Burgers and Bribes

Who: Dodge & Evelyn
Where: Outside Drake Hotel & random burger place
When: Late night~!

Evelyn almost felt like whistling as she walked down to a small locker and coat room where she pulled on her small winter-coat and scarf. On her way out, she was in a good enough mood to smile at the coworkers she passed by. Some returned her smile, some only smirked, a few others were daring enough to exchange whispers in front of her. But it didn’t matter – the night had been painfully slow, and the ‘mistake’ of being assigned the most dead section proved to be fortunate one. She was on her way home a few hours earlier than scheduled.

Walking into the night air, she waved to one of the kitchen staff smoking by the exit – the same guy who had greeted her yesterday. He spared her a wave, and a clear “Hey, ’melia” as she passed him out the door.

Evelyn stopped briefly, “Hey. How’s it going?”

The guy just shrugged, “Dead.”

Evelyn grinned, mentally pocketing the cop’s substantial tip tucked in her purse. “Same here.”

Loitering outside the Drake restaurant wasn't always his favorite place to loiter, but it worked every so often to swing a good meal or at least to bum a smoke and learn some information. He'd watched her come out, knowing her the instant he saw her but he stayed in the shadows waiting for her to finish her conversation and for the other guy to wander back inside before stepping from his hiding place, cigarette dangling off his lip, the typical jaunt to his step and fedora pulled down over his unruly hair. "Amelia is it?"

Evelyn jumped at the sudden voice and figure. But it took her only a second to register them and the hat and let out a groan. Oh, she knew him all right – and her ears burned at the comment on her name. But, refusing to acknowledge it, she only glared at him suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

It was Dodge. Everyone back in her neighborhood knew Dodge, or at least knew of him and his gang. After graduation one of her part-time jobs had been at the Keller Grocer, not even a block away from one of the gang’s hangouts. There she had spent just as much time warding off their pestering as she had taking inventory. To be fair, the distraction may have been appreciated on some painfully boring days – not that she ever came outright and admitted it. It had made the job interesting, at least.

But Evelyn wasn’t in the market for any more ‘interesting’ as she shouldered her purse and clamped her arm on it even tighter – she was well aware of the sneaky little urchin’s street skills. “Isn’t it past your bed time or something?” she muttered.

"Oh darling, darling," he cooed, leaning in close knowing it would make her nervous becuase it always had. "The streets in my kingdom are lacking these days without your beauty to grace them, Amelia." He gave her new name the extra emphasis on purpose. It didn't surprise him she'd use an alias, especially working at a mob hot spot. The less those fools know about you the better off you are. "As for myself, I was merely visiting, seeing what I can learn here and there." Dodge took a step back but kept moving with her, light on his feet, which was part of what made him such an excellent pickpocket. "And I'm all grown up now, no need for a bed time." The look he gave her was laced with offers unspoken.

Evelyn’s back stiffened, but she held her ground and shot him a glare as he leaned in. At the emphasis on her ‘name’ she wavered just enough to take a step back and settle for haughty annoyance from further away. Argh, it looked like he wasn’t going to just let the whole ‘alias’ thing go. That troubled her more than a bit, but she refused to let it show and rolled her eyes at his ‘grown up’ comment.

“I heard a two year old a few days ago say the same thing,” she responded, not batting an eyelash at the all-too-familiar tone. He couldn’t have been more than 15 when she first met him, and even then he seemed unabashed at strutting up to some pretty 30-year-old and offering her a night on the town. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side; ever present that he knew her real name and they were still standing by the side-entrance.

“If you’re so interested in learning you should try a school for once.” Evelyn started to make her way out of the alleyway and towards the sidewalk. “Instead of lurking in the shadows like some tramp. Or a lost puppy.” After a couple more steps she stopped and faced him. She wanted to be out of eyesight from the hotel, but she certainly wasn’t going to let the little rake follow her home! If he wasn’t harassing her, he’d undoubtedly pester the other girls in building – a thought that would have brought a smirk to Evelyn’s face, except this was a time for not smirking.

Dodge chuckled, obviously enjoying himself. "School's a waste love," he told her, leaning against the wall of the hotel near her, and making leaning look like an art form. "I've already learned everything they'd teach me there, plus in another three months they'd kick me out. Plus you know full well I don't do well with structure." He gave her his best lost puppy face, the one that got him more from unsuspecting marks than anyone else. "If I'm a lost puppy will you take me home? I promise I'll be sweet, even sleep curled up right next to you." Leaning in he reached out for her, catching her around the waist before she could get away.

