For three weeks he sat outside La Rose Cafe, each night doing one or more readings. every time he seemed a bit more rosy after a reading and the people seemed happy with what he told them. there were a few that he knew would never really be the same but they were warned when they went to take the cards. His blue eyes twinkled every time some one passed him by with a look of curiosity at the cards that sat between his hands. his black lace gloves and black eyeliner only added to every ones curiosity. it was not an often occurrence for a stranger to come into town dressed like a glam goth. his dark hair pulled back, its dark waves contained in a pony tail.

this day he was dressed in a pair of black rose lace fingerless opera gloves, a purple pirate shirt whose sleeves had been tattered at the elbows. a black leather vest and tight pants with rips along the lower thighs and shins. the butters along the vest were tiny black roses, a single red Ruby drop hung from his left ear.

Lexadis:

Carla had another boring day at the Living Locket store. Not much people came there. Carla closed her shop, and stepped outside, breathing the familiar cool night wind. Inside the shop it was stuffy and full of cauldrons that might explode due to cool temperatures, so she didn't dare attach an air conditioner. Not that she'd have had any money to buy one anyway. But she did have an interesting job. Today she had managed to make a potion which she would show to the mistress the next day.

Carla had straight brown shoulder length hair, and today she had curled at the bottom, with a purple bow which matched her simple purple dress. She adjusted her bow and started walking towards the La Rose Cafe. It always provided the best coffee, her favourite Cafe au lait with the right amount of milk. She heard the familiar chimes of the doorbell ringing as she opened the door. It was almost packed with people, as every other day, filled with the familiar smell of delightful coffee. She sat on a chair that was available, and waited for the waitress to get her simple order.

He had watched her come and go each day, the smell of magic on her made him wounder why some one had not snatched her up already. It was not like there was not others in the area that liked having mages to help them. there were a few mages that he had seen come and go here too that might have taken an interested in her. after the first few times she passed him by without looking down at him he drew a card for her. he wanted to know if there was something important about her. when he drew the knave of coins he knew there was something up. the Game never lied when used to tell the truth even if he had to pay the price.

as she passed by him for the third week he spoke up. "care to draw a card? there can be wounder and danger in my cards." his voice was smoky. looking up through his lashes he smiled a little smile. I wondered what the cards will say to her. what magic will they draw from her? Is she destined for the family?

Carla blinked. She had always seen this man, sitting in the cafe every night, drawing cards for people. She had seen many go with happy faces, while some have not. But she never had dared to draw out a card herself, because her mistress had never approved of such sorcery. But can this really be true? Or was he just drawing cards, playing fake? She didn't really know. And the man's smoky voices attracted her, not in some easy way. It was hard to resist his eerie voice, it pulled her in some way to him. She had never heard him speak before. Maybe if she had heard it she would have drawn the card far sooner, even before he had asked.

"May I?" she asked. But something about how he said about wound and danger terrified her a little. But it was no time to be a coward, maybe he was fake. Thinking all this to herself, she managed him a small smile and sat opposite to him, wondering whether this had been a good idea. But now it was no time to think twice. "How should I draw the card? Are there any.. rules?" she asked.

"yes you may, there is nothing that is going to stop you." shuffling the cards he looked up at her and nodded to the chair acrossed from him. there was a hint of purple in his eyeliner. "you only pay a small price that you wont miss for each card you draw. You may draw one or three. not two not four. those are the only rules that I have." as he picked up the deck to hold it out to her to draw a card fell out. picking it up he laid it on the table. "interesting, not often the deck gives out a bit of information without a price." the card was the knave of clubs. "you have some one who is teaching you something that might take offense to you drawing? A older woman, mature? she has darker skin then you."

something about the way the deck offered up the card without the price made his own skin crawl. without her noticing he drew another card and smiled. Well if she is under the thumb of some one else. that lady or her are going to be going on a trip and soon. the tie they have will be broken or will losses with this trip. he could feel his hunger rising with that draw and hoped this woman would be drawing three cards and not just one as some of them did. fanning the cards on the table he pulled his hands back and smiled. "Pick your card, or cards. but know that only three can be drawn." it was not completely true, there were a few the he would allow to draw more then three but they were not here and where not important at this time.

Carla felt a jolt of fear as she saw a card being dropped by its own accord. Can that be some trick? Was her first thought. But as soon as she saw that he was concluding right, that there really was someone who might take offense to her drawing the cards, she felt fear. But there was no escaping now, she had sat on the chair already.

