Just Under the Upperhand

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina chuckled and shook her head, “Of course, how could you possibly forget about that?... though there are some students here who can eat bullets, so I don’t know how much of a help it would be…” she offered with a grin. “Though you could always sing them to sleep,” she added thoughtfully. “Then I wouldn’t even have to strip for money, just clear their unprotected pockets.”


    Selina gave him a wry grin, “How dare you? I’m a proper lady… and I would fuck them properly too. What good is merely looking, when you can take what you want?” she asked with a smirk. “I’m so much greedier than you give me credit for,” she teased. “Besides, what devil would practice abstinence?”


    Selina laughed, “And here I thought I would be the one bringing civilization. After all, these Americans colonized the world for spices and yet they have the audacity to cook bland food and repeatedly refuse to use them.” Selina actually made her own food more often than not, as she could make more flavorful dishes than what the cafeteria offered.

[Rob Snow]

Rob could swear that if his grin grew any further it would split his face in half. "I could indeed sing a loverly lullaby, but I didn't want to assume you possessed sticky fingers. Not right to make such assumptions about a lady. Even if she does cop to being the devil's whore. Prostitution is one thing," Rob held a finger up, wagging it, "but stealing is an entirely different commandment."

And more chuckling at the mention of proper ladies and fucking. Oh, somewhere Rob's parents were... actually, they were Rob's parents, so they probably would have burst out laughing and told a bawdy joke. Sometimes it was good to have folks that were fairly good.

And the laughter only continued when talking about spices. Rob took a gasp, trying to look as thoroughly "British" as he could, which was a little hard given how international he'd become over the past few years. "Well, I never!" he stuttered out in the proper accent. "Actually," he lowered his hands, "I found that the spicier food in the East definitely worked through me. Though there's still something about a proper fish and chips," Rob nodded, then looked ahead. It did seem as though they were heading in the right direction for the cafeteria. "That's the right building, aye?" he asked, nodding toward it to confirm. "Unless you're just luring me into some sort of trap so you can take advantage of m'body."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina smirked and reached up to place her arm around his shoulders, “If I ever hear the word ‘whore’ escape your lips again, I’ll cut out that talented tongue of yours. And wouldn’t that be such a shame? We haven’t even put it to proper use yet,” she taunted before she let go of him and gave him a slightly too hard patronizing pat on the back. Selina’s mother was a sex worker and if this boy honestly thought that he could get away with using that slur around her, he’d have to think again. Part of the reason she’d taken so much pleasure in breaking that one boy’s arm had been because he’d dared let that word cross his lips in her hearing. Rob could have called her virtually any other name that meant escort or sex worker and she wouldn’t have given a fuck, but he’d crossed a line when he dared to use the slur that denigrated the women she’d grown up with.


    When he mentioned her dragging him away, Selina let out a sardonic laugh, “Don’t worry. You’re cute, but you’re not that cute,” she teased with a dark grin. She led the way to the cafeteria and opened the door for him, “After you, love,” she said with a slightly lighter tone, though the undercurrent was still harsher than it had been. She was willing to let him mess up once, but that was as far as her mercy extended. She’d been perfectly serious about what she’d do if she heard him say it again, regardless of context… or at least, she’d certainly cut off something.

[Rob Snow]

Rob held up both hands in surrender at the threat, before moving one up to make the motion as though he were turning a key at his lips and tossing it away. He could understand that some people had certain words or what have you that set them off. Interesting that the girl was so willing to cop to a good deal but drew the line at that specific word though. Were Rob the type to dig around, he'd ask about it.

Instead, he proved that he did know when to keep that pretty voice of his silent. He merely walked along, heading toward the right building and humming slightly to himself. "'ey now," he said jokingly, brows raising, a finger pointed at her, "that's our word and you're not allowed to use it," he gave her another wink and then ducked inside the room, turning to walk backward the next few steps.

"And sorry if I stepped over some sort of line there, m'lady," he nodded his head slightly. "Sometimes the mouth keeps going on account of my liking to hear my own voice jibber. Just give me a sharp nudge if something's not to your liking," he gave her another jaunty little salute before turning again, looking around the cafeteria, trying to get his bearings and head forward. He'd certainly been in worse places that passed off as eateries.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina merely grinned at him, “I’m the devil's favorite pickpocket, remember?” She didn’t mind giving him a second chance, but was it really so strange that she didn’t appreciate being degraded? What was it that was so tantalizing to men about insulting and dehumanizing women, in particular sex workers? Selina decided not to focus on that for now, as she’d probably just get angry with him and instead nodded in acknowledgement of his apology.


