I Think It's Time We Wind Down Now

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Why would you do that?"  he scrunched up his face searching for a motive in his own mind, not entirely sure why that would matter at all in this situation.  Weren’t sleepovers a weekend thing?  Why was the sleepover important at all?  "Yeah, Wednesdays are fine.  Same time as this time should work."  Adam slid his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels and double checking all of that in his head before nodding in agreement with himself.  "Yeah, that works.  I’ll see you tomorrow then?  Should—want me to wa—oh fuck.  Yeah, okay.  I mean, you could definitely talk him into a sleepover and then go out with me.”

[shrinking-vi]

Ok, that had backfired. Whatever. Not like she cared. Pulling back, she walked over to where she had left her bag, swinging it over her shoulder. That was, until he apparently worked through the implications of what she'd said. Letting out a burst of laughter, she leaned in and kissed him quickly once more before pulling back, still chuckling. "That was the idea. I'll see what I can do." But she really did need to go or Ryan would beat her home and she'd have a lot of explaining to do. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then she turned and walked out the door and back towards her life where she was a responsible mother. Mostly. 

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

For a split second he chased her lips with his, but then the words actually registered.  Adam nodded slowly as she spoke, running a hand through his hair briefly before returning it to the small of her back.  ”Yeah…you probably should.”  He didn’t want her to, and had he not known why she needed to leave, then he probably would have protested.  A small part of him was urging him to do see even now.  ”That was smart, to set an alarm,” he mumbled as he worked on separating them as slowly as possible.  Sure, she had to leave.  But she didn’t have to leave at that exact second.  ”So, uh—see you next time?  Or at practice, whichever comes first.”

[shrinking-vi]

It would be so easy to slip back into the mindset of a moment ago and pretend that she could just stay. Berating herself all the while, she forced herself to pull back so that in theory she could actually walk out of the room. "I have good ideas every now and then." She smiled slightly. "I'll see you when I pick Ryan up tomorrow. And, if we want to do something like this again, Wednesdays are always free." That was simple, gave them both space, and didn't put too much pressure on their next interaction. Perfectly in the rules. Fuck the rules. "Or I can try and talk Ryan into a sleepover at someone's house. He wouldn't take that much convincing."

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

He dropped his hands from her face to her waist, holding her close to him. When she pushed him back he had stumbled only slightly, but now that he was steady on his feet he used the momentum to move them away from the table, if only because he couldn’t afford a new one should they… fall. Adam broke the kiss every so often just to catch his breath, raising a hand to brush her cheek when he did so. She had a kid, it was a weeknight. She probably had to leave soon, but he wouldn’t say anything unless she did. He didn’t have to. Didn’t want to.

[shrinking-vi]

She lost track of time. Somewhere in all of this, she had deliberately pushed back any awareness of responsibility and just embraced each sensation, that mixture of rough and sweet that more and more just seemed to be him. Then, "Our time is running out, our time is running out, You can't push it underground, You can't stop it screaming out." Pulling back with a frustrated sigh, she reached into her pocket and shut off the alarm on her phone. She lay her head on his shoulder, breathing heavily. "Sorry. That's my alarm. I should...I should probably go." 

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

He didn’t want to pull away from her, but he did it anyway.  He wanted more than what he could get just standing there, bent over.  ”Fuck, I’m—”  Adam wasn’t sure what other words he could mumble against her lips, how exactly he wanted to end that sentence.  He wasn’t sorry—maybe if she hadn’t kissed him back, he would have been.  But now, as they were, he wasn’t.  It was stupid to pretend otherwise.  He watched for a moment, spreading his fingers slightly just to really feel her face and feel her and goddammit.  He didn’t really care if his back was killing him an hour for now.  He just wanted to stay like this, just a minute more.  Or they could not stay here and instead break all the conventional rules of first dates because they were both adults and rules were fucking stupid, anyway.  ”Did I tell you earlier how great you look?”

