CLEA GIVENS
Psychic
Posts: 320
Age:
30
Occupation:
Bartender at the Grill
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Damian
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 19:58:46 GMT
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Grace
May 31, 2023 19:13:07 GMT
Post by CLEA GIVENS on May 31, 2023 19:13:07 GMT
Was it high treason to head to some other restaurant in town to buy coffee – or the caramel pecan cookie that’d been calling her name from behind glass? Probably. Ah well. Clea dropped the change the barista had just handed her into the tip jar on top of the counter. She didn’t imagine that Evangeline would get too bent out of shape over it. At the very least she could consider it scoping out the competition.
Clea narrowed her eyes, letting them sweep over the Coffee Bean as she waited at the end of the counter for her triple shot caramel macchiato. There was probably some cross-over with the customers, but it wasn’t like there were burgers being bussed out to the tables scattered around the space. This was the sort of place people came to just for their caffeine fix, maybe getting lured by the siren’s call of the cookies and pastries if they has as little will power as she did with most things. They lingered over a cup of coffee, chit chatting, some settling down in those big plush chairs close to the window for hours. There was a pang of longing in her stomach as she fixed on a young woman curled in one of them with a laptop set on her thighs and what genuinely might’ve been a bucket of coffee in front of her. A couple of years ago that would’ve been her, with a stack of books adding to the accoutrements. Most days she couldn’t imagine fitting school around everything else again, but every now and then the nostalgia hit hard and she found herself on Whitmore’s website, considering applying again.
She needed coffee, and some common sense. Spinning back to the counter, she bounced anxiously on her toes. There definitely wasn’t room for school right now, she wanted the freedom to grab coffee mid-morning if she wanted to, and the flexibility to her schedule to drop everything if someone she cared about needed her. Damian had been on her thoughts even more than school. What had happened at the hotel with his sister had shone a light on both of them that she hadn’t imagined she’d find herself in. A demon, but, despite Damian’s warnings that there was more to him than she was seeing, he wasn’t like any she’d ever studied. Maybe it was something in her that made it seem that way, but she’d seen the way he had been with his sister and no soulless bad guy would’ve shown mercy or guilt, they would’ve revelled in the blood that had been spilt, not tried to end years on end of strife.
The cup was set down in front of her, the clunk of it shaking her out of the rabbit hole of her thoughts that she’d drifted into for a moment. Clea aimed a twitchy smile at the barista, sweeping the cup and the paper bag that’d been set beside it off of the counter. ”Thanks!” It didn’t need more sweetness but she dumped an extra sugar in all the same, knowing she’d get the hit of it from the bottom of the unstirred cup on the first sip. Given that the window seats were taken, the ones out on the sidewalk seemed the next best bet – she wasn’t looking out for him, but if Damian did just happen by, it’d be serendipity, right? Already glancing down the block in search of him, she bumped solidly into the guy coming in the door, her cup caught awkwardly between them. ”Sorry, sorry, sorry! God, I didn’t get any on you did I?” Holding her cup out to the side, she checked it for damage, before she looked back at him. Coffee alone was a bitch to wash out of clothes, add caramel syrup to the mess and it was a nightmare.
