For ashyperfume

[trainwrecked]

It took a while, before he dialed the phone on the card. Weeks, he thought, he wasn't very good at keeping up with the dates. Or, rather, he didn't care that much.

But time had passed since the party. He'd memorized the information, then burned the card - in his experience already, anything after the last wipe wasn't going away, so he was using what part of his memory he could. Extensively.

In the end, though, he just picked a street phone and punched the number.

"Ms. Fukuyama?" Yes, she'd told him to call her Fuu. He couldn't be sure she'd pick up the phone herself. "This is James Banes."

That was how normal conversations went, wasn't it?

Comments

[trainwrecked]

Well, that certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting. And it...

It struck closer to home than she could have probably thought it would, if he could go by the look on her face. Her request wasn't about him. It was about her, so she couldn't know...

"I'll try," he breathed out, tightly, after a moment. He wasn't sure he could manage it, as much as was needed, but he would very certainly try. Because he couldn't be there for his ... friend, because, as he'd said, he wanted to learn, because it wasn't going counter to his objectives.

Because she was asking. He was pretty sure this wasn't something she ever mentioned to anyone, let alone asking.

And she was asking, not manipulating him.

But, in the end, she was naming her price - take it or leave it - for her reasons. And he was accepting for his own.

[ashyperfume]

Her expression eased, her smile similar as before -- slight, slow-blooming. "I'll imagine I'll need some Russian translation anyway."

[trainwrecked]

Small pause. But he would still need an interpreter for her for a while, yet.

"From me, or for me?"

[ashyperfume]

She certainly wouldn't always make it easy. Though to start learning about the intricacies of human interaction, what better way for someone used to being challenged to begin with one?

"Both." She cupped her hand to light her cigarette, coaxing flame to the tip. "I don't know Russian, and any information about your most recent past is likely to be in that language. While certain parts of coding are universal, that doesn't help me to know where to dig in a language that doesn't even use the same letters."

[trainwrecked]

What's to say that he didn't prefer a challenge, actually?

He nodded, slowly.

"On the one hand, I would not recommend trying to dig up that data directly. On the other hand, a process of learning could mask actually reaching for it. That might work. Create a process where that would not be a deviation. Nothing to alert them."

Ever so slightly, he smiled back. She told him she wasn't going to rely on him for safety, which meant that warning her just how dangerous that play could be was unnecessary.

"And teaching you Russian can be a reasonable excuse for my visits."

[ashyperfume]

He earned a nod of approval on that one. "When fishing where you're not supposed to, it's a good idea to cast the net wide. Scoop up as many fish as you can so they don't realize that you're looking for the one you're not supposed to take."

One shoulder lifted in echo of the movement she'd given to the drunken man earlier that evening, a smirk lingering, small. "I'd better be a slow learner."

[trainwrecked]

"Just try not to catch unexpected sharks." Dry, but not entirely without humor.

But then he stilled, at the last comment, and - for the first time - an actual smile blossomed on his face, one not wry or complicated or biting. Just... a smile.

"You might get setbacks because of your instructor's absences, but... I'd like that."

[ashyperfume]

Her eyebrows rose, the ghost of her own smile remaining as she released a breath of smoke. "James, that was almost a flirt."

[trainwrecked]

"I... did not quite mean it..."

Then he realized it wasn't a complaint. Thought for a moment, and his wavering smile solidified. "Though I've caught hints that, once upon a time, that might have been intentional. I suppose I should watch myself about that."

That would be as close to teasing as he got.

[ashyperfume]

"Probably," she agreed, tapping the ash off the end of her cigarette. "God only knows what would happen if someone were to take you seriously."

Her eyes would probably tell him that she was poking at him again - and enjoying it, no less.

"Are you in town tomorrow?"

[trainwrecked]

Beat.

And then he frowned, slightly. "Somehow, I doubt many people did." A tad darker. "For different reasons than most recently, that is."

A shrug. "But, yeah, I think so. A few days is what I usually give myself, most places. More, in lower-tech countries. Less, in cities where I'd be expected."

[ashyperfume]

Her eyes narrowed towards him slightly -- a discerning, analyzing look. But whatever conclusion she came to, she kept it to herself, opting for the matter at hand.

"Tomorrow, then." She pushed off the wall. It was starting to rain again, but she didn't flinch at the droplets that slid into her hair, twisting back to face him. "My place."

[trainwrecked]

He'd find that.

"What time?"

'Tomorrow' had a duration of twenty-four hours. Specifics were good.

[ashyperfume]

"Nine." Her shoulder lifted, but she didn't look at him, toeing her cigarette against the pavement. ". . . Better make it nine-thirty."

"Not past your bedtime, I hope."

[trainwrecked]

"Nine thirty."

Acknowledgment, firm. And then, just as deadpan.

"And the bedtime really depends on the time zone."

[ashyperfume]

Likely very few could pull off deadpan in the same way that he could. She stared back at him a moment, then burst into a snort of laughter.

"Good night, James."

And then she was off into the rain, her heels clicking across the pavement. She didn't rush.

[trainwrecked]

He stared at her for a long, long moment. Those words...

It had been a very, very long time since anyone had said them to him. He couldn't recall who, or when, but it was a very long time ago.

Then he shook his head, and thought for a moment on what the answer should be. In the end, he settled on something which he knew could be a problem - he had been that problem, in some situations.

"Safe return home, Fuu."