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Dangerous Encounters (Elle-Mae and Miles) - COMPLETED

It’s the time of year when the nights are staying warmer, only just cooling off enough to be nice to be out in. It’s a nice change from the bitter cold of a couple of months ago, when Miles had to wear a couple layers just to tolerate going out for a walk. He prefers this time of year, being able to go out in a t-shirt and jeans instead of a couple layers of coats. He’d been inside most of the day at work, working an afternoon shift instead of a morning one, but when he’d gotten off he’d decided the night was warm enough to warrant walking home instead of grabbing a cab.

At this hour, the nightlife is really just starting to come alive. Neon signs are lighting up, people are starting to mill about in their clubbing clothes, and the general excited chatter from people out in groups or in pairs are reaching his ears and only growing louder. That’s one thing he can say about a city, is that it never really gets quiet. Back home nothing would be heard except the occasional car and the crickets at this time. Miles finds it’s not so bad either way though, both have their benefits and he’s not the type to get all caught up in which is better. He doesn’t have much purpose to his direction, somewhere along the way deciding the night was too nice to waste going straight home and taking a more meandering path that way so that he can spend more time in the fresh, for a city anyway, air.

As he walks, his feet taking him past a bar that’s been open for a while, he starts to notice something outside the usual din of people on the street. He pauses, head going up and he looks around, trying to find the source of what he was hearing. He catches sight of the disturbance a little bit up the road, a group of people herding someone away from the main road and into an alley, which is always a sign of people just enjoying their night. A frown taking over his previously content expression, Miles heads straight for them. He can hear them before he can see them, male voices jeering and bodies jostling and when he turns the corner he sees that they have a couple of young teenagers backed against the wall. They look like some low life gang, their faces covered, and at first he figured the group of about 9 were just being assholes, likely high on something. Then he sees the glint of a knife in one of their hands.

He doesn’t give them the benefit of a warning, instead immediately going after the person closest to him. He’s socked him in the jaw hard enough to knock him out before any of them even realize they’re being attacked, but at the sound of their buddy hitting the ground like a rag-doll, Miles officially has their attention. “Unless you want to end up in the hospital, I suggest you move on with your night.” As he looks them over, he comes to a very sobering realization. If this is a gang, then it’s not a human one. It looks like there’s a group of supernaturals facing him, a mix of valkyr, therians, and humans staring back angrily at him. Fortunately he’d managed to drop one of the valkyr, but since he hadn’t killed him that means the heap at his feet will be back up before too long. One of them curses at him, the rest joining in with shouts that echo down the alleyway and into the street, before they all rush at him. He’s thankful that his initial guess that most of them are on something seems to be true, because they’re tripping over each other in a way that anyone sober wouldn’t be doing. That’s to his benefit because otherwise he might end up hurt. The first couple that reach him Miles dodges out of the way of, returning their sloppy blows with quick and powerful strikes, not bothering to hold back his strength thanks to the sudden dangerous nature of this encounter. With most of them coming at him from the front though, he doesn’t see the one that managed to get around him.

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TherianPermalink Reply by ✓ Elle-Mae Vivienne Lovett on May 14, 2020 at 0:28

Elle smiled softly. She had always loved her family; even as messy as it sometimes got. But that was life. It was nice to see that they had that in common; she could tell how much he loved his own too. His laugh at her smart comment isn’t missed. “I am sure you do, but just in denial.” she joked. Elle tilted her head slightly. “Mhh, I have a feeling you’re much smarter than you give yourself credit for.” She smiled at him softly. As Miles told her about what he got up to growing up, she shook her head. “Sounds like you and my brothers have that in common.” she said teasingly. If her brothers had known Miles, then no doubt the trio would have gotten into chaos with the amount of fights and trouble, they all got into.

The Therian nodded; she had heard about strange happenings going on in the city. Due to the newspapers around the city. No wonder, everything was chaotic. Especially where his job was concerned. “I am sure, you’ll be relieved when you’ll get a holiday. Hard earned for sure.” Everyone deserves a break, so she was sure Miles could use one. She smiled softly, as he mentioned reading the translator. “It’s the effort that counts.” It counted for something in her book. “But practise makes it better. Right?” If one spoke a language enough, one would get better at it.

As he commented on her middle name, she smiled softly. He was probably the first too actually guess it’s origin. “Thank you, it was after my late great gran. Bless her. But you’re right, although I think it has a few french connections, aswell.” As he mentioned his real name, it suited him. “I’ve always liked that name.”It was nice that they both had middle-names after someone meaningful like their grand-parents. “What can I say, both Catwoman and Wonderwoman, scream girl power.” Honestly talking about her Halloween costume brought up some good memories. “Oh yeah, although in my case; it was an old fishing boat that got a make-over to serve as the invisible jet. But hey, it still served its purpose.” You just had to leave your imagination to the rest of it. As he named his favorite, Elle smiled. “That’s a great choice, I am a fan of Wolverine myself. Something about his claws was always super cool.” Out of all the Comics and Superheroes, Wonderwoman and X-Men, would probably be the one’s she followed the most, as well as seeing the franchise of movies.
Elle noticed his surprised expression at her question about the dessert. Listening to his suggestions. “Mhh.” she pursed her lips slightly, thinking for an extra second. Smiling softly. “Guess I’ll have to try the crème brûlée.” The Palmiers could wait for another day. Even though it was tempting to get both; but she had to control her after dinner- munchies for something sweet.

