notfaking_it | (no subject)

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kaine

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It isn't so late that the streets are empty, everyone at home and tucked into bed, but it's late enough. The bars are still open, restaurant patios occasionally overflowing with people who, like Lily, aren't yet ready to go home. She's had a few drinks, danced for an hour or so at a club and now she isn't sure what she's looking for. No one in the club held her interest long enough to make her want to invite them home.

She's entertaining going to visit someone, maybe Eames, maybe one of the new friends she's made since her arrival here, but for the moment she stands on the sidewalk, indecisive.

The city's getting under her skin in a way the island never could. It's not New York, but she belongs here more than she ever did there. Even so she can't make herself forget the people left behind, she can't stop thinking about the way they made her feel, the things they did for her. She can't stop thinking about Sawyer and Faye and Jeff. She can't stop thinking about Nina and it's killing her.

"Hey," she says suddenly, turning to a passing stranger. "What time is it?"

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"What do you mean? Where else could I live?"

Again, my poker face serves me well as I take a pull from the beer. It's good and cold, which is about all I need right now. I haven't unwound like this in a while and it feels nice.

"Just fucking with you," I add once I put the beer down. "Was in Houston before I ended up here. You?"

"You're good at that," Lily comments, watching him closely for a moment before she smiles again. "Keeping a straight face, I mean. It was never something I was very good at." That's an outright lie, but the person she is tonight is the fun loving Lily, the girl who doesn't have to keep a straight face for anything.

"I was on an island. Before that, New York," she says, then pauses to take a sip of her beer. "Which means neither of us are pod people, so score one for the both of us."

I'm thinking maybe one of the reasons she doesn't do deadpan well is because she has one of those smiles that makes you want to make her smile more, which seems kind of dangerous to me. The odds I'll do something stupid because of it seem pretty good.

I give a snort of laughter at the pod people comment. I have to, considering I did literally come out of a pod, even if that's not what she means.

"I spent some time in New York. You like it there?"

"Yeah, I loved it there, but I'm pretty much a city girl through and through," she says, leaning back in the booth a little and giving him a grin over the rim of her beer bottle. "I lived in San Francisco before that and moved to New York for work."

In truth, she'd move anywhere in the world if the dance company was good enough.

"What about you? Your kind of city?"

"Too many superheroes," I say with a shake of my head. Which is the truth, no way someone like me could live any kind of life with that many superheroes running around.

"Every other day some assholes in costumes were fighting it out in the street or fucking aliens were using it as ground zero for an invasion."

I shrug again, likes it's nothing more than an inconvenience. California has mudslides and New York has superheroes.

"What sort of work do you do?"

It's not the New York she remembers, but over the past year and a half, Lily's come to accept a lot of things about the world -- all sorts of worlds -- that she didn't believe once. She's been friends with people who travel in space, so she imagines a New York filled with superheroes isn't all that hard to believe.

"I'm a dancer," she tells him. "Ballet." Being specific is important, she's learned, because the word dancer usually brings to mind another type.

When she says dancer, the first thing I wonder is if she means the exotic type, because she's certainly got the body for it. Of course, I doubt anyone would leave San Francisco because the stripping is better than New York. Good thing I didn't ask because I imagine a ballet dancer wouldn't want to be mistaken for someone who makes their living on a pole.

"Like on Broadway?" I ask, not sure if that's the same destination for those in ballet as other types of theater. "I, uh, really know nothing about ballet and what success in it looks like."

"Not quite like on Broadway," Lily answers with a bright laugh, trying to imagine any of the girls she'd worked with dancing on Broadway. "The New York City Ballet. Here it's the Darrow Ballet Company. It's... different. Broadway is more about the singing and dancing, ballet is just telling the story through dance."

And it's a very different kind of dance, but she doesn't want to get into it all right now.

"You should come see it sometime," she says. "Now that you know someone who'll be on stage."

"Sure."

It's not really my thing but knowing someone who is doing it will definitely help make it more bearable. Although, if I'm honest with myself, I've never really seen a full ballet production so maybe I'll enjoy it. Stranger things have happened.

"Unless you're 'Third Butterfly Behind Second Flower' or some shit like that," I say, taking another drink. "Then I'm just staying home and washing my hair."

"It does look like it requires extensive care," Lily answers, pausing to take another sip of her own beer. The waitress arrives a moment later with two plates of food. The nachos don't look as amazing as she would have liked, but they'll do.

"Thanks," Lily says, digging into her food before the waitress is even gone. "What do you do here? I figure it's probably not some form of dancing or we would have run into each other long before this," she teases.

"Nope, never danced in my life," I say, picking up one of the wings and tearing a bite off. The waitress was right, it was spicy, but maybe after living in Texas for a bit I'm sort of picky about my barbecue sauce. No one does spicy wings like like Texas.

Fuck, next thing you know it I'll be looking for a "Don't Mess With Texas" bumper sticker.

"I mostly do odd jobs. Little things to keep me from getting bored."

