Café ~ Read all about it [Eva]

Cotton had the day off work and so decided he would start off with a relaxing coffee from his favorite little corner café. The place had some French name which Cotton could never remember. It was old fashioned looking and had big wooden window frame's out front with a nifty little exterior inside. Each table had a cloth draped over it and a central teapot stirring itself every now and then. Along the walls were a series of motivational posters and pictures of various wizards. Along with the appealing nature of the visuals, this little place always smelled so good! Cotton always found that whenever he walked in, the smell of fresh coffee and homemade scones filled the room - delightful. It was also so nice because the staff were friendly and would often stop to have conversations with Cott; something which he appreciated when having a bad day.

Before leaving his house, the man picked up the book which he had been reading recently. It was called 'Zachariah and the inside out squid' and proved to be actually rather entertaining. Cotton tucked it under his arm and left his building. Making his way down the street, he admired the sky and it's beauty on such a fine day. The breeze was gentle and calm: branches gently waved on the trees and leaves slowly swept themselves across the ground in packs. Cott saw a squirrel climb up a tree and watched happily as it seemed to defy gravity by doing so. The young mediwizard enjoyed just being able to take his time walking around - no stress, no worries, no 'Cotton, somebody might die if you don't help them right now.'. Just peacefulness.

After his luxurious stoll, Cotton arrived at his favorite little café and took a seat at one of the areas near the window. He smoothed out the soft fabric on his table and placed his book on it. The man picked up the teapot and poured it into a cup. He added sugar and stirred it quietly, trying not to make a loud clinking noise and disrupt anyone. Cott quickly glanced around then pulled out his glasses from his pocket. He thought that they made him look geeky but he didn't mind at all, he had to wear them or he wouldn't be able to read without straining his eyes. Cotton pushed the glasses up his nose and picked up the story he had brought. Flicking through the pages, he tried to find the page corner he had folded over to mark where he had gotten to.

Once Cotton had found the correct page, his eyes became glued to the text and the outside world became muffled to him. The mediwizard felt around with his left hand trying to find his teacup without averting his eyes from the page. He found the handle and help the cup up to his mouth. Cotton blew on the hot liquid before he took a sip - too many times he had burnt his mouth due to not cooling down his coffee before drinking it. He didn't really like SUPER hot drinks anyway. He sighed happily and placed his teacup down. Cott was very engrossed in the book, hardly anything from the outside world was getting through to him except for the odd laugh or clank of mugs.

Cotton didn't have days off of work often but when he did, they were relaxing and enjoyable - like today.

The day had been relatively slow and uneventful, which was never a good thing for Eva. The Bulgarian girl was bored. She was supposed to be meeting a friend here, but the friend had told her – last minute, mind you – that she was going to be late. So Eva had to wait. So the girl had ordered a slice of carrot cake. It was there in front of her now, and the girl stared at it intently. Which fork should she be eating her cake with? Eva was holding a silver cake fork in her right hand, and a normal sized one in her left. These little cake forks were sharper than regular forks, but also smaller. The girl found herself morbidly entertaining the idea of stabbing someone – or herself – with one of each and seeing which was better at doing the job. This was what happened when she was bored, she realised with a sigh. She started contemplating crazy acts of violence.

Ah, screw it, she thought, dropping the tiny fork and using the full-sized one to scoop big mouthfuls into her mouth. Delicious! Eva had a cup of hot tea and a book (she’d brought it just in case), but she wasn’t really in the mood for reading. The rainbow haired girl had a quick glance over at the waiter boy who was currently making coffee. He was kind of cute, she supposed. In that I-just-graduated-school kind of way. She watched curiously as he fumbled with the cup he was carrying and dropped it, spilling coffee all over himself and smashing the cup on the ground. Her light, melodic laugh sounded loud against the quiet café, and the girl got a few irritated stares from some of the patrons. Oh. Oh, okay. Waiter boy didn’t look too impressed either. Well cross him off the list then, she thought.

Her eyes came to rest on a young man sitting in the corner. He’d just come in a few moments ago and looked pretty peaceful, reading his book and all. The girl blinked in surprise. That book cover looked familiar. Eva glanced down at her own book and smiled mischievously to herself. It was exactly the same. Zachariah and the inside-out squid. Oh boy, what were the chances of that? The girl was impatient and obviously didn’t fit in in this quaint little café. Her hair alone had drawn distasteful looks already. But this guy… he was reading the same book as her. She was amused and felt a moment of triumph. Sure, she found the book bat shit boring, but hey. It was an in, wasn’t it?

Forgetting completely about her half-finished slice of cake in preference for this potential distraction, Eva grabbed her novel and moseyed over to his table. She didn’t hesitate, but instead opted to take the seat opposite him. The girl leant forward quickly, leaning her cheek against the palm of her left hand and resting her elbows on the table. “Hey!” she said brightly, flashing him her most charismatic smile. “Do you mind if I share your table? The others are full.” They weren’t full. In fact, there were a few spare ones. Eva was drawing attention to herself. She could feel the eyes on her, but she didn’t mind.

