Owner	Pose
Claire Temple	Josie's is oddly quiet for a Monday night, although the relative scarcity of loud screens blaring Monday Night Football might have something to do with it; after all, conference standings loom large before the holidays set in. Claire Temple stops into the pub and breathes in the heady local ambiance of... well, she hopes it's not on the menu tonight, whatever it is. "No frills tonight, Josie," she says as she walks up to the bar. "Just the usual. And a basket of something with enough salt to cure my kidneys."
Kate Bishop	Kate wanders in, and surprisingly, seems like she's not exactly broke. She might not be flush, but for Kate, she's positively brimming with cash. Which is only to say it's mid month and she's not her usual broke, even if it's only twenty bucks or so extra. Truth be told, she'd not actually counted how much money she had left over after the wad of cash Matt had foisted upon her. Spying Claire, the young woman joins her, while gesturing over to the bar to have them send beer. "Oh, hey, what are we having? I can help pay!" Kate grins at the other woman. "I know, who died, huh?"
Claire Temple	Claire raises her bottle in salute. "Well, if you're picking up the tab..." She seconds the gesture for another round. "Not going to refuse such an honor." She shoves some ever-so-slightly stale pretzels into her mouth and cringes at the not quite crunch she gets. Oh, yeah. Bar sweet bar. "What brings you down here to the grubbiest pub in the Kitchen?" she asks Kate, ignoring Josie's sharp look and snort. "I mean, you're not exactly one to seek out stuff like profanity," she says.
Kate Bishop	"Help pay! Help! Not.. oh, nevermind. I probably have enough for the whole bill." Kate laughs. "I'm actually glad I ran into you. Much nicer having a meal with someone than by yourself. Been doing that too much recently." She grins. "And yes, I've been taking care of my arm. As to what brings me down here, well, there's this tall, blind lawyer.." She makes a small face, and nods to the arrival of her beer, grabbing it up and joining Claire in a sip before going on. "Actually, you know him as well as anyone, don't you?"
Claire Temple	Claire nods sagely. "Eating alone is nearly as bad as drinking alone. Take it from a medical professional," she says, waving around the bottom of the bottle for emphasis. She gives Kate an appraising look. "This tall, blind lawyer comes up quite a bit. He does have a habit of doing that," she notes. "I know him kind of the way my hairdresser knows me, but... more viscerally, yes." She peers. "Question like that usually has some interesting stuff behind it."
Kate Bishop	Kate grins. "Now you tell me eating alone is bad. We've known each other, what? A few weeks now, and you were keeping that back. So. Mean." the younger woman laughs. "And yeah. He does come up quite a bit. I was kind of hoping you might be able to help a girl out in the romance department. Like, if you were going to ask him out, how would you go about it?"
Jessica Jones	So now that Jessica has an apprentice in Kate, she's got the benefit of delegating, and so far it's been going well. Sure sometime she takes Kate along to shadow her, see how the pros do it, getting sleezy pics of cheaters isn't just done willy nilly after all. But the benefit of delegating, is more free time for patrolling the bars in the area, Josie being a fav for the low price point. Being a friend of Matt's pays at Josie's. As she walks in, Jess heads directly for the bar counter, ordering a Jack Daniels.
Claire Temple	Claire has a few moments to raise her eyebrows in surprise at the question before Jessica Jones' arrival delivers her from giving an immediate reply. "That's... well, there are probably a couple ways you could do it," she says, as she waves over her shoulder at the other PI. "Hey, you might want to hear about this," she hisses in Jessica's general direction. "You been watching Matt a lot lately?" she asks, looking back and forth between the two investigators.
Kate Bishop	Kate gives a small groan as Jessica not only walks in, but Claire as much as invites her to the conversation. Though, as matters go, there was no way to keep any of this from her mentor/boss. So be it. "Ugh. So we're announcing it to the world, huh?" Kate can't help the groan. "Can we maybe not yell it across the bar? Maybe keep my mortification to a single table, huh?"
Jessica Jones	"Feh, watching!? You'd think I was stalking or spying the guy, we're just friends, we meet, he forced me to do more good than I intended...it's a hate, hate kind of relationship," Jessica snorts, taking her glass in hand, as she moves towards Claire and Kate to join them. "So...what amazing Matt Murdock mystery can I solve for you guys?" She offers ever so casually. Jessica laughs at Kate's reaction, "that'll make your skin harden, it's good exercise, keep getting embarrassed in public long enough, and eventually you'll learn to not give a fuck. I mean, just look at all the fucks I don't give, it really made me improve my life a whole lot."
