Zania Castell (brokendoll) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-03-22 19:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, reza, reza x zania, zania |
Who: Zania and Reza
When: Morning, Thursday, June 7
Where: The street market
Status: Complete
Maybe it was stupid to do this mere hours before he and Shane were set to leave town for a long weekend in Boston, but Reza felt compelled. His mind had been churning nonstop since Shane had told him everything about his background, and while there was plenty of fear mixed in with everything he felt about it, Reza mostly felt determination. He was going to help, one way or another. And one of the top things he thought he could do to help was to actually reach out to the other witches in town. Reza knew they were there, he could feel them all over the place, and he was honestly a little surprised that none of them had approached him first, as a source of stranger-magic in their midst. But maybe they all just minded their own business around here, he didn’t know the magical culture.
He thought he knew a good place to start, and he’d told Shane he was going out on an errand when he left the house in Overlook. He’d browsed a bit of the street market downtown earlier in the week, and he’d noticed at least a couple of witches there, selling their wares. He hadn’t gotten too close at the time, but he’d studied them a bit. Reza hadn’t known yet that he was scouting, but after learning everything he’d learned, he recalled one in particular who’d seemed approachable. That was where he headed once he’d parked the car and walked the rest of the way to the market -- the Castell Spice Shop booth.
Zania loved when the weather was nice enough for the Main Street Market to be open. It gave her an opportunity to draw new customers in, but it also allowed her to people watch with much greater ease. The shop itself had windows, but she could only see people when they passed by, and she couldn’t have heard them with the door shut. Outside, she had the ability to see them interact with one another, all while hiding her gaze behind her sunglasses. It made her less approachable, but was sometimes necessary these days. Though she’d healed completely, the auras never went away, and some days they were so bright that they made her eyes turn red. She could cover it with glamour, but on a day like today sunglasses did the trick.
She was shuffling tarot cards when she saw the man moving throughout the crowd, the witch that she didn’t know. He had a bright and sunny aura about him, a color that she associated with an air witch, though she was reluctant to jump to conclusions. He’d apparently been by the shop once already, but Nic had been working and her brother hadn’t poked and prodded like she would have. When he looked her direction, she smiled back at him and beckoned him over, pleased that he was already heading her way.
It wasn’t too surprising to see that gesture of welcome aimed at him -- Reza was sure the bright-haired fire witch could sense him just as well as he could sense her. Perhaps even better, he knew he wasn’t top of the class when it came to magic. And some of the resonance of power he’d felt around this town was impressive. Still, it felt kind of good to be recognized like that, after spending so much time away from other witches. Reza tried to relax his shoulders and take some of the intensity out of his expression; just because he felt kind of rushed and stressed about all this didn’t mean he should spread that around. So as he got close to the woman’s booth, he gave her a little smile. “Good morning,” he greeted. “Are you a Castell?” Reza gestured at the booth’s sign.
“I am,” Zania smiled brightly and offered her hand. “Zan Castell. I own Castell Exotic Spices and Teas, but it’s been in the family for generations. We sell spices and teas and other good things you might be interested in.” The other things, of course, being the magical supplies she sold to the witch community in Point Pleasant and the surrounding areas, which far surpassed the amount of tea she sold. “What brings you to Point Pleasant?” She knew she was being forward, but there was no sense in pretending he was a local. Zania might not know everyone in Point Pleasant, but she knew the witches and was always curious when a new one came into their circle. It was one thing if he’d come by for the day, but he’d been around for a while now, long enough to stop by the shop a few times and walk the market today. Zania had the feeling he wasn’t leaving soon.
Reza’s brain blanked out for a moment as he realized just how forward and crazy he was probably going to sound once he started talking. Plus, what if he was picking one of the wrong witches to talk to? Zan looked too young to be an adult when Shane was a child, so he didn’t think she had been the witch Shane had mentioned at AIR, but what if it had been one of her relatives? Everything about her screamed ‘boho hippie witch,’ which didn’t jive at all with some cold clinical child-prison setting, but ... still. He licked his lips, looking unsure for a moment. His eyes darted around them but there didn’t seem to be anyone paying them any mind. Still, Reza leaned in closer over the booth table. “Well ... a guy, mostly, but he has a problem here,” he told her, studying what he could see of her face closely. “A big one. Too big for him, I think. He needs help from ... us, you know?” Yeah, he probably sounded like a nutter already. “Can I ... can I come in for a minute and tell you a crazy story?” He nodded to the inside of her booth.
