○ 04: Maybe they once locked eyes.

[acertifieduser]

[Filtered AWAY from George]
[AUDIO: There's a short pause before Eddie speaks.]

I have a favor to ask. I'm trying to help my warden understand a more modern approach to romance. What I need is a woman, between the ages of twenty-four and thirty-two.. thirty-three, who would be willing to take him out on a date. Maybe a private dinner, drinks afterward, and a starry walk in the CES or something. He'll know up front what this is; this isn't some trick and he won't be expecting to fall in love or anything.

I don't have anything specific to offer as a thanks, but I'm pretty resourceful if there's something specific you're looking for. I'm not providing any weapons and I reserve the right to refuse anyone for any reason.. because even knowing what's going on, he's still a nice guy and I don't want to mess with him. I'm really just looking to help him out.

Oh, it's George Crabtree. Some of you might know him.

[Private to George]
I want to know more about your time. Are there any books, fiction or non-, that you can recommend? I'm a pretty fast reader.

Comments

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to wear a tie with me unless you want to, seriously. All you need to do is have a persuasive argument and maybe some chocolate. Not that I'm milking the situation or anything..." She winked.

"It was do or die. I...have never been in a situation that morally black and white before. Either we helped save the world or it didn't get saved. I like the world. It's where I keep my stuff."

She tilted her head and leaned a bit toward him, hiding only a little behind another sip of wine. She was nursing the stuff carefully. "That's intense. How do you destress after something that huge? And do you still write on the side?"

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I'll try chocolate and a tie. Then how could you possibly resist me?" He smiled. Eddie was mostly kidding, but there was a sexual insinuation buried into half of the things he said with her at this point.

He laughed at her remark about liking the world. "Yeah, the world's not so bad when you live there for awhile."

"I didn't need to. Even though it was long hours and I was expected to be on call every minute of every day, I loved it. I like keeping busy and getting things done and that was all of the above. It helped that my boss's daughter was.. engaging. She was a nice distraction from the business stiffs. We talked politics and philosophy-- I enjoy discussions like this, like the one we're having. It's like a break for me even in the middle of everything. A beautiful woman can do that." Eddie couldn't help but remember the feelings he had for Ginny. Still, he was trying hard not to compare her to Wanda, or for Wanda to start comparing herself to Ginny. Wanda was here now and Ginny wasn't; that was what mattered.

Eddie tilted just a hint farther. It was the perfect distance to push forward for a kiss if he wanted, but to have an intimate conversation if not. He was trying not to push Wanda, but he wanted the girl to be ready and able to handle dating too. That was what she had asked for, after all.

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

A soft laugh. "I think you'd do OK either way. But that makes me want to find you a truly awesome novelty tie somewhere in Port." She blushed, eyes lowered. SHY was practically tattooed on her forehead, and though she ate the insinuations up with a spoon she didn't quite know what to do about them!

"Wow. I mean, it's creation of another sort, building businesses and business relationships like that. It's the sort of world Father would know more of than I, though mostly he is Science and Politics Guy.

"Well," she smiled shyly. "Hit me up for more conversation whenever you want." She gazed into his eyes a moment, then looked away awkwardly. She didn't seem to know what to do suddenly. But she didn't move away either.

"It sounds like you've done some pretty amazing stuff. I'm...gearing up to do amazing stuff, mostly. They start us young where I am from but most of my career is ahead of me."

[Spam] Sorry for the recent hit-and-miss.

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Make it a skinny novelty tie and I'll wear it for our next date," he practically purred, neither encourage or discouraged by her shyness. This was supposed to be practice and the best way he could think to do that was to treat her the same he would any other woman.

"Do you get along with your dad?" It was sincerely a genuine, random, and innocuous question that seemed to continue the general line of conversation.

Eddie remained where he was, physically, perched at an intimate distance without pushing forward. He was hoping she would get comfortable with it and either pursue more herself or, at the very least, ease into less shyness. He didn't feel the need to comment about having more conversations when he had practically already asked her out again.

"Hey, most of my amazing stuff didn't happen until I was way older. Take your time and learn as much as you can, because that's what's going to help you. Also? That whole 'doing what you love' philosophy people have is bullshit. I mean, it's good, sure, but they don't tell you that you end up broke and miserable most of the time. If you really want to enjoy your life, you need to make some money first and some contacts that can help you if you hit a rough patch." He paused as he took her into consideration. "You have a special opportunity with your abilities. You might actually have a shot at getting paid to do what you love if you really love that, but just get used to the idea of loving it less the more you get paid."

[Spam] No problem. :)

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

Another gentle laugh and she looked down. It was funny. She had spent a lot of time around boys and had never gotten over the sort of shyness she felt now. But then again, perhaps that was because they were boys and the people who made her feel shy were invariably men. (Once or twice women, but mostly men.) "Lemme see what I can come up with. Maybe I can get Drake to conjure you an aquarium one where the fish actually swim around. Or something."

