Dinner as a goodbye...

[1stmacleod]

After talking with Jelani in the Nexus, Connor returns to the place he's starting, tentatively, to think of as home base. He tucks the envelope full of money away in his suitcase, and takes roughly two minutes to pack, because he's been living out of it anyway.
Then he goes to the kitchen, and rummages, and gets to work. A chocolate cake comes first, made from scratch. While that's cooling he starts on dinner; chicken breasts stuffed with broccoli and cheese, rice pilaf, a little more steamed broccoli in case what's in the chicken isn't enough.

He has to tell Kairos that he's going back to his world, just long enough to get things in order and talk to Duncan, but he's not sure how long that will be.

After it's over, though, this is where he plans to return to.

Comments

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I have a PINpoint, but I'm still learning how to use it..." He transfers broccoli and rice to dishes while the chicken cools. "I don't know, before I lose my nerve again. Tomorrow, I guess." Theoretically he should get a good night's sleep first, although that's unlikely to work out well.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"So.. one more night with me, huh. For a while." She gets up from the table to get drinks. She's craving carbonation, so she gets Pepsi for herself. "What d'you want to drink?" She peers at him from around the fridge door.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He nods, blushing just a little. "I'll try not to be gone long." If he's gone more than a day or two, that probably will mean things are actually going well.
"Whatever's there? I don't know. Just water is fine." He's not a big soda drinker, and hot tea with dinner sounds too weird.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Water? Okay." She should understand by now that all the soda in the fridge is hers, and all the hot tea is his. "Well, hon, take all the time you need." Pause. She grins at him, and it's just a little naughty around the edges. "And when you get back, means your welcome home will be.. even better."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

She should try his hot tea, sometime, he makes it in true British fashion.

Connor sets things out on the table, getting that shy, awkward look again. "No more than a week, I think. And... I'll look forward to getting back."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

Kai's John Hart is British, or the 51st century British, and he's never made her tea. She'll look forward to it.

She looks a little shy herself. "Okay. I've got plenty things here to keep me company. And maybe when you get back, you can come to the store with me, so you won't be so bored here during the day."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

All she has to do is ask. Or get sick, and then he'll make her drink lots of it.

"I've got that girl to teach, but... I get restless, the rest of the time. I'd like to see the store." Left to his own devices, he falls into dark thoughts too easily.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"You're free to explore, y'know. You like to cook, so you can go to the Way, or work with my sister at her bakery. Or if you explore, you might find someone making swords still by hand. I know there's a guy that make's Cassie's chain mail dresses by hand, so... maybe there's someone who could employ you as a blacksmith?" She guesses. She really has no idea what blacksmiths make, aside from swords.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I'm... out of practice, but..." He looks thoughtful. "Blacksmithing and swordsmithing aren't quite the same thing, but I've done both. I had to make a new blade for my katana, a few..." He pauses, frowning slightly. "About twenty years ago. If I get my money back, though, and found someplace to set up..." He misses it, really, and it's a less than useful skill in his own modern world.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

Kairos is pretty clueless about a lot of things. But she's curious, and she likes to hear him talk. "Oh. Well. It's something to think about!"

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

It's a shame she likes to hear him talk, because Connor isn't much of a talker. He can go all day without saying a word, until prodded. It's not the slightly raspy voice, that's just natural, but he's spent a lot of time alone, with no reason to speak aloud.

"I guess I should do something, and you wouldn't want me to take up sailing again..." He didn't have anyone to come home to, back when he did that. Once he's got everything on the table, he pulls out a chair for her and waits for her to sit, like a gentleman. Tonight's dinner is special, since it's the last together for a while.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Never been sailing before." she comments. "Oh, thank you hon." She grins up at him and sits. No one really does the chivalry bit with her.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor doesn't always have the presence of mind or manners to do the chivalry thing, but tonight he's making an effort. "I'll take you sailing sometime, I just need a boat." He eyes the table, making sure he hasn't missed anything, then sits.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She smiles. "I'll keep you to that." She looks at the spread. "This.. looks really good. Love broccoli."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"It's in the chicken, too. Help yourself." He lets her have first pick, looking thoughtful, and a little wistful. "I do miss sailing. There was a girl in the Nexus that suggested there might be boats somewhere there. Besides the talking one, I hope." He's starting to adapt, slowly.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Thank you sir." She'll leave the bigger one for him, sneakily trying to get more food in him. Once she chooses the smaller chicken breast, she cuts into hers, making neat diamond shapes before spearing one of the pieces of chicken and broccoli with her fork. "Probably. I know you can rent some down by the river during the day." There's an excellent view of the river from the windows in the living room.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Maybe... we could do that, when I get back, then?" He takes the other one obligingly, unaware of her conspiracy.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She smiles across the table at him. "I'd be happy to do whatever you like when you get back."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I guess I'll have to think about what I want to do, then." He smiles, just a little shyly. "I'll be thinking about it a lot."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"...Me too." Pause. "I think about it now, to be honest." She very carefully pays the utmost attention to the plate in front of her.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor sighs, and rubs his face a little. He hasn't taken a bite of food yet. "It used to be, when I saw a woman I knew I really wanted... I didn't hesitate..." Now he's looking down, too.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"And now, when you see a woman you really want?" She sets her fork down and looks at him.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I'm afraid I'll put her at risk just by being with her. I know... he's dead, he can't hurt my family anymore, but... it happened, and not just once..." Connor swallows. "He's far from the only enemy I've ever made."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She nods, understanding. "Except in this case, anyway ... I may look like I'm ..easy to hurt, I'm not." To prove this, she manipulates the air, pushing him and the chair a good two feet from the table.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He almost leaps to his feet, old reflexes kicking in, before he recognizes it's her doing it and not a threat. "I... know that. But everybody's vulnerable somehow."