Chandler noticed Elliot only took a sip before setting it down, but he also figured that was none of his business. He always wanted people to drink with him, but he refused to be pushy and force people to do it. It wasn't like his drinking was so bad he needed to 'look normal'; the only people who knew he had a problem were people he had told. So he said nothing and took a much larger drink from his own glass. Elliot referred to all of this as relaxing, and Chandler raised his eyebrow in doubt. He liked hiking, but not with all the extra stuff they had to take with them. Cooking had been fun, but he was so worried about doing it right that he wasn't sure it relaxed him the way it normally did tonight. "When I'm not hiding in the woods, cooking is relaxing. But I've never cooked using a fire before, so I don't know if I feel relaxed now. And I play video games, but I didn't bring my Switch out here. But the alcohol will help." He held up his glass and then took another drink. "What do you normally do to relax out here?"

@elliot-newman

Chandler was not particularly excited to go camping, but it had become quite clear to him over the winter that many of his friends loved it, and were going to drag him out at least once this year. He already knew he didn't love it, being much more of an indoorsy city person than a middle-of-nowhere kind of guy. Growing up, he was romantically involved with a guy who's family had a cabin in Northern Minnesota. Chan often went up there with him for privacy, or to get a break from his parents for a couple days, but a few friends had told him a cabin with electricity and gas didn't count as camping.

For his trip with Elliot, he had chosen to focus on one positive; he had never cooked on a campfire before. He didn't actually know how to start a fire, but he figured Elliot could do that part and then Chandler could take over from there. He had a lot of things planned for their short time in the woods. Especially the first night, while things were still kept cold in his cooler.

Once they (mostly Elliot) set up camp, Chandler got to work on dinner. It wasn't long before they had chicken wings smoked on the campfire, and the amateur chef was even impressed with himself that he was able to make anything without a stove or his usual kitchen setup. After handing Elliot his meal, he produced two camping friendly wine glasses and a hydroflask of whiskey. This wasn't his go-to alcohol but he figured it fit the mood better. He poured each of them a glass, then handed one off to his friend.

"So, after we eat, we can relax?" Chandler asked, not sure what people actually did out in the woods besides get drunk and tell ghost stories.

"And some of us are raw dogging our anxiety at other times," He candidly admitted in an otherwise unsympathetic statement. "But that doesn't mean it has to be everyone else's problem. Besides, if you're that anxious on the roads, I really don't think you should be manning a vehicle that can kill someone or cause a major accident. Which wouldn't be such an issue if this country had decent public transit, but that's a whole other can of worms I'm not sure we wanna get into." Chandler felt like they'd probably agree on that topic, at least.

She suggested he buy someone a generator and he shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He only agreed because he had no idea how much they cost. A couple hundred, maybe? Enough that he hoped she wouldn't take him up on the offer, but cheap enough that he could do it. "There's not wanting to get stung by a bee, and then there's not knowing if it could kill me. Besides, I like bees. They're good for the environment. I just don't wanna get offed in sacrifice of the greater good." Chandler joked. "I actually don't. When I first got to town, didn't plan on hanging around long enough to get comfortable. But I decided this winter that I actually wanna stay. I know I should probably plant some shit this spring, but I have no idea where to start."

"That's not very fair," she chided him gently, "some people have anxiety when it comes to driving, or being on the roads at a time when conditions are less than ideal. And unfortunately, staying home isn't an option if they have to be at work, or have an emergency, you know?" If something was scary, it was scary, whether you had experienced it for your entire life, or just for the first time. Maybe Elena just had a little more compassion and patience in her than most did when it came to dealing with someone else's insecurities, though.

