ic Visiting Hours (IC)

[Gizmo]

Jill coughed delicately and looked around at the expansive window the inventor had indicated. "Uh, look, not to put too fine a point on it..." she began, adjusting her gaze to peer down at her swinging feet. "You've got an acrobatic, emotionally vulnerable girl alone in your extremely private office. It's kinda soon for me to be giving advice about this stuff, but..." She nodded her head from side to side as if to illustrate connecting dots.

[Fox]

Dragonfly turned a little more red, looking around the room. "....true...." she started. "Was wondering if you had a specific suggestion. Will have to improvise, then. Theme of the day. Could certainly think of something; worst comes to worst, could always just t-"

There was a knock at the door. Dragonfly blinked mid-gesture, glancing in that direction as her train of thought went off the rails. Muttered curses in a couple languages were had as she removed herself from her chair and answered the door, though her tone changed rather quickly as she muttered a thank-you to a terribly amused-looking Lab worker and came back holding several meals' worth of food - Chinese to pizza to what smelled a lot like gyros from a gyro cart, the young woman managing to balance the bagged and stacked items long enough to shut the door again and set them down. The desk got a brief frown and an unceremonious de-cluttering: pretty much everything but Jill got pulled right into her gauntlets' storage, folded away into nothingness and revealing an awfully abused, stain-spotted (if clean; they were apparently from previous projects) surface that, in turn, got a new frown.

She disappeared into the side-room and came back with a folded bed sheet over one arm, glancing from the desk to the food to Jill and back again. "....ah. Tablecloth," she noted, gesturing with the sheet. "Didn't...mmh." She picked up one of the bags of food, looking a little helpless. "Didn't know what you liked to eat. ...may have gone overboard."

[Gizmo]

Jill gaped as the pile of takeout food arrived, clamping both hands over her mouth and hopping to her feet while Dragonfly cleared the desk. She remained mildly stunned as the engineer returned with her ad hoc tablecloth, only lowering her hands when the shorter girl commented of the bounty herself. "Oh my - 'Fly, that's... When did you even - there's so much, I mean," The medic raised a loose fist to her chin while she struggled to articulate a complete sentence. "That is unbelievably sweet." Hurriedly retrieving the sheet draped over Dragonfly's arm, she paused briefly to peck the blonde lightly on the cheek before going about setting the makeshift table with practiced ease, arranging as many of the boxes and bag and cartons as could fit upon it.

[Fox]

Dragonfly turned quite red at the peck, shuffling a bit as Jill took over setting up the desk. "Figured...better safe than sorry? And some of the staff thinks I need to eat more, I guess. Contacted someone who owed me a favor, gave them a card number and basic instructions. With my brain."

It wasn't the most elegant sentence ever, and she tried to cover her failing ability to communicate by freeing a couple chairs of their piled books and paper, pulling them over to face the desk. The front of the desk, as it turned out - it had been a couple of hours since she'd met Jill in the lobby and the sky had started to go dark; on an impulse a quick thought in the direction of the room controls she'd installed brought the office lights down a little to match, and she gestured at the view over the impromptu table and out the window into the city, where buildings were dark outlines full of lit windows, roads not so much asphalt as lines of street lamps and taillights. "Best part of having this office," she noted, taking a moment to admire it as she always did around this time of night. "Beats windowless lab with locked doors and few windows."

[Gizmo]

Jill smiled quietly to herself as she fished around in a nearly empty bag for the individually wrapped cutlery at the bottom. The ease with which Dragonfly's train of thought was derailed made conversation a little challenging, but it was certainly a confidence booster. As the lights dimmed, she looked up from the table to the wide window, cupping her chin in one hand while supporting her elbow on the arm folded under her chest. "...okay, that actually was pretty smooth," she admitted in a hushed tone, looking out into the illuminated city

[Fox]

"Enjoy...good views," Dragonfly tried to explain, digging a bit for one of the Chinese takeout boxes and a pair of chopsticks. "High places. Scenery. Makes me feel...free? Don't know if that makes much sense...very pretty to look at, regardless. Try to spend some time on a roof or high floor whenever I can, at night." She glanced back over at Jill, glad that the lower lights hid the blush that had still not quite gone down. "Better with good company."

