Getting Down to Business (Jinx)

[Wally West]

Wally was fashionably late.

Well, okay, he was fashionably late for a Flash, since it was only 4:16_:37:51 pm and he'd said he'd be there at 4:15 pm; regardless, he was more than a little frustrated with himself for losing track of time. Admittedly he'd only just recovered from his encounter with that weird dude at the parade, but that was definitely NOT an excuse for the slack he'd let out. Even that routine bank robbery he stopped took entirely too long. 10 seconds? For twenty mooks in ski-masks? It was downright embarrassing, and he hoped that no one connected "red-and-yellow blur" to "Kid Flash losing his touch".

Still, as he accelerated into a comfortable pace and let his surroundings whip by him in a blur of motion, he took the time to calm himself down and let his agitated thoughts settle back down into a steady stream of consciousness. He hadn't yet had a period of time to relax since returning from his little vacation - his aunt and uncle were like a second set of parents to him, but they sure did like to constantly ask needling personal questions. And besides that, it was literally his first day back in Jump when that parade fiasco had gone down. He absentmindedly rubbed the area of his chest where the villain's claws had scored him, thankful that they'd both healed and stopped being inflamed. One of the many perks of having a fast metabolism, really.

When he began to recognize the surroundings through the filter of speed (which, incidentally, made him think of that one painting with the melting clocks), he promptly began decelerating as he rapidly neared his destination. From an outside perspective it would've only taken a few seconds, but Kid Flash really had all the time in the world to react accordingly to all the variables that were constantly changing. Whereas before he was nothing more than a faint glimpse of colors accompanied by a near-sonic boom, now he was the easily identifiable two-toned blur that always arrived with a self-generated breeze.

His calmed mood brightened considerably when he caught sight of a spot of pink, Relieved to be slipping back into an old routine - for witty banter was like second nature to him, along with the hero business - he immediately put on the brakes after only just passing her, leaning against the back of a patio chair as he quickly interlaced his fingers behind his head in a nonchalant gesture. "You know, for about a millisecond, I was wondering if you'd actually show up." There was a brief pause before his patented charm kicked in, the good-natured smile on his face cracking to reveal a wide grin with brilliantly white teeth. "So, did you miss me?"

The conversation hadn't even started yet, and Wally had already steered it in the direction he wanted it go. An immensely rude tactic, softened by the fact that things like this were just typical of the almost child-like teen.

[Jinx]

Jinx stared down at the communicator in her clawed hand. Yellow, black, and white nestled among the pale color of her skin. The sleek surface was shiny, and nary a scratch or dent could be found to mar its surface. This pointed to one of two things: either it was new, or Jinx took particularly good care of this object. Perhaps a bit of both. It wasn't long ago that this very communicator, or the lack thereof, had been a source of anger and resentment towards Robin. In the end, however, it had been revealed that Jinx not receiving the object had not been due to a lack of trust, but a lack of spare communicators. The pinkette shook her head at the remembrance of the whole ordeal. Needless to say, it hadn't been entirely comforting to know her resentment had been for nothing. It meant she had been wrong. Her slitted eyes shifted upwards, gazing at the afternoon sky above her. It was a nice afternoon. The air was clear; the sky was blue. A puffy cloud could be seen marching along at its leisure. No, it seemed to say, there would be no rain today. It was far too relaxed to cry.

It was 4:15. Jinx looked around her, looking for the tell-tale flash of yellow and red, marking the arrival of none other than Kid Flash. She was expecting him, and she would be sure to show it. He wouldn't catch her off-guard again like always. No, not this time. Kid Flash had arranged a meeting with her. Jinx looked down once more at the communicator, still in her hand; this is what he had contacted her with. The arranged time was 4:15 p.m. outside the Slice of Life pizza restaurant. But now, it was 4:16? Jinx was watching the clock closely in anticipation of his arrival. Where is he...? She wondered, with an unconscious tint of concern, if only because even a touch of lateness was unusual. Her concerns were rendered invalid in a matter of seconds, though. A familiar voice sounding casually behind her caused her to turn in the direction. Jinx stared in disbelief, slitted eyes narrowed. "Me?" Jinx questioned, irritably. "You're the one who's late. Speaking of..." She trailed off, a question in her tone. "Why is that?"

At his next words, Jinx couldn't help but be reminded of the two's habitual bantering. The same kind of bantering that led up to her turning over a new leaf, and joining up with the Titans. It almost made her smile. Almost. But then, there was still his actual words, which immediately replaced any unbidden feelings of wistfulness with annoyance. She assumed a stance to reflect her irritation, crossing her arms and turning her head away slightly. Her pink gaze was now focused on the entrance to the pizza restaurant. Absently, she noted it wasn't very busy at this time of the day. "In your dreams." She responded, though not too harshly. She was silent for a moment before lowering her hands to her side once more. "So why'd you tell me to meet you?" Straight to the point.

