1784/A burger is always the cure for what ails you

A burger is always the cure for what ails you
Date of Scene:	21 May 2020
Location:	Joe's Restaurant and Cafe
Synopsis:	Burger and a chat ends with a quiet walk.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Thea Queen

---

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The time was chosen, the place as well. Suitably set aside as the required third time the pair were to meet and talk and chat, to prove that indeed there were tendrils of Fate entwining the two, or at least that's what the young Alexander Aaron so claims. He had been so sure of it, knowing full well that such things tend to go around in cycles though perhaps this time... it might be different considering that Thea Queen took it on herself to take control of fate.
    And to decide when next they'd meet.
    It was at Joe's Cafe just a few blocks from the school that the blond youth used to attend. It was a decent place, and late enough that the chances of running into students or faculty were sufficiently minimal. Open well past midnight usually, it often served as a place to come when everything else was closed or just not serving decent food.
    So when Alexander had entered he smiled a bit to the hostess and murmured, "Heya Betsy, me and a friend coming in in a bit?"
    "Alright c'mon in, kiddo." The older waitress said, smirking a little as she sauntered across the way and tossed a pair of menus down on the booth that's a good ways past the door and in the front left corner. Nice place to be to observe the entrance as well as the storefront.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea's usually dressed to the nines regardless of where she goes, but tonight? She's looking a touch more 'relaxed', that is, in a pair of fashion jeans, a loose, light blouse, and a pair of clog-heels. Still, her face is done up 'en flic', as the kids say, and her hair is up and off her face, the bobbypins pulling back the tendrils of her wavy bob. She's got her purse/bag with her, slung casually on her arm.

The door is pulled open, though perhaps a few minutes later than expected, and Thea steps past the threshold, closing the door behind her. Fate, or whatever, is marking her footsteps towards the table, no doubt, and hopefully will take note as she drops her purse in the chair.

"Hey," is said with a tentative smile.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Settled in the seat and lifting his eyes to meet the gaze of the young woman, Alexander smiles a little and says, "Hey," Back to her. He gestures with a hand opening toward the seat opposite him and then settles back a little more further into his seat. "I see you found the place."
    A little half-smile, considering she chose it, but he tilts his head, "Did you want to eat and have some conversation, or are you going to totally grill me and hold my hunger hostage until I answer any and all of your questions to your satisfaction?"
    As he says this, though, his smile is a little wry even as he reeeeaches across the table for one of the menus then flips it open, pondering the bevy of delights on offer. "Cuz lady, I am hongry."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea did indeed pick the place! And, well.. it is rare that she's actually anywhere on time, even when she sets the day and time; and there is little remorse. She's a Queen!

A smile is returned, and pushing her purse over to settle on the next chair over, Thea sits down and pulls the menu to her. It's only a second before she closes it with a soft exhalation, and looks at her companion, head canting and her brow lightly furrowing, "Starving," is admitted. "Been on my feet all day. If I don't see another piece of paper with numbers on it, it will be too soon."

She pauses, and her smile turns a touch mischievious, "Then interrogation."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ahh, good cop first, then bad cop. I see. A wise choice. Humane." The Olympian youth smiles a bit as he closes the menu and sets it down even as Betsy saunters by leaving them a pair of waters while she heads over to take the food to another table. There's only a handful of other customers, but since she's the only one on duty... she's still got her hands full.
    "Still working on the club?" He asks at first but then he lifts a hand to point at her, "Did my friend get back with you? I haven't heard from him." There's a pause, "Then again I haven't really checked my phone for a bit."
    For a time he considers his backpack that's set on the floor at his side, but then he tilts his head back to peer at her. "Meh."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea smirks and nods, "Something like that," is admitted. It's probably more like, good cop, bad cop, even worse bad cop... because Ollie gets involved.

"Thank you," is offered up at the retreating waitress' back before Thea returns her attention to her burger companion. "Still waiting, but that's okay. I've got lots of things to do still. Buy the building," uh huh.. "make sure the current tenants leave, and then do that walk through with Alanna." Beat. "She's really nice."

