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lily

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He was settling. He thought. Living with Eleanor was so different from constantly moving toward her, chasing her down, and before that, walking with her through the slowly decaying halls of Rapture in search of corpses, angels, blood... that could barely have been called living with. Life without needing to protect her. Just... life.

But it was happening. As with everything else, he was learning. They both were.

But sometimes he still needed time on his own, time to walk and think. So on a day when he had nowhere to be, and Eleanor was in school, he fed Eve and then took to the street and made his way to the park. Everything might be dead now, brown and gray and leafless, but he understood that it wouldn't always be that way, and if he was honest, he went there often now to look for a sign. The first green shoots. The first buds on the trees. Not reassurance. But something like it.

Watching life was what he did now. Watching life without needing to kill for it.

It felt good.

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"I know the story. I read it when..." He smiled, slightly self-conscious. "When I was reading everything. Trying to learn."

And then learning that there was only so much that books could teach him about anything.

"I would love tickets. If it's not too much trouble. Thank you." Eleanor, he was absolutely sure, would love it just as much. And there had never been enough beauty in her life before now.

"No, of course not," she answered. "We're given comp tickets for every performance, so it's nice to have people who actually want to use them. Just give me a date and I'll make sure they're saved at the door for you."

She paused, smiling, then said, "I'm glad you're coming." Lily loved to dance, but there was a part of her that loved to have people watch her, too. It wasn't always about having an audience, but sometimes knowing there was someone out there, someone who'd come specifically to see her that made the entire performance feel different.

"I'm glad, too." He smiled back at her, wider, than cleared his throat when something about the moment made him feel unaccountably aware of his own hands and feet. Strange.

"I don't actually go to many things like that. Not even movies." He knew that it was a thing that most normal people did, but he found them too loud, too full of rapid movement and colors, and they made him tense. As though he had to be ready to fight.

"Well, the ballet is better than a movie," Lily promised with a grin. She'd spent enough time around Kaine to no longer be surprised when someone admitted they didn't do something that seemed normal to everyone else.

"I'll be there, for one," she said with a teasing grin. "And, really, that's much better than a movie. Unless we were to go for a movie together."

"If you say so, I believe you," he said, and then paused, looking at her again. She was clearly teasing him, but he couldn't quite figure out the source of it. Or untangle exactly what she was saying.

"I... don't usually like movies," he said slowly, uncertain of his ground. "Why, would you like to go to one with me?"

"It wouldn't have to be a movie. We could go out for coffee or have dinner, maybe," Lily suggested, smiling, unable to help herself. He was sweet in a way she wasn't used to. He wasn't innocent, she believed him when he said he'd done horrible things, but there was something else to him she liked. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I'm asking you on a date," she said. "Just so we're both on the same page."

"I-" He blinked at her. "A date?" He knew what dates were. Of course he did. He had just, for whatever reason, never really imagined himself on one, even when talking to Russell about it, and he had definitely never imagined being asked.

But. Well. Okay.

"I've never been on one," he said, still a little uncertain. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, they're not very difficult," Lily replied, pretending to think about it, still smiling. "So, no, I don't think it's much of a problem. I promise there aren't very many rules to follow."

Especially not when it came to going on dates with Lily. In fact, if she thought about it, it had been a very long time since she'd gone on an official date at all. "Only if you're interested, of course," she added.

"I am," he said. And he was only a little surprised at the lack of hesitation. Uncertainty, yes, but... He was interested.

Even if he had no idea exactly what that meant.

"I think I would feel more comfortable if you decided where and when, though." She said no rules, and maybe there weren't formal ones... But he was still ready to follow her lead, at least for the moment.

"I have a show this Friday and Saturday, so what about next weekend?" she asked, smiling over at him. She would have to find a good restaurant, she thought, somewhere Delta would be comfortable, and a movie was definitely out of the question, but she was sure she could come up with something else for them to do, something they would both enjoy.

"It'll be fun," she promised.

"I don't have anything else to do." For the first time, he wondered what Eleanor might think of this. Not that he imagined for a moment that she would disapprove of any of it, or feel jealous of his time, but... it was new.

New all around.

"Anyway, like I said." He smiled again, faintly. "I believe you."

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