Let's go to the movies.

[ajrimmer_ssc]

WHO: Rimmer and Raven.
WHERE: Stark Tower at first, then a movie theater.
WHEN: Evening 10/5/09.
WARNINGS: Nah.
SUMMARY: Rimmer's in his happy place, so to celebrate he's taking Raven to the movies. Yeah. That's his idea of a celebration.
FORMAT: Whateva.

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[darkprophecies]

Raven was still in business mode as she quickly made her way out of her place of work - it usually called for her to be proper with her words, as good of a personal assistant as she could manage to be. She barely watched where she was going, one high-heeled step in front of the other, navigating based on the emotions of people around her alone.

Her eyes were focused hard on the cellphone in her hand, thumb going a mile a minute as she worked at inputting data, replying to texts, anything to wrap up her day and get that last thing in. She was becoming more like Tony every day, it seemed.

However, in her peripheral vision, she saw the car approaching, and quickly went to send one more message out before tucking the cellphone into her bag.

[darkprophecies]

The laugh she gave was considerably brighter from the mood she had been in most the night. She always enjoyed lighthearted joking with the people she called her family, especially now that she could both appreciate and return it in kind. However she settled for explaining it to him.

"I don't have as many as you think." there's a laugh still there, though. "By the time I finally came around to realizing how amazing of a man he was, he had already married another woman, had children. I try my best to not think on it, but..."

Alright, now she's going to be just a bit more serious. "My team here, none of us have come from the same timeframes, much less worlds. A teammate of mine who has a daughter in my time just showed up, but he's only around sixteen here. ... I keep this smidge of hope that one day this man will arrive, from the time where I could do things right."

[ajrimmer_ssc]

"Don't have many? Lies. You're too beautiful. I think you've got men beating a path to your door with jewels and chocolates."

He laughed, but his laughter trailed off as he listened to her explanation. That was...one of the most heartbreaking stories he'd ever heard. To be so in love with somebody, and watch them go their own way, live their own lives, and yet still hold out hope...

With a shock of recognition, he realized that there was another parallel in his life...Nirvana. The woman he'd given up his career prospects for, and let her go her own way.

Smegging hell, this was getting spooky. If he had any more in common with this girl, he'd have to double check and make sure they weren't related.

"...I hope, for your sake, he shows up too. Everyone deserves a second chance, I seem to recall somebody saying to me once."

[darkprophecies]

"He was the first man to ever tell me that he loved me, have meant it... but I was too new to emotions to know what to do with that." her eyes looked distant for a moment, actually watching a man also in line a bit too long. It was the fire-red hair.

Just as fast as it had come, it left, allowing her to physically shake her head a few times as if using it to snap out of her trance. "Mmn." her fingers pressed to her temple.

"Thank you, Arnold. You're very sweet..." and she leaned into him again, even when they had to move forward in the line again. "You're... very patient to stand there and listen to my tales of woe so often."

[ajrimmer_ssc]

And, again, his gaze followed hers for a brief second, and that fire-red hair made him blink. Yepperooni. Officially spooky. He put a protective arm around her shoulders again, deciding he didn't give a smeg about what anybody thought of them. It was liberating.

"I will listen to your woes as long as you need. I mean that. There are so few people in this or any other world that I can talk to about these things. And you're my top choice. I'm fond of you, silly girl. That never happens."

[darkprophecies]

It was in that moment that Raven realized just why so many of her female teammates usually took this position with the male teammates, even when they weren't romantically involved whatsoever. She felt safe, secure, and was quickly forgetting that she had problem rolling around in her head to begin with. She was so small in comparison to most the people in this city... maybe not small, but petite. With that, and the easily-overwhelmed empathy, it was nice to have someone's protective embrace around her.

She could breathe.

"... I'm definitely honored that you feel like that, Arnold. It's hard to even put that into words, really. Thank you..."

[ajrimmer_ssc]

And he was very tall, as well. Tall, gangly and thin...and yet he knew that she felt safe. That was quite another remarkable feeling; he could count on the fingers of one thumb the number of people who felt 'safe' around him. He noticed her relaxing, and that made him relax further as well.

