Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake)

Subject: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:37 pm

After finishing up at the pizzeria -- Victoria had managed barely half of her pizza before she felt queasy, and had offered the rest to Jackson, he'd looked at her incredulously for a moment before doing what all men did when given food. He'd devoured her pizza as well as his own, looking much more relaxed after that. Jax paid for the food, and they left, heading back to his flat.

As promised, Jax had given her his laptop, and she'd stopped all of her cards, and notified her phone company that her phone was lost. They stopped the phone from being able to be used in an instant, and told her to head in to the store the next day to pick up a new one. From there, Victoria had sent an email to her mom and dad, to Jake, and then to Grayson, denoting that she was okay and had lost her phone on her journeys, and wasn't ignoring any of them.

Her ID would be one that she would look at tomorrow, as she needed time to look in to the process of sorting that one and her head was hurting much too much to continue looking at the glaring screen before her. Taking the laptop through to Jax's room, the witch found him sleeping -- out for the count if the soft snores were anything to go by -- upon his bed. Leaving the laptop on his bedside, Victoria looked to the laundry pile he'd spoken of earlier, and carefully lifted it up from the room.

After closing the door, Victoria had sorted through the mountain of clothes, putting them in to darks, colours and whites, before putting the first of many loads on to wash -- making sure not to shrink anything in that moment. The witch had left that to go, turning instead to her suitcase to pull out her wash bag and a towel before retreating for a shower after such a long day.

An hour later, and her hair still more than a little damp, Victoria had gotten herself comfortable on the sofa, and fallen in to a much needed sleep, trying to work out what she was going to do tomorrow.

***

The next morning, Victoria was awake early. The bedroom door was still closed, so she took that as a sign that Jackson was still asleep, and the clock on the wall gave him good reason. It was six in the morning. Victoria got up and put the kettle on, before searching the cupboards for something edible. As Jackson had said only yesterday, there was a left over pizza -- Merlin knew how long that had been there -- and a number of microwaveable meals which would not be suited for breakfast.

With a frown, Victoria had looked around a little more before coming across some money -- only twenty dollars, but money. She hesitated, before reaching for the envelopes that had stacked up, and a random pen.

If you wake up whilst I'm out, I've not run off. You don't have any food in the cupboards. I'll make you breakfast when I'm back

And, I will reinstate the $20 I found as soon as I get my card.

Victoria

With that, Victoria had left the house after pulling on some casual clothes -- picking up Jackson's key on the way out and heading a short way down the street to a shop. She picked up some bread, eggs and bacon, as well as getting some milk because she was quite sure there was something growing on top of Jackson's, before heading back to the flat.

The bedroom door was open, denoting Jackson was up, and the shower was going. Her note had not been moved from where she'd left it by the bedroom door, but she was sure he would have read it. Not bothering to let him know she was back, Victoria set to work on making them both breakfast. Jackson emerged in a towel, but Victoria let him get on with what he was doing, only speaking to him to let him know breakfast was ready less than half an hour later.

Jackson had headed off to work only moments after finishing his breakfast, but Victoria didn't mind. With him out of the flat, it allowed her time to sort herself out. She noted her ID to be missing with the government, and got a new one issued to her -- she'd borrowed the phone to hit up a contact in the British Ministry to get it put on an account for her, seeing as she couldn't pay online. With all the legal information sorted just after midday, Victoria had looked around the flat.

Jackson Blake lived in a pigsty.

It was with that resolve that Victoria set about her work over the next couple of days. The witch, much like her mom, had always liked things just so. Room by room, Victoria had taken to deep cleaning the flat. The bathroom had been the first point of call -- her first shower had made her feel somewhat ill with the various hairs from the man on one too many crevices, and men... men did not have a good understanding of the toilet, and keeping it tidy. There had been a number of times Victoria had heaved as she cleaned the bathroom, but when she was done... the place was gleaming.

The kitchen had been the same. Victoria had cleaned the bad food out, cleaned the fridge and the oven to ensure future prep would not be hazardous to those eating. She'd deep cleaned all the pans, and trays for cooking, and collected all of the plates, glasses and cups from around the flat and bleached those that had been growing some kind of mouldy specimen within them.