Brows shot up to her hairline as he replied immediately that generators were available, and she couldn't help but to let out a laugh. "Good! The next time someone loses power and needs a generator, I'll be sure to give them your number, so that you can buy one for them. Easy fix, right?" She could remember pricing them out with her grandmother ahead of the last winter she had been home, thankful that her father had stepped in to purchase it for them, but knowing how frustrating it must have been for anyone else just wanting to keep the refrigerator running, or being able to pour water from the tap. "I wouldn't test that theory either, no," he shook his head. "Sort of one of those deals where even people who like bees don't want to be stung by bees." Allergic or not, pain was pain, and bee stings? Painful. "Mow around it," she laughed, "do you not have any landscaping or flowers at all?"

Chandler glanced at the notes, eyes narrowing at what he had written about temperatures and steep times. He still didn't entirely understand why different teas needed to be brewed differently, but he'd have to find a way to memorize it all. It wasn't too different from figuring out cooking measurements, or how to make the newest seasonal drink on the menu. So while he was a little embarrassed he didn't fully get it yet, he wasn't worried about his ability to figure it out. Wanting to make sure he wrote it all out correctly, he turned it to better face Nari. "Is this right?" He asked. She asked him to make a citrus tea, and he shrugged. "Herbal or one of those Lady Grey teas?" He asked as he stood up and started to walk behind the counter.

WHO: Nari & @chvndlr

WHERE: Pause for Paws

WHEN: springtime

"So, think you've got it down?" Nari asked with a laugh, looking over the sheet of notes that they had collected between them, all about different kinds of teas, how to best make them, what worked and what didn't, and most importantly, what the best flavors were for the spring time, since everyone right now wanted something that reminded them of being outside in the warm sun, soaking it all in. "I should have you make me one of the citrus teas just to try it out, actually. See if you learned something."

Chandler followed JD's lead and downed his shot with the other man. He pulled a face, one he wouldn't have made a few months ago, and then chased it down with his cocktail. Thankfully, despite it being very boozy, the fruit juice hid the taste of it quite well. This would probably be his go-to the rest of the night. "Dude, you literally just said it." Chandler replied, a little tipsy now. "You know you're better than them if you beat them by a lot, too." He groaned with a playful eyeroll, and then had even more of his cocktail. As JD took another shot, so did Chandler. This time, his face didn't twist as much. "I don't know, life has felt very slow the last six months on my end. Hoping the rest of 2024 picks up." He admitted, switching back to his cocktail. "I'm not tied down at all. I mean, it'd be super morally fucked up to cancel on some couple on their wedding day, but when I took a break I just finished up most of the jobs I had already taken, referred a few people out to other Merrock photographers, and then responded to the occasional random email inquiry with a list of other photographers in the area." He explained, then shrugged at JD saying he just needed to get out there. That was already what he was doing, but it would take more than a couple shots to reacquire his taste in alcohol. "Oh, is that how drinking works? Not doing it for a few months made me completely forget the concept of a cocktail" He replied with playful sarcasm

Thanking both Chandler and the bartender for the shots, he paused before downing it. "Me neither but I wasn't gonna say anything." He laughed and picked up the shot glass, shrugging as he spoke. "If you're evenly matched, then you definitely know you're better than them if you beat them." He hadn't really ever thought about it and it was hard to explain, but it was just one of those things with sports. He then followed suit and down his own shot of alcohol, exhaling when finished, placing the glass upside down on the table in front of him. "Life never slows down huh. Guess Ferris Bueller was right after all." He chuckled, slipping in a random movie reference about life moving fast. "That's true, and you're not necessarily tied down like some other jobs right?" He asked, leaning on his bent elbow a bit on the table. JD had so much going on that he hadn't even realized how Chandler's break from photography lined up with the break in partying, instead JD was too happy to have his friend back. Trying to hype Chandler up, JD nodded, "I'd say so. Just gotta get back out there you know. Get your sea legs again." He chuckled a bit, before responding about lighter fluid, "that's why they make flavors and cocktails. So people don't taste the alcohol."

