reach for the stars

dr. amelia "mia" landon-adler. thirty-one years old. robotics engineer. certified nerd. jack's step sister.

[miaxadler]

harperxnorwood​:

❤

“I’ve never played baseball either” Harper admitted. The sport hadn’t been as popular in the various countries where Harper had spent a good chunk of her childhood. And given Harper’s often less-than-graceful nature, that was provably a good thing. “But why let that in the way of a good metaphor?” she added, a grin on her face now. “Besides, I feel like a lot of people who use sports analogies don’t actually play sports.” At least, that was her personal experience based on past relationships. Usually the men who talked about sports the most didn’t actually play, they just enjoyed being a spectator.

“Well good, that makes me feel a little better. I wasn’t really the sports type growing up, I was more of the chess playing, math loving, nerd-gasm over Star Trek variety.” Her mother, bless her heart, had tried to get her into soccer once when she was about twelve. She thought her too-smart daughter needed more physically activities to balance out all the mental. Mia guessed she hadn’t calculated just how clumsy and hand-eye coordination definicient she was. “So are you from Catalina? Or are you more of a semi-perminent tourist like me?”

[miaxadler]

char-ainsley​:

“I’m all for historical figures coming to life at night and answering some of these questions I have but I draw the line at dinosaurs. I’ve seen those Jurassic Park movies. Dinosaurs and humans shouldn’t exist together. It never ends well for the humans. It was the Calvin Klein one. I also had a poster of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. I’m surprised that I got anything done while in school with all that hottest on my walls,” She joked. Now that she was in the industry it was awkward whenever she ran into any of her former crushes especially the ones that she had on her wall. “Accents are hard! Most of the time you don’t even realize you have one until you try to do one that’s different than your own. Then you realize how hard it is to switch accent. I hate those people that do it so easily,” Lottie laughed. Like her mother. She was basically a queen when it came to accents. So was her father. “That would be them. I figured it was time their stories were told. Most WWII movies are about men. Think it’s time we learn about the women.” She grinned, happy that she knew who these people were. “You should apply. You might just get lucky and win that lottery. It doesn’t hurt to apply after all.”

“But... dinosaurs!” Mia gaped, trying to wrap her head around anyone not wanting to see a dinosaur come to life. “Jurassic Park is more like a cautionary tale on the perils of too much scientific curiosity and greed. Besides the fact that it’s one of my the greatest movies ever made, it never made you want to see a real dinosaur? Not once? I’m sensing a trend for the kind of men you like, and I have to say, I approve.” She chuckled at her own joke, finishing off the last of her latte with a satisfied sigh. Her mother spent a great deal of time teaching her about amazing black women in history. It was part of the reason Mia was so brilliant in the first place, she had a lot of role models that she wanted to live up to. The fact that the woman in front of her was making a film about two of her favorites was mind boggling. “I have so many questions, but I have a feeling you can’t tell me anything yet.” A mournful sigh followed her assumption, though she tried not to look too down about it. “You’re right, of course, but... I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”

[miaxadler]

della-slade​:

“I would love to see how a robot actually gets built but I’ve seen so many of them on T.V and in movies that I have a feeling I might be a bit disappointed if they’re not as cool as the media makes them look,” She shrugged. Really she’d be excited no matter what they looked like or did. Robots just sounded cool. “Trivia night? That depends. Are you playing with a team? Being social and all that? Or do you sit there by yourself with a beer and just watch? Since if you do that then I wouldn’t count that.” Either way trivia night was fun no matter if you played along or just watched. “In my line of work I’ve learned a lot about whales. Even taken a few research groups out to go see them. Did you know that the tail of each humpback whale is unique? You can book a tour online or you can just tell me when you’re available and I’ll see what I can do.”

“No, you won’t be disappointed at all! Robots are dope! I mean, yes, I am very, very biased, but I stand by my statement! If there weren’t at least a dozen security regulations to stop me, I’d definitely sneak you in for a peak at Macy. She’s my favorite.” Mia winced, sharing her head. “No, not really. I answer questions, just... by myself. Please stop me, because I feel like I’m making myself sound more and more lame the more I talk.” Her eyes sparkled at the new information and she couldn’t help the laugh that left her lips as she settled into the conversation with the woman. “No, I didn’t know that, but now I’m glad I do. I will certainly do that. It’s cool that you do that, what made you start?”