Zania had no idea what he was talking about, and yes he did sound a little crazy, but she was too curious to turn him away. It had been quiet for months, quiet in a good way after what she’d been through, but someone else’s drama was exactly what she needed. “Sure, come on in,” she said, grabbing her purse off the spare chair so that they could both sit. She was willing to bet the story took more than a minute and she didn’t want him hovering over her the whole time. “Can I get a name first? Just yours. You don’t have to tell me the guy’s.” It might make storytelling easier, but she’d leave that part up to him. “What kind of a problem are we talking about?”
“Oh, right, sorry, uh ... I’m Reza, Reza Mansour, I’m from Chicago,” he said with a note of apology. Stress had him struggling with manners, apparently. He gave her a faint smile of thanks and circled around to where he could duck under the booth’s tent with her. It was maybe presumptuous to even ask to be on that side of her table, but Reza had always thought there was a certain camaraderie amongst witches -- or at least there ought to be. They were all bound by magic, brothers and sisters in a way. Reza sat down on the chair Zania cleared for him, and he immediately flexed his will to put a sound-dampening barrier down around them. He didn’t block out everything, just in case someone came up to the booth and started talking, but enough that no passers-by would hear their conversation. “It’s an institutional problem,” he said, aware of how much sense that would make -- none. “Have you ever heard of the American Institute of Research -- goes by AIR?”
From her side of the booth, Zania knew he’d be able to see the magic based items she was selling, jars of ingredients, crystals, and very specific types of candles. She didn’t have the full spread of her wares there, but if he needed anything else, she either had it back at the shop or she could get it. Zania liked to think she could get her hands on just about anything her customers needed. “Damn,” she grinned as he snapped up the sound barrier. She could do something similar, but it would’ve taken minutes of prep and either candles or chalk or something. She’d never seen someone just prop one up in a snap. Then he started talking and her smile began to fade. Even though her eyes were red, Zania lowered her shades. “Yeah,” she said, concern turning her lips down. “I’m familiar with AIR. They’re supposed to be gone, but… I’ve heard rumors. Your friend mixed up with ‘em?”
The magical items under the counter weren’t a surprise to Reza, he knew a lot of witches had a business to cover their real business, dealing in spells and talismans for people. That kind of spellwork had never really been his forte. He knew some things, of course, he could do some more complicated magic, but Reza was pretty content to get by on his element alone, what felt the most natural. The red eyes made him blink a little in surprise, but he was too focused elsewhere to ask. The fact that she confirmed that AIR existed and that it was ‘supposed to be gone’ clicked something into place inside of Reza. It wasn’t like he’d thought Shane and Jane were lying to him, but an acknowledgement from another witch -- a local one, at that -- made it all the more real. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and nodded some. “He was kidnapped by them as a child, at ten or so,” he told her. “Experimented on, kept hostage for years. But he and some others escaped. But now AIR is back, and some of the survivors are back too, they want to go to war with them. I just ... I knew there were witches here, obviously, and I wanted ... I dunno, to reach out. I’m worried, you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Zania sighed. “I’ve got a friend that’s involved in all that. Also kidnapped as a kid. But they erased his memories and let him go. I don’t really know how he got ‘em back, but he was working with some others.” Or Vex was, before he went missing. He’d filled Nic in on everything before Christmas, but nothing had ever come of it when he’d been locked in that other dimension. Zania knew that wasn’t truly the end of it, but it had been the end of her connection with it all until Vex had returned. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if he jumped back in, but Zania’s interest in protecting Vex had escalated since the first go round. They could not lose him again. “I hadn’t heard a lot about it lately, but I’ve kind of been out of the loop. Have they found the facility? Do they have an actual plan? I know some of them have abilities, but I don’t really have the big picture, you know?”
Shane hadn’t told him the names of any of the others, he only knew Jane, so Reza bit his tongue on asking Zan who her friend was. It wouldn’t mean anything to him anyway. He sighed a bit and dipped his head to run his fingers through his hair, fluffing it up a bit from where he’d hastily laid it down before he’d left the house. “I don’t really have the big picture either,” he admitted. Maybe he should have before he came here to find a magical ally, but it was what it was. The first connection had been made, at least. Shane would probably be pissed at him for being so reckless, but he just didn’t understand the connection between witches. “I don’t think they have a real plan yet, they’re just gathering allies ... I just learned about any of this yesterday, honestly. But I want to help. If they’re still kidnapping kids and fucking around with them ...” His jaw tightened and he shook his head. “Your friend might know my friend. Or someone named Jane?”
