I Got a Feeling... {Jax}

[cordy]

Cordelia was really ready to slap a bitch.

First of all, she wasn't exactly sure what kind of joke the letter she'd recently received was supposed to be. Like, SERIOUSLY? An invitation to a blind date...written out in magazine letters. Well, actually, she'd gotten creepier invites, but still. Abrupt, unsigned, not even handwritten...was that supposed to be funny? Because she certainly hadn't thought so. In fact, the only reason she was actually here was to find out exactly whether this was some kind of trap or just an elaborate prank, and give whoever was behind it a good 'talking to'. Even if she WAS adorned in...a little black designer dress and matching heels, and even if she HAD bothered to make her hair look presentable by formally clipping it up. Cordy simply figured that if she was gonna kick some butt...she might as well look good doing it.

So there was the mysterious letter bit that had definitely made her a bit peeved, but it didn't end there! Next, upon arriving at the designated street corner mentioned in the letter, all equipped with mace and stakes and whatever other hazardous objects that would fit into her purse...she'd realized that she was, in fact, required to meet this person in what was clearly an ORGANIC VEGAN RESTAURANT. Complete with a cutesy, 'punny' little name and what seemed to be a very hippy-esque interior. There were just...no words for how appalled the brunette half-demon was at this moment. No words.

For one agonizing moment longer, Cordy stood outside the restaurant, her mortified expression speaking volumes for her distaste. It this was a trap, then whoever had it in for her certainly knew how to tear a girl down. But now that she was here, there was nothing left to do but swallow her pride, gather her courage, and try to go through with this thing.

Reluctantly, she forced her feet to move. As she strolled forward and entered the restaurant, Cordy suddenly realized that she was kinda over-dressed in comparison with most of the other customers present. Of course she hadn't known she'd be spending the evening in some vegan DEATHCAMP where the dress code was more or less casual. But still, it was just another factor contributing to the overall awkwardness of the evening. Meeting any strange looks she received with a fierce glare, the brunette quickly picked a table that was located in what looked like one of the less obnoxious parts of the restaurant, and headed straight for it.

"Cordelia Chase?"

Cordy was stopped in her tracks by the airy, mellow voice of the hostess. Spinning around, she tried to keep the scathing glare-yness to a minimum as she faced the woman who'd addressed her.

"Great! We have a table reserved for you right over here..."

Um, what?

"Of course you do..." she muttered, following the hostess over to a table that happened to be...yup, smack dab in the middle of the restaurant. How lucky for her. Not even bothering to pretend she was making sense of this, Cordelia shook her head slowly as she sat down. Her 'date' for tonight, whoever he was, hadn't showed yet, which gave her some time to survey the area. Her hazel eyes swept the place over suspiciously, noting that any of the other customers seated around her could very well be in on this trap or joke or...whatever it was. After years of detective work, and the bonus of fairly judgmental tendencies in general, Cordy prided herself as being pretty good at profiling. However, no one around was currently practicing any behavior she'd consider to be questionable or out of the norm for a place like this. It looked like she was going to have to wait and see what happened.

"And I'm not picking up the tab, either.." the brunette muttered to herself as she tapped her fingers lightly against the table's surface.

[Jax]

Jax teeth ground together with a curiosity that would make any dental professional weep, his enamel bearing the brunt of his rage as his steel toed boots blazed a trail against the cold concrete sidewalk, his rage almost causing him to vibrate as once against his fist lashed out and impacted a brick wall, the burst of pain from his already battered hand burst through him and drove a nail into the pain, both calming him and enraging him farther. He couldn't believe what was happening, what the situation was. For the fortheth time he reached over his shoulder to brush his fingers against the tattered brown leather golf bag hung there, the contents shifting against each other. Rebar scraped against aluminum, iron against steel, bat against blade, axe against chain. The realism of their presence was the only thing keeping Jax as calm as he was.

He was unhappy, deeply unhappy, his bike was gone, taken in the night, replaced with a note instructing him to go on a blind date if he wanted to see it again. He screamed within his mind for the twentieth time at the sheer audacity of it all. They had taken his most prize possession and expected to get away with it, to escaped due to the mere 'cleverness' of letters cut out from a magazine, due to the fact that someone had spiked his beer that night so he had slept through his bike being taken... they expected him their fine he would be their... not unarmed though by any means... and he refused to dress up for the date...

... Sure he had left his face chains out but that was simply due to the fact he expected trouble... and sure he had polished all his studs and rings and his steel toed spiked boots but they needed it... and the reapplication of his green hair dye was just something that needed to happen... and sure he was wearing his nicest shirt but he just... just... just wanted to was all. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact this was his first date in a long long time. Nothing at all.

He shook his head violently and glared at the resurant in front of him... it had... plants in front of it... healthy, blooming plants... the place was painted in nature colors... there were ivy leaves painted around the sign... and... a pamplet holder in front of it... He planted his face into his hands. It was a organic vegan place. He could tell... he was adept at avoiding them and here he was having to eat at one.

