[V-Day Event] What a wonderful scent. [Carmen]

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It was odd for London, a city usually experiencing some sort of precipitation, had experienced a dry spell. It was a shock to the Hungarian, since he didn't think that the country in general could be void of any rain. He quickly walked into the cafe, not wanting to get soaked. Good thing it wasn't that cold outside, that would have been a problem. But the sudden rain did put his mood down a bit.

'So much for thinking I wouldn't need a coat...' he thought, taking a seat at an empty table. He ran a hand through his hair. Just as he suspected, it was wet as hell. 'Ugh, just what I needed...' his mind went on as he took out the band that held it up, letting the damp locks fall. Having hair up while it's wet isn't a good thing, that he knew.

He picked the flowers off his shoulder and set them on the table. Looks like he'd have to replace them, which he didn't mind. They were beginning to wilt anyway...and the raindrops on it only served to make the petals either stick to one another or droop even more. At least it still had a faint scent that still smelt wonderful.

Well, since he was here, might as well order something to warm him up. He was going to be here for a while until the rain let up. Besides, the cafe was nice, warm and cozy. Why would he leave when he was perfectly content with staying warm for the time being? Or at least until his hair got dry.

"Man I'm going to be late to work..." he muttered, putting his face in his hands. Well, perhaps he should just call in sick. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea. He wouldn't be surprised if he did end up catching a cold.

He looked out the window, watching the rain hit the window panes. Perhaps after his coffee he would just go out and walk around. Yeah, it sounded insane, but perhaps it would be worth while. Besides, he rather liked the clean smell the air seemed to have when it rained.

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The door of the café jingled merrily as it was opened, letting Carmen know she had yet another customer on the premises to tend to. It was a rather early morning, and there were only a few people occupying the tables. Another day serving warm food to the people of London. It might sound like Carmen was complaining, but she was not. She absolutely loves her job, and wouldn’t trade it for anything else. (Well, she did have another occupation, anyways.) She was currently serving a lone man his tea, and after she gave it to him and wished him a good day, she made her way over to the previously empty table the new man had taken. His brown hair was very wet, and she tsked at the fact that he was lacking a jacket and an umbrella. ”You’re going to catch a cold if you continue on like this, señor,” she greeted him playfully with a smile, her notebook and pencil in hand. A hint of a motherly tone easily leaked into her words, but it was usually present anyways.”Going by the fact that you’re completely soaked, I’m guessing you’re new to England.” It was a reasonable assumption to make; nearly everyone knew that it frequently rained and typically had the same weather patterns. Carmen enjoyed rain, usually, and having lived in London as long as she has, she’s grown used to it. She rather liked the scent of outdoors throughout the period of rainfall and following it. What was the word… Pet… Petrichor or something like that. The English language had too many words for the her liking; she preferred Spanish. It sounded much more beautiful and she loved the way the words rolled off of her tongue. ”So, what can I get for you, señor~? Coffee, tea?” Coffee and tea were usually the typical orders for these types of drinks, but there was the occasional hot chocolate as well. People varied in their tastes, which isn’t surprising, and she’s found that the majority of the native population preferred tea, while foreigners or immigrants usually prefer coffee. It was rather interesting. The little things one person could learn from the simplest moments of life could prove to be invaluable on rare occasions. Especially when you were an information broker for either the government, the lawless, or some poor chump on the street dying to know something with just the right amount of money. Carmen was fair, though; she had never once in her life made an unfair deal for the other party. She was really just a simple woman, an information broker, and café owner. It was quite the life.

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Daniel looked over at the Spaniard and smiled. "Well, I have lived in London for quite a while, but sometimes moments like this happen when I forget an umbrella or coat. I'm sure it happens to others at some point or another," he replied, laughing slightly. Well, at least he wasn't lacking his frying pan or camera. Speaking of which, he was glad that he put the latter in its case than just have it hanging around his neck. Oh, that would have been a disaster...

"Coffee, if you wouldn't mind. I never really got used to the taste of tea," he went on. He had lived in England for quite a while, yet coffee always seemed more appealing than tea did. Coffee seemed to run through his veins, while tea just sat off to the side feeling unwanted. Some days he would have it, though today wasn't one of those days.

The Hungarian didn't really minding the fact that he was dripping wet anymore. He would probably end up at his work's bathroom, drying his shirt underneath the hand-dryers. It wouldn't be an odd site, since when it rained there was always some reason why he ended up walking into the building looking as though he fell into the Thames.

