InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Sale at the Big Q"

Carrie Kelley (girlwonder) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2008-05-27 22:50:00

Entry tags:

carrie kelley, doug ramsey

who. Doug Ramsey and Carrie Kelley
what. Work and play
when. Today

Carrie wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather. When she'd left her apartment, the sky had been bright and it'd been warm outside. By the time she was a few blocks from Doug's place, the clouds had descended. "Don't rain," she chanted quietly as she ran down the street. She wasn't much of a praying woman but she didn't want to get drenched.

Three blocks from the shop, there was a thundering boom. The sky opened up suddenly. "Shit!" Carrie squeaked and picked up her pace. By the time she made it through the doors, her hair was wet and sticking to her face. She wasn't quite soaked through by she was good and damp.

"Hey," she said, setting down a bag that was heavy with laptops. Good thing she'd put all the laptops in waterproof cases. "Got a towel?" She asked with a grin. "Or some paper towels, even?"

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	code_kid 2008-05-28 03:08 am UTC (link)
	Doug whirled and bounced up from his seat and snatched a handle, and a closet on the wall popped open, letting Doug grab towels and come toward her. "Having fun?" He had been working. No surprise there. He always worked. (Reply to this) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-05-28 03:12 am UTC (link)

"Is getting rained on fun?" She was grinning. Maybe it'd been a little fun. In a little kid splashing through rain puddles sort of way. She wasn't about to admit it.

She took the towel and ruffled it through her hair. "I brought back some computers," she said, pointing at her bag. "How are you?" Carrie craned her neck and looked around as thunder boomed. Doug's place always looked the same: like he never leaved.

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code_kid
2008-05-28 03:17 am UTC (link)

He eyed that grin and did not answer. His eyes lit up as he peered at the computers and grinned.

"Excellent! Dude! Fast work! Very cool!"

He bounced. Pent up energy was racing through his system.

"I'm good. Tired. Been working on a slow burn virus on the Typhus Mainframe job. Slow going but not too hard. Just... tedious."

He rarely did. With a bed in the back and everything else he needed, he mostly slept here.

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girlwonder
2008-05-28 03:24 am UTC (link)

"Thanks." She smirked. He seemed really bouncy. Carrie supposed that shutting himself in with computers all day resulted in excess energy. "If you have more for me to fix, I'll take them off your hands." She finished drying herself and laid the towel down on a counter, away from electronics. "Can I help with that? I'm not the best at viruses unless they're a little old." She shrugged.

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	code_kid 2008-05-28 03:35 am UTC (link)
	He pointed to two shiny neon pink laptops in a corner. "You could work on those? Standard reconditioning. A return to factory specs. There should be papers under them." Then he grinned. "It's okay. Not unless you want to read miles of code for hours." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-05-28 03:40 am UTC (link)

Carrie took a minute to look over the papers. There wasn't anything she had to do with the computers that she couldn't handle. She put the laptops, offensively pink, into cases and slipped them into her bag. "Did twin twelve year olds come in today?" She grinned. And totally judged people who like bright as fuck pink.

"I think I'll pass." She wandered around the room a little. It seemed rude to show up and disappear so suddenly.

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code_kid
2008-05-28 03:43 am UTC (link)

"Nah. Some parents who have too much money and too much spoiling delight for their kids. They can afford it, so this job will bring in some cash, and a bonus if they are done in a four day period before the kids get back from camp to miss the computers."

He eyed her.

"How is life? And... engagement and such?"

He was awkward mainly because... well, he always felt that way. Social graces he was not brilliant at.

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girlwonder
2008-05-28 03:49 am UTC (link)

"Noted." Carrie considered. She could get them both fixed up in less than four days if she worked hard at it and maybe skip a night of crime fighting. "I'll get them back in three."

She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Marriage is good. Weird. But good." There was a smile on her face. The same smile that made an appearance whenever she talked about Dick. "I don't really think of myself as a wife. Because that's... unnatural." She laughed a little.

