Lucrecia Valentine (mutatio_genorum) wrote in poseidonacademy, @ 2009-11-13 05:27:00 |
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Current mood: | sleepy |
Current music: | wolf - angelspit |
Who: Hojo and Lu
What: Striking up conversation while wearing jaunty hats. ...er, striking up deals for happy funtime formulas. :D
When: The night after this in Lu's journal.
Where: A themed restaurant with girls dressed up as maids and the like. :|
Warnings: Dude, it's Hojo. He's a raging perv. Standard Hojo Warnings™ apply.
Tick tock. Tick tock. How long had it been since Vincent had gone to sleep? Lucrecia wasn't sure, but it had been some time, and now the clock was against her again. Would Vincent wake up while she was out? Would she return to him wondering where she had been in semi-formal clothes, who she had been with? She could only imagine that he would be furious to find that she had been with Hojo of all people, and that was something she really wanted to avoid if she could.
It was also working against her in the fact that it was now nearly six o'clock pm, the time when she would have to meet with Hojo. Ugh, and what he had mentioned concerning her payback to his giving her what she needed with the formulas... this was not going to be a pleasant meeting with her former boyfriend. Just as long as he wasn't dressed in... convention clothes, she would be all right. She hoped. At least she wasn't going into his room! Lucrecia had to wonder where any merchandise from those sorts of... gatherings... were in there. That was a disturbing thought in what he did with them as well. Eww.
But, Lucrecia wasn't one to be late for a meeting, and right as the clock hit six o'clock, she arrived at Hojo's quad, and knocked on the door. After she knocked, Lucrecia took to fiddling with the hem of her jacket which covered the dress she wore. Hopefully, hopefully this wouldn't take too long!
Hojo was dressed semi-formally, with a nice button up shirt, tie, and slacks... at least he wasn't in a tuxedo? Nor was he wearing his lab coat, or, as Lucrecia might fear, anything he'd worn to that convention a couple weeks ago. He didn't intend this to take very long, but he did want to be sure they arranged everything and had the deal officially worked out. He had a way to be certain that she'd come to his lab and follow through, but one thing at a time. He also intended to enjoy this evening, as he had not spent any time with her in a while. She'd avoided him all year! It really wasn't fair. A few minutes at the Halloween party hardly made up for it, either.
But if this worked out, he'd get a long-desired update on his data. Whatever happened to the mutant with what he gave Lucrecia was out of his hands! Hojo had a definite hop to his step as he got the door. "Hello, Lucrecia! You're looking lovely this evening. And how are you?" As he stepped outside with her, he smiled, as genuinely as he could make it look. It had been difficult, but he really had been attempting not to be his usual crabby self when interacting with her. He needed to keep it up for only a little longer, fortunately.
Ugh, Hojo. Lucrecia winced when he opened the door and complimented her. But in her mind, all she could hear was herself telling her "This is all for Vincent, this is all for Vincent..." which was exactly true: it was all for her husband. That strange, alternate of Hojo had told her he would figure something out from the notes that the Hojo she knew had of the experiment done on her husband, but she had never gotten them... well, knowing they were in this Hojo's hands worried her. If she didn't cooperate, Hojo would destroy the formulas and any knowledge of how to rid Vincent of the monsters (sans her two favoured ones) would be lost for a long time. Until she figured it out again, that was! Still, knowing she had to be nice to Hojo right now... ugh, Lucrecia swore she had thrown up a little in her mouth.
Forcing a smile, Lucrecia spoke, finally. "Fine. Just fine." But not really, she left out. She didn't need him getting angry this early in the night and ripping up that picture! But with him, it was hard to make small talk. What was she supposed to say? Oh. Right. "...where are we going, Hojo?" There. Knowledge of where he was practically forcing her to go would be nice! Just as long as she could run afterward, all would be well.
"A nice little restaurant that just opened up! I hear they have an especially delectable dessert, something... raspberry flavored! If you still like that, that is." Hojo had had to make notes to remind himself of the things which would win Lucrecia's favor, treating it all as if it were a series of preparations for an experiment. He wanted to get this right, after all. Reaching toward her, he attempted to take her arm in a "gentlemanly" way, and then started off walking.
