She was waiting for him the next day, a peculiar expression on his face. It took him a couple of minutes to cross-correlate her behavior patterns with the larger databases, and then he realized. She was waiting for him, not in the usual fashion of someone waiting for a friend to show up, but rather waiting for him to decide whether or not to approach her. It was confusing... she had never given him that choice before. She was giving him the choice as to whether or not he wanted to continue their association.
Did he, really? He didn't know.
She waited. She had obviously seen him, but was giving him the choice to approach or not. He presumed it had been triggered by their conversation yesterday, although he didn't know why then. He supposed it was part of the never-ending mystery that was humanity... although Solace never acted like a typical human. She had never acted like a typical anything. He didn't know what to make of her, and that made him irritable.
So should he go to her? He didn't know that either.
Surprising himself, he walked up to meet her. And what was even more surprising was that it wasn't because of the mandate imposed on him by the Mainframe, and it wasn't because of his desire to discover more about the humans he was assigned to watch and safeguard. His agreement to speak with her and to engage in whatever activity she had planned wasn't born out of the orders to study her. He was starting to realize that it wasn't about species, and it wasn't about humans or computers. It wasn't about the differences between them, and it wasn't about enlightenment or understanding. It was all about Solace.
She smiled as he walked up. He still didn't understand why she was glad to see him.
"And how are you this fine day?"
He looked up. "Actually, it seems as though it might rain."
"And as you should remember, rain does not always preclude the possibility of a nice day."
"True. Unlike most human beings, you seem to take a perverse enjoyment in the rain."
She laughed. "It's not a perverse enjoyment. It's a perfectly natural enjoyment. It's better than a lot of people who want their entire life to be climate controlled."
He couldn't very well argue with that, and said so. "You're strange."
"You keep saying that."
"I know."
She grinned "One of these days you're going to have to get used to me."
"But not today."
"No... not today."
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, until lightning crashed overhead, loud enough to make even Solace jump. "On second thought, maybe staying outside isn't a good idea..."
Even as she said it the rain started to pour. "I thought you like the rain," he couldn't resist needling. The water was starting to drip off his glasses and down his nose.
"I like the rain, but this is thick can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face downpour!" She had to shout to be heard above the rain.
"Good point."
She looked around, although he didn't know why, if she couldn't see anything. "There! There's a really nice little coffee shop on that end." She grabbed his hand and started running, and he was dragged after her.
"Hey! Walking here!" She yelled. It was sort of amusing, he'd never seen her cross the streets before. She darted through the cars without regard for lights or personal safety. He would have been worried if he'd been human.
"You are insane!" he shouted when they finally reached the other side. "That car nearly hit you!"
"Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades..." they walked in and suddenly could hear each other again. "And nuclear warfare. Ahh, blissful dryness."
The coffee shop was almost deserted. Smith supposed that other humans had checked their weather reports and decided to remain at home or in the office for the day. "You're not dry."
"I will be eventually. Besides, there's no more water falling from the sky. Or ceiling in this case." She leaned her rain-drenched forearms on the counter. "Hot chocolate, tall."
He blinked. "Hot chocolate?"
She shrugged. "I don't need the caffeine, I need the heat. And I like the sugar. Thanks..." she sipped at the hot chocolate, resulting in whipped cream collecting on her nose. He stared at it. "What?"
"Your...nose..."
She licked it off. She had a long tongue. He stared. She laughed. "Come on, let's go sit down."
It took him a couple of seconds, but he eventually managed to regain his composure enough to sit down at a small table across from her. She kept getting whipped cream on her nose, until it finally dissolved into the dark chocolate drink. "Ow..." she winced. "Hot."
"You did order hot chocolate."
"Yeah... and it's a fine balance between drinking it too fast and drinking it slow enough that you've got too much cooled chocolate..." she was talking very fast, and drinking faster. "But at least it warms you up."
Humans were so strange. "Are you feeling warmer?"
She nodded. "Much... not much dryer, but..." she paused, and he waited for a second before following her gaze to the front window. "Well, at least it's better than being out there."
Something she had said a long time ago came back to him. "And this is part of what you like about the rain?"
"Yeah... being inside, warm and dry and drinking hot chocolate or something... while outside it's raining and storming or snowing and windy... there's something comforting about that." She smiled, pleased that he remembered. "Of course, ideally that would include the dry part."