"Yes, my mistress never liked drawing cards. She never approved of such sorcery." she confessed. She hesitated a little to draw the card, but in the end, she gave up. She reached out her hand and picked three random cards, wondering what this man would say about her. Now she was no longer afraid, her curiosity got ahead of her fear.

((OOC: I'm sorry if my replies are short, I'll make them longer when I can ^^))

"you have a Mistress? she is the woman with the dark completion?" there was a hit of an accent in his voice as he spoke, it might have been Romani but then it could just be eastern European. his fingers reached out as he took the cards brushed hers. he could feel the magic there, just barely awake and yet not ready yet. it had been a while since he had been around one like her, and that had been Lewie love interest that he kept hidden away most of the time. "and what is she your mistress in?"

Flipping over the first card he reviled the Jack of clubs. "interesting." flipping over the next card he eyebrow rose. it was the ace of swords. "now why would Justice or law be involved." he mumbled as he reviled the last card. the nine of coins. "ah now I think I see. " placing his finger on the first card he smiled at her. "your going to be making a trip, I don't know it is to see a new teacher or to meet an old friend, but this trip is going to make you rich in things you never dreamed of. This person will be offering you total Security from what is going to come." smiling he stood and offered her his hand. " I am Orlando Valentine. you can call my Orly if you want." as he tucked the cards back into the deck he could feel the bound that her blood formed with him now. The deck had only taken enough for him to not be hungry and her to only be a bit tipsy. "let me buy you a drink, or perhaps a treat."

"Yes, she's the one with the dark complexion." she replied. She wondered what would happen. Will her life really change? Will there be danger in his cards, as he had warned her earlier? Carla quickly withdrew her hand as his fingers brushed hers. It felt cold and she felt as if her hands were burning. She tried not to appear as if she was afraid of his touch or nervous, and tried acting as if she was casually brushing her bangs aside, tucking it into her left ear. She didn't understand his question about her mistress. "Pardon?" she questioned.

She wondered what the Jack of Clubs might be, and what he had found so 'interesting' about it. She felt like laughing as he read her prediction. Carla, making a trip? Didn't seem like a big possibility. And earning a lot of wealth? Not something that she had even dreamt! Maybe this guy was fake, after all. She still couldn't judge. Maybe she had to wait while the future would reveal to her what it had now kept hidden. Little did she know that the future held a lot of things that she would be absolutely surprised, in time to come.

She stood up as he offered his hand. "Nice to meet you, Orly. I'm Carla Lindsey." she said, smiling. As he withdrew his hand she felt as if she was woozy. She brought her fingers to her temple. Maybe she was tired, after working at the shop, and keeping up until late last night reading Mage's Magic Circle Against Evil. "It would be my pleasure to have a drink with you." she replied smiling, placing a tip on the table as she spoke for reading.

"you said you had a mistress, is she a mistress in work, sex or magic?" a thought sprung to his mind and he smiled looking down. " I am sorry if I am being a bit rude. I do not mean to be, it is just that those are the different types of Mistresses I know of." looking her over more closely he elimanted the thought that she was a Sub to some woman. she did not seem like the type of woman that would allow her whole life to be controlled by another. Maybe the mistress was in the business that she worked at, some one who was superstitious. but then most people these days saw card readers as fakes and nothing to worry about. that left only one type of mistress. so some one has snatched her up but does not know how to make it known without just drawing the magic off her.

"It is nice to meet you Miss Carla, and what would you like to drink?" moving around to offer her his arm he took the tip from the table and smiled. "it is kind of you to tip me, not everyone does." leading her over to the counter he looked up at the menu and smiled at the young lady behind the counter. "I would like a simple green tea cold and the lady here would like..." he turned to Carla and smiled at her waiting for her to make her order.

"Oh. I'm sorry for being vague. She is a mistress in magic. We work at the Living Locket store, where magical items are sold." she explained. "Oh no, you're not rude, just curious I suppose." she replied, laughing a little. Her mistress was a lovely lady, old, though she could be a little odd at times. But Carla believed every word her mistress had told her. She was a wise woman who had been learning magic from a very famous witch. Carla had only seen her perform magic a few times, but she impressed her every time. She was fluent and very sure in magic. She wondered as to how lucky she was that her mistress had quickly accepted her.

"I'd have my usual Cafe au lait." she said at the lady behind the counter.