It was all going according to plan, for him. He knew how far he could push her, which was a little more than normal where her mutant was concerned. "Tell me more about what happened to the- to your husband, anyway! I'm intrigued! Since I am providing you with a solution, it's only fair that I know more about the situation."
Oh god, he remembered?! She really had to wonder if he had it memorized or if he had to go digging in that box of memories he had of their time together long ago. It was a wonder, if he did in fact remember it, that he remembered it at all. "O-oh... that sounds nice, yes..." Sort of. She'd rather be enjoying said dessert with Vincent! Sigh. Lucrecia was so wrapped up in her thoughts that Hojo suddenly taking her arm startled her, and she just stared at him as he pulled her along. "Wh-what the-" Was all that she said when he started. Oh. He was trying to be... good to her. In his Hojo-y way. That wasn't very appealing, not in the least!
"What do you think happened to him? You're the one who did the experiment on him, Hojo." Really. Lucrecia sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sure if you took a wild guess you'd know exactly what happened to him, despite you not knowing all the details. As I said, you were the one who did the experiment on him, and you knew what you were doing!" It was probably futile to argue this with him, but he she was trying anyway!
If she only knew the complex system of notes he'd had to create just for this occasion! It was like studying for his degree all over again. At least he'd succeeded so far. As they continued along, Hojo smiled and shook his head. "No! I didn't! Much of it was also a stroke of inspiration, at the time..." Some would say, psychotic inspiration, but he'd thought it all a work of genius on his part. He'd made the alterations in Vincent unsolvable, impossible to counteract... but it would figure it would take himself, essentially, to unravel the damage done.
"Anyway! My theory is that something caused one of them to go out of control- Chaos, I believe, was mentioned?" Yes, Hojo had caught that single mention in Vincent's post, before the conversation was presumably continued under a filter. "I'm curious to know more! Was he the monster who attacked that boy?" And yes, Hojo was clever enough to put those things together. It had taken some thought, but once he'd noticed, any idiot could see something that obvious.
A stroke of inspiration. Hojo got a look at that one. His version of "inspiration" and hers were vastly different, then. "Some inspiration," she mumbled under her breath. Jerk. This was one of the reasons she didn't want to really be dealing with Hojo on this matter: all of the egocentric talk he had of himself. Ugh. Again, Lucrecia thought she felt herself vomiting from the mere idea that she had to endure this for an hour or more. Hearing her former boyfriend talk himself up and try not to insult her husband was going to make her want to throttle him eventually, she just really hoped it wasn't before she could get the formulas that the sane version of him had written for her. Sigh. Mental facepalm.
"Yes, it was Chaos. And I have no idea. I could only imagine it was." Lucrecia was hazy on details of who was attacked, but it all made sense. "That's all I really know, so you won't learn any more from me." Might as well stop it at the source before it got out of hand. He would inevitably ask about it, and her stopping it there... hopefully that worked? Lucrecia would find out soon enough.
Fortunately for Lucrecia, for just a few moments, Hojo was distracted by arriving at the restaurant. He grinned at her, said, "This is the place!" and led the way inside. Once there, he grinned at the hostess- whose uniform happened to be one of his favorite things... A school girl outfit, specifically. "I have a reservation for Hojo, party of two! I asked for a private booth!" He declared boldly, while trying not to leer too strongly at the hostess, or any of the various waitresses also dressed similarly. He glanced at Lucrecia, and took her hand to give a reassuring squeeze. "I promise that the food is excellent! I wouldn't have chosen it otherwise."
Unfortunately for Lucrecia, Hojo didn't actually forget the topic at hand, and once they were seated and given the menus, he turned to her. "Are you sure that's all you know about his sudden transformation? He didn't give you any more information that that? ...Is this incident entirely isolated?" Hojo kept his eyes on her the whole time, curious in ways about how she would react. He couldn't help but view her as a science experiment, even while they were talking at dinner.
