CALM BEFORE THE STORM;;Jon&Scarlet;;

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

He could practically feel the curious gazes of the people inside the restaurant, just watch him sit out on the wide sill of the large window. There was nothing that said he couldn't be there, but even he was finding it awkward to have the unpleasant sensation of having his back stared at while he waited. He would have sat on the curb, but he didn't like the look of it, even if was was the polished street outside Circa. At least he was still allowed to wear jeans, and didn't have to suffer the heat in a tie and jacket. Still, he was looking fairly formal in a button-down black shirt that , thankfully, stopped at the elbows, and there was no hint of his leather jacket anywhere- nothing that said he was trying too hard, but still leaving the right impression behind.

Every so often he brushed a hand across his forehead, trying to make sure he wasn't sweating too much. His hair was a little longer than usual, but he didn't mind, just as long as it wasn't sticking up as if he had just gotten out of bed. Which he really hadn't- he had been up hours before, making sure that he gave himself time to get ready, and to get to the right side of town before Scarlet and her father, who she would be driving in from the airport. It seemed that he had arrived too early, but he didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. Seattle might be against the water, but the heat was ridiculous. He kept checking his phone, as if this would make it more bearable to wait, before standing up suddenly, unable to sit still a moment longer.

He had experienced his fair share of doubt and tension when it came to even thinking of being introduced to anyone's parents, but it was nothing compared to how he felt knowing that it was about to happen. It wasn't the same as considering it from the safety of Scarlet's dorm room- three days ago he would have readily agreed to it, and now he had to sudden urge to walk away down the street and pretend he hadn't been there at all. This waiting was making him feel vaguely ill- it was too melodramatic to think that there would be some sort of confrontation where he was deemed unworthy, right? Her dad seemed like a cool guy, but Scarlet's fawning descriptions could only take him so far before he had to make his own assumptions and find something to really worry about.

At least now when he looked in the window, he could tell that people had lost interest in the weird guy sitting just outside. He only wished that that was his biggest concern. Questions raced around and around his head, and he frowned as he glared down the street. At least when Scarlet arrived he expected he'd be able to go along with however she chose to introduce him, and her presence might make him feel a bit more relaxed. With a sigh of frustration he punched her number into his phone, holding it up to his ear looking none too pleased. It went straight to messages, but he just assumed she had it off for the drive. He took another deep breath. Relax. They would get there soon enough, he just had to appear composed- he had time on his side...sort of.

[/blockquote][/size]

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

Scarlet was late. Oh jeeze, she was so late. But this time it wasn't her fault! Her fathers flight had landed a little later than expected, and she had forgotten her phone back at her dorm room. So she had no way to contact him to tell him that she was late, so she hoped to the gods that he wasn't upset with her.

It took all of 30 minutes to meet her father, collect his luggage, and get to the proper part of town. While she was driving, he stared at her, as if she had a million heads. Finally, she just sighed loudly, and rolled her eyes.
"Say whatever you want to say, dad." She laughed softly. The old man just shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair, looking out the window.
"You look thinner. Sick, almost. Are you okay? Is it this boy of yours?" He looked back and frowned. Scarlet bit her lip and shrugged.
"No. He's making me better, now. We just got into a big fight a little while ago... He needed to take care of some things. Kind of like how you went away to talk to mom a few years ago." She stared quietly out the front window, turning onto the main strip.
"Because I still love her." The man said quietly. "It's just the whole... I love you more, thing." He laughed softly and patted one of her hands. "I wouldn't leave you like that for forever. I promise. You're my life." He kissed her hand and nodded, before letting it go.
"Ew, dad. Don't get all mushy. We're about to be in public." Scarlet parked just outside the restaurant, and got out of the car, locking it when her father was out. Scarlet was dressed up in a nice high-waist shirt, some wedges, and a tank top tucked inside the skirt. Her hair was pinned, but not too fancy, and her father was just in some nice slacks and a blazer that matched.

When Scarlet caught sight of Jon, she walked up happily and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek.
"Sorry I'm late. His flight was delayed, and some person tried to take his luggage." She held tightly to his arm and kissed his cheek again, before turning and motioning to her father; the 6'6" man that was standing behind her.
"Jeremy Lancaster. The hard-ass who raised this one." He thumb-motioned to Scarlet and smiled brightly, holding out the same hand he used to motion with. "Nice to finally meet you. Scarlet's told me wonders about you." He nodded happily and shook Jonathan's hand, before motioning to the doors. "Shall we go inside?"

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

As soon as Scarlet's car rounded the corner he shot to his feet as if burned, just standing awkwardly by the windows. He could make a vague impression of her father through the tint of the car windows, and when he stepped out, Jon knew enough to not be shocked by the lack of resemblance between father and daughter. There was however a kind of connection that only became evident when they both smiled, obviously comfortable in each other's company, that made it clear that these two were family.

