xp_logs | Kevin and Felicia

"So, be honest. Are you hitting on Rushman more than any of the others, or is it just the normal levels of you. Oh, and I offered her a job." Kevin passed over a glass of sparkling wine to her from the bottle he'd ordered from the Waldorf-Astoria's 'Sir Harry's Bar', which seemed to know him.

"Oh, well, since you told me to be honest," Felicia replied, taking the glass and a quick sip. "Honestly, it's fun. It's cheaper than therapy, both regular and retail. I'd promise not to sleep with her but I made that promise to myself but with North so maybe it's just better I don't promise things involving sex."

"You know, I'm very old... I've met people who remind me of almost everyone. Except you." He said, leaning back. "You are my unicorn, Hardy."

Felicia preened, framing her chin with the back of her hand. "I appreciate the specific praise but you can just say it, Sydney. I love you, too."

"I don't know if being this unique is praise. I mean, you could just be that just odder and more around the twist than anyone else." He gave her a thin smile and took a sip from his glass. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but I could use you back in the field."

"It's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's that I already did." Felicia shrugged, shifting to give herself some extra space to cross her legs in the other direction, bumping him despite it. "I'm getting tired of my unofficially ordered time off anyway. I would have done my healing on an island if I'd known it was going to be this long, staycations are not my thing. Where were you thinking?"

"The list of places is getting stupidly long. We're stretched with our coverage." Kevin said, but paused. "But... you need to be sure you're one hundred percent. If not, I don't want to rush you back."

"You're not, sweetheart. I'm angry as fuck and planning havoc on the backburner, I'm not a robot, but it's compartmentalized and therapized for now," Felicia replied, tilting her knee back to rest against his, something like soothing. "Thank you for checking. Safe, sane, consensual."

"Tease. It's just because I take you to all the best bars in New York, isn't it?" He said with a laugh. "Take another day or two, and then I will have a field work assignment for you."

"Never with you." Felicia rolled her eyes good naturedly, poorly hiding her smile in her glass. "Fine fine. I suppose it gives me time to get my nails done, so I won't let on you're a fussing old man. I may even like it a little."

"Remind me next time you're out to completely outshine you." He took a long sip and waved for another. "But I appreciate you're able to get back out there."

Felicia stuck out her tongue, childish and fine with it. "I mean, I'm not going to pretend being your father's murderer is in another castled wasn't upsetting. But it's also an easy pivot, I guess. Cool, you didn't kill my dad, I will still hurt you but not until after we figure out who did. You know."

"Hammerhead is currently lying low. They already replaced him, so he'll likely be preoccupied rebuilding some kind of power structure before he makes any moves. Once we get your info, he might be useful to manipulate back against the Maggia folks who fucked him." Kevin said. "Nothing like making the worst people hurt each other first."

"And pitting men against each other is entirely in my wheelhouse, too," Felicia said, sticky sweet and blinking long lashes as he topped her up from the bottle on the table. "How kind of them."

"It won't be that easy. You're no longer completely unknown to them. You need to operate differently." Kevin said, and then a smile flashed, lightning quick across his face. "Maybe with Sarah."

"I can't even tell anymore if you're trying to set us up or shoo me away, what is this?" Felicia asked, grinning back briefly with a tilt of her head. "You're not wrong but like. Mixed signals, Sydney."

"You're not the only one that occasionally likes to create a little chaos." He paused as fresh drinks hit the table. "And she does seem to get under your skin a little."

Felicia softened, in a way that made her look slightly worn. "She does. Which is why playful banter that's not going anywhere because remember that asshole in a coma giant learning experience I brought up at the beginning of this conversation? No coworkers. Probably."

"I know, but frankly, everyone else gives me enough shit, I'm allowed to shovel it back occasionally." Kevin took a sip from the refreshed drink.

"I am nothing but a delight given knowledge of you getting some!" Felicia exclaimed after a high scoff. "You really need to be directing this inner anger elsewhere."

"Nah, you agreed to sit with me, so..." Kevin grinned. "Own your bad decisions, Hardy."

"Oh sweetie, you're not even in the top 50 of my bad decisions," Felicia replied, punctuated with a sip of her sparkling wine. "Dealer's choice on whether that is a self burn or a compliment, I can't quite read your mood today, take what you need."

"I like to be mysterious. I am the night." He joked but paused for a moment. "I get updates but... any word on North's condition? Doc Grey says he's all still him, at least."

Felicia's smile went lopsided, and she shrugged, finishing her glass. "He's healing but. He has to repair the brain damage, if he can at all, he may be trapped in there. I don't think his mutation was made for whatever happened," she said finally, unsubtly nudging the flute towards him. "Jubes is with him most of the time, and he has visitors. It's just a waiting game."

He topped her up immediately. "Sorry to kill the mood. But Doc Grey and her team are top notch. And he's a stubborn Kraut bastard. He'll be back before you know it."

"No no, it's fine," she said, waving her hand. "You don't have to cheer me up, I have booze plus, I mean, North and I don't owe each other anything. I hope he makes it but at the end of the day, we're just coworkers."

"Sure. And I'm not a deeply dysfunctional old man." Kevin said with a slight smile, but moved on. "You know anything about the history of this place?" He said, waving to the bar around them.

Felicia bumped her knee against his again. "Not a damn thing. You got the time to tell me?"

"Named after Sir Henry Johnson, and was originally done in jungle motifs before taste got in the way. The ebony bar alone is worth a fortune." Kevin said, sidestepping emotions for her sake. "Sinatra almost got himself banned for nearly braining a fan with a servers tray in 1985."

"Oh really?" Felicia hummed, taking a slow deep breath as she leaned a little sideways, cupping her chin in her palm. "I would have liked to see that. Both thats actually. What else?"

"Nearly didn't survive the retrofits in the 80s. I'm glad it did. After all, it's good to have bars to impress co-workers with, that are old classics." He smiled and smoothed his hand down his chest. "Just like me."

Felicia laughed, rolling her eyes. "Just like you. Thanks for this, Kevin."

"Booze and old man talk. It's a hell of a cross to bear, let me tell you."