>> "Of couse. I've seen your show once or twice. You're good."

"Thank you," Maxine said, with a modest little blush. More from the compliment's source than from modesty, probably, but she could play up the rosy cheek card when it was dealt her. Her freckles darkened over her nose and cheeks.

Mmm, grad student confirmed. She gave an approving ooh as her brain raced to match up 'J.D.' to an acronym she knew. For all her law school idolizing, she really didn't know all that much about the major. Or the profession, for that matter, outside of Law & Order re-runs. Justice Defender, maybe? That couldn't be right. It was too cute. Her lips twitched: she approved of cute things.

Maxine lightly rested her elbows on the table, chai held under her chin. When in doubt, research. That's what good little aspiring reporters did.

"What's the J.D. stand for, again?"

A sip.

"Are you planning to work for the state, or with a private firm?"

A soft tink below them went unnoticed by the red head. Under the table, Rex had examined his newest toy and discarded it. The screw rolled over the floor as the octoclip turned its meticulous attention back to the other three.

Being waitlisted certainly wasn’t fun.

“But, we can get you into Math and Intro to Computer Programming!” Betty cheerfully announced.

Shin’s face lit up. Well, that was more fun. “Okay. Anything else?”

“Sorry,” Betty frowned. The light dimmed.

“Alright…”

“Here, let me print out the class schedule… this should only take a minute.” Betty turned, and fretted with the monitor. Shin looked to the clock with a distracted sigh. Wonder what Aurum’s up to… He idly wondered. Maybe the paperclip thing had eaten him already? That would be nice.

Blushing and freckles were cute. She played the rosy cheek card well. Aurum smiled into the sip. She didn’t seem like the egotistic journalist type. That was good. Those types were always difficult to deal with.

It seemed she didn’t know what a J.D. degree was, though. Aurum had thought she would of. Whoops. “Sorry. Juris Doctor,” he replied. “It’s the first professional degree in Law.”

He could even go by ‘doctor’, if he wanted. That was a fun thought. Aurum took another drink of his French roast.

“I’m thinking of going for a private firm. I’ve been looking into interning, actually. I plan to start that a little later this year.” That would help him get the final bit of experience he needed, that he couldn’t easily get from the classes themselves. He’d talked a bit about the idea with Jenni, but he’d never had the chance to talk with her again. The idea of interning was exciting to Aurum. He was looking forward to it.

He was so distracted by the thought, in fact, that he too missed the telltale ‘tink’ of screw-meets-floor.

Juris Doctor. Not quite as cute as what her own brain had invented, but quite a bit more sophisticated. Maxine didn't mind trading cute for sophisticated: it was about the same as switching her hopes for Gawain over to Aurum. One was a high school failure with a great smile: the other was getting his Juris Doctor degree. For the record, his smile wasn't all that bad, either.

Mmm, this chai was good.

"Have you started applying for the internships, yet?" Maxine asked. "I don't know about law firms, but it can get pretty rough in journalism. The good agencies usually have only a handful of spots between them every semester, and a few hundred applicants." She sipped at her tea. "Though I suppose for a local law firm, you wouldn't be up against national competition, right? That'll be nice."

A pen settled on the part in her hair; she idly shooed it to a more appropriate behind-the-ear perch. Under the table, another pen pecked lightly at the second screw as Rex dropped it on the ground. The quiet tink-tap-tap was covered by her voice as she continued speaking.

"So what's your 'big dream'—if everything goes perfectly, where do you see yourself in ten years?"

This was a test of the Maxine Long-Term Prospects System.

“Alright. Here you go. That’s your list of classes and your receipt. You can pay over there,” Betty pointed towards the register. “The deadline for payment is…”

Shin nodded as she told him everything he’d need to know. Sign-ups were complete. Shin folded the form, and tucked it away into a pocket. Now, all that was left was to find Aurum and let him know he was going home. He’d leave Aurum to whatever he was doing, but he didn’t want him to think he’d been ditched.

Now, which way was the coffee place, again…? Shin pondered, as he turned his attention to finding the shop. He tried to remember Maxine’s recited directions. What had she said, again?

Shin walked off, ready to get lost.

>>"Have you started applying for the internships, yet?"

“I have,” Aurum replied.

