16056/Hello Hideaway

Hello Hideaway
Date of Scene:	10 October 2023
Location:	Harry's Hideaway (Bar)
Synopsis:	Stefani and Jimmy Hudson play pool and darts, and chat it up in the Hideaway.
Cast of Characters:	Quiet, Jimmy Hudson

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Quiet has posed:
It's late afternoon at Harry's, and the evening crowd hasn't quite wandered in yet. With some easy going country music playing inside the fairly nice bar, it has a nice casual feeling to it.

Out of the pool room in the back, a figure emerges with a collection of four empty beer bottles that she is carefully walking toward the bar.

From the bar, the aging, and super gruff, Harry looks up toward the woman carrying the bottles. "Jeezus, Stefani, how many times do I have to tell you don't have to bring the empties back. I pay my employees to get them." He tells her as she deposits them on the bar, offering him a big smile on her pink hued lips. She just shrugs her shoulders as Harry starts grabbing them, and depositing them in the recycling bin. He just shakes his head at her, as he asks. "Your friends left then? Shame, SHIELD employees leave good tips. Was hoping they'd stick around all night."

Stefani, standing before the bar in a green tanktop and black denim short-shorts, just grins at Harry.

"Here." He says, popping the top off a fresh bottle, offering it to her. "On the house for doing my employees job for them."

Stef just grins, as she raises the bottle up to take a sip from it, then 'signs' a 'Thank you.' to the bar's owner, who just sighs and says, "Yeah, yeah..." Back at her.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
It has been a long day at school, and Jimmy needed to take a break and unwind. After finishing putting in some reports, a shower and change later and he's arriving at the bar, opening the door to Harry's as he steps in. "Evening, Harry!" he calls out with a tip of his hand to his temple in a partial salute.

"Pool tables open? Figured I'd knock around some balls tonight." A small smirk, before he takes in the woman in tanktop and shorts and his blonde brow rises. That's new. "I'll have what she's having." Because beer is always good.

Dressed to just relax at the bar, he's in a tight fitting black t-shirt and jeans, with a pair of hiking boots on his feet. "And if she'll let me, I'll buy her her next one as well." A smile towards Stefani before he turns to the backroom.

Fishing out his wallet, he gets out a dollar to reset the pool table, dropping the balls so that he can get the triangle to start racking them up. But he does glance up to check on her again. There's something about her, but he can't put his finger... or nose on it.

Quiet has posed:
Harry, of course, greets Jimmy with all the enthusiasm of a man of his age, who has lived through a lot in his own years. He's friendly enough though, and a notorious friend to Logan no-less. Stefani regards Jimmy when he enterse too, paying him with a friendly smile too, but no spoken words. She sips from her drink as he places his order, his own bottle of beer given, along with another slid toward Stefani a few moments later.

"She puts them away like they're water, so be careful buying for her." Harry grumbles a bit as he proceeds to wipe down the bar, before stepping in the back to check on where his waitress is, shouting her name as he goes.

With the bar mostly emtpy save for a few people sitting in the booths, and a older man at the bar, Quiet is out of many options, and thus she appears in the pool area, smiling to Jimmy again when he notices her. She sets her two bottles down on a table, then offers him a bit of sign language, thanking him whether he can understand it or not... if nothing else, it at least lets him know she's either deaf, or something akin to it.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
"I haven't had to spend money in a while, so I think I can take a hit or two!" Jimmy offers with warm amusement as he finishes racking the balls. After setting those, he was feeling the cues, trying to find one he liked when Stefani approaches with the two drinks.

Then she signs at him. He frowns for a moment, having never really had a chance to learn that paticular skill. After a moment's thought, he holds up his finger, and takes out his phone. A few button pushes later and he holds it up to her.

'I understood the thank you, but that's about it for sign language for me. Can you read lips or is it better if I type on here?' he asks of her as he gestures to the pool cues, an invitation for her to join him.

Quiet has posed:
Believe it or not, but not many people Stef ever runs in to knows how to speak American Sign Language, let alone any other variety of it. Thus she is already on her way around two of the tables to where she'd left her belongings. A phone and a black denim light jacket draped over one of the tall chairs. She gathers up her phone, and glances up at him as she bites down on her bottom lip. She offers him another smile before she raises her phone up and taps a button on it's reflective screen surface. "Hey, I'm Stefani. I'm not deaf, I just cannot speak. As much as I'd like to. Nice to meet you." The phone says in a pre-recorded voice, with the phone's owner holding that smile before she notes the offered game of pool.

