O-okay, sure! Oh here, here. [He pulls out a business card and hands it over; it has all his contact details.] You have a good day, Danielle!
[Once she gives him her own business card, she throws a playful salute.] You too, Jack. [With that, she departs.]
[He salutes back before chuckling, and looking down at the card.] Friends with ‘the man’… h-heh. Who would have thought. [Jack pockets the card before moving on.]
[Once upon a time the idea of ‘hanging out’ with people would send Jack into a panic over what may happen. The fear of being around too many people, out in the open, or even in an enclosed space. Even a familiar one. But thanks to Katelyn the idea isn’t nearly as horrifying as it used to be. There’s still some nerves, but Danielle is nice. She didn’t call him a jerk for saying she looked like his mother, so there is that.] Su-sure! That sounds like a great idea, Kate-katelynn really likes making friends so I think she’d love to!
Perfect! [She gave him a warm smile] I’ve really gotta be getting back to work, but give me a call when it’d be good for you. We can work something out.
O-okay, sure! Oh here, here. [He pulls out a business card and hands it over; it has all his contact details.] You have a good day, Danielle!
Mmm! I hope so. [He puts the photo back into his wallet, and sets it back into his pocket. Jack licks at his bottom lip before chewing on it gently, looking back to the dark skinned woman. Jack has to smile before saying awkwardly.] Sorry, just. You look a lot l-like my mother. N-not saying you look o-old I’m just saying she has a skin tone l-like yours and wavy hair! J-just. Just saying that. Oh, uh, I. I mean my a-adoptive mother, I mean. Obviously my. My real mother. Isn’t… [He pauses, frowning before waving a hand in front of his face.] Sorry! I, I’m kind of spacey today…!
[Surprised, Danielle brushes some of her hair back. She’s not offended – the guy’s obviously socially awkward, and is just trying to say something nice.] Hey, don’t worry about it. And, er, thank you. [She considers] Maybe all of us could hang out sometime? I’d like to get to know Katelynn better.
[Once upon a time the idea of ‘hanging out’ with people would send Jack into a panic over what may happen. The fear of being around too many people, out in the open, or even in an enclosed space. Even a familiar one. But thanks to Katelyn the idea isn’t nearly as horrifying as it used to be. There’s still some nerves, but Danielle is nice. She didn’t call him a jerk for saying she looked like his mother, so there is that.] Su-sure! That sounds like a great idea, Kate-katelynn really likes making friends so I think she’d love to!
So do I. [He reaches for the photo again, once he has it he stares down at it with quite possibly the biggest puppy love look Danielle’s ever seen on a ‘Megaminds’ face in her life. Jack taps the photo gently, tone dropping slightly.] B-before I met Katelynn I never used to leave my apartment… I was, I was such a recluse. M-my early life was full of suffering b-because of what I was, so, so I was more or less willing to paint my life away b-but then she came along and began t-treating me so differently to anyone else. She got me o-outside and m-meeting people. I don’t th-think she realizes just how much s-she’s done for me…
[Danielle watches him, and is indeed surprised, both by his look and his story. The versions of Megamind she’s seen so far are far from reclusive, so his story comes as a surprise. What happened to make him that way? Was he like Six, locked up somewhere when he was young? Well, regardless, she could tell one thing loud and clear: this guy had it bad for Katelynn.] I’m sure she will, the more time you two spend together.
Mmm! I hope so. [He puts the photo back into his wallet, and sets it back into his pocket. Jack licks at his bottom lip before chewing on it gently, looking back to the dark skinned woman. Jack has to smile before saying awkwardly.] Sorry, just. You look a lot l-like my mother. N-not saying you look o-old I’m just saying she has a skin tone l-like yours and wavy hair! J-just. Just saying that. Oh, uh, I. I mean my a-adoptive mother, I mean. Obviously my. My real mother. Isn’t… [He pauses, frowning before waving a hand in front of his face.] Sorry! I, I’m kind of spacey today…!
[His face brightens slightly.] O-oh! That’s good! [He hoped they hadn’t met because Katelynn had been doing anything wrong. Then again, this was Katelynn. She didn’t even jay walk, or litter. Not that he did that, but still.] We, we’ve only been together since December twenty first b-but she’s really wonderful.
That’s great! [she replied with a smile. They do seem like they’d be good together. As long as one of them’s actually bold enough to make a move, of course. She suppressed a grin at that thought.] I hope you guys’ll keep on being happy together. [If things had been different, she might have suggested the two of them double date with her and Matt, but given who Jack was, who Matt was, and various other factors, she immediately knew that would be a bad idea.]
So do I. [He reaches for the photo again, once he has it he stares down at it with quite possibly the biggest puppy love look Danielle’s ever seen on a ‘Megaminds’ face in her life. Jack taps the photo gently, tone dropping slightly.] B-before I met Katelynn I never used to leave my apartment… I was, I was such a recluse. M-my early life was full of suffering b-because of what I was, so, so I was more or less willing to paint my life away b-but then she came along and began t-treating me so differently to anyone else. She got me o-outside and m-meeting people. I don’t th-think she realizes just how much s-she’s done for me…
Katelynn Veronica Foster. Um… oh! [Jack pulls his wallet out and fishes in it for a moment before pulling out a photo of her and holds it out to Danielle.] Here, t-this is her.
