taxonomites | XII: [Location Hyperion] The 'Not-Really-A-Date' Date

Entry tags:

XII: [Location Hyperion] The 'Not-Really-A-Date' Date

Wesley walks into the hotel lobby, trying to keep his nerves to a minimum as he looks around for Fred. It's not as if this is a romantic date as such. They are simply checking out the new zoo as more-than-cordial friends. Even if Cordelia made a fuss over his appearance to the point where he was tempted to wear a big pink sweater just to spite her. Still, he has to admit that he feels remarkably well-dressed for a casual outing. Perhaps it's too much? He never was good at gauging these things. He ought to trust Cordelia, however, when she tells him it's the perfect combination of shirt, jacket and pants to wear. He self-consciously tugs on his clothes and puts one hand on the bannister. Should he announce himself? Or go up to her room and knock? What is the protocol?

Good lord, he's putting far too much thought into this.

He could just contact her on the tablet. Yes, that's what he will do. He activates the voice function.

"Hello, Fred? I'm down in the lobby, if you're ready."

[OOC: For Fred specifically, but feel free to be a trolling presence if you want to tease them, or bump into them at some point. XD]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'll be right there, Wesley!" she responds cheerily, but because she was still getting last-minute assistance with makeup, she does take an extra five minutes before she starts down the stairs.

Wes wasn't the only one to get advice from Cordelia, and as such Fred comes down wearing all new clothes, including a long skirt and small, skinny boots. The colors are matched in a way she'd never managed before (greens, tans, and blues), and her hair is partially pulled back with some sort of loose twist thing that's going to take her awhile to figure out on her own. She has to keep herself from hopping down the stairs when she sees Wesley.

"Sorry, it took me a little longer than I thought," she says, biting her lip a little. "Cordy got to you too, huh? You look great. Not that you don't usually, but the clothes...they're nice." Wesley might not be the only one with a bit of the jitters.

Fred really is a vision of loveliness when she appears and descends the stairs to greet him. It's probably fairly evident in the admiring way that Wesley looks up at her, that he's just a little gobsmacked.

Then, belatedly remembering to form thoughts into speech...

"Wow. Um, yes, Cordy had a hand in it. And believe me it was well worth the minor wait. Not that you don't look great normally, either. Because quite obviously you do. Or at least I have always thought so."

Wesley pauses and stands gazing at her for another moment.

"And this is ridiculously awkward isn't it? I mean we're just going to the zoo. But Cordy insisted that I look the part. Whatever 'the part' is meant to be."

He gives her a faintly embarrassed look, and then holds out his arm.

"Shall we?"

The reaction is delightful to her, and she giggles a little as Wesley verbally fumbles, just the same as her. She'll have to thank Cordelia an extra amount for this, she thinks. "I feel so very fancy for a trip to the zoo, but I don't think I mind it. I might have to take her advice more often."

She grins brightly at him when he holds his arm out, taking it. "Let's." She may be leaning toward him just a little as they head out.

"Just don't eat her biscuits. They're a little on the fiery side." He teases, as they head towards a tram stop to take them to the Wilde quarter. It feels nice to have her hanging on to his arm and walking next to him. Better than nice, actually. Rather wonderful.

"Apparently there's also a planetarium which has opened up. Have you been yet?"

"Fiery?" She raises her eyebrow and then laughs. "As in, on fire, or spicy? Because I've heard things about her baking, but never specifics."

She quite likes hanging on his arm, too. It feels like forever since she let herself be this close. It gives her butterflies in her stomach in a most wonderful way. When he asks about the planetarium, she lights up even more. "I did! I found it while I was out delivering things! Wesley, it looks gorgeous. And it looks like you can set it for other places than Earth. I'm wondering if it could do extra-galactic planets, show us entirely new stars- oh, but I didn't do anything with it. If I had, I would've been there all day. But it looks wonderful." She is bouncing a little, she has to admit.

"As in my mouth ended up feeling like it was on fire. For some reason she decided adding jalapeño powder to them would spice things up." He grimaces comically at the memory.

His expression turns to avid interest as Fred speaks of the new Planetarium.

"Other places? Other galaxies? Well I suppose with there being people from worlds other than the planets in our solar system that would stand to reason. It sounds fascinating."

A tram arrives and he waits for her to board first.

Edited 2010-10-13 00:59 (UTC)

"Jalapeño powder in cookies?" Okay, that raises her eyebrow even more, and then she laughs. "I've actually heard of people doing that before, but I can't imagine it was all that good. Sweet and spicy don't tend to mix all that great."

She gets onto the tram, using a pole to swing around happily while Wesley gets on, too. "I think it will be. I might make a whole day out of it- okay, maybe more." She gives him a knowing little smile. "If you'd like to join me then, I'd love the company."

"Not usually. But strangely, despite the unbearably hot factor, they didn't taste that bad."

He likes Fred's smile, and finds himself returning it with one of his own.

"I'd like that very much."

He's finding himself thinking about spending time with her more and more, actually. Even though he'd once resolved not to allow his feelings to develop a certain way for fear of repeating the future. But being in Taxon for months now, he's changed his perspective. Should he really deny himself what seems to be happening naturally?

