4863/Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale...

Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale...
Date of Scene:	09 July 2018
Location:	Sunnydale, Bludhaven
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Jennifer Kale, Zatanna Zatara

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Jennifer Kale has posed:
It's a quiet afternoon in Sunnydale, likely because the sun hasn't set. At the Magic Box, Jennifer Kale is sitting at one of the tables with a large book in front of her. The blonde is sitting crossways, long legs stretched out over an adjacent chair. She turns pages almost casually, as if reading a Sunday sales paper.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The door chime on the occult shop jingles. Zatanna Zatara steps in. She's easily recognized, to the sort of person who would recognize magicians. Others might have a tougher time, because she's in her civilian clothes. Black jeans, black boots with heels, a black blouse with the sleeves rolled up, and the first few buttons undone...

The celebrity sorceress has a look around the store. She seems to judge everything in order, and starts her shopping, stopping right next to Jennifer, to check out the contents of a shelf. Her perfume smells like berries only found in eldritch dimensions.

Jennifer Kale has posed:
The new arrival gets Jennifer's attention long before she smells the perfume. The occult shop quite simply just doesn't do a huge volume of business. The chimes jingle and she glances up, and when she spots the woman her gaze lingers.

Jennifer may be more redneck than proper, but she at least knows to glance away as Zatanna approaches. That's when she catches the perfume, and her attention perks. She looks up, not hiding her stares now. "Now -you're- a woman who's done some travelling."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna is used to being stared at. She looks over her shoulder with a polite smile. "Just finished travelling, actually," Zatanna says, with a smoothness and confidence that comes from showing her legs to strangers in a crowd. "Did a short little bitty club tour. Working on some new stuff for the next Netflix thing. Anything cool here I could check out? I'm getting pretty tired of catching bullets in my teeth and making people think I've cut off my own fingers."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer manages to keep eye contact, at least mostly, and she doesn't get up. The book that she's leafing through so casually is full of occult symbols and references, most of which would be familiar to Zee. The mention of a club tour and Netflix special definitely causes her to connect the dots.

"I thought you looked familiar, Ms. Zatara, but I was referring to your perfume. It's 'out of this world'..." And there's a playfulness at her description. Glancing down at the book, she closes it to show the title. 'A Beginner's Guide to the Outer Planes'. "I've only been here a few months, but I'm discovering that Sunnydale is remarkably advanced in occult knowledge. Especially for a back-water little town in New Jersey."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna laughs. She self-consciously makes it sound self-deprecating. "You know, I walk into a magic store and I just assume people are gonna thrust top hats in my hands to sign. Or pantyhose eggs, I've had both. Sorry about that. Yeah, the perfume... that's one way to put it, ha ha."

Zatanna steps away from the book section that she was eyeing, and spares a glance to Jennifer's book. "You in charge here? Zatanna Zatara, call me Zee, none of this Miss or Ms. or Miz stuff. Pleasure to meet you. And yeah, yeah, Sunnydale is... I hear a lot of stuff. Very, very, very occasionally, some of it's even good stuff."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale grins crookedly at that. "You sign pantyhose eggs? Must admit, that's a new one." she replies. Swinging those long legs down, she gestures to the other chair. "Just a frequent customer, really. I'm Jennifer Kale, a fellow practitioner. Call me Jen, and the pleasure's mine."