[Gizmo]

Picking out a styrofoam container which turned out to contain a fried rice dish, Jill took a seat next to Dragonfly with her feet up on the edge of the chair so that her knees rested a little under her chin. "Mountains of takeout and compliments? I think I'll keep you," she decided with a small lopsided smile she quickly covered with a plastic forkful of food. Chewing thoughtfully, the young woman looked out the window. "...yeah, I get that. Really didn't get to go out much as a kid, huh?"

[Fox]

"Mmh," Dragonfly agreed, sitting back in her chair and finishing her mouthful of sweet & sour pork before replying with actual words. "Not much. Or...ever. Was kept too busy. ...strict rules." She frowned, poking at her food with the chopsticks for a moment. "Sometimes wonder how much I missed out on. Hard to tell without context...can't go back in time to change anything anyway."

She paused, and wryly added, "Did at least get to miss things worth missing. Don't much regret not having to attend school."

[Gizmo]

"What, you never went to school? As in, ever?" Jill questioned, fork frozen midair as she blinked. "That's- hunh. Okay, I feel like I should be saying how awful that is, but thinking about it..." With a rueful snort, she finished bringing the utensil to her mouth. "Besides that, though," she continued once she finished with the rice, "there's gotta be stuff you didn't get a chance to do that you'd like to, right?"

[Fox]

Dragonfly shook her head. "As in ever. Sort of a...combination tutoring, self-instruction, and......mmh. Alternative education. Got a G.E.D. when I was on my own - seemed like a good idea - but otherwise...." She just shrugged, digging the last piece of pork out of the little takeout box and popping it into her mouth. "Not sure what I want to do," she continued, once her mouth was clear again, gesturing with her chopsticks. "Hard to think of examples. Try to arrange for some free time but....mmh. Too little of it. Though this dinner is a good start."

[Gizmo]

"Heh. Well, I was going to suggest helping you cross some stuff off the list, but apparently I'm way ahead of myself," Jill noted with noise that was somewhere between a chuckle and a cough. "Dios, we're not even making a dent here, are we?" Looking through the spread of boxes and unbagged containers, the taller girl pondered tactics. "Here, I'll split this thing of fries with you."

[Fox]

"Good plan." Dragonfly put her chopsticks in the empty carton and placed it somewhere out of the way, clearing a little space for the fries. "French fries," she noted, grabbing a couple. "Appropriate. You? Things you wish you had a chance to do, I mean. Lost plans, never had the time...probably got out more than I did growing up, but still might have something."

[Gizmo]

Jill made a surprised sound as she availed herself of the side dish. "...hmm." Locating the bag she'd taken the container of thick, homestyle french fries from in the first place, she found a couple packets of ketchup and proceeded to tear them open and create a small pool on the styrofoam lid. "I think I'm gonna have to steal your answer," she admitted, swirling a fry in the condiment absently. "Not like I've never, y'know, gone on dates," the coltish girl explained, rushing through the last few words, "but they didn't generally go so hot. Which, in retrospect, duh."

[Fox]

Dragonfly looked awfully amused, availing herself of some ketchup. "Mmh. The espionage begins, then. Stolen dreams - wouldn't have suspected. Crafty." She popped the fry into her mouth, enjoying the food in silence for a moment. "Still. Makes sense. First date, for me, but imagine it wouldn't go well with a guy."

She paused, fry partway to her mouth, and raised an eyebrow at Jill. "Does that make me a hot date?"

[Gizmo]

Jill toyed briefly with the french fry in her hand, colouring slightly in the dim light. "Oh, ah, right, that... I mean, that makes sense, when would you have?" In her own way, the inventor seems much more confident about the idea of firsts than the medic, who couldn't help biting her lower lip briefly before finally eating the fry she'd picked up. "You're doing a good job so far," she offered with a small smile, "so yes, definitely a 'hot date'." After a pause, she began, "So, does that mean..." With a light cough she trailed off.

[Fox]

"Surprising," Dragonfly grumbled, nibbling another fry. "Not in a bad way, I mean," she corrected. "Just...doing a lot of improvising. No plans, no context. Story of the last year or two." She frowned, but shrugged. "Never get used to it, but get better at not thinking about it, maybe...or focusing on more important things. Was very good advice. Wise."

She finished off the fry she'd been gesturing at Jill with, blinking as her mind turned over the question she'd been asked. "Mean what?" she asked, turning to look at Jill, clueless and curious.