"By the way, I'm moving back to my apartment. Not that I don't enjoy being around you and the others at the hotel, but, I'm in much better health now, and the Master doesn't seem to be making any threatening moves. So...it seems prudent that I no longer impose upon Angel's hospitality when I already have a place of my own."

Her smile widens into a grin as he accepts. She probably should've waited until after this particular date was a success, but it was already heading in that direction. It was pretty easy to tell that much. And she really did want to go to the planetarium, so it just worked out.

The news about his apartment isn't as positive, but...well. She lived on her own when she was working at Wolfram and Hart, and she doesn't really want to do that now, but she could certainly understand that he would. "I don't think Angel minds you sticking around at all, but I understand. You keep your dot off the map before you move, though, understand? I don't trust the Master to just forget anything. Everyone else ca just message you if they need anything." Okay, lecture over. She smiles again. "I'm really glad you're doing better, though."

"All right, if it will make you feel more at ease, I'll drop off the grid for a while. "

He doesn't want her to worry about him too much. Even though in some ways it feels rather comforting to know that someone cares about his well-being.

"I am feeling much better. And I can look after myself, you know. I did survive a Wendigo attack, after all." Wesley says it lightly, offering her a reassuring smile.

"I see that you've already gotten the survey up and running. I feel as if I should apologise for not giving you more assistance with that. I haven't even filled it in myself yet."

He shakes his head ruefully at himself.

Fred's eyebrows shoot up when she hears about surviving an attack, and she can't get past that for a moment. "Wait a minute- you got attacked by a Wendigo? When did that happen?" She gives him another look-over. He seems all right...

"Just a few days ago. It all happened so fast. And then it seems like there were no other reports so I assumed it was just a brief glitch of some kind and that luckily no-one was seriously hurt."

Glitches of the dangerous kind aren't fun, but he's starting to get used to the uncertainty of living here.

"Sheesh," she replies to no one, and finally plops down into a seat. "Must've been a glitch. I'm glad you were okay."

After a moment of contemplation, she decides to try not to worry about it. He got out of it all right, after all. She looks up at him. "And don't worry about the survey. I figured I could get it from you anytime. Plus, you spent Spencer in my direction. He's going to try and catch people when they first get here, although I don't know how well that's going to go every time, here."

She gives him a bit of an amused smile. "What do you think the zoo's going to have in it? Creatures from all different dimensions?"

Edited 2010-10-16 20:43 (UTC)

"He seems a good sort, doesn't he? Excellent work ethic." Wesley smiles, glad that his talk with Spencer led to him helping Fred.

"Well, I expect that it has a lot of the usual animals one sees in a typical earth zoo. However, since we do have people from other worlds, it may contain unusual or exotic exhibits as well. Wouldn't that be exciting? Sort of like when we encounter a demon species we haven't seen before, except without the impending danger or need to hunt it down to stop it."

Edited 2010-10-18 02:14 (UTC)

"Something tells me his work ethic is a little too good," Fred replies, but she's smiling, too.

The talk about the new animals- this is really exciting. She loved going to the zoo when she was young, but after the first few dozen times, you're pretty sure about what you're going to see. "I'm looking forward to all that discovery with less fire and explosions, yes. If there's anything from Aximili's homeworld, I'm guessing it'll be really interesting. That sounds like an environment completely alien to us."

[ooc: Apologies for lateness! If you want to skip ahead to later, or continue on here, or anything, I'm good with that. :3 ]

"Well, he isn't the only one who's prone to that at times." His smile deepens a little.

"Ah, yes! Aximili's home-world would be fascinating to find out more about. His ability to morph into so many different forms is quite astounding, so it does make me curious as to what kind of natural flora and fauna there would be."

The tram finally arrives and they make their way to the entrance. Wesley pays, of course, and they each get a fold out map of the layout of the Zoo and a cute free souvenir pen since it's still only opening recently.

"Look. They do have an Andalite exhibit." Wesley points out with boyish enthusiasm. "What would you like to see first, or shall we try to make the most efficient use of the map?"

Fred is practically bouncing in place as they arrive at the entrance. She looks over the foldout with bright eyes.

"Oh, let's head towards that! The Andalite exhibit. We'll look at everything along the way- if we head that way, we can do three loops and see everything-" She twirls her finger around on the map to show what she's thinking. "And if we get tired, we can always stop at two loops, of course," she adds, a little sheepishly.

"I assure you that I took a nap earlier today to be sure that I was well rested." Oh, did he just say that out loud? It's embarrassing sometimes to have to admit that he's still recovering from his head injury and has to pace himself.

"...So I should be perfectly fine for a three loop excursion. Andalite world it is."

Fred doesn't think he should be embarrassed about that at all. She takes his arm and smiles at him. "That's great. And I'm glad you're taking care of yourself." It means she doesn't have to worry quite so much. "Let's go!"

She pulls him down the main drag, and they pass the flamingos. "They're actually pink!" she exclaims. "Every time I've seen them before, they're just a little pink. I guess they have brighter algae to eat here than they did back home." Next are the reptiles. She likes reptiles- of course, she likes just about any animal, so this isn't exactly earth-shattering news.

