[PRP] Options (Temperance & Ashton)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance had spent quite some time wondering what Ashton might like to do. She'd asked them out on date on a whim, and for keeping the options open. Lily had been easier, she thought. But it had simply turned out that she knew very little about Ashton beyond work and a work-themed date was out of the question. She'd debated on a park date - getting food, maybe mini-golf late if Temperance could kill her competitive side (unlikely), or the arcade... This was harder than she anticipated.

Eventually, she just decided to wing it, asking Ashton to meet her at the cafe near the park. And Ashton agreed, which was a step int the right direction. So Temperance was currently lounging in a chair outside the cafe, people watching and waiting. Her casual look was only marred by the sling she was still wearing.

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

The full moon had been two weeks ago, almost, and that meant the worry was over for the current month about concealing any moonwalker traits -- annoying in the old world, but less so here, where there had been carefully-penned tips hidden away inside Ashton's notebooks about the best ways to do it and the easiest things to wear on such days. Prim and proper and organized.

It was her own handwriting, of course, but that didn't mean she couldn't be proud of her other self for being the ruthlessly practical b***h she knew she could be. It was nice, to come back-but-not to a world where the things were already taken care of, and all she needed to do was be as she was. Everything was aligned, and everything was in place, and she'd been able to drop her intake of pain medication relatively drastically - the occasional class, now, was fine. Everything was on track. Everything was the same.

(Except the classes on magical theory and symbolism structure and -- all of those. She'd pored over her own notes for ages and ages before making it back to one of those. It'd worked, so far.)

"Temperance," Ashton said as she approached; her eyes wide, one hand to her mouth -- makeup perfect, subtle, as always. (Her nails had little red crosses embossed on them. Her own little joke.) "What happened? If you're in pain, you really don't need to be here, I promise - a date is secondhand to you not having a cast on, you know."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Ashton," she said, raising her good hand in greeting. "It's okay - I didn't want to keep you waiting. I just.. I broke my collarbone." Temperance smile sheepishly, as thought she'd done something silly like fall off a chair at an odd angle. Ashton was, as always, pretty picture perfect. It was such an enviable look. Temperance could never look so effortlessly put together.

She gestured to the chair near hers. "Do you feel like a coffee or like wandering the park?"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"You don't treat breaking your collarbone like getting a papercut, Temperance, you know this," she frowned, but sat down next to her date none the less. "If it's alright, could you tell me what happened? I'll worry regardless, but -- you know how it is." Ashton slanted her glance off to the side, brows furrowed, her lips tight for half a second before she swallowed and gave Temperance a gentle smile.

"You're the important one here, aren't you? You're injured. Both of those sound lovely to me, but I'd love to do whatever you feel is easiest for you."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She smiled at Ashton's worry. It felt like it had been forever since she'd been fussed over. Temperance was used to being the one fussing. "Let's just say I had a mishap in a magical land. But I'll heal soon, I'm sure." She tapped the table.

"I'd argue that you're just as important here, Ashton. Let's grab something to keep up warm and wander the park." Temperance had heard there were those weird bobbing animal toys children could sit on. And, frankly, she wanted to find one, too.

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"If you're sure," Ashton said doubtfully, and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear again, so she had something to do with her hands. (If it had been less in public, she might have let her makeup shift with just a thought again, but it wasn't hard to demonstrate control over that - besides, she was happy with how she looked right now, and god forbid she display obvious magic in a public place.

She hadn't wanted to do that even before the world changed, and now she wanted to do it even less. All she wanted was a relatively quiet life, with nobody to call her out for perceived wrongdoing.)

"Would you say it's too late for coffee? I've heard lovely things about their peppermint flavoring here, but I haven't had a chance to try it this year, I've been busy."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I'm sure," Temperance said, and smiled. "I didn't want to miss this." She stood up.

"It's never too late for coffee unless you've got a red-eye kind of shift in the morning." She held up her hand, palm up, clearly indicating for Ashton to take it. "Come on, it looked kind of crowded in there."

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Ashton took Temperance's hand, delicately but with surprising strength: this was the woman that turned into a wolverine every month, and regardless of the fact she'd been infected rather than a spontaneous transformation, sometimes like called to like. There was something of the beast in the glint of her eyes, day-by-day.

Maybe it'd always been there. (In the void, even concussed and bleeding, Ashton had been graceful and deliberate and incredibly controlled. She always was, after all; rarely a hair out of place, rarely anything that didn't seem to go according to plan. Good grades, good social life - maybe malevolence had been the tradeoff, cosmically.)

"Don't worry about my morning shifts. Right now they might as well not exist -- I'll be trying to return to full time work in a month or so, but..I don't want to take any chances."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance interlaced her fingers with Ashton's. "I hope you are taking it easy," she chided. "I'm on light duty during my clinicals until I heal; it's a hassle but-" Sh shrugged. There was nothing to be done. It did make her dislike of Alexis grow a little more.

She tugged Ashton towards the counter. "What do you what? It's on me."

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"It's me you're talking to, Temperance," Ashton murmured, mock-affronted, and laced their fingers around hers in return; "I would never dream of ignoring the recovery process." The smile she flashed her date was small and sly, easily missable, but it told that what she said might not have been the whole truth.

"I've been thinking about this, actually...how do you think a vanilla bean frappe with a pump of peppermint and some java chips sounds?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance knew any person who worked in medicine better than that. "You can't fool me, Ashton. I bet you're a terrible patient." Her thumb tapped along Ashton's fingers. "And that sound very... cold, but good. I'd put a shot of espresso in it."

They reached the counter and she ordered something very strong and honey-flavored. "Want to try mine? It's something one of the orderlies got for me once."

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I am a moderately terrible patient," Ashton acquiesced, "but I have a job, and just because I have healing head trauma doesn't mean my needlework has to suffer for it." It had been strange, to find out there were other workers at Mount Me, but it meant her schedule was more and more open for whatever fun she wanted to have.

"Espresso's a little strong for me, really...I like mine relatively mild. I'm a terrible coffee-drinker that way, I know." She smiled at Temperance, running a finger over the other girl's hand. "But what harm can a taste do?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance huffed a little. "You make me want to slip into full nurse-mode on you, Ashton. Needlework?" Once again, she was reminded of how little she remembered about Ashton.

"Well-" She smiled at Ashton as she felt fingers move across her skin. "If you find you like it, you can have more than just a taste." It was something she would never have normally said, but perhaps she was feeling a bit bold. Just then her name was called, misspelled on the cup as usual. She disentangled their hands so she could grab it, taking a tentative sip. Then, Temperance held it out to Ashton.

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"I work at a taxidermy shop," Ashton smiled shyly, "it's nothing much, really...sometimes I spend my time around alive things that fight towards being dead, and sometimes I spend my time around dead things that play at being alive." There was an uncanny emphasis to her words, little enough of a weight it was barely-there, but -- it was something more to her, her work, and the invitation was open for Temperance to question more.

The tease just made her smile, clear and clean, and she took a sip of Temperance's drink with a raised eyebrow. "This is good. I'll have to remember the order."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Keeping things in that delicate state just between, yeah?" Temperance took her drink back and sipped it again. "You should show me sometime - I think I've been there once, maybe. I can't quite remember. What's your favorite animal to work on?" Temperance cocked her head to the side a bit, smiling.

"You know, you can have more of mine if you want. That is, if you don't mind sharing germs."

daekie