thesupersmeller | OOM: First Date with Agnes

This time, Gus at least has the benefit of knowing what he's going into a day ahead of time after confronting Shawn about his previous blind date. He's also got the benefit of added nervousness and the absolute certainty it's going to go badly because his dates usually do. After an hour of preening and making sure everything is perfect and as it should be, he settles on a dark blue shirt open at the collar with khakis - casual, comfortable and drives to the Psych office. On his desk is a small, square box with a sticky note on the front bearing Shawn's handwritten: "NOT FOR YOU" and beside it a Hershey bar with another note reading: "FOR YOU".

Sometimes, Shawn could be a pretty cool guy. Or, you know, he felt bad about tricking Gus into going on the first blind date and setting him up like a piece of meat to begin with. But, he had to admit he was a tiny bit grateful that at least someone was looking out for him while he had himself all wrapped up in a bit of madness he never should have touched to begin with.

Steeling himself, he picks up the candy - leaving behind said sticky notes - and steps through the locker to Milliways. This time the meeting is to be indoors and he picks a quiet booth in a corner hoping that Shawn had at least had the sense to show her a picture so they could find each other. No less, he sits facing the doors and opens his candy bar, forcing himself to break off each chocolaty square to eat slowly and not assuage his nerves by downing the whole thing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

agnes_nitt

"It's okay; I do that sometimes, too. And it wasn't boring. I just... didn't understand a lot of the words. But it sounds like it was exciting, the way you tell it."

From:

thesupersmeller

His smile returning, he nods - lifting his eyes back up to meet hers.

"I've got some friends that are the same way, I just... never really know what people understand. Maybe if you can tell me what you don't get I can make it work for you?" He means to be helpful, but knows it's the sort of offer some people would probably see as condescending.

"Unless you think it's more fun to figure it out on your own?" He shrugs.

From:

agnes_nitt

Agnes smiles back, and then rewinds the conversation in her mind to pick out the unfamiliar words. "Okay, it's quite a list: lawyer, asylum, undercover, medication, encyclopedic, and psychiatric." She repeats the words with the exact intonations that he'd used when saying them, just parroting the words back thanks to that perfect tonal memory of hers.

From:

thesupersmeller

Her intonation is impressive, and despite a lifetime of being worn down by Shawn's photographic memory exact tone reproduction catches his ear. But, he lets it slide in favor of something he knows he can give answers for.

"Mmm, fun ones." He takes a short sip of his wine, letting the flavor roll over his tongue as he considered the list. "Uh, lawyer - is kind of like someone who presents your side of an argument before a judge when you're accused of something. Notoriously shady in my world and not the kind of people you trust. An asylum... is..." he stammers, looking for sensitive way to explain something he's honestly not always sensitive about. "It's where people that have psychiatric disorders - which is kind of a nice way of saying crazy that's dangerous - are looked after by doctors and nurses that try to help them. Ideally. It doesn't always work out that way, but it's supposed to."

He tries to recall the rest of the words, plucking out another chocolate in the process. "Going undercover is something we do sometimes, really we just pretend we're someone else as part of a police operation to get information that we couldn't get going in there as ourselves. If that makes any sense. It's sort of like acting," or lying, but he's not about to get that harsh; "but with a goal in mind. Uh, encyclopedic..." he pops the chocolate in his mouth, lapping over his thumb - brows knitting together again. "When it comes to medication... medicine, kind of like herbs and compounds for treating illnesses but instead of like a potion like you're used to it's in a tablet or a capsule or sometimes a liquid or a cream... it's sort of a broad word. But I know a lot about those compounds like what drugs are used to treat what and what's in them and what they interact with and that sort of thing. See, my day job... when I'm not working with Shawn, is talking doctors into taking samples for their patients - sick people and the like - of medication that the company I work for produces."

When tries to break it down it really all sounds much more complicated than it is, and he's never really thought about it much before.

From:

agnes_nitt

Agnes tries to wrap her mind around all of that.

"I think I understand it now. I'm sure it's all completely obvious and normal to people on Earth. I've been to a few versions, but I still have trouble keeping up with how different everything is."

From:

thesupersmeller

He shakes his head apologetically; "Girl, I live there and I can't keep up with it."

In fact, if recent events have shown him anything it's that he's pretty much hopeless when it comes to understanding any universe. Which is almost comforting in a sort of 'we're all screwed' kind of way.

"Do you go other places a lot?" He changes the subject, picking up another candy but forcing himself to only roll the wrapper between his fingers.

From:

agnes_nitt

"Not for a few years now," she says with a shake of her head. There's still a twinge of sadness as she thinks about Carlos, still not knowing what happened to him or if he was even still alive, but it's better.

She takes another sip of wine to cover the moment, and then forges ahead. "How about you? Have you ever been somewhere else?"

