ROLEPLAY HQ - coffee-and-comfort

Muse A is a college student, reeling from stressing over midterms. Drowning their worries at the campus coffee shop one night, Muse A encounters their professor, Muse B. Muse B is looking for an outlet to plug in their laptop and Muse A offers the one beside their table. Muse B joins Muse A for a coffee and they exchange small talk as Muse B grades coursework. As the evening progresses, the conversation continues and by the time the cafe is ready for closing, the pair is left with a desire to keep the conversation going. Feeling it inappropriate to “hang out” together off-campus, Muse A and Muse B make unofficial plans to continue their chat at the cafe the following night. Muse A and Muse B have such deep/meaningful/enjoyable conversations that they resolve to start meeting each other to talk once a week. Gradually, an attraction develops between the pair and they cautiously embark on a relationship. The pair must keep their affairs secret because of potential repercussions for them both. {I play Muse A} Snow had just begun to fall, the fluffy white flakes falling slowly onto the ground, covering the cement walkways in a thin white layer. Charlie quickly walked through the snow, her sneakers kicking aside the snow as she walked briskly. She was clad in only a sweater with the letters N.Y.U. printed on the front and a winter hat, carrying several notebooks and textbooks with her. She could see the warm orange lights of the campus coffee shop up ahead, causing her to speed up her walk. “Please let there be room..” She muttered to herself. The sounds of her sneakers on the concrete were muffled by the snow. The soft shrill sound of the bell went off as she opened the door. Charlie took a quick look around, smiling as she found one last empty table in the back corner of the coffee shop. She quickly walked over, placing her books down as a way to claim the table for herself. She quickly walked back to the front counter, smiling politely at those around her. “I’ll just get a hot chocolate for now. Need to warm up before I get the caffeine in me.” She chuckled awkwardly. The barista just nodded as she punched in the order. Upon payment, the barista informed Charlie that she could stay seated and she would bring the drink out herself. Charlie simply nodded, thanking the girl in the green apron behind the counter before sitting in her respectful seat at the last free table. Midterms were a bitch. Overwhelming. The studying was drowning her. When was the last time she spoke to someone else beyond a groggy good morning to her dorm mate? Or actually left her dorm to go anywhere other than the library? She couldn’t remember. Her mind was chock-full of formulas she needed to remember. The clock on the wall read 6:49pm, and the coffee shop closed at midnight. That left her enough time to study as much as her brain would allow her too. It was going to be a long night…

Oh wonderful winter, how Andres loved the sight of it. Snow gently falling from the sky at its own slow pace. The feeling of the cold winter winds brushing up against his bearded face, even the way his glasses fogged ever so slightly in the cold. Andres absolutely loved winter and everything it brought. Professor Silva could vividly remember the first time he saw snow when he moved to New York, all the way from Colombia. You don’t exactly get to see snow all that often in South America. But ever since he first laid witness to the beautiful flakes of snow gliding through the air, he knew he was in love. Seated within his office, Andres slowly turned his head to look outside his window at the slowly collecting layers of snow that covered the N.Y.U. Campus. The sight had managed to steal his attention away from the work he was grading on his laptop for well over a few minutes. However, soon realizing he was getting easily distracted by the sight out of the window, Andres decided he would pack his belongings and finish his work in a slightly more secluded place. The back corner table at the campus coffee shop, away from the windows. Retrieving his belongings such as his backpack and suitcase, Andres swiftly set foot outside and locked his office door while wrapped up in a black turtle neck sweater, mahogany colored windbreaker and a black beanie alongside a pair of black boots. As the Professor made his way down the snow covered pathway, he could hear the gentle crunch of the snow beneath his feet; music fo his ears. Andres was a simple man, it didn’t take much to make him happy. Andres would arrive at the campus’ coffee shop around 6:50 PM more or less. Noticing just how packed the shop was, Andres wondered is he had made a mistake coming in today. Oh well, he was already here. He figured he might as well find a place to work. Professor Andres marched around for roughly 5 minutes trying to find where he could plug in his laptop and at least finish grading

18:21

His student’s work. However, it seemed futile to continue searching. Every single table was taken. The Professor slowly tilted his head back towards the ceiling with his eyes shut. “Aye coño (For fucks sake)...”