“Yesterday? Oh god, that’s a big ball to drop,” Zania said with a little laugh before re-attempting professionalism. “If they’re still kidnapping kids, they need to be taken out, one-hundred percent. We’ve got enough shit going on around here without mad scientists kidnapping people.” Though she also realized this would be the perfect place for it, since the crazy tended to provide a decent cover-up for anyone gone missing. AIR could have snatched up a dozen people during the fog and no one would have noticed. They’d have blamed the monsters. “I don’t know Jane personally, but I’d like to,” Zania smiled. “My brother knows her. She helped him and some friends with a—a really bizarre thing that happened a while back. Assuming it’s the same Jane. Did your friend tell you what she can do?”
Jane was a pretty common name, but given the circumstances, Reza was fairly sure they were talking about the same person. The woman he’d talked to at the coffee shop had definitely seemed the type to help out with something bizarre. “She can project herself into people’s dreams,” he said with a nod. Maybe it was bad form of him to tell anyone that, but Jane had gone spilling Shane’s secrets to him, so Reza didn’t feel bad about it. And this woman said her brother knew her, so that was already a connection that made him feel a bit better about this. Hell, maybe Jane got around enough that tons of witches knew her, but it was nice to find one. “Pretty sure it’s the same one. She was with my friend when they escaped as kids. She’s the one who talked him into coming back here. It’s kinda crazy and yet entirely unsurprising that you know her already.”
Zania hadn’t wanted to put Jane’s powers out there, just in case Reza was fishing for information rather than telling the truth, but the fact that he knew from his own source made her far more comfortable opening up about her own. “It’s the same one,” she smiled. “This town’s small, and weird, and sometimes circles overlap. My brother, Nic, was having weird dreams with three other people. One of them, Neil, was also one of the AIR kids. He brought Jane in to help.” That didn’t even begin to capture everything that had gone on in that situation, but it was the short version that explained her connection to Jane. And if she started talking about people getting sucked into other worlds, there was a chance Reza would skip town. Which… might be smart. “I don’t know how much your friend told you, but this town can be… It can be really interesting. But it can also be dangerous. And that’s without AIR’s involvement.”
Reza listened, tucking away the names Neil and Nic to toss at Shane later, his brows arching high for a moment. Weird dreams with other people? It sounded like she was just giving him the surface version and honestly Reza was kind of glad. His mind had already been fairly blown within the past twenty-four hours, he didn’t want to blow it even more. Reza shook his head a bit and sat up straighter, rubbing his palms against his jeans. “He didn’t tell me. Honestly I don’t think he even knows, I don’t think he stuck around here long after he got away from AIR. We’re renting a place up in Overlook, an Airbnb, he’s got no family here, doesn’t really know the town ... but I can kinda feel it, you know? Some weirdness.” Reza glanced around them, out toward the people milling around the market. “I thought it might just be all the magic, but I don’t think it is.”
“Ooooo, Overlook,” Zania grinned. “Your friend has money. Say hi to my mom and dad. That place is packed with witches.” The funny part was that she could be there if she wanted to be, but she didn’t. That wasn’t the sort of life Zania wanted to live, in large part because it wasn’t the sort of people she wanted to associate with. It would be so easy to use magic to get everything she wanted and move up in the world, so to speak, but she was happy in her inherited house, living the life she loved with the people she loved. “It’s not just the magic. I can’t explain it. Either we’re drawn here because of it, or it’s drawn here because of us, but whatever it is, it’s dark. I think it makes us stronger, like a power source we can tap into, but it’s also this weird, looming threat. Even if you’re not staying here long, I’d put up a few wards, just in case.”
His brows lifted again when Zania said her parents lived in Overlook too, but considering all the magic he’d felt around the place, he guessed it wasn’t that surprising. She just didn’t seem like the type to come from that sort of rich-white-people culture. But you never knew about people from outward appearances, hadn’t he learned that through Shane very recently? Reza focused more on the rest of what she was saying, nodding slowly. He didn’t have a lot of personal experience with the supernatural apart from magic, but he was a believer. What Zania was saying about this town just felt true, even if it was bad news. “I don’t even know how long we’re staying now, we’ve already been here way longer than I expected ... but yeah, I’ll work on that. Any specific recommendations?”
