magician's apprentice | we've come a long way from where we began (rp for the_death_card)

[onebehind]

The place Miranda picks for their lunch date is meant to be neutral ground, Dylan is sure. She has them come out to Chicago, and while she is doing a show here, sometime this weekend, if her website is to be believed, it's still not home, not for either of them. It's also not one of the dozen places around town that might have required a reservation and no escape, if either of them thinks this is going south. No, it's just a diner, a literal hole in the wall, in a strip mall between a chiropractor and -- something else, Dylan's not sure, as he misses the sign, etched into the wall as they head in, but either way, the effort all adds up to a massive relief. He's not sure this will go badly, that he needs to think in terms of advantages and disadvantages as if he was playing chess, considering he's changed in the last twenty years, twenty months, twenty weeks, but still. He lets out a breath of relief, as they step into the building and he takes a look around.

It's a little less reminiscent of a dive bar, inside, even if the floors are bare, the ceiling open, and Dylan takes a certain amount of comfort in that, too. He glances to Jack briefly, to gauge his impression of all of this, and then steps up to the hostess's station as he looks out over the tables, trying to spot Miranda in the dwindling late-lunch crowd. When he doesn't see her, he's not surprised (she never could be on time for anything), and so he gets them a table for three, by the window, and settles into a chair. He expects Jack will take up his side of the table, too, and that's fine with him.

Once he's settled, Dylan pauses a beat, before, "Have I mentioned the part where she'd be late for her own funeral?"

Comments

[queen_ofwands]

"Two orders," Miranda echoes. Yes, something magic was going on there, but she's not going to spell and tell. "And ... this place has a really good oriental salad. I think I'm going to go with that."

She glances down at the menu, briefly, just to see if anything else catches her eye. When nothing does, she looks back up, to Dylan. "Jake?"

"I think I like being a thief," he answers. Which is to say: a burger sounds good. It might take him a minute more, to decide on which one he wants, the menu presenting more than a few options, but still.

[the_death_card]

"Quit copying me," Jack fusses, mock-scowling - and then turns his attention back to the menu, trying to figure out which one he wants.

"Do people really eat fried eggs on burgers?"

[onebehind]

"Quit copying me," Dylan echoes, dutifully.

Miranda hums, rolls her eyes, and then looks to Jack as he continues. She shrugs, answers, "It's not that bad, really?" Yes, they do, and she's one of them.

[the_death_card]

Jack makes a face back at him - he's a little surprised he didn't actually copy him, considering their show and tell from before - and looks back to Miranda.

"First time for everything, I guess?" He's tempted, actually, because breakfast on a burger doesn't actually sound like a terrible idea now that he's thinking about it.

[onebehind]

He thought about it, honestly, but then also thought better of it. Chances are, as he gets more comfortable with Jack knowing who he is and what he's capable of, he'll do things like that more often. For now, he just arches his eyebrows at Jack, never mind the fact that he's addressing Miranda.

"Seriously? You're seriously gonna try that shit?" It sounds like a terrible idea to Dylan, thanks.

[the_death_card]

"It's breakfast on a burger," he actually says outloud, now. "I mean, bacon's good on a burger. And there's actually some weirder ones on here," he points out, turning the menu for Dylan to see like he doesn't have one of his own. "I mean, that one's got macaroni on it."

That's definitely weirder than an egg.

[onebehind]

Despite, yes, having his own menu, Dylan still squints at Jack's for a moment, still frowning. Another small, sour face follows, when he finally leans away. "Yeah, that shit doesn't belong on a burger, either."

He's still not sold on an egg being on a burger, but he's not into the idea of macaroni being on one, either. The only things that belong on a burger are vegetables, cheese, a couple condiments, and like Jack said, maybe bacon.

[the_death_card]

"Chicago's got weird burgers," he declares to Miranda. "Goes with the pizza though, I guess," he jokes, because he has to get at least one dig in at Chicago pizza while they're here.

[queen_ofwands]

"You say this like I'm going to argue," Miranda shoots back. She's a West Coaster, and California-style pizza is closer to New York's idea of what it should be than Chicago's. Chicago-style pizza is only normal to Chicagoens. "If I wasn't here doing a show ... " Then they would have gone somewhere saner, she promises.

"Amen," Dylan says, in agreement with all of that.

[the_death_card]

Jack snorts a laugh at their agreement. "Okay good," he returns simply, and he might say more if he was more comfortable, might make some comment about it affecting his opinion of them, but he's still a little shy for that.

Speaking of, though, and to get on a different topic. "So, uh. Where have you been that doesn't have weird food?" he asks both of them, because he can still count on one hand the times he's been out of New York.

[onebehind]

"Depends on what kinda food you're looking for," Dylan starts.

"Depends on what you're hungry for," Miranda says, simultaneously. They both share a look, startled and hesitantly amused, both, then look away almost, again, at the same time. When Miranda's attentions wander back to Jack, still somewhat hesitantly, she continues, "Macau has the best Chinese food, but ... " But that's obvious. Also where her mind goes first, despite the fact that it's a sore spot for Dylan. She's been there more recently than him.

[the_death_card]

Jack looks quietly amused, too, both at them speaking simultaneously and the look afterwards - and then looks to Miranda when she answers. "Yeah, that's kinda..." A given, he doesn't say but clearly agrees.

"What's it like other than the food?"

Has he mentioned he still hasn't been out of New York more than a few times?

[queen_ofwands]

"You ever been to Vegas, honey?" she asks, the question an innocent one. Dylan, meanwhile, snorts, knowing how loaded that actually is, and when Miranda glances at him, he tilts his head at Jack. Go ahead, Jack. Tell her about the one time you've been to Vegas.

