Magic SNAFU

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

"I'm a meat and pasta guy, so I usually either pick any of the sirloin or pasta options, but why don't you try the Buttered Skewer? It's steak, treated with a butter of your choice, skewered on a metal skewer"

Don approached their table

"Would you like anything to drink?"

Chris nodded

"I would like the usual, I'm not so sure what the lady would have"

Don smiled as he looked at Jema

"And what would the lovely like to drink?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"A glass of ice tea would be great, thank you." Don left to get their drinks leaving them alone again. Jema ran her hand over the table cloth, "Chris may I ask why you asked me out? I mean if you simply wanted company after having to deal with everything this morning that's fine, but I mean why not have lunch with a friend? Why me? I mean we're practically strangers." It was going to nag at her if she didn't ask and Jema just had to know.

"I'm not trying to accuse you of anything of course, its just...no one has ever just asked me out at random and certainly no one like you. I know you don't think earlier was just chance, but it was just some haywire magic. It could have been anyone that I ran into honestly."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

Chris took a swallow from his water, the ice clinking against the glass

"It's an image thing, I like to be seen with lovely women in public places"

He acted like he was being serious, but just couldn't keep it up and he grinned

"OK I'm just kidding, I asked you, because to be honest, you may be a stranger to me, but I like you and I've learned that when my gut tells me to do something, I listen"

He toyed with the glass of water

"And you could have ice skated into anybody, yes that is true, there was enough people around to get bowled over, but you hit me"

Chris shook his head

"Of all the things you can conjure up with a sneeze, why frozen water? Why did you come directly at me?"

He looked up and smiled slightly

"When you left in such a hurry I felt like I lost a chance to have good company at my side, not just somebody who want to be seen with me and imagine my surprise when you just simply walked back into my life so to speak"

Chris raised his shoulders

"I just felt that I must take this opportunity to get to know you better, sure I have a reputation of a player, a 'love them and leave them' type of guy, but I'm not all that, sure at times it was just satisfying an urge, but with you..."

He looked directly at her, his eyes ice blue and deadly serious

"I just feel that I must get to know you, even if it's just this one time that we spend time together, I'll be happy with it...I hope I'm making sense"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"You are," Jema answered softly. He was making sense in a rather scary way. Her parents had met in somewhat odd way and it had been very much close to love at first sight. Or at least very instant and intense attraction.

"Honestly Chris other than what I heard before walking into Carl's office for the first time, I've never actually heard anything about you. Good or bad, so I suppose that is probably a good thing for you. I'm not really big on following the lives of the rich and famous. Small town life tends to ruin the appeal of knowing everything about everyone even if they are rich and good looking."

She took a longer sip of water and licked her lips before meeting his gaze again, "I'm really not good at this kind of stuff."

Don thankfully returned with their drinks and to take their food orders.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

After Don have left with their orders Chris looked at Jema, so she was a small town girl, he leaned back into his chair, she didn't follow the lives of the rich and famous...he realized that he always thought of his family to be well off, but rich? Grudgingly he had to admit that they was rich, various properties, four businesses doing extremely well and then there is the riches that the family have accumulated through the years of existence. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a habit his mother detested and one he just couldn't get rid of.

"You know Jema, you can really relax around me, I'm not going to devour you...unless you ask very nicely"

He chuckled at his own joke

"Tell me more about yourself and don't go for the nutshell version, I'm sure that we have loads of time, so tell me everything you want to tell me if you don't mind"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"I grew up in a small town outside of Napa Valley. My parents are very much what most people would call "country witches". My mother works at the local hospital and my father is still pretty much the town vet, he handles regular pets plus familiars and livestock. I wanted to get out and see things so I went to college at UC Berkly. The firm actually recruited me from a much smaller one. Said I showed a real talent for this line of work."

She sipped her tea, "Never had much of a social life. I'm a bit of a klutz and a bit of a homebody. There really isn't much else to say I mean I have my hobbies and some close friends. That's really about it."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

Chris just couldn't shake the feeling that Jema was very tense about something, but he wrote it off to the fact that she had a cold, her magic fritzing and the fact that she seems to have a truckload of work to handle...maybe he was on that list? He sighed softly to himself, that was most probably also up there on the list. He drank his 7UP free with a few drops of lemon juice.

"You must miss the live there, I know I would, the bustle of the city becomes too much even for me who grew up here"

A thought occurred to him and he almost slapped himself

"Jema, why haven't you tried magic on that cold of yours? It's not my area, but I do know of a few spells that could help it lessen in intensity"

 

[AngelofDeath]

She let out a small chuckle as she sipped her tea, "Would you believe that I hadn't stopped and thought about that? I mean even if I had i might not have simply because of how random the sneezing has been. My luck I would either make things worse or give this to someone else. I've also not had enough time to try anything." Jema smiled at him, "Someone has kept me rather busy at the moment, but considering I will probably be told to go home for the day I plan to just crawl into bed and sleep it off and try one of my mother's soup recipes."

