It's probably going slower than I want it to. I constantly feel like I'm driving my sister crazy.
Who: Celes and Lightning What: Meeting for lunch to discuss job offers. also a date When: Last week Where: A coffee shop status: Complete Rating: Pg-13
This wasn't going to end well. At least that's what Celes thought. They'd had several false starts to their date, but now they were finally able to meet. It was just coffee. That's all. Just coffee and lunch. Yet this woman on the internet had clearly been interested, or so she thought, and Celes had never really....thought about women that way before. She was curious, and the idea was actually rather appealing to her.
As far as Lightning was concerned, this was just lunch and coffee. It was more to talk about the possible job Celes had, or talk about books, or Serah... it was definitely not a date, though Serah desperately wanted it to be. Her sister was convinced that she was into girls instead of boys, but Claire thought the entire idea was just utterly ridiculous.
Celes was a nice enough woman, though, and easy to talk to. At the very least, she could be a friend.
Claire thought that was at least promising, though she maintained that she didn't need friends either. It had been surprisingly nice to have them in the dreams. So she'd secured a good table and made an effort to wear something besides bdu's. She waved at Celes and put on her best smile, "Over here."
The blonde smiled and made her way over to Lightning. She'd dressed casual, though it looked sometimes like she belonged in armor instead of slacks and a blouse. (which was the oddest juxtaposition. On one hand she often felt like she belonged in a more elegant place, yet she was also very comfortable with the idea of armor and knights. The dreams only made that worse).
Light looked good, she thought. She hoped this went well. "Thanks. Waiting long?"
"Not too long, no," Claire replied, shaking her head. Celes in real life seemed a little out of place in a dumpy little coffee shop. The woman walked with no small amount of grace... or confidence? She walked with purpose, Claire decided. Probably the same way that she walked, herself, only Celes made it look like she could be wearing the most elegant of gowns and still pull that off.
Her mind was a little more fixated on this than she liked, and Claire forced herself to stop thinking about it, "I like to get a head start. Scope out the location, find a good position to sit in. One that's easily defended, usually. I hear that's a veteran thing."
She nodded her head. She could understand it but couldn’t actually say just why. That would be revealing more about herself than she thought was necessary. “That makes sense. I’m glad I didn’t keep you waiting though. That’s rather rude.” Her smile was practiced as she took a seat, but her eyes were experienced in studying the other woman’s face. She had this odd urge to stroke her cheek, but that’s not a first date thing at all.
"Well, you're the boss. You're allowed to arrive whenever you like," Claire joked. She hoped Celes realised that it was a joke. Her feelings never really seemed to reach the surface of her face, not entirely, but there was a slight smirk at the corner of her lips.
This was already awkward. She had no idea what she was doing. Did the other woman think this was a date? Was she supposed to act like it was? She leaned back against her chair, and let her bad arm rest against her lap, trying to make herself more comfortable, "This place is supposed to have the best coffee in town. I've been trying to quit drinking and smoking, so coffee is the only vice I really have left. I hope I'm right."
Celes smirked at her. “I’m just a manager, but I suppose that makes me a boss. And I’ve had their coffee once before. I’m more than happy to have it again.” She pushed some hair out of her face. “How is your..recuperation? Is the VA helping enough?”
"Well, you'd be the boss of me at least." Claire replied, with a bit of a snort.
The boss of her (or future boss of her) had every right to ask that question, too, even though Claire didn't want to answer it truthfully. She glanced down at her chest, then off to the side for a moment. Her left arm was usually in a sling when she was out and about, to keep the muscles on that side of her chest stable. She'd forgone it today and her chest was already throbbing a bit.
"It's probably going slower than I want it to. I constantly feel like I'm driving my sister crazy. It should do me some good to get out of the house, and she'll get some time to herself. Still no pension, though. But all my physical therapy and follow-up appointments have been free."
“Well have to make sure you don’t push it. You don’t want to ruin your arm over books.” The mention of no pension brought a frown to Celes face. “You earned that, have you tried to get it? Your pension? It’s not enough, but every little bit helps and your body got ruined the least they could do is make it easier for you!”
"It's supposed to be coming. I don't know how much more I have to do to fight for it. They aren't denying me, but I don't know why it's taking so long." Light frowned a bit. Celes was obviously very distressed by this situation, more distressed than she was. Or maybe she just didn't know how to feel about it. If she could still provide for Serah somehow, it wasn't that huge a deal for her. She felt strange taking money from the government for something she wasn't doing.