Oh god. Oh god. What the hell was this place?! A themed restaurant?! The idea to just run screaming from him right here and now hit her mind, and damn was she so close to doing just that. As it was, she stared wide-eyed at him, so close to asking him if he was here because of some crazy fetish he had with schoolgirls. ...oh god did that mean he was a pedo as well? She hoped not, considering he liked women, and not... girls, right? Right?? Of course. Ugh. She didn't want to think about any alternatives. As he spoke to the hostess, Lucrecia gave her a sympathetic look, showing her that she really, REALLY felt sorry for her and that she herself really didn't want to be here. When Hojo spoke to her, she laughed awkwardly. This was... well. "I'm sure." Was all she replied with as they walked to their booth. Except that he apparently was also here for the cute waitresses. He was a perv.
His sudden asking about what she knew made her stare at him. What? Was he serious? Oh damn it, it didn't work! This time, Lucrecia put her face into her hands, before looking at him through her fingers with a "You did not just ask that" look. "Yes, that's all I know about everything that happened. I don't know any more than that."
"They have quite an international selection of entrees, I'll have you know! Your favorite is in here..." What was it again? Hojo had to think about it, as he scanned and selected something for himself. He considered what Lucrecia had told him, frowning lightly. "Yet you seemed to be even more concerned than usual! That means this was more than a regular transformation." Of course, if there were something building up in the mutant beforehand, it was hard to tell. Hojo had examined his network posts, but they were all the same cryptic, broody nonsense all the time! Oh, well. He had Lucrecia where he wanted her, anyway.
Looking over at her, Hojo tried to take Lucrecia's hands. "This formula that I have in my possession appears to be a means of eradicating the monsters. It's very cleverly designed!" He tried to smile charmingly at her.
Right, of course they did. Sigh. Hojo was trying too hard, Lucrecia thought. He was really grasping for straws now. So, she didn't do anything but nod: "Mmhm." Of course, now that she was trying to sort of block out Hojo, she could hear the background music of the restaurant. What the hell were they playing?! Lucrecia decided that she would rather hear the grating sound of Hojo's voice than listen to the music playing in the background, and that was saying something! "I'm always concerned when it comes to my husband's well-being, and that includes when he transforms. I'm always more concerned than normal when that happens." Lucrecia made it a point to give him a very pointed look when it came to Vincent's transformations; they were his fault, after all!
When Hojo went for her hands, Lucrecia moved them slightly so he would miss them entirely, but acted as nonchalantly as she could when she did so. Whoops! "And yet you won't just give the formula to me without getting something in return. You can't just do that from the goodness of your heart." That would surprise her if he ever did something like that, but of course the thought would remain: what was he doing it for, and what motives did he have behind doing so?
Hojo made a face at her as her hands just moved out of the way of his own, not entirely sure if that had been a coincidence. But since he couldn't be sure, he didn't bring it up. There would be time enough to try again later! Hojo frowned more as he tried to come up with a good explanation, something that might throw the focus off of her accusations.
Fortunately, he was saved by the waitress approaching to take their order. Hojo ordered the most expensive, appetizing dish that he could and a bottle of champagne for the both of them. He seemed to feel that this was a time to celebrate, anyway! That done, and after waiting for Lucrecia to place her order, he again perked up to grin at her. "You know, you don't have to look at it all so negatively. This entire deal will benefit both of us... and I'm not just performing the tests on you for my own sake. It's not a good idea for you to go so long without being examined, you know! We have to be sure she isn't causing any adverse effects..."
...well. If Hojo was going to order something that expensive, and he was paying for it...
