michael winter. (wwinter) wrote in commandhq, @ 2018-06-01 19:18:00 |
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It didn’t happen often, leaving the base for more than just a mission. Normally, missions or smaller assignments were the only reason agents were off base, with the few exceptions. It’d happened a time or so in Florida, and then it had just been nice to get above ground for a while, smell daylight for a few hours.
Indigo’s track record meant that there were few objections when she was tasked with something that could get her leave from base for a few hours. Overnight leave, mind you, wasn’t terribly common.
Leaving the Washington base was new; she’d only been there a few months, although she knew her record spoke for itself, and when it didn’t, she had faith that Mike backed it up. They did work well together after all, well enough that Indigo was possibly one of the few to request a transfer to work with a specific handler, and to have it granted. She didn’t doubt that her psych eval probably helped in that decision making process too.
Washington wasn’t like Florida, she had sunglasses, almost purely for the aesthetic though, and her black clad outfit didn’t absorb the same heat to the point of sweltering either. It was comfortable, rather than cloying. Which would undoubtedly make the whole ‘bodyguard slash assistant’ role all the more interesting to play.
“How many people am I allowed to terrify?”
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“If you’re not terrifying them all, Indie, I think you’re doing it wrong.”
Mike wasn’t totally sure it had been a smart idea to invite Indigo along for this. Backup wasn’t needed, certainly not an agent, and this was something he could have, and should have, done alone. The conference would be crammed full of people Mike would have plenty in common with – being alone or bored wasn’t likely – and his schedule was mighty packed. Plenty to keep him busy. In the end, however, it seemed like such a good opportunity get Indie off the base; she hadn’t been away from Limbo much, and this was as good a reason as any. Just to give her a little slice of normalcy.
Plus, spending time with her away from Limbo? Seemed like one of the better ideas he’d had in a long time. Or, rather; it seemed like a decent thought, and a bad idea, all at the same time.
“I considered asking if I could have you up at the podium with me, but that might be too distracting. I actually want people to listen to me and not worry that you’re ready to burst into the audience to kick all the ass.”
Mike led the way into the front foyer of the hotel. For a place to host a conference, it was actually alright – modern architecture rather than classical – and it was packed full of conference rooms. Already it was buzzing with activity, with speakers and visitors scurrying about. Booths had been erected with all sorts of show-off “inventions”, new or at least improved tech, most of which centered on private and business security.
Basically, it was his version of paradise.
“Look, I love Disney World, but this might be the better of the two.”
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Terrifying everyone at least meant that Indigo didn’t have to force herself to not look just a little bit bored sometimes; she had an ability to look intimidating just by standing around, and while her resting face could be inviting, she could also make it look like she was mad at the world. It took some pressure off to make sure looked relatively calm.
“And any time their attention drifted from you, I’d need to do exactly that.” It was probably a little too much, but she knew she’d stay close by just because.
Given how things were currently, Indigo was grateful for the time away from the base, even if it was just the one night. It was still a night and day away from the base, not dealing with whatever new insanity popped up. Thankfully, it had largely been other peoples insanity, but it still affected more of them than these troublemakers thought. Indigo understood acting out somewhat, because things could get frustrating, but there was a line that needed straddling.
And this conference wasn’t terrible. Indigo figured she could understand at least part of it, by the time they left the base, she’d likely understand more than that as her adaptive intelligence started to kick up a few gears and make the connections. But she couldn’t get to the geek levels of Michael just yet.
“Isn’t this the Disney World of nerds?” And it was said with a casual smirk thrown in Mike’s direction, although he would know she was teasing. “I’m sure fewer people are sick here at least.” Although pent up excitement could have the same effect as rollercoasters she was sure.
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“If you threw in some people in Marvel character mascot costumes? It may very well be the Disney World of nerds.” He leaned a little closer, as though about to confess something very secret and incredibly private, “But for me, I’d still need a roller coaster or two to make it all come together perfectly.” What he wouldn’t admit to was that he had spent the greater part of his childhood hurling after almost every single coaster that had an upside-down loop – that was something to die between him and Jason.
He winced and stood back up as he lead Indigo towards the conference room he was to present in later. “So you haven’t been by the public bathrooms yet, huh? You might wanna prepare for that trip. Lots of excited nerds… accidents are bound to happen.”
