Who: Heather Miller and Agent York What: Talking about York's dreams. When: August 23rd Where: Heather's Place Rating/Warnings: Teenish/Flirting, and light language. Status: Complete
Heather's trip had been pretty damn awesome. She'd gotten to meet her birth mother, and spend time with her parents. They'd been happy to see her, they hadn't been too happy about her meeting her birth mom but what could they do? Nothing, that was what. Heather still held a special place in her heart for them, and always would, so she didn't know what the real issue was.
After returning home, she reopened the butcher shop the very next day and because of her absence things had picked up considerably. Heather was tired after a long day at work, but she wasn't too tired for company. She'd let York know when she'd made it back home, and they'd agreed to meet up at her place to play some Scrabble again, talk and probably sex it up. Heather was fine with any and all of that. Hell, she was fine if he just wanted to spend the night without any activities happening in the dark.
Heather had showered as soon as she'd gotten home from work, and put on a pair of jean shorts and a plain dark blue t-shirt. Her hair was piled up into a loose bun on top of her head, and while she waited she cleaned up her apartment a little bit. She had just grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge when a knock came at the door. Bare feet padded over to the door, and she pulled it open with a smile. "Hey, come on in." She greeted York, holding out a beer to him.
“Hey.” York had been looking forward to seeing Heather again after her trip. Not just for the friends-with-benefits stuff, though that was nice, but also because he found he really liked this girl. They could have beers and talk and not have to worry about pressure. Whatever kinds of pressures there were in the world. York found when they were together, everything else sort of melted away. And she kept his bad Dreams at bay. Which was also a plus.
He took hold of the beer, then wrapped his free arm around her to pull her in for a hug. It was almost one of those one-armed, bro hugs, but lingered a bit longer than was absolutely necessary. His face brushed past hers as he pulled back. “How was your trip?”
She'd been looking forward to hanging out with him as well. While she had friends that understood the horrors of the dreams, it was rare that she spent any time with any of them outside of talking with them on the Network. Her free arm wrapped around his middle, a light smile tugging up the corners of her lips.
Heather looked up at him, a light smile on her face. "It was great." She replied, leaning up to steal a quick kiss before she pulled back. "My birth mom was awesome about everything. She told me about my family, I got to meet my half-siblings, and then I went and spent time with my parents." She lifted a shoulder, "They weren't too thrilled about me meeting my birth mom, but I think by the end of the trip they got it, you know?" She hoped they got it anyway, it'd been important to her, but she could also understand where they were coming from on some level. "So, what have you been up to? Anymore dreams?"
Quick kisses? Very nice. York didn’t mind at all. He grinned as they pulled apart and moved further into Heather’s place. “Wow. Man, that’s… incredible.” He lifted the beer to sip from the bottle, and listened intently to the beautiful woman. His eyes (good and bad) stayed on her face while she explained about her trip. “Yeah, I can imagine. I’ve got a couple friends who recently went to Texas. I’m waiting to hear how their trip went, though. Same deal--my buddy Wash thought maybe he could meet his… well, that’s not important.” York sipped again, moving to the sofa to settle down. “A few more Dreams. There’s this… thing.” He cleared his throat, knowing that no matter how he said it, it was going to sound crazy.
“In my Dreams I have an AI implanted in my head. The base of my neck. It’s called Delta, and it’s a highly logical personality fragment.” He said it quickly, then almost winced in anticipation of how she might react.
Giving a nod, Heather took in a deep breath. "I'm grateful that Killian helped me find them, and that I finally got the courage up to call her." She wouldn't have been able to do that on her own had he not pushed her in that direction. Heather had just been afraid of the rejection. She sat down beside him on the couch, brows furrowing slightly. "Well, I hope that their trip went well too." She lifted a shoulder, and then took another sip of her beer.
The word thing caused Heather's brows to raise slightly. She pulled one leg up on the couch, tucking it underneath herself as she turned her body toward his. Canting her head to the side, Heather's brows drew together. "Delta huh?" She tried to think of what questions she should ask, "So where did this AI come from?" Heather was actually more curious about it than anything else.
“It was a part of The Freelancer Project.” He chuckled softly, trying to figure out how to explain it to someone who wasn’t involved, didn’t know about it. One of his hands ran through his hair. “Like Space Marines. Though, we were involved in some covert shit. And the Director of our program used us like lab mice. Some of us got AIs implanted, others were still waiting. At least, when I Dreamed last. I had Delta. The logical one.” That was the best description he could give. “He was… a constant presence. Like having a computer program in your mind. Like--Like Jarvis. You know Jarvis? But inside.”
Heather kept her eyes on his face, listening carefully to what he was saying to her. She gave a nod, "Yeah, I've seen the Avenger movies." That sounded very intrusive to her, and she wondered if he would have privacy if the AI did appear here in the real world. "So if I'm guessing right it's supposed to help you in combat and in other situations? Can you turn it off, or is it a constant voice there in your head?"
“Well… I don’t know.” York said, frowning just slightly. “I was never in a position in my Dreams where I needed... “ He paused for a moment, thinking about it. “I can ask him to log off.” He said, and shrugged. “I don’t… I hear about these Dreams bleeding over, and my buddy Wash has got his from his Dreams, and I…” He frowned a little, trying not to confess what he knew he was about to say. But for some reason, telling Heather felt safe. “I’m not sure I want this.”
Reaching over, Heather brushed her fingers through York's hair. "Honestly? I can't blame you for not wanting it." She couldn't imagine that anyone would want their privacy invaded by some sort of AI, but then again, it might have potential uses here in the OC. Heather rested her hand on York's shoulder, "Maybe you won't get it. I mean, not everyone does have dream bleed over, or gets everything from their dreams." She rubbed her hand over his shoulder as she spoke, trying her best to be supportive. At the very least he was getting a heads up, and if she remembered correctly he knew what was going to happen in his dreams, which she thought was a good thing. At least he could mentally prepare himself now for everything, right?
The feel of her fingers across his forehead sent warmth through York’s body. As his eyes fell closed, he leaned in toward her touch. Something about her was comfort, pure and simple. It was confusing and a little scary, but York was thankful for it. She was both in on the crazy, and outside of his own personal brand of it at the same time. “Maybe. Wash is far enough ahead in the Dreams that he’s got his, he’s told me everything that’s going to happen. At least, in the Dreams we share.” So long as Wash was right, and so far? He’d been spot on. “I know not everything bleeds through, I just don’t want this to be one of those things.”
"Well then, maybe it'll be one of those things that doesn't bleed through." Heather offered York a smile, "At least you've got a heads up going into everything though, so I think you're doing better than a lot of people here are." That's what Heather thought anyway. Part of her wished that she'd known what was going to happen in her own dreams, that way she could've been prepared for everything that she'd been through. On the other end of that, however, she didn't really want to deal with anyone from her dream world here. She'd already dealt with enough, and having to see those people? Well, that would've been more than she thought she could handle.
"I'll keep my fingers crossed that that won't be one of those things that does bleed over."
“Thanks,” York wasn’t sure he wanted to go on talking about it. He’d said about all that he wanted to say. After setting the bottle down on the coffee table, he turned and wrapped both arms around her. “I appreciate it.” A little grin crossed his lips as he leaned in close. “Now… how about a distraction?”
Heather laughed as he wrapped his arms around her, her head tilting slightly to the side. "Oh I think I can offer you a great distraction." Leaning up Heather kissed him, happy to offer any comfort that York might need tonight.