thisavrou_log | ( closed )

Entry tags:

bioshock: elizabeth dewitt

( closed )

Who: ivan vorpatril & elizabeth dewitt
When: afternoon of dec. 9th, after this
Where: the library
What: ivan has a solution for elizabeth's tea problem
Warnings: none, probably

With no luck on the search for Miles and still no response on his MID, Ivan figures it's best to leave the details of 'what the fuck do we do now' to Bel and Gregor. They're both competent, smart people who don't need him to get involved in the formation of any plan, just the carrying out of it. They'll call him if they need him, or won't even do him the duty of asking him if he wants to be involved before dragging him in anyway. It'll happen and Ivan won't have a choice - might as well enjoy his small window of freedom while he can. Which is why Ivan spends the morning after his conversation with Elizabeth rummaging around the kitchen. He finds what he's looking for in a cupboard that's filled with God knows what - a thermos. Slightly dinged but still capable of keeping liquid warm, even in this cold. Or so he hopes.

Taking his prize, Ivan bundles himself up further - thermals, work uniform, undress greens over those, and his dress green jacket over it, because Gregor has their spare and Miles took his. And he didn't get it back, now that the door to Miles' office is locked. Which okay, is a little extreme for Miles in his foulest moods, but getting a captain to unlock it is probably Gregor's job. Anyway, once he's attempting to be a little bit warmer than before, he sets off for the library, flourishing the thermos at the lump of blankets at the desk that Ivan assumes is Elizabeth.

"One thermos, as ordered."

Despite the cold and the question of what the hell Miles has gotten himself into hanging over them, his voice is rich and warm; grin wide. He likes spending time with Elizabeth -- she's beautiful, obviously, but charming in a way that makes Ivan wonder if she knows exactly how charming she is. Smart, too. Well, Ivan muses to himself, that doesn't say much when he's thinking it. Still, spending time with her is nice, and he could use the company.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That lump of blankets is Elizabeth, and it turns when she hears Ivan's voice. He's a bundle of clothes too, but while Elizabeth appears to be a walking linen closet, Ivan actually looks like he belongs in the layers and layers of Russian-esque clothing. It does something for his roguish attitude.

Her face lights up when she sees what he's come bearing. "You found one!" Elizabeth laughs, springing up from her chair. She'd have tea soon enough, and warm at the very least.

"Well, I suppose this means you want you reward, hm?" she asks, her smile coy and her nose and cheeks pink from the cold. Elizabeth had had something in mind, obviously, but she'd see what Ivan said first before she went around bestowing things.

Beyond the threat of hyperthermia and other various associated problems with being cold, Ivan thinks it suits her -- rosy cheeks that goes well with her now-short dark hair. He grins, handing it over. "I did." And the trouble of going to finding it (okay digging through the cupboard for half an hour) was worth it, just for the smile.

His grin turns more charming when she mentions his reward, whatever it may be. "You did mention something like that over the MID, yes--" he trails off in an attempt to lead her to whatever it would be. And if he leans a bit towards her? Well. He can't be blamed. Probably.

Elizabeth isn't completely naive-- she knows when Ivan is flirting with her, even if she doesn't always understand what he's trying to suggest. And while she doesn't have much knowledge revolving around flirting and so on, she's read some books. Some very, very lightly-romanced books.

"DeWitts don't let their debts go unanswered-- I wouldn't have said anything if I hadn't meant it." She's stretching up too, her hands clasped around the thermos. Once she's close enough she puts her lips on Ivan's cheek, holds it for a moment, then lowers herself back down. Her face is considerably more pink.

Ivan's grin goes from coy to outright blinding and the cheek kiss, his own cheeks a fetching pink -- surprise and delight clear in his eyes. "I couldn't think of a better reward," he says, once she's pulled away, sincerity plain in his voice and on his face. Flirting is fun and all, and Ivan loves everything that follows of course, but he wouldn't do what he does if he didn't genuinely like every part of it.

It takes him a second or two to recover -- and he's certainly not going to leave so quickly after that -- but he does so relatively smoothly. "Looks like you've found an effective way to keep warm," he points out, gently tugging on one of the blankets she has wrapped around her, but still grinning at her flush -- he's pretty sure that's doing more to warm her than her layers, but doesn't point it out. Yet. "I don't think winters on Barrayar ever got this cold," anywhere he's stayed, he knows Miles would argue that Camp Permafrost is worse -- and Ivan wouldn't argue with him. "But you seem to be managing alright. Had practice?"