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Miles Evans on May 14, 2020 at 20:05

Her insistence is quite sweet, if a bit funny. Eventually he holds his hands up in acquiescence, laughing as he gives up. “Okay, if that’s what you want to think then I’ll let you think so.” Poor girl, doesn’t realize just how ridiculous he can be yet. Then again, maybe she’s right? He doubts it though. Someone smart wouldn’t get into all the trouble he manages to get himself into, though from what she’s telling him about her brothers he figures maybe he’s just the average guy version of stupid. “Ah good, well at least in that case we can share dumb stories.” Dumb they will be too he’s sure, especially if they’re anything like his. He still remembers the time he literally dumped someone in a trash can for hitting on his sister. Fun times.

Miles probably knows a bit more about what’s going on than most, thanks to both his jobs. The Guard have been investigating and he’s been attempting to help piece things together with the knowledge he manages to glean from his forensics job but so far they’ve all come up entirely empty handed. It’s not a good feeling when you’re used to getting answers and now there’s the added question about if this has anything to do with the new species that just showed up. The situation is concerning on multiple levels and even the Aspects have no answers yet. “I think everyone in the department will. I know I’m looking forward to a week-long nap.” A week without work is such a strange thought to him. At this point he’s sure he’d be a restless mess by day two but it would be nice to be able to do other things besides worry about working. “Practice does make perfect. It would be easier if anyone around here actually spoke Greek.” He does have an old friend from college that took the classes with him but they don’t talk very often anymore.

When one goes into forensics that means a big focus on medical terms, almost all of which have their origin in Latin. Makes it easy to understand the terms across different languages as they’re all standard. That also means it’s easy for him to pick out Latin roots, even if he can’t actually speak the dead language. “Well in that case it’s quite fitting. It’s nice to have some connections to other relatives.” Her description of how they made the invisible jet causes him to start laughing. He can’t help it, picturing them taking an old fishing boat and probably putting it on some skateboards to go down the street. The image is hilarious. “I hope you have pictures because I’d love to see that some day.” It helps that she seems quite fond of those memories. “Oh yeah, hard to beat Wolverine in coolness factors. Batman was a close second.” Then again, what young kid doesn’t love Batman?

When she makes her decision the waiter heads off to get her dessert for her. Miles gives a small nod of approval, the crème brûlée his personal favorite. Meanwhile he gets a refill of coffee to tide him over, not getting the sweets this time because he does actually want to be able to sleep when he goes home. “Hmm… if you had to pick a favorite dessert of all time, what would it be?” It’s not exactly a random question but it is one he’s noticed some people have a hard time answering, him among them.

TherianPermalink Reply by ✓ Elle-Mae Vivienne Lovett on May 14, 2020 at 20:58

Maybe it was just Elle; but she always had a thing for trying to lift people up; when they didn’t believe in themselves. And it seemed like Miles didn't believe in his own smarts. But she was sure, he was more sophisticated than he made himself out to be; despite his fun, goofy side. Giggling at the way he held up his hands, shaking her head in amusement. “Do you manage to turn everything into a comedic scene?” she teased. From the top of her head, she couldn’t think of a stupid story right now, involving her brothers. It’d come to her sooner or later, she was sure. “I still remember, when a guy in my school dropped his lunch in my lap, at the dining hall. My elder brother lost it...and smothered the guy's face, in mom’s raspberry and cherry home-made pie, that we brought with us.” Elle made a face at the messy memory but laughed. Her brother thought the guy had done it on purpose apparently. “I think the entire cafeteria was either shocked, or scared of my elder brother that day, that most avoided him for the rest of the week. I still think it’s a waste of pie.”

“A week long nap? That’s one long catnap.” she giggled. “Wow, you sound like a bear, that’s about to hibernate.” she teased. But she figured he was joking, but it sounded funny that he was thinking of sleeping an entire week. “You’d be missing out on some fun, during that long nap.” Elle could sleep a lot, but that was if she was tired/or sick. But otherwise, she had a tendency to be up early, to make most of her days and weeks. To keep herself busy. “Well, I know a little bit of Greek, but I am probably not as fluent in it, as you.” She didn’t study Greek long enough to be as fluent.