Thea is more than happy, however, to switch gears, and barks a laugh at the length of Alex' laziness. "Wow," she offers dryly, "That's impressive."

Beat.

"So, she begins again, "Chat with your fate buddies lately?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    A small laugh slips from his lips as he doesn't perhaps entirely realize he totally did play up the lazy angle, but he leaps on it as he tells her, "Seeee." A hand uncurling to her, "It's nothing to do with your staggering level of cuteness. It's more just my monumental levels of laziness. Impossible to surpass." But as he finishes saying that he bites his lower lip slightly, perhaps hiding the smile that'd make it all the more obvious that he's teasing her. Which he is.
    "But noo, I don't talk to them much. Clotho sort of hates me since the last get together." He straightens up and uncurls a hand toward her, "But you said you'd wait til after foods. This is not waiting til after foods."
    Admonishment delivered he nods once.
    And that is when Betsy comes up, "Okay kiddos, what am I getting you?" As she pulls the pen from behind her ear and produces her pad of paper.
    "Umm, cheeseburger, fries, soda."
    "Kay. And you?" She looks over to Thea.

Thea Queen has posed:
There it is again, the levels of cuteness. "Is that like Dante's levels of Hell? Because that'd be fun." Thea's playing up on it now, teasing him back as she's finally working out those subtle signs that he's giving. "And, don't ask me what those are. I just heard about them. I really never listened in class."

Still, she is hungry, but when Clotho is mentioned, Thea's head quirks, her expression questioning. "They have names?" Duh..

Right! Food.

As Betsy returns, Thea does wait for the Alex to order before she adds, "Same. Only, could you put gravy on my fries?" No salad-eating freak here! "And, a coke. No ice."

Once her order is in, Thea's attention comes around again, "So.. I'm glad you agreed."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    As Betsy wanders off, Alexander watches for a time with a thoughtful expression, gaze distancing but then returning to Thea. He does have curious hazel irises, though tinged with a hint of gold there in a thin circle around the pupils. "Yeah?"
    He asks with a tilt of his head, glad that he agreed? To meeting her here. "Why is that?" She'll see his eyes flit to her hands, her features, and when she speaks he'll at times follow the way her lips move with a casual consideration.
    "Did you think I was that much of a jerk that I'd stand you up and then be all apologetic, or did you think I'm more a dudebro who would ghost you at the first chance I got?"

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea looks consideringly across the table before she reaches out to pull her glass of water closer to her. "You strike me as a ghoster if you think you could," she opines. "The sort that could just walk away if something doesn't interest you." There's no value judgement in her tones, just simply fact as she sees it.

"So, yeah. Glad you agreed."

Shifting in her seat now, the top of the straw's paper is removed and she takes a couple of sips there to gather her thoughts as she looks at Alex' syes. A glance, a meet, and she's looking away again, all in those couple of swallows.

"Did you want to do something with the club? I mean, if you wanted to."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    For a time Alexander watches her closely, and as she speaks his eyes follow her lips slowly, drawing his own lower one in between his teeth just to hold there pensively as he considers what she says. His head turns a little to the side and he quirks an eyebrow. "I suppose... that is possible."
    His eyes distance as he perhaps turns his thoughts inwards, now drawing his upper lip in as well giving that rather reflective look as he takes a deep breath, holds it, then slowly releases it. "If it was still a new friendship, or if there was no evidence of... some sort of meeting of the minds. But if someone reaches out to me I rarely ignore it."
    His eyebrows lift as he ponders that, "I just... don't always get to my phone, though sometimes like right before I sleep. Sometimes then." He smiles a little.
    But then he follows her gaze as she sips from her drink and he takes that time to lean forward and curl his hands around the base of his own. Though he does take the small bit of wrapper off the end of the straw.
    "What could I do for the club? Other than... you know, not drink there." His legs settle a bit as he sets his sneakers flat on the floor.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea can feel his eyes on her; it's a warm feeling. A feeling that perhaps someone actually thinks she's cute? Like, actually?

