[Open - Irish Coffee]

[irishcoffee]

Maggie looked around the semi-filled cafe as she wiped down the counter and checked the case. Apparently, the onset of spring wasn't only bringing life back to the flora around them, but also a realization that bathing suits aren't far away.

The pastries were full, the fruit and yogurt were utterly depleted, the all-natural granola and oatmeal also showing signs its popularity.

She laughed softly and took out a pastry, setting it on a plate to snack on between the early morning rush and the one filled with students and those that started work a little later. As she snacked, she changed out coffee carafes, pulled supplies and started to refill the case with the healthier breakfast selections.

Humming as she worked, her eyes darted up every now and then to the counter. Just in case someone new dropped in. Again.

Comments

[detectivecontrary]

Levi watched the patrons come and go as he took his time enjoying his massive bear claw. He appreciated the comfortableness of his morning routine. Every morning he came in and asked what was new or interesting and every morning he got his usual of black coffee and a pastry. There was something about Irish Coffee that made it feel like home. Or at least home for normal people. It needed a lot more passive-aggressive condescension and disappointment for it to feel like Levi's home.

"No one interesting just yet," he told Maggie as he wiped his fingers clean and took a sip of coffee.

[irishcoffee]

Maggie eyed the finger cleaning with a single raised eyebrow. "And here we went through all that fuss to upgrade to indoor plumbing and drainage systems when we could just use mouths to clean up after eating."

Her teasing was familiar, and without rancor, as she picked up the carafe with his favorite and held it over his mug. "Want to live on the wild side and have a second cup today?"

[detectivecontrary]

That was another reason he came here, Maggie was one of the few people in the city who teased him without any venom behind it.

"And wash all that sugar down the drain? Sorry, but I wasn't allowed to have sugar growing up, so I'm making up for lost time."

One of his mother's weird rules had been no sugar or sugary treats. The Astor's ate healthy. Granted, Levi never had a sick day in his life, but he would have gladly traded that for a bowl of brightly colored, sugary cereal.

"You know, considering what I went through last night, I think a second cup is in order," he said, pushing his mug toward her a bit.

[irishcoffee]

This time, her eyebrow nearly disappeared into her hairline. "Busy night, detective? We talking line of duty or....other nocturnal activities?"

As her eyebrow relaxed, her smile grew and she filled the mug. Somehow, another bearclaw appeared on his plate.

[detectivecontrary]

"Even I have standards about kissing and telling, Mags," he said, giving her a boyish grin as he took a bite of the newly arrived bearclaw.

In reality, he had spent the night chasing down his dealer since he had let is pain pills run out. Letting her think he was up to his ears in an orgy was fine with him, it was all part of cultivating the image. He felt bad deceiving someone as nice as Maggie, but he couldn't play favorites.

"I mean, if you want to go tit for tat on a juicy story or something..."

[irishcoffee]

"The day you see my tats, Jeans, is the day I start wearing combat boots and close up the cafe to become a plumber," Maggie grinned back, pouring a coffee for herself and leaning back against the back counter. "So this morning it's tease Maggie with salacious details of your wild night of detecting, hmm? You know I have no life away from this place. Give me something, even if it's wildly embellished."

[detectivecontrary]

"You, Mags, are a tease," Levi said, although he was grinning even more. He hadn't known that Maggie even had tattoos and now he was really, really curious to know where and what they were. He could always read her mind and see, but that sort of violation was one he always tried to avoid. It hurt like hell for him to do it and there was no good reason to do so.

"You should come out with me some night. Last night I was at Club... whatever the new one is. I met a girl there with wings and..."

The story was one that had actually happened to him not so long ago, so it wasn't a complete lie, it was just time displaced. It was also long, but she didn't seem to mind and the more he told it the more animated Levi got.

"... and that's when the tentacles came out. Just... everywhere, Mags. They were going everywhere. And it's the kind of situation where you think you'll act cool, because it's a different species, right? Tolerance, understanding, all of that. But in the heat of the moment you scream in terror and jump out her window, because you didn't know pixies had tentacles."

[irishcoffee]

She couldn't help it. She started giggling when he mentioned wings and the smirk never really left through the whole story. Only Levi could manage to fall for a pair of wings and end up deep in some sort of fae Hentai nightmare.

"Christ, Levi, did you actually run screaming from the poor thing? Do I have to start clapping now in hopes the poor thing isn't lying on her floor, unable to so much as twitch wing nor tentacle due to being left in sexual denial from arguably the hottest cop The Folly has to offer?"

