Guy will one punch your mom (coolestguyever) wrote in newalliance, @ 2012-07-03 13:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | guy gardner, ice |
Who: Guy Gardner & Tora Olafsdotter
Where: New York City, NYC (Various Locations)
When: June 22nd, 2012 [backdated]
What: Guy takes Tora out on a date. Nothing ever goes according to plan.
Rating: SFW, Guy punches a guy though.
Ever since the text he got from Tora setting up a date, Guy was anxious and excited. And trying to figure things out. He wanted to do this on his own but he didn’t want to be someone he wasn’t. Sometimes he wasn’t sure why Kari liked him, but he’d been a different person. Someone easily suckered into leaving his life behind to help out a guy who would go get engaged to the very girl he’d once been engaged to. Yes, he held the grudge, but you didn’t just forget things like that. Feelings for Kari were long gone though and he liked Tora. Even her use of emoticons, which he felt stupid using himself. For her though? It worked.
He arrived at her apartment, fixing the collar of his shirt and looking at the flowers he brought. A small bouquet of some simple flowers he’d picked up from the grocery store on the way over. Guy was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a gray dress shirt. He felt like an idiot in the outfit when he first grabbed it, but with the top button undone and the lack of a tie, he didnt feel like a buffoon as he might have should he have tried to make his appearance more proper.
He pushed the doorbell twice and then waited. This was it. Guy Gardner was going on a date. Heaven help him.
Tora had been watching the streets below for a sign of her date. After the mess with Loki and the stress of the Avengers Initiative, she needed a pick-me-up. She smiled when she saw that red hair (unmissable!) and hurried to the door at the sound of the bell. She paused for just a moment to run a hand through her hair and smooth out the skirt of her modest floral dress. She rarely dressed for attention, but this was a special occasion. She was going to go on a date! With Guy! Who (to the best of her knowledge) was neither an evil deity nor a creep, which was the best part of all.
She swung open the door, smiling at the sight of him. “Hi there...” She stepped closer, tapping a kiss to his cheek. “I hope you didn’t have trouble finding the place.”
Guy grinned. He couldn’t help it. She was there, smiling at him, and he felt like an idiot. Probably because he’d heard when he smiled big he looked stupid, but he didn’t care. “You look great,” he said, “And naw, it’s easier to navigate here than it is through the Bronx. And a lot safer too. Though if you lived there, I’d start looking for a new place for you to live as soon as possible.” Then he remembered he had flowers in his hands and held them out to her.
“These are for you,” he said, feeling a little embarrassed he’d gotten them at all. But he thought she might like them, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Normally his gut instinct wasn’t wrong, or at least, hadn’t killed him yet.
“Oh!” Tora exclaimed, surprised by the bunch of flowers, which she took from Guy. “Thank you, this is so sweet--let me get these into water! Have a seat.” She gestured to the living room, which she had managed to get tidy. The furniture screamed IKEA, but Bea had let her have a lot of say in the decorating and Tora had a soft spot for it.
“I’m glad it isn’t so dreary out,” she called from the kitchen. “It would be so disappointing to be rained on all night.” She returned with the flowers propped up nicely in a vase, which she set on top of the coffee table. “There. Looks perfect.” She giggled, turning to her date. “Shall we?” She was eager to get out and have a good time, and though she had no idea what Guy would be like on a date, she doubted he was boring.
He followed her in, taking a look around and remembering she had a roommate. That Bea woman with the green hair. “You have a nice apartment,” he commented casually, compared to his own it was much neater and well, neater. That wasn’t difficult to do though. “Yeah, nothing ruins a date quite like rain does,” he agreed, “Though I guess it’s not too bad sometimes. Aren’t movies always putting those romantic scenes in the rain?” Guy rose to his feet once she finished setting the flowers in a vase.
“Yeah, let’s go,” he said and came to the door, but paused to offer his arm. He remember Kari liked that, he suspect Tora might too. Gentlemanly behavior and what not. “Do you like Italian food?” he asked as he made his way out the door, “I figured we would go to Little Italy and grab a bite to eat and then after that...well, we’ll get to that point.” He was intending on taking her on a carriage ride in the park, which he thought would be enjoyable with good company, as opposed to a bunch of screaming kids as he’d seen earlier that day.
