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OOM-but-Not
Meg Ford has her hands full as she comes into Milliways today.
And then, suddenly, she doesn't, as the bottom of her grocery bag splits in dramatic fashion.
She just (barely) manages to catch the bottle of shampoo, and the bread lands at her feet and stays there, but a half dozen oranges promptly go rolling in a half dozen directions.
And then, suddenly, she doesn't, as the bottom of her grocery bag splits in dramatic fashion.
She just (barely) manages to catch the bottle of shampoo, and the bread lands at her feet and stays there, but a half dozen oranges promptly go rolling in a half dozen directions.
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"What?" she says, before her eyes follow his to her wrist.
Oh.
"Oh, no. No, I'm just a run-of-the-mill human.
"The bracelet was a gift from my friend, Laura. X-23.
"Why, are you from that world?"
Never mind X-men, there are plenty of other people from that world that Meg has heard less than encouraging things about. And, well, he looks more threatening than she does. (Being more than 155 centimeters tall always helps.)
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Right. OK.
'No, I'm not from that world. I know X as well.'
He lets go of her hand, feeling a little awkward.
'I'm Bruce Wayne.'
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Meg has heard of you.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Bruce.
"Escaped produce and all."
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Definitely a bit awkward. Especially now he's wondering exactly what X might have said about him.
...only, not worried, exactly. This is X they're talking about. She won't have said anything to them that she wouldn't say to his face.
But still.
'...I'll get your oranges.'
This is a task that will not wrongfoot him. Running into your girlfriend's friends when you're thinking about military vehicles, and stopping the floating of your company on the stock exchange, definitely is.
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"Hey, Meg. Some of your minions have escaped." Parker grins and holds up one of the oranges. "Unless this is a cleverly disguised PSA about the benefits of Vitamin C."
She looks from Meg, to man she was talking to, to Meg. She'll wait for an introduction.
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That taken care of, they can move onto introductions.
"Parker, this Bruce Wayne, Laura's boyfriend.
"And Bruce, this is Parker Lee. She's another friend of Laura's."
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He offers his hand, and plasters on a smile.
Internally, his thoughts are more like 'AHAHAHAHA', but hey, he puts a good face on things.
He also knows he can hardly just run away now. And he did tell X he was OK with meeting her friends. He just wanted to be a bit more prepared.
'Can I get you ladies a drink at all? Unless you...were meeting up, and now I'm in the way.'
He will remove himself if that's the case. No problem with that.
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"Oh, hey. Yeah, Laura's Bruce." Yes, Laura totally gets possession, here. "It's great to meet you, too. We're heard good things."
Just in case he was worried. And he looks a little bit like he might be. (Or possibly suffering from indigestion -- it can be hard to tell.)
"Oh, we didn't really have plans."
Oh, Bruce. You don't get off the hook that easily.
"We'd love to have you join us. Wouldn't we, Meg?"
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Because, no, you really don't get off that hook that easily.
Or, you know, at all.
"And a drink would be very nice. Just tea for me, please. Thank you."
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There's a beat of silence from him, then he gestures towards a booth.
'Shall we? I'll call a rat.'
Because if he went to the bar, he'd no doubt get the wrong kind of tea, or something.
He may be, a little bit, mentally praying that X will turn up and rescue him. He's a lot of things, Bruce, but experienced with other people's friends - or even his own - is not one. It takes effort he usually channels elsewhere.
He really doesn't want to screw this up.
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Parker's not going to jump to harsh judgments. They really have heard good things about Bruce. But Parker (and she's pretty sure Meg too) are interested in learning a bit more about this guy.
Still, they'll shelve the bright interrogation light. Milliways booth is much more pleasant.
"Just steer me away from anything alcoholic. I'm riding herd on a Bingo tournament tonight."
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Okay, it's totally a test, but they both really want him to pass and he's not exactly being judged on beverage procurement.
"That sounds serious," Meg says.
"Parker works at ranch in Texas," she tells Bruce, as she takes her seat at the booth. "She's taken Laura and me to visit a couple of times. From what I've seen, I'm guess bingo is serious business there."
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He gestures a waitrat over, and unfastens the button on his jacket before taking the seat across from them. The green drink is shoved to one side.
'What does 'riding herd' mean?'
He could figure it out if she was talking about cattle. But, bingo?
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Parker didn't need to major in psychology to know that inconsequential details put people at ease. Ish.
"I think Laura said you're in her line of work? Superheroing? Can I use superhero as a verb?"
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"Mint tea, please," she adds, to the waitrat. "Thank you."
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'...she did?'
Really?
Okaaaaaaaay.
He pulls back a bit. That...was not what he was expecting.
Not that he's surprised X said something. It's normal to her, after all. But that it would dropped on him like that - no, not expecting that.
'Mineral water, please,' he says to the rat, and slouches back in his seat.
Eventually, he adds, 'I'm not a superhero.'
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Well, he's not one of those guys who likes to toot his own macho horn. That's a point in his favor.
"May be over stating that a bit," she says, smoothly. "She said that you were liked her and helped people. And I've seen Laura in action and tend to think of her as a superhero."
"So, it followed."
Parker smiles.
"She helped rescue me from a dragon, once. Her and Meg, both. If that's not cape-worthy, I don't know what is."
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"Technically, Laura helped with the rescuing, and I stayed at the palace and helped interview staff about the abduction.
"Has she ever told you about you about Ambergeldar, Bruce? And Norman the dragon, and rescuing Parker, and saving the queen?"
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He smiles tightly at Parker.
'I run a business. I try to help people. And I don't think there's anyone else like X.'
Which is kind of the reason he likes her.
'What do you do, Meg? When you're not interviewing palace staff about abductions.'
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"And I'm in my fourth year at university. McGill, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
"I'm studying biology and then I'm planning to go to medical school."
She smiles.
"I also knit.
"What kind of a business do you run, if you don't mind my asking?"
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He drains his glass of green sludge and sets it aside.
'It does a lot of things. Public works, government contracts. Healthcare, engineering, manufacturing. My father was a doctor, though. The firm's sort of...bigger than all of us, now.'
He can't work out if portraying himself as this kind of businessman creates a better or worse impression than a 'superhero'.
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It's good he recognizes.
"Wow, that sounds.....exhausting."
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'There's a board of directors. A ton of employees. I don't have to do it all myself.'
The rat returns then. He picks their drinks up, and places them in front of them before getting his own.
'What do you do on a ranch, Parker?'
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"A lot of it kind of boils down to event planning? It's a working ranch, but it's also a guest ranch. So, I've done everything from....showing a travel magazine editor around, to planning birthdays, to ordering cattle vaccines, to helping lead trail rides."
She sips her drink.
"Mostly we run around wishing we had clones."
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"She took us to the ranch's Valentine's Day dance this year. It was a lot of fun, even not knowing any of the music or dances or so on."
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