She nods her head in acceptance, and steps toward it, bringing her phone with her. She taps another two buttons on the currently opened app and it says. "I would like that. Thank you."

She grins at him then before picking up a pool cue and checking the blue chalk on its tip, before blowing softly on it with a puff of her breath from between her lips.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Okay, not mute. That was dumb on his part, but at the same time, usually deaf and mute go hand and hand. Putting away his phone, he listens to the pleasant voice as it greets him. "Hello, Stefani. I'm Jimmy." he offers in an exchange of names. "It's nice to meet you as well."

When she accepts the game of pool, his grin grows warmer. "Good, I usually end up having to shoot by myself, and it's nice to have pleasant company to keep me on my toes." His accent is clearly northern, a mix of New England and Canadian that tips heavily to the Canadian side of it all.

"You work around here?" he asks, "Don't think I've seen you before, and I'm pretty regular at Harry's. I teach at the school up the road." The one that SHIELD would know is Xavier's. A grin is offered at her. "You look really nice, by the way."

And after she's done with the chalk, he reaches for it so that he can rub it over the tip of his cue as well.

Quiet has posed:
The compliment that he pays her gets a sincerely sweet and pleased smile, followed by leaning the pool cue against her side while she signs him a 'Thank you.' response before she reaches for a pocket. Pulling out a small card, she rolls it over in her fingers, and displays it to him. It has her name on it, as well as her SHIELD identification. It could be a fake. Or it could be she made the card to explain this stuff when people ask who she is! Up to those she shows it to to decide for themselves!

With a slight grin she offers him the card, then steps over to the table.

She takes the lead on setting it up, and taking the breaking shot. Leaning over the table, she lines up her pool cue, and like a pro she gets a pretty darn good break, causing the balls to spread across the table in a wide array of colors and arrangements, all with that satisfying sound of the balls clicking together across the felt.

She even sinks a couple.

When she straightens up again, she grins playfully toward him before she's using her phone once more to put together a sentence..

"Always happy to meet a new face around here. I'm still new to the area. Still settling in, you could say."

As it speaks, the young looking woman steps around the table to take another shot... and sinks another of the solid patterned balls.

She's good at this... it seems!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
As she takes out the card, Jimmy accepts it and studies it. It could be fake. But SHIELD typically has someone near the school to keep an eye on things. It just tells him to be a little more cautious.

Taking out his wallet, he slips her card within and takes out one of the others as he offers it back to her. It shows him as a Physical Education teacher at Xavier's Institute with his contact email and phone number on it.

And then she decides to take the initative and break the balls he had set up. As he watches them rattle down and drop, he chuckles. "Alright, that was a good start." he drawls playfully, and then she starts sinking other ones and there's a grin, playful and a little flirty.

"If you were going to start hustling me, Stefani, you should have put an interesting wager on the line first." he comments with a teasing tone as he settles his rear against the other table to take a draw off of his longneck.

Quiet has posed:
As she traverses around the table to the locale of the cue ball again, she grins once more toward him while he settles in. She just shakes her head at the notion of hustling him, before she's lining up again for another shot...

What follows is the young looking woman continuing to do this, shot after shot, offering Jimmy little hope that his turn will come up any time soon. But, if nothing else, at least watching her play is fun, right?

Harry appears in the pool room doorway, and walks past Jimmy, his aged face looking a bit gruff as he moves for the rear exit toward the back parking lot. "Don't wager any money against her." He warns Jimmy on his way pas, soon pushing the door open to step outside for a smoke break.

When the door closes, Stefani straightens up again after sinking four more shots.

The last one has her on the opposite side of the table from where Jimmy is observing, and this time she misses by a mile... Was that on purpose?

When she rises up to her full height again she gives a dramatic shrug, before she steps over to the table where her drinks are, picking one up to take a swig from it, leaving her tied-back ponytail to sway behind her shoulders.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Oh, it is more than interesting to watch as Stefani positions herself for each of the shots, taking a longer draw from his own bottle as she slinks her away from the table and sinks ball after ball, showing him that she is more than skilled at pool.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to lose to her -- though clearly. "So what would you want other than money?" he asks Stefani with a wink, before his blue eyes meet hers as she sets up the last shot and misses. A brow rises and he chuckles. "Oh, I see. Giving me hope just to take it away." comes the comment as he starts to make his way around the table to set up his first shot. It just happens to bring him by Stefani in the process. And they almost, almost touch. Close enough that she could pick up the faint smell of his sandalwood cologne. And the hint of the canine that pushes down on his lip when he smiles crookedly as he sets up his shot.

A first shot fired, and he manages to sink the ball.