[detectivecontrary]

"I was naked, I had to go back!" Levi exclaimed, caught up in the humor of the situation. It was especially easy to laugh about now that it was behind him. At the time, he was a little freaked out about the whole thing.

"All I had on was the domino mask and the one handcuff from the Sexy Cops and Naughty Robbers role play. Fortunately she was pretty understanding. She hadn't been in town long and didn't realize not everyone had tentacles for that sort of thing."

[irishcoffee]

"One of these days I'm going to catch you in the middle of a street with not a stitch on save a dog collar. And before you offer, I don't want to know if you were the cop or the robber with the kinky faerie. Some things are better left to the imagination, i think."

Maggie blew unnecessarily on her coffee and thought for a second. "Damn. Think I need to add that to the Welcome to The Folly speech? 'By the way, if you decide to shag a hot, blond cop, he screams like a little girl over anything tentacled?"

[detectivecontrary]

"See Mags, now you're playing with my heart. You talk about how hot you think I am, you're imaging if I'm the cop or the robber..."

Not that Levi was serious, at least about the imagination thing. Well, maybe that was true, but he didn't think she was really interested in him like that. Not that it wouldn't be nice, she was gorgeous, but Levi had a rule of nothing more than one night stands. He wouldn't ruin his breakfast routine for that. Probably.

"Which, I thought would have been obvious with the domino mask."

[irishcoffee]

"You don't need me to tell you you're hot, Jeans. You know that perfectly well on your own every time you pass a mirror. Or an interested girl. Or guy. Or tentacled faerie." Nope, she wasn't about to let the tentacle thing go anytime soon.

To Maggie, Levi's attractiveness was academic and wasn't one of those debatable things. The wind blew, birds sang, and the man before her looked more like he'd been chiseled than grown. But just as she knew Levi didn't do anything resembling repeat performances, she didn't either. She knew the dark side of love only too well - it was great while it lasted, but it never lasted. Especially not in the Folly.

"Always assuming I know the differences between one mask and another."

[detectivecontrary]

"Not true. Any reflective surface is really all it takes."

Admittedly, Levi knew he was attractive, although it had less to do with any effort on his part and more with his family's standards for marriage that was essentially a eugenics program. He didn't even really work out. Hell, is breakfast was coffee and donuts.

"But if it helps, you are definitely the hottest barista in my line of sight right at this moment."

[irishcoffee]

Maggie rolled her eyes and made a fanning motion towards her face like she was getting the vapors. "Oh, I do declare, Mr. Astor, you're makin me all weak in the knees," she said with an affected southern accent before straightening herself.

The next second she called the air behind him and spun it together, bringing the whole spinning mass against his backside then turned back to her carafe. She set another pot on to brew for the late morning book club crowd and turned to smirk at him over her shoulder. He'd known her too long not to know about the magic and she usually didn't use it much. But sometimes he needed a kick to the backside and using the air was the most effective method.

[detectivecontrary]

Levi gave a grunt of surprise as the mass of air ran up against him and narrowed his eyes at Maggie. She didn't often use her magic around him so it was always a surprise when she did something like that. It made him feel like he annoyed her in a special way, which made him grin.

"Now, should I bring you in for assaulting an officer or molesting one?" he asked as he gathered up his things. "Or are you the kind of girl that enjoys handcuffs?"

[irishcoffee]

Maggie batted her eyelashes at him. "Jeans, if I'd been going for molesting, I'd have hit the front rather than the back."

She set her mug down and leaned well forward, lowering her voice. "And it'd be a long, slow stroke and not a smack. I've a bit more care for a man's...tender bits than to go slapping them for no good reason. For your second question," she paused and winked, "I don't kiss and tell either, Detective."

[detectivecontrary]

"See Mags," he said, grinning at her and reaching out to tap her on her completely adorable nose. "This is why every night I fall asleep and have nothing but dirty dreams of you."

Whether or not that was actually true, Levi would never tell. At least, not unless she asked very nicely. Levi leaned back and took a final sip of his coffee. It was time to head out and protect the city.

"You'll call me if anyone that's trouble shows up?"

[irishcoffee]

They'd been dancing this dance for so long and the steps felt so comfortable, she'd stopped wondering a long time ago how much of it was real and how much wasn't. The point was that it worked for them. And had for years.

Today, she just grinned back and brushed a breath of air over his cheek. "One of these days, I'm going to make you tell me just what my dream self does while you're sleeping, Levi." Then she straightened and nodded, breaking the moment to let him see to the job he loved.

"Will do. Haven't had any real fun since the freaking chick with the red eyes showed up."