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Her time in Destiny City was going well. She had gotten some jobs, made some friends, had a few people interested in one of the houses, but no real leads. Still, a little interest was better than no interest! And she still hadn't been attacked by anything as she wandered the streets at night, so there. Maybe the Senshi were doing okay. maybe she wasn't needed. Maybe the others would finish off this war and wouldn't need her. No attacks meant they were winning, right?

When Jada had gotten the call from Marlo, she'd been a little bit surprised. She certainly couldn't imagine that he didn't know she had returned, but it was... well. Something more than awkward, less than unwelcome. They certainly weren't as 'close' now as they had once been, and while their relationship had hit almost toxic and abusive levels in the past, it had mellowed out a bit since then. Personally, Jada thought some of the passion had- sitting at her makeup table, she pinched the bridge of her nose- cooled. (She was certain Marlo wouldn't appreciate the joke.)

Still, food? Asian. Good. She liked Asian. It was not too private, not too public, not too dressy versus casual. It was a great place for meeting up with old friends. Jada tugged a comfortable, dress out of her closet, adjusting the turtle-neck and tilting the bow, then pulling out a pair of nude heels. No hose. Casual, Comfortable, Dressy, but not too the- Oh, who was she kidding. She wanted to make an impression, but not say HAY BOI. Earrings, lip gloss, watch, phone, a timed text message for about 45 minutes into the meal in case it was getting terribly awkward.

She was escorted to the table politely, and Jada tossed a grin to the man already seated there. "Sorry if I'm late, Xanis." Jada slid into the seat across from him without waiting for him to stand, not sure if she should- Did he get a hug? A kiss on the cheek? Did she shake his hand? No- nothing was better for now, and she would gauge based on how dinner went.

He smiled at her shyly, not that boring plastic smile he'd had when they first met, and Jada blew out a gentle breath of relief. She had hoped that this would be a good meeting, and his almost boyish grin was a very good starting sign.

"Good to hear I am not late!" She responded cheerfully. Discussion of beverages had her glancing at her companion, then at the man poised to take her order. "Sake and hot tea." He tossed Marlo a one-shouldered shrug, and then crossed her legs neatly under the table.

Her purse was settled to hang on the back of her chair, and she shook her head. "Don't be silly, Xanis. You should have known I would be happy to see you." She always had been, even when she had wanted to choke the living daylights out of him.

Marlo asking about her career seemed almost a bit silly, but she went along with the easy flow of conversation. "I am. And, surprisingly, doing quite well without my father paying the way to my success. Apparently some designers are starting to branch into curves, and artists and photographers find me of some mild interest. I think it is my socialite ability to hold still and keep smiling."

She clapped her hands together when he mentioned he had started a boutique. "New place for buying my shoes, I am sure," she declared. "So are you out of the hotel business then?" Her arms rested against the table, elbows off, and she leaned in attentively. To hear that Marlo had told Giovanni and the family where to stick it... Oh, it would make her night.

"Well, you and Elzo are the only two Xanis who matter," she told him pertly, "and it bothers you less." She waited for him to order and the waiter to walk away before continuing. "It isn't really your fault. If I recall, the last time we went to dinner in a public place, I punched you in the face. Not exactly my proudest moment, either."

He leaned back and rolled up his cuffs, and Jada watched him, a little smile drifting over her lips at the quietly casual action. "Shocking, I know, that they started to realize that they were losing some money. Now we just need the big names to get the picture." Her eyes examined his ringless hands, and she certainly was NOT flushing at his unobtrusive compliment.

"As for shoes." She waved a cracker at him playfully. "You know I love them almost as much as you do. I'm in." She lifted the sake, pouring a small glass and swallowing it down. "Losing her was-" her lips quirked. Did he know Linarite was the one who had killed her mother and Kayley? She doubted it. And the knowledge would do no one any good now. "If it is for Elzo and not Gio the creeper." She would never begrudge someone time away.

