fandom_clinic | FTEC, Wednesday, Evening Shift [Nov 28]

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FTEC, Wednesday, Evening Shift [Nov 28]

Ronan was whistling as he puttered around the clinic, making sure the exam rooms were tidy before settling down with another novel at the front desk.

And yes, he had his little jar of cayenne.

[I'm around all evening, but it'll be a little SP-ish, probably, at least through the earlier part of the evening, as I'm moving from a room upstairs to one downstairs.]

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After having hot chocolate with Andrew earlier, Isabel decided on her first Peppermint Mocha of the season as her evening treat. But she still brought Ronan his hot chocolate.

"So?" she asked as soon as she was through the door. "How'd it go?"

Ronan just grinned. "A gentleman never kisses and tells," he replied.

"So you admit there was kissing," Isabel grinned back as she handed over his chocolate and took her usual seat. "That's a good sign."

Ronan's grin just widened. "It was... Okay, it went really, really well."

"I can tell," she teased. "You're beaming. Is there going to be another one?"

"No specific plans yet, but yeah," Ronan said, "I'm pretty sure there's going to be another one. Any suggestions?"

"I'm partial to snuggling on a blanket and watching the stars myself," Isabel admitted. "But it might getting a little cold for that."

"... Not when you can raise the temperature around you." He stopped, and then seemed to consider how that might be taken. "With wizardry! Raise the temperature with wizardry, I mean."

Isabel was really, really glad she hadn't been drinking her coffee when Ronan said that. It would have been ugly. Instead she snickered and shook her head.

"Sure," she drawled. "With wizardry. Just be damn glad I know you don't need a wand. Because I'd probably be hyperventilating with laughter right now."

Ronan felt that, perhaps, this might not be the best time to mention that, in fact, certain wizards did use wands -- moonlight-soaked rowan wood being a particular favorite of many, including his friend Nita. "At any rate," he said, "stargazing sounds neat." He paused. "... Do you think stargazing from the moon's a bit much for a second date?"

"It's definitely different," Isabel nodded. "And it beats bowling."

"Maybe the dark side, then," Ronan said, considering. "Or, well, the far side, technically; it all gets light at some point. There are a couple of places there, though, that are common for wizards to gather, and then you don't get either the Earth or the sun in the way, if you go during its night." Yes, he's pretty much just thinking aloud at this point.

Ronan thinking was amusing. Isabel just sat back, sipped her drink, and smiled.

"That might not work, though," he added. "I'll have to check the moonphase... maybe I can take him to see an Earthrise! Or something. Hrm." He stopped, and blushed a little. "Uh, not that I'm getting carried away or anything."

"Nope. Never. You wouldn't do something silly like that," she teased. "There's a meteor shower in a few weeks. Maybe you can take him to see that."

Ronan's eyes widened a bit, as did his smile. "Oh, that is perfect," he said. "I am definitely taking him to see that. Although, really, they're more spectacular from Earth, 'cause what you're seeing is the meteor burning up in the atmosphere, so maybe that's a night for stargazing." He frowned for a moment. "... Does Fandom have an observatory, do you know?"

Isabel facepalmed a bit. "Yes, atmosphere. I knew that. Really. Temporary brain death. It happens." Taking another sip of her mocha, she thought about his question. "I think there is, but I don't think anyone's used it since the astronomy class ended last year."

Ronan frowned a little deeper, but mostly in thought. "I wonder what kind of shape it's in, then," he wondered aloud, already making plans to look into whether it was available for general student use.

He took a sip of his hot chocolate. "Y'know," he said, "last night was... it was really nice. I'm..." He stopped, almost as if not sure what to say next -- or not sure if he wanted to say it. "I'm kind of afraid I'm going to screw it up somehow."

"I don't know. Dusty at least. But it's worth checking into."

Isabel leaned back in her chair and frowned. "Why would you say that?"

"I dunno. Just... that I'll push too fast, or too far, maybe. I..." Ronan hesitated. "I stopped us last night. I mean, long, long before there was any real danger, but... I almost wasn't able to, and I don't know if he'd have stopped us if I hadn't. And that would have been a mistake."

