[Ashley McGowen] Ostensibly, the Hung Drawn and Quartered is in place to provide somewhere for the city's Hermetics to go, or at least that was what Janine Hughes intended when she opened it and extended invitations to Awakened magi she knew. Unfortunately, Chicago's population has turned out to be a bit more sparse than it is in most cities: there's the Adept, her apprentice (who is too young to drink and probably wouldn't think much of a microbrewery) and a man who is, in all likelihood, due for an execution sometime next month.
Which means, really, that Ashley is the only Hermetic customer she generally gets. But that's all right. Ashley drinks enough here for five or six of them combined.
Today, however, she has brought a friend - or a friend has invited her out upon realizing he would be in town (it's the latter, she would otherwise have had no desire to expose her favorite haunts in Chicago to Bran Summers.) Drinking is one of the hobbies they've always shared.
Things are quiet. Most people are still reeling from eating too much last week and aren't able to put down something as typically heavy as pub food and beer that lacks "drinkability," and Ashley's glad for that. It lends itself to a more relaxed atmosphere, one in which she could write if she wanted to - except that she isn't tonight, because there's a man sitting across from her in the booth she's usually at. Of average height, slender, and his strawberry blond hair and freckles would make him hard to miss. He wears a pair of steel-colored wire rimmed glasses that sit high on his straight nose, and they look good on him, give him a dignity and an intellectual air that he might otherwise be lacking.
The air is warm, here. It might just be that Janine is keeping the place a little differently, but walking in is like feeling a breath of summer charged with sunlight, and even the Hunger it's paired with seems a little healthier, a bit less menacing - it's easier to notice that thriving note in Ashley's resonance, here.
And the more familiar of the two Hermetics, wearing a blue and gray striped shirt buttoned over a lighter blue, is the less noticeable of the two. They both have stouts. They're talking quietly - perhaps it's smalltalk, perhaps about a hobby or maybe about Awakened life, though the conversation doesn't appear particularly business like. Civil, for now.
[Jarod Nightingale] [Awareness? New Mage?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 5, 8, 8, 8 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Jarod Nightingale] [Also Empathy, cause we like to walk into social situations with a good sense of what's happening]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 5)
[Ashley McGowen] There's someone else there along with Ashley - and he'd likely be frustrated if he realized that her resonance, by now, almost eclipses his, draws away from his presence. He was one of her guides when she first woke, after all, when she was a frightened eighteen-year-old alone in a new world, and it's never pleasant to feel as though one has been overtaken.
But he's unmistakably there, and fairly powerful, and very different from her: something charged and warm, full of energy that he seems to pass along to those around him. Something oddly archaic, too, valiant and daring - as though a knight of old decided to drop down into the booth opposite Hunger, though whether it's to attempt to tame it or throw a gauntlet remains to be seen.
There's a lot of body language he can pick up once they come into view. Bran is open and at ease, lounging almost, one of his arms draped over the back of the booth and his other hand resting on the table near his glass. Ashley, by contrast, seems a bit more closed off, has an arm folded across her stomach and is tugging at the hair at the back of her neck with the other hand at something he said, as he's seen her do when she's nervous or irritated.
It's an idle exchange: they're talking magic, but with the ease and familiarity of people who have known each other a long, long time. They're old allies. They have no trouble with eye contact, and Ashley's expression shifts with fewer reservations than it often does - but only sometimes, and the other times the other man seems to meet with a wall. They also avoid touching each other.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Jarod Nightingale] It had not been long at all since the last time he'd seen Ashley. By the time he'd left her apartment last night, it had been late. Late enough to technically be called morning, though it being winter, the sun would not peek over the horizon until a number of hours later. Dana's presence in his home made it easier to stay out like that without feeling the pressing need to get back to his daughter. He trusted Nick, but the grad student and humanitarian was not so close to him that he could be considered family. Dana was more family to Jarod than any of his actual blood relatives (the living ones, anyway.)
When he'd gotten home, he'd found her asleep on the couch with one of his books cradled loosely against her chest, and upon waking, she had eyed him in a manner that suggested she knew precisely what it was he'd been doing. (Except, of course, she could only ever guess at one piece of the story.) She hadn't chastised him, though. Why would she? This was completely typical Jarod behavior. Indeed, she was often more surprised when he did not go out (which he'd been doing - or rather, not doing - more and more these days.)
