[Even with extensive military training, there are things you don't learn until you're fully in the field; things you can't pick up through anything but experience.]
But you - I bet everything you know, you learned on your own. Is that right?
There's value in both. You can be taught everything, but if you don't practice in real situations, it can be limiting.
[He had no doubt that she could hold her own, and he currently wasn't interested in challenging her to see how his skills measured up to her own. No doubt there would be opportunities to see her in action. They could enjoy their drink together.]
Mostly. I was taught how to punch so I didn't break my knuckles at a young age. Everything else was trial and error and watching other people before practicing. Mentors were hard to come by, and formal programs were never offered to the poor kids.
But you needed to know how to punch, huh. Sounds like a rough neighborhood.
[She sounds matter-of-fact rather than properly sympathetic, but that's just her baseline: which tends to be refreshing for people who don't particularly want sympathy, and disconcerting for people who are looking for commiseration.]
My dad was a soldier. I didn't start out wanting to follow in his footsteps, but it's where I ended up, and I don't regret it.
Eh, I wasn't much of a biter, so fists seemed a better option for me.
[If she had made the assessment of the rough neighborhood, he wasn't going to confirm as it would be pointless. She had her answer, and he had grown up like that and learned considerable amounts despite the environment. He didn't need sympathy; his city was the way it was and it made him the man that he was.]
Was your father a good man or a good soldier then?
[She sounds as subdued and straight-forward as always, but still, there's conviction in her voice. Shaw may struggle with feeling things strongly, but she believes this strongly - and in a sense, maybe that amounts to the same thing.]
He cared about helping people and keeping them safe, and he - he and my mom - raised me to know how important that is. I'm lucky as hell that they did; I don't know where I'd've ended up if they hadn't given me those values.
[Vander could hardly relate on that point. His parents had died when he was very young, and he could barely remember their faces. Their influence on his life had no doubt been profound for those years, but he had spent much of his time making his own way under the stretched and exhausted guidance of orphanage matrons. Kids were found their own way on their own more often than not, forming gangs of gaggles of kids to survive.
Still, he had been a father long enough to appreciate the idea and liked to think he had provided that to his own children. Those that were still alive anyway.]
I think you would have made your way, but their impact seems to have driven you in a particular direction. What do you do the pass the time here since there is no formal military, no enforcer presence and limited punishable crime?
[Vander made a point of turning his head to look around the bar as if he was also examining the place for this mysterious hookup she was talking about. He took a sip from his tumbler and offered a contemplative 'hmm' in response.]
Who isn't looking for a good time to pass the hours now and again? Besides, we're just sharing a drink. You line up a few people to hookup with, or am I just special and persistent?
[If he's the type to not want to hook up - or even just get drinks - with someone who keeps several irons in the fire, it's good to know that up front.]
Not at all. The more the merrier and otherwise, who you see and when is no business of mine. I'm just enjoying our time for however long it lasts.
[Vander was not a jealous person by nature. He was here to have a good time no matter how long or how short or even the contents of that with another person.]
[Well hello there! Vander made an appreciative sound as she came in to catch his lips in a kiss, and his hand rose from his tumbler to cup the back of her neck lightly as he returned the gesture with a smile.
Simple at first, but he did part his lips to tease the tip of his tongue against her upper lip as he also offered a wink.]
[Shaw has no problem whatsoever with that - it only invites her to deepen the kiss herself, opening her mouth to his and introducing her own tongue into the equation, looking for access.]
[That they were kissing in an open bar and both were gamely about the experience only encouraged him as he shifted his hand to tangle more in her dark hair. He flicked her tongue with his own when it came into play, but he actually backed off and let her tongue into his mouth without a battle. In fact, he welcomed it, and it earned a soft sigh of pleasure from him.]
[She is making sooooo many good choices today. Leaning back on her stool and getting out of his personal space (for now), she downs the rest of her drink in one fell swoop. What can she say? She's suddenly very much in a hurry.]
It's the facial hair. Girls who don't like a little scruff don't know what they're missing.
[Vander shifted his weight on his stool as he downed the last of his own drink and set the tumbler towards the bartender before rising. He stepped away from the stool and offered her a hand.]
Well, you're in luck on that front. You can scritch it as much as you like.
[He moved to lead them out of the pub, even if it would be easier and faster to just have some fun here, there was something exhilarating heading back to the apartments with a dame he just met.]
I've got a place that's farther away, and it's top secret.
[She walks her fingers up his arm as they go along.]
One of my roommates is a recluse.
[She's saying it lightly enough, playing it off as a joke, but it also has the benefit of being completely true on both counts. His place it will have to be.]
Fine. I keep my living location on the down-low, so I appreciate if you do that.
[He wasn't interested in some from his world knowing where he lived in case they decide to bomb the place. It was better for all that things were just kept fun, right.
He moved to sling a big arm across the back of her shoulders and hand dangling down the other side enough to stroke his fingers over her arm. He hoped she didn't mind, but considering the kiss, he thought he was on the right track as they exited the bar and were deposited on the street.]
And just so we're clear, you shouldn't feel the need to justify things to me. This is having a good time. And you can walk any time, no questions asked.
[She absolutely does not mind the arm, and while she won't get too saucy out here in public (more out of respect for what she imagines his own comfort levels are, rather than any sense of personal propriety), she'll search around for a back pocket to slide her hand into. It's the polite way of groping ass.