"GOD! For f#&ks sake what did I do ta deserve THIS..."

Jax looked at the building for a while, reading the cutesy pun on the sign and slowly dawned on him that he would be standing there all day making a list if he was trying to figure out what he had done to deserve this... Instead he shook his head and stomped towards the door, his rage simmering below the surface as he prepared a thousand battle plans in his head... they all rhymed with 'riolance' but that worked for him. He pushed open the door with a sudden violent swing and swept the room with his eyes, ready to move, ready to fight, ready to swear and found...

A restaurant starring at the man standing in the doorway with golf bag over his shoulder, his hand paused in mid reach for it, his green spiked hair simmering with some... goo slathered on it, the black shaved close to the skull, his piercing green eyes gazing at the room and looking... confused to say the least. His various piercings gleamed as he looked perplexed as the waitress walked nerviously towards him, noticed with disgust both a shirt that said 'You say 'BITE ME!' I hear 'foreplay'" And a leather jacket, studded with spikes, with effort she kept down her sneer at the cruelity involved and coughed to get his attention.

"Umm... Jax Gardener."

Jax kept surveying the room and from instinct gruffly told her.

"Call me Jax."

She blinked and shurgging mentally she motioned him inwards.

"Please come in sir, Miss Chase is awaiting you."

Jax's head snapped and he glared at her, looking more then a little insulted, his hand came away from the bag to point at her she flinched at the motion as he barked at her.

"I told ya! Call me Jax. NEVER call me Sir!"

She pulled her head back in shock and looked over the finger at him, he seemed utterly serious on this point, stern... and the all over anger he was radiating seemed focused on her a moment before his relaxed his shoulders and waved at her with his pointing hand.

"Well then lead the way, the sooner this is over with the better."

The waitress still recoiling a bit nodded and directed him to a table where a gorgeous woman in a black dress was sat, she looked almost as annoyed as Jax himself and her shape, her hair... her eyes... Jax quietly muttered.

"I know I didn't do anything ta deserve this..."

With that he sat down across from the woman after dropping the heavy bag next to him, it shook and rattled with the metal contained within. He situated it and then turned back to look at the woman.

"Can ya do me a favor... tell me what the f@^k is going on?"

[cordy]

As the restaurant door loudly swung open only moments later, Cordelia jumped a little and turned abruptly towards the source of the noise. Along with most of the restaurant, she found herself staring at a newcomer who...well, other than herself, was probably the last kind of person she'd expect to see hitting up a vegan restaurant. Studded leather jacket, multiple piercings, what looked like a golf bag full of weapons...oh god, and she'd just saw his hair. A vibrantly green mohawk. Cordy could only stare blankly as the man looked around the restaurant in agitation until he was approached by the same hostess that had greeted Cordelia. At the look of obvious mortification on the hostess' face, the brunette lifted a hand to her mouth to conceal a light snicker of amusement. Clearly the PETA-people around here were not used to his company...

Her grin quickly disappeared, however, when the hostess promptly turned and began leading the man to his table...which, oddly...seemed to be in the same direction as...oh. Oh...no way was she actually leading him over to this ta--yup. She was. Stunned into silence, Cordy could only openly stare at the mohawk-sporting man as he sat down across from her. Slowly, her gaze traveled from the golf bag he'd just set down on the floor next to him, stopped briefly to read the charming message his shirt bore, and then finally met the man's own green eyes. Ohmigawd. Maybe this really was a trap. The man looked like he could've been from any of the various motorcycle gangs that supposedly roamed this city. Maybe one of the crazies she'd helped Angel catch in the past had hired this guy to like...assassinate her.

...Over dinner at a vegan restaurant? Even as this touch of logic occurred to her, the man turned towards her and spoke. She actually managed not to wince too much at the profanity(she had spent the last couple of years hanging around Gunn, after all). But it was his question itself that bothered her, rather than the way it was worded. Jolted out of her dumbfounded state, Cordy blinked at him with a mixture of confusion and incredulity. He really didn't know what was going on here? But...that made no sense! Was this some kind of trick?! Granted, his expression of bewilderment (which probably mirrored her own) looked pretty genuine, but...then how...?

"What...are you KIDDING? You're asking me?!" the brunette blurted out, more out of shock than anything. The outburst earned her several disdainful looks from some of the people sitting nearby, and, scowling slightly, Cordy waited a moment for them to lose interest before continuing in a slightly softer voice. "Then what the hell is this?" Reaching into her purse, she snatched up the letter that had summoned her here, withdrew it rather dramatically, and placed it on the table before the man across from her. She'd at least been expecting him to give her an explanation for that, but...his question had completely thrown her off. Although...it was a good one.

What was going on?

