[Speed Dating, Round One]

[callofkaren]

This wasn't the first time Karen had run speed dating, and she had everything down to practically a science by now. She was going to miss watching what sorts of trouble Tony could get himself in, but there were a decent amount of people signed up, enough so that she had to split them down the middle so nobody would be overwhelmed

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[frakkup]

Not for the first or even tenth time today, Kara wonders what the frak she thinks she's doing here. Speed dating? Dating, period? She's out of her godsdamn mind. Standing in front of the sign ups a week ago, she'd managed to convince herself it'd be fun. She never dates. Since Castiel left she's rarely even looked at a man with any ideas of settling down, sick to death of them leaving the instant she's anything close to happy, but this is supposed to be fun, right? Casual. Not terrifying.

Her hands wrap around the tables edge with enough force to turn her knuckles white, and Kara peels them away, curls her fingers around her glass of water instead. Just a bit of frakking fun. Belatedly, she wonders if she was supposed to wear a dress.

[theblondsheep]

He's not interested in anything.

That's a lie, he's only interested in one thing. None of the rest, with the feelings and shit which only ever lead to him feeling worse than ever before when it turns out she's still in love with her husband or he has to steal her car to flee the city. And maybe - probably - that won't happen here. He could suddenly have better luck; anything is possible without his family around. But chances are this will end with him improvising one of those sobbing montages from chick flicks on the floor of the hut he's now staying in.

Happily, Silas jumps into these situations regardless of what he knows will inevitably happen. He can be oblivious to a lot, but he's self-aware enough to know that he can veer slightly on the masochistic side, and beyond that, that he's a fucking idiot. So he's here tonight anyway, lowering himself into a seat opposite a woman who looks less than thrilled to be here. "Hi," he grins. "I'm Silas, it's nice to meet you."

[frakkup]

Kara looks him over with wide eyes. Tall, blond, blue eyed, wholesome looking in a way that begs to be remedied. Jesus frak, this kid has trouble painted all over him.

"How old are you?" Kara blurts, too stunned to search for anything approaching politeness. "Uh, I'm Kara. Sorry." Why had she given up drinking? "I'm twenty nine."

[theblondsheep]

He has experience on his side. Not the best experience, mind, but enough to know that it's not out of the realm of possibility, no matter what the age difference. This one happens to be minuscule compared the gap between himself and Lisa; he was younger then, too. "Nineteen," he says, simply, honestly, doubtful that mentioning that he's almost twenty will do him any favors. He flashes her another smile. "Are you having a good time tonight?"

[hasnobullets]

I have, in a word, a reputation. (Several, in fact, but who's counting? I'm certainly not; the tabloids back home did an excellent job of keeping track for me.) Whether or not the one I have for being a skirt chaser is deserved is a matter of some debate; Foggy would think a night like this is right up my alley, I'm sure, but I'm not so convinced. I haven't been with a woman since Milla forced me into an annulment I in no way wanted, and what flirtations I've had in the interim have been just that: flirtations. No commitments or contracts signed in kisses.

I'd be lying if I said I was really expecting anything different to come out of tonight, but even if I'm not a skirt chaser, I'm at least an optimist

[frakkup]

"Frak me," Kara exhales, still reeling from her first 'date'. She wonders if the whole of tonight's lineup will feature barely legals and men who'd probably rather smush her face into the table than kiss it.

"Yeah," she says, taking a gulp of water that doesn't burn nearly as nice as a whiskey would. "I'll say. Look, I know you're not. Thrilled to be sitting across from me." Gods, why is she here? To have it reaffirmed nobody wants her enough to stay? Message godsdamned received. "If you want to talk about something non-datey, that's fine."

[hasnobullets]

Ah. Captain Thrace. We got off on the wrong foot when we first met, putting her in good company with a lot of women I've known over the years.

My smile doesn't falter. This is supposed to be a good night -- a different night. I won't let my biases ruin this for me, though I almost wish we were back at the boxing ring.

"You should really stop presuming you know me, Captain."

[frakkup]

Is that what'd gotten her on his bad side last time? Kara's so practiced, so disturbingly good at pissing people off, after a while it gets hard to remember what the frak she's and to who. She exhales again, more measured this time, and curls her fingertips hard against her arms.