[alycia-acosta]

who: Aly & @miaxadler​ when:  after work where: the ferry from LA to Catalina

What a day it had been.

Aly was up at 3 AM. She hadn’t been in bed all that long when her alarm went off. Begrudgingly she got up and began her day. First with a run and then her daily Zoom cal from the East Coast. A yoga session followed before Aly boarded the ferry to Los Angeles. Her main office was there. It wasn’t the worst commute. In Chicago she’d sit in traffic for forty-five minutes. At least here she got to be on the Ocean. Her day was a blur of conference calls and paper work. Aly was an accountant who had recently taken on the books of her family’s conglomerate company; The Acosta Group. The parent company for her subsidiary Acosta Accounting. She was excited by her work. A natural head for numbers made it easy, but of course there were pitfalls. Like long work days away from her newest playground; Catalina Island.

It was the end of the day before Aly caught the ferry home. The sun had begun to sink in the sky and melt with the expanse of blue sea. She thought it was beautiful and looked around to share the imagery with another. The ferry was relatively empty. A woman she’d never seen before the closest person to her. Aly began to smile. A warm and welcoming expression. She could befriend anyone. “No one gets a better commute than us, huh?”

[miaxadler]

Progress often requires sacrifice, a professor of hers had once said. Her first thought was how extreme that notion seemed- especially considering how young she had been when she heard it. It had taken experience and growing up to realize just how right he truly was. Progress did require sacrifice in one way or another. Sacrifice of time, sacrifice of relationships if one were invested enough. Mia herself had spent her fair share of time in the lab while the rest of her life took a back seat. Sometimes she blamed what happened with Oliver on that fact, maybe she had been too busy to see what was truly happening. Maybe if she had spent more time on herself and the things she was meant to care about, everything would have turned out differently.

Or maybe she was reading too much into everything in the way she always did.

Progress did require sacrifice, but nothing as dramatic as she had made it out to be. At the moment, progress demanded she take a ferry too and from work everyday to go build machines that could possibly change the world. It was that word possibly that most disturbed her though. As she waited for the ferry to cast off, sitting by herself on the near empty vessel, her eyes darted over the moving waters, lamenting, well,... everything. She didn’t want to possibly change the world, she wanted to be a definitive factor. Someone who’s innovations and destructions of glass ceilings and barriers would land them a spot in history. Perhaps it was a tall expectation, one that probably wouldn’t come true, but it made her restless none the same. She was so absorbed with her thoughts, she barely managed to pull herself out of the pile of doubt and denial long enough to hear her words. She looked nice, had a kind enough smile for Mia to return genuinely. The engineer nodded. “No, I don’t think so. It certainly beats 8AM traffic and honking horns, save the occasional bout of sea sickness.” She remembered dealing with that back in Boston. All the time she had wasted sitting in her car. “Do you work in LA, too?”

[miaxadler]

maliaplayer1​:

☤

Well she was nice and cozy wasn’t she? Malia’s brown eyes scanned the woman again, still a bit in shock that she wasn’t the only woman that had been in Jack’s house. She was slightly disgusted with herself as the thought and feeling came over her. Who was she after all? They had no commitment. They weren’t exclusive. They hadn’t even gone on a date yet. That part was coming at least. Bottom line, she had no claim over him or who stayed in his house so she could not feel some type of a way about it. Reminding herself of that fact didn’t stop it though.

Her eyebrows rose slightly. So not only was she in Jack’s house, but he had left her there to her own devices. This must be what dating is, Malia thought to herself. She was so far removed from all of it that she had no idea if this was normal or not. “He’s a busy boy isn’t he?” she smirked softly before carefully handing the shirt over to the beautiful woman. At least he upgraded. “This is his shirt. I was just returning it.” she shrugged softly. “A message? Sure. You can tell him that Malia came by to return his shirt and I guess I’ll see him around.” she nodded softly, ready to turn on her heels and walk back to her SUV, but stopped herself. “I’m sorry. To whom am I leaving this message with? I should probably know that bit, shouldn’t I?” she smiled slightly. Her feathers were ruffled and she was angry that Jack’s situation with this woman could get them ruffled.

