//------------------------------// // Coffee // Story: Tales of Prince Onyx. Tome 2: Dusk Sparkle // by Stanislas //------------------------------// "May I take a seat?" asked a woman who was probably in the mid fourth to the man who sat alone at his table on the patio of a small coffee shop. The man in question was absorbed in the lecture of a book. He was wearing a long pale brown coat to keep him warm against the light but cold wind that was constantly blowing the few leaves that had already started to fall down from the surrounding trees His long dark hair was tied up behind his head and his visage was harboring the common sign of someone who was entering their early thirties. Feeling that someone was looking at him, the man rolled his eyes from his book to see the woman who had interrupted him waiting patiently for an answer, a coffee in both hands. "Excuse me?" he asked. "I was just wondering if I could take this empty seat, seeing as how we are both on our own and it would be a waste of opportunity if we were to sit at opposite places," the woman explained while keeping a warm smile on her lips. Seeing no harm in her demand, the man closed his book and answered the request in the positive. The woman happily pulled out the second chair of the table and sat in front of the man before presenting to him one of the two cups of coffee she was holding. "The name is Lauren, and you are?" she asked, waiting for the man to take her offer on the coffee. While the man found the behavior of Lauren a bit strange, her offer was certainly appreciated plus his own cup had been empty for now over half an hour. "Thank you, my name is Onyx," he answered as he took the cup from Lauren's hand. Now that both of them had introduced to each other, they each started to drink their respective beverage in silent, appreciating the calm and the fuzzy warm feeling that provided the hot yet amber liquid. Onyx used the opportunity of this moment to take a closer look at his new coffee companion. While clearly older than him, she seemed to be in her mid forties, her expression was almost like the one a young girl would have on a Christmas morning. She had long reddish hair and Onyx could see in her eyes that she did not hide any ill-intention, not that offering a coffee to a complete stranger could be seen as something evil. The woman seemed to be in good shape and Onyx could not keep himself from thinking that the man who was sharing his life, if there was one, was one lucky person. "Not wanting to sound rude or anything, but it’s not everyday that I meet someone with a strange name like yours. Did you change it, or were you given that name by your parents?" Lauren asked while keeping direct eye contact with Onyx. A little taken aback from the delay between when he told her his name and her questioning him, it took him a small moment to answer back. "As far as I know I was born with this name," he answered. Lauren seemed pleased by his answer and Onyx even thought he saw a spark of interest appear in Lauren's eyes, but he shrugged it off preferring to return to his coffee before it turn cold. "May I ask what you are doing in life?" asked the curious woman. "I don't really have a job," answered Onyx with a sad smile. " I mostly do small tasks here and there for the people around here like walking their dog, mowing the grass or repairing small stuff. It’s not really a prestigious job, but I earn enough to pay for my room. How about you?" Onyx asked, trying to shift the conversation over to Lauren since he felt a bit ashamed of himself to not have a proper carrier like most men of his age had. Lauren told him how she was working for a television station, that she created cartoon for children and grown ups alike and how she was currently trying to find the inspiration for her next show. Onyx noticed how much pride she put in her job and respected the degree of passion she had when she described what she was doing. Then they both continued talking about their lives, but mostly Lauren's life, since Onyx was always shifting the conversation over to her side. It was only about one hour later that Lauren started to take her leave. "Well it was a pleasure talking with you, Onyx, and I wish you good luck for your future life," she said while placing back her seat under the table. Onyx wished the same for her and was going to return to his reading before Lauren interrupted him one last time. "Already returning to your book? I see that you really do have the same interest as the students of my little Celly." At those words, Onyx's brain froze, his heartbeat accelerated and every member of his body started shaking. Flash of past memories made their way into his mind, memories that he did not want to remember because they were false like the doctor had told him.  “So Onyx, how would you like it if we go to the park today?” asked a motherly voice, happiness evident in her voice. “To the park... really? I would love to mom! It’s been like forever since we’ve last been there!” The voice giggled at the kid excitement  “Since forever? But we go there everyday.” “I know, but for me, it’s like forever!” The kid answered back. Onyx reached his bag that was still under the table but with the constant shake of his hands and the sudden feel of weakness it took him more time than he wanted to. Once the bag was finally in his reach he tried to find the pills that was supposed to be inside it without any success. “Oh! This is Mr. Smarty Pants. He always helps me with my homework... By the way, I'm Twilight Sparkle.” “Twilight, that is a cute name, I like it... Hey do you want to play with me, I have some plushies of mine too!” “Shut up Shut up!” Cried Onyx in hope to silence the voice.