Elle took a sip of her wine, still having some left over. The Therian nodded. “Certainly. I sadly didn’t know great-gran Vivienne very well. I was only small, when she passed. Heard lots of wonderful stories about her though. But it feels nice, having a connection to her off sorts.” Plus, she always thought the name was pretty enough, which is why she let people call her Viv, as a nickname. That story seemed to make everyone laugh. “If that amuses you. I’d think you’d have a day, if you knew what I used to fix the costume.” Elle said with a giggle. “But yeah, I am sure I still have some pictures of my Halloween days as a Wonderwoman, stashed somewhere.” Whilst growing up, she had a few fond memories; among the family craziness. That was one of the few. He had a good point. “Of course, after all Batman had the Batmobile and all those cool gadgets, and his trusty side-kick Robyn.” What’s not to like, about that?

As he asked her that question about her favorite Dessert. Elle blinked. That was a hard question. She opened her mouth a few times, to answer that question; but always changed her mind; as it was too difficult. “It’s like Sophie’s Choice.” Elle admitted, referring to an old movie, she loved because of how hard this question was. “I am like a dessert fiend, in the family. So this genuinely is a hard question to answer. I don’t think I can pick a favorite.” She spoke in all honesty. And with how fit she was, from being so active; it was hard to tell he was a dessert lover.

"I got a good one." Elle smiled, as she thought of a question for him. "If you had to go 5 new places, where would you go and why?"

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Miles Evans on May 15, 2020 at 1:09

“Most of the time. At least when it’s appropriate.” He puts his hands down, smiling some. He does know when to be serious, but a lot of the time he understands the need for some levity and he’s more than alright bringing it to the table when it’s needed. He frowns a little in concern about her story about her brother smashing a pie into a guy’s face but the reason isn’t quite what she’s probably thinking. “Well that was a waste of a pie..” Though he can at least say he never went quite that far. His sister was younger than him, but if some kid had done something like that on purpose he more than trusted her to handle it herself. She had the same training at that age that he had after all. “Though I’m sure it got the point across. How much trouble did he get in?” Miles’s slight grin suggests that he has his fair share of getting into trouble like that too, which considering his dad was a cop probably means he was quite mischievous.

“There are worse things. Frankly hibernating sounds like a great idea.” A couple month long nap and only getting up to snack? Heck yeah that sounds like a good time to him, especially after a couple years with no real breaks to speak of. “Hmm, you have a point though. Can’t very well sleep through all the drama that happens in this city, I’d be left behind… and probably fired.” He fake grumbles at the shattering of his long napping dreams. The put on doesn’t last long though before his smile returns. “Eh I don’t know, maybe you’re not but I have no doubts that you could master it way before me.” It took him several years to learn but considering Elle’s list of languages, he’s pretty sure she’d figure it out in a hurry.

Having a similar connection to family is always an interesting thing to find out about someone. To him, it speaks to an importance of family that he’s always found crucial to have, even though logically he understands that not everyone has as good of a relationship with their families as he was fortunate enough to have. “My grandfather passed when I was about 5 I think. I learned more about him later in life than I did before that but I do remember lots of family dinners over at his house. They were always fun.” Obviously those days are good memories for him, judging by the wistful look on his face. Her comment about her costume causes him to raise a very curious eyebrow at her. “Was it duct tape? Please tell me it was duct tape.” That would be hilarious. Potentially painful if not done correctly, but still hilarious. Besides, it comes in a variety of colors. “Well that and a cool attitude. Robin was super cool though, made me think even a kid like me could be a superhero. I don’t think my mom appreciated the idea much but my dad thought it was hilarious, especially considering that one time I stole the family car to go chase after the ‘criminal’ down the street. I was 7 and the criminal turned out to be one of the neighbor’s kids coming back for a visit.” Yeah he was definitely a handful. His dad had laughed for a week about it after the initial panic.

He can tell he caught her off guard with that question but he doesn’t mind waiting for her to think about it. That one’s always a tough one, even to him. Heck he still hasn’t come up with an answer to it. “That’s fair. Most people are that way, I find it hard to pick a favorite too.” At least she’s honest about her sweet tooth, some people try to hide it. He takes a minute to think about his answer, going over all the places in his head that he’s thought of visiting in the past. “Hmmm… any 5 huh? Well Tokyo for sure. Hawaii. Venice… It can only be places I haven’t gone, right? Niagara Falls and Sydney. All because they’re beautiful and I haven’t had the chance to see them in person yet.” His job on the Guard has sent him to several places, but surprisingly those are all places he hasn’t been yet. Maybe some day.

TherianPermalink Reply by ✓ Elle-Mae Vivienne Lovett on May 15, 2020 at 12:45

He just seemed so care-free, at least for the most part. Elle had probably spent more of her time as the serious one; it felt nice to feel a bit more loose than general with Miles around. “Tell me about it. Mom never gave us pie to school after that incident again.” As he asked about her brother. “Oh the usual, detention for at least a few days, being grounded at home. Though, I am still sure it was an accident on the other guy’s part. So Nik handled it...well badly.” Elle noticed his slight cheeky grin, making her smile; shaking her head slightly. “Maybe your friend was right, about you being like a bull in a china-shop.” she teased, after seeing that smile.