“I suppose you have a point...if those movies are right, it’s always raining in Paris!” Tora laughed, taking his arm when offered. The moment was short lived, however, once they got to the narrow staircase of her Brooklyn walk up. She slipped in front of him and made her way down to the sidewalk. “I do like Italian.” She would just have to be sure to eat something not too garlicky and not too heavy in case things went nicely.
“How is your friend?” she asked, wanting to know if everything had turned out alright in the end.
Down the stairs they went and he tried to sneak his way around her to get the door, “She’s okay, she was a bit shaken up by everything but...she’s surprisingly strong. I shouldn’t say that, she’s always been a bit tough.” He didn’t think it was right to give details. Oh, the daughter of the first Green Lantern was attacked by a Kree looking for the Starheart. If Jennie-Lynn had wanted the world to know about it, she would have blogged about it.
“Right now she’s just dealing with a bit of heart sickness. She likes a guy, he’s got baggage and she’s trying to figure it out,” he added, “She’s kind of like a little sister to me.” He shrugged it off as he brought her to his car. It wasn’t the prettiest of cars, and much like Guy, it matched him rather well. A little rough around the edges but it got him where he needed to go. It was an early 2000’s SUV, he bought it cheap from someone and the bar didn’t afford him money to buy a fancy sports car like other people could get.
Guy hurried before Tora and opened the door, “After you.” His cheesy grin returned.
Tora frowned a bit, feeling sympathetic for Guy’s friend. She understood full well the complexities of working out feelings for men. She did manage a grin for him opening the door. He had the goofiest smile, which she found rather endearing. It was nice to have someone genuinely happy to have your company. “Thank you...”
She slipped into the car, buckling herself in. “I am surprised you were able to find parking...this area is horrendous. The cars never move, it seems.” She glanced around for any kind of personal effects, little items that might give her a deeper glimpse into who Guy was beyond just her favorite bartender. “So...business has been good lately?”
Guy paused, “Well, I have my ways of doing these things. Sometimes, you gotta time yourself just right.” Like using his ring to physically move a car from one place to another. He was happy she hadn’t caught him doing that, because it was very illegal. These little things he didn’t want to share. Within the car there was the tassel from when he graduated University of Michigan years before and a half empty bottle of Coke sitting in the cupholder. Guy had taken pains to try to clean his car out, so it was generally clean of the usual bits of trash and wrappers. The program for Jennie-Lynn’s graduation from a few days before sat on the dashboard as well.
After she got herself into the car, Guy closed her door and move quickly into the driver’s seat, turning on the engine with a roar and then looking around to make sure he could get out easily. “Business is business. Had to fire someone for not showing up,” he complained, “But those are the hard knocks of being a boss. Just glad to be back though. I was out of town for the Corps for a small tour, you could say. What about you? How has work been for you? I don’t think you ever told me what you do for a living.”
This was the part that made dating outside of SHIELD hard to do. Sure, you could have a good discussion if you really got into a relationship with someone, but nobody asked you what your job was after six months. No, they asked right off the bat when there was too much risk in really talking about your work. Tora pushed a smile onto her face. “No, I don’t suppose I did. I work in International Affairs. For the government.” She tried to make it sound like to most boring desk job imaginable. “I am originally from Norway, and I came here to be more involved with this sort of work.”
She hoped he would run with the Norwegian thing (which she was happy to talk about) rather than what her work entailed.
International affairs. Government job. “Do you actually deal with the people or is it more paperwork?” he asked out of genuine curiosity. Thanks to his power ring, it translated other alien languages for him and he was never really the sort of Green Lantern chosen for diplomacy. They normally gave him grunt work, which he found obnoxious really. He could be diplomatic when needed. Or so he thought, his superiors knew otherwise. “It sounds exciting though. Do you travel a lot for your job?”
