Home 2

Fingers rapidly tap on the table. A leg bobbed up and down. Both in wait. Impatient wait. "Come on...Where could they be? Im on my fifth coffee here..." This was followed by a large sigh. Nick Solem wanted everyone to be gathered together under a single roof for the first time in a long time. Did he give the wrong address? No, no...He had already checked the texts he sent many times. nick just had to calm down a bit...Maybe have another cup. He stopped a passing waitress and nicely tells her: "U-Um, can I please have another White Chocolate?" He was met with a nod and she walked away. Suddenly, the bell of the door opening rang.

Nick's animatronic dog ears perk up slightly with a bit of a whirring sound. He looked over to see the familiar friends he had in Jay Zokaro and Conza Delejabon. "Ah, friends!" He happily states. ushering them with his hand to come and sit at the large table he had reserved earlier for the five of them. "Where have you guys been?"

Conza points his thumb to Jay. "I found him sitting on a tree in the forest."

Looking to the lion, nick makes a confused face by raising an eyebrow. ".....The hell you doing in a tree?"

"Meditating. I meditate." Jay defended himself. He sat with his arms crossed. "I would've stayed there all day had Conza not reminded me about meeting up today. Honestly, I see no point. You wanna find out what I've been doing? Go look at the tabs that I'm sure the damn Administration has on me. I'd love to walk into that office and set it on fire....."  Jay wasnt lying at all. He would really want to just get rid of any records of him. If someone had them, he wanted them gone.

Conza looks around at the busy coffeehouse. "Where do you suppose Yoshiro is? I havent talked to her in a while. She says that she's busy when I try to call." The mouse gives a wide smile. 'It'll be cool to see her in person."

"Yes, yes. Everything will be quite the 'cool' when we're all here." Nick agreed.

Again, the bell rings.

Anampo and Yoshiro enter, and sit down at the table after Nick also beckons for them to come. "Good, good. We're all here."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While waiting for their drinks, the friends talked about their past year or so. Soon, the waitress returns. She had a large tray in hand with many drinks.

A sixth White Chocolate coffee for Nick
A Hazelnut for Anampo
A French Vanilla for Conza
A Hot Chocolate for Yoshiro
And a Hot tea for Jay.

"Tea?" Nick asks when Jay received his drink.
"Shut up. I've a lot of things that'd surprise you." The lion scoffed.

"So, how's everyone doing?" Nick would ask.

The replies for the question were pretty simple. Everyone had replied with "Good" or "okay"
Except for Yoshiro. Who, all of a sudden, seemed a bit squeamish. She looked down at her drink. When asked again by Nick, her eyes would slowly drift back up to look at the dog with a melancholy stare. Blank, with the hint of sorrow.
This is where things will now take a turn.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick made a few gasps that escaped his agape mouth.
Jay looked on at Yoshiro with interest.
Conza was, well...just like Nick.

Sitting besides Yoshiro, Anampo had a look of guilt on her face. As she had been told the news before the two even stepped into the coffeehouse. She had already known, and had wanted to say it out loud. But, her deep friendship with Yoshiro had prevented her from doing so. her rabbit ears had leaned forward and curled slightly. She was moving them slowly to cover her face. A bombshell of news was just dropped by the bird.

Nick tries to make a clumsy statement to maybe move on or to try and rationalize things. "So....Y-You're a lesbian now, then?" Nick takes a sip of his coffee with a shaky hand.

The blue-harried woman nods. "Yes...I am. I thought about it, and thought hard. Ive come to the conclusion that Im not getting what I want. I dont have a....Connection, if you will."

"Is it because of me?"

Yoshiro slowly looked at Conza, who was trying hard not to make his voice crack or to sound weak. "I-if it is, I-I can change...."

"Its not you. Its me"

Jay makes a slight seething sound. She just hit him with the 'its not you, its me' line. She wasnt kidding at all with her decision. Conza was starting to panic a bit in the back of his mind. That panic was slowly spreading into the rest of his mind and body. "So, what...What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

"Its...Over between us."
Yoshiro didnt sound proud at all to say this, and even less proud to do this with all of her friends of many years sitting here. But, it had to be done. And this was the best time to do it. She takes a deep breath, which was also on the verge of breaking down into cries. She stands up. Yoshiro gives a smile to Nick. A facade. "Thanks for the coffee, Nick. See you." She begins to walk away. Anampo gets up and slowly follows after her. Leaving Nick, Jay and Conza to sit in that....News.

Jay began to chuckle softly. It quickly turns into a laughter. "Thats one for the record..." He stands up. Jay gives Conza a pat on the back. "Let that hate fester. Learn to use it. Remember it." The lion would soon walk out of the coffeehouse and leave, as well. Nick sat there for a few moments in a long silence before saying something.

"It's okay to let out your emotions. I-I can be a shoulder for you to cry on if you want me to....." He made a sheepish laugh.

"No".
"N-No?"
"No crying this time. No being fearful....."
"You sure?"
"Nick....Im not a kid."
"I know. No one's a kid anymore. That....That's something I miss. That I could solve all our problems, as they were petty. I was the oldest."
"This isnt a problem you can fix, Nick. I have to do this on my own."

A chair scrapes across the floor and makes a sound.
"I'll see you around, Nick"
A second or two later, a bell rings.

"You're gonna carry that weight."