Tonight, he was not looking for Ashley, though it was not much of a surprise that she was there. (This was Ashley's haunt, after all.) If he were really to analyze his behavior, he'd probably have to admit that he was hoping to find Emily here with her, as he had done on so many past occasions. He might even have to admit that he missed Emily, despite the fact that his instinct for self-preservation had been rather noisily telling him, lately, that he needed to take a step back from her.
But Emily wasn't here tonight, so it didn't matter.
Ashley was here, though. And so was someone else. Someone who might be of interest, no doubt. The two of them seemed to be on familiar terms, Ashley and the strawberry-blond stranger. And Jarod, being to curious creature that he was, was not about to leave this matter be without gracefully inserting himself into the middle of things. So this was precisely what he did.
He didn't bother to order a drink first. Instead he watched them briefly from across the room, then walked over and slid neatly in beside Ashley on her side of the bench, as if he belonged there. "Lovely evening, hmm?" And his smile was that kind of perfect-and-charming sort that he tended to pull out in social situations. He looked every inch the handsome, wealthy playboy tonight (not that this was all that unusual,) and had on a ridiculously expensive tailored black Prada suit (with a wine-colored shirt) beneath his coat. Bran probably was not the sort of person who kept up with the fashion industry, so he likely wouldn't know that this sudden intruder was slightly-sortof-famous, but it didn't really matter. Jarod gave off that kind of manner all on his own, as if he walked slightly above everyone around him. (As if he were not entirely human.)
"I don't believe I've met your friend, Ashley. You shall have to introduce us."
[Jarod Nightingale] [Edit: being *the* curious creature that he was...]
[Ashley McGowen] [I hate my life.]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 3, 4, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)
[Ashley McGowen] [B: Huh?]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 2, 9 (Failure at target 6)
[Jarod Nightingale] [Anti-subterfuge]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley isn't smooth. If anyone knows that, it's both of these men.
She's not smooth, but she manages to navigate the social world, often, through sheer stoicism, even if there is a part of her that is curling up inside her chest wanting to die because she could not have dreamed for herself a more awkward social situation (no, no, untrue - she was not looking forward to ever bringing Daiyu around her father.) Yet, somehow, a woman horribly unequipped for dealing with them finds herself in them on a semi-regular basis regardless.
When Jarod slides into the bench next to her, Ashley just looks sidelong at him. Half-smiles, briefly, something that tapers off because Bran is sitting there curious and keenly observant. He's been interested in networking with the magi in Chicago; Ashley has been interested in flatly denying him the opportunity.
"Bran Summers bani Hermes bani Flambeau," he says before Ashley has the chance to speak for him.
"Hi," Ashley says, after a beat, and then inclines her head toward Bran. "He's a former cabalmate of mine. From Boston. Bran, this is Jarod." Ashley doesn't offer up Jarod's Tradition, though whether that's for her own reasons or his, it's hard to say.
Bran leans across the table to offer Jarod his hand to shake. Bran deals with all types, and he doesn't seem put off either by the suit or by Jarod's appearance or by his sliding into the booth next to Ashley.
[Jarod Nightingale] It was pretty easy to guess why Ashley felt out of her element here (though to her credit, she didn't appear to be.) It was also easy to guess why she'd looked a little anxious and irritated earlier, when he'd been watching her. Bran, like Jarod, was a socially adept sort of person. He didn't need time to collect himself when confronted with this new and potentially intimidating force, but rather reacted with smooth grace, offering his name before even Ashley had a chance to say hello. His curiosity was apparent, but that in itself was not particularly unusual. (Naturally he'd be curious about the other mages in town, if he was an old cabalmate of Ashley's.)
Bran offered his hand, and Jarod reached across the table and took it in a firm-but-friendly handshake. "Ah, so this is Bran. Emily mentioned you. Jarod Nightingale." Ashley hadn't offered his Tradition. Neither did he. After retracting his arm, he slid the coat from his shoulders and folded it neatly, setting it beside him on the bench. At this point, he flagged down the waitress, who'd already been keeping an eye on their booth, lest the new addition desire to order something. Jarod smiled at her, then indicated with a crook of his finger that she lean in close so that he could whisper something to her. When she did so, she blushed a little, and smiled back at him. "I... think I can find something."
