A constellation of tears on your lashes

[shotup]

WHO: Roy Harper & Laura Kinney
WHERE: Dallas BBQ Restaurant
WHEN: Friday night
WARNINGS: Discussion of non-con/abuse.
SUMMARY: Roy takes Laura on an ill-planned date and talking happens.
FORMAT: Tagger's choice.

Their brief encounter at the auction left Roy with more questions than answers about Laura, though one thing seemed certain: she didn't at all strike him as the roller rink type. It took a little thought, but he'd come up with the barbecue place as an alternative, figuring that there would be good food and tasty frozen drinks, and if they decided to go elsewhere after dinner, it would be a fine preamble.

He'd arranged to pick her up at 8pm and had arrived casually dressed in jeans and a plain red teeshirt. He seemed laid back, much like the establishment. It was busy, but not overwhelming, with the smokey scent of babyback ribs wafting through the air and the laughter of college kids tipsy off daiquiris filling the room. It was fun, and Roy sincerely hoped it would translate to his evening with Laura.

"You gotta try this one drink they've got," he said, pointing to the list of frozen options on the menu.  "It's called Miami Vice.  It tastes like how being on a vacation feels."

Comments

[girlverine]

That earned him a raised eyebrow and no other comment, folding her arms on the edge of the table as she looked back over at the crowd, considering the people. From what she saw, girls weren't doing that to other people. Just Roy.

"Do you really think it was simply your ability to dance?" She finally asked as her gaze shifted back to him. What was that smell...

[shotup]

"What else could it be?" He was genuinely perplexed. He hadn't done anything different, he was just being his normal self. He couldn't help it if certain other patrons of the club were charmed by him.

But he didn't want Laura to dwell on it, so he gave her a friendly clap on the forearm and stood up again. "You want a drink? A coke or something?"

[girlverine]

"I don't know," she said honestly. Whatever it was, assuming it wasn't just a strange coincidence, she didn't know enough to speculate one way or another.

She just nodded at his offer, turning her gaze back to the dance floor speculatively.

[shotup]

Roy returned to their table a minute or so later with two sodas in hand, and he studied Laura carefully for a moment before taking his seat across from her. She still seemed so out of place there, amongst all the other laughing and happy people, and he just couldn't figure out why. He placed one of the glasses before her, still watching her watch the crowd.

"Are you having a good time or have I bored you to tears yet." It wasn't exactly a question. Roy was assuming he already knew the answer.

[girlverine]

She didn't look over until he spoke, though she was aware he was there, she was just still watching the people still. When he finally spoke she turned back, picking up her soda and taking a sip.

"...Yes," she finally said, her head tilted to the side as she thought it over. And then she seemed to realize that answer wasn't much use. "I am having fun." She really was, actually.

[shotup]

He wasn't sure if he believed her or not, and he didn't want her to think she had to be fake or pretend. But the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that if she were miserable, she would have either left by now or told him so. Laura didn't have to be here, he reminded himself, and that reminder seemed to snap him out of his own funk.

"Could be that those other chicks were jealous of you, Laura." Roy grinned teasingly. "Can't blame them though, right? I mean, if you dance like Ginger, I must be Fred Astaire."

[girlverine]

"Maybe," she agreed, but she still wasn't certain. Those same girls weren't out there doing it to other people...one of them was still eying Roy from the edge of the dance floor, in fact.

But she forced herself to focus on him, and then she smiled faintly. "If they were jealous of me, they would have made more of an attempt when you rejected them." Which she had done, which felt sort of nice.

Why was dating so hard?

[shotup]

It was probably hard because she didn't seem to know what she was doing. And that was okay. Everyone has to learn to walk before they can run. To be fair, none of Roy's past dating experiences were making this date any easier for him. Laura wasn't at all like the women he usually went out with, or at least she didn't necessarily present that way. She wasn't loud. She wasn't dominating. And unlike Donna (the woman of his past who broke the trend) she wasn't overtly sweet natured. She was different, and he liked that.

"Either way, you scared them off, sweetheart."

[girlverine]

She frowned slightly at that, remembering his reaction to her growl, and especially how easily the woman had basically fled when she had done it.