"... Feels strange taking a paycheck for sitting around, too. I wish they'd just let me back."
"They probably won't." Celes shrugged her shoulder. "I didn't end up going in like I thought I would." She wondered if Light was disillusioned. She wondered if Light wanted an in, or if she could get an out. Something, anything to make a change in her life. "I'm kind of glad I didn't."
"They won't. I know they won't. I talked to my PT guy about it and even the brass up at the base. I'm not going to be cleared medically for combat, not by their standards." Light sounded a little bitter about that. It drove her nuts that a shot like that could get you a medal but otherwise make you useless. She hated feeling useless.
"So I guess I'm a book stocker now. If you'll still have me. The pay's probably not as good but you can't say the hazards are the same."
“It’s less strenuous, most of the time.” Celes smiled at Light, with a little bit of a teasing upturn to her lips. “But you can’t deny that books aren’t adventures in and of themselves.”
"I read a bunch of books in school, of course, but I'm not much of a reader outside of that," Light admitted, with a bit of a sheepish grin. They seemed to be settled in a bit, and she decided it was a good time to wave someone over so that they could place an order.
Having a cup of coffee in her hand would probably make her feel a little less fidgety.
"That's changed since I was shot. Nothing much to do but read. Do I get a discount at your store?"
“Yes, ten percent off of everything in the store and 20% off of non-fiction,” Celes assured her. “That doesn’t stack, though. What do you like to ready? When you do? Military stuff?” It was a safe guess and Celes was willing to make it.
Light actually cracked a smile, chuckling softly, just once, “You caught me. Tactics, gun manuals, war stories. Fiction or non-fiction, either way. Some of them are too dry, though. I still can’t get through the red badge of courage.”
She snorted a bit, and added, “I like to read the books that movies are based on, too. A lot of the time, the movie isn’t anything like it. Things with medieval combat are interesting. I like those movies with the walking. Lots of battles in those. Unrealistic, sometimes, but still interesting. I wish there were more female representation in those. You shouldn’t have to be some pretty elf to kick ass.”
A pause, and then, “But she did kick ass. She isn’t in the book. I was disappointed.”
That made Celes smile, genuine and wide enough to hurt a little. Lightning likes Tolkien! "There are some kick ass ladies in the Silmarillion but if you have trouble with dry you're going to have trouble with that one. I can recommend a few books with lady knights though, if you want."
The idea of Lady Knights was strangely appealing to Lightning, in a way that she didn't quite understand. Her dream self wasn't that much different from her regular self - not in a way that would make medieval life more appealing, in any case, but she still felt drawn to it somehow.
She nodded her head, "Yeah. Lady Knights, those sound interesting to read about. Fact and fiction. Fantasy novels, I guess. Some of those are okay. I thought it was going to be things like magical cartoon ponies and fairies and things you read to your kids, but that section has a lot of things meant for adults."
Claire had only begun to scrape the surface of the Sci Fiction/Fantasy section of the book store. She'd only cautiously ventured there recently for a copy of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, "I saw The Silmarillion on the shelf. It reads more like a history book. That might be alright. It's the long descriptions of nature that get to me. The other books are just barely tolerable levels of it."
"You'd be surprised how adult even the YA novels can be." A lot of it was crap but that pretty much true for every genre. "And there are some real gems too."
"I've never even looked for books in the young adult section. Maybe I should," Claire raised an eyebrow as she spoke, then held up a menu, "We should order something. Anything you want. Maybe something sweet to go with our coffee."
She was feeling generally more at ease with Celes now. And she felt like she was connecting with her a bit. That happened so rarely.
“Strawberry? I really like strawberry.” Celes felt like there was some underlying strength within Lightning, and she liked it. She was torn, though. She thought she could recruit Lighting, but was that fair when all she wanted was to get ‘out’?
Few people could say that they got shot the way Light did and survived it. That was definitely a sign of strength right there, though she often gave the credit to her squad for acting so quickly and her sister for motivating her not to die. Light didn't want to be strong. She just wanted to keep her sister safe.
But that was a discussion for another time. Right then, strawberries had been mentioned, and Light actually grinned, "Strawberry tarts, Strawberry scones, strawberries and cream. There's pancakes with strawberries in them, too. Maybe we should order a little of everything."
“I like the way you think,” Celes said, visibly perking up. It seemed that some of her ice was melting, bit by bit, between Terra and Claire. And maybe there might be some teensy flirting, in regards to strawberries, cream, and licking her lips clean.
Flirting which Claire would be mostly oblivious to, sadly.