When she left to fetch him whatever it was he'd ordered, Jarod turned his focus back to the two Hermetics sitting next to and across from him. He leaned back a little in the booth, making himself comfortable. "So what brings you out to the Windy City?"
[Ashley McGowen] "Nice to meet you, Jarod," Bran says.
One of the social techniques Jarod has learned is to smile pleasantly and school his expressions, carefully control what he shows to the outside world. This was not the social defense Ashley learned growing up. Ashley learned to stay silent so that she wouldn't put her foot in her mouth or say some horribly awkward or tactless thing in front of a group of people. Her gaze slides, sidelong, to the waitress when she blushes and goes off to get whatever it was that Jarod ordered, and her momentary curiosity subsides in favor of watching the other two.
As though she's just letting two friends get acquainted. There's the other problem, and Ashley is relieved that Jarod did not offer his Tradition: if Jarod knew about Bran's history with Boston's Verbena, he would understand this a little better. If Jarod knew how any self-respecting Hermetic would react to hearing about a fellow Traditionmate joining up with the primals, he'd understand even better. One can assume she hasn't told Bran about this. She might not ever.
"Oh, Emily," Bran says, and the smile that seems to perpetually be dancing about his eyebrows suddenly broadens. He doesn't have the kind of physical perfection Jarod does, though certainly no one would call him ugly, but he has a way with people, does Bran. After Jarod releases his hand he lets it rest back on the table near his glass again, two knuckles down as though he'd rap a rhythm (though he doesn't. He was the first person in Ashley's life to help her deal with her loss - and one of the only ones - and he's not insensitive.) "It's nice to know Ashley has a good group of people out here, from what I've seen."
Ashley, silent, just picks up her drink and sips at it. And stares across the table at the Flambeau.
Bran, who has received many of the same look from her in their ten years of knowing each other, doesn't seem to notice. "I'm skilled with Matter," he says, not using the Latin terms as Ashley tends to (this is what one does, he's speaking to the level of his audience), "and I made an addition to the chantry house a few weeks ago at Ashley's request. I have some business up in Rockford so I thought while I was here I'd make sure my work was holding up and stop in to visit," he says.
[Jarod Nightingale] As much as Jarod might be tempted, on occasion, to tease the Hermetics about their pretentious titles, he was not unfamiliar with the more basic ones. The fact that Bran had just now chosen not to refer to his preferred sphere as Ars Materiae was not lost on him. This might be interpreted in two ways: either Bran was an unusually informal Hermetic, or he'd tailored his response to suit his assumptions about present company. Given the fact that he'd introduced himself formally, one might guess at the latter.
"Sounds like you'd be good to have on hand during building renovations," he commented wryly.
At this point the waitress returned with a snifter of what looked like very expensive brandy (cognac, most likely), and a small piece of folded paper that she slipped surreptitiously into the pocket of his suit-jacket. He thanked her, and pretended not to notice the note - which he would probably look at later. Closing his eyes briefly, he inhaled the scent of the brandy and took a sip. When he turned his attention back to Bran and Ashley, he continued speaking.
"I'm more partial to Ars Animae, personally. Did Ashley tell you that she just finished learning it with me last night?"
His eyebrows lofted slightly, as if in curiosity, though it was highly likely that he knew Ashley probably hadn't mentioned this. (Note, too, the fact that he'd used Hermetic terminology. That might have been a kind of subtle riposte.)
[Ashley McGowen] Bran, for what it's worth, doesn't seem to react to that overmuch. He looks at Jarod, and then he looks over at Ashley, and there is a crease to his brows all of a sudden - and that's a complicated look, because Jarod has just insulted him on several levels, and he's just brought up not one point of concern but two - but it smooths out again just as quickly. He smiles again.
"I didn't know you were planning on learning the Ars Vitae, Ashley," he says. Ars Animae, it's an older term that neither him or Ashley have used, one that was used by their mentors - he doesn't say that either, and it doesn't even slip into his tone. "You could've asked me, you know. Probably would've been easier than feeling like you had to translate."
Because yes - he's pretty certain that the man sitting at the table with them is not Hermetic, otherwise Ashley would've introduced him as such (and Bran knows a lot of Names, and he didn't recognize Jarod's.) It's worrisome to him.