The longer she stood there, still clad in her Bugs Bunny shorts and hair a frizzy mess, the more self conscious she felt. In retrospect, it probably hadn’t been the best idea to answer the door in the first place. It wasn’t her house, and even though she doubted Jack would mind, she didn’t want to intrude anymore than she already did. It was enough that she was invading his space and staying in his house, even though he had suggested she do so. If there was anything she got from her mother, it was her incessant need to prove her own independence, and it seemed like answering the door as if she owned the place was one step in the wrong direction. Plus, some of Jack’s fans were... suspect. It was best to air on the side of caution, she decided from there on out. 

Mia scoffed in a way only an annoying little sister could, rolling her eyes playfully. “Yeah if you call walking around being Jack Adler as busy’,” She joked, shaking her head and leaning against the door frame. Her eyes flickered down to the shirt on the woman’s arm, her brows furrowing before her gaze slowly drew up to the woman’s face again. “Oh! Uh, thank you?” She said, ticking her head to the side slightly. Who was this woman? One of Jack’s... She wretched internally at the idea, hoping she hadn’t answered the door to one of her brothers... Malia, Malia... Malia! Mia’s eyes widened, a smile breaking out over her face as she was smacked over the head with the memory. “So you’re Malia!” She exclaimed before realizing how strange she must have looked shouting the woman’s name back at her. “I’m so sorry,  I’m being rude, I’m Mia!” She held out her hand enthusiastically. “Mia Adler. I’m Jack’s sister!”

[miaxadler]

harperxnorwood​:

❤

“Oh, I understand that much completely” said Harper with a laugh. “Considering I’m always sticking my foot in my big mouth.” Harper could be charming when she wanted to be, but a lot of times she didn’t know when to stop talking and ended up saying the wrong thing. Then she shrugged. “I suppose there’s truth to that, but sometimes it feels good to go low. And sometimes they deserve it.” Talking about taking the high road was all well and good, but it could prove difficult at times. “But hey, if you don’t swing then you’re guaranteed to never hit the ball.”

“It’s a curse, honestly.” Mia agreed with a growing grin on her face. She certainly agreed with her new companion on more than one thing, it did feel good to go low sometimes. To be as petty as the people around her were. Truth was, however, Mia simply wasn’t that kind of person. She was grateful that she had gotten to skip certain aspects of her high school career- she was pretty she would have been on the bottom rung of the archaic social structure of teenagers. She wasn’t entirely great at sticking up for herself, so she could only imagine the nightmare. Mia’s brows rose up her forehead. “That is a very good point. Not that I’ve ever played baseball, but still.”

[andremichaux]

[baddestbitchesglobal]

Jurnee Smollett

[maliaplayer1]

Who: Mia Landon-Adler

Where: Jack’s House in Ventura

Malia parked her car outside of Jack’s house leaning back in the driver’s seat softly. A soft breath passed through her lips as she looked at the house. She hadn’t been back to this place since her walk of shame after their very drunk dinner. She was returning to his house to drop off the shirt she had taken by accident…well, she wasn’t exactly true how much of an accident it was. She also may have worn it a few extra times, but that wasn’t important. 

So here she was. walking to his door with said shirt neatly folded in hand. She felt like she was a high school girl returning her little boy toy’s shirt after a study date gone left…or right depending on how you thought about it. This is pathetic, she thought as she rang the doorbell expecting for Jack to open the door. She was a bit surprised when a younger, beautiful woman opened the door looking like she owned the place. “Hello…” she said with a soft sigh and a bit of a pang in her gut. “Is Jack home?” 