Elle just smiled, at his response to hibernating. “And I thought, my baby brother loved his sleep.” Though it wasn’t exactly the most productive time for anyone; especially not on a break, to enjoy free time from work. But he was right, it would get him most likely fired. “Mhh-hh, not a good time to sleep through work.” Elle nodded. Giggling at his grumbling facade. “Whilst that might be true, I am sure, I got enough languages on my mind to keep me occupied already.” Who knows, maybe one day she might learn a bit more of Greek, to officially add it to her list. But for the meantime, her own list was a handful to keep fluent in.

Miles seemed like a family man; listening to him talk about his grand-father, she smiled softly. Elle could tell those memories were special to him. “Sounds like you loved going to his, as a child.” At least, he had some fun memories before his grandfather had sadly passed away. Elle threw her head back in laughter, as he suggested duct tape. “And look like Wonderwoman gone mummy?” she teased. “Although, that might have been a good idea, sounds a bit sticky.” And no doubt, it would have gotten her in less trouble. “Let’s just say, I found this piece of thick fabric that suited the costume rather well. Turned out to be one new curtain for the kitchen.” Elle admitted, looking as guilty as charged. “Although in my defence, the curtains wouldn’t have suited the kitchen anyways, the colors didn’t match the kitchen style. And the costume did win second place, in the annual Halloween costume competition in our neighborhood. But as you can imagine….my mom wasn’t so happy, after she found out about the curtain/costume.” Elle had gotten grounded for at least a month, but it was well worth it. His own story, made the Therian laugh. "You stole your family car at 7 years old?" Now that sounded like pure comedy, Elle laughed shaking her head. "What a way to scare off your neighbours kids." Elle couldn't imagine how panicked his parents must have been.

“Yeah, I mean the list of every dessert I like, could go on forever.” Okay, maybe that was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but he got the point. It was hard to pick one favorite. As the waiter finally brought over her dessert and the refill of his coffee. Elle leaned down slightly, smelling the delicious dessert. It smelled so fresh and warm. No doubt, she was going to be stuffed after tonight’s dinner and dessert. Listening to his answers, as she started to eat her dessert; Elle nodded. “Yeah, only places you haven’t been.” she confirmed with a smile. Savoring the taste of the desert, Elle smiled at his answers. “Mhh, all sound like fantastic places. Nigara falls has always been on my list too, along with Hawaii. I think mainly, because I always wanted to swim with the dolphins since I was small. Not to mention, all the islands just look so fun and beautiful.”

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Miles Evans on May 15, 2020 at 20:58

If there’s one thing Miles has mastered, it’s a facade of being care-free. He’s always been the type to consider the stresses in other people’s life and as such does his best not to contribute to them, which has led to his more goofy sense of humor. “I can’t say I blame her. All that hard work just to end up on someone’s face,” he shakes his head sadly at the wasted pie. “Well sounds like he got off easy. I’m sure today he’d be potentially looking at charges, people can be a touch insane.” He knows first hand about that sort of crap, he sees it pretty much every day. In response to her suspicions about him being a bull in a china shop he just shrugs, giving her quite the innocent look. She shouldn’t believe it for a second.

“I think everyone loves sleep, even if they don’t admit it. But yeah, damn work always getting in the way.” He’s still joking, he does love his job. Both of them, even if they can be pains sometimes. Speaking of languages, he looks at her with interest as he asks his next question. “About how long does it normally take you to learn a language?” In his case he studied Greek for about 4 years so he got pretty good at it, but that was on top of studying other things too.

Those were good days. He’d always appreciated having his family around him growing up, even from a young age knowing that it was very important to his parents and as such it was important to him too. “Yeah, they were fun days. My parents appreciated the break too.” All the kids could get together and play and the adults got a chance to sit around and talk and not worry about them for a while. Miles chuckles lowly at her obvious amusement at his suggestion. “Hey, mummy Wonder Woman could be a trend. You’re right though, it would probably be sticky. Or uncomfortable.” Still it would’ve been creative. When she reveals what she actually used though, he can’t help the shock that comes over his face. Surely that had to have been an accident but he can only imagine the trouble it got her in after the fact. After a second of staring at her in shock he busts out laughing at her guilty expression. “You used the new curtains to fix your costume? Well I’m glad it won you second place, but I bet your mom was pissed.” After calming himself, he nods. “Yep, I was 7. Wanna know what makes it worse? I took my sister with me on the ride as backup… she was 4. Neither of us got hurt of course but after that my mom started hiding the keys. As for the neighbor’s kid, he was in college. He found it hilarious.” Surprisingly he hadn’t gotten in much trouble for that incident. Likely because it was just an innocent kid’s mistake, though to his credit he’d never done it again.

Elle looks so happy to have that dessert in front of her that he gives her a moment with it, instead focusing on taking a sip of his coffee and also handing over his card to the waiter while she’s distracted. Once she’s talking to him again he brings his attention off the piping hot cup and back to her. “Those are both good reasons and honestly, they’re a couple of mine too. I’ve always wanted to try diving and surfing there.” He’s done both before on his family’s trips to the beach, but never somewhere as famous for it as Hawaii.