There's another shot and he manages to sink another one, and he's feeling the groove as he starts to set up for his next shot.

Quiet has posed:
With her phone back in hand, Stef just gives the man a grin at his playful style, offering him a serious expression and a pair of serious nods to accompany it. She leans back against the edge of one of the tall chairs beside the table with her drinks, and her phone is used to piece together another sentence.

"It is better than me pretending I am bad at this, right?" She asks through the use of the device, as she watches him take his shots.

When he sinks a couple, he is rewarded with a little wolf whistle from the playful SHIELD Agent before she's taking another swig of her own drink. She finishes that bottle off that Harry had given her, and reaches for the one that Jimmy had bought for her.

"How is teaching? I think working with kids would be a fun experience, if I had another life to live." Her phone says in that lovely, and melodic voice that comes from its speaker.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
"I enjoy it. The kids are great. Lot of them come from homes where they haven't had the best lives. Gives them a sense of purpose and belonging. Teamwork. You know, hard for mutants." Jimmy admits, as Stefani gives him a wolf-whistle for his efforts.

Another shot and he banks the ball and manages to drop another solid. Could he mount a comeback. "Your phone voice is almost as nice as your smile." he compliments, moving to set up for another shot. "Five in the corner." he announces. And this time...

He might have been staring at Stefani for just a moment too long as he clips the ball on the side and sends the cue ball into the pocket instead.

A laugh, as he steps back and a grin at her. "Be gentle." he comments, a bite on his lip as his hands tuck in his pockets. "Unless you don't want to be."

Quiet has posed:
Stef just ends up leaning against the chair, crossing her legs at the ankles and sipping from the bottle of domestic beer. She watches him, nodding softly at what he says of his work and the students there-in. There comes a little frown when he mentions that the kids come from troubled places, which does pull at the heart's strings. Not much in this world gets her gears grounded than kids being in dire situations.

The compliment just has her smiling again though, but his missed shot has her letting out a light and airy bit of laughter, as she stands back up from the chair and gives his shoulder a light pat on his way by toward his own drink.

She's once more back at the side of the pool table, reaching for the cube of chalk which she diligently applies with gusto. Squeaky squeaky squeaky, the chalk goes.

She puffs a breath on the tip of the pool cue again before side stepping toward the corner pocket closest to the cue ball.

Once more she sets to task, her ponytail dangling over one of her shoulders as she lines up, and makes the shot. She bounces the target ball off the side bumper, rebounding it backwards and down toward another corner pocket where it sinks down the hole with direct simplicity.

She huffs in satisfaction before moving around the table again, and tapping on her phone screen once more...

"I have heard that school has had some trouble happen at it before, i hope you haven't had to get caught up in danger there." The device says as she sets it aside and leans up for another shot from the far side of the table, leaning over the middle pocket on that edge.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
The pat is reassuring, Jimmy chuckling as he takes a drink from his bottle, draining it back fully and setting aside as he flags the waitress for another round. Healing factor, it'll be a good long while, if ever, before he feels anything from the alcohol.

As Stefani moves are the table, he's again drawn to just watching her in motion. There's something so fluid and economical about her movements. Nothing's wasted. It's a pleasure to watch and enjoy.

"It gets trouble sometimes." he drawls, agreeing to that at least. "...but nothing that can't be handled in house." A shrug of his shoulders as he holds onto his cue stick in case he gets another chance.

It's a pretty long shot, it could miss. But probably not.

His school card read his name as James Hudson, Jr. James Hudson, Sr. is known to SHIELD as a member of the Canadian Department H, with connections to SHIELD and as the hero, Vindicator.

Quiet has posed:
The thing about SHIELD Agents is that even when they are upfront about who they are, or at least their affiliation with the agency, you can't quite ever be certain what their intentions are. Was she honest? Or was she honestly just good at her job? She hadn't come to him tonight though, they'd just bumped in to each other randomly! One thing is certain though, after she sinks another shot, there definitely is something to her that is a bit more than normal for a young looking woman in a relatively nice bar.

She leans her pool cue against herself again, tucked up against her left side, as she taps out another sentence with that program that seems oddly designed just for her.

"If ever any trouble is headed to the school, and you know about it in advance. Don't hesitate to reach out." The device speaks for the lady, and the lady just smiles over the table at him again then.

Her next shot? She misses once more, and this time she huffs, and even stamps her right foot against the carpeted floor of the pool hall.

With a dramatic shrug of her shoulders, she steps around the table toward where her drinks are, carrying her phone and using it once more.

