I Drink My Coffee Black [Richard]

[Lillith Tiller]

Damn.

Shiro was in another one of those situations again.

The police were looking for her for something, although Shiro wasn't sure quite what. Maybe it was the items she'd stolen or the buildings she'd broken into. Whatever; it wasn't like she hadn't needed the things there. Luckily, whenever Shiro committed a crime, she made she she looked completely different, and no one would recognize the criminal in the white hair Shiro now wore.

Either way, they were probably looking for someone that was alone. Shiro, at the present, was standing inside a small coffee and sweets shop, in the hallways leading to the bathrooms. Her black coffee was secure in her hand. She scanned the place quickly, picking up a cardboard box near her. This would do. She quickly transformed the box into the aprons she had seen the workers here wear, and made her way out.

No one questioned her, as the place was fairly busy. But a few seconds after Shiro made her way into the front row, she caught sight of the policeman walking into the shop. He was disguised as a regular person, of course. She quickly made her way to the nearest table, where a dark-clothed boy about her age was sitting. Stopping in front of the table, she set down her own cup. "Here's your coffee, sir," she said cheerfully.

[marrow]

Richard was sitting in the coffee shop, quickly scrawling various thoughts into his notebook. He wasn't dressed as Nevar,as it was the middle of the day. Instead, Richard wore a black long-sleeve shirt, black pants, and black shoes. Richard turned to Shiro when she told him that it was his coffee. "You must be mistaken, I haven't ordered anything yet, I don't even like coffee." Richard said. Normally, he would have been agitated about the mixup, but he didn't feel like getting upset about it. Instead he quickly closed his notebook, then slid it under the table. Richard didn't want the notebook to get a coffee stain on it, as it was something he always kept with him. Besides this, if someone saw him with the notebook, then saw Nevar with the notebook, a connection could easily be made.

[Lillith Tiller]

The boy before her was scribbling in his notebook rather furiously; given that he didn't seem to be going off anything else on the desk, and the way he hid the notebook, Shiro guessed that whatever was in there was thoughts. A journal, maybe? It seemed sort of ridiculous for someone as old as him to be writing in journal, but Shiro quickly pushed away those thoughts.

Well, of course he hadn't ordered the coffee. She was making this up as she went along, and he was the unfortunate target. "No, I insist," she pressed, sliding it towards him. "Maybe someone ordered it for you."

[marrow]

Richard took the coffee and took a sip. Immediately he got a look of slight disgust on his face. "If someone got it for me, it's either someone who doesn't know me, or someone who does know me and doesn't like me." Richard said. He set the coffee down and turned back to Shiro. "Could you bring me some sugar?" Richard asked, pushing the coffee away from him enough to provide a safe amount of room for the notebook, which he started writing in again. Shiro probably would have noticed a few things. For one thing, Richard was using a feather quill to write. Another thing was that the writing looked as if it was from an old document, from when quills were used. Third she might notice, if she could read it, and happened to be examining the writing that it was a poem.

[Lillith Tiller]

Shiro was sort of disgusted when the boy drank from it. She had, after all, been drinking it herself. But this was sort of what she wanted, so she forced back her disgust. At least he had accepted it and not caused a scene. That would have been troublesome.

But now he had asked her to get him sugar. Shiro frowned at that. No, that's not what she wanted at all. The moment she was alone and not talking to someone, the policeman would spot her more easily. Speaking of which...

Shiro's eyes quickly, went to where the policeman now stood. He was leaning against the wall, scanning the crowd rather lazily. This made Shiro feel at least a little relieved. He had probably only gone inside just to double check she wasn't there; there had been no tip offs to her location. But why should there have been? Shiro was unrecognizable from her thieving disguise.

Still, it wasn't safe to risk walking away. She nodded, though, as if she was going to go get the sugar, and then her eyes focused in on his notebook, which he had taken out again. She was slightly annoyed at that; he hadn't even waited for her response before he had started writing. Sure, she was pretending to be an employee, but wasn't that rude?

"Oh, what are you writing?" she asked, as if she was interested in whatever it was. It seemed to be a poem, which made her less interested. He was probably just one of those types that tried to appear sincere and hurt. Most of the time, though, their lives were good. Shiro hid her judgements. "Is that a quill pen?" She added, "I've always wanted to use one of those. Do you have the ink with you?"

[marrow]

"In truth, it's a Limerick." Richard said, turning towards Shiro. Richard looked thoughtfully at the page he had been writing on. "Do you know of any word that is at least somewhat somewhat rhymes with orange?" Richard asked. Richard shook his head when he heard Shiro's question. "No, I forgot it in my other pants pocket, so I only have what ink I have on the quill currently." Richard said, seeming a bit annoyed with his on klutzyness. Richard started writing words in the margin of the paper that could be possibilities of "almost rhymes". Words like porridge and... well porridge was the only one he could actually come up with. Richard got a slightly frustrated expression on his face. He was being attacked by his mortal enemy, writers block.

[Lillith Tiller]

Wow. He had actually fallen for her lies. Whoever this person was, he wasn't very smart. Shiro restrained herself from rolling her eyes at him. A limerick? Oh, how nifty.

But then again, Shiro didn't have much restraint at the moment. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you jerking me around?" she asked, although in truth she was the one doing it. "Everyone knows that there's no word that rhymes with orange. And why on earth is the word orange in your Limerick?"

Oh, my, he'd forgotten his ink. Shiro almost laughed. "Wait, why are you using a quill, anyway? What about pens and pencils?" Besides, ink on the quill definitely wasn't going to last very long. It was what, two square centimeters of ink that fit up the feather?

