(Private) Two Nickels

[Star]

"Oh. Huh. Interesting. I like that. Now I'm kind of curious, where it came from? I'm totally going to use that, you know. When like the Banishers are murderizing us? I'll be yelling 'Potato!' at you. Done. I'm in. It's officially A Thing. Yeah?"

Learn something new every day. He was surprised she relented, but nodded and tucked the book away. Right next to the map of the city and a rolled up poncho. A short poncho. You only buy a long poncho to wear on a motorcyle once.

"Ummm, yeah... uh, do that."

He probably would have said grab, or hang on.

A leg flipped over it, and he tapped the seat behind him.

"Just, like, hit me if we're going too fast. Or you see somewhere you want to stop."

He almost said, 'Just yell if you're falling off'... but caught himself.

[Avis]

"I think it's a Cadian farmer thing. I don't really know. I never thought to ask him about it," Avis said, taking a helmet and putting it on. She started looking over the motorcycle, and it took her awhile to find the passenger foot pegs but eventually she figured out how to climb on. Her arms snaked around Cut's midsection and her right hand clasped her left wrist.

"Ok. Just don't crash," she said, giving him a quick squeeze. She was actually sort of glad for the apprehension now. It helped keep her grounded in the present.

[Star]

Cadian? Was that like her accent's version of Canadian? Did Canadians farm? Wasn't it all snow up there?

The thoughts rolled around his head as he secured his own helmet and flipped the visor down. He needed theme music. Really. Because motorcycle helmet. Nevermind the discomfort, they just looked badass. It was the closest he got to looking badass.

The trip was as promised... mostly. It was slow, and he was careful. While not pro or expert, he was capable on two wheels. The only different part is he skipped the first thing they saw. And the second. And third... and so on. Seriously. They were literally in the mecca of sandwich shops. Arrow Architecture Incorporated must have had a major thing for the sandwich.

Sliding down Stockton for a couple of miles, he slowly pulled into Firehouse Crawfish Cajun Seafood Restaurant.

Hoped he'd guessed right, about that way she talked.

[Avis]

Not long after the motorcycle came to rest Avis' arms disappeared from around Cut's sides and she slipped off the machine. Thank god that was over. Not that Cut had driven crazy or anything, but it felt so alien to be moving through space that quickly, having to cling to someone with no protection and disaster only a matter of feet away. It was enormously relieving to be on solid ground and her own two feet again.

She unclasped the helmet and slipped it of, taking a brief moment to comb some of the snarls out of her hair and enjoy the sensation of motionlessness. Giving up long before it resembled anything near put together she finally checked the name of the restaurant and a corner of her mouth quirked. She lightly socked Cut on the arm.

[Star]

He left his weight on the bike, steadying it as Avis dismounted, then pulled off his own helmet. So long, badassery. Hello, normality. He'd always liked bikes. Like flying. Allegedly, one day he'd be a Real Boy and really be able to fly. No. Joke.

He was totally going to have a cape.

Minimal effort was given to the shifty, silly tufts of hair on his head. Mostly to get rid of the Just Been Electrocuted look. The pop on his arm got his attention, and he looked at her in wide eyed confusion and surprise.

"Oh! Hey! What? Was that too fast? You were supposed to hit me while we were riding, not after!"

He grinned. He'd seen her look, and then the look.

"So, is that like, a 'yes'? Yes, I guessed right?" he asked as he moved to get the door for her.

ow

[Avis]

"You just said 'hit me when you see someplace you want to stop', and this place looks good. So what if we're already stopped. And yeah, you guessed right. Kind of," Avis said, letting him get the door for her. She waited just inside, though, and gestured him forward so she wouldn't have to talk to the seating hostess. She didn't say much else until they were led to a table and were able to take a seat.

"So, I forgot to ask earlier. What's the job that you got? Wasn't a birthday party, was it?"

[Star]

"When the lady's right, she's right."

He laughed, holding up two fingers for the hostess.

She beat him to the next punch, too, before he could ask what 'Kind of' meant.

"It so totally is," he answered as they sat. Leaned forward, and gave her the semi-serious look. "And this dinner? Proposition. I'm thinking you'd make a great magician's assistant. Get sawed in half, knives thrown at, you know... usual."

He shook his head and did the finger gun at it. Pow.

"Yikes. No. Never again. I went the super glamorous route instead. Remember the thing I said about cabling? Yeah. It's convenient. I can work when I want to, or not. So, you know, it doesn't interfere with... stuff. And stuff."

Fingers waggled. Mage-y stuff.

His phone buzzed. He glanced at. His expression was clear. What. The. Actual. Hell.

He pocketed it.

"Oh, and, hey. I, uh, wanted to say 'thanks'. For the Field Day thing. You know, for, ummm, introducing me to people."

An embarrassed smile peeked out. Yep. He might have stood there gaggle-fied for who knows how long.

[Avis]

At first Avis just stared at the guardian blankly, mind struggling with the ridiculousness of his 'proposition. He hadn't fooled her with his tone of voice or his 'serious' lean, but she found it hard to imagine herself in some sort of stage get-up, simpering for the benefit of a crowd. Yeah, no thank you. Even as a hypothetical she could do without it. Which was funny, considering she had more than a few larcenous tricks up her sleeve. She might not be as good as a practiced magician but she knew a few ways to get out of hand-cuffs.

Avis smiled a bit, more at the thought of them comparing repertoires than Cut's finger gun suicide. "Well hey, it wasn't just for your benefit at the Circle. I don't really enjoy meeting new people so it was more self-serving than anything. And does that pay well, the cabling? You need any special background for that?"

[Star]

Well, if she didn't like meeting new people, props to her for diving right in. It went hand in hand with that other thing.

"Damn, girl. For real? Dinner isn't enough? Now you want my job? What's next, my first born?" he laughed, then paused, looking slightly mortified. Mor-ti-fied.

"Ummm. Yeah. Not like, you know, but not that... anyway. Yeah. OK. Uh, cabling? For real? Not really. There's a handful of things to know about the types of cable, some basic construction knowledge, maybe, and some hand tools."

Truth? He cheated. A little Knowing here, a little Unveiling there.

"Why? You, uh, interested?"

Didn't see that coming.

[Avis]

Avis found refuge inside her water glass. Or rather, in the action of drinking from it. She wasn't trying to like, leech off of anyone, and she definitely wasn't propositioning, she was just--Oh, wait. No, he was still doing his 'Cut-thing', joking around, accidentally falling into his own verbal pit-traps. Her lips quirked a bit and set the glass down. It was strange how long it was taking her to adjust to Cut's flippant demeanor but then again, that was the point right? Keep the other person off their game, occlude yourself with wit and joviality. She could dig it. She couldn't match it, but she could dig it.


"Um. Probably," Avis replied, toying with her half empty water glass. "I'm trying to figure out a good way to start bringing in money but I haven't found the right idea yet. Like you said, most jobs get in the way of stuff, and they don't pay enough for what I have in mind. I want to help contribute more to the Circle, donate some tools or something like that, but that takes some serious dough. 'Course, I s'pose anything would be better than just getting by, like I am now, but I can't help feeling like there's some trick I'm overlooking. That's why I keep asking everyone what they do. I figure someone has to have figured it out by now."