@miaxadler​

[miaxadler]

'...Maybe I should have been a singer instead of an engineer,’ She thought as she wandered through her brother’s home decked in pajamas and barefeet. The idea wasn’t entirely horrible, Mia could hold a tune decently enough. When she was a kid her mom forced her to join the school choir in an effort to boost her confidence and rid her shy child of her stage fright. She remembered actually being a decent singer, enough so that her mother always wanted to videotape her practicing. However, she also remembered becoming so overcome with stage fright that she broke out in a sweat and started crying so much that it fogged up her glasses. That resulted in an unfortunate tumble down some stairs and... Yeah, being an engineer was the right course for her. Still, as her eyes ran over the walls and floors of Jack’s house, she was glad that her brother had asked her to stay awhile. It was better than sitting in her apartment, alone and miserable over her own personal failures. 

She poured herself a bowl of cereal, doing a small dance as she poured her milk and got her spoon. Jack wasn’t home, meaning she got the house to herself for the day. However, as the doorbell rang, she realized that her goal might have been out of reach. With her cereal bowl in hand and no shoes on her feet, she padded over to the door and opened it, revealing an incredibly beautiful woman that she had never met before. She blinked for a moment, taking her in, before she head the woman’s question. Quickly setting her cereal bowl behind her onto one of Jack’s side tables, she smiled and shook her head, suddenly feeling self conscious in front of the woman. “Hi! No, actually, he’s out for the day.” She crossed her arms across her chest and offered her a polite smile. “Can I help you with something? Leave him a message, maybe?”

[miaxadler]

ardinhirsch​:

–

He nods knowingly when Mia brings up the German wings. He’s had his fair share of those ones in his time and they’re quite good. But Ardin can usually fine some good in most wines. Emphasis on the most part. But then Mia brings up him having something other than wine and his smile deflates a little, and he looks around, his thumb jutting in the direction of the Grace Winery set-up. “Oh, no.” He shakes his head. “I work for my family’s winery. We’ve got our setup over there.” But his tone is already defeated, “If you don’t like wine, I think I saw some whiskey barrels down the way a bit. But I think that’s it if you want alcohol that’s not wine.” He’s a bit bummed by her reaction but it’s alright. He wont let himself be too offended by it.

“Oh!” Mia’s eyes widened, a stream of words beginning to pour out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Oh- Yeah, of course you meant your wine. Why else would you be offering drinks to people? Because otherwise that’s shady.” She laughed nervously, clearing her throat and anxiously moving her curly hair out of her face. “Wine is great! It’s fantastic! I could drink it all the time if that was... responsible.” The engineer groaned internally at her blunder, feeling the urge to drop her head in her hands and lament her own awkwardness. Instead, she took a breath, steadying herself. “Ardin, I’d love to try your wine. If you even still want to talk to me after witnessing... that.”

[miaxadler]

marionstewart​:

❃

She takes note of the distinctive eye roll that comes upon mention of her brother’s name. For a moment, Marion’s inclined to agree with her, though the sentiment fall short of escaping her lips. To hear Hayden, and by extension, her family, painted in such unflattering light even towards people who’d known them longest brings her to pause. She feels the need to spring to his defense, the intrinsic protective urge that comes with family ties. 

Still, she finds her footing quickly. And when her words come, it betrays little of her treacherous thoughts. “I guess it’ll stay a mystery,” says Marion, her chuckle light. The answer, however, is clear cut. Now more than ever she wants to say that some leopards hid their spots better than others, that she and her siblings aren’t so different as one would think. She isn’t especially keen on listing down her sins, though what she’d done to Jack ranks high.

Mia’s announcement, fortunately, pushes out her train of thought in full. “Oh! That sounds pretty exciting,” she replies, lips curling into a genuine smile. “And pretty important, too. I’m glad you’re finding success.” The realization that it’s another face from her past she has to deal with on the island comes not long after. Mia, at least, is favorable. She’d gotten along with her former sister-in-law well enough, the only rift being—

Well, him. Jack’s name comes up, almost inevitably, like an anchor washing up to shore. “Yeah, we’ve met.” An understatement, though that’s a can of worms she’s none too willing to open, for now. “I’m sure that’s not true,” she remarks, tutting playfully, “I’m sure you’ve got more stories to tell than a new job in all that time.”