    “Believe me, I will.” she replied with a smirk. Selina really didn’t do the forgiving thing, but she did give second chances on the rare occasion. If he proved to be unworthy of it, she wouldn’t feel any guilt whatsoever about leaving him in the dust. Selina’s ability to cut people off was partially a defense mechanism and partially because she just didn’t have the time or energy to deal with more bullshit than she absolutely had to.


    “Anything strike your fancy?” Selina asked as she followed him inside and looked around absently to see what was offered. Nothing much was here that she was attracted to right off, but at the same time, the last she’d eaten anything was at breakfast and using her power usually left her in as much need of sustenance as a workout would.

[Rob Snow]

Rob bobbed, albeit with a tiny bit of caution. It would no doubt wear off and he'd end up saying something that got him in trouble again. That seemed to be his cycle: the females he spoke with either ended up sheet wrestling with him or actually wrestling (in that they got rather physical). Though it did seem as though Selina was willing to go along with his apology, so maybe he'd just accidentally said a trigger word or something.

Always the problem with mutants: so many trigger words and instances that generally made them ticking timebombs.

For now though, someone had reset the counter. So Rob ended up looking around at the cafeteria, trying to figure things out. he leaned back slightly to get a better look at the various offerings, his eyes moving quickly. "I'm of a mind to stick with a good pizza, since you can only do so much to screw that up," he said, leaning over slightly toward Selina. "Unless you've tried it and can confirm that it is more like cheese coated cardboard? Though even that's good enough if the stomach's willing," aaaand another wink. Yeah, that didn't take long at all.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina grimaced slightly at the mention of pizza before she shrugged, “I honestly haven’t tried it here, so I can’t say,” she admitted. “I usually make my own food, so I’m as relatively clueless as you are in terms of what’s safe to eat and what isn’t in this place… coffee’s alright though,” she added with a small smile before she headed over to check out what else they had.


    Selina smirked as she saw devil’s food cake, but she didn’t take any as sugar crashes never helped her to get in the mood to workout. “The nice thing is that the food’s free here,” she added absently as she looked over the main courses offered and ended up taking a simple baked potato. It had carbs for energy, wasn’t greasy, and could be doused in cayenne pepper until palatable, which is what she did.


    “So tell me, Music Man, do you write your own songs?” she asked with a wry smile.

[Rob Snow]

"Hmm," Rob said, rubbing at his scruffy chin for a few moments. He knew that technically speaking the food wasn't strictly free: everyone who attended got a food card that was usable for a food only from the cafeteria or something. Not that the school would ever turn anyone away or anything. Though Rob was hardly one to know about all the intricate details involved with the whole process: he knew broad strokes at best.

Still, he could move forward and start picking his way through the options. "Well, I tried imprisoning one of the Greek muses into my tattoos," he said absently as he held up some of the fruit options. Yeah, pizza was definitely looking like the best choice. "But they get horribly fickle and a little pissed about the whole living in a guy's arm type of thing."

Rob shrugged and then gestured for the person in charge of food to give him a slice of pizza. Then, with only a bit of hesitation, he held up fingers for two. "You gotta try this too. Woman cannot live off..." he leaned over and raised his brows, "potatoes alone," he looked up at her. "You're not secretly Irish, are you? you hide it well."

[Selina Taylor]

    “Ah, I see. A Greek tragedy that doesn’t involve Zeus’ overactive sex drive. Quite the rarity that,” she offered with a grin. “But if I’m getting it right, you claim no originality?” she teased as she watched him get her a slice of pizza as well with a hesitancy that she supposed didn’t really have much validity. She’d honestly never tried it here, so why not? Fixing her own food had always been preferable to her and she’d never really eaten the food here unless she absolutely had to, so she just hadn’t really had the chance.


    Selina grinned, “I thought we’d already discussed my heritage.” Selina had no idea about whether or not she had Irish history anyway. Her father was a complete mystery to both her and her mother. They had no idea who he might be, as Katerina had never been shy about sleeping with strangers. Selina honestly didn’t mind though. The only time she ever thought about it was when directly asked, bored out of her mind and/or drunk. Selina didn’t bring it up now though, as people tended to get weird around that sort of thing sometimes. It wasn’t a secret or anything, just not something she often talked about.

[Rob Snow]

Rob nodded, only to pause with a raised brow and a half-smile. "hey now, I didn't say anything about that. I just said I was inspired. Bit of a difference there, luv," he finished with another wink and another smile. And then there was the pizza gathered. Rob was already digging into his pockets for his student ID. It still felt decidedly odd to have one of those, after so long of wandering around with just a passport in the pocket.

