Pint Mate
Posted on Fri Jul 15th, 2022 @ 12:33pm by Cameron Hood & Jade Farwynd
2,332 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 0: X Lang Syne
Location: various
Timeline: sometime after Monster Mansion
"I wanna go back to Texaaaaaas!" Jade whined in her mind as she stepped put of the shower. Her rather spatious bedroom had an en suite bathroom with a bath and a shower. The water pressure sure was good to soothe away the aches and pains and the utter nonsense and confusion. Especially the inadvernent haunting experience, which had been, let's face it all of their's fault.
Part of her was annoyed at the teenagers and their inability to fully control their powers, which partly lead to the incident, the other was annoyed at herself and The Prof for not being able to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Another part of her understood that fragile time in the lives of a young mutant. It wasn't easy for any of them, and it never would be for any future mutants.
"I'm here to help them survive the usage of said powers not to help them with their teen angst, hell no." Jade muttered to herself as she stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, her red hair pulled back in a messy bun. "F***, I can barely deal with my own angst!" She groused as she stepped over to her dresser to get some clothes out.
Cameron was thirsty. It was a mighty thirst. It was the sort of thirst water could not slake. He needed a proper pint. Not the swill his American friends called beer. He needed a proper pint, be it Irish, English, Welsh, Scottish, or gods above forbid Australian. But one does not go hunting for a pint alone. That is why Cameron found himself knocking on Jade's door. "Jade?" Cameron called through the door, "You there?"
A few curses were his initial response, then "aw...yeah. One sec!"
A few tumbling sounds a curse here and there later, the door opened. Jade now wore flare jeans, a black t-shirt and a black and white flannel shirt, her hair spilling messily over her shoulders.
"Hey mate, how ya going?" Jade's expression quickly changed from annoyance to something akin to gladness.
"I'm not interrupting anything right?" Cameron asked as he tried to glance into the room for a moment before turning back. "So, I was planning on heading into the city. Want to grab a drink with me? I want to get out of here, grab a pint, and just be away from the kids."
A look of pure relief washed over Jade's face then, "oh yes, please. I'm dying for a pint or few." She said turning back into the room.
A few more underbreath curses before she found what she was looking for, a pair of brown Blundstones which now adorned her formerly bare feet. "Tell me you know a good pub."
Then she realized she sounded like a wanton alcoholic and that he may have been asking her out on a date. Wait, a date?
Jade came to an abrupt halt just at the doorframe and turned to face Cam. "Date date or mate date?" It escaped her lips before she meant it to.
Having already stepped away from the door, Jade's voice made him stop in his tracks and turned around. "Sorry, what? Are you asking if I'm asking you on a date?" He then fell quiet for a moment before asking. Confusion then filled his voice. "Should I ask you out on a date? Do you want me to?" He looked at her, "I just want a pint, but..."
Jade swallowed hard. She hadn't considered the consequences of her very roughly cobbled-together question. "How about we just go get a pint, and whatever happens later happens?" She asked with an awkward shrug.
She was coming to like Cam and he was certainly a good-looking bloke, but she hardly knew him if she was being honest. So there was that. But she was also still young and lonely, though she'd never admit it. Best not label anything till she knew more.
"I think a pint might be a good idea. Maybe even a few, to aid in erasing the awkwardness I just felt." Cameron agreed, swinging his jacket on. "Taxi should be here in a few minutes."
Jade nodded as she followed Cam. "So what's this place we're going to and do they serve non yank beer? The stuff us crap."
"I found this tiny pub in Ridgefield that serves Guinness. It's not like it is at home, or even Victoria Bitter, but it's better than the piss our friends call beer." Cameron answered as the familiar sight of a cab pulled up. "Shall we get proper sloshed?"
"Shit yeah! Although I can tell you've never had VB, it's baaad." Jade chuckled as she opened the door of the cab, "after you, m'lord!"
The cab pulled up in Ridgefield. Cameron handed the driver a number of bills before saying goodbye. "Right, welcome in scenic Ridgefield. It's the closest town I've been able to find that even has something akin to a bar."
Jade looked around the place, nodding, the sense of intoxicated bodies around them almost making her feel inebriated just from the sensory input. "This'll do, I reckon." She said as she stepped over to the bar. "I'll let you order since you've been here before."
"Mate!" Cameron waved at the very large, very pale white man behind the bar. It was almost as if the music stopped. Cameron's London accent drew dozens of eyes. With the practised stoicism of a soldier in formation Cameron chose to ignore those eyes as the large man stepped over. "What can I get you?"
Cameron glanced at Jade for a moment before turning back. "Can we get two Guinness?" The barman nodded without a word, and moments later two large glasses with a very dark foamy liquid appeared before Cameron. In return, Cameron handed over about fifty dollars. "We'd like to start a tap."
With pints in hand Cameron appeared before Jade once again. "So, what are you getting?" and Cameron sipped one of the glasses.
Jade couldn't help a chuckle, "a pommie drongo you are," she said with a laugh, "I"ll have the same," she said to the waiter.
The waiter brought the two pints over and Jade sequestered them in front of herself. "So, how long you been with the Prof and the runts?"
Seated across from Jade, Cameron slugged the first pint back in a solid showing. The empty glass thunked softly on the table and the Englishman wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I think it's coming up to four months now. Not that long, though it feels much longer."
Jade took a little time with hers, "it certainly seems like you've been with them a bit. Ever get to meet the others? The famous ones?"
