Who: Scholar Ling & Gemma Masters What: Flirting! When: 12/19 Where: A Christmas party at a bar Rating: PG Status: Complete
Gemma didn’t usually go to other bars, especially after a shift, but she’d promised she’d make an appearance at a friend’s get-together. She was sipping a drink in the corner, having told her mate that she’d be there. See, she was making an appearance.
Ling had just finished meeting with a client that she wanted to strangle. So instead of risking her career, she went out for a drink instead. Flopping into the corner, she lit a cigarette and exhaled, closing her eyes as she felt sanity ebb into her temples.
Her table bumped slightly as another woman sat at the next one over. “Oy,” Gemma muttered, but when she saw the woman’s face she had to laugh. “Well. Forget I said anything.” The woman was incredibly pretty, but looked thunderous. And familiar. “Wait, are you on the valarnet?”
Looking up, Ling had been about to tell the woman to oy herself. But she recognized her and nodded. “Yeah, you’re the lady who’s a bartender, right? Gemma?” A distraction helped her headache too.
“Right. Sorry, just didn’t see you sit down and m’drink got moved. You look as though you’d like to murder someone.” Gemma grimaced, hoping she could maybe check her out a little more without being very obvious about it.
“Oh, just a client. But don’t tell anyone, lawyers who murder the people they’re helping is pretty shitty form.” Ling couldn’t help but smile a little at her own joke. “Sorry.”
“Bit, yeah, but doesn’t stop you from wanting to. I’ve debated how some of my customers are eventually going to go. M’favourite is the one I’m convinced will die of autoerotic asphyxiation.” Gemma said cheerily.
“I just try to kill them with my mind. Hey, maybe those dreams I have are because of the fucking anger issues.” Ling didn’t like the idea of the dreams being “real”, even when she read posts of people on the valarnet with claws and vampire fangs and creepy crawly appendages or whatnot.
“Who knows why they happen.” Gemma was philosophical - really, what else could she do? “Mine are a bit weird, but only a bit - like, I dream I work in a bar in Liverpool, but at the same time - hey, I can do magic, and my uncle’s a bloody wizard.”
Ling blinked. “Hey, we’re both magical creatures? Fuck yeah.” She toasted the other woman with her cigarette, holding it aloft for a moment. “I’m a ninja and you’re a witch, that’s badass.”
“A ninja?” Gemma blinked, chuckling. “Isn’t really a magical creature, I don’t think, given they’re real. Still, though!”
“I can throw fireballs, your argument is invalid,” Ling beamed.
“Seriously? Like in real life? Or d’you mean in the dreams proper?” Either way it was pretty brilliant. “Handy for scaring off stupid blokes, I bet.”
“The dreams proper. And usually my mouth scares off the stupid guys. I’m kind of mean, or so my mom says.” Scrunching her nose, she mimicked an older woman’s growl. “This is why I won’t have any grandkids, you took after your father’s mother!”
Gemma laughed. “Sounds like the Chinese version of my mum!” She took on her mum’s querulous tone. “You’ll be leaving me ‘igh and dry, goin’ blind in the dark, since I won’t have any wee ones to make me golden years better.”
“Exactly. Does she go off about who’s going to take care of her when she’s old?” Ling rolled her eyes and pretended to choke herself.
“Oh, yes. Never mind that I have an uncle still living, as well as numerous relations.” Gemma laughed a little. “Bloody maddening, her shite. I love my mum - I do - but my life is not going t’be what she’d like it to be.”
“I’m an only child, but I told mom, if she’s counting on more little Bus, she’d better adopt them herownself. I’m not doing it.” Ling screwed up her face.
“It’s anti-feminist, that,” Gemma said, shaking her head. “Expectin’ us to do nothing but be broodmares. I daresay our mums should join the twenty-first century, I do.” But she was amused in spite of herself. “Never thought my mum would have so much in common with a middle-aged Chinese lady.”
“Moms are universal,” Ling shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where they come from, their instinct is to marry us off and have us popping out heirs. Goes all the way back to the beginning of time, probably.”
“Probably. Even when I told her I fancied girls as well as blokes, she told me I had better bloody well adopt if I married a woman.” Gemma grinned. “D’you get the same thing? If you fancy girls, I mean.” Smooth, Gem. Real smooth.
“Oh, I didn’t tell Mom about that, she’d try to kidnap me and marry me off while drugged,” Ling winced. “I introduced my undergrad friend I was sleeping with as my friend who had night terrors. You’d be shocked how much moms will believe when they’re in willful denial.”
Oh, thank God. But Gemma grimaced, figuring she’d look like an arse being pleased Ling dealt with crap for fancying girls. “Still not very okay with Chinese people, then?” Pity. “At least wilful denial does exist. M’uncle, on the other hand, just told me to be careful and tried to explain what a dental dam was. That got terrible.” Silly old duffer.
“Not really.” But then she couldn’t help almost dying as she laughed while inhaling her cigarette. “Your uncle knows what a dental dam is? ... how’d that happen?”
“Uncle John’s a special sort.” Gemma had to admit, amused. “He used to be in a punk band - Mucous Membrane - and travelled everywhere. And shagged everyone and everything, I think, is the postscript, even though he doesn’t admit it. I’m sure he’s seen and done worse.”
“Oh, then that’s not so bad if he’s the cool uncle. I think of my aunties and uncles and just ... no. They’re worse than Mom.” Ling shook her head. “Thank god I’m an orphan in the dreams.”
“Oh yeah?” Gemma was curious, and she turned a little more toward the other woman, taking a drink. “I remember you said your dreams were like a kung fu film. Is that still so?”