Oh good, it looks like he liked that. Really liked that. It had felt a little silly when she'd thought of it, because Ivan clearly had gone beyond kisses on his cheeks-- that much she could guess. But apparently he had an appreciation for less-overt things, which she's thankful for.

"It' looks a lot warmer than it is. They keep slipping and then heat escapes while I struggle to drape it again... You look like you're better equipped to deal with this," she says with a resigned smile as she turns to set the thermos on her desk.

"A little. One advantage to living in a city above the clouds is that it's a little cold that high up."

"They do a good job at synthesizing wool," he says, tugging on the edge of his dress jacket. "At least I haven't been sent my parade red and blues -- those look ridiculous." Everyone agrees on that point, as far as Ivan knows. "Can I try something?" Ivan asks, nodding at her blanketed self. He's got an idea on how to deal with her slippage problem, or at least one that will make it easier to keep her warm.

It's when she describes the place she's from that his attention is pulled away from an attempt at further flirting, brow wrinkling slightly. "But-- no one had antigrav tech when you're from." He knows this. He knows he knows this. Unless she's not being literal? Confusion settles more firmly over his face when he thinks of that. No one builds cities that fly -- he can't imagine the costs, except that it absolutely wouldn't be cost effective in the slightest.

"Ah, that is where you're wrong, Ivan Vorpatril," Elizabeth says, giving him a smug smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Columbia flew thanks to the research of the esteemed physicist Rosalind Lutece. She made an atom float, then an apple, then a whole city." She made a flying battleship, really. But it was home for a lot of people.

"Go ahead!" she smiled, holding out her blanket-draped arms to indicate Ivan should go for whatever he was planning on doing.

Ivan frowns, considers this, and decides not to follow it up completely. "Sounds like you guys were a lot closer to modern technology than you should have been. Hell, the Nexus only came up with antigrav in the last two hundred years." Barrayar only experienced it for the past, oh, hundred, but that's not really the point here.

With a quick, smooth movement, Ivan grabs the blankets from her shoulders to wrap around his -- and then pulls her in towards him, making sure that she's covered by the various blankets in a way that leaves her with room to move around, not too tight. "There," he proclaims, proud of his somewhat quick thinking. "You've got your hands free. Just tell me where to go, and I'll worry about making sure they don't slip."

He has not thought about the logistics of how this is going to work, but that's for another time. Like when she actually wants to go somewhere.

For a brief moment, Elizabeth looks miffed that Ivan just stole the blankets off of her shoulders and put them on his own. This doesn't seem like such a great idea to her. Then he's pulling her into him and, yes, it's very warm. She's not quite sure what to do with her arms, so she's just... got her hands on Ivan's chest.

It's going to be quite awkward when she needs to move somewhere, but for now, this is very nice. Elizabeth giggles for a hot second before she goes back to looking like a deer in the headlights. There's a boy holding her. A flirty boy.

...what does she do now?

As if Ivan's going to complain about an attractive woman with her hands on his chest. That's generally the way he likes these sort of things to go, but he feels as if suddenly jumping there after receiving a cheek kiss isn't the way to go about this. Her giggle is encouraging, however, and his smile softens gently.

"Better?" He prompts, although she's not running away, so he figures it's at least a somewhat successful ploy to get her closer to him. And to share body heat, of course. She needs to stop looking like she's going to bolt, however, or Ivan's not going to consider this a complete success. "Oh, I finished one of the books you lent me."

You know, a month later. One book. He's got this.

"Better," she confirms with a little nod, standing just a bit closer to him after he breaks the tension. It's much warmer close to Ivan, if she doesn't quite know what she's doing, what Ivan wants her to do, or what's usually done right now. But his buttons on his jacket are just fascinating right now.

"You did?" She looks up, thrilled. It look like she's counting how many days it took him, Elizabeth is just excited he read something she picked out for him. "Did you like it?"

"Yeah, Around the World in Eighty Days. I did -- it kind of reminded me of the things I wanted to do when I was younger. Travel around the nexus, meet women. That sort of thing."

Maybe not in eighty days -- that wouldn't even get you to Beta Colony the long way round. But he'd wanted ship duty when he first graduated the academy. Partly for the adventure, mostly for getting as far away from his mother as possible.