“I couldn’t help but notice…” the rainbow haired girl held up the book she’d been reading for him to see. “Crazy, right?” she asked, “What are the odds?” Pretty low, by her estimation. It was an old book. The girl dropped her novel on the table for a moment and stuck her hand out for him to shake. “I’m Eva,” she told him brightly. No surname, just Eva.

After only a short few moments of peaceful reading, Cotton had been disturbed. At first he didn't notice the girl sit down at his table until she declared her presence. Cott jumped a little as her voice sounded. He put his thumb inside the book so that he didn't lose the page and looked up. His gaze slowly met her eyes, she seemed to be smiling nicely at him and so instinctively he offered a warm smile back. "Oh hello there!" The mediwizard said happily, "No, of course! It's a public table right?" He looked around at the seemingly empty café but once again Cotton offered the woman a smile. She obviously didn't think the excuse to sit with him through well enough as she'd thought. That didn't matter to Cott, however. He enjoyed the company of other people - it was nicer than being alone. Even if he was trying to relax and read.

As she was talking, Cott noticed her vibrant hair. It was quite unique. The girl looked pretty and interesting which made Cotton blush a little at the thought that she would want to come over and talk to him out of the few people there. He scruffled his hair up and then wagged the book in the air briefly. "Oh yeah! Haha, small world." Again, Cotton talked gently and calmy. This time however his voice carried a little sense of excitement. It was always nice to meet new people who shared the same likes and views on things: the book choice in this case. He folded the corner of his page over and set the story down on the table. The girl then introduced herself.

'Eva'. She was called; a normal name. Once again, it was time for Cotton to introduce his unusual name. This was always the hardest part for him. The man was never sure if the other person would like his name, if they hated it, perhaps even make fun of it? But Cotton was in the grown up world now. People usually didn't make such a big deal out of it like they did when he was younger. He reached out and shook the girl's hand, "Cotton. Nice to meet you." Eva seemed exciting! He could tell by the trail of crumbs on the floor that she had left her food half way through eaten to come and speak to him. 'But why?' He wondered. 'I'm not interesting...'. Cotton sat there smiling for a brief moment before taking a sip of his drink and taking his glasses off almost simultaneously.

He figured that he should probably try and keep the conversation going. "So, are you enjoying the book? I don't mind it but I just can't really put it down, haha." Cotton wasn't nervous talking to the girl, he talked to people on a daily basis, why should he be nervous? Once again, Cotton found himself studying the girl's features and dressing style. A free spirit. Cotton agreed with the thought that this Eva girl was probably a little bit different in a good way and that she would express herself. Cotton expressed himself through vegetarianism, the girl looked like she did so through her looks.

"I like your hair by the way. It's cool." Cott blurted out without really thinking about it. He didn't mean to and once again found himself blushing.

The man jumped when she’d spoken. That was endearing, in an adolescent kind of way. He didn’t look fifteen, but it was kind of hard for Eva to work out how old she thought he was. Eva was bored out of her brain and the man in front of her had her full attention. “I don’t mind finding somewhere else if you’d like your privacy,” she told him, a little fake concern finding its way into her tone. She didn’t want him to tell her to go, because he was her chosen entertainment. Even if he turned out to be the most boring person in the world. It was still better than nothing, and she had time to kill. The man’s gaze travelled to her hair. At least he didn’t look disgusted, she thought flatly. Surprised, if anything.

She shook his hand firmly. He looked a little stunned. “Cotton,” she repeated, checking that she’d gotten the name right. Multiple moves over various countries had introduced her to a lot of weird names, but he seemed quite English to her, and Cotton wasn’t a common name in any place that she’d been. “Cotton… candy?” she added silkily, a small flirtatious smirk appearing on her lips. He certainly seemed sweet, if a little dazed. Maybe that innocent kind of surprise was just an air of naivety. She wasn’t sure. The young man took off his glasses, and Eva tilted her head to the side, trying to decide whether or not she thought he was attractive.

Either way, he was an apt distraction.

“Thank you!” she replied enthusiastically. There was a little amusement in her tone though. He seemed like a pretty conservative guy. Eva twirled a long, green strand of hair around her index finger and glanced at the tips for a moment. “It’s fading a little though, I think I’ll need to do it again soon.” She flicked her blue eyes back up to meet his. “And I’m not sure yet,” she told him, leaning forward a little. “I haven’t made up my mind about it yet. The storyline seems like it has potential, but I haven’t really connected with the characters yet. Where are you up to?” Without waiting for him to answer, the rainbow-haired girl picked up his book and checked where the folded page was.

