On The Job

[Deleted]

Jayden was just finishing up work before the weekend. He knew he would have to make a trip home tomorrow sometime, so needed to get his stuff together. Maybe even grab a few extra things from the store when everything was closed... which wouldn't be too much longer now. He pulled on his coat, not having brought his bike today because his site wasn't far from his place. Whatever he could save on gas, he would. He zipped up his coat, popped up his collar, and put his hands in his pocket. There was a cooler air today but he didn't mind it. It would help blow off the steam he felt after working for idiots all day long.

Before he made it too far, he saw someone nearby and it took him only a couple seconds to recognize her. He wasn't sure if he should be pleasantly surprised or annoyed by her being here. The circumstances under which they had initially met weren't exactly the best. "You stalking me now?" He joked, knowing that he had told her where he worked. He was not really pleased with her being here but... then again, even if he wouldn't admit it, he found it interesting to meet someone else like him. Because she was the only person, other than the idiots who kidnapped him, who knew of his powers.

(( Tag Lana ))

[Lana Kane]

Lana waited outside the gates for him to come, and when he did she smiled over (and up) at him. "Now, now, tight pants, your hot but . . . I'm not that type of girl." She was teasing him, tight pants being the name she called him because of how well his pants seemed to fit him--and she noticed. Noticed it well. "I am here about something else."

Her eyes shifted behind him to some of his coworkers leaving and she decided this wasn't the place to talk, as he still managed to keep his powers hidden from most others in his life, where as she had her feet firmly in the mutant world. "About something we have in common." Their mutant parts. "Got some place we can talk? If not then we can catch a cab to my place."

[Deleted]

He smirked and shook his head a little at her words. Tight pants. He wasn't going to get used to that name. But hey, if an attractive woman wanted to call him that and compliment him, who was he to discourage that? He was a guy after all. It wasn't until she said that she had to talk about something they had in common that his smirk faded. He slightly turned his head to the side, seeing how far the others were before he fully looked at her again. He knew exactly what she was talking about. And knew they needed a quiet place so that no one else would hear. If he took a cab to her place, he would have to take one back. Defeated the purpose of saving a bit of extra cash.

"My place isn't far," he told her, motioning with his head the direction they would be walking. He didn't normally, if ever, take anyone to his place... but something about her made him think it was ok to take her. "You take a cab here?" He asked, wondering how far it was for her. Because if she came all this way, then it had to have been important. "Came all the way just to see me?" He asked, his voice a bit more teasing and suggestive of her intentions of coming all this way. He knew it was something about their powers, but he may as well have fun with it.

[Lana Kane]

He had a place . . . nearby? Lana looked around, before turning toward where he nodded. He had a place in this neighborhood? Or was he going to make her walk a few blocks in these shoes? Lana didn't try to hide the judgement from her face, but nor did it say there long. His teasing distracted her. "In these shoes? You don't expect a girl to walk when she can catch a free ride now, do ya?" While her coat hid her bright blue dress, her white knee high boots could be seen--and as she was short, she made up for it with heel.

Turning to walk with him, they began the trip toward 'his place' while she continued. "Lets just say you have something I need, and couldn't get anywhere else." She made her words have a double meaning from her tone, "so I didn't even bother changing me clothes in my hurry." Her accent slipped some, going deeper then it was at other times. Lana's stride was smaller then his, making her having to take two steps for his every one. "Don't worry, I'll make it worth your time.

[Deleted]

He didn't miss the double meaning in her words, though he knew full well that it was only referring to one very specific meaning. A conversation he wasn't exactly looking forward to, but clearly one he was not going to reject. "Yeah you better," he told her, not only speaking with a double meaning this time, but genuine in how it best be worth the time and effort. "Don't wanna deal with any more bull shit cause work gives me enough," he told her. That, and if he was planning on going back home this weekend, well, that was a whole other bottle of issues.

