eh....

[Crystal Jacobs]

Crystal just left the Order's Headquarters after a meeting, and decided to stop by the Three Broomsticks to grab something to drink, then grab Colby something to eat and head back home. Once she walked in, she saw a man that staggered by her, a little too drunk. Crystal gave a little laugh and sat down at an empty table, then ordered a butterbeer.

[nathan]

Nathan walked back into the Three Broomsticks after his discussion with Charles and Claudia. He was still feeling quite thirsty and had never been able to finish his drink from before, so he figured he'd order something light and think about his plans and whether or not he would tell Crystal about them. He ordered some butterbeer and looked around, absent-mindedly. To his surprise, he found Crystal sitting at a table halfway across the pub. He thought about leaving, not sure if he was ready to confront her. But instead, he picked up his drink and walked over to her table. "Surprise, surprise. Looks like we both had the same idea..." He grinned at her. "Mind if I sit here?" He motioned to the chair across the table from her.

[Crystal Jacobs]

Crystal took a drink from her cup and looked up. "I guess we did," she said, "and have a seat." Crystal took another drink from her cup. "Butterbeer huh? I've always suspected you as the firewhiskey drinking guy."

[nathan]

Nathan just shrugged in response, "I've kind of been avoiding stuff like that since...you know...my problems." He sat down in the chair and finished the rest of his butterbeer in one sip. He smiled at her, "So...what's been going on with you?" He chuckled, looking at his watch. "During the past six hours since the last time I saw you, anyways." He grinned.

[Crystal Jacobs]

Crystal gave him a smile. "Let's see what have I done in the last six hours?" she said sort of in thought. She wondered if she should say something about the order, but then decided against it. She didn't know how things would go, so she didn't say anything about it. "Well, I had to go to some important meeting thing, and then I ended up here on my way home. I was just going to relax a bit and take home some kind of dinner. What about you?"

[nathan]

Nathan shrugged again and lied to her quickly, "I was just shopping around and stuff...I ran into one of my old friends and we talked for a bit." He quickly changed the subject and looked curiously at her, "Meeting? What kind? If you don't mind me asking..." He asked, trying not to sound too invasive.

[Crystal Jacobs]

"Uh, a regular type of meeting," said Crystal finishing off her drink. "We had to discuss some matters, and talked a bit with a few people, you know getting to sort of know them, that kind of thing."

[nathan]

"Okay..." Nathan replied, awkwardly. He could tell Crystal was trying to avoid telling him something, but he didn't know what. He decided to go ahead and find out what it was. "Is there...something you're not telling me?" He asked, looking at her suspiciously.

[Crystal Jacobs]

Crystal sighed. "Maybe, maybe not. But if I am not telling you something it's nothing bad," she said looking back at him. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

[nathan]

"Uh...no reason." Nathan lied, lamely. "I was just curious. I just thought we were past the point of keeping secrets from each other." He replied, shrugging.

[Crystal Jacobs]

"You're a bad liar, you know that? Your eyes tell too much," said Crystal. She leaned back in her chair. "We are past that, but this is something beyond that. You'll find out soon enough. I know you will, so be patient. But when you find out, well, let's not worry about that. No, it's nothing bad like I'm going to marry someone, I promise."

[nathan]

Nathan chuckled at her comment and then sighed. "Well, alright. I was just afraid that maybe you'd done something behind my back or something. That's all." He replied. He smiled faintly, relieved that her secret apparently wasn't anything too bad.

[Crystal Jacobs]

"What do you think I do behind your back?" asked Crystal curiously leaning with her elbows on the table. "And why would I do it?"

[nathan]

Nathan just shook his head, "Its nothing. I just jumped to conclusions. Don't worry about it." He replied. "I just wanted to let you know though, that I may not be at my shop too often for the next few weeks. I've got some...'You-Know-Who' matters to deal with." He said, simply.

[Crystal Jacobs]

"Oh I see. Well, I was about to tell you, Colby and I probably wouldn't be by very much. I've got some uh, things to uh, tend to," said Crystal. "Are you ever going to stop working for him? I mean he some what runs your life if you think about it. I couldn't work for that man. I'd die first, but then again that's me."

[nathan]

"Eventually...I've got a plan to get it all over with." Nathan said. "I know its hard to understand why I continue working with him, but once you start there's no going back, I guess. And when I started, I was desperate and I needed help financially and emotionally. And I found a way to cure that through...him." He added, refraining from calling him "The Dark Lord" around Crystal. "That was for the time, anyways. Now I'm just with him because I have no choice. But I've got a way to change all of that. And you'll know about it soon enough."

[Crystal Jacobs]

"As long as you don't go and get yourself killed," said Crystal. "Remember the Tyler Jackson you asked me about before? Well, I saw him at the meeting I was at. He seemed a bit too spacy. Not the airhead kind of spacey either."

[nathan]

Nathan paused for a moment at what she said. Obviously, he knew why Tyler had been so spacy. He was under the imperius curse. And that could only mean that Crystal had been at an Order meeting. Nathan couldn't let Crystal be there when they attacked the Order. It would mean risking so many things that Nathan didn't want to risk. But if he told her to leave the Order, he would end up having to explain how he had known she was in it in the first place, which would lead to him explaining his entire plan. And he knew that she wouldn't be too happy about the whole thing.

"That's strange." Nathan said, trying to act curious. "Well, I've been thinking he's up to something. I would suggest just staying away from him. It might not be too good of an idea to continue going to those meetings either. I'd rather not have you anywhere near him..." He finished.

[Crystal Jacobs]

"But I can't just stop going to those meetings. It's not that simple. Don't worry, he can't try to pull anything while we're there, and he hasn't even really talked to me. I do stay away from him, so don't worry," said Crystal. "I can watch out for myself."

[nathan]

Nathan just looked at her for a second, trying to come up with some other reason to get her to leave the Order. Frankly, he was sure Tyler wouldn't do anything to her, in the state he was in. Until the attack, anyways. "Well, just be careful. You don't know what kind of risk your incurring by giving your life to the Order. You could always be in the wrong place at the wrong time." He said, trying to act convincing.