[Jax]

Jax reached for the note with hands heavily callussed and the cuticles of each finger stained with grease he held the note for while his eyes scanned the note. His deep green eyes analazing the note while his brain sprang into motion. With each letter scanned his gaze went from one neatly cut letter to the next to the next and with each letter his face got more and more disgruntled. Finally he slammed the letter down on the table in sudden bout of fury, his lips peeled back from his teeth as he hissed out a variety of vulgar words mixed with threats and horrible promises. As he finished he spent a moment seething with rage finally he rubbed the shaven parts of his head and hissed air slowly out between his bright white teeth and raised his gaze to the woman across from him. He blinked for a moment trying to remember why she was here and then his face just barely went from the red of rage to a slight pink of embassament.

Jax slowly lowered his hands to the table top and and swept his gaze across the room notices expressions of shock, horror, fear, and one or two that seemed a little impressed at the performance. The right corner of Jax's mouth jerked upwards briefly in a tick that was part apology, part pride. He slowly looked back into his "date's" face and smiled ruefully.

"I... guess I have been a bit upset today."

He took a deep breath and waved at the woman across from him and then pointed at the note.

"I got a note this morning after I woke up about... noon... It was stuck to the wall next to where my bike WAS the previous night. The note told me ta come here tonight if I wanted to see my bike again and ta go on this date. I would show you the note but.... was was even more upset this morning and... I kinda ate it... anyways I figured it was a trap or... something..."

Jax's gaze went to his bag and back.

"Well I guess that is obvious... I was kinda hoping my date would be the person responsible and... well... I believe I made my f$&king feeling clear on all this..."

He was trying to speak a bit more... civilly, bigger word then he usually used, less swearing... after all he doubted he would get many chances to speak to a girl who looked so nice in a black dress. He thought on this as the waitress returned and handed them both menus.

"Have you two thought about what you want to drink..."

Jax looked up exasperated and just said.

"Beer me."

The waitress frowned and coughed to get his attention and Jax slowly turned his head to look at her his face matching her frowned.

"What?"

He barked out his question as her frowned deepened.

"Alcohol is a toxin and we do not serve toxins at~"

"Are you saying I can't get a f&#king drink here?... Cause I really need one."

"That is correct si... Jax."

Jax frowned deepened and he sighed before waving his hand tiredly.

"FINE!... I'll have soda."

Once more the waitress coughed.

"C'MON!!!"

Jax whined... in what he hoped was a manly way.

"Soda contains~"

"FINE! FINE FINE FINE!.. Give me whatever fruity vegan crap ya think will help me 'cleanse' my body or whatever d&@ned thing you people babble about here... it's probably give me the runs..."

The waitress listened with her mouth slightly agape and slowly turned to the woman across from the man who was quickly becoming the worst or oddest customer the place had ever had.

"Umm.. and for you ma'am?..."

[cordy]

Cordy quickly drew her hand back, slightly alarmed by the man's rather violent reaction to seeing the letter. ...Right then, so it was probably safe to say that he hadn't sent it. But if he had not, in fact, been responsible for all of this, then who the hell was? The question briefly fell to the back of her mind, however, as she continued to watch the man across from her display his 'colorful' use of the English language. Just when the brunette had begun to wonder whether it'd be a good idea just to get up and back away sloooowly...the swearing ceased. Well at least he had the decency to look a bit abashed, anyway.

"I... guess I have been a bit upset today."

Cordy arched an eyebrow at this. Gosh, really? was he brief sarcasm-laced thought that crossed her mind, but she none he less remained quiet to allow him to explain his side of things. So wait. If Cordelia was getting this right, this guy's bike had been stolen, and in its place...he'd received one of these crazy notes too? And she wasn't even going to start on his sidebar confession that he'd angrily eaten he note afterward. SERIOUSLY now, what was going on here? "Ooookay..." she began slowly, drawing out the word as she tried to make some sense out of all this. "Well. Nice to know you're as...completely confused as I am. I thought this was supposed to be some kind of..." Well, 'trap' was probably going to make her sound kinda paranoid..."...joke. You don't think this is some kind of weird vegan advertising thing, do you? Maybe the only way they can get customers—"

She abruptly stopped speaking when the waitress decided to come back and check on them, shooting the other woman a rather unconvincing forced smile. Evidently she was back to ask what they wanted to drink, but in all the commotion Cordy hadn't actually considered this. She hesitated for a moment, but thankfully the man across from her seemed to already know what he wanted...or, well he thought he did. Until the waitress shut down his request of beer. And soda. And...practically every other imaginable beverage that was even somewhat consumable. Once again, Cordy had to fight a slight grin as the exchange took place, concealing her amusement if only to keep the waitress's appalled glare from turning on her. Oh, great. Now it was her turn to order...the brunette really hated places like this.

"I'll just have water." she replied simply. Seemed like a safe enough choice. The waitress looked a little disappointed, but nodded none the less, cast one more dubious look at Cordy's "date", and scurried off to get their respective drinks.

...Which...left them alone again. And in a significantly more awkward situation than before, since Cordy now had no real reason to get her bitch on anymore. Not when this man had apparently had nothing to do with whatever had caused this mix up. But the thing was, she was now out on a 'date' with someone she'd never met before in her life...a someone who had a bright green mohawk...and she wasn't really sure how to proceed from here. Of course, they'd probably have to try and figure out how all this had happened and who actually was responsible, but...

