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Cole Evans {Ichabod Crane} ([info]blackcatsrbad) wrote in [info]bellumlogs,
@ 2010-02-22 01:44:00

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Entry tags:ichabod crane, vasilissa

Who: Cole and Ileana
What: Their first official date
Where: Outside the building to start
When: Today at 3
Warnings: Probably none

Cole hadn't been on a proper date in at least a year. The last time he'd taken a girl out it was early spring, and she was a substitute teacher at one of the schools he was applying to. Her name was Paula and she was twenty-six, and they started talking about how hard it was to find a job in their profession and somehow that led to coffee. Two nights later it was dinner, and in the weeks after that they had been stuck in some awkward in-between stage.

Until she told him she'd found someone else, sorry you're a great guy but, and that was that. This time, though, he hoped it would be different. His luck hadn't been the best lately, but it could change. Maybe.

He woke up in the morning with bruises marking his abdomen and upper chest, mottled purple and green and painful to the touch, but he could handle those. They could easily be covered up with clothing, but the faint purple ring around his right eye would prove a little harder. He tried icing it for a bit, but it didn't work all too well and he was forced to go to work with it visible.

His colleagues joked about it, and he told them he'd recently taken up self-defense lessons - which wasn't a complete lie; he just hadn't actually started them yet - and a classmate had broken the rules and gotten him in the eye. His students seemed to think it was cool, and some of the boys even congratulated him on it.

Right.

Immediately after his classes were done he headed back to the building, making a last-ditch effort to disguise the now dark purple marks around his eye to no avail. He was just going to have to think up some excuse that didn't involve mugging to tell her. Sighing, he changed his shirt-tie-and-dress-pants attire for a sweater and jeans, wincing a little at the bruises. Damn it, he really needed those self-defense classes. And maybe a knife of his own.

Cole wasn't really worried about anyone he knew seeing him with Ileana - teachers had their own lives outside of school, and it wasn't as if she looked particularly young. Frankly, who he spent his time with was none of their business, but that didn't mean he didn't care. He just didn't think he would run into anyone he knew anyway.

He was waiting outside the building early, and he spent the minutes before Ileana arrived glancing nervously at the alley and wondering what had happened to the man who'd saved his life.


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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-23 06:01 am UTC (link)
He hid a smile at the feel of her head on his shoulder, and in that moment his boss could have stumbled upon them and he wouldn't have given him a second glance. "Well, if defending your honor means a black eye every now and then, I don't mind. Especially if it makes me look like a 'movie tough guy', as you put it."

Cole had planned on holding the door open for her, obviously, but he couldn't help laughing at the reversal of roles. "Really? I guess I've been getting it wrong all this time." He stepped in first, casting a glance back. Coffee was something he practically lived on, but he usually preferred normal coffee with some cream and sugar thrown in. "This place has pretty good coffee - and desserts, too. The tough guy insists that you choose whatever you want."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-23 06:41 am UTC (link)
“How sweet, but I think I’d rather you not get in fights for my sake. Unless you have to, of course, in case of super villains,” she told him with a slight hint of seriousness edging to the corner of her voice. A brief flash of thought went through her mind about the letter in her waste bin back in her bedroom. Cole shouldn’t have to protect her, but perhaps she stumbled in to something that she wasn’t sure of yet. The thought was quickly shuffled away and her attention snapped back to Cole.

She stepped in to the warm coffee shop behind him before joining him at his side. She clasped her hands around the strap of her bag, pursing her lips as she looked up at the menu board. “Do you have any recommendations, tough guy? Any favorites?”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-23 07:01 am UTC (link)
Cole's smiled faltered for a moment, the threatening note and whoever had written it re-entering his thoughts. Daniel's suggestion that someone was watching them hadn't been very comforting, but it wasn't a topic he wanted to discuss. He said he'd take care of it, and he would. The only reason she was being targeted was because of him; he was sure of it. "Black eyes aside, I can handle super villains. I promise." He might not have been the strongest or physically capable of men, but he meant what he said.

His easy manner returned as quickly as it had vanished, and he scanned the menu with a frown. "Something with a lot of sugar," he said finally. "Sugar, chocolate - or caramel - and whipped cream. Something sweet."

