Prima Java

The coordinates that Eternalis and Rhea had been told to travel to held a small, franchised navi cafe, part of the Prima Java line. Even from outside, it was fairly obvious that the place was bustling with more customers than they had capacity for. All the same, the lines were moving pretty quickly, but the place was packed.

Rhea and Eternalis entered, since there was no point standing outside, although it was pretty hard to find a spot for Harley that didn't put him in the way. The inside of the shop was colored mostly in soft browns and reds. It'd be pretty nice and cozy if it wasn't so jammed to capacity with customers. The line looked long and foreboding...

Luckily, like a ray of light shining through the darkness, another counter was opening, attended by a young, exceptionally stressed looking clerk girl dressed in brown and red armor with a steaming white mug motif. If they hurried, they might be able to get there before the gap was filled in by other customers, but they'd reeeeeally need to hurry!
"Ah, man, the line is really long," said Eternalis as they entered the Prima Java. He really wished Harley didn't have to squeeze in with the rest, as it was quite packed. "It seems that FashionMan's going to be waiting for his caffeine fix for some time," commented Aurora in agreement. Sparky had none to give, except excitedly sniffing around at the wonderful scents that wafted through the air. Ah, first a cafeteria, and now a gourmet coffee shop! What a great thing to be a canine with superior olfactory senses!

Aurora immediately scanned the area, and it was clear that they weren't going to be slipping in any lines soon; the place was simply too packed. They'd create a ruckus if they did something rash... "Wait," she said, as something appeared on her visor. Focusing on a small area in the cafe, she found that another counter was about to open, and it was free! "Eternalis, warp over to that counter over there. I'll transfer the order to you, so make it quick," said Aurora, pushing the Navigator forward. "Ah, er, um, right!" replied Eternalis hesitatingly, as he disappeared into the air in a puff of steam.

Not a moment later, he appeared in front of the counter, ready to order. A bit of jerking forward ensued before he retained his balance. "Er, is this counter open yet?" he asked.
"Yikes at the crowd," Harley whistled, despite being the biggest obstruction of all. Rhea nodded, agreeing with Aurora and Eternalis about the incoming long wait.

Not realizing that there was a new counter open, nor were the tiny and horse as sharp-eyed as Aurora, Rhea dumbly went to the end of the shortest line visible. Harley, on the other hand, saw the blob of Rhea's partner disappear into puffs of steam. "You know," Harley started, getting Rhea's attention, "They're already over at the newly opened counter, which you've obviously missed."

Red-faced, Rhea stomped quickly to join Eternalis.
Eternalis made it to the counter before anyone else could, causing everyone in the adjacent line to moan and groan. Still, it was for the sake of his career! Rhea and Harley, on the other hand, were left behind and would have to push their way through the line or sit out the order.

The girl at the counter straightened her mug-cap and spoke into the order microphone. "Welcome to Prima Java, home of the Dhali Java and the Lavarama Java. How can I help you?" she asked, speaking as quickly as she could. "We're having a special sale on select pastries, just so you know. If you buy one lemon, blueberry, or cherry tart, you get one free," she continued; her voice came out so fast that it was hard for Eternalis to understand her.

Eternalis would need to present her with FashionMan's order as soon as possible. A long and impatient line had already formed behind him.
Immediately, as the attendant rattled off the announcement, Eternalis was rushing to read the text popup made by Aurora, which succintly summarized a lot of FashionMan's order. Of course, there was GolfMan's order, too, can't forget that. Okay, blue boy, time to shine! "I'd like one jumbo white coffee, heavy milk, quarter-peppermint cream foamed over. Plus a dash of caramel and speck of choc scraps on top. Also, one medium espresso and croissant," he rattled, making sure he did it as quickly and as clearly as possible.

Meanwhile, Aurora was tightly squeezed in with the crowd, which had flocked around the opened counter. She found her back pressed against Harley's gigantic heft, and sighed. At least she had somewhere she could rest her back on. Sparky continued to sniff the air excitedly.
Finding that she was blocked by a whole crowd to where her partner was, Rhea stared at the long line and slowly made her way back to where the group of SPs were, instead. "I was not quick enough," Rhea concluded, making her way to stand like a blockhead that she was next to them. Noticing something leaning against him, though, Harley turned his head slightly to look at Aurora. "Mind if I offered you a ride, instead?" Harley would've wiggled his eyebrows if he had any. Instead, he managed a equine-like head-shake, instead.
"Um, alright. Let me repeat the order and you tell me if this sounds right," she answered, compulsively straightening her cap yet again. "That's jumbo white coffee, heavy milk, peppermint cream, with caramel and chocolate shavings; one medium espresso; one honey croissant. Does that sound right? That'll be 1200 zenny, 200 zenny, and 800 zenny... So 3000 zenny is your total."