From:

thesupersmeller

He nods slowly, his dark eyes watching her with obvious curiosity.

"Actually, just a few days ago a friend of mine took me to spend the night and work in her garden in the morning. It was nice to get away from Santa Barbra... and even get away from Milliways for a bit."

Who'd ever have thought he'd need an escape from the place he considered his escape? It's his rotten luck.

"But it was my first time somewhere else. It's pretty weird still."

From:

agnes_nitt

"It took me several times before I was comfortable on a round planet. I couldn't figure out how people stayed on." She laughs a little self-deprecatingly. "You probably think that's silly."

From:

thesupersmeller

"Yours isn't... round?" He leans forward, eyebrows knit together even more curious than before; "It's not silly, I've just... never heard of a planet that isn't round."

And he's into space. Of course, that's space in his universe where as far as they know all planets are more or less spherical in nature - at least in know solar systems.

From:

agnes_nitt

"We call it the Disc," she explains. "It sits on the backs of four giant elephants that all ride on the back of an even more giant turtle that swims through space."

From:

thesupersmeller

Gus is dumbstruck, to say the least. It sounds almost like some of the old creation mythology - but at the same time wholly original.

"A... a disc?" He blinks several times, a wide smile crossing his lips. "That's definitely the most interesting thing I've heard all week."

"Sorry," he shakes his head, letting out a soft laugh; "I just... that's fascinating. I can't believe how different it is from my world just the little bit you've told me."

From:

agnes_nitt

She'd been ready to defend her explanation by pointing out that she'd actually been to the Rim and peered over the side herself. It was usually the next thing she had to say to people who accused her of simply parroting a superstition. So it's a pleasant surprise that Gus took her at her word.

"The Disc runs on magic instead of science. So everything's a little different there."

From:

thesupersmeller

If he's learned anything since tumbling into Milliways it's that anything can happen, no matter how much it goes against his world's logic and reality.

"That sounds amazing..." He finally unwraps the candy he's been fumbling with, realizing with some degree of amusement it's not out of nervousness or awkwardness - which is an improvement for him.

"Maybe a little bit scary... In a good way."

From:

agnes_nitt

"It is definitely that. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, the Fair Folk... there's no shortage of scary."

From:

thesupersmeller

His eyes go wide again, and he knows she can probably read him like a book. It's not that he's a coward... he's just a little... squeamish. It's gotten better over the years of dealing with investigating murders and all that - but vampires? Zombies? Yikes.

"I hope you don't think less of me for what I'm about to say - but... damn. That's pretty intense." His voice drops to a somewhat lower tone and he adds; "I guess an exceptional woman would live in an exceptional world."

From:

agnes_nitt

She nods. "There are a few of those, too. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, for two. Queen Magrat, too. I've also met a woman here from my world named Angua -- she's on the City Watch in Ankh-Morpork, which is pretty exceptional by itself."

From:

thesupersmeller

"Fascinating," he smiles, genuinely intrigued; "And that's close to where you're from?"

Sipping his wine, he listens intently.

From:

agnes_nitt

"Oh, no. Ankh-Morpork is a long way from Lancre. That's the name of my village -- Lancre. We're way up in the Ramtop Mountains, but Ankh-Morpork is on the other side, a few days ride away. I lived there briefly, doing a season with the Opera House there. That was before I was ready to accept that I was a witch."

And you're babbling.

"And I'm babbling. Sorry."

From:

thesupersmeller

"Don't be..." He shakes his head, "sorry, I mean. You're not babbling at all."

He shifts forward in the booth, having already noticed the... Odd... quality of her voice. "Opera? You sing opera?"

From:

agnes_nitt

Agnes nods, and then cocks her head to the side. "You like opera?"

From:

thesupersmeller

It takes a moment to answer, mostly because he doesn't want to come off as an uncultured idiot. Figuring honesty was a good idea, he answers; "I like the music, but I don't really understand it... you know? Maybe if I spoke Italian it'd be easier for me to get into it... but I have an ear for melodies that enjoys the sound."

With a shrug, he adds; "I sometimes do a cappella stuff with a group I ran with in college but, man... opera. That's like some serious singing."

From:

agnes_nitt

"Nobody understands opera. That's part of its appeal, part of its power. One of the most beautiful arias I've ever heard is about a door that won't open. But it doesn't matter what it means, because the sound and the emotion is just so powerful that it overwhelms the meaning."

From:

thesupersmeller

The thought brings out an easy laugh and somewhat shyly, he admits; "I do have La Traviata on my iPod - with Placido Domingo playing Alfredo."

Not that he'd ever admit to it publicly given the way Shawn already rails on his nerdery (despite being just as geeky in different subjects) - and it seems kind of odd nestled in with 80s hits, R&B classics and the odd pop song.

After a moment, he allows himself to push a little further and suggests; "I'd love to hear you sing sometime."