"You'll dry off soon enough." He thought briefly about accelerating the time it would take for her clothes to dry and decided against it.
"Yeah. Well, most of me. My shoes will probably squelch all day."
Silence. She finished her hot chocolate, and he started to speed up the pace on his own clothing. She was right about that, at least; wet clothing (and especially wet shoes) were uncomfortable in the extreme, even to his not-flesh. He took off his sunglasses and was in the midst of cleaning them when he felt her hand brushing at his hair.
"What?"
She blushed. "You had droplets in your hair.... Sorry."
Pause. "Why?"
"I don't know..."
Ah. Another one of those could-be romantic gestures. He smirked, just a little, and she confirmed his guess with another blush. "It's all right."
She coughed, covering her embarrassment. "Don't you want anything to drink... or...."
He walked up, hiding a victorious grin, and ordered another hot chocolate for her and a coffee for himself. Not that he needed to eat or drink, but he could go through the motions. On a whim he also ordered a slice of cheesecake, and somehow managed to juggle the whole thing back to the table.
"Cheesecake?" She laughed. "How decadent."
He chuckled, then barely managed to keep his bemusement from his face. Why had he chuckled? Never mind. "It seemed appropriate. And perhaps the cheesecake will alleviate some of the discomfort from the dampness..."
"Oh, cheesecake solves all problems..." She laughed, nibbling the cheesecake from her fork in what was blatantly a seductive manner, even for him. The mischievous look in her eyes, however, indicated that she was not being at all serious in her seduction.
It was a little unnerving that he was reading her so easily, so readily. Right up there with the sudden chuckle from earlier. "Does it?"
"Mm-hmm..." she nodded. "It makes all cares and worries go bye-bye." It seemed to for her, at least. She savored her next few bites with pleased little hums, eyes closed, head tilted back, exposing her damp and lightly tanned throat.
"Are there drugs in the dessert?" He realized as the last syllable left his lips that it was a strange question for a human to ask. With a little luck and a great deal of latitude on her part, she would assume he was teasing. He made a mental note to phrase his questions in more acceptable terms in the future. Fortune was with him, though, and she just laughed as though he were teasing.
And then he stopped. "You know, it's entirely possible that there's some chemical compound in the cream cheese and sugar that acts like a drug. I never thought about that. But it is pretty odd that cheesecake is so widely considered a decadent and sensual food." She shrugged. "Maybe it's just the texture ... and the sugar."
"That's probably it."
The subject was dropped. Solace had finished half of the cheesecake and a good portion of the hot chocolate, and was settling down into a relaxed pose. She seemed to be drying off, too. Behind the counter, the attendant was cleaning one of the machines, ignoring the both of them. It wasn't the park but it still managed to be quiet, peaceful. Solace looked up at him with an odd expression in her eyes, and he met her gaze just as she had forked off a bit of the sweet and held it out to him. "Ever had cheesecake?"
"I..." he blinked, too startled to do anything but offer an honest answer. "No."
"Here... try some."
He had a split second in which to decide. Two courses were available to him: the first was the more benign and safe, and involved merely taking the fork from her hand and trying the dessert. The second, eating it off of her fork as she most likely intended him to do, meant that he was returning her flirtatious gestures. Time halted while he considered his options, stunned and... was that fear lurking behind his thoughts? Surely not. Surely he was still immune to such human blandishments as she was offering, and fear wasn't in the common reactions anyway. But his thoughts were chasing themselves in inefficient circles. What to do now? The safe or the dangerous path? And what was behind those classifications anyway... how could a machine such as himself find any safety or danger in the company of a human? Time was starting to resume its normal flow as he leaned forward, deciding in an instant that provoking a further reaction would serve the Sentience's purposes (not his purposes, no, never his) more than playing it safe.
Her face was entirely unreadable as he tasted the cheesecake, delicately taking it from her fork without moving more than neck and head. Dammit.
"Delicious." His face did not change expression, his voice betrayed no feeling.
"I rather think so," she licked the fork (for some reason) and kept nibbling, alternating the cheesecake with sips from the surely-tepid hot chocolate. Her shoulders slumped a fraction of an inch, as though she were relaxing after some tension. He had an idea what it had been.
"Certainly a good choice for a day such as this." Another statement that he didn't know the meaning of. Or the reason for his uttering it. At least it seemed to work.