Ashley has her glass raised to her mouth, though she isn't drinking from it; it's just obscuring half of her face. Jarod wouldn't miss that her eyes rolled skyward for a moment or two, though, as though praying for deliverance, or she would be if Ashley knew how to pray for anything (and if she really Willed herself to leave, she could tear a hole through space and Stride out of here.)
Except that Ashley doesn't have any patience for the sort of dance they're doing. So when her eyes redirect themselves toward Bran she considers a blunt admission of what she's considering, but she doesn't; this is not the man to tell first. "I thought it'd be beneficial to learn it from another Tradition. Like learning from another House. It's kind of challenging to wrap my head around it."
Maybe they can be taught.
"Ah, right. Like the woad," Bran says, and Ashley's eyes flick back up to him again, briefly, and hold. Bran, again, seems unbothered; he glances over at Jarod again and says, "What are your methods with the Ars Vitae, actually? I'm a disciple in it myself, so I'm kind of curious."
[Jarod Nightingale] [Empathy - there is so much going on here]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 (Success x 1 at target 5)
[Jarod Nightingale] [Boo, trying again +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 5, 6, 9 (Failure at target 6)
[Jarod Nightingale] [+1 again!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 7, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 7)
[Ashley McGowen] Bran and Ashley have an incredibly complicated relationship, at this point. Jarod's used to reading people, and while there are certain emotions dominating the conversation, he's able to get a sense of most of them as they're being bandied about. What flickered across Bran's face for a moment wasn't quite jealousy, though something in its family: they have a long history, and much of it ended badly, and there are still lingering feelings (likely on the part of both of them). A man like Jarod isn't the sort of man one wants to hear insinuating about sleeping with an ex, even if both parties have made their peace with splitting apart; Jarod is attractive and well dressed and socially adroit, and he's used to others feeling competitive with him - and there's also the fact that Ashley is none of these things, decidedly average in most regards.
But more prominent than that, and also much harder to guess at, is the fact that he knows Jarod is not a Hermetic and Hermetics don't think kindly of learning from other Traditions. It isn't that Bran despises them - he has plenty of friends outside the Order of Hermes, and really, he isn't even that condescending usually - but he would not learn magic from them.
In a way, this is much like the reaction people used to have when they discovered that one of their number had "gone native," so to speak, which is perhaps what the woad is alluding to (another incident, perhaps?). Ashley has been drifting away from the more accepted methods of the Order of Hermes, and even without knowing that she's thinking about a second Tradition, he doesn't approve. It will hurt her politically.
Ashley knows all of this. She's not being as blunt and up front as she ordinarily would; presumably, she's chosen to sit on it rather than launch into a defense of her shifted worldview for the time being, though why is harder to determine without more information.
to Jarod Nightingale
[Jarod Nightingale] Whether he'd intentionally used the older title, or had simply made a slip, wasn't made clear by his reaction (or rather, nonreaction) to Bran's correction. One could read the slight misuse as an even bigger insult, in any case. Indication perhaps that while Jarod was educated enough to know some basics about a Tradition not his own, he didn't have enough respect for that Tradition to bother with small details like proper nomenclature. (And either way, Bran had been irritated by it.)
Ashley seemed more than a little frustrated by this recent turn of events, though, and if Jarod had the capacity to communicate telepathically of his own accord, he'd have probably responded with something along the lines of: Oh come on, fuck what he thinks. He looks like he could benefit from being taken down a notch anyway. But he didn't, and Bran was probably the sort of person who didn't miss much when it came to these kinds of interactions, so neither did Jarod attempt to shoot Ashley a meaningful look.
(And we'll forget, for a moment, the rather large amount of hypocrisy required for Jarod to judge someone who employed so many of the same techniques that he did.)
In truth, his dislike of Bran wasn't personal at all. It stemmed rather from Ashley's own reaction to the man, and the way she'd become so noticeably uncomfortable when Emily had spoken of meeting him. That seemed telling, to him, because Ashley, for all her faults, did not usually waste her time maintaining active dislike for people, so to have such a visceral reaction over someone she rarely saw anymore, it stood to wager that said person was distrustful or troublesome in some serious way - at least for her.
It was almost-sort-of chivalrous of him, really. (Except that he'd also managed to embarrass her and potentially get her into trouble.)