When Jackson had arrived home that evening he'd looked... a little uncertain with what she'd done. Victoria knew she was... mildly overstepping, but she'd pointed out she hadn't had anything else to do that day, and this had been soothing for her. It had made Jackson relent, whatever the case.

They'd eaten one of the many microwaveable meals Jackson had without much comment on what she'd done, and Victoria was vastly accepting of this point.

The next day was the same. The lounge area was tidied of all the old takeaway boxes, the hoover was brought out to clean every surface possible -- crumbs went everywhere -- and the witch scrubbed the couch until it looked as good as new.

Jackson's bedroom had been the falling point. She didn't want to intrude, truly, she didn't, but she had done every other room...

Victoria had stripped Jax's bed, and laid it out with fresh linen, she'd tidied the clean clothes that had come through from the wash away in his cupboard, or in to his wardrobe, and then she'd dusted and hoovered the place. Everything had been put away tidily, and it smelt... well, nice, as opposed to smelling like sweaty man.

Jackson didn't seem to be too uncomfortable with it -- though she wouldn't pretend he was comfortable -- but he hadn't told her off for it. Perhaps he was glad of it, in that moment, or maybe he didn't wish to hurt her feelings, whatever the case of the matter had been, they had not spoken of it over their dinner of the lacking in taste microwaveable meals.

It was probably her request for a small loan, so that she could buy him some 'decent' food, that wasn't processed, and actually had flavour that put Jax's back up slightly. Victoria knew that they needed to talk about how long she planned to stay, or how long she was welcome, but she was enjoying being busy. It might only be a small flat, but it had taken Victoria two whole days to clean it thoroughly enough to look this good. Perhaps Jax understood that much, for he'd pulled out his wallet and given her $50 to get food. Whatever deity had pushed Jax to agree was enough for Victoria to leave Jackson alone for the rest of the evening as he did... whatever it was Jackson did with his time.

Victoria had done the shopping Wednesday morning, coming back to the flat laden with bags of fresh food. She had a plan for the evening's meal, needing to get as much flavour back in to her body, as well as vegetables, Victoria had prepared a hearty lamb stew with dumplings for them that evening before returning to Jackson's mountain of laundry that had now turned in to ironing. The afternoon had passed quickly with music and the ironing board as company, and as the time neared for Jackson to come home, the witch prepped the green beans and carrots to go with the stew.

A small stack of letters -- one quite thick and very official looking -- sat on the table with the knife and forks for their dinner, and as Jackson opened the door, Victoria pointed this out to him.

"You've got some post on the table. Dinner will be about ten minutes. All your laundry is done, I've put it away for you in your wardrobe." Victoria called out, not turning from the kitchen as she served up the dinner. It smelt divine, and Victoria hoped it tasted as good as it smelt as she plated it up, picking up both plates and heading to the table to set them down. "Lamb stew, dumplings and veg. I needed something hearty... I hope you enjoy it. Mom's recipe." Victoria explained, giving the man a small smile that she hoped would show she was a little nervous about whether he would like it.

"Did you... have a good day at work?" Victoria asked carefully. She didn't want him to think she was trying to get in to his life, no no, Victoria just wanted to talk to him, find out about him. But, if the last three days were anything to go by, conversation was not going to be big on Jackson Blake's agenda. "There's not long until the vote now. As a Republican you're going to have your work cut out to take a Democratic stronghold, but a number of sources are suggesting you might just be able to do it."

There, the foundations were down as she tried once more to get to know how his career was going. He knew hers had failed, and the internet gave her something of an insight to his. But hearing it from Jackson would be better. After all, he'd achieved so much, he should be proud to share it.

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:11 pm

The ride home on Sunday evening had been relatively uneventful in that neither party spoke much and the radio filled the silence in the car that still smelled freshly cleaned. Car radios, thank the stars they existed. When they'd finally pulled back into the parking of his little studio, Jackson had kept his word pulled out his shiny black laptop from its crevice in the living room entertainment unit and keyed in his password, leaving it on the kitchen counter for the witch to use. It was only after he'd retired to his room to change that he remembered his wallpaper was still the picture of himself, Sasha and Merida from last Christmas.