"Have you tries getting him more involved in other ways?" She asked softly. "All work all the time can't be healthy for him." Or safe, even if he was a Prince. "If he ever wants to get away, I can always use a meat shield for stupid parties."

She sighed, shifting back in her seat, smoothing her skirt. "Zora misses Kayley. Lucas has discovered girls and is ripping through them like any gorgeous blonde. Aidan and Giulia are more clever than they have any right to be for three year olds."

Jada could feel his eyes on her, attentive, and turned her attention to the menu, well aware her cheeks were heating against her will. For a model, she certainly didn't know how to handle one on one scrutiny. At least not right now. Another item for her self-improvement action plan.

He was laughing at her? Ooo, the audacity! Biting back a chuckle of her own, she waved her finger at him. "Now now, Xanis. You know you liked it." Never boring, huh? Well, that was flattering. She couldn't say the same about herself. Solid, predictable Jada. Always liked to thunk she was such a rebel, but even her rebellion had always been inside the area prescribed for her.

"Don't let my manager hear that, or else I will be living in said hotel. If there is one magazine they would slaughter a small town to have me on, it is Vogue. As for the rest of it- business later." She took a sip of her tea, letting herself collect her thoughts.

It bothered her a little, that he was jumping from item to item. His brother's pain- well. It wasn't her business. She had taken herself out of that situation, and lost all right to try and pry into those affairs. But it hurt to think of her friends grieving alone. Especially when Audrey- Daphne- Lina... She had been hers too.

"I wish someone had told me he was ill." A neat sip of sake. "I would have sent Maria my condolences on his remission." She actually rather liked the woman, when she showed a little spine. Then again, double-dipping on the family tree was a little unusual, but not unheard of.

His explanation of Elzo's disassociation with his birthplace made her face go grim. "Life for the plebians. I am glad to hear his home is doing well though." She doubted Scylla was doing so well, but it also wasn't as big as Castor. "If he cleans it up, I want a vacation."

He reached out and touched her hand lightly, and she turned hers over, palm up to invite him to hold it. Marlo has always seemed to need to express himself in touching, and Jada wasn't one to complain. She needed the touches as much as the next person. And she missed getting Daphne's huge, warm hugs.

"I remain guilty as charged." She laughed. "Strawberry is still the best flavor in the universe. She had glanced over the menu online, but she already knew what she was going to get. She didn't have work tomorrow, so she was allowed to bloat a little. "Parfait for dessert it is. I was actually thinking about this sorbet I have in my freezer at home, or going out for a good old fashioned ice cream."

She tried valiantly to give him a disapproving look. Tried. Probably failed, through the full on explosion in her cheeks. "My shoe collection doesn't count," she told him pertly, deliberately obtuse. "As for Maria- that is a shame. I might have liked her a bit more, if I'd met her before Giovanni had her half in the grave." A little harsh to say about someone's mother, and she realized it as she said it, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, that was a little inappropriate of me." Well, a lot inappropriate, but-

Her fingers closed on his and she squeezed his hand. "Tell him he wasn't the only one who loved her, and my window's open anytime." Elzo would probably never take her up on the offer to talk, if Marlo told him, but she would do what she could where it could. What had ended between the two of them couldn't be helped now... but in the end, she was as much a failure as anyone else, for not being enough.

"It is tempting, actually. I've never been... out that way." She smiled at the waiter as he approached. "I think that could be a fun little weekend trip, if he wouldn't mind the mini-invasion. And the bags, unless he discovered a stash of women's clothes in good repair."

It was hard, to pretend not to notice the way he was consuming her with his eyes, but she tried. "Such a gentleman, Xanis." She drew out the 's' a little through her teeth, and licked her lips to whet them before she spoke. "I'll take-" her order was quick, simple, and oddly lacking in beef. But hey, it had sounded good, so she would forgive and forget.

fair was fair, though; As Marlo was turned to for his order, she watched him through her lashes, head tilted down towards what was left of her bottle of sake.

