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xp_logsThe best laid plans of mice and men... Having failed to meet as previously arranged, Jake and Amanda try again.
Jake sat at one of the tables at the back of Cafe Dante, with a good view of the front door, flipping through the pages of the latest Grisham novel without much enthusiasm. For the moment, he wore his old face, caution to the wind. Being back in New York just had that effect for some reason. He sipped at a cappuccino, holding off on the alcohol until Amanda arrived. Cookies, though, couldn't wait, and a half eaten double chocolate chip sat on a plate in front of him.
The problem with two suspicious bastards meeting, Amanda reflected as she walked into the cafe and immediately sought Jake out from the tables against a wall, is that you couldn't both face the door. She spotted him after a moment and waved off the waitress who had approached her with a smile and a casual "I just spotted my mate, thanks."
Approaching the table, however, her smile slipped somewhat, became a little brittle. "You actually showed this time. Well done," she said, dropping her bag on the floor and herself into the chair opposite him.
And that is precisely the reason one arrives to such meetings first. "Why 'Hi, it's great to see you' to you too." Jake tried to keep his face straight, but his mouth quirked at the edges. "Besides, you're a devious one. Can you really pick a place that serves beer and cookies and expect me not to show up?"
"Let's just say I wanted to stack the odds in my favour, what with your history of pissing off at the least opportunity." Amanda leaned forward, elbow on the table and chin propped on her hand. "So, I can get why you took off - that's sort of what you do. But why the slinking back without saying anything until you show up randomly on the journals?"
"Ah...well, that's...complicated," Jake replied. "Or not. Depends on how you look at it. Everyone was gone when I got back--India, I guess. Kinda makes it difficult for a grand re-entrance." He paused a moment, then nudged the half-eaten cookie her way, perhaps a peace offering, perhaps warding off future irritation. "And...I wasn't really sure how long I was going to be able to stay."
She looked down at the cookie, then up at his face and then back to the cookie again. Finally, she reached over and broke what was left in half, leaving a piece for him while she took the other and bit into it. "All right," she said at last, after chewing and swallowing. "I get the not saying anything. And even the not sure how long you'll be around. But why did you come back at all, Jake? You weren't gone long enough for all the personal drama to have gone - you'd need a few years again for that. And..." Here she pointed a stern finger at him. "Don't give me the whole usual avoiding shite, or I'll work out how to turn you into a frog again."
"I don't suppose you'd take an 'I missed you' and leave it at that?" He reached for the last of the cookie, chewing slowly. "Well, that's even more complicated. And definitely going to need some beer," he said, looking up across the room a minute before catching the waitress's eye. As she started her way over, Jake slipped in a cryptic "I figured I'd try the whole hide in plain sight thing before moving on to Africa" before the waitress got too close to close to continue.
Amanda opened her mouth to ask about the last aside, but closed it again as the waitress arrived. "Two beers and a half dozen more of these cookies," she ordered, giving the woman a winning smile. She needed the people practice.
"And maybe a couple of the oatmeal raisin," Jake added. "They're really good," he said, turning back to Amanda as the waitress left. "So...where were we. Oh, right. You were going to tell me about your Christmas..." He paused, trying to look hopeful. "Or I was going to tell you about mine. Fine. I've been...well, here and there. At first it was getting away. But the personal drama was only one part of it. The easier part to get away from, actually. At least no one around here decided to chase after me. Of course, no one here wanted more than maybe a small piece of my hide. Not like a whole arm or anything."
One blonde eyebrow rose. "Chasing? You mean those fuckers who stole your arm are after you again?" She repressed the urge to facepalm - only Jake would be weird about mentioning pursuit by body-snatching weirdoes. "How long has this been going on?"
"I...think so," he said. "But then I wonder if I'm just being paranoid. It was fine until around the holidays. Until then, I felt them experimenting occasionally. Sometimes more painful than others. Then it just stopped. Completely. I can only assume whatever they were doing to keep it alive stopped working. Pretty soon after that, I noticed people trailing me, so I got out of Switzerland." He paused, eyeing her suspiciously. "You're not using some truth spell or veritaserum or anything on me, are you? How does everyone keep dragging all this out of me?"
She gave him her best innocent "who, me?" look, the one with the big eyes that always turned people into mush. "Cross my heart and hope to die, no magic," she replied. "Just my natural charm and charisma. You'd think I was getting good at this spy thing or something. So, you've got body snatchers chasing you. What's the plan?"
"You scare me sometimes," Jake stated. At that moment, their order arrived, and Jake fished out a credit card to start their tab. As the waitress left, he grabbed a beer in one fist and a cookie in the other, lifting both toward Amanda with a quick "Cheers." After a long draught, he leaned back thoughtfully. "Hide until they give up? I don't know. No real plan. But I figured if I'm going to do that, I might as well do it around here. I've pretty much perfected a new face, so I figured I'd stick around here for a bit, 'visiting' then try to shake them with a fake leaving, then come back for good with the new me." Well, whatever Jake's "for good" might mean.