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ANTONIO ALVAREZ
Dragon
Posts: 237
Age:
124
Occupation:
Firefighter
Status:
Married
Partner:
Ethan Alvarez
Played by:
Emma
For so long I was blind but now I see
Last seen Nov 19, 2024 1:10:47 GMT
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Grace
May 31, 2023 21:05:49 GMT
Post by ANTONIO ALVAREZ on May 31, 2023 21:05:49 GMT
Days off seemed rare these days, between working at the firehouse and the adoption agency Toni’s hands were pretty full but now he and Ethan had been running the adoption agency for long enough that they had people they trusted that they could pass the responsibility off to. Normally any free time Toni had was spent with his family and he knew that there wasn’t any better way to spend his time but that day the kids had school, the run up to finals and everything that was going on with their friends keeping them pretty busy, and Ethan was off running errands. Instead Toni had agreed to meet up with Ben for a catch up. Technically he was meant to be stressed about finals as well given that he was currently attending the Salvatore School with Toni’s kids but he knew that his friend wasn’t as worried about that as they were. It was different for Ben, he was thousands of years old and Toni knew that his friend had only decided to go in the first place so that he could stay close to Jed and the others and learn more about the modern world. He had been a part of it his whole life but Toni knew that Ben had kept himself at a distance from everyone so he wasn’t up to date with everything that was going on or had gone on in the past. Luckily he had plenty of people around to support him and Toni definitely fell into that category. The two of them and Ethan had fought together during the war and the kind of bond that was forged back then was one that nothing could ever take away from them. So much had changed since then but that bond of friendship hadn’t and Toni was glad about that. It was a nice day so instead of driving Toni had decided to walk into town to meet his friend but he was half way there when his phone chimed signalling that he had a text from Ben apologising and saying that he would be there but he was running late. Sending him a quick message back to say it was fine and he’d see him soon, Toni continued on his way and decided to stop in at the coffee shop to grab a drink. Now he knew that he didn’t have to rush it took the pressure off and he wasn’t sure how long Ben would be held up for so it seemed pretty perfect. He knew that he was never going to hold it against his friend, between school, the threat that Ben’s father posed and his engagement he had a lot of his plate and Toni definitely understood. Truth be told he was glad that he didn’t have as much going on these days, when he wasn’t working he was able to forget all about it and that was something he knew to make the most of. He and Ethan had managed to stop the guys who had killed Elias twice from going after him again and the girls were safe from the curse now so things were definitely looking up. Or at least they were, anyway. As it happened someone bumped into him while he was heading into the coffee shop and he quickly took a step back, the spilt drink only just missing him. “No you didn’t, no harm done,” Toni assured her, offering her a smile as his gaze came to rest on her. “None got on you, did it?”CLEA GIVENS
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CLEA GIVENS
Psychic
Posts: 320
Age:
30
Occupation:
Bartender at the Grill
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Damian
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 19:58:46 GMT
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Grace
Jun 24, 2023 21:10:58 GMT
Post by CLEA GIVENS on Jun 24, 2023 21:10:58 GMT
’How about just trying to slow down…’
Clea imagined her parents had grown tied of having to suggest ways for her to avoid those little accidents that happened near constantly throughout her childhood. It was miraculous that none of them had ever proved to be serious given their frequency, but still, the clean up afterwards had to have grated on them. Plates flying from tables as she’d spun around to tell some wild story, tumbles from running to get somewhere at high speed, bumps, bruises, drinks spilled. Oh that was a regular one, so much so that at one point kid’s sippy cups had started to appear on the table, as though sealing the drink in would mean that she wouldn’t find some way to throw it around like Jackson Pollock. Ha!
These days the pace of her life was a little less crazy, but it didn’t mean that those little accidents didn’t creep in. She’d become an expert at mopping them up by herself, at patching other people’s messes up. Her hand grabbed for the cup to try and secure it as her latest mess splattered down between them, hopefully not leaving any of them of them stained or scalded. They’d told her to concentrate on where she was going too but Clea knew she didn’t have the sort of brain that was capable of focusing that way. If it wasn’t sorting through a half dozen things at once then it wasn’t happy – and it had been. The coffee, getting outside to take that slow stroll towards the Grill with her traitorous drink in hand, looking out for Damian, hoping that he wasn’t avoiding her now that the truth was entirely out between them – like the coffee that was now dribbling over her knuckles (not scalding, thank God!”).
Shaking the drips from her skin, Clea passed the now empty cup from one hand to the other. The look of horror on her face was slowly being replaced by something far more apologetic. There didn’t seem to be any coffee on him, his assurance that she hadn’t got him drawing her gaze up to the man’s face. ”Phew,” she puffed, offering up a half smile. That was probably a first. She looked down at herself, grimacing at the scatter of coffee streaks down the bottoms of her jeans and over her shoes. ”Just a little, no real damage done though. It’ll all wash out and if I’m really lucky I’ve got a change of clothes in my locker.” If not she could probably swab the coffee off of her jeans anyway. The wet denim would dry quickly enough once she was buzzing around.
