May 27 12:01:02 106 PA
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Fri May 27 12:01:02 106 PA.
Noontime and the lunch rush is on. As with any place serving good, warm food the deli has people coming in and out, settled at the tables and chatting, filling the air with that sort of light and life that makes for an enjoyable place to relax and watch people. Vixen is enjoying a casual lunch, settled off to the side. A big, loaded sub being the object of her affections. Small girl she might be, but she has an appetite. And beside her sits her handheld, which she eyes as she eats.
Although food really isn't on her mind, Ema finds herself entering the Deli for the second time today, her eyes scanning behind the counter as she strides purposefully towards the counter, peeking around the line as she searches for something in the prep area. A customer lets out an accusatory "Excuse me, Miss", which causes Ema to turn and scowl briefly, "I'm not cutting, Just taking a look." her expression seems to silence the older lady as much as her words, though Ema does back up, not finding what she's looking for.
Vixen misses Ema's arrival, casually eyeing the screen as it works. Though she does hear, as she's lifting the sandwich for another almost too big bite, the moment of disturbance nearby at the counter. She glances towards it, just in time to see Ema slip into the back. Her eyes linger that way for a moment before she lowers the sandwich and lifts her hand to the side of her neck. Discreetly she slips a bit of datacord from under the collar of her coat, slipping the connector into the spot behind her right ear. Her attention turned towards her sandwich for another bite before she glances back, seeing the other woman emerge again.
From her place at the back of the line, Ema looks casually around, hands tucked into the pockets of her bolero, as she almost sways from side to side. Of course she notices Vixen, the bane of her otherwise pleasant existence, and she sighs noticeably, eyes closing as she angles her body away from the woman. "Every fucking time..." she mutters under her breath, eyes moving towards the door as if she's trying to decide if the sandwiches here are worth it.
Vixen gets a sense for Ema's general direction of thought and smirks faintly. "Got a seat open for you right over here," she'll note towards the other woman, voice lifted to carry. She then turns back to her sandwich and her handheld. She considers the display, her hand lowering from holding the raised sandwich to lightly adjust the settings, starting the next process.
Ema looks over at Vixen again, before her attention turns to the counter as one of the many cashiers calls "next!". She places her order, seeming to know exactly what she wants, the specifics of her sandwich rolling off her tongue easily. A few credits are slid across the counter, and she taps the tip Jar with a smile as she takes her reciept, watching the register jocky drop her change into the cup. Her order ticket in hand, she heads over towards the woman, sliding into the seat across from her, elbows resting on the table and her hands folding before her, "Well, you've won, Vixen. Who'd have thunk it."
"What are you talking about?" Vixen's question for Ema when she settles down. The computer left to process. Grinding out some graphic rendering, by the display and its small lettering. Ema will get her attention, though she does divert some attention to her sandwich from time to time, working at it steadily.
Ema shrugs as she leans back, legs crossing under the table, "I've decided to back off, to give you what you wanted. Congratulations, Leo is yours, and i'll not be hanging around him, or you, I guess anymore. I decided you were right, and Leo deserves to be happy, or at least deserves to try. You think you can do that for him? Fine. I'll let you try, free of any influence from me. You can stop worrying the i'm about to strike out at you when you least expect it." she unfolds her hands, drumming at the table as she looks over towards the counter.
Vixen frowns faintly at the news, laying her sandwich down her forearms crossing over each other as she leans forward slightly. "That won't make Leo happy," she opines. "Leo likes you. And I never said you couldn't be friends with him. All I asked for was a little respect. I think you're taking things a little too far."
Ema rolls her eyes as she turns back to look at you, "Come now, Leo assumes I just wanted a fling, and I'm sure he thinks I'm all about me." she considers that for a minute, "Maybe I am?" she hrms, looking back across the table at you as she leans forward once more, "But he'll get over me, and I'm sure it won't even take that much time, not with you there to help him along." she takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly through her nose, "This is what you wanted, you may not have said it outright, but you do. And i'm gonna try not to be selfish, and letting Leo and you do what you need too, is the best thing I can do for him."
"Then you don't know me well, chick," Vixen replies. "All I wanted out of you was the same respect I'd show you if our situations were reversed. I never told you to not be friends with Leo. And I told him recently that I don't care who his friends are. So no, you ain't giving me what I want." She considers Ema a moment, then picks up her sandwich. "You're taking the easy way out.. didn't think you'd be the sort." Her sandwich lifted again for a bite.