In the mean time, all of the other customers wondered why Aurora and Rhea had brought their horse and dog into the coffee shop. The sensible amongst them kept the question to themselves; one normal navi, feeling not as sensible, ventured the inquiry. "Hey, does your talking robot horse drink coffee?" he asked ridiculously, tapping Rhea on the shoulder, as he assumed it was her horse.
"Ah, all right, all right," said Eternalis, anxious to leave the line. He was already feeling a wave of animosity from the extending line behind him, probably from the teleportation stunt he did earlier. "Twelve hundred, two hundred, eight hundred. Two thousand two hundred," he said, laying down the exact amount of zenny. In his hurry, he hadn't heard the very last part of the attendant's speedy run-through, which stated a very bloated end total. Whether that was to his fortune or otherwise was debatable, but it was hopefully leaning more towards the former.

Meanwhile, Aurora looked over at Harley, who had just offered her a ride out of seemingly good graces. "Oh, okay. Kind of cramped down here," she said, climbing up Harley's strong back. Looking forward, her curiosity was peaked as she saw two strange things that would probably be out of place on a real chopper. Grabbing one of Harley's handlebars, she twisted it about a bit, holding Sparky still with her other hand. "These look kind of weird," she commented. "Arf!" added Sparky.
"Hold on, blobby gentleman," Harley announced through private transmission at Eternalis, "There's no way the croissant is costing more than the expresso, unless it's not in order," Rhea perked up at that note, adding her own comment. "Even then, it is exceeding our budget limitation of 2,000 zenny set by FashionMan," Rhea helpfully added.

Then Rhea was tapped on the shoulder; the petite Navi turned, looking at the normal navi with a blank expression. "I am sure that he can programmed to be so. But I do not think it is advisable--" "HO! Please ignore the ignorant little girl! I enjoy my intake of caffeine very much, thank you," Harley snorted at Rhea and the curious navi, just as Aurora found her way up his back. "In fact, I've been advised that I can't take too much of that addictive stuff, lest I get addicted! Ha ha ha ha ha." Rhea's eyebrow raised, looking slightly skeptical before she dropped that expression entirely, returning to her normal block of a face.

Then Harley shook his head automatically, according to the direction of where Aurora was twisting his handlebars. "...The bars are off-limits, missy," Harley muttered, head still turning in sync with Aurora's handlebar movements.
"2200? Isn't that short? Wait... hrm... if I count..." the girl muttered, running through the arithmetic in her head. The long line of customers behind Eternalis groaned loudly. "Oh, oh! Sorry, you're right. Okay, sure, 2200," she responded, taking the money. "Your order will be ready in juuust a minute~"

She quickly went into the kitchen to start working. It occurred to Eternalis that if he wanted, he could move out of the line now easily enough and wait for them to call out his order; he had received a ticket with their number from the cashier. On the other hand, if he did so, he could not see into the kitchen. It was quite likely that she'd mess up on some crucial element and the coffee might not be prepared exactly as FashionMan had ordered it. Furthermore, he'd lose the chance to check the order again or switch it; it sounded like Rhea and her horse had found the prices suspect.

The guy at the side gasped with excitement, realizing that he really had met an honest to goodness coffee-drinking, talking, robotic horse. Golly gee! The person behind him shoved him, making him move further on in line. In the mean time, however, someone behind Harley was rudely shoving his butt, trying to move him forward while apparently not realizing how heavy he really was. "Hey, horse! Move it! Your big butt's in the way! You don't need coffee anyways, you're a robotic horse!"

((-2200 zenny))
[aaaaa this took forever sorry]

"A-Ah, sorry, sorry," said Aurora, immediately stopping her handling of Harley's... handles. Meanwhile, she looked in Eternalis's direction, and her eyebrows creased at what she saw.

It was quite a bit of a dilemma he had gotten himself in. On one hand, the attendant's clumsy attitude would very likely throw off FashionMan's extremely convoluted order, and he'd be off this mission in an instant. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he could hold off a line of very exasperated caffeine addicts. Hmm, what to do, what to do...? A small private window opened up in front of him, relaying some messages from Aurora. "Stay where you are. Make sure the order is made right. Can't afford any mistakes," she said.