Backing up into the door, Clea held it open for him to shuffle past her. The coffee that was left in her cup was probably still drinkable but there was no way on earth that it was enough coffee to actually wash down the Danish in the paper bag she still clutched, let alone get her through an entire shift. ”I should make this up to you. Can I get you something to drink while I beg your forgiveness?” She was grinning at him at least, offering her hand as she stepped inside after him. ”Clea – you can call me Queen of the Klutzes.” At the confused look she got from the barista, Clea winced. She lifted the half crushed cup, lifting it from her to see as an explanation for just why she was back.
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ANTONIO ALVAREZ
Dragon
Posts: 237
Age:
124
Occupation:
Firefighter
Status:
Married
Partner:
Ethan Alvarez
Played by:
Emma
For so long I was blind but now I see
Last seen Nov 19, 2024 1:10:47 GMT
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Grace
Dec 31, 2023 18:46:27 GMT
Post by ANTONIO ALVAREZ on Dec 31, 2023 18:46:27 GMT
Toni had known that a fresh start was exactly what he and the girls had needed when he had decided to move them to Mystic Falls and it turned out to be one of the best things he could have done. It had been decades before that he had lost Ethan, a casualty of the war they had both fought so hard in, and his heart had shattered into pieces without him even knowing why. It was a different time back then and Toni knew that the relationship he and Ethan had now never would have been accepted back then. Even now it had taken his parents a while to come to terms with the fact that he was in love with another man but they had come around in the end even though he could see that it was still difficult for them sometimes. The family he had with Ethan, the girls and Elias was one that he wouldn’t change for anything in the world and having his parents and Diego in town only made it better as far as he was concerned. Toni knew that he was lucky, incredibly so, and one thing he had learned a long time ago was never to take that for granted. Life could change in the blink of an eye and that was something that he knew all too well so he knew to make the most of this while he could. With a family like his, time alone didn’t tend to happen too often for Toni but that wasn’t such a bad thing as far as he was concerned. The kids were at school and Ethan was running some errands so Toni had arranged to catch up with Ben. It felt like it had been a while since they had last done that but as his phone chimed with a text from his friend saying that he was going to be a bit late, Toni knew that he was going to have to find something to occupy himself for a while until Ben was able to get there. That was why he had decided to stop for coffee but he hadn’t planned on someone almost spilling their coffee over him. “That’s good, I’m glad you’re alright,” Toni said, offering the woman a smile as he nodded. “Thanks,” he said as he slipped past her into the coffee shop. “You really don’t have to do that. Honestly, it’s fine,” he assured her gently as she joined him in the shop. “It’s nice to meet you Clea. I’m Toni,” he said as he shook her outstretched hand. “You work at the Grill, right?” he asked as they approached the counter. “Hi. Please can I have a latte, a Belgian bun and what was it you ordered?” Toni asked as he turned from the barista to look at Clea for a moment. “Call me old fashioned but I’d like to buy you a replacement,” he said, knowing that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He couldn’t help it, it was just the way he was raised. CLEA GIVENS
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CLEA GIVENS
Psychic
Posts: 320
Age:
30
Occupation:
Bartender at the Grill
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Damian
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 19:58:46 GMT
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Grace
Jan 13, 2024 20:52:37 GMT
Post by CLEA GIVENS on Jan 13, 2024 20:52:37 GMT
It would’ve been a miracle if her abilities could’ve helped her with situations like this. Like one of those cheesy sci-fi shows, she could’ve frozen time and snatched the cup out of the air. Nobody in the place would’ve noticed, because in those things they never did when the superheroes had to pull off some sort of amazing secret save. Clea snorted in her head. It was nothing like that in real life. She would’ve been lucky if she could’ve knocked the coffee enough off course that it didn’t hit her shoes – if she’d been that quick thinking, which she wasn’t. So far her powers seemed tied in to her emotions. The dreams, visions, whatever you wanted to call them, only came while she was sleeping and the telekinesis was definitely tied into her fear, her anger, her gut. It hit when she was in a life or death situation, like it took that level of stress to drag it out of here. In a way that was probably when she needed it most, but a little flash of it here and there? That definitely wouldn’t have hurt.