"Right," she concedes. Okay, then. She doesn't believe in blank slates, but if the illusion will get her through the next five minutes, well, it's better than the glass of whiskey that'd do the same job. "What do I do?" I don't know why I'm here, I am insane, do me a favor and don't notice. "Ask you things? Where are you from?" she barks abruptly.

[hasnobullets]

She's bad at this. The question is abrupt. A clear attempt at grasping at straws. I try to remind myself we're all here for a variation of the same reason. The want for connection, however brief. Whether it's to have a laugh or the naïve hope that we might find something deeper in a few stolen minutes of interaction. I don't pity her. She doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who needs my pity or anyone else's, but it does make me reluctant to laugh at her expense.

"Hell's Kitchen," I say evenly, certain I've said as much before, but not minding the repetition. "I'm a defense attorney. Your turn."

[frakkup]

"The Twelve Colonies," Kara replies, her nerves easing now that they've made it to the recitation portion of the date. "It's a planetary system, constellations here would suggest it's on the other side of the universe. Earth's just a myth to my people, but we were looking for it when I came here. I was a pilot for the Colonial Fleet on the Battlestar Galactica."

She sighs beneath her breath. Comfortable as she's become talking about it, mentioning the Galactica never fails to make her ache.

[hasnobullets]

"Hell's Kitchen is a neighborhood," I clarify when she's done, because if Earth's just a myth, I don't want her thinking I was palling around with the actual devil. (Mephisto doesn't count for a number of reasons, most notably that he's not my friend.) "On Earth."

Smooth, Murdock.

"Have you ever been grounded this long?"

[frakkup]

Kara's mouth twists, but it comes closer to a smile than anything. "Five years? Never. We didn't exactly have any ground left by the time I came here, robot uprising, nuclear apocalypse and all." She shrugs before remembering he can't appreciate the studied effect.

"Hell's Kitchen. Is it as inviting as it sounds?"

[theblindguy]

When Auggie had heard of the speed dating idea, he hadn't hesitated to sign up for it. It's not like he's looking for anything in particular, but he's been on the island for a month, and it seems like this is a way to meet new people. And if these new people were attractive and someone he might be interested in, all the better.

When he reaches the first table without any sort of major disaster, dressed in a neat dress shirt and pants, he eases himself into the adjacent seat and puts aside his cane. The woman across from him says nothing, giving him little to go on in terms of if he even knows her. He runs on the assumption he doesn't - it's simpler that way.

"Someone is sitting at this table, right?" h3 jokes as he smiles towards her direction. Even with the jumbled atmosphere of so many people around him, he can at least sense someone nearby. Without waiting for an answer, he adds, "Hi, I'm Auggie."

[frakkup]

"Sorry," Kara breathes out. Gods, what, is she especially talented at being an asshole to blind people? "This whole thing is...hard to get used to. I'm Kara," she offers, admitting afterwards, "I don't know why I'm here."

It's a cop out, truth like she rarely offers it, and she's only done so because he can't see the miserable lines of her face. Kara's stomach churns. "On the plus side, you'll get your worst date of the evening out of the way early on."

[theblindguy]

It's the twinge of misery in her voice that catches his attention. He briefly wonders if someone talked her into this, or if she'd chosen and was having second thoughts now. Either way, it makes him legitimately want to try to make her feel a little less tense.

"You haven't thrown food or a glass of some kind of drink at me. I call it pretty successful so far," he replies with a small grin. With her so nervous, he feels like it's appropriate to add, "I don't know about why you're here, but I know I'm mostly here just to meet people. Only been on the island for about a month now, actually. Where are you from originally?"

[frakkup]

Kara exhales a laugh, feeling a bit better for it as she looks him over. He's got a nice face, earnest, and a friendly smile. "The projectile food reaction doesn't seem like something you'd get often," she says. "A few months, huh? I can't even remember that feeling, I've been here..." She pauses as if she actually has to think about it, and maybe she does. Ask her how long it's been since Leoben left, she can do it. Lee, John, Castiel, no problem. Sharon, Yorick, gods, she could go on forever.

"Five years? I'm from a place called the Twelve Colonies, which, by all accounts, seems to be on the other side of the universe from here. What about you?"