Lucrecia decided she was going to do the same. Finding what sounded best to her and making sure it was expensive, she gave a small, almost seemingly mocking grin to Hojo. Hahahaha. If he was going to force her to be here, and to be doing something she'd rather never do for him later on for the formula, then she was going to make sure he had zero money for the rest of the week. Of course, that grin of hers left when he looked back at her with a grin as well! Damn, perhaps it didn't work? No matter, she could get him back later. "I look at it negatively because I don't like being experimented on, and that's what you'd be doing, like you've done in the past. Only this time I swear to Gaia that if you add that black oil stuff into the mix, I will kill you after the tests are done. Last time that happened, Krycek tried to abduct me again and instead Shinra got their hands on me, and I don't want that happening again. Really, I have to wonder if you've ever taken that into consideration on why I don't like the tests." Hell, she hated having Grimoire give her injections when he was here helping Vincent take care of her! "And of course she isn't, not yet anyway. I think I would know what she's doing to me, I do keep myself under watch. You just want an excuse to get me on the cold, metal table again."
...ugh, that was the wrong thing to think about! Lucrecia looked away from Hojo and shivered; the memories of what had happened last time were coming back to her, for as much as she tried to block it out. It wasn't pleasant.
"That idiot used that Black Oil without my permission!" Hojo looked around to be sure no one had overheard his outburst, and then lowered his voice, leaning closer toward Lucrecia. "I mean to say... he acted entirely without my permission. I didn't even know he was planning to take you. I don't have any intentions on abducting you, or having you abducted by the company." ShinRa and he weren't always on the best terms, anyway, especially after that whole Mako fiasco. Really, it was in his best interest to not let the company be involved at all! He sighed, unsure how exactly to handle what he perceived as oversensitivity. A few little experiments wouldn't hurt her, honestly.
While leaning close as he was, Hojo attempted to take her hands again. "The fact remains that Jenova is my project, and I need that data. It shouldn't take more than a few hours' time. We can arrange to get it all done tomorrow, if you're available? Then you get it done as soon as possible!" ...and he would get his precious data as soon as possible, too!
Lucrecia stared at Hojo when he had his outburst, almost horrified at it. Good going, Hojo! She lowered her head and didn't look at him when he did that, hoping to avoid stares from anyone else in the place if that's what they were doing. "You should have thought about that considering he did that before to me. Shinra was snooping around anyway at the time, what made you think nothing would happen? They knew who I was as it was, and that was what made it even worse." When he mentioned how long it would maybe take, Lucrecia gave him a look. "I'm not doing it tomorrow. I'm not doing anything until I get the formula." As easy as it was to think about getting the formula and then bailing and not being experimented on, she knew it wasn't that easy physically. Hojo was crafty, and she knew that well enough; he would do something in order to get to her to get what he wanted. At least she knew she could be honest about upholding her end of the bargain with him, whether he didn't believe her or not. "Jenova was my project too, Hojo. Have you forgotten that? But still, as I said, I'm not consenting to anything until I have what you're supposed to give to me. I'm not going to try to bail out on my end either, because I know full well what you would do to get to me. Why try to fight it?"
"I know it was also your project, and I've given you every opportunity to join back up with me and have full access to my data as well, but you seem never to be interested! Ha! However, you will have to agree to a time and date for the experimentations, or else I won't give you what you're interested in." The champagne arrived, and Hojo winked at the waitress who'd brought it as she filled up two glasses, leaving the remainder of the bottle as well. Then, taking his glass in hand, he raised it at Lucrecia as if to toast her. He downed most all of it, before pulling out the infamous photograph with the formulas on the back. He held it just out of reach but so that she could still see it, then turned it over to show her the back.
...Then he pocketed it again. "No exchanges until after dinner! I've got a means of ensuring you comply. But again, let it wait for after we enjoy our meal." He adjusted his glasses and half-smirked. "This can't be a night of all business and no pleasure! Drink, Lucrecia, relax, unwind... you're far too tense. Stress is terrible for your health."
"I'm never interested because you always pull something that makes me not want to be around you." It was so simple, but he just couldn't- or more like wouldn't- grasp the fact that when he tried to do things that ended up irritating her or making her mad, she didn't want to work with him. But still, she sighed, knowing it was inevitable what she would have to do. "I know that Hojo, you don't need to keep-" Oh damn it, the waitress couldn't have come at a worse time. Lucrecia made a disgusted face when Hojo winked at the poor girl. He was disgusting sometimes! How did the girls on the beach put up with him?! But it was the picture that caught her attention. Any faces she had been making instantly went away when she saw it. That's what she needed. But then the bastard just pocketed it again! Arrrgh, this was frustrating!
