Ankle Biter (Jorge)

The day had started out so well. The detective had decided to take Lizzie out for a walk since he knew living it an apartment was hard for her. Most of the day while he was at work she had free reign of the house, but that was far different than the living she had in Miami. Still, he accepted that she was a trooper in dealing with this change so whenever he had the free time, he would take her out for a well-deserved walk, and today was one of those days.

Dressed simply in a light grey, long sleeved shirt that said “University of Miami” across the chest, dark blue jeans and sneakers, Jorge held tight to the leash on Lizzie’s dog collar. Lizzie, the white English bulldog, was a little more energetic today than he normally would have excepted but he had hoped that a good long walk would be enough to tire her out for a bit. Work off some of that excess energy she obviously carried around. The second he came home today, she had nearly bounced off the walls to get his attention so, even though he was tired from a long day, Jorge decided to let her see the town a bit more.

“Come on, girl,” he said affectionately as they walked the paths of Central Park. “Let’s tire you out a bit huh? What do you want to see?”

He said as he knelt down on the soft, green grass and softly patted her head. Lizzie drooled affectionately as she lapped at his hand, trying to kiss him in return. He only smirked as he scratched behind her ears and unhooked the leash from her collar. As he stepped away from her, he pulled a squeezable red ball from his jean pocket. The sight of the ball immediately got Lizzie’s attention as she stood stock still and wagged her tail in anticipation.

“Want it huh? Go get it!” He hurled the ball off onto the grassy lawn and immediately Lizzie was set upon it. She ran fast before she caught it in her soft mouth and rushed back to Jorge.

This continued for another two or three passes, Jorge throwing the ball and Lizzie chasing only to bring it back for more. But upon the last throw, Jorge was taken off guard. After he threw the ball, Lizzie bolted straight past it when she noticed a shadow off the in the distance that caught her eye. A squirrel had run across to a tree and this immediately intrigued the dog. Within a second she had already bolted after it and barked happily, trying to chase the scared animal.

“No! Lizzie!!” Jorge yelled as he chased after his dog.

He tried his best to follow the bulldog but she had got a good distance on him. As he ran past a tree he knew Lizzie had been near, he looked out fruitlessly and whistled to get her attention. There was a brief second or two of complete fear that he had lost his dog in Central Park as he walked around, whistled and called out her name. But as he continued on, he heard a voice warn…

>> "Dog. Behave yourself."

Jorge immediately turned to where he heard the commotion and that that familiar squat form with white fur all over her body. He breathed a short sigh of relief and jogged over. He spotted the tall, dark skinned woman whose foot Lizzie seemed to be trying to gnaw on. Obviously she thought it was a game but Jorge was quick to cut in.

“Lizzie! Stop that!” Jorge announced as he jogged over. His presence immediately grabbed Lizzie’s attention and she walked over to him and sat very obediently. Jorge sighed as he knelt down and reattached her leash. “Miss, I am so sorry,” he said addressing the woman whom Lizzie had just been playing with. “I hope she didn’t bother you.”

Jorge stood a little dumbfounded as he stared at the woman whom Lizzie had in so many terms just assaulted. Well, it was as bad as all that, after all a couple of teeth marks and drool could easily be fixed but as he remained unmoving, the detective did start to feel bad. He took a deep breath as he watched the woman closely, noted that she was slightly irritated with Lizzie’s behavior, with good reason though, and really she was not a bad looker. No notion of this showed on the grizzly officer’s face as he knelt down and scratched behind the dog’s ears again and made sure the leash was securely added.

“Sorry, Miss, I didn’t mean to lose track of her,” he said as he stood up from the ground and gave Lizzie his stern look. “Guess she is forgetting her manners…”

The dog immediately responded by giving off a soft, baby-like whine and lay down on the ground with her head low. Jorge could only chuckle inwardly and shook his head.

He then looked back up to the woman and remained quiet. Inside his mind he cursed himself. He was still pretty new to New York and of course one of the first things his dog had to do was nearly assault some innocent bystander because she was chasing a squirrel. Still though, he did have to admit that the situation was funny. Lizzie was not one to just run off and play with someone that she did not now. Then again, Jorge noted, this woman did have groceries with her, so that obviously Lizzie was after some kind of foodstuff. Lizzie was a wily one.

