2013.09.08 - Civil Confections

Some time passed since Warren saw Fern with Justin at the charity event and after some thought, he decided he just needed to get answers. So, Fern was called and invited out to meet at a confectionery shop for ice cream or another dessert of her choice. Also, seeing as it's in public, it might remind them both to be rather civil in case things get heated.
Warren has arrived a little early due to flying down. He's dressed casually for this meeting and is currently checking his smartphone as he waits...pointedly ignoring any stares or finger-pointing that are aimed his way.
Fern was a little surprised to get the call from Warren, but readily agreed to the invitation. Despite the day being fairly mild in temperature, she decided to go for a sundress anyway, enjoying the last of the nice days before cold hits. With the style of swingy skirt that she favors, the dress is a jumble of colors, reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting. But one of the pretty ones, not one of the dreary, depressing ones. 
 
She's unfamiliar with the place he suggested, but always game to try new things, and she trusts Warren not to go in for something hideously outrageous. With the subway route mapped out, Fern makes fairly good time getting to the right stop. The trains are more likely to be on time on Sunday, when no one has to be at work on time. Arriving with minutes to spare, Fern is on the lookout for the familiar wings even before she reaches for the door handle. 
"Fern," Warren calls out to her before she can go inside to look for him. Putting his smartphone away he offers her a bit of a smile. "Thanks for coming out last-minute. Nice dress...it reminds me of a Pollock painting. Don't often see that kind of print." He then reaches to open the door for the two of them. "Everything here is good...just as a little preface."
Fern turns at the call, her smile more warm and open than his own. "Warren. I'm glad that you called." She looks down in the way that people do when their own clothes are mentioned, as if they'd forgotten what they were wearing. "Thanks! I loved the colors, and it was a good price." A thrift store find, actually, and probably some designer label. Fern has learned where to shop in her year in the city. Unlike Justin, who Fern basically forces to hug her when they meet, she never knows what to do with Warren. So, this time she decides to force him to hug her too, why not. She steps forward as he reaches for the door, intercepting him like a well thrown pass, to slip her arms around his waist. She keeps it brief, but it's not hurried, and steps back again to let him finish his gallantry. "I figured it would be. You're kinda picky," she teases lightly. 
Warren Worthington doesn't pull away from the hug, but he's not entirely sure how he should respond to it. He sort of gives her a light hug in return before he gestures for her to step inside. "I'm not all that picky. I just don't eat anything with wings. Do you blame me?" He probably does recognize the designer of the dress, but he's not out to insult Fern by asking how she could afford the dress. "The colors are good for you," he makes some small talk as he guides her to a table. Menus are brought over but he doesn't seem to need to look at his.
Stepping in ahead of Warren, Fern's smile only widens at the decor. Light and airy, clean, and one wall dominated by a mural of ice cream, cakes and candies. "No, I don't blame you a bit. I wouldn't either." She has, in fact, without really thinking much of it, stopped eating so much bird. Not stopped entirely, she's still a huge fan of teriyaki chicken, she just doesn't think about their wings. Scooting into the bench seat against the wall, she grins, "I feel like I fit right in here." The colors do seem to match her dress pretty well. She does reach for a menu, opening it, then flipping to the dessert section. "They have milkshakes!" 
Warren Worthington can't help but chuckle, "Yes, they do. Their sundaes are also pretty incredible and their non-ice cream desserts are also pretty great. I don't get up here all too often so this was kind of a nice excuse." He pokes some at the silverware at the table as if fidgeting nervously. "I did...want to ask you something, but maybe it should wait until we have our snacks." If he can stand it. It will at least give him time to figure out how to say it so that it doesn't have to backtrack too much.
While she has no clue what's on his mind, Fern can pretty easily tell that something is. He's not typically a fidgeter, and his words only confirm her suspicion. And, being an imaginative young woman, her mind reels with possibilities ranging from very good to very bad to everywhere in between. "Alright," she says slowly. "If you're sure." She should have known it wasn't just a 'thought it would be nice to see you' call. Her attention drops back to the menu, "I think the Grasshopper shake sounds delicious. What are you going to get?" 
