{M} People Like Us {Numbers & Natora}

[Natora]

"You're one to talk," she said with a small laugh. He was asking about her getting a partner when he had insisted that he was only around for a little while. "I don't have work as an excuse but I don't even know how to find a partner anymore. Tried universities, libraries, different work departments, there's few decent men out there anymore. Now your excuse is even more ridiculous. Mine was work and now it's going to be her. A guy will arrive when he's supposed to. You however are avoiding it because you don't know what the future is going to hold," she said to him with a shake of her head.

"What if the next woman you find is supposed to be part of your future?" she asked as Daphne ran up to them and then back to the puppy she was playing with. "You can't avoid having a decent relationship forever. And what are you always looking around for? Always on the defence. No reasonable woman is going to approach you like that. Motorbike attire doesn't need to be worn at a dog park. Are you expecting a German Shepherd to jump you?" she asked with a smirk.

[Numbers]

"You're right it doesn't need to worn at a dog park. However, it does need to be worn when I ride my bike and since I use my bike to get around, the attire goes with me. Besides if my outfit scares off a prospective woman then I don't care much for them. Look at you for example, my outfit hasn't scared you away. Granted, we met at work so if it had scared you away, probably would have been fired." He said in an amused tone.

"Besides, I possess other traits that tend to keep people away from me. The fact that you're oblivious to them is more of a surprise to me. Makes me wonder how you were able to become a scientist in the first place." He teased her more in a playful way in response to her going at him. What he said was true though, him staying in the city was based on his mission. If his mission failed, was completed, or just in general changed, then his mission location might change as well. "Say you find a man, and everything is going well. The relationship is going well, work is going well, life is just going well. Suddenly you're promoted to a position that requires you to move to a different city. The boyfriend can't come for whatever reason. Which do you choose? Work? Or the boyfriend?"

[Natora]

"Just because I haven't chosen to disregard you because of all the terrible things about you doesn't mean that I haven't noticed them. There are plenty of things that I can't stand about you," she said to him with a smirk. Then she watched Daphne closely as he posed to her a very interesting question. This was such a terrible question. There were so many options, so many things that could happen that would change the answer to this sort of circumstance.

"That is a terrible question loaded with circumstances. What if he can't move now but the possibility exists that he can move sooner. Maybe I didn't want him to come with me and was looking for an excuse out of the relationship. What if I didn't want to move. There are so many other unknown variables," she said to him shaking her head. "For example, if we were dating, all those things that annoy me. I think I'd ask for the promotion out of town," she teased.

As they continued walking, the sun was starting to set, their cue to leave. She called Daphne to her and whistled for her. It was surprising but she came at the first call this time. She knelt down to put the leash on her collar an stood back up. Daphne wasn't done playing though and dashed away, pulling Kelly into Etmere. The sudden stop pulled Daphne over so she stopped running and Kelly looked up at Etmere in surprise. A soft blush settled into her cheeks and she stood back up. "Sorry," she mumbled.

[Numbers]

He smiled at her blush as he held her there. When she apologized and got out of his hands and arms he could only smile back at her. "So quick to leave my arms, even after talking about dating me. If it wasn't for the fact that I doubt you've mastered that kind of training, I would say you trained Daphne to pull you into me." He gave a smaller whistle to the dog to tell her to sit before putting a hand Kelly's shoulder. "Serious now, are you alright though. A sudden pull from a shepherd can hurt one's arm or shoulder. Of course it would have been worse if you had landed on the ground instead of being pulled against me, but still, if your arm or shoulder hurts now, I can hold her leash until you guys get home." He gave her a sort of warm smile now. A caring sort of look as he kept his hand on her shoulder in an almost caring way.

He had grown fond of her, but he knew that the fondness was something he couldn't let himself get attached to. If she found out what was under the makeup on his face, he would probably be bound in some secret room for her to question him relentlessly about her father. Among other things, he wanted to avoid something like that. He had done some digging at work and gave her last name to a Marked contact. Information was brought back to him that her father was one of the people converted, but his whereabouts were unknown. They could find him if they had the DNA of the daughter, and it was something he was trying to get to.

[Natora]

Kelly stood back up and shook her head, looking back up at him through her lashes. "We may have been talking about it but it was just hypothetical, wasn't it?" she asked him slightly less rhetorically. She turned her attention to the warm hand that was on her shoulder. Just that concerned contact was giving her butterflies. This was ridiculous. They were working together. This sort of relationship was frowned upon and she hadn't yet broken a rule at work.

"It's fine. Honestly," she said putting her hand on top of his and taking it off gently, her hand lingering against his almost holding it but not quite. "She's not that big yet. There's plenty of time for her to take advantage of my lack of attention," she said, trying to be teasing though it was clear that her amusement had died a little bit to make room for truth. It was an odd feeling to be standing there with him and feeling strange about their closeness. She wasn't entirely sure that she didn't like it, though.

Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him and said, "Care to get dinner together?"

