Lori finished her first beer before the server ever came around to take their order. Lori thought about the end of this dinner. Jacen would pay, or at least he should. If he didn't she did have some cash on her, but it wasn't cash she was ready for him to see just yet.

She nodded along at the thoughts Jacen presented about his life and potential future life with the police. "Working with the 5-Oh really could shorten your life as well. Although I'm sure you're a very capable SWAT man and your power would probably be an asset to the team if they could get their heads out of their ***es, your ability won't keep a bullet from your brain." Or high velocity shrapnel from a railgun made of handrails for that matter... She tucked that idea away just in case things turned sour. Was it concern that made her say the comment about the force being a dangerous occupation? Even she didn't know. On one hand, she was taking mental notes about how to put him down from a distance at the time; on the other, she very much did not want things to go badly.

When the waitress did indeed arrive for their orders, Lori put her green bottle to the edge of the table so that she could take it away and bring her another before the meal. Lori only pointed at the picture for her order. "Just like this, medium, sides and all." She didn't really care what she was eating. She'd eaten far worse and could not be considered picky except when it came to ketchup. Ketchup existed only to remind Lori of the metallic taste of bile and for that reason, they hardly crossed paths.

***

"If you don't mind my asking, how did it happen that you ended up inviting Brickson to your apartment? Were you seducing him because he had something you wanted, like you did me, or was it for a different reason?"[/color] The question put a smile on her face, and the next comment made her roll her eyes and wait for the waitress to finish dropping off her next beer before she answered.

"He really pissed me off breaking into the side of a vault I was already helping myself to." She refrained from much elaboration. No reason to add to her dad's s***list now. "Though he really helped me diffuse a potential situation, I didn't appreciate the brains he got on me." Again, if he wanted the details he would have to ask more questions.

"I knew he was dangerous and I knew I didn't want him to know about where I lived or what my day jobs were, but he was sucking at the getaway. Rather than be caught he ended up at my place which was against the rules. I'd rather he died, but it looks like the man's a bit too stubborn. He started to take a shower and after I redistributed the funds..." She couldn't help but smile at the irony of explaining this bit to her shower buddy, "He asked me to join him. So I did. Until the Hole in the Wall, I hadn't seen him again after the news report about the Naked Giant slaughtering police outside my place ... which was on fire."

Picking up his beer, Jacen focused on taking a long sip while doing his best to keep his reaction to Lori's statement relatively neutral. He had known she was a thief but had never considered the idea that she might be that big time a thief. In fact, he could remember when the police report about that particular bank had been circulating through the precinct. The hole in the wall of the bank vault made it a hard case to forget. The bank employee in the vault had been rather unhelpful which normally meant he had something to hide. Considering that Lori was in the vault, it was no stretch of the imagination to come up with exactly what might have been going on before Brickson's grand entrance.

"Brains?" The question escaped Jacen's mouth before he could even stop it. Maybe he really didn't want know. In fact he could almost guarantee that he didn't really want to know but the word had been spoken and there was no taking it back.

"So I wasn't your first shower buddy?" Jacen asked with a slight grin as Lori finished her story, "I'm hurt. Although I'd be willing to bet Brickson was even more hurt."

Having already seen as well as felt some of the sparks that Lori produced when wet, there was really no question about the kind of experience that Brickson must have had in that shower. Shocking to say the least. Thinking of the sparking Lori did when damp did actually bring an interesting question to Jacen's mind though he wisely held his tongue. How many times had she actually been able to seduce a man all the way? Sex by its definition was normally a rather sweaty and damp experience which would mean that it must have been difficult for her although, with the persistance and brains that Lori had demonstrated at various times, Jacen had no doubt she could have come up with something to deal with the situation.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, what are your plans now? I know who are and what you really do so does that mean it's time for you to head out and find a better situation where you can once again hide your identity?" And that ladies and gentleman was truly the main question that he had been wanting to ask Lori. Leaning back comfortably in his seat, Jacen's eyes were direction though no accusing or even expecting. Whatever Lori decided it was her choice and he wasn't out to influence her. Sure he enjoyed their time together and was even beginning to care what happened to the blond, but if she decided to cut and run now it was still early enough that there would be no heart break. Heart ache possibly, but not heart break.