Zania listed off a few spells that she thought would provide basic protection, taking into account the fact that the house they were staying in wasn’t their own. It wouldn’t cover everything, but it should protect them from some of the more malevolent entities that were known to wander around Point Pleasant. The town wasn’t dangerous on a daily basis, but when things got weird, it was nice to have those protections in place. “The trouble is, I’m not sure how much good those will do you against AIR,” she said. “It really depends on who they have on their side. Your friend, he can do something, right?” She couldn’t imagine he’d come back to fight them if he didn’t have at least something going for him, but Reza hadn’t mentioned anything specifically thus far.
Protective magic had never really been Reza’s forte, but he recognized a bit of what Zania said. He didn’t want to shove a piece of paper at her and ask her to write things down, vaguely embarrassed that he wasn’t a more knowledgeable witch in that regard. He had other resources he could mine, find some more specific spells and wards to cast, then maybe walk into the Castells’ shop to sheepishly ask for ingredients later. Reza had never really needed to ward any place in his life, but there was no time like the present to learn, he guessed. “Yeah, he can do something,” he answered with a small smirk and a huff, refocusing on the conversation. Reza hesitated over being specific, but if this woman was going to help them, he supposed it would be revealed eventually, and it wasn’t like AIR didn’t know about Shane’s powers. “He’s a pyrokinetic. He’s the one who burned down the original AIR building.”
“Oh shit!” Zania cursed in delight. “Can I meet him? We can set things on fire together. It’ll be fun.” She probably sounded like she was joking, but she really wasn’t. She knew pyrokinetics were a thing, but she’d never met one and was intrigued about how his powers might compare to hers. Humans with psychic abilities were fascinating, magical without having magic, and she was always curious about them, no matter what they could do. She even wondered how Nic would fare against him, if he could put out Shane’s fire, since it wouldn’t be magic based. That was a weird quirk they’d discovered between them—Nic couldn’t put out her fire, but she couldn’t melt his ice. She was willing to bet the natural laws of physics and science would apply with Shane. “I can see why Jane would want his help. He knows about you, right? ‘Cause this,” she pointed up, indicating the sound barrier around them, “could be super handy. And not just for having weird conversations out in public.”
It hadn’t even occurred to Reza that Shane had fire in common with this witch -- he was able to feel her element, just like she could surely feel his, but they seemed so different that the connection hadn’t clicked. He gave a huff and a crooked sort of smile. “I mean, yeah, if you end up helping us, I’m sure you’ll meet him. And he’s always happy to set shit on fire, so ... knock yourselves out,” he said with a chuckle. Then Reza nodded a bit. “He knows about me. At first he thought I was like him, only with sound, but I had to tell him what was really going on. He’s only known one other witch in his life, and that was at AIR. So he might be kind of wary of you at first, and taking this kind of help. But I know we need it. I really like this guy and I don’t want him to die.” His mouth pressed briefly into a grim line. “Jane knows about me too, she’s the one who spilled all his secrets to me, he hadn’t told me anything about why we were here.”
"Well, if it makes you feel better, there's a high chance we'd want to be involved, even if you didn't tell me. Last I checked, Vex was gung-ho about going after AIR, and if Vex is in, so is Lem, and that means Nic is in because he'd want to protect the both of them, and I'm not about to let the three of them go get themselves killed without me," Zania smiled. "That's a lot of names. I'm sure you'll meet them eventually." It also sounded like Reza's friend was more than a friend, though one that was trying to keep him out of it. Probably for his own safety, which she could appreciate, except she'd be all kinds of pissed if it was her. That was the kind of call she liked to make for herself. "So Jane hunted you down and told you what's up?" she asked, a bit confused about Jane's motivations. "Did you tell her what you were? Or did she already know?"
It sounded like Zania had connections to all of this already in place, so Reza didn’t feel quite so guilty for running his mouth to her. He’d apparently come to the right place for help, so he was glad his gut instinct about her had been right -- at least as far as he knew. The questions about Jane made him chuckle faintly. Jane obviously had built up a reputation already, so he didn’t expect Zania to be very surprised by what he was about to say. “I think she knew my face from walking in Shane’s dreams -- my friend, obviously. And then she happened to see me in Joyland the other morning, called me over, introduced herself, and just laid all of this information at my feet,” he explained, spreading his hands a bit. “I didn’t know at first if she was serious or crazy or one of them or what, but she knew a lot about Shane. Then he just ... confirmed it all. He’d been trying to protect me from it, but that’s not the kind of shit I can just sit out, you know?”
