"Is it... usually bad?" he didn't know which was worse. That he had a reputation for horrible coffee, or that he was in some way turning out different from Old Adon.

From what he could tell, people (at least he people he'd been around) loved Old Adon; utterly and probably blindly, with the amount of enthusiasm this group was showing.  It was a lot of pressure--to become Old Adon, somehow. If he didn't there was no guarantee the feelings would remain. There'd be no reassurance that he deserved them.

But he was already learning some things about Old Adon he didn't particularly like. And not just the fact that he seemed incapable of brewing a basic, adequate batch of Turkish coffee from scratch. That much should have been a given.

He was impulsive, he got the sense. But guarded. It might have been the nature of his work, but for all that Old Adon seemed to be a very charismatic, energetic person, he was reassured, he kept quite a few secrets. Secrets which, unfortunately, Now-Adon didn't know about, either, and was trying to figure out.

Adon was visibly fretting. He knew it by now. And he knew the people in his orbit well enough to know that any worry on his end was likely to spiral his family into worry. The Cat Test.

But no, not Maiko. That had been momentary concern, instant humor. That was a bit of a relief, he realized. But he felt the capacity for humor rapidly diminishing the more he thought. God, how long had he been sitting here on this stool, just thinking?

"Erm..." he managed, finally, not sure what to say. Moloch, what should he say? "What do you want to talk about?"

"Is it... usually bad?"

Bad? No. Never. Strong, yes. But that was never a problem for her. As if she needed to taste again just to be sure, she took another sip. Adon was quiet, but not for too awfully long. He looked a little frustrated-- whatever it was that he was thinking about was clearly bothering him. And it probably wasn't the coffee.

She'd be bothered too, if she was trying to pick her life and memories back together. It was normal for his completely not-normal situation.

He was throwing another question at her before she even had time to answer the first one.  And now he was putting the conversation into her hands. What did she want to talk about? Usually it was her asking those questions, letting others lead and choose the topic.

"First-- your coffee is never bad. Not even a little." Mai clarified easily. "Second-- uh, that's a good question." She'd been curious if anyone other than her, healers, and family had gotten to visit for any extended period of time. Hestia had made vistors of any kind a challenge.

JJ had stopped by before, but not for long. "Has JJ stopped by again?" Mai shifted her body language, flexing her arm muscles in a horrible imitation of JJ, "Built like a pit bull? Obsessed with food?" That was probably not the best description and she immediately picked her coffee back up.

"I've only met him a couple times. I think he was your partner on a case?"

It would probably be good for Adon, to be exposed to people from work. She didn't know the details of his work life, or the cases he was on. His coworkers would know better about that, and maybe that information could help him feel more... Himself.

Food loving pit-bull. Biceps. Thick neck. JJ. "Bassir," Adon provided, giving a light laugh at the description. "He does love food," he agreed. Really, it had been his one takeaway from meeting the kid. His brow knit. "No. Just the once, and not for very long." He tried to think of any pertinent takeaways. He remembered arresting, uh... Level ... Department of Mysteries Head... that was Level 7... 9. 9.

He rubbed his face, temporarily relieving sore, tired muscles.

Gamp. Mordecai... Mortimer...Montrose... Mortimer? Shit. Well, Gamp at any rate. He was remembering at least that much, which was more than he'd thought to think of and remember an hour ago. He picked up the coffee mug, took a sip as he considered.

"We were working a couple of cases, actually." JJ had assured him he was working on them. A tender mercy, considering they were preparing to take Whoever Gamp to court and he had not the slightest idea about how all that had happened, at the moment. He remembered finding the girl...[1] That memory came strong and quick, easily and unbidden. The others, the kids, had come in, blast a hold in the wall of Carstairs' office... Adon'd tried to talk them down. Ducks and sandwiches. It was coming back in bits and pieces, but... not enough to give testimony on. Which he would probably need to do, in time. Probably soon.

Adon put down the coffee mug. He was feeling nauseous, 'peaky,' they would have called it. Shit. That was probably why Riordan had sicked JJ on him in the first place. The coffee would help him stay awake--he'd basically been awake for a couple of days, now--but it wouldn't help him remember. That had been the exercise for today. He'd gone through books and sock drawers and silverware and desk drawers and this feeling, this constant remembering and mind-block was getting exhausting, no matter how much coffee...

She'd asked a question. Trying to sound alert, upbeat, Adon said, "Yeh, I think it was a couple of cases." His brows knit. There was a throbbing sensation in his jaw and he realised he'd been clenching it for... probably hours. His expression crumbled slightly; he rubbed his face again. He sighed, turning to look at her. "I'm sorry. I don't know."

He exhaled through his nose, a sort of wry laugh. "I guess my conversation topics are limited. Uncle Alberic tells me  I should just be glad I can talk. After what I've been through." He frowned slightly. "I  know he didn't mean it that way, but it sounded kinda..." he flitted his hands, trying to indicate a nebulous concept. Ominous? Dark? Unhelpful? "Creepy," he decided. Distinctly creepy.

1.	Siana Prewett

Apparently, work hadn't been a good topic at all. She should've known better. As much as he loved his job, there was no denying that the lifestyle of an auror was a stressful one. It was demanding on both time and energy. Especially with one catastrophe after another happening, the aurors were constantly busy trying to catch whoever the current big dark wizard was. Her job was also demanding, but Mai never felt like her physical safety was in danger because of it.

Despite the fact that Hogwarts had shifting staircases and a poltergeist that tried to make everybody's lives more difficult than they needed to be.

Adon tried to put on a positive voice. Mai was not convinced, and she was not going to pretend that she was convinced. She did not have the energy for that kind of bullshitting.

"You don't need to apologize to me," She said, tone gentle yet almost stern. "You'll know." This, Maiko was confident about. It was in his nature. He would keep going until he found out. Probably at the risk of his own health.

She could feel her jaw tense up at the mention of Alberic. Mai had met him briefly. There was something so distinctly off about him. She didn't trust him one bit. She hadn't even shaken his hand when introduced. Alberic was creepy, yes. But he wasn't creepy in a way that felt harmless. He wasn't creepy in that socially-awkward way some people were. No. He was almost sinister.

"Creepy. Sounds like Alberic." She agreed, trying to figure out how not to be completely offensive. Then Mai decided she didn't care about offending Alberic. "He's a hard man to like." Mai didn't want to talk about him, but she was thankful that her interactions with him were limited.

Adon looked like he hadn't gotten proper rest in days. Even a person who hadn't been exposed to dementors had issues with carrying on conversations when they were exhausted. "We don't need to have a conversation, or talk if you're not feeling up to it." She said, "We can watch something on the phone?" There was one spot in his apartment that managed to get service, it was one of the perks of living in a predominately muggle area.