TherianPermalink Reply by ✓ Elle-Mae Vivienne Lovett on May 15, 2020 at 21:44

Elle nodded in agreement. “Totally, not to mention he wasted my favorite combination of fruits, with that pie incident..” Elle said with a slight pout. She had been moody with Nik, that entire week after the pie to the face incident. It was true though, back then things were a bit easier. If it happened now, who knows what punishment her brother would have faced. Seeing his innocent look; it would have been enough to make anyone melt. He just looked so darn handsome and adorable. “Nice try blue eyes, not falling for that look.” Elle said with a cheeky smile. Maybe. That look was making her all mushy.

“Mhh, I’ve always been an early riser. I think I only ever sleep a lot, if I am not feeling well or overly tired.” The Therian said honestly. So she probably didn’t sleep as much, as other people loved to. Elle had to delve back into her language learning days, as she thought about his question. “Mhh, it depends. If I am able to focus on one language, it usually takes me a year or two to be fluent enough. I think Russian took me about 5 years, as I had other things going on.” Elle couldn't’ always focus enough on Russian, but learning it did become handy, especially around her elder brother; whom spoke it fluently. Given his Russian Heritage.

“I bet. I am sure your parents could use the break too.” Elle said with a soft smile. Family events were always a good time to bond and catch up, with everyone else in the family. It seemed like they both enjoyed family gatherings for similar reasons. “Mhh, I suppose so. One of the kids near our neighbourhood dressed up as the mummy. I think he used old newspapers and toilet paper.” Elle remembered how silly it looked. But it was a funny sight. It seemed like Elle stunned him with her revelation, before he started to laugh at her. Elle laughed with him nodding. “Yeah, I used half a pair of new curtains, to repair my costume.” Elle shook her head. “No, she wasn’t happy. I got grounded for like a month. On the upside, she never did end up using the other half of the curtain in the kitchen. A few months later she was like ‘Elle, remember the kitchen curtain you destroyed? You were right, it does not go with the tiling in the kitchen at all.’” Elle did her best to put on her mother’s voice. Making her giggle. God, she missed her mom. “So she left it for creative fabric instead.” Elle’s eyes widened as he admitted to taking his 4 year old sister and chasing after a college kid. Laughing even harder; that tears of laughter welled in her eyes. “Oh god, two children chasing after a college kid.” she shook her head amused. “Looks like you took your driver's license, way early.” she joked.

Elle had been enjoying the dessert; that she didn’t even notice Miles paying for their dinner. If she had noticed, she would have argued to pay her half. Licking her lips, as the dessert tasted so good. “There’s not exactly many places, one can go swimming with the Dolphins. Heard Hawaii's best.” Plus, who just didn’t love exotic islands? “Snorkeling is always fun, when diving. I never tried surfing.” She admitted. It always looked plenty of fun. “But you’re bound to probably catch some good waves in Hawaii.”

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Miles Evans on May 16, 2020 at 17:49

Miles files away that little tidbit of information about fruit for later, disguising the workings of his mind with a soft laugh. “How dare he. Just the utmost disrespect.” To be fair he does understand. Why waste pie like that when something else would work just as well? Then again, it’s probably better off having been the pie as opposed to his fist. Elle reacts to his innocent face just like someone who is used to having puppy eyes used on them and Miles laughs at her cheeky grin. “Well I tried. Did the blue eyes really hurt my chances that much?” He knows he has quite bright blue eyes under that sheen of purple, but some people can find the purple tint a bit strange in his experience.

Dropping the joke for a minute, Miles gives Elle a more serious nod. “Honestly I’m much the same. Though I prefer staying up late to getting up early my job has kind of made me an early riser.” What that really means is that he probably does both and doesn’t actually get enough sleep, which would explain his earlier comment about wanting to sleep for a week. There’s just not enough hours in the day. He considers her answer about how long it takes her to learn languages for a minute before giving a slight nod. If he’d been able to focus purely on Greek he could see where a couple years would be enough time to become fluent in it. “That’s fair. It took me about 4 to learn Greek but I was also taking my major courses. When did you know you loved languages so much?” For someone to learn so many, they must have a genuine love for it. He figures he can understand, it’s much the same as his own love for science.

Speaking of family events, it’s about time he headed back home for a visit, even if just for a weekend. It’s been a while since he made the drive and his mom has been mentioning it more regularly. It just seems like things want to keep coming up to keep him from doing it. “Hey, that’s a classic costume. Someone has to wrap toilet paper around themselves and go as a mummy every Halloween, it’s a rule.” He doesn’t get into the whole thing of mummies actually being wrapped in linen cloth because frankly most people don’t care, kids especially. He just happens to be a huge nerd. He’s glad Elle can see the humor in the whole situation, and more importantly that she seems okay laughing at it as well, because he just couldn’t help himself. Her mimicking her mother’s voice is just the icing on the cake. “Well other than the whole getting grounded thing, it sounds like it worked out for the best. I’d imagine it would’ve made a great quilt if she liked that sort of thing. My mom always liked to use stuff like that as memory quilts, though she mostly used old shirts and coats and the like.” In fact, there’s one at his family home with a piece of his father’s old uniform that’s on his mother’s bed. Her obvious amusement at one of his more ridiculous stories brings a smile to his face and he nods in confirmation that she did in fact hear him correctly. “Yep. I was determined to be Batman and she was gonna be Robin. My dad made that same joke about my driver’s license for years and he wasn’t wrong. That car became mine after I got it.” It was old and a bit worn down by that point but Miles loved it all the same.