"I do miss it and I try to get home to visit when I can, but honestly I love living in the city. The hustle and bustle, the people,. Its great." Setting the glass down Jema looked up at him, "So what is Chris de Muerte really like? What doesn't the general public know about you that they really should?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

He sat back and took a sip on his cooldrink

"Chris de Muerte...well deep down he is probably just the only son of two very kind and generous people. He grew up being tutored by his parents to be the best human being that he could be"

Chris gently chewed on his lower lip

"In the end, he is just a boy, looking for somebody who can understand that all the hype around and about him is just that, hype made up by the world. How did one guy put it? I'm looking for a girl who is 40% angel and 60% devil, who can look past all the bullshit and see who you really are...of course magic makes looking past all those things a bit hard to do"

Chris toyed with his glass and wondered why on earth he would just open up like that towards a lady he hardly know

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Hmm a touch cryptic but also straight forward as well. I'm somewhat surprised, but it is a nice surprise." Jema sipped her tea slowly and let out a sigh. Chris was certainly an enigma. Of course she was trying to get to know him before her curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the nearest tabloid or turned on TMZ or any other show for that matter.

"I know this probably isn't the best of places to talk about this or really any of my business, but what do you think your parents meant in their letter?" Obviously if he had wanted to keep the contents private he wouldn't have read them outloud, then again he could have just as easily forgotten for the moment that Jema had even been in the room.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

He frowned

"I am not really sure, something that does worry me is the sudden rise of McGleggon Corp, they have taken over companies that have been around for ages"

Chris looked at Jema

"It might be a warning of what is to come, we don't know just how far they might go, I haven't launched a complete inspection as of yet as it only came to my attention this morning. You don't know anything about them do you?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

Work talk was always a nice safe subject. "Their CEO Nicolas McGleggon is fairly new on the scene, both in money and magic and he's got enough of both. For whatever reason he's not been subtle with his acquisitions. Any other corp would have not had too much of a shake up, changing of the guards. He's been going right in and restructuring whole companies top to bottom. He's also spread himself between several firms, apparently he doesn't believe in putting his faith in just one company."

She sipped her tea and let her fingers play with the condensation on the outside of the glass. "I don't think however your parents were trying to warn you of some young upstart though." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Don bringing their food out.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

"But the question will be where would it come from? And who would be so bold as to resort to murder?"

A thought occurred to Chris and he looked at Jema, the words running through his mind, 'a silver lining'. Could it be that Jema would be his savior in more than one way? His good news through all the bad times? He noticed that Don was on his way and sat upright in his chair

"Jema is your reluctance to be seen with me based on the fact that you work for the company that I'm a client of or is there more?"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Chris I work for you. This is kind of like being out with my boss and while the scenery is better it is a little nerve wracking. Its not you personally believe me, its just well, I don't want anything to go wrong here. Thankfully my cold has given me some peace." Her fingers drummed the table lightly.

"Have you ever wanted things to go so right that they end up going wrong? I'm sorry if its come off that I don't want to be here. I just don't understand what you want from me."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

"Well then, would you still feel that way if I used another company?"

He arched an eyebrow at her, knowing what that statement implied. Carl would throw a fit, find out that she was here with him, most likely fire her and she would be without a job

"Not that I'd do it of course, it is just a theoretical question"

Don placed their food down in front of them and winked at Jema

"Him and his questions, such an inquisitive boy"

Chris just shook his head as Don walked away

"Silly man"

He turned his attention back to Jema

"All I want from you is to enjoy the meal and just...be yourself. That isn't too high expectations is it?"

He saw her as a frightened doe, ready to dodge away and run as soon as she could get the chance. It was obvious that being honest wasn't working, but no way in hell is he going to start telling lies to her, it just didn't feel right...not this time

 

[AngelofDeath]

When Chris had asked if she would feel the same if he used a different firm, her heart had filled her throat. That was just what she would need, him to leave and for her to be out of a job. It was in part what she was afraid of if she made a bad impression upon him. The reassurance that he had no plans to do such, slowed her heart back to normal slightly.

"No Chris its not, but put yourself in my place. I don't have the best experience with guys and here you are this local celeb taking an interest in a small town girl working one of the busiest and somewhat stressful department in any magical firm. You ask me out to lunch out of the blue and want nothing more than my company for the moment. You tell me how you would react."

Jema flushed and raised her hand before he could answer, "Wait don't. I'm being silly and almost rude. You don't have to answer that. Let's just start over and enjoy this wonderfully smelling food before it gets cold ok?" She held her hand out to him, "My name is Jema Stone, don't laugh, and I'm glad you asked me out to lunch Chris de Muerte."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

Chris took her hand in his, it was cool and soft and he enjoyed the contact, he smiled at her

"It is my pleasure Jema Stone, I am glad that you accepted my offer as dining alone can be a very tedious thing at times"

He let go of her hand and looked at his plate, as always it was well prepared and smelled divine, he wondered at times if they didn't use magic to prepare the food, but obviously they didn't. As he picked up his plate a little tickle started in the back of his nose. He almost didn't pay it any attention, but as he cut his steak, he could feel the tickle become more pronounced and he barely had time to cover his nose and mouth when the sneeze erupted, sending thousands of sparks into the air. Chris stared at the air around him and started to laugh, it was the happiest laugh he had in years as the situation amused him much more than he thought it would.

