when the proprietor will be around.

At the moment, Mercade's chanced on a lucky break, and found the place when it was open. That chill cat Hanakoma is around and about, but Mercade is more intent on the cup of coffee before him, enjoying the dark lustre of the liquid, the fragrance, the b- oh screw it, he's drinking black coffee. And he likes it.

Riku has posed:
Riku looks back and forth over the last couple of journal pages, walking down the street with a level of complete abstraction. He mutters.

"But I already tried that one four times. It--" his voice falls back below the audible threshold with about the frequency of the flipping pages. He takes in a deep breath, nose crinkling at the acrid smell of coffee. He looks up, realizing he has made his way to Wildkat's, and it was open again.

It reminded him suddenly of how long it had been since he'd had something to eat. Riku folds a page corner to keep his place, tucking away the journal as he makes his way over to it. He spots Mercade but doesn't say anything to the detective, considering them from a distance for a minute or so before deciding he was too hungry to turn around. He enters the cafe, taking a seat and ordering something without really looking at the menu. Something with bacon and hamburger.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Hey Riku." Mercade says. "You've got that look on your face again." He takes another drink of coffee, and smiles. "You should relax a bit." He stands up, and goes to sit at the table Riku's at, putting hit legs up on the chair next to him. "Mind if I cut in?"

Riku has posed:
"Relax." Riku snorts faintly, giving Mercade a sideways glance before shaking his head. "This is about as relaxed as I'm going to get." he doesn't comment on the inquiry but at least he doesn't say 'no' to it either. He leans back in the chait, slowly drumming his fingers on the table as he waits for his bacon and hamburger concoction to be completed.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"That's like the opposite of relaxed. You're so Type-A it hurts." Mercade chuckles. "So, Riku. Ever meet any mice in your travels? Like, talking ones, say three feet tall?"

Riku has posed:
"Type-A?" Riku raises an eyebrow, then chuckles faintly. "No. I haven't.. although I have met short, intelligent desert plants." he crosses his arms, trying to make at least the pretend effort to relax. "So tell me about this mouse."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Ambitious, driven, take-charge. Leadership material if you don't collapse from the stress." Mercade grins. "I ended up getting swept out to Atlantis. You know, the legendary underwater city? Nice place. When I got there, another underwater traveller was there. Turns out his name was Mickey. King Mickey, and he's been looking around for the source of the Heartless."

Riku has posed:
"Not all legends are the same, I know that much. How can there be a city underwater?" Riku asks, his curious piqued. He frowns a little as he gets out his journal. "And a lot of people are searching for that. It doesn't mean anything." at about this time the hamburger arrives and he takes a bite out of it immediately. "And.. how could you be there if it's underwater?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"I was taking a discount scuba diving class in Costa Del Sol, and I kind of got caught by a huge undertow." Mercade explains. "I had equipment. And there's a big air bubble around the place. It was kind of amazing. We didn't get the chance to explore for long, but it was really interesting while I was there."

Riku has posed:
Riku nods, flipping pages until he reaches a clean one. He scribbles down some notes, then puts the pencil down to take another bite of the hamburger. "I tried that once or twice back home. It's definitely a weird feeling." he pauses, looking at the counter top for a few moments. "Maybe I'll go there myself. To Costa Del Sol." he sighs through slightly grit teeth, frowning as considers the hamburger wryly. "I've got to find SOMETHING to do. Just wandering around is making me crazy. Well. Crazier."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Really? I thought you had some kind of direction you were going. You were looking for something or somoene." Mercade coffees. Mmmmm, coffee. Delicious. "All right then. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to do? You seem to have no real obligations on your time and ability, you're talented, have magic powers, and can do basically anything you want. What's out there for you?"

Riku has posed:
Riku snorts. "And where does this get me? Waiting. I keep looking.. and there's more waiting. I HATE waiting." Riku groans softly, facepalming with an solid 'smack' "Nevermind. I keep telling you these things. Magic. I hate--" he shakes his head. "You know. I went back to that puzzle room." he flips a few pages, which are covered from corner to corner with sketches and diagrams. "I still have no idea how to figure it out, but.. I don't like to leave things unfinished. So.. a few pieces make more sense now."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"I figured I'd go back later myself and have a go at it. I just figured I had higher priorities on my time." Like taking discount scuba diving classes in a chintzy resort town. Mercade rubs his chin. "So at the moment, you want to solve the puzzle and speak with the spirit in the clock tower. All right. That's a start. Is it just the challenge of the puzzle, or is there something you need there? And after that, what do you do from there?"

Riku has posed:
Riku blinks hard and there is a slight flinch of his body as if slamming a fist down into the table or hell, through the table, would have taken place right now if he hadn't been sitting on the impulse. He lets out a sigh, the tension in his body easier a little back from suddenly critical levels.

"I. Don't. Know." he pronounces in extremely clipped words. "Sora can take care of himself. Mostly. I can't--" he shakes his head. "He'll be fine. But no hint of Kairi. No word. No--" he shakes his head. "No nothing. Maybe this spirit knows something. At this point-- if she's in trouble. I'll listen to anything." he smirks dryly, taking a bite of the hamburger. "I'll even put up with you."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad. At least I don't randomly explode on contact with your pets." Mercade says. "I just ask a lot of questions. Wouldn't be a detective if I didn't, would I?" He scratches the back of his head. "I know you think you're fine on your own, but..." Mercade shrugs. "I care about you, kid. You've grown on me. And believe me, I want to find Kairi at least half as much as you do."

Riku has posed:
Riku looks distinctly uncomfortable with where this conversation has gone. Even more so than the exploding part. "Geez." he rubs his head as though fending off the beginnings of a headache. "Yeah.." he says with only a hint of what might be considered guilt in his voice. "At least there is that. But.. I think if just anybody could find her.. she would have been by now. So I can't wait anybody. I've got to do something."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"That's all I wanted to hear, man. As long as you know what you need to do and are working on it, you'll get there eventually." Mercade says. "And if you need help with anything, well... Everyone needs a hand sometimes. There's no shame in that." Mercade drains his cup of coffee, and sets it aside. "So, let's break you into that damn Cloister."

Riku has posed:
Riku snorts. "There's more than one. I asked around. There is.. more.. than one." he says this with a sort of stunned bemusement. He sighs, gathering up his journal and the remains of his sandwich to take on the way back. "But hey. It's something to do."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"So we gotta break 'em all." Mercade says airily, as if it weren't no thang. "It'll be a fun adventure, I'm sure. Only a small chance of death."

Riku has posed:
"Only a small chance? Wow. This should be down right boring then." Riku says in a flat voice as he walks out of the cafe and towards the clocktower.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"If you think you've going along after all that, you've got another thing coming." Mercade says, standing up and following him. He'll be back to the Cafe later. Nice place.