He’s fairly certain him paying for dinner will be brought up later but he already has an answer prepared. Namely that he eats dessert for free here, which he does, so no charge for the creamy custard she’s enjoying. “That’s true. I hope you get to go one day then.” Swimming with the dolphins does actually sound like a fun time. “Oh surfing is a lot of fun. I haven’t been in a while but it’s a lot like riding a bike, you pick it back up before long. That is one of the only downsides to living here, there’s no beach.”

TherianPermalink Reply by ✓ Elle-Mae Vivienne Lovett on May 16, 2020 at 19:09

“Tell me about it. I think I was more upset with him, than anyone else. Then again, I was 8.” It probably would sound silly to anyone else. But her brother should have handled things better. Elle smiled at his comment about his blue eyes. They were just so bright, she had to admit the purple added a unique color to them, but they still looked beautiful. “If anything, they’re working in your favour. You could get any girl to fall for those ocean eyes. I just know that innocent look too well...much too well, that I don’t fall for it easily.” After all, she’s seen it from both her brothers, when they tried to act innocent. Not to mention, she pulled it off a few times herself. It was easy to resist the innocent look,no matter how adorable he looked.

If anything, Elle figured that with a job like his; he had to be up early. But if he was a night owl. “Do you get any sleep?” she teased. The Therian was curious, just as to how much sleep he actually got? It seemed like there was some similarity to them learning a language; as it took him 4 years to learn Greek. Similar to how long it took her to learn Russian. “Considering you had other things going on, that’s decent.” As Elle eventually finished off her glass of wine; only having a small sip left, she thought about his question. “Mhh, I suppose partially because my elder brother has Russian Heritage, it made me curious about other languages. But I think it all started in school. We had a nice French teacher that made the lessons fun. I guess, once I got on a roll with one language, I wanted to know more...so eventually started to learn more.” It also helped, when learning more about different cultures; as she was generally curious, about these sorts of things.

Elle smiled, shaking her head. “I have nothing against Mummies. It was rather amusing, I think at one point, he left a trail of toilet paper behind him, when his costume got a bit undone.” Must have got caught on a twig and then it started unwinding. It was so funny, as the kid didn’t notice for at least 45 minutes. He did have a good point, nodding. “I think she ended up using some of it for new cushion covers. The other full curtain, she ended up using for my next Halloween costume, when I dressed up as the female version of Dracula.” So Elle became Countess Draculina, the next Halloween. It started a new trend apparently. “I think my grand-parents, made a few memory quilts from our old clothes.” So she knew what he was referring to. Though, Elle wasn’t sure much was left of their memory quilts, after the house fire that killed her father. Elle still had hers, as she had taken it to College with her; and kept it with her anywhere she moved. But as for her brothers, she wasn’t sure. That story was more amusing, then she heard in long while. “Nothing wrong, with wanting to be Batman and Robin. I just wish, someone would have caught it all on tape, it sounds hilarious.” It probably would have made for a comedic watch. “Aww, Well I am sure that car held some fun memories for you, even if it was an older car.”

As she soon finished off her desert. Elle licked the spoon clean; as it tasted so good. Twirling it between her lips, before setting into the empty dish. “One day, hopefully.” It was just pretty expensive. And even though she had the money to afford it; Elle’s schedule was busy, so she couldn’t afford to leave behind her work for a while; to enjoy the time away; without working on it. “I’d probably be falling back into the waves.” Elle had a good balance, but surfing? Well that was another thing all together; she was sure...she’d be bit floppy on that matter.

The waiter came in their direction, to get the empty dessert dish. Elle took a second to enquire about the bill, only to find out Miles had paid for it earlier. Looking a bit stunned. She had been getting ready to pay for her half at least. “What about the desert at least?” Elle wanted to pitch in somehow.

The waiter lightly chuckled. “Courtesy on the house.” He looked at Miles giving him a slight secret look; the girl was a keeper. Hopefully, he’d bring her back soon.

Elle thought about it, still pulling out some cash from her purse. “Well at least consider this a tip for the evening.” Before the waiter could resist...she tucked the cash into the waiter’s apron pocket. Not taking no for an answer. Giving the waiter a soft smile.

The waiter ended up chuckling, as he looked between her and the Nephilim. “I like this one.” he smiled, before enquiring if everything had been to their liking.

