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"Nora, I'm home," Deb called, walking into the apartment and setting her backpack on the floor by the doorway.
"Hey, there," Nora greeted with a small chuckle as she straightened the beanie sliding off of the younger girl's curls. "How was school?"
"Fine," she brushed the question off, flopping into the gray beanbag chair in the corner. The furniture was small and there weren't many items, since it was a studio apartment. There wasn't much wiggle room in Nora's paycheck, especially when the coffeeshop she'd been setting funds aside for was taken into consideration. She had never really been sure if she could afford to house Deb with her, but she hadn't really had a choice. When her sister Isabel had the baby fifteen years ago, she had been seventeen and Nora sixteen. Isabel wasn't exactly the best parent, Deb's father had never really been in the picture, and their parents had refused to take her in, so Nora had become a surrogate mother for her niece when she turned eighteen. It was what was best for Deb, they had agreed, and Isabel had made it rather clear that she had no real interest in raising her daughter herself. Deb was a good kid, if not a bit chaotic at times. She deserved a better life than what Nora could offer, but goddamn, was she trying. Much more than Isabel was, anyway. "So, I've been thinking."
"That's dangerous," Nora smirked, leaning on the armrest of the small fold-out couch facing Deb.
"Sure is. I thought of a few more ideas today. These ones are really breaking new ground, I gave it my best shot."
"Now, that's dangerous," she sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips. Deb had very... interesting name ideas for the coffeeshop Nora had been planning out. "Interesting" being defined as "holding or catching the attention," for better or for worse.
"Oh, are you brewing a storm in a teacup, or can I perk you up with my ideas?"
Case in point. Part of her was hoping she would have thought of some better ones, and part of her was morbidly curious to see what word salads she had come up with this time. The fact that she had already made five puns was not a good sign. Well, Nora could kettle the score, pun fully intended. "Spill the beans. Enlighten me."
"Well," Deb cleared her throat, crossing her legs and intertwining her fingers like some sort of professional businesswoman. A very misleading approach, as what followed was the phrase "for one, you could go for 'Rise and Grind.'"
"Whoa! Deb! Starting off a little strong there, aren't you?"
"Nice one, are you trying to start a pun war?"
"I'm trying to stop a fifteen-year-old from using the phrase 'rise and grind.'"
"Fine," she chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Filter my speech all you want. But you should know that there's more where that came from."
"Oh, boy," Nora smiled, getting off the couch. "Before I'm subjected to anything else, are you hungry?"
"Yeah, what have we got?"
"Um, let's see," Nora clicked her tongue, making her way to the kitchenette. There wasn't much to work with, admittedly. "Mostly just cup ramen. You mind that?"
"Why not? We can have cup-o-noodles while we talk about cuppa joe."
"You're relentless, aren't you, Debs?" Nora sighed, starting on the noodles.
"You betcha, Ellie."
"Where'd you dig that one up? It's been years since I've heard it last." Isabel had been the only one to call her that, and the last time she had was when Nora was eleven.
"What, did you forget that Eleanora is even worse than Deborah?"
"Wow, okay. I think I'd rather hear more coffeeshop names," Nora whistled, wondering how soon she would regret that decision.
"That's what I like to hear," Deb grinned, shooting finger guns. "'Brew for You Bistro.'" So the answer was immediately. "'Java Nice Day.' 'Thanks a Latte.' 'Bizz Buzz Bistro.' 'Knettle Tea Kettlery.' 'Urban Grind Coffee.' 'A Whole Latte Love.' 'Sugar and Spice Café.'" Okay, maybe that last one wasn't so bad. "'Java the Hut.'" She stood corrected.
"And this is what you do instead of your schoolwork?"
"What can I say? I'm a procaffeinator. 'Fresh Roast Joint.'"
"That sounds like a hemp shop." Deb was silent for a second. Nora glanced at her and saw that she was biting her thumbnail. She only did that when she was nervous. "You okay there, Debs?"
"Yeah, just, um... lost my train of thought for a second. 'See you Latte,'" she continued before Nora could ask. "'Common Grounds Coffee.' 'Joe & Go Java.' 'Mug Shot.'"
"Should I be concerned?"
"Yes, but not that I'm a criminal. 'Busy Bean Bistro.' 'The Singing Kettle.' 'French Press Frappuccinos.'"
"Your beanie's falling again," Nora chuckled, glad to have something to interrupt with as she set the ramen in front of Deb.
"Thanks," she said, using one hand to fix the beanie and the other to fork some noodles out of the cup.
"You're welcome. Why do you love that thing so much, anyway?" Nora remarked, sitting back down with another cup of noodles. "You've been wearing it a lot more often the past few months."
"Oh, uh, I wore it to school one day and this really pretty girl in my English class said I looked good in it," Deb explained through a mouthful of ramen. "You java dress to espresso."
"Nice, a twofer on that pun," Nora grinned, taking the first bite from her own cup. "Is there any reason you'd want to impress this girl, specifically?"
"Is it really a shocker that I'm gay, Nora? Haven't we already had the coming-out speech?"
"Yes, I know you're a lesbian."
"Good, I was hoping we wouldn't have to do that spiel again. She's, um, she's just all that and a bag of coffee beans."
"Do people still say that?" Nora asked, twirling noodles on her fork.
"Not since the 90's. She's a special blend, so to speak."
"You've really got a million of these, don't you?"
Deb nodded and swallowed her ramen. "Yep. But, uh, she liked my beanie, and that's all I can ask for. Y'know, besides asking her on a date, but that'd never happen. There's no way a girl that wonderful would want to go out with a trainwreck like me."
"Hey, don't talk down on yourself like that. Maybe beanies are just a good jumping-off point."
"'Jumping Beanies?'" Deb offered, the smirk on her face telling Nora that she knew full well how bad that one was. As cheesy as the pun was, it actually got her thinking. Not a bad name, with a special meaning and a nod to her niece. And it was a pun, when the special meaning was applied, so there were gold stars in every category. It was perfect, the more she thought about it. Perfect.
"Hey, Debs?"
"Hm?"
"I've got it."
"Ooh, hit me with your best shot." Of course, yet another pun.
Nora grinned and set her fork down. "Beanie's."