Thea smiles, looks to meet his eyes again before looking away, looking down at the water circles made by the condensation of the glass in her hand. "I'm glad there. I hate being ghosted." Been there a lot. That and downgraded to 'friend'.

She looks up again and raises her head in a silent 'ah', eyes gleaming in amusement. "Well, then I'll know when to text. Or, better yet, when there's actually a chance of you answering a text. I won't hold my breath for answering the phone." She's teasing again, gently, "And if I want to see you, I'll give you two or three nights' lead time, texting at night, of course."

As for the club, Thea waves her hand away, reminded once again that he's.. not yet 21. "Never mind." Then why does he seem older than his years? He's just.. a hard read. But he's different than, say, Roy.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    His eyes narrow  as he meets her gaze and he points at her with both index fingers as he murmurs around a smile. "I... am going to make a judgment call here." He smiles  and gestures with a nod sidelong toward Betsy and Joe who is behind the passthrough cooking.
    "And not wait for the food, since I think... some understanding might help things. And I'm not like, super secretive about things. So don't worry. But." He straightens up . "I have reasons for my reluctance sometimes. Because when I tell people they either... run off, or they stay and think I'm bullshitting them, but then they get scared. And run off. A few people stay though. Sometimes."
    He straightens up  and furrows his brow as he takes another sip of his soda, then looks again at her. "So Roy doesn't know this, though he might suspect since there's like, a video of me floating around on Youtube." Or two, considering that Thea has already dug them up by this point and watched them.
    "But," His eyes narrow, and whenever he tells someone this... it's always hard to figure out how to come at it. "My father is an old guy. Very old. And so is my family. Also." He tilts his head, "They're magical."
    Which is usually where people check out, but with Thea having seen what she saw in Central Park, she might not be too doubtful.
    Of course /that's/ when Betsy comes back with the food, "Here you go, kids. Eat up. Just wave me down if you need something." And suddenly food.

Thea Queen has posed:
Understanding.. understanding is good.

Alex has her complete and utter attention, her hands still around that water glass. Her head is quirked and eyes of blue is watching his face again, his expression, the little muscles that 'tell'. And she can't find anything that might indicate that he's pulling her leg.

"Okay," Thea begins. She did, indeed, see it in the park, but, well.. as Speedy. (And she totally needs a new name! Red Arrow?) "I.."

Oh, Betsy. "Oh.. great. Thank you," but now Thea is completely and totally distracted from eating in favor of that mystery wrapped in a conundrum that sits on the other side of her. "I.. uh.. yeah." Concise. Understandable.

Not.

Thea chuckles a little self-consciously now, and looks at her food again. Gravy fry!

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Fries, a universal food that does not interfere at all with conversation and so is indulged in while Alexander relates to her with one hand gesturing and the other feeding himself. At times he adds a squeeze of ketchup for the needed flavoring of fries then he nods to her.
    "So. I couldn't tell anyone at Happy Harbor, since that was the rule. But I'm not going there anymore. And really it's..." He lifts a fry and gestures with it, then shrugs.
    "But basically, my father is John Aaron. But he used to be known as Ares. And my family are... a bunch of ancient beings that are... really they're a bunch of assholes."
    He takes a breath and crinkles his nose, "And I'm one of them. Though, as to what we are, it's hard to say. I sort of like to think we're anthropomorphic representations of a latent psychic awakening spawned by the cultural zeitgeist of humanity. But other people."
    His lip twists up and he says, "Call us gods." And that's when they usually run off.

Thea Queen has posed:
Fries truly are the perfect food; one can eat them, gesture with them, throw them as weapons or share them with people they care about and still keep fingers reasonably clean! The water is abandoned for the coke, and the plate is turned in order to have full and unfettered access to her gravy fries.

Still, all that is before the bomb of information is lobbed into her lap. It's much larger than a grenade!

All movement stops, and Thea stares at Alex; she's not running, she's not looking scared. She's.. incredulous, and it shows all over her face. "Ares.." is whispered. "Okay, I paid enough attention when I was little to know who he is.. um.. who the Greeks wrote about." Beat. "Greeks, right?" Juuust checking.