Chandler nodded carefully as Theo admitted to disowning his parents. He opened his mouth to say 'Same', but stopped himself. Mostly because that wasn't really true - he still talked to them pretty regularly - but it was easier and safer to keep them at arms length. "My relationship with my parents is complicated, too." He offered empathetically instead. He was going to gently press for some more details, but Theo soon was giving some information that sounded connected to his strained relationship with his parents. "I'm…far from rich? So I act broke as shit now?" Chandler laughed. Obviously that's not how Theo had meant that, but he wasn't sure what Theo was actually trying to say and had to give him a hard time. "So…is that why you and your parents don't talk then? The pressure of appearances and all of that?" He gave Theo another sympathetic nod about how his childhood was hard. "Sounds like our childhoods were pretty opposite. My parents....I mean, they care about me." Despite their history, his dad was the one who helped him leave an abusive relationship and restart in Merrock without his ex-girlfriend ever finding out where he was now. "They helped me get back on my feet when I moved here and everything. They're usually there when I really need them. But they never cared if I was doing good in school, or if I was even at school, or what I was doing or who I was hanging out with. My mom just wanted to be my best friend and my dad....he has these moments where I know he could be a really great dad if he wanted to be, but he was a lot more interested in drinking than any of that."

Theo wasn't someone one would think to be full of jokes, but he had a hidden devious side to him. This didn't include dad jokes that he'd tell his kids, or cute little puns he'd slide into conversations. Theo had a side to him that liked practical jokes and liked to make jokes that no one would expect to come from him. "It would be, but I highly doubt it is," in fact he knew it wasn't true because the Browning family couldn't risk something like that getting out anyway. He shrugged, and was about to move on when asked about his parents. Bluntly he stated, "disowned them. Well I think it. might have been mutual but I don't care to be honest." He chuckled nervously, weighing on if he should give Chandler the quick version or just leave it as is. He decided just to leave it, rather focusing on Chandler's childhood rather than his own. "No not at all, honestly I wasn't even sure what to think. But I didn't think you were a rich kid. You're far from that now," he said, gesturing towards the other. Chandler seemed as if he was far from the rich kid trope and Theo definitely couldn't see him as fitting into it. "Oh nice, and at least you didn't have to keep up appearances. Now that was a hard way to grow up," he let it slip that the Browning name meant more than anything to his parents, that and appearances throughout town.

"That's a good one! Some of these writers are incredibly witty," he replied with a chuckle.

"Someone had to cook to keep my parents alive. They live off takeout menus now, but I could only help for so long." Chandler shrugged. There had been a point, before he was old enough to have memories of, where they didn't have the kind of money to eat out every night, and he always wondered how his parents managed back then. As Jamie elborated about going to UCLA, Chandler nodded and pretended to understand. He'd never gone to UCLA, so he didn't really understand what the other man meant. "Oh god, dodging exes. The one thing nobody talks about with college! I ran into my exboyfriend a lot after we broke up."

"Still, yeah, I'm umm... impressed cereal," Jamie furrowed his brow and then chuckled. "Yeah, they were really small. It wasn't much, just a sink and space for a microwave," he said. He licked over his lips. "Well, I went to UCLA, so there's plenty of drama to go around. But other than that, it's was mostly me getting into a mess and avoiding my ex at some point."

"Sure, that works if you're from Florida and just moved here. But people that have lived in cold environments their whole lives? Nah. No pass." Chandler wasn't just arguing for the sake of arguing now, as he stood by what he was saying. The only exception to born-and-bred northerners that couldn't drive in snow were people who had only recently gotten their licenses. He remembered how scary driving on icy roads was the first time he did it.

Although Chandler's childhood had its challenges, he was very privileged in other ways. His family always had a variety of options, which meant he'd never gone without heat for an entire night in his life. "That's what generators are for." He replied, fully not recognizing that wasn't something everyone had access to. As she asked more details about his bee allergy he shrugged. "I got stung once as a kid and I had a pretty bad reaction. A lot of kids grow out of allergies, so who knows if I'm still allergic? I'm sure as hell not testing that theory out on purpose, though." He explained. "Yeah, save the bees and all of that. I'm all for it! I'm just not gonna make my yard safer for bees than for myself. Besides, the kid I hire to mow my lawn wouldn't know what to do with a pollinator garden."