The Kale name might be familiar, of course, if Zee has any knowledge of Atlantean mysticism. "I'm almost afraid to ask what -else- you've been asked to sign."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"It was a new one to me, too. I think some people try to be clever hoping I'll remember them. It's cute, kind of. At least, that's what I say when I'm trying to sound gracious about it." Zatanna flashes a grin, and takes a slow pace or two, looking around the store more. "And as far as going down that dark well, let's not and say we did. More interested in you. Kale, huh? As in, the Kales I'm thinking of? I'll give you a hint, I'm not thinking of the ones from Pittsburgh."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale looks up and does meet the performer's gaze now. Evenly. And she returns the grin with a small smile of her own. "Well there's a small circle of followers in Pittsburg, as there is in pretty much every major city. But yes, I'm one of *those* Kales. Grew up in Florida, but spending some time up here lately." Jennifer leans forward onto her elbows, then. "Gonna take a load off, Zee, or maybe we could go for a while and continue this over coffee. It's not every day I come across someone of your... caliber."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Wow," Zatanna replies. She's not shy about eye contact, either. Hers is more of a professional kind, like someone who's taken a lot of public speaking courses. "It's one of those things where you want to say 'small world,' right? But I figure you and I both know coincidences are never coincidences. Sure, I'll take you up on that coffee."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale rises, then, picking up the book and returning it to one of the shelves. "I couldn't agree with you more." she replies, with a smile. One that those who have seen -her- stage show would recognize. "There's an occult coffee shop just down the street called 'The Enchanted Grounds'. Not that it's any quieter than this place, but the coffee is good."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna looks amused by the notion of an occult coffee shop. "As long as I don't have some tiny demon jumping in my cup, or something like that," she says through a smirk. "I can deal with Disney-fied occultism, cutesy pentacle frosted cookies or whatever, but I try not to eat or drink anywhere the health inspector has to use sigils to deal with."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale chuckles at that, nodding. "Now that I think of it, the servers dress like Disney witches. They're cute and everybody takes it with the appropriate grain of salt, of course. I also have a decent French press in my apartment and I grind my own beans. Plus we're less likely to startle people there with talk about worlds-that-once-were."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna shakes her head. "Nah, the Disney witch place is fine. You know what happens when most people overhear people talking about worlds-that-once-were, and crawling chaoses, and stuff like that? They just assume we're on drugs, or even worse, nerds." The stage magician winks. "Lead the way, Jen."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale's grin remains and she nods, heading towards the door. "Trust me when I say we'll fit right in." Out the door they go, and literally half a block away. Once inside, Jen nods to a blonde at the coffee counter who's wearing a witches' costume. "Hi, Wendy. Tall mug of the house blend, plus whatever my friend wants." She heads for one of the sofa sitting areas.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna says, "I'll have the same. So two of those." She must want to live dangerously and not even look at the menu. She follows Jennifer to the sofa, and drapes herself on the end of one. Even her relaxing is theatrical. "This isn't so bad," she says, waving a hand at the pair's surroundings. "I was expecting more... people who wear goggles, or something."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale parks in the corner of a sofa facing Zee, swinging those long legs out straight along the cushions. "Kids with different colored school uniforms and magic wands, you mean? Give these folks a -little- credit for realism, at least. And like I said, the girls are nice." Jen tilts her head, then. "So what brings you out here? You -really- just between shows?

