[closed] whine and cheese

[fledges]

Who: Kate and Steinbeck
Where: Old Town
When: w4d4
Summary: Steinbeck and Kate embarrass themselves and talk about Angel stuff.
Restrictions/Warnings: Will edit if necessary!

[After the mess that was the infection that swept through Old Town, Kate finds herself itching to figure how this whole AI mess. Who better to talk to than Steinbeck, of course? Admittedly, part of it is that she wants to check up on him, but there's nothing wrong with killing two birds with one stone.

Kate knows that if she wanders around Old Town long enough and checks enough of the shops and bars that she'll find him. It might not be the best detective work that she's pulled, but she has time to kill. It's evening when she finally tracks him down in a little bar on the south side of town, and she sidles up next to him, bumping her shoulder into his. She grins, voice light and teasing.]

Hey. The owner told me he wants you to leave, says you're being a menace. Is that true?

Comments

[graftage]

I don't know. Is this your way of getting me to be a menace elsewhere?

[He winks with a bright smile, chuckling, and turns himself to completely face her. He's happy to see her, not only because they need to talk more about the strange AI that contacted both of them, but also because he does, genuinely, like her.]

Are you thirsty? [He gestures to the counter.] I have to buy drinks for all the pretty ladies, you know.

[fledges]

All of them?

[She scoffs, nudging him again.]

You sure know how to make a girl feel special.

[graftage]

Hey, I'll have you know, I have a high bar for what exactly a "pretty lady" is. And you're the only one I've offered a drink to so far.

[He smirks wide, returning a nudge of his own.]

Seriously, what do you want?

[fledges]

[Kate grins back. She knows he's teasing, but that's actually kind of sweet. Congratulations, Steinbeck.]

I'm allowed to talk to you whenever I want. [And then, more sincerely:] I wanted to make sure you're okay.

[graftage]

Well, I was asking what you wanted in terms of drink selection, but...

[His smile dims a little. He hasn't been exactly "okay". These are trying times these days, especially with the Resistance putting on the pressure, and it's not always easy to deal with.]

I'm doing alright. [He says, leaning his cheek on his hand, elbow to the counter.] But that's how I always am. Always could be worse or better, really.

[fledges]

That's not a very positive response.

[She understands, though. It's always rough, especially on Westerley.]

You know I'm here if you need to talk, right?

[graftage]

I know! [His grin comes back on his face, like it never left.] Geez, you're like the fifth person who's worrying about me. I'm stronger than I look, I swear!

[A pause, as he twirls some of his hair around a finger.]

Anyways, I've been thinking about that weird message and trying to wrap my head around it. Can we really trust a thing like that?

[fledges]

[Kate makes a face at him, nose wrinkled and mouth twisted, but she doesn't push. She's still going to worry about him, though.]

I don't know. We'll have to be careful, but if it has the information it says it does, we can't turn it down, can we?

[graftage]

I guess we can't. We just have to be careful. Not give out to much information about ourselves.

[He sighs - he hates this, being unsure of what to trust and not to trust. For all he knows, it could be an amazing boon, a well of information right at their fingertips.]

How did they even find out we were part of the same group? [He doesn't want to say "Resistance" out loud. Not here, when people are listening.] That's what is concerning me.

[fledges]

I don't know. I don't like it, either. My name and my number are easy to find, but they called me a defector and said that's why they thought I could help.

[Which isn't exactly something Kate advertises.]

[graftage]

A defector?

[He quirks an eyebrow - that's certainly weird.]

That's cause for concern, alright. And if they are a computer, or working on one, that means the data is stored somewhere...and I don't like that. Someone knows about us that shouldn't know about us.

[fledges]

[She frowns, silent as she considers. Kate hasn't had contact with her dad in over a year, and though he's frozen all of her accounts, she was always banking on the fact that admitting his daughter ran off would be enough of a blow to his pride that he wouldn't report it. Apparently that's not the case anymore.]

I want to know how much. I figured they already have a file on me, but I didn't think there would be much on me after I left.

[graftage]

A file...

[It's a sobering thought. That somewhere in the Company, there's some file filled with information about him, about what he does, about his secrets. He clenches his jaw. But, now that he thinks about it...]

Hey, here's an idea. How about we ask that person for our files? We can see how much info they've got on us.

[fledges]

That is an idea. If they get too many details about my family wrong, we'll know there's a better chance they're lying.

[graftage]

Yeah, exactly. They might have good info on the Company, but good info on us? That's hard to come by.

[He nods, already feeling better about the whole thing.]

What do we do if they do have good info on us, though? Like...we can't exactly delete that stuff, can we?

[fledges]

No. I don't think so.

[She pauses for a second, frowning.]

Maybe? We'd need to find someone who could pull it off.