"Brains?"[/color] She saw the cringe behind his eyes and remained as unreadable and passivly neutral as physically possible.

"Yeah, brains. Remember?" She made a squeezing and crushing motion with one hand. "At the bar I warned you that he explodes heads." She mentioned it offhandedly as if she were remarking on Brickson's propensity to always carry an umbrella. If she actually stopped to think about it, it bothered her. The guys and thugs had been slime, but no one deserved to have all that grey matter only boil down to a stain on a shirt.

"So I wasn't your first shower buddy? ...I'm hurt. Although I'd be willing to bet Brickson was even more hurt."[/color] Again he mostly sounded amused. Mars had been ready to Explode Brickson's head after hearing that fact. It actually earned Jacen a point that he could roll with the punches that came with Lori's past. He wasn't running away screaming and currently, he might even know the most about the real truth. It also earned him a negative point, though. Because she didn't know what to think about his general detachment. He didn't seem to be getting closer. Closer meant more attached and less likely to back stab. If he was keeping her at arms length and she was keeping him at arms length, they'd never tough more than fingers.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, what are your plans now? I know who are and what you really do so does that mean it's time for you to head out and find a better situation where you can once again hide your identity?"[/color]

"You always qualify. If, I don't mind... I mind, Jacen. I just can't can't mind forever." Not on her own anyway, but that was her weakness. "You haven't lured me here with steak and the promise of a good time... and if I didn't want to be here... I wouldn't be here." She finally could no longer sustain the eye contact and severe honesty. She took a break from his inquisitive blues to nurse her water and when her next beer arrived she switched immediately to that.

"I don't have any plans. I prefer to remain flexible." She readjusted her-- his hat and decided she could no longer forgo the eye contact without being a coward. Baby blues flicked up to his face. "I don't think there's too much grime on my name. No current physical address and a string of forwards means I don't get mail. Never could carry a cellphone without accidentally ruining it. I'm practically a ghost Lori, Lily, Emily, Elle, or Lanna... doesn't matter. Not really." She shook her head. Lori couldn't imagine leaving New York. She'd been here forever, hardly been anywhere else in her life. She had no intention of leaving.

Squashing heads and brains... that didn't even deserve a response and since it wasn't the most pleasant dinner conversation Jacen carefully laid it to the side. It was interesting information to keep in mind should his S.W.A.T. team ever be called out to deal with Brickson but other than that there was no reason to think or dwell on the subject.

"And with that you show just how alike the two of us actually are." Jacen said quietly after Lori had finished speaking, the look in his intensifying just a touch, "You're a ghost that doesn't know her place in the world. Sure, you put up a strong front, a good facade to prove to the world just how touch you are but at the same time you're searching for something."

And that was really the heart of the discussion as well as the reason that Jacen continually qualified everything. On the hand it he wasn't sure it was subject matter for discussing over dinner but on the other hand there was no guarantee on where Lori would be heading after this. If he was going to ask her then it was going to have to happen right now.

"I do qualify things." Jacen admitted after a moment, "I've never been one to force a lady to do anything but I do it more with you than anyone else I've met because you confused me." She was an enigma that never seemed to quite balance on the scale. She could be fun and vibrant like few women Jacen had met before but yet she could also be hard and even a touch cruel as he had seen at the tennis match the first time he met her. She didn't fit into any mold that he knew of and that confusion was yet another reason he was attracted to her. "But beyond confusing me, I think you confuse yourself. Your a ghost drifting, searching for something, but do you even know what it is you want? Sure you can spout off that you want money, sex, nice clothes, blah, blah, blah, but those are things. What is is that you really want?"