Letting out a breath, Elena knew that any sharp retort was only going to give him more of what he wanted -- which was to get under her skin. And although she would have preferred just relaxing on the bench, enjoying her break, he was there, and he made it clear that he wasn't going to go anywhere. "That's because a lot of people haven't driven in that sort of weather before. Even if they have, it's still scary. And yeah, sure, thunderstorms cause power outages in the summertime, too, but as you pointed out -- this is Maine. Losing AC in the summer sucks, but you open a window. Losing heat in the winter, though…" she trailed off, knowing that she had made her point, and shrugged both shoulders. It wasn't fun to not have heat in the house, remembering maybe long winter nights growing up, pulling down extra blankets for her grandma, sleeping in the big bed to make sure that they both stayed warm. "Badly allergic?" she asked, somewhat curious. She knew it could be a problem for a lot of people. "I'm the opposite. I'm one of those people drawing bees in with pollinator gardens."

@elliot-newman

Chandler was not particularly excited to go camping, but it had become quite clear to him over the winter that many of his friends loved it, and were going to drag him out at least once this year. He already knew he didn't love it, being much more of an indoorsy city person than a middle-of-nowhere kind of guy. Growing up, he was romantically involved with a guy who's family had a cabin in Northern Minnesota. Chan often went up there with him for privacy, or to get a break from his parents for a couple days, but a few friends had told him a cabin with electricity and gas didn't count as camping.

For his trip with Elliot, he had chosen to focus on one positive; he had never cooked on a campfire before. He didn't actually know how to start a fire, but he figured Elliot could do that part and then Chandler could take over from there. He had a lot of things planned for their short time in the woods. Especially the first night, while things were still kept cold in his cooler.

Once they (mostly Elliot) set up camp, Chandler got to work on dinner. It wasn't long before they had chicken wings smoked on the campfire, and the amateur chef was even impressed with himself that he was able to make anything without a stove or his usual kitchen setup. After handing Elliot his meal, he produced two camping friendly wine glasses and a hydroflask of whiskey. This wasn't his go-to alcohol but he figured it fit the mood better. He poured each of them a glass, then handed one off to his friend.

"So, after we eat, we can relax?" Chandler asked, not sure what people actually did out in the woods besides get drunk and tell ghost stories.

Chandler flagged down the bartender and ordered a couple more shots for each of them. "Even when I'm trashed later, I probably won't be ready for the mushy shit." He admitted. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as JD explained why it was better to win by a little instead of a lot. Chandler really didn't understand that logic and shook his head, then tilted it back and drank his shot. "That doesn't make any sense," He whined. "How are you better if you and the other team are basically evenly matched? Instead of being able to smoke them?" He sighed, realizing this was one of those sports things he'd just never understand. "Then again, fall weddings and homecoming are also a thing. I guess photography doesn't really have a slow season if you think about it. But that just means I can take off whenever I want. I'm just coming back from taking a few months off." If JD thought about it, he'd probably realize his break from photography and his break from alcohol were the same time, but Chandler hoped the drinks and the bar atmosphere were enough to distract him. "Yeah, better than ever…" Chandler muttered, staring down at his drink. Was he? This certainly felt better than sobriety. "Well, maybe not yet. I've grown unaccustomed to the taste of lighter fluid."

JD playfully wiped a tear from his cheek as he grinned at Chandler. He was ready for a long night of having fun, getting drunk, and getting into whatever mischief they could. The night was early, but he was early. "Neithwr am I," he laughed, as he was not nearly as drunk as he had planned on getting for the night, but he was glad to hear Chandler was on the same page as him. Seesawing his head a bit regarding the comment about winning by alot, he then nodded. "Yeah but you also want a competition too. Plus if it's a small margin of victory then you really know you're good." He wasn't sure if that made sense, but as an athlete, that's how he felt. "Right!? Like we'd rake in the dough during the winter and the spring and then just say fuck it for the fall!" He agreed, taking a big gulp of his drink. Though it wouldn't necessarily work with him being an assistant football coach at the high school. "Well that break felt like it went on forever. But I'm glad you're back. Back and better than ever?" He asked with a smile.