It wasn’t exciting. Not really, not when she explained it at least. She guessed it was due to the fact that she wasn’t where she wanted to be in her career. Not in her personal life either, but that was another tale for another time. She ran the numbers in her head- how old had Mae C. Jemison been before she was selected for a space program? Thirty three years old? The number swirled in her brain, making her tighten her throat uncomfortable. “Thank you,” Mia decided on, pushing a smile on her face and shooting her gaze down to her near epty cup of coffee.

“Oh.... I didn’t know that.” It wasn’t that she needed to in the first place. She was always respectful of Jack’s space. It wasn’t as if she told him everything either -it had taken her months just to admit she had been dumped-, but still. Running into his ex-wife at least merited a comment. She wasn’t sure if she should have continued that conversation, was it worth the embarrassment she would surely feel? She decided no before her brain had a chance to catch up. “Uh, no, not really. I’m boring. I have a Neil Degrasse Tyson poster in my home office and documentaries in my Netflix queue. I am very, very boring.” She nodded, not at all ashamed of that fact. She wasn’t like her brother, or her mother for that matter. She preferred shadows to spotlight.

“So, are you... seeing anyone? Is that weird to ask?” Mia cleared her throat and tried to force a polite smile on her face. “I mean, I’m very, very happy for you if you are. You deserve it. And besides that, are you settled into Catalina okay?”

[brittany-murphy]

The Grace Helbig Show (2015)

[tiilmans]

@miaxadler

Location: Catalina Wine Festival Reason: Wine time.

A familiar face! After hours of being tired and bored and shaking hands and talking to a bunch of people that he really didn’t care for, and made zero impact on his life, he saw someone he recognized, and thank goodness for that! He made his way apart from trying to manage the inters and went to the familiar face. “Taste anything good? I could probably find you something better.” He clasps his hands behind his back to show he’s serious.

[miaxadler]

Mia lifted the glass to her nose, taking a whiff of the expensive wine before she took a sip, trying to look as if she knew what she was doing. The one and only time she had went to a wine tasting was years ago for a co-workers wedding, and in the end it only served to get them all thoroughly zonked. She imagined a wine festival wouldn’t exactly shine upon her getting day drunk on their merchandise. She blinked as a familiar face appeared before her, a wide smile pulling to her lips. “Ardin! Uh, yes, so far I’ve had a few reds whose names I couldn’t pronounce- I think it was German or something... By something better, does that mean you brought other alcohol to a wine festival?” She asked skeptically, her smile and tone turning amused at the prospect.

[miaxadler]

jackadler​:

♪

Disappointment was and always will be the last thing he endures while in the presence of his sister. In truth, she was much better than he was. Established, smart, and capable. Jack was a little like fragile china that you only got out for special people. One little touch and he’ll break into a million pieces. Perhaps Mia was the same way, in hindsight, but was capable of taping herself together with careful precision. All while Jack remained in pieces, hopelessly. He’ll become more and more broken pieces overtime and after a while, he’ll be dust. Jack was convinced his demise would be just like that, his family circling around a pile of dust and ash that was once a person. But now it was widdled away, gone. The drugs got him, is what most will say, even his parents. Though, really, it was his heart.

It’s why the topic of Malia now suddenly seems so daunting. Along with himself, his family hasn’t known anyone but Marion. They were meant to be a concrete promise, wrapped with a bow that also promised forever. They were supposed to last and flourish within success. But now here he was, scared of looking at someone the way he did Marion. “I think I do,” Jack says, only a little hesitantly. For a moment, he tries to smile, to remember that this was a good thing and not something to frown upon. Yet he can’t help the way his brows furrow, gaze lifting to the ocean once more. “It scares me. The idea of — being with someone again. I don’t know if I’d survive it a second time, you know? I wish heartbreak didn’t feel like dying.” 

And maybe that was also why he was so worried for Mia now. To think that she was going through this alone, burying it deep while listening to all of Jack’s ailments ever since she arrived in Catalina. Jack, himself, wanted to apologize, yet she was. He can’t help but shake his head, leaning in to take both of her hands into his own. “Don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. Not at all. I mean it.” The singer says, squeezing Mia’s hands gently, “He’s a fucking asshole. I’m so sorry. God, mom is gonna wanna murder him. Have you told them yet?” Mom meaning Mia’s mother and Jack’s stepmom, Samantha. She was a carefully righteous woman who would do anything for her children. Anything. 