[Gizmo]

"I think it works for you," Jill assured Dragonfly, looking away briefly with a shy grin. "A lot of guys - well, people - have these whole plans, trying to maneuver each other, and it's not actually as bad as that sounds, but this..." The young woman gestured vaguely to the desk covered in various foods and the dimly lit office. "This is really nice. I wasn't expecting any of it, but... I'm, ah, I'm glad." Taking a deep breath, she looked back over at the shorter girl. "Aaand I guess I was wondering if, since you hadn't gotten to date and all, if that meant you hadn't, ah... been kissed. Before."

[Fox]

Dragonfly turned red clear up to her hairline, head sinking down into her jacket a little and one fry stopped halfway into her mouth. what - oh god "P..probably a good thing. Only planned the food and kind of overdid that - don't know what I'd have done to that probably messed it up somehow overthinking or and um no haven't...haven't kissed before not really had the opportunity you?"

[Gizmo]

"'Fly?" Jill stopped the inventor gently, reaching over to place one gloved hand lightly atop the flustered girl's gauntlet and guide the french fly back down to the desk. "Muñequita?" Sliding her chair a little closer and leaning over she placed her other hand on the collar of Dragonfly's jacket, smoothing it a little as she tightened her fingers. Pulling gingerly, her voice lowered to barely more than a whisper. "Shut up for a minute, okay?" Closing the rest of the distance, she brushed her lips delicately over the heroine's, mindful of the visor even as she let her eye close most of the way.

[Fox]

If Dragonfly had been red before, she was practically crimson now - any brighter and the blush would have shown through her visor and made it purple. For a moment - practically an eternity with her brain now firing at record speeds - she froze, statue-like as her mind spun through everything and nothing a thousand times a second.

"... and I guess I don't feel like wasting time being scared when I could be focusing on the awesome."

She relaxed, all the tenseness running out of her. As the world sped back up again her eyes closed and she reached up with one hand to gently hold the back of Jill's head and met the kiss with tender - and just a touch awkward - curiosity.

[Gizmo]

With a pleased murmur, Jill shifted forward into the deepening kiss, supporting herself with one arm on the sheet covered desk to make up for their awkward seated position. Any advantage in experience she might have had was undone by nervous excitement, but the gesture was salvaged through sincerity and enthusiasm. After a long moment, the medic pulled away just enough to catch her breath. "So," she grinned through a fierce flush, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"

[Fox]

Dragonfly bit her lip, eyes barely visible though her visor at this range, contours on her face. For a little bit she just...processed, getting air back into her lungs (having momentarily forgotten how to breathe) and enjoying their proximity. Mask or no mask, she studied Jill's face - eyes, skin, nose, mouth.... "Think..." she said, finally, still breathless but for entirely different reasons, "...that it was very nice. But a real scientist depends only on repeatable results."

She leaned in to kiss the young heroine again, the smile that played on her lips fading into just enjoying the moment.

[Gizmo]

"Hahmmm..." Jill's laugh was cut off abruptly as her mouth became otherwise occupied, but if the throaty murmur it devolved into was any indication, she didn't particularly mind. Sliding her chair closer yet, she managed to bump the bridge of her nose on the edge of Dragonfly's visor, moving her hand from the desk to hang loosely over the engineer's jacketed shoulder as she shifted her weight, twining her fingers through long blonde hair.

[Fox]

Dragonfly's sense of time was completely and utterly useless, lost in the chaos of feelings and sensations as the world around her barely even existed, but at some point - only when she really had to - she did pull back, breaking the kiss and blushing furiously with an honest, genuine smile on her face. Her free hand came up to brush a bit of hair away from her visor as she caught her breath again, and she had the most unnatural - and thankfully fightable - urge to giggle. "Definitely...definitely not so bad."

[Gizmo]

Leaning back enough to get a full view of Dragonfly's face, Jill left one wrist resting on the inventor's shoulder, letting her fingers slide through blonde hair as they slid upward. "Pretty conclusive," she agreed through a ruddy flush and a giddy grin. The experiment hadn't been solely for Dragonfly's benefit, and the medic felt vaguely as though pieces inside her were sliding into place. "You should smile more," she remarked with breathy distraction, "s'nice."