Comfort Zone [tag: Connor]

[Corinne]

Mildly irritated. Yes, that sounded about right. Lisa had managed to successfully dodge the pesky people in the kiosks who tried to "ask you a question". Yet she still had managed to find out that for her lunch break, her plans were broken last minute. Typical, her college friends still hadn't grown up it seemed.
So as she'd started to walk toward the food court to just grab something quick to eat, a furniture store had caught her eye. Lisa wasn't the type to just have an impulse buy, but it wouldn't hurt to look at some sort of furnishing. A futon or couch would be nice for when she planned to have company...someday. Oh, and she could sit in comfy chairs, which is always a plus.
So with a quick detour, Lisa walked toward the store. She could make an educated decision later.

[Connor Batten]

Connor, actually, wasn't irritated at all.  One might think so, considering he'd gotten almost no sleep the day before (between having Anya all day and working on an assignment most of the night), but he actually wasn't.  He should have been at home, catching up on the sleep he'd missed, but he'd been paranoid about a tail having potentially noticed and started in on him, so he was wasting time and trying to bore them.

Thus, the trip into the mall.

Really, he wasn't a fan.  He didn't do a lot of shopping, and the last time he'd probably been in was when he bought Anya's bear and ran into Heather, and that was quite some time ago.  He hadn't needed anything new, not desperately enough to bother with the mall himself, so he didn't see a reason to stop in.  Inversely, it was now a perfect solution.  It was full of people, and it was boring.  All the people made it hard for him to be attacked or jumped without security getting involved and a scene starting, and boring should hopefully suggest that he wasn't anything of interest.  He'd just hang out until he lost the tail, if that's what it was, or until HE got too bored, and then he'd go somewhere else normal and boring.  He could keep it up for days, if he had to.

He didn't know, at the time, what inspired him to take a look inside the furniture store, since he definitely didn't need anything from it, but he DID remember Val telling him to buy a new couch.  He'd do no such thing, but it was amusing when he remembered.  He looked at some couches, but he was personally of the opinion that his was better (and told the annoying customer service rep who wouldn't leave him alone for the first five minutes he was in there exactly that), so he didn't do much more than sit on a few, very briefly, and move on.  It was the recliners that caught his attention, anyway.  He didn't have one, didn't think he needed on, but come on.  How do you go into a furniture store and not try out any of the recliners?

You don't, that's how.

Connor naturally found himself drawn to one of the recliners, and it was only about 30 seconds of sitting before he deemed the chair worthy of reclining in.  It was actually very comfortable, even if the price tag said it was expensive enough that it ought to levitate or something, and only a few minutes into the sitting, he was starting to doze off.  He knew, as soon as it started, that he should get up and do something that would keep him awake, but did he?  Hell, no!  Where would the fun be in that?  It wasn't long before he was out like a light, or as much as he was able.  He'd always been a light sleeper.

[Corinne]

Every time she took a seat in a futon or couch, something had been off about the seat. Be it that the cushion was too hard, or there wasn't enough cushion, or it just wasn't deemed "sleepable". So she had given up. She was about to leave and go get herself some food, but she suddenly noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

Sure, she'd seen a few people enjoying relaxing in a chair, but someone falling asleep? That was a new one. That recliner had to be comfortable. And she was curious. So with a few quiet steps, she tried not to disturb him too much, but decided to just, examine the chair. He wasn't that bad looking, either, but she didn't want to disturb him. She looked at the price tag and scrunched her nose. She had enough debt to worry about, seeing price tags that high just seemed to taunt her now.

"Hmmm," she raised an eyebrow. Still, if a recliner could be slept in, she could always offer that instead of a futon. Just not one this expensive...

[Connor Batten]

Well, there was a catch to the whole 'if a recliner could be slept in...' idea, since Connor could sleep just about anywhere.  He'd been known to find a pile of sand, the hood of a car, or even just crash on the ground.  It all depended on where he was, how tired he happened to be, and just how bad the conditions had to be.  Point was that he could sleep on just about anything, so the recliner could have been made of plywood, and he could have managed a nap.  That didn't negate the fact that it was, in fact, comfortable, and this woman certainly wasn't going to know that about him, so her initial assumption worked out.  It just wasn't wise to assume things on a regular basis, especially about him.

She hadn't made enough noise to wake him up, even being the light sleeper that he was, but she'd certainly shown enough interest for the same annoying salesperson to approach, give him a distasteful glance, and start in on her sales pitch.  As she did so, she tapped him on the shoulder, hard, and he just about went through the roof.

So much for trying to look boring.

The only think working in his favor right about then was that he forgot, for about half of a second, where he was, so the weapons that were always close at hand while he was sleeping weren't there.  They were on his body, instead, and he had full reasoning capabilities by the time he could have reached a weapon.  He woke up quietly, quickly and completely, just like always.