Her brain was buzzing. They were alike? Really? He didn't know his place, sure that was valid; but she knew hers. Her place was doing whatever the hell she wanted. She... she was powerful and young and strong and smart. She had everything, every option available to her. She had the world under her thumb!

...

So why was she still here?

A fine line formed at her brow and she took a long drink from the fresh green bottle. Her chest warmed, chasing away the building cold, hard dread. Why was she still here? Jacen had hypothesized that she, like he, searched for something. Was that why it had worked? That they were sitting here sensibly talking about the ridiculous notion that perhaps what they could be missing was sitting at the other side of this booth? Was that what he was hinting or did he really not know? She hated rhetorical questions.

And she hadn't signed up for this psycho analysis crap. Lori tensed as she almost started to get up and leave. She would get up and go... nowhere. Fast.

She sighed and took another long swig. Even if Jacen wasn't one to force a lady, she wanted it. She wanted someone that could push her. Push her buttons, push her around, push her in the direction she needed and not stand for her crap. She wanted someone strong enough to prove that she didn't have to be the strongest... or smartest or prettiest or any of the other insecurities she sometimes harbored.

She tired to take the enigma comment as the compliment it was... until he qualified it of course. The waitress chose that moment to deliver the food and Lori just looked at her for a long while. What is is that you really want? His question buzzed around the inside of her mind as if it were hollow. No answers were immediately forthcoming. What did she want?

The crease in her brow only deepened and multiplied. She wanted... Everything. And nothing. Domination and submission. She wanted to cause trouble and get away with it. But most of all she wanted... "Attention." She wanted people to know her, or the person she was pretending to be. She wanted love and affection and fear and all of the things that went along with being noticed.

Lori swallowed, deliberately picked up her knife and fork and began to cut her steak into small, manageable bites. Luckily there was no bone in it because while it appeared that she was focusing on dissecting her meal, her mind was quite obviously elsewhere.

Though not extremely obvious, anyone paying attention would have noticed the surprise on Jacen's face. He never in a million years would have guessed that what she really wanted was attention. Surely she had plenty of attention especially when it came to the opposite sex. That meant, if Jacen was right, what she really wanted was attention for a specific reason. Maybe that was the real problem. She got so much attention for her body that she wanted to be noticed for other things. Perhaps she just wanted to be noticed for the person that she really was.

Turning his attention to the food in front of him Jacen was silent as he focused on eating his salad. Being as hungry as he was the tangy ceasar salad dissapeared in a matter of moments and he then turned his attention to the steak and baked potato that were now left in front of him.

"The real question is what next." Jacen reflected as he cut off a piece of steak and then began to chew it thoughtfully, "She's admitted she wants attention but there's no where I can infer that to mean that she wants my attention."

It was the normal problem with any sort of relationship. The concern of being to forward tempered by the concer of not being forward enough. Would it be wrong to ask Lori on a normal date as something other than just bedroom buddies? Sure they were having dinner but that wasn't surprising after the kind of day they had gone through. What he needed to do was perform a test. Some sort of experience that would be out of the norm for the two of them and require Lori to make a decision. Did she just want showers or did she want a relationship?

"Ever been out on the Brooklyn Bridge before?" Jacen asked the question out of the blue with his eyes focused on the steak. Currently he was carving off another piece to eat but his mind was a million... no... only maybe ten miles away planning out the next step, "I hear it's got quite a view of the city at night."

For a time they focused on filling their bellies. Lori scooped her bites of meat with a dollup of mashed potato every time. Her mind was a roaring blank. Had he gotten her to come to this realization on purpose? Was he trying to make her doubt herself or feel bad about the realization she'd just had? Because she was eating her food woodenly. She hardly knew what to do with herself...

"Ever been out on the Brooklyn Bridge before?"[/color] She could throw herself off a bridge... that was something to do. The idea made her smile. What a ridiculous notion: suicide. If she'd wanted to die there were plenty of people who would oblige and then she wouldn't have to go it alone. She popped a floret of broccoli in her mouth with her fingers as she considered Jacen. He seemed equally cowed by their previous conversation. Well, that was certainly enough of that.