But... gods?

Still, Thea's not running away. Why? Maybe because Oliver knows Clint Barton who works with Thor, who is a god.. jeez.. still, she shakes her head as if to dislodge all those little spider webs making dumb connections here and there.

"Really?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Nodding along as she puzzles it out his nod gets a little deeper when she mentions the Greeks. But he gives her the time she needs to process it and nods along a little more until the last word she offers to him. Then he half-smiles and nods again.
    "Yeah, really." He pops another fry into his mouth. "But, for reals, I am eighteen. I just..." He shakes his head a little as if trying to find the right thing to say as he looks up toward the ceiling. "I sort of ascended to the role when the rest of the family felt I was worthy. And the former Phobos had died in a war." Though he doesn't explain that it was a war between gods or the like. Baby steps perhaps.
    "So I didn't become... Phobos. Until I was fifteen, after my father and I returned home from everything."
    "Though," He gestures with the fry and murmurs and sort of stops, then just says. "It's complicated. But anyways. God of Fear. That's me."

Thea Queen has posed:
It does take a whole lot to process, and she's pretty sure she's not quite //there// yet in terms of truly fully comprehending it. Still, it makes a little more sense as to what had happened in the park that night, though she's loathe to actually come out and 'fess about the fact that it was her behind the bow!

"Really just 18," is repeated. Thea's lips press together in a thin line before she looks back down at her fries. If that's the only thing she takes from this whole conversation?

It's not, though. "God of Fear," is the other bit that is said a great deal softer. She's quiet for a few long heartbeats before she looks as if she makes up her mind. Why or how? Who knows... it's Thea.

"Doesn't seem like a good fit."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I don't give out free samples," Alexander says and for some reason he says that with a sort of quiet authority as he holds her gaze, as if he had perhaps once and did not care for what happened. But he takes a deep breath and murmurs, "And if I seem odd, yeah."
    A hand lifts to rub at the back of his neck even as his burger likely gets cold. But he keeps picking at his fries like some curious blond avian. "I sort of experience life differently in some ways." A breath is taken as he looks to the side, then back to her. "I don't feel fear, myself. I can sort of feel when people are afraid around me, feel the... whispers of the world in the background at times."
    He lowers his eyes and pushes a fry around his plate a little, as if trying to evenly get his ketchup split into two equal squares on each half of the plate. "And I've lived a lot in the years I've been alive." He looks back up and peers, then spreads his hands a little. "So yeah, hard to relate sometimes."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea pretty much ignores her burger for her fries, but even then, the gravy atop is congealing quickly as it cools. Looks like she'll be bringing her burger home!

"That's kind of.. messed up," Thea chuckles, and finally takes a bite of fry. She chews and swallows before she continues, "I mean, I don't like to be afraid, but it's a survival instinct. Like, it helps." Ish.

Like that night.

It bothers her, though, and Thea looks.. sympathetic? Empathetic? Hard to know how he feels, though..

"Hey.. yeah. I bet." How's that for lending an ear?

"So," Thea makes a mighty attempt at a smile, and she manages well enough. Enough for it to reach her eyes. "What do the Fates say about the burger and fries?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    A snort comes from him as he shakes his head, "Very funny." He takes a breath and he murmurs, "I'm sorta not done though. There are other things."
    But then his eyes distance for a moment, "Though you know, I don't know if the fates have ever had a burger and fries, might make them lighten up a little." A small hnh is heard then he shakes his head and presses back on the line of query.
    "So yeah. Two things." He sits back in his seat and lightly lifts the top bun off of his burger, then sets it back. Not indulging yet and just considering what to say and how. "So the fates are real. And they are vindictive. And if you remember the myths and things? About the gods, right? It rarely ends up well for the mortals that know them. Always something happening and usually it's bad. So fair warning. My family are assholes, the fates they like to wrap the threads around each other until... something breaks." He shakes his head and crinkles his nose.
    "So, I'm telling you this honestly, and with sincerity. I would not blame you for ghosting me. Losing my number. All that. It's a real thing."
    A breath is taken as he uncurls his hand to her, "The other, is that... a lot of emotions. They're tied in to fear. They're connected, and without the fear of losing someone, you can't really love them. You know?" His voice lowers slightly as his eyes drop.
    Then he looks up and clears his throat, "Also it make it hard to empathize with someone because you can't... feel the same way. I mean, I'm familiar with how it used to feel. I know its absence."

