lowtohigh | [for Jayden] cara mio addio

She wakes up most mornings fully convinced of the fact that she's done with silly, stupid mistakes. She ends a statistically significant number of days having managed to maintain that in the most important arenas.

But it's not every day.

And it's certainly not every night. There are still nights when the idea of sitting at home and doing work drives her up a wall--when the idea of going to see her brother for a 'classy' evening of wasting money on something 'useful' like the arts feels just as terrible as sitting home alone. There are nights when she asks the driver to wait around the corner and pretend he doesn't know where she's going so she can actually breathe deep something other than the rigidity of the life she's been building since Elisha returned and got her back on track.

There can't be anything so wrong with it, surely. It rarely, if ever, bleeds back over into her days. She always drags herself out of bed in the morning, whether she'd fallen into it at 10pm or 4am the night before. She always sits through classes and shows up for work with the same fierce, determined smile. She barely ever thinks of what might have happened the night before once she's got herself set for forward motion again.

Admittedly, sometimes she gets texts at work from numbers she definitely hadn't gotten at the university or the lab or any of her brother's little get-togethers. Jayden's number certainly didn't come from any vetted point of contact. It surprises her, really, how easy it is to extend something of her daytime self to a nighttime number. It's not a line she's really ever blurred before.

But he's coming to the aquarium. She's invited him. Almost like sleepwalking, she's explained to her supervisor that she wants a floor shift out in the actual building rather than holed away doing research. Idly scanning the crowd at the building's tall cement entrance, she wonders vaguely if she's even recognizable like this--flat shoes, hair tied tightly back, barely a stitch of makeup on and her wits obviously about her.

It's entirely possible he'll just walk straight past her. There are large signs for the penguins near the door, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

lowtohigh

[Ah, the escalation to actual lying. Such a slippery slope he's chosen to plant his feet firmly on.

But it's also a slope that's got Eileen beaming, fingers squeezing at his wrist.]

See? Same thing. Besides, no offense? But sharks and octopodes are about a thousand times cooler than the mechanics of resource management.

From:

immigrantpunk

[Jayden is good at these things, the unintentional decisions that will likely lead to unforeseen consequences of perhaps colossal proportions. He's not exactly thinking that through right now.

Her smile is infectious, besides.]

I bet they are.

[And he's going to press his luck and try to slip his fingers through hers. Just, you know, as an experiment.]

From:

lowtohigh

They are. You'll see.

[Since it's clearly for science--and, much more, since they've passed into the slightly darkened room full of octopods and squids--Eileen's fingers twine loosely in with Jayden's. She'll realize she's still technically at work soon, probably, but for now she's just got her hand squeezing tight around his.]

Like-- look. I know designing things is neat, but-- look at these guys.

[There are many fewer kids crowding the giant Pacific octopus' tank than there had been around the sharks, making the large creature busily engaged in tossing about a Rubix cube much easier to see.]

From:

immigrantpunk

[This dimmer room is certainly nicer, but maybe that's due to her positive response to the physical contact. Hot older girl, hot smart older girl, yeah okay he digs all this. This doesn't feel awkward, but rather natural. Jayden leans closer to the glass – and to her. He still smells faintly like the cigarette he smoked before entering the building.]

Whoooa. Why's he got a Rubix cube?

Edited (punctuation fail) Date: 2015-01-04 04:39 pm (UTC)

From:

lowtohigh

[It's an incredibly positive reinforcement. Her nose wrinkles unconsciously at the familiar scent of a recent cigarette, but the synapses ultimately fired are pleasantly confused into warm memories of her brother coming to kiss her goodnight smelling exactly the same way.

There's no need to unpackage that now. Her mind is much better used at the moment for talking about one of the only things she loves more than the sharks they were just watching.]

Because he's got a big ol' brain on him. [Technical science term, clearly.] Most incredibly intelligent animals that are kept in captivity get ridiculously bored, you know? We do a lot of cycling though different toys and puzzles for them to keep them from going completely neurotic in such small tanks. Live prey helps, but things like the cube that take time to understand are great for keeping them happy.

From:

immigrantpunk

Huh.

[He had no idea octopi were that smart. Congrats, Eileen, Jayden's already learning so much under your tutelage.]

Can he solve it?

[Aren't Rubix cubes supposed to be notoriously difficult to figure out? Are you tell him that an octopus might be smarter than a human, what is this witchcraft.]

From:

lowtohigh

He'll figure out how it moves. Like-- [Her fingers give a slight shake to unlike from his so she can mime the process of twisting a Rubix cube around between her own hands.] --get a handle for shifting it. Then, knowing this guy, he'll probably just start hiding it from us before he gets bored of it.

[There's amazingly distracting properties to talking about this sort of thing. It stops her from thinking as her fingers return to lace properly with his again.]

And we'll have to find something else to keep his brain twitching. They're a lot of work to keep up with.

From:

immigrantpunk

[He lets her hand go, a little disappointed, but watches her intently all the same.]