"Do you come in here often? This is my third time here. Harry is fun. Might make it a normal place to stop by after work hours."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
There is a lot to SHIELD. It's nuanced. There's good agents and bad agents, and Jimmy is trying to suss out which Stefani is. But then again, she really does not have much to hide from him when it comes down to it. A young looking woman that is playing pool with a young looking man, enjoying the time together.

"If I get that type of advance notice, I'm sure you'll know about before I do." he counters. But he hasn't moved to line up a shot yet. At least, not a shot at the pool table.

"Usually drop by here once a week or when the faculty want to take some time off from the rigors of the school to grab a drink. Most of us live there, myself included." he explains as he considers his pool cue.

"I imagine I get a chance to do this with you more often, Stefani, I may have to make it a habit." See, he did shoot a shot!

Quiet has posed:
Stef ends up back at the table with her drinks and denim jacket draped over that chair. She still holds her pool cue, with only a couple of balls left on her side of the colors strewn across the table from one another. As he speaks, she's pulling another sip of her beer before his shot is taken. When it is taken she just lowers the bottle and grins toward him. Ever the style for this one, she just playfully shrugs her shoulders inside of that army-green tanktop she's wearing.

The door from outside opens up, and once more the aging Harry strides inside after his smoke break. He walks past the two of them, says nothing, and picks up the empties on the table with one hand, before striding past.

Stef sends him a hurt look, indicating she was eagerly awaiting her chance to deliver the empties to him at the bar.

"Yeah, yeah... You're just after more free ones. I'm on to you." The white haired man tells the young looking woman.

With a grin, she looks back toward Jimmy, and gives him a 'He's crazy' expression with regard to the bar's owner.

She uses her phone then, swiping a new sentence together from the blocks of words on the screen. When she finishes, she sweeps some of her loose brown hair out of her face as the phone responds for her.

"New pool friends are always welcome, James." The device says for its owner. "Just don't get mad and run away if I stop missing on purpose."

Stef waggles her eyebrows at the teacher standing before her then.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
There's a chuckle as Stefani interacts with Harry. "He must make a ton in return deposits off of you, Stefani." Jimmy responds with ease as he starts in on the fresh bottle he was brought. "He's got his heart in the right place, though." he offers as a counter-point.

"I'm pretty hard to chase off when something's worth chasing, Stef." he responds as he leans down, shooting a straight shot to drop a solid, based on the line that she offered him.

A second ball is tapped and chipped and drops within, as he works on the third shot and carries the ball across the table, which sinks a third solid, but brings the cue ball behind the eight ball with no real way around it.

"Wouldn't mind seeing what you could do when you don't hold back." he comments to her casually, trying to hop the cue over the eight and it doesn't work, setting Stefani up rather nicely. "Though I should assume not to get my hopes so high.'

Quiet has posed:
What the man says continues to keep a light smile upon the woman's face, as she stands beside the table enjoying little nursing sips from the bottle of beer. What she can't say with words, she does try to express through animated facial motions, showing off a myriad of emotional beats with them. Mostly focused on smirks and little smiles in the here and now though.

As he works on his last few shots, she comes around to watch the results, phone in one hand and beer bottle in the other, with her own pool cue tucked under her arm. She nods two big times to his attempt at a ball jump, with her phone quickly swiped through with a 'Nice try.' coming from its lovely voice.

The unnecessary items set aside, Stef steps to the table then, and uses just one hand to line up the pool cue via the butt of the stick. She glides it forward and backward, then pops it forward, sending the cue ball right in to the bumper, before it rolls rapidly backward to smack in to one of her remaining two balls, then in to the second. Both stagger apart, splitting away from one another with one sinking in to a corner pocket and the other in to a side pocket.

That's definitely not normal, or at least a Harlem Globe Trotter level of pool trickery, but surely she's just a Mutant, or some such!

She grins over the table at him before she leans down to take her last shot, easily brushing the cue ball in a very anti-climatic way in to the 8-ball before it falls in to a side pocket.

She straightens up again, planting the butt of her pool cue down on the floor between her black leather boots, and once more her dark eyebrows waggle across the way toward the P.E. teacher before her.

Yep, she's a tease too.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy watches Stefani as she runs the gambit of emotions, and as he goes to drink from his bottle, she sets up for her final shot, his blonde brows raise. And then she aims and fires off that acrobatic shot, something that's usually reserved for a TikTok or YouTube video as she sinks both balls, perfectly timed so that the eight ball is the second ball in.

He drains the bottle, sets it down and lets out a low whistle as he realizes how much skill she was holding out on him and he sets his stick aside to clap his hands together.

