The Deck, Thursday afternoon

[tigerundercover]

It was spring. Okay, not the warmest spring day ever, but the trees were coating themselves (and everything else) in green and Raven was nearly done with her classes for the semester, and that was good enough for her to be stretched out on one of the chairs on the deck with a pitcher of Arnold Palmer and a novel, mimicking a nice pair of shorts and

Comments

[thegreywaren]

"Anything good in that drink?" Normal greetings were for other people.

Hey, at least it wasn't out and out grumpy. Possible booze made him a little nicer. A little.

[tigerundercover]

Weird. He was almost cheerful.

"Iced tea and lemonade," Raven answered. "Anything else you'll have to add yourself."

[thegreywaren]

"Lame," he said, making a face and sighing. "Iced tea and lemonade? Sounds like something politicians would drink with their sweaters tied around their necks."

That was still sort of cheerful. But, he step onto the deck at least, glancing around like he'd never been out there before. "Where's your sweater?"

[tigerundercover]

"Not at all," Raven said. "Politicians lace theirs with gin." Or they did in New York in the 1950s, anyway. "And they usually wear sport coats." She raised an eyebrow. "Are you worried I'm cold, or are you saying I should be wearing one tied around my neck?"

[thegreywaren]

"If you're cold, it's your own fault," he told her, shaking his head. "I don't worry about stuff like that. Your hypothermia."

Wasn't cold enough for that.

"Please don't tie one around your neck. It just means I'd automatically want to punch you, girl or not."

Gansey was the rare exclusion to that rule.

[tigerundercover]

"See, now I have to wonder what politicians are like where you're from. The ones back home don't tend to dress like this," Raven indicated her shorts and blouse, "sweaters or no."

[thegreywaren]

"Politicians at rest," he clarified, shrugging. "Not that I pay that much attention. Just enough to judge their clothing."

He could see Gansey's mother wearing something like that when they were entertaining at their house. "But, whatever makes you happy, you know."

[tigerundercover]

"Well, I'm glad to have your grudging approval," Raven said, and poured herself a nice tall glass of Arnold Palmer. "You haven't had a chance to gripe at me for a little while. How was your semester?"

[thegreywaren]

Ronan shrugged a shoulder again.

"It came and it went," he said indifferently. "Guess I didn't flunk out which is more than can be said for the last school I was at. Helps that I only have to go to two classes a week. Boredom's the big enemy here."

[tigerundercover]

"When you're not fending off evil and chasing down random children," Raven agreed. "Didn't manage to get caught up in any of that?" She couldn't quite imagine Ronan around children. They'd just sit around and glare at each other.

[thegreywaren]

Ronan groaned at the memory. "Two. I had two. Whoever thought it a good idea to make me a father has another thing coming for them. It wasn't a fun weekend. I don't like kids."

[tigerundercover]

"I never would have guessed," Raven said with a small smirk. "I managed to skip that one. Though I was tempted to try and pretend to be someone's long lost future daughter."

Wouldn't have even been that hard. She'd have to keep that in mind for next time.

[thegreywaren]

Well, he almost admired that devious streak right there.

"Really?" One corner of his mouth lifted in a very small smile. "Would you have been well behaved? A perfect little angel?"

He would have preferred the opposite as long as he wasn't the father.

[tigerundercover]

"Oh, the best behaved ever. If I wasn't, then whatever mommy I chose would have beaten me."

She'd already be lying through her teeth, after all. Might as well go whole hog on it.

[thegreywaren]

"Boring," he said, shaking his head. "And would you really let someone hit you even if you were pretending to be a kid?"

[tigerundercover]

"I think you're missing the point," Raven said. "I'd say that the mother in the future would beat me. I wouldn't actually get beaten."