Against The Norm (Silas and Jessamine)

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:23 am

Jessamine could tell as soon as they came into the cafe that the soldiers were going to be trouble, it seemed as if they had thought that this cafe was a rather different establishment, just because it had the word 'love' in the title of the shop.

When they came towards the till, she merely tried to stay as friendly as she could even though she could feel the pressure beginning to build up, it was not a very nice atmosphere to be in, and it was something that even began to make her stomach churn gently.

Gasping as they started to turn chairs and tables over, even starting to throw her lovely bean bags around, smashing one of her favourite lava lamps in the process, Jessamine took out her wand and pointed it at the men defensively, asking them once again to leave her shop, she wondered what en Earth she was supposed to do.

She was outnumbered and had no idea how to fight in the first place.

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:30 am

Silas had been getting some reports of violence towards the townspeople in Hamburg, even those who were cooperating with the British occopying forces. It was rather sickening to him, to try and bully the population when they were clearly civilians. One of the worst places, according to the reports was this street he was on now. This was confirmed when he heard the sounds of chaos coming from inside a coffee shop.

He stepped into the coffee shop calmly and immediately took stock of the situation. Seeing that the men were harassing the shopkeeper, Silas decided to step in. All of the soldiers suddenly found themselves on their knees as the badge they kept activated, pushing them down to their knees instantly. He waved at them,

"Hello boys. It's me, Silas. Oh you know..." he narrowed his eyes, "Your commander in chief. Get back to the barracks and report to your COs. But first... apologize to the nice lady."

The soldiers all muttered apologes to Jassamine before rushing off. Silas immediately began repairing the damage they'd done,

"Terribly sorry about that Miss...?"

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:39 am

Jessmine looked startled towards the door as it opened and she saw that there was an older soldier there, and that he seemed to be the one that was in charge of the other soldiers from the way that they all fell to their knees when he entered the cafe and stopped wrecking the place.

Hiding her smile behind her hand as the soldiers were made to apologise, she placed her wand back in her pocket and stepped out from behind the counter, looking around the mess and wondering where to even begin to put things right again.

"Was für ein Durcheinander!" she said in a frustrated voice, "This is going to lose me sooooo much money."

Seeing that the soldier was helping her tidy up, Jessmine blinked and was a little confused, surely he should have left by now with his men? This Silas... When he asked her her name, she said quietly;

"Mein Name ist Jessamine Blakely."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:46 am

Silas had only a limited knowledge of the german language but he did know that she was not best pleased about what his men had done to her cafe. He had to admit he was not pleased either. His men were going to be getting a very stern talking to at the very least. And some pay docked. Perhaps he would give the pay that was to be docked to this cafe owner? He'd see if it was a logistical possibility,

"Don't worry, I'll help you to clean it up Miss." he told her with a smile, "And if it's any comfort I'll be sure to start coming here for coffee. It looks rather cosy here."

Having been told her name, Silas smiled at her and wandered over as the tables righted themselves. He stuck his hand out for her to shake,

"A pleasure to meet you Miss Blakely." he told her honestly, smiling as he did so, "My name is Silas Gray. I apologize once again for the mess my men made... they'll have a punishment so it won't happen again don't you worry."

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:51 am

Jessamine blinked again when Silas told her that he was going to start coming here for coffee, did they not have coffee back in the English barracks, and she hoped that he would not start thinking that he could get the drinks for free because he was a soldier.

"Thank you, I opened a few months ago, most things are still new here, well...until now." she sighed and picked up the broken shards of the lava lamp "Das war mein Favorit! Oh come on."

Standing up, she placed the shards on a napkin and looked at the hand that Silas held out to her, it was strange that he would want to shake her hand, and uncertainly, she hesitantly gave him her own hand after drawing it back a few times. Quickly shaking his hand she let her own drop from his and she hurried behind the counter.

