2007-12-05: Cold Hands Warm Heart

Starring:

Kory_icon.gif Randall_icon.gif

Guest Starring:

KeLyssa_icon.gif

Summary: Kory just misses meeting another Evolved, but Randall takes the opportunity to continue what he started with Kory some time ago.

(OOC: this log is a partial duplicate of Much Ado)

Date It Happened: December 5, 2007

Cold Hands, Warm Heart


Somewhere in Central Park, near the lake…

Randall is standing near the edge of the water, talking with KeLyssa - sometimes quietly, sometimes less so. Right now is one of the less-so passages. "That makes sense, that's the one out by the coast, right?" Further down the pond, a flock of ducks is going all hyper over a feast of breadcrumbs. And closer by, a thin surface layer of water is frozen in mid-swirl, just now starting to melt in earnest.

KeLyssa nods a little bit to Randall. "Practically, yes. More've an inlet, but just barely." She smiles. "If I'm rememberin' my states geography, that is." She shrugs. "It ain't nothing special, though. Just a state full of gators."

Ares the poodle is prancing like …well, like a poodle who thinks he's a Lippizan stallion. At his side is Kory, holding the leash. She is nodding her head to whatever's playing on her earbuds. She's got her head down, and is only looking where she's going insofar as to make certain Ares doesn't leap upon any unsuspecting soul. Or that she doesn't bump into said same soul. The music is, if one is close, pick-uppable as an electro-funk version of 'Powerhouse' as covered by Lee Presson and the Nails.

This particular aspect of geography is lost on Randall, who is neither an environmentalist (more so than the next John Q. Concerned Citizen) nor an international shipper. "I'll take your word on the gator part…" Spotting the new arrival, he trails off, waving a hand. "Hey, excuse me a second, all right? Got someone to go catch up with real quick." With an apologetic look, he cuts left and heads over toward Ares from the other side, holding out a closed hand. Get the dog's attention, and the attention of his master (mistress) will follow, right?

KeLyssa bows her head a little. "Well, I'll be right here with my fiddle an' all." She says with a little smile as he tramples off to get the attention of someone. In the mean time she takes the time to break off any ice that has formed on her hands.

Ares is a bit better trained than the boisterous Ickle Ronniekins or Juliette. He spares Randall a disdainful look, then sits. Kory is brought up short by the dog's having decided he's done showing off for the moment. "Ares, what—" She reaches into the shoulder bag for the shiny dog-walking tidiness utensil. "Okay, now?"

Oh, this is irresistible. (Well, so is an Actual Confirmed Case of abilities, but KeLyssa did just say she was staying put.) While Kory is looking down at the bag, Randall leans in and catches one of her earbuds, gently tugging it out of place. "I should have thought of looking for you here sooner," he offers.

KeLyssa does indeed stay put, and remains there.

Kory freezes, as someone plucks out her earbud. But the voice speaking into her ear makes her whirl around, dropping the scooper back into the bag. "Randall?" she asks, quietly, pausing before she completes the turn. Were anyone on the other side of her, they'd see the ohplease-ohplease-ohplease expression before she finally does finish the turn. "Randall!" And now she's smiling. Widely. And, okay, wound really tight. Visibly so. But in a good way.

And Randall is smiling just as widely, with just the slightest of glances over toward KeLyssa somewhere in the midst of it. I know we were talking and all, but. "I know you said you were busy a lot," he says, easing a hand out to rest on Kory's shoulder, "but… well, I was starting to wonder." Like any good comdy of errors, this one begins with a statement of purest innocence.

"You were beginning to wonder? I was —" Kory tilts her head at him like a bewildered ocelot. "Well, nevermind. I guess we've both been busy. How have you been?" And then she turns to follow his glance. "Oh — w-was I interrupting something?" she asks, the smile slipping off her face slowly.

Randall is quick to pipe up again. "Oh, no, me and— Carissa?" Close, at least. "We just met a few minutes ago." Even though he's totally telling the truth, Randall still bites his lip. Is he sounding too defensive? Well, if nothing else, it'll draw attention away from the weird abilities that (as far as he knows) Kory knows nothing about.
"Just chewing the fat about cold winters, that sort of thing."

Oh. Whew. Not a new, more interesting, less weird girl. "Oh. Well, it is cold, this winter, for sure," she agrees. "Hi, Carissa, nice to meet you," she adds, smile returning tentatively to her features. She's got a touch of windburn, Kory does, so the cheeks are a bit rosied up.

Randall steps away and off to the side again, giving Kory's hand a quick squeeze along the way; in addition to the obvious sign of affection, he could still use some warming up after the ice-cold handshake with KeLyssa earlier. C'mon, back me up on the strictly-Platonic thing here!

KeLyssa is caught almost unawares at being called Carissa. She points to herself, with a confused look, looking up at Randall and Kory. She gives an unsure wave to Kory.

Ares barks once, as if regally contributing to the conversation. Then he walks once around Randall, as if inspecting him. This prompts Kory to do the same, lest there be an awkward and entirely clicheed tangling of legs in leash. "Guess it could be worse. Walking the dogs keeps me warm."

Randall nods, sitting down and letting Ares do his thing. "It would. This is a new one, isn't it?" Not wanting to steal all of Kory's precious body heat, he contents himself with rubbing his hands together instead. Oh, and here are the ducks waddling back over again, the bread supply having petered out by this time.