The line wasn't very long and moved fairly quickly, and when the girl behind the counter asked dutifully for their order he got himself some chocolate mocha thing - he could use the sugar overdose - and waited for Ileana's order, watching her with a small smirk.

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-23 07:43 am UTC (link)
Ileana saw Cole’s smile falter for a moment and she knew his mind went to the same place. She reached down briefly to take his hand in hers, giving it a little squeeze. “I know you could.” And she meant it completely.

She let go of his hand when they reached to the front of the line. It took her a moment before she ordered some chocolate and caramel coffee with the whipped cream loaded on top and a brownie as well.

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-23 08:04 am UTC (link)
He glanced down at their hands before meeting her gaze, trying to see if she meant it or she was just saying it to make him feel better - but he realized she actually believed it. The fact that she had faith in him felt... well, good.

Cole grinned approvingly at her choice, waiting until they got their drinks and motioning towards a corner table near the window. "Very nice, Ileana. You're a natural at this."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-23 08:19 am UTC (link)
Ileana followed Cole to the table, setting her drink and dessert down before sliding down into the chair. She adjusted her skirt a little, talking while Cole settled, “I never had all the sort of frills to a coffee actually. Not to popular with the backwoods country...”

She stopped herself to laugh a little. It stunned her slightly to be so self-conscious about hearing herself talk for a moment. “God, that makes me sound so strange, doesn’t it? It’s just…The circus didn’t pass through the most metropolitan areas. Do you know what I mean?"

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-23 06:04 pm UTC (link)
"Strange?" Cole took his seat, waiting for his coffee to cool down a bit before trying it. "No, I don't think so. I grew up with my mom pushing all kinds of weird herbal teas and all-natural drink things. It didn't seem strange to me, but to other people it did. Everyone has different childhoods, but they never seem anything but normal until after."

Strange or not, he knew his childhood hadn't been the most interesting. "What kind of places did it pass through?"

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-23 06:22 pm UTC (link)
Ileana took a tentative sip of her coffee, enjoying the sweet taste. Placing her drink back on the table, she said, “The circus? We went through most of the Southern states and the Midwest, but we never really went farther than Idaho and Utah.” She looked thoughtful for a moment as she recalled the constant rumble of the road.

Smiling a little, Ileana added, “We actually only went to Utah once. Ran in to some trouble there, so we never went back. Mormons.”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-23 07:44 pm UTC (link)
Cole had never been anywhere that far south - the only places he'd been to were in the eastern part of the States - but he'd read enough to have an idea of what it was like. "Mormons... oh." He raised his eyebrows in understanding, taking a sip of his coffee. "That must have been... interesting." Not that he had a problem with religion - just people who took it a little too seriously for their own good.

"I know you haven't been here too long, but do you prefer this - being in a big city - or traveling? The building and its insanity aside," he added with a laugh.

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-23 08:25 pm UTC (link)
“I guess you could say that.” She couldn’t hide the amusement in her voice. Of course she thought it was funny in hindsight, but it was a nuisance to deal with when they were rolling through the state. Apparently, a circus with mostly gypsies was not quite welcomed in the greater Salt Lake area. Who knew?

Ileana shrugged a little, tracing her finger around the lid of the coffee cup idly. “I’ve lived cities before the circus, but it wasn’t much of a home. I guess I kind of miss the traveling and the people most, especially my father. New York is nice and all, but it’s not quite home to me.” She shook her head a little at the brief sentimental longing rose up. “Do you miss being away from your family?”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-23 09:53 pm UTC (link)
Cole nodded thoughtfully. "I get that. Most people tend to think home is a literal thing, like a house with a white picket fence and all that. But it doesn't have to be something like that." Considering he'd been practically stationary his whole life, suddenly having to travel from place to place would be a huge change; it was the opposite of what Ileana must have experienced.

"Well... it was just my mother and I, so she's the only one I left behind. I do miss her, buts he doesn't live too far away." He paused. "I don't really miss the neighborhood, though."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 12:39 am UTC (link)
“Exactly,” she agreed before taking another sip of her coffee. Bellum hasn’t felt as comfortable as a home, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. She never had threats against her in the circus, and there wasn’t any temptation she had to deal with. But there wasn’t Esme…or Cole. “I guess, though, I could get used to living in one place. That is if Esme doesn’t mind me changing stuff around when I get all stir crazy.”

