savetheearth | (no subject)

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Who: Ace and Misato
What: Being late to a date like a champ
Where: Locke City, movie theater
When: Saturday evening
Warnings: Vague The Amazing Spider-Man 2 spoilers whoops

Working Criminal Investigation for the FBI means your average workday is a downer at best, dangerous at worst, and downright stressful the rest of the time. Add in a shuffling police force and a Numbered murder and it's a recipe for unpleasantries coming at you in every direction, even on the network.

He would have followed through with their date plan anyway, of course - Mistao just seems to get it when he talks to her about Numbered matters, and they mesh very well - but there's an added need to just do something relaxing that guides him to the theater. Though he's confident he can maintain an air of cheer (it's his specialty, after all) he can't quite help being acutely aware of the line of tension that pulls him taught, like a too-tight marionette string. He rolls his shoulders, to no avail, and elects to simply shrug it off.

Plus... well... he'd been entirely honest when he'd said he likes superhero movies. It seems like a winning combination all around.

He makes an effort to leave his apartment early for the sole pupose of arriving early. Which, naturally, means that he gets lost twice along the way, has to ask for directions, and ultimately ends up fifteen minutes late (without even having any Starbucks) and mildly frazzled. Showing up late is rude! And leaves a bad impression! And he should really know where the theater is by now!

It's how he ends up moving his way through the crowd milling in front of the theater with various excuse me, pardon me's - easy thanks to his height, and he sends yet another quiet thanks to the Height Gods for smiling upon him - and muttering quiet curses under his breath. Misato is surely here by now. He can just hope she's not put out with his ongoing ineptitude.

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Okay, so it might be a pretty weird compliment, but it's one that Misato is more than willing to take. A small part of her was hoping that the other-her was heroic and strong; unfortunately, though, she hasn't had many Echoes to validate these particular wishes.

Still, Ace's enthusiasm is more-than-a-little catching, and Misato can't help but smile at how completely into it he seems.

"Of course," she says -- and Ace has his third date. "What movies are you talking about, anyway?"

She's curious to know if she and Ace share a similar taste in movies. Outside of The Amazing Tarantula-Man, of course!

"Well," he starts, and then immediately hesitates. He hadn't entirely thought this through before blurting it out, though the offer had been a genuine one.

For as long as can remember, his friends have called him every variation of a gigantic baby - with, he concedes, good reason. He'd much rather watch things that have a narrative of hope, stories that focus on the plausibility of peace, things that just plain leave you with warm fuzzies once they're over. That's not to say that he's entirely opposed to grittier, more realistic things. But they aren't the ones he'd recommend in light of this conversation.

No, what he has in mind is something that doesn't kill needlessly, that praises peace and harmony, that emphasizes love and friendship in all of their glory- ...

"Um. Okay- don't laugh. I'll throw this donut at you." He points said donut at Misato to illustrate the severity of this threat, then leans forward and lowers his voice some, as if conveying a deep, dark secret. "But have you ever heard of Sailor Sun before?"

If Ace's threat is supposed to intimidate, it doesn't work; all it really manages to do is draw out another one of Misato's smiles. Still, it vanishes when he leans forward and starts to whisper -- if only because she's sure he really is about to convey some deep, dark secret.

Only... he doesn't. Misato's eyes widen, and before long, that smile is back on her face again.

"Sailor Sun? Who hasn't? That show was super popular when I was a kid. Half the girls had Sailor Sun backpacks and lunchboxes."

Which of course means that Misato was among the gaggle of girls playing Sailor Sun on the playground during recess.

"I haven't seen it in ages, though. I barely remember it."

"In that case, get this: they're making a new one." Ace spends enough time on the internet. He knows things.

He leans back in his seat with a grin, reaching for his coffee this time. "We should watch it one weekend, for nostalgia's sake. It'll probably be more empowering than most Hollywood stuff, anyway."

Not to mention less depressing. As much as he loves his various superhero series, he also hates going to see movies like this with people; he has to pretend he isn't sniffling pathetically when that's exactly what he's doing. Maybe if he's lucky, Misato didn't notice.

Misato thankfully didn't notice -- she was too absorbed in the movie to catch Ace's sniffles. Not that it would have mattered; there was a good chance that it would have endeared Ace to her more. Most of the guys she dated previously weren't prone to displays of emotion. Ace could be emotive, but it was one of the things that Misato liked about him.

"Really? That's certainly something!" Her lips quirk into a smile as she reaches for another donut. "I'm kind of nervous about re-watching the old one, though. I made the mistake of watching some 90s movies I loved as a kid, and I ended up really disappointed as an adult."

She takes a bite of her donut.

"So what are they doing with the new one, anyway?"

"Um... I'm not sure, actually." It is here that his research fails him. "Making it prettier, maybe? Since they have all that fancy technology for animating things these days."

He takes a contemplative sip of his coffee, then sighs. "Honestly, I'd meant to look it up, but work's been so crazy that I haven't even had time to color-sort my socks before washing them. This is the first fun thing I've done in a week."

The coffee is swiftly replaced with yet another donut, because he's a vacuum cleaner when it comes to these things.

"Thanks for that, by the way."

"I wonder if the same voice actor is going to be voicing Sailor Sun," Misato muses, more to herself than to Ace. "When I was growing up, people said that I sounded just like her. It kinda makes me wish I had gotten into voice acting instead of modeling. It'd be nice to pretend to be someone else for a change."

Misato smiles as she watches Ace take another donut. Wow, he can really suck them down! It's amazing he can keep that nice figure of his. His job must involve a lot of strenuous activity.

"Not a problem -- any time, actually." Her lips quirk upward into a smile.

But soon, that smile turns a little lopsided.

