"I'm pretty sure they'd just look at you funny." Jessica agrees, turning about and looking down at the voice. A brow raises. "But you don't look like the beer or whiskey sort. I bet they could handle an extra dry martini for you, if you speak very slowly."

picword: BW Thoughtful

"I have it on good authority the coughing I do at good whiskey is some kind of sacrilege, and I do hate to commit accidental sacrilege, so yeah. Well, I'll go for it." And order a dry martini she will, still looking towards the woman. The picture certainly matched the file.

Jessica orders herself a whiskey, in firm contrast. SHIELD agents had a tendency to do some hard drinking in their off hours. One of the up or downsides of the job and the other things they ended up having to do.

She raises her shot glass in toast, slams it down, and orders another before settling in. "So, you wanted to talk business, Miss Van Dyne?"

picword: Thoughtful Chatting

"That I did. So nice to meet you, Miss Drew. I'd say I wish it were in less angry circumstances, but if I weren't angry, I probably wouldn't be hiring."

"Funny how often that happens in this business. People wait til something happens that gets them worked up before hiring." she muses aloud. "But alright - what can I do for you?"

picword: Considering

"I'm sure we've both done our homework. Let me be clear: I don't have a problem with -- what's-the-word -- mutants, in broad general principle. But I have a problem with two-bit floozies and thugs messing with me and mine, and at least one of those apparently happens to be a mutant. Regular security was clearly not adequate. I need an expert."

Well, that certainly gets her attention. Could it be more with those Brothers Grimm idiots she was trying to track down? Or maybe one of their associates. The poker face disappears - she'd blame the whiskey, but really, its just that she's not found a single lead on those morons.

"Understood. And thus you come to the former government agent with anti terrorism experience... makes good sense, compared to the rent-a-cop option. How regular a job should I be expecting? Just special events, or you looking for bodyguard detail?"

picword: Curious

"Yes. I'm prepared to way for what I should get here. As to regularity, she tied me up and stripped me naked in public. I'm pretty picky about who gets to do that even in private. You can expect some pretty steady work for a while." Janet slips from her jacket the file on the Incident. She's annoyed that it's able to fit in her jacket, but it is.

"Wait, she..." Jessica takes a few moments to parse all of that, trying very hard to keep a straight face. She succeeds, mostly. The effort is aided by ordering another round for both of them.

"Bodyguard duty and making sure that whoever she is doesn't decide to make it personal. Got it."

picword: Amused

Janet downs her martini a little faster. "Great. The retainer and expenses are spelled out here." She indicates another form. "Look acceptable?"

picword: necklace

Another finished shot. While not as immune to alcohol as she was to radiation, the treatments had kicked Jessica's endurance into high gear. It took a lot more to get her buzzed than it used to - and it seems like a night to celebrate. A real job, and maybe a real lead.

She orders another round after watching Janet's second martini disappear.

"Alright, looks acceptable. Even covers board. I'm guessing somewhere I can keep an eye on your place, or maybe your shop?" Had to be better than her terrible little apartment.

picword: Thoughtful Chatting

"Yep. An apartment adjacent to the California penthouse, and a room in the New York building for when I'm there. I'd like your fancy ex-government expertise on a few things I'm considering based on my dad's work."

"Can't promise how useful I'd be at the technical stuff, but I'm happy to help keep an eye on your property." For the price Jan was paying, she'd be quite happy to provide security assurance on anything, really.

picword: Curious

"Oh, yes, the sciencing isn't the issue. I have people for that. I just want to cover all the safety bases I can."

Jessica slows down a little, but only a little, getting a beer instead on this round, and getting Jan another drink as well. "Security issues I can handle, no problems there."

picword: Wine

"I suspect a fourth martini would be...unwise," Jan says, but only after a bit of contemplation.

"Probably, but that's why you have personal security now, right?"

picword: Big Smile

"Can't fault that logic. Which may already be a bad sign, but hey..." a shrug of perfectly coutured shoulders.

"Hey, I need to get to know you and your habits, including the bad ones. Its my job to keep you out of trouble - can only help to know just what kind of trouble you're liable to get into."

picword: Amused

Jan laughs. "Clever. Well, the nudity without a reasonable amount exclusivity is definitely a new one, let me tell you. Rassumfrassum thieves."

"Noted. We'll make sure your clothes stay on this time. And at earliest opportunity, I'll review what you have on the thieves and start looking into tracking them down as well."

picword: Curious

"Good. Thank you." Pause. "...So I have this teleportation machine," Janet said, as if she was disclosing a social disease.

Jessica coughs, just barely managing not to end up spitting beer on the table.

"Excuse me... did I hear that right?"

picword: Wine

"Yeah. It was Dad's. Am I going to need a license for that or something? I mean, he had the patent applications all ready, I just ... I'm really not sure this is a thing people are supposed to have."

"There's no rules or regulations on things like that that I'm aware of. Mostly because no one has ever gone public with owning one. The law will catch up some time after the patent is filed, but right now, my bigger concern, as your bodyguard, is that its safe."

picword: Pondering

Janet nods slowly. "Reasonable."
A pause. This is her fourth martini, after all.

"But, I suppose, it probably is either pretty safe, if its being considered for a patent, or else still in testing. But, seriously... an actual working teleporter?" She has to check these things. Once upon a time she wouldn't have believed it. That was when spider powers were also a myth though.

picword: Considering

"Yeah. It'd need work before it's very commercially viable -- and with Nevell's transport interests, you bet it's going to get the work -- but it...just sort of shoves you into the air, then shoves you back out of it."

"That's quite a description. And you're actually thinking of turning this into a commercial property, instead of, say, going for the big government contract, or asking SHIELD to pay you to keep it quiet and just use it for personal whatever?"

picword: BW Thoughtful

"I don't know if I want to take on any more big government contracts -- 'tilsuchtimeas they start asking me to design the uniforms. And... well, I guess talking to SHIELD is the best way to head off trouble about it, at least."

"I might know a person or two. I'm going to guess their anti terrorism department doesn't really want to start having to overcome too many teleportation protocols yet. I'm sure they'd be happy to overlook you bouncing around and pay you something for the chance to study it for a few years before you say anything... so they can defend against something similar when the bad guys invent it."

picword: Wine

"If that still sounds so sensible tomorrow night, without the martinis, I'll ask about their numbers."

"Just one of the qualities you hire me for - sensible even while slightly wobbly."

picword: Thoughtful Chatting

"Yeah. That's the other thing we'll have to finish when we're sober. The hiring paperwork. Don't want to dot something wrong."

"Hmmm, good point. Though if you prepared everything ahead of time, only risk there should technically be is my signature being a bit off, I think. Your terms looked quite generous."

picword: Considering