The Second Date

[wipeawaythedebt]

The first date, as he's getting used to calling it, went pretty well. They talked, had a few drinks, and he kindly escorted Emma home again. All in all, a good night. So why is he so much jumpier tonight. Wasn't like he didn't know the woman, wasn't like he had anything to prove or hell, even be ashamed of. Taking an evening in the company of a beautiful woman, he should be right as rain. After all, it's been awhile and it wasn't like he'd taken any vows of celibacy.

Still, as he stands at her door with a small bunch of daisies in his hand, clean shirt and jeans and a freshly shaved face, he finds his heart pounding and his head spinning. He's not a good man, he's got no reason to expect anything. No reason to think she should spend time with him, or him with her.

Fuck it, she invited him. He's thinking too much.

He knocks on the door.

Comments

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I know there's no way to say this without sounding out of place, but that's maybe the number two thing I can't wrap my head around about this place. The way people talk about..." He's not even sure how to put it in words that wouldn't sound crude. Certainly none of the terms he used back home, some things you just don't say in front of ladies. "Hell, I've seen things on that television that no respectable person would even admit knowing about and it all seems normal to everyone."

[notinanybook]

"Yeah, I think - people are a little more comfortable talking about that these days," she admits, absently twirling her fork between her fingers. "Not everyone, but - sex sells on television, anyway. Sex brings in ratings. There's really not a lot people won't put on TV, and that's not even counting the channels where you can pay for, uh, more." She clears her throat softly.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I'm no bible-thumping Puritan or anything, but it's just..." He's got Elizabeth to think about and a nice girl like her shouldn't be seeing those things. "The sorts of people used to do those things back home, weren't the sort that got celebrated and put in the papers. Not for anything good anyway."

[notinanybook]

Emma nods once, toying with her food without actually eating it.

"It's - well, it takes a lot of adjusting, if it's something you're not used to seeing. There's no doubt that we get bombarded with it, and - I know I have someone I love who I wouldn't want exposed to that kind of thing."

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Mind if I ask who?" He's eating more from habit. It tastes good, don't get him wrong, but he's more focused on Emma, on what she's saying. It's important, obviously it's someone she loves and for the first time he wonders if she's got a family back where she comes from. Maybe a husband. Makes him wonder again how long he's gonna be here.

[notinanybook]

"It's, uh, my son," Emma says, and the truth leaves her quietly, her own meal abandoned for the time being as she looks across the table at him.

"I have a kid back home. I'd - given him up for adoption, because I couldn't take care of him at the time. Couple months ago he found out who I was and showed up to introduce himself."

[wipeawaythedebt]

His head hurts. Suddenly and painfully and he's hard pressed to hide it. He wants to say something, that he feels for her, that he respects her for knowing when she had to bug out. Some people just shouldn't have kids. Like him.

"Sorry," pinching the bridge of his nose he's praying that it doesn't start bleeding. What the hell is wrong with him. This should have stopped when he left Columbia, right? "You say he found you? Smart kid."

[notinanybook]

"Yeah. Funny thing, the Internet," Emma starts, immediately frowning when she glances up to witness what's happening. Unconsciously, she lowers her fork to her plate and leans forward.

"Booker? Is everything alright?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Just a headache, Emma, I get 'em sometimes." Not that he understands them or why they happen. Back in Columbia it happened whenever he and Elizabeth changed something, went through a tear, but that's not what's happening here. Not unless coming to this place is like going through a big tear.

"They pass." He wipes his hand under his nose and is glad there's no blood. "Tell me more about your kid."

[notinanybook]

"Uh, well - his name is Henry," Emma starts, that look of concern still on her features even as she tries to continue speaking, tries to move away from the subject of sudden and intense headaches. The fact that they can come on that readily is worrying.

"He's eleven," she adds. "And - he's definitely one of the smartest people I've ever known."

He'd figured out the truth about Storybrooke, hadn't he?

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Have to be if he tracked down a tracker like you. Must take after you more than a little." He manages to chuckle past the pain, trying to imagine a miniature male Emma. It was a cute image and as another wave of pain hit him, he wondered what his kid might have looked like, had his wife survived.

"Can you excuse me a moment, Emma? Where's your washroom?" He stands, eyes closed.

[notinanybook]

"He must," Emma admits, smiling in spite of herself, and then straightens up, turning in her chair to point the way towards the restroom.

"It's just there, down the hall a little and on your right. Do you need me to get you anything?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Painkillers if you have 'em, another stiff drink if you don't." Heading into the washroom, he runs some water, letting the cool liquid pour over his fingers for a moment before he splashes on his face. It helps, but doesn't completely drive away the pain. What the hell's wrong with him? What did Columbia do to him?

He takes several deep breaths before splashing his face again and drying it off with a towel hanging on the nearby bar. Looking into the mirror, he shakes his head. He's making a great impression isn't he? Coming off like a man falling apart. He's still kicking himself when he exits the washroom and heads back to the table.

