Kari stepped into the commons area, awkwardly straightening her maroon romper and fidgeting with her hair. She knew that she was doing more than just getting a friendly cup of coffee with Kaz. Kari was sure that she was going on a date, and she didn't know quite how she felt about it. She often struggled with these sorts of concepts and didn't know a thing about commitment. Kari just liked to live her life and have fun. But she was open-minded to say the least, so Kari decided that she would go have coffee.

A cute little wooden sign suspended over a tiny coffee shop in the middle of the commons, decorated in little lights and small balls of energy. Kari smiled in wonder at the marvel that was in front of her -- magicians found a way to make even the small things more beautiful. She halted for a moment. If she could control light, maybe Kari could use her magic to enhance her own features. She concentrated a moment, and her finger suddenly sprang to life with light. She combed it through her hair, making it brighter and more vibrant color than it already had been. I'm starting to get the hang of this.

Kari sat down at one of the small circular tables and smiled at the people that marveled at her hair. She felt like a star, and she loved it. She pulled out a menu and began to read it, waiting patiently for Kaz to arrive.

Kazimir looked at his watch. He suddenly jumped up, almost knocking the bucket of ice that his legs were soaking in. He grabbed a towel and dried his legs. They felt much better now. He was late for coffee with Kari.

Kazimir walked down the elegant but ugly halls of the Academy. He turned and zig-zagged his way through the people, and then made a dash for the Commons, desperately looking for a sign that had the words "coffee" and "shop" on them. He spotted to bright sign, and walked over to it, as to not add anymore attention to himself, as many of the people there were staring at him.

Turning into the coffee shop, he scanned the room, at times having to stand on his tiptoes to look around. Then he saw the vibrant hair that belonged to Kari, though he had never seen it before. He walked over to where she was sitting, looking at a menu, while he sat down across from her and said, "Hi. How's your day been so far?" while raising his eyes to look into her eyes. People were still staring at him, and he began to sweat.

Kari noticed Kaz rushing in, and she suppressed a giggle as he awkwardly sat across from her. Maybe this was a first for him, too. It made her feel much better. She looked over Kaz with just her eyes, smiling when he asked about her day. "Not terribly eventful. I mainly just train when I don't have classes," she said with a literal twinkle in her eyes.

She was about to ask Kaz about his day when a waiter came up to them. He was one of the boys that she had trained with, his power had to do with spontaneous combustion or something like that. It was entertaining. Kari smiled at him and ordered a latte, turning back to Kaz as the waiter fumbled to get out a pen and write down her order. "How has all your ice hockey stuff been going?"

"Not terribly eventful." Kari responded when Kazimir had asked her about her day. She looked like she was going to say something but then looked up as the waiter arrived at their table. After Kari ordered her latte, Kazimir looked up and said, "Coffee, black." Kari looked over at him, and asked
"How has all your ice hockey stuff been going?"

Kazimir looked up from drawing a circle with his finger on the table. "Oh, it's up and down. I mean, we're second in our division, but I don't think I've been playing to my potential, because I just got moved down to the second defensive line. That means that there are two people ahead of me, and I think one of them is a defender, because we've never really had chemistry on the team. I don't think he knows I'm magic, but I've been acting extraordinarily normal recently."

I looked up into Kari's eyes again, and asked,
"So you like lattes? I'm really just a 'Coffee, black' kind of person."

Kari had absolutely no idea what Kaz was talking about. Hockey was not popular where she was from, it was mainly football and just simple outdoor sports. But, despite her confusion, Kari nodded whenever Kaz finished a sentence and faked understanding. Frankly, Kari saw no reason as to why sports were important, things like fighting and art could be used in the real world.

The moment he stopped, Kari breathed out in relief. He finally asked her something she could answer without sounding ridiculous. "I don't drink coffee much, normally just tea." She paused, looking at her creamy drink that was brought out to her. "Back in Oland, I normally drank mead with the others. You can bond over mead, not petty caffeinated drinks."

"Back in Oland, I normally drank mead with the others. You can bond over mead, not petty caffeinated drinks." Kari said. I had never drank mead, only because I didn't bother to drink alcoholic beverages. "I've never had mead before."