He looks at the SHIELD agent before him, and it's clear as he closes in on her -- he's not going to run away.

"Up for a second round, or figure out another way to pass our time?"

Quiet has posed:
The SHIELD Agent just grins at him after he asks that question, and she lofts a single brow as she visibly considers the options. Her eyes glance across the room, and she raises a finger to point toward the darts area then, a smile showing upon her visage for him as she is clearly suggesting a game of such!

She steps around the table then, setting her pool cue back where she'd found it, and using her phone to swipe out another response.

"I'll take the empties to the bar, and get some more. Happy to try the other game here. I swear I'm terrible at it!" She states through the use of the phone, whilst smiling coyly at what it says.

She'll take whatever empties they have, and head for the bar then, soon to engage in another one-sided debate with Harry that ends with her coming back with another grouping of drinks for them, and a bowl of pretzels to boot!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Yeah, okay. Probably over-reached. Alas. It was worth a shot. When she mentions she's bad at darts, Jimmy laughs in amusement. "We'll see!" he decides. Because he's already seen her hand and eye coordination on the pool table.

When she goes to take back the empties, he moves to get the darts and twirls around one of his fingers. A faint twitch of his nose as he considers the scents of the place. He knows that Logan is here a lot, his scent is heavy on the place. A sigh and shake of his head before he waits for her to come back with the drinks and the pretzels.

"So what is it that you do for SHIELD to end up all the way out here?" he asks her curiously as he plucks out a couple of pretzels to snack on as he sets the darts out for them and gestures to the board. "You already showed me you don't have to go easy on me."

Quiet has posed:
Once they are relocated to the dart board in the corner of the room, Stef sorts her jacket out over another chair, before she turns to walk toward him as he questions her line of work a bit. She visibly considers the answer, with her phone held between her hands in front of her, a crutch like any other modern person and their phone... though she might have a bit better of an excuse than most others do.

"I have gathered a very specific set of skills over the course of my career." Her phone begins to say after her dainty thumbs worked diligently across its screen. "Skills that have made me valuable to people like those at SHIELD. Skills that make me a nightmare to those who try to get in my way..." All the while the phone speaks, Stefani gives a more and more serious look toward Jimmy, standing just within arms reach of him. She's playing up the part of the notorious film scene that she is paraphrasing through her smart phone.

With another tap, her green eyes flick from its screen back up to him.

"I served in Afghanistan. I am just a loyal soldier. You could say." She finally states through the device, being a bit closer to honesty with him!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
As she approaches him, and starts to explain what it is that she does, Jimmy raises a brow, especially considering how close that Stefani is to him. And when she starts to look more and more serious, she can tell, he just seems as cool as a cucmber. But then she reaches the puncline and he starts to laugh.

"I was about to ask if someone kidnapped your son." Jimmy says with a laugh. "Do you have kids?" he asks. Which is also a roundabout way of asking about her relationship status.

"I apologize if my life sounds boring in comparison. My parents adopted me when I was a baby. Grew up in a loving home, went to school, found out I was a mutant, and then continued on. Was working as a substitute in Jersey til Xaviers recruited me." A smile. "I may be a little too vanilla, huh?" he teases.

Quiet has posed:
As he speaks, Stef moves toward the bucket of darts. Some of them are not in great shape, but there are some new ones mixed in and she gathers those ones up in particular. With a amused expression on her youthful face, she looks back toward him. For a second she bites her bottom lip and shakes her head. Her phone is utilized and she pieces together another sentence with simple thumb strokes. "I was injured in the early days of my military life. I am unable to have children. A life of loner, a life of no diapers, for me. Hopefully on the last part." The phone speaks as she steps toward the throwing line. She pauses there then, and eyes him as he speaks of himself.

With a little grin, she taps something else out next.

"You seem like a good man, James." She lets the voice say, smiling to emphasize it. "I've been casually seeing someone in the city, but he is ... complicated, and I dunno if that has any legs in the long run. Or if any such things could have legs with me, admittedly."

She rolls her eyes at that from the phone, then adds in with another few thumb swipes. "So overdramatic..."

She prepares to take her first throws then.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Lifting his bottle as he takes a draw from it, Jimmy listens and his expression turns sympathetic. He knows about military experiments. All too well about them, as he was the product of one. Not that Stefani needs to know that.

"Should I be listening for the click of the land mine I just stepped on?" he asks her, though in his laconic tone, there is genuine sympathy for her.

And when she explains her relationship status, he ahas. "Really, I have the worst habit of finding the ones that are already taken!" There's a chuckle, self-depreciating at it. "Well, then I'll at least count you as a friendly face and someone worth visiting with." Friendzoned, totally.

