Causin' problems makes you famous

“Hey, you spoke the answer, not me,” Vito replied in a voice that sounded quite a lot like Jack’s- well, in his ears it did, but he had always found her voice one of the more annoying things about her.

“It’s what keeps me alive, babe” Vito said- wait wait, Vito didn’t say that, but he would have had he not thought that it sounded too out of character for him; Vito didn’t enjoy the place the two of them were at in their ‘relationship’ at the time; it was that moment, that ‘quiet before the storm’ that really just made Vito want to slither back into Satin’s and spend his evening with a women and a bottle of his favorite wine.

“Well look at you, my little GPS,” The poltergeist mocked, hoping that such words would aggravate her.

He walked in a circular motion in order to avoid stepping in a small puddle of oil on the sidewalk and ruining his shoes, before crossing the street. A car had been in the middle of driving down that same street when Vito had decided to leave the sidewalk abruptly, and had only avoided being hit by a few inches. The driver slammed his fist down on the car horn and shook his head, which was probably swarming with curse words- but Vito didn’t seem the least bit effected. In fact, he was smiling, as if he had been told a particularly amusing story.

He didn’t look beside him to see if Jack was still fallowing him, because honestly, he didn’t care if she did; sure her company would keep the evening entertaining, and Vito very much enjoyed getting on her nerves, but at the same time, Vito was Vito, and he didn’t think about anyone but himself- unless it involved himself and would benefit him in the long run.

Vito stepped closer to the door and pushed it open with the toe of his right shoe before walking in, relieved when the smell of cigarette smoke washed over him upon entering. Usually Vito didn’t enjoy spending time in any place that wasn’t high-class or secretive, but he really needed a smoke, and waiting twenty more minutes just wasn’t going to happen.

Vito Dee Symons got what he wanted, when he wanted it- that was just how it worked.

Jack felt strange walking alongside Vito silently; where was the banter, the pranks, the threats, the rolling of eyes, the sneers, the scoffs, the snide remarks, and the growing irritation?...She missed it all. She missed being his enemy. Now they felt like awkward acquaintances.

She supposed they would get over it once Vito was surrounded by his usual cloud of smoke and had a bottle of some strong liquid in his hand. That was usually how it worked. Without either, Vito just was not quite Vito.

She stopped as they reached the sidewalk, though Vito continued on. As the car slammed to a stop, she called after him sarcastically, "Look out world, Vito Dee Symons is crossing the street and he stops for no one." She rolled her eyes and motioned the car to go by once Vito was on the other side. She crossed.

Vito was already inside by the time she pushed open the door. The bartender gave her a nasty look when he saw her fountain drink container. She sucked on it loudly and drained the last few drops. She headed over to the and pulled out some money. "A Coke."

She was not going to risk going with water again. She drank a lot of soda, so she would know if it tasted different. He took the money and returned with a glass of soda. She sniffed it (Vito had, after all, been alone in the pub for more than a second) and then sipped. Plain old Coca Cola. She drank deeper and then turned.

There were only a few other people and they were all in their own little huddles, glancing darkly at her. She stuck out like a sore thumb, a short, redheaded teenaged girl with an overly long coat and frazzled look. She walked over to a table and sat down, leaning back and propping up her feet on the table, as usual. The bartender scowled at her and she replied, "Hey, I bought something. The table was dirty anyway!" She rolled her eyes. She would be more sympathetic if the place was a little cleaner.

Vito laughed darkly when Jack told the bartender off as he slid into one of the chairs at the table the redhead had chosen. He had a clear glass in his hand that was filled with an unidentifiable liquid, that smelt so strongly of alcohol that it would probably burn through the table if any of it was spilled- and yet he brought the glass to his full lips, which were curled upward into a smirk, and threw the drink back as if it were water.

“Well, it’s not wine, but god does that feel good when it runs down your throat,” Vito said, shaking his head once to the side as he usually did after such a statement. He set the empty glass down on the table besides Jack’s feet before pushing her shoes off of the table without even looking up from the pack of cigarettes that he was opening, “These tables may be shitty, but your shoes are even shittier, and I’d rather not stare at them, thank you,” he jabbed.

He rested a slender cigarette in-between his lips and pulled a wand out of his pocket, which actually didn’t belong to him, and touched the tip to the cigarette in order to light it. Vito chuckled quietly to himself, a devilish expression on his face as he thought about it for a moment; he couldn’t exactly remember who he had stolen the thing from, but it worked just fine for him, and that rather amused him.

Taking a drag from his cigarette, Vito feathered his hair when he felt that a strand of it had fallen out of place, “What is it with you and soda?” he asked the odd female before him, releasing a cloud of smoke through his parted lips.

Jack glanced at Vito when he laughed, eyes flashing amusedly, mouth twitching, but revealing no more. She winced as the smell of Vito's alcohol hit her nostrils, making her eyes water ever so slightly. If it was so strong she could feel her eyes burning from here, it had to be torture to him. And yet he gulped it down, carefree as can be...Okay, not carefree, but careless as can be.