"Been on it by car, never by foot." She welcomed that subject change with open arms and curious eyes.

"I hear it's got quite a view of the city at night."

A real smile made her frown officially upside down. "And why would you want to look at the city at night?" Coy? Maybe, but he could do with a little explanation.

Apparently Lori wasn't going to make this easy on him because instead of simply accepting the idea of an evening spent doing something that didn't involve either a bedroom or a shower she was asking questions that put the ball right back in his court. Now the question was just how forward should he be? Remain cautious and come up with some line of crap that wasn't the truth or did he go for broke?

"Maybe I'd just like to spend time with you where we happen to keep our clothes on." Jacen replied with a touch of a sly grin as he settled for something in between. A combination of both the truth as well as the kind of romantic lines that most woman seemed to appreciate, "And then again maybe I just want to see how beautiful you look out in the moonlight."

Taking another bite of his steak, Jacen lifted his eyes to once again focus on Lori as he waited to see whether he had made the right call. If not she would obviously make some type of excuse and head off for wherever she was planning on spending the night. If he had made the right call then maybe, just maybe, there was the chance of their being more than just lovers and shower buddies.

Spending time together with or without clothes was fine by Lori. What was not fine however was the incredible amount of cheese he just threw at her. Lori hunched her shoulders and turned to the side making a loud and disgusting fake hurling noise with equally contorted and gross facial expression. A few of the other patrons actually looked at her a bit miffed as she turned back to Jacen with a smile.

"I'm sorry lame triggers my gag reflex." She teased. "You can look at me in the moonlight with or without clothes anywhere you want to, so I ask you why pick a lofty height suspended over water? Maybe you just want to get out and smell the smog, hmm? Or are you gonna push me off and kill all the fishes? " Not to mention she wouldn't be to hot in that situation as well.

Lori considered the man before her. One thing she always liked about him was that he always fed her. Silly, yes, but when you suck at cooking as Lori did, good food was always welcome. There was just something about him that made her want to... want to... sit in his lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas or make plans for Spring Vacation. He was a trap! A walking, talking trap! And if she kept her wits about her, it didn't matter if they went to a suspension bridge over a river. Because he wasn't gonna push her off.

At least he'd better not.

"If you don't mind property damage I could show you a neat trick." She popped another broccoli floret into her mouth. She'd always wanted to attempt to make the world's largest rail gun...

Mental Note: Lori was not a fan of the cheesy pick up lines that so many women seemed to go crazy over.

"Lame triggers your gag reflex huh." Jacen replied with a slight chuckle, "So what would honest trigger then? Why don't we try it and find out. Lori, your a smart sexy woman that I would like to hang out as more than just shower buddies. I'm not the biggest fan of large building that sway back and forth in the breeze so how about going to the Brooklyn Bridge and looking at the city skyline while being at least a little bit away from the city?

Taking a bite of his steak, Jacen chewed thoughtfully as he raised one eybrow in curiosity. So now Lori was out to show off with some tricks that would be neat as long as he didn't consider the property damage that went along with them. "Give in... or don't give in. Give in... or don't give in." The police officer mused back and forth as he continued to watch his betwitching dinner partner.

"How about we wait and see where the evening goes and I'll make that decision at the bridge." Jacen said with a slight chuckle as he reached over to finish off the last of the beer in his mug, "Sound fair?"

The interesting was actually beginning to sound more and more like the kind of date that normal people enjoyed. Meeting at the apartment, dinner at a nice steakhouse, a walk in the night air under the stars... yep, normal. Well, all except for that idea of a trick but hey, they were mutants. Normal wasn't supposed to be part of their vocabulary now was it.

