(Untitled)

[onlynewlife]

Who: Kimberly Corman & Felix Gaeta
What: Meeting in person and not having appletinis
When: Day after Christmas, 9pm
Where: @ 11
Rating: PG?
Status: In progress

Comments

[fixgaeta]

It was. Well -- he was, rather. Needless to say, Felix felt a little strange asking a perfect stranger to meet him at a bar. But then, all the same, he had feelings about people. The wrong kind sometimes, because he gave the wrong sort of people the benefit of the doubt. But then it was one thing to trust the man who'd given up humanity to its ultimate destruction, and quite another to ask a curious-sounding girl for a drink.

He had a glass halfway to his lips when he felt the hand on his shoulder. For a few minutes, he'd watched the door quite vigilantly -- until he realized he didn't know who he was looking for. He really hadn't bothered to ask her what she looked like. It worried him. Felix would admit: he could be occasionally shallow. But he turned, straightened, postured, and offered her a pleasant grin. "Kimberly, right? Felix Gaeta." He held out his hand.

[onlynewlife]

When he turned toward her and gave her a grin, Kimberly relaxed and returned the smile, taking his hand and shaking it. He was cute. Not her type, but eas on the eyes in any case. Kimberly hadn't always been shallow, really; it had come with spending so much time with someone like Shaina - shallow as a shower. Kimberly barely put any thought into it anymore; it came reflexively now, for better or worse.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," she replied, letting go of his hand and stuffing hers into her pockets as she dropped down off her toes and took a few steps forward, dropping down onto the stool beside his. Hopefully, she wasn't being presumptious, but he'd invited her, so if he didn't like it, he would have to say so. For a moment, she looked away from Felix and over at the bartender. "Whatever you've got on draft, please and thanks," she said before swivelling her stool so that she was facing Felix entirely. "So, hi," she laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears again.

[fixgaeta]

"Right." He smiled a little and finished the interrupted sip of his beer. It was something dark and frothy. Went down pleasant. "So, hi," he echoed. He realized only now of course, that he had nothing to talk about. By nature, he was quiet...ish. Reserved...ish. Mostly out of necessity and obedience for the superiors and all.

He settled on a casual -- "Told you this place wasn't so bad. I mean...as far as places whose only purpose is to get you wasted, go."

If anything, @11 had a nice atmosphere. Posh, but not elite. Casual, but with a measure of subdued class in the polished wood surfaces and always-clean mirrors. Felix liked those small details.

[onlynewlife]

"Hey, if I can get my drink on and not go back to the hotel with Hep C, as you put it, then I'm good with this place," Kimberly said with a smirk. It was always pleasantly awkward, she thought, trying to strike up random conversation with a stranger. There was something fun and exhilirating about it even though it was always just a smidge on the uncomfortable side.

Kimberly's eyes meandered away from Felix to take in her surroundings as she nodded a thanks to the bartender and took her drink. "To Frankie," she murmured softly to herself, raising the glass just a little bit before knocking some back and wasting no time putting a decent dent in the amount of alcohol in it.

Looking back at Felix, Kimberly raised her eyebrows. "What's that?" she asked, nodding toward his glass with curiosity in her eyes.

[fixgaeta]

He watched the quiet gesture out of the corner of his eye, head tilted just a little bit curiously. But at her question, he straightened. "Oh, uh, Guinness, I believe." He sipped again. "Really not as good as the stuff back home, but..." he shrugged and smiled jovially back at her, inclining the glass ever so slightly in her direction. "If it does the job..."

A pause, and then he asked, "If I'm not being too presumptuous...who's Frankie?"

[onlynewlife]

A sad smile crossed Kimberly's lips when Felix answered her question and she nodded. "My friend Shaina used to drink those. She thought they made her look like a bad ass," she offered. "I couldn't ever drink 'em, though; Guiness is a little too heavy for me, but a good choice never the less," she added, the smile making its way to her eyes finally

[fixgaeta]

He listened intently. If he was anything, Felix made a good listener. There were times when you really had to keep quiet and pay attention, he understood that much. But what troubled him, in a way, was that he always thought of himself as the kind of friend you'd want to have. People liked people who listened, right? And yet, he knew deep down that it was harder for him than most people to make those lasting connections. The close friendships. Even Hoshi had been kept at arm's length

[onlynewlife]

Letting out a huff of humorless laughter, Kimberly looked down again. "Thanks," she replied. "I think deep down, I know that; I just...have to remind myself," she added. When Kimberly looked back up at Felix, she noticed the change in his expression and her brow knit slightly. Then he spoke and Kimberly felt a knot in her stomach joined by a chill down her spine.

"I know. Jesus...I know," she said softly. Part of her wondered what he was talking about. She'd opened her wound and the nosy part of her wanted him to open his, too, but she wasn't going to ask. "Even when you literally know exactly what's going to happen, you can't stop it..." she added, her voice trailing off before she could allow herself to add more.

