Common Grounds Cafe

Chloe sat in the coffee shop, near the window, sipping some very strong coffee. She tapped the toe of her knee-high boots, on the smooth and shiny floor. The movement of her legs caused her long necklace with an Opal pendant to sway back and forth, bouncing off of her cleavage. Cutter was a few minutes late and Chloe had already drank three cups of coffee, that damn waitress always knew when to refill her cup. The Australian knew she was mainly powered by caffeine and had no idea on when to stop drinking caffeine. Cutter actually had the closest idea on when to get her to stop drinking coffee. She glanced out of the window as she took yet another sip. "Where is he, Where is he?" She asked herself in a low whisper. She scraped a bit of dark lipstick off the rim of her mug. She let out a long sigh, looking at the door. Chloe took one more sip, bit knew she was going hit a serious wall later when her caffeine supply ran out. She didn't care much though, she didn't have an office job that required work. She had nothing important today. Her life seemed to have a few large and unforgettable moments tied together by a dull chain. Cutter still wasn't here, he was normally on time, she was the one who was normally late. There wasn't any urgency, she just looked strange sitting alone with two cups of coffee. She checked her phone, no texts, she looked out the window again, no sign of Cutter. Chloe was about eighty five percent sure he wasn't dead, a spider in the apartment had probably scared him. For such a large man, he was easily scared or startled. She let out a low-toned chuckle and decided to wait it out and not give him an angry text or call.

"Don't sweat if Pom," Chloe chuckled, she slid the cup of coffee towards him. "Enjoy the coffee, oh and there's this guy, four o'clock," Chloe nodded towards a man on the other side of the cafe. "He keeps glancing over here, I think he's checking me out, anyway," Chloe changed subjects pretty quickly. She paused in between thoughts to glance out of the window at the street for a few moments, stormy grey eyes scanning the world outside the coffee shop. "What made you so slow? Is living with me making you catch the curse of being eternally late to everything ever? Or was there a big spider and I wasn't around to kill it?" Chloe knew she gave him too much greviance over his fears, but it's the way she had always acted and he made fun of her accent plenty, so they were basically even. She rolled her eyes for a moment, signaling that she was joking. She took a long sip of coffee, her fourth cup, God, was she going to have major energy, followed by a major crash. "Oh! I finally remember what I was going to tell you, I was walking down here and I say and a really cute pet store, I've been thinking about getting a pet ever since my old cat died, but I guess I have to ask you first," She shrugged, her foot tapping. The index finger on the hand not holding her mug ran up and down the holster of her .45 Defender, her classic weapon. She knew Cutter didn't love the fact that she took it everywhere, he knew that he couldn't stop her. She examined his face, looking for any clues of what his response would be.

"Very funny," Chloe smirked, rolling her eyes, which resembled the color of the sea after a storm. "I'm only on my fourth cup," She examined the contents of her cup, raising an eyebrow in a half-wince. "I'm getting close to needing my fifth," She put the empty cup on the edge of the table for a passing waitress to refill. She pulled the bottom of her Hunter's green tank top over her pistol, tugging her neckline further down and making her outfit even more revealing. She noticed the malicious glances that her companion kept giving the man. Chloe decided to shrug it off, dismissing it almost completely, but keeping it in the back of her mind. She decided to move to the more important matter at hand. "Anyway, should we get a pet or not?" She didn't realize she was saying 'we' instead of 'I'. She moved a hand to fiddle with her Opal necklace, then to crack her knuckles and the joints in her fingers, each pop making a harsh cracking sound. the caffeine was already getting to her and making her a bit on the fidgety side. This was probably a bad time for the waitress to refill her coffee. Chloe glanced to the line at the counter, it was getting smaller. Luckily Chloe didn't have to wait in line for each or her multiple cups of coffee, she had paid a waitress a little extra to, in a direct quote 'Keep it coming'. And no, she didn't use the gun at her side. She looked back to Cutter, examining his facial expressions for any clue of what he would say next.
@cutter

"You alright?" Chloe furrowed her brows, a bit concerned for Cutter. She thought for a few seconds before answering his question about pets. "I don't know, I would say a cat or a dog. I'm sure reptiles scare you... or we could get one of those giant tarantulas," Chloe leaned over to playfully cuff him on the shoulder, the silver and amethyst ring on her finger probably causing a little bit of pain for him. She sat back down and gave a little chuckle, giving a little smile, her grey eyes gleaming. "We can really go with whatever, but if you don't know want a pet, I'm perfectly fine with that," She shrugged. She stirred the steaming coffee with her pinky finger, though it wasn't hot enough to burn her. Chloe gave Cutter a little smile, a sort of plead in asking for a pet. "It could be a help us adjust, we don't know anyone and we sure as hell aren't going to visit my parents. Maybe my siblings, my nieces and nephews or... screw it," Chloe gave a gesture of exasperation, the caffeine was causing her to think and act much faster. "I'm just in a bit of a rut..." She slammed her head on the table. "God, I'm so bored, I haven't had an expedition since Kruger," This wasn't the crash she was expecting but the crash she got, she lifted her head back up, brushing some of her dark hair aside. Sleep had turned her bipolar, that was today's side-effect. "Cutter... I didn't mean... I'm sorry, it's just been a hard couple of months," She stood up to leave.
@cutter

"Are you sure?" Chloe stepped a little bit closer to him. "If you're doing this just to make me feel better, you should just stop," She squeezed his hand with her own. "but if you do want a pet, let's go get one," She gave a slightly awkward half-smile towards him, bouncing on her toes a bit. She stepped to stand beside him, standing a few inches shorter than her was, still holding his hand. She blew a bit of her hair out of her face, it was a bit more messy than usual today. It was in a lose braid, not its regular pony-tail. Chloe really hoped she wasn't dragging him into anything. Although, she did have a knack for convincing people to do things they necessarily didn't want to do. She both hated and loved how Cutter tried to take care of her. No one had tried to take care of her for a few years. Her parents used to dote over her, but left her when they realized how different she was from them. From then on she had a few friends she only saw a few times a year, getting most of her companionship from one-night stands. She still loved the thrill of living on the edge, probably why she had risked her life so many times. She had changed throughout the years. The Chloe from five years ago wouldn't think she'd be back in Australia, living with her best friend. Chloe let out a little happy sigh, her thoughts causing her to space out a little bit, she gave her head a slight shake. She decided to wait for Cutter before leaving the shop.
@cutter

"Cutter, you don't have to pay-" Chloe stopped, realizing that arguing with Cutter was pointless. She could probably give him his money in another way. She gave him another little smile as soon as she saw his goofy grin. She ran a hand through the deep ebony hair not in the messy braid. Chloe hesitated a second before saying anything else. "I think the pet store is just across the block, it has a big sign and all the cute puppies in the window. I was really thinking about getting a pet but the main reason I was really compelled to talk to you about it was because there was an adorable golden retriever puppy that basically made my ovaries explode," Chloe chuckled, the last part may disclose a little too much information but that was what Chloe's since of humor was mainly about. It was a dangerous cocktail of black humor and vaguely inappropriate remarks. She made a little cooing noise just at the thought of the puppy, wrinkling her nose a little bit. She bounced on her toes again, smiling indefinitely. Chloe then decided what to do, she slyly let go of Cutter's hand and stepped to stand about a half of a step behind him. She gave him a dangerous and slightly evil smirk. In one quick movement she shoved the money in the pocket of his leather jacket and sped off, sprinting out the door. "Meet you there!"