Garrison and Adrienne - Decompressing

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Garrison and Adrienne spend the evening at Harry's to catch up and discuss bucket lists.

Ah, Harry's. Nothing like a quiet evening down at the pub, swigging from his pint and relishing the plate of hit wings on the way. Frankly, it had not been a good time for Kane. Marie's return had been counterbalanced by his disturbing serial killer encounter and the creeping feeling of helplessness regarding the X-Men. Ditching it all for one night of simple pleasures like pub food and the ballgame wasn't easy but he was determined that he'd relax. When even Adrienne noticed he'd been sleeping poorly, it was a sign that he wasn't able to pretend to be just fine.

Adrienne breezed into Harry's in her usual chaotic fashion, juggling bags and electronic devices. "Sorry I'm late," she told Garrison, replacing the businesswoman mask she'd been wearing with the bright smile she reserved for the Mountie. "I had trouble extricating myself from the Chanel showcase. So many offers to hit up the after party. Fashion Week," she said in an explanatory fashion, huffing out a weary breath. I'm going to sleep for a month straight after this week's over." Putting her phone and tablet back into her bag, she thanked Briar for the pint that had appeared at her elbow as she shoved her things into the booth and slid in after them. "I lost my glasses somewhere today; what's the score of the game?"

"Four nothing. Bautista just crushed one over the left field fence." Kane said, helping her slide the rest of her stuff in. "Boston had a rain delay. They're just getting started against the Yankees." Harry's was technically a Yankee bar, but they always flipped one of the TVs over to the Toronto game; hockey or baseball. When they first started to do it, some fans drunkenly protested, looking to start a fight. They mostly drank elsewhere these days.

Adrienne squinted at the tv. "I can't even tell who they're playing. Someone with grey uniforms. Which is everyone if they're away. Shit. This is the third pair of glasses I've lost now. I'm going to have to start buying in bulk. Do you remember if I have another pair at home?"

"I can do better than that." He reached into his pocket and slid over a pair of glasses. "Harry said you left this here a couple of nights ago."

"Ooo!" Adrienne put them on excitedly. "My hero. Thanks." She blinked a few times to get used to the much sharper vision. "Wanna play pool or darts or something? Or are we just hanging out? Did you eat already?"

"I've got some wings coming. We can play something in a bit. You've been so busy lately, we haven't talked in a while."

Adrienne raised an eyebrow at him as she sipped her pint. "That sounds kinda ominous. What did you want to talk about?"

"Nothing important. I just... it's been a hard couple of weeks. Relaxing with you sounds like the best way to help deal with it." Kane admitted.

The eyebrow stayed raised and then waggled a little. "In that case, I vote when we're done here we wrap up this evening by having sex in the jacuzzi in the penthouse. You may even get a massage out of it if you play your cards right. And it might," she teased, "even be a massage by me." She frowned as the wings were delivered, lamenting the fact that he hadn't ordered anything she could steal from him. "You wanna talk about what's been so hard?"

"A lot of things. The St.Louis case for one still bothers me. A lot. And the X-Men... we're directionless right now. Training is happening but people aren't thinking or working like a team. I wonder if stuffing us all in the mansion was a bad idea."

Adrienne sipped at her pint again thoughtfully. "You guys on the X-Men have lost one of your leaders in Jean, and the things you used to do have been usurped by those idiot Avengers. I'm surprised you haven't disbanded altogether." She frowned again. "The state of this universe... everyone feeling like they're trapped in the mansion because there's nowhere else to go that's safe... we're all tripping over each other, driving each other insane. So I'm inclined to think it was a bad idea, yes," she admitted. "If only because that place seems to be teeming with kids these days, and most of the so-called-adults have no idea how to deport themselves appropriately. The fact the place isn't actually a school anymore seems to have given many people license to throw responsibility away and act like morons."

"Let's be honest. For some of them, there isn't anywhere safe to go. And it does feel like everyone has decided 'to hell with it'. The stroke Charles suffered and his subsequent absence is hurting us." Kane sighed, taking another drink. "If not a leader, we at least need a focus. I don't know where that is going to come from."

"Me neither," Adrienne admitted. "I have a hard enough time keeping my own team focused. Especially now that we've got a toe in the mutant underground pool. Some people would rather work on getting mutants to safety around the country than actually focusing on the personal and corporate investigative cases the agency was built on." There wasn't any bitterness or anger in her tone- she didn't mind that people on her team were helping get mutants to safety. And it wasn't like the investigative side of things was suffering. They didn't have enough cases for that. It was just more of a challenge than she expected to be balancing that split focus.

"I get that feeling. Tiptoing around the Bureau's and SHIELD's attention while researching cases is having the same issues. There's so much damn work to do..."

Adrienne set her beer down. "Well, if you ever want to ditch the X-Men and the FBI and come work for me, you know there's always a place for you."

"While tempting, you know that I can't do that. I took an oath and if the X-Men and the FBI got too much, I'd still go back to the RCMP." Kane said quietly, although his solemn expression changed to something more mischievous moments later. "Besides, like we'd get anything done other than breaking the desk every other day."

"Impossible," Adrienne shook her head. "I've had to institute a moratorium on office sex after I Read the Frat Boy schtooping Jess on my desk. I can't break my own rule. Especially not with the new security cameras Sue's set up around the office."

"Enh. Worst case scenario is that we give Sue something to occupy her time with."