[shrinking-vi]

She took a deep breath as he pulled back, trying to regain some sense of balance and failing miserably. Instead all she could feel was the remnants of the kiss, his muttered words and the curl of his hair against her fingers. Maybe she should be sorry about it. But she wasn't. Violet smiled. "You mentioned it. But I don't mind hearing it again." For a half a second, she thought about trying to be the mature and responsible adult, leave while it was still early, not risk taking this farther than she wanted to go. Then that half a second was over. Part of being an adult was taking what you wanted right? Pushing him back slightly so she had room, she stood up from where she was sitting and pulled him back into another kiss, this time pressing close into him as she wrapped her arms around his neck to ground herself. 

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Shit, you’re right."  He hadn’t even noticed.  He did notice how if this night had been going well before, he seemed to be steadily pissing it away.  "I should—dishes.  You know."  Adam ran a hand through his hair, holding his head for a minute while he tried to collect himself.  "Yeah."  God, he sounded so stupid.  Was this stupid?  Fuck.  Slowly, he got up from his seat, collecting the mostly empty plates and escaping to the kitchen to dump them in the sink and leave them for later, because now was a time to just stand there with his head in his hands and think because oh God.  Adam tried to think, to work things out in his head and make sense of them.  But then it all seemed so pointless—why think about it now when he hadn’t thought about it so much earlier?  Or was that the reason to think about it?  He took a deep breath, standing up straight and shaking the thoughts away before turning back and heading back to the table.  Back to Violet.  He only hesitated for a moment before closing the distance between them, ducking down and carefully holding her face in his hands as he kissed her.  She wasn’t the only one with surprises up her sleeves.

[shrinking-vi]

"Oh, right." Should she offer to help with that? Or was she not supposed to since she was at his house? Shit, none of her friends had talked about something like this. Why weren't there protocol books on how to handle situations like this. As soon as he was out of the room, she leaned against the table with her head in her hands. She was definitely screwing this up. This was why she had stayed entirely out of this scene for so long, this was ridiculous. Honestly she should know better. Maybe it was time to make her excuses, pretend that Ryan was coming home a lot earlier than he actually was so that she could escape gracefully. As soon as it seemed like he was coming back, she put her hands down, trying to pretend that she was a composed and mature person. Opening her mouth to say something about needing to go home, it was abruptly busy. Letting out a small relieved breath, she leaned into the kiss, one hand reaching up to curl into his hair. Never mind, she wasn't ready to go just yet. 

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

He nodded slowly as she spoke, staring at his hands and thinking on it for a long moment before reaching over and resting a hand on her arm.  Adam had run out of words at this point, unsure of what to say or what to suggest or what to do.  He really hadn’t planned this out at all, and he couldn’t tell if that was worse.  But, she said it was going alright and she said it (he? both?) was fine.  So really, it could have been worse.  Adam just kind of sat and stared at her for a long minute, focusing on everything and nothing all at the same time before pulling his hand away, leaning back in his chair and clearing his throat.  ”So.”  He couldn’t think of anything to follow that up with right away, thoughts a whirlwind of things he didn’t need to say out loud to her for various reasons.  ”Are—do you want anything else to drink?  A water?  Another beer—no, not another beer.  Uh, anything?”

[shrinking-vi]

At the touch she looked down before meeting his eyes again. The intensity of his stare had her breath catching and she licked her lips nervously. When was the last time someone had focused on her so completely? If they had. She found herself leaning forward slightly, her thoughts becoming progressively scrambled in the silence. She made a slight motion towards taking his hand when he pulled back abruptly, jolting her back into the present. Did she need anything to drink? Water. Because suddenly her throat was dry and she wasn’t sure she should trust her voice. Except, wait, she still had water in front of her. Paying attention Violet. “I’m fine, thank you. I still have my glass.”

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Not that boring—but, uh.  I wouldn’t know.  I’m not a mom."  The reading, though.  That part sounded boring.  He personally had just never been able to get into reading, hadn’t been able to truly immerse himself in those kinds of worlds or wrap his head around how to truly enjoy books.  He read, here and there, but it wasn’t something he often wanted to do.  Stories just didn’t really speak to him.  But then she was talking about baseball, which he was grateful for since he could actually hold a conversation about that if he wanted.  "Red Sox just weren’t on top of it this year, I guess.  I don’t pay much attention to them—not a Sox fan, either of them.  I’m more of a Yankees fan, myself."  He did his best not to smile there, to play it off as a serious fact.  In all honesty, he didn’t care much at all for the east coast teams, he was more partial to the Dodgers himself.

