Out and about - painfully (OTA)

[haughty_alpha]

Avon was getting a bit sick of hiding in his room, as pleasant as the company was. He was restless, and anyway something in his contrary nature made him feel he deserved to be punished for his reckless behaviour in taunting Travis. Allowing people to see the results seemed a reasonable punishment. A cut and bruised jaw and forehead were the most

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[empirical_data]

Data had gotten detoured on his way back from the clinic, and rather than heading to the hotel he'd wandered into the park himself. He didn't notice Avon out. Instead, he was at the edge of the small, now empty duck pond. He held a stone between his fingers, turning it over between them as he checked to see if it was adequately flat and smooth. Even grazing his fingertips over it to check and make sure their weren't too many imperfections in the rock.

Finally, tucking it against his index finger he pulled his arm back and looked intently at the docile water. He understood the mechanics of how this was supposed to work. It appeared to be simple enough when watching others.

A noisy splash and a fish drifted to the surface of the water; leaving Data to step back and cover his mouth loosely with a look of high-browed surprise. It wasn't until he looked around to see if anyone had seen him do that that he noticed Avon had made the venture out.

[haughty_alpha]

"Data," Avon greeted, hoping the android wasn't intending to nag him about being out with an overcoat, or somesuch. "Why are you tormenting the local wildlife?"

[empirical_data]

He looked back to the dead fish, dropping his fingers a bit and just wearing a muted sheepish look. "...I was attempting to skip a stone. It is proving difficult." More difficult for the fish, and it got an apologetic look.

Though it was in the forties- far too low to be comfortable for a human. Given the man's injuries, shivering in the cold wouldn't be comfortable. Pulling off his suit jacket which he didn't really need, he held it between his hands and didn't bother with any reprimand as he put it over the other man's shoulders.

[haughty_alpha]

Avon couldn't prevent himself from chuckling at Data's - and the fish's - misfortune. "I suppose you could patent it as an innovative fishing technique. Though it would be somewhat inefficient on an industrial scale."

He rolled his eyes slightly when Data put the jacket around him, but didn't object. He was cold, and it seemed silly to refuse out of macho pride. "So. What have you been up to on this fine, chilly day?"

[empirical_data]

He at least managed to escape further fussing. The occasional advisement on unwise behavior should suffice fine. He was attempting to not drive the man to the point that he would be reprimanding him with, "Data!" as Picard frequently did. While it would be quaintly familiar, he was learning that verbal reprimands weren't advisable when taking care of two creatures that had very independent minds.

Avon and Spot had a lot in common. Given enough time, and he would write a poem about it.

"It is very inefficient. My first few attempts yielded nothing... I just got off from the clinic about a half hour ago. How are you feeling?"

[haughty_alpha]

Avon cbuckled again.

"How is your work progressing? Anything interesting?" He paused. "What exactly is it that you do there, anyway?"

He shrugged nonchalantly to show how fine he was. Unforunately the strain on his sore back made him wince. "I'm all right," he said, firmly, nonetheless. "Nothing that watching Travis get the sack wouldn't cure. I was getting tired of being cooped up in the hotel." Strange how quickly Avon had become accustomed to fresh air and the freedom to roam what seemed to him impossibly wide, open spaces.

ooc: the idea of Data comparing Spot and Avon through the medium of poetry is made of absolute win :D

[empirical_data]

"When the Borg queen was in the village, I took a job as Dr. Koscuisko's assistant. She left, but since then I have been attempting to upgrade the conditions of the clinic using schematics for Federation medical technology. I believe Dr. Koscuisko could make good use of some scanning devices beyond their cumbersome 21st century machinery."

And then, finally, the verbal fussing came. "Aggravating unstable men is not a course of action that I would recommend. If you wish for a suitably comfortable coat, I could give you the number of the tailor that I am acquainted with."

[haughty_alpha]

"I'm sure he could," Avon agreed. "The Borg queen," He repeated, thoughtfully. "You had dealings with that creature before. It must have been strange to encounter her here."

He sighed. "Data, I promise I won't go antagonising Travis. And there is nothing wrong with the clothes I have. Leather is perfectly warm, functional, and comfortable." It was a lie he was determined to keep telling himself; no matter what, he wasn't going to admit that he just liked the feel of it. He patted his black tunic affectionately.

[empirical_data]

"I did not encounter her myself. The Doctor and Garak did. It would have been peculiar, as a Borg Queen was the last individual I was intimate with." He glanced over his shoulder, as if half expecting her to not actually be gone, before turning his attention back to Avon.

"That does not mean that you could not have a coordinating coat made to go over it. I do not wish to compromise your individual style, but during winter the temperature can reach freezing."

[haughty_alpha]

"...intimate?"

Avon shook his head, half-amused, half-exasperated. He had to admit that a part of him liked being fussed over, cared about. It had been a long time. "I appreciate your sensitivity to my dress sense, Data. Please also accept the validity of my common sense. If it gets cold enough, I shall kit myself out in a furry coat and mittens, I assure you." Not literally, of course.

[empirical_data]

"She was attempting to seduce me into the collective. If you wish to go somewhere in particular, I can accompany you there." Though this time, the worrying over Avon seemed a half cover-up from the previous conversation; presented almost bashfully.

OOC: Petrarchan sonnets are much easier for me to write than most other rhyme schemes, as it turns out.

[haughty_alpha]

Avon shrugged. "Nowhere in particular. Walk with me?" He gestured vaguely.

"I've been there," he said. "Not the collective," he added quickly, forestalling Data's tendency to take statements literally. "I mean that I have experienced the seduction attempts of a powerful and dangerous woman." He said it with a certain relish, then asked, nosily,

"So were you tempted?" It didn't seem to occur to Avon that he might be asking an inappropriately sensitive question, or if it did, he didn't appear to care.

[empirical_data]

"I was. She was very compelling. I would not betray my crew, though. I did however feign cooperation in order to thwart her plan at the last moment. My captain looked very disappointed at my presumed betrayal. While I did not, the look he gave me still bothers me when I recall the incident." Especially since Picard was something of a replacement father.

He moved to walk with him, tugging down the bottom of his vest to straighten it properly.

[haughty_alpha]

"Your captain must have been very paranoid to imagine that you could betray him," Avon found himself saying. "His opinion of you seems to matter very much to you."

ooc: ^-^ Data does the Picard manoeuvre!

[empirical_data]

"He might have thought the Borg Queen affected my programming, as it had happened before. And yes, it does very much. I regret that he is no longer in the village, as I heard he was here previous to my arrival. I would have liked to introduce him to you."

Though those little circuits put together part of that statement, and he cocked his head to the side in that birdlike way of his. Avon really did trust him. It made him hope all the more that Lore would never appear.

OOC: Yay! You caught that!

[haughty_alpha]

"And I would have liked to meet him. A Federation captain with no interest in killing me would have been a novel experience," Avon smiled. "It's not impossible, I suppose, that your Picard might appear again. People seem to come and go, apparently quite randomly. It makes for a somewhat...unsettled existence, don't you think?"