“Why don’t you stay with me for a little while? We can cloud watch like we did when we were kids and eat a bunch of candy that they didn’t know we hoarded over many, many Easters and Halloweens..”

When Mia was younger, she had wished she was more like Jack. Jack, who was fearless, and brave enough to move across the country to pursue his dreams and the person he loved. Jack, who stood on a stage and commanded attention while she still raised her hand before she spoke in meetings at work. She had been... so scared when she first learned about his problems. It shook her to her core to see who she viewed as the strongest person in her life facing such challenges, but when he entered rehab, she held out a bit of hope. To have him sitting beside her, talking with her like they used to when they were younger, it silenced the buzzing thoughts and anxieties floating around her head. Maybe he was okay now, maybe she didn’t need to worry. But still ,she did. That was just who she was.

Well... she certainly didn’t like those words coming out of her brother’s mouth. The engineer frowned deeply at him, raking her brain for the right things to say to make him feel better. Their mothers were much better at this than she was, they always knew the right thing to say. But right now, she felt at a loss for words. “I...” She stumbled over the right words, breathing deep through her nose before she turned her body to face Jack. “I... I don’t think you’d be this scared if you didn’t really care about her. And that should be all that matters, right?” Mia realized how naive the words sounded as soon as she said them, and she took a moment to scour her brain once more to see if she could pull out something even remotely useful. Honestly, it felt like anything she said at the moment would be the pot calling the kettle black. Of course, there were other things that mattered besides simply loving someone. She had learned that the hard way. “You like her, she likes you, the past should... stay there, you know?” They both had a hard time letting go of the past. Hopefully, they both could get better at that.

She groaned and buried her face in her hands. “No, no, I... I should have known something, right? I mean, I practically lived with the guy for four years. I have a PhD, I should be able to tell when someone is sitting there lying to  my face for that long!” The words came out so quickly, she had to take a large breath when she was finished as she hadn’t taken a pause in the middle of her rant. Mia was so... angry at him, in a way she had never been at anyone, and for some reason, she couldn’t seem to let that anger go no matter how much time had passed. “No, I haven’t told them, are you kidding me? Can you even imagine what- I don’t even want to think about how angry mama would be. And mom would just... worry and... I want to spare them that, if I can. I mean, I’m an adult, I should be able to handle my own heartbreaks by now.” As she said it, she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Handling a heartbreak didn’t mean up and jetting off to the other side of the country to avoid it. 

She smiled at him, knowing he meant well. He was her brother, he had taken care of her for as long as she could remember. Still, he had his own issues, she didn’t want to intrude. “You know I’m not your baby sister anymore, right? I can... I can take care of myself now, I think.”

[miaxadler]

char-ainsley​:

“I always wanted to live at a museum until I saw Night at the Museum. There are some museums that would scare the shit out of me if they came to life at night. True. He does have the whole package. I used to have a poster of him up in my dorm room when I was a teenager,” She admitted, a blush appearing on her cheeks. “You have me there. I kind of like the fact that you guys are so straightforward. You can always tell what Americans are thinking. They never hold anything back. I love that zeal you guys have. Aww! Thanks! I guess I should just accept that I’ll never sound like an American no matter how long I’ve lived here,” She said in her attempt at an American accent though she failed once again. This was why she never could accept roles playing an American. She could never pull it off and be convincing at it. “It’s about important women during WW2 including Hedy Lamarr, Sophie Scholl, Frances Wills and Harriet Pickens.” When she read the script she knew she had to make it. “I’m all for doing what you love and if NASA is your dream then go for it. Of course I have no idea if we have NASA on the island but you should totally apply.”