He hadn’t thought about her being Norwegian, but now he was looking for things that might make it more obvious to him. Though he found himself failing miserably. Only because she was a human from Norway, not an alien with obvious differences in anatomy and physical appearance.
“Do you miss Norway?” he asked, “Do you get to visit there often?”
“A bit of both,” Tora admitted honestly, though she definitely failed to elaborate on the matter. “I do get to travel sometimes, which is nice. But I also like to stay by our offices. It can be hectic, so I like to make sure my co-workers and I have...camaraderie, I suppose. I try to be someone they can trust and talk to.” She shrugged, folding her hands into her lap.
“I don’t go to Norway very often, no. My family live in a remote mountain village. I mostly correspond with them via letters, but in recent months, I have finally encouraged my mother to become more digital. We exchange emails and sometimes use video chat. They hate technology, but I think they miss having me around enough to merit getting over their distaste.” She smiled, running a hand through her short white locks. “Norway is very, very beautiful, and I miss all the gorgeous snow. However, I truly consider America to be my home now.”
Guy was trying to pay attention and for the most part he was able to. The only problem was the traffic. Normally he rode the subway because hell, New York traffic was the pits no matter what part of town you went to. Maybe not Queens, but generally everywhere else? Complete nightmare. He honked the horn a couple of times and tensed up but forced himself to relax. “My mom still demands phone calls,” he said, “She’s a lot like my dad though. A bit of technophobe. Every time I do talk to her, she nags me a lot of the time.” Never to come visit though. Everything else but that.
“How did you and your roommate meet?” he asked, “Is it through work or did you two go to college somewhere together? Did you always know you wanted to come here?” There was a lot he wanted to know about her and frankly, he liked the sound of her voice. It was rather calmly and he normally would have his head out the window cursing up a storm, but listening to Tora talk made him feel less volatile than usual. They’d be there in a couple of minutes, depending on if the jackass in front of him decided to actually go when the light turned green.
“We met through work. We started around the same time, you see,” Tora explained, a fond smile on her face. “Bea and I...we are not very similar, but we are like sisters. We share everything and support one another always.” She kept her eye on the New York traffic, which had always made her nervous. She didn’t mind the subway at all, but she did understand that if you could brave the roads, driving was a lot simpler.
“I grew up in a rather isolated place. I didn’t have much sense of what America was like, really. I thought I would grow up and live there my entire life, but then, I was given an opportunity to come to America. And I suppose I knew enough to know that my small town was not quite enough for me.” She turned her eyes to study Guy’s face for a moment before going on. “I was born with a unique ability--similar to a mutant ability but they have looked and I possess no x-gene.” She hoped Guy wasn’t put off my mutants, though she suspected this was very much not the case. “However, the trait is hereditary. I can make things colder, especially water. And so a scientist brought me here, and once they were done poking and prodding me, I got involved in International Affairs. I feel lucky that my little quirk has brought me so far, and into a life I never dreamed I could be living. With good friends and a strong community around me.”
“They thought the same thing about my friend,” he said, “They thought she was a mutant, but...she’s different, that’s all. I get what you’re saying though. Mutants aren’t bad, I know there are some swell ones out there. Just like people, there are douche bags and then there are the nice people.” Guy glanced at her with a smile and then went to find a parking space. With luck he wasn’t going to have to move someone, because there was the perfect spot available. It wasn’t even the lame sort of luck that got his hopes up only to tell him it was reserved for handicapped parking only.
The SUV came to park and he looked up at the sign for the cozy Italian restaurant. “Here we are,” he said and quickly climbed out the car to rush over to Tora’s side. He opened the door and then offered his arm, “You ready?” Guy was pretty proud of himself. Tonight was going smoothly, and nothing had happened yet to—
It wasn’t late enough to be dark just yet, but apparently the idiots with guns had come out already. Guy found someone pushing what felt like the shape of gun’s barrel into his lower back, “The keys, her purse and your wallet, now fucker.” The threat came as a hiss.