[She looked at the photo of the brown-haired young woman, and her brows rose.] Hey, I know her. Not well [she amended], but we’ve chatted a few times. [Was this one of the two guys she was talking about, when she asked about how she should choose?]
[His face brightens slightly.] O-oh! That’s good! [He hoped they hadn’t met because Katelynn had been doing anything wrong. Then again, this was Katelynn. She didn’t even jay walk, or litter. Not that he did that, but still.] We, we’ve only been together since December twenty first b-but she’s really wonderful.
Right. Danielle… oh uh. Inspiration? [He strokes his beard in thought, before rubbing one of his piercings in his left ear.] Oh um. Any and everything, really… sometimes I look through m-magazines or just turn on the tv to get inspiration… b-but recently my girlfriend’s been a real big inspiration for me. She’s really helped me open up a-a lot lately. She really likes my art, too… even if my apartment is s-super crowded with my art things.
[She smiled as she listened – shy guys in love were always cute to watch.] She sounds like a lucky girl. What’s her name, if I may ask?
Katelynn Veronica Foster. Um… oh! [Jack pulls his wallet out and fishes in it for a moment before pulling out a photo of her and holds it out to Danielle.] Here, t-this is her.
Ah! [He laughed slightly, putting his hands into his pockets.] M-Mr. Maple’s my father’s name. Y-you can call me Jack, everyone does… w-well there is that one person who calls me J-Jackie-Boy b… but that’s neither here nor there… [He smiles slightly and nods.] It is, yeah… I’ve gotten a lot of work lately th-thanks to it. Normally I just, just paint peoples photographs larger for them b-but now people want to see my personal work.
[She chuckled] In that case, ‘Danielle’s’ just fine, Jack. [She tried not to laugh at the ‘Jackie-Boy’ line. No worse than ‘Dee-Dee’, I guess.] Well, I haven’t seen a lot of your work yet, but what I have seen, I like. Is there anything in particular you look at for inspiration? [Lou, the man she’d been involved with while she was at the police academy, had had dreams of being an artist too. Even if things had ended badly and painfully between them, she did remember some of his talks about how the art process worked.]
Right. Danielle… oh uh. Inspiration? [He strokes his beard in thought, before rubbing one of his piercings in his left ear.] Oh um. Any and everything, really… sometimes I look through m-magazines or just turn on the tv to get inspiration… b-but recently my girlfriend’s been a real big inspiration for me. She’s really helped me open up a-a lot lately. She really likes my art, too… even if my apartment is s-super crowded with my art things.
Nice to properly m-meet you. Um. W-what do you want me to call you, Officer? [The fact a police officer knew of his work was an odd sensation. While he was glad his name was out there, that people could recognize his name thanks to his art gallery, somehow it had slipped his mind people would be seeing his things. Poor Jack hadn’t even been there opening night, instead having been at the hospital with Katelynn because of her accident. They’d been understanding, and had read aloud a speech he’d typed up. Still. He smiled, and nodded.] That’s right.. a-at the Splat! Art Gallery. S-so far I’ve gotten a lot of work thanks to them, people wanting to buy my, my regular art compared to what I normally do for people.
[She shrugged, deciding to play it casual] Well, what do you want me to call you, Mr. Maple? [She smiled as she asked it. If the stammer was anything to go by, the guy seemed pretty shy, and she wanted to put him at ease.] Nice! Publicity’s always great for a career artist, right?
Ah! [He laughed slightly, putting his hands into his pockets.] M-Mr. Maple’s my father’s name. Y-you can call me Jack, everyone does… w-well there is that one person who calls me J-Jackie-Boy b… but that’s neither here nor there… [He smiles slightly and nods.] It is, yeah… I’ve gotten a lot of work lately th-thanks to it. Normally I just, just paint peoples photographs larger for them b-but now people want to see my personal work.
[He lowers his arm and smiles at her faintly. Jack hadn’t experienced much interaction with police officers before, and exactly so since he was a good man who didn’t break any laws or get into fights. He bows his head slightly.] J-Jack Maple. Um. I’m an artist.
Maple … [She tries the name out, seeing if it rings any bells. It does.] Oh, right! You had a gallery exhibition recently, didn’t you? [Danielle wasn’t exactly a connoisseur of the arts – her attitude was “I don’t know art, but I know what I like”. But she’d seen some of Jack’s work, and what she’d seen fell under “what I like”. Didn’t know he was one of the Megaminds, though.] And my name’s Dymond. Danielle Dymond.
Nice to properly m-meet you. Um. W-what do you want me to call you, Officer? [The fact a police officer knew of his work was an odd sensation. While he was glad his name was out there, that people could recognize his name thanks to his art gallery, somehow it had slipped his mind people would be seeing his things. Poor Jack hadn’t even been there opening night, instead having been at the hospital with Katelynn because of her accident. They’d been understanding, and had read aloud a speech he’d typed up. Still. He smiled, and nodded.] That’s right.. a-at the Splat! Art Gallery. S-so far I’ve gotten a lot of work thanks to them, people wanting to buy my, my regular art compared to what I normally do for people.
Jack Maple 