Maxine was right. It had been competitive, fighting over internships. Aurum had had his work cut out for him, getting the one he had. Heartram and Wolf had turned him down, as had Banner and Chase. “It looks like I’m going to be interning at Wayne and Clark Associates. I haven’t met with them to talk over details yet, but I’ve got an appointment set for April.”

Aurum took another drink of his coffee, and casually watched her swat away the pen. Shin was right. It really was an interesting power. He set the coffee down as Maxine asked a hardball question. Aurum suddenly felt as if this were some sort of interview.

Funny thought.

“In ten years, I see myself working full-time as a lawyer, either with my own law office, or as part of a larger firm.” He stated coolly. “My family also has a restaurant. If they need me to in ten years, I could take over managing it on the side. I think I’d like that.”

She took another sip of tea. So he had ambitions--he could see himself running his own office one day, putting his own name out there instead of sheltering under someone else's moniker for eternity. At the same time, he was practical: he acknowledged that it was a possibility, and didn't seem inclined to put himself out on the street for a dream if things weren't lining up.

Furthermore, he had both a potential fallback plan, a potential enrichment, a romantic dream job, and family commitment all rolled up into one. His family owned a restaurant. Maxine approved.

Downside: he was definitely a man. For the past few minutes, she'd been catering this conversation like a proper hostess, without so much as a reciprocal 'how about you?' tossed in from his side. Bright side: he took polite coaxing to speak at length about himself. She couldn't say that for all her past dating prospects. While a lady did appreciate talking about herself now and then, a reporting intern knew the value of letting people talk about themselves until that crucial common ground was teased out into the open.

It wasn't like she was finding this conversation disagreeable, either. Mmm, chai. If it had fallen back on her to continue the conversation, then she'd do it. At least he was leaving her easy hooks.

"A restaurant?" She leaned subtly forward, brushing a stray curl of red back behind her ear with the pen. "What kind?"

Under the table, the third screw tinked quietly to the ground and rolled to a stop by her shoe.

Which was had it been, again? Over the river… and through the woods…? No. That couldn’t have been right.

Shin sighed.

Yup. He’d sauntered off, ready to get lost, and lost, he’d got. It was astounding how turned around one could get while walking around just one building.

After what seemed far too long, Shin finally broke down and asked directions. Five minutes later, he was at his destination. Shin walked into the coffee area, and caught sight of Aurum. “Hey,” He announced. “I just wanted to let you know I’m headed home.”

"We don't lean a certain way when it comes to food," Aurum replied confidently. "We dabble in all sorts of cuisine. I've been working on finding some new recipes, myself. We recently added Moussaka to our repertoire... hmm. Guess we do sort of specialize in desserts, though. What about you?" Aurum smiled at Maxine. "What kinds of food do you like?" Was she into Italian, or maybe Greek, or did she have a soft spot for good ol fashioned steakhouses? All he knew about her current tastes was that she liked chai. Aurum took another thoughtful drink of his coffee, listening to her response.

He really hadn't asked that much of her, now that he considered things. It'd really be nice to get to know her beyond the face she wore for the camera.

"You say you're into investigative journalism. What got you into that?" She'd already said she wanted to rise above the quote unquote 'fiery rhetoric camp' in the future. That was apparently her dream. Expanding on that, though. "What do you plan to do with your journalism skills? I ask the same of you. Ten year question." Aurum stated. "Where do you see yourself?"

His question was cut short as Shin reentered the scene. Aurum turned his head towards the Asian. Going home already? Hadn't Shin wanted a tour? "You sure?"

He looked to Maxine. Did she still want to give the tour? He kind of liked how 'coffee' was going.

((OOC: Feel free to godmode Aurum out of his seat in your next post, Calley. He needs a reason to get up.))

And suddenly, the conversation turned towards her. It was like the boy had read a memo. She approved; like most people, Maxine rather liked talking about herself on occasion.

“Indian and middle eastern,” she answered, without hesitation. “A girl’s got to have her hummus.” She wouldn’t mind trying that Moussaka sometime, either.

>> "You say you're into investigative journalism. What got you into that?"

The truth?

Maxine was in awe of Stalin. Not just Stalin—Hitler, Joseph McCarthy, Heinrich Kramer, and others. The propaganda greats, throughout history. The men who changed their entire worlds by manipulating the media of their times. They scared the crap out of her.

