Keeping Score Who: Alex and Jovie When: Evening Where: Anywhere but Here
Given it had been a couple of days since Jovie last saw Alex, she decided to pay him a visit at work. She closed up her shop after sunset, went home to change into something a bit sexier than her jeans and blouse, and drove over to the bar. Having been around plenty of boring people that day, she was looking forward to being around someone mildly entertaining whose mind she couldn't read. After checking her hair and makeup in her rearview mirror, Jovie got out of her car and walked into the bar, not bothering to look around. She knew exactly where he would be. Jovie sidled up to the bar and took a seat in the middle of the counter, so that he couldn't get very far from her no matter where he went.
Alejandro walked in a few minutes after she did, at the back entrance, wishing to hell it was winter and the sun would fuckin' set before eight thirty or nine or whenever. He clocked in, then headed out to relieve the current bartender-- who had already served Jovie her first drink. He didn't notice the lady just yet, distracted by trying to get organized for the night.
She watched him arrive, smirking as she took a drink of her gin and tonic. She wondered if he would notice her... probably, but she was a bit too impatient to wait. When he was close enough, she took another sip of her drink before setting the glass down on the counter. "You know, when a man doesn't call after sex, it has a woman wondering if he had a good time or not."
The familiar voice actually made Alejandro jump and nearly spill a bottle of whiskey he'd just picked up turning towards it. "Hell-- you startled me!" Had it really been that long since they'd gotten together? He tried to count the nights-- two? Counting this one?
"Did I?" Jovie's eyebrows lifted, her expression one of pure innocence before her lips twitched again and she set her chin in her palm. "My apologies. I didn't realize you were so jumpy."
"Apparently tonight, I am," Alejandro said, making a little bit of a face at her. "Sorry I didn't call. Think I just lost track of time." He hoped that wasn't going to be a thing. Like, a vampire thing. Damn, he didn't like that thought. He didn't like it enough that he was apologizing for it-- wow.
Jovie sighed dramatically before waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Luckily for you, I'm in a pretty generous mood, so I'll forgive you this time." In all honesty, Jovie didn't care that he hadn't called. She probably would have been annoyed if he had. But it was still fun to make him think otherwise.
Snorting, getting some of his attitude back after the surprise, Alejandro countered with, "Somehow I didn't imagine you to be the generous type." Given how much they'd wrestled in bed, and how sharp her commentary could be... yeah, he was pretty sure she was pulling one over. He poured the customer who'd wanted the whiskey a quick shot, delivered it, then wandered over to Jovie's seat.
"Honey, I'm extremely generous," Jovie countered. "I really should get some kind of award for it." She put up with a lot more than she thought she ought to, but the rewards were well worth it. She sipped her drink when he wandered off, smiling when he finally returned. "When do you get off?"
He raised his brows at her. "Whenever I have a pretty woman trying to get me off?" he said with a smirk. If she wanted to wait for him to get off work... well, she was gonna be waiting a while. "I get off work at four AM. What can I say, I'm the new guy, they give me the night shift." The fact that he'd asked for it didn't need mentioning.
"Clever," Jovie said dryly. "Unfortunately four am is way too late, or too early, for any attempt on my part to help you in that department." She supposed if she was really itching for sex, she could call Niko, but he'd just been over, and really, she liked her sex a bit rougher lately... and Alex could deliver. Plus she couldn't read his mind. Major bonus there. Undeterred, Jovie crossed her arms on the bar top and smiled. "When's your next night off?"
Giving her a mock-mournful look, Alejandro said, "Friday. And Saturday. I get my weekends free, that's about it." And he'd already taken Sunday off to meet her, the first time-- and spent a small fortune on fire elemental blood to fool her about his temperature-- and he couldn't afford to take any more time off.
This time Jovie pouted, clearly displeased with having to wait until the weekend to get some of his free time. "You're going to make me wait until Friday, honey?" Jovie knew that no amount of pouting would actually make him try to work something out to see her earlier, but it never hurt to try. "I feel as though you're going to have to take me to dinner to make up for the delay."