"You don't need to make me comply if I already know you'd just seek me out and drag me back to your lab for tests," she hissed back at him, fixing him with a glare. God damn it, he was terrible! The more he talked, the more her glare intensified. She was so, so tempted to "accidentally" spill her champagne on him just to make herself feel better. It was sounding better and better by the nanosecond.
"Calm down!" Hojo exclaimed in a voice that was anything but calm. He sighed, attempting to keep his annoyance from spilling over. He took another swig of his drink and poured himself some more. "Lucrecia, you're being unreasonable. I go to all of this trouble to set up this dinner date and you won't even make small talk with me or attempt to converse with me like a normal person. As much as this is about our arrangement, I'm also curious about how you're doing these days... beyond the laboratory."
Hojo eyed her as he drank some more. He was now debating whether or not he could indeed trust her enough to not need his original plan at all. Perhaps so. She knew better than to back down from a promise once it was given to him... but he just couldn't be sure! She might somehow arrange for her mutant husband to guard her and thus prevent him from forcibly bringing her to the lab. No, he may need to just do what he intended anyway. "...Are your courses going well this semester?"
"Fine." Her answer was very curt, though she decided to look away from Hojo now, considering he was complaining at her. What else was new, though? He was always doing this, wasn't he? He was so loud too! God how she wished she had gotten the picture from that alternate Hojo before he went back to whenever it was he was from! If she had, she wouldn't be sitting here right now taking Hojo's complaints. "Of course they are, they always do." Lucrecia had virtually no problems with how her schooling went, considering they were things she liked to study. He was just trying to make small talk though, it seemed.
...but did that alcohol ever look promising. Too bad for Hojo that she couldn't get drunk! Not unless Jenova decided to play games, but a few sips wouldn't kill her, and they could probably make Hojo more bearable. Maybe. So, trying it out, Lucrecia took her wine glass and drank just a little of the champagne. At least he wasn't going to try to make her drink cheap champagne!
Hojo grinned encouragingly at seeing her finally having something to drink. It might help her to loosen up! He wasn't aware of that immunity to alcohol, only being aware that it at least wasn't a poison to Jenova. He sipped at his own drink, satisfied that he'd made a little progress.
"I'm glad to hear that! You have a promising career ahead of you, you know. Whether or not you ever choose to return to the company or work elsewhere." Of course, if she did return home ever, there wasn't much choice but ShinRa, if you wanted to do serious research and get any funding for experiments. Too bad so many of them were still so close-minded, as far as how those experiments were carried out. "Do you ever think we could become on better terms again, Lucrecia? After we make this deal, perhaps we could attempt to be...?" He wanted to speak without her always arguing or jumping at him for everything he said. Was that so much to ask?!
"I highly doubt I'll ever return to ShinRa. I'd rather not return to Gaia at all, in all honesty. Not after what happened." Thinking about that again, she frowned. Knowing the company, she would just become subjected to the tests again unless Grimoire stopped it. If he could, that was, and if they didn't go behind his back. Lucrecia really wouldn't doubt that those other scientists would do that...
But it was his question snapped her out of her thoughts about ever going back to work for those people. Wait, what? Being on good terms? Lucrecia's eyes moved to look at him and just stared for a moment. She had no way to answer that. At all. For the moment, she thought about that, before sitting up straight. "No. Not unless your obsession with Jenova ceased, and you were how you were before. This Hojo now isn't one I like to associate myself with." The tone of her voice wasn't malicious in the least; it was more... longing for something that was long gone or wistful, perhaps. Lucrecia continued: "Or at least the one that didn't just see me as an experiment or something that isn't human. I know that look you've given me. You're just seeing me as a test subject." She took a sip of champagne and finally looked away.
