Here. Again. Wherever here is.

[riversinger]

She much prefers the TARDIS to travelling coach, but when all one has is a vortex manipulator, and a glitchy one at that, one makes do with what one has.

Which is why River materialises in the middle of the bar, frightening the whiskers off a waitrat and only just missing being drenched in beer.

"Sorry!  Sorry, thought this was supposed to be..."

Comments

[nitro_is_ace]

Someone pings a mini oreo off the vortex manipulator.

"Sloppy." That same someone may comment, in an over-emphasized drawl, from the couch.

[riversinger]

River flinches a bit, and turns to follow the trajectory.

"You again. My day is officially looking up." She grins and moves to join the Time Lord where she sits. "I confess, it could use a tune up."

She steals a mini oreo before she sprawls opposite Ace.

[nitro_is_ace]

"Must be quite a day, if I'm the preferable option." Ace snarks, not bothering to defend her oreos. "Don't tell me y'stole that thing off Jack, or I may have t'resolve some conflict of interest."

[riversinger]

"Jack?"

She snags the sleeve of a passing rat and orders something salty sweet, and a pint to wash it down.

"Sorry, no. This one I won fair and square."

By cheating her ass off, but that's neither here nor there.

[nitro_is_ace]

Ace blinks at that - not the comment, but that the rats are going near enough to River to be caught. And it's not just the one, which might be only the result of a rat not being terribly quick on the uptake - none of them seem to be openly avoiding River, the way they've avoided her for the last... oh, let's not think about that.

"There's others? Thought he made the bloody thing. Should've known." Ace truly doesn't know that much about Jack Harkness - the Time Agency is on the other side of the war.

[riversinger]

"Time Agency standard issue," she says, flipping back the cover and leaning over so Ace can have a gander if she likes.

She follows Ace's gaze. "Problem?"

[nitro_is_ace]

"Time who?" Ace asks, rather puzzled. "How bleedin' pretentious." She's a fine one to talk, sure, but... well, just look at that thing. It's a miracle it works at all.

She may have decided to ignore the other comment, for the nonce.

[riversinger]

"Yes, well, they are rather full of themselves, I will give you that." She does take out her sonic screwdriver and runs a minor diagnostic. "Seems to be working fine now. Maybe this Bar place just wanted a proper introduction."

She lifts an eyebrow at Ace, seeing as their last meeting ended rather abruptly. "What is it with you and Hunt anyway?"

[nitro_is_ace]

"Me an' Hunt?" Ace repeats, innocent as a spring lamb. "Haven't the foggiest what y'mean." And she forestalls answering any further questions for a bit by popping a cookie in her mouth.

She learns some of her tricks from her brother. Alas.

[riversinger]

River scoffs, still smirking. The rat brings her a basket of paradoxes and her pint and she thanks him with a tip, nothing overly generous, mind.

"Well, he told me you're married to a werewolf. And claims quite vehemently that you and he are just mates. But you seemed keen on keeping a little air between the two of us. I don't mind, I just was wondering if there was a reason."

[nitro_is_ace]

"The sex robot gets jealous. Part of the programmin'." Ace drawls lazily, shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch. "An... huh." She self-edits, answering her own question before she manages to ask it.

[riversinger]

"The sex robot, yes. His DI, you said. His male DI."

River munches noisily on a paradox, waiting to hear this.

[nitro_is_ace]

"I didn't say that, now did I?" Ace retorts, grinning. "Besides. Man can have more'n one DI. For all y'know they come as pairs. To entertain themselves when he's not around."

Ace is an inventive cheeky monkey, when bored.

[riversinger]

That gets a proper belly laugh out of River.

"He's law enforcement! And he gave me the full brief on Detective Inspectors and Detective Chief Inspectors. And then he swore up and down that there'd never be a woman DI, so clearly, there's a story there. And I want all the juicy details! Now give."

[nitro_is_ace]

Ace throws another mini oreo.

"Go fish, River Song. If he wants t'tell, he can. Just 'cause he doesn't know t'keep his mouth shut 'round gossipy companions doesn't mean he gets tales told behind his back." Don't ask her why she's defending a policeman, of all people. Maybe because he actually seemed sorry about a firebombing outside his time and precinct. Maybe because there's something oddly tragic about the DCI and his DI that she can't quite put her finger on. Maybe because she doesnt' want to piss off the only person who will talk footy with her and not support Crystal Palace. Who knows.

[riversinger]

This time she catches the oreo, and pops it into her mouth.

"Any one ever call you a wet blanket?"