Alejandro held up his hands helplessly, though his face wore a smirk. "If I could afford to take another night off, I would, but I just can't. Maybe you could use the lesson in patience." He could probably manage dinner, though he'd be miserable and pick at his own meal the whole time. Fuck. By then he'd be itchy to kill someone, and he couldn't risk killing someone in town... especially not someone who he wouldn't mind seeing again.
She glowered at him briefly before shrugging. "It's not as if I can't occupy my nights with something else, honey. But you still owe me dinner." Jovie lifted her glass, shaking it gently. "Get me another, please?" She smiled, fully intending on keeping him busy tonight. Stupid jerk. Jovie was used to getting what she wanted, and it annoyed her that he seemed to think money was more important than spending the night with her.
If Alejandro had thought money was more important, or at least more interesting, than spending the night with her, he wouldn't have done so to begin with. That fire elemental blood had been expensive. Rent, though... keeping a roof over his head... that was more important than spending a night with her. He took her glass from her hand. "Coming right up, princess," he told her snidely.
"Thanks, sweetheart." She tried not to grin, but it was difficult. He was just so much fun. She wanted to rile him up, and annoy him, and push him around. And fuck his brains out. "So what kind of social life do you have during the day?" Jovie asked, keeping her eyes solely on him, despite her surroundings. She had blocked out most of the thoughts she heard, though she allowed a few to filter through. "I suppose just because you work in the evening, that doesn't mean I can't see you during the day."
Lying on his feet wasn't something Alejandro was good at. Delivering a prepared lie, that was easy, but he hadn't come up with any excuse for why he couldn't go out during the day. He focused on pouring her drink for her, to give him a minute to think, then came back with half a smile and the comment, "Sleeping, part of it. Spending all night on my feet's hard work. Doing side-jobs to help pay the bills, for the rest of it." Since he didn't actually eat, he didn't need to do side-jobs. If he did... well, he'd just be fucked, wouldn't he? "You wanna come share the sleeping time, that's up to you."
She eyed him curiously, embracing that tiny instinctive feeling that he was lying to her. A man like him probably had secrets. That was his appeal, after all, wasn't it? She wanted to know what they were. "Sleeping, working, and then working some more. Sounds like an extremely dull existence. I assume you're not willing to part with any of your nap time?"
"That depends," Alejandro said, leaning over the bar and smiling a bit at her, "on whether you're willing to make it worth my while." Then he pulled back and went to fill another customer's drink request. Finally, something halfway-decent to mix, with a couple different ingredients. He was still within conversation distance of Jovie, of course. The bar wasn't that big or that crowded.
Dull existence, she called it. God, she had no idea.
Jovie shot him a look, but waited patiently when he pulled away to help other people. She sipped her drink before she licked her lips and smiled. "I think you know perfectly well I would make it worth your while, honey. You should still have the scratches on your back from the last time to remind you of that." She didn't care if people heard her, that was part of the fun of having a conversation like this in public, after all.
Considering his scratched back had healed shortly after he'd left her house late that night-- early that morning?-- no, actually, he didn't have it anymore. He also couldn't blush, which was a great thing sometimes, though he did roll his eyes a little. "And then you can make yet another attempt to 'get inside my head', too, huh?" He said it like he was quoting her, like he was using a metaphor she had used, even if the words were quite literal. Even if it didn't clue people in to her little gift, it certainly implied that she was interested in more than sex. The fun of having a conversation like this in public, indeed.
Her answer was short and simple. "Yes." Why wouldn't she try? He knew that she wanted to know more about him. Who he was, and what, but since he was unwilling, she had to try other means. Jovie picked up her glass again, watching him over the rim of it as she drank. "I think you like this as much as I do."
