215/Coffee and Concerts

Coffee and Concerts
Date of Scene:	01 March 2020
Location:	The Coffee Bean
Synopsis:	Zatanna meets Alison and Melissa. She performs a couple of tricks, subtly recruits Melissa towards the Birds of Prey and admits her fangirl crush on Alison.
Cast of Characters:	Zatanna Zatara, Melissa Gold, Alison Blaire

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Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Sunday mornings are always good for coffee. Things aren't as busy as they are on Mondays, and the atmosphere is far more relaxed. And mingling with the college students when you never went to public school a day in your life is kind of fun! Which is why Zatanna picked the coffee shop to take care of a few things since her twitter blew up last night.

Sitting at a table, the magician dressed down for the morning, a black cable-knit sweater that frames her torso has been paired with grey wool slacks and a pair of pumps. Her order for her coffee is in and she's currently practicing a little three card Monte at her table.

When the barista calls out, "One London Fog for Double Zee!" she glances at her cards. "Keep practicing." she chides playfully, rising from the table as the cards continue to shuffle by themselves as she goes to get her drink.

Okay, so there may be a little magic involved.

Melissa Gold has posed:
    "Oh God, why did I try to outdrink them?" That's the sound of a hung-over Melissa entering the coffee shop, squinting at the bright light and cursing the noise of snails crawling, even. Frat parties are a pain, especially when you get into a serial drinking contest... She walks past the table with the cards moving themselves and pauses, frowning. The guy behind her who walks into her when she stops starts to say something, but, when she darts a glance his way, the words die in his throat and the thin-as-a-rail bearded guy with the pony tail backs off quickly, heading quickly for the barista.
    "Now that's something you don't see every day," she mutters to herself, reaching out a hand to try and pick up one of the self-moving cards. "Usually there's someone playing a mark."

Alison Blaire has posed:
A few minutes after Melissa comes through the door another figure comes through, blonde hair up in a ponytail, a large pair of black sunglasses perched on her nose and a cellphone tucked against her ear. The cards go unnoticed, as well as the small road block that is Melissa and Pony-tail Guy, instead she seems to be focused on the phone.

The phone that seems to be irritating her judging by the slight frown that washes across her face when she answers with a clear no to something said.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The card that Melissa flips over is the five of spades. And as she's flipping over that card, she'll find that the woman that was working the cards has returned. A tea cup is held in the brunette's hands as she glances at the woman and then the card. "Good morning, I'm Zatanna." she offers warmly. "And that card indicates that you recently went through a change in your life. Job, relationship?" she asks curiously as she takes a seat to sip from her cup. Earl Grey with vanilla and caramel. Mmm. Savoring the taste, Zatanna notices Alison.

And noticing that Alison may not want to be drawing attention to herself, Zatanna lifts her fingers and wiggles them. "Egassem." she offers quietly. And a message pops up on her phone. 'Look left.' If Alison does, the magician offers up a fingerwave in greetings.

Melissa Gold has posed:
    Melissa starts a bit at Zatanna's voice suddenly addressing her, her senses still dulled (while, paradoxically, being extremely hypersensitive). She squints at Zatanna, trying to place that face. She's seen it somewhere...
    "Both...ish?" She seems to ponder something, as if trying to match that fortune to her life. "I just got the job at the Blue Oyster." (A noted "leather bar" the old terminology would put it. Now it's an LGBQT club.) "But that's kinda just supplemental 'cause of expenses.
    She completely and utterly fails to elaborate on relationship.
    "How you know stuff like this from a card? Me, I know five of spades means that if I don't have three other fives I'm not botherin' keepin it."

Alison Blaire has posed:
"No!" Alison repeats, this time her voice going up just a little until it clicks that she's //in public// and there are actually people listening and paying attention to her. Shocking!

The message that pops up on her phone causes her head to snap to the left, and when she spots the fingerwave a smile spreads across her face before she turns off her phone without even saying goodbye to the annoyance on the other end. Then she heads towards the table to drag herself out a chair before dropping into it, "Whew...Hi!" Then she looks upwards at Melissa, offering her a smile as well, "You two are playing cards?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Playing cards, reading fortunes. Depends on the moment, really." Zatanna offers with a light laugh. "And apparently we're celebrating a new job acquired!" There's a gesture towards Melissa, "And a change in her life. Which is what the cards were telling me about. Though yes, a five is generally poor unless there's not a match for it. So, we've seen your present."