Adam took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his teeth when she went back to the question he’d rather of ignored.  ”Glad to know I’m not the worst,” he mumbled with a small nod of his head.  ”And, if you must know, it’s going fine.  I think.”  He shrugged slightly, hesitating for a moment before also leaning forward.  ”I mean, if you think it’s going pretty well, then I must be doing something right.  And, well, you were doing fine just by showing up.”

[shrinking-vi]

At his comment, she smirked. "I'd hope not, or I'd have to seriously restructure the way I'm thinking about this entire interaction." That probably wasn't what he meant in the slightest, but since her first image suddenly became him trying to nursefeed a baby (which by the way, wasn't going well in the slightest, even in her imagination), she could be forgiven her slight distraction. She crossed her arms and leaned on the table, eyes sparkling with amusement. "You're a Yankees fan? Honestly? That might be the end of this right here. How am I supposed to get along with a Yankees fan." Ok, she wasn't half as into the rivalry as she pretended to be, but it was all in good fun. And in the middle of a game, well, she couldn't really be held accountable for what she said then, could she?

Violet could feel her cheeks heat up slightly at the compliment. "You cooked and managed not to poison me at the same time, that earns you major points," she pointed out. "Besides, I've spent enough time with you before to rule out the possibility of you having creepy vibes which is usually the bigger turn off. It's fine." And he really wasn't the worst. He hadn't spent the entire time trying to impress her with his wealth or intelligence like she'd heard from some of her friends or seen from her colleagues, and she'd laughed this evening. Major bonus points. The fact that he was also easy on the eyes definitely had nothing to do with it at all.

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Oh, yeah.  Okay. That’s good."  He was more than a little relieved, though not entirely settled.   Still, he gave her a little half-smile as she met his eyes, feeling like that was good enough for now.  They could iron out the other details later—if there was one.  And, now that she had mentioned it… "How is it going?  Am I allowed to ask?"  Adam made face at himself mentally, frustrated with how stupid he sounded.  He felt like he was normally much better at this whole thing, much smoother and a better talker and not so fucking uncertain.  Normally, he was also less sober.  He waved the question off with his hand, leaning back in his chair and holding his face in his hands for a brief moment.  He considered apologizing, just for a second.  But the thought was out of his head as quickly as it came.

He leaned forward again, resting one arm on the table and motioning to her with his other hand.  ”What do you do?  You know, when you’re not sitting in on little league practices or working.”  That sounded like a reasonable save.  After all, they were still practically strangers, or as much of strangers as two people could be despite seeing each other multiple times a week with some idle chatter thrown in.  Mostly strangers.  80% strangers.

[shrinking-vi]

"Be a mom? God that sounds boring." But really, when you added in driving time, appointments, playdates, homework help, laundry, cooking, bills, and just regular playtime, it added up. Still, that was probably a weird thing to talk about on a date and it sort of made her sound like she didn't have a life beyond her son. Which wasn't true, just, harder to find at times. "If I have a little time to myself I'll read, anything that comes into my hands, and I usually have the game on in the evenings now that we're in baseball season. Although how we've got A's, Giants, Angels, and Dodgers all in the playoffs when the Red Sox got knocked out, I don't get," she grumbled good naturedly. 

Still, she hadn't forgotten the question he had tried to wave away. Which, considering how uncertain they both were, was a perfectly reasonable question. And maybe it was a good sign that he cared enough to ask? Still, she knew that the questions people didn't mean to ask were the ones they often wanted answers to, so she went back to it anyway. "And so far, I'd say this is going pretty well. Maybe a little awkward, but I've sat through a lot worse. Am I allowed to ask how its going?" She nudged her empty plate away from her so she had the space to lean forward, hiding her tightened hands.

