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The trip through town was uneventful, and in due course the pair, Thea and Jamie, cruise on down to their destination in Hell's Kitchen. They talk, they laugh, they fill the potentially awkward silence with words, as people do on car rides. With directions, Madrox manages to find the place, and pulls up in front of the building, shifting the Impala into 'park'. He slips out his door, and hops around to open up the passenger side from the outside (the handle inside is a bit finicky), making appearances that he's a gentleman, but the fact that he was very recently kissing the girl, rather fully, for the benefit of her workmates could speak otherwise to his morals. Nonetheless, it's a gesture, and he helps the young woman up and out of the car, intending to walk her up to her apartment, if she'll allow it.
*
Thea will let him fill in silence as he feels the need. Silence is something Thea is.. uncommonly comfortable with. She will let him get her door, a grin at him, up from under lashes as she gets out of his car. Eyes dart towards a neighboring building, before she moves up the steps to her apartment building. Of course she'll allow the escort, up the flight of stars to her apartment. She shoves the door open with her shoulder (It sticks a bit), and then invites him in casually over her shoulder. Her bag is set down into the nearby coat closet, her coat hung up neatly.
The apartment is not exactly a spacious penthouse, but what it is, is clean and ruthlessly organized. Furniture is well loved, cared for second hand stuff that had been expensive when new, Couch and sofa crammed in with an armchair near the little rounded turret window thing, for looking out, and from the look of the small table beside it, reading in. The kitchen is more of the same, neat dish towels hanging from hooks along the wall, everything in its place. "Can I get you a drink, Jamie?"
*
Never one to turn down an invitation, Jamie enters after Thea, taking care to remove his shoes once inside; never can be too careful about these things, after all, and everything is clean, so he'd hate to ruin it. His eyes cast about the apartment, taking it in. So much.. stuff. His own residences tend to be much more spartan and utilitarian, probably owing to the fact that he needs to keep the space open, when possible. "If you're having something yourself, I'll join you," he says. Never let a lady drink alone. That's a rule somewhere. "This is a nice place you've got here," he continues. "You collect all this yourself?"
*
"I was going to just have a soda, if that's all right?" The blonde offers, moving towards the fridge. "It's hand me downs. Not really my style, but you don't say no to the patriach when he wants you to have furniture." She laughs, a hand passing through her hair, shaking it loose.
*
"Oh yeah, sure," Jamie replies, maybe a little bit disappointed that she wasn't breaking into the alcohol. Yes, it's early, what? He steps a bit further inside, not at all following Thea as she moves through her home, instead making no secret about looking around at things. Not snooping, by any means, just checking out what's on display. "Yeah, tough to say no to free," he agrees when she mentions that the furniture is all passed down to her. "Nicer than any of my stuff," he adds. "Have you been here long?"
*
There's a hidden smile, and Jamie may notice a lack of beer inside that refrigerator. She'll bring him that chilled glass bottle sans cap, sipping from her own. Looking around will reveal a picture of Thea with the people that are clearly her parents, and what looks to be her younger brother. There's another of her with an older man with her eyes, perhaps her grandfather. There are a couple news papers on the coffee table, neatly folded and stacked, but the rest are books. Most of the books pertain to nursing or medicine, though there's a couple that don't - Mythology and mystery novels. She'll sink down onto the couch, watching him.
*
Jamie happily accepts the bottle, taking a drink from it immediately. He was thirsty. All that talking in the car, probably. "Thanks," he says, smiling. He looks around a few moments longer, before moving to sit down beside Thea on the couch, though he's careful not to get too close to her without being invited to do so. Maybe he should take the kissing show they put on earlier as an implicit invitation, but as far as he's aware, that was indeed just for show, and he certainly doesn't want to do anything that might compel the lady to demonstrate exactly what she meant by her being able to 'stop it if she had to' when it came to unwanted attention. "So you volunteer at the clinic, and you work at the hospital. Any time in there for other things? For fun, I mean?" Hobbies, Jamie. The word is hobbies. God he's awful at small talk.
