Clay felt...stupid. Ridiculously stupid at that. He felt awkward from the second he showed up at this ice cream parlour, and it felt like every word out of his mouth made the situation worse.
He didn't regret showing up though, least, he didn't think he did. He just regretted ever opening his mouth. It's why he didn't talk; half the time he either fumbled his words, or was made fun of for his words.
Thankfully, something he said shifted the subject of conversation, and even better, it was something that got Jack's interest: monkeys.
Everyone knew how much Jack loved the monkey staff, and Clay still had scars from the whole Jade monkey fiasco. He's also pretty sure he had seen Jack's name partially carved into the Wu; it wouldn't surprise Clay if that was something Jack had attempted to do.
He gave a breathless, short laugh as Jack stumbled over the longer word,
"Cercopithecoidea, yeah, aint sure why scientists insist on givin' things long fancy words like that," Clay agreed, "Monkey's a lot easier to say, an' mos' people would know what that means."
For once, Clay found himself agreeing to something Jack had said, and, thankfully, it got the conversation over his wallet to move on.
Though Jack shrugged his shoulders, Clay was sure he could see a spark in the evil geniuses red eyes as the animal was focused on. A spark that glimmered in his own blue hues when reptiles were brought up; granted, his long blonde bangs made it difficult to see it. He never knew Jack was into reptiles, though, their little Dinosaur gang he made with the Rio Reverso might've been a pretty big hint at that.
He grinned, looking at Jack as they went on, saying how he thought they ruled. One might thought Clay was sticking around due to social obligation; Clay was that sort of guy. He wouldn't even hit Ashley on the grounds she was a girl; Hell, he even felt bad when he had to hit Wuya, and she was evil to her cold, black core.
But Clay was enjoying the conversation, remaining quiet as Jack took the chance to speak. Occasionally, Clay was nod his head, or place a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. He had no idea that Jack was anxious about this whole thing; that they were looking at angles to use social obligations to keep him around.
After all... Clay was happy to be here. He maybe did worry about being the only one to show up, there was always that thin chance this was a trap. Clay though, figured it wasn't. This was a genuine olive branch being held out by Jack, and Clay was taking it. This was painless, Hell, Clay dare it was fun almost. Hearing the faint passion in Jack's voice, over something as simple as an animal.
Turned out there was more to the evil, wanna-be ruler of the World, than just, well, evil.
Sadly, the sudden rambling came to a screeching halt. Clay felt his smile falter a little; he didn't understand why Jack just...stopped. The cowboy quirked his mouth, figuring that this must be his turn to talk,
"Yeah, monkey's are pretty interestin', the monkey staff too - though, I aint ever used it," Clay confessed, "I usually jus' use the Fist of Tebigong, or Third Arm Sash."
Those were the ones he was always left with, not that Clay minded, he used them well after all. A part of him just wished he would get the chance to try something else out for once; or, more than once. He's pretty sure he could count on his fingers the times he used the Golden Tiger Claws, or Star Hanabi - something that was once in his family.
"I'm more of a reptile fella myself; Texas got over a hundred an' seventy native species to it."
That Texan pride of Clay's immediately began to shine through at the mere mention of his home,
"Turtles, snakes, lizards - if it got scales, we probably got 'em."
Though, dragons were pretty new to Clay - least, the flying sort.
"The ranch always had lots of critted about; greater earless lizards, roundtail horned lizards, collared lizards... lotta lizards, snakes too, especially the Western Diamondback, venomous lil' critters - been bit one too many times by 'em for comfort."
Clay chuckled softly at that. Sure it had been bit by a venomous snake, but it was rare to die by them. He took another bite of his ice cream, not wanting it to melt anymore than it had.
It was in that brief moment of silence, that Clay realised how much he had talked in that moment. He hadn't been interrupted, spoken over, or had someone tease him for his accent. It was a foreign, yet, nice feeling - to have his voice heard. Yet Clay also felt...awkward. As if he had done something wrong. Clay shuffled awkwardly on his seat, a hand reaching up to tug his hat down, a common sign that Clay felt embarrassed by something - this time it was himself.
"Yeah, reptiles are great, though don't think Dojo would appreciate me rockin' up to the temple with one," Clay muttered, in an attempt to keep the conversation light, "Texas got it all, 'cept Monkeys, heh, guess that's y'all reason to dislike the place."
Even if the idea that someone could dislike Texas seemed completely wrong to Clay, but, he was trying to get over his own hiccup.
A silence returned, one that was awkward, and suffocating. Clay listened to the soft chatter of the other patrons going about their day. Clay wasn't good being in social situations like this. A life of solitude did that to a guy.
Tapping his fingers against the table, Clay hummed, trying to think of something, anything, to say,
Clay briefly bit his bottom lip, hating how bad at this he was,
"Those robots y'all make a pretty impressive."
It wasn't a lie, though Clay probably shouldn't be admitting to it. The things Jack could make out of nothing were something to be admired,
"How'd y'all get so good at it, makin' 'em I mean?" He asked, "I learned 'bout mechanics from 'avin' to fix the tractors back 'ome."
