The Blood Sings, and I Listen |OPEN|

[Katherine Summers]

Kat was adverse about getting involved with co-workers, honestly. She'd never had a serious boyfriend, nobody that'd lasted for a few months. She wanted a husband and a family eventually, but no time soon. She honestly felt as though she would be selfish to try and start a family with her career the way it was. She had a higher obligation to the victims of crimes than she did to anyone, even herself.

She caught Gabe glancing at her as she was peeking at him, and couldn't help but smile, a rose tone coming to her cheeks. Luckily those dark strands he enjoyed seeing so much hid the blush, and only when it had gone, which was as long as it took her to get out of the car and wait for him on the sidewalk, did she clear her hair away. She didn't pull it up, but smoothed it over her right shoulder, keeping him at her left. She just preferred to walk on the right - there was no real reason beyond that.

She got a small Sprite and then sped-walked to the theatre, taunting him in the hallway there. She enjoyed their playful banter a little more than she should have, and it wasn't until the lights dimmed that she got a little butterfly in her stomach.

No, Kat. This is stupid.

The butterflies went away.

She watched, watching him to make sure he wasn't bored out of his mind - and she did catch him laugh a few times. It wasn't until the movie took a turn downhill - the sad part, inevitably, before Kat actually thought clearly about anything pertinent again. But then it happened - she cried. She couldn't help it. She had a soft spot for kids' movies, and this was no different. She knew nobody else was crying except for the plethora of 10-and-under, but she dabbed her eyes quickly before Gabriel could see, and suddenly felt incredibly exposed. Crying in general for her was just... no.

Hopefully he doesn't think I'm a loser, now. I don't think I'm a loser, anyways. Oh, wow. Yeah. I blew this one.

She was strangely silent as they left, a smile forcing itself on her lips. "So, totally lame?' she asked, thrusting her hands into her pockets as she walked. She was moving slowly. She didn't want to go home, not just yet.

[Gabriel Sullivan]

Good, that meant that both of them were against getting involved with co-workers, and that was excellent.  It'd help him avoid second-guessing his own decision if she agreed with him, and that worked out just perfectly for him.  He didn't need to second-guess those things. 

Naturally, he shot his own taunts back the whole way, not nearly moving as quickly as she was and getting called 'slow' more times than he could easily count, but he was waiting for her to turn and walk backwards to make fun of him, and walk into something.  Like a trash can.  That'd be funny, and no, he wouldn't warn her.  Where would the fun be in that?  There is that phrase, though, about it all being fun until something bad happens, and Gabe hadn't seen any of the badness approaching this time.

Her nerves, and heartrate, spiked briefly as the lights went out, right along with her thought about being stupid, but at least she pulled herself together on that one.  He made it a point to behave as though he hadn't noticed a thing, instead settling into his seat for the long haul.  He wasn't expecting much, and actually assumed he was going to have to pretend to enjoy it to please her, but he was surprised to find that he didn't hate it.  It was alright, even funny sometimes, and though he didn't really share the feelings that Kat seemed to with the ten-year-olds in the audience, he could show some sympathy.

Or, he could just be a 'typical guy' and completely pretend he hadn't noticed.  Given that this was Kat, he was going with the latter, and only touching the former if she said something or it continued.  She was being ridiculous if she thought he was going to think of her as a loser fro crying, though.  Sometimes, humans were so foolish.  "I kind of liked it.  It's not really my type of movie, but it was pretty funny in parts.  Nice choice."

There, she wasn't a loser.  He approved of her movie choice, and that had to prove that he didn't think she was a loser, right?  Right.

[Katherine Summers]

She laughed a little. "Well, good. Maybe we can do it again sometime, only not with a Dr. Seuss movie. Just - no clowns, okay? They really scare me," she said, almost whining a little. Kat and clowns, bad combination. "Actually, let's just skip any scary movie. I don't need a reason to freak myself out in the morgue. And no romantic movies, bleh," she added. Romantic movies were stupid.

"Who the hell actually gets their shit solved in an hour and forty-five minutes?" she muttered. She tossed her hair back, enjoying how the damp night air made it curl slightly. She liked how it danced across her cheeks, it tickled slightly. It still smelled good - she loved the shampoo she used. It smelled like tropical fruit.

"You going to go back to work again?" she asked, opening the car door.

[Gabriel Sullivan]

Was she...?

No.

Wait.

She was.

No.

Not possible.

He needed to stop being ridiculous.

No, wait.

It sounded like she was.

Oh, hell.  From the sound of things, Kat had just asked for a repeat performance on the movie deal, which may have only been a friendly get-together this time, but planning it like that could make it so much more of an issue.  So, was it a date she was pushing for, or did she just want to see a movie with a friend?  Shit, he didn't know, and her thoughts had gone off to consider Jennifer Aniston and her horrible acting ability with the mention of romantic movies, and he didn't want to push past that to get to her underlying thoughts.  Sometimes, people would notice something like that, and he'd seen vamps get in serious trouble with hunters for stupider things.  Not that he was really afraid of the hunters, but it was something akin to a 'healthy understanding' of them. 

"I never liked romances, either, and life is scary enough without having to watch a bunch of bimbos dodge the supernatural.  Like that stuff could ever really happen, anyway," he snorted.  HAH!  Hear his believable lie, and understand that he really isn't a super nice guy, even if he has his reasons for keeping it quiet.

Going back to work?  "I was thinking about it," he told her, and he was lying again.  He was thinking about her and that hair, which he was wondering if she'd noticed him watching.  It'd explain the attention she was giving it.  A good breeze put the smell of her shampoo in his nose as well, and he wouldn't have minded lavishing his own attention upon it.  It smelled like places he'd been, only nicer.  "I DO have a reputation to uphold, you know.  Nerd cops don't go to movies with pretty girls, they work through the night, then make jokes in bad taste in the morning because they didn't sleep."