Tora’s eyes went wide as she listened to the robber’s demands. She had a weapon in her purse if she needed it, and there were always her abilities. Still, she was afraid of scaring the assailant when he had a weapon pointed at Guy’s back. “We don’t want any trouble, but you should lower your weapon...I don’t think you want anybody to get hurt today.” Stay calm, diffuse the situation, just like she’d be trained to do.
Guy, unlike Tora, wasn’t as calm about it. He was angry. This guy was seriously trying to rob him? It wasn’t like he was driving a Mercedes or an Audi. Or maybe that’s what made him a good target. Or the guy was desperate. Regardless, he had a gun, or something that felt like a gun, to his lower back and Tora was trying to talk him down. “Shut up, bitch,” the man snarled, “Hand over the purse or I send Dumbo here to the emergency room.” Guy had been in an emergency room before, he’d been in a coma to be more precise, he wasn’t looking to go back into one soon.
“Just do what she says,” he growled and began to turn but the gun was jammed harder into his back, “Don’t move or I swear I’ll do it.” The sound of another gun clicking from the opposite side of the car drew Guy’s attention then. Great, now there were two of them. And the man was now holding a gun that was pointed directly at Tora’s head.
His brain stopped really thinking and more acted. The audacity of what these guys were doing made him livid and Guy began to slip his hand into his pocket. The two thieves might have thought he was reaching for his wallet, but in fact, it was his power ring.
“Actually, she can stay in the car,” the thug behind Guy said, “I always did have a thing for blonds.” Blind fury took over and Guy reacted. His hand jerked from his pocket and then his body swung quickly, clocking the thief hard in the jaw. The gun that had been in his back fired, but fortunately, or unfortunately, into the front tire of Guy’s SUV. It had happened so quickly robber with the gun pointed at Tora stood there in shock.
Guy went to grab the basketball he normally kept in the front seat of the car but it wasn’t there. Dammit! The other man was coming to his senses, the guy on the ground groaned loudly. Guy turned to kick the man on the ground in the face hard, “Stay down, asshole.” He picked up the gun from his possession and then pointed it to the one holding the guy to Tora, “Put the gun down now or I pop a cap in your shoulder, asswipe.” There was that wild and crazy look in Guy’s eyes that usually people who fought him as a Green Lantern were witness too. There were a lot of things that pissed him off and these guys had hit about three or four things on that list in a matter of a few short minutes.
Amazingly (or thanks to all her training), Tora didn’t flinch when the gun went off. She also didn’t take a moment to check that everyone was alright. The fundamentals of what she knew said to neutralize the immediate threats before leaping into damage control. For the moment, the man was distracted by Guy pointing a gun at him, and that was all she needed. She lifted her hand quickly, launching a wave of frost at the man that encased gun and arm in a block of ice so thick that he wouldn’t be able to move his trigger finger for a while.
Still, this second man wasn’t out entirely. She froze his feet to the ground just when she could see him starting to decide that it was a good time to escape. “Are you okay?” she asked softly. Guy looked enraged. She understood why, but with a gun in his hand she just wanted to calm him down. “Let me call the police, okay?” She fished out her phone.
Guy was tense and mad, but he wasn’t mad at Tora, so that was a big difference. “I’m fine,” he said with a big of gruffness to it and then calmed a little, “Really, I’m fine. Just...pissed off.” Seeing Tora do magic hadn’t phased him in the least. Not only because of her telling him about it before, but the fact that what he saw around Oa, well, nothing really surprised him in that manner. The gun was still gripped tightly in his hand and he quickly unloaded it, mimicking the swiftness with it the way he’d seen his brother do when he was younger.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “This is a shitty way to start a date.” He wanted to kick the guy again and moved his foot to but paused, for once, deciding not to. Guy stepped closer to her, “You’re okay though, right? Hell, this is not how I wanted this to go. Call the police, we’ll give them a statement and then eat still.” He didn’t want the date to end like this, it wasn’t fair that it might be over before it really started to happen.
“It’s okay,” Tora murmured in response to his apology before turning to speak into her cell. She rattled off her information before tucking the phone away. “I’m okay. Promise.” She smiled, resting a hand on his arm which she hoped would comfort him a bit. “And don’t worry. Things rarely go as we plan them.” It could still be romantic! Once they took care of the thugs!