Clearing her throat lightly, she glanced briefly around the restaurant again before allowing her gaze to settle warily on her companion. Well, an introduction couldn't hurt, she supposed... "Uh, well...hi there. I'm Cordy. Or Cordelia. Whichever." she told him a bit hesitantly. The waitress had just called this man 'Jax', but it seemed at least polite to allow him to introduce himself in turn.

[Jax]

Jax nodded at the woman before him as his brain screamed at him.

~SMILE YOU FOOL! SHE IS TALKING TO US AND HAS YET TO HIT US WIT A TIRE IRON AND ISN'T SOMEONE LIKELY TO ARREST US! SMILE! CHARM!... DON'T YOU DARE BURP RIGHT NOW!~

The corners of his mouth slowly twitched into an unaccustomed smile as he opened his mouth to introduce himself and then he frowned... and looked over his shoulder at the entrance, did a calculation and then turned back to his 'date'.

"... well my name is Jax as you probably know... full name is Jax Gardener. But as I said back there I prefer people to call me Jax, formalities make me ill."

He looked her in the eyes and winced, he was not good at social interactions and he knew it, he was not good about talking about things that didn't involve metal he... was not much for dating he felt very out of his element.

"I think I should apologize... I am not really used to dating woman like you... not that there is anything wrong with you ... I mean I don't date girls... GAH! Not what I mean..."

Jax laid his head on the table and sighed loudly into the surface of the table.

"Balls...What is wrong with me today... did someone inject me with estrogen when I wasn't looking? I mean I was the muscle of the 99 Kings back in Gotham and now I can't even talk to a pretty girl without sounding like a complete lunatic."

He raised his head a bit, let it fall raised it, let it fall... and then sat back up in his seat a determined look in his face. The bits out doubt and self loathing peeled away as his bright green eyes sparkled with life. He was not falling down that hole again... he had been there, see then that, and refused to buy the t-shirt.

"As I said. I am Jax, I do metal for a living, fixing stuff, making stuff, finding stuff. As long as it is metal I can deal with it."

[cordy]

The man who'd just introduced himself as Jax Gardener looked just about as at a loss for what to do about all this as Cordy herself was feeling. Her initial response to his rambling was a bit skeptical, her brow furrowing slightly as she watched him fumble with his words. Cordy was usually one to be a tad judgmental when it came to first impressions, but in all honesty? She wasn't really sure what to make of this guy just yet. His rough n' tough exterior had immediately led her to peg him as some kind of punk, but...his words so far weren't matching him up with the disgruntled, aggressive demeanor she'd subconsciously been expecting. His gruff, uncomfortable rambling was...kind of amusing, actually. If Cordy hadn't still been half-distracted by the complete absurdity of the situation, she might have actually laughed.

As it was, she couldn't help but give a slight smile as she listened to him speak. "Don't worry about it." She waved off his apology lightly, deciding to take a bit of mercy and not dwell on the topic. "I kinda know what you mean. I'm not real big on dating either..." When was the last time she'd even been on a date? Cordelia couldn't even recall...sometime after the resurrection of Angel's hundred-year-old vampiress lover, but before the demonic possession that had stolen her life away, she figured. Jeez. For the past couple of years she'd been too distracted by all the evil-fighting that she actually almost hadn't noticed her resulting lack of a life...

"Wait," she blinked once, catching the last bit of Jax's statement as he exasperatedly thumped his head down on the table. "..You've been to Gotham? The Gotham City? The one with Batman and...all the crazies running the streets?...Hmm." Well, that explained things a little. She couldn't really imagine living in a place like Gotham and not building up some kind of tough exterior. From what Cordy had heard, it wasn't exactly the brightest little town on the planet. Of course, that wasn't exactly a new concept for the brunette, having lived on the hellmouth...and then in Los Angeles...and now in New York. Despite what felt like a 'grand tour of America's craziest cities', she'd never hit up Gotham. The spark of curious interest in her gaze remained as she thought on this, briefly distracted by her thoughts on the infamous city until Jax mentioned what he did for a living.

Metal. Cordelia wondered what exactly his work entailed...although she could hardly say that this bit of information was surprising. Jax was no doubt all about metal, judging by everything from his piercings, to the golf bag full of metal at his feet, to the heavy metal music he probably listened to.

"Metal?" she repeated, musing for a moment before giving a thoughtful little nod. "Yeah. That does kinda fit you..." The statement was made by going off the vibes her empathic powers were receiving, as well as her own observations...although she hadn't exactly meant to speak this particular thought aloud. Startling slightly as if only just realizing what she'd said, the brunette gave herself a mental shake and snapped back into focus. "So...do you have some kind of shop around here, or something..?" she asked, more to dismiss her momentary slip than anything. And she did have to wonder where Jax made this living of his...perhaps he ran some kind of mechanic shop, or something along those lines...