"Ja wird es..." Jessamine said "It will just be different people."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:56 am

Silas had to admit that he had been looking for a local coffee shop for awhile now. Mainly because it would help the relationship with the locals and prove that they were human. The other reason was that the coffee at the barracks was terrible,

"So you've only just opened huh? Well I'm terribly sorry that they seemed to have chosen to harrass you." he told her with a smile before waving his wand and repairing the lava lamp, "I know it's not new... but it's better yes?"

When she gave him her hand he smiled and shook hers. It was rather cute the way she approached him like a small animal afraid of a predator. He smiled a little bit at the fast handshake,

"Well then I'll have to make sure that they don't come in to cause trouble." he told her with a smile, "They'll get the message when I start coming here with my friends don't you think?"

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:02 am

Jessamine nodded her head, after all, she was quite young and she was surprised that the man, Silas, wasn't surprised that she was running the shop at such a young age, she had only just left Durmstrang after all and now she had the finance she had opened the shop.

She frowned a little bit and tapped her chin, wondering to herself what 'terrible' actually meant. When he fixed the lava lamp, Jessamine merely frowned and put it back on the shelf;

"Danke, but it's the fact it was broken in the first place that's upset me." she said truthfully "Stupid people, you know you should fire them, they're so...mean to everyone, even old Mr. Drent who owns the ale house."

Tilting her head to one side, Jessamine smiled slightly and shook her head; "I think that it would be funny, to us at least, this cafe is for couples, romantic dates. Mostly at least."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:15 am

Silas could tell that despite her age the young woman in front of him was going to be a great cafe owner. She had the right amount of calm, patience and approachability from what he'd seen. She'd been very calm during the trashing of her cafe even.

He saw that she was confused about something but he couldn't really tell what she was confused about. Hearing what she was actually upset about he nodded a little bit more seriously,

"Yes I have to agree that is the distressing part. I'll make sure that something like this doesn't happen again Miss Blakely." he assured her before frowning, "If it were truly up to me who stayed then they'd be long gone Miss Blakely. Unfortunately even I have my superiors. So what I shall do is make an example of them. So that anyone looking to cause trouble will know not to."

He chuckled a little bit, "I should have guessed with a name like that. Oh well, a lot of my fellow officers would still love this place. As a place to bring their wives and girlfriends on dates if nothing else. I'll be all alone but I'm a big boy... I'll be fine. What about you Miss Blakely? Is this a couple-run venture?"

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:29 am

Jessamine looked more closely at Silas and thought that he would probably have some sort of wife or kid that he was going to bring here to the cafe, he was handsome that was for sure, and he was a lot older than she was so he was probably at least engaged...

Silas said that he was going to make an example of the soldiers and oddly Jessamine was beginning to believe him when he said that, it was strange, he seemed different to his other soldiers.

"I hope that you are right Herr Silas, but, I have to say that I think that you will get in trouble for doing something like that, by your superiors because of us." she said with a small smile "After all we are less important than you."

Shaking her head, Jessamine smiled softly and polished a coffee cup, just to occupy her hands while she talked to Silas, as it seemed he was going to be here for a while;

"Nein, Ich habe keine Zeit gehabt." she giggled "I graduated last year after all, working since then to open this place and now I'm still working to keep it open."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:37 am

Silas had to admit that learning that this was a couple's cafe was somewhat saddening to him. He was 25 now and he hadn't really had a serious relationship. The closest he'd come was Aurelia and they had discovered that they should stay friends.

He had a few ideas as to what to do to the soldiers who had actually broken his orders to wreck her cafe. None of the ideas were pleasant but he was trying to think of one that would stop anyone else from ever doing it,

"Oh my superiors are only concerned with the numbers. If we have the same amount of soldiers at the end of the day they're happy. When it comes to discipline I am the only one in charge." he told her before frowning, "Who ever told you that was a liar. You are just as important if not moreso."

Silas noted that she was settling herself as if she knew he was going to be here awhile. He had to admit that with company this good he probably was,

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, a lovely young lady such as yourself. I'm honestly surprised." he complimented her before smiling wider, "Well I promise you that if you keep up at it you'll have a very successful business here."