Jackson had fully intended to stay up and run a list of rules by the princess for as long as she was staying here. She had to know the law of the land she now lived of of. He had every intention to tell her what she could touch and what she was expected to leave be. But somehow the list of hard rules became fuzzy in his head and then he was fast asleep just before eight o clock. Unlike last night, Jackson slept without as much as a turn, waking up at eight to his alarm and forgetting all about his house guest. In fact, the first reminder that he was no longer alone in the studio was when he emerged from the shower to the smell of fresh eggs and bacon.

All the rules he had intended to sit her down and enforce on her vanished as a happy grin sprouted on his face. "Morning kiddo, you made breakfast," he noted, not even stopping to consider where she had gotten the ingredients. The note she had left on his door went unnoticed as he returned to his room to change for work and then came out again to devour the plate of food she had gotten ready. It was only as he was leaving that he realized... he was wearing clean clothes. The little Goblin had done the laundry too.

Monday was the usual grunge at work, people coming in from their various activities, miserable that the work week had begun. Usually Jackson would be among them but fresh clothes and a good breakfast made a huge difference. Not that he would ever tell the princess that, she probably just wanted to eat herself and fed him out of pity. Though to be honest, he was running out of food, he was deserving of pity. Maybe he could try and hit the grocery store on he weekend...

The main topic of conversation on Monday was the upcoming fundraiser on behalf of the public schools trying to keep up with three new charter schools in the area. And like all good politicians, Jackson had to pretend to be in favor of said public schools. Of course he wasn't opposed to them, they were the cheapest, most convenient source of education in the country. But Jackson's opinion on the establishments were the same as his opinion on day old Chinese takeout. You ate it if you were hungry enough, but threw it out if you could afford something better.

He didn't notice a lot of difference when he returned home, taking a shower and then sitting down to dinner. Afterwords, he would have usually watched TV or played games but since his living room now served as the Goblin's nest (seriously, had she decorated the couch? it looked more comfortable than his bloody bed!), he decided to go running. Not having worked out since Saturday, he changed into his sportswear and headed out the door, announcing his exit loudly behind him.

After two hours of vagarious jogging and parkour, the man had returned tired, devoured a premade protein shake he kept in the fridge and gone to bed, too exhorted to make awkward conversation. Tuesday had gone much the same way with the exception of breakfast - the princess had made pancakes.

It was Wednesday morning over French Toast - seriously, Jackson could get used to this part about having to share his living space. It was almost worth the hassle of watching where he went and having to put on clothes at home - that she asked for some money for groceries. This informed him of two things, she intended to cook more and that she had yet to replace all her bank cards. For a moment, Jackson considers telling her no, and that takeout was just as good as home food, but his stomach wouldn't allow such a lie. The fucking toast was too good. So he caved and gave her a fifty, along with e ride to the shops on his way to work. The grocer - who always looked surprised to see Jackson anyway - stared a fair few extra seconds at the girl coming out of his car. Just great.

With the fundraiser approaching on Saturday, Jackson had to go over his travel details with the logistics department. He was due for another three days on the road next week and he had rather hoped to start Saturday morning and come back Monday night. Now it looked like he would have to delay it to Sunday noon since the fundraiser would likely go over midnight on Saturday.

"Jackson, focus," the had of logistics snapped as Jackson's head dropped with the details. "And can we fly Sasha in for this tour? It would really help for them to see you as a committed, nice guy." The mention of Sasha had him alert once more, alert and on edge. Over the last few days, he'd been so wrapped up in the princess's troubles, he'd hardly had time to think of his own.

"Umm, no," he answered, trying to find a reason why his minor girlfriend touring with him would be a bad idea. "I... She has school, I think. Early classes. You know how English people are freaks."

"Fine," the woman opposite sighed. "Can we at least get someone with a pair of boobs to stand beside you at the fundraiser? I'd do it myself but I can't make the event, Susie has a recital."

The rest of the meting was dedicated to discussing the cities they'd be stopping at on the campaign trail until it was finally time to call it a day. Jackson left his office with a mildly pleasant feeling inside him, unsure if was just the result of leaving work or the anticipation of a cooked dinner.

The place smelled amazing, he would smell whatever she was making from outside the house (which meant she had probably opened windows but he was too comfortable at the moment to tell her off for that). The same happy grin crept on to his face as he opened the door and announced himself in.

"You've got some post on the table. Dinner will be about ten minutes. All your laundry is done, I've put it away for you in your wardrobe."

