Evening at Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore (Open)

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe finished putting new books in shelves and stretched luxuriously. It felt great to get work done without hindrance or difficulty. She'd fully recovered from her ordeal in the Catacombs. It had been pretty horrible. She rubbed her neck, quickly inspecting if any other shelves needed any work on that floor. Nope! With her work there done, she pottered on down the stairs to the ground floor and her regular post at the ground floor cafe.

Whew. Three floors plus a basement level full of books. Nobody can argue that we don't have variety on our side!

The bookstore wasn't very busy right now and the day was really nice. Kyle had opened the large glass doors separating the outdoor porch and tables from the interior and a nice breeze was coming in. He was relaxing behind the coffee bar with one of his college textbooks. Just as well, on a slow day, that Hisako-san too advantage and went to the hospital for her checkup.

She walked over to one of the display tables and sorted out some books that were out of place or had been opened by the breeze. Absently she wondered if the other two girls from the giant scorpion fight were alright. They hadn't really been as badly hurt as her but it was nothing short of a miracle that they'd all been able to walk out of there.

[John Nicholson]

John walked into the store, intent on taking Phoebe up on her offer of buying him a cup of coffee. He looked around the store. It had quite a variety of dfferent books. Although he wasn't intending on buying any books at the moment. He saw Phoebe rearranging some books. "Hello there Phoebe, I remember you inviting me over her for 'the best cup of coffe I'll ever get to drink in my life'. So... here I am" He looked at Phoebe expectantly, as he wanted to know just how much truth there were to the claims of this place having the coffee around.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe turned around and smiled. It was the old man she'd met in the outskirts. She was glad he'd taken her up on her offer. Secretly, she rather hoped to get Persona users coming through Shakespeare & Co. so it could function as a hub of sorts. Somewhere where they could find or at least contact each other because she had a feeling they were really gonna need that from now on.

"Hi Mr. Nicholson," she said cheerfully. "I'm glad you could make it. I'm Phoebe Minola, as I promised to tell you."

Then she grinned at his mention of coffee. "Absolutely I did. Come on over." She walked him over to the cafe section. "Hey Kyle, I need one big cup of your best joe and one iced tea for me."

The barista looked up from his book. "Sure, whatever," he replied and got up to do his job. The coffee machine chugged away and the aroma of freshly-ground coffee spread through the store.

Kyle placed a big cup of dark coffee on the counter and a bottle of TAZO iced tea. Phoebe thanked him and carried the drinks off to the table she'd left John sitting at. "Here we are, best cup of coffee in Mosaic."

[Amane Mana]

Amane once more found herself in the Golden Alice district. Lately she has been wearing that protective coat she got from those catacombs, though she washed it and patched it up so that it barely resembled the dirty coat she pulled out of that coffin. The less she is reminded of those catacombs the better. Ironically enough she felt more of a sense of security now.

Today she was just here to relax herself. Forget about everything. The fact that she almost ran away during the catacombs incident was not good. She was getting too use to the security her powers provided. Amane looked over at a book store. Books are a good distraction and distraction is what she needed. Amane started to open the door as she did she froze at who she saw.

"Here we are, best cup of coffee in Mosaic." Amane rubbed her eyes for a moment to check if she was just seeing things but she wasn't. Amane right away got out of the way the entrance and walked up to her. She didn't even pay a mind to the man.

"You're..." Amane then looked down. Great, she wanted to forget and yet here she was running straight into a reminder of that little adventure to the catacombs. It would be rude if she just ran and left so now she was in an awkward dilemma. "Hello."

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan walked into the store for the second time. Last time he had found a wonderful book, but this time he was just planning on talking to Phoebe and apologizing for the prank he had pulled on her at the cemetery. So, he was surprised when he walked in and saw three people he knew: Phoebe, the old guy from the park, and Kyle. There was also someone he didn't know, but he guessed with the current theme that the odds were that she was a User as well. Not only that, but he thought he had seen her at the battle at the school.