[notinanybook]

She nods quickly and slides away from the table as he heads into the bathroom, already moving for the spare bottle of pills that she keeps for various injuries and migraines. The water in the bathroom spits on and she listens to it run, frowning.

Two of those pills are sitting next to a glass of water at his place at the table when he gets back, and she's resumed her seat, eyeing him with concern as he rejoins her. "Bad migraine?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"What's a migraine?" He thinks he's heard the word before, but he's never paid attention to most medical terms. Least not the finer ones. Break, amputation, gunshot, stab wound, snapped neck, concussed skulls, those are the terms he's intimately familiar with. The term Emma uses just isn't in his vernacular.

Sitting down, he picks up the pills and swallows them dry, chasing them with the water. Doesn't really matter what they're for if they kill some of the pain. He wishes he knew what's causing these things.

[notinanybook]

"Like a headache, only worse," Emma explains, her hands clasped in her lap when he sits back down and takes the pills quickly. "I take those sometimes when I've had a pretty rough day, so hopefully they'll knock out whatever's bothering you. They, uh, typically take about an hour to work, though."

She doesn't expect him to stick around if he's feeling off, though she doesn't want to be shoving him out the door either. She just looks at him quietly, waiting for a sign on what she's supposed to do here.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"So long as you don't do any yelling, I think I'll manage until then. I'm not a little lily, I'm not gonna wilt and die." Taking another drink, he manages a sly wink. Despite what she says, he's starting to feel a little better already. Maybe what he needs is just a change of topic, something to distract him.

"So, how you like being a cop? Better than chasing bounties?"

[notinanybook]

"I promise to maintain this dinner at a perfect conversational level," Emma replies, before grinning at the other comment. "No. Certainly not the delicate flower type. I was never under that impression."

She shrugs, reaching for her fork again. "Pays the bills. The day-to-day isn't as - exciting, but it's what I know how to do."

[wipeawaythedebt]

"You also know how to bounty hunt. I know it's not the steadiest of jobs, but it's a hell of a lot of less... police." He doesn't like police, not really. They break up his poker games, kick him out of bars, try to cheat him out of his bounties. He knows there are some good ones, but he always pulls the bad ones.

He tentatively tries a few bits of food. Has to force it a little, his stomach doesn't like the headaches and it's still touch and go, but the last thing he needs is to lose it on top of everything else.

[notinanybook]

"You haven't had great experiences with law enforcement, I take it," Emma replies, taking another bite of her food. It's cooled, but it's not inedible, though that may not have been the case if she'd chosen to be the one making the meal. Maybe they'd make their way around to pancakes sometime.

"I wish I wasn't agreeing with you, but I am. They're not always so clean-cut."

[wipeawaythedebt]

"In my time, cops can be just as bad or worse than the gangs I hear about here. Things they do... they don't seem to have the kind of rules in place that you do. Me? I was a Pinkerton, kinda like police, the work we did wasn't so different. You ever hear about 'em?" Not that being a Pinkerton's ever going to be something he's all that proud of. Truth be told, he's kind of glad they sacked him, saved him the trouble of eventually quitting.

"Not what you'd call saints."

[notinanybook]

"Pinkertons? You mean - as in those Pinkertons?" Her eyes widen slightly as she realizes she doesn't think she's ever completely verified what time period he's from, or what year to be more specific. It's half a surprise, but then again, she'd sort of figured based on their initial meeting that he hadn't been lying when he said his time was about a century ago. She hadn't gotten the vibes of dishonesty from him.

"No, I remember reading about - fond of bribes, weren't they?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Yeah, and not always looking to law and order, more like... looking to whoever paid us. I've done a hell of a lot I'm not proud of, Emma." So much so, he's wondering if she'd even like him, knowing what he's done. He's trying to make up for it, take care of Elizabeth, keep her safe, but he doesn't think it will ever be enough.

Some sins can't be washed away.

"Sorry, guess I'm not the most interesting dinner conversation, am I?"

[notinanybook]

The more he talks, the more she's captivated by it. By him. He might not have done a lot of things he's proud of - but if she's being honest with herself, so has she. And he's being honest about it, because her bullshit sensor isn't going off in the back of her brain, signaling something even as minor as a small fib.

"Quite the contrary," she replies, taking another sip of her drink. "I can't think of anything more interesting right now."

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Well, it's just a laundry list of bad jobs anyway. Hurt a lot of people we maybe should have helped. Doesn't matter in the end, I was sacked." He shifts uncomfortably, not really sure if this is something she wants to hear or not. He's tried really hard not to fall into bad habits, but he's played the occasional game and he drinks more than the average man, he just hides it better for Elizabeth's sake.

"Too much drinkin' and gambling." Too many nights mourning the only good thing he'd ever had in his life, his wife. He presses a finger to his temple again. Maybe tonight was a bad idea.