it’s a date. Romance is how
men prove they’re willing to jump through hoops for a girl. You knew that
right? Not that I expect a band to be playing or anything. I wasn’t really
expecting the flowers , so this is a good start. That and some hand
holding will probably work. This time.” She tried to fight smiling, which kind
of worked.
Especially since she had to force a smile most of the time still. Her early life had made that kind of thing physically
impossible. It wasn’t a thing that she would ever do easily. Except that, here
she was, doing exactly that.
At a man.
A real one, who wasn’t even her
teddy bear.
They sauntered since there
wasn’t much to do when they got to the destination. That meant they were able
to talk as they did it. Mainly about the weather.
“I hear that we might have rain
soon? Then a warm spell. It’s June, so that isn’t unexpected.” Tomas spoke
gently, but in very general terms. At least until they got to the park itself. It
was nice enough, and had trimmed grass, as well as real flowers. Not as nice as
the ones that she had in her hand, clutched next to her little purse.
It was her turn to say something,
so she scrambled a bit, then smiled. She did have a few things to say, after
all.
“I picked up a couple of your books
earlier? Omegon. They’re good. Different than I expected.” More words and fewer
pictures, for one thing. Almost like a short novel that just happened to be
illustrated, rather than what she was used to seeing.
“Oh? That’s… I was… Working on the
script for the next book, last night. I know that a grown man playing like a
child is…” Then he shrugged. “Though, you seem fine with that? I was… A bit
shocked, last night. To find you playing at Gwen Farris like that? Do you…” He
seemed embarrassed and was clearly trying to ask if she went around sucking off all the men she met.
Gwen sighed.
“I read one of those today,
as well. The Gwen Farris Investigation books? I didn’t even know they existed
last night. I can see why you keep thinking that I’m not me. Just playing at
it? Is that kind of thing common? Pretending to be me?”
There was no one around so her date
took her hand. The free one.
“It happens. Or so I’ve read. A lot
of young women like that freedom, I hear? I didn’t know that anyone would be
so… Literal? Though really, you should have your friend Bethy with you.”
The grin on his face seemed to be teasing.
“Bethany. Westmorland. She had her
sterilization reversed, so is pregnant now, which is a first for her group. She
married a few years ago. That wasn’t a first, but it was unusual. While I was
gone? Martin Cordell. He used to be the head of one of the anti-magic groups?”
That wasn’t truly fair to say, at least not that way. They weren’t so much
anti-magic as much as being anti-discrimination against people that didn’t have
a lot of natural talent.
For his part, Tomas missed a step
and looked confused.
“I’d heard about that, but didn’t
know that his wife was Gwen Farris’s lady friend. That… He must be a very understanding
fellow, in that case.”
That got a snort. It kind of
matched the ones that she was used to getting from telephone operators. Telestator .
She kept getting the words mixed up in her head. Not when she saw the things,
which looked very different, being huge like they were, but when she thought
about stuff casually.
There were real corrections to make
though, if she were going to be seeing the man next to her. Provided he ever
bought that she was herself. Really, at that point he had to be considering the
fact that she was at least truly insane. No one could pretend to be someone
else as well as she’d been doing.
Of course, this Gwen Farris
had sucked him off. It could be that he was willing to put up with a lot for a
regular dose of that kind of thing. Which reminded her to make sure the evening
ended on a similar note to that. Other than that kind of thing she
men prove they’re willing to jump through hoops for a girl. You knew that
right? Not that I expect a band to be playing or anything. I wasn’t really
expecting the flowers , so this is a good start. That and some hand
holding will probably work. This time.” She tried to fight smiling, which kind
of worked.
Especially since she had to force a smile most of the time still. Her early life had made that kind of thing physically
impossible. It wasn’t a thing that she would ever do easily. Except that, here
she was, doing exactly that.
At a man.
A real one, who wasn’t even her
teddy bear.
They sauntered since there
wasn’t much to do when they got to the destination. That meant they were able
to talk as they did it. Mainly about the weather.
“I hear that we might have rain
soon? Then a warm spell. It’s June, so that isn’t unexpected.” Tomas spoke
gently, but in very general terms. At least until they got to the park itself. It
was nice enough, and had trimmed grass, as well as real flowers. Not as nice as
the ones that she had in her hand, clutched next to her little purse.
It was her turn to say something,
so she scrambled a bit, then smiled. She did have a few things to say, after
all.
“I picked up a couple of your books
earlier? Omegon. They’re good. Different than I expected.” More words and fewer
pictures, for one thing. Almost like a short novel that just happened to be
illustrated, rather than what she was used to seeing.
“Oh? That’s… I was… Working on the
script for the next book, last night. I know that a grown man playing like a
child is…” Then he shrugged. “Though, you seem fine with that? I was… A bit
shocked, last night. To find you playing at Gwen Farris like that? Do you…” He
seemed embarrassed and was clearly trying to ask if she went around sucking off all the men she met.
Gwen sighed.
“I read one of those today,
as well. The Gwen Farris Investigation books? I didn’t even know they existed
last night. I can see why you keep thinking that I’m not me. Just playing at
it? Is that kind of thing common? Pretending to be me?”
There was no one around so her date
took her hand. The free one.
“It happens. Or so I’ve read. A lot
of young women like that freedom, I hear? I didn’t know that anyone would be
so… Literal? Though really, you should have your friend Bethy with you.”
The grin on his face seemed to be teasing.
“Bethany. Westmorland. She had her
sterilization reversed, so is pregnant now, which is a first for her group. She
married a few years ago. That wasn’t a first, but it was unusual. While I was
gone? Martin Cordell. He used to be the head of one of the anti-magic groups?”
That wasn’t truly fair to say, at least not that way. They weren’t so much
anti-magic as much as being anti-discrimination against people that didn’t have
a lot of natural talent.
For his part, Tomas missed a step
and looked confused.
“I’d heard about that, but didn’t
know that his wife was Gwen Farris’s lady friend. That… He must be a very understanding
fellow, in that case.”
That got a snort. It kind of
matched the ones that she was used to getting from telephone operators. Telestator .
She kept getting the words mixed up in her head. Not when she saw the things,
which looked very different, being huge like they were, but when she thought
about stuff casually.
There were real corrections to make
though, if she were going to be seeing the man next to her. Provided he ever
bought that she was herself. Really, at that point he had to be considering the
fact that she was at least truly insane. No one could pretend to be someone
else as well as she’d been doing.
Of course, this Gwen Farris
had sucked him off. It could be that he was willing to put up with a lot for a
regular dose of that kind of thing. Which reminded her to make sure the evening
ended on a similar note to that. Other than that kind of thing she
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