2009-11-26: Be Aggressive! B-E Aggressive!!

Starring:

Eric_V4icon.pngGeorge_V4icon.pngHallis_V4icon.pngSydney_V4icon.png

Date: November 26, 2009

Summary:

Hallis leaves some clothes at Eric's… ….


"Be Aggressive! B-E Aggressive!"

Hallway and Eric's Apartment

Its dark in the home of Eric Lancaster, of course its always dark. He never has the lights on if he can help it, at the moment though he's sitting on couch doing…a model…

…of a Valkyrie.

No. Not a classical mythological Vakkyrie, but a VF fighter from Macross. The newest Macross series, the one that just got released in Japan recently. He's sitting crosslegged on the couch with just the tip of his tounge poking slightly out of his mouth as he manuvers two of the small pieces together with careful and steady hands.

He's not expecting company at the moment, that should be obvious enough from the fact that he isn't at the moment wearing a shirt. Just a pair of comfortable pajama pants made out of some kind of fine and shiny black material, and a pair of houseshoes.

That are green dragons. When he walks they even open mouths in a silent roar.

Hallis has been busy all day! The new job, the new assistant, turning over this new leaf (again). At the moment she is in the hallway just outside Eric's door dragging a rolling clothes rack behind her. She is dressed in one of George's button down white shirts, which hangs almost to her knees, a pair of mid-calf cowboy boots (who knows why) and a pair of Daisy Dukes (which are invisible underneath the shirt.

Knocking loudly on the door, she grabs the straw cowboy hat: You know the ones that used to be in fashion? They'll make a comeback someday… Placing it gingerly on her head, she tilts it down a little to hide her eyes. Who said socialites can't play dress up every once in a while?

A knock? Who the hell could that be? Eric though shrugs as he sets the model down. "A second!" He calls out towards the door as he unfolds himself to his feet. From the other side of the door one might hear a few thumps and thuds and muffled curses as the millionaire looks for a shirt.
He finds one.

Its an old shirt, done in dark blue with the Rescue Rangers symbol on the back and a picture of Gadget smiling on the front along with the caption. 'If you build it. They will come.'

The door is opened and there is a surprised look on the young man's face as he blinks owlishly into the harsh light of the hallway.
Pause.

Stare.

"….Hallis?" He asks incredulously as he stares up and down the woman's form for a moment. "…er…nice new look."

Tipping her hat, Hallis gives the astounded man a big grin and says in a low southern drawl "Howdy Pahd'nuh!" Then she begins dragging the clothes rack into his apartment. "You said I could keep groceries in here, but I decided not to shop anymore. At least until after the renovations are done in my apartment." Her boots are slipping slightly on the hardwood, because the rack might just be a little bit heavier than she is. And this is why she meets the little dragons face to face.

Pause…

"Uhm… Eric?" Then Hallis looks up, a very serious look on her face. "I hate to tell you this, but you have fat green snakes on your feet. I think…" Slowly, she straightens herself and clears her throat. "So, are you going to help me or what? I figure you have enough room here for me to move a few things in, right? It's just for a little while, I promise.. I just don't want my best stuff to get dirty before I get a storage unit."

Across the hall, the door to another apartment opens, Sydney pads out of the apartment across the way, dressed in her uber-casual stay-at-home clothes: a long sleeve white t-shirt under her blue baby doll t-shirt with an image of Spock and text that reads Spock is my Homeboy on it. She's paired the shirts with jean trousers and sneakers.

She's about to invite Eric to the little Thanksgiving party that her and her house guests (roommates?) are going to throw (party = pizza … on Thanksgiving… yay!). But she stops short at the unidentified woman (hard to identify someone in a cowboy hat from the back) in front of Eric's apartment. Slowly she backs up to re-enter her own…

"…wait wait…you want to store your /clothes/ on here?" Eric replies as he looks down at the odd woman there before he shakes his head slightly towards her. "…well I did offer you space…" He says slowly towards her before she starts to bring in rack. "…here that thing is bigger than you are let me help with that." He adds with a shake of his head as he grips the rack to start to drag it inside. "…hellfire Hallis, /how/ do you have this much in the way of clothes." He adds with a grunt as he starts to lift and pull.

