AN: So mindless fluff…and a rather weird scene enacted by Jade and Tori that pays an homage to martial arts nerds…you'll know it when you read it.
As Jade and Tori enter the lobby of the Bulltermark the first thing that catches their attention is a certain tarjuh…well, really the only tarjuh they've ever met.
"Hey, Dan." Tori smiles and adds a short wave.
"Jade, Tori…ooh, Jori. That will certainly save time and it's very LA… or so I hear." Dan's essence seems a bit feathery as he offers the idea.
"That only works if the individuals are a couple." Tori happily corrects him.
"And?" His grin cause Jade's left eye to twitch,
"We aren't together." As she motions with her pointer finger moving back and forth between them. With her friends, or even a some outsiders Jade has no problem with the teasing whatsoever, but for some reason whenever Dan insinuates that they're a couple she doesn't find it amusing…she gets this gnawing feeling at the back of her head that he knows something she doesn't.
"If Weston were here, he would have my back on this. We share that unique ability to see true love even when everyone else fails to see it." He strikes a Hamlet pose, which seems to be Dan's favorite way to over emotionalize interesting moments.
"…Right." Shaking his head James looks to the girls,
"Anyway, your friends are waiting up stairs." Jade smiles,
"Thanks, James." Then scowls at the tarjuh,
"And Dan…get some help." He replies with a cheery smile,
"Already am, Dr. Cambers. She is smoking hot. Pity she's married… oh well." Then he half shrugs.
"Okay, then…see ya' around." Jade throws a hand in a lazy wave as she turns and boards the lift.
"See ya'." He grins again as he throws a half-wave, which Tori reciprocates with her,
"Bye." As she follows Jade.
Once the elevator is in motion Tori looks over to Jade,
"So, Dan thinks we're gay." Jade shrugs,
"He's also in therapy."
After only a brief pause Tori considers what Dan actually said,
"…do you think Charles thinks we're together?" Her eyes betray her question as serious despite her best efforts to smile and display humor.
"Do you?" Jade castes a serious smirk accompanied by a raised eyebrow as she stares at her. Tori drops her head,
"…I see your point." Jade laughs lightly before she informs,
"And we'll ask for the spells after Dan is gone."
"I already deduced that, West." Tori dons her cheap British accent once more.
"Then you are exceedingly less dense than I previously concluded, Vega." And Jade follows.
"One must not snap to such hasty judgment, West. It does make you look the fool."
"Says the court-jester."
"Touché." Tori preforms a little bow of surrender subsequently they both enjoy a little laugh before the lift nears the penthouse and their friends' expected inquisition.
Back in the Lobby, James stares at Dan with a wary eye.
"What?" Dan acts as if he has never even considered doing anything wrong. Keeping his gaze firm James asks,
"Why were you acting like that?" Dan shrugs,
"Insanity makes them take me less seriously." James bobs his head a bit then agrees,
"I suppose, but it is that really how you wish them to see you?" He knows Dan is usually very laid-back, but not really this airy.
"No, not really. But it will serve its purpose for now." His tone drops to more serious. James sighs as he drops his head,
"…I hate that look." Dan grins innocently,
"What look?" Bringing his head back up James narrows his vision on the rock-star,
"The one one gets when they're planning something… Charles gets it far too often for my liking…and the last thing I need is for a Dan version." Not that he despised Charles's plans, they nearly always worked out perfectly…but Dan… he was never sure how serious to take Dan. The man could be fickle, lethal warrior and clown prankster rolled into one.
"The last thing you need is an army of angels storming this building." Dan speaks rather pretentiously. James narrows his vision even further,
"Then it's a very close second." Dan simply laughs as he moves off to talk to Justin, now that his report had been delivered.
"Where were you guys?" Andre looks over as the girls enter the living room. Jade offers with a sigh,
"…long story." Tori elaborates,
"Involving a secret escape hatch leading to the sewers. I would not recommend taking it." Grateful for at least a little info Andre still asks,
"And that's why you guys missed school? You were hanging out in the sewers?" Jade glares at Tori, 'You just had to say something.' Tori seems to understand the glare, not necessarily reading Jade's mind, but regardless she proceeds with more information,
"We overslept…then fell in the sewer and searched for hours trying to find a way out."
"Man-hole covers are heavy." Jade rubs her shoulder as if to say that they actually tried to lift them. Her actions seem to convince Andre,
"Oh. So…why were you sleeping here at all?" But he still has questions.
"It's a penthouse…why wouldn't we?" Jade makes it seem so obvious as she slumps down on the couch opposite Andre, who isn't deterred,
"But, why just you two?"
"You guys had already left." Tori offers as she sits in one of the recliners…the one closest to Jade.
"You could've called." Andre is definitely channeling a detective at this point in time.
"…Yeah, but then we wouldn't have been able to have sex…loud, loud sex." Jade makes sure to add a little extra sexy in the second 'loud'. Andre just stares at them.
"So it's a crime if we want to bond in private?" Jade's tone has gone to serious.
"'Bond', eh?" Andre finally castes a smirk, 'My turn to tease, Jade.' Rolling her eyes the dragon-knight reveals their 'big night in',
"We watched a movie, and then slept in separate rooms."
