(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]

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.

He looked at Kimberly a long moment after she'd finished, expressive eyes filled with sorrow and sympathy. Slowly, he shook his head. "I'm so sorry." It would be easy to compare this to the loss they'd faced on the Colonies -- the annihilation of the human race. Compare and say to yourself privately that really, she didn't have it as bad as they did. But when the Cylon attack destroyed humanity, it was too big to comprehend. You were numb to it.

This -- what had happened to Kimberly -- was just real enough to hit exactly where it would hurt most.

Felix tilted his head and offered her a small smile. "Hey, if it's any consolation, though I think I've known you for...more or less ten minutes, it couldn't have been your fault. Your friend was right." He looked away, consternation inadvertently twisting his features. "Terrible things always happen, and you can't always stop them."

[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 who I've subconsciously integrated into my mental landscape."

[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.

But then she caught the last bit and Kimberly looked up at him, eyebrows arched, and smirked. "...are you hitting on me?" she laughed, knocking back the rest of her beer and putting the glass back down on the bar, ordering a shot of tequila. "Color me flattered, at least. You think I'm pretty?" she asked, half-teasing and half honestly curious.

Kimberly knocked back the shot with a grimace and a gasp of air, sticking her tongue out and making a face as she put the shot glass back down. "Okay, I...am here for Frankie and Frankie would be well into buzzed by now, so I need to kick this up a notch."

Turning away from Felix, she ordered another shot and knocked it back as soon as it was given to her. Then, she looked back at Felix and stood up. "And he'd be having a fucking good time instead of sitting and chatting about psychic powers and death." She closed a hand around one of his wrists. "Come dance with me," she said, tugging his arm as she took a few steps back toward the dance floor, head pleasantly fuzzy already.

[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.

[fixgaeta]

Felix looked quickly between the stage, the bar, and Kimberly. Just like Dee -- she wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted. "Hnnn..." Meeting her eyes, he scrunched up his nose, mouth wrinkling in a silly expression. "Okay. Just...wait a sec."

Moving back through a growing throng of people, he found his drink at the bar, finished the last third in several desperate gulps. He regretted it almost immediately, as the heady rush of alcohol filled his senses. Guinness was heavier than he was used to, but strong. Wiping the back of his hand against his mouth, he moved back to Kimberly's side, wobbling slightly. "Alright...happy?"

[onlynewlife]

Eyebrows arching again, Kimberly watched as Felix moved back to the bar and downed the rest of his drink like a champ. She pulled a face, looking duly impressed, and waited for him to come back. The way he wobbled when he walked made Kimberly snort and giggle. "Yes, as a matter of fact," she laughed, taking his hand again and moving further into the crowd.

Kimberly was plenty buzzed but the amount of people surrounding her and all the heat between everyone else's bodies and the club's array of lights only served to make the beer - and the shots - go straight to her head even moreso. As she started to sway lazily to the music, dragging Felix along with her, Kimberly felt...free.

[fixgaeta]

Felix was being dragged, yes, but it was nice. It was -- fun? Strange, frightening, unfamiliar, concept.

That he was having fun. Laughing, dancing (badly), a little bit wobbly from the Guinness, but happy. Felix remembered the last time he'd been happy. The awkward dates with Hoshi, when things were just starting to get better. He still had his leg, speculation about what happened on New Caprica had gone quiet, things were...pleasant, if always looming with the threat of certain death.

In Aternaville, he'd been unburdened of those things. No Cylons, no wars to fight, and still he was afraid of everything, tense and weary around the eyes. He didn't realize it was all over.

Grabbing Kimberly, he twirled her, and laughed.

[onlynewlife]

Kimberly let out a surprised yelp and laughed along with Felix when he twirled her. It had been a while since she'd been as pleasantly tipsy as she was just then and the fact that Felix seemed to be slipping right into the swing of things and having a good time with her, made Kimberly very happy.

Whirling around again, Kimberly grabbed onto Felix by the shoulders and pulled him closer, slipping her arms around his neck and swaying her hips as she let him take the bulk of her weight. "Told you it's fun and nobody cares how stupid we look," she chirped, straightening and stepping back from him to dance in circles on her own in front of him.

[fixgaeta]

There was a brief, awkward moment as Felix staggered back, unprepared for her to be so close, and he panicked, unsure what exactly to do with his hands. By the time he finally settled -- that yes you were supposed to put your hands around her waist -- Kimberly was off in her own world, and he was left standing.

"Uh -- that's not what I was worried about, but alright." He rubbed the back of his head, still in the half-way point between dancing and not-quite.

[onlynewlife]

"What were you worried about, then?" Kimberly asked, dancing her way back to Felix. She hung on him again and raised her eyebrows extra high, smirking. "Because it sounded like you were afraid of looking dumb," she finished.

Then, she was off again, but still close, swaying drunkenly more than she was dancing. "You know what I need? Another drink. Oh, yes!" The awkwardness Felix felt went completely unnoticed by Kimberly; she was just having a good time.