Harper was waiting in line outside of her favorite coffee place. For some reason the line was so long that it was out the door, and she couldn’t figure out why. At this point she was half tempted to turn around and just go to the next closest place. Although she was also stubborn and had been standing in line for quite a while. She turned to the person behind her. “Do you have any idea why this line is so long and taking literally ages?” She asked them, hoping that at least someone had some insight.

~ where: The Grind Cafe ~

When you’re from Seattle you’re born with an automatic love for coffee. Jake needed his cup of joe every morning to start off the day. If he didn’t have his coffee, it seemed as if something was missing. Since moving to Asteria he wanted to try to stay away from the big coffee stores like Starbucks. He was living in a small town now which meant supporting the small businesses. The Grind Cafe was a cute little shop with great coffee, a perfect spot for Jake to grab his drug of choice. As he got up from his seat to get another refill he found himself right next to someone in the lineup. “Go ahead, you were there before me.” He insisted with a small smirk and an arm gesture. “Unless they mysteriously only have enough coffee left for one cup then I’m budging in front of you.” The tone in his voice was obvious sarcasm and the smile on his face also showed his joking nature. 

“Jesus Christ I need a drink, is there anything wrong with drinking on a Sunday afternoon? Nah, I don’t think so, if you can drink at brunch you can drink in the afternoon, it’s Linner. Lunch and dinner. The new cousin of brunch.” Esmay sighed as she dropped her bag onto the table with a clatter, sitting herself down into the nearby chair like she’d just finished running a marathon. Then again looking after a bratty four year old often felt like she was doing exactly that, especially when she’d thrown a raging tantrum over not being able to stick her head in the oven to say hello to her dinner while it was cooking. Esmay had been tempted to just let her towards the end, at least it would have put an end to the screaming, but …. It might also have set her hair on fire and burning hair smelled horrible. And she wanted to get paid, couldn’t forget that small detail. “You know what’s good here?” She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Carefully setting out a couple more copies of The Four Winds. by Kristin Hannah on the display table carefully Hanna took a step back to asses her handiwork. Smiling slightly to herself she let out a contented sigh, a small nod of her head before she headed back to behind the counter of the bookshop. A cup of tea that had been well earned was hastily put together so she didn’t miss any customers that might wander in wanting to talk about something…anything really…that she could sink her teeth into. A distraction from what went on in her mind when she was alone which wasn’t the most pleasant place to be. Taking a sip of the drink the blonde looked up as someone came into the shop making the little bell above the door ring. 

As good as it was to be out of the hospital, being stuck at home wasn’t going all that well either. In a day and a half Brooke had already binge watched the first three seasons of Outlander and eaten all she junk food she so desired. The firefighter loved a day off as much as anyone, but part of what made having free time feel so amazing was knowing you had to go back to real life. And according to the doctors at Asteria General, there was no real life for Brooke to go back to for at least six weeks. The bullet had been through and through but had left a minor fracture in her femur. As much as she might complain about work some days, firefighting kept her sane. And sitting around at home with at least a month and a half before she could get back in the field was enough to make a girl feel crazy. As if some higher power had mercifully heard her concerns. A knock on her front door sounded out. “It’s open!” She called.

“Maya! Stay where I can see you, please.” Jonas sat on the park bench, watching his little two year old running around the play structure with one of the other kids she had met at daycare. He knew moving back home to Asteria was the best choice for both him and her. He let a smile come along his features as he felt a presence next to him. “If you need to sit, go ahead.” He glanced over at them for a second.