He shrugs, though, and continues. "Is that why you like it? The adventure?"

Elizabeth has to laugh when Ivan admits he'd wanted to travel and meet women. She hadn't expected anything else, of course, but it's a very young man thing to do, isn't it?

"Yes, I dreamed of adventure for a long, long time when I was younger. Jules Verne will always be my favorite, but I'd read anything that took me someplace far away with danger and culture and new people." She smirks up at him slyly. "Wasn't so much intrigued by the boys yet, though."

An extremely, very stereotypical young man thing to do, Elizabeth. What can Ivan say? There are things that are expected from him in life, as high Vor. Highest, even, second only to Gregor and tied with his uncle and cousin. Wrapping his arms slightly tighter around her just to see if he can, Ivan grins back. Damn, he does love it when he can make them laugh.

"You'd like my universe," he muses, thinking about it. "A different planet, a different culture. Even Earth's got its own charm for a planet that really isn't involved in anything anymore except for being where it all started." He liked the months he spent in the Barrayaran Embassy, before Miles arrived and everything tended to go the way it does when Miles shows up somewhere. Although he has to admit that Earth was an exceptional example. Clones.

He'd be damned if he let such a lead pass him, though, and a smirk of his own crosses his face. "Yeah? What about now?"

Oh he definitely can. Being deprived of any kind of touch before Booker and then subjected to being yanked around and beaten after has given Elizabeth an appreciation for warmer touches and gestures. She likes them, a lot. Especially now that it's so cold.

"So far I like being here, I liked Caducus, I can't imagine I wouldn't like your universe too," she says, becoming very interested in his buttons again. If she could spend the rest of her life traveling with people, she might just be happy.

Elizabeth probably should have expected Ivan to go in that direction, but it isn't until he says it that she realizes she left herself wide open. After a moment of consideration, she looks up at Ivan with her eyebrow arched. "I think they're starting to grow on me."

They're not very interesting buttons -- they've got the seal of Barrayar on them, and are a lovely synthesized variation of brass. Ivan's a big confused over her fascination with them, but he doesn't bring it up. "You'd need a native guide, if you came." He is, of course, volunteering himself. Sorry Miles, he doesn't really care if you have more galactic experience -- you can't talk about it with anyone as Miles Vorkosigan. And if they steered clear of Jackson's Whole, Ivan thinks they might be able to avoid trouble. Perfect.

Encouraging! His smirk turns more sly, and his voice smoother than his normal guttural baritone. "Good to know."

"Oh-- you think Greg is up for the job?" Elizabeth grins wickedly and pokes Ivan teasingly in his stomach. Yes, her obsession with buttons comes from a distinct problem of nerves brought on by handsome men. She'd poked at Clark's suit quite a bit, too.

That tone though-- it does things to Elizabeth that she's never actually felt before. Little twinges in her neck and back and... other places. Oh this is dangerous, she could really get to like being held and spoken to that way for hours on end. He could read the MID directory to her like that and it would be a grand evening.

But she can't actually say that, so she just giggles. Again. And stops when she realizes she sounds incredibly dumb. "I suppose it would be, given you're a boy."

Nailed it.

That gets a laugh from him, and he shakes his head. "He'd probably want to, but no one's going to let him," is out of his mouth before he realizes what, exactly, he just said. Coughing to cover up the slip, Ivan attempts to move smoothly on. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me." Maybe she won't follow up on it; he can hope so, at any rate.

"Boy?" He teases, with mock offense. "Only my uncle calls me 'boy' these days. What about 'young man'?" Eugh, that doesn't sound any better, and his face wrinkles comically as soon as he says it. "Nevermind." Bad idea.

The fact that Greg wouldn't be allowed to show Elizabeth around their world does strike Elizabeth as a little odd, but she can't imagine why. Maybe... Ivan has his sights set on Elizabeth, so he wouldn't let Greg show her around because he'd get there first...? It seems a little extreme, though. "Well, I can't say I'd be disappointed, unless you're going to tour me around the more boring sights your planet has. Then I might demand someone else."

Elizabeth laughs at the wrinkled look on Ivan's face, then smiles apologetically up at him. "Sorry, I'm... not very good at this. I've never um... actually flirted with anyone like this before."

She'd pulled the wool over a poor shopkeeper's eyes with some sensual language before, but that had been an act. Not genuine at all.

