(no subject)

[tragic_mask]

They are outside the Blue Owl Bar. It's mid-morning, so there are cars rushing [so to speak] by, and people walking, biking, or rollerblading down the sidewalk nearby.

"Well, here we are,"  she says brightly, ponytail ruffled by a light breeze.

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[mechanicalswans]

"Here," he says, sliding his flannel shirt off and offering it to her. "I don't want you getting cold. Shall we get back in?"

[tragic_mask]

"Thanks," she says, and slips it on, heading back towards the car. "It is a little chilly."

[mechanicalswans]

"Sometimes I forget that not everyone is from Minnesota," he says, walking along with her. "If it gets over sixty degrees, it's shorts weather to us."

[tragic_mask]

"Yeah, well, you're all crazy," she says.

[mechanicalswans]

He gives her a boyish grin as he opens the door for her. "We are," he agrees. "But we have our charms, so you put up with us."

[tragic_mask]

She slides in. "I suppose," she says with a smile.

[mechanicalswans]

He is still grinning as he closes her door, walks around the car and gets in on his side.

He doesn't say anything for a moment, just sits there, watching her.

[tragic_mask]

She's unaware of it for a moment, waiting for him to start the car, pulling her legs up on the seat.

Then she turns, sees him watching, and raises a brow.

[mechanicalswans]

If she doesn't protest, she is getting a light kiss on the cheek.

"You're a... self-contained universe, full of wonders," he says. "That's what you are. Endlessly fascinating."

[tragic_mask]

"With stars and moons and things?" she asks, mostly to diffuse the compliment.

[mechanicalswans]

"Entire constellations," he says, starting the car. "I can see the radiance all the way from here. If it were dark, you would shine--and you do, even so, in your way. A man could watch you for a hundred years and there would still be so much to see, so many new sides to admire."

[tragic_mask]

"I do like to think I have a sparkle about me," she says, smiling.

[mechanicalswans]

"You have no idea how bright it is," he says quietly. "You may be able to hide it from most people, but not me--I've seen it, now. I know it's there. I know how special you are, and I'm not likely to forget, not anytime soon."

[tragic_mask]

"Hmm," she says. "And here I thought I had been so good about being an enigma."

[mechanicalswans]

"You can still blend in all you like," he says, pulling off onto the highway again. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

[tragic_mask]

"As long as it's our secret. I don't mind sharing," she says, and looks down.

[mechanicalswans]

"I keep secrets very well," he says softly, glancing over at her. "As well as you do, I'm sure. We shall be unreadable, a blank page."

[tragic_mask]

"Or just an illegible one," she says. "With horrible handwriting."

... the farther north they get, the worse her wordplay seems to be.

[mechanicalswans]

"But it can't look like some sort of code, or people will stare at it more, and try to figure it out," he says. "We mustn't attract attention."

[tragic_mask]

"True," she says. "But then, people seem to be fascinated by blankness of late. The avant-garde movement of individual interpretation, and that sort of thing."

[mechanicalswans]

"...well, we shall have to have some sort of meaning then," he says after a moment. "But only on the surface, and only something very bland. If we look boring enough, people will leave us alone."

[tragic_mask]

"Very applicable," she says. "I think we're doing an excellent job at the moment." She grins at him, and indicates her borrowed shirt, and the ponytail. "Think I'm bland enough on the surface?"

[mechanicalswans]

"Try to sparkle less," he says with a chuckle. "Think... waiting in line at the post office. And slouch. Maybe take up chewing gum."

[tragic_mask]

She wrinkles her nose, takes up an air of boredom. "Mkay... I'll try."

[mechanicalswans]

"That's a start," he says. "I'm probably biased, also. I imagine I find you more fascinating than a random stranger would. You could never make yourself uninteresting to me."