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	code_kid 2008-05-28 03:55 am UTC (link)
	"Groovy!" Doug liked that about Carrie. He could always count on her and she was good at what she did. "Yeah? Good.": Then he blinked at her last words. "Okay. Whatever works for you, you know? As long as you like what is going on, go with it." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-05-28 04:03 am UTC (link)

She grinned. Doug was a little weird. It was easy to tell that he wasn't really used to hanging out with people. But that didn't bother her. She lived in a family of people who dressed up like bats. Or birds. She was hardly in a position to judge.

"I'm happy. So it's all good." The marriage had been rushed, but it seemed to be working out. "How are things on your end." Carrie peeked out a window. She was happy to find that the rain was dying down. Those sudden storms never lasted long.

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	code_kid 2008-05-28 04:09 am UTC (link)
	He nodded. "Good! Because you rock, and anything else would suck." "Things are okay. The same, really. Quiet, and uneventful. Which is... okay." He nodded. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 04:15 am UTC (link)
	He was definitely odd. She grinned. "Thanks." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Is it really okay?" She asked, raising a brow curiously. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 04:31 am UTC (link)
	He blinked. "I-- well..." He shrugged. "It's life, you know? No need to worry about it. I am fine." He nodded and his voice firmed with confidence. "I am slowly building a system with backset servers and interface tech that, if it goes live, right, will totally allow me to slip across the internet easier." He grinned. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 04:34 am UTC (link)
	"You should know," Carrie said, looking up at him with a little smile, "My father figure is a pro at dodging questions and avoiding feelings. So I'm used to this. And if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. I'm just offering an ear. If you want or need." She shifted the subject like he had. "And that's cool. I'm all for faster internet browsing." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

code_kid
2008-05-28 04:53 am UTC (link)

"Thanks. It's just more of the same. You are my only real friend, here, and most of the ones I used to have are busy with their own lives. I don't want to bother them, and I feel... less than grounded here."

He shrugged.

"But I am making money, having fun, and not unhappy. Just... floaty."

Then he grinned.

"Oh, it will be more than that. Faster movement, means being able to anticipate what someone else will do somewhere else, and see more, and learn more, and communicate more. It means... I will be able to help more."

He nodded, eyes bright.

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girlwonder
2008-05-28 05:03 am UTC (link)

"That sounds good." She noticed the look in his eye immediately. He was a good person. He wanted to help. "Can't wait for the beta test."

Not unhappy didn't quite equal happy. Carrie knew this. She also knew that pushing wasn't a good thing. So she nodded and felt a little bad that there weren't more friends for him. He needed to go out and meet people. "You can fix the whole me being your only friend thing, you know."

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	code_kid 2008-05-28 05:09 am UTC (link)
	He nodded. "Hopefully a week or so will get it up and running." He blinked at her, then squinted. "People and being social are both scary, and possibly hazardous to one's health." He grinned, then. "I know. I just... usually don't have a clue what to say." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 05:18 am UTC (link)
	"Cool," she grinned. "I'll keep my schedule open for next week." She looked forward to what Doug had to offer. He was, as far as she could tell, a genius with computers. "Being social is not that scary. It's doable. All you need to do is practice," Carrie said. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 05:20 am UTC (link)
	"Scaryyyyyy. He pointed at her. "Like, if you were not such a geek, this would be a far harder conversation. Girls, and talking, and argh." He nodded, a hint of blush in his cheeks. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-05-28 05:26 am UTC (link)

She grinned. Had she been with some other guy, one of the bats, she'd have pointed out her breasts and said mean things to try and make them awkward. Doug was socially awkward. She didn't want to make him terribly uncomfortable. "I am a girl," she said, "And we're cool. We work together and have conversations. It's easier because I'm a geek? Pretend everyone you meet is a geek. Or go to places where geeks gather."

