Smells like citrus and cinnamon

Lorna Maddox|| 27 || Bartender at Hammond's Pub

[oflowtides]

open starter for @nottinghillstarters location: holland park

"C'mon, I promise it won't be that bad." Lacey beamed at their company. "I'm starting to actually get to work on people instead of just oranges and pig ears now - and besides, if you come let me practice giving a real tattoo, it's only like a fraction of the cost! The only downside is that you have to pick from a flash sheet."

[lornaxmaddox]

Lorna kept her bottle of water up to her mouth as she listened to them. "Why is it that you know one of my weaknesses." She chuckled before taking a drink of water, keeping hold of the bottle. "So how big does this practice tattoo have to be anyway? A flash sheet? Well I don't mind that at all. When do you want to do it?"

[backpockct]

"oh! there's no need to be jealous, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, i'm always tired by like nine pm" she laughs, "also i feel like drinking a lot of coffee has the desired early bird effect". jaya quirks a brow at the other's words, "seriously? people are fuckin' weird, but i'm all about personal space, no worries".

[lornaxmaddox]

"Okay, now that would be bad for me, I'm usually in work at nine pm, I don't think a sleepy bartender would be best at that time." She chuckled. "Now, I must ask, what is considered a lot of coffee, how many cups?" She asked curiously. "Yeah, that's the joy of my friend group, some of them are nice and ask before poking or hugging me. One time I almost knocked one out because they hugged me behind."

[oflowtides]

"Strength in the just right number." Jimmy amended, nodding sagely as if he had just delivered the most important wisdom of all time. "Oooh, good choice - I mean, unless you really fuck up the chocolate, you can't go wrong with anything that's got fudge on it."

[lornaxmaddox]

"Exactly, too many cooks spoil the broth as the saying goes best to have like a good handful of people like three or four." She offered up with a little smile on her lips. "Oh I would have to agree with you on that, I love fudge, any time my friends go away all I ask for from them in fudge. I have had plenty hits and misses."

[backpockct]

jaya laughs at lorna's words, "in all honesty, i don't know. i just wake up like this" she shrugs, "sorry, that's not much use". she looks back at lorna, giving her a small smile, "god i'd never do that to you. your personal space, is yours".

[lornaxmaddox]

"Well call me jealous, I guess that some people are more of an early bird, I know for a fact that I'm a night owl." She let a small chuckle escape from her lips. "You would be surprised at how many people wouldn't let personal space stop them from poking me. So thank you for respecting it."

[oflowtides]

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Esme's entire face lit up at the idea. Some days, she still felt like the girl that stood out as a loner, struggling to make real friends. "We should start a petition to the DC cinematic offices. See if we can't change some minds and hearts. They can even include Constantine for the guys."

[lornaxmaddox]

"Oh trust me it is and I always up for lending a hand, can even take them home with you." She offered with a big,bright smile on her face. "That would be a great idea! Oh that would be so cool! They do have a great dynamic in the comics, but she would be the star for sure, nobody is gonna outshine her."

[oflowtides]

"I do know what you mean." Benny was immediately comfortable, grinning widely at Lorna. "I'm super social, you know? I love talking to people, and I usually find the more conversations I have, the more likely it is that I'll stay away. The caffeine helps, of course, but I think just having my brain focus on stuff like what other people are saying helps a lot. So what do you have planned for today?"

[lornaxmaddox]

"Ah, well I am glad to meet somebody who knows what I mean. I love having a good chat with people, comes with being a bartender, have to know how to keep a conversation, I've made some good friends with just starting random conversations with them. Me? Well to be fairly honest, I'm not too sure, I might get some shopping done later on, but other than that, my day is wide open! What about you?"

[silkeared]

vale could also be quite the rambler, perhaps that was why she felt as though she had stumbled across a kindred spirit rather than an annoyance. lorna was sweet, good company and, most importantly, she kept the raven haired woman's thoughts away from the boy that had been plaguing her heart ever since she met him. "exactly!" she beamed, tapping the design once more as if to cement the decision, "just a little secret between me and you. i can serve the impulse to get a new tattoo without completely ruining all my job prospects. win win."

[lornaxmaddox]

Lorna enjoyed rambling, even when others didn't want her to, she could talk for hours if nobody stopped her. She was happy that Vale let her ramble, it was just nice to do it. "Ah now aren't you a smart cookie, I mean they don't really mind me having tattoos at the bar, if the guys can have them, then so can I." She said with a proud smile appearing on her lips.

[backpockct]

jaya had the day off and she'd woken up to an empty fridge, so she'd decided to head down to the bluebird, as a treat. she got there and the place was packed, she spotted an empty seat, but lorna occupied the other chair. she made her way over, "you sure? brilliant, thanks!" she perches, pulling a menu towards her, "i won't be a bother, i promise".

[lornaxmaddox]

"You are very welcome, goodness I don't think I have met somebody so perky first thing in the morning. May I ask how you do it, because I always end up grumpy until I eat something." She said letting a small chuckle escape from her lips. "Oh you are fine, the only way you could be a bother is if you start poking me, then you would be one."

[urbnlgnds]

there was something to be said about taking that first sip of caffeine in the morning. it was like it sent an immediate jolt through gilly’s veins, a shiver running up her spine and a smile tugging at her lips. but then the lack of tables to sit at caught her off guard, and she found herself hovering awkwardly over someone else, her offer to let gilly take a seat nearly making the blonde blush. “you sure you don’t mind? i don’t want to intrude upon your alone time or anythin’.”

