A Coffee House, London, 1815, Saturday Afternoon

[vanillajello]

Like a good child of the information age, after asking Mitchell out for coffee Kate had run a Google search on coffee houses in Regency England. Satisfied with the knowledge that they'd been around and popular since the sixteen hundreds, she'd let it be after that.

Which meant she hadn't been aware that the coffee houses wouldn't open their doors to the general female public before another half a century had passed. She was aware of it now, though. It was hard not to be after having been turned away from a few of the more respectable establishments. But she was going to have a cup of coffee in olden times England, goddammit, so she'd decided on one more try at a slightly less respectable-looking locale, and she couldn't be talked out of it.

(Getting obsessed with getting coffee was just as fine a way of dealing with feeling a little on edge as any other thing, okay?)

Kate tugged on the cuffs of the same dress she'd worn for her London walk with Bod, yesterday, and looked annoyed. "Man, if we don't get coffee here, either, I'm going back to Fandom and dressing like a dude, I swear to God."

[ooc: NFB and for the Irish hipster I kinda sorta lovingly modded just there.]

Comments

[chosehumanity]

"Really? You're going with that program as your final answer?"

[vanillajello]

"Uh huh," Kate decided as she pushed her cup of coffee further away with her free hand, as if it might attack her if she let it linger too close. "Why wouldn't I? It's the very testament of the... state of Western society in modern times."

Or something. She wasn't serious.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell pulled a face. "At least say it's... I don't know, one of those reality shows that actually teaches you something." Like the Real Hustle!

[vanillajello]

Nope. "For the last time, Mitchell," Kate replied with some half-fake exasperation, "the Real Hustle isn't any more educational than Real Housewives!"

[chosehumanity]

"Hey, it totally taught me how to avoid creditcard fraud!"

[vanillajello]

"You've been around for over a hundred years!" Kate pointed out, though thankfully not loud enough to draw attention. "Honestly, if you need a TV show to tell you how to avoid credit card fraud at that point, then you deserve to get conned."

[chosehumanity]

"Oh please, do you have any idea how sophisticated they get?" Mitchell asked. "Seriously."

[vanillajello]

"No, you're just gullible," Kate decided. "Why should anyone learn anything from TV, anyway?"

[chosehumanity]

"That is such a 21st century thing to say," Mitchell decided. "Back in the fifties and sixties when televisions were just getting sold, it was all educational programming. It's a broadcast medium, Kate."

Yeah, they were pretty much making no sense to anyone looking in.

[vanillajello]

"Yeah but we're not in the fifties or the sixties anymore." Not that they were in the 21st century, either. Poor eavesdroppers. "Things change, Mitchell. A lot of things have. It's more about entertainment now."

[chosehumanity]

"There's still a difference between good television and the bad kind. Like the Real Housewives."

Not that Mitchell hadn't been watching recently, but he spent a lot of time hanging in front of the TV feeling sorry for himself lately.

[vanillajello]

"But it's good because it's bad," Kate pointed out. "That's the whole point. I love it because it's trashy and doesn't require me to think. I do enough thinking without the TV."

[chosehumanity]

"But why?" Mitchell asked.

A beat. "...Fine, sometimes you want to veg out, I'll give you that."

[vanillajello]

"See?" Kate asked, glad he seemed to be figuring out her point. "I mean, look at my life lately – or whatever parts of it you have an idea about. Do you think I would wanna be educated when I turn on the TV, with all of that going on? Hell to the no. I like keeping serious stuff in reality --" Why reality was symbolized by her flashing him the new ring on her left middle finger, even she probably wouldn't be sure. "-- and TV as just total braincandy."

[chosehumanity]

The ring was going to get a bit of a raised eyebrow, yeah, but banter involved him mustering all the enthousiasm he could manage at the moment; sudden shocking changes in her life were going to have to take a back seat.

"But it's still not any good," he said, "Just excellent circumstances for couch-potatoing."

[[ sorry, the last two days have been insaaane. ]]

[vanillajello]

The eyebrow raise didn't even register, really. Truth be told Kate didn't feel like there were any sudden shocking changes that had happened, not any that involved the ring, anyway. It was more like some things were falling into place, finally.

And she was too caught up in talking about TV.

"Which is all that I need," she decided. "Except I don't really need good circumstances, 'cause I'm a master of doing the couch potato thing, and I can do that whenever."

[Aw, no problem. *pets your insanity*]

[chosehumanity]

"But," Mitchell said, "You'll at least admit that that is horrible television."

[[ I spent all day either entertaining guests or working on this essay that needed to be turned in tonight. Pity meee. ]]

[vanillajello]

"Of course." A beat. "But horrible is also the best kind!"

He wasn't getting much of a win out of her today, no.

[*pities*]

[chosehumanity]

"Keep it down," Mitchell said, because that was the only way he was going to get that win. "I think people are staring. Again."

[vanillajello]

"Yeah because we're fabulous," she replied without missing a beat, though at least at a lower volume. "I don't care if they stare, and besides, you're just trying to distract me from the argument."

[chosehumanity]

"The argument you can't actually support by facts?" Mitchell said. "I think the distraction is probably better."

[vanillajello]

"Oh, like you had some stellar facts to back your claims up." Well, they were probably better than hers. "Whatever, dude, I was clearly winning."

[chosehumanity]

"What, besides that my champions won awards? Or at least legitimately teach you something?" Mitchell nudged his cup of coffee away. "It doesn't really matter."

[vanillajello]

"You put too much stock in teaching," Kate decided. "It is becoming clear to me now how you ended up becoming a teacher."

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell snorted. He glanced towards the entrance.

"I miss that. Sometimes."

[vanillajello]

Kate shrugged a shoulder, lightly. "You're staying," she pointed out, and said nothing more. She didn't think it was out of the question for him to teach again.

But, what did she know? She glanced around, then made a slight face. "Think we should leave? I'm pretty sure there's a guy over there considering coming over to make propositions and I would hate to draw attention by bitchslapping anyone."

[chosehumanity]

"I thought we shouldn't have gone here in the first place," Mitchell pointed out, lightly. He glanced over to the guy in question, and pulled a face. "Yeah, let's go. I'll make you a cup of something back at the house."

[vanillajello]

"Something actually drinkable?" she asked already getting up and straightening her dress. "Yeah, I'd like that."