Suddenly, Vito pushed her shoes off the table. Jack rocked forwards in her chair as her legs fell to the floor. She grumbled, "What are you, the comfort police?" Every time she seemed to get comfortable, he liked to ruin it because her shoes were not just right. She rolled her eyes. Maybe one day, she would wear clean, fancy shoes, just to throw him off guard...

Nah...She preferred comfort to style and fashion, thank you very much. She may be proud, but she was not vain. She could not understand why people like Vito thought their appearance was even something worth investing in. It did not do much for anyone, in the long run...

He asked about her infatuation with soda and she shrugged. "Apparently my babysitter used to slip me soda in my sippy cup when I was a wee young lass." She smirked. "As long as I can remember, I've preferred carbonated caffeine to water." She smirked and took a swig of her soda as though to prove her point. Her eyes narrowed on his drink. "What is it with you and that dreadful stuff?"

“My babysitter slipped me alcohol instead of soda,” Vito mocked, holding his cigarette loosely in-between in index finger and his middle finger, leaning back in his chair so that it was standing on its two back legs and his balance was the only real thing keeping him from falling over. “I’d love to see what you’d become if you had my money and style for just a single day…” he said, looking off into the distance, pretending to picture it before his eyes, “boom…” he added, fallowed by a cold grin, and another puff of cigarette smoke blown in Jack’s face.

He looked at Jack for a moment, simply examining her facial features and her red hair- which he was positive she had died in order to appear attractive to him, which amused him greatly- as his eyes seemed to darken, his expression rather malicious; now that he knew why Jack didn’t hate him, for some reason, he felt the desire to make her hate him more than anyone ever loathed him before- and he had really pissed off a lot of people, so that would definitely be somethin’.

“You’re a lesbian, I knew it when I first saw you dressed in those boyish clothes of yours,” Vito stated both abruptly and rudely, acting- though it he made sure that it was obvious that he was mocking her- as if he was truly surprised by his little ‘realization’. “No wonder you haven’t thrown yourself at me yet,” he added, but he was speaking through laughter, so it didn’t sound nearly as convincing as it had at first.

What was Vito’s mission this time around? Simple. He was to do all he could to annoy and/or frustrate Jack, then push her over the edge at the last minute so that he could finally make sure that she hated him. The plan was almost as flawless as he was, he was sure of it.

Jack chuckled at his joke...or at least she thought it was a joke. No it must have been a joke; no babysitter of Vito's would have lasted long enough to have been able to slip him something. Then again, alcohol at a young age may explain a lot about Vito.

Then he said something about wondering how she would be if she had his 'style' and his money for a day. With a light smirk on her face, she said, "Oh, I would probably turn out to be a jerk, now wouldn't I?" Her eye twinkled with the taunt, glad to be back to banter.

It was much easier to tease him now that she had realized she did not hate the guy. It made it all lighter, a little more entertaining. He could piss her off and frustrate her, but she would not be pushed to hate. Now she knew, that no matter how bad he got, she would not be overly hurt ever, if she could not be pushed to hate.

What he said next made her eyes narrow on him. It seemed he wanted to push her... She was not homophobic, at all. She had her share of gay friends. But she did not like to be considered a lesbian. In middle school, she had heard so many people whisper things about her, just because she did not wear those ridiculous short skirts...

The thought of those days, of how alone she had been because the rest of the school treated her like a leper, made her heart spark with anger. "Just because I dress comfortably, doesn't mean that I am cross-dressing. And maybe I haven't thrown myself at you because I'm not a moron." She did not hate him, but she did not want to make out with him either...

She crossed her arms, and before she could stop herself, a smile played onto her face. "Wow... I never thought about it before but...you are kind of obsessed about your hair...and your clothes, and the way you look..." She smiled. "And most confused guys try to get with a lot of girls to prove to, if not everyone around them, but to themselves, that they aren't gay...Maybe..."

She did not even have to say it. She was insinuating the same of him.

Vito Dee Symons wasn’t an unintelligent man; he had expected some sort of jab from Jack after such a remark, and so, being quick on his feet, Vito replied in an indifferent manor that almost made it seem as if he had expected those exact words to fall from Jack’s lips in order to try and insult him, “I simply have class, Jack, and as classy as you may find gays, I am not homosexual. Why the sudden interest in my sexuality?” he asked, licking his lips mockingly to push his last sentence further. Vito knew full well the reason she had made such a statement had simply been because she had been insulted and felt the need to insult Vito In the same way.

The man inhaled more nicotine before speaking again, “Your obsessed... with banter, darling. Might I ask why? Trying to keep yourself from becoming too fond of me, are you?” he asked, biting the inside of his cheeks, staring her down as if he could kill her simply by looking at her- though it was pretty believable with such a look in his eyes.

“Look, as much as I enjoy swapping jokes with a desperate child, I really would like to finish this cigarette and head someplace where the tables aren’t covered in three inches of funguses that have yet to be discovered by scientists,” Vito said slowly, holding his cigarette in-between his lips as he spoke. He wondered if such a blunt comment would effect Jack in any way, and if it did, if he would see that anger and power that he had seen in her eyes the evening she had joined him for a few hours at his club. He had enjoyed seeing such rage in her for some reason… as if he had finally met his match- though when Jack was in the calm mood she was at the time he found her entertaining, but only for as long as he was willing to be entertained by her jabs at his ego.