He laughed a little, gently, when Bran mentioned to Ashley that she ought to have asked him, and although the sound was pleasant enough (no trace of a bite, here), it was likely that his amusement might still be interpreted as a kind of dismissal. (How could it not?) He most assuredly did not miss the manner in which Bran had commented on Ashley's use of woad, but did not speak up again until asked a direct question.
"Oh, I'm sure you'd find them woefully barbaric," he mused. "But they seem to do the trick, and I can't say I've had any complaints. How would you teach it?"
[Ashley McGowen] [B: Short Fuse...]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 3, 4, 6, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Ashley McGowen] Jarod's almost-chivalry has not been lost on Ashley. She did, after all, call him on that very thing when the two of them argued about Emily in the park - but there was a reason she'd had that insight in the first place, and the reason happened to be that Bran has always displayed similar tendencies. And it always bothered him to be called on them, though his reasons and Jarod's were likely quite different.
It is a quality she has always found simultaneously endearing and incredibly frustrating. For precisely these reasons.
She has raised her glass to her mouth again, because it is useful in obscuring her expression and it keeps her from showing her discomfort - which, at this point, is considerable. Without knowledge and without being one of the involved parties she might not be able to work her way through everything that is being insinuated right now, but she is, and therefore does, and it is certainly embarrassing her. Mortifying her, even, one might say, given that she's gone utterly silent (a feat most people would attest is difficult to accomplish.)
Bran raises his eyebrows when Jarod mentions woefully barbaric and he gives a shake of his head. "Not at all," he says. "It all works, doesn't it? It's not like the instruments we use to exercise our Will really affect the outcome." Except one's dignity and self-respect. "I wasn't talking about teaching methods, though. I was more curious about what your Tradition teaches in regard to it."
Ashley's mouth finally thins and she says, "I'm studying with the Verbena. Go fucking look it up if you want to know it, Bran."
Bran lets out a slow exhale and glances in the Tytalan's direction. And says nothing, for close to a solid minute. There's no other show of temper. Ashley watches him for a second, takes a sip from her glass, and sets it back down.
[Jarod Nightingale] For all the potential havoc that Jarod may have just let loose into Ashley's life (and he may at some point feel bad about this - because although he believed that Ashley was not a political person, that didn't mean she couldn't be hurt by them), and for all the seeming mortification she was exhibiting now, there was nonetheless a moment there where she did something which pleased him immensely.
He'd understood perfectly well what it was that Bran had actually been asking him. But since the Hermetic had not simply come out and said what he was thinking, the Verbena was naturally disinclined to give him a real answer. He was about to make a playful little comment to this regard, when Ashley finally had enough and simply came out with the truth, in a very... Ashley-like fashion. And really, it was much better than anything he could have said, so he kept his mouth shut and let her have her moment.
He did smile though - a softly wry expression directed specifically at Ashley. And while Bran was busy being quietly furious, Jarod slid his hand over and brushed the backs of his fingers against Ashley's own. It looked like a soothingly affectionate gesture. The kind of thing that a significant other might do to reassure and calm the other person. In actuality, he was probably thinking something more along the lines of: that was really kind of beautiful, and I adore you for it.
Then he directed his attention to his own drink. Not so much to hide behind it as to give himself something to do while he waited to see when Bran would start speaking to them again.
[Ashley McGowen] [Not happy.]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 10 (Failure at target 7)
[Ashley McGowen] [Shut the Fuck Up rote? You can thank Hannibal for it. -1 for focus, -1 for practiced rote.]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 6, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 4) [WP]
[Ashley McGowen] Really, it's not something that would ordinarily upset Bran. He's moved on as much as Ashley has, even though things remain a little awkward between them when they're having their better moments. But the thing the Flambeau are notorious for is their temper; the House has a tendency to recruit hotheaded magi, one whose passions run deep and who are soldiers above all else, and there's always been a forcefulness to Bran's idealism. It's not something that would normally upset him, but in the face of one insult - a rejection of his Tradition and their methods and a sense of indignance at seeing a bright Hermetic start using baser magic, the potential loss of a useful political tool, all of it - there's another, and in his current frame of mind he can't perceive it as anything but an insult.