"Ah I see now. I saw the hint of magic about you when first I saw you but did not want to drive you from talking to me." his smile was warm and inviting as he looked back up at her. " My sister is the witch of the family but I have the gift to see magic. I wanted to read your card for you fearing that you had no teacher." he ran an almost loving finger over his cards as he spoke. if she had been taught how to access the Magic sight should would see the deck of cards had magic to in. powerful magic that only now was showing its self. "I must say I have not been into the Living Locket, I am usually only available after it has closed, there are family obligations that keep me busy during the day." the truth was most of his daylight hours were spent in a dark room not moving but there were small windows of time after sun rise and before sunset when he was awake and able to do work online.

the lady behind the counter smiled and wrote down what they wanted on their cups. "will that be all for you?" her voice was sweet with a slight southern burr.

"if you would like something to eat as well, go ahead and order. my treat." he hoped that she would order some sort of food for herself, he would hate for her to not feel well for longer then she needed. he did not always make sure that those he had used the cards with had something to eat but he felt that he needed to take care of this one. "It is not like this is how I make my living, I mostly do readings for the betterment of those who I read for. I have had the gift most of my life and feel that I should use the gift I have for others." in a way all of that was true, yet he was not just speaking of his gift of reading the cards.

Saw the hint of magic? He definitely was not fake then. "Oh I'd "love to meet your sister one day. She sounds like an interesting witch" she beamed. "In reality I do not have a proper mentor. But I thought my mistress would have time to teach me, especially as she noted that I have magic in my blood." she went on. "But I fear she does not have the time nor much interest to tutor me, she is always busy and is rarely available. She doesn't even visit her store unless there's real need for it." she said, with a sad sigh. But her mistress wasn't of a bad kind, of course she understood that. She never had enough time on her hands, though Carla really did not know what her mistress did when she was not in her shop.

"Oh that's a pity. Maybe you should visit us some time when you don't have any obligations." she proposed. "Any time during the day Orly, try to visit when you're free." Carla smiled.

Now that Orly asked for something to eat, Carla realized that she was hungry. And there was nothing at home to welcome her, or to make some food. All that was there were some instant noodles which Carla despised, stuffing it down almost everyday. And she felt woozy too, she wondered if she could make it home if she didn't have anything to eat. "I'll order chocolate scones." she requested the lady.

Carla listened to Orly talking about his gift. "It's a rare talent, and a good one too I suppose, if it can help a lot of people." she declared. Maybe he cared for others a lot, "It is nice of you to read cards, just for others." she said, smiling. "So.. what do you actually do for your living?" she inquired, wondering.

"I should tell the truth I have more then one sister but they both are Witch's. it seems that magic runs in our blood and so it is not often when one of us does not have it in some degree." Orly was finding the more time he spent talking to her the more he was coming to like her. he wondered if this was how some of the others in the family got attached to their humans. granted Anya actually found her in the past and he had already been a vampire but most of the others found mages and brought them in to the fold. "May be you will travel with me some time and see my family, I know there is at least one of them who would happily teach you a thing or two about magic." his brows furrowed at the thought of her mistress not teaching her but keeping her from truly finding a teacher. "has she introduced you to others that might become your teacher? I can understand her telling you not to go looking for a teacher on your own, as there are charlatans and ones that would steal your gift before teaching you, but I thought there were rules that if a mage was found by another mage they had to teach them or get them a teacher."

sighing he shook his head sadly at her proposal of him coming in when he was free. "because of what i do for my family I am never off before you are closed, so unless you were to stay open just for me one night I do not think I will be able to come in." and if her Mistress was as good as she thought she was there would be wards about the shop to keep his kind out of the shop. he could only think of one shop that did not have a ward on it against vampires and that one was in London. had a charming young plant mage who was stunned from what he had heard through the grape vine when she found out vampires were real. he found it funny that she had thought that only mages were real.

smiley he placed the price for the two drinks and the scones on the counter. the woman behind the counter smiled back at him a hint of flirtatiousness to her eyes, he seemed unaffected as he looked back at Carla. "a chocolate Scone is a good choice, I wish that I could partake but I have a bread allergy." the lady behind the counter sighed and walked to where their cups were being prepared after she had plated the scones and set them down in front of Carla.