[lornaxmaddox]

"Oh no you're grand honestly, sometimes I think that you can have too much alone time, so having a bit of company wouldn't be bad at all." Lorna replied with a soft smile appearing on her lips as she watched the stranger sitting down. "I must have been having a bit too much alone time with my thoughts because I had no idea when it got so busy in here."

[oftatteredwings]

"I'd love to." Honestly, Iris wasn't about to give the other any choice in the matter, had merely been hovering to be polite. So the second an invite was given, she collapsed into the chair opposite, letting a heavy breath go. "What is happening today? Where did everyone come from?"

[lornaxmaddox]

"Well that's great to hear." She said with a warm smile appearing on her lips, watching as she took the seat opposite Lorna. She looked around, tilting her head as she began to think about what was going on. "Couldn't be a lunch rush. Are they doing an offer that I didn't even notice when I walked in or something?"

[oflowtides]

"That's what I thought - strength in numbers. And just generally smarter ideas in numbers. I don't really wanna spend the rest of my day overstuffed." Jimmy shook his head. "Anyway - which cake were you thinking?"

[lornaxmaddox]

"Exactly, there is always strength in numbers, well best not to have too many numbers, otherwise those ideas would get muddled and then they wouldn't be very good one." She chuckled as she looked at the cakes once again. "I was thinking the chocolate fudge, it's screaming to me."

[oflowtides]

"I like to flip through the comics sometimes, but I don't keep up unless I see someone I want to cosplay as," Esme admitted. "And half the reason I even do that is because I catch a lot of unneeded flack for posting photos and then people decide that I need to prove myself worthy, or something." She rolled her eyes. "I swear, some people feel so entitled to the stupidest things. But yeah, I'd love a Zatanna movie or tv show or something at this point! I know they're different, but WandaVision was a huge hit, you'd think other studios would see women centered superheroes finally getting love and try their own thing."

[lornaxmaddox]

"I love going through comics, a little bit of down time with them and a nice cup of tea is just perfect. I have a load at home if you ever want to flip through them." Lorna offered up. "Oh you have no idea how many people I have met that have felt entitled to something. I would love that too, I would be front row or on my couch watching. That did so well, another badass magic wielding female hero wouldn't hurt."

[oflowtides]

Benny wasn't really what you could (or should) describe as a morning person - but once he got going, he didn't stop. The cafe was way busier than he was used to, but he didn't really have enough sleep to tell you why. He hadn't meant to stand so close to Lorna while he tried to figure out where he could stop and sit for a few minutes, but at the invitation, he gratefully joined her.

""Thanks - I promise I won't be super long, I just never mastered the art of drinking and walking at the same time."

[lornaxmaddox]

Lorna looked at him with a small smile appearing on her lips. "Oh don't worry about it, trust me, if you mind it, maybe a conversation with somebody would probably keep me up more than the coffee, I mean it's doing the job but, not keeping me wide awake. You know what I mean?" She said before taking a small sip of her coffee, keeping the cup in her hands.

[lornaxmaddox]

@nottinghillstarters

location: Bluebird Cafe

Lorna had never been so tired in her life, not only was she on a late shift but her neighbours were having guests over so she only managed to get a few hours of sleep. Thankfully the coffee she got was giving her a boost of energy that she needed to do shopping that day. She had been looking down at the list she had scribbled down before she left and hadn't noticed the other until she looked up for a second. "Oh I didn't realise how packed it was, need to sit down? I don't mind."

[jadcnlapointe]

"oh, ramble away! that's exactly what i need." it would keep vale distracted at the very least, even if what lorna spun was completely irrelevant. they could talk about the weather, their favorite colors, where they would go on vacation if money was no object—anything, so long as the pain threaded into the background. she pushed into the parlour, opening up some of the flash books, searching for a design and landing on a little star. "this is cute, right? maybe behind my ear. somewhere discreet."

[lornaxmaddox]

"Really? You are honestly one of the only people that I know that isn't annoyed by me rambling." Usually if she noticed people getting annoyed by her rambling, but seeing that Vale wasn't one of those people, it made her happy. She followed her in to the parlour and began looking the books that Vale was,seeing all the different tattoos that could be done. "Oh that is really cute, that would be perfect, because I would be something that maybe nobody will see until you have your hair up and they are like 'I didn't know you had a tattoo there' and could end up staring a whole conversation."

[oflowtides]

"Oh, equally of course," Jimmy cast a glance back at the brunette. "Unless one of us can't finish their piece and offers it to the other. I just really do not need to eat this entire thing I know I'll feel sick if I do but it's so good I can't not eat it... you know?"

[lornaxmaddox]

"No I don't think that I could eat the whole thing, I mean I could give it a go but, nah. Oh I know what you mean, if it were smaller I would eat it by myself, but I think that sharing it would be the best idea and if neither of us finish our slice, we can have it for later."

[oflowtides]

"I think it's just because DC never really gave her any time to shine." Esme pointed out. "I mean, we all know Wonder Woman, but if you think about it, no other DC superhero woman has gotten the spotlight. Harley doesn't really count because she's not a superhero, but still, that's like, two whole women, compared to the how many superhero men they keep rebooting?"

[lornaxmaddox]

"Exactly, I mean, I have to play catch up on the comics, but she's still so badass and powerful too! I gotta agree with you on that, so many badass female superheroes need their time in the spotlight, I would pay so much money for a Zatanna movie. I have lost count on how many Batmen there have been since I was little."