Loose Lips

Who: Jocelyn and Alex
Where: Outside of Babylon, then inside of Babylon
When: 10:30pm

She'd been stood up. It took her awhile to admit it, sitting on the curb outside of Babylon, wondering if maybe she got the night wrong. Or the time. But no. As humiliating as it was, she'd been stood up. By a vampire. Good Lord, the enjoyment Val would get out of that if he ever found out...Jocelyn didn't even want to think about it. She sat there, her purse next to her on the sidewalk, her chin rested on her arms that were currently crossed upon her drawn up knees as she watched the cars pass by filled with dark, unfamiliar faces. She would have retreated back to her room, but confining herself in solitude, especially with the roses still on her dresser, was simply too depressing. Her first date in years and she gets stood up. It was if another crack in her self-esteem widened and a thousand self-deprecating excuses as to why it happened began to run through her mind.

After a relatively pleasant, and interesting, encounter with Melia again, Alejandro headed for Babylon. He had someone he wanted to talk to, for all he'd really rather not see the place again until his next shift. On Monday. Thank God. At least he'd asked around and found out what room she was in, so maybe he could corner her in there where she'd be the only one to ramble at him.

Except there she was, sitting on the curb. That was unexpected-- and unexpectedly easy. "Hey, waiting for someone?" he asked, coming up towards her rather than Babylon's door.

It took Jocelyn a moment to realize the voice had been directed at her, and she looked up in confusion for a moment until it computed that it was Alex. "Hey," she replied with a tiny smile. "Uhm. No. Not anymore. Are you working?"

Not anymore, huh? Well, at least she was free. Alejandro dropped to a crouch beside her-- outside of babbling range, for the moment, just barely. It made talking a little more difficult, as he had to speak up more, but he could make due for now. "Nope. Looking for you, actually." Because it was only polite, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yup, everything is fine." Except I got stood up by the first 'guy' who showed genuine interest in me in years. She gave him a curious smile. "What were you looking for me for?"

Alejandro'd let that go, for now. He wasn't sure how interested he'd be in her problems, anyway. "I've got a little magic something you might find interesting, thought you might wanna take a look at it. Or, well, I think it's magic, anyway."

Magic. That she knew how to handle. Jocelyn placed a hand on the sidewalk to push herself up from the curb. She wiped her hands on her skirt and smiled. "Sure. What is it?"

"Wanna go inside and talk about it?" He jerked a thumb at Babylon as he stood up, too. "I'd rather the whole damn street didn't see, if you know what I mean." It was embarrassing.

Another night in Babylon. Jocelyn glanced toward the door before she nodded. "Of course, that's fine. Whatever you want." She bent down to pick up her purse and motioned for him to follow.

"You'll understand when I show it to you," Alejandro promised, rolling his eyes a little as he followed. Heading inside, he really didn't have much of a choice but to get within babbling range, if he wanted to continue a conversation at all. A busy bar on a Saturday night? He'd never be heard, if he stayed five feet back from her.

"I'm sure I will," Jocelyn replied, glancing at him. "Did you want to go to my room? Or would you prefer to stay downstairs? God, what a sad way to spend a Saturday night." She paused, blinked, and was horrified as she looked at Alex. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it came out. I didn't actually even mean to say it...I just had plans. That fell through. And it's Saturday. Not that you're not..." Jocelyn winced. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, don't be sorry," Alejandro sighed, rolling his eyes lightly again. "That's part of what I need to talk to you about. Not you having a sad Saturday night, but the whole blurting-things-out-at-me thing. So what happened?" He really should not have asked that. Because now he'd know, since there was no way she could keep her mouth shut. Too late, now.

Jocelyn gave a tiny laugh and shook her head. "You really don't want to hear about my woeful evening. Especially since I think you're probably just asking to be nice without much genuine interest behind it." Ack! "There I go again. What exactly is this blurting out thing you're talking about? Because I'm usually not so rude, even in my head," Jocelyn told him, giving him a slightly pained look.