Ileana peered at him from over the edge of her cup as she took another sip. “It was just you and your mom? Similar situation before I lived with my dad.” She looked out the window for a moment as she set down her cup, “I think she still lives in Philly.” Think was adequate enough, since she hadn’t heard anything in eight years.

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-24 02:06 am UTC (link)
"It's not so bad. Besides, sometimes living in once place can be just as full of the unexpected as travelling." Bellum was a perfect example - especially with the anonymous posts; he never knew what to expect. So much for living in a nice quiet apartment building and living a relatively calm life. "Well, if she walks in and everything is suddenly different, I guess there isn't much she can do."

Cole watched her as he sipped his coffee, unsure of whether or not to ask about her mother and how she ended up with her father. "Yeah... I never knew my dad." He shrugged. "I wondered about him as a kid, but I never felt like I was lacking anything."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 02:37 am UTC (link)
“I’ve found I haven’t liked the city’s version of unexpected,” Ileana said, trying to smile and play it off as if she was kidding. Truthfully, it was much easier when you knew what you were up against than the strange dealings of Bellum. She liked being with Esme and spending time in the seemingly vast city, she always had to return to the building and face all the threatening letters or anonymous rumors.

“Ah.” She couldn’t imagine not ever meeting either of her parents, even if her mother was an absentee. “That’s good though. I mean, never feeling like you lacked anything. “ She paused for a moment before she added, “It’s kind of worse. If you knew them and then they go. Or make you go.”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-24 03:17 am UTC (link)
"Well..." Cole opted for the less serious route, offering a smile. "I can think of a few unexpected things that have happened and weren't so bad."

He turned thoughtful, wondering if it was better or worse that he'd never met his father. "Maybe you're right. I used to imagine that there was some kind of justifiable explanation for him not being around, and for all I know it could have been true, even though it probably wasn't. But there was never that void - being raised by just my mom seemed normal. It would have been harder if I knew him and then he left."

He decided to approach the subject carefully, giving her the chance to talk about something else if she wanted. "Your mother... did she make you go?"

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 03:48 am UTC (link)
Cole’s comment brought a quick smile to Ileana’s face. She gave him a mockery of a curious look and asked, “Oh like what?”

Ileana looked down at her plate, idly wondering if she was even going to eat the brownie she ordered. She leaned her elbows on the table and looked back up at Cole as she said, “It is pretty normal though to wonder. I think you always look for some sort of reason when things just don’t make any sense. But you have your mom there and it always counts more than any missing person.”

It was a long pause before Ileana spoke again. She was inwardly cringing at the conversation turning toward this. Her tone as she spoke was a brittle lightness and almost too casual. “She never told my father about me after she left him. So one day she just…called him and told him to pick his daughter up at a bus station. She gave me a ticket for a Grayhound and left me at the station and I took a bus ride from Philly to Kansas with the hope my father would actually be there. I was ten.”

She cleared her throat and nudged the plate with the brownie forward with a quick change of the conversation. “Do you want to split this with me? I’m not all that hungry.”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-24 04:08 am UTC (link)
"See, the last thing I expected was to meet a girl - it wasn't exactly at the forefront of my mind - but it happened anyway, and I'm glad it did." He shrugged as if it were no big deal, just one of those things that happened.

Cole immediately regretted the question, but he was glad that she answered instead of avoiding it entirely. He didn't understand what it felt like, maybe, but he could hazard a guess. "I'm sorry. But... he was there, wasn't he? And even with all that aside, you have Esme. She seems like a good person."

He accepted the conversation change and nodded. "Sure."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 04:26 am UTC (link)
Ileana tried to hide the quick blush that rose to her cheeks behind her coffee cup, but couldn’t hide the soft smile that accompanied it. “Well, I’m glad I got to meet you as well.”

She busied herself in trying to split the brownie evenly, still smiling if smarted to tread over the topic. “He was there, because he’s surprisingly amazing. I have a great family with my father and Esme. But you know,” Ileana gestured vaguely, “Anyway, can I ask you a question? How did you decide to be a teacher?”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-24 05:07 am UTC (link)
He watched her blush with a smile, swirling his coffee around in its cup before taking another gulp. The question actually made him stop and think, and he glanced out the window for a moment to formulate his thoughts.