"No boring sights, my word as Vorpatril." Which is a silly thing to give his word on, but Ivan doesn't particularly care. "The Vorpatril District just so happens to have the best resort town on the planet." A biased opinion, and if he's truthful he's never really spent time there. His summers were spent at Vorkosigan Surleau. Well he can show her that too, and they can put up with Miles and his parents if they have to.

Just so long as they avoid his mother.

But her confession gets a rather surprised look from him, because he finds that hard to believe. Or at least the idea that no one hasn't wanted to flirt with Elizabeth before. "I wouldn't have been able to guess," Ivan says sincerely, "just maybe that you were a little shy." Not that there's anything wrong with that -- Ivan tends towards the women who are far more direct himself, but the Moira hasn't left him with a lot of choice.

She's familiar with that turn of phrase, and the recognition of the gravity of what Ivan's said registers on Elizabeth's face-- like she understands. How does she know? That would be a long story. "Sounds like it would be the best vacation anyone's had, with promises like that," she says with a laugh. She's been to a resort before, but it had been a little boring on her own. Something tells her it would be far more exciting if Ivan was escorting her around.

Although apparently, she's outed herself unnecessarily. Elizabeth looks mildly distressed by the revelation that she'd actually been doing alright by Ivan's reckoning. "You're kidding me," she moans, hiding her face by putting her forehead into Ivan's chest. "I mean-- I am. Shy," she says, looking back up at him, struggling to convey why she's so bizarre in this area that Ivan so excels at. "I used to plunge headfirst into things I didn't know much about, but I've... outgrown that habit, and I try to proceed with caution now," Elizabeth admits with a small smile. "Like I said, b-- men haven't really caught my eye before now."

She couldn't be involved with anyone, really. Friends or otherwise.

The flash of understanding almost makes him pause -- where could she have learned what it meant? Gregor or Miles, most likely, and he's never really heard of Gregor ever giving his word on something. The poor man probably can't afford to, Ivan muses, on account of having so many other things going on with his life. Miles then. Which means he's probably not going to want to know. "It would have to be, if it's going to impress you." Oh yes, impressing is absolutely a goal.

If it's any comfort, the only reason he excels at it is practice and determination. But he's not stubborn enough to flirt where his affections are unwanted, and handles rejection well at the prospect of their always being another woman somewhere. "Caution's never a bad thing," Ivan agrees -- definitely not where he comes from. "God knows I try to be an innocent bystander when I can." And it's damn hard work, let him tell her. Still, he grins down at her -- comforting and encouraging. "Well I'm glad to have met you when that's changed."

Oh, he is ever.

In truth, the Moira was what had changed... almost everything for her. Friends, a place she called her home, a job, and the freedom to be close to people without seeing everything they had done or would do. She could actually have this conversation without seeing thousands of images of Ivan, of different places he would stand, or jackets he could have worn, or things unsaid. One timeline, no doors, no confusion.

"I'm glad it's changed, too." She wishes she could explain it more than that, but it would require more explanation than she thinks Ivan would care about-- and more secrets than she wants to reveal just yet. This is fine, this is nice. This is probably almost normal.

"But I think I'm going to start being a little more adventurous where this is concerned," she says, tapping a finger on Ivan's chest and grinning slyly. "Seems to be the right thing to do."

He doesn't ask. A respect for privacy, politeness, and the understanding that he doesn't need to be like his cousin at all times. He's fine with whatever people willingly bring to the table, and it rarely occurs for him to ask or look for more. Ivan doesn't need to, that would imply some sort of deeper held desire other than to be alive at the end of the day. Simple living for a simple man.

And that, though, one of his eyebrows raises in curiosity. "Oh? And are there any particular adventures you had in mind?" Ivan is here to help with this sort of thing, no problem. Just say the word. A word, any one will do. He pulls her slightly closer to him, careful to keep one hand clutching the blankets closed while the other settles on her shoulder -- if she's new to all this, she probably wouldn't appreciate a hand on her waist just yet. Something to look forward to and work up to, maybe.

"Well, maybe... holding someone's hand?"

Elizabeth is a simple woman with simple needs too, where this is concerned. Her mindset is a little old fashioned by Ivan's standards no doubt, but small things like that mean so much to her. Just being held is wonderful. She doesn't want it to end.

"I know that's probably silly for you..."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject