The First Card

[Star]

Hide and Go Seek. Totally not the game. But here he was, playing it. Maybe he could turn it into Marco Polo? He padded through the theater in faded jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt that indicated his presence at WMC 2012. For a two year old shirt, it was immaculate. Because magic.

And where do you find what you seek? Sometimes in the place you should have looked first. In this case -- the common area.

A book, again. He tilted his head to see what Avis was reading before righting it. A hand held up a card.

The six of clubs.

"Need a bookmark?"

Totally not grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

[Avis]

"Huh, whu," Avis sputtered, jerking her mind up and out of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and back into her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the card.

"Goddamn it," she muttered, gaze flicking from the card to Starcut's laughing eyes. "So you have the card, huh? Look, uh, before we talk over dares, do you have the time?"

[Star]

His eyes narrowed in obvious suspicion. What was this? Trickery? Or legit curiosity. The best part? That he had to wonder.

His arms lifted, exposing his bare wrists.

"Don't wear watches? Don't see the point, they get stolen easily, and cards catch on them. But. I can check my phone?"

Pretty sure it was Pay Up O'Clock. He'd totally play it straight though, in case there was a payoff.

[Avis]

"Yeah, well, you should. Cause far as I can tell, it's not quite dinner yet." She let the statement hang in the air and then suddenly lunged out of her chair, book spinning off into the corner of the room.

"Still time," she yelled mid-lunge, hands reaching out to grab Star's shirt.

She tryin' to grapple him!

[Star]

What. The. Heck.

Someone plays for keeps, yo. Ready for the reveal? So did he. He'd been setting this up for a month. That's the secret to a great trick: great preparation. And you can prepare all you want, but sometime you have to improvise at the last second to make it happen.

Didn't avoid the grapple, but he sure used his longer arms to keep it out of her reach. Sure, she'd get it. Because Arrow. But he just needed...

A moment. An opportunity. And when it came? When she was focused on the card?

He kissed her.

Quick, soft, polite. Just enough to let her know.

He dropped the card, holding his hands up defensively, blushing furiously. Heck, sometimes the improvised version was better than the original.

"Your, uh, 'dare' was going to be to go on a date."

Still blushing.

"But in case you would have picked the hat? Ummmm. Totally sorry, and feel free to slap me?'

Worth it, yo.

[Avis]

An "mmmm!" of surprise was muffled by his lips and then Avis jerked herself backward, arms that had lunged after him moments before now shoving outward, pushing him away and propelling herself backward. Her eyes were wild and searching, her posture almost hunched, coiled, her hands clenched while he talked. For a split second it looked like a slap would be too merciful, but then she unwound, literally taking a step backward.

"Like, huh? Uh-a date?" she stammered, arms crossing tightly, hands tucked under her armpits. "Like, why?" she continued, stalling for time.

Except she wasn't just stalling for time, why was important, but this was just insane! He wanted a date? This had to be a joke. Or, or something. She wasn't sure if she wanted it to be a joke. Ok, obviously not, but she couldn't think, couldn't understand, couldn't process. She knew the words, had seen the meanings before her eyes, heard people discuss them, but they somehow escaped her. The memory of Geist's chocolate eyes, the smell of cinnamon, and Cut blushing by the blades arena flashed into her mind.

Her lips felt weird. Her stomach felt weird. Unconsciously she took another step back.

[Star]

whoa.

So that was a little more vehement than he'd expected? He kind of felt like an ass, now. He stepped back, mirroring her retreat, and sat. His brow knitted in consternation and apology, and the handful of jumbled words. Well. So far he hadn't been slapped? Or told 'hell no', right?

Her still standing there? Yeah. Didn't mean anything. Not a runner.

"Ummm. Yeah? A date? That was the original plan. A, uh, expression of interest? Ummm. Sorry. Again. That wasn't cool. I should have gone with the plan..."

Weren't blushes supposed to go away? He could feel his ears tingling, and the back of his neck felt like a Egg Mcmuffin under a heat lamp. His expression added confusion to the mix. Why? How do you answer that? Just how deep was this hole he was digging? But he owed her that, right?

"And... why? Ummm. Wow. Like, a better answer than thinking you're interesting and enjoyed Firehouse? That you'll play the card game with me? That we both like to read?"

He shook his head. Strange. How do you tell someone that they don't seem to need the illusions that everyone else did? That of course he found that attractive? What catches the imagination of an illusionist? Too easy. Something real.

"I'm... not sure what the right answer is? This, uh. It's not something I do much of?"

He shrugged.

"Look. It's cool, if, you know. I was just putting it out there. I'm interested. If you're not, hey, that's life. I'm a big boy. No weirdness, OK?"

[Avis]

"Um." It was just noise. Something to fill the space because something besides silence was required but she wasn't prepared to give an answer. Could she give an answer? She had a way out, an escape that she could take, but her throat felt tight when she went to gather those words. The ride to the restaurant, pavement flying beneath her feet on the back of a motorcycle, her stomach almost felt the same way as it had then. But that was the problem. Then she'd known what to do, then she'd understood her conflict and could thus act.

Now? Now everything was pitching sideways. She had to breath. Find out more. Then decide.

"Um, ok. Tell me more. About the date."

[Star]

He gave a soft laugh and his eyes moved upward, searching.

"Ummm. OK. I didn't get that far," he admitted.

He'd kind of gotten stuck on graceful ways to accept that she'd rather wear the hat. Making it easy, and not weird, so the cabal could, cabal on. Without awkward or weird.

"We go out? Have fun? See if, you know, we're having fun, together? And I'm open. If you've got something on your bucket list, I'm down. Or I could surprise you?"

He'd never had to give a date precis before. What he really needed? Folders. Seriously.

"And. Uh. Whoo. Sorry. I've never, you know? Answered questions like this. But. Whatever you're cool with, or not cool with? It's OK. I, uh, won't surprise you like that again, unless you're OK with it."

[Avis]

Avis studied Cut, surprised that he seemed almost as nervous and unsettled as she was. He'd planned the whole thing. He admitted it. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing. Why was he so nervous? It was comforting, actually. The more off balance he was the more protected she'd be. Not that this was an attack, or something, but it was calming to know. Slowly, her hands untucked themselves then drifted down to find their way into her pants' pockets.

"Ok, well, that doesn't sound bad. Soooo, ok, sure. I'll accept the dare. But only if you wear the propeller hat." There. Now he had a decision to make, and even if he went with it he'd be just as unbalanced as she was. That seemed acceptable.