In fact, last time it rained he was in the same condition because he had given his umbrella to an older woman. She needed it far more than he did, since it looked as though she were to go off to do something fairly important, in which it wouldn't be good if she were soaked. He needed a new umbrella anyway, so it was a small sacrifice to pay.

Now, though, there wasn't really a better reason besides forgetting. Not anything he could really do about it, since it was already too late to head back home. He did have a job to go to, and one that was very unpredictable as well. At least he had his phone on, so they could call if there was an on-site examination to be done. He really liked the idea, since it's been a while since he had one of those.

Though, the option to have a sick day did seem rather appealing. Ah, decisions, always so hard to make even when they seemed so simple to others. Eh, he'll just go. No use turning back when he was already halfway there, no?

He began tapping his fingers against the table as he looked outside the window again. "As much as I do love the rain, I just hope it eases up soon instead of getting worse..." he sighed. If the latter happened, well, then he would be a sitting duck for who-knows how long.

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”I’m surprised, not many people enjoy the rain. But I supposed London is the perfect place to live if you do enjoy it~. Coffee it is,” She chuckled, bemused, marking it down on her notepad, even though it wasn’t necessary. It was a simple enough order, but she had a certain order of doing things. ”I suppose I should ask the way you like your coffee,” she teased, winking at him. ”Or should I throw together something and surprise you~?” Carmen was joking, of course, but she would do it if he actually agreed. After all, it was her duty as the owner of The Three Tomatoes to serve her customers as they saw fit. She glanced back to the direction of the kitchen to see if her staff was beginning to set things up while she waited for the man to decide. It was a usual habit of hers, liking her particular way of doing things, and was pleased to see one of them notice her and give her a thumbs up. As she turned back, she happened to notice one of the lights in the corner flickering – slowly, and not exactly noticeable, but flickering all the same. Carmen narrowed her green eyes at it, as if daring for it to continue displaying its flickering for all to see, and grew irritated as she watched it flicker once more. She made a mental note to have Emma replace the bulb later. And that’s when she saw it. The smallest bit, the very smallest bit you could imagine, of her light green wall was beginning to peel. It took all of her willpower just to not start yelling at it to fix itself and paste itself back on. She then thought back to the last time the walls had been painted, and Carmen realized they hadn’t since her father opened the café all those years ago. It was no surprise to see it was peeling, but that was no excuse. Annoyed, and growing more and more so by the second, she flipped to a new page on her notepad and scribbled angrily, “REPLACE LIGHT BULB” and “RE-PAINT THE WALLS” beneath it. Satisfied, she flipped back to the previous page to finish recording her customer’s order.

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"I suppose so, since London never seems to be on shortage on it. If all else, it's just getting rid of the never-ending supply," he said. He laughed slightly when she decided he would have tea, whether he liked it or not. Well, no use in trying to argue over it. It's just a drink, nothing entirely worth getting so worked up over. Sure, he would have preferred coffee, but tea was fine too.

Daniel quickly snapped out of his train of thought, since he noticed the silence settling down between him and the waitress. "Hm? Oh, right, the coffee. Well, I'm sure anything will do. I don't have much of a preference on how I drink it. Besides, surprises are generally nice to have every now and then. Anything should be fine just as long as it doesn't kill me," he responded with a small laugh.

He glanced around the cafe. Not many people were there, since it was so early in the morning. It was still nice, nevertheless. "My, what a nice place this is..." he commented to himself, not noticing the flickering light or the peeling paint. Ah, usually places he thought of as "nice" end up as a crime scene at some point or another, whether it be in the past or the not to distant future. No use on thinking anymore on that subject, might as well enjoy the free-time he had now while it still lasted. It probably wouldn't be very long, but no harm in hoping.

He rested his gaze at the table in front of him, watching his fingers lightly tap the surface. 'Tch, not again...' he thought, not bothering to find a way to cease the motion. It wasn't as annoying as a clicking pen, so it was tolerable enough for the moment. Besides, the rain outside was enough of a background noise to drown out his soft tapping.