“I like her already,” Zania grinned, though she might not have been all that happy about it had she been in Shane’s position. But that was his fault for bringing Reza along and not telling him upfront what was going on. “I know what you mean though. I can’t sit around and do nothing when the people I care about are in danger. Especially when I think I might be of help. And this is one of those things that’s like, for the greater good.” In any other town she’d think that some evil corporation kidnapping kids and torturing them would be a job for the cops, but in her experience the PPPD couldn’t handle most of what this town threw at them. This was most certainly out of their league, even if they did believe in the threat. “So, like, what’s the next step? Do you guys have meetings or something we can come join?”
Reza had thought about the authorities too, but if they’d let all of this go on for so long, he didn’t think they could do much to help. They were either ignorant or powerless against whatever forces were behind this. Hell, maybe AIR even owned the cops, Reza didn’t know. The others seemed to have dismissed involving any law enforcement and wanted to handle this on their own, and Reza was just along for the ride at this point. He was starting to feel like he was in some crazy movie. “I don’t -- ... well, Shane goes out quite a bit for hours at a time, so maybe? Nothing I’ve been invited to yet, though. Like I said, I just found out about any of this. He didn’t want me involved at all, but too bad, he’s stuck with it now,” he said, looking hard and determined for a moment. Reza pulled his phone out and created a new contact. “If you don’t mind giving me your number, I can find out more and let you know. Sorry if this was premature, I just ... I needed to talk to somebody like me, you know? Who might know something.”
Zania wondered if Nic would know what was going on, or if he could ask Lem. Things had seemed better between them, but they had a lot of baggage to deal with and she wasn’t entirely sure if AIR had been on their minds since Vex had returned. It probably depended on if Jane even knew Vex was back. She thought almost everyone who’d been shut in the other world had returned, but it wasn’t the kind of thing that made the news. “Good for you,” she grinned, liking his attitude. “No need to apologize. I’m really glad you stopped by. Even if I’m connected, things have been a little crazy the past few weeks, or months, and this had kind of fallen off my radar.” She rattled off her number, waiting until he had it in his phone before continuing. “And hey, if Shane goes out and you get bored, stop by the shop. I could always use some company.”
Reza saved Zan into his phone and then shot her a quick ‘this is me’ text so she would have his number in return. He tucked his device away and looked up at her again, giving a little smile. “Thanks, I’ll definitely do that,” he told her. “I’ve been in there a couple of times, but I think I only saw your ... brother, right? You run it with him?” There had been a tall guy behind the counter, looking bored and a little sad. Reza was sure they’d recognized each other as witches, but at the time he hadn’t been ready to strike up a conversation about it yet. Now that he knew the truth about why he was in this weird little town, that was going to change. “Do you know any other witches in town who would be safe to approach about all this?” he asked. “I still feel wary, since Shane said AIR had one working for them.”
“Yeah, that’d be Nic. The distracted water witch,” Zania smiled. “Sometimes there’s a teenager around, a redheaded earth witch that helps me around the shop and in my greenhouse, but she doesn’t usually work the register.” She’d been giving Phee a few additional responsibilities as she learned her way around, but it was usually herself or Nic that worked the register and worked directly with the customers, at least if it was magic related. Zania was pretty sure Phee could handle selling tea and spices at this point. “My boyfriend will probably be on board. He runs a hair salon off Main Street, if you’re here long enough to need a cut. There’s more, and they’re good people, but… I’m not sure how involved they’ll want to get.” Reagan and Caius came to mind, as did the O’Reillys, but she couldn’t see a connection between them and AIR that would unite them with the cause. Then she remembered Nic relaying how Anthony D’Onofrio showed up at Vex’s house after Vex had approached Miriam and decided Reza should probably avoid Caius, and maybe Reagan. “I think you’d be safe mentioning it to Nate Kelly, who owns Dragonfly. Fantastic bar, if you haven’t been there yet. If you reach out to him, you can tell him I sent you. His sister, Reagan, owns Belladonna, but I’d hold off on bringing her in. While I’m one hundred percent sure she’s not associated with AIR, her in-laws are kind of… difficult. If she knows, her husband knows, and if Caius tells either of his parents…” Zania bit her lip. “I think his mother, Miriam, was also abducted by AIR. But I don’t trust his dad. I’d steer clear of Anthony D’Onofrio.”