When they arrived at his place, he unlocked the door and opened it so that they could go inside. The building didn't have an elevator, but he was only on the third floor. It wasn't the most appealing of places, rather dingy and small. He tended to spend most of the money he made for himself on his bike rather than for accommodations. Arriving at his door he opened it and stepped inside, waiting for her to follow before he closed it behind them.

[Lana Kane]

"Don't snap at me because you rather work like a dog." She demanded as they walked into his building. Pausing at the bottom of the steps as he walked up them, Lana stared after him. Really? Granted just over a year ago she was living on the streets but since then she had learned to live differently, and these shoes weren't street shoes.

Though the view while climbing the windowless steps made it worth it. Finally at the top she walked in and looked around, before opening her coat, and setting it to the side. She looked out of place, and Lana doubted he'd believe her if she told him she spent years in places worst then this. "Now I don't know how the whole working from 9 to 5 thing is, but . . . I would have thought you'd be able to get a better place then this." Looking around, she took in the small place, noting where everything was, and his personal belongings.

After a moment she turned to look at him, "Gonna offer a girl a drink, tight pants?"

[Deleted]

Once they got inside, he took off his coat and tossed it on the couch, freezing when he heard her speak of how she would have thought his place would be better. That hit a nerve. "If you're gonna have your nose up in the air like that then just get out. I don't need your judgy self acting like you're better than me cause of where I live." The fact that he had electricity and running water automatically made this place more livable than where his family lived. But what could they do? He clearly did not like to be told that the place was crap. He knew it was, so he didn't need to be told, nor did he need anyone judging his standard of living.

Giving her that option to leave, he went over to his fridge and pulled out a soda, temporarily ignoring her and letting the beverage cool his anger a little. Hell, he probably even got the drink out and drank it himself cause she asked him to offer it to her. Something that he wasn't entirely opposed to once she made up her mind on whether she was going to insult his place or get to business on why she had sought him out.

[Lana Kane]

He snapped at her before going over to get a drink, and then drinking it before her. Lana rolled her eyes, but she could feel his emotions and knew she had insulted him. "My bad," Her tone wasn't apologetic, but more one that said she understood she'd crossed a line. "I'd lived in worse, believe it if you will, but I lived worse places then this. I just don't see the point of it if you could do better."

She had ran away from home years before she met Erik who took her in and showed her a better way to live. While she didn't agree with the 'TO WAR!' mindset, she did enjoy the her ability to get the finer things in life. "You got a job, so you live here by choice. Why?"

[Deleted]

She didn't say sorry, and honestly, Jay actually saw that as a good thing. People were only sorry when they were called out for what they did. It was just, hardly ever followed with genuine sentiment. "Yeah you lived in worse? Then don't act like your better than me cause I live here." He didn't ask her where she had lived, what environment she grew up in, or anything like that. Though she seemed to be asking the questions. Specifically, why he lived here when he worked. He wasn't about to tell her about his family or anything overly personal.

Taking out another drink, he set it on the table for her before turning around and leaning against the kitchen counter, taking another large swig of his drink to continue to cool his mood and work on changing the conversation. "You come here to interrogate me about my life, or ask me something specific? Let's just get on with whatever you needed to see me about." An opening for them to talk about why she was here, rather than why he was here.

[Lana Kane]

This time she did roll her eyes and let out a sigh, "What ev." If he wanted to play nasty then she'd wouldn't play friends. "I came because I have a job for you. And off the books one, if you get the feel." One that would be less then legal. "I know some guys, and I make my money by doing jobs for them, or finding people who can get the job done--for a fee." She was the middle-woman so to speak.

"This new guy, he's sort of shady, but he is offering to pay half up front. The rest when we deliver the good. A thousand dollars . . . . and that's just your take home pay, tight pants." Which meant he was offing more money, but she was taking her cut. "It's a simple enough job for you. Walk through a wall, stay invisible, steal something out of a deposit box."

"Now do you want to hear more, or do I need to else where cause you're tired of me?"

