Coffee Break

Who: Hero and Jenny
Where: The Echo building
When: Late Afternoon

With one hand still flying across her typewriter, Hero reached out with her other to grasp the mug of cheap Echo office coffee and bring it to her lips, eyes still focused on the paper before her. Hero was the kind of person who, after doing an interview, had to write down the article immediately. Because despite her best note-taking and memorization efforts -- and they were pretty damn fine -- some details always got lost the longer she waited to write an article. And Hero hated losing details, even if many would be cut out in later edits to fit her allotted word count. For that reason she had trekked the shorter distance to the Echo's building instead of heading back home.

Somewhere, amidst the typing and reading of the words before her, she realized that the cup she was holding to her lips? Had nothing in it. At all. And, despite being in Workaholic Mode, Hero was still running on on entirely no sleep last night and still needed her coffee! Cheap office brand though it may be.

So, finally finding a good place to stop about a good ten minutes later, she pushed her chair away from the desk and stood up, picking up the still-fresh looking pack of cigarettes off her desk -- it had probably been a good hour or so since her last, after all. She went ahead and pulled one out, lighting it up right there at her desk -- nothing new, half the desks in the office building had ashtrays. She pocketed the pack and her box of matches, then picked up her mug and headed towards the nearest break room.

Sitting with her legs up on the couch in the break room curled beneath her, Jenny scribbled on a note pad that rested on her lap. Normally she'd be working from home, but she didn't feel the urge to work alone, if only because the silence disturbed her and she enjoyed the pleasant background noise that came with working at the Echo. A tendril of blonde hair escaped from her haphazard pony-tail when she shifted her weight and, absently, she pushed it behind her ear.

Jotting down the basic background of a new story is boring, she reflected as she set the pen down on the pad, only for it to roll off and down onto the floor. Grumbling quietly to herself, she sat up on her knees, bracing herself against the arm of the couch and leaned down to pick up the pen. Just as her fingers curled around it, someone entered the room and her head snapped up, eyes landing on the new figure. She blinked at Hero and offered her a small smile. "Hello," she said.

"Hey, Jen!" Hero replied, eyes bright as she fixed the girl with bright grin. Really, with the enthusiasm she'd put into the greeting one would be hard pressed to think she had pulled an all-nighter. A frustrating all-nighter to boot, the kind that had her staring at papers and documents and just almost getting to the meaning behind it all but never quite reaching it. She hated those.

But those papers were neither Here or Now at the moment. Instead Here and Now comprised of greeting and most likely talking to Jenny Haas, who was sitting on the couch in the break room. Hero quickly poured some coffee into her mug and then stepped over to the further side of the room to stand by the window. She opened it just the slightest crack, enough so that she could squeeze one cigarette-carrying hand out and blow her smoke into the chilled air instead of into the break room. But Hero made sure not to open it too wide, and she stood with her body largely blocking the crack. It wasn't an effort she usually went through when she found the break room occupied, but it was no secret to her that Jenny had a somewhat frail constitution, and she had no desire to exacerbate that.

"So, Jen, how have you been?" The grin never left her face as she took a quick puff her cigarette and turned her head to blow the smoke out behind her, idly watching it curl into the wintry backdrop before bringing her enthused attention back to Jenny.

Jenny shifted her weight enough for her to drop her legs back onto the ground with a soft thud. She gathered her notepad and closed it, setting it down beside her on the couch with the pen safely between its pages. Sitting back, she placed her hands on her thighs and tapped her fingers against them to the beat of a song she had heard this morning.

"I've been fine, and yourself?" She asked, turning her full attention to the other woman in the room. It didn't escape her notice that Hero went out of her way to block the smoke from her and that caused her to smile warmly at her. It wasn't every day someone in this city would do something like that.

"Pretty good, actually," she answered, flicking some of the ash onto the outside windowsill. "Didn't get much sleep last night, but can't complain too much now -- just finished up a pretty fun interview. Samantha Tyler? First gal to work for good ol' ECPD. Detective, even. Maybe your brother knows her?" She knew Jenny's brother, Jackson, worked for ECPD. Hell, being a nosy journalist meant Hero (and especially 'M. Hatterson') knew a good share of names of the police department. Shortly after the serial killer episode, she had been given the task of conducting a series of personal interviews on the 'Hero Cops' -- not that Jackson had been particularly enthusiastic. At all.

