"Well, I made him soup and then he fell asleep. And then he was sore, so." She makes a mildly awkward hand motion. "I helped him with the tension in his shoulders."
She sits down on the couch with her hands rested in her lap - she's wearing her skirt since she'd been out and about and hadn't been planning to see Harry today.
But she keeps her knees close together in a proper manner.
Rosa nods a little and absently leans against him. Just a little, really.
"I am all right." Except for the fact that now she's thinking about what Van Helsing had spoken to her about. She needed to start voicing her opinions?
And then pauses. "And Harry?" She actually looks a little ... teasing? Someone take a picture. "It is all right if I wear a dress, yes? We will avoid poles."
There's some sort of party going on in the Nevernever, or at least that's what I was told by Titania. More likely it will be an elaborate dinner followed by various shady, underhanded deals and more court intrigue than you can shake a stick at. It's not something I'm entirely comfortable with. Titania wanted me to go, so I could learn how to play the game, but I declined as...tactfully...as possible.
Meaning that I slipped out as soon as everyone's attnetion was focused elsewhere.
So where does a half-fae Lady of the Summer Court go when she wants to pretend she still has a semi-normal life for awhile?
Well, since Fix will probably be sent after me as soon as they realize I'm gone, I'll try to make it easy for him to find me. I'll go to McAnally's.
But not before I pass an apartment complex that looks strikingly familiar...
"Ronald..." I sigh as I realize who used to live there...the old Summer Knight, Ronald Reuel, who took me in and tried to do everything in his power to help us when we were under the power of the Winter Court.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt just to go inside for a minute...
(Anyone can feel free to meet Lily on the street or inside the building itself)
I turn and spot the girl with the green hair I'd met a few days ago--or at least, I'm assuming it was a few days ago. Time can run at a grossly different rate in the Nevernever.
"Oh, Rosa, isn't it? I'm surprised to run into you here." I flash her a warm smile and turn away from the building.
I smile again and brace myself at the strong breeze that suddenly comes blowing out of nowhere, making a few brown and yellow leaves fall to the ground. I sigh and button up my own light denim jacket, pretending to be cold. If she hasn't figured out exactly what or who I am yet, I intend to keep her from doing so. More because I want to maintain a semblancy of being normal than because I want to be deceptive. Soon Winter will be at their full power, and I'll have even fewer opportunities to come into the mortal world...
I turn my attention back to the girl. "I'm not sure this is the kind of neighborhood eithe rof us should be wandering around in," I remark, studying some faded graffiti on a wall. "Where are you haded to?"
She smiles a little and draws her own coat around herself - it was colder here than in Chile, at least.
"I only just went out shopping and I'm going to go home soon and bundle up a bit more - I have a date." She'd bought a nice dress, but hadn't put it on just yet.
There is blushing, of course, because she's quite nervous about it -- and wondering if Harry won't back out of it at the last minute.
Another strong gust of wind threatens to send me stumbling in my heeled boots, and I gaze up at the sky, which is darkening both due to the night and the clouds rollin gin over Lake Michigan.
I raise an inquisitive eyebrow at Rosa and smirk.
"Oh, a date, eh? Lucky girl. Is it with anyone special?" I decide to take a seat on the steps of the apartment building, before another strong gust really does send me tumbling.
"I don't know. I've never been on any sort of a date before and ... no, I don't know exactly."
She won't say it's Harry since Harry doesn't seem to get along very well with the Fae - or at least he seems wary of them, and so does Michael. She remembers their warnings, but she sits down on the steps with Lily.
Hmm, I'm starting to think more and more that it is the same Harry...and if that's the case, someone should have a word with him about dating girls that look way too young for him. I'm not sure exactly how old Harry is, but he's a lot older than her, that I do know.
I glance at my wrist, then remember that I gave my watch to the girl sitting next to me.
"Could you tell me what time it is by any chance?" It's beginning to get dark, and I don't think either of us want to be here after it gets dark. A lot of unsavory things have moved into the neighborhood since Ronald left...
"I think it is after six. It will be dark soon, so I am taking the bus to the campus."
She peers at Lily curiously. "You have a ride, yes? Because it is no good to be out late at night. There might be vampires." She's awfully serious...but then again, she's seen one before and Michael had to save her.
"I think I could handle them," I remark indifferently. I have bigger things to worry about than vampires.
"I'll just walk, it's not too far back to my house from here..." I could probably just rip a hole into the Nevernever from here, but that would be a bad idea.