It was a lot of names to keep track of, but Reza thought he did well enough. He cocked a brow at the mention of the hair salon -- he’d passed by there a few times now and felt the magic inside, but hadn’t gone in yet. He would need to do so pretty soon, he liked to keep his hair pretty short, he and Shane had been in town a while already, and there was only so much cleanup on the sides he could do himself with clippers. Now he knew that the guy running it was Zania’s boyfriend, they would have more to talk about. “I love Dragonfly, we’ve been several times now,” he said with a nod, making a mental note of the name Nate Kelly. Reza was fairly sure he’d seen him multiple times in the club, but again, never approached. He was starting to feel a little like a witch stalker, but now he had an in, a purpose. And if Zan was any indication, they were more welcoming than he’d been giving them credit for. The last part surprised him most of all and he looked a little shocked. “His mother too? And you don’t think that would be incentive to help our cause?” he asked. She obviously knew these people and he didn’t, but still, he hadn’t expected to hear that.
"I've known Caius most of my life. He would do anything for his mother and if she wanted to fight AIR, he would be there. But when Vex approached her, she flipped the fuck out. I don't know if it's because it was Vex and he can come across as a crazy person, or she doesn't remember what happened to her, or she does remember but is scared of AIR. But Anthony showed up at Vex's house and demanded he back off, so... I don't know," Zania sighed. She didn't have a clue what was going on with Miriam, but she knew that if Anthony got involved he would take control. Maybe not in a way they realized, but it wouldn't take much to undermine their efforts if he wanted something else. She could always ask Reagan or Caius herself, but once they knew something was up it would be hard to take it back. Then again, if Caius didn’t want his father involved, he was capable of keeping it to himself. "The D'Onofrios are powerful. If they're in, they'd be a huge asset, but if they're not, they could seriously fuck things up. I'd see if anyone can get a better read on Miriam and go from there. I can reach out to Caius or Reagan and test the waters… probably Reagan."
More names. Like who was Vex? Shane hadn’t brought that one up, Reza was sure he would’ve remembered it. Zania had only mentioned him in passing in connection to her brother. God, he felt so out of the loop. Maybe he needed to sit down with Jane again to get some real answers. Make a fucking flowchart of names or something. He heaved a sigh and sat back in his chair, feeling a little overwhelmed by it all now. If there were whole families of powerful witches possibly getting involved, this could get huge. Reza just hoped he hadn’t accidentally shaken up a hornet’s nest. “Whatever you think is best, since you actually know them,” he said. “I’m just ... clueless, over here. I’ll try to talk to the uh, the psychics, get a better feel for who-all is involved and what support they might need and what the plan is. ... Keep your fingers crossed for me that they don’t want to strangle me for meddling.” Reza smiled faintly. “But I really appreciate any and all help you can give.”
“Sorry,” Zania said with a sympathetic smile when Reza sighed. “That’s probably information overload. The short and sweet is I can help, and I know some other people who might be able to help as well. Talk to your boy and let him know we’re here. We’re not going to act on our own, we don’t have the information, so we’ll only be as involved as you need us to be.” At least, that was the case right now. She’d likely go into protective mode when her people got involved, but so far things seemed quiet. It was probably because Vex had only just returned. She should probably let him know about this conversation so he could reach out to Jane, or whomever he’d been in contact with before. Zania didn’t want to stir up trouble, but she had the feeling Vex would be all kinds of upset if they went after AIR without him.
Reza nodded, glad that it didn’t sound like she wanted to step in and take over. He hoped that wouldn't be the case for the other people Zan had in mind to approach, either. He reminded himself that she was already connected to it, so that might’ve happened even without him seeking her out. He would have to tell Shane about all of this, but Reza felt like he could convince him that it was a good thing. The more allies, the better, they didn’t even know exactly what they were going to be facing. “Thank you,” he told her with a small, grateful smile. “And just for hearing me out. Weird random stranger and all.” He gave a little huff and rubbed his palms on his jeans, glancing out over the booth counter before his eyes came back to Zania. “I’ll let you get back to your business, I’ll definitely be in touch soon.”
“Hey, I usually like weird random strangers,” Zania smiled. “They keep life interesting. We’ll talk soon.” It might not be the best approach when living in Point Pleasant, but she’d found most of the real threats didn’t approach her in broad daylight to have a chat. She could usually tell a threat when one was coming at her and Reza didn’t have that vibe. There might be danger on the horizon, but that felt like nothing new. Just another day in Point Pleasant.