Jorge leaned down and patted the dog affectionately one more time before he finally addressed the woman again. “Again, I apologize. I’ll gladly take care of any damages, if she ruined your shoes at all…” he said with utmost sincerity. “I’m Jorge, by the way,” a warm enough smile appeared on his face that kind of seemed odd for his gruff appearance, “and the little terror here, is Lizzie.”

“Well, she is obviously very glad to meet you,” Jorge said with the smallest of smirks that played on his lips.

When he looked down, Lizzie was now laying down, flat on her stomach with her face buried in the ground in a look that almost reminded him of shame. Her wrinkles hid most of her eyes and her mouth but she kept one eye free that looked at up Gemma with the saddest, “please-forgive-me” looks Jorge had seen yet. Too many times Lizzie had worked that move on him that it was humorous to see her pull that move with anyone else. Jorge could only shake his head as he looked up once more to the woman who sat patiently with her groceries and books.

Now, Jorge is no stranger to being with the opposite gender, but unfortunately with his job and his current move from Miami, there has been little time for him to actually meet any good friends. So far his life consisted of mutants who either break into his house to make sandwiches, or young mutants who are attacked on the street by hoodlums. It was rare that Jorge ever went out to just hang with some of the cop acquaintances he just met at the precinct, much less just hanging out with a civilian he met on the street. Still though, as the detective found himself starting to drift back to more friends and acquaintances back in Miami, he quickly shook himself out of the funk.

Could always use more friends, he decided silently and cleared his throat.

“Listen, uh, do you need any help carrying those grocer-”

His sentence was immediately cut off when his phone rang in his pocket. But that was not the worst part. Instead of the ringtone being some hip song or even a basic ring…the ringtone was the Hamster Song! He sighed and shook his head.

“I’m so sorry,” he sighed a bit embarrassed. “I just got the phone and…a ‘friend’ at the precinct set this up, who will now die horribly. Don’t know how to take it off….” He grumbled as he struggled to put the phone on mute and answered. “Cervantes here. Yes Tammy, I know I left the file on your desk…No I didn’t leave it anywhere else…” He sighs, “did you look under that ‘Twi-night’, sparkling vampire, whatever book your always reading? … There, see, told you I left it… Yeah, goodbye.” He snapped his phone closed and turned back to Gemma. What must she think.

Jorge could only curse himself as he glanced between the phone he held in his hand and the woman who sat at the bench in front of him. Part of him really wanted to just escape and getaway with whatever masculinity he could muster from the incident but then he saw the bit of kindness in her eyes as she extended out her hand to him.

>> “Give me that phone.”

The grizzly detective remained paused for a moment, unsure if he should really let her. Seemed off for a first meeting but after a second of two he merely shrugged it off and figured what the hell. He handed over it phone, which by today’s standards, was as basic and unimpressive as a cell phone could get. Jorge would have preferred to not get one at all, but unfortunately it was a requirement for his job. He needed to be reached in case of emergencies, but he did not have to listen to that hideous ringtone every time he received a call.

After what seemed like seconds, magic in Jorge’s mind, he watched as she handed the phone back to him.

>> “There.”

He looked down a little shocked at how quick she was and took the phone back from her. He did not know how to test it, but simply looked over the phone before he dropped it back into his pocket.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to,” he replied but gave her a gracious smile. “But thank you.”

The detective was certainly having his preconceived notions about New York thrown out the window. When he was in Miami, he had seen so many news reports and TV dramas about the city that even though he had never been there, wouldn’t have put it past being true. He had expected some rudeness and animosity, but the amount of nice people he was meeting far outweighed all of that. People were definitely more than how television portrayed them to be. The thought that he could be duped by TV in such a manner wanted to make him smack his own self, but he quickly returned to reality.

“Well,” he started, “before I was interrupted by that phone call, I was wondering if Lizzie here could make up for her behavior earlier by escorting you home…with me along as well. Cause, you know, the park can be dangerous…”

Real smooth Jorge, he thought to himself as he shook his head.

He chuckled silently. “I’m sorry Miss…er, Gemma. I realize how that must have sounded. I am a complete stranger after all. But, uh, thank you for, I guess distracting my dog long enough for me to get her.” Again the detective laughed a laugh he had not heard issue from him since he was a teenager. And again he wanted to smack himself but he relaxed. “Anyway, you have a good night, and please, do be careful.”

>> "But I wouldn't mind the company."

“Oh! Well, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” he said with a smirk in return.

