Emma's Flat, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Monday Afternoon.

[icecoldfrost]

The wonderful thing about currently being a few weeks ahead of Fandom - in Emma's opinion - is that she had spring. Almost. For her, it was early March and her spring break, and the sun was out in New York. It also meant that Jack could leave his shift at Devil's Nest on his Monday night, and still show up in her world at a reasonable hour.

Her little flat was as tidy as a telepath on a binge Spring Cleaning Spree could manage (which was scary), and Emma was happily ensconced in her laptop, working away at her big psych paper for the term. Early. Because someone was an overachiever.

[OOC: Open for calls, texts, and That Boy.]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

Jack shed his jacket as he walked from the subway/portal station to Emma's apartment, pausing once along the way to pick up an order from teh best Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. It was still perhaps a bit chilly for shirt sleeves, but he was going to take advantage of the limited warmth while he could.

There was a distinct bounce in his step as he let himself into the apartment building and climbed up to Emma's floor. He opened her door slowly and said the three words every woman longs to hear:

"I brought dinner."

[icecoldfrost]

"My favorite words in the world," Emma quipped, looking up with a grin. "I do believe I smell Señor Mao's!"

...look, Bed-Stuy was a little bit of a strange neighborhood. And the food reflected that.

"Come in, darling. Don't linger in the doorway, you must be ready to drop."

[bitten_notshy]

"It wasn't that far a trip," Jack quibbled, though he wasn't wasting any time taking the food over to the tiny table and plopping himself into a chair. "Hi, hello, how are you, I missed you. And Señor Mao's beef with broccoli."

[icecoldfrost]

"Only through a few universes, after a long day lounging about the Nest and testing terrible flavored vodkas," Emma teased. "Hello, I missed you, and I missed you bringing me Señor Mao's Geleshan Ma La Chicken."

[bitten_notshy]

"I even got a second order of it so I'd get a few bites," Jack said, a little laugh in his voice. "And vegetarian egg rolls, and a noodly thing or two."

Or four. Look, a werewolf and a mutant could eat plenty, and Señor Mao's leftovers were amazing.

"It's a good thing I don't live here all the time. We'd be single-handedly keeping them in business."

[icecoldfrost]

"You say that like Candy and I don't," Emma replied with a laugh, saving her document and shutting her laptop. "Although most days, it's the dollar taco stand for me."

"She says 'hi,' by the way." Emma had practically needed to pry her friend out of the apartment once she'd found out that Jack was coming over.

[bitten_notshy]

"I say hi back to her," Jack said. He had finished unpacking the cartons and padded to the cupboard to take out the few utensils they'd need. "Tell her I think we should go dancing sometime."

[icecoldfrost]

"Be careful. If we take her dancing this week, she might try to take advantage of you while I'm in the restroom if she's tipsy enough," Emma warned. "She and Worthington are on the outs right now, and she might have mentioned a dozen or so times that you're hot." Because Emma totally hadn't noticed.

[bitten_notshy]

"Well, I am hot, but it's so strange to me that your friend is with Warren," Jack mused. "Have you ever told Karla?"

[icecoldfrost]

"I think I mentioned it once or twice," Emma said, reaching to grab chopsticks, "--but I don't know if it sunk in. He's a lot more outgoing, here. More of a playboy. If it wasn't for the name and the face, I'd think they weren't the same person at all."

[bitten_notshy]

"Different universes are never going to make much sense," Jack said, still shaking his head. "Still, it would be odd to meet him..."

He spread Chinese mustard down the length of his eggroll not dirty and went to peek at her laptop screen. "What's this one about?"

[icecoldfrost]

"My big psych research paper for my final class," she said, scooting over to make room. "Gender differences in perceptions of female sexual promiscuity and human sexuality. I wanted to do something along the lines of mass hysteria and the sociopolitical reactions to mutantcy and the Salem Witch Trials, but my professor vetoed it. He claims there isn't enough data yet."

Her new topic was chosen simply to spite him, and Emma was fine with that.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack snorted. "Of course not. By which he means he doesn't agree with the data, or doesn't want to think that hard."

[icecoldfrost]

"He doesn't think the reaction to mutants manifesting is hysterical. He thinks it's totally rational to not want weapons of mass destruction running loose on the streets," she said placidly. "Which is why I'm going to make him sit through a hundred and twenty pages of feminist theory deconstructing abnormal psychology and the gendered double-standards inherent in the discipline when it comes to sex."

[bitten_notshy]

"Clever. Meanwhile, I don't think I wrote 120 pages in total all last semester," Jack sighed. "Which I suppose is why you're speeding through college, and I'll likely be taking courses at 30."

