The Perk [Monday afternoon]

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime needed coffee.

And space.

Not really to think about things. He had no idea what he'd even think about. Or, more accurately, he wasn't sure what thinking would accomplish. On the one hand, seeing kids that could potentially have been his as relatively well-adjusted teenagers had been kind of cool. On the other hand, they really just

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[nonenamedboaz]

Toss a coin, Jaime: do you want Dinah, or her teenage daughter to come talk to you about the moping and moooooodiness? Either way, you probably lose.

Lena bopped in, got a chai, and then sat down at Jaime's table. "Hi! So. How's it going, Not-Uncle Jaime?"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime looked up, startled. And somehow dredged up an expression that could charitably be called a smile.

"Not bad, Lena. You enjoy the weekend?"

[nonenamedboaz]

"Oh yeah. Food, hanging with Mom, hanging with Aunt Karla and Auntie Momo, going drinking with Kayla and 'Berto, flirting with a guy at Caritas, it's all good."

She beamed.

"Now. How about you?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Hey, you know me. I always like having company around."

That was even usually true!

[hijas_kawaii]

Elena detested coffee, but she liked the sweets the Perk always carried, so she was a fairly frequent visitor. Of course they didn't carry her cakes yet, so it was a grumpy teen who plopped down at the table, tray clattering.

"No Caff-Pow, no Sugar Cakes... How did mom live in this time?" She pulled the wrapper off one of the pile of small tea scones and plopped it in her mouth.

[weldedtomyspine]

"She's pretty tough, you know," Jaime pointed out fondly. "She can go whole days without sugar."

[hijas_kawaii]

"Days? We are so not talking about the same person," Elena rolled her eyes at that, but showing a hint of a smile. "So. Are you the same dad I came to visit last time?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"I think so?" Jaime shrugged. "You were a lot smaller back then, though."