"That magic thing I told you about, that's one of the things it does: it makes people say whatever's on their mind, if I've got it on me, like in a pocket or something, and I'm close enough to them. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's useful, and sometimes it's annoying. I need to know what all else it does, and if it can be messed with." He offered her a little grin. "You're the only witch I know, so...."

"Okay, well, let me see it," Jocelyn said quickly, holding out her hand. "Before I start to embarrass myself. It's going to be one of those situations where I'll not want to think of all my deep dark secrets and then that's all I'll be able to think about and...just hand it over."

Alejandro waved her after him to a booth in the back that wasn't taken, and waved off the server who immediately showed up. He didn't want anything, and he didn't really consider whether Jocelyn would. Then he gave in and finally pulled the stupid toy block out of his jacket pocket, setting it on the table between them. "There. That. I don't know if it works for anyone but me, or not. I know it makes people talk like crazy, whatever's on their minds, and it makes telepaths unable to read me. Anything else, if there is anything else, I've got no idea."

She took it and looked up at him. "It looks like a children's toy, which is odd, given what was found in the mine. Though I don't think the two are related...and it seems like it only works for you because everything I'm thinking is coming out of my mouth," she continued with a sigh. "Where did you get this?"

"A little shop full of clutter," Alejandro answered, making a face at the memory. "I think everything in it was probably spelled, but that's the one I wound up with. Paid the old guy at the desk four bucks for it, and I'll be damned if I can figure out why I even wanted the thing." ... bad choice of words. Damned. Ugh. He let the mine thing slide; he could ask her, later. This was more important, dammit.

"If you think it's spelled, why carry it around?" she asked. Lifting an eyebrow at him, she clutched the block. "You don't seem like the type who wants people babbling at him, bartender or not. I can tell you that it definitely has some magic in it. But there's a lot of items that do, and it'll take more than just holding it to find out what magic is woven through it, and if it can be altered."

"Well, first, since I only really figured out the problem today," he answered, as if it ought to be obvious. "Second, because it's actually been kinda funny, and kinda useful. Third, because it blocks telepaths from reading my mind. So could you find out what all it does, if there's anything else?"

Jocelyn studied him for a moment. "I can try. But you seem to have a pretty good grasp on its abilities. Though I think it's a bit harsh, to carry something around that makes people reveal their inner dialogue, especially when those thoughts are probably meant to be private." Like the ones she was having now, coming out of her mouth.

"Never said I was a nice guy," Alejandro pointed out with a little smirk. "But I'm not gonna carry it around all the time, now that I know. And if I set it, like, on a shelf and walk around, it stops working. Save it for when I really need it, right? Like when that telepath walks in, or something. Go ahead and set it down, then you can stop saying shit you don't want to."

Before she could think about anything else she set the block down on the table between them. "How are you going to know when a telepath actually comes in? It's not like you can really tell who's what in here at times." Of course, the block would have come in handy for her. Make men get their true intentions out in the open before she gave them a chance. Or maybe she was just becoming just a tiny bit bitter over everything.

"Well, I know one telepath, thanks to that thing," he pointed down at it. "She came out and told me she couldn't read me, and after a little guessing, she confessed what she was. So if she comes in again? Yeah, that's going right back in my pocket. So you think I could get you to give that a more thorough look-over? For all I know, it's got more tricks. If you want paid or a favor or whatever in exchange, just ask."

"I'll see what I can do," Jocelyn said with a small smile. "No payment necessary. I'll try not to keep it too long, in case your telepath comes in again."

"You're a saint," Alejandro told her with a larger smile of his own. "I'm off work tomorrow, but I'll be around Monday." And a telepath couldn't read him over the phone, so he ought to be safe, there. He wondered briefly if she'd even picked up his name-- he knew he hadn't given it. "If you want, I can leave before you pick it up again. Or I can buy you a drink," he added, raising his brows at her. She was a co-worker, she was doing him a favor, and he might as well be nice about it.