As for her own profession, well...she wasn't going to mention that just yet. Blurting out stuff about being a paranormal detective wasn't exactly the kind of thing you just threw out there within the first couple minutes of meeting someone...well, unless you wanted them to think you were crazy.

[Jax]

Jax looked at her for a while trying to figure out how to answer her... he decided to go with honesty rather then lying... well for one he wasn't a very good liar in the first place which tended to surprise people and secondly he didn't feel like making up a bunch of stories that might or might fool her, seemed like far too much effort and not worth it. His laziness nodded approvingly at this decision.

"I kinda got this old garage that I renting, it's pretty much a @^&*hole but has a decent apartment overhead and an office, I am cleaning it up a bit. Money isn't that big a problem I mean... it's not like businesses in Gotham were watching their registers that closely during that zombie problem."

Jax reached into his pocket of his coat and pulled out a hand rolled cigarette and began to put it into his mouth when he saw Cordelia's expression and then snorted.

"No, I didn't steal from the places but lots of people would and then slow themselves down hauling suitcases of money, get turned to @&*#ing zombie chow and then walk around moaning and chasing people with suitcases still in their hands. I had a ride so sometimes when I turned a walking maggot factory to a sidewalk stain I would pick up the loot... Hey it works in video games."

He shrugged, truth be told he had set aside quite a nest egg this way but he wasn't about to mention how much, people got the wrong idea. He thought on greed as he searched for his lighter.

"But I like working with metal, it likes working with me so I do odd jobs when someone hires me. The money is just a way of keeping score I guess. Now where is... AH here it is."

Taking a dragon with a dragons head for the flame dispenser he flicked it to life, it's blue butane flame extending three inches from the lighter, as he started to bring the lighter to his unlit cigarette he heard a familiar cough behind him. Jax's head slumped to the table. He counted a few times, the lighter still in the same position, it's flame raising to the sky, slowly he turned to the face of their server.

"... WHAT?... WHAT THE F&*K DID I DO NOW? Was my mention of money a taboo because money is made from trees? Was it because I like metal? DID I PASS GAS?! WHAT!!"

The waitress leaned away from him but still pointed at the unlit cigarette in his mouth. Jax's eyes went cross-eyed as he looked down his nose at it.

"Sir this is a no smoking~"

"ARE YOU F#&KING KIDDING ME? I CAN'T EAT MEAT! CAN'T DRINK WHAT I WANT! AND NOW I CAN'T SMOKE... Your world is a form of hell isn't it?"

"Sir..."

"FINE! F&*KING FINE! Wouldn't want someone ta keel over with their sensitive lungs..."

Jax pulled the cigarette out of his mouth with a florish... and then opening his mouth popped it in, and started to chew.

"There, now I get my nicotine and ya don't get smoke. HAPPY?"

The waitress looked at him with disgust and backed away from the increasingly vulgar man sitting at the table while Jax turned back to Cordelia. He took up the menu and glared at it.

"Do ya see anything remotely edible?"

[cordy]

Taking money from zombies...well, that was one way to earn some cash. Who knew the mindless mutants actually had some purpose after all! Deciding not to reflect too much on the concept, Cordelia reasoned that it wasn't exactly as if the zombies were missing it anyway...what were zombies going to do with a suitcase full of money? Buy life insurance? She grinned a little at the irony.

Cordy had just been about to mention that she'd had some dealings with zombies in her own line of work when Jax whipped out a cigarette and lighter. ...Uh oh. Having lived in Los Angeles for five years, public smoking habits weren't really something she was unaccustomed to...but something told her that in a place like this, it wouldn't exactly be smiled upon. Sure enough, Jax hadn't even gotten the cigarette lit before the waitress, who seemed to have a sixth sense for detecting oncoming vegan offenses, swooped in behind him. Cordy took one glance at the look on her face, and turned uncertainly back to her unsuspecting date. "Erm...Jax..." Too late. The waitress announced her presence with an obnoxious cough, but before she could get one chiding word in, Jax's temper gave.

Right...so whoever had arranged this date to take place at the vegan restaurant either didn't know either of them very well, or had a really twisted sense of humor. Cordy rolled her eyes as she watched the hostile exchange take place, silently placing bets on when one of two things was going to happen: A, the waitress was going to realize that they were hopelessly estranged from her cause and kick them out, or B, Jax was going to snap and storm out of here voluntarily. The face-off ended with Jax popping the cigarette in his mouth (oh, that was nice) and the increasingly agitated waitress retreating again. Well...if nothing else, this evening was certainly going to be entertaining.

Trying to distract herself from all the madness, she shook her head and followed Jax's lead by picking up one of the menus (most likely made with some other-wordly paper alternative). "Well, assuming we get our food before they 'ask us to leave'.." She scanned the list of dishes briefly, her expression turning to one of mild distaste at the 'Veggie Burger with non-dairy cheese', and then to downright disgust at the listing of 'Mock Meatloaf'. "...looks like slim pickings. Mock Meatloaf sounds like something out of a high school cafeteria." The comment earned her an affronted glare from a passing waitress, who was thankfully, this time, not their own. With a short sigh, Cordy set the menu down on the table and raised her gaze to Jax.