Oh, the brat was a conniving charmer. Had she not been so worried about the whole name thing – both the fact that he could easily mention the truth to either her co-workers or her family, he would have coaxed a begrudging smile out of her by now. But, as it stood, she was particularly worried on that point, and kept her face stoic as she started to turn arou—

And then he grabbed her. Evelyn froze for a brief moment, except for her mouth that was quick to respond with “Let go of me!” She pushed her hand against him as she worked on twisting herself away, not-so-accidentally smacking him with her purse in the process. When she had finally pried herself away, she gave herself a second to straighten her shirt before shooting him another glare.

“I don’t want the fleas!” Evelyn answered curtly, maintaining the icy stare long enough to calm her nerves to where she could bring forward what was really on her mind. “And I don’t want ‘Amelia’,” she threw up her fingers with the quotation marks, “to get back to my family, either.”

Her pulling away hadn't been too bad until she wacked him with her purse. That hadn't felt good. Rubbing his shoulder where she hit him he looked at her suspiciously with the smile still playing on his lips. "I don't have fleas thank you very much. You know that though," Dodge told her. Never one to give up he still closed the space between them, fingering the compact from her purse that was now in his jacket pocket. "And what do I get for keeping your little secret?" Not that he wouldn't, even if she didn't give him something more than a smile. He understood it really, trying to raise above yourself, he just didn't think getting a job at a ritzy hotel was the way to do it. Granted he'd done it just living on the street.

Evelyn held back an exasperated sigh at his question. Although he was quite obviously not some little boy, she couldn’t take his advances any more seriously than she would those of a five-year-old. He was still a teenager for crying out loud! Like, Jessie’s age… that was just weird.

“Please, Dodge – some days I almost regard you as the little brother I never wanted.” She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, masking the trepidation she felt about coaxing his silence. She really didn’t know what she could offer him – the brat’s happy-go-lucky nature made it seem like he wanted for nothing. … Well, except for maybe a decent meal every now and then—

Huh. There was an idea. “I’ll give you a cheeseburger,” she cocked her head forward defiantly, using her body language to tell him she would not be budged on the issue. 'Cause she really didn't have anything else in her corner. “Figure a stray puppy can’t say no to food.”

"That hurts Amelia, that whole brother nonsense," he told her, again using her alias on purpose. He took his hat off, pressing it over his heart and feigned pain, giving her a look that now peeked out from behind a mop of dark brown hair instead of the brim of the ratty fedora. Her offer for his silence wasn't bad, and although he'd never gone too hungry under Patrick's rule, he'd suffered a little more to take care of the boys that looked up to him since taking out their Fagin. A cheeseburger seemed almost too good to be true, but delicious nonetheless. "You're right there, and I told you you wanted to take me home and keep me," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "One condition," he tested even though her look said she wouldn't budge. "I demand your presence for said meal. I won't dine alone." Ever the prince in search of his princess.

His use of the alias was irksome, but preferred. They were still close enough to the hotel that a co-worker could easily pass by. At his wounded look, the corners of her mouth twitched. Beyond exasperating though he could be – and currently was – the kid could pull off adorable in a split-second. Her eyes narrowed at the words “one condition”, but she begrudgingly nodded her head at his terms.

“Fine – but I’m feeding you to get rid of you, not take you home,” she muttered – although she let the slightest bantering tone slip through. But she fixed him with a stare, wiping the humor from her face (well, what little bit there was) as she added, “and for your silence.”

She wanted to be very clear on that point.

He caught that, the way her mouth almost quirked into a smile there and he ran with it. Dodge righted the fedora back on his head and grinned his best Prince of Thieves grin. "You do mean silence about this matter only right? A silent meal would be quite boring otherwise." Ever the gentleman he offered her his arm as if he was planning on escorting her around the city.

A grim smile broke through, "If I had known complete silence was on the table, well..." She maneuvered herself to walk next to him, purse safely tucked away beneath her outside arm. She shoved her hands into her pockets -- after he had grabbed her earlier, she wasn't keen on being touched again.

"There's a place a couple blocks up," she pulled the hands out of the pockets and wrapped her arms around herself. "Open late, food's good." No, it wasn't Nighthawk -- that was further than she cared to walk and too well known; she wouldn't risk running into any more acquaintances tonight.

"Complete silence was never an option." Dodge gave her a disappointed look when she shoved her hands in her own pockets, but followed suit and did the same with his hands. If she didn't want to be touched, then he'd let it go for now, but only because she was buying dinner. It would probably wind up being more than he'd had to eat in days. The kids in his merry clan were running him dryer than usual with the cold weather. It took more to keep them healthy because if one got sick, the rest got sick. Dodge didn't want them dying on his watch. "Lead the way," he said as they started off, ever light on his feet and ever with a jaunt in his step.