Thea Queen has posed:
Two things? At least Thea got him to chuckle, at least a little.

She's listening, she truly is... and the more he speaks, the more she can feel her heart thumping in her chest. It's not fear, per se. It is emotion, however. Not pity, not empathy.. but something unnamed.

"We can take care of ourselves," Thea whispers. "Me, Ollie.. Roy. But, you know what?" This is the youngest Queen grasping at straws. "The fact that you said you would completely understand means you actually sorta do care." Ish. At least that's the way she's seeing it. "Offering up a way to be protected from the craziness that could be your life."

Now, Thea reaches out to put her hand on his. "I get it. But maybe you can find some sort of substitute? I don't know.. if you try?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    She'll see him look down at her hand upon his and he'll tilt his head slightly. Then those eyes with the gold in the center meet her gaze and his lip curls up a little. The pad of his thumb brushes her hand, then he turns his over but she can see him trying to form the right way to phrase things.
    "I've sort of... tried." His smile slips a little too easy-going, a little too casual as he murmurs. "I tried being in a relationship with someone. And it was a good thing. I thought I was doing things right, being the person I thought I was supposed to be. But I think maybe she could tell? And it ended badly."
    He gives her hand a small squeeze then draws his back to lightly take up another french fry, as if offering a hint of thanks before trying to establish that distance again. Not exactly a rejection, just perhaps trying to clearly explain before he accepts such a sentiment.
    "So. I do date sometimes. But I think..." He smiles a little as he looks away, scrunching his eye up as if trying to see something far off. "I don't think I'll ever be what someone deserves? For that."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea retrieves her hand soon after, and looks down at it as if his touch had somehow left an indelible mark on it. Finally, she draws it back completely to rest it on her lap as the other picks up another fry marked for eating.

"I see," she begins. And, she's actually correct in that, the way he's explaining things. "Right." She pops the fry into her mouth, chews and swallows again before, "Fate sucks. I mean, seriously. If I'm supposed to know you, that either I was led, or okay, I followed you.. to find this out?" She shakes her head, her lips pressed, "It sucks."

Thea shrugs, her delicate shoulders rising, and she exhales in a frustrated breath. "I don't like that they did that to you."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Ehn," Alexander smiles a little as he lowers his head, that same way when he had teased her and then apologized for it. He tries to meet her eyes, though he does bite his lower lip as he feels as if he somehow hurt her feelings. "It can, but also it can be good. Just," A small laugh slips from him as he shakes his head while looking away.
    But then he looks back, "God this sounds so shitty. But you seem like a nice person. I already have... some negative opinions about myself in some ways. I'd hate it if we became friends, and close, and I hurt you. Because I've done that before. And I... I don't like hurting people that I do like."
    "I mean," He tries to perhaps puzzle out how to best tell her. "I'd like to be friends, for sure. And hey if we did start to date even though you think I'm super horrible and too young for you, it could probably be fun. I think it'd be great in a lot of ways. But also I'd feel like... you wouldn't be getting a future with me that you'd get with somebody else, right?"
    That said he straightens a little and takes a deep breath, not losing the smile but it flattens a little.

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea sits back in her chair heavily, and blue eyes are levelled on her companion, and she quirks her head in question, "It can be good?" She shakes her head quickly after that before leaning forward again, and her she ducks slightly, her tones lowering, but no less intensive, "I'm not seeing any real bonus to this for you."