She was a bit apprehensive when he spoke of honesty. She'd had a bit too much already, but what he said didn't bother her too much. She nodded. Smart. Yes. Sexy. Yes. Wanting to enjoy the breeze, okay. Getting away from the city. Grand.

"Well why didn't you just say so in the first place?" She poked around at the remnants of her mashed potatoes. There were more potatoes than steak. It wasn't going to come out even. She sighed and went back to her beer, finishing off the second.

She nodded about the railgun trick. She'd never actually tried shooting a car from the brooklyn bridge, but it sure did sound like fun. She would have to make sure to be fully charged before she attempted this, though... Even at full capacity it might not be enough. "Fair enough. I'm not even sure it'd work anyway. Not without a hook into the city's power." And that... was how she got her heavy lifting done.

Lori pushed the bangles at her wrists up so that she could rest her forearms against the table as she poked at the ending bits of her meal. They always gave too much. She didn't think she was going to make it. Not without being bloated the rest of the night.

She put her bottle at the edge of the table. Just one more. One more wouldn't make much of a difference since she'd eaten dinner. She smiled at Jacen and eyeballed the dwindling meat on his plate. Was he eating slow on purpose?

"Can I ask you something..?" She leaned against her elbows and put her chin in her hands. "Why...?" She tried to frame her question politely. "Why are you trying... this...?" Normal. Were they really gonna be trying for normal? A normal, functional relationship? Really? She was debating if she could take bets against herself.

A hook up with the city's power supply? That was most definitely a question that Jacen didn't want to ask right this moment. In fact, it would be best to cross that bridge when they finally made it to the bridge. At that point they would have to decide about Lori's little, or not so little, trick. Heck, as long as she could guarantee that no innocents would get hurt he might even let her show off a little. Property damage was one thing but hurting civilians was quite another.

As a rather pleasant silence settled down over them once more, Jacen once again turned his attention back to the food that was sitting before him. There was still about half a baked potato as well as three or four bites of steak to finish and those bites of food were beginning to mock him. Looking at them carefully Jacen made his decision and in just a few minutes made short work of the starchy potato. With that particular item out of his way it was time to look once again to the main course. The beauty of a well cooked Ribeye was something special Jacen just had to allow himself a moment to appreciate the tenderness and moistness of the meat that continued to call out to him. Yes, this meal would have a very nice ending.

"Hmmmm." Jacen said, lifting his gaze back up to Lori as the beginning of her question penetrated his brain. "Sure, go ahead. It's your turn to ask questions anyway."

"Why...? Why are you trying... this...?"

Raising an eyebrow Jacen did his best to process the question. Since it hadn't been stated very clearly it would be quite difficult for him to give a clear answer but he would do his best. Of course, first he had to decide what in the world she was referring to!

"If you mean the steak," Jacen began slowly as he glanced back down at the meat on his plate, "I happen to consider the Ribeye to be a cut of meat that far surpasses even the Filet and New York Strip. If you mean dinner in general, then it's exactly what I said earlier. I wanted a chance to spend time with you while fully clothed."

Spearing a piece of meat on his fork, Jacen lifted the food half way to his mouth as his eyes flicked back up to Lori once more. "And if you're referring to anything else then you'll have to be a bit more specific."

And with that the moment of triumph had arrived. Popping the still warm piece of steak in his mouth, Jacen chewed with obvious enjoyment and relish while waiting for Lori to clear things up a little.

Eyes narrowed at the tender pinkish meat that he lifted slowly to his mouth and exalted. He knew perfectly well what she was talking about and she really, really wanted to shock him for his mocking. She was trying an actual, real, valid question here! Since she couldn't shock him she went for the next best thing. She nudged his leg under the table.

"You know what I'm talking about." She gave him a look that clearly said 'and if you don't, you're lying.' "But if you're as stumped as I am, sure -- dodge the question." All that bottled libation had started moving through her system and she had loosened up considerably from when they started, but unfortunately, it also meant she had to make her way to the facilities.