Jocelyn chewed on her lower lip for a brief moment. She didn't drink for a specific purpose of being a complete lightweight...but, what the hell. She was dressed up, she'd been stood up and... "Actually, I might take you up on that drink offer," she replied, relaxing in her chair.

"Well, then," Alejandro chuckled, and held up a hand to flag down the server he'd so summarily dismissed, earlier. "What do you want, Jocelyn?" He eyed her up and down thoughtfully, trying to guess. Guessing from looks alone kept him entertained, sometimes, though he wasn't always right. "Something fruity? A light wine, maybe?"

Oh, Lord. She supposed she should know what drinks were what. She worked in a bar. Though, not necessarily in the bar, but still. She knew wine. Sort of. But fruity drinks? Sex on the Beach. That was a drink, wasn't it? "Something fruity is good," she said with a tiny of hesitance. Jocelyn suddenly felt a bit self conscious about the entire thing. "I don't care what."

That was interesting. Alejandro wasn't always so good at guessing what people liked, though she really did seem like a wine girl to him, but he could tell when someone wasn't used to ordering alcohol. Usually it was because they were underaged, though he doubted that was Jocelyn's problem. He slipped the block off the table and onto the seat beside him, still not on his person but no longer out in plain sight, and ordered for them-- he went with a light peach wine for her, because if she wasn't going to give any input, he'd just have to go with his guess-- then gave her a curious look. "Do you not drink, usually?" he asked, brows raised.

"I drink," Jocelyn said, a little too quickly before she chewed her lip and then smiled. "No. Actually, I don't. I had one experience when I turned twenty one, and that was it for me. I drink a bit of wine every now and then, but usually only in social situations. And even then it's never a full glass. But what the hell, it's Saturday night, you know? I actually had the night off, and I figure I might as well enjoy myself." Jocelyn's eyes swept along the bar before she looked back at Alex. "I'm not keeping you from plans, am I?" Because he was a good looking guy, and she doubted he'd want to spend his evening stuck with a co-worker at work.

"This was my plan," he told her with a smirk. "Coming to talk to you. After that? Nope, no plans. Go home and sleep, maybe. How's that for boring?" After all, he'd already gotten one dangerous woman's number and went skinny-dipping with another tonight. He really didn't plan on any more-- and even a witch could be dangerous. She knew where he worked.

"Not as boring as it could be," Jocelyn told him. Like sitting outside on a curb like an idiot for an hour. She smiled, deciding to have a good time while she could. "But hey, my evening looked like it was going to end up the same way, so I guess this isn't too bad, right?"

"This is definitely better than going home early and going to sleep," he chuckled. The drinks came, her wine-- the waitress had brought the whole bottle-- and his preferred starter, a rum and coke. The waitress poured Jocelyn her first glass then whisked herself away, and Alejandro held his up in her direction. "To a fun night with the co-worker," he suggested. Even if he figured he wasn't going to get laid. Maybe he could do that later.

Jocelyn eyed the bottle before smiling at Alex and lifting her own glass. She took a tentative sip. "Well, hopefully a fun night. A tolerable one, at least. I don't want you to have too many high expectations that I'm fun," Jocelyn said with a tiny grin before taking another drink. She decided she liked the flavor of it. Maybe the night wouldn't be such a bust after all.

"We've toasted it, so now it must happen," Alejandro told her firmly, and took a gulp, himself. "So why do you think you're not fun?"

Val said I was boring. Maybe she was and that was why Jericho never showed up. But Alex didn't know who Val was and it was not an evening to drown her sorrows and pour them all out to Alex, of all people. "I don't do much with my free days," she admitted. "Reading and walks. Not really what you would think a woman my age would spend all her time doing. But hey, this is suppose to be fun. So...no self pity." She smiled at him and lifted her glass again. "How's your drink?"

