route_1065 | Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy

Entry tags:

Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy

Who: Dale Cooper (

tapestodiane) and Carmen Sandiego (

doitrockapella)
Where: Olivine City
When: Backdated to Sunday, June 3
Summary: Reunited again, Team Zen has breakfast, geeks out about dinosaurs, and cheerfully resumes dodging each other's attempts to bring up uncomfortable topics.
Rating: PG. The highest I can possibly see it going is PG-13, and that's generous.
Log:

[Suffice to say, it's been a long week in the life of Carmen Sandiego. Between an incredibly odd dream filled with exciting crimes and familiar faces, the abrupt and rude awakening that she'd somehow been moved to a random, unknown town with no discernible indication of how she'd gotten there in the first place, a gym battle that was more a war of attrition than a clean fight, several days of exploration in the Ilex Forest, and then a marathon bout of flying lasting twentysome hours to get back to where she started from, she's been quite busy — and, in the aftermath, quite exhausted.

But the thing about busy weeks is that they're also usually rewarding ones, and this is no exception. Unplanned though her trip might've been, she certainly didn't let that stop her from making it productive: a new gym badge, a sudden influx of cash as a reward, a new addition to her roster, and perhaps most exciting of all, an egg (courtesy of the Breeding Center) that almost, almost seems too fantastic to be true.

She has, after all, always wanted her own dinosaur.

And normally, the thrill of simply coming into possession of it would be enough for her, but lately something's come over her — the urge to show off, maybe, or to attract attention, or just generally make her new acquisitions known somehow. Just as it's really no fun to keep a secret unless someone at least knows you have one, stealing was always at its most enjoyable when someone knew she was doing it. And while she didn't steal this egg, maybe it's the same sort of idea. It's possible. That could certainly be it.

(There are alternative explanations, of course, but that's the one she's going with.)

Fortunately, she's pretty sure she knows someone who can appreciate her carefully moderated but quite apparent eagerness at her new egg and the creature it'll someday yield, and she's equally sure she knows precisely how to facilitate a rendezvous with him.

The hostess in the cafe asks if she'll be the only one dining today, but she confidently amends that into a table for two, and settles into a small booth near the front windows with her egg before retrieving her Gear and sending off a message.]

Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

[That should do it, she muses, and sits back with a red-lipped smile to await her response.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[It definitely does it. Cooper's been out for a while, trying the early summer on like a new suit. He likes it so far, mostly. It's comfortable and it looks great, but he still doesn't feel like it fits him.]

[Maybe it's because despite it being a week now since the awakening and recollection of what happened during those three days his mind remains a hailstorm.]

[But at the moment, he's okay. The summer is mild, kind, and wants to give him a chance, and he's going to at least try to take it.]

[And he's musing on that, on what the pros and cons are in any kind of act he could take, when the sound of a bell confuses him.]

[For several reasons, really - one, there's nothing in the immediate vicinity that would make that kind of sound. Two, he recognises it but can't immediately place it: it's over before he could properly react. Three, upon a quick inspection, it seems like it came from his gear. The 1 new message indicates what kind of sound it was clearly enough, but he's pretty damn sure that wasn't the default text tone he'd set his Gear to back when he first understood how.]

[He frowns at the Gear for a short moment even as he keeps walking, but the contents of that text message make him smile. He reocgnises the words, for one. But moreover, the invitation is clear.]

[And he hasn't eaten yet.]

[So he taps the icon for the saved Gear numbers, finds Carmen's, and dials, looking up into the sun as he does. The sky is largely unoccupied. He likes that.]}

Carmen. Breakfast?

[She really isn't surprised when the message of an incoming call appears on her Gear's screen instead of a text message in response; for one thing, Coop's always been more inclined to resort to audio than to text, and for another thing, it's keeping with their old familiar pattern — a written introduction followed by a spoken reply.

Being in the cafe in public, she has to keep her voice slightly lower than average (so as not to be obnoxious, because nobody likes That Guy in the restaurant who insists on bellowing into his phone), but the amusement is still loud and clear when she answers.]