A chuffed breath of frustration tinged with resignation exits the youngest Queen, and soon after, her lips form a line before, "Yeah.. and it's not because of the whole age thing," anymore. "That's the last thing on the list. I..." and her tones soften, "I like you." There's that pause, and remarkably, 'but' isn't the next word out of her mouth, "And I really do hate that this was done to you."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The response given is couched with a smile as he murmurs, "But fate can be good I mean. Sometimes. You meet a lot of interesting people." There's a breath taken, his eyes slipping to the side and then back as he adds, "And sometimes they don't try to kill you."
    The smile grows as if trying to dissuade the negativity and he holds up his hands, "I understand. I like you too, Thea." His eyes lower for a moment, then back up as he murmurs. "If you had met me a year ago or whatever, I probably wouldn't have thought anything about just leaping into bed together. But yeah."
    "And wasn't done to me really, I wanted this. Perhaps I didn't understand all the ramifications. But when my family asked me to ascend, I could have said no. I could have just been... normallish."
    "So really, my own fault."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea barks a laugh at the comment regarding jumping into the sack with her. She's not laughing //at// him, just the way he'd delivered the comment is all. "Oh?" is given in a drawn-out, teasing tone. "Only a year ago."

Still, Thea can't really shake the .. oddness there. Not of him, per se, but of the whole situation surrounding him. Them. And there is still the burger that needs to be eaten. "Okay," is conceeded. "But, promise me..?" There's a pause before she continues, "Don't disappear?"

Reaching out finally, Thea takes hold of the food and pulls it a little closer once more. "I know it sounds stupid, but.."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I'll try not to?"
    But he lets his lips twist into a grin as he looks across the table at her. Now, with things duly progressed he seems to feel comfortable in pulling his plate to himself, taking up a knife and slicing the burger in half, just to make it easier to manipulate. Then he tilts his head at her.
    "Why does it sound stupid?" He says as his eyes follow her movements, but then he focuses on bringing up his half of a burger and taking a bite, then going back to swirling and smearing a fry in his poured ketchup.
    "You're not telling me something."

Thea Queen has posed:
Forget the 'cutting in half' thing. Thea enjoys a burger as a concept work of art, to be eaten and enjoyed without judgement. It's one of the less delicate things the young heiress does! (Okay, so there is a list..)

Still! She hefts it and manages to get a small bite out of the side without wearing it, and lowers it while chewing. Finishing and swallowing, her expression turns a little self-conscious to explain.

"I.. uh.. I just like having you around, is all. I don't have a lot of people that I could consider an actual friend, friend."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Well sure," Alexander says lightly as if /of course/ she'd want him to be around to be a friend since he is just that awesome. But he takes another bite from his burger and chews or a time, smiling wryly as something bounces around inside his thoughts as he murmurs, "I mean... don't get me wrong."
    For a moment his eyes narrow and he waits til she's in the middle of chewing and has her mouth full with perhaps a little bit of mystery sauce trickling down the corner of her mouth when he tells her.
    "If you asked I would love to spend the night with you." And the way those hazel eyes meet hers when he says that, in a tone that's a subtle hint above a murmur, tinged with the whisper of a warm summer's night spent together.
    And perhaps when her eyes get a little wide does he hit her with the follow up by saying, "It's just... you wouldn't be able to keep up with me. Is all."
    And with that positively /evil/ grin he takes another bite of his burger.

Thea Queen has posed:
As if on cue, Thea does choke on a bit of lettuce as it slides down her throat at Alexander's suggestion-- suggestive suggestion, and a coughing fit ensues, her hand cupping around her mouth so as not to expell food across the table at him. Red in the face by the experience (no, really! It was the coughing), she's got the burger safely back on the plate before she cough-hisses laughingly, "I don't believe you just did that to me."

Soda.. and Thea reaches for her glass and takes a long draw, only to cough again on the fizziness of the coke.. and she pushes it back, this time daubing at watering eyes. "You're such a jerk," is croaked softly.