"it has helped other, I have had a few people come up to me years later telling me how my reading was the best they had had and it had changed their lives. All I wish to do is bring a bit of better change to some ones life." picking up his tea he sniffed it then took a sip before guiding them back to a table when her drink had been brought up. "I make sure massages get where they need to go. some times I have to travel to make sure I get what needs to be sent where it is to go." he chuckled at a thought. "you might call me a glorified page boy."

"That's really great! But not so great I guess when there are two people in the same house having lots of power." she countered after thinking about it. "But I guess you guys never get tired when every one of you is special." she giggled. Somehow she kept imagining that in his house the books and the cauldrons were flying around, though she knew that it cannot be so. Witches were serious people who held great power, along with a great gift. "It would be nice, I hope that we will one day." she nodded, smiling. He seemed more friendlier than he looked. It was not always that a guy dressed like a goth spoke in friendly terms, which had been one more reason why she hadn't dared to approached him before. "A teacher? Well..." she pondered. Her mistress had never talked to her about finding her a teacher, or some rule that said that when a mage was found the yhad to get a teacher. "Maybe she was thinking of teaching it herself sometime, or is in the process of finding a teacher." she suggested weakly, to assure him even though she thought it was highly unlikely for her mistress to do such a thing. Maybe she would ask about it to her mistress.

"Oh that's a pity. My mistress usually doesn't let me open the shop at night but if there comes a time that we do, then I'll make sure to inform you." she chatted. She wondered what he did for his family that was so imprtant that he couldn't even spare a single day, but she thought that it was not hers to question. So she kept quiet.

Carla noted how the young lady behind the counter was flirting at hi, while he took no note of her. Maybe he is gay. She concluded. Or maybe he already has a girl friend. Was her second thought. What did it matter to her anyway?

As she sat listening to him talking about changing other people's life for good, she concluded that he must be a good guy. "It is really a pity that you have bread allergies. It is delicious" she replied, savouring every bit of the bite she had. The scones tasted heavenly"A glorified page boy. Not a bad thing to be, I suppose. Especially if the messages you send might be very important to some people" she pondered. "You do seem to do a lot of things for others. You never striked me as that kind of person when I saw you" Carla said, wondering how judging one from his looks can be so wrong.

"it is not as bad as you would think it was with two sister that have magic like that." thinking of the castle and all the others in the family that had magic he smiled. one day he was going to have to have her meet all of them but for now he did not think she needed to know any one just yet. he wondered what had made her giggle but he knew she would tell if he should know. "I dont see why you cant meet them one day. its not like they are hidden away at a castle in the alps." no they just lived in a Castle most of the year near the Black Forest in Germany.

"maybe it would be wise to ask her if she could teach you a bit of control on your magic so that you dont mess something up? I would hate for your magic to go playing with all the stuff in your shop and making them not work for other mages." one of his siblings had told him about an untrained mage that had done something along those lines but did not think that she was at that stage in her magic. yet it still would be wise for her to get a teacher and soon.

"dose your Mistress worry about people that might harm you after dark?" part of him wondered if her Mistress knew of the vampires and the Fay that would love to come into a shop like that just to mess it up. he could just see The Puck having a bit of fun in a shop for mages. yet if her Mistress knew about the Fay and vampires then she would have warded the place.

"I have come to live with my allergies and accepted that I will only be able to enjoy those things though other peoples delight in me buying them some." he took a sip of his tea and sighed. he wondered how she would react if he just told her he had a food allergies to any food that was not a liquid. he was working on eating but his body still did not enjoy the feel of solids in the track where blood was to go. some of his siblings had gotten it down but he still had to work on it. he was lucky he had gotten to the point of being able to take in any Liquid he wanted. "to the people I take the messages to and deliver them for, yes they are very important to them. some of them it is the life and death of their company's that I carry in my bag when I take them." he laughed at her comment about how he looked and not being the kind of person he was. "one of my aunts likes to dress me up in what she thinks is fashionable and this is my fight against her, I have grown to love the look but she will try to get me into something more suited to her style when ever she sees me."

She listened to him talking and when he smiled at some memory she didn't know, she saw that he looked quite nice. When he was saying about learning to control her magic, she was bewildered. "I can mess things up? Well, there's nothing to fear Mr. Valentine I don't think I have enough power to do something that disastrous." she assured, laughing lightly. Of course she couldn't do that! She couldn't even draw a correct magic circle, for heaven's sake!

