Coffee and Conversation

[James Turner]

He listened as she spoke on the things she did naturally and incorporated them into her code. Did he have anything like that? He talks about books and music on occasion. Other than that, his natural inclination is to be as still and small as possible, ironically to be unnoticed. Survival had dictated that though, that’s the predator/prey relationship and he was no predator. “That will work, it’s a good start. I’m sure we’ll figure more out the more time we spend together.”

He couldn’t help but blush at the sheer honesty of her statement. Giving her a peck in return as she leaned down, his face still burning hot though he’d been smiling and neither stopped as she continued, feeling a flutter in his stomach as he thought about it to. The risk, the thrill, the longing having to be apart and then to be together again. It was nice, he felt like a kid again. “Now I’m thinking about that too. I think for the first time I can honestly say yes, everything is ok. At least right here and right now, tomorrow’s problems will remain tomorrow’s problems. I’m taking today to enjoy this without worrying about anything else.”

Which was another first for the Winter Monarch. Neurotic was a descriptor easily applied to the Darkling, constantly obsessing, and worrying about every little thing that could go wrong. Trying to direct it, fix it, prevent it and it consumed much of his time and thought. Right now, he was content to let things simply just be.

[Cassandra Reeding]

The more we spend time together. Again with those butterflies. It all just makes her giddy. Is this what it is supposed to feel like? This sweet and romantic, not overpoweringly sexual? She would be happy to bask in this forever if she could, though she knew tomorrow would come and they'd have to work on the secretive nature of it.

After he speaks, she can't help but laugh. "I think that is the least Winter thing to come from your lips and I crazily agree." She lets out a soft, dreamy sigh, trying not to think about how quickly this time is going to pass and then tomorrow would be upon them. Though not before they rest together. Another thought to bring back those bubbling feelings of excitement. "I'm glad though. I love seeing you like this." It would be fleeting for today, but then moments like these will come in spurts and be a whole different kind of wonderful.

After another long moment of just allowing herself to feel and be lost in the moment, she asks, "How do you want to spend the rest of our evening?" Different thoughts swirl of just talking and laughing together, cuddling up and watching something, anything. Anything as long as they are together and she will be happy.

[James Turner]

He couldn't help but smile when she agreed with him. Another little knot of tension untying his chest letting him breathe a little easier. Another blush, the smile practically stuck on his face now. His mouth was starting to hurt because he wasn't used to it. "I just want to make sure you're happy." A statement as much reply.


And they stayed like that, her words breaking the silence of the moment. His eyes drifting over in her direction even if she couldn't see them. "We can keep talking or you can pick your favorite movie, then I pick mine." He remembered his favorite movie from before he was taken, turned out to be kind of a classic in hindsight. Who would have guessed.


He just didn't want this moment to end. Wanted time to stop, to just live in that second. To feel that, nothing but that until oblivion claimed him. If everyday could be like that, maybe all the suffering will have meant something. Maybe it will have been worth something.

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Me too," she says in a soft voice, taking a deep breath and just taking in the moment. It was true though, since the first time she saw him smile she'd wondered how to make it happen more often, how to make him laugh. She'd always been jealous when others could seem to do it when she couldn't. She felt invisible to him. And now...

Then she takes a good moment to think. She liked talking and hearing his voice, but she also wanted to experience him more. Watching his favorite movie with him would be perfect. But, her own? She had to think back. What always made her happy to watch? The title was instant, but she kept reaching through her mind in case there was something less cliché, but alas, not.

"You would think mine would be something spacy, like one of the Treks or Star Wars or something, but my favorite movie is the Princess Bride. Just... happy memories of my dad poking at me while I grumped at him, like the kid in the movie. I think I was like fourteen at the time. Eww romance." she lets out a small chuckle, "What's yours?"

She had to wonder. He seemed like the type that would be into Heathers, or The Breakfast Club, maybe Gremlins or the Crow. He was kind of encyclopedic about Star Wars though that time they hung out with Sera and Circe at the café. Though, who isn't encyclopedic with Star Wars these days? They're amazing. She'd always be a Trekkie though.