Shrugging her shoulders, Jenny said, "I dunno if he knows her. Jackson doesn't really talk about work, you know?" She had a feeling Jackson even went out of his way to make sure she knew as little about his work as possible, which was mostly fine with her. There were some things she didn't want to know and as long as Jackson didn't out-right lie to her, she was content. Mostly.

She leaned forwards a little, though, when the beginning of Hero's sentences hit her, her gaze concerned. "You should sleep some, Hero. You'll get sick if you don't sleep enough," she added with a little self-condemning smile. She was one to talk about "lack of sleep equals bad health." "And I know you wouldn't rest if you got sick, so might as well kill two birds with one stone."

"I sleep some," Hero joked, that wide grin disappearing behind her coffee mug for a moment. Bringing it back down, she continued, "It's the news that doesn't. Well, for as much what I work on counts as 'news', anyway." The smile turned a bit self-deprecating there, but still good humored. She actually did like her day job, although others were certainly fond to point out it was nothing so hard-hitting or news-worthy as other 'serious' journalists such as Matt Hatterson... not that anybody in the office really knew 'his' true identity. Hero took all that in amazing stride though, and not only because she had the 'best of both worlds' so to speak. A human interest story often brought a kind of relevant perspective often lacking in articles focused solely on the 'big picture'. And the people who usually littered the society pages? Those were the people whose decisions often affected the city as well, and more of those decisions seemed to happen at functions and brunches than behind boardroom doors. Oh, and of course, she did have the best of both worlds, journalist-wise... she just didn't let many others know it.

"But," Hero continued, motioning a bit towards Jenny with her coffee mug, "I see that you're here on this beautiful Saturday along with the rest of us -- so I might just accuse you of working instead of resting as well. A new story?" She flicked a warm gaze down to the pad by Jenny's side.

"Still, you should get more." Jenny looked down at her notepad and picked it up, twirling it slowly in her hands thoughtfully. "Well, my room mate was out and I didn't really wanna be alone, so I wandered around for a while and ended up here." She shrugged and opened the notebook only to close it again. Setting it down, she stood and walked towards the coffee maker, pulling her mug out of the cabinet above it. She poured herself a cup and took a long sip, grimacing slightly at the heat.

"Ah, not so much of a new story as a story I'm finally working on." She nodded towards her notepad, gesturing vaguely with her free hand. "I don't think I'll submit it, at least not in time for my deadline. I have a half finished one at home I'll probably submit." She took another sip of her coffee, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "But, anyway. What are you working on right now?"

There was a momentary pause as Hero turned her head again, taking another puff from her cigarette and exhaling through the crack, before answering, "Jus' working on the article for that interview. I had it a couple hours ago. Wanted to get as much down while everything was still fresh -- maybe even submit it for Monday. It was supposed to earlier this week, but it got 'rescheduled to a later date'... but you know me," her grin grew wider as she turned back to Jenny, certainly pleased with herself, "When would I ever let an interview hang in limbo?"

Hiding a smile behind her mug, Jenny pretended to think, then playfully said, "ah, never?" She giggled a little. "You'd probably write something even if you were in a coma." She let Hero see her smile to let her know she was just teasing. More often than not, Jenny admired Hero's ability to focus on her work the way she did. She always made things look easier than they were.

"Well I'd certainly give it a good ol' try," Hero agreed. Then, considering something Jenny had said earlier, she cocked her head a bit at the girl. "So a roommate, huh?" They had both been working at the Echo for some years now -- hell, aside from a break for college Hero had been there just about her whole life -- and she never recalled hearing about a roommate. Since Hero was quick to jump into a talk with oh, say, everyone she met and even quicker to talk to those she already knew... she was betting the roommate thing was pretty damn recent.