She gestures to the other two cards. "Past and future. What would you like to see?" she asks Melissa, before Alison's joining them increases Zatanna's smile. "I'm always happy to provide a distraction for a pretty girl." she teases lightly as she moves the other two cards around to let Melissa decide her next step.

Melissa Gold has posed:
    OK, the weird brunette has just caught Melissa's interest. To the point of forgetting coffee. She flips a seat around and straddles it, leaning against the table and looking at the cards. "I wasn't high, was I? Shoulda worn off by morning. Those cards were moving by themselves? Strings? Magnets?"
    She makes her pick. "That one," she says, flipping it over.
    "Melissa," she adds, by way of introduction, to both the other women. "Gold," she amplifies. "Casual day labourer," she adds with a wry face. "Which is why the gig at the Blue Oyster was so important."

Alison Blaire has posed:
"We are?" Ali's attention shifts from Zatanna to Melissa and back, then back before that smile spreads across her face, brightening up at the news, "Congratulations! That is really, really great to hear about the new job."

The question about the cards moving on their own causes her eyes to shift downwards towards the cards in question before she reaches a hand up, fingers pushing her sunglasses up to perch on the top of her head before she deadpans, "Magic."

Truth? Maybe so. But it might be a bet she thinks she's being clever in her response that it is "magic" and not Magic. That smile reappears though, and she offers, "Alison."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
It's a pair, apparently. Another five. This one is a heart. Zatanna purses her lips thoughtfully. "Interesting." the magi muses, then smiles at Melissa. "How do you think they were doing it?" Zatanna asks her curiously as she turns her attention back to the card. "The five of hearts represents a major change coming to your life. Usually it's family or home related. Leaving or moving to a new home. Hmm."

Alison's remark earns a wink. "Or I could be a mutant with the power to manipulate cards." she points out with a little chuckle, more than willing to be clever right back at the blonde. "Alison, Alison..." she's putting it together in her head, but Melissa's announcement of her whole name has the woman glancing at that last, yet unturned card.

Zatanna's soft hand closes over the last card, and she takes on a more serious mein. "This card? This card could represent your past. Or your future. If it is your future, it could be..." she mms softly. "I wouldn't want to give too much away."

Then she lifts a smile towards Alison. "Do you believe in Magic?" Big M. It's implied. "Everyone has a little magic."

Melissa Gold has posed:
    Melissa gets very evasive as the discussion switches to mutants and powers and the like, eyes shifting in directions like, well, the door. Out. Like she's plotting a course. Just in case.
    "I think," she says slowly, "that it could be possible to play with sound... Sorry, not sound. You know, like the stuff in a dog whistle? We can't hear it?" She shrugs. "I used to know the word but..."
    Helpless shrug and hand spread follows.
    "But that stuff. I've seen amazing things done with that. Maybe that's moving the cards?"
    Always go with what you're familiar with, right?
    Then she laughs, a bit falsely. The braying laughter of someone trying to convince herself she's not nervous. "If it's the past it's probably the king of sh... uh ... fec... uh ..." She runs out of words. "Well, OK. King of shit." That spoken in a lower voice.

Alison Blaire has posed:
"Frequencies?" Alison offers to Melissa at the mention of a dog whistle, "Ultrasonic range, dog whistles I mean." The look that she offers is curious, her head tilting just a moment before she mentally shakes the thoughts off like a dog shedding water.

Before answering the question about Magic she pushes herself to her feet without another word to move towards the barista, placing herself an order before she then points towards the table for a quiet conversation. Money exhanges hands, then she is heading back over.

An escaped strand of hair gets brushed aside before she answers the question finally, "Yes. I do."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Glancing at the card, Zatanna considers it and then Melissa, and she slides the card back, not turning it over. She's gauging something, before Alison departs. Zatanna worries on her lip before she returns and she smiles. "Worried I'd scared you off there for a moment." she admits to the blonde.

"Magic's the great unknown, or so I've been told. What it can do, what it may do." she glances at the card again, and then back to Melissa. "I want you to put your hand on the card. I don't want you to turn it over. Not until you're ready. Concentrate on it. Think on it. Think of what you want. What you may desire. And then when you're ready, tell me, and I'll flip it." she explains.

Glancing back to Alison, she smiles warmly, her voice quiet because of the need to not draw attention. "I've got a playlist of yours on my home's speakers. Though I don't think anyone wants to watch me bop around and dance in my pajamas on to 'The Sight of Sound'."