Quite honestly, Alejandro liked that she had to work to get to know him. What kind of mystery or even challenge existed for a man whose every thought you could read? And he certainly didn't want to bare his personal thoughts, whether or not he had something to hide. Besides, it kept her chasing him, and his ego could use the stroking of being chased, even if there were ulterior motives. "You're pretty interesting," he said with a smirk, after delivering the drink and wandering back. "I'll give you that."
Jovie enjoyed the challenge, but that didn't mean it didn't frustrate her from time to time. Maybe she was drawn to this guy because it had been so long since she had any man worth pursuing. Niko was willing to do just about anything she wanted, and Evan had run off to some little pissant before he'd even given Jovie a call. Neither were worth more than the time and attention she'd given them. Alex had already slept with her, and he was still interesting, so that meant something. And it exasperated Jovie further that she couldn't obtain exactly what she wanted. "I know I am," she told him simply. "That's why I'm sure you're dying to see me again, outside of this hole."
"Dying isn't the word I'd use," Alejandro countered dryly. Mostly because he was already dead, so dying again didn't work so well. More sex that was half fight and half pleasure would be welcome, though... if expensive. He only had two doses of fire elemental blood left, and he was having to exert a lot of willpower not to just drink them for the feeling of warmth, not for a woman.
"Eager?" Jovie offered, not minding the cocky air she was giving off as she smirked at him. "Keen? Impatient? Enthusiastic? Zealous?" She folded her arms on the bar top again and leaned in toward him. "I could keep going."
"You sure are sure of yourself," Alejandro commented, amused and trying not to laugh and give himself away. Stupid fangs. "It's a good thing you're hot, or nobody'd be able to stand you."
"I'm confident," Jovie remarked. "Is that such a bad attribute to have? Would you rather I bat my eyelashes and play coy?" She could do that, if she needed to. She just hated pretending to be a giggling little girl over a man. She grinned and bit her bottom lip briefly. "Believe me, honey, you get to see a side of me a lot of people don't. Most people in my life adore me."
"So does that mean you like me or you don't like me?" Alejandro asked, coming to lean on the bar in front of her. She just wasn't allowed to touch him today; he wasn't warm enough. "If I'm getting the side that other people wouldn't adore." Not that he minded it; he, too, admired a woman who went after what she wanted-- particularly if what she wanted was him-- and coyness irritated him more often than not.
She studied him, a thoughtful smile on her face. "The reason you're getting this side, is because I had a feeling you would see right through anything else I tried. Plus, I think you like this side of me better than any other side you might see. Some men want coy, or innocent and sweet. You never once came across as that kind of man to me."
Well, she was pretty much right. Somehow. He'd have imagined someone who read minds wouldn't be very good at reading people without the telepathy. "See? Now what do you need inside my head for, if you're already that good?" he asked with half a grin, a cocky expression of his own that still hid the fangs.
"Because there's only so much you can get from a person on the outside," Jovie told him. "There's things inside the mind that stay hidden, that some people are very good at covering up. I want to know what those things are." She began to slide her fingertip around the top of her glass slowly. "Some people are as good as acting as I am. They'll tell me one thing, that any normal person would just accept as truth, but their thoughts say something different."
He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, looked quickly at it to make sure it was innocuous, then looked back. "Probably a good thing I can't do that. If I could tell people were lying to me all the time, I'd probably hit them, or something. How do you manage it?" Hey, if she was gonna be more blatant about what she could do in a public place, he didn't mind playing along. "That how you collect all your secrets?"
Jovie wasn't too terribly worried about anyone hearing her, or even paying attention. She could hear their thoughts pouring in, though the drunken ones were her favorite. "Sometimes I do want to hit them, but you've got to have some self control. I hit a couple people in my day, though I never explained why. I probably just came across as a lunatic." She smiled coyly at his question. "I have a lot of different ways to collect my secrets, honey."
"What were they thinking to piss you off that bad?" Alejandro asked, smirking and amused. At least he'd never have that problem. Thank god.
"Some things a lady never repeats," Jovie said airily, waving her hand. "Don't think you're off the hook, though. I'm a good read of people, with or without my ability. Little tics let you know when someone is lying to you. Safest thing to do is to be honest. If I punch you in the face over it, you can deal."
