SPIKED

ｓｉｇｎａｌｓ

『ｓｉｇｎａｌｓ』

As she steps into the Coffee Hut, Edith is comforted by the smell of scorched coffee beans and steamed milk. The air—conditioned cafe chills the back of her neck, which is damp with sweat from her long run around the town centre. Edith doesn't work out a lot, but whenever she needs to clear her mind, she often enjoys going for a gentle jog around the park before heading to Nathan's cafe for a cup of coffee and a quiet muse.

The sun streams through the floor to ceiling length windows as Edith makes her way towards the till, where Nathan stands arranging some 'for display only' coffee pots. Despite the fact it's a lovely, warm sunny day, the Coffee Hut tends to be somewhat abandoned, aside from the band of squawking teenagers who throw sugar cubes at each other in an unruly fashion.

Watching as Nathan raises his head towards the misbehaving group, Edith has to stifle a laugh as he sends them a glare colder than the air conditioning. Unable to hold back her giggles, Edith chuckles softly earning Nathan's attention. As his head snaps towards her, she smiles gently and bounces on the balls of her feet. "One green tea please, Nathan," she comments, leaning forward slightly.

He seems to instantly forget the teenagers in the corner, giving Edith a kilowatt smile before grabbing a teacup that sits perfectly atop of the coffee machine. "Good afternoon, Edith, you look oddly different since the last time I saw you," he remarks cheekily, popping a tea bag into the mug.

Edith only hums slightly at his comment. "That was two weeks ago," she quips with flushed cheeks, her mind flickering back to when both she and Nathan watched Will's volleyball game. She hadn't seen either of the boys since then — a few things had changed in her routine which stopped her from doing so. "I've had my hair cut."

He points a teaspoon at her teasingly before turning the hot water on. "Hey, in my defence your hair is in tied back, I couldn't tell if you had a haircut or no— wait— did you get another piercing?" Nathan gasps, almost throwing himself over the counter which separates the pair of them, and for a second Edith is so glad that counter exists.

Edith lets out a little squeal as Nathan grasps both her cheeks in his hands and tilts her head in several directions to get a better look at her new piercings. Edith had always wanted to get lots of piercings, and with a recently rather free schedule she had spontaneously booked herself in to get her second lobe pierced only five days ago.

"Nafan buh caweful," she giggles uncontrollably the words Nathan be careful sounding squished as Nathan holds her cheeks hostage. Edith is still laughing as she removes his hands from her cheeks which are now blood red with embarrassment, her eyes falling to the coffee machine which is now overflowing with scalding water. A sharp intake of breath enters her mouth as she squeals, "The tea!"

Eyes wide, Edith watches as Nathan rushes back towards the steaming coffee machine: a slew of swears flying his mouth as he turns off the water off, although there's still steam hanging in the air like rags.

"Shit," Nathan hisses, grabbing the towel that hangs over his apron. He wipes frantically at the dark wood counter, still swearing under his breath. "If you want to take a seat, I'll bring the tea over to you," he grouches, and Edith just knows he's pissed off with himself.

Taking the hint, Edith begins walking over to (what she has claimed to be) her booth but falls short as she realises someone is sitting in her chair. They wear a black baseball cap, with a hand on their forehead as they hunch over sheets of paper that are sprawled lazily across the table.

Some of the sheets are wrinkled and stained with coffee, the table dirtied with one cup of steaming coffee that is accompanied by several empty cups; indicating the person has been here, in that position for some time.