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[He steps back when her hands leave, and -- thank jesus, he's still got enough self-control not to make his even more awkward below the belt; god, god, this is not how he expected this meeting to go. He can't stop the red from burning his cheeks as he turns a little away, trying to play casual. Elle had never made him so anxious, but she was natural, she was just a fixture in his life back then that felt like it had a familial belonging. He never questioned her holding him when he was pissed, or touching his shoulders.

He never dreamed about having sex with her, either, or feeling like her touch would melt him into a pathetic little manpuddle. Nononono, stop it, just stop it.

The poker deck is still gripped in his hand.]

So -- you --

Card game?

[Master at the english language, this one. He holds up the gift she'd given, willing himself to ignore some well-overdue hormones raging behind a friendly, thin smile. Just fight the instinct away, man.]

[LB is so lost in her own distracting thoughts, that she doesn't immediately hear Alex's question. When she hears his voice though, her head snaps up, eyes widened in a startled manner.

Right, stop thinking about how much you want to make out with him, LB. He probably just thinks of you as a friend.]

Huh?

[After a few more blinks pass, her eyes wander to the cards and she's able to guess what he was probably asking about.]

Oh, ah, sure! Heeheehee? Got anything in mind to play specifically?

[At least this is redirecting them. Yes. Good. At ease, soldier.]

That -- depends, what kinda' card games do you know? I know a good amount, I guess.

[Yes, this is a good diversionary tactic!

Glancing up, the side of a finger strokes her lip as she thinks of everything she knows.]

I know Solitaire, but -- heeheehee -- that would defeat the purpose having two people play. Go Fish too... and I guess a little bit of poker.

But it's not like we have a lot to play for... eheheheh.

[Suddenly her lips quirk into a teasing smirk.]

Well, unless we're playing for clothes.

[Which... she wasn't completely against, now that she thinks about it.

Well, so much for that diversion.]

[Alex struggles to keep his face from turning red at that. Even if he wasn't completely stricken about how he thought of her more and more lately, he definitely wasn't about to show her his torso -- Alex wasn't one to care about looks, but for some reason, the idea of slowly removing clothes versus him revealing the ugly scar on his chest made him feel downright self-conscious. He totally wants to see her naked. Oh, jesus, Alex, you want to see your friend naked.]

We could play War.

[It slips out and then he feels stupid; she's been on the battlefield.]

I mean -- not War. It's called War. But there's nothing really all that special about it. It's good for... taking up time while people talk?

[Yes, let's talk. Talkin's good.]

[A dubious look passes through her eyes at the name of the game Alex suggested. But right, this was card games they were talking about. So even before he corrects himself, her brows relax while she tries to think of she knew the game at all or not.]

I'm not sure if I know that one -- heheh -- is it particularly hard to figure out?

Nah, it's pretty easy. [He chokes down the schoolboy nervousness for a grin, looking over to the holodeck for a second; oh, right, we're here. He wanders over, thin fingers hovering over the dials and buttons.] Any kinda' background you want in particular? So we don't have to stare at the walls, I mean.

Oh, okay -- haha -- we can try it out, then.

[She returns his smile, before lowering herself to a sitting position, raising her knees to her chin. LB turns her head to the side when Alex speaks to her, shoulders rising after processing his question.]

I don't really have a preference.

[Oh, right, she should probably come up with something. He was trying to do something nice for her, right?]

But, ah, I always wanted to see a city?

[ — oh.

Blink.]

A city?

[Yeah, it's not what Alex expected. Then again, he was used to being at least from a small town; not very often did he get to journey out toward a big city. Television served as his temporary look out on the world. Regardless, he seems pleasant when he asks, because a place like that? He could figure it out. He'd think of something.]

Yeah, I never really got the chance to see one.

[Her shoulders raise up as her chin sinks between her knees in kind of a self-conscious manner.]

Hahaha -- it's fine, though! I mean, if it's too much trouble, I can think of something else

Nah, that's fine; I have to practice making this thing work, right? And I've already got a few things down... [Like the sky setting, anti-gravity (thanks Netherlands) and a few little things here and there. He starts typing, seeing what the system offers, but pauses.] What kind of city? A big one? Skyscrapers, all that?