Ashley, by contrast, glances over at Jarod as though she's a touch surprised, but accepts the gesture. Only to look back over at Bran, because his temper is even worse than hers, and she's expecting -
"What the fuck? You might as well take the fucking Code of Hermes and wipe your ass with it," he says, and there's a palm that finds its way flat on the table, striking - not too loud, but enough to accentuate his point. He's not yelling. He's not even trying to intimidate, really. He's just angry. "I told you what happened, and for all I fucking know you're ready to run off and tell them everything. What the hell, Ashley?"
Ashley opens her mouth to answer him; he's not done.
"It's pretty much going to be political suicide once this gets out and you're probably going to take me and Justine down with you. Are you happy about that?"
And he might have continued, except that Ashley doesn't like to be talked over. She flicks a glance in Bran's direction, catches his eyes and reaches up to hook a thumb and forefinger through two of the rings, and while both of them can feel a flexing of Will, it isn't immediately obvious what she's done. Bran's jaws seem locked tight, though, like he can't speak, like they've been clamped shut - however briefly.
Jarod doesn't know it, but it's among the more cruel things that she's done. But she lowers her hand after a second and says, "We'll talk about it later," and the ire is barely contained in her voice, too; she'd just taken action rather than shouting back.
[Jarod Nightingale] This was a bit like saying that you liked someone of another race just fine so long as they stayed on their side of the city and drank from their drinking fountains. Bran was more than willing to accept the existence of other Traditions, and other magical paradigms, and even to humor them, in his slightly condescending way. But evidently, once Ashley brought a primal home for dinner, and declared that no, this was not just a fluke - she genuinely wanted to broaden her beliefs and practices - the limits of her ex-cabalmate's tolerance had been reached.
Jarod... did not seem particularly surprised. Though his attention did peak when Bran said: you're ready to run off and tell them everything, because that sounded both personal and interesting. He wouldn't get a chance to ask him about it though, because Ashley... reacted to the outburst in a rather uncharacteristically dramatic fashion. Jarod, who'd seemed quietly amused by the outburst until that point, glanced at Ashley with slightly arched eyebrows.
He finished his drink, then said, in a dry tone, "I'm beginning to understand why you left Boston."
[Ashley McGowen] Bran does not finish his drink. Embarrassed and still angry, he gathers his jacket off the side of the bench and shrugs himself into it, looking once over his shoulder at Ashley and Jarod. "I'll talk to you later, Ashley," he says, and makes his way out of the pub without a farewell to Jarod. He probably just doesn't trust his tongue at the moment, and there's already been enough damage done.
It takes quite a bit of pressure in order to get Ashley to react with any kind of drama; while she too has a temper sometimes (it's been observed) she usually exercises some measure of restraint. What she just did could easily have been called bullying, particularly in context, and it's hard to say why she felt the need: maybe she was just angry, perhaps hurt, or maybe it was simply that she felt unsafe. Ashley is a little inscrutable sometimes too.
But when Bran leaves there's a measured sigh, as though she's already regretting it, and she grimaces and takes another sip of her drink. "That's not why I left Boston," she says.
Indeed, up until she moved to Chicago she and Bran would have been in complete agreement. That doesn't necessarily sit well with her either, even though she doesn't think she's wrong, now. "...Sorry about that."
[Jarod Nightingale] It hadn't been a real assumption, the fact that Ashley must have left Boston over something to do with Bran, or his temper. In truth, Jarod knew Ashley better than to assume she'd ever leave a place just because she might find a particular person disagreeable. She was much too stubborn for that.
But he did seem surprised when she said she was sorry. "...You're apologizing to me?"
Which could have meant either that he was acknowledging his role in the breakdown of the conversation, or that he just found it slightly shocking that Ashley would apologize to him at all. In fact, he intended it to mean both.
"And here I thought I just irritated you." He seemed anything but offended though, if that was actually the case. After a beat, he added, in an almost-whisper, as he leaned over conspiratorially, "You are strangely sexy when telling people off."
It could be difficult, at times, to discern when Jarod was flirting for its own sake and when he genuinely meant to give someone a compliment. It was probably true that he didn't always have much personal conviction behind the things he whispered into people's ears, beyond the let's-see-how-much-I-can-make-people-want-to-fuck-me game that he seemed to play so frequently. But this... did seem genuine, for better or worse.