"So, uh--" and suddenly, Misato's dialogue is just as awkward as her expression "--I wanted to ask you. What are we, anyway? I mean, are we-- are we a thing?"

That brings him up short, half-eaten donut halfway to his mouth, and Misato can at least take comfort in the fact that they are a mirror image of awkwardness.

"Oh. Oh, uhh..." That's a good question, actually, one he's kind of been wondering himself. He wasn't really even on the market for a thing, ludicrous network posts aside, but the idea isn't an unpleasant one at all. It sends a bit of a thrill through him, in all honesty, especially because Misato is an impossible combination of tolerant of his bullshit, intelligent, compassionate, competent, and also a model.

Way out of his league, let's be honest.

All of these thoughts occur while he attempts to finish that sentence in an eloquent and graceful manner, carefully worded to expresses interest without sounding too interested...

"Yes? I mean- no, not yet, not like-" Flawless delivery, exactly what he was going for. "No, scratch that, I mean... do you want a thing? I would like- I mean, I'm okay with a thing, if a thing is a thing that you want and a thing is something you're interested in."

You've got a real catch on your hands, Misato.

Despite what he might think of himself, there's plenty of things to like about Ace, too. He makes Misato laugh -- really laugh, not like those awkward, tempered laughs she choked out whenever any of her dates attempted to make a joke. And he's a genuinely nice guy. If the past two months made anything abundantly clear to Misato, it was that the Ace that showed up to her apartment with a bag of dog treats was no facade conjured up for a first date. That was really what Ace was like.

"I mean," Misato manages, after Ace's awkwardness. "I'd like it to be a thing, if that's a thing you'd like to do. I mean."

She swallows.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Since when did these conversations get so awkward? Suddenly, Misato feels like a junior high girl again, asking a boy out on a first date, stumbling, struggling to find the right thing to say.

"Yes!" he blurts out a little too eagerly, and clears his throat, sitting back some. Schooling his expression. Yes, good, play it cool.

"I mean- sure. Yes. That sounds great."

He's not actually sure this is how these things are supposed to go, but having things laid out plainly is always a good thing, right? Knowing for sure where you stand, knowing for sure that you were 100% correct in shooting down any flirting from the local coffee shop barista? Not to mention Melissa, but he's pretty sure she's rotten to the core, so that was doomed from the beginning, anyway.

Besides, he's not lying. He would like to be. But- but... speaking of laying things out plainly.

"Actually, um, first... I should probably mention something. I was planning to anyway, just, there wasn't really a good opening..."

It's difficult for Misato to suppress the smile that's quickly drawing itself across her face. Where anxiety and worry had been painted before, sheer happiness found itself now. If Vash's awkwardness bothered her in the least, it simply didn't register on Misato Katsuragi's face.

However, that smile quickly vanishes when Vash talks about needing to mention something. The anxiety rises back in full force. What was it? Did he have a child? A wife he was in the process of divorcing? Maybe that's why he moved back here.

"Mention something?" Misato echoes, trying to keep her tone as even as possible.

Ace spares a glance around the cafe - he's well aware that this is a popular Numbered hangout, and he's not super keen on airing this part to anyone on the network that he doesn't trust. Misato fits the bill, fortunately, and at this hour it's really just them and whoever's working the counter, who's nowhere to be seen. Probably retreated to the back room until someone comes in to order something.

"I know I said I worked for the government, but that wasn't really the whole story..."

Apparently deciding it's all-clear, he reaches into his back pocket and puts something on the table, sliding it over to her. It reveals itself to be a badge:

FBI
Criminal Investigative Division
Special Agent Eriks Saverem

He has the good grace to look at least a little sheepish, despite the fact that bluffing about his job is pretty commonplace, even outside of Numbered folks.

"People on the network aren't on super good terms with law enforcement, so it didn't really seem like first date material, y'know? But I actually prefer having everything on the table."

Literally, since he nervously taps the badge as he says it. For all he knows, Misato's been harassed by LCPD or FBI agents, too, and he wouldn't blame her for not stomaching it well.

Okay.

Misato takes a deep breath as she reaches out for the card, mentally preparing herself for the worst. It was clear from those words of his that this was clearly a work issue. That meant kids or a wife were scratched straight off the list. How bad could it possibly be?

Misato flips the card towards her, her eyes slowly widening as her eyes scan over the words. She mouths the words as she reads them, and it's a moment before the weight of this all finally hits her.

"Wow," she finally manages, setting the card back down on the table facedown. "I'm not really sure what to say."

What should she say?

"I didn't really expect this, but it's definitely better than virtually everything else I thought you might tell me."

Her lips quirk upwards.

"Thanks for coming to me with this. You didn't have to, but... I'm glad you trust me."

He watches her expression carefully as she reads, and can't help wondering what she was expecting. Secretly a pimp? He can't entirely blame her, since he is pretty smooth, in his humble opinion. Secretly a drug lord? Less likely, considering his substance abuse tolerance doesn't even extend to three beers. Secretly the sire of a grand homestead in the Siberian wilds? Well, not impossible...

Can't help a stab of relief when she takes the (rather mundane in comparison, really) truth in stride, though. Were it someone else, he might've gotten a mug of lukewarm coffee thrown in his face.

"Yeah, well..." he slides the card back across the table and pockets it, not entirely keen on leaving the thing sitting out. "That's how these things are supposed to work, right?"

Failing to specify what these things means exactly, but dating probably (most definitely) factors into that.

"Mutual trust and not leading secret double lives under the cover of night."

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NOT META AT ALL

ONLY PURE COINCIDENCES ITT

omfg i am grinning so hard at this tag

this is hilarious, i have secondhand embarrassment

Re: this is hilarious, i have secondhand embarrassment

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