“No.” Was how Tommy greeted Regan when they both ended up standing across from each other in the doorway at Footsteps. Tommy had been working on getting Bellamy Blake and Mikaela Banes to realize they were meant for each other. He was pretty sure he’d told them they were good looking people and stop being fucking idiots and share a smoothie.
Now, however, it seemed the little panther was trying to set up him with Ms Ankel Bracelet by forced proximity, at least that was how Tommy decided to look at it.
“I repeat, no,” frowning, "I’ve got work to do.” He added gruffly.
Regan couldn’t help but laugh when she saw who she was set up with. She laughed, and laughed. Took a pause to look Tommy from head-to-toe and laughed some more. She doubled over in laughter for about thirty seconds before she stood up, wiped the non-existent tears from her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest. A deadpan expression on her face.
“No is an understatement,” she said. “Besides, looking at you now I really doubt that you could handle a woman like me.”
She had to be insane yeah? Tommy's first impression wasn't brilliant and now seeing her in person and the laughing (he'd label it an 8 on the creepy laugh scale), Tommy really didn't think much of her.
It was his turn to laugh. Shaking silently but not smiling while laughing he shrugged. "You haven't a clue what I can handle, and you wouldn't be worth much of my time." He shot back looking her up and down.
Regan ignored the way he looked at her up and down, and shrugged. “I am worth everyone’s time,” she said while looking at her nails. If she didn’t have this damned ankle bracelet on she’d trap him in his mind with his worst fears. And he’d never be able to break out. Leave him in a fucking coma for all she cared. But that wasn’t the way to get to this guy. If she wanted to have fun, she’d have to make him want to get close. It was time for a different strategy.
“Besides, you’re the one that started with the insults before we even met. My reaction is warranted. You completely judged me without knowing me at all.” The expression on her face turned at this point. Her eyes showed sadness, and she was even able to make some tears well up in them. She made her posture sink a little, and let out a sigh. “So I get a little defensive,” she said with a soft voice. “You can’t blame a girl for protecting herself.”
Tommy raised an eyebrow. He didn’t really buy it. The laughing and now the almost tears were too much for him and did not find it endearing or interesting. Crossing his arms he just smirked. If he remembered correctly she wasn’t exactly little miss innocent either. “You like games don’t you.” It wasn’t a question it was a simple observation, or at least it was what he assumed.
“It’s not going to work on me,” he’d seen too much and been through too much to fall for the laugh/tear up tactic.
The only way it was going to work is if she kept it up so despite the fact that he called her out on it she didn’t relent. “When you come from the kind of world I did you’d do almost anything to survive,” she said to him. She kept up the ruse, and though her eyes brimmed with tears they didn’t fall down her cheek. She looked at him squarely, unwavering in her decision to present herself as vulnerable.
“I don’t care what you think it is, but it’s not a game. There are things I’ve done in my life that I’m not proud of, and I saw this place as a chance to be better. But old habits die hard so I lash out. I tear people down if I can. Whether you believe it or not is not up to me, but it’s my truth.”
She let her hands drop to her sides, and she let out a sigh. “Are you saying you’re so innocent that you can’t understand wanting to change for the better, or that change is hard?”
“That’s good for you,” touchy and feely weren’t things that Tommy was good with, in fact, it usually made him even more uncomfortable than anything else. Besides, he still wasn’t buying the poor me’s coming from her. It felt off to him even if she was doing a good job of looking down.
“I don’t make a habit of sharing those sorts of things,” he responded, despite it, he did know a lot about how difficult it was to change and get out of a darker world, she didn’t need to know that. “Well, sorry I hurt your feelings,” even though he didn’t really think he had. “I’ve got shit to do if you don’t mind,” he said pointing to the door indicating he might want to go.
She wasn’t going to let up on the act, not when she could sense that her emotions were making him uncomfortable. Or the fact that he was thinking that she really did look down. She swallowed hard, and nodded when he apologized. “It’s okay,” she said to him. “I should learn to be more tough. I get the feeling I’m going to have to be with you.” She offered up a shy smile at him, hoping that it would bring in him more, but then he pointed to the door.
“I mean,” she started to say as she took a step forward. She touched his arm (purposefully), but reeled back and acted as if she didn’t mean to. “Sorry… I’m sorry. I just… I mean, we’re already here. We could at least eat together, start over maybe?”
Because if she wanted to really tear him down she had to get close, one way or another.
Tommy really didn’t like it, something about it didn’t feel right, he didn’t like upsetting women but he didn’t like being uncomfortable even more and had a need to go do other things, like tell the two people talking by the counter not to fuck it up again or something along those lines.
Pulling back when she touched him he looked at her deciding he really couldn’t trust anything that she said or did. “Nope,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve got other things to do and sitting down with you isn’t in the cards love." He knew better than to stick around when a situation had a feeling of not being right.
Regan frowned. Once again his apprehension with her was palpable. Even if she wasn’t a telepath she could have seen how uncomfortable he was. And while that was a small victory for her she couldn’t say she was entirely satisfied with it. More than anything she wanted to use her powers against him, but she didn’t fancy getting a shock out of it.
“Fine,” she said. A little bit of her attitude coming back. “You can’t say that I didn’t try.” There was a mischievous glint in her eyes though the expression on her face was completely neutral. “Just remember that I gave you a chance to make nice with me. It won’t happen again. Fool me twice, and all that.”
She smiled at him, head cocked to the side to examine him. She imagined him without his clothes on, and ran her tongue over her top teeth. “Well, I wouldn’t rule out romp in the sack with you even if you are a dick. We’ll play it by ear.”
She shrugged nonchalantly and picked up the bag she had laid on the chair. Regan made her way toward the door, moving by him quickly. If anyone was going to walk out on this “date” it was going to be her. “See you around, Tommy.” She said over her shoulder before she left.
Tommy simply watched her as she spoke. It wasn’t until she was walking away that he said something.
"I don't do crazy," Tommy called after her as he watched her walk away, everything she'd said and done just proved it to him, the switch of attitude was enough for him to not trust anything that happened around her.
"And that one is crazy," he said mostly to himself and turned to get himself another coffee, he was going to need it.