[Cafe] Like a diamond in a mountain of coal [Aeric]

It was weird actually going out and taking time away from work for a few hours to actually get coffee with someone. Tatum Atherton was a work-a-holic. She loved her owls and loved her business. She really just loved taking care of the little creatures. She was an activist and not like other people. Dates was something she really never did either. Most of the time she was stuck in the friend zone before she could even manage to ask someone about going out and doing something, so because of that she ended up just putting her life on hold and focus on work. Tate was asked out to coffee with someone from Hogwarts. He was in her house and was always the type of guy she would probably never had a chance with. He was in a well known family and she was a muggleborn with a large soccor family. They were not really in the same types of family. He was nice and attractive though. Thursday finally came and Tate managed to asked someone to watch the birds for her while she took some time away to go get coffee.

She kept the clothes that she was wearing at the owlery. The only change was she applied lipstick and managed to pull her hair into a messy pony tail. A leather jacket was put onto everything. She hoped no feathers were residing in her hair. She attempted to make herself look the best she could, with not over doing it. Tate would never wear a dress unless she was forced. Even if it was a date, she would live in blue jeans or tight pants as long as it looked decent.

Tate ended up using the Floo network to get to Diagon Alley from Hogsmeade. Floo dust stuck on her clothes and face, which ruined her attempting to look nice. She managed to brush most of it off except some on her forehead. As she made it to the cafe that Aeric told her to meet him at she finally spotted it. Was it a good idea to take time away from the owls? She took a deep breath and butterflies started to hit her stomach. She wanted to run. Tate did not want to ruin this with the fact she had no clue how to even flirt or even talk to guys without being friends with them. She only had one boyfriend in her whole life... that was pretty pathetic. In her mind she would just think of this as two friends hanging out. That was the best idea. Hopefully she did not scare him away.

Brushing her blue hair away from her face (some of it managed to fall out of the pony tail). She made her way to Aeric who she spotted right away. He was gorgeous. She waved to him. "Sorry if I was late, the floo network sent me a block away." She mispronounced the name of the cafe. Thankfully it did not send her super far away. She smiled at him. "How are you today?"

"Mikey, there is a shipment in the back..." Green eyes dropped down to his watch as he took one last sip of his coffee. "Um..when the chef gets here tell him the menu needs to be changed..." Aeric shifted to grab his vest, swinging it onto his body before stretching his arms out quickly to fix his cuff-links. Walking from his office he was followed by an intensely focused bartender who seemed to be taking more notes then Aeric thought was needed. "Remember to get the inventory reports to me by the end of the day.." He reminded as he walked out of the door. Running a business was time consuming. Though, it added a bit of relief to his other form of business. Sometimes his work was a dirty thing and sometimes on days like this one it was more civilized. He could feel more like a regular person and less like a criminal. He paused momentarily to look down each side of the street before making his way towards the cafe.

He wasn't sure if it was a date or not but he was happy to be spending time with someone other than the man walking silently behind him.  "Would it kill you to talk sometimes Niko..." He glanced over his shoulder as the man shrugged before Aeric gave a shake of his head. Like always Niko found a table not too far away once they got inside. Aeric watched him for a moment before looking down at the menu. He wondered faintly if there was any woman built to handle a life with him. He knew it was a hard life to live. He had heard the complaints of some of the women in his family, marriage and blood related alike. There was a certain tension that came with relationships to men with the Regan name. A certain degree of will and independence was needed in a woman. Aeric wasn't sure if he would find someone and he wondered how badly that would affect things.

There were so many traditions to live up to that at times it was hard to figure out which direction to take his life. He knew that every choice he made would affect more then just himself. He didn't mind so much about the image but he did mind how everything ran otherwise. He wanted everything in his function a certain way, though he knew there were things he had no control over. He just wanted for a day to feel like everyone else and not the man he actually was. Feeling normal seemed strange because he had so much to do in what always seemed like a short amount of time. It was just nice to have a small slice of what he was missing in life.

He gave a smile as he saw her walk in, lifting a hand to wave back. Standing, he fixed his vest before pulling her chair for her. "No you're fine, I actually just got here. I had to handle a late shipment at the bar." Once she was sitting he retook his seat, rising a hand to run his fingers over his chin. "I can say I'm doing pretty good today. How are you doing?" He took a moment to look at the menu again before glancing over at her. "I thought you might have forgotten or wouldn't have the time."

"Oh- So technically I was on time if you just got here too." She chuckled gently at him. As he pulled the chair out for her, she adjusted her hair slightly and sat down. It was rare for someone to pull the chair for her. She lived in a family of men. Half the time she had to grab something before they all ate it or just got picked up and moved out of the way. Her brothers were all way larger than her. Tate was small, short, and fragile. It was weird growing up in a big, large, and muscled house. As he asked how she was doing, she smiled. "Pretty good. Just worked on chasing some bloody cats out of my owlery and did a few deliveries."

Tate grabbed the menu and looked over it. What would she even eat here? Does other women eat different things? Most of the time she would just get a giant brew and a big burger with some chips. That won't work here though. Plus, she wasn't super hungry. Maybe just a coffee... she tried to focus on something else as he spoke up about her forgetting. She smirked gently at him, "I definitely did not forget and hey- I could say the same about you. You work just as much as I do."

These two both needed to take some time to actually think about something other than work, even though that was buzzing their her mind only because her nerves were taking over. She was uncomfortable with how she should act that she was just second guessing everything and worrying about her owls. Tate pushed those thoughts out of her mind and looked back at the man in front of her. She put her menu down and spoke, "I say- since we are away from our jobs lets not talk about them. How is your kid today?" She smiled at him. She really did not know much about his child. It was best to try to get to know him and a little bit about his family. Tate still wasn't a kid person, but at least she could try her best at it.

"Well, when you put it like that I guess not." He gave a smile. He was just happy she could make it. He knew that with a busy schedule sometimes things got pushed to the background. It wasn't on purpose but it was a common thing. His brow rose in surprise before he shifted in his seat. "A cat? Wow." He could only think of the terrible things that might have happened, had she not been there. "Good thing you were there.." He wondered if there was a charm of some kind to keep the cats away. If there had been she surely would have tried it. "Been a pretty long day for the both of us.." Though he didn't go too much into his day. It was best not to talk about the stresses of his day.

"Yeah, always something to be done." He looked up as the waitress approached the table, looking over in her direction to allow her to order first. Once she had placed her order Aeric pursed his lips a bit. "Coffee...black. Um..." He made a soft ticking sound with as he looked over the menu more. "And a few more minutes while I try to decide my top two choices." He looked up with a grin before sitting his menu off to the side. He would give himself a moment to think while she went off to fill the order she'd been given.

"I can agree there. No more work talk."  The Irishman shifted, resting his arms on the table a bit. "Sky is good. He's with my sister so I know it's a fun day for him." He wouldn't help but smile as he thought about the little bundle of energy. Pushing his menu more off to side Aeric let his hands run over the cloth on the table. "How's the puppy doing? Still adorable?" It had been a moment since he had been around a puppy. Duke was almost three now so he was too old to be adorable. "I think I might want another, but I'm not sure what kind would be good for Sky..." One of the many small problems in his life.