(D2, EM, Maize Cafe) Hangover Square

[Marlowe Phillips]

The coffee shop smell was strong enough to build a garage on. Just what I needed to brush off the lingering cobwebs the whiskey'd left in my head. I took a seat at the counter and ordered my coffee high and dry with a couple of wrecked eggs and some boards on the side.

[Tiffani Noelle]

Tiffani walked in still fantasizing about her father's steaks barbecued so tenderly on a grill out in the garden. It sent a longing shiver through her body - not just for the steaks, but for simply being home again.

The smell of steaks quickly vanished, replaced by the real smell of coffee with the faint undertones of frying bacon, toasting bread, and grease. Yep, it was exactly the kind of place Tiffani assumed it would be. Fortunately, this wasn't the kind of establishment where one had to wait to be seated, so she grabbed a newspaper from the counter and ...

Wait a minute. Wait .... just .... a .... minute.

Her stormy grey eyes came to rest on Marlowe Phillips sitting there at the counter. Was he another of the Lost? She hadn't seen another one like herself since she left Bismarck, North Dakota. To see one here in this place came as a very unexpected surprise - though whether a good, bad, or irrelevant surprise was too early to tell. TIffani tilted her head first one way - and then the other, her mass of curly hair swishing between her shoulders as she did.

But she knew that just because they were both Lost didn't mean they would automatically become fast friends. Some Changelings wanted as little contact as possible with their own kind. Some were mentally deranged, still others were as evil and nasty as the fey who took them. Therefore, simply approaching the man was out of the question. Instead, she took a table right behind him and picked up a menu. But her eyes kept rising above the menu, coming to light on this handsome but kind of frumpy-looking Lost at the counter.

And now she found herself fidgeting in her chair, knowing that if this person paid her even the least amount of attention, her big diaphanous faerie wings would be obvious to the point of ridiculousness. Well, she had planned on chatting up the waitress or maybe another patron. But now ...

[Marlowe Phillips]

The door had a bell hanging over it, announcing every new customer or every potential threat, depending on how you looked at it. The skirt at the door didn't look like much of a threat, but she did look Lost. It wasn't much of a surprise at this point. We'd probably be able to form our own court in a couple of days.

My order wasn't up yet. So I picked up my cup and walked over to the new arrival. "May I join you for breakfast?"

[Tiffani Noelle]

Tiffani saw the man leave the counter ....

At that point, she almost comically raised the menu up to cover her eyes, but if Marlowe were paying attention, he would have seen her lower it again. Just slightly. Just enough to see him over the edge of the laminated menu.

She was both mortified and yet strangely grateful that this Lost was approaching her. Aside from official business, she hadn't spoken to anyone in ... days.

When Marlowe asked his question, Tiffani cleared her throat, raw as it was from being out in the cold - and disuse - and nodded toward the chair opposite hers.

"Of course you may. I haven't had any company in far too long." Of course, the moment she began speaking, it would be obvious to Marlowe that, not only was Tiffani not a local resident, she's not even from this country.

[Marlowe Phillips]

I hadn't pegged her for a Brit, but that just meant she was from further away than expected.

"My name's Marlowe." I gave her a friendly smile. "I didn't see much point in either of us eating alone in an unfamiliar place."

[Tiffani Noelle]

"TIffani," she replied, offering her name as well, "and I wholeheartedly agree. I was beginning to get a little creeped out here - like somehow I died in the night and turned into a ghost that no one could see or interact with."

"In addition," she said after a pause, "you're the first of our kind I have seen for ... a long time. I was beginning to think I was the only one of us here." Then she scanned the menu while sipping at her coffee. "It would be so much better if this were tea. At any rate, what brings you to a place so small and remote? I don't get the impression that you live here."

[Marlowe Phillips]

"I have a feeling you'll be meeting more of us soon. You're the third one I've spoken with in the past 24 hours." I paused as the waitress came over to drop off my food and refill my coffee. Best to wait for her to leave before continuing, especially if Tiffani wanted to place her order first.

[Tiffani Noelle]

Tiffani doesn't order very much - in fact she seems to be carefully counting money, her head down, wallet in her lap beneath the table. At last, she orders a single pancake, a single slice of toast, and a sausage link.

Then she turns her eyes back to Marlowe, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Why so many? And why, after wandering around this town for a fair spell, have I not seen any of them? Did they all get together and organize a motley without me? It's enough to make one feel ... toxic."

She takes out a few bills from her wallet then shoves it into her backpack.

"Seriously, though ... is there anything happening with them? Just seems odd that I haven't seen them yet. Except for you. And I doubt you expected to find me in here, yes?"

[Marlowe Phillips]

"Hey! Put her on my tab." I looked over my shoulder at the waitress. Once she nodded, I turned my attention back to Tiffani.

"If the rest are like me, their probably trying not to stick out too much. Town's like this don't always appreciate strangers." And, there were questions about what kind of town this was. "From what I've seen, everyone is staying at the motel. We haven't formed a Motley, but that might not be a bad idea."

[Tiffani Noelle]

Tiffany looked as if she were about to object to Marlowe's kindness, her arm even coming off the table to tell the waitress not to put her bill on his tab. But she let it go. As much as she didn't like taking handouts, this was a matter of survival - and she wasn't going to allow her stubborn pride to kill her.

Instead, she simply smiled at Marlowe and said, "Thanks!" in a cheery sort of way.

"Anyway, about this town - it's strange. I've been walking clear from somewhere in Sasketchewan. I've had to stay in countless little map-dot towns like this one and usually the residents are almost too friendly with their constant questions about merry ol' England or swooning over my accent. I really don't understand the American fascination with our accent, to be honest. Or, they tend to be aloof and borderline rude. Those little towns in Appalachia are the worst, always thinking I'm there to take their precious land or run off with their 1974 Chevy they have up on blocks."

"But here," she continues, "It's like I don't exist at all, neither friendly or unfriendly. Oh sure, they'll take my food order and whatnot, but not a one of them has so much said 'boo' to me since I've been here, not even to comment about my accent or to ask where I'm from."

She leans back in her chair and idly stirs some sugar into her coffee. "So tell me, Marlowe - how has Maize treated you? Any weird or unsettling experiences since you've been here? I mean, you do kinda look like a detective." She gives Marlowe a playful little wink from across the table.