"They're a very nice shade of pink." He comments as they stroll by. The reptiles hold his attention a bit more, and he gazes with particular interest at the selection chameleons. The Oustalet from Madagascar being especially impressive to look at.

"Did you know that the greek word which 'chameleon' is derived from was a literal translation of what the Akkadians called them? Nēš qaqqari. Which roughly means 'ground lion'.

"I didn't know that!" Fred replies, pleased with the information. "They look a little small for lions, but- I can see it. Hi, tiny ground lion!" The chameleon's eye swivels to look at her as she waves, but otherwise it doesn't move. "I think he likes me."

She moves on to look at a very large snake in a tank. "Anaconda. He could probably squish our poor friend over there and not even notice. Have you ever seen one of these move? -it's probably good that we don't, actually, because I bet it'd resemble a bad horror movie." And they've had enough moments like that in their lives.

"Yes, that one looks large enough to swallow a small goat rather handily and still have room for dessert." He suppresses a faint shudder at the thought. They've certainly seen their share of predators but he's not the fondest of snakes, especially those of the boa variety.

They linger over the big cats, admiring their sleek coats and agility. Then meander for a while. Finally they come to the Andalite exhibit.

Wesley is impressed by the strange vegetation, especially the old tree, and the little rodent-like Djabalas prove to be adorably inquisitive creatures, scurrying close to their position to check them out as if they were the one's on display.

"They look harmless enough. I wonder if they also have the ability to turn into a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Fred isn't so worried about the snake. She had a few snake friends back in Pylea- they were friends rather than food because they were always to fast to catch....and wouldn't have been to meaty anyway. They were just a little bit smaller than this giant anaconda here.

She's exceptionally excited to see the Andalite exhibit and just stares with wide eyes for a few moments. "Nope! Well, not unless Ax is in there among them. He told me that the technology for that is rare on his world. Apparently, he's the most experienced with it." She waves at the Djabalas, which seem confused by the move. "Did you know he eats through his hooves? They graze the grass while they move- it seems like an awfully efficient way to go about eating. But you do miss out on flavors that way, of course."

"I did not know that. How extraordinary! And I agree, very efficient. So does that mean he doesn't have any taste buds? It's hard to imagine not enjoying food the way that we do. Through our sense of taste and smell. Mind you, as I recall, there was that Phalangex demon which drained people's fluids through its hand-like appendages and he certainly seemed to be enjoying himself at the time."

Then he chuckles wryly.

"Now I'm actually feeling a bit peckish of all things. I forgot to have lunch before I came because of the nap."

She makes a bit of a face when he mentions the Phalangex demon, but it's obvious it's for show. She's enjoying herself, and the smile that peeks out is definitely an indicator of that. "He didn't have any sense of taste at all, so imagine his amazement when he morphed into a human for the first time and tried eating. He's still getting used to it," she says, with a smile. "I invited him over for food at the hotel when he has the chance- we'll see if he takes me up on it."

She laughs a little when he says he's feeling peckish. "You're hungry after that story? -well, okay, I might be, too. I was busy getting ready and didn't exactly have lunch either. We could have a late lunch here? I think they have a restaur-" She cuts herself off as she looks over, seeing a hot dog stand right across the pathway. "Or we could have hot dogs," she says with a smile.

[ this be the sound of someone giggling. ]

All right, that's enough of that carry on.

How'd you even know it was me?

[Dryly]

My powers of deduction are legendary. You're not going to spy on the whole proceedings are you?

I don't know. Following you around will be so tacky. And tiring.

Are you going to turn on the visual of your tablet, however accidental it may be?

Now why would I do that? To satisfy your morbid curiosity? I should think that Fred and I would like some privacy on our da- outing, thanks.

[Well, obviously not that much privacy. He didn't mean...well she knows what he means, correct?]

Please. There's nothing morbid about my curiosity. Besides, what have you got to hide anyway? It's not like you're planning to ravish her at some point during your da-- I mean, your "outing".

[ pauuuuuuuuse. ]

...are you?

Of course not! It's a first da- outing after all. And we're going to the zoo, Cordelia. There is nothing untoward planned, I assure you. It's all very toward.

Edited 2010-10-15 11:03 (UTC)

[ very innocently: ] Towards what, exactly?

Never you mind. But if it's eventful, you'll be the first to know.

I better be.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

XII: [Location Hyperion] The 'Not-Really-A-Date' Date

[voice --> Location: Hyperion]

[Location: Hyperion]

[Location: Hyperion]

[Location: Hyperion]

[Location: Hyperion]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo] fudging timelines a little

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: En route to the Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo] sorry for the lateness too, but damn it I want to know what happens!!! <3

[Location: Taxon Zoo] well, then! :D

[Location: Taxon Zoo] Hooray!

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[Location: Taxon Zoo]

[ voice ] did someone say trolling presence

[ voice ] evil wench

[ voice ] always~

[ voice ]

[ voice ]

[ voice ]

[ voice ]

[ voice ] /sob work...gotta go in a few

[ voice ] no problem bb! <333

[ voice ]

[ voice ]