stellen: (pic#8821743)
John Reese ([personal profile] stellen) wrote in [community profile] maskormenacelogs2015-02-12 10:01 am

[OPEN] I just met you, and you're in training

WHO: John Reese & whoever stops by to torture him
WHERE: "The Grind", a coffee shop near the porter in De Chima
WHEN: From 6am-3pm today
WHAT: John's first day on the job as the worst barista in history
WARNINGS: Terrible customer service & possible violence



Conveniently located at the edge of downtown near the military base and porter, The Grind is your typical De Chima coffee shop and one of five shops sprinkled across the city. It caters to busy, important people going about their busy, important lives and offers quick service and a wide variety of hot drinks and gourmet pastries.

The atmosphere is young and cautiously trendy. Popular, but not overplayed songs on a carefully curated playlist create a mellow yet funky mood. It invites people to bring their computers and pretend to work, gossip with friends over a pretentious cup or simply pay too much for a croissant and be on their way.

The staff are bright, youthful and used to dealing with the steady flow of students, doctors and lawyers that make up the neighbourhood. They memorize your overly complicated drinks, do their best to pretend they care about your day and might even know you by name- they'll ask for it if they don't. Because you're a customer, not a number.

At least, most of the staff.

There's one barista that just doesn't seem to fit in. It could be that he's twenty-five years older and a foot taller than the girl at the cash register, or maybe just because he sucks at his job. He wears a bright gold tag that says 'TRAINING' right over the one that says 'John' with a drawn-on smiley face.

He screws up every drink. He wipes down the tables half-assedly and sweeps without even looking at the floor. He barely fits behind the counter and he keeps hitting his head on hanging light fixtures and bumping into people. He'll write your name down wrong, or replace it with 'glasses' or 'woman with baby'. When he says "Have a nice day" he does it with a frayed, empty sort of smile that might make you reconsider showing your face this side of town ever again.

He's too big, too old and too haggard to be doing what he's doing and he hates every minute of it, but for one reason or another he's still there- and he's your barista.
fistofthejoestar: (and in your heart)

[personal profile] fistofthejoestar 2015-02-22 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think that anyone will really mind.

[once again displaying that inhumanly optimistic view of humanity he has, but in Jonathan World there's absolutely nothing wrong with customers helping out beleaguered employees. it's just what good people did, nothing more.

Jonathan is quite well-dressed, perhaps overly so for the locale, but he doesn't hesitate in obliging with the request and dropping down onto the floor, taking the small dustpan along with him in order to store the retrieved candies in something a little more useful than his own lap.

the comment about his physical fortitude is ignored because he doesn't have much to say about it that couldn't be construed as bragging, but it's still relevant as his monstrous size prevents him from really fitting under the table in any really useful way. he has to settle for sitting cross-legged just outside the table's overhang and leaning forward to sort of roll them towards him; he is absolutely cheating a little by using ripple to get the candies to stick to each other so he can grab a bunch in one go, but he doesn't really see anything wrong with that. this isn't a competition, so it's fine.]
fistofthejoestar: (we stand to lose all time)

[personal profile] fistofthejoestar 2015-02-22 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[Jonathan hears the commotion and moves into action almost immediately. he'd honestly been listening for this possibility given what he'd observed of John's cleaning, but likely would have reacted identically even if this was not the case; Jonathan is always just a little more alert when he's using the ripple, even if it was for trivial purposes. Zeppeli had trained him well.

he moves with a speed and fluidity that is perhaps surprising for a man of his bulk, navigating between the tables in his way without jostling anything further. the catch is made all the more satisfying by the fact he didn't need to use any ripple to reach it in time, although this thought doesn't cross his mind for more than a flickering moment. he's just glad it didn't smash on its second trip down.]


I suppose it's getting quite attached to me.

[he laughs good-naturedly, apparently completely not bothered by the fact that John is essentially making him redo work thanks to those out of control elbows.]