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

He snorted as she threatened him, holding his hands up defensively.  ”I didn’t plan on saying anything, but now I might. Just because you told me not to.”  Adam made a face, but did refrain from making any comments as the conversation turned back to his job.  He didn’t have a clue if other brokers delegated showings the way his did, but he assumed they didn’t.  After all, they really only delegated when it came to him.  He was still thinking it over when violet started talking about the food, catching his attention and making him look back up at her.  ”Yeah?  Maybe.”  Normal meals for him were much simpler, things he didn’t have to think too hard about or pay much attention to.  He’d never liked cooking, for himself or for others.  But, she hadn’t said it was bad—that was a win, as far as Adam was concerned.

When Violet brought up her son, Adam wasn’t quite sure what to say.  It had never really occurred to him that whatever was happening between the two of them would have any affect on Ryan.  It wasn’t often that he went on dates with mothers.  Then there was the fact that he had no clue what exactly he wanted from all this, what his ultimate goal was besides spending time with her because he didn’t even have any idea why he’d been so fixated on her or the idea of asking her out even if it had happened because his tongue slipped.  It wasn’t as if there weren’t plenty of superficial reasons he could list, but they wouldn’t explain what they were doing or why they were here or what either of them wanted.

Adam shrugged after what felt like a long time of thinking, of trying to sort through his own thoughts and actually really realizing the potential for disaster.  ”I promise.”  Even as he said them, he wasn’t certain how true those words were.  He would try, at the very least, to not let anything carry over.  But he wasn’t so sure he’d be able act like nothing had happened or was happening if it got serious or even if it didn’t go anywhere from here.  After all, even if he tried to pretend like it hadn’t, things had shifted ever so slightly.  ”Speaking of Ryan, does he know you’re here?  You know—with me?”

[shrinking-vi]

Violet made a face back at him, sticking out her tongue at him. "I'm no Jon Lester, but even I can't miss at this distance. And that would be a waste of a perfectly good beer." But still, she found herself smiling slightly. It was refreshing in a way that he hadn't been thinking that, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. But then again, she also enjoyed the image of hitting him with the bottle, so maybe she wasn't actually the best judge of that after all.

She felt a small knot of tension loosen at the words. Even if he couldn't absolutely keep the promise, she had brought it up and he'd promised to try. All she really cared about was that if things fell apart, he would still do those extra practices with Ryan and play with him like he had been. How could she face him if he lost that because she couldn't control her own impulses? But it wasn't going to be a problem. It wasn't going to be a problem because they were going to make sure it wasn't a problem, and she thought Adam had enough genuine affection for her son to want to try. She would take that at the least. 

Violet looked down for a second, taking another sip of her beer for time. "Not yet. I wasn't sure how tonight would go and - " she wasn't ready for the sheer number of questions he would ask. Because one thing he had definitely inherited from her was curiosity, so there was no way he would be able to resist. Besides, if everything fizzled after this one date, then there was nothing he really even needed to know. "I'm not going to hide it from him, but he has a hard enough time concentrating on homework without me throwing something like this in the mix." At least that was what she had told herself, and it still sounded at least semi reasonable. After saying that, she looked up again, meeting his eyes.

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Computer programming?"  It sounded complicated, although he figured it wasn’t something that was as complicated as say, rocket science.  But still, it sounded hard.  Of course she did something like that.  She seemed like a smart woman, the kind who enjoyed more intellectual pursuits.  The kind that got as bored of him as he got of them, never really having anything between them to build a common ground because the most interesting thing he ever read was the newspaper, and even that wasn’t a common occurrence.

Adam didn’t have a clue what else to ask, unsure what he wanted to know that took precedence over the other things.  He chewed slowly, took long drinks.  Took his time making up his mind.  Finally, he backtracked.  His job was a safe topic, something he didn’t mind talking about too too much.  ”I don’t get a lot of honeymooners, the married agents call dibs,” he explained with a shrug.  ”I don’t get crazy people, either—just very…uh, serious people.  Sometimes you get people who want 101 things for as little money as possible and get pissed when you can’t find it since it doesn’t exist, but—they’re not crazy.  Just annoying as fuck.”

