Now that you've been broken down, Got your head out of the clouds

[mylensisonyou]

WHO: Hal Tighten and Roxanne
WHERE: A little coffee shop by her workplace
WHEN: Thursday morning
WARNINGS: Hal's a creeper and doesn't take "no" well.
SUMMARY: Hal meets Roxanne for a coffee date. Roxanne meets Hal to say "back off." This should go well.
FORMAT: Whatever works

Comments

[pluckyreporter]

She sees him from the window and almost turns right around and heads to work. This was a terrible idea, and she should feel bad for having it. Seriously. But she's here, she's committed, and she's feeling dumber just for being within a block's radius of the ginger-headed wannabe boyfriend turned creeper

[mylensisonyou]

It turns out that enhanced senses don't actually distinguish between people when you're not actively looking for them. As part of Hal didn't believe she would actually show, he'd gotten more into the game than keeping an eye out.

Seeing her come in, he jolts upright and beams a brighter smile than is strictly appropriate. He just manages not to fall off the seat; he's still not entirely used to the changes in his body, especially when excited.

"Oh, that? That was nothing, it didn't cost anythi--I mean, it was just a little quick thing." Hal does, at least, pick up the lack of appreciative sniff. If a girl doesn't make a point of sniffing them and smiling, she's not excited by the gift.

An empty cup sits to the side with his discarded handheld, so he orders a replacement; a large espresso drink, with plenty of sugar in it.

"Ha, yeah, we barely talked, and then it was like you vanished off the face of the planet, after I first got here. So like, what's up? How long have you even been here?" The excitement over talking and having

[pluckyreporter]

She takes a seat, inwardly marking all exits in her mind -- and then kicking himself. Not going to matter if this goes someplace ugly. That's why she called for back up.

"Three months, Hal. Long enough to get established in a new job, make a few friends, that sort of thing," she replies; thankfully, the coffees don't take long to prep -- especially since she didn't ask for anything particularly fancy, and neither did he.

She takes a sip of her coffee-- like she needs more caffeine after her first cup this morning-- and then says, "From the look of you, I'm guessing... it was about June when you left Metro City? Middle of summer, everything nice. It's -- September, when I last left."

Hopefully he can understand what she means there: that she's a good three months in his future. She's not making the same offer to him that Megamind got. Unlike Megamind, Hal needs to be TOLD not to be that guy-- to be told that he has no chance, and not in shock and fear and upset.

[mylensisonyou]

Extra caffeine is likely to make their conversation even more excited; this is another thing they probably didn't need.

He puzzles out her remarks for a moment. "So, like, you got taken from home later than me, but you got here before me? That's messed up."

A few people alluded to the paradoxes of time passing unaffected by their abductions, but Hal really did not follow what they were saying. He can only conclude that Roxanne was left without him for several months at home, and then another few months here. She would have gone all this time, alone in a strange place, without even knowing about his secret identity. It was no wonder she hadn't tried to get in touch with him sooner! It would have been weird for her to try, since it would only remind her of her loneliness. Good thing he was here now.

"That sucks...! That you were here, all alone, I mean. And still getting kidnapped! It's too bad there wasn't some, like, amazing superhero to stop all of that, huh?"