Of all the gin joints in all the towns of the world, she walks into mine

[a_red_die]

Characters: Arthur, Jennifer Walters, anyone else who wants to drop in and talk to Arthur?
Location: Random Bar C
Time: Late the 24th
Content: Absolutely awful attempts to distract and cheer up our favorite She-Hulk
Warnings: None for the moment (possible language?)....liable to change?
Format: Prose

Comments

[legallygreen]

It had been a long day. A long day of looking over her shoulder, of trying to make sure that everyone was safe. A day that left her drained and exhausted and worn beyond most days in Chicago. It was why she had agreed to meet Arthur, why she had texted the name of the bar to John.

Tired, she walked into the bar and closed the umbrella she had opened over her head to keep the rain away, shaking it out and leaning it near the door. None of the ghost patrons would bother it. She spotted Arthur, his suit bringing back an odd pang in her chest as she approached him, sitting down in her too common jeans and clingy peasant blouse. So non-lawyer for her.

"Hello." It sounded lame, even to her as she slipped into the booth, her back to the wall so she could see everything at once.

[a_red_die]

Arthur moves off his stool and goes to sit across from her at the booth.

"Hello again, Ms. Walters." And he's not quite sure what to do now, but he had invited her so he had better think of something.

When was the last time he had had to provide comfort for someone? Cobb? Lot of good that did even when he did try.

[legallygreen]

Jennifer waited for a ghost waitress to leave and return with a double scotch on the rocks for her before she spoke. She knew her voice was tired as she looked over at him, swishing the ice around in her highball glass.

"Call me Jennifer, Art. This Ms. Walters crap isn't going to help me today." She said quietly, shaking her head. "Ask what you want. I'm pretty numb right now."

[a_red_die]

"It's habit Jenn, sorry." He apologizes just as quietly. He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"You said your friends are in trouble, but...other than Megamind and the nightmares I haven't seen anything troublesome around here so, it's not that I don't believe you, but...I don't know what I should be preparing for."

[legallygreen]

"Neal's fallen angel has possessed him completely." She replied, her voice still soft. "And he wants something that I have. When I refused to give it to him and escaped, he said he was going to come after the people I care about next."

[a_red_die]

Arthur taps his fingers a bit against the table. "Well, I'm sure the majority of us can take care of ourselves, and now that you've gotten the warning out we'll be on guard and helping the less skillful acquaintances of yours."

He waits a minute thinking. "Is there anyway to bargain with this thing?"

[legallygreen]

"I don't have any desire to bargain with a demon. I like my soul in tact." Her fingers played along the rim of her glass, her voice thick for a moment. "Besides, I don't think he's interested in a bargain."

[a_red_die]

"Souls? Really?" Forgive him, he's not versed in dealing with the supernatural.

"Why does he want this thing that you won't give him? What would be the consequences of giving it to him?"

[legallygreen]

"He wants a box we found a little while ago. And I don't know what would happen, but it would be bad enough. The people he works for, these demons, are bad news. Any reason they want the box is not a good reason."

The door to the bar opened and she looked up immediately to see if it was someone she knew. When it was just another ghost patron, she relaxed, though not by much.

"I'm going to figure this out, I just need time to think."

[a_red_die]

Arthur pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment. "I just don't have enough information about this place to operate as I normally do, but whatever I can help with....I'm at your disposal."

He looks her in the eyes.

"You kept me from making a very foolish choice the other night, and I owe you."

[legallygreen]

"What, singing Lady Gaga instead of Cher?" She asked, almost finding the ability to smile at the memory.

Jennifer sipped at her drink. "I don't want you or anyone else to be hurt."

[a_red_die]

He narrows his eyes briefly, but there's no real threat there. "Lady Gaga makes three Hitchcock references in only one verse of Bad Romance. I'd say that's justifiably better than Cher."

He shakes his head. "Considering I would have put a bullet into my brain if you hadn't come alone I feel like I can risk injury from whatever is out there to help you."

[legallygreen]

"...What?"

Jennifer looked up at him, only alarm in her expression. "What do you mean you would have put a bullet into your brain?"

[a_red_die]

"Exactly that. Did I mention that a number of similarities between dream sharing and the way this Chicago works were pointed out to me? Well, that's true. The similarities in the presence of projections, the shifting weather, and a number of other things mean this could be a dream. To wake up from a dream you die, so I was going to wake myself up."

He smiles wryly.

"Luckily, for me hangovers are impossible in dreams so when I had one I knew the night before and everything else is real."

[legallygreen]

"Oh Art..."

Her voice trailed off. There was no need to say anything more than what she had. Maybe her hand shook a little as she picked up her glass of scotch and sipped from it again, not able to say any more about what he nearly had done.

"I guess we should both thank the fact that my body chemistry does not let me get drunk without pharmaceutical help then."

[a_red_die]

He shrugs. "It's not such a big thing. I've died plenty of times. Someday it will be for real."

His head tilts. "You can't get intoxicated?"