Evelyn remained largely quiet as they made their way to the burger joint. Occasionally, she would watch him from the corner of her eye – partly because she hadn’t seen him in a long time, and also to make sure his hands stayed to himself and off her possessions. He was taller, definitely, and skinnier… but the carefree lightness of his step remained regardless. Some days she found his happy-go-lucky manner exasperating, or she pitied it. Other days she was envious; and, occasionally, the mood rubbed off on her. Although, right now, she was just worried. Living on the opposite end of the city from her family, her plan of keeping her lies separate from her loved ones and her home life seemed more than doable. But Dodge’s appearance proved that even this city, as big as it was, was a small world. Even though he seemed willing to keep quiet for a cheeseburger… well, she doubted she’d have that guarantee from the next person who came along – and Evelyn couldn’t hide her frown on that thought.

As they approached the burger place, she stopped. “Here we are.” She even gave him a small smile before walking in and grabbing a booth. She grabbed two menus from behind the salt and pepper shakers, and handed him one. After looking at his – rather skinny – self, she asked “So… what do you want to drink?” The prices were more than decent here; and he could probably use something a little more than just a cheeseburger. And, with her job at the Drake, she could afford to give him that much at least.

He'd followed her in silence, respecting her boundaries, mostly because he'd already lifted the compact off her when he first grabbed her. In his defence though he hadn't intended to pick her pocket, but then she struggled and well...old habits die hard. The diner smelled delcious and instantly his mouth watered. How long had it been since he'd had a full meal? Months at least. Dodge wasn't starving, but he sure as hell wasn't well fed.

When Evelyn offered to buy him a drink as well he wondered if she was doing it out of pity or just as part of their deal. He wasn't the type to turn down a good meal, especially since he'd managed to charm it out of her, but that didn't mean he wanted her pity. His life was good as it was, she should envy him, not feel sorry for him. "Do you figure you can buy an extra few weeks of silence with a milkshake?" he asked with a playful tone and a raised eyebrow.

“A few more ‘weeks’?” She repeated, pulling her head up from the menu. Her brow furrowed and she scrutinized him through wary eyes. “I was kind of thinking along of the lines of you… never mentioning it.” She put the menu down and straightened up, clasping her hands upon the table.

"Now come on Amelia, that isn't fair. And who's to say a better offer wouldn't come down the wire eventually?" He peeked at her over the top of his menu, a playful glint in his eye. "Plus, I say never, and then I don't have a reason to see you again."

Oh, come on. Evelyn’s mouth pursed slightly as she fixed him with a disapproving stare. She caught the playful manner, definitely, but hey – many a truth was told in jest. And for all she knew his mischievous nature would have some enjoyment in ‘slipping’ her secret to her parents… or worse: her brother. But, after a couple more seconds of staring at him, she came to the – tentative – determination that his teasing lacked malice. For now.

Sighing, she let her posture relax just a bit. “I’d think a boy like you would have better things to do than harass waitresses,” she flashed him a reluctant smile before continuing, “there must be other fruitless ventures you can pursue.” And maybe some fruitful ones: she wouldn’t be surprised if there were some teen girls who pined for the boy.

Dodge straightened up some in his seat, pushing the fedora back so it wasn't shading his eyes as much and gave her his best grown up face. Which considering what he'd seen this year alone gave his eyes a depth beyond his seventeen years. "Who said this venture was fruitless? Plus all the fun is in the chase. And since I do as I please, then I don't have better things to do." Setting down the menu he leaned back a little, smoothing his tie and vest, then tucking his hands behind his head as if completely relaxed. "The world is my oyster 'melia, and I intend to enjoy it. You should try it sometime."

Something in his look gave her a momentary pause, and she quietly considered it. And even she couldn’t help but grin a bit as he made a show of carelessly lounging about the booth as it were his home. “Maybe I should...” Evelyn murmured as an older waitress came up to them and she ordered two milkshakes and two burgers. After handing off the menus, she turned back to Dodge as the waitress walked away.

“But if I enjoyed it too much, I wouldn’t be able to afford a weekly burger, now would I?” In spite of her worry, she didn’t have a genuine deep-down fear that Dodge would tell, but it served as an excuse to help him out a bit. And it helped her too. At least she could do one decent thing after the shitty decisions she’d been making lately. However, just so he was clear that she wasn’t getting too soft: “But I’m not sitting with you everytime.”

