I suppose some part of myself truly expected her to scream and run. It was, by far, the most common reaction to my presence. Once, I'd been rather capable of charming nearly any woman and now the mere sight of me sent most of them fleeing. It was...more difficult then I let on, at least, with Kat around it hardly mattered so much. Without her I found myself craving some form of company and yet my chosen form of companionship seemed to be so entirely afraid of me they rarely lingered long enough to allow me a sentence. It was shame really, I was rather good at engaging others in conversation- when given the chance. I never would get used to being looked at like that. As if they were actually afraid. Maybe I was supposed to hunt things, maybe I was supposed to kill things but honestly the thought made my stomach turn. Even the thought of blood was mildly nauseating to me and not only because it is a serious hassle to get out of clothing. It honestly seemed rather unhygienic. Like this table top. For her part, the waitress actually made rather a decent effort of not running in the other direction, her cheeks flushing at the grin I afforded her. Hmm- it's nice to know someone still appreciates my charm.

I hadn't actually meant to put her out as much as it appeared I had, the glasses she was holding seeming to balance far to precariously for my liking upon her tray as she fumbled about in her highly unfashionable black.....waitress.....bag thing. I suppose if one worked in the food industry such a pouch was rather handy, outside of waitressing I am yet to see its appeal. The women whom jog every morning past my apartment seem utterly determined to try and bring back a number of long since dead fashion trends- those little waist bags being one of them. I think they keep their ipods in them. If I was forced to actually run anywhere for exercise I suppose I would try and distract myself from the horror of the activity with music as well. Kat had forced me to go jogging once and only once. I did watching her jog of course, after all, it afforded me quite the pleasing view really. My idea of exercise however involved a far more horizontal position, less clothing and at least one solid surface.

I felt both eyes lift in surprise at the wad of paper napkins the girl produced, laying them down in front of me before affording me a rather insecure look as if she remained utterly unsure about what to do next. Oh. Maybe I was supposed to do something with the napkins? Alright, so I didn't know entierly what I was supposed to do with them either, isn't this her job though? The waitress normally seems to...wipe with them. Maybe she thought I wanted to wipe the bar myself? My features shifted hurriedly into a smile all the same, if only to alleviate the nervousness that seemed to engulf her.

"Thank you."

I reached gingerly forward and towards them. Gathering the napkins in one hand before the girl spoke again, asking me to wait once more. Honestly if I'd done it wrong already I'd be rather surprised. She moved away for several moments, wandering around the bar to search behind it before appearing with some sort of rag (I honestly wasn't sure that was cleaner then the bar itself) before rather neatly cleaning the area in front of me, my lip quirking upward if only because the task seemed to please her so much.

"Thank you- again."

I stated easily, chuckling softly, before one hand moved to reach into the back pocket of my jeans- pulling out one of the many decks of cards I had taken to keeping on me. It had become something of an obsession really and yet what was one more to add to my never ending list?

"How good are you at games, hmm?"

I suppose I should have let her get back to work and yet really what was a few moments of her time? Another grin teased its way onto my features, hands effortlessly shuffling the cards before setting two of them out before me, flipping one over to show her the ace of spades beneath before flipping it back.

"I'll make you a deal. If you can find the ace I'll let you go back to work and spare us both any more attempts at trying to work the napkins. If you pick the wrong card, you have to have dinner with me."

I flashed the girl another grin, an easy, playful look, blue gold gaze held against her own. Truly I had no desire to make her do anything she truly didn't want to and yet I was curious as to her reaction all the same, affording her a fifty/fifty chance. Well- it's wasn't exactly fifty/fifty. She had no actual chance of winning, cards tended to do whatever I asked of them, my abilities decidedly unusual in that and yet really I saw no shame in merely having someone to eat dinner with for one night.




k o h l
so you want to play with magic?