The Deck | Afternoon | Thursday | September 9

[therewaslife]

It was too nice a day to spend it inside, Bod decided. His one class had been easy so he'd gone into town after and picked up some pastries from the bakery. He hadn't ever had a sweet tooth before but he seemed to be gaining one now.

Miss Lupescu wouldn't be too pleased.

With that done, Bod hadn't even gone up to his room. He'd detoured onto the deck, dropped his backpack and settled into a chair to stretch out and let the sun warm his face. He could feel autumn in the air, smell it on the wind and he was anticipating it.

Summer wasn't the best season for an Englishmen especially an American summer that consisted of a huge sun and blistering temperatures. Bod would just take advantage of this nice day by lounging on the deck and eating sweets.

[Deck's open. It's really that gorgeous outside.]

Comments

[vanillajello]

Kate was fresh from work (as was probably obvious enough from her clothes), and taking a detour to the deck just to compensate for having spent most of the day in a pretty confined office.

Her head was still filled with thoughts of fantasy princesses come to life (and would be again later on), but those were pushed aside when she saw who else was there. "Heey. Pastries?"

[therewaslife]

"Indeed," answered Bod, pulling himself out of his daydream. "Pastries from town, in fact."

Bod was fairly certain she'd been asking for a pastry in her one word question but the specifics hadn't been there and he was in a relaxed, lazy mood.

[vanillajello]

Well no, Kate hadn't really been asking for one. But it was mostly because she expected to get one without asking.

"Oooh, pastries from town," she said, with a hint of friendly sarcasm as she flopped down into a chair. "Such exotic delicacies."

[therewaslife]

"They are," he decided, peering into his white bag and then back at her. She'd get her offer momentarily. Probably. "I think one of the girl clerks even gave me an extra donut because I'm polite."

[vanillajello]

"Or because you're cute," she replied. Trying not to look too expectant. "Could be that too."

[therewaslife]

"I think it's because I'm polite," he said, shaking his bag briefly before offering it to her. "I don't think being cute would get me an extra pastry."

[vanillajello]

"Being pretty got me a free Squishy recently," she pointed out as she reached for the bag and peered into it. "And once, I got my chocolate free for that, too. She coulda been flirting."

[therewaslife]

"It wasn't flirting." Well, if it had been, he'd completely missed it. "I'm not pretty so perhaps we got extra things for different reasons? It can't have been flirting."

[vanillajello]

"Don't just rule it straight out like that." Though Kate was sure that if it had been flirting, he probably would have missed it. Not that she minded, obviously. "It could've been flirting. We're in Fandom, weird stuff happens."

She picked a donut, then passed the bag back to him. "But really, I just care about the free stuff, not how you got it."

[therewaslife]

"Someone flirting with me would come under the topic of weird?" he laughed, taking the bag and using it to smack her wrist lightly with. "My poor ego."

[vanillajello]

Kate had already taken a bite of her donut and had to just frown at him for doing that until she'd swallowed.

"Hey, you're the one who was all 'it can't have been flirting'."

[therewaslife]

"Well, I don't think it was but that doesn't mean it would automatically be weird if someone did decide to flirt with me," Bod said, laughing at the expression he'd caught her in.

[vanillajello]

"You sometimes act like it would be, though," she pointed out, wrinkling her nose at him for laughing at her. It probably didn't help much.

[therewaslife]

"I don't think it would necessarily be weird," Bod clarified, shrugging. "I just think it would be...I don't think it would happen at all. So, unexpected is maybe a better word?"

[vanillajello]

"Mm, maybe," Kate said, after another bite. "I don't think it would be all that unexpected, but of course, it's how you feel that matters."

[therewaslife]

"Is it still flirting if I don't recognize it?" Bod wondered, actually curious about that. "I sometimes don't even realize when you're flirting with me."

He'd been getting better but it could still go right over his head.

[vanillajello]

Kate laughed quietly at that, just a bit. "Well, flirting's all about the intention behind it," she mused, tilting her head a bit in thought. "So yeah, I'd say it is, whether you're clueless or not."

[therewaslife]

"And I am often clueless," he admitted with a shake of his head. "Have you just come from work? You look nice."

[vanillajello]

"Thank you," Kate said, smiling, as she idly smoothed her skirt over her thighs. "I am indeed back from yet another day of debt collecting."

[therewaslife]

"And how are things going in the world of debt collection?" Bod asked, idly picking at a muffin. "Anything new to report?"

[vanillajello]

"Well, most people are still pretty avoidy and unwilling to pay up," she shrugged, but then her lips pursed in thought a bit. "There's this one woman back in Kansas City, though..."

[therewaslife]

"Yes?" Bod prompted. "What about her?"

[vanillajello]

"Well, she owes like over thirty thousand bucks."

So not the only reason Kate was interested, but a pretty good one all the same.

"I'm pretty set on getting it back."

[therewaslife]

"Huh." Bod tapped his chin before settling the bag beside him. "You make it sound like a personal mission. Will it be difficult?"

[vanillajello]

"Jarrett said he called her every day for a year and got nowhere," Kate shrugged, not sounding like this was anything that should get her down.

"Oh, and Jarrett's a coworker."

Her supervisor, kind of. Probably. It didn't feel like it.