"Yeah..." her voice trailed off as she looked out the window. The rain showed no signs of slowing. She shivered. "At least it's warm inside."
"At least it is, at that."
Neither of them said anything for a long time. It was almost a relief.
Did he, really? He didn't know.
She waited. She had obviously seen him, but was giving him the choice to approach or not. He presumed it had been triggered by their conversation yesterday, although he didn't know why then. He supposed it was part of the never-ending mystery that was humanity... although Solace never acted like a typical human. She had never acted like a typical anything. He didn't know what to make of her, and that made him irritable.
So should he go to her? He didn't know that either.
Surprising himself, he walked up to meet her. And what was even more surprising was that it wasn't because of the mandate imposed on him by the Mainframe, and it wasn't because of his desire to discover more about the humans he was assigned to watch and safeguard. His agreement to speak with her and to engage in whatever activity she had planned wasn't born out of the orders to study her. He was starting to realize that it wasn't about species, and it wasn't about humans or computers. It wasn't about the differences between them, and it wasn't about enlightenment or understanding. It was all about Solace.
She smiled as he walked up. He still didn't understand why she was glad to see him.
"And how are you this fine day?"
He looked up. "Actually, it seems as though it might rain."
"And as you should remember, rain does not always preclude the possibility of a nice day."
"True. Unlike most human beings, you seem to take a perverse enjoyment in the rain."
She laughed. "It's not a perverse enjoyment. It's a perfectly natural enjoyment. It's better than a lot of people who want their entire life to be climate controlled."
He couldn't very well argue with that, and said so. "You're strange."
"You keep saying that."
"I know."
She grinned "One of these days you're going to have to get used to me."
"But not today."
"No... not today."
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, until lightning crashed overhead, loud enough to make even Solace jump. "On second thought, maybe staying outside isn't a good idea..."
Even as she said it the rain started to pour. "I thought you like the rain," he couldn't resist needling. The water was starting to drip off his glasses and down his nose.
"I like the rain, but this is thick can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face downpour!" She had to shout to be heard above the rain.
"Good point."
She looked around, although he didn't know why, if she couldn't see anything. "There! There's a really nice little coffee shop on that end." She grabbed his hand and started running, and he was dragged after her.
"Hey! Walking here!" She yelled. It was sort of amusing, he'd never seen her cross the streets before. She darted through the cars without regard for lights or personal safety. He would have been worried if he'd been human.
"You are insane!" he shouted when they finally reached the other side. "That car nearly hit you!"
"Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades..." they walked in and suddenly could hear each other again. "And nuclear warfare. Ahh, blissful dryness."
The coffee shop was almost deserted. Smith supposed that other humans had checked their weather reports and decided to remain at home or in the office for the day. "You're not dry."
"I will be eventually. Besides, there's no more water falling from the sky. Or ceiling in this case." She leaned her rain-drenched forearms on the counter. "Hot chocolate, tall."
He blinked. "Hot chocolate?"
She shrugged. "I don't need the caffeine, I need the heat. And I like the sugar. Thanks..." she sipped at the hot chocolate, resulting in whipped cream collecting on her nose. He stared at it. "What?"
"Your...nose..."
She licked it off. She had a long tongue. He stared. She laughed. "Come on, let's go sit down."
It took him a couple of seconds, but he eventually managed to regain his composure enough to sit down at a small table across from her. She kept getting whipped cream on her nose, until it finally dissolved into the dark chocolate drink. "Ow..." she winced. "Hot."
"You did order hot chocolate."
"Yeah... and it's a fine balance between drinking it too fast and drinking it slow enough that you've got too much cooled chocolate..." she was talking very fast, and drinking faster. "But at least it warms you up."
Humans were so strange. "Are you feeling warmer?"
She nodded. "Much... not much dryer, but..." she paused, and he waited for a second before following her gaze to the front window. "Well, at least it's better than being out there."
Something she had said a long time ago came back to him. "And this is part of what you like about the rain?"
"Yeah... being inside, warm and dry and drinking hot chocolate or something... while outside it's raining and storming or snowing and windy... there's something comforting about that." She smiled, pleased that he remembered. "Of course, ideally that would include the dry part."
"You'll dry off soon enough." He thought briefly about accelerating the time it would take for her clothes to dry and decided against it.
"Yeah. Well, most of me. My shoes will probably squelch all day."
