Post by recluse on Oct 9, 2006 12:38:57 GMT -5
[Time stamp: While Dom is gone]
Eventually, after an incredible meal, Dom had to go pick up the new recruit.
Which meant that she was left alone with Lucas. Gracie didn't exactly know know what she was supposed to do with him there - since Dom seemed to be concerned about her doing something that would give Lucas the wrong impression.
She really didn't care. That's what she was trying to tell herself, anyway. Gracie wasn't going to change just to impress a guy, and certainly not a guy like Lucas.
"You want a beer or something?"
Well, she had to say something.
Lucas relaxed a bit on the couch, his feet going a bit wider apart as he leaned back. "Sure. That sounds like a great idea."
"Why don't you and I get good and hammered while you explain this Meatwave phenomenon to me."
Breaking into a grin, Gracie nodded.
"Be right back." She wandered over to the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers, popping the tops off on the counter-top since she couldn't see a bottle-opener anywhere.
Plonking herself back down on the couch, Gracie handed Lucas one of the bottles and took a drink of her own before starting.
"So what do you want to know? Meatwave is a mutant superhero type - you know, secret identity, double life and all that shit."
Sidesalad appeared on the screen and she motioned to him with the neck of her bottle.
"That's Sidesalad, the ever loyal sidekick type. Oh, and that's the Salami Seductress, she's always trying to get onto Meatwave. He won't leave his true love, though."
Lucas looked distinctly amused. There was something about hearing Gracie talk enthusiastically about a cartoon that entranced him. She could be such a complete contradiction.. maybe that was why he no clue what to do with her as she sat there looking hotter than any latina woman could ever hope to.
"Who's his true love." His eyes didn't leave her as he asked it, a predator's slow half smile on his face.
"Oh, her name is Asparagus Angie, but she doesn't know he's Meatwave. She always comes really close to discovering his true identity, but something always comes up to stop her, you know?"
She'd been looking at the screen, so she hadn't actually noticed the way he was looking at her.
"Oh, that's her, see." Her eyes flicked back to him for a moment and she raised an eyebrow at him. She wondered if Lucas even believed in true love - although she really wasn't sure whether she believed in it herself.
Meatwave was having a very sweet moment with Angie up on the screen, and Gracie turned back to watch over her beer. Yeah, it was only a cartoon, and things were bound to be ruined soon when the Barbeque Bandit started attacking the city and Meatwave had to go, but at least it was nice while it lasted.
Not that she'd ever admit to that out loud, of course.
“Awww. How sweet. The Meat Beast has a vegetarian girlfriend.” He chuckled, leaning forward to unlace his boots.
He wanted to ask her if she’d ever dated anyone, but wouldn’t have dared to in a hundred years. They weren’t exactly at the ‘get to know you’ point and really, he wasn’t sure when- or if- that sort of thing was going to happen.
He’d never really let a girl stick around long enough to find out.
"Yeah, pretty ironic, hey. That'd be like me dating Bugspray Man or something."
She didn't bother saying that she was petrified of bugspray. It was just... her thing. Not the kind of thing that she'd tell someone like Lucas James, though.
"Or you dating Incredibly Breakable Girl."
Did he even do dating? Or did he just stick with strippers?
The Barbeque Bandit had finally shown up.
"That's one of Meatwave's many enemies. Every good cartoon hero has a whole bundle of them, but the Bandit is the main one."
She had a feeling that she was talking too much, so she occupied her mouth with a long sip of beer instead.
Lucas chuckled again. He wasn’t sure why he found it so… cute.. that she knew so much about this stupid cartoon, but he did.
“Fair enough. Though I tend to find regular ol’ girls are just as breakable, when I want them to be.”
He lit a cigarette to hide his grin, fixing his eyes on the television.
"Oh?"
She raised an eyebrow at him again.
"What about mutant chicks, d'you... break them often?"
Wow, that was a question laced with innuendo if she ever did hear one.
Why did everything that came out of her mouth make him want to grab her and demonstrate rather than explain?
“I tend not to fuck around with mutant girls.” He looked back at her. “They tend to be crazy.”
"Fair enough."
She shrugged non-committally, having another sip of her beer rather than bring up her own experience with mutant chicks.
Gracie couldn't help but wonder what that made her. What with their little bathroom encounter and all. Maybe walking in on someone in the shower didn't count as 'fucking around,' though. Who knew?
Or, maybe he thought she was crazy, which was entirely possible.
Oh no, she wasn’t getting away that easily.
“What about you, Recluse?” God he hated that name. When Gracie was perfect, half mocking her femininity while highlighting it at the same time? She had no clue. No clue. And maybe that was part of her charm.
