(no subject)

[rockabillyboy]

He might have joked about it being a date but, mostly, Jack thinks Valkyrie is pretty cool and he's stoked to get a chance to hang out. He'd worked at the Zen Center bookstore that day and he texts her to suggest she meet him there so that he can buy her dinner. He's even got a rose in water in the breakroom, mainly to amuse himself.

"Poison meeting you, dude?" says the girl he's on with. "Or Kavinsky?"
"Neither," says Jack, enjoying the look on her face as he grabs his rose and his backpack and goes to wait for Val out on the sidewalk.

Comments

[rockabillyboy]

"Nothing about them is," says Jack, and his love for them shines out of him for a moment. "Or it makes them really, really good at telling lies when it suits them."

[scion_of_ancients]

"Just so long as it doesn't get overwhelming. I'd only recently managed to go back to a normal pace, before I got to this place."

She gives him a once-over in response, the grin still in place. "Mr. Jack, the master liar. Now that I'd have to see. You don't strike me as the criminal type, you know."

[rockabillyboy]

"Victimless crime only," says Jack, putting one hand on his chest and giving her his best, innocent smile. "Buddhist, remember? Do no harm."

[scion_of_ancients]

"If the graffiti's any indication, I'm inclined to think your crime may even be beneficial. It's a far cry from the misshapen genitals that seem to be a universal feature in so many places."

[rockabillyboy]

"God, don't talk to me about genitals," says Jack, grimacing. "I'm taking life drawing at the moment. Not my favourite."

[scion_of_ancients]

"I'm pretty happy to leave the topic of genitals out of just about any conversation in general, thanks very much," she responds, mimicking the grimace. "Guess I won't be offering to drop by at your school anytime soon."

[rockabillyboy]

"I'm pretty sure art school's art school wherever you find it," he says. "I'm on a graphic design pathway, but my professor thinks I need to learn people for...my edification? I don't know."

[scion_of_ancients]

With a shrug, Valkyrie says, "I've never been to any art school yet. Hell, I barely remember what school is like. LIfe's taken some funny turns."

[rockabillyboy]

"Yeah... I'm starting to figure that out, says Jack, grinning. "You want to tell me more about it or shall we just let you be Clark Kent?"

[scion_of_ancients]

The temptation to start telling him everything is there, but it seems like that would just be way too much for a casual dinner. No, right now, she doesn't want to talk about serious past.

"I'll be Clark for a while longer - sorry. Right now is too nice to be bringing my own sordid history into things."

[rockabillyboy]

"That's okay," says Jack, immediately, because he'd never push. "We can focus on me, if you like. Though, like I said, I was pretty well behaved in San Francisco."

[scion_of_ancients]

"For now, how about we just focus on that it's a nice day, I have a flower in my hair, and it's going to be a nice, pleasant evening. No monsters, no criminals, no anything of the sort."

She almost starts to skip, because it's so very true. It's just such a pleasant time right now.

"But it would be cool to hear more about your adventures."

[rockabillyboy]

"It is a very nice flower," says Jack, grinning. "I don't know if they can be called adventures? I manage not to get arrested?"

[scion_of_ancients]

"You realise that I'm going to keep on demanding flowers now, right? You've set a precedent, and now you can't back out of it anymore. The next one should be chrysanthemum," she says, naming one of the few flowers she can remember off the top of her head.

"Adventures are still adventures even if you don't get arrested. Though I guess that makes me the criminal element here, which is a bit weird considering my day job."

[rockabillyboy]

"Chrysanthemum," says Jack. "Right. Making a mental note." It feels good to just hang out with her, flirt a little and know it wasn't going to go anywhere because he's got Poison at home. "I was briefly pretty notorious for the art, back home."

[scion_of_ancients]

"I was notorious for...well, a number of things, depending on when we're talking about, but a lot of it boiled down to me and my partner knowing better than the people in charge."

An idea strikes her, one that she's not sure she should approve of. "Round here, I'm not notorious for anything yet. I kind of miss it. How hard is it to learn graffiti art? Hypothetically."

[rockabillyboy]

"Well, I don't know," says Jack, considering the question for a moment. "How artistic are you? At, like, a base level?"

[scion_of_ancients]

"Uhhhh. I mean, I am amazing with the vision part. But not so much the execution of it; that part tends to get away from me. It's one of those things that I never had the time for."

[rockabillyboy]

"If you've got the ideas and you're ready to practice, I could probably teach you?" says Jack, eyebrows raised as he steers them towards the restaurant he had in mind. "Not promising anything, though."

[scion_of_ancients]

"I'll keep the offer in mind," she replies, heading in and looking around for a table to sit at. "Maybe you'll have competition one day. Is that a thing? Competing graffiti artists? Do you have epic spray-can duels with strobe lights going off?"

Spotting a clean and comfy-looking seat, she sits down and sheds her coat. "I never did tell you about my day job, though, did I?"

[rockabillyboy]

Jack huffs a laugh as he shrugs out of his jacket, draping it over the back of his chair before he sits down. He shakes his head, reaching for a menu. "No, you never did."

[scion_of_ancients]

"Anything you'd recommend here? Or should I just order a smorgasbord?" She's got her menu open, but her eyes aren't entirely focused on it, and she's taking her time looking through.

"I, uh. I fight crime?" she says, searching for better ways to explain it, and then gives up. "All right, time to level. I'm a detective. Investigation and arresting. The partner I mentioned, I didn't mean romantic partner. Detective partner. Like the Morgan Freeman to my Brad Pitt."

[rockabillyboy]

"Seven is a great movie," says Jack, flashing a grin as he pages through the menu. He glances up at her. "So, should I be regretting talking to you about my habitual vandalism?"

[scion_of_ancients]

"Agreed. They should make more films like that." She shakes her head, smiling in return, and scoffs lightly. "No, no regrets needed. It's not like this city employs me. And I was more concerned with errant sorcery, not street art. Magical community has enough of its own issues."

[rockabillyboy]

"I bet it did," he says, laughing. "But we're not talking about that today, right? You're Clark Kent and that's the story that we're sticking to."

[scion_of_ancients]

"Now all I need is a pair of glasses. And that makes you, what, Lois Lane? I might have some trouble carrying you to safety though." She closed her menu and set it aside. "I'll have something simple. Chicken and noodles, I think."