"Well I do not know if she does, and if she had, then sadly, she had not warned me yet." she said, beaming. "Maybe it's better if I did not know after all, Orly. One cannot live in fear, am I right? And the more one knows, the more one fears for his life." she reasoned. "What do you think there is out there that one should be afraid of the dark, Mr. Valentine? I do not personally believe in such childish fairy tales, I believe that it is one's mind that makes one evil, and not because one is chosen to become some creature by nature, by God or by any other means." she said seriously.

"I seem to like you more by every minute, Orly." she said. "You seem to live more for others than for your own self." she chuckled. "

"at this time you seem not to have much magic, but let us talk of other things." Orly wondered what she had been taught so far that would make her make lite of what she could do. was her Mistress one of the ones that was well know but was not truly Awakened to her gifts? if so that could be dangers, he would have to find out if one of the others were in town and could do a reading for him.

"it is true that one can not live in fear of the unknown but there is also truth to be had when you know what does go bump in the night. I only asked because there are monsters that wear the skin of Men that would seek to harm such as you that she might fear would come into the shop at night." thoughts of humans and what they had done to other humans without the help of vampires and mages brought a chill to his body that was not related to lack of a heart beat. "it is true that there are humans out there that would not see a human but only a play thing when they look out on the street."

smiling he bowed his head to her as she spoke of living for others then himself. "that is how I was raised to live and I find it enjoyable. I like to see the joy on others faces when I have done something beyond what they were hoping for, or I have given them good new that they did not expect to get." sipping the last of his tea he sighed. soon he would have to get another cup or go back to reading the cards for people but for now he was content.

"so tell me a bit about yourself. do you have any family other then your Mistress," holding up a hand to stop her before she told him that her Mistress was not family he smiled. "I know that you Mistress may not be your blood family but you seem to love her very much and so she is in a way your family."

"Monsters that bump in the night? I have heard some things about them, Mr. Valentine but nothing that I have believed, since I have neither seen them with my own eyes. Maybe I have not seen enough to recognize a human and a monster." Carla said thinking after a while. It was true that she had never believed in such stories, and of such creatures of the night. Maybe they were real, since Orly is so serious talking about them she concluded at last. But she couldn't believe in anything unless she saw it with her own eyes of course. "Of course. In my opinion, if there indeed are monsters, I still believe that it is the humans and their dark intentions that has to be feared the most. The creatures of the night, as you say, can't really help their nature, but the humans become dark because of their own cruel nature."

She listened to him as he was speaking of how he liked to help others. "I wish I could have been raised like you Mr. Valentine, or at least be more like you. You seem to come from a loving family." she commented, tilting her head and continued. "Yes, I have my own family. But my mistress, though she is not very close to me, is the only thing for me as closest to my family. My parents live far from here and I ran away when I was 17 years old." her eyes held a distant look as she remembered the past, of how she had ran away from her home because she couldn't bear the pressure her father and mother put down on her. They were rich, but that didn't mean they were happy. They fought all the time over money, never finding happiness. She wished she could tell all this to Orly but she had never told about this to anyone, and didn't plan on telling him, not now. She snapped back from her past, and beamed, a little forcefully she thought. But maybe Orly wouldn't notice. "How about you, Mr. Valentine? You seem like a person who holds great secrets." Before he could continue, she quickly said, "And of course, we can speak another day if you are busy, I do not mind." she said, smiling.

"the monsters that go bump in the night can be your every day garden variate house thief. that is the thing you can never tell the monsters from the humans because they all come in the same package." he smiled at the thought of what she might say if she knew that she had just fed a vampire. now granted there were not many of his kind out there that used the cards to feed. in all likely hood she had encountered at lasted one of the local vampires in her life, if just in passing. "I never for one was saying there were real monsters only those that do not see others as humans and to be treated kindly, they see us as things to be used and then discarded. I have been told there are some magic users that only come out at night and would steal the magic of others who are untrained and that was what I was thinking your Mistress was protecting you from."

"My family may seem like a loving family but there are times when we are not so loving. it comes with the terrain. I remember a few times spells were thrown about the house and I got caught in one or two potions that were meant for the other sister." he wondered what her life had been like if she had run away from her home at the young age of 17. granted if she had been alive when he was that age she would have been married and with her second child by then. reaching out he touched her hand trying to comfort her. "I know there are family's that are loving to the world but behind closed doors will do things that no one would accept. you must have faced some thing that you could not stand to have run at so young an age. in time you will find some one to trust and tell the tale to."