“Oh you’re going to love the next chapter,” she told him brightly, placing it back on the table. Eva glanced over her shoulder, catching the eye of the clumsy waiter boy and beckoning him over with a smile. When he finally got there, he seemed a little nervous. Eva was amused. She wasn’t that scary, was she? Maybe he was nervous because she’d laughed at him. “I’d like to order a pot of tea,” she told him. The waiter boy glanced back at the table she’d been sitting at, a little confused. Was it that hard to grasp? She almost shook her head in exasperation. Finally, he jotted down her order and disappeared. Eva turned back to her new friend. “So, Cotton,” she began, leaning in once more, “What do you do?”

The unique girl in front of Cotton had offered to leave him alone, to which he responded "Oh no. Stay, stay!" in a reassuring manner with a small smile on his face. Of course soon after that, the girl was moving on to Cott's name. 'Cotton-candy' - how original. The young man had been through all of the nicknames imaginable for his particularly special name: Cott, Cotton Candy, 100% Cotton and so on. Nowadays these names didn't even affect the guy and seemed pretty normal. "Cotton candy, yeah." He said happily, "Because I'm sweet, you see!" In all honesty, the man had used this line a lot in his past conversations. Of course he never intended on using it in that sort of way but rather just in a funny, cutesy sort of innocent way.

Cott watched her as she played with her hair. It made him feel the need to scruffle up his hair once more and push it up out of his face - a bad habit. A little shocked, Cotton watched as the girl reached across the table to get to his book. She was a very forward person and obviously not shy at all. When the waiter came around to taker her order, the poor boy almost seemed almost too afraid to question Eva. He glanced at the table with the leftover food, this only confirmed Cott's theory that this girl sitting in front of him had stopped to join his table. This made him feel special. The waiter boy eventually scuttled off and the girl once more leaned in to ask another question.

"What do I do? Oh, actually I'm a mediwizard. I work at St Mungos. I'm sure you've heard of it." The young man pointed behind him using his thumb, almost as if that was some sort of indicator as to where exactly the hospital was. "I work with creature-induced injuries. It's actually a really fascinating job! And so rewarding." Cott didn't feel like adding 'and super obsessed with animals' would help in the current conversation - unless she liked animals a lot too. He could imagine it. She seemed nice enough.

"What about yourself?" As he was speaking the waiter boy came back with the small pot of tea that was requested by Eva - interrupting Cotton. He placed the thing down, trying to avoid eye contact with the girl. Cotton chuckled to himself. It was almost as if the boy thought that not making eye contact would keep her calm, as if she were a sort of wild animal. 'And remember, pal. Make yourself look big and it won't attack.' He thought to himself before realising what a strange thing he was doing; it was actually a little rude in Cott's opinion. So he ceased with the internal jokes of the waiter boy. Once again, the kid scampered off and left Cotton and Eva to their conversation.

"So yeah... As I was saying... What do you do?" The mediwizard offered a kind look from his eyes in the direction of Eva. A sudden thought entered his head: What if the girl didn't have a job? He didn't want to make her feel bad. But then surely she wouldn't have know if Cotton had a job or not. Cott dismissed this thought sharply before concentrating on this Eva girl once more.

“Sweet, hey?” she asked, watching him with a tiny smirk. Yep. He seemed it, too. Eva’s attention was drawn from him to her index finger, now drawing little circles on the wooden table in front of her. If she’d met this guy in another social setting, the girl probably wouldn’t have been too interested. In all honesty, he seemed a little naïve for her liking. But he was fine for now. Until her stupid friend showed up, maybe she could have some fun with this guy. Everyone was interesting if you looked closely enough, she thought.

Her pot of tea arrived, interrupting his question. The waiter’s attitude was grating on her nerves a little. “Thanks so much,” she told him brightly, her sparky blue eyes not leaving his until his back was turned to her. Jerk. She shrugged to herself and turned back to her drink with a slight snort. Eva poured herself another cup of it and lifted it to her lips, blowing across the surface lightly. She’d almost forgotten about Cotton for a moment, but when he spoke he appeared back on her radar. She looked up from her drink with interest; like she was a cat and he’d just waved a feather in front of her.

“What do I do?” Eva laughed melodically. Amusing. “I’m a professional nomad,” she told him cheekily. It wasn’t that far from the truth. In a romanticised, story book version of her life she’d be a wanderer or an adventurer. The girl considered his question. What did she do? Well, she travelled a lot. Worked in bars and cafés and restaurants all over Europe. She was learning how to DJ and was hoping that she’d be good enough to play in a club one day. Didn’t stay in one place for more than a few months. Modelled for an indie fashion magazine. Drank a lot. Professional friend-maker. Finally, she shrugged. “I do all kinds of things. Bartending… Modelling...”

He was sitting down, but she estimated that there couldn’t have been more than an inch or two between them in height. Her slender build and long legs were perfect for modelling, especially catwalk stuff. She sighed, “But I don’t know what I want to do. Something exciting.” Excitement was so hard to find. What was that quote she’d heard somewhere? Some muggle author or something that Elaine had introduced her to. “Living is the rarest thing in the world,” she recited softly, “most people exist, that is all.” Eva tilted her head to the side again with a slight shrug. She couldn’t remember who’d said it. The girl took a sip of her tea.