Adrienne shuddered and her face contorted in pain. "Please, please don't put the images in my head of one of my former students watching us have sex. I don't care that this version of her wasn't actually one of my students. She'll always be one of my students to me!"

"I was just teasing. But I get your point." He sighed, looking back at the game for a moment.

Pulling an envelope out of her bag, Adrienne passed it to him. "Hey. Don't be glum, chum. Maybe this will cheer you up." Inside were vouchers for two tickets to the first game of the ALDS in Toronto, two plane tickets and a hotel reservation confirmation. "Power of positive thinking," she told him optimistically.

"Hey, how about that..." Kane grinned. NHL pre-season and baseball post-season. Hard to beat that. "I was trying for mopey and introspective, and you just blew the doors off that."

"That's a shame," Adrienne teased. "How dare I thwart mopey and introspective?" She took a sip of her pint. "I figured, y'know, since your team hasn't been in the playoffs since you were in primary school, I'd treat you to a live experience. I've had so many with the Sox," she preened, trying to push his baseball buttons because it did keep him from moping about more serious things, "I just wanted to spread the joy around."

"I'll take the last part of that as euphemism and agree. Strongly." And to think, at one point he'd been sure that there was no way Adrienne and he could work as a couple.

Snorting, Adrienne took another sip of her pint. "Is it on your bucket list to have sex in all thirty baseball stadiums?" she inquired innocently. "Because it's certainly on mine."

"It wasn't right up until now."

"Silly boy," she teased again. "That should be on your bucket list. I'm glad it is now. What else is on there?"

"See, this is the weird thing about dating a rich person. I say 'one day I'd love to ride an elephant in Africa' and the next day I have tickets for it. Makes it too easy." He grinned at her. "You tell me what's on your bucket list that money isn't the key to making happen?"

"See," Adrienne mimicked, "this is the weird thing about being a rich person. There's not much left on my bucket list that money can't buy. I suppose having sex in all the baseball stadiums is equal parts money and willpower-slash-opportunity, though," she mused. "I mean, money doesn't just automatically make that one happen. The top of the list used to be learning how to ride a motorcycle. Money could have made that happen much sooner than it did, but part of it was being in the right place, mentally, for it. Skydiving is also on the list, and I could quite easily accomplish that with money, but I haven't worked up the willpower to actually put the money into it yet.

"The top of the list, though," she admitted, almost sheepishly, staring down at her pint, "is having something named after me. Not something like a sex position or a sandwich," she quickly clarified, "but something public and lasting. Something on a map. A building or something. A library, a university building, a hospital wing, a street. And not something I've bought to put my name to, the way anyone can buy a star or donate money to a hospital wing to be named after them. Something that other people decide to name after me."

"That is quite the goal. I don't know any unnamed buildings floating around, but if I see one, I will make a suggestion." He said, poking her lightly in the forearm. "Seriously though, thanks for the tickets. It will be a nice break."

"Any time," she grinned. "I would have bought you World Series tickets, but, y'know. I think the Jays will be long gone by then." She paused to sip her pint again. "So you never told me what's on your bucket list that money can't buy."

"I'm not sure, to be honest. It used to be 'go into space', but I did that. I think I might want to circumnavigate the world once. By small ship, not an ocean liner or anything."

"Wouldn't that be something?" Adrienne agreed wistfully. "And see? Money can't buy that. I mean, it can buy a ship and supplies, but it can't buy you good weather or sailing experience or that sort of thing. I think that's a great bucket list item." She stared at one of his wings, contemplating if she was hungry enough to break twenty-five years of vegetarianism to eat one. "Do they even have ocean liners anymore?"

"Sure. They're just cruise ships designed for longer travel. I mean, you can buy around the world cruises, but that's not really the same, you know? I mean, I could spend four months in a ritzy seaside hotel and get the same experience mostly."

"Ah, the different terms threw me off," she admitted. "When I think 'ocean liner' I think Titanic, and when I think 'cruise ship' I think Disney. Neither of which really brings to mind the image of actually sailing around the world. I do want to go on a cruise. Not around the world, but maybe transatlantic, if they still have those. I think you and I should reenact The Lady Eve one time. I think you'd make a killer Henry Fonda," she grinned at him.


"Wow, you remember the Titanic? You must be really old!" He caught her on the nose with the end of a chicken wing, leaving a spot of bright red hot sauce behind.

"Gah! Go fuck yourself!" she cried out, flailing her hands at him to bat him away and managing to lick the sauce off with her tongue. "Speaking of old, I think I'm gonna cut my hair next week. Do something new, something fresh, y'know? Something younger. I haven't had a new hairstyle since I... became a widow. Do you have any strong moral objections to me cutting my hair?" This was part of being a couple, right? He always wanted her to be more communicative, so this was the sort of thing he meant, wasn't it?

"I like your hair. But if you want to change it, you should. I mean, really, unless it is something like... getting a full facial tattoo, it's really up to you, babe. I'll like you regardless."

Adrienne gave him an impressed look. "Wow. That was probably like, the perfect answer. You really are the perfect specimen of a man, aren't you?" she grinned, then set about licking the sauce off some his chicken wings. She wasn't eating the meat so it didn't count as breaking vegetarianism, right? Plus it would probably get a rise out of him, which was always her goal in life.

"I haven't proved that already? I mean, two days ago you were complaining that I was always making you have a hoarse throat for your morning meetings."