Kimberly lifted her glass to him again. "Fuck. To the good people that bad things happened to," she said.

[fixgaeta]

He lifted his glass to tap against hers with a dull clink. "To good people," he murmured. So many good people. And he wondered foolishly if he could be counted among them.

Finally, he set the glass back down on the bar, half-empty, and turned his head to Kimberly. "Literally? Are you a..." He paused on the word, "...Psychic...too?" He'd met a couple -- well no -- he'd heard about them in town. Clairvoyant people, a man who saw the future and the past, a girl who saw everything...it was all hocus pocus that he wouldn't have been caught dead batting an eye at back home. Much of him still doubted its existence -- he didn't want to believe in the strange things that happened in Aternaville, but after the things he'd seen, Felix knew at least some of the hype had to be real.

[onlynewlife]

Kimberly took a drink after having tapped her glass against Felix's. Her cheeks went pink when she realized that he'd noticed the "literally" in her complaint. "You don't miss a beat, do you?" she asked, looking back at him with a weak smile. "And no," she answered his question. "At least, not in the general sense. I used to get these visions, but they were really selective and I had no control over them. I haven't gotten one since..." her words halted and Kimberly paused. "Well, in a while."

Letting out a sigh, Kimberly cocked her eyebrows, mocking herself. "I know, that sounds totally crazy and you're more than welcome to think I'm a nutcase. I'd think I was if I was you," she admitted. "But it's over, anyway, so if I was a psychic, it only lasted, like, a week," she added with a shrug.

[fixgaeta]

He smiled back. Felix got used to catching the little things. It was all a part of listening -- really listening to someone. Men always got such a bad rap for not paying attention. Like others, he supposed he heard only what he wanted to hear. Felix always lived in hope, though he'd been told there was a fine line between hope and ignorance. After that incident -- that thing that happened before he came here -- he wasn't sure which side he was on.

"I don't think you're a nutcase." Felix traced his finger through a puddle of water on the lacquered wood, watching it leave a longish trail. He traced another from the opposite side, and then another, and another, until the puddle looked more like a wet-ish sun or star. "I mean, back home I would have called you crazy. But there are people here who shouldn't exist. The very act of my being here is completely impossible." He looked up, adding thoughtfully in a serious voice that could be nothing but total humor, "Unless of course I'm in a coma right now and you're my very attractive nurse

[onlynewlife]

As Felix moved his finger through a puddle of water, Kimberly watched the movement with vague interest as she listened to him. At least he didn't think she was insane; that was pleasantly new for people who had picked up that she was - or had been - psychic

[fixgaeta]

"Wha-- I felt obligated!" He feigned indignation through a persistent grin. "I thought you were expecting me to. It's the norm, isn't it? Male invites female to bar, male makes verbal passes at female. It's the circle of life or bad pickup lines or something."

When Kimberly tugged him to his feet, he realized he still hadn't finished the tall glass -- being responsible, taking his time. Felix had this habit of not realizing when it was time for him to stop, and had two tattoos to show for it. He wasn't about to add a third. "Hey, we don't have to -- I mean, you are pretty and all but I don't dance!" And yet, he fell into step with her on the dance floor. "Now, pay for karaoke and I'll show you what I'm really good at."

[onlynewlife]

Kimberly laughed again at Felix's response to her having called him out. "Obligated? Ouch. I didn't expect anything except fun," she replied.

At his protests, Kimberly tugged harder on his wrist. "Yes, yes we do," she countered. "And thank you. You just need to drink more. Have you looked at me? I'm as white as I look, even on the dance floor, pal, so we can both look ridiculous." Although, then he mentioned karaoke and while it wasn't something Frankie would do, it was something he'd point and laugh at if she did, so maybe Felix was onto something after all. Kimberly let go of his wrist and stopped. "That's actually not a bad idea," she replied thoughtfully, opening her handbag. "Kinda lame that they charge for karaoke, but hey, I'll bite; how much?"

[fixgaeta]

She really was pretty, though Felix would admit he didn't think he was looking for that sort of companionship. She reminded him of Dualla -- Dee -- in a way. All that time on Galactica, Dee had always been closest -- she'd been the only one he'd really thought of as a friend. She'd stuck by him through the business on New Caprica (albeit distantly), and then again with the loss of his leg. She'd

"Wh - what." He looked back at her from his brief reverie, wide-eyed. "Wait, now?" He laughed, nervously, olive skin turning a little darker as color rose to his face. "Nonono. There's a whole different bar for that, besides."

[onlynewlife]

Kimberly raised her eyebrows at him. "Yeah now, sweetie; while I'm young would be good," she teased. She grinned more broadly when she saw the color rise into his cheeks. That was kind of freakin' adorable, but she said nothing in reference to it. "Okay, so then we go elsewhere. Or. You knock back a couple of shots and get down with your bad self. Take your pick," she laughed.