“Yep. So I’m an orphan and I’m taken to Two Rivers School in a town called... yup, Two Rivers. Master Li trains me and it turns out he’s the emperor’s left for dead brother, Sun Li, the Glorious Strategist.” Ling rolled her eyes. Blah blah blah.
“Bloody hell, really? That is a bit silly.” Gemma had to laugh. “And let me guess, you have to go through a journey and fight gods ‘n some such.”
“Don’t know yet, to be honest. Fuck, I hope not.” Ling smiled and thanked the waitress who brought over her beer. “That’d just be sad.”
“Wouldn’t it?” Gemma quirked a brow. “I dream I’m a little girl with boring parents and an uncle who can do magic. He saves me from baddies every so often, but when I get a bit older and want to go magic m’own self, he tells me not to.”
“Sounds like he wants to keep you safe.” Ling shrugged. “Makes sense to me. Why’d you get all the sensible family?”
“No idea. And I do know he’s sensible, but at the same time, he’s a bloody killjoy.” Gemma made a face. “My actual uncle lives here now. Not quite as much a killjoy as the one in the dreams, but still.”
“How so?” Ling was curious; this girl’s family could’ve been a movie for how much more exciting it was than her own.
“Just thinks he ought to look out for me.” Gemma shrugged. “I’m a grown woman; and besides, he’s got his own boy toy. Who’s my age.” She snickered.
“Nothing wrong with that, as long as he’s consenting,” Ling said. “I don’t know if I could do it though, guys are stupid at our age.” She was just guessing that they were around the same age.
“Girls are all right, but the last bloke I dated was older than me by five years or so. Only way I could stand ‘im.” Gemma smiled. “You’re what, twenty-five? You don’t even look as old as me, but it’s because you’re pretty.” Hopefully that wasn’t too stupid.
“About that, and thanks.” Ling took the compliment gracefully, sipping her beer as well. “I have no clue how old you are either, and that’s ‘cause you’re pretty too, obviously.” The woman had to know that.
“I’m twenty-seven.” Gemma blushed. Yes, blushed. “People don’t call me pretty; they call me cute or sporty or whatever. M’not a sodding Spice Girl.”
“You’re that old? Holy shit.” Ling blinked. “And people say Asians don’t age. What’re the Spice Girls?”
Gemma raised an eyebrow. “Spice Girls? If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends? Sporty, Baby, Ginger?” None of that recorded comprehension on Ling’s face. “How can you not’ve heard of them, begging pardon? They were enormous for a while.”
Ling just stared blankly, then shrugged. “I wasn’t allowed TV or popular music growing up.” Or a pet. Or friends.
“Really?” Gemma actually felt pity. “That’s ... well. I’m sure it wasn’t too big a deal growing up - dun’ know what you’re missing, after all - but still.” She didn’t want to make too big a deal of it, but Christ. “Erm. Earlier. What I meant is that the Spice Girls had five members and they were called Sporty, Baby, Ginger, Scary and Posh. And I get called sporty or cute or whatever instead of pretty.”
“You’re pretty. I don’t see why they had labels, I mean, any one person could be all of those at the same time.” Ling’s voice was authoritative; Gemma would have to deal with Ling finding her pretty, because that tone brooked no protest.
Gemma blushed again. That had to be some kind of record. “Nice of you to say.” Hopefully that was noncommittal enough. She liked this bird and her no-bullshit attitude, and said as much. “You don’t seem to take shite. I do like that.”
“Life’s too short. I put up with enough shit from my family, I won’t take it from other people. You think I’m hot, don’t you.” Ling could tell, and it made her smile. “We should go out sometime.”
Well. Gemma hadn’t expected that. “Yeah,” she said. “On both counts. It’d be nice t’go someplace that isn’t a bar.” Oh god oh god.
“Well, hell, we can go out to dinner on Saturday. I get weekends off,” Ling teased.
Dinner? In a real restaurant? Where she was expected to behave? Gemma felt her throat constrict. But she nodded. “Sounds brilliant, actually.” It did. Awesome and cool and exciting and bugger she had to go shopping.
“Really? Oh, good. I’ve never done that before - asked someone out. It’s nice, I should do it more. Well. Not until we figure out what we’ve got.” Gemma was cute, and they had stuff in common, and Ling wanted to kiss her. She fulfilled all of Ling’s date criteria.
“I get you.” Gemma smiled in a way that was almost bashful. Uncle John was going to fall over. “What time Saturday, then? Would ... I don’t know, half seven work for you? Half past, I mean?” People who weren’t English tended to get confused by short times.
“That works for me.” Ling smiled, standing up and draining the last of her drink. She fished out her business card holder and forked over one of them. “Here, in case you have to change times. I’m serious about this, don’t stand me up or I’ll come punch you.”
“All right. Best way t’get a hold of me is on the valarnet, though. Don’t make enough to have constant cell phone service.” Gemma shrugged. It was just a fact - hopefully that’d change soon, though.
“Hopefully that’ll change soon.” Ling smiled, waving a little. She’d pay for the other woman’s tab on her way out. It was the holidays, why not?
“Here’s hopin’ ... but until Saturday, then, I suppose?” Gemma didn’t notice at first, but then she saw the waitress shake her head. “Oy, you don’t have to do that.”
“Already did it, so suck it.” Ling stuck her tongue out at Gemma. “Until Saturday.”
“Careful, I’ll take you up on that.” Gemma retorted, before realizing she sounded stupid. But oh well. The woman couldn’t take it back now.