"Our best bet would probably be soup or something. Or, like...crackers." The brunette gave an unenthusiastic shrug before taking a glance around at the other tables. "Maybe we should ask someone. It's hard to tell which of them are the sane ones, though..."

[Jax]

Jax smirked and then laughed outloud, his white teeth flashing as he laughed and laughed until tears poured out his eyes, Finally calming down to mere giggles he ignored the people staring at this man laughing like an ax murderer. Wiping a tear from his eye Jax felt more relaxed then he had felt the entire day.

"Find a sane one.... heh... yeah right like any sane @&*#er would set foot in a place like this for the food. I mean come on, beans, leaves, celery? Salads? This is what you eat when you are trapped on a deserted island, you are alone and don't care about getting the runs and it's either eat this or die of starvation. I mean half the stuff on this menu gives you the same vitamin requirements of wet cardboard. This stuff is what food eats. We didn't get to be the top of the food chain by not eating things lower on the food chain then us."

Jax slumped back and sat crookedly, he felt better. Sure his bike was still missing but... he had to admit he was kinda enjoying himself and well... Cordelia hadn't ran out yet so he guessed maybe she was enjoying herself as well. He hoped so at least. He wracked his brains quickly thinking about what to do next. A part of his brain suggested singing to her, it was squashed and filed away deep into the undergrowth, instead he looked at her studying her... she was impressive, not just because she was good looking, talked well, and looked good in a black dress but she sat their across from him with no look of worry or fear and her eyes... he had seen eyes like that. Eyes that said she had faced far worse then him and remained who she was. He liked eyes like that, he saw them in the mirror every morning but her's were... brighter somehow. He had to know a bit more about her.

"I have been talking alot, and ya are pretty good at the whole listening thing... tell me about yaself... you are not a shrink are ya?"

[cordy]

She had to laugh a little at Jax's vegan food-related rant, noting that his little speech was practically the antithesis of what on of the staff here might preach to them. For what probably wouldn't be the last time, Cordy sent silent thanks to whoever was listening that she hadn't been paired with some kind of hard-core hippie who actually might have chosen this place. Jax might be considered hardcore, but he was certainly anything but a hippie. This time, she allowed her amusement to linger a little longer, grinning as she nodded to concur with his point. More talk like this would probably get their food spit in or something, but...it wasn't like they were going to eat it anyway.

She blinked at his question, and then her hazel eyes widened a little upon hearing the word 'shrink'. Half amused and half bewildered at the very thought, Cordy shook her head. "No. No, I'm definitely not a shrink." she laughed. Though admittedly, she felt like one sometimes between dealing with the Fang Gang's drama, and managing the vivid visions that sometimes came to her. These thoughts prompted her to modify her statement, if only half-jokingly. "Well. Not officially, anyway." It was probably better to leave it at that, he figured, and instead tart thinking about exactly how much to tell Jax about her personal life. Not that she didn't trust him, because oddly...he struck her as someone who was trustworthy, despite his initially intimidating appearance. But this was their first 'date' (if that's what they decided to deem this, anyway) after all, and Cordelia was hesitant to throw too much craziness at him at once.

In the end, she decided she'd...skip over all that empathic seer half-demon crap, and stick with the basics for now. "I'm a detective, actually. I worked for a private business in Los Angeles for a few years before I moved here." 'Moved here' was a nice way of putting 'I died and was sent back to help save the world', but...there you had it. Pausing for a moment, Cordy pondered how to best phrase this next part. "I don't work with the police much, though. My line of work is more... uh ...supernaturally based. You know, like zombies and stuff.." Zombies seemed like a good example to use since Jax had already told her he'd dealt with them before, and she wasn't quite sure how he'd take it if she started mentioning vampires and demons and whatnot.

"So yep, I'm trying to start that back up in New York. ...I've kinda been a little distracted by, you know, the recent apocalypse and all, but..."She shrugged again. Clearly Cordelia's line of work wasn't exactly what you'd call normal, but she hoped these carefully selected bits of information wouldn't weird Jax out too much. Although admitting it felt like she was giving whoever had set this whole thing up a victory, Cordy was actually starting to like the man sitting across from her. He was kind of...charming. In his own unapologetically blunt, swears-like-a-sailor kind of way.

[Jax]

Supernatural detective... Jax was actually impressed, the woman was apparently hardcore enough to deal with the supernatural community on a regular bases and come out with her internal organs still on the inside, that was impressive, quite impressive. Jax could tell by the way she was phrasing things she was trying to keep downplay it but he now knew how that look in her eyes, that firmness that was behind them, where that came from. She was a survivor, maybe even a bit of a warrior. Jax could respect that... plus... she had laughed with him, not at him... with him. Could she be actually enjoying herself? But regardless she had given him a piece of herself, talking about the supernatural was hard, feeling people out so the least he could do was meet her part way.