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Miles Evans on May 18, 2020 at 2:15

The age does explain a lot and Miles chuckles when she reveals that she was super young. “Wow the way you were talking about it, I assumed you were like 13. How old was your brother?” He knows her brother is older but being that young does explain the extreme reaction. “Any girl huh? That’s an awfully high bar to have to meet you know,” he grins down at her, giving her a subtle wink, “but I suppose with two brothers you would be able to see right through the innocent look.” His sister used to use it all the time, so he’s pretty much immune to it by this point as well.

Miles silently debates whether or not he should answer that question, knowing that lying is wrong but being honest is probably gonna get him a stern look from her. In the end he decides for honesty. “Maybe 4 or 5 hours a night? Something like that.” It depends some on the night, if he has to work over it may be closer to 2. Sleep is important he knows, but there’s things to do that he just can’t when he’s at work and he has two places to keep up. As she fills him in about what got her into language, he watches her with interest. The mention of a good teacher when she started out makes so much sense, it’s amazing what having a dedicated teacher can do. “Ahh so you started with French? I suppose that makes coming here even more appropriate. I had to take a language as a requirement for my degree, but I’d always been interested in different cultures… particularly ancient Greek legends so for me it just seemed the natural choice.” He always enjoyed the old epic tales, be they from Greece, Rome, or Egypt. Greek just seemed like the more accessible and useful language at the time to learn, and he’s glad he took it.

He raises an eyebrow as she mentions the poor kid leaving a trail of paper behind him. “See, I’m just surprised that no one stepped on it. A female Count Dracula huh? I think someone wrote that book… Sounds like you had some fun costumes though and a lot of fun Halloweens. Christmas was always a bigger deal around my house but we had a lot of fun going into candy comas after Halloween.” If they weren’t nephilim he’s pretty sure they would’ve ended up with cavities from all that candy for sure. While Miles doesn’t have any of the quilts himself, they’re all back at home, he enjoys seeing them when he goes back. He’s fairly sure they’re mostly kept in storage so that they won’t get messed up which always felt like a bit of a waste, but some of that fabric is super old so he gets the thought behind it. When she mentions a tape he thinks back for a minute, trying to remember if someone managed to record any of the incident but eventually he shakes his head. “No, I don’t think anyone did, sorry. I think my mom was too busy freaking out to grab the camera and my dad was trying to chase me down. I do wish they had thought to though, I’d love to go back and watch it now. I took better care of that car after I turned 16 than that thing had seen in years. It broke down my last year of college and I had to get a different one, you wouldn’t think losing a car would break your heart but it managed it.” The fact that he’d grown up with the thing contributes. That car owed their family nothing.

Well if he’d had any doubts that she was enjoying her dessert, the satisfied look on her face as she finishes would completely dispel them. He’s glad she enjoyed it as much as he usually does. The whole thing about vacations being expensive is such a mood though and he can only hope that he’ll be able to afford one soon. He really needs the break. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much, it’s a lot like riding a motorcycle… just with waves instead of pavement. You’d get it in no time I’m sure.” It’s just about then that he gets caught, the revelation that he’d already paid obviously catching Elle off guard. He’s genuinely surprised that she doesn’t turn around and give him a look, instead she starts getting into an amusing little match with the waiter about tipping. He returns his friend’s look with one that says not to push it. He wasn’t expecting Elle to actually take and shove bills into the guy’s apron though and that draws a snort of laughter from him. “Yeah I like her too. She’s fun. Everything was great man, thanks.” With Elle’s dessert dish cleared away it’s about time to bring the meal to a close so Miles gets to his feet, offering her his hand to escort her out of the restaurant.

TherianPermalink Reply by ✓ Elle-Mae Vivienne Lovett on May 18, 2020 at 11:42

Elle slightly shook her head. “No, my elder brother already left by the time I was 13.” Then, it was just her and her baby brother, who was 3 years younger than her. “He was 15 at the time. Phoenix is 7 years older than me, whilst Justice is 3 years younger.” Putting the ages a bit more in perspective for Miles. “Who knows, might be easier than you think.” she teased. His wink goes unmissed, smiling softly. “Please, I might have two brothers, but I’ve mastered the innocent puppy look myself, if I really really wanted something.” She joked. But more often than not; she had to see through her brothers and their innocent facade; which wasn’t so innocent.

Her brows slightly furrowed, as he told her how much sleep he got. “Yikes, you really need time off from work...or more sleep.”She couldn’t function on 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Elle would feel zombified. The red-head nodded at his question. “Yeah, unless you count watching foreign cooking programs before then with my parents, then French was the first language, I started to learn in school.” she said with a soft smile. But that was before High-school, so she had been juggling other normal day to day subjects, to keep on top off. But Every student could pick a language or two, they wanted to learn as extra; when they got a bit older. “I suppose picking Greek really is an asset to your job,if anything.” Elle agreed with a nod, smiling softly.