He was still eating slowly, sifting carefully through his words while he chewed.  ”So.”  He couldn’t just leave that the way it was.  She’d hound him for a question if he did, he could feel it.  ”How’s your food?”  Ugh.  Good enough.  It was a question, and it was at least fully formed, unlike the other ones somewhere in the back of his mind.  It could have been worse.  He was shit at conversations anyway, she would just have to deal with it.

[shrinking-vi]

The questioning tone wasn't exactly rude, but it put her immediately on the defensive. "If you make any comments about how I look like I'd be better suited to writing fashion columns or sitting in marketing, I'm going to throw this bottle at you. I've heard them all before." Both of those jobs had far too much to do with idiots, even if she'd been the slightest bit tempted to go into those areas. Still, it was interesting hearing about his. "I didn't realize the real estate agents divvied things up like that. The serious ones probably make for a simple showing. But I've had clients like that second group, who want miracles made with coding and then get surprised I can't make the computer talk too."

For the first time, Violet actually paid attention to what she was eating. Mostly she'd just been watching him, as embarrassing as that was. It was...passable. Clearly he didn't cook that often, which left her wondering why he had volunteered to do this in the first place, but that probably wasn't the most polite question. "It's not bad. Next time if you cook it over a slightly higher heat, it'll cook through without drying out at all." Ok, that was probably rude anyway. But still, if he was trying to cook for himself, it only made sense to provide a few tips and at least he knew she was honest.

She didn't know if now was the best time for this discussion, but since she was already criticizing his cooking and she had no idea where this was going, now was as good a time as any. "Before this goes any farther, if it does since I still sort of can't believe that I'm here, I have a favor to ask you. Just...can you promise that whatever happens with us doesn't affect Ryan? He really looks up to you and I don't want to take that away from him just because I have no idea what the hell I'm doing." Again, at least it was honest. And she didn't have any idea what she was doing. What she was doing here, with him, on a date, and why she was amused enough to want to stay a bit longer. Life was weird. 

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Yeah, real estate."  He grimaced, shifting slightly in his position.  "It was one of the better offers I had when I was looking, I’m friends with the guy whose parents run the brokerage."  He slipped back into the kitchen now, calling "fucking hate it" over his shoulder while going back for the glasses.  Adam really couldn’t complain about his job, he worked for nice people and they kept him on even though he wasn’t exactly the best.  He typically sold houses to the people no one else wanted, or the childless businessy types that his coworkers had decided less likely to give a shit about his attitude.  Mostly, he just did a lot of nothing he cared about—but, he could be doing that for a whole lot less at a shittier job, so he was glad to be sticking it out with something as easyish as real estate.

Adam snorted at Violet’s comment about the drinks, not quite sure how interesting an “interesting drink” was supposed to be.  Not like he had a lot of options, but interesting was never a word he would have chosen to describe anything you’d willingly drink.  Interesting.  What the fuck.  He didn’t comment other than the laugh, though, filling their glasses and dropping them off at the table before darting back and triumphantly returning with two beers.  He hated wine, never had it around because it was too bitter, too sweet, too dark, too strong smelling.  He had a million excuses—really, he just avoided it because his father drank so damn much of it.  ”Don’t know if it’s interesting,” he mumbled as he slid into his own seat and handed a bottle over, “but it’s basically it.” Adam fell quiet for a moment, unsure if he should wait for her to eat or pray or say something or do anything, not quite sure how to handle an actual date as opposed to a bad decision he either regret in the morning or forgot about asap.  ”You know—I don’t know what you do.”  Or anything at all, to be honest.  She had a son, and she worked, and she had a brother who was just so fucking tall.  But other than that, he didn’t have the slightest idea.

[shrinking-vi]

Violet let out a small laugh at his aside to his job, not particularly surprised. "I can see why, but I can't judge. I've had a shitty job or two in my time and I didn't have a friend to sweeten the deal." College had been a series of whatever-I-can-get type jobs that paid decently or let her work from home, preferably both. She'd very rarely gotten both. "But I guess it gives you a chance to pick up interesting stories. Do you ever have any crazy customers, or are they mostly doe-eyed honeymooners looking to start a life here?" She looked over at him, sincerely interested. After all, few things were weirder than people and she tended to interact with a rather small portion of them. Besides, real estate was something she knew nothing about so it only made sense to ask.