*
Thea presses the bottle against her lips to contain that smirk as he sits down. Watching him try to puzzle and navigate is suddenly amusing. "Nursing classes." She responds, before there's a grin that lets loose a laugh. "No hobbies for another month or so. Then I'll work on passing the boards, then trying to get actually hired at a hospital. Then maybe I'll have time to get a real hobby. What about you, Jamie? Since you have the duplicates working for you, what does Jamie do for fun?"
*
"Sounds busy," Jamie says with a raise of his eyebrows. He's busy, but it's easy to juggle a lot of things when you're a lot of bodies. There are times he doesn't know how people who don't have that benefit manage it. "Oh, I do all kinds of things. I'm my own softball team, we start again in the spring. Think we have a real shot this year," he says with a grin. "My hobbies tend to pretty much work-related, too. Spend a lot of time just trying to help the cause, you know? Lots of mutants in this town who need a hand getting through their day without getting roughed up," he says with a bit of a shrug. "It's a full-time job on its own. But it has its perks," he adds, giving Thea a wink and a smile, before taking another sip from his soda.
*
"It is, but the things we do for what we want, right?" There's laughter at the mention of his own softball team, brown eyes lit up with amusement. "So you're trying to be a mutant ally, hero, all around good guy?" There's a lift of brows. "Perks? Like meeting all the pretty mutant girls?"
*
"Yes to the first, not as much to the last two. Don't really want to be labelled a hero, and.. I'll settle for 'not a bad guy', on the last," Jamie replies. "Present company included, when it comes to pretty mutant girls," he adds with a sly grin, lifting his bottle in a bit of a mock toast. "That part of the job isn't as glamourous as you might think. Usually they just run away when the fighting starts, not very often does the damsel in distress hang around and show her appreciation. And a fair amount of the time, it's not really a damsel, just some guy who couldn't fight back."
*
Thea laughs softly, leaning against the arm of the couch, fingers idly playing with her hair as her other hand toasts him with her soda bottle. "Oh, I by no means think it's glamourous. I saw you beat up, remember?" There's lift and fall of her brows as she shakes her head. "Well, take comfort that you'll never have to do my fighting for me, and watch me run away? "
*
"Yeah, you definitely saw more than most," Jamie says, nodding a bit. "Wasn't even the worst of it. Had a few broken ribs, and the knife gash was a lot deeper before I got to you. Absorbing the others, kinda heals them? Kind of like taking the average, and applying it to the one that's left." So he may have lied a little bit about the super-healing, but not really? All depends on how you look at it. "I don't mind doing the fighting.. and I don't mind watching you run away.. as long as you run slowly," he says, giving Thea a deliberate wink. Yep, he made that joke.
*
"Well, now you know me, too. So between all of it, we can keep you in one piece…well, you know what I mean." There's a grin there, as the blonde regards him. "You hate to see me go, but love to watch me leave, is that what you're getting at? But I'm no damsel in distress, Jamie. I pity any man who only wants a woman who needs him."
*
Jamie chuckles at that, and sips again from his bottle of soda. "Exactly," he says, his appreciation of her physical attributes not something he's trying to hide. "Damsels bore me quickly. Don't like women who are needy, in any respect." Don't get him wrong, they can be fun for a few hours, but in the long run? Jamie needs to know they can look after themselves. He can't be a babysitter. Rather, won't. "Though it is nice to be wanted," he comments idly, and sips again.
*
"I find men who expect to be needed and waited on bore me much the same way." Thea responds, sipping at her soda. "It's one thing to once in a while go over the top with dinner and making myself pretty, but I'm not going to do it every day to soothe some man's ego." Just a fair warning, Jamie! "It sounds nice."
*
"Oh, I don't need an ego boost. Got plenty of that already. But I do like the attention," Jamie admits. "Certainly don't need to be waited on. I've got hundreds of hands, can do most things myself," he says, and then grins again. "Most things." Some things are more fun if someone else helps though.