"And they are /not/ snakes. They are /dragons/. Very noble and wise creatures I'll have you know. Fine though fine, I'll let you inside." However he looks up at that moment to look across the hallway.
A rueful smile then as he raises a hand towards Sydney in a silent wave towards her.

"Y-you mean you don't?" Hallis looks a little bit incredulous and grimaces just a little bit up at Eric. "Nice shirt by the way, matches the fat snakes." She, on the other hand, did not notice the other door open. She was much too busy meeting Eric's snake(s). And so, as Eric lifts his hand over her head to wave, Hallis gets quite the wrong idea. "Don't try anything funky, Lancaster, I'm just here to put clothes away in my bedroom. This isn't a permanent arrangement." Another pause. "By the way, I have four more of these at my house."

Disappearing into his apartment, Hallis moves her slight figure at a reasonable pace toward one of the four bedrooms. "So which one of these can I have? Actually, which one isn't yours? And can we get more light in here? I need lots of light to pick out what I'm going to wear to work in the morning. I can't look like I got dressed in the dark."

Face flushing several shades of red, Sydney sheepishly waggles her fingers towards Eric in a small wave, and frowns as the girl enters the apartment. The words only leave her more unsettled. Her frown deepens. Quietly, the therapist takes a step backwards and reaches for her door handle which takes several tries because she's still not facing the door. It's like a train crash. She just can't look away.

"…of course I keep clothes here! Where do you think I could get stuff like this…" Pause. "…and they /arn't/ fat snakes! Dragons…" Eric replies as he pulls the thing into the doorway before he blinks slightly and looks back towards Hallis. "…I…what huh?" He blinks a moment before shaking his head. "No I was just waving to someone…and wait! Hallis you /arn't/ moving in you know! I just said you can keep your things here!" He calls out towards the back of the cowgirl. "Wait…FOUR THINGS OF THIS? Where is my stuff supposed to go?!"

He looks back towards Sydney then and notes the blush before blinking a moment there….

"Wait no!" He waves a hand towards Sydney. "Its not what you think! Really its not!"

Eric isn't witness to the eyeroll, then the reverse eyeroll, then the double take of the first eyeroll. Turning slowly on her heels, she puckers her lips only slightly and gives Eric one of the most nonplussed expressions ever given a man. He really is quite obtuse. "I know I'm not moving in, Eric. Just my wardrobe, for a little while until I get everything sorted. I'll just come over here in the morning to pick out my clothes. You don't work or anything, do you? Because I do now." Placing her hands on her hips causes the shirt to rise just a little, still not giving a glimpse of the shorts underneath.

"Who are you talking to?" And quickly she scoots to the door to duck under his arm and glance out into the corridor. It must make a very pretty picture. Eric holding the door, Hallis sneaking under his arm. She's barely dressed… Thank God George isn't here to see it.

"It's fine, Eric— " Sydney's face continues to flush. "You don't owe me any explanation." Why can't she find the door handle?! She fumbles for it anxiously. Uncomfortably even. Before Hallis peeks out, Sydney turns around to grasp the handle. She turns it and… it's locked. Either she locked it by accident or one of her roomies did so after she stepped out. Frowning, she reaches into her pockets. But… no key. "Dammit," she mumbles as she raps quietly on her own door.

"…and its fine…just…mine is the room on the left to the back. Let me get the lights…" He adds as he reaches up to flip up the switch on the wall to turn all the lights on for the room. "…there. That should work for lights while you are here." He adds with a nod towards the blonde before he raises his arm to let her peek around him. "And its just my neighbo— oh…" Pause. "…uh oh." He mutters under his breath as he notes that Sydney can't get back into the room fast enough to dodge the Hallis.
…this could be bad…

Sigh.

"…right…I /do/ owe you a bit of an explanation…" He mutters under his breath for a moment. "…and you…are going to have to call the staff it looks like." Since she /obviously/ doesn't have ROOMATES to LET her in.

Obiviously.