"Good job kiddo," he called out, removing his jacket and leaving it half hanging off the couch. She had said ten minutes, so he might as well sit here and wait instead of changing first. Making his way to the table where the promised stack of letters waited, he reached to open the first. An invite to some hospital thing, boring. A letter renewing his insurance policy, blah. A form asking if he'd like to renew his subscription to PlayWitch for the next year, this the man quickly hid inside his trouser pocket. Finally, Jackson set about opening the biggest package.

A stack of neatly bound papers fell out, the heading on the front page declaring it a lease. His name was printed in big block letters along with the name of the seller he was buying from. This had been the final contract the agent had promised over two weeks ago. Jackson would have called to yell at her had he himself not been caught up in various engagements himself.

Opening it tot eh first page, the wizard had just begun reading when his housemate pronounced dinner ready. He quickly shuffled all the papers aside to make room for the plates she brought in, his mouth watering at the prospect of tasting that delicious smell.

"Lamb stew, dumplings and veg. I needed something hearty... I hope you enjoy it. Mom's recipe."

"If pwety gfood," he managed around his first mouthful, or his second, or third. She would have to surmise his enjoyment of the meal simply by how he was eating since words were beyond him at this point. It was only after he'd finished half his plate that he had a chance to address her question. "Work was okay, everyone's just busy prepping for a fundraiser on Saturday." Unsure of how much to tell her, or how interested she would be, Jackson returned to his plate before he remembered something else.

"Oh and this Sunday, I'm going away for a few days on tour. We're hitting Madison and a few neighboring cities. Think you can keep yourself busy for three days while I'm out?" The question was rhetorical of course, she would have to stay occupied somehow, speaking of which.

It had taken three days for him to notice but Jackson Blake finally had.

"Did you tidy up a bit while i was gone?"

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:43 pm

The way Jackson always called her kiddo frustrated Victoria immensely -- it hadn't when they were children because... well, she had been a child. Now, she was a fully grown woman, and not someone who should be labelled as a child. Just because she was small, due to her medical conditions that had stunted her growth as a child, did not mean the nickname was okay. But, even though it was vastly frustrating for Victoria to be called 'kiddo', she did not move to correct Jackson.

And... perhaps underlying to that..

No, Victoria brushed that thought away as she emerged with the two plates, setting one down in front of Jackson and then taking her own seat. Her eyes moved to his post for a moment, the bigger package in the pile had looked quite curious, and the address it came from was a solicitor in the area (thank you Google). Knowing better than to ask openly about it, though, Victoria's eyes returned to Jackson who was devouring the food as if he had not eaten in weeks.

An unimpressed look touched the witch's features as he splashed gravy around his face in the moment just before her spoke of how good it was. A smile touched Victoria's lips, proud of herself for at least managing to appease his appetite if he hadn't noticed anything else that she'd done around the place. "I'm glad you like it. There's enough for seconds, if you're really hungry, otherwise I can find something to put it in so that you can take it for lunch tomorrow." Victoria told him. "Or, I'll eat it tomorrow." She added, making it known that he was not expected to have the rest if he didn't want to, because she would not insist upon such things.

But Jackson simply carried on eating like a pig, leaving Victoria simply watching him with a raised eyebrow, trying not to laugh at the image because it was just... comical.

"What's the fundraiser for?" Victoria asked automatically when Jackson explained they were prepping for something. She was interested, but as he started to speak, she took to eating some of her own food, much more delicately than her companion of course, but enjoying it just as much as the boy before her was.

The next sentence though made Victoria pause and contemplate. She'd tidied the apartment as much as she could, so keeping herself busy for three days... "I'm sure I can find something to do here." She said with an air of indifference. "There are a number of museums I was meaning to visit. Mom should be receiving my cards tomorrow the email said, so she'll send them here... I should have them by Saturday." She explained, making it clear that she would be able to look after herself. Though... the idea of being alone for three days, even if their companionship had been silent and not a great deal more over the last few days... it had been reassuring after the events of the weekend. Jackson's presence was a security she hadn't realised she needed, but one that she had had.

To admit that, though? No, Victoria wouldn't do that.

It was the last question that brought a grin to Victoria's lips. Finally, he had noticed. "I did. I hope you don't mind. I thought... well, it's to say thank you for everything you did for me." Victoria explained, relieved he wasn't mad about her touching his stuff.