"Have fun on your date, Rosa," I wave as I turn to head back down the street. "Remember to get me if you need anything!" I call over my shoulder.
Rosa is standing at the front of the campus with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. She's wrapped in a large black coat so that you can't see the burgundy dress she's wearing underneath - just the black sandals that she's wearing.
Like hell she was going to wear some clompy winter boots on a date. It had taken her a while to get outside, but she was on time - seven o'clock and all. She'd spent actual time on her hair so that it was a little more than just its flat self, and she'd spent more time picking out the dress. She'd been meaning to get a new one anyway...or that's how she'd justified it to herself in her mind.
She is also very, very nervous. It isn't as if she's really been on any sort of 'date' before, after all...
Beat up, broke down, dirty, covered in oil, coils of rope still hanging from my wrists... who knows what else, but I show up on the sidewalk - had to park the Beetle about a block away, but that's not important - where she said to meet her...
Rosa had been conflicted around nine o'clock. First, she'd thought he'd backed out - but then he would have called, right? Second, that he just forgot - but who forgot for this long?
Which leads to the last conclusion that he'd gotten into trouble. Which meant she was worried.
She'd scribbled down a note from her purse and set it on the nearby bench with her dorm number and an expression of mild concern - certainly nothing bad could come from leaving her dorm number on a strange bench, but forgive the girl her naivity.
Don't ask why she had a thumbtack in her bag, either. Maybe she went back inside and then put the note on the bench.
Regardless - that's what Harry will find, since she'd promised him not to go outside past dark.
I'm a little wobbly now - tired - but I make it inside and follow her. As we're walking, I hear myself say to her - "I'm really sorry I didn't make out date."
I stop her and turn her to face me. "Hey," I don't look right at her eyes, but as close as I can get, "really. I'm not just saying that. I mean it." I can't lie anyway - I'm not good at it. "Sure, the whole idea made me nervous, but that had nothing to do with you. I'm nervous on most first dates." Not that I've had all that many. "And I would've been there on time but I was taken hostage by the queen of Looney Toons and almost lost my head to an anvil."
Why I'm explaining all of this in the hallway, I have no idea. If people didn't think I was nuts before, I'm sure they're convinced of it now.
She leans in and up so that she can kiss him squarely on the lips. It's even a little ... firm? She's getting better at this 'expressing herself' business.
"Then thank you, for being .. sorry. I believe you, Harry. But come - you need a shower, no?" She gives him another smile and then tugs him towards her room again.
"I think if I just wash the dirt off my face, I'll be fine. Thanks."
The clothes can wait. I know they're covered in oil, but really - wearing some co-eds stuff is not a plan I had for today. Of course, neither was running the Looney Toons obstacle course either.
"Plus, it doesn't make sense to put on clean clothes and sit on the oil-soaked car seat when I get ready to drive home later."
"Ah, I suppose not." But of course, there's lots of soap and other things in the dorm.
It doesn't take them long to get to the door - she tugs out her key and opens it. It's neat inside - probably a bit too neat, but she cleans when she's nervous or worried. The bathroom is clean too - with little soaps and towels and other things that make it .. girly.
She perches herself into a nearby chair and motions him to the bathroom. "It is there."
It's rather girl-ish in here. Actually - it's very girl-ish in here. Little scented soaps and pretty towels. And this is probably the cleanest college dorm room I've ever seen.
Okay, so I'm not squeaky clean when I step out of the bathroom, but I'm more presentable than I was before.
"I think dinner's out." I try to make it sound light. I am rather annoyed that this didn't work out as planned.
"I think that it is a little late, yes." But she pauses a moment and eyes the fridge in the corner. "There is some food in there, if you would like."
There's always food in Rosa's fridge, really. She always cooks for herself and makes too much, so she eats the same thing for about a week straight. But hey - not always a bad thing.
She thinks about it and offers him a towel before she places the things in the microwave - the soup first, then the plate with the tamales, rice and beans and chile con carne.
While she's waiting, she glances to him. "Should I ask what happened?"
As she's walking back to her chair, I grab her arm - not hard, just enough to pull her close. "Rosa," I breathe and lean forward, kissing her. I shouldn't, but I need it. It's selfish, but right now, I'm too tired to care.
Anyone else might make a smart joke about him just trying to get her out of it.
Rosa? Not so much.
"Ah -- you are right." Reluctantly. She shifts back a step and grabs another dress - plainer, not so tragic if ruined. She peeks around the edge of the door afterward, barefoot still, and gives him a smile. Being in the bathroom gave her a little to collect herself. This is good.
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