"I'm the one who should be honoured," he countered. "You're remarkable and I'm....well, I'm just this smeghead in the wrong timeline and in the wrong universe who contributes practically nothing to this weird new society of ours."

[darkprophecies]

"That's not true." she frowns up at him, but barely moves from her new secure spot. "I haven't contributed all that much myself - and you've presented me with someone to trust in, and divulge my problems to."

Which... in the end didn't sound like much, so it was probably for the best that she elaborated on that note a bit more. "And I've always been of the mind that helping even one person is making a large impact on the world."

[ajrimmer_ssc]

He thought about that for a second, chewing on the inside of his lower lip as he did.

"You know, several months ago I would have just laughed at you for that. So naive, really, to think you can make any sort of a difference. But now...well, I've had my nose rubbed in that idea quite a bit, and..."

Of course, that was when they reached the front of the queue and had to step up to get their tickets. And he still had no idea which movie they were attending. Erm.

"...Quick decision time!" he interrupted himself. "Which movie? Tick tock, we've got a queue behind us."

[darkprophecies]

"One question, then."

Her eyes lifted to his once more, and she lets out a smile that almost makes the cashier smile as well.

"Just how adventurous are you feeling?"

[ajrimmer_ssc]

Rimmer? Adventurous? Oh, that's exactly the wrong question. This is the man who will cheerfully sit down and read biographies on people who'd done things like...invent vacuum cleaners. He would count telegraph poles. He went Morris dancing.

He hesitated a second, and grinned.

"I leave it in your capable hands, m'lass."

Oh, this would be hideous, wouldn't it?

[darkprophecies]

She could very well use that and plop them into something she would easily prefer - a documentary or foreign film that usually confuses her teammates to death. Bypass the crowded theaters altogether at the same time, to one where it very might as well have been just the two of them in the entire room. No-one appreciated good cinema anymore.

... And that's precisely what she did, turning around and sliding the teller her credit card without a moment's hesitation.
Yes, this might be hideous, depending on how open he was to learning about other cultures. To her, it was just as needed as breathing.
"Two. Unmistaken Child." was quickly wrapped off - it should be noted the movie isn't even listed on any boards in the first place. A few moments later, and a credit card stuck back in her purse, she hands him his ticket and begins to walk inside, completely expecting him to follow behind her.

[ajrimmer_ssc]

"Unmistaken Child? What's that?" He trailed after her, baffled. He'd been trying to decide between something called Zombieland and that horrible-looking sci-fi thing with a main character who looked disturbingly like police chief McClane.

He caught up with her just outside the door to the theater, holding out his hand for his ticket. "I could have gotten that, you know," he said, a token protest to her springing for the movie, even though she said she would.

[darkprophecies]

"A documentary meant to be both entertaining and somewhat educational at the same time." she looks up from rearranging the purse at her side, and smiles. "I'm... a bit of a nerd for learning of other cultures, I'll admit. None of my teammates would ever want to see it - it's based in the belief of reincarnation throughout Tibet. A master dies, and there's a search for his reincarnated self throughout the mountains - it also involves explaining other things about the beliefs and the culture so---"

And a slight face is made. "If I'm about to have you suffer through my own dorky tendencies, I may as well pay for it."

[ajrimmer_ssc]

His face slowly transformed from confused to stunned to out-and-out thrilled.

"That sounds marvelous!" he exclaimed, all grins again. "I love documentaries. They're always so full of fascinating bits of information. On cinema nights, I would always ask Holly - Holly was the ship's computer back home on the Dwarf - I'd always ask Holly to put on a documentary for me, but Lister would always overrule me and we'd watch some ridiculous piece of cinematic cartoon violence instead. That's not suffering. That's exactly my cup of tea."

[darkprophecies]

And she stops. Dead. In her tracks to turn and look at him. A look of complete stun is written across each and every feature. Was he.... serious? He was serious. He wasn't lying. He... enjoyed these things...

And then the thrilled smile mirrors on her own face, and a surge of child-like excitement manages to take hold. "Really?!" she practically squeaks, mostly out of the surprise still bubbling up inside of her.

"Thank Azar, someone who can finally appreciate these things."