She lifted her chin slightly at the question, brow furrowing thoughtfully. "It's mixed, like everything else in life. He's distant, and I don't agree with his politics or how he's acted on them in the past. But he's really admirable in a lot of ways too."

A slow nod as she listened to him. He was laying it out frankly and she appreciated it. She was only idealistic in some ways. "Chances are I'll study something involving chaos theory, because getting a science background to go with the magical and psychic one seems like a good definition of "well rounded". After that...I don't know, I could do all sorts of things. Including becoming a Wall Street consultant." Screw that, by that point she figured she could manipulate the stock market directly.

"Or, seriously, maybe I'll hit Monte Carlo and make myself rich. Then I can do the hero thing full time."

[Spam] Getting back into the swing of things now! For real!

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure it will be great," he offered lightly, not really giving more thought to it. Eddie couldn't really imagine a tie that moved the way she was describing, outside of what glimpses he'd caught of the idea in some films. He still wasn't sure how he felt about all that magic stuff, though, so he was trying not to have to bite his tongue.

"A lot of bad people are admirable. I know that seems contradictory to most people, but it's true. Everyone that succeeded at being bad or evil for any length of time with any sense of power had to get there for a reason, whether it was Hitler, your dad, or the CEO of Enron. They're usually charming, strong people that have a gift for talking to others.. among other things. There's nothing wrong with admiring that as long as you still appreciate how they are." He paused, then added: "I'm not saying your dad is one of those guys, because I don't know. He sounds like he might be a little like that, though, so just make sure you're careful and really think about how he is versus who you want to be, you know?"

Of course, Eddie himself was closer to that person now than he had ever been in his life, gladly willing to sacrifice people when it was necessary to his gain of power. Until then, he liked keeping people on his good side, though, and that meant not revealing those pieces of himself.

"That sounds good. There's a lot of scholarships available for women in science, too, because it's pretty rare. I'm sure you would have an easier time than most people. With the gambling thing, though, just be careful that people will still respect you. It's not worth making your money fast and easy if that's what people are going to remember about you."

[Spam] WB! Worth the wait. :)

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, Father he's...everything a mutant should be and nothing a mutant should be all rolled into one." She loved him, but hated his politics and what he had done for them. "I don't have any illusions about him, but everyone who knows him is ambivalent about him." She had no illusions about him that she knew about, anyway.

She frowned softly, looking skyward, and took another sip of wine. "Easy or tough, I'll rise to it. I always do." For a moment there was a flash of cold pride in her eyes. There was more to Wanda than the innocent girl; the steel showed, and then she glanced away shyly and it disappeared again.

"No, no. Vegas would be seed money only. That and help funding my second job, which probably won't pay."

[Spam] Awww. You. <3

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Don't you turn out like him. Take everything you like about him and nothing that you don't and mold yourself into that person that you want to be." He flashed a grin. When Wanda looked up toward the sky, Eddie straightened back from her a little, taking a very small sip of his own wine. It wasn't that he was opposed to drinking, but there could be some side effects with his medication if he wasn't careful.

"What second job did you have in mind?" Eddie asked, trying to keep the conversation going despite his hopes declining a little of getting much further than talking on this date. He expected she might be talking about the hero gig, but there was no harm in clarifying and it was always easier to let other people do as much of the talking as possible for as often as he liked to talk.

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"I don't plan to. He's too much of a rigid extremist and I am not down with hurting people. I have to be flexible and take people as individuals, even if it is extra work and risk." The wine was good. She had to keep herself down to nursing it slowly, because she was a huge lightweight.

"The heroing business. I've done it some. The problem is that like I said, it does not pay." She felt a slight pang as he moved away, but chipping through the wall of her shyness would take time. It frustrated her, but she was glad as hell that he seemed to respect that.

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Well, you have to hurt some people. It's a good goal not to hurt everyone, of course, but make sure you're keeping things realistic too. It's only a matter of time until you're put into a situation where you're forced to choose and each options hurts people. Unless you're talking about physically hurting people. That's probably more rare-- Although, if you're going into the super hero business then you may have to get used to that too since you'll probably have to help apprehend criminals or villains or whatever it is they're called in the real world where super hero vigilantes exist."

It's practically a ramble, the stream of consciousness pouring out of Eddie as he thought of it. Then he set his wine glass down near the bottle--ensuring it was steady without taking noticeable time of effort to do so--and sat up, pulling his knees up just to form a different posture and keep from getting stiff.

He made a mental note to get regular access to the pool to build his muscles' endurance.

"What are you hoping to find here, besides control over your powers? There must be something else."

[Spam] (lost this tag! O_o)

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"Well, then I can only do my best." She lapsed into thought for a few moments, covering with a sip of her wine. "I'm not a complete pacifist, not by a long shot. Sometimes magic is not going to be enough to subdue someone and I'll have to learn to actually kick some ass."

She tilted her head.

"How to live among different races. How to choose my own path without falling back on what Father wants for me. How to not be the bad guy, I guess, since I have plenty of practice in that. I also have to catch up on my schooling. I..."