Well, really, yeah. Alejandro figured that was pretty boring, himself. He politely didn't say so. "No self-pity," he promised. "We'll find something interesting to talk about. My drink, though, is pretty good." He lifted it again to glance at it, then drank some more. "Could probably use a little more rum and a little less coke, but whatever." He was a bartender, and a damn good one; he could be picky about his alcohol if he wanted to.

Rum and coke. That just sounded disgusting. But then again, Jocelyn wasn't a fan of soda of any kind, let alone mixed with alcohol. Which she realized made her sound really boring. Oh, God, Val was right. Jocelyn took another large gulp of her wine, trying not to down it completely. "Finish it up, and get another," she suggested, licking her lips of the remaining taste lingering there. "And make sure you tell them how you like it. Or hell, go behind the bar and make it yourself. Sometimes if you want things done right, you've got to do it yourself, and all of that."

"Oh, naw, I'm still the lowest rung on the bartender hierarchy ladder," he told her with a laugh. "I'll lay low until they think I'm worthy of making drinks for myself without getting the evil eye from whoever's on duty." He eyed how quickly the wine was going down and was glad they'd gotten a bottle. He'd have to order something more personally refillable, himself. Maybe just be crass and get a pitcher of beer. "So. Where you from?" Small talk. That got you through the alcohol, yup.

She didn't mind the small talk. Or the tiny, insignificant questions he asked her as they sat there for...really, she lost track of time after awhile. But eventually, after she finished her second glass of wine, Alex became incredibly amusing. Or rather, everything did. She poured a third glass, trying to remember the point of the story she was telling him. "What was I talking about?" she asked, brows furrowed in confusion before she remembered. Oh yes, the weird water must always move counter clockwise around her...that had certainly been an interesting story, hadn't it? He was listening, after all. "Oh! Right, so...it's just one of those weird, quirky things you can't really explain." She grabbed a thin mixing straw and shoved it into the glass of water she'd ordered a long time ago, after her first glass had been completed and she hadn't had anymore intention of drinking further but somehow had poured a second, and now third, glass of wine. Her intention was to move the mixing straw clockwise, but her hand, and the water, began to move in the opposite direction. "See?"

After that second glass of wine, Alejandro had decided it was a good thing Jocelyn was a lightweight-- because she very much was; he could tell exactly when it hit her and she turned giggly and giddy from the alcohol. It meant he had to be less charming, she required less effort to entertain, and she actually got animated enough to be entertaining, herself. Her idea of things to chat about, though, were positively dull, and his brief thought about maybe getting laid had gone right out the window. Even if she offered, he wasn't sure he cared anymore. He did give her water-thing a somewhat interested look. "Huh. That's a new one. I've seen a lot of quirks-- shadows or hair-things a lot of the time. Water's different. Let me try? Or does it only work for you?"

Not that he really cared, but he could pretend. For a while longer. She was helping him with the stupid block thing, she was a co-worker, she was trying to figure out his species... yeah. Pretending. Maybe if he'd wanted to fuck her he could have taken more interest, but the whole co-worker thing kind of threw that idea out of the window to begin with, and the whole boring thing just wasn't helping.

"It's not going to work, I'm serious," Jocelyn told him, picking up her wine and taking a long, drawn out drink as she motioned for him to give it a try with her hand still gripping the straw. "Just don't break my hand when it doesn't want to cooperate," she giggled. Wow, it was hot in there. She felt flushed all over, and sort of sleepy. It was an okay night. Who needed good looking vampires to have a good time? Certainly not her. Good looking...well, whatever Alex was...was just as good, she supposed.

Alejandro reached over and put his hand over hers, since that was what she was obviously suggesting he do, and made an effort at turning her hand with the straw clockwise-- not too hard of an effort, given the whole "no hand-breaking" thing. Or more likely no wrist-breaking since he'd have to squeeze rather than push to break her hand, though he could probably do either one... ... not a welcome thought right then, actually. Focusing on the experiment: make the stirring straw turn clockwise.

