More Expresso, Less Depresso

[Olivia Balich]

She was pissed. She had no idea how it happened, but both her coffee bean grinder and her personal coffee maker broke. She didn't know how but by the time she went down to get sad watery coffee from the nearby packed and overrun coffee place and realize that she was late for her class, she was even more pissed. She didn't blame the baristas, as they were busy, but she wished she went in early or gone to another place for her fix.

She shot her professors an email, as she was already half an hour late to her first class and was not willing to go to her later ones, that she wasn't feeling well and proceed to stay home to figure out how to fix her coffee maker. She thought she fixed her grinder but when she went to grind some beans, it sparked out and she yanked the cord out of the wall before it burst into fire. She didn't want to destroy the gift from her mami even more than she did, so she looked up where to take them in to get them fixed. If not, she'll just force herself to buy a new set. She really didn't want to do that, though.

She found a place and frowned in confusion at the name but gathered her babies and drove her busted up car to the place. The place looked interesting to her, especially since it was nearby a tattoo parlor. She mentally made a note to check that place out too, since she's been thinking about getting a tattoo for herself for a while now. She carried the poor items inside and jerked when a contraption started up to create a buzzing noise. And that was after it did a whole loop near the counter. 

"What the fuck" Olivia mumbled to herself in Russian. She reminded herself that this place had high reviews and pleased customers, so she wandered in carefully. "Um... hello? I am here for help on fixing coffee machine and grinder?" She called out, accent thick in her nervousness of the chaotic shop. She wouldn't be surprised if the owner comes out with a large wrench, ready to hit her or threaten her. She would scream, though. Because that would still scare her. 

"Please do not be Candyman" She whispered, clutching the coffee items close to her chest.

Lana Jacobs

[Lana Jacobs]

Where was that little blasted screw? One screw. She'd seen it. She knew it was the last piece she needed. Her powers had seen it. She needed--

The shop buzzer went off and surprised Lana, and she let go of the shelf she had been holding with one hand. Her coffee mug in the other, she promptly fell with a short scream from the overhead shelf she'd been climbing on and dropped behind the counter with a thud.

The coffee mug hit the counter first, not a drop spilled. Then Lana's other hand, and she pulled herself up, groaning as she did so. "Ugh. Ow. Hi. Just a sec."

Flipping her hair back, she held up a finger to this customer that walked in and took a big swig of her coffee. Lana was in sweats and a loose-fitting t-shirt, falling off one shoulder. The girl that had come in with coffee prep items was dressed considerably nicer, and Lana simultaneously didn't care and felt insecure about that her customer was better dressed.

"Hi. Broke some shit and need me to fix it? How close to original do you want this? Can I mix and match and shit?"

She looked at the items in the girl's arms, and let her powers take the wheel on her perception. She could see parts highlighted, what was broken, what needed replaced, and if she let her creativity go a bit, how she could improve the entire thing.

"I have some ideas if I'm allowed to mess around a bit. I'll make that cheaper for you. All original, as it was, that'll be more expensive. And boring."

Olivia Balich

[Olivia Balich]

Olivia picked up a wayward screw that she noticed while waiting, but damn near threw it, screaming herself when she heard the sudden loud noise. She looked at Lana with a deer-in-headlights look and blushed just a bit when Lana popped back up from behind the counter. She swallowed thickly and tugged her baggy and ripped jeans up before tugging her old band tee down, nervous and a bit self-conscious. Short women hold a high respect with her, considering her mami wasn't much taller than this woman before her and was terrifying to boot.

"D-da. I just-I would like grinder and brewer fixed. However you do it, I do not mind. It was gift from mami and I tried to fix, but-but grinder nearly caught fire. Today is shite day. Shite coffee from shop near my place and I am wanting my own coffee" She ignored how she stuttered in the beginning. It wasn't her fault for being frightened by the pretty woman who is shorter than her mami. Short women tend to be scary. They know how to make anyone their bitch and she didn't want to piss this one off, especially when her babies need to be fixed.

"I will pay howevermuch you need." She smiled, fiddling with the screw in one hand. "Oh! I found screw. Do you-do you want it back?" She asked, holding it out when she walked closer to the counter.