"What about me? Do I like mutant chicks?"
She glanced over at him for a moment over her beer.
"Mutants tend to be a bit..." Gracie looked up at the ceiling, as if to seach for the right words.
"More understanding. You know." She waved vaguely at herself with one hand. She was lucky enough that she didn't obviously look like a mutant, at least until you got closer.
"But I wouldn't say mutant chicks are crazier than normal chicks. We're all fucked in the head." That was accompanied by an amused grin.
He reflected her grin.
“You’re very pretty. But you know that don’t you.”
He took a drink of beer, watching while the Barbeque Bandit made a good show of kicking Meatwave’s ass. If the cartoon was anything like others, Meatwave would turn the tide soon. Maybe literally.
"Hmmm?"
She gave him a doubtful look.
"Uh, thanks?"
Gracie didn't really think of herself as particularly attractive, but then she knew all of her own faults.
Then again, Luke had seen her naked.
"I'd say the same about you, but I'm sure you don't need to be told how pretty you are."
She flashed a grin at him before turning to see Meatwave kick the Bandit's ass.
Siiiiddddeeessssaaallllllaaddd! She repeated the sidekick's battle cry in her head, still unwilling to call it out with Lucas sitting next to her.
“I don’t really pay attention, to tell you the truth.”
And he was being honest. He didn’t really care whether he was attractive or not. Vanity was a kind of pride you lost early on, living the life he’d led. Frowning a little, he tried to push thoughts way, but they nagged him.
Well that didn’t go over as well as he’d have liked. At least not the way it usually did. Women liked to be flattered, at least in the straight forward, sparse way he usually had. Unfortunately, Gracie seemed entirely too much like him. He’d likely have taken the compliment the same way.
Shrugging it off, he smirked at Side Salad hollered catch phrases like so much Robin to Meatwave’s Batman.
"Mmm."
There was no way Lucas could fail to notice all the female attention he must have gotten every time he was... well, around women. He was so... hot and broody. Knowing what chicks were like (since she was one and all), Gracie suspected he had a lot of girls trying to cheer him up, draw him out of the brooding.
"I bet you're never left on your own if you don't want to be, though."
Probably sometimes when he did want to be, too. Then again, there was that whole 'I can break you,' vibe there. Maybe some people were smart about it.
“That’s true enough. Chicks like me. Some guys too.” He made a face, not looking at her. “You know the drill. Everyone wants something.” He finished his beer, looking a bit sullen about that fact.
Sometimes he felt like a superhero in a parallel universe. You show off one time, and forever you’re marked as THE man to go to when you’re in trouble. It could get pretty fucking annoying.
The attention from the girls… he never really minded that. He ignored the ones he didn’t like and occasionally had to get rough with a girl that wouldn’t take a hint, but as far as Lucas knew that was par for the course with most people.
"Yeah, I bet they do."
She smirked. Gracie had heard the rumours, she could well guess what it was that most of them wanted.
Taking another sip of her beer, she noticed that his was finished. For a moment she considered offering him what was left in hers - instead she just kept drinking until she'd drained the last of it.
She wasn't entirely sure why she'd done it. Maybe to prove to herself that she wasn't trying to make him happy.
"You want to watch another episode, then, or would you rather... watch something else?"
She'd almost said 'do something else' then, but had thought the better of it.
He shrugged. “Y’seem pretty happy with this.” He said.
Well, he’d made a fool of himself enough for one day. Getting up, he took his empty bottle with him and wandering into the kitchen to pick over leftovers and have another cigarette.
Fucking women.
Gracie gave him a smile that turned into a look of puzzlement when he wandered off.
Well, maybe he just didn't like Meatwave that much.
She looked at her empty bottle, toward the kitchen, and then back to the TV. Apparently she hadn't developed beerokinesis yet, which was a shame, but she wasn't going to follow Lucas around like a lost puppy. With a shrug, Recluse stretched out on the loveseat - well, as much as she could - and started humming along with the credits.
By the time the commercials had started he’d returned with a beer for himself and another for her. He lodged it between her thighs and sat on the floor with his back leaning against the couch.
“So why Meatwave and not some other cartoon just like it.”
"Oh, cheers."
She was a bit surprised to see him come back - and with a beer for her. Cold between her thighs, of course, but that was fixed easily enough by picking it up and having a mouthful.
"I dunno. Why not? I mean, he's a mutant, for one... It's funny, I like the stories, and it's got more innuendo than you can poke a stick at."