[the_death_card]

Jack looks between the two of them, checking in a little with Dylan to see whether or not he should tell that story. "Uh. Yeah, once, when, um... his partner called, when he was sick, and it turned into this whole thing that he had to actually get us there, but then I kinda had to hang around while he was in the hospital."

He makes a face - he knows how that sounds and he really wasn't as bothered by the whole thing as he could have been, considering what it had revealed to him.

"I looked around a little while I was there?"

He was actually good, though, and stayed out of the trouble he could have gotten into. It helped that he was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.

[queen_ofwands]

"Okay," Miranda drawls, eyebrows raising and lowering as she blinks, taken aback. Despite the look Dylan gave Jack there, before he launched into that, she really wasn't expecting that. It takes her a moment to recover long enough to continue, "Okay, well ... it's like that. The people, the lights. The oldest magic shop in the world is there, too."

"Dad used to go out there a lot, when I was a kid," Dylan says, sick amusement fading into something distant, wistful. "He had a lot of his gear custom-made through them. Minus ... " Minus the safe he died in. If he had gone through Long's, maybe he'd still be alive.

[the_death_card]

Jack shrugs a little in response - and then grins. "Really? That's awesome."

His grin fades a little as Dylan goes on, since yeah, he can fill in that blank and knows what Dylan's not saying. He pauses a beat and then tries to redirect a little. "But they're still, like... open and making shit and everything? That's so cool."

He's definitely a nerd about this stuff already.

[onebehind]

"Yeah," Dylan answers. A pause of his own follows, then he continues, "There was this little old lady running it, last time I was there." Apparently, Lionel wasn't the only one to spend time in Macau. Either way, after another beat, he shakes his head, "I don't ... "

"Bu Bu," Miranda supplies gently, apparently getting where Dylan was going with that, "and she really is a little old lady, now." Not just old to a seven-year-old's perception. "She's still running it, though. It'll be a cold day in Hell before she retires."

[the_death_card]

"Magic shops are supposed to have awesome old people running them," Jack returns. "Or slightly creepy guys in top hats."

[onebehind]

"New Orleans," Dylan answers automatically and on a hum.

"If you're looking for creepy guys in top hats who run magic shops, that'd be the place," Miranda clarifies, agrees. Most of the time, it's a persona, like she puts on on stage, like Dylan does, but still. Voodoo doctor is very popular. The tourists eat it up.

[the_death_card]

Jack snickers a little. "Okay, yeah. Creepy guys in top hats for New Orleans; guys with way too much self tanner and sequins in Vegas?" he counters lightly with a grin for Dylan, considering he's making fun of the other city he spends most of his time in.

[onebehind]

"I can't actually argue that one," Dylan decides after a moment, making a face at him. He has no great attachment to Vegas like he does Manhattan, but he knows that Jack is ribbing him. He can play along, particularly when it gets him away from dwelling on thoughts of Macau and, more importantly, his father.

"I can," Miranda informs them. "Think less sequins and -- well, less, period. I saw a guy on the corner of Spring Mountain who was wearing nothing but a thong and LED lights, last time I was there." Never mind the fact that he hadn't been a magician.

[the_death_card]

"Agh," Jack groans. "Really didn't need that mental image, thanks," he mutters as he claps a hand over his eyes briefly and then drops it again. "Never mind that kinda doesn't surprise me, considering some of the ads and shit I saw while we were out there."

He'd been good and hadn't gone to the strip at night despite the fact that he kind of wanted to, but that didn't stop him from seeing ads for escort services and the like.

[queen_ofwands]

"You're welcome," Miranda chirps, the smile she's been fighting with coming onto her face in full, now. After a beat, she continues, "But yeah, Vegas is ... well, if you thought Times Square was bad ... " The Strip, day or night, is worse and for more than just the fact that prostitution is legal, though that certainly doesn't hurt. She's pretty sure LED Underwear was advertising one of the Ranches around Las Vegas.

"Fun fact, though?" she continues after a beat. "Prostitution is actually illegal in Vegas. Most of the escort services are supposed to be just that." Not that that stops them from selling sex in the city. More money is spent on that sort of thing in Clark county, in Las Vegas, than any of the other counties where prostitution is actually legal and there are functioning brothels. "The closest place you can actually get a blowjob for twenty bucks is in Nye county."

" ... why are you telling him this?" Dylan asks, embarrassed. Never mind the fact that he's been to the Ranch Miranda is talking about and, yes, paid for sex. It's hard to have a real relationship with someone, when you're pretending to be someone else, and sometimes, you just have an itch to scratch.

"I want to see which one of your heads explode first," she answers, again cheerfully.

[the_death_card]

Jack's actually less embarrassed by this talk than the idea of a cowboy in light up underwear, and he's pretty sure he's about to help with the exploding of Dylan's head. "Uh... considering I know some drag queens and sex workers in New York? I'm gonna go with his," he adds with a grin for Dylan, betting that the idea of his teenage son hanging out with those people might make this all worse.

He's lived more on the streets than in a house since he was ten. It takes an odd sort of thing to shock him at this point.

[queen_ofwands]

Dylan groans and scrubs a hand over his face before lowering his head to the table. After a moment of laying there, he mimes waving a white flag, then collapses back into it. Miranda, meanwhile, hums, amused. "And there we have it, folks."

Despite her flippancy, however, she's -- admittedly a little worried that Jack knows those kinds of people, but then again, she got an idea of his background from Dylan. It's not really surprising.