"I am only as busy as I need to be, and at this time you are more interesting to me then reading the cards. it is not often that the cards show me so much but so little. but I will" He said as he stood. "get myself another cup of tea. would you like anything more?" he said as he picked up his cup and the plate the food was on.

Carla wondered at what he was smiling at. If what he said was to be true, these 'monsters' of the night were no things to laugh or smile at. They were vile, deadly and deceiving, passing through like humans. She shivered inwardly. She didn't like this kind of world at all. She hoped that he was lying, or teasing her, though he didn't seem to be someone who would tease others with such a serious tone and look. Her small, black Asian eyes widened at the thought that there were people who could steal magic. She never had thought that magic can be stolen! She wondered whether her mistress was 'stealing' magic from her. She mentally slapped herself. Why would her mistress want to steal her magic, out of all people? And her mistress wasn't a bad lady after all. "Maybe she put some protection charm or spell of some sort against such evil things." she assured him.

"Oh dear that must have been bad." she laughed, thinking how it must have been. She must habe looked quite funny with some spell and potion dripping from his head. Maybe it was not so funny, after all. She tried to make a serious face and stop her laugh. She held her nose and breathed out until she could take hold of herself. She has always been doing that to control her laughter.

Carla squeezed his hand tightly. It was a nice gesture, not many had offered her comfort nor solace much before. "I too hope I will find someone, Orly, I sure do." she replied with a touch of sadness in her tone as she wondered when she would ever get someone with whom she could find peace, and not lies and betrayal.

She blushed as she heard him say that she was more interesting than the cards. But maybe reading cards was not a fun thing to do, anyway. The cards show him so much but so little? What did he mean? Maybe her future had been so vague, that he himself couldn't read it properly, she thought, frowning.

"Oh I don't need anything else, Orly. My stomach is finally full after so many weeks." she said smiling. She felt her energy was a bit drained, but it seemed as if she had regained her energy after eating. "May I help you take those plates, Orly?"

"I would not be surprised if she has put up protections from evil things and things that go bump in the night. it is just harder to put it on a person and she may not want you being thought of as the one that blocked them from getting in. " he smiled trying to bring a light hearted mood to the talks. he could tell that something he had said was upsetting her but he did not know which thing it was. some days he could just kick himself with the way he let his mouth walk off with him.

looking back at what had happened when some of the others threw the spells around he could not help but join her in her laugh. "it was bad but looking back on it now I can see how funny it would be to some one it did not happen to. in fact it is a bit funny to me to." smiling he giggled. "you should have seen the time my sister was so mad she threw her hair potion and it turned my other sister blue, well her skin any ways. boy you would have thought that the whole world heard her Shrek that night. funny thing is, her clothes that also got hit with it did not change color. I think that is the only reason she did not try to kill her for it."

"Maybe what the cards predicted will be the person you need." patting her hand he smiled. his heart went out to her and her sadness, he only just met her but he wanted to take that sadness from her and make all things become happy for her.

"finally full after weeks?" his voice was filled with concern and surprise. "you don't get payed enough for you to be full every day?" a look of worry filled his eyes as he looked her over more closely. he knew the signs of lack of food every day looked like and now he wanted to make sure she was getting feed. if she was not eating regularly then he would have to keep an eye on her. he had seen here in here every day, maybe because of that he thought she had been eating regularly. "oh thank you." he said has he handed a plate off to her. "I am just used to taking care of everything that I dont think to find out if my dining partner wants to help."

Well her mistress must not have been bad after all, if she had put some protections to ward off 'creatures that go bump in the night'. Carla desperately hoped she had. She didn't like the idea of a creatures coming into the shop at any cost.

Carla giggled. "That must have been so funny." she said in between laughs. "She cared more about her dress than herself, I see. At to what lengths they protect their clothes!."

She smiled and her heart felt warm when he offered her consolation. It was something she badly needed but which she rarely got. She hoped that the person predicted in the cards would come soon.

Carla felt bad for saying that now. "I'm getting paid enough Orly, but I have rents to pay and savings to make. I think my mistress pays me twice that's worth, what with my lack of qualifications or experience." she said, smiling assuredly. Carla barely got through by paying her rent, but she couldn't blame her mistress for not paying higher. They didn't have any regular customers, and she didn't have to do a big job. She was at least satisfied that her mistress gave enough to pay off her rent, and she didn't think that she should waste the little money she got by eating in luxury.