I'm one step ahead of you. Come meet me.

_{[Her not specifying a location means he knows the place, and he makes a quick assessment of location before he replies.]}

I'll see you in fifteen.

_{[And it's almost fifteen minutes later on the minute when he enters the café, familiar by now to the both of them. He gives a wave to the man behind the counter and finds Carmen after a quick look around. Her presence itself is always easy to note, but perhaps moreso the ever-present red she chooses to dress in.]

[He sits down opposite of her, gives her a quick smile in greeting.]}

Detective.

[It makes her smile as she hangs up, the recognition of how little she really needed to say to get her point across. There's something of a game in that, too — leaving her clues, waiting to see the familiar faces of her detectives. It's a different game with Coop than it ever was with Zack and Ivy, but then, they're different people and present different challenges. And what would life be, without a challenge?

Of course, then she's left with fifteen minutes to idle away before he arrives (because of course, he'll be punctual), so she amuses herself by dividing her attention between her egg and the sight of the boats on the water, musing over the view and a cruise liner she vaguely recalls.

But when he arrives, naturally, he earns her full attention.]

You found me.

[And she knows he'll have no idea why she finds that so entertaining.]

Good morning.

It's off to a good start.

_{[It's an agreement, not a greeting, and he looks more at ease than he has been the past week - likely both thanks to the environment and the company, even though he can't help but watch her with some concern and worry, masked only decently behind the usual pleasant behaviour.]

[He can't quite shake that he needs to keep an eye on her. It was a relief when she came back, and some of that relief is in this, too: in having breakfast at this place again, because they haven't for a while and it's another little thing that means that things are more or less okay, but ... well, he's rattled.]

[He's only trying to cover it because he knows she knows he is.]

[But the smile is far from fabricated despite all that, and he's pretty comfortable in his seat.]}

[And there it is again, she thinks, making silent note of the way he's watching her, how he's keeping it casual to try to stay under her radar. He's been watching her like that ever since she got back to Olivine, but the concern that's causing it is older still. His worry from the morning she woke up in Azalea hasn't subsided since then, and that's something worth noticing.

But of course, he probably knows she knows he's trying to cover it and not succeeding as well as he might like. For one thing, he's a fairly self-aware man, Agent Cooper. For another, she knows he knows she's not stupid by any means.

She is, however, liable to preen a little at flattery, express or implied, and she does so at the implied compliment in his remark.]

It'll be better in a minute. I have something to show you.

[And a way to distract you, she muses. At least for a minute or two.]

_{[As far as distractions go, that works fairly well, and he lets the interested glint in his eyes be known. His expression is mild when he watches her for an indication as to what this something might be, if a little tight at the edges.]}

So I'm not just here for the coffee.

_{[It's playful in the matter-of-fact tone she's probably used to by now, but it also does sound like a question and the "go ahead and show me" is readily apparent.]}

You never were. You showed up for me, too.

[There, there's the old familiar banter. But of course, there's two ways to interpret that remark, too — that he's here on her request, or that he's here for the sake of watching her. But that's an issue she'll press later, now that she's got the opening move on the table; for the moment, there's something far more interesting to turn to.

(OMG DINOSAUR)

She reaches down onto the seat beside her and retrieves the egg she'd received just a few hours earlier, now carefully nested in the charcoal-gray turtleneck she was wearing on the night of the bonfire in Goldenrod, and sets it on the table between them.]

Have a look at this.

_{[He watches her closely for a second after the remark - and the small, barely-there nod in the way he bows his head just slightly means it's true, on both accounts. But there's a third option there, too, which is that he's also there because he quite frankly likes her. He enjoys her company.]

[But the egg calls for his attention and he would have looked at it even without her words. He's never quite gotten over the fact that all the pokémon lay eggs because it's so unnatural by his standards but that also makes it all the more fascinating. Just like evolution continues to be a moment of wonder, eggs, while more common to him, are still an interesting mystery.]}

I don't believe I've seen that type of egg before.