Ema's eyes flash, and she bites back something that appears to want to jump out of her. Another calming breath, eyes closing and opening, "Please, you'll never trust me, you'll never think I'm respecting you, so don't act like this is all so terribly inconvient for you. You do care who is friends are, especially if one of them is like me. There are a ton of easier routes I could be taking.. " she pauses, another breath, her direction changing, "Look, I'll never be able to promise you that I won't get drunk and try to take what I want. Never. You don't have any idea who I am, and if you did, you'd know that this is the last thing I'd usually do, and its probably the most selfless thing I've done in a while. And here I'd thought you'd be happy? Maybe you are?" her head tilts, "Are you just playing the part of the polite girlfriend? I think we're beyond that, me and you."
"I suppose part of me is happy, but that's the selfish part that likes things nice, neat and uncluttered," Vixen admits. "There's also the part of me that has Leo in mind. Leo likes you and if you cut him off, it'll make him sad. How sad I don 't know, but I don't want him to be sad. Or worse to think its cause I forced you away. I'm not." She lays down her sandwich then and adds, "I ain't asking you for the world. Just a little self control. To be honest, I didn't think you'd find it that hard to do. You seem like you should be.. stronger than that."
Ema lets out a short laugh at that, "Come now, Vix, you know deep down if you had to choose, between the worry I cause you, the extended, nagging fear that I seem to inspire in you, and consoling Leo for the brief period in which he mourns my leaving, you'd choose the latter every time." she watches you eat a second, her order number called as she looks over, grabbing the bagged meal with her mind as she sends it floating over to herself, "You keep taking jabs at my character, though, and I might just have to show you just how strong I can be." no malice, only finality in her voice as she smiles over at you, her eyes dipping into her bag to make sure she has what she ordered.
"Prove me wrong, then," Vixen replies. "You're the one admitting weakness. Why should you get angry at me over it when you're the one that admitted to the lack of control? Stuff like that could get you in trouble one day. Sure, compared to me maybe you're a big bad. Personally, I don't care to measure since it don't really matter. We're both strong in our ways. Maybe I can't stand up to you in a fight, but I bet there is plenty that I can do far better than you. But one day you might run afoul of some chick bigger than you, if you go around sleeping with anything that interests you. Then you won't be able to play the intimidation factor and your bluffs will get called. Seems.. sloppy to me."
Another laugh, "Do I intimidate you?" she considers that with a smile, another chuckle, "thats good to know, i guess. But I feel compelled now, to impart in you how very serious i am. I never bluff. I'm giving you a chance, laying out what the consequences for certain actions are. You've yet to call me on them, so I have assume you know i'm not bluffing. So what then? You trying to antagonize me? Think i'll come at you in a place like this, in front of a bunch of people?" she looks at you, eyes on yours, face neutral.
"I'm not calling your bluff because, unlike some people, I don't like fighting," Vixen replies steadily, her shoulders given a casual roll. "Besides, Leo would probably be mad at me even if I won." She shrugs and adds, "I guess maybe I'm trying to see what you got behind the bluster. Maybe I think we got a few things in common. And maybe I'd like to see a bit before I decide to write you off as this that or the other. I've been thinking a bit and were it not for the whole thing with Leo, I'm thinking we might have hit it off different."
Ema's eyes narrow, lips twitch as she watches you. She seems to come to some sort of descion as her face goes neutral again, "I've got nothing else to offer under the bluster, maybe. The hunt, the chase, thats all I am." she stands, smiling, "Maybe in another time, another place, things would have been different. But this is the hand we're dealt. Good or bad. We both have to do what we think is best, and this is what I think is best. I'm asking you now, to respect me, and what I want. You want to take jabs at me, fine, just don't do it to my face." she stands, bag in hand, "The situation is what it is now, and I'm not about to let you try twist my intentions into some attack on my character." she starts to head for the door, "I'll be seein ya, Vix."
"Come back to see me when you wanna get rid of this grudge and see what might be past it," Vixen replies, picking her sandwich back up. "Just don't tell Leo I'm making you do this, cause I ain't." Keeping it simple, glancing towards her hand held computer again. Oh, done. She lowers her hand to start it up on another process.
Barely a glance is given to Vix as Ema walks out, her expression hidden from you, but does cause a potential customer she meets at the door to turn and almost fall over himself as he tries to get away from the obviously upset Ema.
Vixen frowns faintly after Ema. Breathing out lowly, she shakes her head. "Serious issues," she murmurs to herself before she sets to finishing off the sandwich.