Soon enough the police were there. “Let me speak with them first...” Because assault, even in self-defense, could sometimes be misconstrued in a legal setting. She spoke to the officers away from Guy, discreetly passing them her government credentials and explaining what had happened. The officers took her contact information and rounded up the bad guys, and within a few minutes she was back with Guy. “There. That wasn’t so bad. And better us than people who couldn’t defend themselves, right? At least they are going to jail...”
People who knew Tora well enough knew that she could put a positive spin on almost anything. She had a big smile on her face as she linked her arm with Guy’s. “Now. Where is the restaurant?”
Wasn’t so bad? Wasn’t so bad? Guy looked at her genuinely surprised. She was one hell of a trooper, but certainly, if she hadn’t been there, he’d be going to jail along with those two morons. “Yeah, at least they’re going to jail,” he said. For now. They’d be out the next day, maybe the day after. Guy could easily track them down then and they would learn never ever to try robbing him ever again. New York was a big city but when Guy intended to do something, he was going to do it and damn the consequences.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked as he began to lead her to the restaurant. Which was right in front. It was one of those small cozy places and when you walked in it smelled of garlic and rosemary. Which meant it smelled like heaven to Guy. Here he didn’t know anyone so it was a good chance that it’d be just the two of them, which is exactly what he wanted. It was somewhat busy, but getting a table took less than a few minutes. Soft music was playing with a very stereotypical Italian sound to it.
Guy rushed forward to pull the chair out for Tora, accidentally knocking a waiter along the way. He fumbled, “Shit, sorry. Here, sit.” The waiter had managed to catch his balance but glared at Guy and Guy glared right back. He took a step forward like a threat and the waiter hurried along while Guy found his seat.
“I’ve never really eaten too much Italian food. I grew up with soda bread, shepherd’s pie and Irish stew,” he admitted, “The only Italian I ever had was pizza or Chef Boyardee.”
Tora made a face when Guy collided with a waiter, worried for a moment that someone would get knocked over. Still, he was trying to do something nice for her, which was endearing. She took her seat and thanked him. “I am told traditional Norwegian food isn’t the most appetizing to Americans, though I recommend everyone have reindeer steak at some point in their life.” She smiled up at him from over the top of her menu. “I’ve grown accustomed to the food in New York--really, you can get almost anything here. But I haven’t eaten at this restaurant. I’m excited. This menu looks great.”
She couldn’t help gushing. They had had such a stressful start to the date, and she wanted to put Guy at ease. The fact was that she was having a good time. Conversation came easy. Guy clearly had one of those big personalities that put Tora at ease. She had always been more quiet than most and happy to let others take the lead or command attention. Sometimes it took a big boisterous personality to fill in the quiet. That was why she and Bea worked so well together.
They ordered their food, occupying themselves with idle chatter until their food came out. “This looks amazing.” She tucked her snow white hair back behind her ears, leaning over to examine her plate. She was tempted to take out her phone and post the meal on Instagram so that Bea could see what a good time she was having, but she refrained. The ambiance was so charming and cozy and romantic--clearly, Guy had put a lot of thought into his plans. He was such a sweetheart! “So did you always want to have your own business?”
“Naw,” Guy said and admitted, “I did other stuff. Worked as a teacher for special ed kids for a bit, then did the whole vagabond and after that, was recruited to the Corps.” He could go into further detail. Getting trapped in the Phantom Zone, seeing his fiancée fall in love with Hal, getting back from the Phantom Zone, then there was the coma and...it was too much baggage there. Especially for a first date, and he didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer.
He started poking at his food in front of him, stabbing a piece of lasagna off, “The bar was sort of random, actually. I don’t have too much of a mind for business. Hell, I got my degrees in Education and Psychology. But it’s easy to step away from if I ever get called in to the Corps, so it works out. And I haven’t been shut down or gone out of business, I must be doing something right, eh?” Guy grinned somewhat stupidly but he didn’t care.