"Mm?" The blonde blinked, then blushed. She blew out a large breath, ruffling whatever hair that fell towards her face. "Oh, right. No one knows. Ah, I got a room mate this week. Lily - she's a friend of mine. She wanted to move out of where she was living and I was getting lonely by myself, so I offered." She ducked her head a little. "My brother doesn't know yet. He's not gonna be happy, but oh well. That's what he gets for not visiting more."

Hero laughed a bit, but an eyebrow cocked at Jenny's statement. "Not visiting more? I'm surprised," she admitted. Maybe other people might have stopped a second to consider whether that was callous or appropriate or not -- there could have been some personal reason behind it -- but Hero almost always spoke exactly what was on her mind as soon as she thought it. And, after years of various conversations with Jenny Haas, she certainly knew that Jackson Haas's picture was probably right next to 'overprotective' in the dictionary. However, very uncharacteristically, Hero didn't press the issue as to 'why' Jackson hadn't been visiting more... she had also gotten the sense that Jenny and her brother didn't talk too much about police work.

But that wasn't to say that Hero didn't have something to add on! "You should certainly tell him a soon as you can though." She was a very big fan of Honesty: it was a huge motivator for her job. "At the very least, he'll probably find out anyway -- so you can get 'Put-Out Jackson' out of the way with sooner. And if he's got something to say? You have every right to decide who you want or don't want to live with. But if he's still not convinced," her grin turned cheeky here, "you just tell him it could have been worse. Hell, you could have chosen to room with some journalist from the Echo!" She laughed a bit at that, because Hero learned very early on when dealing with the police that Detective Jackson Haas was no fan of journalists. Or interviews.

Jenny walked back towards the couch, nudging her notepad out of the way as she sat down. She crossed one leg over the other and slouched a little over her coffee mug, looking down into it pensively. Sighing explosively, she nodded her head. "Yea, I know, but he's been busy doing..." she waved her hand "whatever it is he does at work." She was nodding her head in agreement, though. "I'll tell him the next time I see him. Hopefully he doesn't just show up at my apartment before I tell him, though knowing him, he will."

"And how do you feel about him dropping in?" Hero wondered aloud, tone still warm and interested, as she brought another sip of the coffee to her lips. She couldn't help asking it, she just wanted to know -- she had a sometimes unfortunate tendency to turn personal conversations into interviews. But, like her interviews, her manner was wholly impartial yet genuinely interested. Hero certainly had no interest in judging one way or the other whether Jenny liked her brother dropping in or not, the interest was just in how Jenny felt on the matter.

Tapping her nails against the side of the mug, the blonde shrugged. "I'm used to it," she explained, "but I just wanna tell him face to face before he finds out for himself by showing up at my apartment." She smiled suddenly, glancing over at Hero. "My room mate is real nice, though, so he probably won't complain too much. He may even calm down once he knows I'm not alone at home so much."

"Well I hope that goes well then, both the telling your brother and the new roommate," Hero replied warmly, finishing her coffee and crushing the cigarette butt against the outer windowsill. But, seeing as how half the butt still remained, Hero held onto it between her fingers as she shut the window and walked over to pour herself another coffee to drink at her desk. .

Jenny nodded, smiling at Hero gratefully. "Thanks, I need all the luck I can get, I guess." She took another sip of her coffee and frowned when she barely got a mouthful. Empty. She restrained a pout and stood, walking towards Hero to pour herself another cup when the elder woman finished with the pot.

"Well once you've sated your luck, just toss some over in my direction," Hero joked, passing Jenny the coffee pot now that her own mug was full. She could use some luck, especially sifting through that pile of half-stories and elusive connections that scattered across her apartment. Really, after finishing this article on Sam for Monday, Hero was thinking she had to spend the night hitting up some sources. "And with that I should get back to that article -- literary portraitures on female detectives don't write themselves." She raised her mug a bit in a friendly farewell before heading towards the break room door. "Talk to you later, Jen!"

Dropping in a teaspoon of sugar into her now full coffee mug, Jenny stirred it in with a contented hum. She tossed Hero a grin at her words. "Yea, no problem." She lifted the teaspoon and waved it at her in farewell. "Bye, Hero! Good luck on your articles! Have fun and take a nap when you're done!" She walked back to her seat, curling her legs up beside her, waving with her hand this time. "Later," she called.