"It's always nice to help." she smiled. "I would be as bored as hell if I just sit here till you come back Orly, anyway." Bored as hell? What kind of a simile was that? But Carla couldn't think twice about it, she thought she was now beginning to get sleepier by the minute. Maybe it was because her stomach was full. She rubbed her eyes and took up the plate Orly was offering and stashed the plate into the bin.

"it was not that funny to her let me tell you." Orly said as she laughed. "she really likes to make sure she has an impeccable wardrobe and if one thing is damaged she has a fit. you should have seen her when the airlines wrinkled her suit last winter. she swore she would never fly on a plan again." he smirked thinking back to the look of the pilot and crew when she had disembarked that fateful day in the twenty's. her threat would have worked if she had not been needed half way acrossed the world in a weeks time after that.

he could feel her need for human contact that she was lacking. even if she was only getting small meals what she seemed to be needing more was the touch of others. how long had she been without love from her family when she was young? had her family been one of those that thought that touch was a bad thing. he was growing tired of those children who were so mistreated by those that calmed to love them that they grew up into the same type of monsters.

"I am sorry I did not mean to pry into your life, its just..." he shrugged and looked a bit sheepish. "I am so used to the money I have coming in and the excess that I get because of my lack of ability to digest many foods. my meals consisted of drinks designed to be digested by my body without any problems." he looked around the Cafe and sighed. "what I am trying to say is that if you would not mind me just talking to you and drinking I would love to take you out every few days or so for dinner. my bill will not suffer and I will still have money left to burn on anything I wish to have."

"yes helping is nice but..." the sound of the Imperial March cut through his talk as he slipped his glass and hers into the bin. "I am sorry I have to take this, I will be right back." quickly walking away he greeted who ever it was on the other end of the phone in what sounded almost like french.

She giggled at his story. It must have been hilarious, to see a witch angry. Or was it? She had never seen her mistress angry, not even when she had spilled a potion and burnt a patch in her shop. Maybe they were hard to control when they were angry.

"No it's okay, I wasn't offended by your question or anything." she assured. "It's just that I'm not used to being around people." she said in a voice slightly above a whisper. It was a nice feeling to be taken care of, though it was in a small way. The only person who had cared about her enough was her mother, and that too until she was around 5 years old after which, she never felt her mother's warm figure beside her ever again.

Carla considered his request. Maybe she could dine with him some days or so, he definitely seemed nice, and the only person she knew besides her mistress. "I'd love to" she finally decided. "When you are not busy or anything then perhaps we can dine, once or so in awhile" she nodded.

"Oh of course, I'll wait here for you." she said and watched him quickly walking away, his voice fading as he moved away from her.

Orly smiled at her giggle and could think of what she was thinking. "your not used to being around people? well then we should find a way to get you more used to people. if your going to live in the world then you might as well get used to it." a little part of him wanted to take her hand and just take her away from this place and show her the world. " how many places have you been to?"

nodding to her as she talked about how she would like to eat with him he smiled. " I usually am not that busy at this time of the evening unless I have a some one that wants me to read their cards for them. so it will actually be up to you when you want to have dinner with me. or more to the point you want to have food while shearing my company." he hoped that she would not try to keep avoiding him out of embarrassment.

as he answered the phone he wondered who it the family wanted him at this time of night. "hello?"

"yah you have any free time? I have something I need you to run." the voice over the phone was not one of the family he know but the person did have his privet number. looking down at the phone he tried to figure out who it was.

"I have about two days between my next run, where is this to be picked up and where is it to go?" looking back he wondered how long it would be before he next got to spend time with Carla.

"I need you to come to DC and pick up a package to take back to where your at. I have the name of the lady it is meant for here but I would rather not say it over the phone." the location clicked with who it was, and he smiled. It had been years since last he had talked to this man, last he had heard he was hiding in a remote mountain cave with books.

"As you wish Josh." the voice on the other end snickered as Orly Bowed.

"you really need to stop playing the fool, I know you did the bow." Orly could almost hear the smile in his voice as the sound of the city behind him dulled down with the chime of a bell. "you know the cafe we will meet in. be here tomorrow night at this time." the phone clicked off. Returning to Carla Orly smiled.

"well it looks like an old friend needs me to pick up a package for him. I have to be going but we will meet in two days time here?" taking her hand he kissed it as he waited for her answer.