(1938-10-10) Canadian Breakfast
Details for Canadian Breakfast
Summary: Phil and Kaleb meet and have a chat over breakfast.
Date: 10 October 1938
Location: Leaky Cauldron, London

Breakfast time finds Phil once more in the Leaky Cauldron. She only left it seven or eight hours ago. Thanks to the wonders of magical transport she doesn't look like a dirty stop out because she was able to floo home and change. Sitting at the bar rather than a table, because it is quieter at this hour and she likes the staff, Phil is nursing a cup of Earl Grey (with lemon) in between bits from a rather large breakfast. On the bar next to her is a copy of The Times, she is reading the above the fold article.

"Hey now!" Comes a voice from the stairs, someone coming down from above. "Time for some breakfast before a long day of animal searching!" The voice, distinctly not British, or from the British Isles at all, rings out. It sounds more from North America than anything. And then the body behind the voice appears. Kaleb Gamp. "Give me your worst!" He chuckles and makes his way to the bar. "And a coffee to drink. Please and thanks, eh." He looks down the bar, giving Phil a kind smile and a nod. "Hello." He raises his hand in 'hi' sort of greeting.

Phil lifts her head, turning it in Kaleb's direction. She grins, liking his infectious nature right away. "Hello. Good morning." She nods to the stool one away from her's, "Would you care to join me?" One away because she is British and they are friendly but not too friendly when first meeting people. However she does reach across and offer a hand, "Phil Rowle."

Sitting down in the aforementioned seat, Kaleb reaches his hand over to her and shakes. "Pleasure. Kaleb Gamp." He smiles. Pointing to her newspaper, he asks, "Anything good in there? Anything big going on? Well…bigger than normal?" He grins.

"Oh the usual," Phil glances down at the muggle newspaper. "People who's lives are in turmoil while the muggle government does nothing. And of course there are trips offered to upcoming Christmas bazaars." She lifts the paper and puts it down between them, sliding it towards Kaleb in case he wants to read it. "I, with my canny ear for accents would guess you are Canadian. Is that correct?" Her own accent is clean, perfect enunciation, each vowel fully formed each consonant crisp. All of that making it perfectly clear she was raised with wealth and far from London.

"Ah. The muggles. Yes. There is some turmoil for them at that, unfortunately. Not that there isn't on our side too. But perhaps that's too dark a topic for such a morning when breakfast hasn't even been had!" Kaleb chuckles and thanks the waitress as his coffee is served. He takes a sip, not adding any cream or sugar to it. "Oh hey, that's pretty good there! You're right. Canadian I am. Born and raised." He chirps, seeming chipper, even if he has only just begun drinking his coffeee. "With that ear of yours, I can't help but wonder what kind of work you're in!" He chuckles and sips his coffee, giving her a quick glance.

Phil picks up a slice of buttered and jamed toast and bites off one corner. She watches Kaleb with amusement crinkling up the corners of her wide blue eyes. "I am a journalist," she offers after chasing down the bread with a sip of tea. "But I like accents. As a child I used to give my toys different accents when they spoke. My favourite was M. Floofypants." She says it with her perfectly accented French.

"Aha! Well, a journalist would certainly be able to make use of a talent like that, yes indeed!" Kaleb nods firmly. "Oh yes." He tilts his head to one side as she talks about her toys. He smiles widely. "Francais? Mais oui! C'est bien." While he speaks the French perfectly, with a seemingly perfect accent, it is spoken with a French Canadian accent rather than what she may be accustomed to from those who come from France. "I applaud you for knowing your accents." And he seems sincere about that as well.

She inclines her head at the compliment, responding in French in kind. "Merci." Phil sips her tea again and asks, "What brings you to London, Kaleb? Do you mind if I call you Kaleb?" She flashes him a friendly grin, "Just idle not professional curiosity."

Kaleb flashes Phil a wide smile. "Me? London? Well, it's not London persay. Well…it is. Partly. It's the United Kingdom and Ireland in general." He responds, just as a place of scrambled eggs and bacon with brown toast arrive. "Why doesn't this look hearty. Thank you, Miss." He offers to her, paying up in advance. He clears his throat. "So, as I was saying. It's the UK and Ireland in general. Haven't been around these parts in years. So, I figured I'd make a reappearance and study some of the wonderful creatures and beings that you guys have here. Study the habits of them. See how they, if they, compare to their counterparts in other parts of the world. Who knows, I may even settle down here!" He gives a hearty laugh at that, shaking his head. "Honestly, though, you never know what might happen!"

"That sounds exciting. I am a fan of traveling myself." She eats a little more of her breakfast, enabling Kaleb to do the same, or at least get started. "When we were recently in Turkey we met some centaurs there. Interesting creatures centaurs, the Greek ones say they can trace their ancestry back thousands of years." Phil adds a bit more of the hot tea to her mug.

