Vigilantes [M]

[Chevi]

As much as Lucius enjoyed the girls telling Camilla to stand in line, the whole thing was getting out of hand. He didn't like being called a hero. And they obviously didn't recognize Camilla either.

"Want to get out of here?"

He glanced over at the table where her date was sitting with his phone, not paying attention at all. Jerk. Not even Camilla deserved that.

"Yes please." Lucius hopped of the stool. At least he didn't have to pay for the drinks. There were disapproving noises from his fans.

"Or would you like me to get these people away from you? I can lead them straight into the Hudson if you'd like?" 

"Overkill" Lucius whispered with a smirk, turning to the others. "I'm sorry, we need to go. Official team business. Our powers are needed... elsewhere. Thanks for the drinks! Next round's on that guy over there."

Lucius let out a sigh once they were outside and clear of the restaurant. "Date was that bad, huh?"

@Sara

[Sara]

"The academy should look into some sort of power swap mechanism so my skin can cause fire. Might result in less groping under the dinner table." She muttered in response to his question as they made their way outside. 

She glanced back over her shoulder to see Lucius' fans (weird), watching  them through the glass. Aidan still hadn't noticed she hadn't returned, twenty minutes after leaving for the bathroom. She'd text him later, claim some emergency and that way she'd smooth things over with his friend, her eldest brother.

She hadn't even got through her starter and after not eating all day (saving up the calories) she was famished. She glanced sideways at him, eyes narrowed. "If I buy you dinner somewhere else, are you going to be nice to me for an hour? Can you manage that?" She didn't want to go back to the academy, not yet.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"The academy should look into some sort of power swap mechanism so my skin can cause fire. Might result in less groping under the dinner table." 

"Ow" Lucius frowned. Douche. The only wonder was that it had taken her three dates to see it. "I can set him on fire if you want. That's what teammates are for, right?"

"If I buy you dinner somewhere else, are you going to be nice to me for an hour? Can you manage that?" 

"Only if it's something super cheap and greasy" Lucius chuckled, shrugging off his jacket. "Come on."

@Sara

[Sara]

"Maybe a light singe if he comes to visit the academy." she smirked and then groaned, rolling her eyes.  Expensive, small-portioned restaurants were her forte. And brunch places. Anywhere else was outside of her comfort zone.

She glanced at his jacket with a mild scowl, debating refusing it again. But then a wind whipped up and she mumbled, shrugging it on over her dress. It didn't match but she assumed (probably correctly) that he'd laugh at her if she pointed that out. 

Muttering, she cast another glance his way. "I don't know anywhere super cheap and greasy. Suggestions from the connoisseur?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

At least she accepted the jacket; even looking at her flimsy dress made Lucius shiver with cold. He grinned when she admitted to not knowing any cheap places.

"Of course you don't, princess. C'mon."

It only took a block or two of walking before he found a pizza place he'd visited before. It was a little more than a hole in the wall, but it had some tables (no tablecloth), and generous slices of pizza. After the drinking and the waiting, he was definitely hungry. And probably so was Camilla. Once they had their food and were seated, he glanced at her over the table.

"So, I'm guessing people going nuts over me is just something that happens in this line of work?..."

@Sara

[Sara]

Camilla dutifully followed him, barely concealing just how out of her depth she felt. It would have been fairly obvious though - the majority of those in the little room were dressed in jeans and sweaters; not $3000 silk dresses and heels. She zipped up his jacket to her chin. 

Taking her slice of pizza, she hopped up onto the stool and set about picking at it with her fingers. She'd eaten pizza before, obviously, but these slices were so enormous that the usual pick up and hold thing didn't seem like it would be a go-er. 

She glanced up from her musing as he asked the question and an amused smile lit up her features. "As I said, new poster boy. The other guys are going too be pissed." She smirked. She was too. Those people in the restaurant had clearly never heard about her or seen her. It was all Lucius. "Don't tell me, you don't enjoy the fame and adoration?" She finally tore off a bit of pizza and ate it. Damn it was good. She was not going to tell him. 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Like the needed one more reason to hate me" Lucius winkled his nose, biting into his pizza. He had not made a lot of friends at the academy yet, although that one animal guy was at least somewhat friendly. He also heard a hint of jealousy from Camilla's voice. "I thought being poster boy would come with perks at least..."

