pitchslapped | First date

"How about a little wager then, Mrs. Miyagi. Loser cooks a meal for the winner. I bet I do at least one romantic thing tonight that shocks you," Jesse said. He actually did feel a sort of real worry that this would all seem old and boring to her but there wasn't really much to be done about that.

"I'm willing to be shocked," she says, taking his hand again, guiding their hands behind her so that his knuckles bump against her ass as they walk.

Jesse was very, very aware of where she had moved his hand placement and thought that was really awful of her. Not in a genuinely bad way, although he would have to say something if she took it too far.

"You are terrible, you know that? Do I tell you that in the future that you're terrible?"

Beca glances at him, all wide-eyed innocence.

"All the time," she says. "But I never, ever know why." And then she affects the most ridiculous pout that she can manage.

"That is the most unbelievable pout I have ever seen," Jesse said with a laugh. She looked kind of adorable but also so very wrong. Beca absolutely did not pout. The innocent look had been pretty good though.

She squeezes his hand and leans her shoulder against his for a second.

"Is it much further? If I'd known we were walking miles I wouldn't have worn stilettos."

"Sorry, I forgot you're old and can't walk far. Lucky for you it's just around the corner," he said, pointing to a little place that had a sign out just down the street. The bar itself was in the lower level with a small flower shop up above it.

"The Blue Trombone," Jesse explained. "Fantastic food and even better music."

"Jazz, food and dinner," she says and she's actually pretty delighted by the choice. "One day, I'm going to make you walk somewhere in heels and see how you like it. I know you've put on a vest and everything, but it's not exactly suffering is it?"

"No one made you wear those heels," Jesse said, although he could definitely appreciate how she looked in them. He imagined that by now she could probably do some pretty awesome dance numbers in shoes like that.

Helping her down the stairs Jesse opened the door to the club, the music snaking out into the street like a living thing. Since it was jazz, maybe it was. The club straddled the line between being swanky and run down. Nothing in the place was new but it was all lovingly cared for, from the polish on the wood to the people playing up on the stage.

"So what do you think?"

"I think..." She pauses, scanning the room - the stage, the little tables, the warm glow from the wall-lights - and it just strikes her as such a Jesse sort of place that it makes perfect sense that this is where he brought her. "That it's a pretty perfect sort of first date place." She leans up and kisses his cheek. "So far so good, nerd."

"Future me is so jealous right now," Jesse said, following the hostess to a table tucked back in the corner. It wasn't too close to the band but that meant they'd be able to hear themselves talk better, which was a specially good trade off for a first date.

"So how is the job search going? Found anything that seems interesting or is it all looking like you're going to be the hot, snarky barista?"

"I guarantee to you that future you is not jealous of dinner," she points out as she slides into her chair, arranging her skirt around her legs as she does. She immediately reaches for the cocktail menu. "Actually! I think I actually found something! Which..will totally still involve making coffee but there'll also be music involved."

"Well he definitely is about that dress," Jesse said. Although he would like to think that future Jesse would also be impressed with the date as a whole. Mostly he just wanted Beca to have a good time.

"Really, what did you find?" He asked, genuinely excited for her. Beca absolutely deserved to be involved in the music industry and he hoped she found something good.

"It's only an internship," she says, hands up in surrender. "But they are paying me. He is. Jamie. He's going to pay me to answer phones and do bookings, make coffee. Eventually, maybe I'll be able to get some studio time."

"Only an internship? Beca, you got an internship at a music studio, with zero references, in just a few days. That is awesome," Jesse said, grinning at her. If she wasn't going to get excited about this then he definitely was. He had no doubt that she would be able to work up to something better in no time. As long as she believed that she deserved it.

"It's mostly going to be making coffee," she says, smiling, blushing a little at how pleased he is. "But it's a start, right? I'll be in a studio. I'll be helping make music. That's totally something."

"Just like college was supposed to only be a semester?" Jesse asked. He had no doubt that whatever Beca did with music she was going to be great at it. He was perfectly happy to remind her about it. By the way she flushed a little though he knew she appreciated the support. "And I just realized, you got completely shafted out of your diploma and degree by coming here, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I actually did," says Beca. A waiter comes by and she orders a cocktail she can't pronounce the name of. "I was about five minutes from graduating. Still. I know Music Production enough to land a job so...it's not like a need a piece of paper."

When the waiter came by Jesse ordered himself a craft beer, figuring it was best to avoid the harder stuff for the moment. Besides, being a jazz club there was a good chance they might get a decent contact high.

"I think it's pretty safe to advertise yourself as having a degree in Music Production," he told her. "But you're right. I doubt you're going to need that to get the job you want."

"We'll see how it goes," she says, holding out her hand to him, wiggling her fingers. "I guess I'm going to be answering the phone a lot at first."

"Also, I bet you could get some DJing gigs on the weekends if you wanted," Jesse said, his hand sliding across the table to hold hers. It was such a simple way to have contact but he understood that since right now it was all they had, she would want it a lot. "DJ Toner, guaranteed to raise the roof."

"DJ Toner?" Her eyebrow twitches, and she grazes the pad of her thumb along the length of his. "Really?"

"Okay, maybe it's a work in progress, I'm just staying I'm sure you could get gigs," Jesse pointed out. He knew that it wasn't what Beca really wanted to do but he knew that she loved doing it. It was fun watching her get excited about it.

"You could also help me on the sound mixing for my movie, if it ever gets out of development hell."

"With the stuff at your apartment, maybe. I don't have any of my mixes with me but I could start putting things back together." She pulls a thinking face, eyebrows drawn together for a second before what he says sinks in and her eyes widen. "You're making a movie?"

Jesse was pretty sure that Beca could get a decent side business going in a pretty short time but that was up to her. He would suggest or encourage but he wouldn't push something like that on her. When she asked about his movie he made a bit of a grimace and ran his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, there's not exactly a thriving movie industry here so I figured if I'm going to score a movie I'll have to make it myself. I raised funding any everything but it's been a nightmare trying to get all the proper permits."

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