At that time, Harley's message also went through, stating yet another problem with the situation. Oh, yeah, that's right, they were supplied with 2000 zenny. Maybe he should have picked a different kind of croissant...? Ah, whatever, he'd just correct the attendant when she came back. Maybe he'd just ask for a normal one, as she mentioned something about him having picked a honey variant. And so, the blue blob of a Navi stayed resolute where he was, attempting to block out the intense aura of disapproval from behind him.

Meanwhile, Sparky seemed rather interested in the purple robot that they were walking with, and nuzzled his snout into Rhea's hair, barking a little to get her attention. It seemed that he was rather curious about the shiny strands for some reason. Aurora watched the puppy satisfy his curiosity, while she thought up something of her own. "Hey, Harley, do you really drink coffee? Does it taste good?" she inquired.
"Should you require assistance, I would be very much willing to help you, Eternalis," Rhea prompted, looking at the crowd. But there wasn't anything she could do against the crowd. Harley, however, has the ultimate advantage of size and height in the situation, assessing the overall situation like a stationed bird scout. Finding a snout poking at her hair, Rhea turned slightly to see Sparky expressing interest at her. Reaching out to gently pick Sparky up from Aurora's hands, placing the puppy SP on her head in a hat-like fashion.

"Nothing will dampen my passion for coffee, m'lady," Harley sniffed at the air, engrossed in the aroma. "The last time I had coffee, the sheer flavor was enough to keep me going forever!" he continued, making a dreamy face in recollection. The robot horse turned his head to look at Aurora. "You must absolutely try it sometime yourself, m'lady. You will not be disappointed. Though you might end up addicted as I am, ha ha ha ha ha!" he added with a laugh.


But then, oh boy, he wasn't happy when someone attempted to shove his rump. Towering over that particular someone, Harley roared loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him. "Do you not know DECENCY, good sir? Or perhaps should I attempt trample it into your face to make you understand the definition?" Using his height to his advantage, he stared at that person hard enough to emit an ominous aura that can choke people (his exhaust).
Eternalis staying at the front wouldn't actually slow things down; there wasn't an extra attendant to take orders, since all of the staff was busy and the former attendant was busying herself making the order. The customers didn't realize this, however. They grumbled and scowled, waiting for the gelatinous blue creature to move out of the way. At least the order seemed to be going pretty perfectly so far...

The crowd began to move away from Harley due to his intimidating air, which was a potent mixture of proud and smoggy. At the same time, the discomfort of the customers was something that management appeared unable to ignore. An elderly man with a curled mustache, drooping eyelids, and a somewhat hunched back approached, wearing a similar coffee-cup hat as the counter worker.

"Excuse me, Misses," the man addressed Rhea and Aurora, keeping his hands crossed behind his back. "I'm afraid we need to move your pets out front. Don't worry; my coworker and I will take care of them until you return," the manager-like fellow assured her, placing one hand upon Harley with a soothing, but possibly demeaning pat-pat.

A nearby man, wearing a similar hat and black apron, but with dark skin covered in red body paint, nodded his head. His black ponytail barely moved, so stiff were his movements.

"I'll juuuust..." the managerial guy muttered with a grin, reaching out with shaky, aged hands to grab the dog off of Rhea's head.
Sparky was rather surprised at the sudden transformation into headgear, but settled down nicely as he found that his current position was rather comfortable in its own right. Happiness wrote itself across his face as he stuck out his tongue and drooled contentedly.

"I see, I'll have to do so sometime," replied Aurora, noting the strong scent of coffee in the shop permeating the air. She hadn't given much attention to it previously, but now that she thought about it, it did smell quite pleasant. Maybe she'd ask about it from Eternalis and they could try some. "A-Ah, calm down, Harley..." she advised, seeing the people around her get choked by the exhaust the angered SP was emitting.

Sparky made a small noise at the aged manager, tilting his tiny head as the dog gave him a quick look. "Arf!" yelped Sparky, immediately bouncing off Rhea's head and onto the manager's head. Using the latter as a launchpad, Sparky knocked off the hat he was wearing, and shifted his body quickly into the hoverboard K-9 form. Gathering a bunch of stares, Sparky swooped around in the air, teasing the manager with some speedy zips about him.