@Sara

[Sara]

"People throwing themselves at you isn't a perk?" She quirked a brow and tore off another bit of pizza to eat. She already wanted a second slice, but wasn't going to get one before he did. She had manners. 

"The free drinks too?" She chuckled. "Look at it this way, there's only so much isolation they can keep you in, in the academy if they need you to be out on TV saving lives and rescuing damsels in distress." Her lips quirked in a half smile. She wished she could stay the same but after what happened...she was convinced those in charge saw her as much as a liability as they did an asset. Which was unfair, given it really wasn't her fault.

She couldn't help herself though and added; "Just next time, leave some airtime for the rest of us yeah?" otherwise her parents would soon start to wonder just what they were giving such sizeable donations for...

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"People throwing themselves at you isn't a perk? The free drinks too?"

"Not really, with those people." Lucius wrinkled his nose over a bite of pizza, mimicking the voices "Oooh, you can burn things! That's so dangerous! Would it hurt if you touched me? You are so hot! Pun intended!" He rolled his eyes. Ew.

"Look at it this way, there's only so much isolation they can keep you in, in the academy if they need you to be out on TV saving lives and rescuing damsels in distress. Just next time, leave some airtime for the rest of us yeah?"

Lucius arched an eyebrow. He could tell Camilla was none too happy with his newfound popularity. He would have happily swapped with her.

"You do know that you can attract attention any time you want, right?" he pointed out. She was literally the woman who made people follow here. Lucius paused, giving her an amused look. "... and you don't even have to use our powers to do it."

@Sara

[Sara]

She snorted as she laughed at his mimicry, grinning when she finally gulped down the bite of her pizza. "Fine, the people are terrible but the free drinks...they're excellent." She should know, she'd been given enough in her life.

But then he was back to barbs...or what she thought were barbs. She was just ready to get all indignant and huffy and petulant as she so often found herself in Lucius' company before he gave her an amused look and gave her a...compliment? Was that a compliment? She frowned at him, genuinely confused.

"I'll have you know," She cleared her throat, trying to move on swiftly, "That I've never used my powers in any situation I shouldn't have. Friends used to ask me to clear lines for them or get them to follow me so they could get the best spot at a concert but I have moral integrity so I wouldn't." She quirked a brow, "Have you? Besides setting fire to my cushion?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"Me? I got no moral integrity" Lucius smirked, shaking his head. Camilla, always the overachiever. She was not as perfect as she liked to appear, but she was still keeping up appearances when her powers were questioned. And she completely ignored the compliment. Go figure. "I just don't like setting shit on fire. It's dangerous." He was not joking about that part; he finished his slice with a frown, and waved a hand for another. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't actually like to hurt people."

@Sara

[Sara]

"Yeah no shit it's dangerous, are you forgetting my trip to the infirmary after your first day in class?" She was still politely picking at her slice, only half-way done but nonetheless waved her hand for the next as well. She was famished. 

"And nobody thinks that." She frowns, "Everybody saw what a wuss you were in class." She grinned, trying to joke and nudge him under the table to emphasise the point. It really was like high-school. "Those people leering over you just clearly haven't found their new Netflix heartthrob to fawn over yet, so they've latched onto you. They'll move on when the next tall, dark, handsome guy strolls along." She was trying to be well-meaning and the compliment slipped out. She didn't even realise and kept munching on her pizza, muttering to herself; "I wish they served wine." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius frowned. He did not like to remember that first training day. Being set up as some kind of obstacle to fight, or an animal to tame. And he did not like the memory of burning Camilla either.

The compliment slipped out, and he grinned. He was not going to let an opportunity like that slide.

"So you think I'm handsome?" he ventured. "... they probably don't, or if they do, it comes from a box. We can get drinks later. But I'm warning you, you'll have to stand in line to buy one for me."