The conference room was pretty large – about a hundred seats set out in total, all pointed at a small stage and a large podium that, for Mike, would probably barely hit his torso. With a grin, he glanced towards Indie. “I’m really glad I don’t need that thing to hold a microphone. Having to stoop over it might have looked a little silly.”
Mike pulled in his shoulders and hunched over. “Do you think I’d still look as good presenting like this? I don’t know. Might take some of the authority out of the whole thing.”
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Indigo smirked at Mike, soft and casual as she rolled her eyes, “You still have to live life on the edge after all.” Although she did think it would suit him, rollercoasters and conferences, his intelligence and the playful charm. They were the things that made Mike Mike.
“I think I’ll avoid public bathrooms then.” It didn’t sound at all fun to be having ‘accidents’ in public bathrooms, especially if one of those accidents resulted in her accidentally breaking several fingers and traumatising some poor nerd.
Mike was definitely an outlier in this group; they weren’t terrible looking, just mousey, short and compact for the most part. Most of the men were about Indigo’s height, maybe a smidge shorter or taller, they wore similar shirts with blazers, some with cute designs on their ties, attempts to stand out. There was the odd rogue, taller or shorter than the norm, slightly more attractive, those types who either had the money and inclination to work on their style and fell into the science thing, or were just stupidly rich from the science thing and thus turned it into their attractive quality.
“I think it will make them less intimidated by you if you have a flaw.” Because Indigo could be intimidating in a scary way, but Mike was intimidating in different ways, likely all these people would look at him and see what they couldn’t be; smart and charismatic, attractive and well spoken. “But I don’t think you should injure your back stooping for the sake of their comfort.”
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“Better to just use the hotel room’s facilities,” he agreed.
It had been a little awkward, all things told; while Mike had made reservations for two rooms, the hotel had attempted to fit them into one. As an agent and a handler, that probably should have been closer to protocol, but Indie was nothing if not reliable, and it felt a little too unprofessional to share a room with her—her of all people. Something about Hazel’s gentle jabs or his own anxiety about sleeping just a few feet away from Indigo, an old friend, a colleague in many ways, and – question mark.
Fortunately, the whole thing had been sorted, and so Indie and her facilities were all her own. Just, of course, adjoined to his.
For the sake of protocol.
A slow grin spread across his face. “A flaw? Meaning that I am otherwise absent of flaws? Aw, Indie, I had no idea you thought so highly of me,” he put a hand on her shoulder and smiled kindly at her. “Is this what ego feels like? I really wouldn’t know, being so humble otherwise.”
His hand slid to the small of her back and his expression became more genuine. “Thanks again for coming, by the way. I always like these things, but they can be daunting. It will be nice to have a friendly-ish face out there in the crowd. But,” he paused, “To make up for what I’m assuming will be a massive amount of boredom on your part, I’ve got us some dinner reservations later, unless you’d rather do something without me looking over your shoulder for once. I promise—I won’t be offended.”
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She was permitted to go on these things because she didn’t cause incidents, outside on assignments that probably didn’t need her there, but her record of rule following and service likely meant people didn’t ask too many questions when she was taken for ‘assignment’. Time with Mike off base was just more relaxed too, she liked the ease of it all. Which meant she wasn’t looking to put that in jeopardy just because she had to knock a perv out in the bathroom line.
Her eyebrow quirked as Mike latched on to her use of words, “Perfection is littered with imperfections, there’s not such thing as flawlessness.” And if she was being particularly mean, she could pick out many things she thought were flawed about Mike; like his playfulness, the lack of seriousness, his utter objection to organisation, his endearing sense of humour. But they weren’t exactly bad traits to have.
Sometimes they just left her a little confused. Like the easy smile that graced her face just because of the casual contact they could have.
“Yes, your humble modesty is one of your finest qualities, Mr Winters.” Although, joking aside, Mike did have a degree of humbleness about him, especially when it came to his work. It was actually another endearing quality of his. “But I’ll be sure not to let your head get too big.” That was her civic duty.
Massive amount of boredom was likely not something Indie would really struggle with. She wasn’t overly interested in these things, but they weren’t boring. Or uninteresting. “Dinner sounds nice,” after a day of listening to people discuss things and present what they were presenting, a dinner would be a nice change of pace, “but of course I would enjoy your company. I’d bet you could use it after all this too. Where are we going?”
