OPEN::Just trying to get by

[thewaythatiam]

Who: Astrid Farnsworth and YOU! Come say hi to one of the new members of your cohort.
What: Astrid's finally ventured out of her room at the Valhalla and is getting coffee.
Where: Queequeg's
When: Sukkardi, around mid-day
Notes: ...Astrid is awkward?
Warnings: None yet.

It took a couple of days for Astrid to feel comfortable venturing out after Olivia let her out of the room she arrived in. It was a precaution, mostly - if she could try to come to terms with everything being different before she went out, she could probably avoid having a meltdown in public, and she very much wanted to avoid that.

Olivia had mentioned a place that served coffee, and she was more than a little excited by the prospect of being able to drink coffee regularly. That's what drew her outside, eventually - a nice, simple task that would have something she enjoyed involved in it. And she made it without any mishaps.

So now she's sitting at a little table in the corner with a big mug of coffee with cream and sugar and a plate with some sort of danish-like pastry on it, slowly and methodically chipping away at both.

Comments

[thewaythatiam]

Astrid was not expecting to be approached - no one really does that to her if she gets breakfast out before work, which happens pretty rarely. Of course, if she's on her way to work, she's wearing her Fringe Division uniform, and people tend to not want to bother Fringe agents.

So when Kaitlyn says hello, she sort of locks up a little and looks up at the strange woman with wide eyes. She waits for Kaitlyn to stop talking, processes her words for a few seconds.

"Thank you," she says. "I have not met you. ...My name is Astrid."

[djravenfall]

Kaitlyn quirks an eyebrow at the woman - Astrid - still leaning against the wall as she looks down at her. "Sorry. I didn't mean t' startle you or anythin'. If I'm bothering you, I can head on." But she's probably wait until she's told to to do that, instead pushing off the wall and approaching a bit closer to the table.

"Kaitlyn," she offers, one hand against the chair opposite Astrid, but not sitting down yet. "Recent arrival in Baedal m'self. I thought I'd say hi bcause... well, honestly, it was really nice t' meet a friendly face when I got here. An' I'm about as friendly as it gets," she jokes with a soft laugh. "Astrid, eh? That's an uncommon name. I like it."

[thewaythatiam]

Astrid looks down as she shakes Kaitlyn's hand, somewhat stiffly. "Astrid is more common in America than people believe. I have not seen the most recent census data to correlate how common it currently is. The 1990 census placed it as the 1482th most common female name out of 4276 names recorded."

She hesitates briefly - she knows that most people don't know how to handle her, especially when she starts off a conversation with statistics.

"You are not bothering me," she adds, placing her hand back in her lap.

[djravenfall]

Kaitlyn blinks as she lsitens to the facts being rattled off by Astrid, her head tilting to the side a bit. Her smile grows a little, looking down at the seat. "Well. The more you know, I guess. I never would've guessed." She's never know anyone named Astrid, that makes the name seem more exotic to her. "Mind if I take a seat?"

If there's an issue with knowing how to handle Astrid, Kaitlyn doesn't seem to have it. A bit surprised, sure, but she doesn't really seem to miss a beat. "Seems to be a lot of newer folks around lately. I'm glad it's not just me."

[thewaythatiam]

"I do not mind."

Astrid really doesn't know what to say about any of the rest of it. She doesn't really know how often new people are added to the cohort (yet), she knows nothing about this girl, and she doesn't know where to start asking questions.

So she decides that drinking her coffee is the best plan. Kaitlyn seems friendly enough, and probably has a better idea how to kick off this part of the conversation than Astrid does.

[djravenfall]

Well, that's good, because Kaitlyn was probably going to sit anyway. She takes a long sip of her coffee drink, letting out a contented sigh as she slides comfortably back into her chair. "So, how's it been treating you so far? Baedal, I mean. Some- people apparently have a rough time makin' the transition. Not that I... really blame them. This place can be a bit overwhelming." That's a bit of an understatement, Kaitlyn chuckling at her own comment.

"I've been here... almost a month?" She hasn't been keeping strict track, the days sometimes sort of blend together. "It's... not too bad. Seems like things get kinda ugly sometimes, but I guess it's like that anywhere you go. But most of the people seem friendly enough as long as you're not a jerk." She eyes Astrid for a moment, as if trying to determine whether or nor not the woman is, in fact, a jerk. Doesn't seem like it so far.

"So, where're you from, if you don't mind me asking?"