ain't gonna hang around 'til there's nobody dancing

[symmachy]

Who: Scathach & Bruce.
When: Friday evening.
Where: His place.
Summary: Date night.
Warnings: WHO KNOWS.

[It wasn't a date.

Well, maybe it was. Mostly, it was dinner between friends. That was what she preferred, even though she had dressed up a bit, as befitted a semi-formal occasion. Not unarmed, of course, knife strapped high on her thigh, invisible to anyone watching. She was just a young woman walking alone just before sirens went off, looking far too casual to not be up to something.

At least, that was how she imagined she looked. Most people were already locked up in their houses, safe from the nighttime monsters. She considered lingering, but didn't want to show up covered in blood again. It would be rude. His shirt was folded neatly over her arm, washed and ready to be returned. Scathach ran a hand through her cropped red hair as she arrived, and gave a cursory knock at the door. She wondered where this would go, if she'd really get to meet this mysterious "Other Guy," but knew it was rude to ask.

Sadly, that had hardly ever stopped Scatty before.]

Comments

[symmachy]

[The Warrior Maid sips quietly at her tea as he makes his deductions. She smiles into the cup, her shoulders shaking as she tries not to laugh.]

I want your body. That's what you think? [Man did he really think she was that shallow? Well, to be honest she could be, but that wasn't the case this time.] Is me just wanting good company so implausible? Gods, maybe humans have changed more than I realized. [She wasn't exactly offended. Technically, she couldn't be. But there's a slight edge to her voice, hardly masked by her conversational tone.]

[hulkbusted]

[Why does no one understand his sense of humor? No one gets it, but he just keeps on trying; it's the definition of insanity writ large.

He sighs and pushes his glass around in its circle of condensation.]

I'll make a note that self-deprecatory humor doesn't translate between Bruce and Scathach. I don't expect anyone to be after my body if their motives don't include vivisection. You aren't looking to vivisect me are you?

[He's already mentally distributing the food that she's probably not going to eat when she gets sick of this and walks out.]

[symmachy]

[Human humor just changes too fast for her, okay. At least she's calming down now. Don't worry, she isn't about to walk out. Yet.]

Not at this moment, no. And I don't have any future plans to.

[hulkbusted]

[Not being vivisected is a priority for Bruce. Not being alone is... not so much a priority, but the peace he had made with being alone had been crumbling in the days before he came to Siren's Port. The weeks since his arrival had reawakened a hunger for connections.

Scathach... well, she had reawakened other hungers.]

That's good. Really good. Do you still want dinner?

[symmachy]

[Don't you talk about hungers, it's getting close to feeding time for her. Not that she'll... openly tell him that. She crosses her legs and leans on the table again, smirking.]

From vivisection to dinner. Nice segue. But yes, I would.

[hulkbusted]

[He shrugs and raises the glass to wipe away the water ring with the palm of his hand.]

It's my not-at-all smooth way of moving on, but don't worry, I'll feel like an ass at least a little bit for the rest of the month.

[Taking his glass with him, he leaves her at the table to take warm serving dishes out of the oven.]

[symmachy]

Good to know.

[She doesn't watch him walk to the oven or anything. That would be creepy.]

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce returns with rice and alurdum, a bowl of aam dal, and another of lentils. It takes another trip to add the begun bhaja and two glasses of water. All in all, it's too much food for two people and Bruce is acutely aware of it.]

I didn't know what you'd like, so I made a few different things. If you don't like this, there's more in the kitchen. I might have... been sublimating some anxieties through cooking today.

[symmachy]

[Bruce. She usually just eats like, one apple a day, literally. What is she going to do with all of this? But she doesn't let on that it's way too much food.]

It all looks excellent. I'll have some of each. [She was going to hate herself later.]

[hulkbusted]

[On this Bruce can help, since he has not forgotten what she told him about her eating habits.]

I won't be offended if you don't eat much or if you don't eat at all. You told me that you don't often eat normal food and I can't imagine your stomach would be up for all of this.