—-
Mike pressed his free hand over his heart (he honestly hadn’t realized his other was still at the small of her back) and breathed deeply. “You know, if you keep talking about all my fine qualities, it doesn’t matter what you do, my ego will inflate regardless of what else you say or do. Just be warned.”
He felt an immense amount of pressure lift from his shoulders when she agreed to go to dinner with him. Why did that feel like such a big deal? If she’d said no, he would have perfectly understood (they spent plenty of time around each other, a bit of time apart probably would have done her some good), but he wouldn’t have been able to properly mask the disappointment.
More and more he was starting to believe that there might have been some truth to Hazel’s gentle ribbings of late.
“They have a few restaurants here,” he cleared his throat and finally removed his hand from the small of her back. “One of them seemed a little nicer, but not too over the top, you know? I glanced over the menu, it seemed like it had more than a few items that might interest you. Even some healthy-sounding salads full of things I’ve never heard of before.”
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“Will your ego survive a spar with me when we get back?” Although she may toss him around a mat, she was never honestly violent with anyone who couldn’t take it. She knew how to minimise her force for people of varying abilities and skills. Mike wasn’t a slouch, but he wasn’t a super either.
Just being off base was a nice enough change. She did it infrequently, and while visiting the National Park was nice, it was utterly closed off to others while they’d been there, save the staff and guides. This was different; it was lively, full of people talking and comparing their latest inventions, demonstrations and comparisons. There was an energy that was always lacking in bases, excitement.
It was invigorating, and Mike’s presence was something Indigo was so comfortable in she didn’t need to play the agent role, didn’t need to be on constant high alert, forever serious and waiting for a threat. She could laugh, have a joke. She could feel a little freer, a little less heavy.
It had been a while since she felt that.
“So long as it has a meat-free option, I think I’ll manage.” A pasta or salad would be good, she could goad Mike into ordering a healthy side dish, explain balance and nutrition all over again. Away from the hustle and bustle of the convention she could even pose some questions about anything she didn’t understand or was curious about. “But it sounds lovely, I’m looking forward to it.”
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Mike inhaled sharply. “Good question,” he shook his head. “A few years back that might have wounded my pride a bit, but by now, I’m used to it. If you didn’t knock me down on the mat, I’d be more worried about your health.”
In all honesty, working for Regiment had humbled Mike a great deal; at least when it came to things like traditional gender roles and whatnot. Around Underworld and now Limbo, Mike was constantly surrounded by other men and women who could full-stop destroy him with just a flick of their fingers. Being tall, or fit, or healthy, or capable? Sometimes, there was just gonna be somebody stronger than you, whether they looked like they were or not.
Fortunately, he had learned to go with the flow and not worry about stuff like that. It seemed insignificant, in the grander scheme of things anyway.
He grinned. “I made sure of it. Why do you think I checked out the menu first?” He winked, the expression good-natured.
There was a small swell of nerves and pleasure when Indie confessed she was looking forward to it. It wouldn’t be like their dinners in his office—when she kindly brought him milkshakes and burgers and other “crap”, as she called it—but he also felt certain it wouldn’t be totally irregular, either. They had known each other long enough now that their rapport was so natural and lived in that he valued it above most of his other friendships around the base.
Probably all of them, actually—little brother excluded, of course.
“Glad to hear it!” He beamed as he extended his hand towards her. “Come on, I’ll take you in and help you find a seat. A good one,” he corrected, “Don’t want you to end up with a bad view while I’m up there talking all smart.”
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There was a slither of pride at the notion that Mike had checked out the options on the menu to make sure that Indigo would at least be able to find something to her dietary preferences. They teased each other about their diets, yes, but he was always very considerate about how she chose to live. At least with the very minimal choices she was allowed to make for herself.
“Then I’ll look forward to it. I’ll probably have a lot of questions about all this though.” They clearly held Mike in high regard here, for more than just the little inventions he made and his duties as a handler, but for his intellect. And Indigo had always appreciated that Michael hid a sharp intellect under his goofball nature.
Finding a seat for things would be good, and she did want to have a good view - a good angle on the podium, line of sight to the backstage area, center aisle to be sure she had suitable range from either side. “Get me an aisle seat, you have authority here, kick someone out if you need to.” Not just because Indigo’s long legs would appreciate it, but because if she needed to leap over anyone to take out a threat, she’d rather not have to wobble on seat backs.
“I’ll be hanging on every word you say.”