"Oh…if it were true that'd be fucking savage." Chandler laughed, though his expression changed to an empathetic nod as Theo said he couldn't ask his parents. He wanted to ask for some clarification, and spent a second trying to find a less blunt way to word it, before gave up on gentle phrasing. "Did you disown them, or did they die?" Although his words were straightfoward, his tone was at least softer. As Theo expressed shock at his upbringing, Chandler raised an eyebrow. "Did you assume me saying 'I had a rough childhood' meant I grew up poor or something?" His tone was casual, unphased by Theo's assumption about his financial class as a kid. "My mom is a doctor, so that's where most of the money comes from. Definitely not one-percenters or anything like that. But we were certainly comfortable financially. My parents never cared much about keeping up appearances…I did, but that was all internalized pressure and none of it came from my parents."

"Once saw a fictional law office on a show called Sue, Grabbit and Run" Of course, that one was fictional but it was still fun.

"Oh totally fucking with him," he laughed, and as far as Theo knew, Jason wasn't an accident. But he couldn't help messing with his little brother when they were kids. "Honestly I wouldn't even know and plus I couldn't ask. Not now anyway," he replied, shedding someight into his relationship with his parents. He would never dare to ask them in the past and now, well he hasn't spoken to them in over a decade and wasn't planning on starting the relationship back up anytime soon. He listened to Chandler speak about his own esperiences and offered up a gentle smile. "I see I see," he replied with a nod, and didn't want to push him into sharing anything he wasn't comfortable with doing. Thought at the mention of Chandler being a rich kid growing up, Theo leaned back with a surprised expression. "Now that I found surprising," he said truthfully as he couldn't see it. "Though I know how it goes. I wasn't a spoiled rich kid growing up but my parents had a certain," he trailed off trying to find the right words to describe his childhood. "They had a certain expectation for us all. Keep up appearances and such, if that makes sense." He concluded, not sure if it was the same experience as Chandler but to the outside world, those not in the Browning house, it probably seemed like he was a spoiled rich kid.

All this talk about kids and parents, got Theo in the heartstrings. He hated thinking about his kids growing up, and plus it made him feel old. Despite being in his forties, he didn't physically feel old at all. However when it came to slang and pop culture, he was ancient. "Oh," he said, extending the word, now it making sense. Shaking his head, he couldn't help but chuckle at how out of touch he was. "I mean there's stranger names out there for companies."

"I can be anything you don't want me to be." Chandler replied with a smirk. Sounded like she wasn't into people who argued for fun. He could take or leave arguing, but he was having fun annoying her. He turned to face her better as she admitted to liking winter at least somewhat, but nodded a little as she pointed out the negative side of winter and chuckled as she said he just liked it because of his birthday. "I don't mind the ice, and the only things that suck about winter driving are all the people who panic as soon as there's snow on the ground, and black ice. I feel like there's more power outages in the summer with thunderstorms and all of that, though." He could count on one hand the number of times he had experienced a power outage while it was cold out. "My birthday is a perk, but it's not the main reason I like winter. I grew up in Minnesota, and our summers don't normally get all that hot. Pretty similar weather to Maine, actually, which is one of the things I like about living here. S'why I'm glad the New Orleans trip wasn't during the summer." He explained. "Oh, see, that's why you like spring. Because your birthday is coming up. And, if you must know, I'm not allergic to pollen but I am allergic to bees and they go hand-in-hand with pollen. So that's another strike against summer, I don't have to worry about getting stung when it's cold out."

