lily pads (tag: anyone)

Jackson very much likes ponds. Or the lakes back home in Seattle, those had lily pads in them too. It's rather fascinating how they can support the weight of something as heavy as frog and still remain afloat. They're just really cool to look at too, though. It's really quiet. Wow, he needed a girlfriend. Maybe he'd find one. Maybe she'd be into hacking. A guy friend would be cool, too. People to relate to would be even better.

Cleo swatted a fly away from her face, nose wrinkling in distaste. She kept jogging though. No point in quitting her workout because of a few pesky insects. She slowed down when she saw another figure ahead of her, sitting by a lily pond. Looked like a young man--with very poor fashion taste. He seemed a little distressed, though, so she slowed to a stop next to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, panting from her jog.

Jackson didn't hear the girl run up beside him, so when she spoke he jolted in surprise, looking up at her. "Huh?" He hummed. "Oh. Right. Yeah, yeah, I'm good." He looked her over. She was pretty hot. Probably way too high standard for him. "You're jogging?" He snorted. "That's pretty funny." He really did think so. She looked the type of girl who worried about her skin and her nails and what the UV index was.

Cleo lifted her chin at his comment. Here she was concerned for him, and he was making fun of her! "And why would it be funny? Are we not here to become agents? I'd think that would involve plenty of physical exertion." She looked him up and down, smirking a bit. "Unless you are more of a 'behind the scenes' man, no? Vous êtes comme un triste, nouille molle. Not everyone will get the higher risk missions."

Jackson shrugged, "I figured someone would want to relax before they decide to start training. That's what everyone else seems to be doing, and then here you are, training anyway. Do you not like fun?" He teased. Jackson stood, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "A soft noodle?" He snickered to himself. "'A sad, soft noodle'." He repeated. "I've never had anyone call me a noodle before. Being behind the scenes is pretty great, though. You get to leave chaos without anyone even knowing who or what it is." He looks her up an down. He definitely would fuck her. "Tu es comme une chienne totale." He commented.

"We won't be relaxing come time for our missions. And fun is not a consideration then, either." She declared, folding her arms. As much as she liked a good spa day, an agent would not have time for dalliances. They would be in life and death situations, after all. Her eyebrows shot up when he understood her insult, but her surprise vanished in light of his counter insult. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at him. She had an urge to claw at him with her manicured nails, even if she could see merit in his method. "Le mieux que vous rencontrerez jamais." she retorted calmly.

Jackson rolled his eyes, silently running his mouth and making a talking motion with his hand. "Seriously, what are you? My superior? Chill out, and take the pole out of your ass." He smirked at her surprise to his reply at her insult. He could see her tense in anger and only felt pride in that. "You running your mouth with insults in French because you have to or you want to?" Jackson arched a brow at her, "Cause it's pretty annoying." Can't she just stick with one language? Geez, that was tiring.

Cleo snorted derisively. "You're one to talk." She said, folding her arms. "And I just slip sometimes, okay? Mostly when assholes are annoying me." She gave him a sharp look before turning on her heel to walk away from him and the pond.

"Have fun with your fellow toads!" That showed her to not stop to help someone. And here he'd looked like a nice guy...

"Asshole?" He echoed, giving her a boyish grin. "You really think so?" She clearly thought so, and he definitely knew so. Jackson's eyes followed her as she began to walk away. Eh, she was no fun anyway...but neither was the pond. Hell, it was actually a shitload of fun messing with her. Jackson caught up with her, walking backwards. "I prefer the term 'frog', because what if my princess comes to kiss me one day?"

"Yes, I do think so!" Cleo said loudly. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard more footsteps, and frowned when he fell into step with her. She rolled her eyes and walked faster. Why had he decided to follow her? Just to see if she'd murder him? A few more snide remarks and she might have sent him somewhere unpleasant.

"Uh, as if anyone with self respect would kiss you." she told him, keeping her head high. "Your personality is a very effective repellent, I must say."

"That was the goal I was shooting for." Jackson teased. She was really upset. That made Jackson chuckle. That was really funny. "My personality fulfills its intended purpose, what about yours? Is their any sort of systematic way that you have dissected your personality into?" He inquired. "Act this way for when you're home, and another way when you meet assholes, and another way when you meet girls? No offense but you look like such a snob." He snorted.

Cleo leveled a glare at him. "Snob? Would a snob have stopped to check if you were alright? To see if you needed help?" She said, curling her hands into fists. She needed to remember her lessons. It wouldn't do to get in trouble before training even started. She was a Hassan, for Pete's sake! She should've been living up to her parents' example, not fighting with an arrogant prick.

"And for the record, most people DO adjust their behavior around certain people. Friendly with friends, ruthless with enemies. That sort of thing. It's called being a human."

"All right, all right, drama queen." Jackson said offhandedly, waving a dismissive hand. She was seriously so sensitive. "So touchy." He sort of found her sparky attitude attractive, though. He was sure he should probably stop messing with her before sets him on fire or something. But it was just too much fun. And she was quite beautiful the more angry she became. "Well what do you call friendly but ruthless, that's what you're being right now. I'd like to label that humanity too if that's all right with you." He winked.

Cleo's laugh was icy. "Drama queen? Oh, so original." The pathway was leading them through a more wooded area, and the trees were starting to close in. Maybe if she took off, she could lose him. Then she'd have her peace of mind back.

"Call it whatever you like." She said, rubbing her temples. "Don't you have something better to do besides bother me?"