"I had some good teachers when I was in school," he said finally. "I was the kid who got picked last for sports, you know? I had friends, but I was always considered sort of a nerd - until college, at least. But even when my classmates were unbearable... well, my teachers kept my self-esteem level up. I guess they rubbed off on me, because I realized halfway through high school that I wanted to do the same."

Cole paused, smiling slightly. "I tutor this one student of mine - well, he used to be my student until he dropped out. Public school just wasn't for him. He's got this... shield around himself, like a defense mechanism, but he has potential. I guess I wanted to be the kind of teacher who'd be able to bring it out."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 05:33 am UTC (link)
Ileana propped her chin on her hands as she listened to Cole speak. “I think that’s so amazing. Did you ever want to be anything else? Or was it just teacher and you totally knew from then on?”

“It’s great to know that there’s some teachers out there like you,” Ileana grinned a little, “My teachers were just old gypsies who taught me most of my lessons in Roma.”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-24 05:54 am UTC (link)
"You do?" He brightened, clearly pleased by her praise, and took a bite out of his half of the brownie. "I wanted to be a writer at one point, before I realized that just writing books alone wasn't exactly a career. Oh, and - don't laugh - but I wanted to be a stage actor too. Other than that... teaching just felt right."

Cole laughed. "Well, at least you already have a second language. I can barely speak French, never mind anything else. But what about you, job-wise? What is it you see yourself doing?"

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 06:11 am UTC (link)
“Of course. Teaching seems like such a hard job to do really well at.” Ileana took a sip of her coffee and giggled a little when Cole mentioned being an actor. “I admit I did too.” She looked a little sheepish as she admitted, “I wanted to be Vivien Leigh until I was asked to actually go in front of a crowd. Then…not so much.”

Ileana shrugged a little as she took a bite of her brownie. It gave her a few seconds to think of her answer to Cole’s question. “Me? I…really don’t know yet. Really until I came to New York, I just thought I’d stay in the circus.” She shook her head as she said, “I don’t find I’m particularly good at anything yet, besides cooking.”

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-24 07:04 am UTC (link)
"I guess it is. I'd never call it easy, but... I'm kind of glad it's not. It's challenging and despite the fact that the lesson plans are usually pretty constant, every year is different." He grinned, imagining Ileana in Gone With the Wind. "It was the same with me. Performing in front of a crowd always made me too nervous. In front of my mother, well, I was fine."

Cole tilted his head to the side, frowning thoughtfully. "You could be a world-famous chef. Honestly, money is great and everything, but I'd rather be near broke and happy with what I'm doing instead of rich and absolutely miserable. Maybe I'm in the minority there, but..." He shrugged. "Do something you like, and ignore the idiots who tell otherwise."

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[info]vasilissa
2010-02-24 03:03 pm UTC (link)
"I guess it's never boring then," she said with a little smile. She took a drink of her coffee, briefly entertaining the thought of Cole on a stage and quietly laughed in to her coffee. "Guess the stage wasn't meant for our brilliant talents."

As Cole spoke, she couldn't help but be a little fond of his little speech. "I'd like to, but the problems usually aren't the money I'd have or not in the future. It's the money to get there." She admitted, "I thought of culinary school, but it's kind of out of reach."

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[info]blackcatsrbad
2010-02-25 12:01 am UTC (link)
"Definitely not. For example, I never know what thoughtfully scribbled message will be written on my chalkboard when I come in every morning. Sometimes my anonymous writer even leaves a picture." None of his students were actually mean-spirited, though, just... creative; so he didn't mind it too much. "Oh, well. I'm sure it'll manage without us."

False hope was never something Cole had a lot of, but there was a difference between impossible and difficult. "I know how that is... I was a couple years older than most of my college classmates because I took a few years off to work." He glanced down at his near-empty coffee cup. "If you want to go to culinary school," he said after a moment, "Then you'll find a way. I know it."

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(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-25 02:20 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-25 03:56 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-25 04:07 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-25 06:10 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-25 06:27 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-25 07:12 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-25 07:28 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-25 07:46 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-25 07:52 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-25 08:46 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-25 05:35 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-26 01:20 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-26 03:06 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-26 03:42 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-26 03:58 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]blackcatsrbad, 2010-02-26 04:39 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]vasilissa, 2010-02-26 04:57 am UTC

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