"Suit yourself! That's your own loss, not joining them. You'd be able to do whatever you wanted if you were careful about it." Such as he had attempted to be, but those fools had arrived here and damn near ruined it all! He'd recovered the Project, but it had taken a lot of painstaking work to do so. Catching up on previously accomplished work was not something he enjoyed.
He set his glass down and eyed her the way a shark might fresh meat. Then, removed the picture again, leaving the side with the happy family visible for Lucrecia to clearly look at. It was a relatively large photo, obviously taken in front of their home. All three of them were smiling and hugging, clearly enjoying a pleasant summer day. "Oh, what you're missing..." What he was missing, technically. Yes, he might have been using this as a way to exploit Lucrecia's emotions at this moment, but he had to admit, he wouldn't have minded having Lucrecia be with him. It would show that mutant that he was in over his head by meddling in the affairs of scientists! He wasn't above believing he could still make it happen, either, despite the obvious.
"I'd rather not join those who did worse to me than you could ever try to do in experiments." Simply put, at least! Lucrecia was sure that Hojo wouldn't do quite what they did, nor would he ever, if she could help it. "I don't want to go through that again and worse, and they would do just that. Grimoire can only do so much to keep them away." Too bad he couldn't keep Hojo away but that was for very obvious reasons. Still... it was a nice thought!
Hojo was giving her a different look now; one she didn't get often from him, but it unnerved her all the same. It dispersed some when the photo reappeared. Lucrecia didn't move to take it, knowing that Hojo would just snatch it back from her the moment she went for it. So, she just glanced at it. "I'm not missing anything, Hojo," she said as she idly twisted her wedding band. "I have that, just not with you. I'll have that and it just won't be with you." Eventually, a little girl, as she had promised Vincent, and a happy home life, and...
"As I said, it won't happen unless you go back to what you see in that photo. He was like you were before, the one that replaced you. I miss that Hojo."
Ohh, he didn't like that when she seemed to be making a big deal out of her wedding band! It had to be purely coincidence, though, right? Lucrecia wasn't that sneaky. Was she!? But something else caught his interest, and stopped him from throwing a tantrum. "HA! So you admit it! You would go back to me if I became the person in this photo!" Figuratively speaking, of course. Hojo knew there was no way he could literally become that other self. Besides, he'd seen the network posts he'd made and thought the other self to be sort of a moron. At least in some respects. There was something annoying about his behavior.
Hojo was about to make Lucrecia answer when the food arrived. He put the photo back again, and for at least a moment, his eyes were re-directed to the waitress (and her chest). Then he started eating, only pausing after a time to look at Lucrecia. "Well? Is it true? Would you return to me if I suddenly became more like that other version of myself? Hypothetically speaking, of course!" In ways, his whole attempt to regain Lucrecia's favor had been influenced by that alternate Hojo. He knew what apparently had worked for him and so had attempted to imitate it... to the best of his ability. Again, he could only stand so much of that other self.
Her fiddling with her ring wasn't entirely on purpose: Lucrecia found herself doing that often while doing homework, working on theories and projects, and now, when talking with Hojo. When he first asked his question, she said nothing, knowing that her answer would just anger him. Not that it mattered! He wouldn't cause too much of a scene, would he? She hoped not! He was loud, but hopefully not that loud. Lucky for her, the waitress came with their food! Poor girl, really. When Lucrecia saw where Hojo's eyes were straying, she kicked him under the table. Hah. Some reprieve for the waitress, she hoped!
Once the food was down and the waitress left, she began to eat, halfway ignoring Hojo. There was no way she wanted to anger him, but it would be inevitable once she did answer. So, giving him a glance and stopping her eating for a moment, she shook her head. "No, because for one, I'm married, and two, I'm happily married. I would talk to you and perhaps befriend you if you stayed like that and didn't go back to being conniving and terrible, but I wouldn't return to you." And with that, she returned to her meal.