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:14 am

Jessamine smiled gently she did not much like all this conversation about war and numbers, it was very sad that as long as they ended up with the same amount of soldiers they could be in any state that their superiors saw fit to leave them in.

It just didn't sit well with her for some reason, the whole situation didn't sit well with her for some reason.

"They don't seem to think that they're lying, I think thats what most of the soldiers think. It's their town now that they are here, they get all the food and things for free because they scare people." she frowned "I don't think that I much like them."

Jessamine blushed a little bit and she coughed, pouring out a cup of coffee for Silas and placing it on the counter in front of him adding cream to the mixture and stirring it; "Zum Speichern von meinem Geschäft."

Tilting her head to one side she asked; "You have no...how you say, girlfriend?"

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:20 am

Silas had to admit that talking about his orders from the wizengamot and the rest of the Ministry was rather depressing. To reduce a soldier to a number was something Silas hated about politicians. He was a man who fought for the soldiers that he led, not for any political glory. So far the casualties had been 'moderate' according to the politicians. To Silas it was high, far too high. In Hamburg alone he'd lost so many soldiers. But he'd made himself memorise each of their ID numbers,

"Yes well some of my soldiers seem to have misplaced aggression because the German military fights them. The German people should not have to suffer anymore through this war than they already are." he agreed before narrowing his eyes slightly, "I'll be looking into that Miss Blakely. I don't like that one bit."

When she poured him a coffee and made it up for him he smiled and accepted it gratefully. He held it in his hands, giving her a slightly puzzled look, "I'm sorry? My german isn't very good I'm afraid..."

Silas chuckled slightly and shook his head, "No, no girlfriend for me. I guess I've just not met the right woman for me yet."

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:26 am

Jessamine did not really like talking about armies, and she thought that it would be best to let the conversation drop from that particular point, it was funny however that he seemed so different to all of the other soliders that occupied Hamburg, he was very kind and respectful to her, and to others it would appear.

When he mentioned that he did not know what she had just said, Jessamine giggled and shook her head; "Maybe it would be a good thing to learn, considering you live in Germany. I said 'For saving my business.'"

The idea of finding the perfect someone was something that often dwelled in Jessamine's mind, she hoped that she would be able to find that someone and know instantly that she was supposed to love them, like in all those romance novels.

"I see, well, I guess we two are in the same boat for now. You should find someone soon though, how old are you anyway?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:37 am

Seeing that Jessamine wanted to drop the coversation, and not really seeing any need for it to actually continue, Silas smiled and let the subject drop. It wasn't his favourite subject either. All rather depressing after all.

He chuckled a little bit and sipped at the coffee. It was remarkably good, "Well I actually live in Britain, just over here investigating claims of soldiers harrassing civilians. This is an amazing coffee by the way. This cafe will be famous if you keep the quality this high."

He had been around long enough to know that love wasn't easy to get like romance books said it was. But still, Silas wanted love to at least not to be so difficult to find. He would like to fall in love before he was middle aged after all. Especially since he'd probably not live that long,

"For now Miss Blakely. I have no doubt some handsome man will sweep you off your feet." he assured her before chuckling, "I'm 25. Old right?"

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:44 am

Jessamine when she heard that Silas actually lived in Britain almost pouted, he was the nicest person that she had met while she was working here so far and she would feel a lot safer if he stayed here, but she knew that he probably had someone he liked at home to go back to.

"I see, why do you live in Britain if all of your soldiers live over here and you have no wife to go back home to?" she asked, her head tilted to one side "I am sorry but it doesn't make much sense to me."

At the compliment to her coffee Jessamine grinned; "Thank you very much, I think that the cofee kind of sells itself after all."

Tilting her head to one side, Jessamine blinked a little bit, so he was 25, he looked it as well if not older, it was something that she liked in a man, being older than her, however, she knew that it was a passing crush, she got them a lot after all.