“Maybe it’s just New York though. I’m from Baltimore originally, but New York seems to take kinder to my business than the harbor ever did,” he added, though New York just knew less about the Gardners than Baltimore did.
Tora perked a little bit when he’d said he worked with special education children. She loved kids and was fairly certain that if she wasn’t in the whole world of international espionage, then she’d want to be doing some kind of work with children. (She had only been half-joking when she offered to be Lian’s nanny.) “Well they do say that bartenders are like therapists,” she pointed out, a joking smile on her face. “I hear New York is not an easy place to own a bar in, so you must really be doing something right.”
This date had been something of a surprise. She had obviously spoken with Guy at length before at the bar, but somehow she still hadn’t known what to expect from him. He was a little rough around the edges, but he had still behaved like a perfect gentleman--and not like Loki had. She couldn’t see Guy manipulating her to some bigger, more sinister purpose.
“Ha, that must be it,” Guy chuckled, “I play therapy to a lot of people, though I think I’d prefer the company of some kids than the problems people try to tell me.” Or maybe it was because his bar was one of the few where you could get into a fight and weren’t necessarily banned for life. Just for a bit or until Guy cooled down enough to have second thoughts about their exile from his bar. Besides, if he banned everyone that got into a fight, nobody would be at his bar and he couldn’t have that.
He ate a few bites of food and those few bites ended up finishing it off. Then Guy began the task of trying to scoop up the leftover sauce onto his fork. He was hungry and when he was hungry, he ate fast. “You said something about reindeer steak before,” he remembered, “So you guys seriously eat reindeer? I used to think they were just made up like Santa Claus. Are you going to tell me he’s real too?” Joking, of course, he was smiling and their waiter returned with another plate of bread sticks.
“So what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” he asked, figuring it’d make for some more interesting conversation.
“I do not know about Santa Claus, but reindeer are beautiful. And..delicious, I suppose,” Tora laughed a bit, taking a sip of water as she relaxed back in her chair. “Their fur is thick, and you can make good skins with it. I used to have a winter reindeer coat that my mother had made for me.” Thinking of her mother always made her feel a bit homesick, so she was glad that Guy interrupt her tangent with a question.
“Craziest...that’s a bit subjective.” She thought on the question for a moment. “I like to learn things. See interesting places, learn new customs. But most of my childhood I’m sure would seem crazy to Americans. I’m sure you wouldn’t believe half of it if I told you.” It was hard to put into words what the early part of her life had been like, wrapped as it was between reality and mysticism.
So reindeer weren’t some random invention of the toy companies. Huh, learned something new every day. Guy smirked, “I don’t know, I’ve seen some pretty crazy things in my life. I’m sure I could believe some of the stuff you’ve done or seen. There’s got to be something that made you think ‘This is insane’ when you did it?” He wanted to hear more about her and truthfully, he liked it when she talked in general. She had a nice voice, her expressions were sweet and he liked the way her lips formed words.
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” he added, hoping it would be some sort of incentive.
“I suppose my job has taken me to some interesting places, but I cannot discuss a lot of it,” Tora replied with a shrug. “I grew up on the side of a frosty mountain, in a camp where my father was king of our people...no sovereign in the true sense of the word, but...his magic is respected, even by those who don’t live on the mountain. I used to have adventures all the time in the snow, adventures that seem very far removed from the life I’m living now. We’d pretend to fight the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, and as we got older, we got into terrible spats that were not so pretend. One of us would inherit the tribe, and Ewald wanted it so badly. I chose my fortunes elsewhere. Took the first opportunity to leave and see a whole new world. I moved to America on my own, and I’ve done alright for myself. Does uprooting from one place to a wholly different place count as crazy?”
She smiled, taking a sip of her water. “I hope it counts. I’d like to hear your story.”
“You know, some people buy video games to get to experience what you used to,” Guy noted, “So they might call you crazy for coming here.” He wasn’t going to question the idea of Frost Giants, though he wondered what they looked like. Or if they were magic or just aliens on earth that were trying to make a home. In Sweden. Well, it was better than them moving in on a place like New York and trying to kick everyone else out...
