[oom: Dinner with captainryan]

[hell_in_highheels]

[from here]

River arrives in the bar just before seven in the evening, and secures a table for two in a cozy corner of the bar.  She's dressed casually, wearing her favourite Irish sweater, jeans and her tan field boots.  But she has to confess, she's spent a bit more time with her hair and her face.

For as interesting as Richard is, he is also a good looking man.

She orders a glass of pinot noir, and waits, watching the faces in the crowd.  When she sees him, she smiles broadly and holds up a hand.

Comments

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

...Ryan may now be wondering if she has a stalker problem. Just a little one. The idea doesn't please him.

"None at all. Did you have a specialty in your field?"

[hell_in_highheels]

"Libraries, actually." She beams at him.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan laughs and shakes his head.

"I might have known. You must have been well pleased to find the Library. Were you searching for it long?"

[hell_in_highheels]

"No, but in itself -- It's gargantuan." She can't help but gesture with her hands. "A whole planet devoted to recorded language. It's so large, it could be a lifetime's worth of expeditions."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"And I imagine that's without even looking at everything," Ryan adds, looking fazed by the idea.

It's hard enough to travel from one place to another, but trying to look at everything too? It's like going to a museum with someone who loves to read every single little placard.

[hell_in_highheels]

"Oh Richard, it's spectacular. And the catalogue, cross-referenced and indexed. You can use an information access point and get every volume on a single subject. Or you can use the virtual access point for immersion purposes. Imagine being able to walk into any book ever written." Her voice tapers off, but her smile is still bright. "Don't get me started, I'll natter at you all night long."

She's the person who reads every single little placard. He can tell.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Actually, Ryan is too. It's the mun who ends up annoyed.

The captain tilts his head. "What about other forms of media? Can you enter films and radio programs as well?"

Though it wouldn't surprise him if the Library had each one of those in book form.

[hell_in_highheels]

She leans in, cocking an eyebrow at him, supremely pleased with the question. "Every place where someone has ever recorded something for playback, if it's been catalogued? It's there."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan watches her, an attentive curious smile on his face.

"So, essentially," he sums up, "you can go every where and when without going anywhere."

He's got to admit it's a nice setup.

"Except, perhaps, the end of the universe, but that's still only a Door away."

[hell_in_highheels]

He is so very handsome, she thinks.

"I'm limited to the virtual environment, but essentially yes. It's not the real thing. There are gaps and blind spots. The characters are just that, characters, with scripts to follow. It's not like interacting with real people. But there are places I would love to show you..." She tilts her head to one side, her smile soft.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He shouldn't encourage her, some part of him warns. Has been warning.

"Like where?"

It's only dinner and a conversation, right? There's nothing serious about that.

[hell_in_highheels]

"The Monteverde Cloud Forest. There are bridges in the canopy of the rain forest. The birds are like flying jewels and there are fresh water crabs living in the bromeliads, three hundred feet up in the air."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan looks intrigued. He didn't see any of that the last time he was in a jungle.

Then again, he hadn't exactly been there for the sightseeing.

"Crabs in the trees?" he repeats, not dubious exactly, just... "How did they get up there?"

[hell_in_highheels]

"Carried by birds, most likely. It's beautiful, though. Green and alive." Her voice has got quiet and she poking at the last of her meal, her eyes downturned, her lips curled in a secret smile.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan leans in a little as her voice softens. Habit, he tells himself, from when he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

"I'd like to see that some time," he says.

Wait. Did he just agree to a second outing?

What's so wrong with that?

He turns back to his food which is, too, almost gone and finishes off his steak.

[hell_in_highheels]

Something in his voice makes her look up and meet his gaze. She feels a touch light-headed and the words coming out of her mouth feel like they're coming from a great distance.

"What about tonight? Say a late night walk, after coffee and dessert? It's just a few steps away through my door."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He wasn't expecting this.

He shouldn't get attached. Getting attached is a bad idea.

Since when is visiting someone's world 'getting attached?' It's not like he hasn't done it before, with people he knows even less well than the woman sitting in front of him.

This is different, though. And he knows it, smells it.

She's just going to show him the Library. Dinner and a tour. What's the harm in that?

All that flits through his mind as he frowns. "Uhm. What phase is your moon in?"

It's a valid concern, but also one he can use to buy himself some time.

[hell_in_highheels]

She shakes her head. He's considering saying yes, she thinks.

"That's the nice part, Richard. There is no moon. Not unless I program one up. My world is entirely within the data core."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He hadn't forgotten, but he hadn't thought he'd be automatically pulled into the computer as well.

She called him Richard, he realizes.

"Oh," he says absently, gazing at her.

[hell_in_highheels]

She bites her lower lip as he thinks. "Well?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Right, there's a question he's supposed to answer.

Deep breath, Ryan. Mental step back. It's only a tour. This isn't even an official date.

(It might as well be.)

And really, it'd be rude to think about it this long and then turn her down.

And he is genuinely curious.

"As long as you can keep the humidity down," Ryan smiles in acceptance.

He's not getting attached, he grumbles at that part of himself.

[hell_in_highheels]

She smiles, looking baffled. "But, it's a cloud forest. Literally, a forest in the clouds. It'll be steamy and wet and I'll just shut up now, shall I?"

She's blushing furiously now, giggling, one hand over her eyes. Her scent says joy mixed with the thrill of walking along a high cliff.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

His eyes widen as he realizes what he said.

"I didn't- oh, bollocks," but he's laughing too, even if he's uneasy about it. He's not getting attached (he's not) but he shouldn't be leading her on like this either.

It'd be much easier not to do if he stopped unintentionally flirting with her.

Is it really unintentional? He doesn't even know...

[hell_in_highheels]

River's laugh is full and rich, and unrestrained. She waves a hand in front of her face, and wipes away a few tears.

"Moving right along then," she says, still giggling. "Coffee? Garçon!"

The rat appears, peering back and forth between them puzzled.

"Dessert menus?"

The rat disappears and River turns away, biting her thumb as she tries to compose herself.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan takes the opportunity to clear his throat and finish off his Guinness.

He doubts it would go well with dessert anyway.