"You think about it some and maybe you'll puzzle something together by the time I get back." At this point, she hardly even cared about the question anymore... she cared more about the fact that he had dodged her question. And really? What was she supposed to ask? She puzzled over some different options while she took care of business.

She debated about the faucet for a time, but decided on grabbing some paper towels and putting the soap on "dry" as she had before she met Jacen. She checked her puffy black eye which was fading into a more strangled red as opposed to straight up black color and ignored the looks from passing gigglers. Women's bathrooms were hit or miss. Some were safe havens while others contained masses of women who just needed to ditch their men in order to talk about them behind their backs. Lori never got that.

She took off the hat and ran her fingers through her hair before replacing it and returning to the table. Actually... a third beer was probably not a good idea. She forgot that it just didn't burn the same when Jacen was around. She smiled and went about using her water from the table to wash off the soap residue from her hands... better safe than sticky.

"Figure it out yet or do I have to get you a newer simpler question? I am curious about your favorite color if you need to start easy. Just doesn't seem fair when you were asking me all those soul searching puzzlers earlier." Hm. Her mouth didn't seem to want to shut off. She put her hand in front of it to make sure no extra words slipped out.

Jacen was somewhat dumbfounded as he watched Lori get up and walk off, apparently at least a little bit upset by his answer. Why did women always do that? They asked these questions that in their mind made perfect sense but in actuality only made sense if you knew what the woman had been thinking. What did Lori think he was? A friggin' mind reader?

Sighing to himself Jacen ate the last few bites of his steak on autopilot as his mind re-ran the question through his mind several time. Combining that question with the way Lori had responded to his answers there was really only one area that she could have meant. Their relationship. Now the real question was, what was she wanting from him? Did she have her heart set on some deep declaration of love or did she expect him to laugh it off? Why in the world did women always have to make it so difficult?!

"Uh... can I get a shot of the strongest stuff you have back in the bar?" Jacen asked when the waitress walked over to leave a new beer for Lori, "And I'll give you an extra $10 if you can get it here before my friend comes back!"

***

One whiskey shot later Jacen was feeling at least a touch better. The alchol had burned quite nicely going down his throat and even now he could still feel the warmth pooling in his gut. Ok... if she wanted to talk about relationships he was ready. Maybe it had taken a little bit of liquid courage, but he was ready.

"Well, since you give me the option of starting easy, my favorite color is deep blue." Jacen replied in all seriousness after Lori had taken her seat, "As for the more difficult question, I'm doing this because I like you. I can't make any grandiose statement of undying love and affection if that's what you're wanting to hear but I do care about you and what happens to you. Will it ever turn to love? Can't say really. Only time can answer that question. I'm just trying to enjoy what we have right now and I'll deal with the future when it comes."

Hopefully the honest approach would be the best one to take with Lori. He really had no clue as most women seemed to get extra emotional as soon as feelings and relationships were brought up. He didn't think Lori would be one of those, but really there was no way to tell for sure. At least, there was no way to tell until she reacted to his statement.

"Deep blue." She repeated. Deep blue was a pretty good color and wasn't one of the psychological profile colors of a crazy person. Dark blue, no wait-- deep blue. Yes, deep blue was a good color.

She plugged her mouth with the open beer neck, sipping along without issue as Jacen filled her in on the situation. "Good." She pointed her finger and jabbed the table close to Jacen. "Good answer. Let the future get the future." Good. She'd dodged that bullet so far. Undying love was for the almost dead.

Lori's cheeks were only getting pinker and her urge to talk incessantly only got stronger. She knew what was happening, but refused to think that 3 beers would even remotely defeat her. Normally it'd have no chance at all. "You make me weak and I don't like that." She sighed and pointed this out to Jacen. "And before you can ask, my favorite color is yellow. See? I'm a cheerful person inside." She adjusted and readjusted that cowboy hat. Could they leave yet? She wasn't quite sure the check had... done something yet.

Yep. Only half a beer left now. She could chug it if they were leaving.