(OOC: OH well since it's like that xD)

"Asshole wasn't very original. At least I narrowed it down. You used such a generic term, it's only fair. And I didn't argue with you on it, either. You shouldn't with me since you know it's true." Damn, he'd never met a girl with more attitude than her. "Actually," Jackson glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, probably since you dislike me so much." Jackson paused, "But then again, this is a ton of fun." He smirked, "Lighten up, will you?" He paused. What was her name? Eh, oh well.

((YASSS headbutting! xDDD))

"Lighten up? Ha!" Cleo looked up at him, her frown growing. "I'm a fucking DELIGHT. When I want to be." She'd had lots of parties before. Lavish ones. Full of fun people. Cleo waved her hand in front of her and a portal opened up, dropping a water bottle in her hand from her fridge. "But you'll never know, if you keep this up." she said before tipping her bottle back.

"A delight," He echoed. "Yeah sure, okay. Probably delightful to all of other sophisticated people you hang around sipping your drinks at cocktail parties like fifty year old politicians and discussing foreign affairs as if you really give a shit. Absolutely delightful." Jackson teased, except it didn't really sound like one. "Ooh, you throw stuff through portals, do ya?" He watched her drink from the water bottle. Probably convenient for stealing. "That’s awfully...nifty." Jackson raised his pierced brow at her, "So I still have a chance to know, huh?" Jackson considered this a few moments. "Besides 'keeping this up' is just my personality, babe. Sorry." He grinned devilishly at her and winked.

Cleo nearly crushed her water bottle when he teased her about cocktail parties and politicians. Did he recognize her? Granted, her parents had done their best to keep her off the media's radar before they died. But being a young orphan heiress was too good to pass up for magazines and tv shows. Yet another perk of the island--no surprise photo ops.

"Y-Yes, I can. And it is." Cleo said, turning away from him. She glanced back at him, and noticed the piercing hiding under his eyebrow. Wow. Woooow. Trying too hard. Yup, way too hard. Totally not cute or anything. She rolled her eyes at his antics. "Don't read into it."

Cleo's dodge of Jackson's first statement did not go unnoticed. He bet it were probably true, she looked the part anyway. Mmmm, maybe he’d have a peek into her life later. Then when she said not to read into it, well now he definitely had to! "I’m definitely going to read into exactly how big of a party animal you are. Definitely." He scrutinized her a moment before offering her his hand from his its place on the hip pocket of his slacks. "Jackson Jekyll. Like Jekyll and Hyde."

"Oh, for Pete's sake..." Cleo muttered. Did he always go to such effort to annoy people, or was she just that lucky? "Party animal? Hardly." She narrowed her eyes as the phrase turned over in her mind. Read into it? Did that mean he was going to look for stuff on her? Well, maybe he'd forget later. Get bored and find another plaything and never think about her again.

"Cleo Hassan." she answered as she shook his hand. "You have a most unfortunate surname. Must be awful being associated with such a monstrous character."

Jackson rolled his eyes, "Surprise, surprise." He rolled his eyes. She looked way too prim and proper for being a party animal. That was definitely one that went without saying. "Cleo," He echoed, yanking her hand and pulling her against his chest. "Like Cleopatra." Still holding on her hands in his, he put his other hand on her back to hold her to him. She was quite soft, he had to admit. "I don't think of him as monstrous. Just misunderstood." He smirked devilishly at her.

Cleo yelped as he dragged her to him. Her first thought was that he was gonna hurt her. She'd been warned about such things before, by her parents and her sister who'd dealt with it herself. She instinctively opened a portal beneath them, and she only had a moment to glimpse the water below them and take a breath before they hit the water.

It wasn't as cold as it could have been, she supposed, it being warmer weather. But it was still unpleasant. It wasn't long before she felt the bottom against her feet and she kicked off, heading for the surface. She gasped for air once she was up, and as she sputtered, she looked around for Jackson. 'God, please don't let me have killed him!' She thought.

"What the-" By the time it clicked in Jackson's mind what she'd done, the ground had already disappeared under the both of them, and cold water bit him at every inch of his body. He never really learned how to swim, but the concept was pretty logical; and the pond was shallow. Jackson broke surface, coughing and glaring at Cleo, "What the hell? You can't take a joke?!" He reached around for his glasses, snatching them up when he found them and moving to exit the water.

"You scared me!" Cleo shrieked. "I've only been doing this a few years, I slip sometimes!" She followed him out of the water, albeit at a distance. It was embarrassing, though. She'd wanted to make it seem like she had better control--no slips even if she was scared. No doubt others would know now.

"And yes, I can take jokes." She said, then added under her breath, "Just ones that don't get in my personal space..."

She kicked off her soaked shoes, hating the feeling of them. "Still, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever princess." Jackson rolled his eyes, unamused. He pushed his soaked and now stringy hair back, out of his face. Geez, didn't the people here at least have some idea on how to use their powers? "Having sex with you must be a dream then." He mocked, still unamused as he walked over to some grass. Sitting in dirt wasn't a good idea. "Pft, yeah right." He pulled off his socks and shoes. They were such nice sneakers too...Jackson proceeded to pull off his sweater vest and bowtie, discarding it in a pile on the ground. Jackson raised a hand to Cleo, "Look, princess, I don't do apologies, all right? Let's just forget about it." He wasn't even in the mood to flirt with her...until he realized how nice she looked soaked in water. Her clothes were sticking to her body. I wonder if she looks even better naked... He thought absently to himself.