Resolved | OPEN

Lainey sat near the window of the newly rebuilt Corner Brews. The bistro had been leveled to the ground over the summer. There'd been no explosives involved, that only left magic as the suspected means by which it had been destroyed. The twenty-two-year-old had once worked here, before the wizards had razed it to the ground. She used to work with the guy who was currently on shift, actually. Hell, they still considered her family around here.

The redhead took a meditative sip of her coffee, then turned back to her notebook. She tapped her pen against the table as she thought, then penned something onto the page. After the leadership of the order had been killed in the hit upon Exodus 22 headquarters, Lainey had seized control, determined to rebuild it quickly and efficiently so that they might strike back against the magicals who would do them harm.

Her policy was simple: the time for tolerance had passed; wizards must die.

Ty was feeling ansy being in a closed store again. He really did need to work on that entrapment issue. Maybe he should talk to a psychatrist sometime.

Nah, that sounded like too much work to the young man. He'd rather just freak out a bit rather then deal with it properly.

In his rush, however, to get out of the building, he ran right into a chair and spilt his drink all over his legs.

"Well Bugger all," he muttered in his heavily accented voice looking at his wet clothes in dismay, "Well that would just be my a-luck."

Realizing that someone had been sitting in the chair he had ran into, he turned to them as well, "I'm a-terribly sorry about a-that."

Lainey had shut her notebook the moment she registered movement in her direction. Regardless, she hadn't really anticipated a lap full of beverage, either.

"It's fine," Lainey said with a slightly strained smile. God, I hope this doesn't stain, she thought as she used a napkin to dry the liquid from her pants. These are new jeans!

"You know," she stated lightly, "your direction's a bit off. The door is actually several paces that direction." The redhead gestured towards said door with a faint smirk. "What's the hurry, anyway?"

Tyler looked at the womans clothes in dismay. Way to a-go, Dimwit, he told himself as he shook his head.

"It is a-not alright," he responded firmly, "I a-ruined your clothes; I'll pay for a-cleanin' or new ones, or a-somethang."

He smirked a bit and glanced at the door.

"I don't a-like closed a-spaces," he said easily, not really caring about sharing his problem. It usually ened up being obvious anyways, so why not just tell people right off the bat, "Even buildings make me sorta nervous, from a-time to time."

"You know, Sir Handsome Foreigner," Lainey remarked, "it really isn't polite to contradict a lady. I said it's fine. Really." She gave him a smile.

"Well, have a seat and pretend the glass isn't there. Then, it'll be open." The redhead smirked. "Or, you can continue your flight and miss out on a sure to be interesting conversation with an indisputably attractive older woman. Your choice."

"Well then, if you are a-sure," he grinned.

"Glass? A-what glass?" he asked grinning as he slid into the empty seat across from her.

"You know, you sure do a-drive a hard bargin Miss..." he trialed off not knowing her name.

She grinned back at him, taking a sip of her tea.

"It's Lainey," she told him. "And what's your name, handsome?"

Tyler took a sip of what was left in his cup and smiled at his new companion.

"Nice to a-meet you Lainey," he responded, "And yeah can a-call me Ty, but I don't mind if you a-keep a-callin' me Handsome."

"Handsome it is, then," said Lainey with a smirk.

"So, you're American, aren't you? What brings you to this side of the pond?" she inquired. "I'm sure the ladies back where you're from are really missing your presence. My gain, of course. I like boys who are pretty to look at."

"It is a-true," he said with a grin, "It a-was a sad, sad day when I a-left my town. There was a-much crying."

He ignored the fact that most of the crying had been on his part. He pushed that part of his past away, in a corner of his brain.

Again his smile faultered only a moment as he thought about what brought him to england.

"I a-have family, over here," he finally settled on, "My mama grew up a-here. I've been a-livin' with her sister for the a-past few years."

"I bet there was," Lainey remarked dryly.

Her green eyes studied him intently, noting the way his expression faltered, the flash of pain that shone in his eyes.

"Been a-livin' here fer the a-past few years, and a-haven't lost the accent, huh?" she questioned lightly, copying his accent. Lainey was rather good with accents.