Miles did have a good point. “I am surprised too, but the poor kid didn’t notice his costume flaw for almost like an hour. So I think people like tried avoiding the trail.” She then nodded. “Mhh, what can I say? I made a new trend that year.” she joked. “I have always loved the holidays, Halloween has been my main go to holiday. I guess with being a creative mind, it came with the territory. But also a huge Christmas lover, don’t get me wrong. I think that was the one and only time of the year that my brothers managed not to fight for a few hours.” She missed the old days. Christmas definitely hadn’t been the same, since their family had dwindled down to just the three siblings. As he confirmed that no one took a video of the car mishap, Elle pouted slightly. “Aww, darn it. Someone really should have caught that on camera…” But given the circumstances, yeah. His parents probably didn’t think to bring a camera with them. As funny as the situation sounded.

As he tried to assure her about surfing, Elle giggled. “Good thing, I know how to swim.” Because, if she would be falling off a lot, swimming would come in handy. During her communication time with the waiter; Elle hears Miles snickering at the banter, and the way she tipped the waiter. It was her safe way of making sure the waiter wouldn’t shove the bills back at her. “I am starting to think, the both of you are trying to flatter me.” Elle waved her hand slightly, as they both used the phrase ‘I like her.’ Her cheeks bit flushed. At least the Nephilim cutie thought she was fun, that was a plus. Elle passed on her own compliments for the meal to the waiter; who looked quite proud and happy that the restaurant had two happy customers, and enjoying the tip from her end too. Wishing them a good evening. After gathering herself up; Elle was ready. Without really thinking, her hand slipped into his. “You know, you didn’t have to pay the bill entirely. I mean...it’s sweet, but I wouldn’t have minded paying for my own half.” Miles had been pretty sneaky, paying the bill when she didn’t notice. He just met her today, and already he paid for them both. It was flattering, but a small part of her felt like she owed him a little. Walking out of the restaurant with him; the evening was slowly coming to a close. A rather unexpected, but good evening.

Ailward GuardPermalink Reply by ✓ Miles Evans on May 18, 2020 at 19:18

If her older brother is a whole 7 years older than her, it makes sense that he’d have been gone by the time she was 13. Considering how close he and his sister are in age though 7 years seems like an awful lot, even if it does really explain why he was so protective of her. “Phoenix, Elle-Mae, and Justice… eclectic pick of names, really interesting.” One of their parents must have really liked unique names, he’s willing to bet it was their mother. “Ahh so you’re a master of it yourself. That explains it then, forgive my ignorance.” He gives her a respectful nod, though the grin on his face very much shows that he’s teasing her. In his experience, puppy dog eyes only work with actual puppies… or on really desperate people, but mostly the puppies.

“I try to get more sleep and then just end up tossing and turning for hours, so it’s just better to get stuff done in that time. Maybe one day I’ll go to sleep at an acceptable hour but for now I’m fine.” His sleep schedule probably does explain his slight caffeine addiction though, he tends to need strong coffee in the mornings. “French is a beautiful language. Though it is true that they use a lot of unnecessary vowels in their words?” Most people know the joke, about how the language tends to use a lot of silent vowels. He always found it funny but wasn’t sure if it was true. Her comment about his job causes him to grin. “Well if that’s what I’d wanted I would’ve studied Latin, but it’s a bit hard to find a good teacher of a dead language.” It is sad that Latin died though, even if it did evolve into the romance languages of today.

Miles shakes his head in faux sadness as they talk about the mummy kid. “An hour? Jeez, poor kid. Did you tell him?” If she didn’t, that would’ve been mean but hey, kids sometimes just don’t think about that sort of thing. “I can see why. Perfect Countess Dracula, the inspiration for all others.” In all honesty he’s sure it was cute. He still wants to see a picture of the ‘invisible jet’ boat though. The talk of Christmas brings a warm smile to his face, a reminder of lots of happy memories, including more recent ones. He tries to make it a point to go home every Christmas to be with his family. “Christmas was a huge thing for us. We’d all have little family celebrations early in the morning and at lunch we’d go out and have a giant community Christmas feast. Everyone showed up so long as they weren’t sick and brought some of their new gifts to show off. It still happens every year, I always try to make it back.” The years it snowed were always the best, even if they were super cold. Her pout at the lack of a video of the car incident makes him laugh. “Trust me, years later we all regretted it.”

Miles’s grin never leaves his face as she ‘confronts’ both him and his friend. “Do you now? I think we’re succeeding.” Well, mostly him. His buddy appears to be attempting to play wing man, which is appreciated, especially as it makes Elle blush again. He thinks nothing of helping her out of her chair and makes sure she has everything gathered before walking with her out of the restaurant, giving a wave to the waiter as they leave. “I know you wouldn’t, but I asked you to dinner. Not paying would have been rude and besides, I don’t mind.” He knew this was getting brought up, but he really hadn’t thought anything of it when he’d done it, at this point it was just natural to him. It wasn’t for any underlying reason. As they step out and into the steadily cooling air, he turns to look down at her. “Well, I enjoyed tonight. Thank you very much for the company Elle, and thank you again for your help earlier.”