But now it was his turn. Which was hard because he had plenty of crazy stories to share as a Green Lantern, but explaining it...that was the hard part. “I guess the craziest thing I’ve ever done is run into a building of fire to save this guy,” Guy half lied. He’d run into a burning spaceship to save a member of the crew, but he had to improvise, “It was crazy. People yelling at me to give it up and, I’m not trying to honk my own horn, but it was insane. The shi—building falling apart, running in there on pure adrenaline. Could have gotten myself killed, but I got him out. Ended up getting reamed by the firefighters—” other Green Lanterns “—but it was worth it. I’d been talking to this guy before, had a family and stuff, was heading home to see them. Didn’t seem fair at all to just let him die to save my own skin.” Maybe it did make him sound extra brave and amazing, but dammit, he wanted to impress her.
“My crew called me the Crazy One after that,” he said, even if it wasn’t that incident in particular that earned him the nickname, but maybe one of a series of events. He then reached out and grabbed the waiter by the arm, “She needs a refill and I need the check.” He would have stayed there talking much longer if he could, but he wanted to get to where they were going next.
“Again I must say that crazy is subjective,” Tora replied, a warm smile on her face. “I would not call that crazy. I would call it brave.” He saved lives, and he was a bartender! Yes, he had alluded to some sort of history in the military perhaps, but still, every day acts of heroism impressed her. She thanked the waiter when he came to refill her water and bring them the check. She knew better than to think of offering anything towards it since Guy had been so forceful with the server earlier. She took a big sip of water before bringing her purse to rest in her lap (as she assumed they would be leaving soon). “That was a very good story. I’m glad you shared it with me.”
Guy wasn’t at all what she had expected him to be. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had anticipated when he’d asked her out (it had been so random), but he had already proven himself to be funny and brave and smart. She still felt like she had barely scratched the surface with what she knew about him, but that would come with time.
“I’m glad to meet someone that doesn’t mind hearing it,” Guy smiled, knowing that most of his own stories had other people involved. Sharing them often enough had led them not to wish to hear them again, though it never really stopped him. When the check came, Guy threw some cash in there. Credit cards were too much work, and the last thing he wanted was to owe money to somebody else. Not that he owed a lot, but the fewer people he had to deal with when it came to money, the better.
Now came the fun part. Or the part that would either make him or break him. They headed out of the restaurant and made their way back to his SUV. He drove them out toward Rockefeller Center and then parked the car. This was a great idea, it was his best idea. That’s what Guy kept telling himself as he guided her toward their destination. It wasn’t until he got there and saw that it was closed that he realized his mistake.
Of course the ice rink was closed. It was June for God’s sake. Guy stared at the sign and his eye twitched at his own stupidity. For all the planning he had done, he hadn’t called the place to see if they were open. Tora was probably expecting some sort of surprise, but they couldn’t skate on a rink that wasn’t necessarily a rink anymore.
“Shit,” he muttered, “I...for some reason I thought they were open year round.”
Tora could sense a good deal of anticipation on Guy’s part, like he had a surprise planned. She stopped next to him in front of the space where there was normally the Rockefeller Center ice rink. He seemed upset it was closed, but she was thrilled that he had thought of something that suited her so well. Still, she couldn’t bear the thought of him being so disappointed. She took him by the hand, tugging him away. “Hey. Come with me.”
It was a short walk to Central Park, and once there, she looked around for an empty patch of grass. It was late enough that not too many people had congregated on the greens, so she knelt down and placed her hands to the ground. Coating a small area with a thick layer of ice. “Who says you can’t skate all year round?” She laughed, sitting down in the grass and carefully icing her shoes to make decent skating bottoms. “Sit down so I can do yours too.”
Guy expected to see disappointment on Tora’s face. Or annoyance. Or something that was going to tell him that he managed to royally screw up a date that had been going fairly well. When he finally looked at her, she didn’t seem disappointed. She took his hand and Guy cracked a smile, allowing her to lead him. If she wasn’t going to smack him upside the head for being so daft, he’d gladly walk with her. So long as she didn’t smack him with something that would actually hurt.