Spying the other blonde, Hallis ahems and folds her arms over her chest. "Oh, hello Sydney. Why are you knocking? Do you have a date in there? It's not good form to lock someone out of their own apartment, you should dump him. Especially.. if it's that Ivory person." No, Hallis hasn't been privy to the latest bit of news, Sydney's exorcism or the fact she's harboring the mind rapist. "You should definitely dump that guy." Then she pats eric's bicep and nods, encouragingly, jerking her head toward Sydney and murmuring under her breath. "..invite her o-ver!"

Not wanting to face Eric, Sydney stares at the door a few moments before Hallis' voice cuts into her thoughts. Her redness continues as she turns on her heel to face the pair. Her entire body visibly stiffens at Ivory's name, but she manages a strained smile, "Hi Hallis…" She glances at the door and then manages the best excuse she can muster, "Just… a moment of desperation. Ever locked yourself out before? This happens all too often for me— " Her lips curl downwards into a sort of frown as she eyes the pair.

"…I think she just locked herself out…" Eric replies towards Hallis as he glances down towards Hallis with a slightly raised eyebrow. Here he thought Hallis was /mad/ at Sydney. Though here she is insisting that she invite her over. A slight sigh and a shake of his head as he leans against the doorframe in his t-shirt and sleep pants. With Hallis peaking out of his apartment from under his arm.

Women. They are all crazy.

"Come on over Sydney, everyone has locked themselves out of the apartment at least once in their lives." A pause then as he remembers something that Hallis said a moment ago and he mock-glare towards the woman. "…and hey! I do too work!" He says. "I'm up way before you could even believe!" He adds with a smirk before he glances towards Sydney. "Come on Syd, you can call from my apartment."

"Yes, come in, you can help me pick out a new closet. Eric offered fridge space, but after the horrible stench of food in my apartment, I decided not to buy groceries ever again." With that, Hallis spins on her heel and drags Eric by the shirt sleeve back into his apartment. Of course, the door is left open so Sydney could quite possible hear what is going on inside.

"Listen… if you want to get the girl you need to get way more aggressive than that. Come on… get your pom poms and Be Aggressive! B-E Aggressive!!" She moves her arms around in little cheerleader moves, unfortunately, never having been one, she probably looks a little comical. "And unless you're sure she likes the noble lizards on your feet, you might want to get rid of those… for now. I'm all about honesty in a relationship, but you need a little bit of mystery, right?" Yes. Hallis is wearing her 'Team Eric' shirt and coaching as best as she can.

"It's okay, I don't need a phone… I have… my… " Sydney pats her pockets and then frowns. She left her cellphone on the kitchen counter. "Or not." Frown. It seems she's stuck quite literally. "O-kay," she answers somewhat hesitantly, still not certain what she's walked into. "You're still eating though, right?" the question is haphazard the hospital released Hallis into her care, after all.

As the two disappear into Eric's apartment, Sydney quirks an eyebrow. After a couple of moments of staring fleetingly at her own apartment door, she sighs and pads into Eric's apartment. "So what's this about a wardrobe here? I thought you had lots of room in your apartment, Hallis —"

Just before Sydney steps inside Eric's place, someone else walks around the corner and into the hallway, ears perking up at the sound of a familiar voice and another familiar name. "Hey, what's going on?" George calls out to Sydney, quickening his pace a step. Crap, she hasn't collapsed again, has she? Why else would her no-longer-therapist be checking up on her?

Eric is dragged. Quite dragged infact by his shirt sleeve. "Hey hey hey! Careful!" A pause then as he looks at the dancing cowgirl infront of him and he just peers for a moment before frowning slightly at the woman. "…wait…what do you mean…I…get the girl?" Now its /his/ turn to blush. "Wait no no no! Its not quite like that…" He isn't sure how it is right now but its not quite like that! He can't just /steal/ her, after all Gene knew her first and all that.

He shakes his head for a moment before he sighs slightly. "Just come in alright Sydney…really…" He adds as he pokes his head out into the hallway to talk to her. Then a pause for a moment before he glance back towards his room. "…and Hallis, I /think/ she likes dragons. Look at her shirt. Really." He adds with a smirk.

Then again he turns back towards Sydney. "…she's remodeling and needs a place to keep all her stuff she said."

Hallis is likely the first to hear the new voice in the hallway. After all, she's hyper sensitive to the sound of it and grins like a Cheshire cat every time its owner is around. Dropping Eric's shirt sleeve, she rushes past Sydney and practically runs toward the sound. "George!"