An ‘unbiased press’ was an ideal she didn’t believe existed. Reporters were propaganda mongers, of their own sort. Still. Being one of the people who crafted what the masses heard, who selected the facts they could find: that was a lot better than being one of the people who turned on the TV and sponged it up.

Maxine intended to make the news, not watch it.

The first-meeting-muzak version?

“I like digging into things, I like finding new angles, and I like being on camera—it seemed like a natural fit.” She rolled the nearly empty chai cup between her palms and leaned back in her chair, preparing to answer the ten year question. She never got the chance.

Aurum’s friend was back, and ducking out as quick as he’d appeared. This was a dangerous trap, as all singles knew: to alienate the friends of your dating target was to set yourself up for disapproving behind-back gossip. It was worse with girls, true, but guys certainly had their own equivalent. She appreciated Shin seeing himself off earlier, but it was time to bring him back into the fold.

“Running so soon? Registration couldn’t have been that rough,” she joked. “Come on—I’ve got to get to class soon, but we’ve at least got time to introduce you to the campus coffee.”

Maxine stood, gesturing the Asian to her chair. She went to grab a third chair from a neighboring table, but Aurum thoughtfully beat her to it.

Under the table, the last screw hung in place by a wobbling quarter turn. Rex crawled back out, obediently lurking behind Maxine’s heels. That should have been their warning.

It was strange. Somehow, he’d gotten the feeling earlier he was not wanted, yet now… they were inviting him to the table for coffee. If Shin were a more paranoid person, he’d have wondered if something was up. Since he knew Aurum, he knew something was up, but it wasn’t any of his business, and Maxine was being nice. For the moment, any feelings of being ‘ill at ease’ around the woman were put aside… hesitantly.

“Er, okay.” That was fine. Aurum had probably already accomplished what he’d set out to do, so they were done excluding him from the conversation. They’d already conversed. Shin could be polite and wait through a cup of coffee.

“One coffee, please.” He told the barista on his way past the counter.

Shin smiled weakly at the redhead, and sat down in the chair she had offered. He put an arm on the table, and turned to look at them, both standing nearby. Again, that healthy hint of paranoia flared up. Why are they both standing...!! Something suddenly didn’t feel ‘on-the-level’. Shin swung his attention to the uneven surface underneath his arm. Chair legs groaned on tile as Shin scooted his seat in a retreat. The tabletop toppled, just as the Asian rose to safety.

He turned to glare at Aurum and Maxine. “… Um.” The glare said ‘which one of you did this?’ Shin said no such thing.

Aurum nodded. “Interesting. In law, there’s also a bit of digging. Getting through all the details, straight to the truth of the matter. Fun stuff,” he commented.

Shin stole his attention just as Maxine was readying her 10-year answer. He looked to Shin, then to Maxine. She seemed fine with interrupting their coffee-time with a third wheel, so Aurum brought out another chair. “Yeah, have a seat. Tell us what classes you signed up for.” Aurum smiled.

..Shin had signed up for classes, hadn’t he? Not gotten lost? Shin somehow seemed smarter than some Lost boy.

Aurum slid Maxine’s chair into place for her. “Your chair,” he smiled.

--Screeeeeee--

Something made a sudden unpleasant sound. There was movement in the corner of Aurum’s eye. The next thing he knew, Shin was standing again, and the table was not.

Aurum gawked. “Uh. You okay, Shin? What happened?” His lip quivered between mild amusement and worry. It was a good thing everyone had finished their drinks. It could have been quite the mess.

Maxine met Aurum’s smile and gentlemanly chair positioning with a grin and a mimed curtsy.

Jumping followed. Loud crashing noises will do that to a lady. She turned around, blinking at the Asian in clear surprise once for the table, and twice for his glare. What, was he trying to put this off on them? They hadn’t even been touching the thing. She seemed to recall it being just fine until he came over. Responsibility where responsibility is due, Freshman. Aurum’s little friend lost a few points in her book on the maturity scales. The point loss had reflecting-on-Aurum potential, but the law student handled things smoothly enough, with a good mix of concern for his friend and properly placed (and amused) blame.

The coffee girl was staring at them.

“I think that is my cue to head to class. If your friend has any questions...” Maxine took out a spiral notebook and snatched the song pen down from over her ear. A moment later, a folded piece of paper was being handed to Aurum with a half grin. “Call me.”

The red head made her way off to class, an octoclip in her wake. Rex’s bad mood seemed to have worn off, somehow.