hot_guitarist (hot_guitarist) wrote in btvsal, @ 2009-02-03 12:48:00 |
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Current location: | Mel's Diner |
Current mood: | surprised |
Entry tags: | jack delany, place: la, ~dakota ford |
Running Into Old Friends
Who: Jack and Dakota
Where: Mel's Diner
When: Early Tuesday Morning
Thank God for cheap diners, Dakota thought, as the tall, lanky redhead sat down at Mel's, looking at her watch and noting it was almost 9:00 am. She thought about how much sleep she'd gotten the night before, chuckling as she realized the answer was all of about 2 hours. She'd been jamming at open-mic night at a small dive called Club Zero, and had lost track of time until it was closing at 3. By the time she got her bass packed up, got to her car, got home, etc., yeah. So now she sat here, waiting for her crappy but affordable eggs and toast to arrive, wearing a black knee-length skirt with tall black boots, and a faded, small Napalm Death t-shirt, her curly red hair hanging loosely around her face.
Jack walked into Mel's. He wasn't too sure what he was doing up at this time. Well, maybe just still awake. He hadn't quite gone to bed yet from the night before, and figured a good breakfast might get him the rest of the way to sleepsville. He just had to remember to not get any coffee.
The redhead laughed goodnaturedly as she saw him walk in. It had been about 6 years, several tattoos, and a lot of drinks ago, but she still remembered him: they used to jam in the same circles, when both were still looking for 'the perfect band'. Now, of course, he'd at least started to finally make it, while she was still doing open-mic night at 35. Destiny could be a real cunt, huh? With a girlish tone much more befitting a teen, she yelled over to him. "Holy shit... Jack!"
Jack shot a tired glace over toward the voice, only to have his face brighten and a smile break out when he saw who it was. "Well, I'll be damned. Dakota, how are you doing?" He walked over to her.
"Unfortunately, exactly the same as I was 6 years ago." She laughed, at least good-natured about it. "Older, but no wiser."
"Like I'm all that wiser," he said with a laugh as he came over. "Mind if I join you?"
"Of course I don't mind. As long as you're not going to charge me an appearance fee, now that you're slowly becoming a mini-celeb around here..." she teased, taking a long swig of her coffee.
He rolled his eyes as he sat across for you. "For you? Any appearance is free," he joked. When the waitress came over, he ordered himself some eggs and sausage along with some water. "So, how have things been going for you?"
"Well, I'm keeping the bills paid, barely." She shrugged. "So I guess I can't complain too much, but let's just say I've been nowhere as fortunate as you in terms of our dreams."
"Hey, I finally caught a break. No one can say that you won't get yours." He happened to join Daylight Dies at exactly the right time, as a matter of fact. That was pure luck on his part.
"From what I've been hearing around here, sounds like the rock star gene runs in your family, Jack..." She gave a semi-envious chuckle and shook her head. "Your little girl's out there rocking out now too?"
He nodded. "Yeah, Mere formed her own band and is actually booking clubs and everything." Strange to think that playing in front of people was the one thing she used to be kind of shy about. "That's all her own doing, though."
"Well, considering she was like, 12... I don't even know if she remembers me, but tell her I'm gonna see her play REAL soon." Dakota smiled, sitting back a little. "Even if it does make me feel old."
"I'm sure that she remembers you," Jack said to her. "She's grown a lot, though." And, technically, she won't be doing any more growing, but that's quite the different story right now.
"Yes, yes she has. Grown, that is. Heard a guy at the club last night talking about her. The kind of comments I'd probably laugh at if I could stop picturing her as a 12 year old."
He laughed. He had hit more than one guy in bars when he heard them talking about her. Couldn't help it. It was kind of the dad coming out in him. "Most of the guys who make those comments wouldn't know what to do with her if they got her alone, though."
"Consider who raised her? I don't doubt that. Not one damn bit." Dakota snorted a little, finishing her coffee and waiting for a refill. "If your bandmates don't mind, we should jam again sometime, for old time's sake."
"I'm sure that they wouldn't mind at all," he said to her. "It would be great to jam together again." He could remember different times before, usually at someone else's house or some seedy bar, sometimes even with Mere along, since he pretty much brought her everywhere when she was a little kid.
"So what're your bandmates like?" She asked, her questions lingering somewhere between friendly conversation and hoping to hear something that could give her some kind of contacts.
"Good guys, the lot of them," he said. "Pat's almost too much of a good guy to be in the music industry, actually. Way too nice." And even monogamous.
"And let me guess: you're still the swinging bachelor." She smirked, knowing before he even answered that Jack was untamable.
"Forever and always," he said with a smirk. "Some things never will change. What about you?"
"Oh, I've tried to settle down. Tried being the key word. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it if I find the right guy..." she snorted again, as the waitress refilled her coffee. "Problem is, most men find me far too abrasive and bitchy. And I'm not gonna change for anyone."
"As you shouldn't," Jack pointed out to her. "I kind of enjoy you this way. Most men are idiots, anyway." Probably himself included, but at least he knew that, right?
The redhead gave him a derisive wave. "Psh! Like I don't know that? Men are like puppy dogs. Wild little fuckers by nature, but train them well enough, and they won't bite, won't stray, and they might even stop shitting everywhere."
Oh, he laughed his ass off at that. Dakota always did have a perfect way with words."Now that is something you should publish one of these days."
"Yeah, I'm sure Hallmark will be breaking down my door to put that nugget on a greeting card." She smirked, looking at him. "Damn, you're still gorgeous, you pig. Your total disregard for anything resembling a relationship's the only reason I never went out with you back in the day.:"
"Well, I think that it would be a much more interesting card than what they usually print," he told her. "Well, time's been kind to the both of us, what can I say?" He wasn't about to jump into a relationship with anyone, though.
"Yeah, it really has." She laughed, shrugging. "I may not have quite the tight body I had at 29, but I think time's still be pretty good to me."
He looked her over for a second. "I don't know...you're still looking pretty tight to me," he said with a grin.
"Always with that sharp tongue..." She laughed though, looking flattered despite herself. "We should go have a few drinks some night. See if either of us can manage to out drink the other yet."
"I think we'll still end up under the table together," he reminded her. They always seemed to hit the floor at the same time when they tried things like that.
"I still have the same address and phone number, so... ball's in your court now, buddy." She finished off her second cup, and laughed lightly. "Well, my dream is still be in a great band. But if that never works out, I can settle for being the money-mooching friend of someone who IS."
"I'm OK with being the money-mooched friend," Jack said with another laugh. "Not like I didn't do it a million times before I lucked out." He didn't mind sharing the wealth a little now that he had some. He grabbed a napkin and, after procuring a pen, wrote down his address and number and passed it to Dakota.
She folded it up, and stuck it in her boot with a grin. "Well. You better believe I'll be calling you this week." She got up, grabbing her purse. "I should get going, but... it was really good seeing you, Jack. Tell Meredith I said hello."
"I'll let her know," he said to her. "It was good to see you, too."