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xp_logsAs requested, Forge manages to find Crystal after dinner for a "talk".
Forge idly traced patterns in the remnants of his mashed potatoes, figuring simple engineering equations with fork and gravy so long as no one was sitting next to him waiting to smack him upside the head for "playing with his food". While normally he took his meals at odd hours with his unusual schedule, and more often than not would carry a Tupperware container of food up to his room or down to his lab, he enjoyed the occasional meal at the communal dinner table. Even if he wasn't joining in the conversations about the day's events, it was intriguing to see how his peers, both staff and student alike, interacted outside of their normal student-teacher or co-worker relationships. For example, while normally gruff and somewhat unapproachable, Marko always had one of his younger students sit next to him at the dinner table at least once a week. And now that he was actually looking for it, he could catch some of the glances between Clarice and Kyle over the table every so often.
Intent on his meal, though, Forge looked up to find that he'd completely missed everyone else leaving the table. Well, almost everyone else, as one other person was still sitting there. Smiling, he looked down the table and gave a small wave. "Hello."
A head turned to look at Forge. "Hello." While Crystal had spent her year as an Xavier's student avoiding eating in the dining room as much as she could, she was now a member of the staff and felt that it was best to be seen a bit more. Still, no force on earth could make her dine in the room for certain meals. Just the thought of enduring a lunch of sloppy joes made the young Attilani royal feel rather ill.
Tapping his fork on his plate a few times, Forge suddenly stopped, picked up his plate and glass, and walked down the table to sit next to Crystal. Setting the remnants of his meal down, he took a quick drink of water and smiled. "So, I find my schedule is free, by some coincidence. And here you are."
"Yes, here I am, and here you are." Crystal smiled slightly. "Did you manage to obtain your required information regarding Kyle and Clarice?"
Forge blushed slightly and coughed into his hand. "Ah, yes. Apparently shortly after the debacle at the end of October, the two of them discovered that they enjoy each other's company. It seems that they enjoy each other's company quite a bit, from Kyle's rather exuberant reports." He chuckled a bit to himself - his former roommate had been apparently glad for the chance to have some "Guy Talk" the night before at the Burger Shack, although Forge's actual contributions had been minimal by means of being nonexistent.
"I felt like a bit of a bad friend for not noticing," he admitted with a lopsided shrug, "but I've also been keeping myself a bit too busy, with training and work and class and travel. Perhaps I need to slow down a bit and catch up before I miss anything else."
Crystal's eyebrows rose slightly. While she and Kyle had both been students at the same time, that had been years ago for her, and now as a teacher, this was a bit too much information for her to take in. "Well, you have managed to find some free time in your usually busy schedule to speak with people over the past few days."
"Well, I'm trying," Forge admitted with a sheepish effort. "I have a bad habit of burying myself in my work. Which I suppose is why people tend to ambush me in my office." He glanced over at Crystal and folded his hands on the edge of the table. "Your sister, for instance."
Crystal nodded, looking at Forge intently. "Yes, Medusa told me about your conversation."
Try as he might, Forge was unable to keep from rolling his eyes in consternation. "There's a royal conspiracy, I swear. I... wait, which part?" he asked.
"Well, yes, in a way there actually is a royal conspiracy," Crystal replied, thinking of Maximus, the death of her parents, and her own involvement, "but I doubt that this is what you actually meant." She paused for a moment. "Medusa informed me of both parts. Thank you for your faith in me." The last time she and Forge had sat down together and had a conversation, she had been the blunt one, the one to ask questions. This time, she wanted to see what he would say without prodding from her.
"Oh, of course," Forge replied, glad to guide the conversation to a more comfortable topic. "The queen is concerned about your safety, understandably so, but I feel that her concerns are perhaps overstated, as she has not had the opportunity to see firsthand how you've dealt with threatening situations. Nevertheless, if you wish to take advantage of some training in personal protection techniques, I can certainly make arrangements. I know it would probably help Medusa's peace of mind."
"Medusa was there to bear witness to my act of defenestration," Crystal pointed out. "Of course, I believe she was a bit distracted at the moment. Still, yes, I am amenable to the idea of learning new techniques. I do not believe that either of us would wish to worry my sister."
Forge nodded in agreement. "Yes, well, of course. I'll make arrangements. As for worrying your sister, well, she said..." He paused, tapping his fingers nervously on the edge of the table. "That is, she said it would be okay if... well, it was more of an implication that if I were to, you know, if you and I were to... that she'd be okay with it."
He sat awkwardly for a moment, the only sound being the tapping of metal fingers on the solid wood of the table. "Would you like to go out and have dinner sometime?" he finally said in one quick breath.
As clueless as Crystal might have been about certain matters (dating definitely being one of them), she wasn't that clueless, and besides, she'd been wondering whether or not Forge would bring up what Medusa had said about that particular matter.
Crystal nodded, and smiled a bit. "Yes, I would like that."
Forge nodded, a quick look of disappointment crossing his face. "Oh, well, that's okay then. I just thought... wait, yes? You would?" His expression changed almost instantly, a large grin crossing his face before he managed to compose himself. "Well, I mean, all right, then. I will... look into making arrangements and let you know? If that works for you?"
Crystal wasn't sure whether to be surprised or amused, or perhaps both, at the initial look on Forge's face. It was almost touching in a way; he'd expected her to say no, and yet he'd asked anyway. Still, why he'd convinced himself of that after Medusa's chat with him, she wasn't sure. "You know where to find me," Crystal told Forge, allowing just a hit of amusement to cross her face.
"A perk of the job," he replied with a wink, standing up and picking up his plate. "And if you'll excuse me, I think I'm due for a shift in the communications chair. Until later, minha princesa?"