She grinned as he tried and sure enough, it didn't work. It never did. "See? I've never been able to figure out what caused it, but..." Jocelyn trailed off, setting her glass on the table. "I'm sorry. I've been talking nonstop for like, an hour." A small, breathy laugh escaped her lips before she lifted a hand to her forehead. She didn't even know what time it was. Only that Babylon was crowded, and busy and hot. But it wasn't so bad. She hadn't thought about her non-date almost all night since the wine hit the table. She blinked and looked up at him. "Maybe I should call it a night..." Not that she necessarily wanted to, but if she remembered correctly, the phases she went through with alcohol usually ended with her becoming incredibly cranky, or incredibly sleepy. And she was beginning to feel the latter.

Chuckling a little, Alejandro said, "It's okay, I don't mind the talking." Hell yes, he did. "You've got a nice speaking voice." Which, all right, she did. It was just talking about boring stuff. "Buuuut you do look kind of like you're going to fall asleep right there on the table." He grinned at her. "You want me to walk you to your room? Be all gentlemanly about it, and all?"

Jocelyn smiled, feeling her cheeks burn a bit more at the compliment. If that's what it was. Then again, it could have been the wine making her all heated. "Sure, that would be nice." She took another quick drink of her wine before turning to stand. Everything went white behind her eyes for a moment before she stood in place to let the dizziness pass. Way too much wine was consumed. But she still felt pretty good, so who cared? "Does that mean I have to carry that block upstairs?"

Standing, too, and putting a hand to the small of her back when she wavered a little, Alejandro said, "Well, one of us has to. I'll get it and you can have it once we're at your door." Since he doubted in this state, she'd watch her tongue at all, anyway, he didn't think she'd really care. Or remember what was said in the morning, even.

"I guess that's okay," she replied, reaching up to slide a hand through her hair. She really didn't care much for the block, but at the moment, that was the least of her worries because...which way was her room again? She gave Alex a sort of confused, pleading look, as if he would remember somehow.

Alejandro shook his head a little as he scooped the block back up from his seat and tucked it in his pocket, then grinned and offered her his arm. "It's this way," he said, pointing, quite willing to lead her there. God, when she got drunk, she got drunk. That pleading look, though, was actually pretty cute. Resistable, but cute.

She took his arm gratefully, concentrating on each step as not to fall over in her heels. "Why the hell did I wear heels? Oh, right. Date! That did not happen. Stupid heels. I never get to wear them either." Jocelyn sighed and rested her head against Alex's shoulder as they walked. "You ever stand a girl up, Alex? I bet you have. You're good looking enough. The good looking ones are always jerks. No offense."

"Actually, I like getting laid too much to stand girls up," he told her, mostly honestly. He'd done it a time or two, usually because he'd had duty and that seriously superceded women, though now and then because he'd found someone prettier and more pliant. Not like his honesty or lack of it really mattered, at this point; he doubted she'd remember the specifics of the conversation. "And no offense taken." He was a jerk. And because he was, he didn't care.

"I guess that makes sense. I hate sex. Which is kind of funny." She released a choked laugh. "Okay, so I don't hate it. I'm just...bored with it. It is what it is, I guess. Kind of boring sometimes. Did I already say that?" Jocelyn stifled a yawn. "Don't tell anyone I said that. I guess I'm just better at it than I am at actually having a life."

"Well, I also don't do it all the time." And he was a man. Alejandro'd come to find that men liked sex more than women, most of the time. That's certainly how it seemed, to him. "I bet you get sick of it." Because yes, he'd figured out what she did by now.

