Bast dropped his face into his hands, laughing. “Oh my god. This might actually be a good idea. I wonder if I can get them to write my dissertation while I’m at it.”
“Hmm, I think for that you would need to run a few more tests. I mean who can bring you the best coffee or pastry is not quite the same as who can carry out research for you. That’s probably a very niche group indeed.”
Sebastian laughed quite a bit at that. “That’s an excellent idea. The person to bring me the best coffee gets the highest grade. I’ll get fired, it’ll be great.”
“You may be fired but you’d be the most popular teacher on campus until that point plus you’d be having a great time for a few months with great coffee and treats.”
“I can sleep when I’m dead,” Bast said with a laugh. “Or at least, I can sleep when my dissertation is done.” He paused, then added, “Or maybe more realistically, I can sleep when these quizzes are graded.”
“Ah, the curse of marking. That makes more sense,” Lottie acknowledged. “You should become a radical teacher and just stop giving quizzes or tests and just grade according to how nice someone has been to you and how many times they made you laugh.”
“That’s a good idea, actually. But my cup’s still half full, I think.” He popped the lid off to look, then snapped it back on. “Yeah. I was drinking it more for the caffeine than the warmth anyway…” He smiled a little, hesitation showing in hsi face. He was never really sure how to interact with strangers, though he didn’t blame her for sitting with him, since the cafe was pretty crowded.
“Wrap your fingers around it and it will hopefully heat you up a bit then,” she replied, looking over him wondering why he is so tired. “You sound like you need to sleep instead of sitting in a cafe,” she remarked.
“Ugh, why is it so cold,” Sebastian muttered to himself, pulling his jacket tighter around him and hunching a little as he typed. He should have brought a scarf with him. He didn’t think it would be so cold in the coffee shop. “Hm?” Someone had stopped near him, and he looked up. “Oh, um, no, that seat isn’t taken.”
Lottie glanced down at the man, shaking her head slightly as she heard him muttering about the cold but there weren’t any other free tables and she decided he would probably leave quite soon if he was that cold. “Thanks,” she muttered as she slid into the seat opposite and put down her coffee. “Maybe you should get a refill,” she added, nodding towards his cup. “It might heat you up.”
Lottie's wild adventure 