Another laugh had to come as Selina teased back about the heritage. "Hence my surprise over the meal choice," Rob offered, gesturing at the tray and nodding. He looked around for a bit more, knowing that there had to be some place where they at least looked at the identification card. He tossed it about in his fingers a few times before finally locating it.

A nod and a head jerk and Rob was heading that way, figuring that Selina would be hot on his heels.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina nodded to him, “Of course… and you use the women on your arms for muses because real women just… aren’t enough?” she asked with a sly smile as she took a few packets of butter and sour cream. “Or perhaps you just lack experience with them?” she asked oh-so-innocently.


    Selina then laughed at his response, “You expected to me to kill one of these students and steal their soul? Eat their beating heart?” she asked as she got out her student ID and followed him, “Or were you thinking I was more of a succubus who’d seduce her victim in the middle of the cafeteria?” She asked with a smirk. Selina walked close to him and spoke in low tone, “Were you hoping I’d seduce you?” she asked with a suggestive grin.

[Rob Snow]

"Hey now," Rob held up one arm, needing the other to hold the tray, "no ladies on these arms. Just decoration to make them all pretty for the real thing," Rob gave his arm a little back and forth motion before nodding and lowering it again. There were still a few things he needed, not least of which being napkins, and he was moving around and grabbing those while not losing a beat with regards to their conversation.

He had to let out a bit of a whistle as Selina spoke about souls. Though he at least had a direction for their cards. He was already moving to grab his out of his pocket, rubbing it on his shirt. "I would never think to say such vile things about a lady," he paused and looked up at Selina, "Especially when she's so good at saying them herself."

Then it was turn, produce card, purchase lunch. A look over the shoulder followed the low tone, and he raised his brows again. "Are you attempting to seduce me? Because," he pointed, "potatoes only work for the Irish. I'm," he pointed, "more Welsh slash proper English."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina laughed and shook her head. She glanced around at the student body, looking for someone she knew, but now seeing anyone, she stuck with Rob. Eating alone was fun sometimes, but she was actually feeling somewhat social today, and this boy wasn’t all that bad.


    Selina nodded, “Perhaps that’s wise,” she replied with a smile before she grabbed some silverware. She glanced around, trying to see if anything else appealed to her, but nothing else did. She was still wary of the way they prepared food here, and didn’t entirely trust the staff not to make her sick, but how could one truly mess up potatoes… or pizza, she supposed.


    She purchased her lunch as well before giving him a quick once-over in answer, “Hmmm, probably not,” she teased before looking for an empty table to sit at. “Honestly though, I still have a lot to do today… If you try me on the weekend though, my answer would probably be very different,” she responded truthfully. Finals were coming up and she still had to do her workout, as well as figure out when to fit in some semblance of dinner.

[Rob Snow]

Yes, very wise. Rob was tempted to say precisely that, given his earlier verbal flub. But he decided that he could keep his tongue tucked behind his teeth. The best minstrels knew when to sing and when not to, after all, and Rob preferred to keep the mood as light as possible. Besides, he had purchasing his lunch to worry about, then getting out of Selina's way.

A once-over, and apparently a decision not to seduce. Rob let out a noise of false hurt, pressing his spare hand to his chest. "Well then, I see what I mean to you," he said, only half teasingly. He was already working around, heading toward an empty table. They had food to eat, and it only made sense for them to keep together, at least while they were still having a semi-pleasant conversation.

So Rob pulled a chair out, gesturing grandly for Selina to take it, before backing a few steps up to get near a chair of his own. "Assuming you're still interested in a few more moments of my company. I promise I won't sing when my mouth's full," he held up a hand and nodded solemnly. "I've already tried it: it isn't nearly as impressive as it should be."

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina smirked slightly at his silence, understanding it a bit too well. She wasn’t really one to focus on past mistakes, but that didn’t mean she forget them either. The only time she’d ever bring up what happened earlier was if he did the same thing again, and even then she’d probably just leave. She had a vengeful side to her, but it wasn’t usually her default unless someone was being deliberately malicious… in which case she’d beat their ass into the ground without a second thought.


    Selina smiled, “What can I say? Your too… angelic for my tastes,” she played, remembering the lyrics to the song he sang. Selina nodded to his grand gesture of politeness, “You make my point for me,” she said with smile before sitting down and placing her tray on the table.


    Selina cast him an amused glance, “I’m sure. Although, it would be interesting to see whether or not your magical voice had an effect on the food… perhaps it’d even come back to life?” she mused before taking a bite of her potato.