Charlie had considered herself lucky to even get a table in the packed coffee shop. Some majors had finished their midterms earlier that week, but others, like Charlie's, still had a few more exams before she could relax. Most students that filled the coffee shop that evening were either studying in groups, or hanging out with friends for the first time in weeks after finishing their respective exams. Charlie took a cursory glance around the coffee shop, her eyes landing on her philosophy professor for a moment before hew view was obstructed. "Here's your hot chocolate." The barista smiled brightly as she set the mug down on the table in front of Charlie. She looked up at the barista and smiled back. "Thank you! Before you leave, in about 10 minutes, can you bring me a cappuccino?" Charlie handed the woman a $10 bill, and was met with a polite nod and a smile before the woman walked back to the counter. Textbooks and paper were strewn across half the table, an exhausted sigh leaving Charlie's lips as she attempted to dive into studying. Her brain felt fried, yet she also felt like she didn't retain any of the information she had already studied. She glanced up from the papers again, procrastinating her work by just looking around the coffee shop. Charlie once again saw Professor Silva, noticing there weren't any empty tables. She noticed the laptop bag he had as well. Charlie pondered for a moment, knowing she was at the table with the last open wall socket. "Professor Silva? Do you need a place to sit?" Charlie called out when he was within earshot, gesturing to the empty booth seat across from her.

Andres paced from one end of the campus coffee shop to the other, diligently attempting to find a table or booth with an outlet, but his search was proving to be nothing more than a fruitless adventure. So as the barista was coming to deliver Charlie her hot chocolate, Professor Silva had stopped just a few feet away from his student, not having noticed her beforehand; or even when the barista had dropped off Charlie’s drink. As he stood there amongst the crowds of students that occupied the shop, Andres had decided to give the whole area one final glance over from where he stood as a last attempt to find an open place to sit, but there truly was nothing. And although Andres loved to walk through the small winter wonderland that swirled outside the coffee shop, he was indeed a bit annoyed that he had came all this way for nothing. Instead of having wasted his time here, he could’ve been home brewing some coffee on his own. Hell, he figured he could’ve been halfway done with grading work by now. However, perhaps he hadn’t wasted his time it would seem. It wasn’t until Charlie called out to him that Professor Silva noticed that one of his own students had been sitting in the shop. His broad shoulders tensed up ever so slightly at the sound of her voice. He wasn’t expecting someone to just call out to him, but someone did. Professor Silva slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder towards where the sound had come from, spotting the raven haired girl. Professor Silva couldn’t help but smile. His coffee brown eyes slowly hid themselves behind his eyelids while his lips curled to bare a toothy smile at Charlie. Professor Silva was knowing for being one of the much friendlier professors on campus, and his smile surely lended itself to that reputation.

16:35

“Señorita Robinson! Uh..Heh, yes. I would greatly appreciate.” Andres returned as he twisted his body to face the young philosophy student. Remove his backpack from over his shoulders, Andres slid the pack over into the booth before setting his suitcase down on the table and sliding himself into the booth seat adjacent to Charlie. Once he situated himself within his seat, Andres slowly slid his suitcase off to the side of the table before unzipping his backpack to retrieve his laptop and its charger, finally plugging it into the socket he was so desperately in search of. Sticking his head under the table for just a moment, Andres connects the charger and shoots back up into his seat, his wife smile still present on his face. “There we go! Heh, I thought I would never find an outlet. Gracias, Señorita Robinson...Pero oye, what brings you to the coffee shop so late? Don’t you have a philosophy test to be studying for..?”

The music that played in the coffee shop could barely be heard over the sound of chatter from the patrons. Distant conversations of math formulas and psychology papers could be heard, but it all mixed together into mostly white noise for Charlie. Cups clattering, students talking, orders being delivered to tables, all topped with the array of scents ranging from cinnamon to freshly ground coffee beans. It was surprisingly calm, even if the coffee shop itself busy. Charlie smiled at her professor as he sat down. “It’s good to see you, professor.” She said politely. “Hm? Oh!” Charlie gestures to the papers around her. “Kind of doing a crash course study session right now.” She laughed. “Philosophy, English, Art History…” She pointed to the papers as she chuckled somewhat nervously. Finales had always been a source of anxiety for Charlie, ever since high school. She was always worried about failing that she took her studying a little overboard. In university though, it helped. “It may seem a bit disorganized, I apologize if my papers get in the way. There’s a method to this madness.” She pushed her dark hair behind her ear, picking up the pink hi-lighter to continue colour-coding her study notes. “I’m assuming you’re grading work?” Charlie said with a small smile.