Deciding to take this one person at a time, he walked to a spot where he could see everyone and talk without being seen as odd. "Hi guys." He then nodded at the people respectively, saying something in turn. "Feebs. Sir. Kyle." Then he came upon the only other person in the room who had seen the schoolgirl monstrosity. "And it's nice to see that you made it out of the school, miss. My name is Tristan."

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe looked up from serving John's coffee and her tea, to see a strangely familiar face. She blinked curiously for a moment and then it clicked.

"Oh! Hi!" Phoebe blurted and smiled with genuine delight. "It's you-- you were at the catacombs too," she said, more quietly so as to not turn every head in the shop. "Your name is... Amane, right? I'm so glad to see you. We all got pretty banged up  back in the catacombs and I was worried about you and the other girl. I really wanted to check up on you but I was so messed up myself I couldn't think completely straight. Come on, have a seat. This is John and the barista is Kyle. We're all users. Sit down, I'll treat you to coffee or something."

She honestly happy to see the girl and now would be a good time to get acquainted with her and the old gent. She was about to turn around again to ask Kyle for something when she spotted another familiar face coming up to them and her brows bowed up. Well, was the bookstore popular today or what?

"Hiya Tristan," she said with a somewhat sly smile and put her hand out. "Back to the true source of caffeinated delights and literary adventure, right?" she chuckled. "Kyle's got something to say to you too, hehehe," she added, glancing at the barista who stared back at her sheepishly.

[Gin Takemoto]

Gin wandered into a bookstore. Maybe a book will fend off boredom for a bit...

He doubted it would work, but he had cash to spend. So he was perfectly willing to give it a try. Besides, after meeting so many new people, he was starting to miss some peace and quiet. Which is why he was so surprised when he found so many people congregated near the entrance. Including the substitute teacher and the old man.

"Umm... Miss Minola. Hi. How are you doing? That question also applies to you, old man." He also felt around the emotions of those present. Quite the variety...

[John Nicholson]

John tasted the coffee the barista had handed to him. It was indeed a very good brand. Probably the second best he had ever tasted. It made him think back to the best cup of coffee he ever had. "Phoebe, whatever your barista friend did with this coffee, tell him to continue doing it." As he was talking, multiple other people entered the store, three to be exact. And two were people he knew.

He recalled the conversation he had with Tristan in the park, and also the converstion he had with the other boy at the hot springs. He believed he had heard his name was Gin. but the girl, he hadn't seen her yet. Tristan and Phoebe seemed to know her though, so it was safe to assume she knew about the shadows at the very least. Hey guys, who's the new girl? I don't believe we have been introduced to each other. Name's John, John Nicholson. And what's your name?" He said this as he gestured at Gin to join in on the conversation.

[Amane Mana]

"Oh! Hi!" Amane was rather taken aback for a moment after seeing that smile. Not because it was so unnerving it was that it was delightful and genuine. "It's you-- you were at the catacombs too," Amane slowly nodded.
"Your name is... Amane, right? I'm so glad to see you. We all got pretty banged up back in the catacombs and I was worried about you and the other girl. I really wanted to check up on you but I was so messed up myself I couldn't think completely straight. Come on, have a seat. This is John and the barista is Kyle. We're all users. Sit down, I'll treat you to coffee or something."

"I'll just take hot chocolate." Amane wasn't much one for coffee really.

"Hi guys. Feebs. Sir. Kyle." Amane turned over to a boy wearing a beanie. She recognized him as another persona user from that time. Also for the love of the gods why is a giant. Never mind for a moment that Amane herself is only barely above five foot this guy was huge. She thought he was tall during the insanity that with the monster school girl but this was a new level. "And it's nice to see that you made it out of the school, miss. My name is Tristan."

"Amane."

"Hiya Tristan," It seemed Phoebe knew a lot of people. "Back to the true source of caffeinated delights and literary adventure, right? Kyle's got something to say to you too, hehehe," Amane took a seat not too far...and for another person to come on, this place was getting crowded wasn't it?