But Ashley... seemed a little upset. And probably with good reason. So Jarod dropped the flirty tone and leaned over to cross his arms on the table, something he didn't normally do (bad etiquette.) He lifted one of his hands and leaned his face against it, turning his head so that he regarded her for a long moment. "You okay?"
[Ashley McGowen] It's hard to say, specifically, what she was apologizing for; Ashley is not a person who often makes apologies at all, and Jarod was certainly an instigator in that conversation. Really, except for lashing out at Bran she has little to apologize for - and then, not to Jarod.
Ashley is a private person, though. Her words were meant to suggest a regret; it was a messy argument, a messy situation, and Ashley, as she's stated in the past, has a low drama tolerance. She's not used to seeing people fly off the handle emotionally, and she's not really used to doing it herself or being at the center of it. She doesn't seem to care to explain, though; she just waves off the question. And then looks back at him. "It was a dick move to start shit with him," she tells him.
But there's no long drawn out reprimand. The flirting draws forth a raise of the eyebrows and a half-smile, the sort of expression that hints a sort of amusement and skepticism both (he's seen it on her before, often).
She's saved from the socially awkward when he drops the tone and leans into the table, though. She looks sidelong at him when he asks if she's okay (with Ashley, lately, this question is always a can of worms) and holds the look level for a few seconds. "Yeah," she says finally. "Things just go that way with me and Bran about half the time. I wanted," and she stresses the words and gives him another look, "to talk to Justine about it first because she wouldn't take it as badly, but I was going to need to tell them anyway." She waves a hand. "I've just never heard of anyone in the Order of Hermes doing what I'm doing. I'm sure it's been done, but it was going to be a shitstorm regardless."
She doesn't seem angry with him. A bit put out, perhaps, but "I probably should've been blunt with them to start with. Instead of worrying about it. They can go fuck themselves if they don't like it."
But that is, perhaps, one of the more difficult aspects of all of this: she doesn't quite believe that. Bran and Justine are old friends, even if they've been growing distant; the thought of losing them to an ideological rift is bothering her. Not changing her mind - Ashley is much too determined and has too strong a sense of self for that - but it's something that requires time and acceptance rather than action. Those, traditionally, are things she's never dealt well with.
[Jarod Nightingale] One could argue that part of the reason why Jarod had been acting especially troublesome lately - why it sometimes seemed as if nearly everything he did was custom-designed to drive the people around him crazy - was because this was one of many outlets for his own inner moods and frustrations. To put it simply, he wasn't a happy person. He'd never been a happy person. And unhappy people always manifested their emotions in some fashion or another, even if (and in many cases because) they refused to admit that they even had them.
Ashley commented that she did indeed think that Jarod had been acting like a dick, and he didn't disagree. Though he didn't apologize either. And he smiled out of one side of his mouth when she said that the Hermetics back home could go fuck themselves, but thankfully did not chime in with whatever opinion he may have had on the matter (Ashley could guess at that, anyway.)
"Anything I can do to make it up to you?"
[Ashley McGowen] Ashley, unfortunately, has no special insight to why Jarod has been acting out. If he's been particularly bad lately she hasn't noticed; she didn't know him well at all before he left Chicago, and he's oscillated between friendly and distant since he's come back. There have been moments where he might have driven her to homicide if she'd been a less Willful person, but yesterday, on the other hand, he was not troublesome in the slightest. For all she knows she's just getting to know him better, and he is still unpredictable.
Even if she understood, there's a fair bet that it wouldn't change any of her actions toward him.
His question prompts a look, and maybe she thinks about it for a second, but it's not long. "Yeah," she says with an eyeroll, her tone again affecting a faintly wry sort of exasperation, "don't be a dick." A thoughtful beat. "Not to me. Anyone else and I don't give a fuck." Which is probably not precisely true - she is a bit protective of certain parties - but it wasn't said entirely in seriousness, anyway.
There's a glance off toward the door to the pub, which remains closed for now; it's impossible to see anything through it, muddled as everything is in the inky dark outside, broken only occasionally by street lamps. "I'm going to get out of here," she says, though without any real hint of destination - whether she'd go home or would rather go on a walk, and perhaps that is intentionally left vague. "You want to come?"
If he acquiesces, she nudges him out of the booth and pulls her coat back on, taking a moment to set bills down on the table (enough for herself and Bran). There's a glance once toward Jarod to make sure he's ready to leave, and then she leads the way into the dark.
