White Rhino Coffee Shop

[demikara]

It was called a Hug in a Cup, Bartholomew recalled, staring down at his coffee and wondering why it was that he was even here. His gut said come, and so he came. That's what he did after all. His body always seemed to know where to go, even if his mind didn't. Either way, for some reason, he was needed in this coffee shop, and so here he was, in the coffee shop, admiring the drink and keep his senses out for the clientele. There were a larger than usual number of unseen customers here and they all seemed to be stopping by in one particular area. He had, of course, decided to go there too. What else was an immortal man supposed to do, after all. He certainly didn't fit with much of the rest of the place.

Fitting in wasn't something he had asked for in a long time though. He sipped his drink again and considered it, his shaggy black brown hair brushing his shoulders. It really was like a hug in a cup wasn't it? He'd have to come here again, regardless of where his instincts led him. He liked the menu already.  with a smile he sipped his drink again. Hm, but when would he have the funds to come again? No matter. though his funds were, as always, few, his needs were, as always, met. Enough faith led to that, he was certain. He didn't know if he'd really need  another cup of coffee, mind you, but he had apparently needed this one, so it was always possible.

"This truly is a good drink." He didn't even usually like coffee. The name had drawn him in though.

[Circe]

"Triple espresso venti mocha latte." The woman standing at the counter said, while fishing briefly through their purse. "Are you sure? After about the second one it gets rather bitter..." The barista protested, looking at the woman with mild apprehension. "Yes." She said as she produced a wallet and card to pay. The barista shrugged and ran the card through the reader before asking her to sign the receipt. "Name?" The barista asked before handing the empty cup back to be filled. "Catherine." The woman answered already halfway over to where the community board was set up.

There wasn't anything terribly new or interesting, it seemed that this coffee shop was still relatively low on the totem poll for what community information it got. Shrugging mentally, she turned her attention back to counter once her order was called.

[demikara]

Hm, that was a familiar voice. Bart looked up and smiled. Ah, the one with the nephew who had needed some help. And, apparently, she needed his help again. Huh, that didn't happen too often. Still, he stood and meandered over. "Catherine, right?" Hopefully she recalled him. Well, he could refresh her memory. "I don't know if you remember me. I helped you with a problem your nephew was having, some time ago." And he hadn't aged a bit since. Then again, it didn't look like she had either. Well, he wasn't too surprised. It was uncommon, but it happened.

The man glanced to her. "Why don't you join me. We can catch up." He was curious to hear what her nephew had gotten up to this time. He seemed prone to such problems, from what little Bart recalled. Then again, such proneness often ran in families and he had no doubt she had gotten into her fair share of scraps as well.

[Circe]

"Yes.. can I help you?" She asked looking at the man standing next to her. He was definitely a contrast from the neatly attired woman who was currently clutching her cup of coffee like her life depended on it. Maybe it did in some ways, after all her job tended to equate to long hours and little sleep. "Which nephew..." Catherine asked suddenly suspicious, she had three technically, after all. It wasn't her job to keep track of Dawson or Jacob, much less Brandon who seemed to be doing perfectly fine from what she could see.

"Uhh.. sure.. but first tell me who you are again and how I know you?" She asked, as she frantically tossed through mental images and notes about people she had met. 1500 years worth of memories, and she still couldn't figure out if she was supposed to know someone or not; at least not with people she didn't see on the regular basis.

[demikara]

"I believe I am to help you, though I don't know how yet." Perhaps just listening. "And I'm Bartholomew Aria Ben-Ari." He introduced himself and shrugged. "I believe, hm, I believe his name was Brandon. He was a young adult at the time." Very young, as far as Bart was concerned. Still, he wasn't surprised that she didn't recognize him at first. She likely met a great deal of people over the course of a week, much less the handful of years.

He just had a good memory for the people he had helped in the past. Last time, he had listened and he had helped her nephew. This time, perhaps she just needed someone to listen. He was never sure, at first. He just knew that he was here to help, and help he would. Perhaps she needed some form of miracle. That was something he could usually provide, given the reason behind it, at least.

[Circe]

"You... help me?" Catherine replied still suspicious, and why did everyone's favorite subject of the week have to been Brandon lately? That in of itself was weird enough. "Mr. Hammerstein is fine." She added, it was a lie, but she didn't terribly feel like outing him in a public space. There were still some unresolved issues from the Dragon Court she suspected, even if she never did attend any of their rather lurid and debauched gatherings. "He's currently very busy with running his art studio." Catherine informed the other before taking a sip of her coffee.