"Until then."
Forge idly traced patterns in the remnants of his mashed potatoes, figuring simple engineering equations with fork and gravy so long as no one was sitting next to him waiting to smack him upside the head for "playing with his food". While normally he took his meals at odd hours with his unusual schedule, and more often than not would carry a Tupperware container of food up to his room or down to his lab, he enjoyed the occasional meal at the communal dinner table. Even if he wasn't joining in the conversations about the day's events, it was intriguing to see how his peers, both staff and student alike, interacted outside of their normal student-teacher or co-worker relationships. For example, while normally gruff and somewhat unapproachable, Marko always had one of his younger students sit next to him at the dinner table at least once a week. And now that he was actually looking for it, he could catch some of the glances between Clarice and Kyle over the table every so often.
Intent on his meal, though, Forge looked up to find that he'd completely missed everyone else leaving the table. Well, almost everyone else, as one other person was still sitting there. Smiling, he looked down the table and gave a small wave. "Hello."
A head turned to look at Forge. "Hello." While Crystal had spent her year as an Xavier's student avoiding eating in the dining room as much as she could, she was now a member of the staff and felt that it was best to be seen a bit more. Still, no force on earth could make her dine in the room for certain meals. Just the thought of enduring a lunch of sloppy joes made the young Attilani royal feel rather ill.
Tapping his fork on his plate a few times, Forge suddenly stopped, picked up his plate and glass, and walked down the table to sit next to Crystal. Setting the remnants of his meal down, he took a quick drink of water and smiled. "So, I find my schedule is free, by some coincidence. And here you are."
"Yes, here I am, and here you are." Crystal smiled slightly. "Did you manage to obtain your required information regarding Kyle and Clarice?"
Forge blushed slightly and coughed into his hand. "Ah, yes. Apparently shortly after the debacle at the end of October, the two of them discovered that they enjoy each other's company. It seems that they enjoy each other's company quite a bit, from Kyle's rather exuberant reports." He chuckled a bit to himself - his former roommate had been apparently glad for the chance to have some "Guy Talk" the night before at the Burger Shack, although Forge's actual contributions had been minimal by means of being nonexistent.
"I felt like a bit of a bad friend for not noticing," he admitted with a lopsided shrug, "but I've also been keeping myself a bit too busy, with training and work and class and travel. Perhaps I need to slow down a bit and catch up before I miss anything else."
Crystal's eyebrows rose slightly. While she and Kyle had both been students at the same time, that had been years ago for her, and now as a teacher, this was a bit too much information for her to take in. "Well, you have managed to find some free time in your usually busy schedule to speak with people over the past few days."
"Well, I'm trying," Forge admitted with a sheepish effort. "I have a bad habit of burying myself in my work. Which I suppose is why people tend to ambush me in my office." He glanced over at Crystal and folded his hands on the edge of the table. "Your sister, for instance."
Crystal nodded, looking at Forge intently. "Yes, Medusa told me about your conversation."
Try as he might, Forge was unable to keep from rolling his eyes in consternation. "There's a royal conspiracy, I swear. I... wait, which part?" he asked.
"Well, yes, in a way there actually is a royal conspiracy," Crystal replied, thinking of Maximus, the death of her parents, and her own involvement, "but I doubt that this is what you actually meant." She paused for a moment. "Medusa informed me of both parts. Thank you for your faith in me." The last time she and Forge had sat down together and had a conversation, she had been the blunt one, the one to ask questions. This time, she wanted to see what he would say without prodding from her.
"Oh, of course," Forge replied, glad to guide the conversation to a more comfortable topic. "The queen is concerned about your safety, understandably so, but I feel that her concerns are perhaps overstated, as she has not had the opportunity to see firsthand how you've dealt with threatening situations. Nevertheless, if you wish to take advantage of some training in personal protection techniques, I can certainly make arrangements. I know it would probably help Medusa's peace of mind."
"Medusa was there to bear witness to my act of defenestration," Crystal pointed out. "Of course, I believe she was a bit distracted at the moment. Still, yes, I am amenable to the idea of learning new techniques. I do not believe that either of us would wish to worry my sister."
Forge nodded in agreement. "Yes, well, of course. I'll make arrangements. As for worrying your sister, well, she said..." He paused, tapping his fingers nervously on the edge of the table. "That is, she said it would be okay if... well, it was more of an implication that if I were to, you know, if you and I were to... that she'd be okay with it."
He sat awkwardly for a moment, the only sound being the tapping of metal fingers on the solid wood of the table. "Would you like to go out and have dinner sometime?" he finally said in one quick breath.
As clueless as Crystal might have been about certain matters (dating definitely being one of them), she wasn't that clueless, and besides, she'd been wondering whether or not Forge would bring up what Medusa had said about that particular matter.
Crystal nodded, and smiled a bit. "Yes, I would like that."
Forge nodded, a quick look of disappointment crossing his face. "Oh, well, that's okay then. I just thought... wait, yes? You would?" His expression changed almost instantly, a large grin crossing his face before he managed to compose himself. "Well, I mean, all right, then. I will... look into making arrangements and let you know? If that works for you?"
Crystal wasn't sure whether to be surprised or amused, or perhaps both, at the initial look on Forge's face. It was almost touching in a way; he'd expected her to say no, and yet he'd asked anyway. Still, why he'd convinced himself of that after Medusa's chat with him, she wasn't sure. "You know where to find me," Crystal told Forge, allowing just a hit of amusement to cross her face.
"A perk of the job," he replied with a wink, standing up and picking up his plate. "And if you'll excuse me, I think I'm due for a shift in the communications chair. Until later, minha princesa?"
"Until then."
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