Here Kitty Kitty

The threat surprised her, but given that she lacked any knowledge of the other woman’s background, Belle set it to the side.  After all, the man left and the woman hadn’t actually harmed him.  “I could lie to you, I suppose,” Belle replied. “But that would be an insult to both of us, so I’d rather not.” She shrugged.  “The place is rather full, but considering he sat down without so much as a by-your-leave, it’s hard to blame you for being upset.”

Meg couldn’t do much but raise an eyebrow at the woman. Huh, most people weren’t that straight forward with her or brave enough to say what she had. A small grin started to curl at the corner of her mouth. She had guts, that was for sure. “I suppose so.” She tilted her head for a second, unsure of how to take the weird was the conversation had lead. “Yeah, it’s an asshole move. I mean, even if he had asked I’d still tell him to fuck off, but I might’ve been a bit... kinder I guess.”

Barrel paused for a second, brain taking in what the lady had just told him. “Oh. That sounds less fun than the second one.” Or…just…not as worth his time? Less of what he’d want to see? More everyday bullshit? He didn’t know how to phrase it, so he just said what he said. “Just a sale. Lame.”

“Much less. Such is the world we live in though.” If she was honest, Meg hated violence and blood. But she had come to tolerate it was the years went on. Still not her favorite. “Exactly. Though if you need something from the store, probably the best time to get it. Better quality for a lower price.” She used to frequent things like this a lot when she was younger.

Belle glanced over as the annoyed voice drew her attention.  She could sympathize. Considering the open laptop and coffee, she gathered the woman needed to get work done and nothing interfered with that more than someone breaking into your space.  Her own table had a laptop as well as a handful of books she needed for research on her next novel.  Shaking her head, she took a sip of her own mocha as she let herself be distracted by the interlude one table over.

Meg tensed her jaw at the guy across from her. Trying to keep an eye on her mark she stood up and walked around to him, a smile on her face though it was anything but kind. “Look I could break all your fingers but I really don’t want to do that. Could you just go. I don’t think this table is worth that.” Her voice was a low hiss that most wouldn’t be able to her, though Meg hadn’t thought about the person behind them. At least not until he got up from the table and walked away. As she turned to sit back down she noticed how close she was. “I take it you didn’t hear any of that, did you?”

“Hmm, I’m probably the more spontaneous type. It’s usually what I see inside the counter and ended up liking the most.” Snow nodded along as the line was finally walking. “There is a cake made out of white chocolate that I love. I started baking it since two weeks ago and it’s my most recent favorite.” She smiled. “I’m Snow White. And you are?”

“I used to be like that. Being spontaneous has a lot of downsides though.” Meg sighed and ran a hand through her hair. The girl was nice enough. Hopefully she didn’t get hurt somehow. “Oh you know how to bake? I guess that’s a nice thing to know.” Meg could make her own food, sure. It was alright and mostly basic but baking was out of her comfort zone. “Megara. A mouthful so Meg works fine.” Not that she thought she’d see her outside of this instance.

As Jack took a seat, he wasn’t even really paying attention to the fact that there was someone else at the table. He didn’t even really notice until she spoke. “Oh,” he started, but there was something familiar about her. He didn’t think he’d ever spoken to her, no. But he recognized her face. Sometimes in the background whenever he had to go deal with Hades. A face he’d seen roll her eyes a few times whenever Hades talked for too long or made a distasteful joke. “Sorry, all the other tables were full,” he said, not bringing up the fact that he may recognize her. Because it would sound strange, especially if she didn’t recognize him. “Here,” Jack scooted his chair over a bit so he wasn’t directly in front of her, giving her a hint of a smile. “This better, or are you really going to make me have to ask somebody else to share their table?”

Megara’s frown slowly morphed into a more casual, neutral line before she let out a soft sigh. He did move, and she could see her mark now so it wasn’t terrible. She figured she could have worse tablemates, like wonderboy. Taking a really good look at him instead of just being annoyed right off the bat, she found his face familiar and knew that she had seen him come in to talk to Hades. At least he probably wouldn’t interrupt her work too much. If he knew what was good for him. Though she thought that, she also knew she didn’t really have the heart to throw someone under Hades feet unless absolutely necessary. “Right. Of course they would pick a crowed cafe.” Meg pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Yes, you’re fine now. You can stay. I’ve seen you around before. I think we have... friends in common.”

Until someone sat down across from her. Her neutral face turned into a frown as she sighed and pulled out the one earbud she had in. “Hey, I’m sitting here. Can you not sit directly in front of me? Or really at my table at all.” Megara huffed and took a sip of her coffee with a raised eyebrow. It wasn’t her problem if there weren’t any empty tables.

“Rainbow bagels?!” Snow couldn’t help her excitement. She had tested her ordinary ones and they were delicious. “I’ll probably check them out, then.” The woman held tight to the strap of her bag. “Honestly, anything.” She said with a smile. “I wanted to grab something before heading home, I didn’t have anything specif in mind, so I usually chose when I get to the counter.” Snow shrugged. “If you are having a coffee, I recommend you try the Red Brownies. They are made with raspberries and are delicious.”

“Mhmm. Just a gimmick really. Dying different doughs. It’s not all that special” Meg sighed and picked at her nails. “Sure, as long as you like bagels I’m sure they’re good.” She hadn’t expected the woman to keep up the conversation but it was seemingly harmless so far. It wouldn’t hurt to continue. “Are you just indecisive or spontaneous. I usually do the same thing unless I have a craving for something.” Meg tilted her head, thinking. “Maybe I will. They sound alright. Do you have a favorite here?”

Classes were finally done for today, so Snow walked until the closest cafeteria. Noticing a unusually long line, that was already outside of the shop, the woman approached it with caution. Standing behind the last person, she asked. “What is happing today? I have never seen this place with a line so big before.”

Meg raised her head up from her phone. She hadn’t even really thought about how large the line was. “Not sure. Maybe someone’s unhappy with there service? Or maybe they’ve got something new. I’ve heard of huge lines for rainbow bagels or something.  I just want a coffee. What about you?”

Barrel had stopped on the sidewalk to look at a sign in a store window. It was colorful, so that’s why he was bothering at all, but there was a word that was hanging him up. “Okay….I know what liquid is but what the fuck does that mean? No way it’s just a drink sale.”

Megara’s heels clicked against the sidewalk, her fingers tapping away at her phone. She stopped at the sound of the voice from someone she was walking past. What made her stop, she wasn’t quite sure, but she turned to read the sign he was looking at. “Liquidation? It means a company is being closed and all of it’s assets sold off. Or in the informal its the killing of someone, typically by violent means. I’m thinking it’s the first.”

-- Megara Trakas, age Twenty-Nine, Non-Magical, working as a Mortician’s Assistant

“ I won’t apologize for the monster I became to survive the monsters around me “