Chuck Bartowski is a huge nerd. (chuckmate) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-21 12:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, bella donna boudreaux, chuck bartowski |
Who: Bella Donna Boudreaux and Chuck Bartowski.
What: Lunch.
When: Early December.
Where: A place where lunch is had.
Rating: Low.
Status: Complete.
Belle felt bad for how busy she’d been recently. She’d blown Chuck off once, but this time she was determined to meet with him. Mostly she wanted to see if he’d be a threat to national security, but he was also adorkable, and she liked that in guys. It was sure to be an interesting lunch. She was dressed a little conservatively, and made sure to get there early so she could ask for a booth where they wouldn’t be easily overheard. She ordered a pot of coffee and spent equal amounts of time looking at the menu and up at the door, waiting for Chuck.
Chuck didn’t really mind the constant postponing of lunch. He’d been busy at work most of the time, anyway, and he was just finally getting over the string of headaches his last dreams had come with. Also, he was getting mildly worried and paranoid about what exactly was happening to him, but he reminded himself to stay calm. It’s not like he could just wake up and be a top secret database full of intel. Right? Right.
He showed up right on time, but glanced at his watch as he walked up to the table. “Eesh, I was worried I was late or something. You haven’t been waiting too long, have you?” Chuck gave her a crooked smile as a way of apology.
“You’re fine.” She said, smiling brightly. She tried to stand, before she banged her legs on the table of the booth. She laughed and shook her head, then extended her hand to him. “Pleasure t’ meecha, Chuck. Head feelin’ any better?”
Chuck did a very good job of not laughing, and sat down quickly to avoid any awkwardness as he shook her hand. “Likewise. Really. And it’s much better. Like I said, I don’t get sick, so it must have just been the OC being weird again.”
“Probably so. I had some real bad headaches after some of my dreams.” Not to mention temporary amnesia. “I see you got a new friend on the network. Or an old friend who’s new to it, I should say.” She smiled at him, then glanced down at her menu again. She knew what she wanted by now.
“Hmm?” Chuck blinked. “Oh! Bryce. Yeah, he’s an old pal. We were fraternity brothers at Stanford. The guy’s pretty smart. And, I mean, a good guy. I’m glad he’s back in the area.” He glanced down at the menu, trying to figure out the best option to go with. He had a few in mind, and decided that, if he let Belle order first, he could judge his own choice based on that.
“Oh! That must be nice.” She remembered how nice it had been to run into Shepard again and assumed that must be close to how Chuck felt. “After your crazy dreams it must be nice t’ have a little piece of normal.” She smiled at him, and turned as their waitress approached. She ordered the largest burger on the menu and a chocolate milkshake. She’d certainly run the calories off either at work or at the gym later.
He almost let out a sigh of relief. There was a particularly delicious sounding club sandwich on the menu, but Chuck was worried, somehow, that eating a lot of meat slapped between two hefty pieces of bread would reflect poorly on him. Also, he had been dying for a milkshake, so he was glad it was acceptable. Though, he got a strawberry one, just for the sake of being different.
“Yeah, it’s definitely nice. Well, it’s not really normal. He’s got a pretty important role in the dream thing, actually, so there’s that.” Chuck laughed a bit.
“Oh yeah, you said as much. That can be pretty strange.” She chuckled a little. “My ex-husband from the dreams is on the network, which was all kinds of awkward.” She liked Remy here, but in the dreams they hadn’t gotten along so well. “Thank goodness not everyone from the dreams shows up.”
“Agreed.” He couldn’t imagine having to put up with some of the weirdos from the Buy More. But, at the same time … “I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad if some of them did. Like, my dream-handlers? I wouldn’t mind meeting them in person. Or. Cowering in fear from them.”
“Yeah? They that scary?” Belle asked with a chuckle, to hide her interest. Knowing how he was handled in the dreams would at least give her a place to start analyzing how he should be treated here. It didn’t seem like he’d get too much stuff that would be useful in the real world. Especially not if his world was a different from this one as hers was.
“Well, the one is. A big, broad guy, mostly just grunts and snarls menacingly? Very efficient with a gun, and being scary in general. Sarah is more …” Perfect. Pretty. Amazing. Great. Everything. “She’s a bit more understanding. Still not the sort of person I’d want to get on the bad side of, though. I mean, CIA trained and all.”
Belle nodded. “So they did what, exactly? Just hung around and asked you questions? I remember you said somethin’ about a van.”
He shrugged a bit, then paused when their milkshakes showed up. “No, it was like … At first they wanted to haul me in for questioning? One’s CIA and one’s NSA, so there was a bit of a scuffle at first. And then somehow we ended up forming a little trio. The NSA guy works at the same place I does to keep an eye on me, because, you know, lots of bad guys after the ol’ computer in the noddle.” Chuck took a long sip from his milkshake.
“But it’s … How it works is, dream-Chuck sees someone, or something, and then flashes? A bunch of information runs through his head about that, and it generally leads to terrorists or government threats or the like. So I tell them where the bad guys are, and I go with them, and get told to stay in the van. I don’t. It’s hard to sit back and watch someone potentially get shot or something.”
“Huh. Sounds like you got good instincts, though. Not lettin’ them get hurt, I mean. Sounds a little more heroic than your run of the mill fish outta water.” She noted, between sips of her shake. That was pretty crazy. If she didn’t dream herself she wouldn’t believe it was possible. Chuck was probably, she concluded, not a threat. Which was relieving. “What kinda work you do here, again? Stanford’s a pretty impressive school, you must have a nice job.”
No, Chuck was not remotely threatening, in any way. He happily sipped on his milkshake, enjoying a break from his usual schedule. “I work at Stark Industries,” he told her. “When I got my master’s degree I’d sort of envisioned myself running my own software company by this point, but working for Stark is like a dream come true. I’m in information technology but I think I’ve got a good shot at moving over to help with database security.”
“I hear that’s a good company.” Belle said with a laugh. “But I hope I won’t get in trouble for fraternizin’ with the enemy.” She winked at him. Frost had his fingers in all the pies, but he wasn’t truly Stark’s competitor. Except perhaps in spirit. “I think you could do it, you seem like a smart guy. It’s an important job, too. I bet a place like Stark spends a lot on security.”
“It’s great. I mean, there are so many amazing companies here. Stark, Frost, Weyland, Flynn. It’s like a computer science major’s dream.” Chuck laughed. “So … You’re a personal assistant? Right?” To be honest, Chuck couldn’t remember what Belle had told him initially, and now he felt embarrassed that he didn’t go back and check.
“Oui, and I advise Mr. Frost about security, both his and the company’s.” She also, when necessary, sniped zombies from the foyer. “I just do what I’m told and try to be cheerful. It’s the best way to get by, I’ve found.”
“Really?” Chuck frowned, somehow still managing to look amused. “Because you don’t really strike me as the sort to just take things in stride. No offence. It’s a good thing.”
She chuckled. “Just gotta make sure you’re following someone you trust. Generally I have no reason to complain about what I’m doing. I believe in my work.” Maybe that last bit was a little intense for a personal assistant to say, but Chuck wasn’t an idiot, and she thought he suspected there was more to all this than was being let on.
“Hey, whatever makes you happy, right?” Admittedly, Chuck did have some suspicions, but they were entirely unfounded and he didn’t even know what he was suspicious of. So he didn’t think much about it. Belle was an interesting person, and Chuck wouldn’t ever scoff at making connections he might need some day.
“That’s right. I really like workin’ for Mr. Frost. He’s good people. I hope you feel the same about your boss.” She grinned brightly at him, and then at the waitress when their food came out.