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Really and truly," Zatanna says, and spreads her hands. "Did my little tour, workshopped some new tricks... worked some out-of-the-way clubs and used a fake stage name, just so no one showed up expecting The Zatanna Show and filming it all on their phones. Sunnydale was on my way home, and like I said, I'd heard stuff, so... why not? If there's a cosmic reason I felt that urge, the reason hasn't shown itself to me yet."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
"Having coffee with a colleague doesn't usually do it?" Jen asks with a wry smile. "At the risk of putting undue emphasis on my own place in the grand scheme of things, of course." The coffee is delivered, then, and Jen fishes into her bag for a handful of small bills to cover it. "I really should catch your show sometime, but maybe I'll look for one of your 'fake' shows instead."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Hey, if the universe meant for me to get coffee with someone, fantastic. That's a welcome change from being attacked by demons and monsters, or having to solve The Mystery of the Aztec Mummy." Zatanna grins. She seems relaxed and off-the-cuff about her side career fighting things like Aztec mummies. "I might head up to the Pacific Northwest for the next little practice run. I'm not sure yet. Once I get home, I'm going back to the lab for a while, so to speak."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale looks curious at that, taking her coffee without anything. "Beats phone calls from extradimensional talking ducks." she quips back. "Much as I'm a simple, country girl at heart there are times when I definitely need to get out of the Everglades." She takes a careful sip. "So when you say 'back to the lab', I take it you don't mean working on your act."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna's coffee ends up with a little cream in it, and a lot of sugar. "No, that's exactly what I mean. Look, you know what I can do, I know what I can do, and the real trick is not just walking on stage and turning everyone's chairs into peppermint candy. It's got to have flair, it's got to hang together with other tricks, and all that good stuff. Back to the lab, to figure out just how far I can push the limits of giving people a glimpse of real magic, without letting them know they're seeing real magic. Half the crowd is there to try and 'figure out' how I did the trick, whether they know it or not. If I came out and just said, hey, here's some actual real sorcery, oof, it'd be a nightmare, for them and for me."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale chuckles softly at that, cradling the mug in both hands. "I suppose I hadn't thought of it quite like that." she replies. "Like if I used real magic in -my- show and mesmerized everyone into showering me with cash, I'd end up in jail or worse."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Well, yeah, that'd be a pretty big red flag," Zatanna laughs. She holds her mug in one hand, only using the other to support it when she's actually drinking from it. "But it's more than that. First, I'd be chased all around by people wanting me to do this or that. Second, I'd probably have all my gigs picketed by evangelicals and the types of people who think Hogwarts is a Satanic commune. Third, no venue would want me because they'd get scared that I'd summon a demon from Hell and burn the place down, or give someone in the audience a heart attack, or something. I could go on and on. There's just no place for hardcore magick-with-a-k in showbiz. Just give 'em a taste, that's all they can handle."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale grins again. "Yeah, things can get much worse than signing pantyhose eggs." she replies. "But you're right. People don't want the real thing; they just want to THINK they're seeing the real thing. The appeal is in -knowing- there's a trick, but not knowing what it is. I'm a dancer at a local place, and it's the same idea. You tease, you give glimpses. That's all. Because the moment you show *everything* you've got, the gig's up. Then all you can do is to collect your shit and get the hell off the stage."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna laughs, and nods. She doesn't seem put off by the 'dancing' talk. She seems to take it in stride. She's probably met people with much worse jobs. "It's all the same show, in the end. And it's all the same trick. Not what you're actually on the stage doing, but the real effect you're having: making them come back for more."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale takes a long, slow sip and then she nods. "From one entertainer to another." she replies, raising her mug. "Except I'll bet you pull in a *little* more than fifty bucks a night. But hey, it's a bigger stage. So yeah, it does make sense that you need to work on pushing the boundaries. Within reason."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Now I do," Zatanna says, after a long sip of her own. "When I started out, there was a lot of 'Oh, John's daughter? Tell you what: TWO drink tickets.' Keep at it and the money finds you. Just try not to magick your way into making it happen too quick. That's how people end up with payday loans from Hell, in a very literal way."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
Jennifer Kale chuckles at that, nodding. "Like I said before, I'm a simple country girl. I make enough money to pay the bills, which is good enough for me. Never really felt the call of fame and fortune. My family name is famous enough in my 'day job'. But thanks for the advice, all the same."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Probably a wise move. Fame and fortune can be real pains in the ass sometimes." Zatanna laughs. "I think I just tell people this stuff as some kind of magic community service, now. I'm like a PSA telling you not to smoke cigarettes. Except I tell young magicians I meet that hey, maybe DON'T hex the grocery store manager when he points out your coupon expired. Magic has the same laws of action and reaction as anything else. The only thing is you never know when your bill's gonna come due, so to speak."

Jennifer Kale has posed:
"Ain't THAT the truth." Jen replies. "I've... met... a few folks with some pretty heavy debts. And I've written more than my share of big 'checks', so to speak. No need to tell THIS girl that magic isn't free. But feel free to look me up anytime. So long as it doesn't involve wearing fishnets."

The conversation continues for a second, and then a third round of coffee before magician and sorceress part ways.