sliceitwithwind

"Ahhh..." she noted "We don't so much do 'parties'. Sometimes a barbecue, but that's about it." she admitted.

"A nurse a beer when I need to be out with the guys before going home...and otherwise I'm home." she shrugged.

"I've settled down a lot since I was in grad school." Dilan says with a laugh, "I don't do a lot of parties anymore, and distressingly many of them are less drinking and more politics, but there you have it."

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime. I was too damn young to drink in college." she admitted. Didn't stop her sometimes, but she'd never gone to parties where they could be busted for underage drinkers present!

"'Wheel and deal' parties or the 'mingle and show-off' type of political stuff?" each were bad enough on their own, but different types of bad?

"So was I." Dilan says with a small smile, "Didn't stop me.

"Only the mingle-and-show-off type. I don't wheel and deal, and people who try to get me to tend to find their pictures on full-page ads in the newspaper, paid for out of my very own pockets. I'm not a politician, I don't care about politics, and if people are going to try to get me to compromise my integrity - "

He trails off and smiles.

It's not a very nice smile.

"Yes, but you weren't fast tracking for the police force." she pointed out with a laugh. "Besides, from the sounds of it, you're a hell of a lot more social than I ever was."

She listened to his summations of the parties, and winced "You didn't want to be stuck in this particular position with Ansem did you?" she asked. "I'm sure the perks are good, but..."

"My best friend is a social butterfly." Dilan agrees, "And we've been friends my whole life."

Then he sobers, "I'm a scientist, Aya. I got a job as a scientist, and found myself a politician. I hate it. All I wanted was to be a scientist."

"Yep, utterly and completely more social." she sighed.

"Hey, we don't have a president for life, and Ansem's been in two years now? If you're not going to leave it'll be over eventually..." she tried to offer that fact as comfort. Though...Ansem's polls were really good. And they'd almost abolished the two-term limit a few years back...

"I'm sorry."

"Me too. That's life, though, and I'll survive." He's good at survival. "The times when I get to do my job, it's great. It's just dealing with all the bullshit. Which is why I tend to wear enough facial jewellery to set off a metal detector at thirty paces when forced into political events."

This is why there are never pictures of him in the paper.

"I rather approve of surviving." she knew a lot of survivors. Of many types of situations.

"That's one way to handle it." she chuckled softly. "Passive protest through being socially unacceptable. At least 'high society' social." she hadn't seen him in full out pierced gear. She'd probably blink and poke when she did...because, well, metal detector at thirty paces?! "How often are you taken from your work?"

"Less now than I used to be. About once a month, although when he was campaigning it was all the damn time."

And, yes, Dilan does hate that. A lot.

"Hmm..." she noted helpfully as she mulled things over. "Next time? Let me know if you want an easy out. I can call, or Pierce can...and ditching a party to consult on police work is hardly rude. In fact, it's civic minded." she offered.

"If we get your name in among the med staff or on the consult list of doom, they can even check up on your excuse and have it validated."

"I'll think about it." Dilan says, "I hate it but - well, it is part of the job. So."

Sometimes you just do the crap things.

"Just letting you know it's an option." she shrugged. She did press releases for much the same reason but...

...she hated to see people trapped.

And the restaurant was obviously hiding from them. Or seemed to be. She couldn't see any street signs. "So...where are we?"

"Thanks, Aya." Dilan says, brushing his hand against her shoulder in gratitude, "I appreciate it."

She leaned into the touch slightly. Off duty? Well, she was an incredibly tactile person. "Hey, Protect and Serve." she quipped wryly. "From anything we can manage. As long as you let us anyway."

Dilan is happy to leave his hand there, then. He's always an incredibly tactile person, "Man, the sheer number of tasteless innuendos you are leaving yourself open for there, Aya."

"Yes, but I'm in good company and need not fear my meaning will be mistaken." she pointed out simply.

"If it's easier on your mind though, I'll rephrase it to 'I like to help, especially with things people hate.'. Better?" she teased.

"Years and years of hanging out with people who will jump at the drop of a proverbial hat has made me sometimes say the joke before I realize that I'm saying the joke." Dilan admits, "So I apologize in advance, but only the once."

Sometimes the pretty girls take him up on it. Sometimes he even takes them up on that.

"No need for apology." she laughed "It happens?" joking innuendo that was. She'd get annoyed if it was constant, but hey, she could deal. "Admittedly, you can't be any worse than the precinct, and it's unlikely I'll have to explain what I actually meant afterward."

"Like I said, only the once. I am who I am, and that's part of who I am. I just usually aim for polite." he grins and drapes his arm across her shoulders, long practice with short women making his hand rest along her upper arm rather than trailing down her chest.

"Luckily, who you are happens to be likable." she noted, bumping her shoulder against his side slightly. She didn't mind the arm draping...

...it was actually kind of nice. Damn. The boys in the precinct would call her a sap.

"I promise that if it's ever too bad I'll swat you like I do the precinct boys."

Dilan guides her slightly sideways into the restaurant of his choice, holding up two fingers for the waitress with a grin, "It's one of my saving graces. If I weren't likeable I'd be Ienzo. I'll accept your swatting if I run over the bounds."

"Hmmm, Ienzo being another apprentice if I recall the file. Not one of the public ones though. What's so bad about him?" she asked curiously.

"And don't worry overly much about the swatting. With you I'd need a step stool, and they're rarely handy."

"Abrasive. He's got the personality of asphalt with carpet burns." Dilan says after a moment, "On a good day he's just that fake grass stuff that people who don't like lawns get put in. Astroturf."

"Ouch" she laughed. She'd hadn't forgotten about the synethesia thing, but it was really interesting to hear a person described that way. "Somehow I don't think you could pull that off even if you weren't likable. Tell me about the rest of your group?"

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