Mia’s eyes widened in shock. “I love Night at the Museum! Exhibits coming to life, spouting out interesting facts about their lives, dinosaurs. It’s like my little nerd fantasy come true. Really? The Tommy Hilfigur ad or are we talking something else because I don’t think I’d be able to focus on anything if the first one was hanging up on my wall.” She laughed, shaking her head. The woman’s accent wasn’t bad in her opinion, and she had heard some horrible American accents in her time. "Give it time! I’m sure you’ll master it soon. You can’t be any worse than me, and the last time I tried to do an accent, I just got a bunch of funny looks.” A nervous situation mixed with accidentally slipping into an accent when she didn’t mean to made for an incredibly cringe-worthy memory. She blinked, a wide smiled splitting across her face. “Wait, wait, you mean Frances Wills and Harriet Pickens as in the first black women to ever become officers in the military? And Hedy Lamarr? The woman partially responsible for frequency-hopping spread spectrum and Bluetooth? And you’re making a movie about them?” She tried not to sound too excited by it, but she was practically bouncing in her seat at the idea of this woman’s movie. “There’s actually a Jet Propulsion Labaratory in Pasadena. But getting an active job in NASA is like winning the lottery, only with a lot less money.”

[miaxadler]

della-slade​:

“I guess being humble is a good quality to have. Maybe it’s something more people should learn how to be. I know I need to learn it once in a while,” Della joked. It wasn’t like she had much to brag about, She had never gone to college and even though she owned her own business giving tours there were a lot of companies out there larger than hers. She did take pride in what she did though and did brag once in a while about it. “What about on your days off? You stay at home then too? Not that there’s anything wrong with staying at home all the time but really you should get out sometime. Have some fun,” She pointed out. Nodding at her question, she grinned, “There is. I’ve taken a couple dozen groups out to see them. Of course we stay a safe distance from them but you can still see them pretty well.”

“So my mom tells me. But, uh, still you have a point. People shouldn’t shy away from being brilliant if they are- whether they’re building robots or something else.” She’d gotten so used to keeping her head down, not drawing too much attention to herself, that she often forgot how to keep her head up. Maybe Jack was right about visiting their moms. Maybe she needed a gentle, yet firm reminder of all the lessons her mama had taught her. “Well, usually. I go to trivia night, if that counts?” Mia said, wincing at how nerdy that sounded. “I guess I’m just still getting used to the island. I’m a quick learner but sort of slow when it comes to adjustment periods.” Excitement buzzed within the engineer. “I love whales! I mean, I love animals in general, but whales. Largest mammals on the planet, did you know that? Of course you probably do, sorry. I would love to schedule a tour.”

[miaxadler]

luciancarterx​:

“If you think that doesn’t make much sense, you should have heard some of the guys I used to hang around with in high school.” High school had pretty much been an episode of The Big Bang Theory, those were the kinds of conversations that Lucian had been exposed to on a daily basis. One of his closest friends at the time had been so close to Sheldon it had been a little embarrassing at times, but also, those were the kinds of people he’d felt most comfortable around —- they didn’t judge, whereas that’s all that the popular kids did. “But you’re welcome, anytime,” they added a moment later with a nod and a smile. Although, as they continued, Mia’s expression wasn’t lost on them, they’d received that look before. The life they lived and how they had to live was something they were very used to now, it really wasn’t an issue. “Well, if you ever need any help with that, I can definitely help,” they responded, flashing her a grin. “I’m Lucian by the way…” the introduction was added a moment later, along with an outstretched hand.

She grinned. “Were they also uncontrollable chatter boxes?” She half joked, leaning her chin on her propped arm as she sunk into the conversation comfortably. It was rare to find someone who didn’t immediately think she was strange after she opened her mouth. While she was friendly, the engineer wasn’t entirely great when it came to people. Robots were one thing, living, breathing humans were quite another. She eyed them curiously for a moment, wondering how to phrase her next question appropriately. “Really? I mean, do you mean that? Because I definitely wouldn’t mind.” Mia needed to get out of the lab and her apartment and actually embrace her new life instead of treating it as if it were temporary. It wasn’t, as far as she was concerned. There was still a tugging in her gut, one that missed her old life and habits a bit. She tried her hardest, however, to bury it down until it disappeared. The past would have to stay where it was while she acclimated to her future “Amelia, but everyone just calls me ‘Mia’.” She met their hand half way, shaking it with a smile and a shrug. “So, are you from Catalina? Or California in general?”