The kick under the table was a mild annoyance, but what she said... that momentarily set him off. But lucky for him, revenge was well served. "Hey! OW! I know you like to play rough, but save it for after we get home, dear!" Yes, Hojo shouted that loud enough for everyone to hear around them. So what if he was eyeing all the waitresses and considering getting their numbers before they left- he may as well enjoy the fact that he had Lucrecia with him, here, on a date-like situation.
He got a smug expression on his face after that, wondering just how she would react. He shoved some more food into his mouth and chewed as he watched her. What was the point of talking if it didn't lead to anything, after all! He knew it had been a long shot to ask, in some respects, but he still had to try. His little moment of vengeance had gotten rid of most of his anger, anyway.
WHAT. Lucrecia stared at Hojo after he said what he did loud enough for everyone to hear. And that smug grin on his face afterward! Ohh, he was going to get it now. She was going to do something that even Vincent would wince in pain at, as much as he would cheer her on. So, forcing grin on her face, albeit being a very annoyed one as much as she was going to get some pleasure out of this, she spoke through her teeth. "Oh but I know how much you like the rough play everywhere and not just the bedroom, honey." She may not have said it loud enough, but the look on her face practically screamed that she didn't care, considering her foot was hopefully going toward his crotch under the table. Whatever she ended up kicking, she still smiled as sweetly as she could, adding a "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kick you that hard" after it.
Hah. She felt better! Still with a big smile on her face, she took a few bites of her food, perfectly content with the fact that she had just done that. At least it would keep those sorts of comments to a minimum! At least that's what the hope was. "More champagne?" Too bad this wasn't going to be told to Vincent. He would have been amused in his own way, Lucrecia was sure of that.
The kick connected with his crotch, and Hojo spat out the champagne that was in his mouth at that moment. They must have been making quite the scene by now. Hmmph! How dare she do- that- He looked at her, hands tensing as if he intended to lunge across the table and strangle her. For a few seconds, he came very close to doing that. "FINE! MORE CHAMPAGNE!" he yelled louder than intended.
"Is everything all right?" asked the waitress, approaching cautiously.
Hojo pounded a fist on the table. "ICE! GET ME A CUP OF ICE!"
As she scurried off to do that, Hojo made a disgusted face at Lucrecia. "Was that really necessary?" They'd been even at that point! Arrrgh! He'd only said those things because of how obnoxious she'd been right before that. Hojo returned full attention to his dinner. The ice was brought over and Hojo proceeded to put it in a napkin and apply it to his groin. He gave Lucrecia another scowl, all desire to continue hitting on her stifled for the time being. He ate a little while longer in an annoyed silence.
It was very, very hard to not laugh at him. Even funnier was the spit-take he did when she kicked him. As it was, she was holding in her laughter, the smile only growing as she did so. He had deserved that, whether he believed it or not. "All right," she said with a light chuckle while grabbing the bottle of champagne to pour him more. This was probably not going to go over well once they left, but for now she was amused. "It was really necessary, yes. You were being horrible to that waitress, and I saw where you were looking the last time she was here. Really, there's more to her than her breasts, Hojo." Lucrecia paused to drink some of her own champagne, before smiling at his scowl. "Oh don't give me that look. You were also hitting on a married woman, and said something incredibly horrible for everyone else to hear. It's not my fault you got what was coming to you." And with that, she fell silent and began to eat once more. He wouldn't dare try anything at this stage; she had a pretty good idea of where to kick again if he got out of control.
It was so aggravating, that she was being so amused by this. Hojo had half a mind to walk out and call their deal off entirely. She was acting as annoying as she'd been doing earlier in the year. He'd avoided her plenty for that time, too angry by her behavior to tolerate it. This was just uncalled for! After all he'd done for her...
"Fine, then, let's return to talking business," he snapped, and paused to eat some more, and gulp down some drink. He'd be getting drunk tonight, that was certain. Although the prospects of being drunk and with one of the ladies here looked remote. He blamed Lucrecia entirely for that. "I'm prepared to hand you what you want after we conclude our meal, but we still haven't worked out the particulars of your part of the deal. When will you be willing to come to my lab for those tests? It's only fair that you answer with a commitment!"