@Sara

[Sara]

She realised as soon as he started to speak that she fucked up and frowned at him, interjecting; "I'm not blind. You're handsome," She bluffed, "In that rough, sort of threatening way that some people are into I guess." 

She smirked at his offer. "Well good job I can just...you know...move the line." by getting them to follow her outside and then running back in. It would be so much easier to have a power that simply moved people...without the running. "And last I checked I was twenty, not twenty-one." She gave him a smug grin. "And yes, thank you for wishing me happy birthday last month. It was so appreciated." But she was feigning innocence where she didn't need to, he'd seen her drink before. She ventured. "Do you know anywhere that would serve me?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"And you are pretty. In that posh, judgmental way some people are into I guess" Lucius grinned back at her. She could take the compliment or leave it.

"The fuck was I supposed to know you had a birthday?" he rolled his eyes "Oh wait, was it the day with all the champagne?" He chuckled "Fine, take it as a late present then. I know a place. You like to dance?"

@Sara

[Sara]

She gave him a fake smile and wrinkled her eyes at his compliment. "Well gee, thanks." She was posh and she was judgemental. She also knew she was pretty. Didn't harm the ego though to be reminded of it, even if it came from a particularly unlikely source. 

She merely grinned, genuine this time and nodded. Her parents had taken her out of the academy for the day and she'd returned to bucketfuls of presents in her apartment, and a shitload of expensive champagne sent from relatives who incorrectly assumed she was twenty-one. She'd been popular with the over twenty-ones though that night. 

"Aren't you just so charming...but yes." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm twenty in New York City, of course I like to dance." Two more slices of pizza were placed in front of them although she still had a quarter of her first to go. "But we're getting a cab if it's more than a five minute walk because," She stuck her leg out from under the table, "Unless you wan't to swap and wear my heels, I'm not walking." She gave him a smug smirk and bit into her second slice of pizza. "What kind of music?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Of course she liked to dance. She also looked killer in heels, but he was not going to comment on her showing off her leg in the middle off the pizza place. Lucius had a place in mind, and it wasn't far enough to merit a taxi, thank god. It also didn't card, as far as he remembered.

"I'll let you know, I'd rock those heels" he smirked, biting into his second slice of pizza. "But no, it's not far. Good music. Cuban." he chuckled, looking her over. "Unless you think your dress and your heels can't handle that."

@Sara

[Sara]

She quirked an eyebrow. Cuban? She knew she had Spanish heritage on her mothers side and in her and her siblings youth they'd all been on so many trips both to the proverbial motherland and South America that she knew full well she could dance circles around him. The heels would help. 

She quirked a brow, challenge very much accepted, and then unzipped his jacket, tossing it back to him. "You don't think I could handle it?" She tilted her head to the side and looked him over in the same vaguely unnerving way he'd done to her. "You don't strike me as much of a dancer. More of a...brood at the side of the floor with a beer looking morose, kinda guy." She took another bite of pizza, smirking.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius grinned as he caught the jacket. Now it was a challenge.

"As much as I appreciate the gesture, we do have to walk to get there" he pointed out. She could take back the jacket if she wanted to. "And I fully hope you can handle it." She seemed like the type to dance, although what kind of dancing remained to be seen.

"You don't strike me as much of a dancer. More of a...brood at the side of the floor with a beer looking morose, kinda guy."

"You, princess, don't know a lot of things about me" Lucius shrugged. He was a decent dancer, because he enjoyed dancing. More so when he had someone who could hold her own. He finished his slice and waited for her to finish hers, before they would head out to the club.

@Sara

[Sara]

"It doesn't go with my dress." The expensive silk was a statement, hence why she hadn't brought a jacket in the first place. Stubbornness was strong in the Birch family, although she'd pay for it on the walk there she was sure of it.

She was still picking at her pizza as he finished his, grumbling stomach now satiated. "You're about to tell me you're the foremost salsa dancing champion in the Eastern United States?" She quirked a brow, buts he was grinning. She'd missed having somebody to spar with. "Or are you doing that thing where you're trying to impress me by being all secretive and elusive?" She smirked and finished her pizza, hopping off the stool. 