"Oh, right, you're one of those types," she replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she looked over his way. There were certain people who were put on the planet just to argue and nitpick, she was very sure of that. And if nothing else, Chandler could say that he had found his place, knew his role in life. And be… proud of that, maybe? "I like snow," she shrugged, "I grew up here, I love a good snow storm, loved having the day off of school, getting to build snowmen with my friends, but… I don't love driving in it, or the power outages, or having to scrape ice off of the windows in the morning before I go to work. Pros and cons, just the same as summer. You're just charmed by your own birthday," she laughed, shooting him a playful smile. Which she supposed she could understand, but. "Besides, my birthday's in May." Which meant picnics with her best friends to celebrate, and that would always beat indoor parties, for her. "I am," she nodded, matter of factly, "I'm in fact the seasonal allergy gatekeeper now."

"Yeah. I guess that's more of an accident than a skill issue. But if I found out he burned cereal again somehow I'd barely be surprised." Chandler chuckled. Jamie explained the kitchenette and Chandler nodded. "It was like ten years ago now, but I don't think I knew about kitchentte dorm rooms until it was too late to get one. I can't imagine actively choosing against one of them." He raised his eyebrow at the mention of 'drama' "Was your college campus extremely dramatic? Cause I'd hang out at mine to avoid drama at home sometimes."

“Okay, that makes much more sense,” Jamie nodded. Cooking wasn’t his strongest talent but he got by. He knew how to work through recipes and figure out things from there. It got him through those long shifts at work and he was grateful for that. He chuckled. “Me too. We had a shared kitchenette area but that’s about it. Then I had an apartment I shared with some friends and having an actual space to eat was really nice “ he nodded. “Everyone came over too because it was close by,” he said and bit his lip. “Well, that and to avoid drama of course.”

"Eh, sure." Chandler shrugged, unaware of the irony of him going into that kind of work. He was good with a camera, so it just made sense that he would find a way to make money with it even if it wasn't in a way he felt passionate about. His job at the cat cafe felt a lot more ironic; he didn't have the inviting personality of many baristas but he knew coffee and he knew cats. But as she gave him the unsolicited advice to do more photography for himself, he nodded. "I think you're right about that. I still love it, but....I don't know, my work cameras gets used a lot more than my for-fun cameras do. But I definitely need to do more photography just for myself. Maybe now that it's getting warmer, I'll get out more." As much as he preferred winter weather, he had to admit summer led to nicer pictures. The skies were brighter, and the trees regained their beauty.

As she said him getting the house was cool, he shrugged again. The part where he got a free house to live in was definitely great! It was still crazy to think he went from barely being able to eat to a homeowner overnight. But it wasn't great that his uncle had passed away. He didn't really want to get into the whole dead relative thing so he smiled. "Yeah, it is. Nice two bedroom in the suburbs with a home office. It's not huge, but it's more than I need. And it has a really nice kitchen." He explained. As she talked about never getting a fresh start, he tilted his head slightly. "Did you grow up here, then?"

Tasha was impressed by Chandler's profession. Being a photographer was harder than it looked, there seemed to be so much involved. And even doing portraits and the like, had a lot that went into it. "Oh wow, but hey sometimes it happens right? Life works out funny in those ways sometimes." She nodded with a shrug, though she couldn't really relate in terms of her own profession. "True, but maybe you should start doing it for yourself more. You know? Don't let the business side of it, dampen why you love it." One thing she always did was try to push people to do what they loved.

Sensing a shift, she almost told him to forget it. She figured people ended up in Merrock for a myriad of reasons, and not all of them good or pretty. She was about to say something when he responded. "Oh? I mean that's pretty cool right?' She said, well more liked asked. "New starts are always good. Sometimes I wish I could have done so at one point or another."

Chandler Linwood's house

Chandler moved to Merrock after inheriting a house from a family member. Despite living in town for almost two years now, he's only recently decided he wants to stay here. He has minimal furniture and a lot of it is mismatched, made up primarily of free pieces he's encountered. The dining room especially shows this, as quite a few chairs are missing cushions and some aren't even from the same set.