Melissa Gold has posed:
    "Right, that's it!" Melissa snaps her fingers and points at Alison. "Ultrawhatsits. That's the stuff I saw do amazing things before. Couple of them spandex types use it I think, too, right?"
    Her face is completely deadpan as she says this. Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
    Then Alison fetches coffee which reminds Melissa that's what she came for, only now she's in a conversation and ... She sighs. Get it later.
    With Alison's return, and Zatanna getting all spooky, Melissa is a bit tentative on covering the card with her hand, like it was going to do something freaky like move under her hand.
    "You some kind of magician?" she asks. "Like ... uh ..." She looks pained. "... that guy. That walks around and does things in the street. And gets himself buried in the air. David somethingorother?"
    She shakes her head. "I'll ask that again after this. Don't want to spoil your trick." Answered her own question apparently. "Concentrating now."
    And she does. She ... her entire face goes blank, just staring, unblinking, at her hand and the card beneath, with no other expression on her face. A good fifteen seconds of this later, she quietly murmurs. "Now."

Alison Blaire has posed:
"Oh, not at all." Alison assures Zatanna with a laugh and a casual wave of her hand, brushing away such worries about her being scared off. She just required coffee, since that is probably her purpose in being here as well. It also allows her to just brush aside that whole playlist thing with an amused smile, and a shake of her head, "I'm sure that it is quite respectable bopping."

But there are more serious things happening. And when Melissa begins to focus on the card beneath her hand she lets her attention turn back to that while she goes quiet, waiting to see just what might happen next.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
There's a heavy silence in that fifteen seconds that lingers in the air to give Melissa a chance to concentrate. When she announces 'Now', Zatanna waves her hand over the card and after she trails across and flips it, where the card was is now a small bird, a colorful American kestrel.

A Bird of Prey.

"Huh!" Zatanna says, genuine surprise on her features as she considers the stocky young woman. "I didn't expect that." There's a thoughtful look as the bird makes a few calls before she gestures to her shoulder and the bird dutifully hops on it. "Apparently you have some opprotunities that may give you the chance to take flight as she reaches up to brush the bird and pulls the Ace of Clubs from it's feathers to set on the table. "Or you just have a pair of fives with an Ace kicker." she comments wryly.

Then to Alison she grins. "I promise I won't bop around when we plan the concert." she reports dutifully. "Now, in private practice? Totally dancing."

Melissa Gold has posed:
    The bird is a bit of a surprise. Not the card. The card not being a playing card is expected. Hell, even the card being pulled out of the bird and back on the table is just a magic trick. It's the thing where the card becomes a literal, flying bird that has Melissa entranced.
    "Wow!" she says, for the first time looking actually enchanted, like a young girl being shown the coin from the ear trick. "If you're not a pro at this you should be! Totally!"
    She looks over Alison's way. "That wasn't ultrawhatsits. For sure." Because, you know, that wasn't obvious.
    "I'd suggest frat parties, but they get kinda grabby. Probably not a good scene, but ... I got a few people I know in the entertainment biz, kinda sorta. Club owners. If you're looking for a place to perform?"
    Yes. She's digging deeper. She really doesn't seem to recognize either star at the table with her.
    "So, no birds in my pa..." She pauses. "Well, no birds like that in my past anyway. What's that say bout my future?"

Alison Blaire has posed:
"I'm sure that bopping around would be forgiven." Alison points out, but again she doesn't linger on the talking while Melissa is getting her magical fortune told.

It also helps that her drink is ready, and because she's Alsion Freaking Blaire it is brought over to her at the table, which just garners a smile in thanks for the barista doing it.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I perfer my bopping with a partner." Zatanna teases, before she finishes off her tea and sets it to the side. She's watching Melissa though. Touching the woman's hand, she makes a small noise to let the kestrel hop from her shoulder over to Melissa's and chuckles. "Ultrasonics. Would you like to check for a transmitter?" she asks wryly. "Maybe I'm smuggling birds in my sweater." A playful eyeroll at that.

"Fortunes are not absolutes though, Melissa. They are how you translate them. And this one is yours to translate." she offers to her, releasing her hand to glance back to Alison. "So your boyfriend sounded excite about the pair of you helping with the concert. Planning a duet?"

