Metro Java...

[amityville_sweetheart]

The streets of Metropolis are busy at this time of day. The fact that it's lunch time in the business district doesn't help with the crowds, but the skies threaten rain. Corrine takes solace in this fact, and idly muses to herself about how funny it'd be to downpour on all of their dressy business suits.

She looks to the sky with this thought, pausing on the sidewalk to stare at the bright, but cloudy, sky. Her face is lifted up, waiting to feel a droplet of rain, but it never comes. 'Huh,' she thinks, 'Did you honestly think that would work?'

She continues along the sidewalk, making a left at the corner. Metro Java is just across the street, and she can see through the big glass windows that it's crowded.

Corrine pauses in front of the windows, staring inside at the patrons. There's a Starbucks just down the block, as well as a Dunkin Donuts. She considers this, then realizes that it'd probably be _more_ crowded in these places, where the white-collar busy bees gather for their afternoon lattes.

'Besides,' she thinks, 'No one bothers me at Metro Java, and I can't get the guy at the Starbucks to stop hitting on me. Drop your coffee on another patron _just once_, and you're famous.'

Resigned to her fate, she pulls open the doors and steps inside the busy cafe.

Comments

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine mentally sighs, knowing that the man behind her is the manager. She doesn't want to be rude, though, but what could she really say? ''No, sorry, this seat is taken by my imaginary friend''? Yeah, right, Corri. Leave the guy without a _doubt_ that you're a total whackjob.'

"Uh... no." She took her bag from the seat across from her, pointedly sitting it on the open part of the bench directly beside her. 'At the very least, he won't be able to sit _next_ to me if he's a total nut.'

She stares up at him, suddenly realizing this is a convenient opportunity to mention the pretzel. Her attempt to avoid him had obviously not worked, so she might as well get a good pretzel out of the deal.

"The, uh... the pretzel you gave? It's stale," she says, breaking the last half of the pretzel apart to show how it crumbles. "That whole batch is probably... I mean..." She bites her lip. "I've been coming here a lot recently. Not saying you have bad food, but this one's just..."

She sets the pretzel down, and averts her eyes to the table, taking a quick sip of her latte.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

“Oh. I’m terribly sorry about that, miss. Of course you shouldn’t have to eat a stale pretzel.”

Caleb sits down next to the blonde, and smiles warmly at the nervous young girl across the table from him. “I suppose you aught to do something about that.”

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine stares at him, almost disbelievingly. 'What is _with_ this guy?' she thinks to herself.

"Well, I've told _you_, so you can get me a new one. You _do_ work here, don't you?"

She bit her lip. She hadn't meant to be so snappish, but years of solitude had made her patience shorter than her childhood days. Nevertheless, she continued giving him the most incredulous look she could muster.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Caleb snickered, briefly rubbed the temple on the right side of his head.

“Well, yes, I, uh .. I am employed here. Replacing your pretzel isn’t, uh, quite what I had in mind, though.” Caleb cleared his throat, then leaned in. “You’re not like other girls, are you?.”

He tried to look sheepish, despite his abysmal ability to be spontaneously disingenuous. ‘If this doesn’t work,’ he worried, ‘I’ll have to be more direct.’

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine raised a brow. "What? I, uh... I'm not sure what you're getting at."

She sighed, picking up her latte and beginning to stand up. "Look, it was really nice meeting you..." She paused, realizing she didn't know his name. "Well, whoever you are. It's been... _strange_... but I really don't have time for witty lines from 'clever' men."

She raised her hand to stop him from responding, even though it was obvious he had no intention of interrupting her. "And, oh, yes, I've heard them all before. 'You're not like other girls, Corrine', they say. 'You have the most wonderful smile', 'You know you have the most piercing eyes'. Heard it all. Thanks, but maybe in another life, mmm'kay?"

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

Caleb again sighs, growing frustrated at just how poorly things had progressed thus far.

Realizing that the blonde was in the process of leaving, Caleb was compelled to take action. He focuses his thoughts on the incredible raw magical power of the girl before him, and siphons off just a little bit of it. In the same instant, he focuses on the stale bread.

‘Bread goes stale due to a lack of moisture, so to correct the problem, I shouldn’t need much energy.’ Caleb always gets worried when he leaches power. Ever since the accident, he’s always been scared of inadvertently causing someone harm. Even when performing minor feats that wouldn’t drain enough of a mouse to kill it, let alone a human, he always got nervous. Unfortunately, despite his vast knowledge of the arcane arts, Caleb himself possessed no magical energy, and had to absorb it from his environment any time he was to do anything.

“Please, miss. Before you go, just take another bite of your pretzel.” As he awaits her response, he gazes over her face for any reaction to what he had just done.

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

A sudden feeling of exhaustion passes over Corrine, and she yawns despite herself. In an instant, the feeling is gone, though she feels more tired than she had only moments ago.

'Should've ordered another latte... probably would've, if I wasn't dealing with this whacko.' She stares the man down, then decides it isn't worth the effort. She begins to walk away, but something tells her to humor the man's strange request.

'C'mon, Corri. Why would you eat a pretzel you already know is stale? What if he _did_ something to it? They warn you about those hot dog vendors in NYC for a reason.'

She sighs. She decides to ignore her better judgement. Walking back to the table, she snatches up the pretzel. She heads for the door again, taking a bite of the pretzel... and stops.

Then, slowly, she turns back to look at the man. "What did you just do?" she asks, voice full of surprise. The pretzel in her hand tastes as if it was just made.

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

‘Well, at least I have her attention.’

Caleb smiles warmly. “Have a seat, and it’ll be my pleasure to explain.”

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine looks around the cafe. No one seems to notice her strange interchange with this man.

Hesitantly, she sits back down in her seat, never taking her stare off of the man. "Well, I think a nice start would be to tell me what your _name_ is."

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

“Certainly. My name is Caleb, and I’m the manager here. As for your prior question ..I possess certain ..mystical abilities. And that, I suspect, we have in common.”

Caleb pauses for a moment, not entirely sure how he should proceed.

“Have you ever heard of a woman named Zatanna?”

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"What would make you think--?" she snaps, suddenly on the defensive. She's already starting to get up, and there's a strange look in her eyes... fear, but also angry.

It's the same look rabid animals get when cornered. "I don't know who you are, what you want, or who sent you, but the game needs to go and the serious explaining needs to happen right now."

[caleb-z.livejournal.com]

“That’s fair enough,” he answers with a disarming smile before offering his hand.

“My name is Dr. Caleb Zukov, and I have the, uh … shall we say ability to sense magic when it is within a certain proximity to me. Which, uh, you are.”

There’s something else, here. It’s been a while since he’s really hit on many women, but Caleb can still recognize when one is not only as uncomfortable as Corrine is, but even a little scared. The discomfort was expected – no way around it, really – but the fear? Caleb doesn’t really want anyone to be afraid of him.

“There’s no cause for alarm. I mean you no harm, Ms…”