"Seems like I caught your bug Jema"

He pulled out a handkerchief and just as he raised it he sneezed again, turning the handkerchief into a white dove, he eyed the dove as it sat in his hands

"If you don't fly away birdie, I'm going to blow my nose on your wings"

The dove looked slightly offended as it flew out of his hands, heading for the open door. Chris had no idea why, but he found the whole situation hillarious and he looked at Jema with a huge grin on his face

 

[AngelofDeath]

Jema sat there with her mouth open slightly, "How I mean no one else showed any signs of catching this." Then again Chris was the only one she had spent the most time around in the last day other than the people on the bus on her way to work. "Oh gods I am so dead if the entire office comes down with this." The smile on his face did help a little with her mood.

"I am very sorry about this Chris." If her face got any hotter, Jema would have probably set the sprinkler system over head off. "I can't believe this, a couple hours with me and you're stuck with my bug. Would it be too late to suggest doing lunch when we are both feeling better?"

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

"Oh stop worrying about it, it's hilarious"

Without a thought or warning the ring started to glow on his hand, he looked at it in alarm

"OK now that's new"

There was a flash of light that left Chris blinking and he looked over at Jema

"Please please tell me I'm not dreaming, that just happened"

Before she could reply he realized something, the sneezing was gone and he was indeed extremely hungry. He looked suspiciously at the ring and picked up his cutlery again, then it occurred to him, since the first flash, Jema didn't sneeze, now another flash and his sneeze seemed to have gone

"Hey, my sneezing is cured"

"AAAAAACHOOO!"

Chris looked over his shoulder at the man who had just walked into the door, looking like the flu had a good grip on him. He grinned at Jema

"Let's finish this meal now, I'm really hungry and I don't want you to go yet, it's lonely in that old house and I like all the intelligent company I can get"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Hopefully its only a 24 hour bug," Jema said as she looked at the man who had just walked in. When nothing had come of his sneezing she let out a small sigh of relief. He was just a regular person. Jema settled into her skewers and the two ate quickly and in relative silence with a few breaks here and there with Chris trying to further break the ice between them.

After he paid their bill and a well wish from Don the pair left the restaurant. Standing outside Jema was glad to see the rain had long since stopped and things were beginning to come out. "I think if I am going to continue to keep you company I might as well call back into work. I know everyone knows I am sick, but I can't just up and vanish."

Ok so she had pretty much agreed to play hokey from the rest of work and spend time with a man she barely knew. Yeah the sneezing might have been gone but Jema was still out of it because this was so not normal.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

Chris was pleasantly surprised when she told him that she would spend more time with him, he wasn't expecting that at all, especially not after all the excuses and dodging attempts. Maybe this day wasn't going to be much better than he would have thought

"Well you got two options, either I phone Don and tell him that I'm kidnapping you, or we can go back to your office and you can sort everything out. It's all up to you"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Three options actually," Jema dug into her purse and pulled out her cellphone. She dialed the office and waited, "Cloe? its Jema. Hi yeah no I won't be coming back from lunch. My sneezing has gotten worse and I think it best I go home and stay out of everyone, especially the boss's way. If anyone needs anything, it should all be on my desk...Yes I am going by my doctor's. So for the next hour you can reach my cell otherwise try the house phone."

She hung up and smiled at him, "See, a lot easier than either of your options. Now where to?" Hopefully someplace off the beaten path. The last thing either of them would need right now was the paparazzi tailing them.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

Chris chuckled

"Well then, so it was. Let's see, there is one place I want to visit after that I was wondering if you could take me to the places you enjoy and then I'll show you mine"

Chris pulled sunglasses out of the inside pocket of his jacket and put it on, he offered Jema his arm, before he started walking down the street

"I think what the city need is a make over. It's just too old, I've seen some places that is just falling apart"

He motioned over at a building

"Like that one, you can see they did their best to renovate it, but without a solid wall it just doesn't help"

He paused

"Look at me babbling about nonsense again"

 

[AngelofDeath]

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Truth is I love the older buildings. You can't just tear down all of past you know." Jema let him lead her around. Honestly she didn't think walking around town was one of the best ideas. "And as for my favorite places I'm pretty sure they will bore you death. I'm not that exciting of a person Chris."

Jema wasn't downplaying her life by any means she really was a rather boring person when it came to it. Sure she went out with friend here and there, but often times she was curled up with a book at home.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Chris de Muerte

"Oh I didn't say just rip them all to bits and build a brand new complex my dear, the thing is that you can renovate a building only up to one point. How long do you thing that building will be able to hold the strain it's under at the moment? I feel that we have all this magic floating around, why don't we use it to help the world?"

He stopped and opened the door to a shop for her

"Sure there is people that help others, but if you look at the ratio of magic users to non-magic users, there should be much more people helping others"

He stops to look around the antique shop

"Feel free to browse, if you want anything just bring it"

He held up a hand before she could say anything

"Don't make me pull customer rank on you"

He smiled and turned to talk in quiet tones with the owner who was standing behind the counter