He lifted her hand to kiss her palm, and she felt her heart break, just a little, at the things that hadn't- couldn't- work out between them. But still, she brushed her thumb over his cheek lightly, in silent acknowledgment of his words. Things people said when they thought she wanted to hear it, that she was more than money, a name, and a sellable face. None of which had really appealed to Marlo (or his brother) in a way that would cause him to say it if he didn't mean it.

"Please paraphrase for your brother." Her lips twitched. "No use getting his hopes up. Window, bedroom, the chaise. The bed if he's wounded, but not if I'm in it- not unless it is mortal." She supposed she could draw up a nice list of things, just to see his face fall. no- that wasn't good friend at all. "His son misses him." Actually Castor would probably bite him too. He'd gotten more and more grouchy as he'd gotten older. Coming up on 5, Castor was a cantankerous old man-hater.

Marlo sighed, and Jada leaned in towards him. "Don't smother too much. It is a fine line." She knew. They'd toed it, danced around it, beat at the line with a hammer. They had blown the line up, rebuilt it from scratch, and tied it up in knots until the line wasn't sure if it still qualified. The only thing they hadn't done was put it in a box and mail it to itself.

She left her hand in his, let him familiarize himself with it. She liked the simple touching, for now, and she'd pull away when-

Ah. He stopped rubbing circles on her skin and she pulled her hand back a hair, but not too much. It was old habits, she allowed. Not... renewed expectations. "It's fine," she told him after a moment. "Old habits are easy to fall back into." She twitched her hand, inviting him to come back. "I actually came back to the city to sell one of the houses. Not the mansion, but the four-bedroom I lived in when I turned 18. Upkeep and all that, and there isn't really a point to having a house in town as well as out of it. Everyone wants me to start being responsible."

"Please tell me he's getting checked for the Clap on a regular basis." Money? No moral compass? "And got himself fixed." Not that she thought Elzo was going to- but- Oi. That could get messy. But the thought of that- it almost made her spill her tea. With everyone getting married and having babies- she'd seen about 20 of her high school acquaintances carting around- "You and Elzo aren't- You haven't bred have you? Not that it is a bad thing, I mean, congratulations! But if he's a dad- or you're a dad, or-"

"Noworkisfine!" SIDE TRACK AWAY. "Actually, you would be amazed how intelligent some of the women I work with are. I used to think it was beauty or brains, but I couldn't limit myself to just one, and it's a beautiful job. Oh, there are certainly the shallows, but for the most part I have some gorgeous, intelligent peers who are doing what they have to to get where they want to be. They didn't all have my luck. They've worked really hard."

He pulled his hand away and her smile fell a hair, but she quietly pulled her hand back as well. "I think," she told him as she poured out the last of her sake into her small cup, "That if you decide you need to say them, it would be more unfair for me to refuse to listen. Benefits aside (or tossed out the window completely) as a friend you make me feel useful, and needed. And I know you were there for me." Until everything had gotten so damned confused.

Their food arrived, and he was staring at his plate like a kicked puppy. "Chin up, snowman." She told him, and kicked his leg under the table. "The only way the meal is ruined is if you lied, and the strawberry parfait isn't any good. You're allowed to have feelings and talk to me about them." Jada lifted her chopsticks, eying his plate with some proprietary glee. And then snitched victoriously. "Anyways, on to other thoughts, until you're ready to talk again?" An open invitation. That was all she could give him. "Elzo isn't the only one to whom my window is always open."

Speaking of new conversations... "Pollux died," she told him sadly. "He was such a friendly little yapper. Peed all over my carpets though. Anyways, he got out one day and got run over. I think Castor let him out. He always just stared at him with those beady eyes of his. Anyways, I'm thinking about getting a new dog. One of my girlfriends had this cute little rottie mix that I can't wait to meet."

If he wanted to talk about their wounded relationship, it was an always-open topic. But she wasn't going to let him think he'd ruined the meal by having feelings. She scooted her left hand back towards the middle of the table, waggling her fingers at him.