She has to spend a couple more heartbeats getting herself together before she can even begin to form a response. Her eyes narrow, and there's more than a little humor, "Yeah, yeah.." She's not one for 'casual', and she's trying to remember that he'd just confessed to not being able to 'give that'.. "You wish.."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Answering her with that same smile that he wore all while she was almost /choking to death/ his grin widens as he looks away and then nods along with her pronouncement of his jerkhood. "I am, I really am."
    But then he turns to look at her as he says, "I'm just saying. I'm not a saint. I'm..." He crinkles his nose and looks away, as if trying to find the right word to suit what he's trying to say. "Not altruistic, I do like being close with people, and spending time with them. Just..."
    He lets his smile light his face up as he mururs, "Just you deserve someone that you can have a future with and who will love you back, right?" He gives a nod and pushes a fry around the ketchup a little more, "Because you are very cute, and you seem like you're in a rough spot in some ways. You need someone that would be hurt if you left him."

Thea Queen has posed:
"You really are," Thea laughs, easily agreeing.

It's that other bit that brings a touch of sobriety to Thea, and she falls a little quiet, her eyes focussing on that middle distance before she's back on target. "I.. well, I have a lot of that. You know, people in my life who couldn't really care if I lived or died.. that 'in the moment' sort of thing." She smiles tightly, and shifts a little uncomfortably in her seat, "I need people, a person who actually cares I'm around, and misses me if I'm not?" Someone's got abandonment issues. "Seems stupid, really. I mean, I'm rich, so I shouldn't have this sort of problem, right? That's what some people say, anyway."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The blond youth reaches a hand out and rests it on her arm, just a gentle touch as he murmurs quietly, "Hey..." He tries to get her to meet his eyes, enough that she might well see that smidge of gold there deep in their depths. When he has her attention he tells her, "I wish I could be good for you. There's part of me that..." His lip lifts but his brow comes together a little sad. "That tells me I should like, that I could try. Right? That I could act the role. And wouldn't that be nice? And for a time things might be happy right?"
    But then he shakes his head, "But I think we'd both know and it would eventually suck. And I'd hate it if you were spending time with me when you could be building a life with someone else. I'm immortal. I have tons of time. Which, sucks in some ways but not in others. But it'd be... parasitic of me to take the best years of your life for myself."
    His hand squeezes her arm gently then he straightens up, "And right now, I do care about you. Kinda. In my own way. If someone came in with a gun I'd protect you first. Because I like talking to you. It's ultimately selfish and self-serving. But yeah. Or if you left somewhere and decided never to talk to me again, I'd probably be something akin to sad. But... it wouldn't seem to affect me."
    A breath is taken then he draws his hand back, "So yeah."

Thea Queen has posed:
Thea laughs softly, more a breath really, as she catches his gaze when his hand lays on her arm. It's warm, a welcome heat where it lies for the moment. The smile remains behind, a touch lopsided, and she shrugs lightly, but it's not dismissive. "Wish you could," is murmured. "But I can't change who you are, and.." Wait... "Immortal?

"Jeez.."

Still, that last bit brings her drooping smile back up a little more and there's that 'hope', or at least a confession that she, in some way, does actually affect him. "Hey," she begins again, "Feel like taking a walk? It's kinda nice out there, and I wouldn't mind your company for a little longer after here."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "If you're super nice maybe I'll show you my magic sword." As he says that he nods slowly with wide eyes then flashes a grin.
    "But yeah, sure." Alexander says with that same smile as he sits up and starts to slide to the edge of the booth, "I'll go grab some boxes and a bag and take care of the bill, you start to pack our stuff up?" And as he says that he sliiides on out of the seat and leaves her there for now with just his backpack for company.
    A few moments later he's standing in front of Betsy and having a few words, grinning as he grabs some toothpicks and crinkles his nose at something the older woman says as he shakes his head. He's walking back and says over his shoulder to her.
    "It's not like that, Bets."
    But then he sets the bag down and the boxes, "Here we go."

Thea Queen has posed:
"No let me.." buy.

Thea slides out and sets the food into the 'to go' pile, she moves her purse so it's set beside the backpack, and turns to face outward, her back to the table. When he's back, she helps in loading the food into the boxes, then into a supplied bag for easier handling.

Canting her head, Thea appears ... happy for the moment, and gesturing towards the door to the outside, she's ready to lead. Only.. she reaches for his hand to entwine fingers for those moments on the walk. Just for contact, and just for the walk.

"I promise we'll get home on time."