Clea smiled at the guy, brushing off his worries the same way she did the coffee from her hand – there really was no harm to both of them, thankfully. ”Glad you are too, that could’ve been nasty.” Nobody wanted to spend their day at the ER getting treated for a scalding.
She slipped back into the coffee bean behind him. She’d get herself another too. Of course she could’ve gotten one at the Grill, but she wanted to get rid of the evidence of her traitorous pastry purchase before she got there. ”It’s no problem,” she promised. ”Feels like the least I can do, and I’ll be getting myself another bucket of it anyway.” Clea’s grin brightened as he shook her hand. ”It’s nice to meet you, Toni.” Pale eyes narrowed faintly and then crinkled at the corners with recognition. ”I do, I’m a bartender there. I think I’ve seen you around there a few times. You come in with some of the people from the fire station, right?” Some of the customers slipped right out of her head the minute they walked out of the door, but the locals tended to stick, faces etching themselves into her memory.
As they got to the barista, Toni ordered himself a coffee and a bun. Clea sipped the last of the coffee from her crushed cup, then set it down on the counter, about to order herself another. Toni got there ahead of her though. She smiled at him. ”Honestly, you don’t have to, but thank you.” Her smile turned wry as she tapped her fingers against the side of her cup. ”A triple shot caramel macchiato. I have a slight coffee addiction,” she admitted, only wincing faintly. In her line of work it was necessary. If you weren’t wired you weren’t gonna get through those long, long shifts, or be able to hit the books after. ”You sure you don’t want me to pay? I was the wrecking ball, after all.” And she was more than ready to pay for the accidents that she caused.
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ANTONIO ALVAREZ
Dragon
Posts: 237
Age:
124
Occupation:
Firefighter
Status:
Married
Partner:
Ethan Alvarez
Played by:
Emma
For so long I was blind but now I see
Last seen Nov 19, 2024 1:10:47 GMT
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Grace
Apr 30, 2024 22:58:16 GMT
Post by ANTONIO ALVAREZ on Apr 30, 2024 22:58:16 GMT
At home there was Toni, his husband, three kids and a dog so even with Diego no longer living there with them it was still pretty busy. Toni wasn’t particularly used to having time to himself these days but if he was honest he would much rather have his family around than not. He had been a complete mess after he returned from the war, he hadn’t been himself at all and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to talk about losing Ethan because the pain had been too much. Toni hadn’t known back then that he was a phoenix and would come back and for the best part of a century he had found himself struggling to make lasting connections with people in case he lost them too. He’d ended up making a few friends along the way but his younger brother had become his best friend and it had seemed easier to talk to his brother than it was to people who didn’t know about the supernatural world. He had tried to open up with Samara but deep down he had always known that his relationship with her wasn’t going to last either and he had been proved right. They hadn’t loved each other and Toni knew now that on his part he hadn’t been able to love anyone else because Ethan had always held his heart but back then it had been frustrating to say the least. He had ended up getting two amazing daughters out of it, though, so the truth was that he didn’t mind one bit now. As it was the kids were all busy with school and Ethan was out running errands so that had left Toni at somewhat of a loose end on his day off. It had been easy for him to get in touch with Ben and see if he wanted to hang out, they had fought together during the Second World War and had lost touch after that until Ben moved to Mystic Falls but it had been easy to pick up that friendship again after learning that Ben was supernatural too. Now his friend was running late but Toni knew he would get there as soon as he could and until then getting a drink seemed like a pretty good idea as far as he was concerned. He hadn’t counted on someone bumping into him and spilling her coffee but luckily it had missed him so there wasn’t any harm done. “You’re right, it could. Coffee can be lethal sometimes,” he nodded. He had seen more than his fair share of scalds and burns in his line of work and even though being a dragon meant that he would heal quickly, Toni knew that he would much rather not have to try and explain that away. “Honestly, I’m fine. You have nothing to make up for,” Toni assured her. It was clear that Clea was sorry and no damage had been done so he really didn’t want her to feel bad about it for a moment longer. “I thought I recognised you,” he nodded as Clea confirmed that she worked at the Grill. He sometimes ended up going there after work with others from the fire house or with his family so he had spent quite a bit of time there since moving to town a few years ago. “That’s right, I’m