*
"At least you're honest, Jamie." Thea's face brightens with that amusement, a smile hinted at in her lips. "See, a man like you would be all kinds of handy in a hospital ward. Never enough hands." There's a chuckle low in her throat. As for that most things comment, she keeps mum, a hint of flush.
*
"I've done a bit of that. Of course, couldn't really be more than one, due to the inevitable questions," Jamie admits. In his life, he's done a little bit of everything. One of him actually spent some time training as a dental hygenist. Didn't go through with it, but you'll notice that Jamie's teeth are very well cared for. "But yeah, I'm honest. About the important things, at least," he says with a smirk. "Ask me anything. Never saw much sense in hiding."
*
"I'll keep that card in my pocket, should the need to actually ask you anything arise." Thea sips at her soda, a glance towards the window. "Though I would warn you about lying to me. Chances aren't good you'd get away with it, if I'm really trying to catch you."
*
"Might be a one time only offer," Jamie says, smirking again. "But I'll keep that in mind," he pulls out an imaginary pad of paper, and fake-writes, "Detects lies," narrating the mock-dictation, and then puts the imaginary pad back in his non-imaginary pocket. "Sadly I have no such ability. I have to trust and believe like a normal human being. Which I tend to, unless someone gives me a reason not to." He gives a bit of a shrug, and another smile. "You seem honest enough, though."
*
"Most people can't lie without their heartrate increasing, or some other tell tale that shows up for someone of my… talents." There's a sly smile at that name for what she does, before she laughs again at his dictation. "No, you could just have a dupe follow me around to see if I was lying." There's a wink there. "Usually, yes. Other than the mutant thing. That's something I tend to keep close to the vest."
*
"You and a few million others. I won't hold it against you." Jamie tips the bottle up, and drains the last few drops of soda, swallowing easily, and then sets it down on the coffee table, empty. "I guess you probably have other things to do with your afternoon, though," he says, shifting his weight a bit in preparation to stand. "And I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome. I'd love to call on you again though. Give the other nurses some more scandal to gossip about." He grins, and gives Thea a wink.
*
"Well, job security and all. Maybe someday no one will care if their nurse is a super nurse." Thea finishes off her soda, rising. "More studying, probably." She blushes a bit, looking up at him. "Not overstaying your welcome at all, but I'm sure you have better things to do than sit and flirt with me." There's a grin. "I'd love to see you again. I have to make you a Greek dinner, remember?"
*
One of the great things about being Jamie Madrox is that even if there are things he ought to be doing, he's probably doing them already somewhere else. Jamie is the ultimate multitasker. "Depends on your definition of better," he says with a smirk. "Certainly not more fun, if that's what you mean. And yes, dinner promises were made, which I'll hold you to. Just name the date, I'll be here."
*
Thea chuckles, a smirke as she looks up at him. "Flattery will get you an amazing dinner.. and better drinks than cola." She teases. "As soon as my classes are over here in a couple weeks, I will be able to truly take the time to really prepare you a proper Greek dinner. "
*
Jamie has stood up by now as well, and started to walk slowly to the door. "I'm looking forward to it," he says, slipping his shoes onto his feet. "Does my flattery at least get me a little sugar? Without having to let your co-workers watch?" He smiles, turning his cheek to face Thea. If she wanted to slap him like she's never slapped anyone before, there's the perfect opening. Because, and pun totally intended, he's being purposefully cheeky.
*
Thea laughs, before a hand reaches out to tug him closer. The blonde will lean up on her toes to kiss him soundly, before he'll be pushed back at the door. "I've never had anyone call it sugar before. Not about kisses from me, to me." That amusement still has her color high. "Now don't go digging yourself a hole, Jamie."
*
If it's on the lips, Jamie will return it with just as much enthusiasm, and when he's pushed back to the door, there will be a wide smile on his face. Possibly lipstick. "Ciao, bella," he says, his Italian accent somewhat amateur, but passable. With that, the multiple man slips out the door, turning to give Thea another smile, wave, and even a bit of a bow as he back up down he hall, eventually turning to face forward as he enters the stairwell, and leaves the building. Successful lunch date?
*