_{[Which makes it even harder to tell what it'll hatch into, naturally. He lifts a hand, sends her a look that asks for permission.]}

May I?

Go ahead.

[She gives it a light push — the shell is surprisingly hard, for an egg — and slides it a little closer to him.]

I could tell you what it is, but I'll wait if you'd rather guess.

_{[He picks it up carefully, weighing it. It's a little heavier than he'd expected for something of that size and there's an interesting texture to the shell he hasn't encountered previously - something very faint, but rough.]

[He ponders that for a little while.]}

I don't think I can make any qualified guesses pertaining to the actual species, but I'm going to assume it's a rock- or a ground type.

_{[And with that, he returns the egg to its shirt-nest.]}

Given my experience with Iron Maiden's egg, you're probably right. Hers was quite the little boulder, too. Though I admit, this one's considerably more fascinating.

[She reaches out, one gloved hand smoothing out a wrinkle in the nest with an unmistakably fond air. But she's pleased, too, and it shows even in her silence, in the way she's drawing out the pause like she's savoring it.

And then, at last, with both triumph and satisfaction (and something almost, almost like youthful glee) — ]

It's a dinosaur egg.

A fossil?

_{[Well, not the fossil itself, but he's read about the technology used to revive fossilised bones more than once. He shoots her a small grin.]

[She won't be disappointed to find that he's also excited. He has never met something supposedly extinct in person before. Not to mention that her own excitement rubs off. It's endearing, in a way, the tone her voice took on announcing that.]}

When do you think it will hatch?

Fossilized in amber and regenerated from the DNA preserved within the fossil. Or so the information in the Dex would suggest. The process is far from unheard-of.

[Particularly since she once tried something similar herself. And it looks like the Pokemon professors beat her to it, the scoundrels. But she can forgive that lapse just this once because it's a dinosaur egg and it is hers and she is going to have her very own dinosaur.

She skims her hands lightly over the shell, still sort of taking the reality of it in with all her senses at once.]

And I'd assume we'll be meeting it in person within a month, since I've never had an egg that's taken longer than four weeks to hatch. Skye took about three; I've had others hatch in as short as one.

Ah, yes. None of mine took longer than three, I believe.

_{[Which he says with another small smile, gaze equally divided between the egg and her face. The information about the resurrection of fossils isn't new to him, but he hardly minds. There's a bit of a lull there when he realizes how recently she must have picked the egg up, judging from her fresh excitement and how she probably would have said something to him yesterday if she'd had it.]

[Doesn't seem like she waited to show him. He's glad, in a way.]

[And goes to point the obvious out, because that's what he does.]}

You're excited for this one.

[Over the next few weeks, while she waits for it to hatch, she'll learn every speckle and ridge of this egg in front of her, fussing over every inch until she's committed it all to memory, and will therefore know at a glance if anything has changed in it as its hatching date approaches.

It doesn't take a keen observer to see that she's excited, but perhaps it does take someone like Coop, who's been around enough to know the difference between her usual assertive sort of happiness and this rarer, bubbling glee, to see just how important this is to her.

(And how rare that is, for people to notice when things are important; it's not often that anyone gets so close.)

She fixes the nest a little more, then sits back with satisfaction, looking at him from over the top of it.]

I've always wanted my own dinosaur.

_{[That earns her a brighter smile, something fond that tugs at the edges, makes it warmer. Coop never did have much of a fascination for dinosaurs when he was a kid, preferred to get lost in the worlds of mystery and crime even then. But he can understand it, he thinks, her fascination and glee at maybe not dinosaurs, but at having them for real, and the small "hm" sound he makes lets her know.]}

Then I'm happy you'll get to have one.

[It's surprise that makes her gaze dart up at that — the rare sort of surprise that Coop seems to have such a knack at provoking in her, when ordinarily she'd be much more capable of tempering it with confidence. But there's a definite moment where their eyes meet, and there's something a little softer than astonishment in her gaze, the product of sudden realization:

I'm happy you'll get to have one.

That's not something that happens very often, people caring about what she wants and what she has (unless, of course, they're trying to take it back from her).

