When Sparks Fly

Date

On the way to my date I pick up some flowers. I'm still not sure how I feel about all this, but I guess it's worth a try. I get to the restaurant at ten and Izzy is still closing up, but she turns to me as I open the door, probably to see if I'm someone she needs to tell to get lost. When she realizes it's me and that I brought flowers she smiles, "well, if that's not the most adorably old-fashioned thing anyone's ever done." She chuckles as I give her the flowers. They're nothing special, but some roses. I didn't know what to get her so I went with Phoebe's favorite, I don't even think I looked at any others before I bought them. "Grab a seat, I'll be done in a few."

"Okay," I nod, unsure as to what to do so I sit and wait.

Izzy goes back behind the bar, grabbing us a few beers before she starts to dry some glasses before putting them away, "so, have you dated much since half the fish in the sea came back?"

"Not really. I, um... tried the whole online dating thing, at the behest of a friend. It's pretty crazy. A lot of weird pictures."

"What kind of weird?"

"I mean, tiger photos? Half the time I don't even know what I'm looking at. It's... it's a lot."

"You sound like my dad," Izzy takes a drink of her beer before she shakes her head, "wait, how old are you?"

"A hundred and six," of course Izzy laughs as if I'm joking. What else is she supposed to do? The whole Winter Soldier thing is a lot to take in and understand. But I wish I could be honest with someone.

"What's up with your gloves?"

I look down to my hands, even in the summer I wear long sleeves and gloves, "I, um... have, uh... " I click my tongue trying to think, "poor circulation." For some reason this makes me think of Phoebe, everytime she comes over she takes my gloves off, if I haven't already. She always talks about how I am the only person she doesn't have to hide from or pretend around, she can be who she is and I can be who I am. I can actually talk to her about my past and my recovery.

"Hmm," Izzy sits the rag she has in her hand down, "let's play a game."

"Yeah," I nod, unsure as to what she means.

"You like games?"

"Love 'em."

Izzy pulls up Battleship out from under the bar, "we keep some games around for boring shifts. I'll go grab a couple more beers."

As Izzy leaves I watch the Maneki-neko cat they have on display in the restaurant. I watch the cat wave it's paw for a minute before I reach forward to stop it, it stops for a second before it starts up again. When Izzy gets back with the beers she proposes we play a drinking game with Battleship. The rules are pretty simple: you miss, you take a drink, you hit, they take a drink. When we get about half way through the game I'm working on my third beer, Izzy is still across from me, her chin propped up on her hand and staring into my eyes, "what are you doing?" I chuckle as I put my beer down.

"I'm reading your mind."

"Please don't," I look back down to the board.

"B-8, sucker."

"Uh, hit!"

Izzy laughs as I try to get the little piece out of the game board to put in my ship, which is a bit difficult with my gloves, "drink! Come on, drink."

I sigh, "right, okay," I take another drink.

"Wow, you really can drink."

"Yeah, well..." I have to remind myself that she doesn't know about me being a super soldier. This is the plus side to drinking with Phoebe, she can't really get drunk either, so we just drink for the taste not really to get drunk.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a sister. F-4."

"Miss. Drink. You close with your parents?"

I sigh, thinking about my mom and dad, "I was. They passed away. Um, D-5."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Um, miss. I think it's really sweet you're spending time with Yori. It's been hard on him since his son died. I think not knowing how it happened is the hardest part for him. It really messed him up. You know how we call a guy whose wife died a widower? Or, if your parents die, you're an orphan. You know, there's no word for someone whose kids die. Because it's like the worst thing that could happen."

"Yeah, excuse me," I get up and almost run out of the restaurant, heading to Yori's place. The only person I can think about is Phoebe, how she has been encouraging me to tell Yori the truth, her theory is spending all the time with him is causing me to have the same nightmare over and over again, which makes sense since the nightmare is me killing Yori's son. Maybe Dr. Raynor is right about nurturing friendships, but I'm not sure I want just a friendship with her. I'm so lost in thought I don't even realize where I am until I'm knocking on Yori's door.

Yori opens it and looks like he's either getting ready for or was already in bed, "hey, what are you doing here? How was the date?"

I look into Yori's apartment and see his shrine sit up for his son, it's at this moment I realize I have no plan and I can't just shout out that I killed his son. I look down, "it was... it was good." I look through my wallet and get out some cash for lunch since I told Yori I'd pay but didn't have any money, "forgot I owed you for lunch."