"That's rude," was all he shot at the sales lady, feeling a little undignified (even for him) at having fallen asleep in the chair and been woken up by that pain in the ass, but that didn't change the fact that it was rude, even if she was trying to sell it. 

[Corinne]

"Ah, I'm uh..." Lisa looked to the saleslady, and when she saw how rudely she'd treated the gentleman in the chair, she frowned, "I'm really not interested if that's how you treat potential customers."

It was true, someone who was relaxing in a recliner was considered a potential customer, and the customer was always right. So she crossed her arms and waited for the woman to get all offended and walk away.
Once she'd done that, she looked to the gentleman still sitting in the chair. Leaning forward a little, Lisa smiled, "You looked pretty comfortable, I really didn't mean to disturb you. Hope you can forgive me."

Definitely not a bad looking guy. His eyes seemed a bit too blue, but it wasn't something she was going to hold against him, or even ask about. Some people were just born different, after all.

[Connor Batten]

He ALMOST felt bad when the new lady claimed she wasn't interested over his awakening, since he'd been a little rude with the saleslady himself when he'd told her that he wasn't in need of help with the couches, but he was also annoyed by being woken with such a sudden jab.  That's why it was 'almost'.  If he'd have shot her, or even just pulled a gun on her, it wouldn't have been cool, and that's the kind of thing she'd been setting herself up for.  It was his first instinct if he was woken suddenly to reach for a weapon, and it'd saved his life in the past. 

He actually, other than pointing out that it was rude, just let this new woman deal with it.  She was doing just fine without his help, frankly, and he was curious about what she was getting at.  Hopefully, she was just a pretty, normal person who had nothing to do with the reasons he was playing at the 'boring' thing, and she could help him look boring without being bored senseless while he was doing it.  That would be awesome. 

"Actually, disturbing me was probably a good idea.  I try not to make it a habit to pass out on park benches and in furniture stores," he remarked easily, already sitting up and now running a hand through his hair to make sure it didn't look like bedhead or anything.  It was the perfect length for that, and somewhat prone to it.  He preferred not to walk around that way.  He turned his eyes up to her, oblivious of the fact that she'd taken note of their color, and smiled, then winked at the end of his statement.  "So, I guess you're forgiven.  This time."

[Corinne]

She laughed, "So this isn't common for you, then?"
She thought for a moment that if he may have slept on park benches and recliners that he might be homeless, but he didn't really look like he had no where to live. Well, maybe, but his hair was more bed head or something she figured. And he didn't stink like a homeless man. So she drew a simple conclusion that he was just not homeless.

He also seemed like a nice guy, She then extended a hand, "I'm Lisa."
Something in the back of her mind tempted her to call him "sleepy head" or something like that, but she refrained. This gentleman may have been nice, but she wasn't one to automatically get buddy-buddy and call people by nicknames.

[Connor Batten]

He had to laugh when she asked if it was common for him, standing up and looking down at himself.  Sure, he hadn't really slept much the day before, but his clothes were clean.  Relatively.  He looked put together, at least, since he had a jacket, button-up and jeans on.  Personally, he was a fan of t-shirts, but the button-up was a little baggier in the waist area, and allowed better coverage for concealed carry.  The jacket did the same, and he naturally had other hiding spots.

"Ah, no, not really common.  Contrary to recent behavior, I am not a bum, and I do have a bed," he informed her with a grin, hoping that she didn't HONESTLY think he was homeless.  That would be slightly embarrassing, and Val would find it absolutely hilarious.  He didn't need to give anyone that kind of ammunition, but especially not the OCD vampire.

At least she didn't think he stank.  That was a plus. 

"Lisa, I'm Connor," he told her, accepting her handshake with a firm, but casual sort of grip.  "I hope I didn't ruin your furniture shopping experience."

[Corinne]

"Ah, nice to meet you. And I thought as much," she smiled, referring to the fact that he was clearly not a hobo.

"But no, the futons ruined my ah, 'furniture browsing experience'."
Saying those last three words, she made little quote marks with her fingers. It was true, anything even remotely in her price range wasn't very comfortable. Plus, she hated salespeople. If she had a question she'd just ask it.

"So what brings you to the mall, Connor?" she asked. Maybe he really was shopping for a recliner or something.

[Connor Batten]

Clearly, not a hobo.  That was a good starting point, and showed that she had enough sense to pick up on details.  He might have looked messy, but he didn't think he looked at all like a hobo, and the fact that she agreed meant that he could continue talking to her and expect a decent conversation, mostly because she hadn't looked down on him immediately for falling asleep in a store.  It wouldn't have been unlikely, though it'd have been amusing.  People would look down on him because they were a lawyer or something special, and chances were that he made more money in a year than they did.  Killing was a lucrative business, though he didn't act like it.

