[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/aTEXiob.gif[/img][/center]

[u][b]New York
01:30PM[/b][/u]

“So, I take it you watched Captain America's big unveiling last night.” 

“Show me someone who says they didn't, and I'll show you a liar.” 

“Tell me, what do you think about it?” 

Ted looked up from the chowmein that he'd been struggling gamely with for the last five minutes – all the places to eat lunch in New York, and Veronica wanted to go to the Golden Dragon, a place that didn't keep [b]forks[/b]! - to meet her green eyed gaze. She had a habit of [i]watching[/i] him that he occasionally found hard to bare. 

Strange that, he'd had no trouble meeting the eyes of heavyweight boxers dead set on knocking his teeth out, golden age champions with the power to level mountains, and would-be world conquerors who had killed dozens of people in cold blood, but sit him across a table from a pretty girl and he came over all bashful. 

He reckoned it might be something to do with how hard she was to read. Most people were like open books to Ted, their wants, fears and desires etched across their persons like text in a book. Veronica though, she was something else. It was like her every move was carefully calculated to elicit the desired response from those watching her, an actor performing for an audience. He suspected that she didn't even know she was doing it. Hell, he was half convinced that Veronica Sinclair wasn't even her real name, that her whole identity as a self-made business woman was a complete invention.

Or it might just be, as touched upon earlier, she was drop dead gorgeous. Her dark hair was such seemed to have a touch of midnight, and she wore it free, softening which may otherwise have been considered sharp cheekbones. Almond shaped, summer blue eyes and soft honey skin hinted at an Asian descent. (maybe going someway to explaining the venue) Her attire, a crimson blouse and black pencil skirt, while on the surface demure, was obviously fitted specially to make best display of her natural assets, something that Ted, and every other red-blooded male in the Dragon, couldn't help but appreciate. 

But she had asked him a question, and it was rude to leave her waiting on an answer. He could muse on her past - and her figure - later. He paused for thought, considered his answer, grunted to clear his throat. 

“I think it's just what we needed, exactly when we needed it most.” Veronica's flawless brow furrowed delicately at that, as if it wasn't quite what she expected. 

“Really? Please explain.” She asked, her tone blandly agreeable. If she contested his point, and it looked like she might, then it seemed she wanted to hear his reasoning before arguing him down. Ted respected that. Too many people refused to hear out the other side nowadays. 

“Dunno that I need to. They got Hydra, we got SHIELD. They break out a new Red Skull, we trot out a new Captain America. He was good enough for ol' Reddy last time, he'll be good enough for him this time.” He could see by her face that he wasn't convincing her. “Listen, I ain't an eloquent man. I made a career outta getting punched in the head, for Chriss'sakes, it's a borderline miracle that I can still string a coherant sentence together. I can't put into words how I know that the return of Captain America is right, I just know in my gut that it is [i]right[/i]!”

“But don't you think this is just a SHIELD knee-jerk reaction. A publicity stunt designed to temper the terror that the Red Skull promises to spread? That they've just stuck a spangly outfit on some nobody they picked off the street, and told him to look patriotic while smiling for the cameras?” 

“No.” Ted smiled. The Captain might have been wearing a mask, but Ted could tell that this new guy wasn't just some nobody. The way he held himself, the way he moved, the way he spoke, the look in his eyes when the camera came in for a closeup. All these things told Ted that the new Sentinel of Liberty was just as much a fighter as the original. Maybe even more so. And he meant it when he said he'd put a stop to Hydra, meant it with every fiber in his being. 

“Well, isn't he a little old fashioned!” The former champ laughed aloud, attracting the attention of nearby diners. Veronica was clawing at straws now. 

“Remember who you're talking to, kiddo. There ain't no school like the old school, and there's no way you'll convince me otherwise!” Her eyes narrowed and her full lips pulled back in the approximation of a scowl, as if she just now realized that arguing with Ted when he'd made his mind up on something was like arguing with a particularly stubborn brick wall, but it was only there for a moment before it was gone, replaced by a mischievous smile. Her hand flowed across the table, long, delicate fingers tickling at Ted's big, scarred knuckles.

"[i]'Kiddo'[/i] is it Ted? Is that how you see me? What injury you do to my womanhood." Her tone was so laden with salacious danger that he could almost feel his heart beat a little bit faster in his chest. A series of fantasy's, each more erotically indecent than the last, flashed through his mind, accompanied by an almost animalistic desire to act upon them. 

All that from a mere hand touch and some flimsy allusions to her sexuality. Lord, but it had been a long time for him. . . 

"I didn't think that was the kind of proposition you asked me out for." He bantered in return, though he pulled his hand back, and set it in the safety of his own lap, just to be on the safe side. And so the conversation turned to staider topics, like the state of Ted's trainee's, to Claudio Volpe's recovery, something that Ted really wasn't able to comment on as he hadn't been keeping in touch like he shoulda been. Eventually they reached the subject of Roulette's, and Veronica made her pitch, offering Ted the managers job in a new spot she was opening. It was an interesting offer for sure, made more interesting by her foot, which had slowly began to slide against his leg under the table. 

It took some real willpower to stop himself from agreeing to anything she wanted on the spot. While it was a lucrative offer, with what looked like more potential rewards than just the monetary, he couldn't help but think [i]'is it for me'[/i]. He enjoyed what he was doing now, training up-and-comers to meet their full potential, and if he took her up then he wouldn't get the time for it any longer. On top of that it was primarily a night job, and as of recently he'd rediscovered an old 'hobby' that was eating up all of his night hours. And to be honest, he was pretty well off without it. You don't get to be world champ without gaining a few bucks in the process.

 In the end he asked for more time to think about the propostion, and they agreed to meet up a week later. That done, Ted settled up. Veronica tried to pay, but Ted came from a different generation, and refused to hear off it, even if she did have enough money to buy and sell the whole restaurant two times over. They parted at the Dragon's door, Veronica sacheting down the street towards a taxi rank. Ted watched her go, feeling that old stirring in his loins again. 

"Like two puppies fighting in a pillowcase...." He muttered. With an almost pained sigh he tore his gaze away and turned in the opposite direction. Time was getting on, and he should be doing the same. The Dragna twins were rumored to be making a shake down run that night, and Wildcat aimed to be about to greet them.