[James Turner]

He chuckled, nodding when she said the Princess Bride. "As you wish." It was a good movie, he remembered seeing it in theaters by himself. "That's a happy memory, I can see why it's cherished. Nice to have such an association with something so precious." He smiled, he had some memories like those but not at that level. Maybe that one Christmas when Christmas Story came out.


"I really liked The Crow, it was a nice story. I really liked how dark it looked and was curious to what the world it was set in was like. One of the last movies I saw..." A movie about love conquering death, yea no buried feelings there at all. "I'm also partial to Ferris Buellers Day off, that's my go to escapism movie. Just when I want to disassociate for awhile, ya know." Winters all had to cope in their own ways. He had to file memories away into boxes to strip himself away from them so he could keep going.


If this was a trap he'd be done, he hadn't ever shared this much with anyone before, not that he had much opportunity to. No one had been let into that tiny personal nook of his life before. That was love though wasn't it? You're putting yourself in someone else's hands, the most precious part of you, and believing they won't hurt you. It's insane, it's a risk, but that's why it's a fall.


Like the grounds suddenly been dropped from under you and you're just in a free fall. Terrifying, but also so light and free. Like driving down the road, windows down, no destination in mind on a perfect summer day. The free was the part that surprised him the most. Some risks are worth running head first into. Is this what skydivers feel like? Do you want to go skydiving? Nah, well...

[Cassandra Reeding]

There is something about the way he says it that just makes her blush a little bit. Perhaps it was a sweet reference that no one had ever really used with her before. It was nice though, sharing these kinds of things with someone. Things that were little but make up a bigger piece of personality than one would imagine.

I was right about the crow. That thought just made her smile. Then again, who wouldn't? ...people she wouldn't hang out with. Not that she really had too big of a friends group. She was always that friend in the group that was just there. They liked her, they had fun, but she wasn't particularly close with anyone, but it wasn't something she ever minded. At least, that's what she thought.

"Buuuuueller," She holds out with an immediate chuckle afterwards. "It's a good one for that. Humor that you can just laugh at and be a part of for a little bit. Space Balls was like that for me. The Black Cauldron if I wanted something animated. Now it's Galaxy Quest or, if I'm in the mood to cry at the end, Fan Boys. I liked the Crow too. Love and loss. Things I didn't really understand, but the story was touching." Closest thing was the thought of not having music as a crutch when she needed it. She didn't want to think of its application to this, what she knows how to feel now. Instead, the thought of someone knowing what tugged at her emotions. What actually made her tic. People always took this kind of information for granted, but used by the right person...

"Do you have one that you use to force you to just feel for a bit? Dead Poet's Society was that one for me. Just... That one is a lot to unpack." The hurt, keeping from being able to do the one thing you love. Being made fun of for it by people you were seeking approval from, being made to throw away your dreams when you've finally got a taste of what it is. Looking for the catharsis of freedom. All of it. It's weird, wanting to talk about all of this. But, maybe it's the emotion of the evening. Wanting the other to understand, continue to see while it is all fresh and ears and hearts are fully open. Vulnerable.

[James Turner]

He smiled at the blush, not looking away this time. Glad to have given her a bit of joy with a few words. Smirking as she started in about Ferris Bueller, agreeing with her but always seeing the story through Cameron's eyes. Catharsis comes with pain. "Black Cauldron sounds familiar but don't know if I saw that. Definitely never saw Fan Boys." He was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of culture touchstones he missed in the decades he'd been gone. "I did and I didn't understand it. I always had an Outsiders perspective, you get to see how things start but you also have to watch them fall apart in most cases."


That was young love though and they were much older and been through more struggles than most could understand. At least the Darkling was consistent, every part of his life seemed to be filled with multiple escape routes for any situation. He was going to have to find a way to not do that with Cassandra. He didn't need or want a way out of his. He would barricade himself in if he had to.