Leaning in again a little, though not close enough to kiss, Alejandro told her quietly, and only half-teasingly, "If you punch me in the face, you'll probably get one right back." Love taps. Ha. Though he certainly could deal, even if he'd be damn pissed off. He doubted there was much she could do to him that'd actually be a problem.
She tilted her head, letting her hair slip across her cheek as she studied him. "So you're an equal opportunity kind of man. A woman hits you first, so that means you can hit back?" Not that she truly believed he would, though it would be fun to find out.
"I'm an angry kind of man," Alejandro smirked back. "Someone pisses me off, someone's probably gonna pay." There was a part of him that was horrified by the things he did to women on the weekends... but the rest of him knew he was a monster, and why shouldn't he be? It wasn't like he had any choice.
"Interesting." She smiled and took another drink from her glass. "I'll have to remember that." She wondered what it took to set off Alex's temper. Not that she would ever try to do it purposely, but he always seemed fairly calm. Unless they were in bed.
Then Alejandro was doing a good job in her presence of keeping his usual anger at everyone and everything, that made him do those horrible things on the weekends, well-hidden-- or maybe she helped with it. He wasn't introspective enough to really know or care. As long as he didn't raise anyone's suspicions, as long as the mask of easy-going confidence was in place, that was all he wanted. "Why?" he asked with a little snort. "Planning on pissing me off and seeing what happens?" It was probably what he'd do.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe." It wasn't like she ever wanted to purposely anger a man. Okay, that was a complete and total lie. Sometimes it was fun, when she knew the things they didn't want anyone else to know. When she blackmailed them with it, or revealed that she knew. Anger was one of Jovie's favorite emotions - on other people. How easily that cool, calm presence most people liked to have could be unraveled. "It's all about finding which buttons to push, isn't it?"
"Does anybody ever push your buttons?" Alejandro asked, eying her. She certainly seemed too confident to get purposefully pissed off. Maybe he'd have to find her buttons, so he could give as good as he got.
She thought about that for a few moments, her gaze ticking off to the side as she hummed softly in her throat. Finally she shook her head and returned focus on his face. "Not that many people know what those buttons are," Jovie explained. "In fact, I'm pretty sure no one does. That's not to say people haven't tried. I just don't let them succeed." When she was pushed, she pushed back ten times harder. Losing her temper was a very rare thing, and she liked to keep it that way.
"You don't let them succeed. Do you have that amazing a sense of self-control that shit just doesn't bother you?" Or was she saying she never let people see anything that would show them how to piss her off? Alejandro was seeing a challenge here. Especially since she'd already said she'd shown him more than most people saw-- unless she was lying there, too, to make him feel important.
"I have self control," Jovie confirmed with a small nod, her eyes locked onto his. "But I also know my boundaries with people. What they get to see, and what they don't. I make my own rules, honey, and I don't like it when people try to break them." It had always been Jovie's way, or no way at all. And not everyone appreciated that, but she didn't care.
"That's not gonna make you many friends, honey." He tossed the pet name back at her. He knew that from experience, since he liked to try to be the same way-- he'd never thought he needed friends. They would be gone soon enough next time he moved, anyway, so why bother with anything beyond whatever one wanted at the moment? Most people, though, didn't think like that. "Not decent ones, anyway."
"You think I care about friends?" Jovie rolled her eyes. "I have people in my life. I don't know that I would call them friends. They're whatever I want them to be. And I think they know that." She pushed her half empty glass toward him. "I'll have one more."
Interesting. Apparently she thought the same way he did. Used to. Still did. He didn't know, and he wasn't one to mull over it to figure it out. He ignored the tiny, insignificant little ache inside at the thought of being as alone as always. He was used to it. "One more coming up," he said simply, and took the glass.