But then, quickly, she snaps her eyes back to the egg, and in another moment, it's gone.]

You'll meet him when he hatches. I haven't thought of his name yet, though.

[This is possibly a lie. He may be destined to be Archie Ology, if left to her own devices.]

_{[He catches the moment, of course, not lost despite its fleetingness, perhaps significant because of it. Though the smile remains, whatever that moment was causes him to avert his gaze for a second, mentally telling himself to back off.]

[He's not in love with her. He's attracted to her, he appreciates her company, and he's certainly interested in her, but he's not in love with her and falling in love with her would be foolish.]

[So he leans back slihtly in his seat, signals a waitress. Because they are here for things other than conversation, even if that was forgotten for a while.]}

What makes you so sure it'll be a he?

_{[And that is curious for real as he looks back to her, eyebrows subtly raised.]}

[...He's got a good point there, actually — when did she decide it'd be a male dinosaur? Up until now she'd been doing fairly well at keeping it gender-neutral, but then —

(Get it together, Sandiego, you're losing your touch.)

She tips her head, regarding the egg thoughtfully, and then finally settles on the truth, because she might as well, having nothing to lose by the admission.]

I'm not, honestly. I was...thinking of something else.

[She moves the egg off the table and back onto the seat beside her, as if for emphasis.]

Teri and Skye are female; the Baron and Cielo are male. Whichever way this one turns out, it's going to tip the scale.

_{[Well, he muses, I wouldn't have thought your mind to wander. He looks at her a little closer at that, but only for a short time - then nods that he listens, but gets distracted and holds a hand up with another quick smile as a "hold that thought"/"sorry, hang on".]

[Because hello, waitress, time to order food.]

[And he does - a lot, really, because he loves breakfast. Pancakes, first of all, with some berries on the side, just enough syrup, two slices of toast, a glass of orange juice and some coffee. For starters, anyway.]}

[It's fortunate that the waitress arrived when she did, because between the timely interruption and Coop's humorously large breakfast order, Carmen has plenty of time to mentally regroup and shake off that previous bout of — well, whatever it was.

She'd had plenty of time to pick out her order before Coop arrived, so she knows what it is right away, but the motivation behind the choice was pure whimsy. Crepes and milk seemed appealing, and so that's what she gets.

Because regardless of how much Coop insists or what rationale he employs, she's not drinking coffee. No, thank you.

The waitress lingers a little too long jotting down their order, casting the two of them a knowing smile as she collects the menus and departs.]

If you're as precise about your investigations as you are about your breakfast orders, it's no wonder you're a good detective.

_{[Well, HE is drinking coffee, the usual specified "and I mean black, blackest you've got", and now having placed that order he's looking forward to it even more. He knows the coffee here - not as excellent as that little downtown shop in Cherrygrove or Azalea, but very good and with a particular dark roast blend that was just right whenever he asked for it.]

[He looks up at her amused tone, mirrors the look in her eyes. Appreciates the off-hand compliment.]}

Precision and accuracy can get you a long way. As I'm sure you know.

So can asking the right questions.

[It's almost a shame to risk ruining this idyllic little moment they have going here, but the egg isn't the only reason she wanted him to come out here, and with an order in, he's effectively trapped. At least for the moment.

And there's no time like the present to set to, of course.]

Or keeping your eyes on your object of interest?

_{[Trapped, yes. Some might see it that way. Cooper doesn't really, because he knows he could leave regardless, doesn't find four walls all that intimidating when he can see the outside and the doors and the many ways he could go if he'd wanted.]

[So no, not trapped. Perhaps cornered. But mostly, he feels caught. Off guard, especially, and it brings him pause.]

[It's not that he hadn't expected her not to notice. She's a detective as well, after all. An observant and sharp one at that. Still, he has a feeling he's not going to like this conversation, despite recognising that it would be best to have it.]

[He doesn't show a lot of this thought process though, instead levels her with an even look and nods, seemingly to himself. He saw this coming, after all.]}

Is there something you'd like to ask me?

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