[Deleted]

She had him at a thousand bucks. That was a hell of a lot of money! One that would definitely help out his family and maybe even the entire reservation. He would probably have to portion it out cause there was no way his mom was going to believe he made all that on a bonus. But still. It was a pretty good sounding total. "Let's say that you got my attention," he said, rather interested in the offer. But it almost sounded too easy. Too simple.

"What's the catch though? All sounds too good to be true," he said with a bit of sarcasm. He needed to know the risk involved cause if it was a pretty risky operation, then he was either going to demand more money or bow out. He wasn't about to get his ass arrested for some dude he didn't even know. "What's your cut?" He asked, curious to know how much she made off of deals like this. Especially if he was the one taking the risks.

[Lana Kane]

Oh she knew she had his attention--she could feel his shift in mood. Feel the details of it. Lana wished sometimes their was a way to turn it off sometimes but in times like this she was grateful for it. "Like I said, the bloke gave my a creepy feeling, but most men tend to give that off every now and them. Hazard of knowing their mood."

"There is a bank five hours north. If you say, decide to take the offer, we'd head out tonight and wait til morning to scout the place. That's my job. This--" She gestured to her short height, and small frame "--don't look threatening. I ask some questions, bat my eyes and then leave. Once I know everything is clear, then you go in. The unseen way. You walk to the vault, open the box, take what's inside and walk out. I then give you half of your cut, and the other half when I get paid."

"What's your cut?" She grinned, and shrugged at his question, letting him use his imagination. "I don't interrogate you, tight pants, you don't get to peek either."

With that she felt like making one last point, "Look, if the man was paying humans for this he'd be paying a group of idiots the same price and they'd cut it six ways, rob the place and make a lot of news. By me giving mutants jobs, no one has to get hurt, no one has to even know, and we get more money between the two of us."

[Deleted]

They would go tonight? So much for heading home. Though this seemed to be well worth staying for. She didn't answer his question about how much she made. And he didn't like the fact that she would be the one determining when he got his other half. Besides, he was the one going in and doing it. As she said, all she had to do was bat her eyes. He was the one taking the real risk wasn't it. "We don't have to scout anything," he told her, not wanting to waste time on waiting for the coast to be clear. "You just tell me exactly what the guy wants, and I'll go in and get it." He paused for a second. "Ya know, if I'm taking this job, hypothetically." Yes. Speaking in hypothetical terms since he hadn't technically agreed to anything.

He honestly didn't care whether she offered it to mutants or humans, that made no difference to him. He had no loyalty to either. His loyalty was to his own people. Not these weird split between races where it seemed you had to choose a side with one or the other. "Who's the guy?" Jay asked. He needed to know a bit about him to know what he'd be dealing with, or who he would be dealing with. This wasn't a small time job. It was going into a back and getting a grand off of it. He wanted to know what he would be getting himself into... hypothetically.

[Lana Kane]

"It's a good thing you're pretty, tight pants." Lana put her hands on her hips, and explained, "This guy is new, it means I don't have a lot of trust for him and his. You need me to go in first and make sure things feel--" She reached up to tamp her temple "--alright. Because if they are setting a trap, the second they see that box open, or something twitch they will be all over you--and I am not going to get you out of another cage."

Now she sighed, "There is no hypowhatever about this. It's either, why yes I would love to make some quick cash, let me pack a bag! Or, get the bloody hell out of my place and find another poor sod. I make my money by making sure all sides are kept hidden. I don't tell who my clients are, and I don't get mutants like you exposed for things they are still set on keeping hidden."

"All you need to know right now is that I don't know him enough to trust him--just like I don't know you enough to trust you." She used to be a bit naive, and trusting but her time with Magneto had changed that. Or helped it change, she still was trusting both these guys a bit too much for her own good. "So it is either we both go, or you stay and I still get the job done, only a bit harder. You know the risks, you know the reward. What say you?"