Character: Liz Sherman
Fandom: Hellboy
AN: Extending the scene where Liz and Meyers have coffee, and Meyers makes a move on Liz.

"No, Never." I shake my head emphatically at John Myers question. Why do the new guys always want to know if there was "a thing" between Red and me? There is no thing.

"Really?" John sips his coffee and gives me a knowing smile. "Because it seems like…"

"Nope." I cut him off. "Not ever."

He just shrugs and motioning for us to sit down on the bench nearby, which we do. "Well have you ever thought about it, Liz? You and Red…together, like that?" John looks at me innocently, but I can tell he's doing more than just making small talk. Wonder what his angle is.

I sigh and tell him the truth. "I have." I take a sip of my coffee, too weak. They never make it strong enough. I look over John and smile gently.

"Red is…complicated." I begin. "I don't really think that it would be a very good idea if Red and I," I pause and consider the possibility, again. Part of me gets those little tiny stomach butterflies they talk about in those horrible romance movies. That swept off your feet feeling. The other part of me is gripped with anxiety and fear. "Red and I, it's just not practical." I shake my head.

"Love isn't practical, Liz. It just is what it is." He places a hand on mine, and smiles softly. "But if you're not interested in Red that way, it's fine by me." He shrugs. "Just don't see why, I mean other than the…way he looks."

I smack his arm and laugh out loud. "You really think I'm that shallow?" I grin at him. "Do I come off that way? I don't mean to." I shake my head and take another sip of the poor excuse for coffee in my cup.

"No, I was just teasing you." John flashes me a half smile as he shivers in the cold fall air.

"No, it's not about that. Not at all." I frown as I continue to explain. "Red is just... too emotional for me."

"Emotional!?" John gaped at my words. "I can't imagine Red being emotional."

"Well, he is. He gets angry, and then he gets depressed. He gets chatty, and then he gets closed off. He's sweet one minute and a total jerk the next." I shake my head. "I can't deal with all that, not now. Not when I'm so close to having control over this." I open and close my hand to show John I mean my fire. "I need stability. I need to know how a man's going to react to simple things like the kitchen being out of chili." I laugh. It had happened twice. The first time, Red laughed. The other time he punched the cook right in the face. Poor guy still has a crooked nose from it.

"That makes perfect sense, Liz." John smiles at me and scratches his head. I look over to see him try to be sneaky with the old yawning then putting his arm around me trick. Red did that one all the time. I smiled in spite of my self.

New guys, they can be so cute sometimes.