mm: jordie-liz, the pickup artist

[leftistbeanpole]

It's the curls that won't quit, and the big eyes, that draw his attention

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[porcupineliz]

When the note appears, it's a moment before she notices it.

She picks it up, reads it, and blinks.

And glances up and down the bar, to see if she can spot the sender.

[porcupineliz]

She offers her hand, with a grin of her own. "Liz."

[leftistbeanpole]

His handshake is firm, warm, dry. "Liz," he echoes. "Yelizaveta? Elzbieta? Erzsébet?"

(He carefully lifts her hand to his lips, touches her knuckles lightly, lets go -- as though he's not paying any attention to what he's doing.)

[porcupineliz]

She watches him do it, amused.

"Elizabeth," she says. "Is 'Jordie' short for anything?"

[leftistbeanpole]

"Jordan. Which is my last name. My first name is a closely guarded government secret. Because it's terrible."

[porcupineliz]

"My condolences." Wry.

A sip of her drink, and she offers "My mother had a great-aunt who used to call herself Cindy, because she got sick of people not believing that her name was Forsythia."

[leftistbeanpole]

"Yeah, but at least that has some weight." Jordie waves his hand. "Some import, you know?"

[porcupineliz]

"Sure, like a giant marble statue." A grin. "I mean, it's great once you're old enough to be trading on your age, but when you're fifteen? Weight is the last thing you want in a name."

[leftistbeanpole]

"Depends on the fifteen-year-old," he says, thoughtful. "I wouldn't have minded it. But instead I'm Jordie, and you're Liz."

[porcupineliz]

"And here we both are."

She twirls her glass around on the bartop. "So where are you from, Jordie?"

[leftistbeanpole]

"A neighborhood called Fremont, within Capital City, on a planet called Osiris." Beat. "It's the universe that had Earth in it. If that helps you."

He finishes off his whiskey. "And what about Princess Liz?"

[porcupineliz]

"You should probably know," she tells him with a grin, "I'm a witch, not a princess."

Beat.

"And planet Earth, myself. A city called Boston in a state called Massachusetts in a country called the United States of America. Uh, very early twenty-first century."

[leftistbeanpole]

"You're perfectly lovely," he tells her. "And I say this as someone who views your time and place as a quaint matter from the history books. Something to be romanced. Because it's romantic." Beat. "It's the twenty-sixth century."

[porcupineliz]

"Twenty-sixth, huh." Her eyebrows rise appreciatively. "Are there flying cars yet?"

[leftistbeanpole]

Jordie leans in, as though to tell a secret.

"I own one," he says, low. "It's really fast."

[porcupineliz]

Liz lets out a delighted laugh. "Excellent," she declares. "That's how you know it's the future."

A beat. "Also? I never said I wasn't perfectly lovely. I just said I'm a witch."

Sweet smile.