Silence. She finished her hot chocolate, and he started to speed up the pace on his own clothing. She was right about that, at least; wet clothing (and especially wet shoes) were uncomfortable in the extreme, even to his not-flesh. He took off his sunglasses and was in the midst of cleaning them when he felt her hand brushing at his hair.
"What?"
She blushed. "You had droplets in your hair.... Sorry."
Pause. "Why?"
"I don't know..."
Ah. Another one of those could-be romantic gestures. He smirked, just a little, and she confirmed his guess with another blush. "It's all right."
She coughed, covering her embarrassment. "Don't you want anything to drink... or...."
He walked up, hiding a victorious grin, and ordered another hot chocolate for her and a coffee for himself. Not that he needed to eat or drink, but he could go through the motions. On a whim he also ordered a slice of cheesecake, and somehow managed to juggle the whole thing back to the table.
"Cheesecake?" She laughed. "How decadent."
He chuckled, then barely managed to keep his bemusement from his face. Why had he chuckled? Never mind. "It seemed appropriate. And perhaps the cheesecake will alleviate some of the discomfort from the dampness..."
"Oh, cheesecake solves all problems..." She laughed, nibbling the cheesecake from her fork in what was blatantly a seductive manner, even for him. The mischievous look in her eyes, however, indicated that she was not being at all serious in her seduction.
It was a little unnerving that he was reading her so easily, so readily. Right up there with the sudden chuckle from earlier. "Does it?"
"Mm-hmm..." she nodded. "It makes all cares and worries go bye-bye." It seemed to for her, at least. She savored her next few bites with pleased little hums, eyes closed, head tilted back, exposing her damp and lightly tanned throat.
"Are there drugs in the dessert?" He realized as the last syllable left his lips that it was a strange question for a human to ask. With a little luck and a great deal of latitude on her part, she would assume he was teasing. He made a mental note to phrase his questions in more acceptable terms in the future. Fortune was with him, though, and she just laughed as though he were teasing.
And then he stopped. "You know, it's entirely possible that there's some chemical compound in the cream cheese and sugar that acts like a drug. I never thought about that. But it is pretty odd that cheesecake is so widely considered a decadent and sensual food." She shrugged. "Maybe it's just the texture ... and the sugar."
"That's probably it."
The subject was dropped. Solace had finished half of the cheesecake and a good portion of the hot chocolate, and was settling down into a relaxed pose. She seemed to be drying off, too. Behind the counter, the attendant was cleaning one of the machines, ignoring the both of them. It wasn't the park but it still managed to be quiet, peaceful. Solace looked up at him with an odd expression in her eyes, and he met her gaze just as she had forked off a bit of the sweet and held it out to him. "Ever had cheesecake?"
"I..." he blinked, too startled to do anything but offer an honest answer. "No."
"Here... try some."
He had a split second in which to decide. Two courses were available to him: the first was the more benign and safe, and involved merely taking the fork from her hand and trying the dessert. The second, eating it off of her fork as she most likely intended him to do, meant that he was returning her flirtatious gestures. Time halted while he considered his options, stunned and... was that fear lurking behind his thoughts? Surely not. Surely he was still immune to such human blandishments as she was offering, and fear wasn't in the common reactions anyway. But his thoughts were chasing themselves in inefficient circles. What to do now? The safe or the dangerous path? And what was behind those classifications anyway... how could a machine such as himself find any safety or danger in the company of a human? Time was starting to resume its normal flow as he leaned forward, deciding in an instant that provoking a further reaction would serve the Sentience's purposes (not his purposes, no, never his) more than playing it safe.
Her face was entirely unreadable as he tasted the cheesecake, delicately taking it from her fork without moving more than neck and head. Dammit.
"Delicious." His face did not change expression, his voice betrayed no feeling.
"I rather think so," she licked the fork (for some reason) and kept nibbling, alternating the cheesecake with sips from the surely-tepid hot chocolate. Her shoulders slumped a fraction of an inch, as though she were relaxing after some tension. He had an idea what it had been.
"Certainly a good choice for a day such as this." Another statement that he didn't know the meaning of. Or the reason for his uttering it. At least it seemed to work.
"Yeah..." her voice trailed off as she looked out the window. The rain showed no signs of slowing. She shivered. "At least it's warm inside."
"At least it is, at that."
Neither of them said anything for a long time. It was almost a relief.