At the sight of the bottle, she grinned. Even now she tended not to keep too much alcohol around, it just felt too weird to drink with only her son at the table, so this was a welcome break. "Works plenty well for me." She toasted him in thanks and took a long pull at the bottle before setting it down and taking a bite of the chicken. She didn't see any crosses around, so it didn't seem like she needed to wait for him to say grace, and her religious involvement was pretty close to nil. "For work? I'm in computer programming. Actually, I moved here because there's a good company in the area, keeps my commute easy. But I like it. It serves me well." It was a good paying job, and it allowed her to work mostly on her own without too much interference from other people. Her co-workers were mostly shit, but she rarely had to deal with them. You'd think after five years, it would be a little easier, but mostly it just meant she was ignored by all but her boss. Which, in a way, was easier. Nothing said she needed workplace buddies.

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Don’t snoop too much.  All these fucking listings will bore you to death." He quirked a brow at her as she stepped in, letting the door fall shut on its own as he slowly made his way back to the kitchen.  He could still see her over a half wall, keeping a close eye on her as she moseyed about instead of paying particular attention to how carefully he was going about plating things.  Honestly, any hopes at perfection had been dashed the minute she agreed to come over.  That was never on the table.  As he watched her, Adam couldn’t help but feel the nervousness that hadn’t quite been there before.  While it had been more of a fluttery feeling and a wandering mind, it now felt like numbness in his fingers and a tightness in his throat.  Maybe it was because he didn’t normally have people over.  Or perhaps he was just feeling anxious about the food—he really hadn’t been planning on any of this but her text had got him just soand his pride was in question and he hadn’t been thinking clearly.  Clearly he hadn’t, because here they were and there was dinner, and goddammit if it didn’t taste good then he’d have to pass the blame off on a shitty recipe from a friend clearly trying to sabotage him.  Clearly.

With the plates on the table, he made a move for glasses.  Then he paused, thought it over, and slunk back to lurk about by the not-quite-a-wall wall of his kitchen.  ”Do you want something to drink?”  He realized it would be helpful to tell her what he had exactly, but considering the fact that she actually had to drive home to her kid, there weren’t exactly many options.  But it was polite to ask regardless, and he did, on occasion, have proper manners. “I could get you some water…?”

[shrinking-vi]

That was the second time he'd mentioned listings, and as she walked around she caught sight of a couple. "So, you're a real estate agent?" Which is absolutely not what she would picture for him. His awkwardness on the first day spoke to how uncomfortable he was speaking to groups, a job like real estate would require you to do that constantly. Maybe it was a family thing. Or a choosing your hours thing. Not that she was curious exactly except...oh who was she kidding, she'd always been curious and shit at hiding it. And her usual trick of browsing a person's bookshelves to figure them out wasn't going to work, because he didn't seem to have any. Not out here anyway. Which was potentially a bad sign all around. Still, maybe it was just that he kept them all hidden or only had an e-reader or something. It was possible.

At the question, she turned back towards him, approaching the table and taking the seat with fewer scrap marks under it. That seemed more like the not-his-chair, and therefore the one that she would be sitting in. "I can have a glass of something a little more interesting than that along with the water, so whatever you think fits." Personally she was more of a beer drinker, although she had a couple wines she liked as well. But one glass wouldn't do her any harm and she knew to keep to water after that. 

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

[grumpydisposition-adam]

"Shit.”  He hadn’t been expecting her to show up late, not at all.  But the frustrating process of cooking something halfway decent even with the small pointers his friends had left him (“it all goes in the same pot, even you can’t fuck it up ♥”) had made him lose all track of time.  He had been planning on making everything look more…presentable, planned on doing a lot of things.  But now she was knocking and the chicken may or may not have been starting to burn and he may or may not have accidentally grabbed the actual skillet instead of the handle in his hurry to shove it off the burner.  So far, approximately 2 and half things were going right.  Better than zero.