Claire Temple	"We can keep it to a single table, sure, or we'll try. But if you think you're mortified now, wait until he's sitting there... paying close attention to you," Claire says, downing a swig of beer. She picks up a handful of pretzels and starts slipping them into her mouth. "You won't get away with much, that's for sure," she says. She turns to regard Jessica with a gleam in her eye. "You might not be watching Matt a lot, but it sounds like she is. Looking for some social time, maybe. Any thoughts on... ah, how best to go about that?" she asks. "Figure with your road tripping and all..."
Kate Bishop	"Yes, but Matt has a brain to mouth filter that JJ doesn't have," Kate mutters. Because it's true. She does, however, shuffle over to give her boss room. "You make it sound so tawdry. Can't a girl like a guy without it becoming a circus sideshow?" Then to Jessica, "And holy crap, you know, it's probably a good thing I don't swear. If we both were doing it? The office might spontaneously combust. I just don't think the entire bar needs to know I'm asking dating advice, m'kay?"
Jessica Jones	As some of the people currently sitting at Josie's know, Jessica is a PI, she doesn't need being walked around in word circles to get to core of something that's being said without words. "Ah, so Kate got the hots for Matt, is that it?" Jessica asks, mercilessly levelling her gaze on Kate, looking quite amused as she makes her assessment. She moves to sit next to Kate, grinning, "so it is what we're discussing, good." She looks Kate up and down, and quips, "off the get go, you're not his type, you're not likely to try and kill him, right? He dates psycho killers who often try to end his life, that's at least the dating history I understood so far...he's pretty crazy. Buuut, having said that, he's also a Catholic," Jessica drums her fingers on the table, as if mulling it over, before nodding, "yeah, that angle will work, Matt will appreciate what a Sandra D you are, Kate." Jessica takes a swig of her whiskey, and then finally gives Kate an actual advice, "invite him for coffee, or otherwise, ask if he minds spending some time. Tell him you want to know more about Elektra, about how he's doing, he is grieving at the moment, remember?" Jessica looks at Kate, as if to make sure Kate truly understands that part, "you don't pounce on a guy after his girl just died...but show him you're on his team, show him you care, that'll give you an opening later on when he's ready." Yup, Jessica Jones, a certified love doctor, just look at the broken trial of hearts most of her investigations leave when she exposes cheaters. It'll paint a prettier picture than her own excuse of a love life.
Claire Temple	Claire winces and makes so-so motions with her hands as she hears Jessica's instructions. "Maybe not so much about Elektra... she's a sensitive subject," she says with a grimace. "He's picky about his coffee... he's picky about a lot of things, but stuff pretty much tastes weird for him. Might be just fine getting him a beer," she says with a shrug. "Just play it easy. Guy can be ridiculously skittish sometimes," she says with a snort. "Without fear, my ass. Anyway, this is a stamina thing. Plan on taking your damn time," she says.
Kate Bishop	"You two suck at this. Seriously so." Kate just shakes her head. "And maybe not so much the hots as he's interesting. And to be frank, I have someone I want to get off my mind, too. I figured maybe we could be good for one another." Then she scowls at JJ. "I am not a Sandra-D. I do lots of bad things. Just because I don't swear. Orrrrr kill people - and there is no proof that killing people makes you any better at fighting crime than anyone else, let me tell you - does not mean I wear poodle skirts in my spare time and put my hair in pony tails." She makes a noise. "Fiiine, I put my hair in pony tails, but you keep it out of the road when you're shooting arrows. Ever have a hair catch in fletching and rip from your head? I think not. Or you'd put it back in a pony tail, too. My point being that I'm not as pristine as you think I am. Oh my gosh, why am i even arguing this. Are we twelve or something?" "This," she mutters. "This is why we weren't having this conversation across the bar. I like the guy. I want to ask him out. I know Elektra just died. That's kind of the point. Oh wow, I sound horrible, don't I?"