"Not that old, I'm 18, almost 19." she smiled "Maybe you should try some dating sites Silas? I have some people I'm hoping to date through my school course."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:55 am

He chuckled a little bit when he caught her pouting. It was rather a cute thing to see if he was honest. He would actually like to see more of it. He shrugged a little bit. Jessamine raised a good point though,

"I couldn't tell you Miss Blakely. I guess because my flat is there more than anything else. I even spend most days here anyway." he chuckled slightly, "Yeah me neither. Perhaps you could help me find a place to stay around here for the time being?"

He sipped more of his coffee and nodded in agreement, "You set a fair price on this and you're cafe will never be empty."

Silas realised that being 25 and a bachelour was something of an oddity, especially when said 25 year old had never had a proper relationship to really speak of. But that was just who he was. Although he had had his fair share of flings,

"Ah a young beauty eh?" he teased her before shrugging, "Never really looked but maybe I could try it. School course huh? What are you studying may I ask?"

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:02 am

Jessamine wondered if she would actually be able to help give Silas some help in finding a place to live, it wouldn't be hard considering that lots of people had died in Hamburg, their houses and flats would now all be empty and up for rent by the council she supposed.

"I guess I could help you, what are you looking for, a house or a flat?" she asked, taking a small memo on the pad behind the till used to write down orders for food and such.

Looking up at her price board, Jessamine wondered if two euros was a good price or not, she hoped that it was; "Well it's two euro's it's because of the cream that it's so expensive I'm afraid I need fresh supplies of it every day."

Shaking her head, Jessamine tutted; "Solch ein Kommentar von einem Herrn."

When he asked her what she was studying, Jessamine smiled and was all too happy to answer him; "I am studying fashion design at the muggle college down the way from here I enjoy it very much."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:08 am

The more he thought about it the more Silas realised that finding a place to live in Hamburg was actually for the best. He was here more often than not after all. And it wasn't like there was anything to tie him to his flat back in London,

"Well either would be fine with me as long as it was within my price range I guess." he told her with a small shrug, "I'd prefer a flat though if I'm honest. A house suggests a family and... and well I don't have one."

He blinked a little bit at the price before mulling it over in his head, converting it to pounds to see what it was like, "Yeah... yeah that's a reasonable price. Pretty cheap for something this good. It'll bring a lot of people in for it."

Silas chuckled nervously, not entirely sure what she said. When she told him that she was studying fashion design he smiled a little bit,

"Well now that's good. It's a very good skill to have and many in the wizarding world don't. I'm sure you'll be able to have a very successful career out of it when you've completed your course Miss Blakely."

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:31 am

Jessamine hummed for a moment and she thought that she could give Silas a place that was up for rent right now, it was only a few blocks away as well so it would be easy for him to come to protect the businesses and also it was something that meant they could see more of each other.

"That makes you sad?" she asked, looking around for something for her to eat as well, she was getting quite hungry and she needed to make sure she snacked regularly "I think I have a flat in mind, it's very nice, one of my friends is renting it out."

Glad that Silas thought that her coffee was a good price she hummed a little again and wondered if she should put that up on a sign outside to get more people to come into the shop. While she was musing about this Jessamine was snapped out of her thoughts by Silas' compliment.

"Uhm, well, thank you, I hope that people will like my designs, I have a fashion show coming up at the end of the school year, my pieces are almost finished." she smiled "You have any friends who might want to come watch?"

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:24 am

Silas waited for any ideas from Jessamine as to where he could live for the time being. After all, she was the local and he had no idea what the city was actually like. To be honest the most of the city he'd seen was when they'd taken it over from the German military,

"Being without any kind of family? Yeah... yeah it kind of does. I guess I'm old enough to start thinking about a family. Strange that." he shrugged a little bit before watching Jessamine rummage around for something to eat, "Well that sounds lovely. Do you know how many bedrooms it has?"

Silas sipped more at his coffee. He was close to actually gulping it down it was that delicious but no matter how delicious it was, it also happened to be very hot still. This meant that he couldn't gulp it down right now even if he had wanted to risk it,

"You've done them pretty early. That's good. Helps you to avoid rushing them right?" he smiled wider before chuckling, "I have a friend who might come. I'll ask her and her boyfriend. Even if they can't I'll definately come along."