His first comment gets a quick nod of understanding; this is not at all a strange request in her mind, and she has plenty of experience with keeping secrets. The second comment, though, makes her quirk an amused eyebrow. It's not that she doesn't approve of men saying these things to women - it's that she always finds it a little funny when men say these things to her.]
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[Even with extensive military training, there are things you don't learn until you're fully in the field; things you can't pick up through anything but experience.]
But you - I bet everything you know, you learned on your own. Is that right?
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[He had no doubt that she could hold her own, and he currently wasn't interested in challenging her to see how his skills measured up to her own. No doubt there would be opportunities to see her in action. They could enjoy their drink together.]
Mostly. I was taught how to punch so I didn't break my knuckles at a young age. Everything else was trial and error and watching other people before practicing. Mentors were hard to come by, and formal programs were never offered to the poor kids.
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[She sounds matter-of-fact rather than properly sympathetic, but that's just her baseline: which tends to be refreshing for people who don't particularly want sympathy, and disconcerting for people who are looking for commiseration.]
My dad was a soldier. I didn't start out wanting to follow in his footsteps, but it's where I ended up, and I don't regret it.
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[If she had made the assessment of the rough neighborhood, he wasn't going to confirm as it would be pointless. She had her answer, and he had grown up like that and learned considerable amounts despite the environment. He didn't need sympathy; his city was the way it was and it made him the man that he was.]
Was your father a good man or a good soldier then?
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[She sounds as subdued and straight-forward as always, but still, there's conviction in her voice. Shaw may struggle with feeling things strongly, but she believes this strongly - and in a sense, maybe that amounts to the same thing.]
He cared about helping people and keeping them safe, and he - he and my mom - raised me to know how important that is. I'm lucky as hell that they did; I don't know where I'd've ended up if they hadn't given me those values.
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[Vander could hardly relate on that point. His parents had died when he was very young, and he could barely remember their faces. Their influence on his life had no doubt been profound for those years, but he had spent much of his time making his own way under the stretched and exhausted guidance of orphanage matrons. Kids were found their own way on their own more often than not, forming gangs of gaggles of kids to survive.
Still, he had been a father long enough to appreciate the idea and liked to think he had provided that to his own children. Those that were still alive anyway.]
I think you would have made your way, but their impact seems to have driven you in a particular direction. What do you do the pass the time here since there is no formal military, no enforcer presence and limited punishable crime?
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[She makes a show of looking around the bar, dry amusement curling her lips slightly upwards.]
Apparently I look for hookups online. Trust me, I'm not too happy about the state I've been driven to, either.
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Who isn't looking for a good time to pass the hours now and again? Besides, we're just sharing a drink. You line up a few people to hookup with, or am I just special and persistent?
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[If he's the type to not want to hook up - or even just get drinks - with someone who keeps several irons in the fire, it's good to know that up front.]
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[Vander was not a jealous person by nature. He was here to have a good time no matter how long or how short or even the contents of that with another person.]
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[She leans forward to clink her glass against his - and stays there, just on the edge of being in his space.]
Cheers.
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Cheers. To pleasant company.
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[She says, taking a long pull from her glass. Cheers indeed.]
Are you opposed to kissing me?
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[He rested his forearms on the table and watched her.]
Not at all. Are you giving me free reign to kiss you? [While he suspected the answer was yes, he’d prefer to have that affirmative.]
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[Meanwhile, she's going to go ahead and take that as an affirmative, and lean in to kiss him herself. Hi.]
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Simple at first, but he did part his lips to tease the tip of his tongue against her upper lip as he also offered a wink.]
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[She barely pulls away, so the words aren't so much spoken as they are mumbled against his lips - audible, but only just.]
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[He smirked against her lips, adding a little peck for good measure.]
Finish your drink and let's get out of here.
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It's the facial hair. Girls who don't like a little scruff don't know what they're missing.
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Well, you're in luck on that front. You can scritch it as much as you like.
[He moved to lead them out of the pub, even if it would be easier and faster to just have some fun here, there was something exhilarating heading back to the apartments with a dame he just met.]
Do you have a place closer than the apartments?
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[She walks her fingers up his arm as they go along.]
One of my roommates is a recluse.
[She's saying it lightly enough, playing it off as a joke, but it also has the benefit of being completely true on both counts. His place it will have to be.]
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[He wasn't interested in some from his world knowing where he lived in case they decide to bomb the place. It was better for all that things were just kept fun, right.
He moved to sling a big arm across the back of her shoulders and hand dangling down the other side enough to stroke his fingers over her arm. He hoped she didn't mind, but considering the kiss, he thought he was on the right track as they exited the bar and were deposited on the street.]
And just so we're clear, you shouldn't feel the need to justify things to me. This is having a good time. And you can walk any time, no questions asked.
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His first comment gets a quick nod of understanding; this is not at all a strange request in her mind, and she has plenty of experience with keeping secrets. The second comment, though, makes her quirk an amused eyebrow. It's not that she doesn't approve of men saying these things to women - it's that she always finds it a little funny when men say these things to her.]
Back at you. No questions asked.
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you sent me a "sorry for the delay" tag a few days ago and now here I am rolling in 2 weeks late...
lol
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jokes on her, he has no idea what a condom is :)
lmaoooooooo
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