[Wally West]

The marked irritation in Jinx's voice was something that he'd been expecting, downright anticipating some kind of snide remark. To say that Wally made a habit of rubbing people the wrong way was a major understatement - he'd managed to get it down to an absolute science, a switch that he could flick on or off at a moment's notice. For the most part he kept it 'off', but every once in a while he just couldn't help but needle. And so, looking forward to a suitably snide comment (probably something like "You're getting slow in your old age"), his train of thought skipped a couple of beats when she instead asked a prying question.

The brilliant grin on his face dimmed slightly as his teeth parted, an answer already on the tip of his tongue before he thought better of it. Instead he pushed himself off of the back of the chair, shrugging as coolly as possible while massaging the back of his neck with a free hand. The other hand waved in the air freely as if trying to brush away the inquest. "Oh, you know me. Kittens stuck in trees, burning buildings, little boy lost his balloon. I'm nothing if not dependable." Except for when it came to punctuality, apparently. "Couldn't have kept you waiting too long though, could I?" Stretching out his right arm and bringing his wrist to just in front of his face, he pretended to consult an imaginary wristwatch for the time. The pantomimed gesture was an excuse for him to take the time to collect himself internally; it most likely would have been easier to just tell Jinx what had happened the other day, but he couldn't bring himself to voice what he'd been thinking

On that note, just how could he explain this to the others, to anyone? How, not long after arriving back in Jump, he'd been completely bushwhacked (to use a colorful term that he didn't think meant what he was using it for) by some no-name creepy guy in shorts? He didn't have any idea what was in the gas the guy had used, or what his claws had been coated in, but whatever dosage Wally'd received had certainly kept him mostly bed-ridden for the rest of that day and the majority of the next. He remembered how the young man had spoken to him: calmly, with an intrigued tone. No hint of malice or excitement, like Wally had just been a promising read-out on a piece of paper. It had unnerved him, and just the idea of being jumped so easily like that disappointed him. He had no idea if they'd believe that Wally- no, that Kid Flash could feel inadequate, but he certainly wasn't going to chance it.

He managed to shove those troubling doubts in the farthest corner of his mind before snapping back to reality, lowering his arm as he spun on one heel and plopped himself down onto the chair backwards. The way he rested his head in an outstretched hand, one's uneducated guess would be that he was bored. That would be wrong, of course, as evidenced by an upturned eyebrow. "In my dreams?" He paused to consider this, tracking a cloud overhead. "Hey, if you say so. I can never remember any of them; even tried keeping one of those dream journals, but I could never make heads or tails of what I wrote the night before."

His head tilted to the side, a more comfortable smile spread across his face as he pondered how honest he should be with his answer. Given that he'd flagrantly lied on the previous question, he figured it was only right to lay all of his proverbial cards on the table for this one. "What, I can't check up on a friend? My extended stay in Central City was relaxing, if majorly boring. And besides, I was curious as to how you've been settling into the hero life." To emphasize his point, he quickly raised two fingers to his forehead in a mock-salute. "Scout's honor, those are my reasons."

[Jinx]

Jinx eyes glinted irritably, the only sign that she acknowledged his infuriating answer. While she refused to reply, she still mulled over the words in her mind. Something was off. She couldn't quite place her clawed finger on it, but Jinx new something was up. He was just entirely too vague, too avoiding. With an inward sigh, she let it drop. Even while her natural curiosity had the question burning in the back of her head, she decided that it wasn't worth pursuing. I don't care anyways.

[/i] She thought, a mix of annoyance and a touch of smugness at her supposed apathy. She raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous gesture of observing a pretend watch. The pinkette could only shake her head in exasperation with the boy. He always had to make things difficult, didn't he? Never mind the fact that she was equally, if not more so, guilty when it came to creating unnecessary conflict, however minor.

Jinx's pink eyes traced his movements as he fell once more into the chair. She waited for a response to her barb, and was almost disappointed when he didn't really bite back, despite her previous thoughts of him making things needlessly difficult. As she listened to him explain his lack of remembrance concerning his dreams, she followed his gaze with her own, taking a moment to glance at the fluffy, white cloud. The absent glance lasted a mere few seconds before she returned her gaze down to earth, to Kid Flash. The shape of the cloud hadn't even registered in her mind. She listened as he answered her final question. This time, without the previous hesitation, setting her at ease.

Jinx couldn't help the small, warm smile that grew on her lips at his first words. Whether she considered him annoying at times or not, they were still friends. The next feeling on the emotional roller coaster was that of sympathy. Boredom didn't suit the boy. At the final part of his three-tiered explanation, the pinkette couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. She wasn't settling in all that well, but would she have to tell him that? For some reason, she found herself not wanting to. She would keep her dissatisfaction to herself. She remained silent as she watched his saluting gesture and heard his words of promise, she knew she would need to speak up quickly, lest he discover her difficulty finding her way in the world of heroes. Though maybe, just maybe... Perhaps she could find a way to bring up her latest idea without it being too uncomfortable. "Everything is going good." She replied simply, before turning her attention to a table near her. She sat down in one of the two chairs, making herself comfortable, while scanning the area for a waiter. With a slight stubborn smirk, she spoke, "I hope you realize you're paying."