"I found a slice of pizza in the fridge." Cat chirps with glee. Definitely needing the distraction before Andre pursues his inquisition any further Tori leaps out of the recliner,
"Damn it! I knew we forgot something…" As she bounds for the pizza in Cat's hands. Tori castes a split-second wink at Jade, who instantly gets what she's doing,
"That's mine!" Jade is leaping over the couch as Tori reaches the slice,
"Got it!" Jade growls,
"No, you don't." Knocking Tori to the floor Jade catches the slice,
"Ah, back where you belong…in my hands." She eyes it greedily, but before she can take even one bite…
"Hihyaaaaah." Tori leaps up…taking a bite of the pizza.
Jade pulls back her hand coddling the slice,
"Woaahhhh-yahh." And takes a cheesy movie martial-arts pose,
"I will defeat you." Tori takes her own pose,
"No. I shall defeat you….whaaaahh-yah." Then rushes for the slice. They proceed to fake fight, leaping and dodging.
Now standing beside Cat, who retreated into the living-room, Andre leans over,
"Wow. We…missed a lot of bonding." Cat nods,
"Uh-huh." As they watch them dance about stealing bites as the pizza slice shifts from one owner to the other rather quickly.
Robbie had been catching up on a little research on his own, but the noise drew him out of the study,
"Hottest fake food fight ever!" His eyes and grin are wide as he observes them chasing after each other over the single cold slice of disappearing pizza.
"Not sure that constitutes a food fight, man." Andre looks over at him.
"They are fighting over food." Rex adds.
"…True." Andre nods as he turns back to the pepperoni ballet.
"Thief!" Jade shouts as Tori has just stolen the slice back, taking a bite…only to have Jade recover it and take her own bite, inciting Tori,
"Scoundrel!"
Beck returns from his trip to the training room, then a brief stop back in the lobby, to the scene before him,
"Uhm, I'm not interrupting am I?" Jade and Tori look over at him…then resume.
"I guess not." He walks over to join the others in their observation.
9Dread9
They proceeded with their actions until the slice had been consumed in the skirmish. Noticing the lack of pizza Beck inquires,
"Are you two done yet?"
"Yeah…I think so." Jade offers, '…I may have enjoyed that a lot more than I should have…Tori, you are a strange drug.' She smiles to herself as Tori offers,
"Well, the slice has been devoured so there is no longer any point to continue." As she grabs some water, 'Where the hell did all that come from?...Fun though.' She also smiles to herself as Jade stares at her.
"What?" Tori asks as she hands her a glass. Accepting the glass Jade keeps the stare firmly on Tori,
"You couldn't have said, 'the slice is gone, so we're done.'?"
"I could have, but where's the fun in that?" Tori grins mischievously.
"How is saying a longer, more boring version of something more fun?" A bit of distain graces Jade's voice. Tori's smile widens,
"Because…it annoys you." Jade's eyes soften,
"...only on days that end in 'y'." As she smiles as well.
"Cute."
"I try." Jade shrugs.
"You have to?" Smirking Tori leans against the counter.
"Well, we all can't be as naturally adorable as you." Jade grins playfully. Tori returns the gesture,
"Says the one who snores like a kitten in her sleep."
"I don't snore!" Jade breaks the game…and provides Tori with ammunition against that ridiculous accent Jade uses whenever she's mimicking her. This causes Tori to grin diabolically for a brief second before she resumes teasing,
"But you do…and it's a nine on the Cat Cuteness Scale." (Who else could you name a cuteness scale after?)
"Not a ten?" Jade's slightly offended that she fell short of perfect.
"Have you seen Cat sleeping?" Jade doesn't target the creepy fact that Tori has watched Cat sleeping…mostly because she has done it to and agrees with how adorable it is. So she instead agrees,
"Nine it is then." And decides they have provided a more than sufficient distraction for now.
But as they're turning to enter the living room they notice the five sets of eyes looking at them.
"What?" They both ask in unison. Beck shakes his head lightly,
"…So many questions." But he doesn't actually ask any so Jade bites,
"If you aren't going to ask them, then I suggest we make our way to the study." As she passes them and heads into the room. Andre asks the back of her head,
"More research?" Jade peeks her head out,
"No, target practice…" And grins devilishly. Tori suddenly turns to Cat,
"Oh, Cat could you please go ask James if there is a practice range."
"Practice for what?" Cat's questioning look, incites Tori to try again,
"Target practice. Just ask him about a Target or Practice range, okay?" Then she smiles sweetly.
"Kay-kay." Cat returns the smile before she bounds toward the elevator. Leaning over to Tori, Beck inquires,
"Any particular reason you didn't say 'shooting', 'firing', or 'gun' range?" Tori's answer is simplistic in its elegance,
"Cat."
"Understood." Everyone agrees as they all enter the study. Many of whom are wondering exactly why the hell they are going into the study… but they do not voice these concerns, instead allowing a rather determined Jade to provide the answers in due time.
AN: Yeah, I'm not a 100% on this chapter…something felt a little off…I'm sure it's just the excessive amounts of caffeine I was on at the time of this chapters creation. But, opinions?
Sorry, if that was weird…the next chapter will make up for it…and be a little longer too.
Next Chapter (NC): Holy Frag, a Dragoon!
-May Dread watch over you-