Amanda dunked a cookie in her beer and then bit into it. "That's all well and good, but what happens if something goes wrong? Where's your back up?" She dunked her cookie again, feigning a casual air. "Seems to me you need some help. I dunno, some well-trained mates with superpowers who know a thing or two about being sneaky?"
"Are you implying I can't be sneaky?" Jake laughed, then began nibbling at one of the chocolate chips on the edge of the cookie. "I guess you're right. I just hate to show back up out of nowhere and be all 'Hey guys, help me out!' Damn you and your superpower prying skills."
"You don't have to. You can just wait until one of these bastards nabs you and you wind up as a brain in a jar," Amanda pointed out serenely, although there was a hint of a grin playing around the corners of her mouth.
"Good point. Though I'm not convinced some people around here won't try to do the same," he added a second later. "So I guess that means I should stop by and let Remy know I'm back in town. Except he probably knows. Somehow, he always knows. So what's new with you?" not so subtly shifting the conversation.
"Well, if you need a place to crash, you can always turn up at Jubes' place. I've got Angie in my spare room at the moment." A cloud flickered across Amanda's expression before she brushed the emotion away and continued in the same light tone. "Oh, you know, the usual. Saving the world one bastard at a time. Teaching my student how not to blow herself up with magic. Getting smashed off my face on New Delhi. You know how it goes."
"Well, as long as I'm not that bastard, good deal," Jake laughed. "Yeah, right now I've just been crashing here and there until I decide something more permanent, so maybe I'll see if she'll show some pity and take me in." He paused for a bit, thinking about what she'd just said, his smile twitching a bit with amusement. "So you've picked yourself up a student? How's that working out for you?
"Nah, you're just a garden variety bastard. Not the sort we go after." She winked at him as she picked up her glass again. "Nico's a good kid - too much like me for her own good and she's got a lot of shite already on her plate, but she's trying hard. And she trusts me, which means I'm trying my best as well not to fuck up with her. Strange just about died laughing when I told him about her - said something about poetic justice."
Jake popped the last of a cookie in his mouth, already reaching for the next. Oatmeal this time, so it didn't so much snap as fold as he broke it in half, extending the other part to Amanda. "Well, I was going to say karma, but that works too. That's so...responsible of you. I'm not sure if I should cry or be impressed."
She took the cookie half and popped it in her mouth. "Well, there's always option three," she suggested. "Get drunk?"
"Ah, good old Plan A," Jake grinned before tossing back the last of his beer. He glanced around, trying to catch the waitress' eye. "Shall we get started on that one right away?"
Jake sat at one of the tables at the back of Cafe Dante, with a good view of the front door, flipping through the pages of the latest Grisham novel without much enthusiasm. For the moment, he wore his old face, caution to the wind. Being back in New York just had that effect for some reason. He sipped at a cappuccino, holding off on the alcohol until Amanda arrived. Cookies, though, couldn't wait, and a half eaten double chocolate chip sat on a plate in front of him.
The problem with two suspicious bastards meeting, Amanda reflected as she walked into the cafe and immediately sought Jake out from the tables against a wall, is that you couldn't both face the door. She spotted him after a moment and waved off the waitress who had approached her with a smile and a casual "I just spotted my mate, thanks."
Approaching the table, however, her smile slipped somewhat, became a little brittle. "You actually showed this time. Well done," she said, dropping her bag on the floor and herself into the chair opposite him.
And that is precisely the reason one arrives to such meetings first. "Why 'Hi, it's great to see you' to you too." Jake tried to keep his face straight, but his mouth quirked at the edges. "Besides, you're a devious one. Can you really pick a place that serves beer and cookies and expect me not to show up?"
"Let's just say I wanted to stack the odds in my favour, what with your history of pissing off at the least opportunity." Amanda leaned forward, elbow on the table and chin propped on her hand. "So, I can get why you took off - that's sort of what you do. But why the slinking back without saying anything until you show up randomly on the journals?"
"Ah...well, that's...complicated," Jake replied. "Or not. Depends on how you look at it. Everyone was gone when I got back--India, I guess. Kinda makes it difficult for a grand re-entrance." He paused a moment, then nudged the half-eaten cookie her way, perhaps a peace offering, perhaps warding off future irritation. "And...I wasn't really sure how long I was going to be able to stay."
She looked down at the cookie, then up at his face and then back to the cookie again. Finally, she reached over and broke what was left in half, leaving a piece for him while she took the other and bit into it. "All right," she said at last, after chewing and swallowing. "I get the not saying anything. And even the not sure how long you'll be around. But why did you come back at all, Jake? You weren't gone long enough for all the personal drama to have gone - you'd need a few years again for that. And..." Here she pointed a stern finger at him. "Don't give me the whole usual avoiding shite, or I'll work out how to turn you into a frog again."