There's a pause, and he considers, but decides not to say something, and gestures grandieously with his hand. "Please, ladies first." he offers to her to take the first shot.

Quiet has posed:
This response gets a big smirk from her as she looks away from him, her emerald hued eyes dropping down to the darts in her left palm. She rolls them around for a moment before she looks up in that way that casts her loose brown bangs out of her eyes. She lines up her first throw with the fletching of the dart used as a means of sighting the distance. She throws... bullseye. Oh god, here it goes again.

Her next two throws circle around her first, and she exhales softly as she steps back and looks over to him again. Her gaze goes from her phone, to her drink, then over to him. She smirks at him before she taps another sentence out.

"I've been a sniper in the military for nearly four decades." The phone says, and gone are the silly expressions, replaced with a more serious one, since she just insinuated she's over fourty years old, by likely a large margin. Her lips purse together, and her eyes drop back to her phone as she adds another after-thought.

"And I think the guy in the city is a murderer, so I'm not sure how far that will go."

When she looks up again, she shows another small hint of a grin again, further emphasizing the 'legs' bit of her original explanation.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy realizes exactly what is going on here. Stefani is building trust. She's sharing a little. And he's expected to share a little in return. It's give and take. And he's trying to decide how much he can tell her. When she starts to throw the first bullseye. "You really do like to tease, don't you?" he asks.

When she explains that she's been around for at least four decades, he chuckles. "What if I told you my last relationship was with an Asgardian that ended when she would disappear for over two months, come back, and act like she was only gone for a couple of days?" he asks of her. "So I don't have a huge problem with age differences." Not that it matters at the moment.

Then she's explaining that the guy she's seeing may be a murderer. "So you seeing himm because he's a mission, or just something you want to see where it goes? Not my place to judge. But you don't need to worry much if you think he's the jealous type and comes gunning for me."

Holding his hand down where only she can see it, he decides to make a choice. A set of three claws extend from his hand, covered in blood as they are first bone and then quickly covered in steel. Then he withdraws them just as quickly, spilling some of his beer over his knuckles so he can wipe the blood off.

"Nice bullseye, by the by."

Quiet has posed:
Stefanie is back to the table where their drinks are when he starts to explain some of his own interesting situations. She's sipping from her fresh beer when she hears the bit about the Asgardian, and it causes her to set her bottle down then reach inside her black denim jacket. She draws out an unusual item in the form of a Troll Doll with brightly colored green hair, and army fatigues. The doll has one black eye patch over its left eye, and a smile on its Troll'y face. She sets him down on the table, then points at a series of black sharpie-marker signatures on his clothing. 'THOR' is what her fingertip taps at, written clearly on the doll's clothing. Beside it are a few other signatures from different notorious members of the Avengers 'starting lineup.'

She smiles proudly up until his claws come out.

She looks toward them, her pleasant expression having faded to a more neutral one. When he retracts the claws, she looks up toward him, and her head tilts ever so softly to the right.

She extends the tip of her tongue then to lightly move it over her upper lip as she considers him, and all of this.

Her phone is gathered up then and her tongue tip moves to the corner of her mouth as she taps and swipes a response.

"Those kids better do their homework." The phone says, and Stef grins softly for him at it. She drops her stare back down then, and taps out another few words. "I am trying to help him out of his desire to harm criminals. But it might be a lost cause. Some soldiers just fall down too far in to the darkness, to find their way out again."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
"Nice autograph collection." Jimmy offers with a nod of his head. "I dated Sif for a while. Used to take care of her ranch while she was away, but we both figured it wouldn't work if she went away on some mission and came back and I as an old man." A chuff of laughter at that.

Which is quickly lost when Stefani's expression changes when he shows the claws. It was a calculated risk. She'd find out sooner or later.

And it's better if it's now, since the disappointment is shared all around.

"Sorry if that bothered you." That is said in genuine compassion. Because he wasn't aiming to freak her out. "I only use them to poke them in the butt to climb the rope in gym class faster." he deadpans.

"Ah. Well, I wish you the best of luck with that. You're right, sometimes you just can't find your way back up."

He flicks a dart towards the board, hitting in the 8 outer ring. Mediocrity at work!

Quiet has posed:
Stef remains at the table, sample one of the pretzels with a nibble as he responds to her. She just watches him as he moves toward the throw line. While he aims, she just uses that phone app and within moments it speaks again. "How often does a person get to boast about a former love interest, who is also a Norse God?"

Should he glance back at her, she's grinning toward him, and her eyes are sent chasing the dart to where it lands...