"It's just tiring when there's no real feeling behind it. But that's okay...it is what it is," she repeated. It didn't occur to Jocelyn that Alex might have actually known what she did in Babylon. Nothing really mattered but her soft, warm bed and sleep. Jocelyn lifted her head from his shoulder and blinked. "Why is my room so far away? My feet are killing me. It's why I don't buy these kind of shoes that often. It's that whole sacrificing comfort for fashion, you know?"

"Well, they do look good." He had to give her that. "You looked good for that date of yours. We're almost there, though," he promised with a smirk. They weren't exactly walking quickly, because he had a feeling she'd fall over and take him with, if they tried.

She gave a tiny, amused yet bitter snort at that. "Right. My date. He didn't show up. Made me feel really stupid, and everything. But that's men for you." Jocelyn felt really heavy and returned her head to his shoulder, fingers tightening around his arm. "I'm sorry I kept you occupied all night. I know I'm not the most exciting person. Val said I was boring. 'Course I ruined his shirt...later. That was pretty damn funny. But anyway, yeah. I appreciate you keeping me company. Much more fun than wallowing away in my room alone."

"You ruined his shirt?" Alejandro had to grin. That? He could appreciate. "How'd you do that?" Not that he knew who Val was, but the idea of meek, bookwormy little Jocelyn ruining someone's clothing struck him as funny.

"I made all of his buttons fall off," she explained, unable to keep from laughing at the memory of it. "He was so angry he tore the sleeves off of it and threw it in the trash. He's a little bit insane, I think...and then he kissed me. Which...are we there yet?" Jocelyn opened her eyes to check, her train of thought derailed. "My feet hurt."

That was the kind of thing Alejandro would do. Well, okay, no, he'd probably do something that hurt someone, but that was the kind of thing he could appreciate. He snickered, and brought them to a stop in front of her door. "Here you go, safe and sound. You can go in and take your shoes off and everything." He fished into his pocket and pulled out the block to put it gently in her hand. "And thanks for this."

Jocelyn stopped outside of her door and turned to him, taking the block in her hand. "You're welcome. I'll try to see what I can do with it. Such a boring looking block though, but I guess it's always the boring things that hold the most interesting secrets." She clutched it and looked up at him, biting her bottom lip. "Did you...want to come in? I mean, not for sex or anything," she said quickly, trying not to stumble over her words that sort of sounded far away in her mind. With the wine, and the block, Jocelyn was really unsure of what she was even asking, although it felt right to her at the moment. He was nice, and handsome and the need for some comfort was there, simmering under all the hazy drunken layers. "Unless...you wanted...to."

The thought of actually getting something for spending all that time with Jocelyn drunk-- now, immediately, and not related to that stupid block-- was very, very tempting. Except there was still that co-worker thing, and the certainty that she wouldn't remember him turning her down in the morning, anyway, so there wouldn't be any consequences for saying no. There could very well be consequences, though, for saying yes. He refused to lose his job over something like this.

Besides, there was Melia. Who was so much more interesting. And Jovie, who he was actually looking forward to calling sometime soon, if just to try and fuck with her some. Next to the two of them, Jocelyn, no matter how good in bed she might be given her profession, really kind of paled. "I thought you said you hate sex," he pointed out with a wry grin, then tucked her hair behind her ear with a light touch. "Go get some sleep, baby. You'll be less embarrassed in the morning, that way."

The tiny laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it. "At least you had the balls to reject me to my face rather than just...not showing up." Which didn't make sense and made her shake her head for even saying it. "Sorry...erm...block?" Jocelyn gave him a small smile, despite the burning of her cheeks. She felt the natural magic surge inside of her, just barely, just enough that the door unlatched and clicked opened for her. She pulled away to hurry inside, clutching the block in one hand, her purse in the other. "G'night, Alex."

"'Night, Jocelyn," he told her, and once she'd disappeared inside, he started off down the hall and back towards the bar proper and the exit. Maybe somebody else would've felt bad for her, what with the whole rejection thing, but he was just... relieved.