Wow, that made her sound like a raging fangirl. Still, if he didn't like it, too bad. Gracie liked Meatwave, she wasn't going to pretend any different.
Feeling a bit guilty about him sitting on the floor, Gracie pointed to her legs.
"You want me to move?"
He looked back at her. Truth be told, he liked the feeling of her thigh against his shoulderblades. Shaking his head, he shrugged. “I’m fine. Just chill.”
Taking a long swig of beer, he cracked his neck. How much more conversation could be made about Meatwave? Why the fuck was he trying to make conversation?
He drained his beer before the next commercial break, content to obliterate the thoughts he was determined to deny.
"Alrighty then." She shrugged. Still felt a bit weird about it, but she wasn't going to press the issue.
Gracie watched him drain his beer before they'd even got to the first ad break, and she looked at him with curiosity. Was she really that boring? Did he really want to kill his liver that quickly?
"So, you don't get much downtime huh?"
Why was she even bothering? Meatwave was on, which was interesting enough to her - and at least she could understand it, unlike Lucas.
"How does," she waved vaguely at the house, "your boss feel about you taking off for the Brotherhood?"
Assuming he knew, of course.
He shook his head a bit, not looking at her.
“He’s not my boss. I did some favors for his nephew five or so years back. Kid was a teleporter. Freaked the whole Barbosa family out. You’d –think- they’d have taken advantage of it.” He smirked.
“Dunno if it’s that I’m busy or just that I rarely end up watching television.” He looked sidelong at her. “Better things to look at, know what I mean?”
"Ah, fair enough. Yeah, something like that would be dead useful."
The kind of thing that they would have leapt on back in the day. Now, though, the gang was down to two. It was a shame - she honestly doubted she'd see any of the boys ever again.
Gracie's smile became amused at what she perceived from his words. Of course, it was possible that she was totally wrong.
"Yeah, I think I do."
Well he had organised to meet up at a strip club. What was she supposed to think?
He smirked lightly and looked at the television again. Over the course of the next half hour episode his body slid down until he was resting his head on the cushion of the couch, his eyes heavy lidded as he relaxed.
Occasionally he’d chuckled, or crack a smile. The man –did- have a sense of humor after all.
Lucas stopped thinking about Gracie just as he’d planned. Never failed, really. Turn your attention elsewhere, drown the rest with alcohol, and pretty soon you were on your way, unscathed.
Eventually, after an incredible meal, Dom had to go pick up the new recruit.
Which meant that she was left alone with Lucas. Gracie didn't exactly know know what she was supposed to do with him there - since Dom seemed to be concerned about her doing something that would give Lucas the wrong impression.
She really didn't care. That's what she was trying to tell herself, anyway. Gracie wasn't going to change just to impress a guy, and certainly not a guy like Lucas.
"You want a beer or something?"
Well, she had to say something.
Lucas relaxed a bit on the couch, his feet going a bit wider apart as he leaned back. "Sure. That sounds like a great idea."
"Why don't you and I get good and hammered while you explain this Meatwave phenomenon to me."
Breaking into a grin, Gracie nodded.
"Be right back." She wandered over to the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers, popping the tops off on the counter-top since she couldn't see a bottle-opener anywhere.
Plonking herself back down on the couch, Gracie handed Lucas one of the bottles and took a drink of her own before starting.
"So what do you want to know? Meatwave is a mutant superhero type - you know, secret identity, double life and all that shit."
Sidesalad appeared on the screen and she motioned to him with the neck of her bottle.
"That's Sidesalad, the ever loyal sidekick type. Oh, and that's the Salami Seductress, she's always trying to get onto Meatwave. He won't leave his true love, though."
Lucas looked distinctly amused. There was something about hearing Gracie talk enthusiastically about a cartoon that entranced him. She could be such a complete contradiction.. maybe that was why he no clue what to do with her as she sat there looking hotter than any latina woman could ever hope to.
"Who's his true love." His eyes didn't leave her as he asked it, a predator's slow half smile on his face.
"Oh, her name is Asparagus Angie, but she doesn't know he's Meatwave. She always comes really close to discovering his true identity, but something always comes up to stop her, you know?"
She'd been looking at the screen, so she hadn't actually noticed the way he was looking at her.
"Oh, that's her, see." Her eyes flicked back to him for a moment and she raised an eyebrow at him. She wondered if Lucas even believed in true love - although she really wasn't sure whether she believed in it herself.
Meatwave was having a very sweet moment with Angie up on the screen, and Gracie turned back to watch over her beer. Yeah, it was only a cartoon, and things were bound to be ruined soon when the Barbeque Bandit started attacking the city and Meatwave had to go, but at least it was nice while it lasted.
