Owner	Pose
Peter Parker	Peter Parker stepped into the Magic Box, the door's bell jingling above him. He paused, squinting into the dimly lit shop. The shelves were filled with mystical trinkets, old tomes, and oddities, but the place was eerily quiet. No familiar faces greeted him. "Hello?" Peter called, his voice bouncing off the walls. He stood in the doorway for a moment, glancing around. He shrugged, setting the bag from Carl's Jr. on the counter with a soft thud. At least the food was still warm. He adjusted the strap on his backpack, then walked further into the store, half expecting someone to pop out from behind a shelf, or appear from the back room. Nothing. Just silence. "Seriously, where is everyone?" Peter muttered to himself.
Buffy Summers	Nothing. No one. Even if he listened to the door on that back room with the sign reading Staff Only on the front, there was no sound back there of someone moving around or unboxing inventory. Then the thud sound came from the other side of the shop. Back toward the front, one could turn right to peruse the shelves and there was another door, also marked for staff. It was like a room behind the counter area. Only, it wasn't a room. That door led to a set of stairs which led down into the basement storage. That's where the less public facing and usually more powerful items were kept. Another thud then a voice, "And stay in there this time!" Indeed, that had to be Buffy. A moment later, there were the rapid fire sound of footsteps rushing up stairs then the door opened to reveal Buffy Summers herself. She was dressed in a pair of jeans today, to help against the chill weather outside. A lovely taupe colored, cableknit sweater was worn and her hair was pulled up in the back to keep it from rubbing against the sweater and thus risking even worse static than one normally got in winter. She had a small box in her hands as she moved to go toward the counter and that's when she spotted him. Her eyes widened then she looked accusingly at the door bell, wondering why it hadn't warned her she wasn't alone. Of course said bell had done precisely what it was supposed to. She simply hadn't heard it during her adventure to the basement. "Peter! Hi! Have you been here long?" Her focus had returned to him and she gave him a pleasant smile to go with the greeting.
Peter Parker	Peter blinked in surprise as Buffy emerged from the basement door, holding a small box, and looking just a tiny bit disheveled. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, despite the slightly awkward situation. "Hey Buffy," he greeted, "not long, just a few minutes. Was starting to wonder if I'd messed up the days." He gestured toward the quiet, empty shop, raising an eyebrow. "It's a little... dead in here. But I'm sure this is the quiet before the storm, right?" He glanced over at the bag from Carl's Jr. still sitting on the counter, the tempting smell of fries and burgers wafting through the air. His stomach rumbled involuntarily. He reached up, running a hand through his hair. "Anyway, I brought lunch. You're probably starving after all your... well, whatever you were doing down there." He waved vaguely toward the basement. "I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I went with an Angus Burgers, fries, and cokes. Can't go wrong with that, right?"
Buffy Summers	"Can never go wrong with a burger and fries," Buffy agreed. She set the box she was carrying onto the glass counter top then immediately picked up the bag of food. It was carried over to the round table that was setup in the room to allow people to sit and read a bit if they wanted to. Normally, that was the Scoobies doing it but in this case, it was a perfect spot for lunch. "Please. Sit." Then she started to open the bag and dole out the food to the spot inside of her and the seat next to her. "This is generally how it is until after dark. Then it gets a little busier. For the real witches, they usually are getting together around those times so it makes sense. The fake ones think it's more ambient to shop at night." A little roll of the eyes at how silly that was. "We'll have people wander in once in a while from the street, but the regulars tend to avoid afternoons."
Peter Parker	Peter watched Buffy set down the small box, his gaze briefly lingering on how effortlessly she handled it. There hadn't been any sign of strain, but for a second, the sound of it hitting the glass counter felt... off. It was like the box carried a little more weight than it should have, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Probably nothing. His mind just overthinking, as usual. He followed her to the table, pulling out the seat next to her and sitting down. The familiar scent of greasy, delicious burgers and fries hit him again, making his stomach grumble louder this time. With a grin, he opened the cardboard box his burger had come in, carefully unfolding it into a makeshift plate to arrange his fries alongside the burger. Simple, but effective. As he picked up a fry, he couldn't help but smirk at her explanation of the shop's hours. "Witches after dark, huh?" He bit into the fry, chewing thoughtfully. "Guess that explains it." He popped another fry into his mouth, taking a moment to enjoy the salt before turning his attention back to Buffy. "Probably better mood lighting at night too... for the witches," he hastily added. Raising his cup, making a mock-toast in her direction. "To the fake witches who make poor timing choices for small businesses."
