i had a moment of missing new orleans a vast amount. because it is WARM there.


it's probably a kind of miracle nothing like this has ever happened before.

lucy goes outside to make a starbucks run, and when she's turning away from the counter, clutching a cardboard tray of double-shot espresso (peter), chai tea latte (susan), caramel macchiato (caspian), and cinnamon dolce latte (her), she nearly runs straight into the guy standing behind her.

"i'm sorry," she says automatically, checking to make sure she hasn't spilled any of the coffee before she moves to duck around him.

and then he says, voice disbelieving, "lucy?"

lucy's far too well-trained to drop the coffee, but she stares at the boy blankly -- he's probably in his early twenties, and there's a girl with him, just behind his shoulder, clutching a paper bag with the Starbucks logo on it -- until the bones of his face finally resolve themselves into something that makes sense.

and then she says, "eustace?"