Melissa Gold has posed:
    Melissa eyes the bird on her shoulder curiously, touching it ... if it doesn't get upset ... gently with a finger tip just to ensure it's real. "Nice bird," she opines. "Small, but looks deadly anyway. Surprised you can have this as a pet. Looks hard to train."
    Then some of the other words start to register. She peers across at Alison curiously. "You're a singer are you? Have I heard anything of yours or are you more college-oriented stuff?"
    The ever-so-slight dismissive sneer in her voice is oddly misplaced in a coffee shop in the middle of a university campus...
    "If you tell me you do metal I'll be really upset that I don't know you!"

Alison Blaire has posed:
Alison is usually pretty good about letting things just roll off her, like water off a ducks back. But when Zatanna says her boyfriend there is a stare, then she laughs, "No."

Just no. Nothing more to that. Instead she looks over at Melissa, that amusement still dancing in her face before she reaches a hand offer towards her, ignoring the bird in the way, "Alison Blaire."

She should know that name, right? Alison evidently assumes so.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Ah. My apologies for the assumption..." Zatanna shrugs her shoulders. "I mean, not seeing anyone myself. The struggle is real or something." she admits with a laugh. And since it's seems to be a whole full name thing, she offers her own. "Zatanna Zatara." The face of the MGM Grande for the last three years.

As soon as Melissa's fingers touch the bird, it suddenly vanishes, left there is her business card.

                                Zatanna Zatara                                
                   Stage Magic - Presidigtations - Fortunes                  
                @AnnatazArataz on Instgram YouTube and Twitter                

Was the bird ever real? Was it all an illusion.

Zatanna won't tell.

Melissa Gold has posed:
    The bird's disappearance causes something close to the beginnings of an exclamation of disappointment before Melissa catches herself and chokes it off. The card, however, she looks at. Then her eyes widen. She looks at Zatanna. Then at the card. "Wait ... you're ..."
    Ahem, ladies, prepare for self-embarrassment.
    "Oh, wow, Ms. Zatara! I didn't recognize you without the fishnets! You're really...?" She shakes her head. "Of course you are. The bird. Right. Wow that was awesome Ms. Zee! I'm so thrilled to meet you! I was in show biz for a while too, so I know how hard it is to keep on top of the game! You've been there for so long it's like you're a ... monument!"
    At some point in this the fact that she's blathering slowly enters her head. A horrified expression crosses her face as she realizes that she's being stupid ... but the words AREN'T STOPPING. She wrenches herself visibly and forcibly off that topic. Turning to Alison, whose hand she'd been gripping in the offered shake while practically drooling like an idiot over Zatanna.
    "Melissa Gold. Once Screamin' Mimi," that last with a wistful expression on her face. "Of The Grapplers. Pro wrestling. Shoot-wrestling and Unlimited Class. Retired." Then, sticking her foot in things deeper, "And don't worry about gigs. They're all nerve-wracking when you set 'em up, but once you've got a few under your belt they're mostly just ... there."
    Yeah. She still doesn't recognize Dazzler...
    "Look, it's been great meeting you two!" Zatannas card gets carefully slipped into her pants pocket for security. "I'm still a bit confused about the bird and my future, but I'll sure as all fu.....n remember that bird trick. Best thing ever!" She looks at her bare wrist. "Oh, is that the time? I gotta run. Thanks again!"
    Apparently planning on leaving without coffee...

Alison Blaire has posed:
The gushing over the magician but not her causes momentary confusion, and then amusement. But Alison takes it in stride, reaching for her coffee to pick it up and take another sip from it. Watching someone else have to deal with the very enthusiastic fangirling is just amusing.

As soon as her hand is released she just offers a smile to Melissa once more, "Thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to remember it, Melissa. It was nice to meet you as well."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Well, I don't go around everywhere in the fishnets." Zatanna offers with a laugh and a shake of her head. "Though life is more fun in them." she offers teasingly. "I'm sure we'll be meeting again soon!" she offers to Melissa cryptically. Who knows what she means by that as she turns to Alison, and there's sympathy there. Amused sympathy, but sympathy as she reaches over to give Alison's hand a squeeze.

"If it helps, she recognized me, and I'm a huge fan of yours, so it all works out? I'll save my fangirling for later though, promise." Because she knows all too well what happens when you draw in too much attention.

Melissa Gold has posed:
    "Well, it was great meeting both of you." Melissa stands up then, flipping the chair to face inward once again. "But if I don't get to the casual labour office in time, I won't have any work tomorrow." There's a tinge of something dark in her voice as she says that. Resentment, perhaps? Hard to tell. "At least not until I bounce in the evening."
    Then, without a further word, she turns and heads off out the door.
    Without the coffee.