"You were in Turkey? Oh, lovely place." Kaleb nods. "Only been there briefly. But I met this wonderful hag. Now, I know what you're thinking: 'A wonderful hag?' But it's true. I mean, yes, she wasn't eating at the time, which I'm thankful for. And she spoke in broken English. But I quite enjoyed it. Made my day, that." He smiles as he eats a bit more of his breakfast. "Centaurs are curious. I've only met a handful. I wouldn't mind meeting more. So, if you know any pointers as to where I could find some in the UK, it'd be much appreciated!" He nods. "A curious people, though. Who often, I've found, speak in riddles. Or about celestial happenings that most of us are unaware of. It's amazing. And that those you met could trace back thousands of years…spectacular!"

Phil chuckles a bit and declares, "There are some hags who frequent the Cauldron. Not often, but from time to time. Maybe you will see one while here." She eats another forkful of food and nods in agreement with Kaleb's opinion on the celestial obsession of centaurs. "There has always, to my knowledge, been a herd — is that the right word? — of them in the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts. You would need permission from Headmaster Flint to see them. Or you could try Dartmoor. There are always rumours that amongst the wild ponies there are some centaurs."

"Now there's an idea! I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open. Or my nose. Whichever detects them first! I'd like to talk to a hag in fluent English." Kaleb smiles and nods. "Though I may not want to watch the hag eat…I hear it can be unpleasant to watch." He just shrugs at the thought, though. "Herd would be correct." He tilts his head. "Hogwarts. That's the um…the…the main school of magic around these parts, isn't it?" He seems a bit unsure of that, however. "I'll send an owl to this Headmaster Flint guy, see if I can get permission to enter the ground to this Forbidden Forest to visit the herd. Thanks for the tip. I owe ya one!" He grins. "Though that reminds me…there's this troll up in Sweden I owe money to still…I may want to avoid going there any time soon…"

Phil eats the last of her breakfast and sets the empty plate aside. "I think the hags come in when it is a roast dinner lunch time special. They like a bargain those hags, from what I hear anyway." She cradles her mug of tea in both hands. "How does one end up owing money to a troll? I didn't think they cared for material possessions like we do?"

"Well…it's less money as we know it and more…pelts. Big enough for them. Which I did give them! So it's rather, they think I still owe them." Kaleb shakes his head, laughing again. "Trolls. They're a tricky bunch. Once you have their language down, though, it's rather quite simple to see where they're coming from, most of the time. Which is why I like them so much. Until they get violent." He shakes his head. "But they're fascinating to study."

"I cannot say I have ever really thought about meeting one, but if I ever do I will know who to take with me. Just perhaps not to visit the Swedish trolls, hmm?" Phil grins at Kaleb. "How long do you plan to stay in the British Isles? Do you ever like to visit muggle zoos? I find that I like them and am saddened by them in equal measure."

"Yep. If ya ever need to take someone to meet trolls with, I'm your guy! I speak troll. And believe me, it's more than just grunting and pointing. I was surprised by that too!" Kaleb laughs again. "I'm planning to stay for a good while. May find myself a more permanent place than this. Who know." He smiles. "I've…seen muggle parks? Met my Maple at a Muggle park! Maple's my Canadian goose. Found him as a gosling, poor little guy. He sorta took to me and hasn't left me since!" He grins.

A goose? Phil's brows arch upwards at mention of Maple. "An interesting pet. I have a much more mundane Mexican owl named Suki. She is quite small." She holds up her hands about eight inches apart from one another. "But she is a hard worker and quite sweet. Have you a good map of the isles, Kaleb?"

"Yeah, but he's a sweetheart. Honks at me when I'm doing something wrong." Kaleb smiles softly, finishing off the last of his food. "Sounds like a cute little gal of an owl. Though, I used a post owl in Mexico once. Probably not the same type of owl, mind you. But it kept nipping at my fingers. It's like it thought they were bits of food." He chuckles and shakes his head at his story. "I've got a map of the Isles. I can't claim as to how good it is, mind you."

From within the pockets of her robes Phil pulls out a notepad. She flips through it and tears out an empty page then using a pencil stub, also from her pocket, she writes out a name and an address of a shop in Ottery St Catchpole. "Go see Foster. He is a cartographer and also, willing to let you know where the more unusual things are if you are willing to share a few pints with him first." The way she says it makes it sound like Phil has used the man's loose tongue before. The paper is slid towards Kaleb. "He might have a better map and might be able to tell you where the places are most of us don't go — those of course being the places you would go." With that she grins at him.

Holding up the piece of paper, Kaleb nods to Phil. "Hey, thanks, Phil!" He tucks it away in a shirt pocket. "I'm not against a few pints. I might just have some with him." He grins. "Thanks for the tip. It's kind of ya. So I definitely owe you now. I don't know how I'll go about repaying you, but just let me know if you think of a way." He says kindly. "I'm sure I'll find a fair few places I'd like to head to from him!"

"Maybe you'll let me interview you sometime. I am sure people would enjoy reading about your adventures," says Phil. She tucks away her notepad and pencil and then drinks the last of her tea. "I should be heading off to work. It was nice meeting you Kaleb and I hope we meet again." Sliding off her stool she offers him her slender hand again.

"It'd be an honour to let you interview me." Kaleb gives her a nod. "I look forward to next we meet. Hopefully it won't be long between meetings!" He takes her hand, shaking it softly. "Take care now."

Phil shakes his hand firmly and then heads off to work, not bothering to floo but chosing to walk.