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	code_kid 2008-05-28 05:29 am UTC (link)
	He blushed more. "Yes, you most definitely are, but you are Carrie, the Geek, and that overrides the girlness." He nodded. "...maybe. I dunno. Talking to people is... not the best thing I do." He shook his head. "I would much rather just fix their computers, most days." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 05:33 am UTC (link)
	The grin on her face grew with his blush. "Like I said. Practice. You need to go out and talk to people. You get better the more you do that." A pause. "Fixing computers is good, but getting sun and fresh air is also good. You should get out of the cave every once in a while." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 05:47 am UTC (link)
	He eyed her, suspiciously. "Sun and fresh air? What heresy do you speak?" Then he grinned. "Um... maybe? I just... I don't... uhm...?" He floundered. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 05:50 am UTC (link)
	She glanced around, looking for a clock. It wasn't that late. She had a smirk on her face. There was mischief in her eyes. "What are you doing right now?" The storm was over and the sky had calmed. There were still clouds, but the sun was trying to peek through. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 05:54 am UTC (link)
	He eyed her again. That look reminded him of the look of some of his old teammates. "Um?" He swallowed. "Nothing, really?" He edged back against the computer chair. "Why are your eyes trying to glow evilly?" They weren't, but that is what it reminded him of. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 05:56 am UTC (link)
	"Because I'm plotting. Obviously." She laughed. "I think we should go somewhere and be social. Maybe even talk to some girls." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 06:00 am UTC (link)
	He stared. He gaped. "Um?" He swallowed. "But, um... I really am bad at this, Carrie..." His eyes were a little wide. "Are you sure, I mean, I will probably make a fool of me and you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 06:03 am UTC (link)
	"I run around at night in a bright red vest and green hot pants. I don't think you can make a bigger fool of me than that. And I totally work the costume." She grinned. "Come on. The worst that can happen is you feel a little dumb by the end of the day." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 06:14 am UTC (link)
	He blushed, hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. Um, sure. Where did you want to go?" He swallowed, and straightened. "Why do you wear that as a costume, anyway?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 06:27 am UTC (link)
	"Out. Out where there are dorky women." She wasn't sure where this was exactly. "I'm going to figure this out as we are on our way out. If you have suggestions, feel free to make them." She laughed. "I wear it because it's what Robin wears." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 06:33 am UTC (link)
	"He nodded dubiously, but he gave in. He turned and put the system, into lockdown, and then rose with a grin as he went to get a jacket from the backroom, and his wallet and all. Then he was back. "Better than what we used to wear in the New Mutants, totally." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-28 04:22 pm UTC (link)
	She waited for him patiently, picking up her bag. She'd mostly dried out. Her clothes were just a little damp and her hair was a bit flat. "Did you have one of those black leather things? Because I think that's better than the hot pants, to be honest." She let him lead them outside. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 11:00 pm UTC (link)
	http://asylums.insanejournal.com/utr_logs/115524.html?thread=6047812#t6047812 (Reply to this) (Parent)

	code_kid 2008-05-28 10:59 pm UTC (link)
	He led the way as he shook his head, then locked up after they were both outside. "Nah. Unstable molecule reinforced costumes that looked like spandex." He blushed. "Left nothing to the imagiunation." (Reply to this) (Thread)

	girlwonder 2008-05-29 03:19 am UTC (link)
	"My hot pants don't really leave much to the imagination, either," she said as they walked down the street. Someone walking past them stared at her for that comment. She ignored him. "I'm pretty used to it now, though." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	code_kid 2008-05-29 03:25 am UTC (link)
	"Really? Wow. I never really did." He shook his head. "So, where are we going, anyway?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

girlwonder
2008-05-29 04:50 pm UTC (link)

"Into the city," she said. There was a bus stop just ahead and a bus that was just approaching. Good timing. Carrie picked up her pace and all but pulled Doug with her. She got in first and Doug followed. If she were honest, she'd admit that she was doing this on a whim and that she wasn't exactly sure what she was doing. Carrie wasn't sure where the average dork guy went to cruise for dorky girls. She considered calling Dick for advice, but didn't.

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	code_kid 2008-05-30 04:54 am UTC (link)
	He chuckled as he was pulled along, and paid for fare, then followed her in. He glanced around and settled next to her. This was weird, and he was nervous, but he trusted her. "Okay... to the city we go!" (Reply to this) (Parent)