[icecoldfrost]

"It only needs to be a minimum of thirty-five pages. He didn't set a maximum." Which meant that Emma was, yes, being a brat, and knew it. "I'm sure I'll end up cutting it down, this is just a draft."

But of course his woeful sigh meant she had to try and steal the Chinese mustard and one of the vegetarian egg rolls. And a kiss or two. "And you won't be taking undergraduate classes at thirty," she informed him brightly, once she had (at least) partial-victory. "You'll be noodling at a PhD in something brilliantly esoteric, and I'll be going mad with another Master's of some sort. I'm thinking education, or an M.S. in clinical psychology."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack returned the kisses and didn't even squabble too hard over the mustard.

"Any luck and I'll be done and set up in a law practice by then," he said. "You can be the scholar. I'll be the muscle. Or the beauty."

[icecoldfrost]

Emma licked the mustard off her fingers. "We can take turns," she decided. "Since we're both beautiful."

"Just don't hire anyone prettier than me at your practice." Because that was totally important. "...think I can get you to set-up above Señor Mao's?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Sure," Jack said lightly. "Señor Mao's has to be an interdimensional portal, and I'd never need to go far for lunch."

[icecoldfrost]

"If it's not, I'll just have to invest some of my first million to make it one," Emma said, picking up some of her chicken with her chopsticks and offering it to him. "I'll become famous for my fabulous taste in shoes and for pioneering inter-dimensional Chinese delivery."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack took the chicken off the chopsticks with his lips, managed not to cough at the spice, and smirked at her as he chewed.

Swallowing, he said, "Those are accomplishments any woman could be proud of. Would you let me throw in on the Chinese food project?"

[icecoldfrost]

"I suppose, as long as you're willing to accept a 60/40 split," she decided with a smirk. "Since it was my idea in the first place."

[bitten_notshy]

"What if I put up most of the venture capital?" Jack wondered, and leaned over to retrieve a container of chow fun noodles. (Mmmm, nerd pillow talk.) "An idea's worth nothing if it's not properly funded, Miss Frost."

[icecoldfrost]

Emma made a thoughtful noise around her chicken. She took a moment to chew it over (pun intended) before answering.

"I quite believe that depends on how large your venture capital is, and if you know how to use it properly." Nerd pillow talk was the best.

[bitten_notshy]

Well, there went noodles up Jack's nose. He hoped Emma was pleased.

Once he had recovered: "I think you'll find my venture capital is quite adequate to fill any needs you might have."

[icecoldfrost]

Very pleased. Like the cat that just ate the spicy Szechuan-flavored canary. "Ah, but do you know what to do with your dividends?" she asked, pointing her chopsticks at him. "Now there's the real question."

[bitten_notshy]

"I reinvest my dividends," Jack responded, grinning back. "I find taking them out too early's always a mistake."

[icecoldfrost]

"Too true. I've seen far too many investments ruined because someone got over-eager and thought their portfolio had peaked," Emma sighed in mock-woe, shaking her head. "These sorts of things take research and experienced handling."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack's smile was angelic, if slightly smeared with garlic sauce. "Ah, then it's a good thing I've a great deal of experience taking care of very particular portfolios and ensuring they reap peak dividends."

He wasn't even sure what that nerd-porn metaphor meant, but it sounded good.

[icecoldfrost]

Emma was going to pretend that he was alluding to being very talented. At finance. Yes.

"A portfolio can peak more than once," she reminded him, leaning over to try and wipe some of the garlic sauce away with her fingers. "Don't get too swelled a head thinking you know every whim of the market forces."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack laughed, then leaned forward to kiss those fingertips. "Believe me, it would take a braver man than I to believe he understood the market completely," he said. "All I can hope is that it will move in my favor."

[icecoldfrost]

"I do believe the financial forecast is in your favor this week," Emma replied. "In fact, it may move in your favor multiple times."

Diiiiiiiiiiiiirty.

[bitten_notshy]

"As I am the servant of the market, that would only please me," Jack said, dignified. "I work for it, and it works for me."

[icecoldfrost]

Emma just snickered. "You're a terrible boy," she informed him. "I didn't think a lawyer would care about such things."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack snickered back, then examined Emma thoughtfully.

"We should finish eating," he said, and stuck his chopsticks into his noodles with renewed vigor.

[icecoldfrost]

"I mean, are we sure a lawyer working in the interests of the market is entirely ethical?" she teased around bites of her chicken. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack smiled half a smile. "Plenty of lawyers work for large banks," he said. "It's just a matter of everyone being clear where your loyalties lie."