It is then that the politician is treated to the sight of Hallis wearing one of his button down shirts, a pair of low cowboy boots, and a straw cowboy hat. It's what everyone wears when they're packing, right? You need to coordinate. "George! I didn't think I would see you! How lucky is this?!" She practically leaps into his arms, throwing her arms around his neck and almost swinging around him.

"Uh… I don't really know…" Sydney responds to George as she enters Eric's apartment. Of course Hallis then rushes past her to her political boyfriend. Apprehensively she pads into the apartment. Still very unsure. Eric's explanation about the storage though is met with a quite, "Ah." Her cheeks are still flushed though. It's hard to erase, but she tries to recover by smirking, "I like your shirt… reminds me of my childhood." A glance is given to the slippers to which she says nothing, but her grin broadens.

At the sight of Hallis running forward, George breaks out in a fresh smile, reaching his arms out to catch her in turn. It's a fashion style that he (literally) moved away from, some years back, but for her he'll make an exception. Take your time in there, Sydney, you two are getting a minute or two to yourselves as well.

"I didn't think so either," he explains, "but my flight got delayed because of the weather… I'll miss dinner with the folks, but there's always tomorrow. Never mind that, how've you been? What's with the clothes? I didn't think you went in for the two-step."

"And there she goes," Eric replies with a shake of his head as he ducks back into his own apartment. A smile towards the therapist before he sighs slightly. "At first I just offered to hold some groceries for her but it…esclated…I didn't realies /how/ far it esclated until she said somethign about four racks of clothes." He adds with a shake of his head. "…ah well, teach me to be a nice guy won't it?" He adds with a sigh before he looks up at the last comment from the woman. "…hey…Gadget was hot when I was that age." He returns towards her.

Slowly, Hallis slides from George's arms with a wide grin on her face. "Isn't this what people wear when they're packing? Work clothes?" She grabs his hands and leans back a little, rocking back on the heels of her boots. "Well your shirt isn't exactly work clothes, but I found it… so I wanted to wear it. You don't mind, do you? Oh.. and what's a two step?" Taking George's hand, she leads him back to Eric's apartment and knocks on the doorframe.

"Hey Eric! Hey Sydney! Uhm… You guys want to come over to my place for some take out or something? I mean.. I owe you a dinner together, at least." Hallis isn't being very coy about her encouragement of the two hooking up. Not with the pointed looks she's giving each of them. "I'll change into something a bit more presentable, oh… and I have to get up early tomorrow, because I have a job now." No, she can't announce that one too much. She's a little too proud of her new career. "Yup, a job that I got myself."

Sydney hmmms. "See, I told you that you were a nice guy. And now i have an admission from the source," she grins. And then smirks at the comment about Gadget, "… but you grew out of that phase? She's not hot anymore?" Then with a chuckle of her own she admits, "I totally had a girl-crush on her. You know… wanted to be her. I was convinced I was going to build stuff as an adult."

"I…" have dinner with her roommates that she doesn't have. Realizing she really has no excuse she can tell Hallis she nods a bit, "As long as you don't mind in my home-clothes. I'm locked out, not like I can change— " This, of course, begs the question why she left her apartment in the first place without keys in her 'home-clothes'. She pauses and then beams at the other woman, "Hallis that is awesome! Where are you working now? You must be thrilled!"

"It's a type of dance," George explains, "I'll show you next month. It's not exactly big around here." Work clothes? Well, they are, the fashion effect is secondary. Slipping his hand into hers, he follows her over to Eric's place and waves to Eric and Sydney in turn, leaving it to Hallis to explain her job situation. And, possibly, how they've gotten back onto speaking terms again.

"…damn, you /do/ have an admission. Guess I'm ruined on the denying that arn't I?" Eric replies before he leans against the doorframe for a moment before glancing once more at his shirt. "…of course she's still hot. Geek-chick that builds things? Totally hot." He adds with a sage-like nod of his head. "I always saw myself as Chip anyway, so required to be hot in that case." He adds after just a moments thought.