Adam took a minute to calm himself, rubbing his burn and just staring at the door for a long few seconds before deeming himself casual enough to open it and not look stupid—until he actually opened it and oh, God, she looked great and now he looked really stupid because he had changed to cook and didn’t look anywhere as nice as she did.  He didn’t figure she’d clean up so well. “Hey—sorry.  Wow.  Hey.”  Perfect.  Absolutely perfect. “You look…nice,”  He  finally spit out as he shuffled aside, holding the door wider for her now that he had managed to shut his mouth and shift back into playing the part of a mediocre host.  

His apartment wasn’t anything particularly outstanding.  It was nice, a step up from some but nothing you’d expect from the nicer neighborhoods around it.  It was very clearly lived in, worn furniture and dirty dishes, papers scattered on the desk in the corner just like there were gym shoes haphazardly kicked off by the door and suit jackets or ties hanging off the back of a chair or thrown lazily on the counter top and forgotten about.  Over all it was nothing to be proud about, and only something to be slightly ashamed about if his company was neither a friend nor someone who was going to be spending their time in the bedroom. In hindsight, he actually was a little ashamed.  Just a little.  But not enough to look ashamed, instead leaning heavily against his door and rubbing his hand while not so subtlety checking her out.  He didn’t do subtlety.  Never had.

"You can go ahead and do whatever—I’m almost done.  Am done.  I just—dishes."

[shrinking-vi]

It took a few moments for him to open the door, enough time for her to have to talk herself out of bolting another two times. Christ, she was a mother of a halfway grown kid, she wasn't supposed to feel like a teenager meeting her crush. When he opened the door, she couldn't hold back the small smile or the raised eyebrow. He looked comfortable and casual, a bit like he hadn't really thought about her coming over. Clearly she had still managed to come close to dangerously overdressed for this date. 

But she had to admit, hearing the wow was...nice. She didn't usually get a wow, not even when she put a lot of effort in. That coupled with the quite clear checking out left a flush rising to her cheeks, one she did her best to ignore. She wasn't supposed to be this susceptible still. So like she always did, she covered up nerves with a quick grin and a defensive comment. The red helped boost her confidence too. "I'm sure I can keep myself occupied for the few minutes it takes you to finish up and plate everything, since I'm guessing that's what you meant by dishes. Maybe I'll snoop around a bit."

She took a step around him so she could enter the apartment itself, running one hand nervously through her hair. The place wasn't particularly clean, but it also wasn't the worst she'd ever seen a house. And although she wouldn't admit it, she liked the lived in look of the furniture. It showed it was a place that was actually used, and suffered wear and tear, rather than a place that was abandoned. Pretending to be casual, she started to circle the room, just taking it all in. 

[shrinking-vi]

Imperfect Plans

Violet Parr: Then Wednesday, 7 at your place.

Coach Wilde: Yeah

[shrinking-vi]

Didn't Mean to Turn You On

Violet took a deep breath, checking the address on her phone once more to make sure it matched the address she was sitting in front of. Ryan was off at his weekly study group/playdate which meant she had all evening to herself. And for some reason, that meant she was sitting in front of Adam's place, about to let him cook her dinner as a potential first date. She lay her head against the steering wheel, asking herself when she'd gone crazy. She hadn't been on a date since she was in high school which meant she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, while with a man she could barely understand. Who also had a relationship with her son. Couldn't forget that little detail. 

Still, she'd said she was going to do this, so she would. One date wasn't any kind of contract. If she could survive PTA meetings full of pitying looks and condescending comments about her 'strength' as a single mother, she could survive this. It was just dinner. Forcing herself out of the car, she took a moment to smooth the edges of the red silk blouse she was wearing. With the black slacks it looked nice without edging over into dangerously over dressed territory. She hoped. She walked up the path to Adam's apartment, running one hand through the hair she'd let tumble loose around her shoulders. Taking one last deep breath, she knocked at precisely 7 pm.

[shrinking-vi]

Imperfect Plans

Coach Wilde: [insert address here]

Violet Parr: Then Wednesday, 7 at your place.

[shrinking-vi]

Imperfect Plans

Coach Wilde: Ok

Coach Wilde: Just remember you said thtat. Remember it

Violet Parr: Remembering

Violet Parr: So what's your address?