Not that she'd ever admit to that out loud, of course.
“Awww. How sweet. The Meat Beast has a vegetarian girlfriend.” He chuckled, leaning forward to unlace his boots.
He wanted to ask her if she’d ever dated anyone, but wouldn’t have dared to in a hundred years. They weren’t exactly at the ‘get to know you’ point and really, he wasn’t sure when- or if- that sort of thing was going to happen.
He’d never really let a girl stick around long enough to find out.
"Yeah, pretty ironic, hey. That'd be like me dating Bugspray Man or something."
She didn't bother saying that she was petrified of bugspray. It was just... her thing. Not the kind of thing that she'd tell someone like Lucas James, though.
"Or you dating Incredibly Breakable Girl."
Did he even do dating? Or did he just stick with strippers?
The Barbeque Bandit had finally shown up.
"That's one of Meatwave's many enemies. Every good cartoon hero has a whole bundle of them, but the Bandit is the main one."
She had a feeling that she was talking too much, so she occupied her mouth with a long sip of beer instead.
Lucas chuckled again. He wasn’t sure why he found it so… cute.. that she knew so much about this stupid cartoon, but he did.
“Fair enough. Though I tend to find regular ol’ girls are just as breakable, when I want them to be.”
He lit a cigarette to hide his grin, fixing his eyes on the television.
"Oh?"
She raised an eyebrow at him again.
"What about mutant chicks, d'you... break them often?"
Wow, that was a question laced with innuendo if she ever did hear one.
Why did everything that came out of her mouth make him want to grab her and demonstrate rather than explain?
“I tend not to fuck around with mutant girls.” He looked back at her. “They tend to be crazy.”
"Fair enough."
She shrugged non-committally, having another sip of her beer rather than bring up her own experience with mutant chicks.
Gracie couldn't help but wonder what that made her. What with their little bathroom encounter and all. Maybe walking in on someone in the shower didn't count as 'fucking around,' though. Who knew?
Or, maybe he thought she was crazy, which was entirely possible.
Oh no, she wasn’t getting away that easily.
“What about you, Recluse?” God he hated that name. When Gracie was perfect, half mocking her femininity while highlighting it at the same time? She had no clue. No clue. And maybe that was part of her charm.
"What about me? Do I like mutant chicks?"
She glanced over at him for a moment over her beer.
"Mutants tend to be a bit..." Gracie looked up at the ceiling, as if to seach for the right words.
"More understanding. You know." She waved vaguely at herself with one hand. She was lucky enough that she didn't obviously look like a mutant, at least until you got closer.
"But I wouldn't say mutant chicks are crazier than normal chicks. We're all fucked in the head." That was accompanied by an amused grin.
He reflected her grin.
“You’re very pretty. But you know that don’t you.”
He took a drink of beer, watching while the Barbeque Bandit made a good show of kicking Meatwave’s ass. If the cartoon was anything like others, Meatwave would turn the tide soon. Maybe literally.
"Hmmm?"
She gave him a doubtful look.
"Uh, thanks?"
Gracie didn't really think of herself as particularly attractive, but then she knew all of her own faults.
Then again, Luke had seen her naked.
"I'd say the same about you, but I'm sure you don't need to be told how pretty you are."
She flashed a grin at him before turning to see Meatwave kick the Bandit's ass.
Siiiiddddeeessssaaallllllaaddd! She repeated the sidekick's battle cry in her head, still unwilling to call it out with Lucas sitting next to her.
“I don’t really pay attention, to tell you the truth.”
And he was being honest. He didn’t really care whether he was attractive or not. Vanity was a kind of pride you lost early on, living the life he’d led. Frowning a little, he tried to push thoughts way, but they nagged him.
Well that didn’t go over as well as he’d have liked. At least not the way it usually did. Women liked to be flattered, at least in the straight forward, sparse way he usually had. Unfortunately, Gracie seemed entirely too much like him. He’d likely have taken the compliment the same way.
Shrugging it off, he smirked at Side Salad hollered catch phrases like so much Robin to Meatwave’s Batman.
"Mmm."
There was no way Lucas could fail to notice all the female attention he must have gotten every time he was... well, around women. He was so... hot and broody. Knowing what chicks were like (since she was one and all), Gracie suspected he had a lot of girls trying to cheer him up, draw him out of the brooding.
"I bet you're never left on your own if you don't want to be, though."
Probably sometimes when he did want to be, too. Then again, there was that whole 'I can break you,' vibe there. Maybe some people were smart about it.
