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Gypsies and Textbooks
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"So. Whatcha readin?" He leans over a little to peek.
She glares at him. It's getting a bit softer though. "Ancient rudimentary physics."
"That's not even in English," he remarks with a little astonishment.
"Physics isn't limited to the English speaking world," she says drily.
He laughs. "True enough." He tilts his head to see it a little better. "Why?"
She raises an eyebrow. "Are you a white supremacist as well as a con artist?"
He stares at her for just a moment before he catches on. "I'm wounded. Is that how you perceive me? A gypsy?"
She blinks. Perhaps distracted by trying to imagine him in bangles and large earrings.
She probably was, judging by the twitch of her lips.
"I think I could pull it off," he grins. Reaching for her hands, he raises the pitch of his voice a couple octaves. "Fortune, fortune for you, beautiful girl?"
She yanks her hands back. "You definitely are lacking in the gypsy skill department."
"Ahh, but you have not even let me see your pretty hands," he continues in falsetto as he reaches for her wrist.
"You sound more like the Wicked Witch of the West," she keeps her hands far enough out of his reach.
He laughs and grabs her primeval textbook instead. Flipping idly through it, he pauses with interest at a diagram. "So really, though," he returns to his baritone voice. "Why such a thrilling topic?"
"So really, though," she mimicks. "Why are you bothering me?"
Finally she comes out with it. Does she really want him to leave now? Her jaw is slightly clenched. She stretches out a hand, silently demanding her book.
Maybe touching her things without permission isn't the greatest idea. He hands it back with a smirk.
"Chill, sunshine. I'll leave your stuff alone. And I won't even tell your fortune for you. Though I could've given you a discount," he winks. That's as close as she'll get to having an apology. But it seems to work enough for her.
She takes another sip of her tea and finishes off her cup of fruit.
"Research," she says after a minute.
"What?"
"I'm doing research. Jump University is conducting a study on the development of physics through time. I help with translation and research from time to time," she says.
"So, you come to a cafe to drink tea and do book reports for a bunch of geezers?"
"Yes." She quirks an eyebrow.
"Cool," he smiles.
"Well, as fun as this time has been," Raven says drily, "I think it's time I head out now." She rises.
"Back on duty already?" How disappointing.
"I didn't say I was going to the Tower," she says as she takes out her wallet.
"No way, cutie. This is on me," he slaps down a twenty. "Ok. So what sort of things do you do on your day off?"
She glares. It's getting so weak. "That is none of your concern, and I don't need a thief to-"
"Alright, Sunshine. Don't tell me. I can figure it out," he smirks. "And not all my money is dirty, k? Besides, I'm the one that ordered the fruit cup anyway. You shouldn't pay for something I ordered. See you around," he winks.
And then he's gone.