[demikara]

"Yes. I'm supposed to help you, in some manner." He shrugged, uncertain. "It's my gift to go where I'm needed. I just never quite know why." A gift. It was an easier thing to say than magic, and he didn't believe it to be magic anyway. There were other forces at work that gave him his ability. He considered what else to say, how else to put it. "I've found, it is often little things, like simply listening without judgement, or helping with some small task. Sometimes, it is larger things, such as removing a curse, and dealing with, hm, more negative magic." He kept his voice low on that, knowing things were still tense for the unseen around the mundane.

[Circe]

Catherine just stared at the man, unsure of how exactly to respond. "You might want to consider consulting with whatever deity you converse with to figure this out for future reference." She pointed out. "Unless you know a way to bring a court of Vampires to their knees or reprimand a wolf pack, legally... then I don't think your help is needed." Catherine added bluntly. She was still no fan of the Dragon Court, or their choices currently; so she tended to stay far away and waive whatever rights she had even started with.

"Besides which, I already have a therapist." She commented, still having no idea what sort of help this man would be wanting to provide. "Look, I appreciate your offer Mr... Ben-Ari was it? But I really haven't the faintest clue what sort of help Brandon or anyone would need. Maybe you should ask him?"

[demikara]

"My god led me to you." He said simply. "And trusts me to figure out the rest." Still, those would be difficult to handle. Doable, but difficult. He mulled the problems over. "Vampires of weak against holy magics." He said simply. "And my understanding is that they have regular court gatherings." Though he knew little about them, truth told. Just a handful of basics. "Find a person with strong holy magics and have them bring the court to its knees." That was the best he could think of for that. As for the wolves.

"Werewolves respond to power. That I provide. A physical fight with their leader is usually enough to cow them, if you can win." And he was confident in his ability to do just that. He had ample physical power, though he knew he hardly looked the part.

[Circe]

Catherine raised an eyebrow at his comments, she'd heard a lot in her time, but the phrase he used slightly concerned her. "I'm well aware of these things..." She said slowly, holding back her irritation. She knew that the Dragon Court had it coming to them, but at the same time she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to set a certain Sergeant loose onto them. That was almost an unfair fight with most of them, as magic didn't run very deep in their particular bloodlines.

"A fight.. with their leader.. picking a fight with a werewolf isn't a good idea. Especially given current publicity."

[demikara]

Bart smiled serenely. "We haven't been in the open that long." He pointed out gently. "It would be easy enough to organize a fight through some of the older ways, where the mundanes would not see." That would be the important part. Mundanes could never know the full truth, even if now they knew some of it. Knowing the full truth though, that was a recipe for disaster, he was sure of it. Still, he wasn't worried about losing. "It would not be, perhaps, the best choice, but it is the most viable one, given they appear to be acting up."

He considered other choices. "If their leader will not call them to order, then they either need to be thoroughly beaten, or to get a new leader." And either options had it's downsides.

[Circe]

"Only a few months, and that's plenty of time according to the media." Catherine retorted. "Yes.. there are other ways, but most wouldn't know or agree to them. A lot of these..individuals have lost their lore and knowledge." She said, knowing full well that the Cedar Ridge pack was running rampant with little to no control. Something needed to be done, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be brought to heel with the Council. "I don't disagree... but I do believe the Council would love to have these two groups brought to heel." Catherine muttered thoughtfully to herself.

She had to admit, the idea of giving Molly the opportunity to have a no holds barred fight was moderately entertaining. The Dragon Court wouldn't suspect who had ordered or maybe requested it she suspected.

[demikara]

"Eventually the media will calm. Though it may be a very long time." He grinned at that. Eventually they'd consider it a new normal, and then just normal. The man considered what else could happen. "If they don't know their lore and knowledge, then they should be taught it. We were all children needing to learn at one point, after all." And if they didn't know their lore, they were still children. Then again, in comparison to him, most people were children. It wasn't hard to forget that though. The years didn't weigh on him.

He considered things carefully. "If you know their lore, share it with them. If another knows it, ask them to share it." That seemed simple enough.