"Umm... Miss Minola. Hi. How are you doing? That question also applies to you, old man." Amane looked over at the orange haired individual entering in. She didn't take note of him. Come to think of it was he a User too? Considering her current company so far.

"Hey guys, who's the new girl? I don't believe we have been introduced to each other. Name's John, John Nicholson. And what's your name?" Amane looked over at the much older man.

"Amane." She sat in patience waiting for her hot chocolate. Her eyes wandered to the others present. She really didn't have much of a reason to talk to them. If anything she was half tempted to grab the hot chocolate and go.

[Tristan Carter]

So it seemed that everyone knew everyone. Well, everyone knew everyone but the new guy. He seemed to only know the ex-marine and Phoebe, but that meant that he might be trustworthy. After all, what are the odds of a non-user walking into a room of nothing but them? Still, something was off about him. Something that Tristan couldn't place...

However, he had two other things he needed to do. "Kyle, I'm sorry." Task number one complete, on to number two. "It's a pleasure, Amane." With his second task, partially completed, he looks to the old man. Since he seemed to know the new guy, Tristan felt it best to ask him his question. "Old guy, is this kid in the know? cuz if not, he's the only one."

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe was rather surprised that the bookstore was getting so much traffic right now. On one hand it was good because... well, customers and all, but on the other hand, now she couldn't quite focus on Amane like she wanted to. The girl looked a bit uncomfortable at the crowd and a bit awkward -- well, she could sympathize with that.

She smiled at John. That's usually how everyone reacted to Kyle's coffee. "Hehe, don't worry old timer. Kyle's coffee always gets those results. He's damn good at making it. Oh and this girl was with me when we fought we huge Shadow in the catacombs a few days ago. She and the other girl who was there saved my bacon."

She glanced around. All of them familiar faces and that gave her a strange sense of security. All of them Users, all of them potential allies. They were in this together. And then Gin walked in. Phoebe recognized her student with a bit of a start. He was the only wildcard here right now. It did present a tiny problem... should they go into Persona talk with him around or not? Phoebe awkwardly decided the best thing to do was to act natural.

"Takemoto? Oh, er, hi there," she said, somewhat awkward that one of her students had caught her at her second job. Well, it was bound to happen anyway. "I'm doing fine, thanks. How about you? Fancy to see you here. I... uh, work here, evenings. D'you want me to get you anything?"

She went over to the bar to fetch Amane's hot chocolate. Kyle eyeballed the girl for a moment and then whipped up one of his specialty hot chocolates. The sweet, hot smell of it spread through the air and Phoebe wanted to ask for one for herself too but she reminded herself rather sternly that she was dieting. Yes, very definitely dieting and--

"Kyle, make me a caramel chocolate too," she blurted, just to watch Kyle chuckle at her.

She frowned at him and carried both cups to the table, serving Amane's with a smile and sitting down to her own.

"Well!" she said with a similar smile. "Plenty of us to go around, isn't there? How's everyone been holding up lately?"

[Gin Takemoto]

The mood changed...

It wasn't even necessary for Gin to use his emotion feeling ability to know that. It was almost as sudden as him walking in, and then the one boy had asked the old man if Gin was "in the know." Gin could only guess, but he was still uncertain as to what was meant. He knew that the old man was able to use the abilities that only certain humans possessed, and Gin assumed that was what had been meant.

On top of that, the boy had said that Gin would have been the only one who didn't know. Which posed a problem. Gin was deep in enemy territory. Of course, that meant he could acquire some good information. he might learn something new. So, he decided openness would be the best way to go.

"So, you guys deal with shadows too?"

[Tristan Carter]

The guy talked about shadows. Yeah, he's one of us.

This revelation was apparent to Tristan, but he wasn't sure about everyone else. He chalked up the odd feeling to the guy being powerful. That was the best guess that he could come up with. So, with that in mind he smiled.

"Welcome. We were probably going to start talking about that soon. How long have you known about this?" Then he realized he had no idea how to talk about this. He wasn't used to talking about these things. He looked to Feebs, obviously asking her to take over. "You know how to talk about this, right? Thanks."