"…and if I go to your place I'm not changing. You are lucky I actually decided to get a shirt before answering the door." He adds after a moments of thought. "This is my day off, and when you work for family day off comes once in a blue moon. So I am forced to enjoy just what I might have."
However then he turns towards Hallis as she might just answer her question of just what the job might be.

A haughty and self important expression on the fine features visage of Hallis Van Cortlandt is what Eric and Sydney are graced with. "I'm working for Jaden Caine," she says with a little bit of a huff. "We played a little car game and I beat him. So I got the job. I'm a retrieval specialist, that's kind of like a private shopper. I even have my own expense account and I bought some work clothes." Dropping George's hand, she marches over to the bulging clothes rack and pulls out a tasteful, yet, revealing skirt and top. "This is what I'm wearing tomorrow… maybe. If I can find the right shoes to go with it." Then she carefully replaces the outfit, being careful not to wrinkle it.

Looking at the pair in their house clothes, Hallis puckers her lips a little and widens her eyes. She's thinking about something again, something very deep and profound. "Well if the two of you aren't going to change out of your pajamas, then I suppose I'll be fine in my work clothes. I'll just…" And she pulls the hat off her head and peels off the boots, slipping the latter under the rack and the former on the end.

"She's also a mouse," Sydney observes, still smirking as she crosses her arms over her chest. "So why did you see yourself as Chip, exactly? I identified with Gadget because she was the token girl… and blonde." Nod.

She tilts her head as Hallis explains her job, "Jaden Cain? He owns that software company, right?" She tilts her head a bit and continues to smile at Hallis, "Well I'm happy you found something you're so excited about. And that outfit is very cute."

"Among other things," George chimes in. With a brief vacation coming up, he's dressed more casually than usual himself: blue plaid shirt, brown leather jacket, along with the typical slacks and loafers. "So— takeout, you said? And I'm afraid I missed out on the whole Chip and Dale thing. Now Jessica Rabbit, on the other hand…"

"…you are working for…for Jaden?" Eric pauses a moment to stare at Hallis, then look her up and down. A slow sigh then he nods. "Yeah. Yeah I can see that sooo well. Thats Jaden all right, he hasn't changed at all." A pause before he adds. "He might try to get you to dress up as Catwoman or Agent 99 or something. Just as a warning." He says lightly towards the woman as he shakes his head. "He does that sort of thing." He adds before he glances back towards Sydeny and flashing her a grin. "An animated mouse to be exact. Nothing wrong with that." He shrugs. "I liked his hat and coat really, and he was the streight man of the group." He adds wryly towards her.

He nods once though. "Thats the only Jaden Cain I know. EvoSoft is doing well, and so is LE which makes my job easier."

A smirk towards George at the comment then and he nods. "Jessica Rabbit goes without saying was a crush of a generation of people."

Eric receives a long stare, then Sydney, then back to Eric… Then Sydney again, and it's Sydney she addresses. "Chippendale? Did you know about that?" Back to Eric, "Do your parents know? And do you do parties? Because… I bet Olivia would love to hire you for her next bachelorette." Grin. Beam… Bigger grin.

It's not too long before Hallis pads across the room, her bare feet making little tapping sounds, stopping only when she gets to George's side. Then she starts, "Wait… dress up? Like Agent 99? Catwoman? Who? What?" The heiress is truly confused. Looking up at George she shrugs and widens her eyes a little bit more. "Who is Agent 99? Is that like the man that told me the mind rapist was going to kill me?"

"Dale wasn't gay!" Sydney protests. "Neither was Monty! They all swooned over Gadget. Because she's awesome." She giggles at the notion of Hallis dressing up, "Well if you need costumes I've got plenty, although I imagine your boss would too. Although, it's kind of an odd request from a boss. I mean… I wouldn't do therapy dressed as catwoman… why would Hallis be a private shopper dressed as such?"

Blinking at Hallis a few times, and then she giggles as it becomes apparent that she's talking about dancers. Grin. "99 is from Get Smart she was the super hot spy girl. It was this old spy show."

"And Catwoman's a villain from the Batman comics," George explains. He leaves the 'Chippendale' misunderstanding alone, though; it's too amusing to let them come up with mental images of Eric shirtless with a bow tie. Enough, even, to compensate for having to suffer through the same mental image himself.