"I don't suppose you'd take an 'I missed you' and leave it at that?" He reached for the last of the cookie, chewing slowly. "Well, that's even more complicated. And definitely going to need some beer," he said, looking up across the room a minute before catching the waitress's eye. As she started her way over, Jake slipped in a cryptic "I figured I'd try the whole hide in plain sight thing before moving on to Africa" before the waitress got too close to close to continue.
Amanda opened her mouth to ask about the last aside, but closed it again as the waitress arrived. "Two beers and a half dozen more of these cookies," she ordered, giving the woman a winning smile. She needed the people practice.
"And maybe a couple of the oatmeal raisin," Jake added. "They're really good," he said, turning back to Amanda as the waitress left. "So...where were we. Oh, right. You were going to tell me about your Christmas..." He paused, trying to look hopeful. "Or I was going to tell you about mine. Fine. I've been...well, here and there. At first it was getting away. But the personal drama was only one part of it. The easier part to get away from, actually. At least no one around here decided to chase after me. Of course, no one here wanted more than maybe a small piece of my hide. Not like a whole arm or anything."
One blonde eyebrow rose. "Chasing? You mean those fuckers who stole your arm are after you again?" She repressed the urge to facepalm - only Jake would be weird about mentioning pursuit by body-snatching weirdoes. "How long has this been going on?"
"I...think so," he said. "But then I wonder if I'm just being paranoid. It was fine until around the holidays. Until then, I felt them experimenting occasionally. Sometimes more painful than others. Then it just stopped. Completely. I can only assume whatever they were doing to keep it alive stopped working. Pretty soon after that, I noticed people trailing me, so I got out of Switzerland." He paused, eyeing her suspiciously. "You're not using some truth spell or veritaserum or anything on me, are you? How does everyone keep dragging all this out of me?"
She gave him her best innocent "who, me?" look, the one with the big eyes that always turned people into mush. "Cross my heart and hope to die, no magic," she replied. "Just my natural charm and charisma. You'd think I was getting good at this spy thing or something. So, you've got body snatchers chasing you. What's the plan?"
"You scare me sometimes," Jake stated. At that moment, their order arrived, and Jake fished out a credit card to start their tab. As the waitress left, he grabbed a beer in one fist and a cookie in the other, lifting both toward Amanda with a quick "Cheers." After a long draught, he leaned back thoughtfully. "Hide until they give up? I don't know. No real plan. But I figured if I'm going to do that, I might as well do it around here. I've pretty much perfected a new face, so I figured I'd stick around here for a bit, 'visiting' then try to shake them with a fake leaving, then come back for good with the new me." Well, whatever Jake's "for good" might mean.
Amanda dunked a cookie in her beer and then bit into it. "That's all well and good, but what happens if something goes wrong? Where's your back up?" She dunked her cookie again, feigning a casual air. "Seems to me you need some help. I dunno, some well-trained mates with superpowers who know a thing or two about being sneaky?"
"Are you implying I can't be sneaky?" Jake laughed, then began nibbling at one of the chocolate chips on the edge of the cookie. "I guess you're right. I just hate to show back up out of nowhere and be all 'Hey guys, help me out!' Damn you and your superpower prying skills."
"You don't have to. You can just wait until one of these bastards nabs you and you wind up as a brain in a jar," Amanda pointed out serenely, although there was a hint of a grin playing around the corners of her mouth.
"Good point. Though I'm not convinced some people around here won't try to do the same," he added a second later. "So I guess that means I should stop by and let Remy know I'm back in town. Except he probably knows. Somehow, he always knows. So what's new with you?" not so subtly shifting the conversation.
"Well, if you need a place to crash, you can always turn up at Jubes' place. I've got Angie in my spare room at the moment." A cloud flickered across Amanda's expression before she brushed the emotion away and continued in the same light tone. "Oh, you know, the usual. Saving the world one bastard at a time. Teaching my student how not to blow herself up with magic. Getting smashed off my face on New Delhi. You know how it goes."
"Well, as long as I'm not that bastard, good deal," Jake laughed. "Yeah, right now I've just been crashing here and there until I decide something more permanent, so maybe I'll see if she'll show some pity and take me in." He paused for a bit, thinking about what she'd just said, his smile twitching a bit with amusement. "So you've picked yourself up a student? How's that working out for you?
"Nah, you're just a garden variety bastard. Not the sort we go after." She winked at him as she picked up her glass again. "Nico's a good kid - too much like me for her own good and she's got a lot of shite already on her plate, but she's trying hard. And she trusts me, which means I'm trying my best as well not to fuck up with her. Strange just about died laughing when I told him about her - said something about poetic justice."
Jake popped the last of a cookie in his mouth, already reaching for the next. Oatmeal this time, so it didn't so much snap as fold as he broke it in half, extending the other part to Amanda. "Well, I was going to say karma, but that works too. That's so...responsible of you. I'm not sure if I should cry or be impressed."
She took the cookie half and popped it in her mouth. "Well, there's always option three," she suggested. "Get drunk?"
"Ah, good old Plan A," Jake grinned before tossing back the last of his beer. He glanced around, trying to catch the waitress' eye. "Shall we get started on that one right away?"