[He sits down again and takes his napkin from its place by his place setting, smoothing it nervously in his fingers before unfolding it.]

Like I said, the cooking was mostly for my benefit.

[symmachy]

[Thank goodness. While she does have an iron stomach most of the time, she still can only handle so much. Her kind weren't meant to eat human food. When she did, it was just a façade, one she was putting on now for Bruce.]

I'll keep that in mind. [She smiles a bit, taking her own napkin and placing it neatly on her lap.] And I appreciate it all the same.

[hulkbusted]

[Another shrug. He's mostly keeping his eyes down on the food, flicking glances up at her now and then.]

It would be just my luck that I'd pick something that you can't eat at all. I just don't want to make you sick on top of interrogating you.

[symmachy]

[She notices. She wonders if there's blood on her face or something.]

As long as there isn't any meat, I'll be fine. [A smile.] And I've never been sick a day in my life. I don't plan to start now.

[hulkbusted]

[He's successfully eradicated his own appetite, but if he doesn't eat, what else is he going to do with himself?]

No, no meat. Bengali cooking is heavy on fish, but I cheated and looked up some vegetarian options that I had while I was in Calcutta but... [He stops and shakes his head at himself, half-laughing.] Do you really care about Bengali cuisine?

[symmachy]

[She's started eating, and rather daintily at that. How surprising. Scatty looks up at him, and raises an eyebrow.]

I don't know much about cooking, so yes, I think I do care. I wouldn't mind learning a bit, at least.

[hulkbusted]

[Bruce would serve himself a bit of everything and take a few bites before nodding.]

It's a strange fact that ginger is a prominent part of Bengali cooking in part because of the dietary restrictions imposed on widows. They have more rights now, but there was a time when they weren't even allowed to leave the house after they were widowed.

[He points to the alurdum.] This is a good example - potatoes, ginger, and a variety of other spices, but no curry or onion because widows weren't allowed to eat them.

[symmachy]

[She isn't sure why he's started talking about widows of all things, but she keeps her expression interested. It hit a little close to home, even if she'd... never been married. It was still a relatively sore subject.]

And what was wrong with curry and onions?

[hulkbusted]

[But... but... cultural context... Poor Bruce.]

I don't know. They're old rules and rooted in the idea that a woman without her husband is kind of... supernumerary. I like to think of the complex flavors that come out of it as the widows' way of saying "screw you we can do better" to the rules.

[symmachy]

[Clearly cultural context is overrated. But a smirk does find its way to her face.]

As they should. Sometimes there's room for change. Old just gets... old.

[hulkbusted]

[A smirk is still an improvement, although he does prefer that rare real smile he's seen.]

I guess most things I'd consider traditional would just seem like a flash in the pan to you.

[symmachy]

[He's gonna have to bust his ass to get it back. She shakes her head, still smirking a bit.]

There are some laws, some stories, that are older than even me. If you can believe it.

["If he can believe it" because she still doesn't look any older than twenty. Who knows why.]

[hulkbusted]

[He can believe it. Mostly. Sometimes, like when she walked into his apartment in that little sundress, it's much harder to believe and mostly he just feels like an old man lusting way out of his league.

At the moment he mostly believes he's a jackass.]

Why not? You're talking to a physicist. I believe in laws that have been in existence from the beginning of time.

[symmachy]

[He's only proven to be a slight jackass. But then, who wasn't? Her head dips contemplatively for a moment, and she twirls her fork between her fingers. It was so hard not to tell him that the "laws" of physics he knew had been changed time and again since the beginning, usually at the whim of some bored immortal.]

I suppose that's true. And suddenly, brushing up on what little physics I know seems like it would've been a good idea.

[hulkbusted]

[He'll believe she's ten thousand years old and feeds on emotions, but don't mess with the laws of physics!]

Would have been?

[symmachy]

[He's doing better than most people she meets, to be honest.]

Excuse me. Will be in the future.