"So things like vamps and demons right?... what? don't look so surprised I'm not a ... what did Jack used to say... Muggle. I am not a muggle. Whatever the F@^k that is. You live in the ghetto of Gotham ya find out creatures are real real fast, Hell I am not even conventional human."

Jax let his mind wonder in friends gone then snapped back to look at her figuring she would want to know more details about what he just said.

"Well.. I am not a half demon or anything interesting like that, I am what people call a metahuman, hate that @&*@ word. It it just jibber jabber really, nonsense. Basically I have powers most humans don't, I can't fire lasers out my eyes or throw subway cars, my power is a bit more subtle..."

Jax looked around scanning and then looked over to her side of the table and snatched up her wrapped silverwear and plucked out the fork. He held it up, letting her view it. Pointed it at the table tines down and dropped it. It landed and ratttled with a normal plink on the table top.

"Nothing impressive there... but..."

He reached down and picked up the fork again and dropped it. The fork didn't travel normally rather then spinning a bit it dropped stright down, harder and faster. It imbedded the tines in the table top through the cloth with a THUNK that rattled the table, as if someone had dropped a twenty pound weight on the table, Jax smiled at the damage and looked at Cordelia.

"That on the other hand..."

He reached over, with a hard yank pulled out the form and dropped in on the middle of the table. It tinked, a normal fork once more. Weighing no more then a normal piece of silverwear.

"A old lady once described it to me as the fact that metal loves me. I have to agree, I feel the same way about it. It is... dependable. Predicable... doesn't stab ya in the @&*#king back over a piece of gold when ya need their...."

Jax hands had begun to curl into fists and he looked down at them and then back at Cordelia. He opened his hands and took a breath.

"But... that is not my point. What I am trying to get to is I can do things with metal no one else can, in my hands a piece of metal is heavier, sharper, lighter, more conductive... whatever I need. The very properties of metal I can enhance make it... more."

He grinned ferally. His lips peeled up revealing white teeth that though very human for a second seemed... sharper. A mere trick of the light but odd.

"Few of those blood suckers see it as a danger when a human hits them with a home made flail... and the expression on their face when they are lying twenty feet away and their insides are containing the remains of their ribcage, priceless."

he looked into the distance, and then back at his date and then covered him mouth with a cough, a bit embarassed at his own blood thirst. Not something the ladies tend to understand.

"So... um this detective agency, what is it called?"

[cordy]

Slightly taken aback by Jax's casual mention of vampires and demons, Cordelia merely stared as she listened to him explain that all such supernatural business was not at all uncommon in Gotham. And muggles. Sometime about muggles. After a moment of bemusement, she eventually shrugged this off and allowed the surprise to fade from her features. This made things a little easier, at least. Jax didn't seem to think she was crazy...or, perhaps a better way of putting it was that they were both on the same level of crazy. There was only so much normality that people who fought things that went bump in the night on a regular basis could keep. The brunette sighed inwardly upon reflecting this...she really wasn't ever going to get that normal life...

Her attention was pulled very sharply back to Jax, however, when he mentioned that his own not-exactly-conventional abilities. Cordy frowned slightly, although it was an expression of confusion rather than disapproval. He was a little...more than human, and she hadn't noticed? Damn, she was starting to lose her touch...or so she thought, before Jax went on to explain that he was something called a 'metahuman'. It was a term that Cordy had heard thrown around before, although she'd never actually encountered one before this. Her curiosity peaked, she watched in anticipatory silence as he demonstrated his abilities with the fork On the second time he dropped it, the tiny piece of silverware slammed into the table like a dumbbell, and Cordy, who had not been expecting this, jumped slightly. The table had trembled dangerously under the evidently greatly increased weight of the fork, and the noise had earned them several bewildered looks from the surrounding customers...but after a moment, Cordy seemed to have composed herself.

Alright...so this wasn't so bad. It wasn't like Jax was a murderous, alternate-dimension demon or something...and actually, his abilities were kind of neat. She supposed that Jax wasn't someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of, though...and jokingly amused herself for a moment with thoughts of how badly he might frighten their waitress if she pushed him too far over the edge. She chuckled a little, continuing to listen as her date went on to explain the nature of his powers.

"So that explains the bag!" Cordy concluded suddenly, her gaze darting to the golf bag full of metal at Jax's feet. "Huh. I was wondering about that. ..Makes sense, I guess." She shrugged slightly, but before she could comment further, Jax had gone off on a rather violent tangent about the 'usefulness' of his abilities in battle. Cordy cringed slightly; his words hadn't exactly conjured up a pretty picture in her mind. Of course, a bloodthirsty nature was something was kind of used to dealing with...working for a vampire and all...but the violence of a good ol' fight still wasn't high on her list of conversational topics.

Still, a part of her couldn't help but admire him. Jax would no doubt be a very valuable ally to have...especially in today's evil-infested world. "Wow. Yuck. ...I mean, yuck in a good way, kind of. Sounds like you kicked some ass. No wonder the zombies have been dropping like flies lately.." She smiled, a mischievous spark lighting briefly in her eyes as she made a mental note: yes, Jax was definately someone you wanted to have around if you got into some trouble. Which was something Cordy happened to do quite frequently.