Lizzie looked up between them with sad eyes again as if she were pleading with them to not make her walk so long. Jorge paused as he watched the woman’s smile while she collected her things and placed them back into her purse, then looked down and noticed the look on Lizzie’s face. It was hard for him not to laugh out loud, but he could only lean down and scratch the back of the dog’s ears to make her calm down, and whispered to her.

“You can only blame yourself. Besides, walking is healthy for you,” he said silently and patted the side of the dog’s stomach.

After he stood up again he gestured towards the two bags of groceries that she had sitting near her bench. Though he had every faith that she could carry things on her own, after all, she managed to get through Central Park without a car as far as he knew.

“Here, let me help you with the bags,” he said as he offered his manly lifting services to her.

Once they finally got on their way, Lizzie trotted happily in front of Jorge and Gemma, but was not pulling at the leash in Jorge’s hand. The officer was quiet as he walked next to Gemma and a couple of minutes passed before he finally decided to break the silence with some conversation. It was not that he didn’t want to talk to her, it was simply the fact that he did not know what to say. Jorge, unfortunately, had trouble connecting with other people. Unless they were lost youths who needed to be directed onto the good path, allies in combat, or criminals, Jorge had little normal things to say. But he would try his best at regular conversation this time. He did not why this woman he just met made him that way, but he was going to explore that.

“So, high school teacher, you said?” Jorge started with smile as they walked through Central Park. “That seems…like a much more terrifying job than mine.” He finished with a small chuckle.

>> "You don't say…Well, you're probably right. Teenagers are savage little creatures…Everyone's got a few battle scars."

Jorge chuckled at this as he carried groceries and continued on walking by Gemma. He had to agree that teenagers could be a little savage. In his line of work after all he had run into so many different types of people, including the young ones found their way onto the wrong side of the law or just completely out of luck. He’s had to bust teen drug dealers, drunks, assaulters, etc. The detective had run into them all. As a matter of fact he had a few real battle scars from a couple of tripped out teens who came at him with a knife.

He was not sure where she was headed, but the police officer in him was glad he tagged along. From what he has seen and heard of since he arrived here, things could get dangerous really fast, not that she could not take care of herself. Obviously she could, otherwise why would she be walking through Central Park alone, encumbered by bags of groceries, especially if she lived far away.

>> "So, what's your safe and comfortable occupation?"

The big question…

He took a small, unnoticeable sigh and finally replied. “I’m a cop, actually. Detective for the NYPD.”

Now, Jorge usually found that the next few minutes to be an excellent judge of character for people. For some reason, he has discovered, civilians react in different ways when they find out that the person they have just met is a cop. The most popular response he gets include a sudden need to leave for some other pressing appointment, but it was nice to meet him; others include deadpan silence; awkward mumbling, sometimes even confessing to some petty shoplifting incident or something that occurred in a city he never worked at; but his favorite had to be the sudden uprightness and need to follow every law they came across, or very precise and correct speaking on their part.

He always found it both entertaining and a little sad because though it was funny, he did not like it when people altered themselves for fear of going to jail. Just because he was a police officer didn’t mean he was going to arrest everyone he came across.

“I’m originally from Miami. I just transferred in not too long ago,” he said as he continued to walk with Gemma, wondering what her reaction would be.

>> [/i]”You’re right. Mine’s more dangerous…”[/i]

Jorge laughed a little more relaxed at this comment as he finally found himself to gauge her reaction. He was glad that she did not freak out. She did not suddenly straighten up and become the world’s most model citizen, as he has seen many times before. No she was different. She actually seemed to be fine with the fact that he was a police officer and was even able to crack a small joke to lighten up what could have been an awkward her reaction been different.

“Yeah, give me a dark alley over a classroom full of teenagers any day.” he muttered with another smile.

>> “So, what brought you to New York? Work?”

Jorge nodded as he strolled along, with the groceries easily held within his grasp and Lizzie casually strolling along up ahead of them. In truth the whole reason he had come to New York was in order to finally put his powers to some great use. There was no better place than New York to do that, which seemed to be a sort of mecca for mutant kind. A lot of recent big events in mutant history happened here so it seemed like it would be the most likely choice.

Still, it was better to not reveal so much too fast.

“Yeah, I originally lived in California, then my family moved to Florida when I was fifteen. Lived there ever since until, oh about a little over a week ago,” he said with a smile. “Not really sure why I came here. I loved my job in Miami but…well…I guess I could have just done with a change of scenery. Well, me and Lizzie,” he said with a chuckle.

“But how about yourself? You said you moved from Baltimore? How are you adjusting to being a New Yorker?”