"Rwy'n wreiddiol o Gymru, fy hun," she said, translating, though she spoke with her native accent, a Welsh accent. "I'm originally from Wales, meself. Didn't really keep the accent, much."

She dropped it. "Haven't lived there since I was a girl," she remarked with a shrug. "It was a very long time ago."

Tyler raised his eyebrows as she mimicked his accent, "Impressive."

"Nah, I think I like it a-too much fer it to a-go away," he laughed.

He listened to her speak, nodding every few moments, and leaning lazily back in his chair.

"It must be easier to a-blend in, without yer accent," he laughed.

"Ah," he breathed, rocking his chair back on its back legs, "But a-no matter how long ago that a-was, its always apart of yeah." Even if yeah don't want it to a-be.

Lainey shrugged one shoulder. "When you're like me, you have to blend in," she said softly. "Otherwise, you're easy to find.

"You're right, though. It's always a part of you; the past. Sometimes, I wish I could forget, and sometimes I wish I could go back. Can't do either."

The woman laughed. "Listen to me, getting all seriously and dreary. Let's talk about something else." Lainey gazed at him thoughtfully. "Tell me something about yourself, Handsome. Something you've never told anyone else before."

"Ah," Tyler nodded, "to be able to a-blend in; an advantage to a-many."

"I a-know what-ch-yer talkin' about," he nodded a moment.

He smiled and let his chairs legs fall back down with a thud, "Somethang I've never told before?"

He had to think about that one. There were of course several things he perfered to keep to himself, but none of them would really lighten the mood, and he figured that, that was what Lainey was going for.

"Let me think," he mulled it over, "I like ta draw; Nuttin' too special, and I'm not all that good, but... I like it none the less."

"Do you, really? You'll have to let me be the judge of that, some time," Lainey grinned, then gave a thoughtful pause. "As for me... I like to sing. Nothing too special, but I like it nonetheless.

"Your turn, now. Choose a question, any question."

"Any question?" he cocked an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair once more with a smirk, "That leave a lot of thangs open."

"I choose..." he drawled slowly, "What is yer favourite holiday?"

"Hmm... I don't really care for holidays, actually," Lainey replied. "Especially not Christmas. If I had to choose one... no, I don't really have a favorite holiday. Really. What's yours, though? I'm curious to know."

"Ah yes, Christmas," Tyler stated slowly, "The over-rated holiday."

He smirked as he thought about it, "Me? My a-favourite is a-halloween. I get ter dress up, and act like a goof for a whole evenin' and no one can a-tell me not to." He laughed and shook his head a bit, "Of course, there is also the candy."

"I believe, then, that a-makes it yer turn."

"Of course," Lainey laughed. "The candy. How could I forget? I can get candy on Valentine's, though. Guess that makes Valentine's, my favorite. You'd be surprised how many drunks ask me out at the pub.

"Hmm... another question. Fine. How old are you, handsome? You can't be that old."

Ty smiled slightly, "Well even a-drunk, they a-have good taste."

"Eighteen," he said leaning back in his chair once more.

The redhead smirked. "That they do," she agreed.

"Ah, so not too young. I'm twenty-one, myself. I'm young, yet, too, but old enough to do all the fun stuff." She waggled her brows suggestively.

Tyler smirked and then laughed at her face.

"We-all," he said slowly, leaning forward on his desk, "That a-may be true, but I found that one can do the a-find stuff earlay if they know where to look."

Lainey leaned forward, also, bringing her face within inches of his own.

"Oh, you can," she said, tone caressing the words in a manner that was far from innocent. "Perhaps we can... find some fun places together, you and I."

Ty smirked," You and I?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I think I could enjoy that."

"Oh, you would," Lainey promised, green eyes steadily meeting his gaze. Without looking away, she took one of his hands in her - completely concealing her relief that the contact didn't bring a surge of corruptive power with it. Not a wizard. Thank God.

Pressing a scrap of paper with her mobile number on it into his palm, Lainey used her other hand to fold his fingers over her.

"Call me," she told him. Then, leaning away again, she grabbed her notebook and stood. The redhead shot him one last seductive smile before strolling casually out of the shop.