"Probably," said the queen of being cautious. "There's nothing wrong with taking things slow."

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yeah, anything," Ronan replied.

"Are you ready for this?" Isabel asked quietly. "After Michaela? I mean, I understand wanting to move on and all. But Peter's my friend. And I wouldn't want to see him get hurt. I know it wouldn't be intentional. Still, he doesn't deserve that."

Ronan hesitated before answering, honestly not entirely certain himself. "I think I am," he said, finally. "It would be different if I'd lost a true lover, but as much as I loved her, I... I didn't feel that way about her. It's..." He stopped. "This isn't coming out right. I don't... I don't want to cheapen her passing, or what she meant to me. I... Yeah, I think I'm ready. More importantly, I think Michaela's probably come back from the dead and kick me up the arse if I gave up a potential good thing because I was worried about offending her memory."

"I get that," she nodded, smiling as a host of memories came back in a rush. "I had a friend. Maybe he could have been more, but I was too afraid and wouldn't risk it. He died...was killed, because he got caught up in the alien stuff." Isabel would never forgive Tess for that. "I thought about him for a long time afterwards. What could have been. But I did move on. Because yeah, he would have wanted that."

"Exactly," Ronan said. "It... Besides, in a way, Peter reminds me of her. Well, more of him, the way he acted when he was Michael. It was a little different."

"Oh? How so?" Isabel prompted.

"Michael was a little less inclined to sarcasm," Ronan said, "for one. And he... he liked purple. It's kinda funny, but whenever he was Michael, he'd always shift something purple into his clothing, but Michaela never did." He paused. "Other than that, it's hard to say; it was all really subtle."

Eyes wide, Isabel stared. "Peter? Sarcasm? I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked!"

Ronan laughed. "Well, it's not like they were identical, anyway" he said. "Just... there's something about them that each reminds me of the other. I can't quite explain it."

"You don't have to," she told him. "I get it. Really." Someday Isabel would have to tell Ronan who he reminded her of.

If he knew, Ronan would probably be flattered.

"Enough about me," he said. "How are things with you and Wyatt?"

"Why? You're cute when you're all gleeful. It's entertaining."

"Things are good," Isabel replied, a touch gleeful herself. "I'm sorry I didn't come by Sunday night. I was worn out from spending the weekend out in Neptune. It was insane."

Ronan rolled his eyes. "Yes, because clearly you need to apologize for not taking time out of your day to come and keep me company. And yeah, I can imagine," he added. "But it was a good weekend?"

"I do! I mean weren't you just heartbroken that I wasn't here to entertain you with my wit and sparkling personality?" Yes, that was Isabel batting her eyes at him.

"It was a great weekend. Even if Thanksgiving dinner devolved into a food fight."

"Oh, yes, heartbroken," Ronan said, and, truly, it's astonishing how much sincerity he was able to muster. "I almost didn't make it through!" He stopped. "... Did you say food fight? Seriously?"

"Well for all our sakes, I'm glad you were able to summon the strength to pull through."

She nodded and sighed. "Seriously. Gravy, potatoes, stuffing. It wasn't pretty. And I need to add this was after hearing way too much about various people's sex lives."

"... I'm afraid to ask," Ronan said, "but I'm going to anyway: sex lives? Seriously? Who was at this dinner?"

Grinning, Isabel started to list out all the dinner attendees. "An alternate version of Wyatt's mother Piper, her boyfriend, two of her sisters, Anders, Bel, Piper's roommate, a vampire and his boyfriend, Andrew and Neil, Wyatt and I, and Chris and Lana."

"... And it stopped at a food fight? I'm surprised the house didn't burn down."

"You know? Now that you say that, I'm surprised to," she laughed. "There was a lot of ~~sexual~~ tension between some people."

"I can imagine," Ronan said. "It sounds like a... very diverse group."

"That's one way of putting it," Isabel grinned. "An episode of Jerry Springer would be another."

Ronan laughed. "It must definitely have been an interesting weekend, then," he said. "But I bet you had fun."

"I did," she admitted. "It was nice to spend some time away from here. Plus I got to catch up with Angel and Bel. I miss them."

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FTEC, Wednesday, Evening Shift [Nov 28]

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