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:37 am

Jessamine smiled gently when he told her that it did make him feel sort of lonely, and sad that he had no family to be with, she knew that it would make her sad too, even if her family were horrible to her at times, she would miss the good times that they had together.

"Oh it has one bedroom, thats enough right?" she asked "It's only a few blocks away from here and it's really cosy inside, it's quite cheap too because she's a student, she needs the money like I do."

With a large smile, Jessamine noticed how fully relaxed she was about Silas being here now, she had seemed to forget that he was British and just enjoyed being around him, which was a good sign she was sure;

"You can't rush art, I wanted to make sure everything was wonderful, all perfect before the show and it is indeed all perfect, in my opinion." when he mentioned his friend coming with her boyfriend Jessamine pouted "I meant a nice soldier for me to oogle over."

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:45 am

Silas had been raised by his family with a set goal in mind for his life, to be a soldier. He knew that his parents had basically conditioned him from birth to be a soldier but it didn't matter to him. He still cared about them and now that he was on his own he felt the loss of his family rather keenly,

"Yeah that's just the right amount for me considering it's just me." he agreed, nodding, "It sounds pretty perfect actually. I'm not going to be paying top money and it's big enough for me. Sounds great to me!"

Sipping away at the delicious coffee a bit faster now that it was cooler, Silas had to admit that it was the perfect cup of coffee. If it was like this, with her company, he was definately coming here everyday,

"Well if it's perfect then that's about all that you can do to it isn't it Miss Blakely?" he agreed with a smile before he pouted in return, "I knew it... I'm not sexy anymore am I?"

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:51 am

Jessmine blushed a little bit when Silas pouted and told her that she didn;t think that he was sexy any more, it was kind of cute the way that he pouted and she felt her cheeks turn pink, it was very unusual for her to meet such a man that would fit her criteria and her crush flared again.

"Well, I just didn't think that you would appreciate me commenting on your physical appearance, we have only just met after all." she said with a blush still on her cheeks.

Coughing she tried to get back to the topic beforehand and she wrote down the address on the piece of paper she had behind the till, handing it to the soldier across from her. Hopefully he would like the flat and take it, they might bump into each other.

"Hopefully you like the place, I know you will, but...uhm..." she blushed, turning away and fiddling with the coffee maker to try and distract her.

by **Silas Gray** Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:58 am

Silas grinned when he saw that he'd made Jessamine blush bright pink. He chuckled a little bit, it was rather cute to see her so flustered over something she'd said so casually. He could tell that she wasn't as embarassed as she could have been though so that suggested some element of something else,

"Why my dear I have already commented on your appearance." he smirked a little bit before winking, "Turnabout is fair play. And I'd welcome your opinion on my appearance actually Jessamine."

Silas smiled wider when she wrote down the address of the flat that she had suggested and handed it to him. He grinned when she got all flustered again and tried to go back to work,

"Thank you Jessamine, I'm sure I'll fit right in there." he grinned, "And hey! It's only a short walk from this place! I'll be sure to visit you often."

by **Jessamine Blakely** Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:06 am

Jessamine smiled gently and let her face calm down from it's large blush, when she was told that he wanted her to comment on his appearance she grinned a little and came from behind the counter to look at Silas in more detail, she thought that he looked really good...but there was always room for improvement.

Blushing at the thought of what would make him improve Jessamine quickly dropped the image of him topless and tried to compose herself again, so sue her, she was 18 after all.

"I think that you're very attractive I thought that you would have been taken off the market because of that but...obviously British ladies are blind." she said, all the while resisting a stammer.

Biting her lip a little she nodded her head and happily smiled, she would really like to see more of Silas, he seemed really nice and genuine after all, perhaps it would even be nice to go out, when she wasn't at work with him.

"I would like to see you again, you might even get a discount on your coffee." she laughed gently.