Jovie didn't mind being alone. She preferred it usually. Sure, she had small bouts of loneliness, but every one did from time to time, and hers were far and few in between. She wondered if Alex had any family, or friends. If he spent all his time working and sleeping, she doubted it. It was just something else she wanted to know about. "Are you involved with anyone?" Jovie asked curiously. "Not necessarily in a serious matter." She wondered too, if he had any other women in his life.
Glancing over at her with his brows up, Alejandro answered, "No. You're the closest thing I am to involved with anyone." And Ava, maybe, but ick. He didn't want to think about the child-vampire. That wasn't something he could really tell Jovie about, anyway.
"Just curious," she said, in case he was wondering why she even cared. Not that she did. Sleeping together one time didn't mean they were necessarily 'involved'. "I figured you weren't, given your lack of a social life."
Hence why he'd said "the closest thing to involved" rather than simply saying "you". Though if she wanted to make things a regular occurrence, that might change. He delivered her drink and said, "Saying you're just curious when a guy didn't even ask why you wanted to know is usually a red flag for a woman being more than just curious. Just so you know."
"I was curious," Jovie stated again, picking up her glass from the bar top. "I knew you would probably ask why I wanted to know, and if you weren't going to ask, no doubt you were thinking it." She looked at him with a smile. "No red flags. I promise."
"Actually, I assumed it was in case you wanted to claw out the eyes of any other woman who looked at me," Alejandro shot back with a grin that only, barely hid the fangs. "So you'd know whether you had competition. That really wasn't it?"
Jovie arched an eyebrow, trying not to look too annoyed with him. "Honey, you're allowed to 'involve' yourself with whoever you feel like. I don't claw eyes out of women unless they're asking for it. And I've never been afraid of a little competition, regardless."
"Not the possessive type, then, huh?" Alejandro chuckled, as if he didn't quite believe it. Because he didn't. If she was anything like him, a partner was as much a possession as a partner-- not that he'd ever had anyone who would qualify as a "partner", of course-- and as far as he could tell, she was really more like him than she'd probably want to admit. ... Maybe not as violent and monstrous, though, he reminded himself, remembering belatedly the undead part.
"Depends," Jovie said. "I'm not overly possessive of men. Other things, yes. Men? Not so much. Maybe when it's the right man, that will change. What about you, Alex?" Her lips twitched with amusement. "Are you the possessive type?"
"Sometimes," he smirked at her. All the time. As long as I'm still around, anyway. Lately, he never saw a girl twice, so he didn't have a chance to. "Guess it depends on how interesting a woman is."
Given that he'd already said she was interesting, that amused Jovie. She wondered if he would ever get possessive of her. How amusing would that be? Or entertaining, depending. "So what, the more interesting, the more possessive you get? When was the last time you were in a relationship?"
"Something that lasted longer than a week?" Alejandro had to think a minute. "A few years ago, at least. God, more than that-- high school, I think." That was just pathetic. But once he'd graduated high school, his mother had given up on all pretense of having a single home base, and they were never in one town longer than a couple weeks, anyway.
"High school?" Jovie was surprised because, well, look at him. He was sexy and attractive. Surely women were supposed to be all over him, weren't they? Well, maybe they were... and maybe nothing lasted for more than a week for a reason. "That's sort of sad, honey. What is it? No time? No real interest?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know it's sad." He rolled his eyes, and left for a moment to handle a new customer, managing to be relatively charming rather than his usual surly self, then came back to explain. "I traveled a lot, so I basically had a lot of one- or two-night stands before we were gone again, off someplace else."
"Well, there's nothing wrong with that." At least Jovie didn't think so. She'd had her own fair share of one night stands. Or even 'friends with benefits', like Niko. Though it was more 'favors for benefits' than anything else. Jovie had never felt that desire to be with one person for a long period of time. Her boyfriends never satisfied her. "Relationships aren't for everyone."
"Then don't call it sad next time if you think it's fine," Alejandro snorted lightly. "Your words, your derision, not mine." He didn't have the capability for a real relationship anymore, even if he might once have had. A vampire-- particularly one like him? Definitely not.