Meanwhile, Eternalis looked back at the commotion, but was leered back by the other customers towards the attendant making his order.
[[aaaaaaa this took so long sorry D8]]

Unfazed by the drool securing itself onto her hair, Rhea stood steadily to ensure that the canine did not fall off of her head. However, as Harley started to smother everyone with his loving exhaust, she moved forward slightly and hit Harley at where his mane would be (if he wasn't a mechanised replica of the real animal).

"I do not recall including 'distruption of operational premises' in your programming," Rhea notioned, and Harley visibly stopped emitting smoke. "If that is what you wish for, m'lady," the equine said in his visibly calmed down tone, ignoring the crowd and ready to follow the guide of the manager.

"Excuse us for the trouble, sir-- Harley will be ready for the relocation upon your instruction," Rhea started with the old managerial guy, taking a closer step towards him before the commotion of flying and jumping dogs began.

Harley, his full height almost touching the ceiling, proceeded to attempt to grab Sparky out of the air with his mouth while remaining stationary in his place. However, the horse was losing patience and was looking ready to break the ceiling in frustration any time.

Rhea turned quickly to Aurora. "Please ensure that Eternalis is scrutinising the order made," Rhea said, and then attempted to magnetise Sparky out of the air to prevent more troubles.
The manager was at first pleased to see that the robotic horse was going to do what he asked, but then immediately started squawking as Sparky took to the air. "Beeeh, you annoying pooch! Come to me this instant! Don't make me show you the power of my Tome of Capture!" the man threatened cryptically as his hat fell to the floor, revealing a head of receding, wispy gray hair. What he meant by "tome of capture" was anyone's guess.

The dark-skinned man at the side flared his nostrils once, but continued standing and watching with an overtly passive but somehow impatient seeming glare.

In the mean time, the girl continued fixing Eternalis' coffee. It seemed like it was going mostly okay, but the girl was becoming distracted by the commotion. She held a squeeze bottle of caramel in one hand and a scoop of chocolate shavings in the other, but it looked like if she put all that in she'd totally flood the coffee, making it undrinkable by anyone's standards.

"Excuse me, Patron... Robot... Ma'am! Get your animal under control this instant!" the manager raved, trying to drag Harley towards the entrance/exit as he spoke. Of course, Harley was far too heavy, so he was having no luck.
Everything was slowly becoming more and more chaotic in the coffee shop. Sparky was running around the ceiling of the place, taunting the manager with his flying antics. Harley was smoking up the place, though he'd already stopped at the moment. The two mammalian support programs were mucking up the place pretty good. The customers were visibly getting quite antsy, Eternalis observed, though he kept himself fixated on the server's coffee-making progress. Everything would be ruined if that one cup was blown off.

Meanwhile, Harke was observing the scene with quite a bit of amusement. It was certainly a good break from all that tension from Karen's antics earlier. After a few moments, however, he saw that Sparky was having a little too much fun. "Maybe I programmed the guy with a li-ttle too much pep," he muttered, scrolling through the PET's menus. Tapping the screen lightly, he selected the "Detach Support Program" function.

In the Prima Java coffeeshop, Sparky was still flying around as usual. However, a few moments later, the flying puppy halted in mid-air suddenly, and blinked out. Harke was quick to offer the explanation to Eternalis and Aurora, "Sparky's jacked out. Get that coffee." Both sighed in relief, while the latter then relayed Rhea's message to her Navi. Noticing the manager's rather flustered ravings, she immediately dismounted Harley, and bowed her head a little. "Sorry for the trouble, sir."

Just at that moment, he happened to see the attendant girl's near-blunder, and reached his hand out a little to get her attention. Mustering up his most polite voice, he called out, "Er, you might want to watch those toppings a little, ma'am?"
Both Harley and Rhea turned to where Sparky blinked out of existence, slightly confused over the disappearance of the SP prior to Aurora's helpful explanation. When it was all clarified, however, Rhea cleared her non-existent throat loudly. Now where did she learn that from? Harley mused, noticing that someone was trying to drag him out of the shop. "Alright, alright, coming along to the exit," Harley announced, letting the manager drag him (though he was really the one walking) out of the cafe.

"I will keep in touch with you over the communication link," Rhea noted the obviousness, her eyes roving over to the passive, dark-skinned man. "Our apologies for the trouble," the purple petite echoed Aurora and said to the man, bowing slightly in apology.