More importantly, his attention is focused on the other thing that Hallis just said, and what it implies. Sure, she told Sydney about the mind rapist, but what about Eric? "…Is there anything going on here that I should be filled in on?" he asks, glancing back at the door to make sure it's shut. And preferably locked. If the answer is yes, then the last thing any of them need is to have a random neighbor blundering into the middle of it.

"…Do…parties? Parents?" Eric looks honestly confused for a long moment before he sloowly blushes. "No no no no! Not /that/ kind of thing. Not a dancer! Chipmunks, didn't you ever watch cartoons when you were a kid? Rescue Rangers ring a bell at all?" He calls towards her before he coughs and shakes his head. "…and yeah. What Sydney said. Hot spy girl from Get Smart. Not a real agent or anything like that!" He shakes his head slightly. "…and I'd explain, but you would have to know Jaden for it to make any sence. I've known him since we both were kids. He's the Ken to my Ryu." He says with a wry smile towards the pair of girls.

"…and you /know/ I'm not a chippendale! So you can stop laughing!" He adds towards Syd with a mock-angry glare towards her.

Indeed, Hallis is coming up with mental images of Eric shirtless in a bow tie. Toward his protest, she smirks and murmurs a low, "That's too bad… really, it is." She moves with George toward the door, and wraps her arm around his waist as he closes it. "What do you mean, George? Oh…" And then it's Hallis turn to blush, but she's blushing for an entirely different reason. "It was just a coffee! We didn't even go, I was… I was going to be late for work! I was going to tell you all about it, I just, we never…"

Pivoting swiftly, she makes her way to the nearest chair and sits in it, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. Tadaa! She's wearing a pair of jean shorts under the long shirt. "It wasn't my fault!" she protests, not even explaining what she's looking horribly guilty about.

"So… Jaden's like… your sidekick then? I always imagined Ken as the sidekick…" Sydney quirks an eyebrow. "Like Ryu was the first choice and Ken the second. Kind of like Batman and Robin. No one wants Robin saving them because then they'll both need rescuing because Batman's the hero who needs to save the day —" Sydney considers all of this out loud only to stop herself and turn several shades of pink.

"I wasn't laughing … much," she mock-pouts to Eric. "Besides, how would I know what you do in your free time, Sparky?" She arches an eyebrow at the George/Hallis drama, but doesn't comment.

Of course, George is at least passingly familiar with the respective business careers of the Cains and the Lancasters, but the individuals are another story - he's only met Eric a few times, and Jaden not at all - so he stays out of that argument. Instead, he settles into the seat next to Hallis, giving her shorts an appreciative once-over… they'd be even better with frayed hems, but he'll take what he can get.

Meanwhile, his own unspoken questions still have yet to be addressed. Little surprise, as he was pretty oblique about them himself; now he leans over and whispers to Hallis. 'Why's Eric know about the mind rapist?'

"Naw, not sidekick. Rival slash best friend, and not sidekick. I think he would be most annoyed to be called that, just as much as I'd be annoyed." He flashes an easy smile before he grins. "No he's a great guy really, just a bit on the eccentric side is all!" He adds with a laugh towards the little group. "…and yes Sydney. You are at the moment proving your geek-cred." He adds as he crosses his arms over his chest. "…and you wouldn't know…but its /not/ dancing like that. Besides don't laugh too hard since you are the only one here who has /seen/ me shirtless." He adds under his breath towards Sydney before turning his attention to Hallis.

Pause.

"…what in the world are you talking about Hallis?" He asks with a raised eyebrow towards the woman.

Widening her eyes, Hallis looks around to the assembled parties and tries to backtrack. "Oh.. I thought you meant… The woman from central park that I met with Sydney.. Ah ha ha!" The soft tinkling laugh is quite fake, as is the smile that doesn't reach her eyes. She's definitely hiding something. "Nothing, nothing. There's no real story there, at all." She's blushing furiously. Rethinking your entire sexual orientation based on a touch will do that to a person. Turning to look at George, Hallis just shrugs, "I told him, I figured if more people are warned that she's out there hurting people, they'll be on the look out for her."