She trailed off. Why hadn't she finished high school? Why hadn't she gone to high school period? It was like a blank spot in her head, and her expression grew troubled as she explored it.

[Spam] (It happens. :C)

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Different races?" He asked as soon as she had finished speaking, caught up on that little detail. Did those with abilities really see themselves as a different race? Eddie saw himself as better than everyone else when he was on NZT, sure, because he really was, but that didn't make him any more or less human. Just.. better at winning.

Then he forced himself to review the rest of what she had said in order to comment on the idea as a whole. His lips tightened a little as he saw the very subtle shift in her expression and remembered that she had trailed off.

"You...?" He encouraged her to finish the thought.

[Spam] (It happens. :C)

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"In my world we've got humans, and two sort of offshoot races--mutants and neogens. We have vampires, we have insular groups with different magical traditions, we have aliens...most of these beings exist in secret, but when you're a mutant you run into all the weirdness eventually." She drained the last of her wine.

"Mutants and humans are the only ones "out" and they don't get along on a political level. Personal, sure, but there's anti-mutant legislation being pushed in Congress, we were kicked out of school--stuff like that."

No, the X-teens were kicked out. I wasn't there to begin with. But why?

"I was...digging for the reason I didn't finish high school, and I couldn't find it. I probably am just being absentminded but that seems kind of..." Kind of important to forget. "What the hell?"

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Vampires and aliens, huh?" Well, Wanda just went from a little weird to full fledged alternate universe in Eddie's mind, but he showed no change in attitude or perception. Eddie was used to charming people and he wouldn't appear repulsed just because she came from a completely different world and knew a different way of doing things. All it really meant was that he needed to study more about politics of different places and systems.

"Maybe it was a lot of reasons," he offered. The idea of amnesia or people with abilities to mess with the mind didn't even cross his mind. "Or maybe it just happened and you had more important things to worry about."

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

She looks a little contrite. "Yeah, my world is full of weird crap. In fact if you need an explanation for some of the beings or ideas floating around here that are unfamiliar I might be able to help. Or at least know who to ask."

She frowns thoughtfully. "It just startled me. Yes, I die of boredom in a standard academic setting, but I never realized how much. It's weird though. Left on my own or one on one, I love to learn."

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." He offers a charming grin. "I might take you up on that in future."

Eddie lifts a hand to rest gently on her shoulder, trying to show some level of reassurance while simultaneously breaking the physical contact barrier. "Most smart people in the world are the same way. They like to learn what they like to learn and in their own way. There's nothing wrong with that. It's better, actually, when you get to university. Don't worry about it."

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"Hey, twist my arm to get me to talk to you again." She winks.

Her hand comes up and the fingertips brush lightly over the back of his palm from wrist to knuckles. It's tremulous and shy, but it's reciprocation of a sort.

"Math. I am going to need craptons of it. But I'll sweeten it with some more creative stuff. Anthropology minor, I think. Study of humans. Maybe a few languages besides Transian and English."

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

Eddie smiles again. He might have kissed her then if she was the sort not to be so embarrassed. Instead, he runs his thumb lightly down onto the skin of her arm before withdrawing his hand entirely. Then he nods and laughs a bit at the remarks about math. "That's good. I'm glad you have strong aspirations. That's important."

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

She shivers gratifyingly, and then nods. "See, even if I didn't like you I'd be glad we met because you're so damn pragmatic. I talk to you and I can figure stuff out more easily.

"Hey, maybe you should consider writing some non fiction in your spare time."

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

He laughs with a good humor, though he straightens a bit. He's barely had half a glass of wine, but it's secretly his intent due to the way the alcohol affects his medication. Eddie kind of shrugs off the idea; he's never really considered himself pragmatic, just believing in common sense when his mind is thinking clearly.

"You about done?" The question is lighthearted, changing subjects to the alcohol before them. There's no sense of hostility, distance, or impatience in his tone. He's sincerely asking a question.

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"The wine? Yeah, I'm dry. I could have a touch more, but after that I'd better call it." A little laugh.

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

Eddie nods and fetches the bottle to pour her a little more. He still has about a third of a glass left of his own, so he doesn't add any more to his own glass and simply returns the wine to its situated place on the blanket. Then he took another sip from his glass and gave her a natural smile. "This wasn't too bad for a first date. You're a natural."

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." She downed a somewhat overlarge swallow of her own wine and added, "Had a good tutor." He'd get a kiss if she could get up the nerve. He had more than earned it, and besides, she really did like him.

[Spam]

[acertifieduser.livejournal.com]

He smiles at that, neither particularly humble or entirely arrogant. Eddie turns his attention to his own wine glass and takes two consecutive sips to try to finish it off at about the same rate as her latest glass. "You don't have to rush. Take your time, then I'll walk you 'home.'"

[Spam]

[scarlet-discord.livejournal.com]

It's nerves, she almost says, but instead pulls her head together and just slows down. "Thanks for that. I'm a little fuzzy headed from the wine.

"If my Father saw me on a date with a human being he'd flip. The big hypocrite."