"Anything interesting in the mail?" She asked, motioning to the mound of paperwork that was protruding from a large envelope. He didn't have to share, of course, but he might allow her a little bit of information. If not... well, she could take the hint.

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:16 pm

When the witch informed him there was room for seconds if he'd like them, Jackson merely shook his head. If she didn't know by bow that he would definitely take seconds, she was really something else. Maybe inviting her to sue his couch was not the worse decision he'd ware made. And with every bite of this stew thing, it was getting less worse and worse.

"Public schools in he district," he informed her when she asked what the fundraiser was about. "We've had two more charter schools open nearby this yea and parents who can afford it are pulling their kids from public schools to enter them in the charter ones." Itw as probably the most comfortable he'd been in the time the princess had stayed here. And the topic of conversation was not soemthing he mined elaborating on.

"Thing is, the more kids pulled from public schools, the less state and federal funding it gets for the kids that actually stay. Back in 2018, the Equal Education Act was passed by former education secretary Betsy Devos that took funding from public schools to allocate it to wherever the department saw fit." And the department had seen fit to give that money to private and charter schools, leaving public schools to go fund themselves.

"Since then, local schools had to get creative on how to make more money. Some schools went through extensive program cuts like arts and music, others started hosting events to get money. Some cut down on staff and made students serve lunch and take up janitorial duties, anything to keep the lights on and the teachers paid." Jackson could perfectly understand why parents would want to enroll their kids in charter schools, who wanted to empty trays in the cafeteria as part of the syllabus? But it wasn't the public school's fault it couldn't get funding, and that was where the community came in.

"The fundraiser's at the Pfister, just a dinner and some speeches," he added before returning to his nearly clean plate. His campaign had already set aside the fifteen grand for donation, just enough money to make him look good and not hurt him too much. Holding up his hand in the universal gesture of a moment, he got up from his seat and went to the kitchen, returning with a second helping of whatever it was she made.

"Anything interesting in the mail?"

"Nah," he waved off her comment, taking his seat once again before amending that statement. "Actually just the contract for this place I brought in January." Suddenly, the comfortable air around the table vanished. The house he had seen with Sasha... it was such a long time ago. Their futures had seemed so certain then. "I guess I should send o to my lawyer at some point..." he trailed off, unsure where to even go from there.

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:54 pm

At the explanation of the fundraiser, Victoria's interest piqued. Schools, or more specifically children, were a point of interest because they deserved the world. They deserved an education -- an equal education in Victoria's opinion, but she knew that in reality such an opinion was a dream and unattainable when money still held it's power.

Victoria was, however, grateful for Jackson's lack of assumption on her knowledge on the subject because she hadn't known of this new act. In principal, it sounded great, but Victoria was more than aware that just because laws, or acts of government sounded good, they likely weren't as good as the masses perceived. Without Jackson mentioning it, Victoria could see the floor in this one, the funds were being sent to places that commanded more power, or to gain influence, not heading to the places that needed it. Had Victoria not been aware of the short falls of many other similar cases she may have missed it, but she knew this one.

"The fundraiser will definitely help towards some of that," Victoria commented after Jackson listed some of the consequences. Children should not be serving food, or cleaning their schools. They were there to learn. What on earth were the government thinking? Why not just put the money where it was needed? "Will you be working towards shifting the funding, if you're elected next month?" Victoria asked, before quickly adding. "I haven't had time to read your manifesto, but I will." To make it known that she wasn't trying to catch him out, or put him on the spot with his views.

The sign came that she had to hold on though, and Victoria did so, watching the man get up from the table with a triumphant smile as he collected a second helping of their dinner. In his absence, Victoria took the opportunity to eat some of her own meal, thankful to have a few moments where she wasn't being watched as she ate.

Jackson was back only a couple of moments later, though, a fresh plate of steaming stew before him, probably the same amount as she'd first served him, give or take a few lumps of lamb.

The question Victoria had posed upon his return was one that Victoria could feel the tension grow in the room. She'd overstepped, and she wished she could double back and choose a different route to have taken in that moment. Whatever was in the post was not something Jackson was looking forward to, for some reason. The mention of a house, though, made her wonder why a house would not have him looking especially cheery. That question, though, was not for right now. That was much too personal.

