OOM: Date Night

[geeky_agent]

Chris and Jack step out of the bar, into a cold New York City night.

The first big difference from Milliways? All the noise. The sound of horns from the cars on the street, cops blowing their whistles as they direct traffic and someone down the street playing a violin come together to create their own symphony.

She pulls her wrap a little tighter around her shoulders and looks over at Jack with a smile. "Surprise."

Comments

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Not really, just...well, a few things about her biological mother that have me kind of worried," he says, frowning at his menu.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

He'd tell me if she had mentioned it to him...Right?

Somehow, Chris is thinking "no".

"What things?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Just...she doesn't sound supportive. Or responsible. I think Angela's kind of desperate for her mother to show that she cares about her. And it's doing a number on her self-esteem."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris frowns. "Sounds like she's going through a rough time."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, and I'm not sure what to say to help. Other than remind her that I love her, which she kind of expects me to say, because what else is her grandfather going to tell her?"

He looks up at her with a small smile. "She said she really liked you, though. I take it you two have talked?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure it still helps to hear."

Chris looks at the menu, realizing she's been reading the same entry over and over again during this conversation.

"Yeah. We did. Have you ever had butternut squash soup? It's funny, all the entrees sound delicious but some of these first courses..."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

There's something about they way she abruptly brings up dinner that makes him curious about what was said. Silly Chris, trying to hide something from an interrogator.

"Yeah, you have to wonder what half this stuff is. I think I might stick with the Atlantic Salmon. So what did you talk about?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris sets the menu down with a sigh. She'd come this far, might as well tell him.

"She recognized me when she first saw me," Chris says simply, waiting for Jack to connect the dots.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack blinks. "Recognised you...so wait, she knows you from her time?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Apparently, I visit them a lot. Almost every month."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Did she say why you visit so often? DO you live in L.A. at that time?"

He's trying to put the pieces together, but the pieces seem to fit a variety of puzzles.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Uh. She says Kim told her I was a friend of the family's. Apparently, I've been visiting since Angela was little."

Yeah. This will make the rest of the date interesting.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Kim told her you were.... Huh." Yeah, this makes things interesting. In the, 'so are we still together in the future, or are we not?' way. "Well it could just be that..."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"What?"

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Well that you are a friend of the family. A friend of Kim's."

But maybe...not? Maybe you're a bit more than that?

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris nods, her expression neutral. "Yeah. Most likely that's it."

She goes back to looking at her menu.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He sighs, reaching out and taking her hand. "Chris...we only know as much as Angela knows, and in this case, that's not much. It's not enough to worry about, either way. We're just seeing how it goes, remember?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

She smiles convincingly and gives his hand a squeeze even though she feels upset and doesn't know why.

"I know that. It's just weird talking about this, y'know," she says smoothly.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I know. We can talk about it when we get back to the bar. So what are you having?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"The soup and ... maybe the pheasant. I'm not sure."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"So how did you put all this together? Did you sneak out while I wasn't looking?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Uh, no. I set it up through the bar."

The server comes to take their orders, Jack goes first and when it's her turn, Chris chooses the pheasant.

"I'm actually not sure this is my New York," Chris says softly.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack slightly tilts his head to one side. "What gives you that impression?"

He hadn't really seen anything that made it obvious. It's not like they'd had the chance to watch the news or surf the internet, or do anything that would make it clear that things were different here.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

She shrugs. "Nothing. But I put a provision in my note to the bar that if we were sent to an AU it wouldn't be anything too weird."

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

"Good idea. God knows where we could have ended up otherwise."