#astralcafe

Nina took a moment to survey the room she had just entered. There was an an empty chair that faced the desk. Standing behind the desk was a beautiful blond-haired, brown-eyed woman. She was holding a notepad and pen in one arm and gestured to the empty chair with her other. Nina smiled softly at her, swinging her hips as she walked towards the chair. Her curly black hair, which was in a high ponytail, was swaying with every step of her black high-heeled boots that went up to her thigh. She slowly sat down, exaggerating her movements, hoping the woman would notice her exquisitely toned body. Nina watched the woman sit down and open up the notepad as though she was getting ready to write. The woman extending a hand to her for a handshake, but Nina decided to take advantage of the situation and brought the lady’s hand to her lips and placed a soft kiss across the knuckles. “The name’s Nina. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said, smirking at her.

Nina leaned back in the chair, crossing her right leg that was covered in a thigh-high, black leather, high-heeled boot over her left leg. Still smirking, she folding her hands in her lap and met the blonde woman’s gaze with her own. “ So yeah, gonna keep this short and sweet. Things to see, people to do, yada yada yada.” She said, taking her time to enunciate on the short, sweet and do, as to try to nudge a reaction out of the woman.

The woman, who was busy writing on her notepad, looked up with a raised eyebrow, then back down to her notepad, as if not impressed. Nina huffed and continued, “ Let’s just say I’m good at what I do. Physical prowess is my strong suit. Being lithe and agile, with a little extra on the side.” She paused to flex her arm, which showed a distinct muscle underneath her golden-tanned skin. This time the woman didn’t look up, which started to annoy Nina. She didn’t spend hours of exercise and time in the sun for this lady to ignore her, she would just have to up her game or change her tactics.

“I was in the gym when my invite came.” Nina said with a slight pout to her lips, “I had been having trouble with finding someone to have a relationship with. Yes, sex is great and all, but I wanted the emotional attachment and commitment that came with it. I was tired of being alone.” She paused, for dramatical effect, and continued, “I was working out, admiring the reflection that stared back at me in the gym mirrors. Had I been doing this all for nothing? Would no one notice me, for me? Those were my thoughts. And I hate negativity. Bad for the soul.” She replied, rubbing her thumbs on the edge of her boot, out of habit, to keep her hands busy while she talked.

“I was minding my own business, when all of sudden one of the patrons that was working out close by, lost her grip on the bar she was holding. I heard her gasp as the bar hit her chest and immediately sprung to action. I quickly helped her get the bar, which had a surprisingly heavy amount of weight on it, and push it back up to get it off of her. When we had assessed the damage,which was just pride, thankfully, she proceeded to thank me. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.” said Nina, her eyes glazing over as though she was remembering something from a while ago “She said she knew of a place that helped people like me find a place in the world. She asked if I would be interested.” She said.

“Now normally I wouldn’t sit and have a conversation with a stranger, but something about this woman made me feel I could trust her. And I always follow my instincts. So I told her yes.” Nina said, looking back to the blonde-haired woman, who was now watching her intently, while scribbling on the notepad. Nina sighed and said, “I wasn’t sure what to expect really, I haven’t always had the greatest of luck, especially with people.” Then she smiled and replied, “The woman thanked me again, handed me an envelope, and kissed me softly on the cheek. She then told me she hoped she would see me around. And then she left. It all happened so quickly I realized I had forgotten to ask her name.”

The atmosphere of the room was really tense. The blonde female seemed somewhat agitated with the individual who sat in front of her. She stared at him with a raised eyebrow sort of look and cleared her throat. The man who sat opposite her, looked up from the intricate metal contraption that he was tinkering on and tilted his head to the side almost with a look like he forgot she was there. “Errm, sorry ‘bout that, ma'am, sometimes I get lost in me work.” He said, his thick gaelic accent blending in well with his gruff voice. “Name’s Daymyn.”

As he spoke his attention centered back on his current project that was nestled in his lap. He rolled up his sleeves on his white button up shirt and said, “Rowe started out like any other client, needed somethin’ done an’ I was the man for the job."He replied, while continuing to tinker. "He liked me work. Called on me repeatedly.” He continued, starting to smile, “Finally, He offered me a job in his fine establishment. I couldn’t refuse. He knows I love to experiment an’ have new experiences.”

The woman scribbled a few things down on her notepad and nodded in agreement. She lit a cigarette to defuse the tension and looked back at Daymyn. “So you accepted his offer. What happened after that?” She said, trying to capture his attention again.

Daymyn let out an exasperated sigh, pausing in his work, and looked up at her again and said, “It’s been like a dream ever since. Business has been boomin, most o’ the time clients have been keepin me on me toes. But, I still have time for the cafe."He shot her a wink and a grin, showing his pearly whites. "If nothing else, I feel at home here. Rowe might’ve been a client at one time, but now I would definitely consider him a friend.” He finished, his attention reverting back to his project, which sat unfinished in his lap, “An’ if you’ll pardon me, ma'am, I really gotta finish this for another client.”

Alex's Introduction

As Alex closed the door you could hear his leather jacket shifting with his hair up in a ponytail, swishing side to side. He started to walk across the room you could hear his combat boots clinking closer to the lady that had blonde hair and brown eyes, then she motioned toward the chair. Before he sat down, they shook hands. She looked confused because Alex was slightly cold to the touch. They looked at each other and he smiled a devilish grin at her. 

 "I'm guessing you would like to know of how I came to this interesting place. Well, I went out for a hunt." he smiled and showing his fangs," I was staring at my prey and was about to attack him, then I noticed an odd scent that I hadn't perceived beforehand. There were scales on this man, I thought to myself at the time. I ended up being curious about this odd creature. So, I dropped down from the tree branch to talk to him. He must have been aware because he turned around, smiled and then said "hello" to me. It's like Rowe knew me already.'' 

The blond, brown-eyed woman leaned back in the chair while lighting her cigarette, gesturing a hand to Phenyx and said, “So tell me about how you came to this place.”

Phenyx, her grin stretching ear to ear, said “What’s there to know? I always had a knack for helping people, but never liked to be in a large crowd or business. Jobs were hard to keep because of my people skills.” With the last two words she used air quotes with her index and middle finger on her right hand. “I always had trouble making friends and keeping them. I tend to push people away.” She replied, taking a moment to look away sheepishly. Her eyes seemed to look as though they were gazing far away as she spoke. “I was having a rough patch. Work was slow, I didn’t have any friends at the time that I could call.” She replied. As she continued, her voice seemed to shake a little, “I was at a low point. I thought there was nothing more that this life could give me. S-So I planned to l-leave it.” Her voice, which was confident at the beginning of this interview, now shook and stuttered as glistening tears filled the edges of her eyes.

The woman pushed a box of Kleenex across the desk and patted the Phenyx’s arm that rested on the edge of the desk. Phenyx wiped her eyes on her sleeve and cleared her throat, bringing her gaze back to the woman. Phenyx then started to fiddle with her braid that she pulled over her shoulder, “I always knew that there was other worlds, or I guessed there was. Imagine my surprise when Rowe showed up.” She, flipping the braid back over her shoulder and looking back up at the woman. “He came through my closet door. Said that I wasn’t alone, and that there was a place that I could feel wanted. And if I wanted, I could have a job there.” She smiled, winking at the woman.