Jessica Jones	Jessica, being ever helpful, because when you think helpful you think Jessica, suddenly offers to Kate, "do you want me to just tell him that you're into him? There's a shortcut for you." But then Kate ruins it all by saying she is merely interested in Matt, and not much more, "well, if it's that simple, why not just tell him straight out you'd like to get to know him better? Like to learn about him more? Or heck, want to learn a thing or two from him? If you choose the bible he'll never shut up...seriously." Jessica listens to the flustered Kate fending for herself against the 'Sandra D' claim, looking a bit preplexed, and when Kate asks if they're 12 or something, Jessica quips, "you can utilize your burgeoning PI skills to, perhaps, take note, that you're the only one arguing here...I made a statement, and clearly, it pushed a button. I'd say my observation skills are as good as ever." Has anyone ever blamed Jessica of being annoying? Because she can be annoying. "You do," Jessica is being just the best of buddies right now to Kate, "it's customary to lay low for a while, you know, give me a chance to finish mourning before seeing if he's ready to date again..."
Kate Bishop	"Fine. You pushed a button. Why does everyone think that being a decent human being means I'm some candidate for the convent? Like who do you all hang out with that I'm the level of nice you point to as something to look up to? You all clearly have no idea of what I do, do you?" She downs her beer and shakes her head. "Not to mention, Miss Burgeoning PI skills, you're not doing so hot on that front yourself. Unless you really think I'm so crass I don't know the man needs a period to mourn. I saw how crappy he looked after she died. Remember me? No. Maybe you didn't know I'd been dropping in on him. Or that I did work for him. Or that we did a couple missions together. You tell me, though, why Sandra D wouldn't be giving him space to mourn, or didn't just go in with the Florence Nightingale I'll be your shoulder to cry on hoping he'll just notice me. Liiiike that worked with the last guy I had the hots for. Oh Em Gee why are men so stupid anyway?"
Jessica Jones	While Kate unloads on Jessica, the veteran PI responds by simply downing her entire glass, before slamming it down on the table and snapping, "a bottle please!" Her eyes veering right back towards Kate, "go on, I'm invested," she assures the younger woman, though her eyes do seem to glaze a bit. When she's finally done with her outburst, all that Jessica says is, "you're really insecure, anybody ever tell you that? Because you are, work on that."
Claire Temple	"Convents come up a lot with him, somehow," Claire says with an offhand shrug. "Very Catholic. And if you get him on the Bible or any of it, you'll be there a while... Lawyer and all, he can speak from it all day," the nurse notes with a roll of her eyes. She finishes off her beer and starts the next. "If you're into that, go for it. Otherwise..." The pretzel basket now nearly depleted, Claire holds it up and points until Josie acknowledges, and then she sends back a quick thumbs up before returning to the conversation at hand. "And being insecure with Matt... well, shows. He *notices* things."
Kate Bishop	"A bottle? You best be sharing." Then again, she could just order another beer, though this conversation was beginning to feel like a bottle of scotch. "I know. Matt likes women who are face forward and not only secure, but don't let him get away with any of his crap. He hates himself just a little so he needs someone to tell him off every now and then so that he can balance that fine line between being a martyr and a hero. He doesn't kill because he can't figure out where that fits into things, and it's not just the Catholic thing. I think it's his father, too. I'm not sure, but I think he mixes things up there, the whole killing is a sin, and killing would make him as bad as his father, only worse, because he hates his dad for doing that to him even as he idolizes him." She flicks a glance over at Jessica. "How am I doing?" "And fine, I'm insecure. I'm insecure about a lot of things, and especially men. I don't know what they want. I thought I did, but it didn't work. At least not with the guy..sss.. I wanted to notice me. Most of them are about as deep as a sheet of paper, and I don't want that. Only the rest of them.. oh, maybe you're right. Maybe my dad is right. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking this is the world I belong in instead of that other, only I'd rather shoot myself in my own foot than be stuck with one of them for the rest of my life. There isn't enough scotch in the world for that, and you think JJ there drinks a lot."
Claire Temple	After a long sigh, Claire gives a slow nod. "Well... he's a lot deeper than a sheet of paper," she says. "That's part of the problem. Sometimes you have to yank him back from the deep end." Beyond this, she's quiet. Let the PI's sort it out if they want, she decides for herself with a small huff. "If you're too forward about what you want, you'll either scare him off, or you'll get him to think of you the same way he thought of Elektra, and that's not necessarily the best thing in the world for him," Claire says after a few more moments. "Give him some space, or else he'll be coming to me to ask about how to deal with you." She points at Kate with the mouth of her bottle. She turns to look at Jessica. "You need to ease back the coaching from level twelve, Boss," she jokes. "Didn't you get all this figured out when you were wandering around upstate at Xavier's?"