If there was an award for Irritating Hojo to No End, she'd probably have won it a few times over in the past few years. Slipping one of her feet out of the heels she was wearing, Lucrecia rubbed her foot against one of Hojo's legs as a tease. "Oh don't be so angry. You get so snappish when you're angry, it's not very attractive." When she was done, she moved her foot back to where it should have been, and just listened to him. "Hojo, I'm not about to go against my word that I'd... do what you asked concerning... her. I'm not sure when I'll be willing. It's not exactly something I like to do, and it brings back some memories I don't like recalled." Those same memories had been haunting her for a good part of the night already, and talking about it just made them come back.
The cold table.
The peering eyes.
Prodding needles.
It was enough to make her squeeze her eyes shut and bite her bottom lip to force them away. "But I'll contact you in the next couple of weeks about it. I can't just... agree to something I don't like and that terrifies me."
"Fine," Hojo again snapped at her. "Honestly, you act as if I'm going to abduct you or have you shipped off to ShinRa's lab. It's not anything that terrifying. It's a few simple tests, nothing more than that. We can have them done very quickly if you cooperate." He was using his meal as a distraction from her. Especially her teasing him as she was doing. It made him so infuriated, because he could fully deduce why she was doing so. She was terrible!
He sneered then, and set his silverware down. "If you can't do something as simple as deal with me, I hardly see why we're bothering to make this deal at all. I can take it all back so easily." And he removed the picture, along with a small pair of scissors he'd also brought along. Ohhh the temptation was strong to just tear the whole thing apart. Instead, he cut it in half with a few deliberate snips. He tossed the bottom half to Lucrecia- it would be impossible to reach those steps without the top part, thus ensuring that she wouldn't get any head start and potentially make her own conclusions- ANY start at all! HA! He knew it would make no sense without the earlier part. This was, indeed, his plan of ensuring that she'd follow through.
"I don't trust you." Hojo's tone was much changed from the earlier flirtation. He'd lost his patience with Lucrecia, and her uncalled for behavior. He put away his half of the image. "Thus, if you don't contact me for the agreement, you'll never receive the rest of that, and you'll thus never be able to help your mutant husband. You'll receive the other half when you actually come to my lab!" After that, he laughed loudly.
"You wouldn't dare, not your prized project. Even I know that. But that doesn't make me feel any better about any of it." Of course he wouldn't understand; he never really had to endure such things, had he? Ugh, at least that other Hojo had been nice to her. Sadly, she actually missed that Hojo! He was so much more tolerable than this one, despite his incredible love for his family. It was almost- ALMOST- scary how much he had been a family man, but that was similar to the Hojo she had known before Jenova.
But what he did next infuriated her as much as she had infuriated him, if not more. Lucrecia stared in horror as he cut the picture in half. "You're a bastard, Hojo." was all she said to him, nearly growling it out as she said it. She was so very tempted to send her high heels through his skull and to his brain, but since his ego made his head bug with pride, it would have been impossible to actually hit his brain. Clenching her fists and nearly exploding right then and there, Lucrecia snapped up the half that he tossed at her and stood, narrowing her eyes at him.
"I hope you burn in hell," she hissed before turning from him and beginning her walk out of the restaurant, leaving her unfinished food and Hojo behind.
Nothing else she said or did could push Hojo much farther than he'd already been pushed this evening. So, he was almost not surprised that she was so angry. In fact, he'd wanted that, wanted to get back at her for how irate she'd made him. It was only fair by his warped logic. He clenched one hand into a fist, while the other reached into his pocket, instinctively reaching for his weapon. But he'd come today without a gun, remarkably. He had been so sure he'd get a better result out of this.
Or had he. Hojo poured more champagne, until it almost overflowed, and gulped it down. He'd known it would be difficult, after all, and had planned all along that he would ensure her cooperation. Despite how this had turned out, he knew that he had sealed the deal with Lucrecia. Laughing once more, Hojo turned his focus to getting the waitress' attention. He was determined not to lose out in that particular goal tonight! They'd all get what they wanted from this... eventually.