In response to his last question, the brunette was stuck with a momentary wave of nostalgia. "Well, in Los Angeles, I worked for a business called Angel Investigations." she told him, smiling a little at the memory. Angel, Wesley, Fred, Gunn, Lorne...ah, the good ol' days. But if she started thinking about them, she was likely to make herself all mopey again, and...that would be kind of embarrassing. "Anyway, my new gig's still kinda under construction. I don't have an official name yet...I've just been handing out business cards with my name on 'em. It's just freelance stuff so far, basically." Her detective business was something she'd intended to organize (provided that the Powers That Be gave her enough time to do so) after the whole zombie affair quieted down...and now that it seemed that it was doing just that, Jax's question had served as just the reminder she needed.

[Jax]

Jax nodded as she spook, he supposed just starting out a business would be harder with a detective agency then doing a few odd jobs like he did, but she seemed determined so he would more then likely put money on her if someone started a pool.... he wondered if it was too late to start one himself. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs he wondered when their drinks were going to arrive when he heard a cough behind him.

"WHAT THE F@&* DID I DO NOW?"

Jax stood in a sudden motion, his chair falling to the floor as he turned to glare at his waitress when... he noticed there was no one eye level with him, his gaze traveled down to the source of the cough, a short man, about four foot seven, balding head and a nice gray suit on, his flabby face was fixed in disapproval as he glared up at Jax who raised an eyebrow.

"And who the hellmouth are ya?"

The man reached up and straightened his tie and sneer up at Jax without fear.

"Sir, I am the owner of this establishment I am gonna have to ask you to leave."

Jax snarled back, his mouth opening in rage.

"ON WHAT GROUNDS YA OLD..."

He paused in mid roar and then his rage turned thoughtful, he thought of everything he had done since his arrival. He nodded and counted off on his fingers... occasionally chuckling in recollection. He nodded in acceptance, his face oddly serene. He looked down at his feet and then up at the ceiling, his grin growing.

"Gotta admit, getting kicked out of a hippy font of righteousness like this is a first one for me. Was bound ta happen though. Really."

His grin faded a bit and he looked sideways over to his date. He didn't mind getting kicked out, didn't give the least bit of caring, he didn't want the date to end... but... he wasn't about to force her to come with, he looked at Cordelia.

"Ummm... yeah it looks like I am heading out, ya can stay... if ya want... otherwise well... I heard of this interesting nightclub, has decent food and beer I heard, not to far away... maybe you would like to come?... if you are not too busy."

Jax's face was serious, almost pensive as he awaited what he thought was gonna be an abject rejection, he doubted a smart pretty lady like her would want to stick around him when there were better guys out there.

[cordy]

Well. It was bound to happen eventually...only a matter of when. As soon as she caught sight of the short old official-looking man, Cordy pretty much knew what was coming. From behind Jax, she shot the manager a rather disdainful look—it wasn't as if they'd asked to come to this God-forsaken place, after all. Yet still the manager seemed willing...no, downright eager to inform Jax that he was being dismissed from the premises. Oh, like that's a huge loss. The brunette thought sarcastically, quite obviously of the opinion that anyone could get along just fine without having to waste their lives in vegan-to-the-extreme places like this one. Jax didn't seem too broken up about 'missing out' either, unsurprisingly.

As he turned towards her again and made his offer, she blinked. It wasn't something she even had to consider for a moment. "Stay here? Are you kidding?" Cordy scoffed and rose from her seat, shooting an irritated glare in the manager's direction. "Thanks for the get out of jail free card, buddy." she snarked at him briskly, before returning her attention to Jax. There was no doubt that she was not sticking around this place any longer if he wasn't...but although their date could have easily ended here, Cordelia was a bit surprised to find that she didn't actually want it to. Despite the creepy letter, the horrible restaurant, and her dislike of blind dates in general, this had actually been kind of...fun. And she couldn't deny that she was starting to take a liking to Jax, even though all common sense would suggest that their personalities would've immediately clashed. Opposites attracted, perhaps?

"That sounds great, actually. I'm game." she responded with a grin, reflecting that a good drink was exactly what she needed after experiencing vegan-central up close. With one last haughty glance thrown the manager's way, the brunette turned and strode towards the door. It really was a relief to be getting out of here and back into...well, the rest of the world. Where they wouldn't be frowned upon for breathing 'using up valuable oxygen', or something.

She paused at the door to wait for Jax, and that was when...well, either the 'natural freshness' that humidified the air finally started to get to her, or...she was about to have a vision. Because the sudden wave of lightheaded-ness that had crashed over her? Not exactly normal. The brunette swore softly under her breath, clutching at the doorway for support. Not here. damn it! Not here... But naturally, when had The Powers ever considered what was convenient for her?

And then, quite abruptly, her hazel gaze grew glassy and vacant. And the vision struck.