hell_in_highheels | [oom: Dinner with captainryan]

She takes a bite of the chocolate, humming around the spoon as she savours it. She can't help but ponder all the possible ways she could surprise him. She licks her lower lip and swirls her spoon through the chocolate.

"Oh I might do. But I guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

Ryan laughs softly.

"Fair enough. I'll have to see if I can return the favour." It's hard not to be witty back. He takes some pride in his retorts and she's been matching him so well.

He takes a spoonful of ice cream, the mint suddenly overwhelming his nose and blocking out all those little signals she's been sending by obliterating her scent.

Funny thing is that he can still smell it in his brain, like a song that's gotten stuck in your head. Only much less annoying.

And he still has eyes.

"I think I'd rather enjoy that. After all, turn about is fair play."

Another bite and the last of her gelato is gone.

"Good. No whining at me later, then."

He takes a larger spoonful of his ice cream. He's still got at least two more to go, but he's trying to hurry.

Idly, he wonders if he can get brainfreeze.

"Oh no, not at all. It only wastes valuable time better spent plotting my revenge."

She's watching him scarf the last of his ice cream with increasing curiosity. Is he anxious to get going? Are they still going for a walk in the Cloud Forest?

A thousand questions are racing in her mind.

He just doesn't want to keep her waiting!

Which proves to be his downfall as the ice cream headache hits.

Ow.

She covers her mouth with a hand, determined not to giggle. She can't help the grin.

There is a bit of sympathy in her grin, but she's still grinning.

"Also? Dinner is entirely on my tab, already paid for, don't even bother trying to change my mind. I can be terribly stubborn about these things, and since I did invite you, I'm afraid I must insist."

Ryan forces one eye open at her.

"I thought we agreed on half?"

Owwww. Damn, is she going to start springing things on him already?

She sighs and looks at him, still smiling. Another few moments and the headache should pass. She waits until it does to continue.

"Yes, well. I'm tricksy that way. You'll have to do better next time, won't you?"

He kinda wishes he hadn't asked for mint, now. He's curious what she smells like when she's smug.

"Such as pay ahead of time. I'll make a note of it." He can't decide if he should be irritated or impressed.

He'll settle on bemused for now.

"Still up for that walk?"

She's offering to let him back out.

He hesitates a moment before he says, "The jungle sounds like the perfect way to warm up after that freeze."

She didn't realise she'd been holding her breath when he answers.

"Come along then, Doctor Livingston, and let's see if we can't do something about that."

She pushes back her chair and stands, considering offering her hand. No, once rejected is enough she thinks. She'll stand on this small victory.

She waits for him to rise before heading toward her door. The view on the other side is a wood panelled hallway, with marble floors and light coming from somewhere far above. Sunlight.

"My office is just this way. I still have the portal mounted from when I first discovered the place."

Ryan shivers as he steps through the door like all of his hair just stood on end only he knows it hasn't moved. Scents are...muted? He's not certain, but he knows it's not the same as the bar. Or any other world for that matter. It's the first time he's stepped through a Door and not felt a shift in the moon. What's always been the most noticeable change before is now conspicuous just by its absence.

Welcome to being digital, Ryan.

He meant to leave a note, he remembers belatedly, in case he's gone longer than he expected. But who is there to look for him anymore?

"Lead the way, River," Ryan says finally once he's adjusted.

She smiles and nods.

"Hallo River." There is a young girl with wide eyes and long brown hair standing in the corridor. She was not there a moment ago. "There's new information in sector seventeen, quadrant thirty four. Unlicensed acquisition?"

"Hallo CAL. No, this is Captain Ryan. He's visiting from Milliways and he's with me. Say hello to CAL, Richard."

For a moment, he's reminded of the stone angels.

Then he's nodding a greeting. "Hello, CAL," Ryan says dutifully, not liking that the program? AI? Can show up whenever it pleases with no warning whatsoever. He can understand why it's scentless, but shouldn't it knock first or something?

Also, who programmed it to look like a child? He'd ask, but it's a question he's not certain who to address to.

"Hallo, Captain Ryan. Licensed acquisition noted. Welcome to the Library."

And she's gone as fast as she came.

"Sorry, I should have warned you. CAL is modelled on the daughter of one of the Trust's managers. She died at a very young age, and her data image was put into the Library as a humanising influence, and also so that she could read stories for the rest of her days. She's become so much more than that."

"Here we are." There's a glass door with River's name on it, and a string of letters after it. The brass knob turns under her hand and opens on a room with dark hard wood floors, a gargantuan desk with a data terminal, and a library table overflowing with books.

An arch at the far end of the room opens on a glass domed solarium, filled with hanging plants and trees in planters. And behind the desk is a window seat that looks out on an ocean view. Half the window seat is filled with books.

And now he's reminded of the Red Queen. At least this AI is friendly. So far.

Ryan surveys the room impassively, taking note of potential exits and potential weapons.

Old habits die hard.

"Does she keep track of where each book is?" He asks, regarding the massive piles.

"She literally is the catalogue. She's also a little girl. It's strange, I know, but you get used to it after awhile."

He's taking this all rather well, she thinks, only a large part of her wishes they were still tucked up at that table, just the two of them.

No matter. She promised him a cloud forest.

She starts in the middle of the table, searching through a stack of books. "Let's see, where did I -- ah yes! Here it is." She pulls out what appears to be an encyclopaedic volume, bound in faded green leather. She turns and sets it on a ledge on the wall and steps back to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

"This part never gets old."

The book stretches down and out, morphing into an archway. Beyond the arch, he can see a walkway stretching away into the mist, a great green bower stretched over head. A warm breath of air reaches his skin and he can smell the forest.

Ryan watches, head tilted caninely as the new portal appears. This part is new for him. He moves forward a shade cautiously, drinking in sight and smells as he just barely sticks his head out.

He was never in a jungle as a werewolf. There's a lot to smell in this new territory.

"That's incredible," he says after a long moment.

If the mint has worn off, he can also smell River, incredibly pleased with herself and pleased to give him something new and exciting.

She steps back a bit to remove her heavy woolen sweater, revealing a simple white tshirt beneath. And curves previously hidden by the bulk of the wool.

Of course, it's just too warm for the jungle. She drapes the sweater over a chair at the table and then joins him. "I've turned the book's narration off, so let me know if you'd like to hear it. You can have it vocal or subvocal."

A flash of iridescent blue flies overhead.

Finishing off the Everclear helped clear the mint out, though he's still catching it underneath the ripeness of the jungle.

And, of course, her scent.

"Subvocal?" He queries, tracking the bird until River's movement distracts him. He takes in her new look for a moment before looking out over the jungle again.

He still hasn't quite stepped out yet.

River stops even with his shoulder, looking out onto the bridge, her hands in her back pockets.

"The vocal text is like a tour guide, speaking about whatever it is you're looking at. The subvocal text, well... The knowledge is simply there. You see a flash of blue and you recognise the Resplendent Quetzal."

She steps out onto the bridge. "We're three hundred feet above the forest floor here, so do be careful of the edge."

Ryan nods, following her scent out onto the bridge and drinking in the view.

"I'd rather not have either," he decides, looking at her. The vocal would be intrusive; the subvocal is just creepy. He arches an eyebrow at her.

"Don't you think it'd be distracting?"

A smile ghosts across her lips as she nods, meeting his eyes again.

She cocks her head to one side and circles in front of him, walking backwards down the path. She doesn't speak, letting the voices of the forest envelope them.

[oom: Dinner with captainryan]

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