But the lawyer side...

"If you want... I can look over the contract for you. I've done a number of cases on property law. It would save you a sizeable fee. It would give me something to do whilst you're out of the house tomorrow, and I can liaise directly with the sellers to ensure that you don't get bogged down with the legalities whilst you're getting ready for your fundraiser..." Victoria trailed off, realising she'd jabbered a little bit too much just to try to get her hands on a 'case'. Almost three months had passed since she'd been able to do this much, it was like a lifeline being thrown at her, so close she could grab it and run.

Her eyes remained on Jackson in that moment, clearly needing this just to prove to herself that she could still do the job she'd trained so hard for. Victoria was sure he wouldn't say no... but there was a chance...

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:49 am

To her credit, the princess actually listened to his explanation of how public schools had landed in the situation they had. And she didn't just listen to be polite, or to keep herself from speaking like most other people did. She seemed... interested? Nah, maybe the food was making him hallucinate.

But it did give him an idea. What was it Helen had said about a pair of boobs? The witch opposite him certainly had those, Somewhere. And he supposed she could look halfway decent if put in a dress... "You can come to the fundraiser if you like," he offered, mostly glad to get the logisticals off his back. "I have a plus one invite and I don't... have a plus one right now. If that's the sort of thing you'd like, the Pfister has decent food." If she agreed, that was one thing crossed off his list.

When she asked if this was an issue he was going to address, Jackson swallowed his mouthful of stew, put his spoon down and looked at her seriously. He could have given her the short answer of yeah, he would try his best. But if she was going to be around him for any period of time, she should learn how things worked in his area.

"That's the question I - and every aspiring politician - most often get. What i as an individual in a position of power, would do. And the honest answer is, nothing." Waiting a moment, he continued, not caring if he dashed her happy bubble of ponies and sparkles. "No one individual can do anything, but because its what we'r asked, we've learned to reply with eh stands answer. Lets take this school issue for example. If I get elected to the senate I would first need the constituents to care enough about this issue to approach my office. With enough of them unhappy, I could in theory propose a motion which will then stay on the Senate floor for years before anyone looks at it."

The idea might be horrifying but Camoens had to tell her the truth of how change really happened in this country. Not always, never in a timely manner and most often to benefit the one percent. "Then suppose by some miracle my bill gets bipartisan support - something that no longer exists - or a favorable government pushes it through if my party rules the House and Senate, the actual wording and structure would be reviewed, which can take more years. The very likely scenario is that out few surviving public schools would be beyond repair by that time, and charter schools would have made sleazy back door deals to take in all kids on added debt to their parents which will cripple the families for the rest of their lives."

Jackson paused once more, letting her fully appreciate the seriousness of the problem. Fundraisers were well and good but they were a temporary fix. And despite knowing that, the government encouraged them, showed up to them, donated a pittance and got to pat themselves on the back for doing so. "But knowing all this, yes I would still put forth a motion," he admitted, returning to his stew. "More fool me i suppose."

When she asked if she could look at the contract, the seriousness of the moment dissipated almost immediately. The idea of this childlike thing looking over official legal docents was enough to make Jackson chuckle. And as she continued going on about big words and liaising, he had to try his best not to straight out laugh at her suggestion.

"You want to give it a try?" he asked, amused that she thought she could handle such technical work. "Sure, you can make it your pet project while I'm gone. But once I get back, I'm sending it to an actual lawyer." The wizard grinned at his own joke, glad that she had found such a humorous way to clear the air.

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:35 am

The offer of attending the fundraiser threw Victoria completely. She had certainly not expected an invite to be extended her way from Jackson, and Victoria didn't know why he thought that she would be a good plus one. The witch did not know politics, she would not even pretend to know enough about the subject for which they were fundraising, but... they had four days.

"Do you have something I could use to read up on the current standings of the schools in this area, and can what was the Act you spoke of?" Victoria asked. "I'm not coming without some research because I wouldn't wish to look stupid in front of others. And, well... it's good to know what you're fundraising for on a deeper level than 'the kids aren't getting their funds'." Victoria replied to the offer he'd given her. He might laugh, not take her seriously, but Victoria would keep a straight face throughout that, before waiting for him to take her seriously. She was not going to go without due preparation for the whole thing, certainly not, not if the man she was attending with was up and coming around here, Merlin knew her own lack of knowledge could look bad on him, something she refused to be the cause of.