a fire fighter,” he confirmed as they joined the queue to be served. “My husband, brother and dad all work there too so it isn’t always a work thing when I’m with some of them,” he added, knowing that it would have been easy for Clea to think that he was in there a lot with work when most of the time he was actually there with family. It had taken Toni a long time to figure out what it was that he was meant to do with his life but he honestly believed that being a fire fighter was his calling and his brother had followed in his footsteps. His dad had eventually done the same as well and when Ethan moved to Mystic Falls it turned out that he had become a fire fighter too. Even now it still seemed a little strange how it had all worked out but Toni knew that he wouldn’t have it any other way. It didn’t take much longer for them to reach the counter and Toni placed his order before looking over at Clea and inviting her to do the same. “I know I don’t have to but I’d like to,” Toni assured her. He was raised in a different time and even though he knew how things worked now, there were some values he still held onto and buying someone else a drink was one of those. He didn’t doubt that Clea would have followed through with her offer to buy him a drink to make up for bumping into her if he gave her the chance but Toni meant it when he said he was old fashioned and he knew that he would much rather it was the other way around. “There’s nothing wrong with that, there are worse ways to get through a day,” he said, offering Clea a smile as she winced when she said she had a slight coffee addiction. He knew that the Grill could get pretty busy so he wasn’t surprised that she needed something to keep her going. “I’m sure. It’s no trouble, honestly,” he promised as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and paid for everything. “Are you on your way to work?” he asked, not sure whether she had a shift starting soon or whether she would be sticking around for a bit. CLEA GIVENS
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CLEA GIVENS
Psychic
Posts: 320
Age:
30
Occupation:
Bartender at the Grill
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Damian
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 20, 2024 19:58:46 GMT
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Grace
May 24, 2024 16:25:45 GMT
Post by CLEA GIVENS on May 24, 2024 16:25:45 GMT
Was super healing one of the possible psychic powers? The question flickered through Clea’s mind super fast as she made a sound of agreement at Toni’s comment. ”You spend enough time around a professional kitchen and you soon realise a lot of stuff you put in your body can be that way,” she half joked. Most of the time her biggest danger was dropping a bottle or maybe smashing a glass, on the job at least. It was far worse when her dreams put her right at ground zero for some of the nastiest things that happened in this town. Damian always cautioned her to be careful, to take care, but that was easier said than done when your brain purposefully drew you towards danger.
”Okay, okay,” Clea said with a chuckle, holding up her hands to show she was accepting his assurances. She would still get him a coffee, despite all of his reassurances. As Toni said he thought he’d recognised her, she gave a little bow. ”Probably because I practically live there.” All those hours paid off when it came to recognising some customers as regulars. As Toni confirmed what he thought and told her that practically his whole family worked at the fire station, she let out a low whistle and shook her head. ”Sounds like it’s a real family business. Must be nice having family around all the time too. I think mine would’ve preferred if I’d followed in their footsteps, but if you ask me, bartending’s a pretty noble profession.” She puffed her chest up and pressed a hand to it before she started laughing. ”My dad’s a doctor, my mom’s a photojournalist who travels with him. Not exactly the safest professions, definitely not what I wanted to spend my life doing.” These days her other occupation was closer to what her birth dad had ended up doing after her sister had died.
She’d definitely intended to keep on apologising by buying Toni a drink, but he offered to do the same. After a moment, Clea nodded and smiled. ”It’s appreciated,” she promised. Laughter rolled out of her at Toni’s reassurance that her coping mechanism could’ve been worse. ”Definitely. I won’t be thinking that when I’m trying to sleep tonight though.” Unfortunately it didn’t work at keeping the dreams at bay. Clea’s smile was soft as he paid. ”Thank you,” she murmured. Toni’s question about where she’d been heading had her shaking her head as she side stepped to where the coffee would be served up. ”Nope. Not until tonight. I figured I’d try and get some things done in town while I had the time. Well, after I’d got myself caffeined up first. How about you? Getting your energy topped up before a shift?” Considering how long firefighters’ shifts were, they probably lived on caffeine as much as she did.
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