"You should," he answered, smiling brightly at the waitress, even if she was too old and not his type. He couldn't help himself. "Weekly burger or not." Dodge assumed she was talking about herself only then she went on about the sitting together part. "Wait," he said, looking at her. "You're willing to buy me dinner once a week if I keep my mouth shut?" That was quite the offer. It would make up for the rest of his week and he could keep it to himself. Hell it wasn't something he could share at home anyway.

She eyed him warily, debating one last time whether she should commit to this or not. “Yes…” she answered slowly, “One burger… a week.” Hearing the words coming out of her mouth, she felt her cheeks hurt as she contained her amusement. Really, she was certain shadier drug deals went down with a lighter tone. “And I don’t need you pestering me at work either,” she warned. Nobody at the hotel knew where she did or didn’t come from, and she hoped to keep it that way. She wasn’t sure how well they knew Dodge, or if they knew him; but having Dodge come up and bugging her would be about as desirable as having her black-eyed brother drop by to say hi.

Dodge grinned, both excited about the regular meals and about seeing her. He wasn't sure if Evelyn was his true princess, but entertaining the notion was always fun. Reaching out he caught one of her hands in his, again before she could pull away, and raised it to his lips to kiss. "You have a deal my fair lady."

The waitress gave them a bemused looked as she approached their table. Evelyn didn’t say anything as she pulled her hand away to give the woman room to put down the burgers and shakes, but she did shoot Dodge a Look when the woman wasn’t looking. It was meant to be an un-amused glare, but it lacked considerable power behind it. Really, it was hard to be truly annoyed now that his silence seemed guaranteed and he was calling her ‘fair lady’. But she could try! She didn’t need to be encouraging him, after all.

“Well good,” she finally answered before biting into her burger. She was polite about the whole thing, but there was a definite enthusiasm about it – working at the restaurant actually got her less food than one would expect.

Dodge matched Evelyn's look with a broad smile, the most charming one he had. Once the food was in front of him, it was hard to focus on the woman, no matter how pretty she was. His first bite was huge and a euphoric look spread across his face. Oh he was definitely in heaven. Most would agree with Evelyn, that because he was so relaxed he wasn't able to afford a meal like this on a regular basis, but Dodge saw it differently. His ability to charm Evelyn into dinner? That was his earning the meal. Who says you have to pay for it to have the good things in life?

A smile broke through on her face, even turning into a grin. She worked to keep her emotions under control, and not let them get the better of her; but she had never had a heart of stone. Even her worried state of mind wasn’t impervious to the look on his face – and it felt good to do something nice for someone (even if it was technically a bribe). That was something she hadn’t been doing so much of lately: doing nice by regarding other people. Hell, she had largely ignored her family for work over the holidays… not her proudest moment.

He seemed into his burger, which was fine. She was more than happy to finish hers and head on home. When she polished off the last bite, she gathered her things and stood up placing some bills on the table for the waitress. Adjusting her coat and scarf, she glanced at him. “I’m heading home – those of us who work got to get some sleep after all.” She softened the tone with a smile, “Just… stay out of trouble.”

Her brother, the cop, now Dodge… why did she bother with advice she knew wouldn’t be heeded? But she felt she had to say it anyway before heading towards the door.

"Evie," Dodge called before she could leave, using her real name this time. Reaching into his own pocket as smoothly as possible he held the compact up in the air between two fingers. He'd intended to give it back all along. He didn't steal from those who barely had more than he did. It wasn't right. "I'm never in trouble, darling." His eyes didn't raise to meet hers as he waited for her to snatch the compact back, they were focused elsewhere.

Wha—huh--how?! Evelyn stared at him, jaw slightly dropped, as the light glittered off her compact between his fingers. Then she remembered him grabbing her, and whacking him with her purse, and her eyes narrowed. See? This was why it was ridiculous to get wrapped up in the brat’s charm – the kid always had something up his sleeve! … sometimes literally.

She walked back towards him and snatched the compact out of his hands. “Oh you think you’re so great, don’t you?” It was a really pathetic comeback – he’d probably take it as a compliment anyway –but even her tongue could fail her sometimes. …And she didn’t appreciate where he was staring either! Had she not known for a fact that he was still a teenager, in that leery moment she would’ve sworn he was older. But she wasn’t going to physically turn his head, so she settled for an “Oh, get bent!” and crossed her arms, compact clutched in her hand.

And, because she had better things to do than give the lecher something to stare at, she walked out.