He became a bit absorbed in his work, and Shiro stared at him for a moment, honestly a bit stunned. Was he on something? "Look," she said, her eyebrow arching again. "If you want me to get you some water instead, I can do that..."

[marrow]

"I didn't ask for anything that directly rhymed with orange. There is, as you said no word that completely rhymes with Orange." Richard said. He took a look around. Richard decide dto go with the word porridge, finishing the Lmirick and studying it for a few seconds. After this he tore the page out of his notebook and crumpled it up, tossing the wad of paper into a trash can. "And if you want to know why I'm using a quill pen, in truth, no idea, I've just always liked the way it fit in my hand more than a pen or pencil." Richard said. When Shiro offered him water, he just turned to her. "Okay a few things one, if you are going to pretend to be a waitress, at least make an effort at doing it well." Richard said, closing his notebook and setting the quill on top of it. "I don't know who you are, but you definitely don't act like a waitress, you are way to chatty and interested in other people's business. Any waitress or waiter with a soy nut for a brain knows that if you want a bloody tip, you don't try and connect with the customer to get a tip, in fact you are likely not to get a tip that way." Richard leaned back in his chair, as he had been previously somewhat bent over the table. "This I suppose leads into a question; Why are you dressed as a waitress?" Richard asked.

[Lillith Tiller]

Er, yes. He actually had asked for something that rhymed with orange. Directly or indirectly didn't really matter; nothing rhymed anyway. He was just ridiculous. Maybe he was on something.

Oh, see, now she'd gone and offended him.

Honestly, Shiro didn't mind much. He was beginning to bother her anyway. She waited for him to finish his rant, taking a moment to think about why Shiro had decided to yell at him in the first place. As he spoke, she thought that maybe it was because she was upset at the stupid police officer. Really, Shiro hated being followed by policeman. It wasn't that she thought he shouldn't; she had stolen. But Shiro hated being chased.

Her eyes flashed. Now he was going assuming things. He seemed to have insulted her, but she really didn't care. Soy nut? Honestly? Who the hell used the term soy nut? "Look you," she growled, sliding into the chair across from him. "Don't you go assuming who I am and who I'm not. You need to get off whatever you're on so you can get your sanity back. Stop worrying about oranges."

"As for who I am, that's none of your business. Do you want your water or not?"

[marrow]

"Someone needs a nap." Richard said calmly. He was looking Shiro directly in the eye. In Richard's mine, this was another strategy game. "I'm not worried about the oranges anymore, I finished the poem, it sucked, I scrapped it." Richard said. "And I'm not assuming, I'm using this little thing known as logic, heard of it?" Richard smirked a bit. "You're acting just like a trapped rat by the way, defensive, violent, impulsive. My, my, what have you done?" Richard said, resting his chin on the back of his hand, almost as if he was flirting with Shiro. Richard thought of his next move. "As for the water, you can get it for me, even if you won't get paid for it." Richard said. Now things were more like a puzzle for Richard.

[Lillith Tiller]

Shiro smirked at the exact same time the boy did. She loved his insults just as much as he did, but the reason she loved them was because they were so juvenile. It was hilarious to hear him talk so confidently, when really he was saying nothing. He was an odd one. Definitely on drugs, Shiro decided. But which?

She shrugged her herself, but stayed still. He used the strangest comparisons. Soy nuts and trapped rats. Since when did trapped rats become violent and defensive (didn't they become pets)? And did he know about rats because he had a habit of trapping them. Shiro rolled her eyes at him. It was rather pathetic watching him try to seem smart.

"You wouldn't know logic if it decided to call itself a soy nut, to use your phrase," Shiro laughed, shaking her head. After she had spoken she stood, still laughing to herself. "And I'm still a waitress, so of course I'll get you your water."

Shiro made her way over to the soda fountain, grabbing one of those paper cups and filling it with water. She was smiling to herself, but in a wry, sort of demeaning way. This boy acted like a little kid.

When she got back to the table, she set it down in front of him, but didn't sit. "Now, would you like anything else?"

[marrow]

"Soy nut, at least half the size of a peanut." Richard said, taking a sip of the water. Richard kept the calm smirk on his face. "And by the way, logic has nothing to do with the soy nut comment." Richard said."As for anything else,not right now, I'm enjoying this conversation." Richard studied Shiro for a few a moments. "So tell me then, what did you do? Jewel thief, art thief, phantom thief.....or am I in the wrong realm of crime?" Richard asked. He wasn't going to let Shiro anger him or make him lose his train of thought. Richard was really enjoying this "game" he was playing, which is what he treated it as. In fact this was the only reason he was enjoying the conversation. Under any other circumstances, Richard would be annoyed with the current situation.

[Lillith Tiller]

Shiro simply stared at him for a second. It was like she was saying one thing and he was hearing something completely different. The same went the other way around. When did she ask what a soy nut is, and when did she say soy nuts had anything to do with logic? He was an idiot masquerading as some kind of creepy genius. Definitely high on something.

So when he was saying he was enjoying this conversation, it was enough for her. Honestly, Shiro had met enough people in the world to feel comfortable walking away from him. So, given that she hadn't sat down, Shiro simply walked away without another word.

As she scanned the shop, she saw that the policeman had already left. Good, that would make things a lot easier.

Acting like the waitress she was, she undid the apron and dashed behind the counter, hanging it on a hook with the countenance of an employee. She recieved a few confused glances as people tried to remember who she was, but before they could say anything, she was walking out the door.

EXIT SHIRO