I really didn't know they were that smart.

From:

lowtohigh

They're seriously brainy. Like-- mammalian brain proportions brainy. And, you know, there's lots of evidence to suggest that the nervous system in their arms actually operates independently off their central brain.

[Which is more than he probably wanted to know about octopus brains--and yet, barely the tip of the iceberg of knowledge Eileen is clearly ready to impart.

Except for the whole being-at-work thing, which has finally sunk back into her own mammalian brain.] I'm rambling. 'm sorry. [Hopefully there's a better apology in the smack of her lips briefly firm against his cheek.] Will you be okay on your own for like-- half an hour while I wrap things up here?

From:

immigrantpunk

[Yes... yes, that apology definitely carries weight. It's a good thing it's dark in here, because he flushes. He ducks his head a little, a self-conscious smile crossing his lips.]

I think I can entertain myself, yeah. Should I meet you somewhere?

From:

lowtohigh

[Thank goodness teenage boys and college boys often still have the same nervous reaction to pretty girls. His age remains absolutely safely in the obscurity of his lie despite the air of sheepishness sticking to him from a kiss on the cheek.]

Right out front. Same place. I'll be as quick as I can, promise.

From:

immigrantpunk

[He's just not as smooth with girls as he likes to think he is, unfortunately.]

Okay, cool. See you then.

From:

lowtohigh

[He's pretty terrible with girls. He's definitely pretty terrible with smart, pretty girls. Thankfully, for some reason, it's more endearing than off-putting in Eileen's mind.

She leaves him with another tiny squeeze of his wrist--and she does seem to rush, if her slight breathlessness when she comes to find him again is to be trusted. Then again, the breathlessness might be for the apparently superheroic transformation--it's slightly possible that she ran into a phone booth in her uniform and then popped back out like this: hair down and tousled, shirt back to low cut and clinging, heels making her a more respectable height and makeup actually thrown on with a light touch.

He won't object to her greeting him by grabbing his hand again, right?]

From:

immigrantpunk

[No objections here! He turns and certainly seems to notice the transformation, his gaze wandering to the low cut of her shirt before meeting her eyes again, his smile a little sheepish.]

Hey. You look great.

From:

lowtohigh

Right? [There's an amused laugh in her voice as she gives their hands a slight swing pointing them both toward the exit.] But honestly, it's not hard compared to the uniforms here.

[What with the uniforms being daytime respectable and all. So ridiculous.]

From:

immigrantpunk

You make the uniform look good.

[He follows easily, threading his fingers in between hers.]

Where do you wanna go now?

From:

lowtohigh

[He's got a very easy hand to hold. Her fingers are entirely content to settle comfortably in with his.]

Pretty sure you should take me to a fancy dinner.

[She's probably joking. Probably.]

From:

immigrantpunk

[SHIT he hopes she's kidding. She's totally kidding, right? Even college students don't usually have much in their bank accounts. He tries to laugh it off, casting her a sly look.]

For what, seafood? Maybe some sushi?

[Totally appropriate after spending an afternoon at an aquarium.]

From:

lowtohigh

[Welcome to the odd bubble of being associated with a trust fund kid, Jayden. It's an interesting disconnect to bump up against.

Thankfully, this isn't an actual bumping up for more than half a heartbeat. Her bright laugh probably makes that clear, even when underlined with her free hand coming to smack him lightly in the shoulder.]

Jerk. We should grab some burgers, though. It'll be a while before anywhere fun opens. Unless-- [She glances up at the buildings lining the street.] --is your dorm around here?

From:

immigrantpunk

[Oh, the things they don't know about each other. Jayden has had wealthier friends, but he's not sure he's ever known a trust fund kid. Meanwhile, the biggest financial accomplishment in his family lately has been getting off food stamps.]

Burgers are good.

[Uh oh. Sweating intensifies.]

Uh. No, not really. You?

From:

lowtohigh

Nah. [Her shoulders lift slightly, hand swinging his just a little as they stroll.] And I didn't ask for a ride today. Straight to burgers it is, I guess.

[Delaying the inevitable once again. Bullet dodging seemed to be Jayden's superpower today.]

From:

immigrantpunk

Sweet. Let's do it.

[Yeah, he's lucky like that. The problem with trying to dodge bullets, though, is that it only takes one to ruin everything.]

What's good around here?

From:

lowtohigh

I mean, there's an A&W just up a few blocks.

[Maybe there won't be any bullets. Maybe this is when the coasting starts.]

We can even have nice, sober conversation on the way.

[Or lots of bullets, maybe.]

From:

immigrantpunk

[Ahahahahhahha. Ha.]

I can do sober conversations.

[They talked about fish for like ten minutes, he can totally do this.]

From:

lowtohigh

[What could possibly go wrong? Nothing could possibly go wrong. Clearly nothing in the world could go wrong.]

Perfect. We'll start with embarrassing middle names and work up to secret hopes and dreams, yeah?