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”Isn't that right? Very well, a surprise it is!” She laughed, making down a star as an indication to brew the drink how she deemed fit. She tucked the top pages of her notepad down and slipped it comfortably into her black apron, placing the pen behind her ear. Carmen was pleasantly surprised she could converse with the man about the state of the country's weather. Not too many of the natives in London were willing to talk about the subject and while it wasn't the world's most interesting topic, it was interesting enough. Carmen raised an eyebrow at the comment and smiled, although she was a bit doubtful. Was he only saying that to be polite, was it a sarcastic comment, or did he really mean it? She settled on either the first or the second; sarcasm was usually obviously evident in the tone of the speaker, but for her customer she couldn't sense any. ”Thank you, querido, that's kind of you! I appreciate it – I'm proud of this place,” she said with a smile, moving to take the menu off the table. The man was tapping his finger on the table, something she had seen quite frequently as a habit when people ate at her cafe. She was no stranger to doing it herself, and she recognized the body language as a sign of impatience or irritation. He was most likely in a hurry to go somewhere. ”I'll be back shortly with your coffee!” Not wanting to be responsible for poor customer service, Carmen quickly retreated to the kitchen and began to prepare the cup of coffee. The coffeemaker had already been used several times that morning, and there was still a good amount for at least two more cups. Grabbing a mug, she poured the black coffee, and added a small portion of cream and two spoons of sugar. She hummed for about thirty seconds as she stirred the mixture, momentarily ignoring the usual commotion of her employees behind her and realized she had slowly stopped stirring as she hummed. Damn her inability to multitask. Slightly irritated with herself, Carmen stopped humming and concentrated solely on stirring. A minute later, with the white cup of coffee placed on a matching small plate, Carmen brought the drink to the man and set it down in front of him. The whole process had taken about three or so minutes, but she hadn't wanted to keep him waiting any longer if he was in a hurry to get somewhere. ”Here you are, querido,” she said cheerfully. ”Would you like the receipt now, or would you like to wait?"

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Daniel glanced out the window once the waitress left. Well, the rain seemed to be getting worse. Looks like he won't be going anywhere any time soon, unfortunately. His fingers kept tapping the table, though he kind of wished he was doing something else. Taking his hand of the table, he took out a small Rubik's Cube out of his pocket. If he had any case files on him he would have began to look through them by now, but gratefully they were all back at his lab. He didn't know what he would do if they were to get ruined by the rain.

There wasn't much left to do but wait. Well, he could call in and tell his coworkers how he would be pretty late. Then again, calling in sick sounded like a good idea at the moment. He would probably wait a while before doing so, since the rain could clear up at some point. Not any time soon, but at some point....hopefully. Surely it can't get any worse, he doesn't want to be stuck in the same building all day. No one would want such a think, especially when they need to be elsewhere. He sighed softly, turning his attention to the small cube he held.

A few minutes passed and he was interrupted by the sound of something placed on the table. He glanced up, seeing that his coffee has arrived. "Ah, thank you. I'll wait for the check, if you don't mind," he said, putting his little cube puzzle back in his pocket. He picked up his cup of coffee, taking a sip of it. He was a bit glad that the Spaniard had put sugar in it, as much as he likes bitter coffee it's nothing in comparison to the drink being sweetened.

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Carmen smiled, a natural reaction when serving her customers, but she still couldn't shake off her just as natural feeling of concern. "But, ah, are you in a hurry somewhere?" She glanced out the window, glaring at the rain as if she glared hard enough the storm would suddenly decide to calm itself, stop pissing off the Spaniard, and turn into the most beautiful day ever for the poor man in front of her. Of course, that wasn't exactly a reasonable thought, but it was a nice one. She attempted to think of other things she could do to help her customer; after all, he was currently in her care and God damn her if she didn't try her best to satisfy his needs in any way possible. This was being said even if she could do anything to help, but even if she couldn't she would still do her best. Carmen Fernandez-Carriedo was not one to ever give up; in fact, she never did. She was quite a stubborn woman when she wanted to be (which was rather often). A few ideas crossed her mind, such as gifting him an umbrella and rain gear, or an alternative way to reach his destination. "Let me know if I can do anything to help, okay?" Carmen said, deadly serious. At this point (and it wasn't even a point very far into a predicament she didn't know specifics about), she was willing to bring her car around and offer him a ride. She supposed it was her motherly instincts, even though she wasn't yet a mother, she may as well be one with how she tries to care for practically the whole of London -- but then again, it always was. She had even lacked a mother figure as a child; instead becoming a mother for those around her even back then, especially for her father and Estelle. Carmen had never really questioned it and had simply assumed that was the way life worked, even if it seemed strange to everyone else.

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