trans_9 | SHMS seeking SWFS [mostly closed, but see tiny ooc note]

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SHMS seeking SWFS [mostly closed, but see tiny ooc note]

Paco is right. Then again, Paco is right far more often than a lot of people give him credit for. He really needs to talk to Mia and--and explain things. Not that his explanation is any good, in his opinion, but he'd started off flirting with her, and kinda dropped off the map, and not said a word to her and it's really unfair because she's a nice girl.

As it stands, Jaime is searching the ship for a certain blond-haired archer (the crimefighting one, not the gold medalist, although he doesn't know that the gold medalist WAS a crimefighter).

"Just my luck, she'll ambush me naked again," he mutters to himself.

A pause.

"That would be kinda good luck, I guess."

Another pause, as he facepalms.

"I need to stop having these kinda thoughts..."

[tiny!ooc: If you have someone that needs to talk to Jaime, for plot purposes, lemme know. I can do other convos, but I really need to do it one at a time, atm, due to foggy-headedness, so I'd want to do them consecutively, and just let each person know when I'm ready for a new one.]

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There's a tap on his shoulder. A month or so ago it would have been a grab of the ass.

"Hey stranger." Mia's standing behind him, having been tailing him after watching him wander around almost blindly for a few minutes.

When he turns around, she folds her arms over her chest and just looks at him. It's not an angry look, but it's clearly expectant. Of something. Anything at this point.

"Uh, hey, Mia. I--hey."

Jaime swipes his hand over his face.

Deep breath.

"So, uh, Paco, talked to me because you talked to him, so I thought I should talk to you, rather than this whole whisper down the alley thing, since that's kinda very junior high, on my part..."

"Mhm." She replies simply, sizing him up, letting a silence hang momentarily.

"Let's go somewhere more comfortable, and less open to interruption, and talk then." She takes his hand and heads for the Sensoriums.

Upon arrival, she moves in with authority. "Stacy, load program Dearden confessional." The scenery flickers, and the comfy room she'd set up for herself and Paco earlier appears. She sits down on the couch, and reaches over to pat a spot next to her, but not right next to her. Her expression doesn't look as accusing, just curious and maybe a tiny bit sullen.

Oh man, she made a program?

Jaime tugs at his collar, as he takes a seat.

"Okay, so, I know we were being friendly and kinda flirting--and then I kind of...just flitted off and disappeared, which was unfair, because of the friend part of the friendly."

Mia nods, drawing her knees up to her chest and laying her head on them, looking at him. "Yeah.. there's that."

She wasn't going to yell or get angry (pretty sure about that), but she did plan on making him do most of the initial talking.

"One reason was worrying about--you know. Getting out of here. All that. When I focus in on something, I kinda get tunnel vision, especially something important like that."

He admits, "Especially since I really, really miss my family right now. Paco and Brenda being here helps, but I haven't been away from my family for more than a few days for pretty much my entire life. I really...want to go home, so I've been a little obsessed about it, and also I want to make sure that anything we do towards that won't get anyone killed, so I've been working like crazy."

He goes on, "Another reason is--I'll just be honest--even though the time's up with what Traci and I agreed to, it still didn't feel right to me to be interested in anyone else. And you--it's really hard for me not to be interested in you. It makes me feel guilty, so I was avoidey."

He gestures with a hand, "And the last reason is--"

Just man up, Jaime. Man up.

"You're really, really hot. And flirty, and fun, and it's all in a 'kick a guy in the gut' kinda way. Like I feel bowled right over--and that's not bad at all. I'm not saying you come on too strong or anything. I'm just...saying there's a lot that's likeable about you, and it's all enough to make you feel like something's knocked your breath out of you."

Deep breath.

"That makes me feel guilty because of Traci, because it's hard for me to not be attracted to you. That makes me feel guilty because I was raised that you should respect women and so I try to think of them as friends first, not have my brain go all 'look at the hot hot hottie.' That makes me nervous because that kind of thing makes me nervous in general. It scares me. I'm the kind of guy that--not to drag up any baggage, but before Traci, I hadn't dated in a really, really long time, because even though I had some good girlfriends, there were a few that bowled me right over like that. And a lot of people, when they meet me think that because I'm nice, I'm a pushover--especially girls. They wanted the nice, and they wanted whatever else they wanted, thinking I'd put up with it. One of them was really bad about it, and cheated on me and everything."