Jon looked away from the man as Scarlet trotted around the hood, beaming, to hug him. She looked amazing, of course. He leaned down slightly to catch her in one arm, glancing over at her father again for only a second. As he straightened, he nodded in greeting as the immensely tall Mr. Lancaster approached.

"Jeremy Lancaster. The hard-ass who raised this one."

Jon finally cracked a smile of his own, losing a bit of the wary expression he had unknowingly been holding on to. He took the man's offered hand, shaking it firmly with a muttered 'nice to meet you'. He was lucky that he didn't redden easily under the praise, though he did slant a look of slight disbelief Scarlet's way at her father's apparent happy nature and the probably exaggerated picture he had been painted of his daughter's boyfriend.

"Shall we go inside?"

He knew this was his cue, and sidestepped out of Scarlet's hold on his arm to get the door. "Yeah. Yes, sure." He clamped his mouth shut, carefully looking off into the restaurant before following them in. They were led to a table just a little way from the window, where Jon hung back, surreptitiously trying to gage where Scarlet was going to sit. When she drifted to one side of the table, opposite her father, he pulled out her chair, pretending not to see the look of vague surprise.

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

Scarlet smiled brightly when Jonathan pulled out her chair, laughing a bit as they all sat down at the table. Jon was being such a gentleman; her father would see right through it, most likely. But he wouldn't say anything. He wasn't one to get angry for someone trying to better themselves for his daughter. He was pretty impressed with how Jonathan was acting, and even commented on how a young man such as himself should loosen up a little bit or else Scarlet might get bored of him-a joke, of course-but there was some truth. If he changed too much, Scarlet might not like him anymore... Or she might like him more. Relationships were too complicated about things like this. Scarlet was going to keep it as simple as she could for as long as she could.

Dinner was a bit quiet during the appetizer. Scarlet was too busy stuffing her face with nachos. For some reason, she just couldn't get enough of the cheese. It tasted like heaven on earth.
"Slow down, Scarlet. You'll get a stomach ache." Her father warned. Scarlet laughed and rolled her eyes, waving a free hand in the air.
"Stomach ache? I haven't had one of those since I was seven... Not from eating, anyway..." She shrugged and dipped the nachos into some salsa, then the sour cream, before putting them in her mouth. "Man, I love nachos." She giggled and looked to her father, then to Jon, before excusing herself for the bathroom.

Once she was out of earshot, Jeremy looked to Jonathan and tilted his head.
"So... You've been dating a while, huh?" He smiled and took a bite out of a nacho.

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't hungry, but paced himself anyway. It had nothing to do with how he ate- he wasn't a slob- but he was trying to make the appetizer last so that Scarlet and her father could talk among themselves. To say nothing at all would come across as rude, but he was finding it hard to summon up some way to involve himself in the conversation without completely embarrassing himself. He offered a weak grin at Mr. Lancaster's joke, casting a brief look in Scarlet's direction; he had often wondered the same thing, but that was only in connection with his usual behavior. If either of them had been a little more 'normal', his new act should have come as something welcome. It was hard to tell how she felt about it though; she certainly deserved a good boyfriend, but had never really directly asked for anything close to it from him.

Eventually the meal got quiet. Jon frequently glanced over to the petite demi-god shoveling in nachos, willing Mr. Lancaster to not direct his attention over to himself. There seemed to be no need to worry, given Scarlet's desire to down the entire plate by herself which soon brought everyone's focus to her. When she excused herself with a look between Jon and her father, he tried to catch her eye with a glare of his own- was she leaving him here on purpose? He supposed he shouldn't be so unfair- he had agreed to learn more about her, and what better way than to talk to her father. He didn't know where to begin though, and had already run out of random places in the restaurant to divert his attention to.

"So... You've been dating a while, huh?"

He nodded once, but he knew it wouldn't cut it. Maybe it was the stereotype of protective fathers, but he just couldn't seem to relax despite Mr. Lancaster's friendly smile.

"Yeah," He cleared his throat, taking a drink of water. "Yeah, since the accident actually." He made a face, feeling the cold weight of dread that was his list of forbidden topics- yes, Jeremy knew about Scarlet's face, obviously, but Jon had mentally made up a list of things he wouldn't bring up, to avoid awkward silences that eventually led to unwanted questions. So far the only safe topics had to do with Thaedeus, hobbies, and how great Scarlet was. But those were the least likely to be talked about, too. He couldn't blame a parent for wanting to know about their kid who lived in another country, especially when that kid happened to be some sort of magnet for trouble, himself lumped in with the trouble department. He wanted to make up for his mistake by changing to topic, but there was nothing he could make a subtle change to.

[SCARLET JOOK-LIANG LANCASTER]

Jeremy blinked slowly at Jonathan's comment about the accident.
"Accident?" He chuckled softly, quirking an eyebrow. "Please. Don't insult my intelligence. I've known what that school really was years before Scarlet was even invited to join other people... You know. With.. Special... blood..." He paused and shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "I know what really happened. And I don't blame you. Actually, I wouldn't have minded if you beat the guy up. But, you know Scarlet. All about keeping the peace." He waved his hand and chuckled, before taking a sip of his beer. In all honesty, he knew pretty much everything that went on with Scarlet's life. Though she omitted some things about sexual activities and the fact that her and Jon had taken quite the break for the past month or so. It was kind of mess, so Scarlet thought it'd be better to leave that out of the mix.

After an extensive trip to the washroom, Scarlet returned happily and sat next to Jonathan, taking his hand gently, underneath the table.
"Didn't scare you too much, did he?" She looked at Jonathan and smiled brightly, tilting her head. Sometimes she worried about leaving the two alone; even though there wasn't really anything to hide from Jeremy. He's was a pretty open guy anyway, so the thought of actually keeping something from him... Kind of mind-boggling. He was a cool guy to have as a parent. A little awkward when it came to sex-talk, though.
"I was very nice." Jeremy chuckled and looked up as their waitress passed, asking her for another beer.

[JONATHAN WARNER BRASS]

He supposed he should be happy that Scarlet's father knew what had happened and wasn't losing his mind over it. The fact that his daughter had suffered that sort of trauma while she was supposed to be under the protection of the school would warrant some bitterness, but Jon felt his expression slip from calm attentiveness to a smirk. He couldn't tell how he was supposed to react- but for a second it sounded like the students were something worse to Mr. Lancaster than other 'normal' human beings. 'Special blood'. Surely he didn't think any less of his own daughter- Jon leaned back in his chair, forcing the thought from his mind. He was being paranoid, looking for anything to complain about. Things were going well.

"I know what really happened. And I don't blame you. Actually, I wouldn't have minded if you beat the guy up. But, you know Scarlet. All about keeping the peace."

Jon nodded slowly, suppressing the urge to mutter 'you're telling me'. Good to know that she had not shared the exact details of the end of that story, but now he was left with nothing else to say. He could have brought up anything, the weather, the weather even, but instead he found himself just willing away the time by glancing up every so often looking for Scarlet.

When she finally came back to their table, the main courses were ready and being set in front of them.

"Didn't scare you too much, did he?"

This time he smiled, shaking his head as she took his hand underneath the table. Now that she was back he could raise a topic without worry that he might cross a line or something. After a pause he seemed to find his voice again.
"So, you've never told me what its like to live in Vancouver." He looked between Scarlet and her father, waiting for them to dig in first.

The rest of dinner felt like it passed in a blur. He wasn't tired or anything, but was focusing so intently on keeping his best foot forward and trying to analyze Mr. Lancaster's reaction that he sparred little thought for the time until his phone chimed loudly from his pocket. He flipped it open under the table to see a bright reminder of where he had to be. He glanced up first at Mr. Lancaster, before turning to Scarlet with an apologetic twist of his mouth. Luckily for him dinner seemed to be over; the waiter was already heading over. Jon stood amid the back-and-forth of who was paying for dinner (he offered, just like the dependable boyfriend he was meant to be) but Scarlet's father firmly declined.

They made their way out of the restaurant, Jon hand in hand with Scarlet. Out on the sidewalk he shook hands with Mr. Lancaster, quietly thanking him for dinner, before turning to Scarlet. He had his back to her father to avoid any awkwardness as he bent down to kiss her lightly on the lips. Pulling swiftly away, he fished something from his back pocket, holding it out to her as he straightened up.
"I had this made for you." He pressed the little paper envelope taped shut into her hand, suddenly looking a little worried. He stared intently at her for a moment, before glancing away, still speaking softly. "It's a key to my apartment, you know...only if you want it." He gave a small shrug, not doing a very convincing job of hiding how much he wanted to see her pleased. Obviously the answer wasn't something that was going to make or break their relationship, but it was a step toward making amends once more, and he wanted to see her reaction anyway.

He had almost turned to go after giving her the key, before something occurred to him.
"I'm off work tomorrow night, but I won't be back until around noon after this shift," A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, pushing away his concern for the moment. "I've got some things to take care of, but you'll be able to spend more time with your dad that way." He gave her a quick hug as his phone chimed again, reminding him he had to leave.