"You're going to laugh at me." He said with a chuckle then leaned into her letting out a breath. "Alright, ok. It's Mannequin." His face was a deep gray, but not as it had been earlier, still a few blood vessels not on the surface. There was a lot he could dig into with that but he'd rather keep enjoying that film.

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Fan Boys is incredibly new. Like late 2000s." To her, anything past the millennium is very new. "Pretty sure you're a 'went through angsty teenagedom in the 80s kid' like me. We missed a lot, but even having been introduced to some of the bigger titles missed, I say the 80s had the better movies." She chuckles, but to her, it was entirely true.

It's always a little bittersweet thinking about years missed, and yet right now, it is more than worth it. If she didn't miss those years and go through what she did, and she files that part far away, she would never have found this. She'd never have found him and it makes that pain just melt away. She tries to muse it a little too. If I'm right, pretty sure we could have dated. She wanted to imagine what that would have been like, but it wouldn't have been the same as this. It wouldn't feel like this. Would she had been able to feel like this?

The worry that her feelings are a design of her keeper's is always there. Was it coincidence that she had a type? No, Phillip and John are nothing alike. Well, aside from the specific features she likes and the tie to music. But she didn't know anyone before she was taken that loved music like she did. No one got it. It was a hobby to them, not a career, a lifelong desire of knowledge and excellence. The way it fed her soul. Like the way it seems to feed his.

Hearing the title of his movie makes her almost laugh, but she restrains it. It wasn't a laugh at him, it is a laugh because of the weird relevance. Oh. Don't analyze that for a while. Let it just be. Just like yours. Though, one thing does stick out. "Ah, so like our relationship. Only truly living when we are alone?" She teases him a little bit. "No. It's a feel good movie. A sweet one." She kisses his head, enjoying the sight of his greyed cheeks. He's so gentle, so soft and sensitive. A perfect foil of his mask. Will he always be like this?

She moves a hand up to his cheek, gently thumbing over his cheekbone, a hazy look of desire in her emerald eyes.

[James Turner]

"Yea I was born in 1975 so I hit most of what are now classics as they were coming out. Not like I had much else to do except maybe bowl. Oh while we're on the subject my names not John, I gave up my birth name when I came back and found it occupied. So it is and it is not John. Schrodinger's John." It was complicated, he often thought of himself almost as both people.


He'd always felt like the mannequin, looked at but not seen until that special person came along. It had always been a dream to him and now it was coming true. There were other thoughts there but her words cut through them before he could begin over analyzing it. He smiled up at her as she kissed his head and he shifted to kiss her cheek. "Sounds like a good interpretation to me. "


He met her gaze, luckily still flush from the reveal and he just looked into her eyes his own soft, sad but now tired but happy. He smiled and leaned in to push his head into her shoulder and sighed. "You're up first then, only fair." He wondered how long this could last, just the way it was. How long before the first...and he stopped it right there, took a breath and focused on her heartbeat.

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Ah, so I'm a whole two years older than you, well, probably closer to one really," A little chuckle and then she considers the next part of what he says. Many Winters didn't go by their birth names because they didn't often kill their fetch and assume their lives. Cassandra isn't much different, "I wasn't going to let that one piece of me be taken, so, I only changed my last name. Allred to Reeding." That... was a secret she'd never told a soul and she didn't realize she was going to say it until it spilled from her lips. Her heart felt like it stopped for a moment and the warmth drained from her body. That was scary.

"D-do you- I assume you still want me to call you John? Unless you-" she's a little flustered. Not because it is him who she told, but because she'd said it at all. "Sorry. But, uh, yeah sweet movie of inconceivable proportions."

She paused, looking at the TV then, "I assume it can connect to a streaming service? I could get my laptop if not," she leans into him a little more, resting her head on his, not really ever wanting to move again, but she would if she had to. Completely begrudgingly.