Jinx intended to stem the conversation in a more pleasant direction, bickering, as a way to avoid both of their problems. Her fitting in problem, and whatever he was dealing with. Not to mention, now she was even more certain something was up before. Him seeing the necessity to say he was telling the truth this time, probably meant that he was indeed lying earlier. Jinx had considered prying, but she figured it'd be a bit rude to ask what he was hiding while she was hiding something herself. She had never been a fan of double standards, and didn't intend to commit them. In addition to this, she just knew the tables would eventually get turned and she would have to fess up, even if it was after he did as well.[/blockquote]

[Wally West]

Although his own expression didn't change, Wally relaxed considerably when no follow-up questions came. It was a bit odd, to be true, but he was thankful that he didn't have to go deeper in his lie. It also didn't hurt that he'd gotten a smile out of her; sure it was a small one, and he'd still yet to get a laugh or a giggle in the short while he'd known her, but what young man didn't enjoy making a pretty girl happy? It was probably a good thing that he didn't have a habit of verbalizing his thoughts.Deciding to follow her lead, he got up from his chair before walking over and settling down in the seat opposite her.

"Glad to hear it! Let me know if Robin gives you any unnecessary guff. He's a good guy, really, but he can be kind of a..." His words trailed off as he pondered the appropriate descriptor. A hard-ass? That was too cynical. A Dick? No, funny as that was to Wally, that was entirely too on the nose and only good as in in-joke. "Stubborn." There we go, acceptable if a little understated.

At Jinx's command, he let his jaw drop in abject shock as he drew back a bit from the table. Him, pay for food?! "What a brazen assumption! Do you see any pockets on me?" At this point he held his arms out, as if to indicate that there were indeed no pockets included on his costume. After an acceptable amount of time passed to necessitate the need for a punchline, his default grin plastered itself across his face as he withdrew a simple-looking wallet from the inside lining of one of his boots. "Ah, that probably wouldn't work with you anyway." He didn't add that he would have been paying anyway - his aunt Iris was the old romantic type, and she'd help to instill similar values in the young redhead. Not everything managed to stick, but the basic stuff? That he could do.

He noticed a waiter just stepping out, and nodded over to them as he pulled off his gloves and laid them across his lap. He could never figure out how the other costumed people managed to eat something like pizza without dirtying up their gloves. Much as he enjoyed the food, he'd rather not have grease all over his gloved hands. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone? I was planning on asking the Boy Wonder the next time I run into him, but he'd most likely just refer to some reports and chastise me for not keeping up with them." It was a thinly-veiled attempt to ask how she was doing aside from settling in. Wally assumed with a degree of certainty that the question would be easier to answer if there was some kind of leeway in it.

[Jinx]

After sitting at the table, Jinx had placed her elbow on the surface, and rested her chin on her palm. Her expression grew incredulous as Kid Flash spoke. The pinkette's countenance grew increasingly slow, as well as slightly amused, as the boy searched for the appropriate descriptor. As he finally completed his sentence, Jinx nodded in agreement. "That's a bit of an understatement. But yeah, I'll be sure to let you know." Jinx stared, unamused, as Kid Flash began putting on a dramatic display of shock. Her pink gaze traveled up and down, as if to confirm his statement of the lack of pockets sewed into his criminally tight costume. "Well..,?" She questioned the silence. She watched him procure a wallet from his boots and nodded her approval. Upon hearing his next words, she gave a victorious smirk and agreed, "You've got that right."

Jinx followed Kid Flash's gaze over to the waiter, glad that they'd get a chance for food soon. The girl was rather hungry. However, her thoughts were dragged away from the subject of food, as Kid Flash asked another question. "Nope, nothing. It's been a bit boring, actually. I've even had trouble finding villains to face! There's a weird amount of heroes around lately, you know? And fighting solo's not really my style." Jinx averted her gaze for a moment, staring off into the distance as she thought. Perhaps now was the perfect time to bring up her idea of a team? How would he react? She remembered him saying he worked alone... or something to that affect. Was he ready to join forces with someone? Truthfully, Jinx really wanted him to join the team. While he got on her last nerves sometimes, it'd be nice for someone she already knew to be fighting along side her.

Jinx let out a steadying breath, and began to speak. "You see... I had an idea. Would you..." She trailed off, before putting her usual edge to her voice again, "Would you like to join a superhero team with me?" After a moment, she clarified, "A new one. Other than the Teen Titans. I've been thinking of leading one."