Jack felt a slight wave of disappointment as he did not react at all to her little jab at all; she had thought that a guy as concerned with his appearance and his outward reputation would have surely gone ballistic at such a comment. She re-cooperated quickly. She had to when she was dealing with Vito, or she would live in disappointment. She ignored his question about he so-called interest in his sexuality.

He said something about banter and again excused it as a safety mechanism against his "obvious charm" and whatnot. She smiled. "Oh Vito, dear, I don't think you need to worry about that any time soon...or...well...ever." She smirked. "Any why do you persist on thinking I am so interested in your sexuality and being fond of you...Hopeful are we?"

She smirked. Yeah, right. Vito thinking of Jack like that. The thought of it made her smirk wider and even let out a small, bark-like laugh.

He continued talking and she opened her mouth to offer a rebuttal to his calling her a desperate child- that she was almost of age and he was the one continuing the conversation- but she could not help but agree at his comment about the table. She inspected it and wiped a finger through the grime, before wincing. "Wow. For once I agree with you. Enjoy it while you can." She wiped her finger on a napkin at the table and shuddered. She picked up drink and took a swig.

“Oh yes, Jack, I’ve fancied you for ages,” Vito mocked, and had to take another drag in order to keep himself from laughed, which would have caused him to swallow the cancer stick for sure, and even if he was a poltergeist, he wasn’t sure if his lungs could handle the entire cigarette. “I’ve been tortured all this time as I’ve waited for you to notice,” he added, though a few snickers managed to escape his lips despite his effort to stifle his laughter. He didn’t enjoy laughing much, for he found it rather unbecoming, and tried to the best of his ability to keep his laughter locked away in a cage made up of several white rib bones.

Vito propped one of his legs on top of his knee and leaned back into his chair, tipping his head backwards so that he was staring at the ceiling, blowing a large cloud of dancing smoke into the air, allowing it to flout about his face for a few moments afterwards, before it became transparent. The hint of a smile was seen on Vito’s face as he stared at the air that the cigarette smoke had tangoed with only seconds before, thinking of how it had had its fun drifting about and then had vanished before his eyes. It reminded him of himself, oddly, and he couldn’t help but think about what it would be like when his time was up in London and he once again had to wake up in a strange place without any idea of what to do about it.

He had to admit, he was rather content with the life that he had built for himself over the past twenty-something years, and something in him wanted never to leave his club behind, or his accomplishments, or his annoying forms of entertainment, such as the peculiar teenage female before him. It would mean starting over, and Vito had gotten too close to perfecting himself to allow his chances to be ripped away from him again.

“I need another drink. Just take this glass up to the bartender and he’ll refill it with the same alcohol I had ordered,” Vito ordered, pushing the empty glass towards Jack. His eyes were filled with threat as he eyed her, watching her to see if she would obey him. He would burn her with his cigarette if she disagreed, he decided. It would hurt, Vito knew so after behind burned in a similar way by someone he had angered in the past. She would probably scar too. Vito grinned; the idea of leaving a scar on her amused him greatly.

“Go on, girly.”

Jack rolled her eyes as he sarcastically professed his "love" for her and she laughed along. She was starting to think, though, about how whenever it came to affection in her life, it was all in jest it seemed. Her guys friends and her always joked about this kind of stuff, her brother joked about loving her like a sister...She did not mind it. She was not out their looking for love. But after awhile, it was not that funny anymore.

She just sipped from her soda, showing no record of her musings and then set down the drink, glancing over at Vito. He was leaned back, staring at the ceiling, blowing smoke upwards. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she pushed her own chair, making it lean back on two legs.

Vito always said that she was the one that refused to let go and let loose. Sure, he knew how to let loose, but when it came to the former, Jack thought it was not she that had the problem. Jack already knew that he had a problem-filled past, but the fact that he did not trust anyone else...that told her that maybe she was not the one missing out on life.

He pushed his drink towards her and demanded she go get a refill. "Do I look like your caretaker?" Her eyes met his and she saw the threat in his eyes. Best not to test him, she decided. She grabbed his glass and her own, which was getting low and she flashed a fake smile. "Since you're obviously in love with me, I'll return the favor."

She walked over to the barn and pushed the glasses to the bartender. "Coke and whatever nasty stuff he was drinking." He bustled off to go get their drinks and she drummed her fingertips on the table. She sighed and then received the drinks, grimacing at him and then walking back to the table.

She handed over Vito's drink. "Here you go, Your Majesty." She sneered and sat down, taking a drink. She sighed and put down her drink. "Do you have any friends?"

She did not really consider saying this allowed, but it had been a question that she had been pondering for some time. If some did not trust, nor reach out, could they have friends? She was curious as to how that worked. She was not popular, and the friends she had, she did not fully trust always, but she could not imagine life without that companionship.