Rhea then observed the ever-growing impatient crowd, and Eternalis at the frontlines, struggling to get the order right. The purple navi turned to Aurora, whom is now dismounted. The sudden lack of a Harley made the area so much more spacious than before, though Aurora probably enjoyed the elevated advantage from Harley's seat earlier. "I shall be attempting to meet up with Eternalis to provide backup support. Do you require me to remain with you?" Rhea motioned to the support program, awaiting her advice.
The server looked back with a smile, almost absentmindedly dumping the items in before coming to her senses. "Whoops! Silly me, you're right," she laughed, removing about 4/5 of the chocolate shavings so that it came to a more respectable amount. Carefully, she added the shavings and sauce. The other customers weren't happy, but at least it looked like the drink would be made okay.

"Good, there's a good horsie! Are you sure you don't want me to simply take the dog outside as well, valued customers?" the sweaty old man laughed, wiping his head with an odd cloth that looked a little like a giant bookmark. "It's really no trouble!"

The dark-skinned man standing nearby shook his head, keeping a stoic frown. Not waiting for an answer from Rhea or Aurora, he walked along side the manager and took Harley outside. Once they were outside, the manager grinned, pointing towards the side of the building. "Let's head over here. You'll be safe until your masters finish up, eh hehehekheeeehah!"

The laugh he'd been making quickly devolved into a coughing fit. The large attendant moved over to grab his back and smack one of his shoulders repeatedly until it stopped. "Th-Thank you. Now, please move that horse," he coughed, sounding impatient. Nodding, the large man effortlessly grabbed Harley up before he had a chance to complain and brought him behind the building.

He released Harley just as quickly, but before the horse could move, a tremendous cage formed from books formed around him. "Heehehehe! Well done, TribalMan, we've captured him! People will pay big money for a talking robotic horse, I wager!" the navi laughed, throwing off his giant coffee cup hat. "My Modified Tome of Capture shall completely prevent his jackout as well!"

Harley could still move his body and speak, however, despite his capture. The cage didn't allow him that much freedom of movement, though.

--------------

On the other side of the wall, Rhea and Aurora could clearly hear everything the navi was saying; even if that wasn't the case, Rhea's operator could watch what was happening to the horse on the PET screen. The coffee-girl navi was just finishing the whipped cream, but if somebody didn't stay and watch her, things could still go awry. Worst case-scenario, they might end up without the coffee!
Eternalis's processes nearly skipped a cycle when he saw the chocolate shavings spilling all over the coffee, but he relaxed when he saw the attendant fixing it quite easily. I'd think the NP guy's testing me with a planted extra-clumsy attendant or something, he thought. He would be sweating at this point if he wasn't made of mostly-liquid gelatinous material.

"Ah, that sounds like a good idea," responded Aurora to Rhea's suggestion, not particularly wanting to go through the thick crowd that the coffee shop suffered from. She didn't exactly see what Rhea could do in terms of providing support, though, seeing as all they were doing was getting coffee and waiting around for it. Maybe she could help him remember some things? she thought, recalling how their partner had pointed out what was clearly a disparity in the price. Eternalis didn't seem to be bothered by the price hike, though, seeing as they had some cash to spare.

Watching Harley waddle slowly out, Aurora was taken by surprise when she saw the manager's attendant suddenly pick up the gigantic metal horse-bike like it was nothing. "Something doesn't feel right," she muttered. Keeping her attention on the two, she found the pair to be a phony duo, and clicked her tongue. "Hold on, seems we've got some people trying to make a break with Harley, Rhea," said Aurora, pressing on her ear receiver to open up a communication link. "Harke, anything?"

"One sec," the operator replied. Taking a quick skim of the situation, Harke quickly put up a plan of action. Pulling up a link with Eternalis, he began to brief them both. "All right. Et, listen up. Harley's been snagged by someone. I'm going to jack Aurora out, then back to your position. Right after, warp over to Rhea and chase after them. Aurora, send Et a pic of those two. You'll be waiting for the order. All clear?"

"All clear," echoed Aurora.

"Uh, okay," said Eternalis, taken a bit back by the sudden change in plan. ... At least I'll get to do something other than stand here.

With a few screen taps, Aurora and Eternalis both disappeared from their respective positions, swapping their locations. In his haste, Eternalis had left the ticket at his position, just in time for Aurora to catch it out of the air. "... This place really is stuffy," mumbled Aurora, looking at the order ticket in her hand. Remembering what she had to do, she tapped something on her ear receiver, opening up a snapshot of the two from before, specifically one without the strange coffee cup hat.

Meanwhile, Eternalis landed near Rhea's position with a huff, and located the exit. "Let's go, Rhea," he said, making his way towards the entryway.