[Lana Jacobs]

Lana's jaw dropped hearing what this woman had to resort to this morning for her coffee. There was only one place that shitty. "You went to Bubba Bean? Ew. No. Gross. Not allowed. Bean Me Up would have at least been DECENT but Bubba Bean is like drinking poop water. I can fix this."

Lana grabbed the grinder and coffee pot, pulling them closer to her on the counter, then in a fluid motion set her coffee mug on a rack attached to one of the shelves that was practically invisible until she'd made use of it, then bumped it with her elbow twice. The rack and mug whizzed up to the top of the shelf, then slid along a track out of sight to another part of the shop. Lana hadn't looked at it at all, she was consumed with the new project in front of her, already starting to pull them apart with a screwdriver she pulled out of her hair.

"Hang on to that screw for a sec. Okay, yeah, I see what happened. Motor crapped out in one, power regulator on the other. Shouldn't have. These are good models, your ma has good taste. I'll make it better though. Won't be two things anymore though. Sit tight, have it done in like... ten minutes."

Lana smiled at the woman as a bell rang from off in the direction her coffee cup went off into. "Oh, right. I'm Lana, nice to meet you, I'll take that now--" snagging the screw, she replaced it with a fresh cup of coffee that had come in on the same little cart that had taken her mug away, and immediately screwed the screw into the rack before it flew off it's track, deftly grabbing her own mug as she did and taking a big sip.

"Get comfy. I think there's a chair around there somewhere. Now I need some tubing, I think that's... yeah."

After a quick scan, Lana darted off towards an old, but well kept fish tank and pulled a tube from it, looked down it, then returned to the counter and went back to work on the two coffee creators. "I'll have this rigged up so it won't break for years, and it'll grind and brew all in one fell swoop."

Olivia Balich

[Olivia Balich]

Olivia blinked slowly "...That is how you pronounce first word?" She asked, bewildered and so very confused. "What does it even mean? Is it just name? Nickname?" She blurted out, blushing a bit when she realized she was basically bombarding this poor woman with questions. At least that was what she thought she was doing.

She blinked again, now focused on the rack. She didn't pay attention to what Lana said, too focused on the rack in utter awe. She did startle when she heard the ding, then flinched a bit when Lana swapped the screw for the mug. "O-olivia. Nice to meet you too?" She automatically took a large drink to give her something to do and to self-soothe, only to end up staring at the mug in adoration. "...You make coffee like mami." She whispered. "How did you make coffee? Self-roast beans?" She asked, curious, even as she swirled the coffee in the mug.

She looked back up at Lana and watched her go to the fish tank, one that looked well loved to her. "Grinder can be adjusted, yes? Same as brew?" She asked. "I sometimes make expresso. Brewer have expresso maker attatched, just hidden."

[Lana Jacobs]

Lana nodded, still a flurry of activity. "Yep. Can be a name. Can be a nickname. Either or. Makes shit coffee."

She left the counter and jumped up onto another shelf, shoving things out of the way as she pulled off another little gizmo, grinning brightly at it. Her powers made it light up like a Christmas tree, letting her know exactly what she needed it for and how it was gonna make the coffee maker and grinder work again. "Your momma has good taste. Fresh roasted yesterday, let sit to let it breath, custom blend I do. One part City roast, two parts Espresso. Fine ground just before drip brew. Good shit."

With a leap, which winded her a bit, she was back to the bench. Her eyes were bright and her hands moved swiftly and with skill. She flipped out the espresso maker attachment, and grinned. "Nice. Everything will be adjustable. Wouldn't have it any other way. Can't have it get stuck making shit coffee. And..."

She twisted another screw and snapped in something else, then flipped the device and set it on the counter. "Done. Grinder and maker, all in one."

The grinder was now attached to the top left, a clear hopper for the beans, then the grinder sent the grounds through the tube to the brewer, all nice and swift and automated. It would even tamp the grounds for the espresso maker. Lana held up her hand, finger extended. "Hang on. Can't send you off without a demonstration."

She ran back, grabbed beans from her own setup, and shoved it and water into the machine. She drained her own mug, grabbed Olivia's and poured it into her own, then put Olivia's mug into the machine and made her a fresh cup from the machine, brand new. "Give it a try!"

Olivia Balich