"And as long as you're not bored, I'd say that's a good thing. I guess something like that can work, too, since money magically appears in our bank accounts every month," she says. It's enough that someone who knew how to budget could probably get by without having to work, but she's definitely not that person. Lily likes having spending money, she likes being able to go out and she likes being able to buy whatever she wants.

"I've met a few people who aren't working at all," she says. "Which, if it works for them, is great. I just like having the extra cash."

"You wouldn't dance if they didn't pay you?"

That seems to run contrary to the very little I know about dancing at that level. Isn't it one of those things you're supposed to do because you love it? I imagine that for someone who loves to dance, having money put in to your account so that you can survive without working much would seem like a godsend.

"I would dance no matter what," Lily answers. She spent more than a year on that island and she danced every single day, even if there was no audience and no company. "Being paid for it is just a perk that I've gotten used to after all these years."

Thinking about it, she grins again and adds, "Besides, I have no idea what else I'd do for work if it came down to that. I'd be extra happy about that cash coming into my account then."

"Probably anything where you interact with people. You're very... personable."

I suppose that 'enchanting' would be a more accurate word, but it sounded rather stupid to me considering I know people that can do magic. Unless she could also do magic. Again, I'm pretty sure I'm over thinking this shit but in my world, pretty girls who take an interest in me are usually trouble.

"I do like people," Lily agrees with a smile, taking another bite of her nachos as she thinks about that. It's part of what she thinks makes her a good dancer, though, her ability to connect to the other dancers, the audience, the people who surround her. "All sorts of people."

This last part she says as she looks at Kaine again, her smile taking on a vaguely suggestive air.

I quickly take another drink of my beer after the look she gives me. I'm not the best at reading people, but it seemed a bit suggestive and I don't know exactly what to do with that. My body is definitely hoping I take it one way while my mind isn't so sure that's a good idea.

"Are you implying I'm a 'sort of person' that most people might not like?" I ask, leveling a wing at her in accusation. It's true, I am, but that doesn't mean I can't give her shit about it.

"Oh, yeah, that's exactly what I mean," Lily answers, obviously teasing as she laughs and sits up straighter in the booth. "Handsome, willing to have a drink in a bar with a near stranger, able to carry on an interesting conversation. It all adds up to something sort of terrible, doesn't it? I mean, you're lucky I'm still sitting here with you."

"Handsome?"

That was new. I mean, I knew Peter didn't have much trouble attracting the ladies but I'd never really considered what that meant for me. General reactions to my previous appearance were that of horror and disgust. Apparently I was handsome now.

"Uh, I mean, if this is what passes for interesting conversation you should up your standards. I'm pretty boring."

"Oh, come on," Lily says, waving her hand before she takes a sip of her beer. "I mean, I appreciate the modesty on you, you're one of the few it seems like it's working for, but just take the compliment." And everyone, as far as she's concerned, has their own ways to be interesting. Everyone has a story and Lily likes knowing them. She likes learning about people and it isn't always about discovering ways to manipulate them.

"Besides, everyone is interesting in their own way," she says.

"I didn't get out much before coming here."

Not entirely true, but these sort of social situations are completely new to me. I figure I'm doing a lot better than I would have thought in a situation like this. I have a feeling that has more to do with her than it does with me.

"But thanks for the compliment. You're very beautiful. And interesting. A nice. Shit I'm terrible at this. I need a lot more alcohol."

"Well, we are in a bar. I'm sure that can be arranged," Lily says, hooking her hair behind her ear before she gets up from the booth and makes her way over to the bar. The bartender serves her quickly -- she gets served before a few other people who were there first, but she tips him well as a thank you -- and she returns to the table a few moments later with two more drinks.

"Here," she says. "Now you're both getting out a little more and you have more alcohol. Not a lot more, but it's a start, right?"

I can't help but watch as she goes up to the bar. It's easy to see now that she's a dancer by the way that she moves. It's mesmerizing and more than a little arousing if I'm honest with myself. I'm not quite sure if I want to be honest with myself or not about that. I'm not sure if I have a choice.

"Well, now that I know what kind of things can happen when I get out more I won't be such a shut in," I sat. Pausing a moment I add. "When we're done here want to see something interesting?"

Lily takes a pull of her beer, looking at Kaine with interest before she puts it down on the table and nods. "Absolutely," she says, intrigued by whatever it is he wants to show her. "Can I ask what it is or is it better if it's a surprise?"

She likes surprises, likes people who are going to surprise her even more. The unexpected is part of what she lives for, those moments when when the world doesn't quite go as planned and although sometimes it means ending up on an island or in a city she can't leave, there are parts of these experiences that she'd never give up.

"You can ask, but I'm not going to tell you."

I hope that's not as creepy sounding as I think it might. I've quickly learned that a lot of the stuff I say comes across a bit like a stalker. Either I'm getting better at it or Lily is not as wary as she should be. Good thing for her I'm not some sort of psychopath. At least not anymore.