In Central Park he was witness to more of what Tora could do. He’d seen some already this evening, but instead of taking care of some muggers, she was creating a rink for them. The ground was now a sheet of thick ice and he could see the contrast between it and the warmer air that surrounded it. Definitely thick enough to skate on for a bit. “Is this what you do?” he asked sitting down to allow her to ice the bottom of his shoes, “Take things that guys like me plan poorly for and end up making them cooler? You’re like Mary Poppins. On Swedish and not a nanny.” He hoped she would take it as the compliment it was meant as.
When she finished with his shoes, he stood up, shakily stepping onto the ice. He wasn’t the best skater out there, or maybe he wasn’t used to wearing his own shoes to glide on the ice. “How long will the ice last?” he asked offhandedly, nearly slipping but managing to catch himself, and finally find his balance.
“It was your idea,” Tora pointed out. “I think it’s very clever to think of ice skating in the summer.” She took an easy turn around the ice. “I’m Norwegian, by the way.” He wasn’t the first person to make that mistake, nor would he be the last. Normally she would let things like that pass by without a mention, but she had a good deal of pride for her country--plus, she could see Guy staying in her life for awhile.
She twirled in a circle before stopping to look down. “I suppose as long as we want it to. I can always thicken it later.” She glanced over at him, noting that his balance had been hard fought. She skated over to him, taking his hand. “Do you ice skate often?”
Norwegian. Right. Guy could have punched himself in the face right then. “I’ll be sure to remember that,” he replied. Insta-ice-rink for whenever and however long she wanted one. That was pretty damn useful. “I lived in Michigan for a bit, you’d think I’d be better, but it’s been a while since I’ve been on ice,” he said, wanting to take his hand back because of male pride, but at the same time, she was holding his hand. Willingly. Granted between his bar and the Green Lantern Corps and his severe lack of dating life, he never got around to making time to go ice skating. None of which, save for working at his bar, he’d fess up to.
“I think I got it though,” he took a couple of strides and held himself well enough that he wasn’t as uneasy as he was before. Guy was now standing in front of her, his stupid grin, “You’re amazing, you know that, right?”
Tora nearly slipped when the words came out of his mouth but caught herself a moment later. Her eyebrows had shot up in surprise as she looked at him. Yes, Bea cared about her very much, and her friends and co-workers always said how sweet she was. But, for the life of her, she couldn’t remember the last time someone had called her amazing. She blushed, turning her face away from him. “I bet you say that to all the girls.” She had heard that line in a movie once, and it seemed apropos.
There weren’t a lot of girls to say that too. He could think of a few that were amazing yeah, but none that he actually would go on a date with. “Maybe, or, I just think you are and you deserve it. Take the compliment,” he joked, “Take it and like it.” The grin spread a bit wider and he wondered what he could get away with tonight. They were holding hands, that was something, maybe he’d get lucky tonight and she’d actually kiss him too. A part of his brain said that he should be the one kissing her, and he should try it now, but Guy felt like if he acted too much like himself, he might scare her. The fact that he could show any self-restraint was a bit surprising in itself.
“If I were to ask you out on another date,” he said, “Would you say yes?”
None of Guy’s words were doing a thing to stop Tora’s manic blushing. She was having a wonderful time, but the complement had her feeling overwhelmed (in the best possible way, of course). Realizing the red in her cheeks wasn’t about to go away anytime soon, she stopped hiding her face, looking right up at him. “I’m pretty sure I would, but you’ll never know unless you ask me.”
“Will you go on another date with me?” Guy asked, “Whenever you have time free from work, that is. I know you said your work schedule is busy but...I’d like to take you out again. I’ll plan better too. Take us to a place where we won’t get almost mugged and...yeah.”
Tora was beaming. She let go of his hand, circling around him on the ice. “Yes. I’d love to go on another date with you, Guy.” She couldn’t wait to tell Bea about the night she was having with their local bartender! Her friend wouldn’t even believe it.