Jessica Jones	Jessica really is trying her best not to show any signs that anything is wrong with her, so far she's been doing tremendously well, and Matt for the most part seems to have been the only one to notice. Kate was quite close to pushing buttons in turn, quite inadvertantly, and a bottle of scotch is the perfect remedy. That said, Jessica masks it much better, because she's not wallowing in insecurity. Which is the assessment she made about Kate, regardless of it being true or false. When the bottle gets there, Jessica downs about half of it, before handing it over to Kate, "sure, I'll share..." When Kate asks Jessica to grade her analysis of Matt, Jessica looks at her, stalls in silence, "not bad, some assumption, but drawn off a feasible basis. I wouldn't bring up his dad in conversation with him." "It's a flaw, you can work on it, mine was taking shit from fuckfaces that don't deserve it. I worked on it, don't do it anymore. Just work on that insecurity." Is all that Jessica shares with Kate, and if Kate didn't take that bottle, she'll snatch it from her and empty it out. So...was Jessica ok and as chill as she appeared? Maybe, she does drink a lot after all. "The secret is, guys want to fuck you. It's true, it's a fact, deal with it. You want something deeper, you need to work hard for it...find the guy who doesn't look at you as 'that girl I wanna fuck tonight'." She sounds quite bitter as she slams that empty bottle on the table, "because that's not how you get a relationship, that's how you get a one night stand..." and as she starts to walk towards the counter to pay Josie, she stammers, "speaking of which, if any of you fuckers think you're tough, and wanna fuck, I'll be holding interviews outside..." now if she'd have said that in a welcoming tone, maybe Jess would have some takers, she certainly got some people's attention. Problem is, she sounded like someone who is about to unload on someone like a punching bag, which loses much appeal, as she turns to leave the bar.
Kate Bishop	Kate waits till JJ has exited to turn to Claire with a frown. "I think I punched a few buttons myself, there, only I'm not sure which ones." She nods to Josie for a second beer, though the way she's feeling, a pitcher might be more like it. Heck, that bottle of scotch, even, but she's not sure she has /that/ much money in her pocket, so maybe just the beer. She does point to the pitchers, though, and nods. That'll do it. "Thing is, I know most of that already. I just can't, fine. It's not all guys. It's one guy. I couldn't get one guy to notice me. The rest can jump in a lake. I really could care less. Besides, they're all playing the same game. They want rich eye candy to drag out to parties and my name is the right one. They could care less. They'd have a chippy on the side before the ink was dry on the pre-nup. Heck, before the pre-nup was even necessary. Anyway, doesn't matter. He's not interested in me. He has a girl. It's all water under the bridge. This thing with Matt is different. I was probably stupid to bring it up like that." She doesn't say why it was stupid, but it sounds like there are reasons.
Claire Temple	"Oh, yeah, there are always buttons," Claire says with a sigh. "This guy, we always end up with buttons. You'll learn that," she says, frowning slightly. "Matt... well, the thing about Matt is that everyone figures he's fair game. Elektra, hell. Outside that, everyone figures they can flirt all they want, because they don't think the blind guy will pick up on it." She rolls her eyes. "Rule number one, blind guy picks up on everything," she says as she stands up and puts her purse over her shoulder. "I can't emphasize that enough. He's more perceptive than most people, and that's on just about anything." She takes a deep breath. "So if I were going to give you advice, it'd be this -- take it slow, don't push it too much, and give him room to come to you." She finishes off her last beer and crunches a couple pretzels before waving. "Oh, and be careful how much gets back to your boss..."
Kate Bishop	Kate sighs over her newly arrived beer. "Because waiting for the last guy to come to me worked. So. Well. Not." She shrugs. "No worries. I hear you on Matt loud and clear, but I'm pretty sure I knew that flirting thing already. Kinda creepy if you ask me, like it's okay to flirt with the blind man in ways he can't see? Duuude, that's just weird." She mutters to herself. "Next time I ask a guy out, it's going to go a lot more smoothly than this. Kinda late with Matt, though." She gives Claire an apologetic sort of look. "I know. Why'd I even ask then. Reasons. Okay? Reasons. Catch you later, Claire. I'll be by to have my stitches out."