The exception to his half-hazard interior decorating is in the kitchen. Chandler is very into cooking, and is happy this house has a lot of space for his passion.

I ran out of time, but I wanted to post what was done. I didn't finish the spare bedroom, but there is definitely a bed and a nightstand and a dresser in there for guests. The upstairs lounge area would have a couch and all of his photography equipment, but Sims doesn't have much I could use to show that properly. Instead I posted a full size bar, since there weren't a lot of individual alcohol items I could put in the kitchen to demonstrate that he also uses the space to make a lot of cocktails.

As Lynn stopped paying attention to Jenna, the dog turned her attention to the woman's shoes and sniffing them thoroughly. The whole time her tail never stopped wagging. Chandler looked down at her, glad she wasn't trying to push for them to continue their walk and was instead happy to see Lynn. While he was staring at his small pomsky, he considered Lynn's point. By far the most traumatic thing that had happened to him was his last relationship, and that had been well after high school. But his teenage years hadn't been much better. "I guess that's kind of a coin toss for me." He admitted casually with a shrug.

His expression perked a little at the idea of coming over for dinner. "I could host this time. My house is way too big for one person and I haven't had anyone over in ages, so I could use the excuse to clean up a bit. And then Lilly and Ryan Reynolds can chill, too."

The happy reaction from the dog made Lynn smile as well. Their reactions were always so pure and she enjoyed that a lot in Duke and Luna as well. She tilted her head slightly as she looked at Chandler and stood straight once more. "I think ones trauma from high school will be less than the others," was what she said eventually, her voice soft. She wasn't sure on what had happened with Chandler in the past, she knew that Theo was trying to help him out as well. "When are you coming over for dinner again? And you have to bring Jenna as well. Although Lilly would love to see the cat again."

"Maybe it's less about being a pessimist and more about having fun arguing with you?" He suggested, turning to face her better. He rolled his eyes at the mention of shit growing, but didn't actually argue. He wasn't gonna try to tell her she was wrong to feel happy about something. But at the Snow Meister comment, he chuckled slightly. "That's their first mistake. Winter is the best! The snow's pretty, you don't break a sweat the second you step out of your house...first half of the winter, you get Christmas lights and the second half, I get to plan a big birthday celebration. But I get that last point isn't a huge perk for anyone else." His eyebrow raised at her comment about his eyes. "Are you gatekeeping seasonal allergies?" He joked dryly.

"Sure, if you want to look at everything in a negative, pessimistic light," she shrugged both shoulders. "But that allergy season brings bright blooms that lift spirits and makes people like me happy." And as much as she hated the occasional sniffle and sneeze, the pros far outweighed the cons, in her mind. "Not everyone wants to be a Mr. Snow Meister, you know," she shot him a look, taking a sip of her drink before setting it back down and popping another strawberry into her mouth. "Besides, I don't see you carrying around tissues for your puffy, allergy eyes, so it must not be too bad."

As she asked if he worked there, he couldn't help but laugh. "Neither. I mean, I like coffee. But I know so much about these machines because I work at the cat cafe." Technically he was a barista, but that was only a fraction of what he did working at such a unique business so it never felt like an accurate job title. "So the first thing you need to do is get better taste in coffee. But if you want good black coffee..." He looked around for a specific coffee maker. It actually wasn't one he knew about from work, but from a friend that loved black coffee and got really into finding the right coffee machine for their taste. He didn't find their exact make, but he did find something similar from the same brand up on a higher shelf. He pointed to the box he was suggesting. "I'd go with this one."

"Well, I guess I'm not getting that then," she nodded, grateful for the other's advice, then glanced over as he asked what exactly she'd been looking for in coffee machines. "I had a drip machine, and typically just drink my coffee black or with a bit of a creamer depending on the day, so I'm not sure what the best route to go for that is." she gave a slight hum in contemplation, a bit interested how he knew so much about the machines. "Do you work here or something, or are you just really into coffee?"