He looked at her curiously about the futons ruining her experience, and glanced over in that direction.  Why?  Expense?  Comfort?  Man, he sucked at this.  All he cared about was comfort, since he made enough money and didn't spend often enough for it to matter.  His only big purchase in a hell of a long time had been the Harley he'd dragged out since the weather started getting nice again.  His couch was old, still very comfortable, and he wasn't planning on replacing it anytime soon.  No matter WHO complained.

"Me?  I don't really like the mall, or any kind of 'browsing experiences', but I figured it'd be a good place for a boring, easy day," he told her, which was the truth.  He was just omitting a few details that were unnecessary, which was better for her peace of mind.  Well, if he planned on remaining in her company for awhile.  If not, it wouldn't matter, anyway.  "What about you?  Were you really here looking for a futon, or just bored?"

[Corinne]

"Boring can be nice," Lisa nodded. It was true, when you were constantly dealing with people who were sick and various "exciting" things, an uneventful day can be well appreciated. Today, however, was not a day for that. It was another day of learning how to save lives, but she just wanted to take advantage of that boring downtime.

"Well, I was supposed to meet a lovely friend, but she found a date instead. So I just decided to kill some time."
And look for a futon, because of potentially unexpected company. Like if a friend wanted to stay at her place the night and she didn't feel like sharing a bed with them. It usually happened when it was pouring rain, and sharing a bed had...implications.
"So yes, I guess you could say I was bored."

[Connor Batten]

Ah, so, to a point, they were both there for the same reason.  Killing time and boredom.  That worked out some, especially since he'd have run out of things to occupy himself with pretty quickly.  You know he wasn't going to do any actual shopping.

"Yeeeeah, getting stood up can be boring," he agreed, though if he had to think about it, it hadn't happened all that often to him.  The times it had, he'd always been able to make new plans pretty quickly.  That still didn't mean he didn't understand how boring it could be.  Hell, he didn't mind boring that much, though.  It meant nobody was trying to kill him, and today wasn't nearly as boring as he wished it'd be.  Getting to go home and do nothing but sleep was about the level of boring he was looking for.

That wasn't part of the plan just yet, though.  He had to wander around and make sure that nobody was hanging around him.  As long as Lisa wasn't actually the person he was trying to ditch, he'd find out that way.  "Well, I was about to snag some food, so you're welcome to join me," he offered, shrugging.  He was hungry and tired, and since sleeping wasn't really an option, food would work.  If she didn't want to, that was fine.  He didn't mind eating alone.

[Corinne]

Well, considering this was her lunch break, she wouldn't mind getting something to eat and have company. It would be a lot better than eating in the break room at work while someone else was trying to get a nap in before their shift started. This would involve conversation, at least. And Connor seemed like a decent enough guy, not like someone who was creepy or dangerous, and it would be nice to expand her social circle beyond work and college.

"Sure," she shrugged, "That was the plan in the first place, actually. Getting food."
Damn that girlfriend-ditching her like that, but this wasn't so bad. It could have been so much worse. And so long as he wasn't able to put up a good front, and really was a creepy and dangerous individual, she figured this was fine. Because that set aside, what was the worst that could happen?

Lisa took a few steps away from him, figuring he was going to go to the food court. It was cheap, quick, and right there. A decent assumption. 

[Connor Batten]

Well, she was half-right.  He could, and was, putting up an excellent front.  He could make it look like he wasn't avoiding something that might want to kill him, and like he wasn't someone who was not only trained to kill extremely dangerous things, but the leader of a group of people like himself.  He was dangerous.  He just wasn't creepy, and he didn't mean her any harm.  That last bit mattered more than anything.

"Sounds like a plan, then," he agreed easily, following her move towards the food court.  Maybe this whole 'playing boring' thing wouldn't be as boring as he'd expected.  At least he had pretty company.

Entering the food court circle, he scanned the various fast food locations, and really, he wasn't partial.  There was a japanese place that did a good teriyaki chicken, but being tired really dulled his opinions down where that was concerned.  He just knew that he didn't want to order from the chinese place that had all their food in a steamtable for hours.  Not good.

"Where were you thinking?"

[Corinne]

"Hmm," Lisa looked around, "So many choices..."
She wasn't someone to have this many choices on a normal basis. So everything looked extra delicious. Unless it was a bit of a scary sort of joint, but this place seemed to not have anything like that. Actually, she honestly had no idea. She didn't exactly come to the mall with a plan.

Though the dollar menu at McDonalds seemed really tempting. Her stomach growled a little bit. Yeah, that was pretty much her decision set in stone for her. One cheeseburger and a drink. Oh man, she was going to practically dine like a queen. Wait, what queen ate McDonalds? Oh well, it was going to be something that was actually decent and wouldn't severely dent her wallet. A bit boring, sure, but not the worst thing in the world. Unless he was a vegetarian. Though she didn't exactly peg him as a vegetarian.

"How about McDonalds?"