[Numbers]

He smiled at her offer. "That would depend on your idea of dinner." He didn't really feel like having Chinese again. If anything, he felt like having real food. The kind that was prepared and cooked. He pulled out his phone to look at the time real quick and tried to decide if he would have enough time to prepare and cook dinner. "Counter offer. You take Daphne home, then come to my place. I could take you on my bike since it would be quicker. I should have some stuff in the fridge still to prepare and cook some dinner for two people instead of one. Would taste much better than Chinese food."

That and it would give him the chance to get some form of DNA from her. Whether it was a hair or the DNA that was left on a kitchen utensil. Either or would be helpful to him at this point. "I would insist on it since last time we had something to eat you got chinse food. This way instead of you paying it would be me. I swear the inside of my house isn't as bad looking as one might think." He said in a teasing tone at her since his place was in the poorer area of the city. He had noticed her more lasting touch on his hand and the more serious tone in her voice. It made him hope that she was indeed getting closer to him. It would make what he was doing much, much easier.

[Natora]

She considered the little jab she had at him. Just because she had ordered Chinese the first time she had promised him dinner didn't mean that she couldn't cook. That day she had just been much too pent up to be able to pay close enough attention to anything she cooked and not burn it. The chance to see him cook though was entertaining. Would he be as tedious as he was when he was at work? Would he cook macaroni and cheese like most bachelors or would he manage to actually impress her with his cooking abilities?

There was only one thing for sure. Daphne was being ditched tonight. With that sobering thought she nodded to him. "I...think I would like that," she said to him as they left the dog park together. "And knowing you, the inside of your house will be pristine," she said in a half compliment. There were definitely some feelings that were different than before.

The walk back to her house wasn't long and soon enough she had Daphne in her kennel area and was walking out to go with him. "Do you have a helmet for me?" she asked him curiously. There wasn't much chance of her getting onto his bike without some sort of protection. The idea of getting to sit close to him was almost enticing. Almost.

[Numbers]

As he walked back to her with her, he was mainly thinking about what he had in the fridge. There wasn't much since he was planning on going shopping the next day after work. Yet he knew for sure that he had some noodles, cheese, and a few other stuff he could throw together to make some kind of delicious food. Living out in the wilderness in one of the moving groups meant he had to know how to scrounge stuff together to make something delicious. More often than not, out in the wilderness, dinner was one of the most looked for things that kept people going. Just knowing something delicious was at the end of the day kept him going through the training missions with ease.

When they were leaving her place and she asked about a helmet he simply smiled slyly at her. "Well I only have one helmet but you can wear it. As long as I don't land on my head when we crash I should be fine." He said teasingly as he walked over to his bike. He didn't pull any keys out because up until now he never really needed keys. His ability could just let him turn the bike on. He quickly ran some ideas through his head on why he wouldn't need keys in someone else's eyes and he came up with a pretty good idea in case she asked.

He got onto the bike and as one of his hands grabbed the handle, tiny amounts of electricity exchanged between the hand and the bar where no one could see it. Right away, the bike came to life with a rev of the engine. He smiles at her amusingly before holding out his helmet for her. "Just make sure to wrap your arms around me tightly. If you're holding too tightly I'll let you know so that I don't get suffocated." He said teasingly again.

[Natora]

As he went to his bike and offered his own helmet to her, she walked up slowly. "You better not have lice," she teased before pulling the helmet down over her head and tightening it around her. She honestly hadn't noticed that he wasn't using keys. It was odd enough just having a motorbike around. They weren't all that common around here. Most people wanted to go for the more safe and appropriate option. She was grateful for the helmet for more than one reason. She hadn't been on a motorbike before and her heart was pounding in fear. Or was it excitement?

Either way, she threw a leg over the bike behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She held on more tightly than she would have if she was used to this. Even her legs seemed to tense around him. It was nerve wracking, thrilling, and a million other things that she felt at this point. This felt like she was not just riding to his house but doing something completely out of the ordinary for her. When she went to Sunday dinner she would have to tell her mother about this. "Let's go," she called through the helmet and over the roar of the bike.

[Numbers]

As if in response to her saying to go he gave the bike a few more revs, letting it go a few inches before hitting the break over and over again to make her press against him as if getting ready go. He found it fun to tease her. Then he leaned forward and as such pulled her forward slightly with him as he put both hands on the handles. He started it slow first but quickly had it going at the same speed as a car.

As if to treat her some to what it was like being on the bike he went slightly more adventurous with his driving while she was on behind him. He would move into traffic but weave between cars and other vehicles, even going between two cars that were taking each lane before speeding ahead of them. He was careful and made sure he wasn't caught doing the illegal driving actions and before long the bike was slowing down as he was pulling into the front of his house. As he slowly came to the house the garage opened up automatically as if recognizing that he was home and he drove the bike into the garage before stopping it and letting the engine turn off. As the garage door finally closed behind them, there was only silence now.