She ends up beside him then, patting him softly on the shoulder, offering sympathy for the throw.

She also raises up a pretzel and airplanes it toward his mouth... even making a puttering noise with her lips to accompany it.

When she backs up to let him finish his turn, she uses the phone once more...

"I'll go easy on you, Mister Stabby."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
"I'll tell you about it sometime, just not tonight." comes James' response as she leans in closer and pats him on the shoulder. When she airplanes the pretzel, he lifts his head and nips at her fingers as well as the pretzel, giving her a good look at those sharp canines that may confirm where his DNA came from for her.

"Never asked you to go easy, Stef. Nothing in this life ever will be. I just do my best to roll with the flow of it all. Maybe someday I'll get lucky. Or maybe I just blew it all in one momentous short relationship with a Norse warrior." A wink at her.

Quiet has posed:
"There certainly are worse ways to blow it all." Comes the teasing response from the phone's melody-like voice. Stef's reaction to the words spoken has her shrugging her shoulders within her tanktop, and offering him a big grin.

She takes another swig of her bottle before setting it aside.

When it is her turn again, she glances over at him, before she throws all three darts at the same time, all three of them landing in a cluster within the bullseye! The electronic machine's beeps all go off in a cacophony of noises, eliciting a shout from the bar.

"Don't break my machine, Stefani!"

Stef rolls her eyes, and smirks all kinds of big at this shout from Harry from afar, while she bounds over to the table again for another sip of her drink, and a smile cast to Jimmy.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
"Yeah, no, I'm not even gonna try." Jimmy says with an easy-going laugh. "I am bested. All I can hope for is to practice and maybe in forty years, I may be somewhere near your level."

He rises to his feet, a brush of his shoulder against hers as he goes to rack his darts.

"You're really good at what you do, Stef. And you're proud of yourself. That's pretty amazing."

When Harry yells out, Jimmy calls back, "She's just showing me some new tricks, Harry!"

And then he returns to take a seat. "Should try cards. May have a chance at that." he's teasing.

Quiet has posed:
These words all collectively have Stefani smiling at him, then laughing softly when he gets to the cards part. She nods her head, and shakes her head at basically the same time before she uses that phone to write out again.

"I am average at cards, at best." the device says, before Stefani swipes the screen and raises the phone up to her face like she's about to take a selfie of herself. She moves her lips at the screen, like she's talking to the phone without saying anything out-loud. The phone quietly beeps and then speaks for her again, a different way for it to be the voice for the voiceless woman.

"Which just made you think of suggesting Strip Poker, admit it." The phone says in a way that almost makes it more funny, since it's melodic and like the voice from a tv advertisement for some kind of miracle drug.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Jimmy is chuckling, taking it in the good spirit is meant to be, before he smriks at her, lips in a thin line, arms across his chest.

"Exhibit one. You said you were average at pool. That was a lie."

"Exhibit two. You said you weren't good at darts. That was a lie."

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me three times..." he muses for a second, before she makes the suggestion of strip poker and he snorts on a laugh and gives her nose a gentle tap with his finger. "Are you just trying to get me naked, Stefani?" he asks her, playfully sotto in his voice. "If things don't work out with what you have, we can revisit that."

Quiet has posed:
Once he starts rattling off the evidence to prove his case that she's trying to grift him again, she's just got her elbows on the edge of the table, and her palms on either sides of her face, cupping her head in both hands, whilst smiling brightly when the boop to her nose comes in. She goes cross-eyed for a moment eyeing his finger when it does boop, but when he draws it back her green eyes go back up to his, and the smile remain. She draws in a deep breath through her pert nose, then releases it in a sharp and heavy exhale!

Her fingers domino-tap on the sides of her head before she drops her hands again to the table and straightens up again beside it. Her phone is used in that same lip-reading function, and it speaks up. "always the future." It says before she takes another drink of her beer, dropping another empty down on the table with a clatter of glass on polished wood. She slips on to the chair then and reaches forefinger and thumb for another pretzel, blowing gently upon it to cascade unwanted extra sodium particles away before she bites upon one of its curved edges.

She looks back to him then and waggles her eyebrows once more at him as she crosses her legs at the knees, seated upon the tall chair beside the table.

She's certainly quiet when she wants to be.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
A smirk creases Jimmy's features, when Stefani decides to show off. "Fine, you make quiet really fucking sexy." he admits, a shift in his jaw with a rise and fall of his shoulders.

He leans back in his chair, lifting the bottle to his lips and takes a draw from his bottle, lowering it with a sigh.