"I was frustrated," she finally explained. "And it stopped her."

[shotup]

"If it were some guy doing it to you, I'd have punched him out." Okay, maybe not quite, but words would have been exchanged. Roy shrugged a little. "I wouldn't have danced with any of them anyway."

[girlverine]

That made her hesitate. "Even if I was not here?" They had seemed pretty enough.

[shotup]

"Maybe," he admitted, then added quickly, "But I wouldn't have come without you."

[girlverine]

"Hmm," she wasn't sure if she believed him. "Okay. It doesn't matter."

She looked around, then back to him. "I haven't been out in a long time. It's...relaxing." Even with the music and the growling at people.

[shotup]

It was okay if she didn't believe him. It was probably only half a truth anyway. He might have gone out still, might have hit on a girl or two and asked them to dance. But that wasn't what he was there for, so what did it matter?

"A pretty girl like you? I find that hard to believe." Another half truth. He meant the compliment, but he could tell she didn't get out much, even if she hadn't said so or given him glimpses of her old life. "Hey, how old are you anyway?"

[girlverine]

"Most of my time is taken by managing the Dojo," was her excuse for not going out. Mostly she was bad at it, so she avoided it. Missions were easy, real life was not.

"I am nineteen, why?"

[shotup]

"Just checking." He tried not to look as relieved as he felt. When she'd mentioned needing a fake ID, his mind had made all sorts of leaps it really shouldn't have. And now it was making mental calculations, just to be on the safe side. What was half his age plus seven anyways? "I was worried I might be too old for you."

[girlverine]

"Hmm," age was kind of an odd thing to Laura. Prostitution had blurred a lot of those lines, even while it had made some of them...unpleasant. And she had spent so much time away from society she didn't care about a lot of the other distinctions.

"...How old are you?"

[shotup]

"Twenty-four." He didn't feel like he was that old. Would she think that was too old? Why did he even care so much? It's not like they were doing anything besides dancing. Right?

[girlverine]

She just nodded as if that was about what she had guessed, and it didn't matter to her at all. The last person she had dated had been in his early twenties.

"Do you wish to dance again?"

[shotup]

If it didn't bug her, it wouldn't bug him. Age wasn't anything but a number and he needed to just shut off his mental commentary and take Laura back to the dance floor.

"You know it," he grinned, offering his hand to her yet again.

[girlverine]

She smiled faintly as she took his hand, standing and smoothing down her clothes with the other before following him out onto the dance floor.

It wasn't easy for her to let go, and even in this crowd she couldn't really, but there was something liberating about dancing.

[shotup]

Roy led her to the dance floor, to a different spot a bit removed from the remaining women who'd been encroaching on them before, and as they fell into the beat, he danced closer to Laura than he had previously. Every so often their bodies touched, and for him it was comfortable and comforting. He liked the music and he liked dancing, and it was nice that he had someone he liked to do it with.

[girlverine]

Physical contact was sort of a mixed bag for Laura, sometimes she didn't like it at all, and other she did. At the moment, the atmosphere and the relief of dancing seemed to be countering any discomfort she might have been feeling, and she could just lose herself in the motion.

It really was strange to let go like this, but it was...soothing, somehow. She could have done it all night. And honestly, having Roy there was certainly a comfort, he was pleasant and nice and not unattractive, and he kept the other guys from bothering her.

[shotup]

As they danced, Roy made sure to keep an eye on the room, just in case his freaky fan club decided to reappear, and anytime someone seemed to get overly close to them, he would put an arm around Laura as a sign to back off. What was with people? Couldn't they see he and Laura were having a good time and just wanted to be left alone? He wasn't trying to be weird or possessive, but he really wanted those people to back off without him having to cause a scene.

[girlverine]

It was after the third time Roy had to put his arm around her, and Laura found herself staring at a woman who was dancing towards them until she took the hint and moved away, that the mutant sighed faintly in frustration. She wanted to growl at them again, to hit them and drive them away so they would stop messing with her nice time. But she couldn't.

"Maybe we should leave!" She mouthed at him in a half-shout.