Well, if you need the practice...

[Placing her hands back, to prop her body as she leaned back, LB glances up thoughtfully.]

Definitely a big one -- heheheh -- something with lots of lights. Uh... sure, skyscrapers if you can manage it. Just make sure that there's no hot, sweaty jungle in sight.

[Because goddammit, she had enough of those to last a lifetime.]

No jungles, right. Not a fan of those, huh?

[Because he's never been in one, himself.

They seem crappy, though, if Predator taught him anything.]

I was - somewhere in South America, before I was brought here. Haha... jungles seem kind of cool when you hear about them, but four years is a little too much.

[A short sigh escapes her before she continues.]

Especially when you're originally from Norway.

[Because boy did it take a long time to get used to that weather.]

Norway, huh? [He doesn't add any more to that unless she wants to talk about it; he knows how it can be, trying to chat about home. Not always the best topic. So instead he starts fiddling with the controls, and the most he gets is a rain effect. Damn. Not quite.] And in jungles for that long seems — humid as hell, right?

Yeah... but that was a long time ago, heheh...

[But she didn't want to trap him in some depressing memoir of her life before it all turned around so dramatically. Either way, the sight of the pouring rain gets a little amused smile out of LB. Rising to her feet, she starts walking over to Alex's position.]

It was really humid and even the nanomachines didn't do much to alleviate the discomfort from it.

[Really, it was almost kind of cruel that they would send the girl from Norway to South America and the girl from Africa to Alaska.

Stopping at the control panel, LB gently seats the tips of her fingers on one of his shoulders, trying to look at what he was doing.]

Heeheehee! Having a little trouble?

[A-ahaha. He itches the back of his head, smiling.]

Last time I messed with this thing, I accidentally shut off the gravity.

Netherlands wasn't too thrilled about that.

[Wow, she was no master in controlling the holodeck either, but she didn't even know that you could bungle the gravity controls, that's actually a little impressive in some kind of way. Moving her hand back to her lips, she instinctively covers it with the back of her hand while giving a genuine laugh.]

Sounds kind of fun, actually -- heeheehee -- but it's too bad that your friend didn't enjoy it as much.

Probably wouldn't be the greatest environment to play cards with, though.

I thought it was kinda fun. Maybe when cards aren't in danger of flying everywhere, I'll turn the gravity off and you can give it a try.

[Because floating is euphoric, okay. And space is about the only place that'll ever happen, so might as well live it up now while you can, man.

Aha, finally got the settings good and proper.

What do we have here?

]

How's that?

Yeah, we should do it sometime. [Her smile broadens at the suggestion, though this was probably going to give her weird fantasies to think about later.

Once Alex properly sets up the scene, though, LB glances around at the hologram in a wide-eyed fashion -- almost akin to a kid in a candy shop. After a few moments, though, her face eases into another smile.]

It's great -- heeheehee -- guess this is the closest I'll get to experiencing a city, huh?

[Of course, she had been in cities, as part of her work, but it was mostly to ambush and kill someone; definitely not the same as getting to do whatever she wanted.]

Well, at the very least, we can pretend we're normal for five seconds.

[He flops down on the cement beside the flower garden, deck of cards in one hand. He motions a hand toward the spot in front of him. He smiles wide, because he's spent so much time making people sad or angry with him back home, he rarely gets to see that kinda' childish glee.

Mostly from Josh, but he's gone now. The smiles roll in at a snail's pace.]

What d'you say? A little card playing in a big city?

[She looks a little momentarily caught off-guard by his words because the funny thing about it all was that she was almost always trying to pretend to be normal. Or at least whenever she was outside of her octopus suit. However, when you were stuck constantly laughing, that was a little easier said than done.

Still, she walks near the spot Alex gestures to, slowly lowering herself to the ground, taking a few more moments to settle into a somewhat comfortable position. Afterwards, LB notices Alex's smile and reflects a more muted version right back to him.]

All right -- heeheehee -- let's see how this goes.

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