Grand Opening

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

When: December 31st, 2011 (Wibbly!)
Who: Ianto Jones mrcoffeejones/OTA!
Where: The Vortex Cafe - Venice Beach, CA


What:

It was finally that time when Ianto felt the cafe was ready and there was one way to open it, to open it on a popular night for a party crowd that loves to either drink or get stoned. New Years Eve was perfect for that and they will all be clambering for a chance to try to sober up a little bit.

There was swing music playing from a band that he hired outside and everything was just prefect. There would be no 'coffee' drinks that had little to no coffee in them in this shop. He's sure the fine people in California would love it this way. He's there in a suit and tie, he's not about to give them up and a cup of Blue Mountain in his hand. It was perfect and he's excited to see if his friends would show up. He knew they would. He wanted Jack to be proud and he was proud of the diner that he turned into a cafe.

So with the key in his hand he went to go open the cafe doors for the first time to the public. "The cafe is now open."

Comments

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

Liz already felt nervous enough with leaving Robbie with Rex and Esther for the night. Esther was fine, really. Great in fact but Rex...Liz wasn't sure how to feel about him just yet. Still, other parents had left their kids with the newest addition to Torchwood, so it would be alright.

"Hey." Liz smiled, looking over the final touches Ianto had put on the place since she'd been here last. "It looks amazing." She said sincerely before she pushed a large box of cups (http://www.amazon.com/SOLO%C2%AE-Company-Plastic-Ounces-Carton/dp/B002XK36GU/ref=sr_1_9?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1325296619&sr=1-9) at him. "house warming. Or...coffee shop warming gift." Liz said with a little smirk.

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

Ianto had invited the children to come along but he knew it would be too late by the time things were over. He had just finished off his work for the night and he looks to see Liz stop in. He then looks at the big box and he reads what they are. There's a big long groan and he takes a deep breath. "Thanks. The first day wasn't bad. And, we can use those cups for other drinks tonight."

He walks back into the back of the cafe to pull out a couple Corona bottles and he hands one over to Liz. "So what do you think so far?"

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

Liz wouldn't have dreamed of bringing a teething child to a party like this anyway. Robbie has a small army of teething rings and numbing gel so he should be fine. Hopefully.

"Did you hire anyone to work here with you?" She's worried Ianto did all this himself. Liz takes the beer and smiles. "I thought this was a coffee place. Are you out?"

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

Ianto thanks Liz for this and he looks at the bottles of beer and he smiles. "I can make you a cup of special coffee." Ianto puts the beer back in the fridge for later. "We'll need to make use of those cups."

He goes to get Liz a cup of Kopi Luwak in other words cat shit coffee. "You don't want to know what I had to do to get this blend." He hands her a cup of the stuff and he isn't about to tell her it's the famous cat shit coffee either.

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

"isn't all your coffee special?" Liz grins and watching Ianto a moment. If she ever finds out the origins of that coffee Ianto is going to find himself with one pissed off firestarter to deal with. But since she doesn't know she takes the cup and down half of it in a second the way she always does coffee.

"Nice." She doesn't get why it's special. It's good but she's not picking up the subtle nuances that come from being crapped out of a tree cat.

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

"Yes, my coffee's always special but this blend is rather hard to get and its fairly expensive." Ianto will not be telling Liz the origins of the coffee and maybe she will once he gets plaques up.

He holds a finger up in the air. "Actually, its the most expensive coffee you can buy and seeing this is Los Angeles, I knew that it might be a nice touch to maybe lure in some celebrities." He looks at a nice blank wall with a smile on his face. "I would like to get some pictures to add to the wall."

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

"You just want to make a bunch of money.' Liz teases as she takes another sip of coffee. The comment about pictures makes her smile. "I can help with that. Might be kind of nice to have art for sale here, too."

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

"Torchwood pays well enough and Jack's taking care of the mortgages of our homes." Ianto looks down at the cup of coffee in her hand and he thinks. "Art. I think we can have crafts and other things to sell. The people here seem to be into that kind of thing."

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

"He's what?" That is news to Liz, and she doesn't like it one bit. She's not a handout girl and that's what this feels like. She exhales slowly and forces a smile. "So...you just wanted to get away from everything?" She asks Ianto cautiously. Liz could understand it if he did.

"None of that crap that looks like a drunken monkey threw a bunch of trash together, though." Liz wrinkles her nose at the idea of what passes as art. "There's lost of decent people on the Boardwalks trying to make it. You and I should go scouting sometime, if you ever get a day off."

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

"He's signing our checks so we can pay those mortgages. Okay, so Jack gave us a bit of a raise to make things easier," Ianto's tone is teasing and he's happy with the place he found for both Patrick and himself. "I did. But I don't know. I liked being an important part of the team. I don't think keeping myself locked away in a cafe is going to help with that."

He waves a finger in the air. "Oi, what's wrong with letting a drunk monkey paint?" Again he's teasing her and he nods his head. "I'll have to take a look. I'm sure maybe we can have some local musicians and poets." Ianto looks at the big empty space and he thinks. "I don't have the room for a proper stage but maybe some..." He tosses his hands in the air and he goes to get another cup of cat shit coffee. "Comic acts. This is Los Angeles after all and everyone deserves a chance to make a break."

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

"Oh..." Liz realizes suddenly that she might not be in the best mood for joking right now. "Yeah, I knew that. I just...Never mind." She doesn't want to admit to Ianto of all people that she's having a bout of girly emotion about not marrying Owen tonight like they'd planned. Liz thought she was fine with it but now that the day is here, she's a little disappointed and touch.

She won't actually SAY anything, though.