Jackson explained how the whole thing would work, if he were elected, not being able to do anything unless a movement was made, and even then, it would likely get held up by the offices. A light frown touched Victoria's features, this was not okay. If it was a matter of importance it should not be sat around waiting. And the idea of the school ending up doing backhanded deals was unsettling, though the witch understood. Merlin knew that was what had happened with her own dismissal, though that had not been so much as backhanded but right out in the open.

Jax was sending technical term after technical term at her, though, and try as she might, Victoria couldn't quite keep up with everything he was saying. Politics was another language, but Victoria refused to be overthrown by terminology that wasn't in her comfort zone, she'd stuck through the language of law, she could manage politics, too. The important part, though, even after Jax had explained that all of this was going to end up pretty fruitless, was that he admitted that knowing that, he would still fight for the rights of the children and their education. A smile touched Victoria's lips as she looked at the man across from her in that moment, a genuine one that showed... perhaps a little bit of admiration for his work. "Well, at least you will fight for the children, even if it ends up being in vain." She told the man softly, deciding that even if Jax couldn't give her the necessary information to look in to this, she would do it tomorrow when he left for work.

It was the amusement that came from her suggestion that hurt, though. Victoria sat looking at him disbelievingly as he laughed at her offer, before throwing her help in her face with the notion he would ask an actual lawyer to look over it after she'd finished her pet project.

"Why would you need to do that? I am a lawyer." Victoria told him firmly, obviously more than a little bit annoyed with the man before her now. "I worked for the biggest firm in the UK three months ago, Darby International. Unless you're sending this paperwork to Specter Litt in New York, you won't find a better lawyer. And certainly not one that will do the work for you free of charge."

With that, Victoria speared a carrot with a little too much gusto, causing a sharp screech to fill the as her fork slipped across the plate.

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Subject: Re: Keep Holding On (Jackson Blake) Sat Apr 28, 2018 2:19 am

"Do you have something I could use to read up on the current standings of the schools in this area, and can what was the Act you spoke of?"

"Uh... you can borrow my laptop?" he answered her question with one of his own. What did she expect, the living room wall to open and reveal a secret library? Google should give ehr enough information on charter schools in general and how more and more were cropping up in Milwaukee, taking up kids that normally would be going to public schools. Honestly Jackson wasn't expecting her interest in the fundraiser to be that that way and so wasn't sure how to help.

"You know, you don't really have to say anything at these events. Sash- I mean, people just go in, eat, clap, come out. Preferably with their wallet a little lighter." He had almost let slip that Sasha had always attended his political gathering as the perfect date, quite, pretty, uninterested. But if the kid wanted to do homework, who was he to stop ehr. It would keep her busy at any rate.

Sh was Wormwood Royalty after all.

"You'll need some kind of dressy thing too," he reminded her before she got too excited about the learning process. There were a few emergency gowns a he office, she could borrow those he supposed. Though they were for actual adults, not miniature goblins.

Now, Jackson would be the first to admit he was no king of subtlety. He failed so much at it that he even failed to see it when others applied it - though that was the point wasn't it? However the Princess' anger was so unsubtle, he saw it right away, and it made him want to laugh harder. She was so tiny... it was hilarious when she got annoyed. Touting ehr position at some law firm, she insisted she could do the job and Jackson was too busy trying to stifle is laughter to reminded her she must have been fired for a reason then.

He wondered how she'd gotten the job in the first place. Or was the firm indebted to charitable donations?

"Alright you have a point," he finally admitted, the laughter still obvious in his dark eyes. "I can't pay those New York asshats, so you can look it over. But don't be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck, okay?" In retrospect, maybe his tone was slightly condescending, but what was she expecting? He certainly wouldn't believe her to be a high powered lawyer, look at her!

They finished the rest of their meal in amicable chatter, him still amused an her residually annoyed. It wasn't a bad way to spend the evening at all. In fact, Jackson was so full after dinner, he skipped his evening workout routine and headed straight to his room.

"Oh, and don't do the dishes, I got them," he warned before heading off for his shower and change into pajamas. Home made food was delicious but it came with the burden of dishes. And she had cleaned up the studio some so he supposed he could wash a few plates.

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