Buffy Summers	"As Anya would put it, To the fake witches who continue to drive commerce and will buy anything that you claim is powerful." Seh toasted with her own cup in his direction though she hadn't quite gotten to drinking stage. Quickly she opened the straw wrapper with her other hand, popped the straw itself through the plastic lid on the cup, then took a drink to complete the toast. "Anya is a friend who runs this place when Giles, the owner, is back home in England," she explained. "My bestie, Willow, works here too but she usually does the earlier shifts and more weekends cause she has a very full schedule. She's working on her doctorate at school, I think." A little furrow of her brow as she tried to remember if that was right. Then it was dismissed to ask Willow later as Buffy focused on her meal. No fancy plate thing. Her box remained intact, the lid just folded back to become receptacle for her fries. They were dumped into the 'bowl' the lid made. She lifted out her burger, taking a big bite. That was one thing about her. She wasn't going to pretend not to be hungry when she was. And she wasn't going to be some dainty flower while eating to impress anyone. Why was that impressive anyway? Unless someone was cheap and didn't want to buy her food? Made no sense. "So good," she muttered around the mouthful of food, then focused on enjoying the meal for a couple more bites. The fries were tried as well and passed muster. When she finally was happy with the start of her meal, she spoke again. Sans food in her mouth because she wasn't an animal. "I appreciate you bringing me something. I didn't get the chance to eat before work today. Sort of slept in for once. I don't get to do that a lot."
Peter Parker	Peter took another bite of his burger, trying to focus on the meal instead of the bubbling questions in his mind. The way Buffy dug into her food without any pretensions made him smile. There was something refreshingly real about it. She wasn't trying to impress anyone, she was just... eating. Not that he'd expect her to put on any airs, but seeing it in person, as casual as could be, was a little bit of a relief. Not that he wasn't guilty of pretending to be something he wasn't, but it was nice to see someone just be themselves. "I bet it feels nice to sleep in," he said, after swallowing a bite of his own burger. "Sounds like you've got a pretty packed schedule yourself. I mean, working here, keeping your life together; it's funny, we probably don't even realize how much of our lives are just... trying to keep up with everything." He paused, and then added, "I know it's not much, but it's nice to see you take time for yourself." Peter took a sip of his drink, feeling surprisingly good about where he was. His day had been busy but not overwhelming. In fact, it had been one of those rare days when everything clicked. It wasn't often that he had cash to spare, especially not after all the bills he and Aunt May had to juggle, but today he felt like he had a little cushion to play with. It was a nice change of pace. Leaning forward a little, "I've been meaning to ask... the Magic Box, this place's S.N.R. rate, is it just non-stop with the weird stuff here?" Peter was curious, genuinely curious. In his world, things never seemed to slow down, but hearing about Buffy's life, the way she balanced all the chaos, made him wonder how people like her managed to keep it together. He grabbed another fry, watching her out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to respond.
Buffy Summers	She paused ever so slightly with her burger in her mouth, mid bite, as he asked that question. It was just a second of fight or flight and, being who she was, fight generally won out in that scenario. So immediately she sort of bristled emotionally, wanting to protest and act like it was nothing around here to try to throw him off the scent. Then she realized, it wasn't an attack. It was a general question about where she lived. And she did live in the land of Spontaneous Neck Rupture (S.N.R.) so it made sense to wonder. She finished taking her bite almost immediately and a normal person likely wouldn't even notice. He may or may not, depending on how much attention he was paying. Because he was not a normal person. In the general sense of the word. She finished chewing and washed down the bite with some Coke before answering. "It's just like any other place. Same safety measures that might work in New York work here. Lighted areas, try not to wander off alone, travel in pairs if you can. A little bit of self defense training at the local dojo or something wouldn't hurt." Wouldn't help either against what they had in Sunnydale but it sounded good for muggers in the Big Apple maybe. "We moved here from California about..." She had to pause as she did the math in her head. "Eight years ago? Going on eight. We moved cause my Mom got a great job out here, she manages the local art gallery."
Peter Parker	"Eight years?" Peter echoed, "wow. I mean, I get it, moving can be a big change. But... sounds like you've adjusted pretty well." He thought about how difficult it had been for him when he first moved in his with aunt and uncle. New home, new school, new everything. But at least he had a support system, even if his life was constantly upside down. Buffy seemed like someone who handled things on her own, and he was impressed by that. "Self-defense and traveling in pairs," Peter mused aloud, with a small grin. "Kind of like the neighborhood watch, right?" He took a sip from his drink. "If I ever run into trouble, I might need to borrow that advice." Peter leaned forward slightly, not sure how much to push, but curiosity got the best of him. "So, eight years... how's that been?" He took another sip from his drink. "I don't know, I feel like I'm still figuring it out. Some days, it's like everything just kind of blends together."
Buffy Summers	She was munching fries as she listened, a leisurely meal with good company. At the question, she took a moment to really think about it. How had it been? Well, she died the first year she was here. Fought PTSD the second. Beyond that, it had been terrifying. And kind of thrilling in a lot of ways too. Something she wouldn't even admit to her friends. But the terrifying and tragic sometimes seemed to outweigh the positive in memories. Tragic how that worked. At his statement about it all blending together and still figuring it out? Buffy had to nod in agreement. Then when he paused, she added her two cents. "Everytime I think I figure it out and things are going to go smoothly for a while, things to completely sideways again. I mean, you know that I'd been having some issues with my friend. That are now resolved." She'd told him that much in previous conversations, just no details. "But that sort of thing. Is this what they call adulting? Always waiting for the next bombshell and then trying to get back to normal again before the next event happens? Cause I'm going to tell you now, I'd like to go back to being a kid sometimes, if this is what being a grown up is all about. I know I'm in my 20s but I really feel like I don't know anything half the time."