"I'm not that geeky though," Sydney objects. "I just…" Okay, maybe she is. Her closet geekiness has been exposed. She flushes further (honestly is she ever not flushed these days?!) at the comment about seeing him shirtless, but she manages to quip back to him under her breath, "Hence the reason I could believe the Chippendale thing."

Her lips twitch, however, at the mention of the woman in the park. "Hallis, do you mean the blonde we met who was all interested in your apparent break up with George?" She can't discern the body language, but her own body stiffens.

"Methinks you protest too much," Eric quips back before he pauses a moment to look back towards Sydney with eyes bright with amusement. At the soft return sorte of words however he just takes his head. "I'll take that as a compliment." He shoots back towards her. "Just like you should take as a compliment that you look damn good in black leather." He adds…

…and he would have followed that up with something else however its at that point that his phone rings and he frowns slightly as he strolls deeper into his apartment to collect it. "Just a sec you three. I need to take this…"

The therapist's cheeks brighten even further at the compliment about the black leather. And then Eric disappears for the phone. Perking up, Sydney remembers something, "I have a spare key at the office. And they're open today!" Standing to her feet she pads to the door, "As always it's been a pleasure." She gives Hallis and George a quick wave.

Giving a nervous smile to Syndey, Hallis just nods and slowly climbs from her place on the chair. Taking George's hand, she leads him toward the door and gives the therapist a wave. "I'll see you around Sydney. Maybe." Then she purses her lips into a thin line and eyes the door as the therapist makes her exit. "Yeah, let's head off too… maybe I can give you a proper send off?" And with that, the young blonde flits out the door and across to her apartment, luring the congressman with one curling finger.

Having fallen quiet for a little while, faced with a number of things that he didn't want to bring up in front of the others, George offers the expected wink and grin as he follows Hallis inside her place. Once they're in, though, the facade promptly drops. "Hallie, we have got to work on communication. First off, why are you warning Eric about the mind rapist? Does he know how it happened? You realize you can't just tell that stuff to everyone you— well, you might get away with it, but I can't risk it, okay?"

In his frustration, he inadvertently drops another hint that he's more than merely aware that abilities exist. Question is, will she pick up on it?

Pick up on it? Oh yes. Quickly, Hallis' playful mood drops and she just stares at him. "George?" And she drops onto one of the chaise lounges, her arms dangling to the floor between her kneesas she leans forward. "Why would I get away with it and not you? Are you?" She doesn't say it. She's never been the brightest crayon in the box, but she's not exactly stupid. The hints begin to fall into place, it could have been anyone, even her grandmother, but it wasn't…

It's as though she is looking at him in a new light, he has yet to confirm or deny it, but she's not venturing any further with her own assumptions. The silence between them causes a heaviness in the air that could practically be eaten with a spoon.

Ignoring the chairs, George just leans back against the wall instead, rubbing his temples. "It's hard to explain, or to demonstrate - why I'm not as worried as some others." Like Kitty keeping her cell phone dark; her ability is essentially internal, too, but at least she can share what she learns from it. "But…"

"You know how there are funny coincidences around me, sometimes? I can make those happen. I think some of it happens unconsciously, but— Like last year, when Keefe was mouthing off about Puerto Ricans and he fumbled the mute button on his microphone? That wasn't an accident." And it wasn't small-scale either, it was the beginning of the end for his opponent in the House campaign.

Slowly, Hallis pulls herself up and moves to George, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You mean, like the papparazzi man getting his camera broken. Everything lucky that's happened to me since I met you?" Resting her head against his chest, the young woman breathes in deeply and slowly. She's taking her time to digest the news, until she finally takes him by the hand and leads him down the hallway and toward the bedroom. "Do you… do you think we're a funny coincidence, George? Or …"

George shakes his head, reaching out for Hallis and stroking her hair as she draws closer. "Some of it. Some of it really is just a coincidence. And what you've been doing on your own? That's on you, Hallie, never doubt that."

Are they a coincidence? He was reading about her when they first met. They have apartments on the same floor of the same building. The question is very much justified. "Just because something is a coincidence doesn't mean it's not real. What I feel about you is real…" He's still got a couple other questions for her, but they can wait until after he's proven his point.

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