"Tell me you're kidding about a monkey." Liz rolls her eyes. She know's it's not Ianto's fault. "Comedy? Really? You sure it's not just gonna be random people over caffeinated and bitching about how their lives didn't work out how they'd planned?"

She sighs after she shoots down his idea. "Sorry. It's a good idea, I'm just..." Liz trails off and shrugs like it's no big thing. "Not in a good mood. I wasn't thinking I'd be here tonight. That any of us would." She takes a big gulp of her coffee before grumbling. "Vegas, baby."

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

Ianto stops and then he thinks, this was to be the night Liz was to get married and after Jack went missing almost everything was put on hold. "I'm um... sorry..." He goes to fix her another cup of coffee.

"I'm kidding about the drunken monkey," Ianto tries to lighten things up. "I don't know. We don't exactly have space for someone to recite Shakespeare. Okay, we do have space for that. Okay. No Shakespeare or tasteless comics. I'll keep it to starving musicians." He's going to need to get the rights to sell liquor. "And art."

He then stops and he's the only one that maybe happy. He stops to think and he hears her mention Vegas. "I'm sorry. Really. We can make the day better when the day comes." He taps Liz on the shoulder and he should of been more tactful. "Come outside with me for a moment."

[open-flame.livejournal.com]

"Don't be. Please." The last thing Liz wants is someone's pity. Not that she truly thinks Ianto pities her but sorry won't fix it. "Maybe we're just...not meant to be married. He lost the ring, the wedding didn't happen like we'd hoped and...I donno."

Liz smiles a bit at the idea of musicians. "That would work. And maybe open mic nights, things like that. Then there could be badly done Shakespeare and it wouldn't be your fault."

"If the ever day comes." She says bitterly before Ianto taps her. Liz takes her cup of coffee and follows along after him, not questioning. Some fresh air might be nice.

[bluesuit_handy]

Hopefully there are some nibbles, because Andrew's brought Märet and the blond is looking peckish. When isn't he, though? Andrew insists on holding Märet's hand and dragging him along as he seeks out Ianto to congratulate him.

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

There's plenty of nibbles, biscuits and cakes. Ianto looks over to see both Andrew and Maret come into the cafe. "He can help himself. I've got plenty of extras."

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew turns to Märet and gives him a stern look. "Pace yourself," he says. "And behave." Märet just rolls his eyes, and immediately is off for the nearest snack tray as soon as Andrew lets go of him.

"I like what you've done with the place," Andrew comments to Ianto, glancing around the cafe.

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

Ianto looks at Maret and he waves the idea that Maret may eat up most of the nibbles on the tray. "Its okay. I've got more in the back."

"Thanks. I'm happy with it myself. Its been sometime since I've had something stable like this. I was starting to feel a little naked without my old tourist booth." Ianto looks towards the various coffee machines and he wanders over behind the counter. "Can I make you a cup of coffee or tea?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"He'll eat as much as you let him," Andrew points out. "And then I have to deal with him moaning and groaning when he makes himself sick."

With a sigh, he looks away from the grazing meta-meta and back toward Ianto. "I'll take a cup of tea, thanks," he says.

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

"Somethings will never change with him." Ianto sighs, and he looks at the plate of nibbles. "He's not eating from rubbish bins still I hope."

He wanders over towards a kettle and he goes to put fresh water into it. "Is there any particular type of tea that you prefer? Earl Gray? Black? Lemon? Green?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"Not when I'm watching," Handy replies with a rueful chuckle. "He seems to have a resilient digestive system, at least."

He follows along, leaning on a counter and looking out so he can keep an eye on the meta-meta, as well as the rest of the scene. "House black?" he says with a shrug. "I'm not picky."

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

"That's an added pleasure other than the unforgiving smell that comes with bin jumping." Ianto has left access to the counter open if Andrew wanted to follow behind him.

"I have a house black that you'll enjoy." Ianto goes to find the bag that's in a tin that's labeled along with the rest of them. "What about Maret?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"He doesn't care about tea," said Handy with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Give him something hot with a flavor and he'll drink it."

He chuckles, coming close enough to talk but positioning himself so he can watch Märet pigging out on hors d'ouvres. "Forget the smell, imagine washing a three-quarters Time Lord who doesn't want to be washed. He gets in these moods - especially when he's been eating things he knows he shouldn't."

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

"I do have some chocolate powder to make him hot chocolate with." Ianto walks into the back and he should offer the meta-meta something warm to wash the nibbles with.

He looks back over his shoulder and he can only imagine. "And, seeing who he reminds us of doesn't exactly help. I'm sure chocolate should be okay. I still don't know what happened to my own Metacrisis. He simply vanished as did most of them." Ianto pauses for a bit and he's wondering if he should worry. "It might be something worth while to look into at some point."

[bluesuit_handy]

"He likes chocolate," agrees Handy with a smile. He follows, leaning in the doorway - Märet can look after himself for a moment or two. Maybe. He chuckles a little - living with Märet, it's relatively easy for him not to think too much about the fact that he's looking at the Master's face/body every day. By this point, it's just Märet. It's obvious, sometimes, that it still bothers the others a bit more.

"We should have kept better track of all of them," he agrees. "Some of them more than others, really. I think I lucked out with Märet being so dependent."

[mrcoffeejones.livejournal.com]

Ianto goes to make the homemade hot chocolate and there's a smile on his face. "There's not many calories in coffee and tea. It would be understandable for someone like him." Ianto's pleased the Meta-Master is no longer attached to him and trying to drive him insane.

He goes to get some milk to add to the pot and he thinks for a moment. "James and Maret are the only two that haven't wandered off completely. With all of the moving and what happened with The Miracle it's understandable we lost track of the rest."