The black coffee that came over to me was hot. Very hot. I had never had coffee before, but I would definitely pretend to like it. I poked the cup a few times, making sure it was cool now, and picked it up and took a sip. I made a sour face. This doesn't taste very good... I thought to myself. Smiling again, I looked at Kari and asked, "So, what kind of fighting do you do? Is there any way I could help or anything?"

Now he asked her about something she really knew about! Kari smiled smugly. "Name any style and I've probably done it," she said with just the slightest hair flip. And now Kaz wanted to know if he could help? Last time anyone helped Kari she ended up hurting them ever so slightly. She laughed at the thought of Kaz just standing there, waiting for her to hit him. "If you are a good fighter, I'll let you fight me. If not...I could always use another dummy," she said jokingly.

"If you are a good fighter, I'll let you fight me. If not...I could always use another dummy." Kari chuckled as she said this. Kazimir could tell she was kidding. Kazimir realized he had started drawing circles with my finger again. Kari also seemed to have not noticed he had been late, as well. He thought about him, using his hockey fighting skills to dodge her many martial arts tactics. "You're forgetting what sport I play, Kari." Kazimir said. "Also, what did you do to your hair?"

Oh yes. Kaz was a hockey player, he probably could take a beating of high caliber. Maybe he would even be able to get in a couple of hits as well. Maybe. Kari smiled across the table at Kaz and took a sip of her latte, frowning at the bitter taste. The redhead heard Kaz over her thoughts, asking about her hair. Oh yes, she had changed it, hadn't she? "My powers are relatively new...I guess you could say I'm experimenting with them." She breathed into her drink, looking only with her eyes at Kaz. "When did your powers develop?"

"My powers are relatively new...I guess you could say I'm experimenting with them." Kari breathed into her drink, looking only with her eyes at Kazimir. "When did your powers develop?"

Kazimir looked up from his disgusting drink and said, "When I was about five I started playing hockey. I had just about realized that I was magic, but my mind didn't think it was real. Over the course of the next few years, I had almost perfected my magic by the time and would reach out and move pucks into the net. Luckily, my coach had contacted my parents and told them that he knew I was magic and that they'd better pull me out of hockey and put me in the Academy. So when I was about five. I've been here at the Academy since I was 15. I've been here six years." Kazimir said, almost beginning to cry as he was talking.

Kazimir put his head down, hiding himself behind his arms, as tears began to well up in his eyes. He reached out to Kari, and said to her in her mind, I'm sorry. I just don't like talking about this. I haven't been to Kladno in a long time. It makes me homesick. I'm pretty sensitive.

Kazimir pulled a very heavy head up from behind his arms, revealing tears, but quickly covered them with his hands. He looked at Kari and said, "I'm sorry. I guess I'll get the check."

Kazimir quickly reached over to where the receipt was, and grabbed the pen that was also there. "How much should I tip? Four bucks?" I asked Kari.

The redhead was slightly surprised when Kaz's voice entered her head, but she shook it off and smiled sympathetically at him. Kari reached across the table and rested her hand on Kaz's arm. "I understand how you feel. I miss home too." She paused for a moment, staring at the table intensely as she forced her next words out. "My parents probably think I ran away. They have no idea I'm here."

Kari's intense glare was broken by Kaz, who asked about the tip. She quickly withdrew her hand from Kaz's arm and shuffled around for her wallet. "I'll take care of the tip," she said, pulling a five dollar bill out of her it and setting it on the table. "Shall we leave?"

"I'll take care of the tip," Kari said, pulling a five dollar bill out of it and setting it on the table. "Shall we leave?"

Kazimir had dried his face by now and said, "Yeah. That would be great. Right now I just really need time to myself." He stood up and put his wallet away, watching Kari put the five dollar bill on the table. "I probably need to go. I have a mandatory skate over at the stadium at eleven. Let's fight together sometime, alright?" Kazimir parted the hair out of his face and looked at Kari directly in her eyes and said, "I'll see you later."

Kari blushed at Kaz's offer to fight with her. "I'd love to," she said, a warm smile blossoming on her face. She stood up a little awkwardly, pushed her chair in and walked over to Kaz, standing on the balls of her feet and placing the smallest of kisses on his cheek. "I'll see you around!"