He'd done that before, though it was because he hadn't fed, instead of the sleeping issue.  Not pleasant.

[Katherine Summers]

Kat got the impression he was declining politely without actually declining. She couldn't say precisely how she knew, but it was a feeling she couldn't shake. He let her have her dignity, anyways. She buried her nose in her hair as it caught between her neck and her shoulder, looking away for a moment to consider things. She supposed she hadn't meant it as a date, not really, but she could see how it would be taken that way. She sighed a little, and looked back at him with a smile before ducking down to get inside the car. It didn't matter.

"Well," she said, as they started back towards the precinct. "Pretty girls don't pull apart dead bodies, and they don't have fun doing it, either," she informed him. "They also don't spend Saturday night at home doing crosswords and drinking strawberry champagne because they 'really just like the taste', but, you know. Breaking the mold." She offered him a cheezy grin.

She twined a few strands of hair between her fingers as the drove, eyes up on the sky as the rain began to fall. She sighed a little - perfect. She was thankful she didn't live too far away. As Gabriel pulled up alongside her black Acura RSX, she smiled at him. "Thanks for the movie. Sorry it wasn't more action-packed. I guess I owe you one," she said. The smile was genuine, after all. It seemed like whatever she had going on internally she'd reasoned out enough for it not to matter - either that, or Kat bounced back that fast. It was a combination of both, in truth. She was resilient and young, and she tried not to take things too seriously.

[Gabriel Sullivan]

He couldn't tell if he was happy that she seemed to have given up on the idea of a second movie, or if he wanted to smack himself upside the head.  Both were incredibly tempting reactions at the moment, but neither were truly satisfying.  How the hell had he gotten himself involved in this?  Wait, he knew.

Shit.

"You're right, pretty girls DON'T pull apart dead bodies, so you get major credit for breaking the mold," he admitted, but that wasn't the big deal.  It was HIM breaking the 'mold', which was ironic considering he already did.  He was just trying not to lately.  When he finally went off 'breaking the mold' again, it could get nasty, and he'd have to leave his nice little job, which was currently entertaining him just fine.

There she went.  He wanted to offer her a solution on the 'owe you one', but he was trying to avoid that.  'Relations' with someone he worked with just wouldn't work out properly, considering how he tended to handle that.  They were never long-term, and he hated the idea of having to deal with Kat if things went sour.  "The movie really wasn't all that bad, so it's no big deal.  If you think of something, let me know," he offered her with a grin, easily pushing the idea away.  He didn't want to think of it himself, because there were plenty of ideas in his skull that weren't as innocent as a movie.  Not that he wanted to hurt her, because he definitely didn't, but he had his ideas...

"What kind of donuts do you want tomorrow morning?"

[Katherine Summers]

Katherine brightened a little, and leaned into his window, ignoring the rain as it begun to splash against her clothing in thick droplets. The humidity made the scent of her shampoo almost suffocating, and she loved it. She'd gotten the entire bath set - Kat was the sort of girl who went for those things. She had an entire plastic shelf set with tons and tons of lotion, spray, and perfume on it - all Bath and Body Works stock. She'd worked there part-time and the discount had been to die for.

"Donuts? C'mon, do you even have to ask? Rainbow sprinkles - lots of them," she said with a smile. "I'm glad someone gives me credit. I guess it's not fair to say that, though - my parents and brother are all for it. They say I have a gift with the dead," she added with a shrug. She smiled again at him, unable to pretend that she wasn't getting soaked. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

[Gabriel Sullivan]

He was going to snap if he didn't get her away from him.  Between the smell and sound of her blood, the humidity and rain itself, and the way that tropical scent was positively wafting off of her, he was going to lose his little 'nerd' act in a few minutes if she didn't go.  It all made him think of times that were long gone, times when he was a lot more daring.

Times when he would have dragged her right back in with him and completely turned her world upside down.

He tried not to visibly shake his head, just because that would look strange and cause her to linger, but it wouldn't have been impossible for her to notice his expression slipping some from harmlessly pleasant to something much darker.  Somehow, donuts seemed unimportant right then.

"That's right, sprinkles.  I'll remember that," he promised, trying to keep his voice totally normal.  For someone who was usually effortlessly good at this, he was NOT having an easy time of it.  A gift with the dead, indeed.  Right then, she wasn't all that bad with his sort of dead, either.  "Tomorrow, yep.  I'll bring the donuts."

God.

[Katherine Summers]

Kat nodded, turned, and tapped the top of his car with her palm twice - something she usually did to other officers when she was letting them know a scene was clear. She didn't look back as she sprinted to her own car, a short distance at least, and hopped in. She started it up and pulled out of the lot, heading towards her house.

At least the evening had gone well. She glanced down at the paperwork sitting in her passenger seat as she waited for a light to change. She had a habit of taking her work home with her, and this night was no different, Gabriel or not. With a little sigh, she continued through the hazy, rainy nighttime traffic homeward.

[Gabriel Sullivan]

He breathed an audible sigh of relief, even as a vampire who didn't really need to breathe (he still liked to, and it was habit, so he did it without even thinking), when she left the window and tapped on the top of his car.  He rolled up the window once she'd started away, trying to drown out the scent of the rain and HER, but it didn't work all that well.  All it seemed to do was lock it in the car with him, which was when it occurred to him to stop breathing.

Wow, Gabe.  Smooth.

He didn't breathe the whole ride home, until he could get into his apartment and start pacing.  That lasted for about thirty seconds, then he was out the door.  Headed for the clubs, and a good snack.