"Sadly not, I arrived around two weeks after they went missing. Summers wasn't even up yet, just me, the prof, and some of the staff looking out for the kids. Those were a weird time, believe me."
Jade grinned, taking another sip, "Friggin' oath mate. I don't know if I could actually teach the rugrats...just dealing with teens is...hell we were teens till not too long ago ourselves."
"When I was done with school I immediately went into the Army. I can't relate to those kids, not really." Cameron emptied half his second pint. "I was a quiet kid in school, and then the military. My powers never manifested in a visual way like these kids have."
The redhead leaned closer, her voice dropping a little, "I accidentally formed a knife from a papercut. When mum came home from work she thought I'd slit my wrists with all the blood that was on the floor in my room. Dad was completely freaked out."
"That must've been a trip to explain." Cameron laughed, imagining a teenaged Jade sitting in a puddle of blood. "I formed my first knife out of the desk in school. Was scratching at something, suddenly my fingers sank in and I yanked a chunk of it out."
"Do you have to imagine it in your head, or is it a gut thing?" Jade asked after taking a pint, her eyes settling on Cam. He was so English it wasn't even funny, but there was also that hidden strength underneath, tempered by the British reservedness.
Cameron emptied his second pint, looked at the drizzle left in the glass, then tipped it back over before setting it down and looking at it again. "Putting my hand in or through things just needs a bit of focus." and to demonstrate Cameron's fingers pushed the glass inwards as if it were transparent clay. "But I need to picture what I want. The more detail I imagine, the more detail it gets." And a second demonstration allowed the glass to flow from a squished pint glass into a glass dagger. The bar's logo was situated just above the small cross guard. "This'd be terrible for a fight since it's hollow. I can't really add anything to it, only reshape it."
Jade nodded, taking another sip, "so we need to have you near something dense and heavy eh?" She said with a smirk.
"I could always bring something. But if there was no metal I'd grab some concrete or wood, you know? Plus if were going into the field again I'd want to be armed with something more..." He considered the word for a moment, "conventional. What about you? Only your own blood?"
Jade took another sip and shook her head. "Any blood will do as long as it's healthy. Any disease that's serious, like cancer, leukemia and similar, or the animal equivalent of it, shapes won't hold long and won't be as potent. Sometimes it won't even form. I can usually tell though so I won't even try."
"Can you also tell when people get drunk?" Cameron asked as he rose. "Because if so, you should just let me when I'm close." He eyed her still full glass. "I don't have to bring you another yet?"
The redhead grinned, "you're good at the moment, and I'm good too. I can drink, but I tend to nurse my booze sometimes. As for can I tell when people get drunk? Yes. Drunk, medicated, drugged up. I mean, aside from how everyone else can tell the same thing, yeah."
Cameron lifted his glasses in a quick salute and disappeared in the growing crowd.
As soon as Cameron vacated his seat another man slid in the seat. He had his black hair slicked back, a winning white smile with a tooth pick between them. His grey eyes sparkled as he smiled, "Hey gorgeous. Want me to get you a proper drink instead of those beers he got you?"
"Seriously?" Jade thought with unveiled annoyance as she looked over at the man. "Yeah nah, I'm good with beer, ta." She replied casually, though on the inside she tensed up.
"Are you sure?" He gave her his best attempt at a winning smile. "Well, I'll definitely be better company than that black bastard would be."
The awful comment made her blood boil. Jade could feel her hormones and emotions triggering her abilities, and she had to fight hard to not let then out as it would cause an incident and people were likely to get hurt.
"Nah mate, I'm good with my friend, but thank you for offering me variety, you Yanks are always so warm and welcoming." She squeezed out finally, forcing out a sweet smile. "I'll be sure to put in a good review."
Her hand that was on her thigh under the table squeezed and released in order to release the pent up anger, but it wasn't quite working.
Cameron appeared, now with a tall glass of clear liquid with some fruit garnishing it. His eyes took in the scene for a moment, especially noticing the tension in Jade. With the outlines of a plan sketched in his head Cameron then saddled up and stepped next to Jade, putting his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of familiarity. "Everything alright here?"
Her arm almost immediately went around his waist, a mix of relief and a way release the pent up tension. "Nah love, all good." She said with that same sweet smile, "right, gentlemen?" The question was asked pointedly of the interlopers.
The man with the hair eyed Jade, then his eyes ran up Cameron's length and back at Jade. "Right, I'll leave you two to it then." As he rose the bulge of a concealed weapon drew against his jacket. Together with his two friends he disappeared back into the crowd.
"That was right uncomfortable." Cameron said with a chuckle as he slid back into his seat. "You alright?"
Jade released him quickly as well as a deep breath. "No, I bloody well am not," she replied through squeezed teeth. "They called you awful things. Nearly made them choke on it."
Cameron took a big sip of his drink before smiling at Jade. "Some people are just jealous of my hair. Not just my hair too. I mean, have you seen me, I'm looking gorgeous." And as he cracked his joke he struck a small pose in their booth.
Jade let out a full blown laugh, her tension easing instantly, then raised her glass to him, "right fabulous, you are."
Easing his pose into his relaxed posture, Cameron cracked a grin. "Now finish up your pint. We need to get sloshed, then see if we can find something akin a kebab."
"Bloody oath, mate!" Jade grinned, clinked her glass against his and downed the rest of her pint. "First to get drunk buys the kebab, deal?"
In response the glass of alcohol Cameron was holding went down his throat in one solid gulp. "And no using your powers to sober up Farwynd."
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