"I said there's nothing wrong with one night stands," Jovie shot back. "I said it was sad that you hadn't had a relationship since high school. If relationships aren't for you, then so be it. I suppose it just surprises me that you're single, what with your cheery disposition and all." Jovie shot him a look before she dug into her bag for her wallet.
"Oh, yeah, I'm just sunshine and rainbows all the time. Really." He rolled his eyes. When he was sour most of the time and cool the rest, it didn't exactly attract people. Except, apparently, Jovie. And Vivienne. Who he really ought to call. "When's the last relationship you've had, then?"
She shrugged and pushed her hair back behind her ear before opening up her wallet to tug out a few bills. "I can't honestly remember, so it must not have been that memorable. That doesn't mean I don't go out, or enjoy myself. It's just never been in my nature to be tied down to one person. After you've learned everything you can possibly learn about them in a short amount of time, they become boring and I'm ready to move on."
"You get bored of men quick, huh?" He gathered up her money and headed to the register-- just a few stools down-- for her change. "'Bout how long would you say I have until you get bored?" Maybe he'd be lucky and they'd both get sick of each other before he got himself into indentured servitude to the damn hunter for the fire elemental blood.
"Depends on how easy they are to read," Jovie told him, finishing off her drink as he got her change. "Since you've been the most challenging thus far... I'd say you've got awhile." She grinned at him, leaning forward again. "Just how interesting would you say I am?" If she was interesting enough to him, she was sure he'd stick around for awhile. And as long as she continued to screw his brains out.
Torn between the flirty and the irritating, Alejandro finally went with the flirty. He set her change down in front of her on the bar, folded his own arms on his side of it, and smiled, just barely a hint of fang-- but hopefully he was close enough that she was looking at his eyes not his mouth. "I'd say you're interesting enough for a while." Not to mention dangerous as hell, but on occasion he didn't mind dangerous. Not her kind. "Guess we'll see who gets bored first, won't we?"
"Awhile? That's all I get?" Alex was lucky, seeing as Jovie's eyes were on his, rather than his mouth. "I think I'm more interesting than 'awhile'." There was no way he was going to get bored of her first, she knew that for a fact.
"If all I get is a while," Alejandro said loftily, pushing back up again, "then all you get is a while." Keeping things carefully balanced-- or at least tugged in equal strength in both directions. She hadn't even made any firm plans for seeing him again... they'd just discussed the possibility. He wasn't going to ask, not right now, unless she brought it up again before she left.
She smirked and straightened herself, picking up her change and counting out his tip. "I see. So you've got to make sure you're on even ground with me," Jovie said, setting his tip down and putting the rest of her change in her wallet. "Can't give an inch, can you?"
"Would you, facing off with someone like yourself?" Alejandro asked pointedly, brows up. Hey, look, a monetary tip this time! He liked that.
He had a point, but she wasn't about to admit that. "Maybe. Maybe not." Dumping her wallet back into her bag, Jovie didn't expand any further on that. She supposed he had a right to be wary of her. It was probably best that he was, in all honestly. She slid off the stool and slipped her bag over her shoulder. "I suppose you can call me when you decide you want to do something a little more exciting than sleeping."
"And you'll come running right over to entertain me?" he asked with mostly-mock hopefulness, half-grinning at her. Hell yeah, he had a point, and even if she wouldn't admit it aloud, her veiled expression and short answer made it pretty obvious that she knew that.
Her gaze narrowed at him. Jovie didn't run to anyone. She reached out and snatched one of the dollars left behind for his tip before shoving it into her purse. "I guess you'll have to call and see, won't you?" Turning on her heel, she headed toward the exit, feeling rather annoyed that she still wasn't sure whether or not he would actually call. The jerk.
Alejandro's response, probably even more irritatingly, was to start laughing-- quietly, and prudently behind a hand-- but still. Laughing. He had a feeling he'd won this round. It was up in the air whether he'd win the next.