"I'm usually a live in the now moment, but considering how that went." he points out to her, no disappointment there as he reaches up to push a hand through his dirty blonde hair and sits up.

"Though at some point, I should considering getting back to the school. Lights out for the students was an hour ago, and at some point, I need to check on them, even if there's plenty of other teachers to do it.

"At the same time, not in a real hurry to leave, either, all things considered."

Quiet has posed:
At the mere suggestion that the Teacher before her might be neglecting his duties, Stefani starts to waggle a finger back and forth in the classic 'You don't do that' motion. A smile starts to creep its way across her lips a few seconds there-after though before that same hand drops down to her bottle of booze, and she lifts it up to those same lips for another sip.

It is true though, and the night time regulars are starting to make their way inside the front door of the bar, with more people lining the barstools themselves, and a couple of college-aged young adults settling in at one of the pool tables now.

Using her phone again, Stef has it ask for her. "Need me to walk you out to your car, Mister Stabby?" She is grinning lightly as she holds the phone in one hand with a finger poised above the screen after tapping that response in to it. Clearly she is all business, no nonesense what so ever!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Pushing himself to his feet with a laugh, and Jimmy finishes off the bottle with ease. Despite how much he's had, he's still very stable on his feet. And he's got a feeling that she's going to be as well. "Yeah, suppose we should give up the dart board to the youngsters coming in..."

A pause and a glance at a young woman. "Miss Evans, I know you're not twenty-one. I suggest you go home before I alert Harry to your fake ID." A stern look and his attention returns to Stefani.

"I wouldn't mind a few more minutes in your company. Even if your going to be all serious about it, Stefi." he responds with ease, offering his hand to her to help her out of his seat.

It won't be a long walk to the 80s model Chevy out in the parking lot as he works on getting out his keys. "This is me."

Quiet has posed:
Stefani is up on her feet with his offered hand, and a small smirk upon her lips. She gathers up her stuff, including her Avengers autographed Troll doll, and her phone. She pulls her black denim jacket on over her otherwise bare arms and mostly bared shoulders, settling it on her person as she watches that kid that Jimmy calls out for being underaged. The reaction gets a larger grin from Stefani who glances toward Jimmy, and just gently shakes her head whilst pulling her ponytail out of the back of the jacket so it isn't force-clung to the back of her neck by the collar of the garment.

She moves along with him then, giving a wave toward Harry as they go out together. When they reach his car, she grins at it before nodding softly, and casting a look across the way to a dark colored van parked under a light in the lot. She motions toward the van as being her vehicle, and mouths something toward her phone which translates.

"The creepy stalker van is mine." The phone states for her, and she grins at it, and at him. "Thanks for the drinks and games. Happy to try cards some time though. I promise I'm not that good at them." The phone adds after she speaks in to it with wordless motions of her mouth, her eyes glancing over to another vehicle pulling in to the lot then, playing some loud music as it finds itself a place to park.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
"Oh wow, you just need to write 'Free Candy' on the side of it." Jimmy comments with amusement as they walk across the parking lot and he works on unlocking his truck. he pops the lock and thne his attention turns to her.

Even with the car pulling in with the loud music, he looks her up and down with her eyes. "I had a lot of fun tonight. I know I came on a little strong, just couldn't resist the chance to ask. But, I'm glad I got a chance to know you better."

"I'm good with seeing you again. Here or anywhere else you might want to meet." Except the school, that's frowned upon pretty heavily.

"I have your number, I'll save it. Feel free to reach out to me if you ever want to." His hand reaches, as if to cup her cheek, but he pulls up short, fingers curling up and drop back to his side. "Have a good night, Stefi. I'll hope to see you later."

Quiet has posed:
Stef has a smile visibly showing on her visage at his response. Her phone is queued up again. "I have a lot of candy in it already. Blame a sweet tooth." She admits through the use of the technology. She stands with him for a moment, as he makes those final words, which garner another little visible smile upon her face, whilst the night time wind cause her ponytail to wave gently behind her shoulders.

She nods once in an affirmative way before she uses her phone again. "You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take." It says for her.

Her right hand goes up then, and her finger pops out. She boops him on the nose, getting him back for doing it to her! With a sly grin, she spins around on her boots, and starts to walk across the lot toward the van under the single parking lot light.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
Now it's his turn to go cross-eyed as he watches her walk off across the parking lot. Hate to see her leave, love to watch her go.

And of course, as he gets in the truck, he realizes what she just said and his head lowers to hit the top of the steering wheel.

"Well hell." he mutters, settling there for several minutes before sitting up to start the truck to pull out.