"Gentlemen first." She swept out her arm for him to lead the way, grabbing her bag as she did.

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

"I am just pointing out that we don't know each other well enough to jump to conclusions. But no, I have not won a salsa championship." he smirked. They got up and he paid for the pizza, before walking out and leading the way. Camilla looked terribly cold in her flimsy dress, but she only had herself to blame. Luckily, the club was not far. On a week night, it was also not terribly crowded, although it had a good number of people to have a nice mood going, and a dance floor that was not empty. And a live band. "So, are you a salsa dancing champion?" he grinned at her as they made their way to the bar "More importantly, what are you drinking?"

@Sara

[Sara]

Camilla's teeth chattered the entire walk to the club but she was foolish enough not to complain or ask for his very warm looking jacket. A quip that he could warm her up was on the tip of her tongue but she bit it down. For a man that didn't seem to give a shit about who he offended, he was certainly mighty sensitive about his powers.

She could have cried tears of happiness (and warmth) as they didn't card her and they made their way down the stairs and into the club. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but she smoothly followed him to the bar. Grinning. "A daiquiri, obviously. It's a Cuban club." She smirked. She'd have also settled for a mojito. Cubre libres would come later, when she was more drunk and less worried about calories. "My dad won't let us visit Cuba." She moaned as she glanced over the rums on the shelf, "Since it opened up. Something about communism." She'd have to make do with Brazil. 

"But yes," She grinned, tossing her hair over her shoulder and placing her jaw in her palm as she propped up her elbow on the bar, "Not a nationally ranked dancer but I can salsa. And tango. And rumba." The sexiest of all the dances. She smirked and took her daiquiri, throwing some bills on the  bar (far too many). She quirked a brow at him and gestured with a finger to the dance floor. "Go on then, impress me." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

Lucius hoped to dear god that the kind of people that lined up for him at the bar were not the kind of people that came to a place like this on a week night. Otherwise, this venture would be mighty short.

"A daiquiri, obviously. It's a Cuban club. My dad won't let us visit Cuba. Since it opened up. Something about communism." 

Lucius snorted, and ordered a daiquiri and a Cuba libre. Of course the princess' family would be like that. No one was paying much attention to carding anyone; the dancers seemed to be having a great time.

"But yes. Not a nationally ranked dancer but I can salsa. And tango. And rumba. Go on then, impress me." 

Lucius arched an eyebrow at her. He slipped of his jacket, and offered a hand. It was a strange moment; not only because he was asking her to dance (and put her money where her mouth is), but also because so far, apart from sparring at the academy, she had not touched him (throwing pillows didn't count). Even with the gloves on, he knew he made most people uncomfortable.

@Sara

[Sara]

She grinned as he offered her his hand. "I meant are you going to ask one of the nice women in here to dance, not me." She smirked but then glanced at his outstretched, gloved hand. Fuck it. She downed a hefty gulp of the daiquiri (most of it) and leant over the bar as much as she could to stash her bag (expensive). She got a few grumbles from the staff but she didn't pay them any heed. She'd tip them well after.

She slipped off the stool she'd propped herself on and took his hand without hesitation, before promptly taking charge and leading him between the dancers on the floor. It was an upbeat song, although Camilla couldn't help but comment; "The singer is terrible." Confidently, she placed  one arm under his, her hand on his back and the other palm in his gloved hand. "You're not dressed for this. This is where the silk," She glanced down at herself, "Comes into its own." 

 

TAG: @Chevi

[Chevi]

She took his hand. At first, she wanted him to go ask someone else, but then she changed her mind. It was strange, to hold her hand, although it was less holding and more being dragged to the dance floor. The music had energy. 

"You're not dressed for this. This is where the silk Comes into its own." 

"I didn't expect the evening to go this way. Sue me" he smirked, placing a hand on her back. She did have a point about the silk, though. She already got some glances walking into the place. It took him a moment to get used to touching her, even with the gloves on. He pulled her a little closer and found the place in the rhythm of the music where they could join in.

@Sara