He goes on, "I didn't put up with it, but it still hurt, and so now I guess I just get nervous if I think that way about a girl. It's not like you're scary, I'm not saying I think you'd be like that--it's more I just get...scared I guess if I meet a girl who I think I could like a whole lot, because of that. I don't want to go all crazy over a girl and then have something go wrong where I get hurt."

That whole thing is why Traci and him were just a...something. And hadn't even put a name to it, even with how long they'd been going out. He certainly cared--cares about Traci, but he kinda likes not having romance be a big focus in his life. He doesn't like all the negatives that come of a srs relationship, even all the positives, like the kissing and the cuddling and the spending time with someone and having fun, are great.

So there it all is, Mia.

"That's what happened." He shakes his head. "But feeling overwhelmed, or guilty, or homesick--it doesn't excuse how I avoided you, especially because of the friend part, and for that, lo siento. I should have just told you these things--no one likes to feel ditched, even as just a friend. And I would like to still be friends, if you're willing to forgive me for kind of being a jerk."

Mia listened very carefully to everything he had to say, pursing her lips at times, and stopping herself from interrupting at other times. It was clearly taking some out of him to get all this out in the open, and she wanted to be respectful of it.

"Okay.." She said at last, taking a breath and sitting up again. "I'm not so good with the long-winded, so.. let's take this one thing at a time, and bear with me if I take my time a little more." She tentatively reaches for one of his hands and gives it a squeeze.

"First things first, apology accepted." She affords him a soft smile.

"I totally get the family thing, I mean... I... have my reasons for wanting to ride this out,--" not ready to make that reveal just yet "--but... yeah, of course I miss the rest of the Arrow clan. They're the only family I've ever really had. It's sweet that you think of them." Another squeeze of his hand.

"And..." She allows herself to grimace. "It's sweet that you think of Traci. If you still have feelings for her, I totally understand, and don't want to be 'that girl'. I'm glad she at least was making you happier that whatever happened before."

She smiles, moving a little closer, nudging her knee against his. "Don't worry about the hottie stuff, it's cute, from you. Could seem creepy from someone else, but you're so damned innocent it just works." She grins. "I know I'm a hottie, I'm just still glad when someone else notices. Especially someone I like."

She tilts her head, gathering her thoughts. "As for getting bowled over... you don't have to worry about that with me. I'm pretty straightforward. Leveling with you, there's some skeletons in my closet I'd have to drag out sooner or later, but in terms of how I'd treat you, you've pretty much got the whole thing spelled out already." She pauses. "Well, further naked tacklings would probably not take place in front of Paco, or anyone else, but everything else is pretty much spelled out."

She picked her head up and looked at him, her face rather close to his.

Okay, really close to his, but she seemed to get the most direct responses out of him when he felt cornered. Plus, he was still very nice to look at.

"So.. where does this leave us? I mean, is there an 'us'?"

"Can we just see what happens as it happens?" Jaime asks her. "But I'll try--I'll try to let it happen."

Mia takes a breath, still holding his hand, and smiles, nodding.

"I can work with that."

She leans in, purposely slowly, intending to kiss him at the corner of his mouth. Still aiming for on the cheek, but she's moving with enough slowness that he can either redirect it, or dodge entirely.

She gets the corner of his mouth, and he smiles, sheepishly.

Then as he looks at her, the smile fades gives way to a more serious expression, as Jaime suddenly decides exactly what he wants.

His hands go up to cradle her face, gently, as he swiftly leans in for a kiss on the lips.

!

Okay, outer space just got awesome again.

There's a faint escaping giggle of happiness from Mia before her arms swing around him, which gives way to a contented sigh as she kisses back

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SHMS seeking SWFS [mostly closed, but see tiny ooc note]

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