Hotel Bar, London, Thursday Afternoon

[bitten_notshy]

Emma's portal was letting her out just a few blocks from the hotel she'd chosen, so it was easiest for Jack to just meet her in the bar there. He ordered a cognac, not really sipping much at all as he waited.

When Emma had informed him she was staying in a hotel and not with him, he'd been a bit hurt but too grateful she was coming at all to argue. Now, two long weeks later, he was happy he could be here where Sebastien wasn't. He needed rest and normalcy (or as much normalcy as one got with a psychic, anyhow) and that was outweighing his usual fierce desire for his vampire.

He felt more than a bit guilty about leaving the group in Bristol so abruptly; he'd have to make sure to call to check in. Still, there was something to be said for recovering almost alone.

[OOC: NFB. For Emma and for SP -- though I'm not averse to other phone calls.]

Comments

[icecoldfrost]

Emma could sense Jack in the bar, but stopped to check-in and drop-off her luggage with the concerige to be taken up to her room.

Moments later she was sliding into the seat next to him at the bar. "Hello, darling. I was starting to worry you wouldn't make it."

[bitten_notshy]

"Did you think I had a better offer?" Jack teased, half-rising from his seat to slide a kiss over her cheek. "Hello. You're looking well."

[icecoldfrost]

"Well, I wasn't sure how long your business was going to keep you," Emma pointed out, giving him a quick kiss in return. "Better offer? Never. But getting held up at a Portalocity lounge happens."

[bitten_notshy]

"Bristol to London is cake, once you get out of Bristol," Jack answered. "Thankfully. Today is not the day I want to spend reading sticky copies of old magazines somewhere over the ocean. Were the fates kind to you for your trip?"

[icecoldfrost]

"Simple enough, and better by the moment now that I'm here," she laughed. "I had a layover in Canada this morning, actually, so I missed the school-sponsored luncheon today."

[bitten_notshy]

"So I'll have to feed you, too," Jack said, a grin teasing at the corners of his mouth. It wasn't that he'd forgotten everything that had happened the day before, but it was fading to the back of his mind now that he had happier things to think about. "Anything in particular strike your fancy, or do you want the full roast dinner?"

[icecoldfrost]

"No roast needed," Emma promised. "Let's go somewhere fun, that I can get a decent martini to unwind after my travels. It's been a long few weeks."

[bitten_notshy]

"I know," Jack agreed. He was running through places in his mind until he found one that was both nice and unlikely to care that Emma was still a few weeks shy of 18. "But we made it through and we're alone together so, let's just enjoy that and talk about things that are as frivolous as we can manage."

[icecoldfrost]

"Jack, we're ten years ahead of my time," Emma pointed out, picking up some of his stray thought. "So my ID says I'm almost twenty-eight, with my real birthday and everything. They can disbelieve it all they like, but it's real."

"But frivolous things it is." She leaned in close, eyes sparkling. "The fake-blonde woman on the other end of the bar; breasts real or no?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Yours is better than mine, then," Jack said, not missing much of a beat even though it was always a bit unnerving when she did that. "Even if you in no way look anything like 28. And the breasts match the hair. Which do you think she pays more for?"

[icecoldfrost]

"I age well, clearly," she said, utterly smug. "I think she paid more for the breasts, but she got a better job with the hair."

[bitten_notshy]

"Would you ever color your hair?" Jack wondered, for the sake of keeping up an utterly ridiculous conversation. "It's a perfect color as it is, but you're so fair you could do almost anything."

He considered her breasts too perfect to ever leave to a surgeon's hands.

[icecoldfrost]

"I'll tell you a secret," Emma confided, leaning in close. "Sometimes? I get highlights when I want to feel pretty. And I use lemon juice in my hair in the summer."

[bitten_notshy]

"So I've been deceived," Jack said, with a fake gasp. "Though that does explain the scent of your hair in the warm weather. I thought it was shampoo."

[icecoldfrost]

"Horribly deceived," she agreed with a sigh. "Will you ever be able to forgive me, Mr. Priest?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Eventually," Jack said thoughtfully. "Thought of course it won't be easy. You'll have to let me show you a wonderful weekend, first."

And by 'wonderful,' he meant 'so busy they wouldn't have much time to think.'

[icecoldfrost]

"I place myself and my redemption in your capable hands, then," Emma promised. Too busy to think sounded fantastic to her. "So long as there is some divine food sometime tonight, and a repeat trip to the museum."

[bitten_notshy]

"Strangely enough, I think all of that can be managed," Jack said. "And I promised you a trip to school with me tomorrow -- though I won't be angry if you back out of that."

[icecoldfrost]

"Oh no. I want to go, and see if you can keep a straight face while I'm running a mental commentary on your classmates," Emma sang, reaching out to bop his nose with her finger. "I want to see how oh-so-terribly British your friends are."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack laughed more genuinely. "Ridiculously. They'll offer you treacle pudding and mushy peas right off the bat, but make you sing 'Rule Brittania' before you so much as take a bite of anything -- all while maintaining a stiff upper lip, of course."

None of this was remotely true.

[icecoldfrost]

"So they're going to ply me with sweets and tales of what a horrible influence you have been. Got it," she replied cheerfully. "I hope you haven't been encouraging that urban legend that American girls are easy."

[bitten_notshy]

"This is the first I've ever heard that legend, so no is a safe guess," Jack answered, swirling his glass a bit. "I suppose asking if it's true would get me smacked."

[icecoldfrost]

"Perhaps, or perhaps I'd simply sulk and you'd get your drink confiscated," she admitted. "Or you'd have to buy me one of my own."

[bitten_notshy]

"I could just buy you a drink right now," Jack said, realizing he'd been remiss as he signaled to the waiter. "How's Fandom, by the by? Did I miss frogs raining from the sky or plagues of locusts?"

[icecoldfrost]

"No real oddities, beyond that day we were all compelled to lose our brain-to-mouth filters," Emma answered, giving him a bright smile. "Almost normal, really, which is appallingly worrisome. Just watch, next week, we'll all turn into animals."

[bitten_notshy]

"Cutest island ever," Jack declared. "Though perhaps a tiny bit worrisome if that one got me. I've had to ask for permission to turn things in late enough for one semester."

[icecoldfrost]

"We have got to find some way to get the portals to dump us back two days before we left. Think of all we could get done," she agreed. "Then you wouldn't have to fret about missed deadlines, and we'd have lots of free time to amuse ourselves."

[bitten_notshy]

"If I could go to 1899, I should be able to go to two weeks ago," Jack agreed. "You should see if they'd sell you that kind of ticket, just out of curiosity."