CHILD'S PLAY, quentin beck

IX. NEON SIGNS AND LASERS

Josephine wasn't usually one to spontaneously leave late at night to go out with a man she had only just met a few days prior. Perhaps it sounded a little corny, but there was something different about Quentin. Sure, he came from an alternate universe, something Josephine could not fully comprehend just yet, but that didn't bother her as much as it probably should.

So, after she had gone into her bathroom to put on something decent, like a pair of jeans and a sweater, she was ready to leave the hotel together with the mysterious superhero.

'Tell me,' Quentin started the conversation again while the pair walked over a bridge. 'Why did you become a teacher?'

Josephine smiled as she thought back to her time in college, when she was still studying to become a teacher. 'My aunt is a teacher,' she replied. 'I always loved helping her grade homework and create lesson plans. She always told me I should become a teacher as well. I guess it just felt right.'

He nodded. 'I don't think I could ever do that. Deal with rowdy teenagers all day,' he joked.

'And I can't shoot lasers from my hands, we all have our own things,' Josephine said, causing the both of them to laugh.

'We're here,' Quentin spoke up as the two of them stood still in front of the door to a bar. The neon signs on the door told them it was still open and the noises coming from inside let them know they weren't the only ones going for a drink. Quentin opened the door with a quick push, allowing Josephine to enter first.

They both sat down at the bar. The bartender must have heard them speaking English, since he greeted them in the same language. Quentin ordered a beer while Josephine went for a white wine.

'I have to be up at seven, tomorrow morning,' Josephine sighed as she took the first sip of her second glass of wine. 'Does this make me a bad role model?'

Quentin laughed. 'Oh yeah,' he said, a smirk spreading across his face. 'Very bad. But they're teens, and teens spend their Friday and Saturday nights getting wasted anyways.' They both chuckled at his reply. 'But you might have some regrets tomorrow morning,' he said, referring to the glass of wine in front of her.

Completely forgetting about the time, they had spend the rest of the night talking about Josephine's students and how pretty Prague was at night. She had even tried asking Quentin some questions about what it was like back in his universe, but Josephine quickly realized he didn't feel like talking about that. Although she was curious, she got the hint and stopped asking questions.

It was somewhere near three am when Quentin suggested walking back to the hotel. Josephine had mentally cursed herself for not going back sooner, knowing she would be way too cranky in the morning. Probably the afternoon, too.

The walk back to the hotel seemed a lot shorter than their walk to the bar. Josephine felt a little dizzy, that was just the effect wine had on her. All she wanted at the moment was to just get in bed and sleep for a whole day, although she wouldn't mind staying with Quentin for a little while either.

'This was fun,' Josephine said with a smile on her face. They had finally reached the hotel again. 'But you were right, I probably will regret this in the morning.'

He smiled back at her. 'It was,' he replied. 'Oh, you definitely will. Just drink some water.'

Josephine chuckled. 'Thanks for the advice,' she said. 'I should get going, try and get some sleep before I have to be up in four hours.'

'I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again, Jo,' Quentin had said. After that, they both said their goodbyes and Josephine made her way back inside.

Quentin had a wicked grin on his face as he watched the lovely teacher walk back to the hotel. He knew that everything was going according to his plan, just like he had expected. And maybe, if things had been a little different, he would have wanted to be honest with Josephine. But he couldn't. Quentin knew what needed to be done if he wanted to achieve his goal.

Sadly for him, he just wasn't able to ignore the annoying feeling building up in his stomach.