KeLyssa stays in her spot, violin case at her side, unsure of what she should do just now.

Ares eyes the ducks. The ducks eye Ares. For a moment, there is uneasy canine-waterfowl detente. Kory glances between Randall and KeLyssa, deciding that'll be quite enough of the drawn out awkward moment thank you. "Oh, are you busking?" she asks, spotting the case. "Probably better closer to Fifty-Seventh. The pre-Christmas crowds. If you're not sick of Christmas music already, I mean," she offers helpfully.

Randall waves a hand in the general direction of the ducks, shooing them away. You guys have the park all day, give the poor dog some room already. "At least they mostly waited till after Thanksgiving," he offers. "I was pleasantly surprised."

KeLyssa slowly makes her way up to the two. To the question, she shakes her head. "No ma'm. I ain't buskin'. I just play for enjoyment." An obvious southern accent in her voice. "M'name's KeLyssa, by the way." She checks her watch. "My goodness. I just noticed how late it was gettin'. Gotta go get some of my resumes printed off before the store closes."

Ares finds a pile of leaves in which to lie. The eyeing of the ducks continues. The dog regally regards Randall again as he shoos the ducks. The dark head goes to rest on the paws. "Oh — KeLyssa. Sorry," Korry adds, sincerely and sheepishly. "Well, good luck with the job hunt?" Blink blink.

"Yeah, me too," Randall adds - more sheepishly, since it was his mistake to begin with. "Cross fingers!" He waits till KeLyssa heads off before turning to Kory once again. "I've been fine," he says, going back to the question from earlier. "Had to pull some more hours to cover the bills— what about you, how come you never called back? You can do that, you know." He thinks it's safe to assume that she would want to, but that something was stopping her… but what that something could have been, has him at a loss.

Kory also waits a polite moment until KeLyssa has headed off, before she settles on the bench beside Randall. "Good, I'm glad to hear that," she says genuinely. "…I could call back," she agrees, "Only I don't think I ever got your number after I gave you mine." The ruddiness in her cheeks intensifies slightly; a blush. "I hoped you'd call. And if not call, stop by the shop at least. Y'know. To…say hi." She ventures a quick meeting of his eyes with her own.

If anything, Randall looks more confused than before. "What do you mean? I did call!" Vital clue there. "And I thought about the shop, but… I don't know, would that come off like a stalker? Especially if you weren't there. I know, I'm being dumb about it."

"You called?" Kory's expression is genuine surprise. "I didn't get a voicemail from you or a missed call, or anything. How'd we miss each other?" She wrinkles her nose, and thinks a minute, a tiny wisp-plume of steam rising from her lips as she does. "Wait — did my voicemail have music? I have a remix of 'I See You Baby' playing under my greeting."

Randall's eyes go wide. "It didn't! Wait a minute—" Taking out his cell phone, he pokes at buttons until the right number comes up - or what he thought was the right number - then hands it over. The sheepish look from earlier is nothing compared to this one. "I've had this happen before, but I always figured the girl actually wanted to drop off my radar. I didn't think you did, but…" But if it had gone on much longer, what choice would he have?

"Oh…!" Kory shakes her head, and kills the call, then redials, showing him the right number. "Off by one digit." But now he has the right number, and the mnemonic. The last four digits of the number spell her name. "It was a silly misunderstanding. One would think we were in some sitcom." But she laughs, relieved that her worries were unfounded.

Nope, it's definitely a drama - these two are just part of the plucky comic relief. Randall puts the phone away, and then— "I owe you a second date, don't I." And the hand is back on the shoulder, this time matched by the other one. Some things just can't afford to wait any longer.

"I'd like that a lot," Kory tells him, pleased as he places his hands on her shoulders. "But given all the strange coincidences we just had to navigate around, I think I'd rather get the first kiss out of the way, if it's all the same to you." Presuming on a yes, she leans in toward Randall, smiling shyly despite the forwardness of the statement. Though the man did just offer her a second date.

Randall obliges. For the better part of a minute, if not stopped. Long enough, in any case, that a passing jogger slows down to gawk— at least until Randall flips him the bird. He really has settled into certain aspects of life in New York. Somewhere in the midst of it, the hands slip down to the small of the DJ's back, and he scoots closer to her. "I missed you too," he says, replying to something felt rather than heard.

Kory's own wrists have ended up linked behind Randall's neck. Despite the fact that it's a chilly December afternoon, Kory's pretty much tuned out the cold. "Me too," she replies, keeping her forehead tilted intimately against his. "We should probably continue this someplace warmer, though. Ending up in the ER for frostbite doesn't sound terribly romantic to me." Plus, Ares has stood up and is a little shivery.

Randall flexes his fingers experimentally as he (reluctantly) disengages. "Yeah, I think you're right. Call me after you're done with the walk?" The phone is taken out again; this time, he brings up its own number on the display, so Kory can copy it down without any risk of his handwriting interfering.

Kory fishes her own phone out of a coat pocket, and deftly dials it into her address book. She actually rings his number once. Just to make certain she's got it right. Weeks and weeks of empty space between them over one digit off! No more of /that/ either, thank you very much! "Got it. Fortunately Ares and I were just about done." She rises, also reluctantly, and pats her thigh by way of summoning the poodle. He's well trained. He heels. "Talk with you in about half an hour?"

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