“That’s true enough. Chicks like me. Some guys too.” He made a face, not looking at her. “You know the drill. Everyone wants something.” He finished his beer, looking a bit sullen about that fact.
Sometimes he felt like a superhero in a parallel universe. You show off one time, and forever you’re marked as THE man to go to when you’re in trouble. It could get pretty fucking annoying.
The attention from the girls… he never really minded that. He ignored the ones he didn’t like and occasionally had to get rough with a girl that wouldn’t take a hint, but as far as Lucas knew that was par for the course with most people.
"Yeah, I bet they do."
She smirked. Gracie had heard the rumours, she could well guess what it was that most of them wanted.
Taking another sip of her beer, she noticed that his was finished. For a moment she considered offering him what was left in hers - instead she just kept drinking until she'd drained the last of it.
She wasn't entirely sure why she'd done it. Maybe to prove to herself that she wasn't trying to make him happy.
"You want to watch another episode, then, or would you rather... watch something else?"
She'd almost said 'do something else' then, but had thought the better of it.
He shrugged. “Y’seem pretty happy with this.” He said.
Well, he’d made a fool of himself enough for one day. Getting up, he took his empty bottle with him and wandering into the kitchen to pick over leftovers and have another cigarette.
Fucking women.
Gracie gave him a smile that turned into a look of puzzlement when he wandered off.
Well, maybe he just didn't like Meatwave that much.
She looked at her empty bottle, toward the kitchen, and then back to the TV. Apparently she hadn't developed beerokinesis yet, which was a shame, but she wasn't going to follow Lucas around like a lost puppy. With a shrug, Recluse stretched out on the loveseat - well, as much as she could - and started humming along with the credits.
By the time the commercials had started he’d returned with a beer for himself and another for her. He lodged it between her thighs and sat on the floor with his back leaning against the couch.
“So why Meatwave and not some other cartoon just like it.”
"Oh, cheers."
She was a bit surprised to see him come back - and with a beer for her. Cold between her thighs, of course, but that was fixed easily enough by picking it up and having a mouthful.
"I dunno. Why not? I mean, he's a mutant, for one... It's funny, I like the stories, and it's got more innuendo than you can poke a stick at."
Wow, that made her sound like a raging fangirl. Still, if he didn't like it, too bad. Gracie liked Meatwave, she wasn't going to pretend any different.
Feeling a bit guilty about him sitting on the floor, Gracie pointed to her legs.
"You want me to move?"
He looked back at her. Truth be told, he liked the feeling of her thigh against his shoulderblades. Shaking his head, he shrugged. “I’m fine. Just chill.”
Taking a long swig of beer, he cracked his neck. How much more conversation could be made about Meatwave? Why the fuck was he trying to make conversation?
He drained his beer before the next commercial break, content to obliterate the thoughts he was determined to deny.
"Alrighty then." She shrugged. Still felt a bit weird about it, but she wasn't going to press the issue.
Gracie watched him drain his beer before they'd even got to the first ad break, and she looked at him with curiosity. Was she really that boring? Did he really want to kill his liver that quickly?
"So, you don't get much downtime huh?"
Why was she even bothering? Meatwave was on, which was interesting enough to her - and at least she could understand it, unlike Lucas.
"How does," she waved vaguely at the house, "your boss feel about you taking off for the Brotherhood?"
Assuming he knew, of course.
He shook his head a bit, not looking at her.
“He’s not my boss. I did some favors for his nephew five or so years back. Kid was a teleporter. Freaked the whole Barbosa family out. You’d –think- they’d have taken advantage of it.” He smirked.
“Dunno if it’s that I’m busy or just that I rarely end up watching television.” He looked sidelong at her. “Better things to look at, know what I mean?”
"Ah, fair enough. Yeah, something like that would be dead useful."
The kind of thing that they would have leapt on back in the day. Now, though, the gang was down to two. It was a shame - she honestly doubted she'd see any of the boys ever again.
Gracie's smile became amused at what she perceived from his words. Of course, it was possible that she was totally wrong.
"Yeah, I think I do."
Well he had organised to meet up at a strip club. What was she supposed to think?
He smirked lightly and looked at the television again. Over the course of the next half hour episode his body slid down until he was resting his head on the cushion of the couch, his eyes heavy lidded as he relaxed.
Occasionally he’d chuckled, or crack a smile. The man –did- have a sense of humor after all.
Lucas stopped thinking about Gracie just as he’d planned. Never failed, really. Turn your attention elsewhere, drown the rest with alcohol, and pretty soon you were on your way, unscathed.