"Uhm..." Warren glances off in the distance, possibly seeing a menu from afar, "Maybe a sundae. Or the candy shake." Maybe it takes a lot of sugar to fuel him. He waits until their orders are placed before he looks back to Fern, "I guess...I just don't know what we," he gestures between the two of them, "are doing. I mean...are we doing anything? I'm just confused. We kissed and you seemed interested, but...are you dating Justin Hammer?"
When Warren starts saying what's on his mind, Fern frowns lightly at first, but it eases as he gets to what seems to be the point. It's actually something she and Justin discussed while out on his boat over the holiday weekend just past. She leans forward, resting her forearms on the table, and shakes her head. "Justin and I aren't dating, we're friends. When he needs someone to go somewhere with, he's called me a few times. We have fun together." Yes, someone does have fun with Justin Hammer and isn't just annoyed by everything that comes out of his mouth. "I'm not dating anyone." 
It's a good thing that Warren doesn't know about that boat holiday because he might question that answer. "All right," he nods, taking in that answer. "Did you want to be? Just because...I'm getting confused." He was never one who was socially adept when it comes to romantic relationships.
There's a pause, Fern's eyes on Warren's face, before she answers with a gentle shake of her head. "No, I don't want to be dating one specific person right now," she says honestly. "The last time I dated someone," she says, looking at him pointedly, "I hurt him. I don't want to rush into something and risk doing that again." There's almost a plaintive look in her eyes as she goes on. "I don't want to hurt you, or anyone. And honestly, Warren... I'm still waiting to see if you'll ever be comfortable with me again. If you'll ever really trust me again." It's not an accusation, but just a soft statement of fact. 
Warren Worthington nods, "I understand that. I appreciate that," he looks down at his hands as his fingers lace together on the table. "I guess I don't know if I'll be comfortable unless I know where I stand with you. I don't know how to be 'just friends' with a girl...woman...and I guess I won't know if I can fully trust things until I know that. I don't know if I should be flirting with you or not."
There's a slight squint to her eyes as Fern looks across the table at Warren. She stretches one arm, reaching over to lay her hand lightly on top of his. "I just want you to be who you are, Warren. If you want to flirt, then flirt. If you don't, that's ok too. Being friends with someone is just enjoying their company, being comfortable together, talking about whatever comes into our heads. If we can't just be comfortable together then it's not going to get any better if we decide to start seeing each other in another way again." 
Blue eyes look at the hand on his hand. "Flirting seems...Flirting is a means to an end. I don't like doing it if it's not going to get me anywhere." Spoken like a true businessman. "I haven't had much luck with supposed friendships. I usually end up getting betrayed."
Fern sighs softly, "Then don't flirt with me. I'm not just a means to an end, I can be a good friend." She withdraws her hand a moment before their ice cream is brought, Fern smiling at the waitress and giving her a polite thank you, as she always does. For a moment, giving her greenish milkshake a stir, Fern looks thoughtfully down, before she raises her eyes to Warren. "I'm going to tell you this because I don't want you to think one day that I've kept it from you, there's no reason to keep it from you. Last weekend Justin and I went out on his boat, sailed up the coast, had dinner, danced a bit, slept out under the stars, and came back on Monday." She goes on before he can jump to a natural conclusion, "Nothing intimate happened. He never tried to kiss me, he was a perfect gentleman. And you know that I'm fully capable of spending a night with someone actually sleeping and not fooling around." 
"I know you're not a means to an end!" Warren tries to back-pedal a little but also pauses as the ice cream is brought. He also offers a quiet, "Thank you" to the waitress before he looks back to Fern. He watches as she speaks about the weekend she spent with Hammer. Looking at his sundae, he pushes some of the hot fudge around as he listens and processes what she says. "I know you're capable of that," is finally offered quietly. "I guess..." and here he gives a sigh, "I guess I miss you. I still like you a lot. That's what makes this whole 'just being friends' thing hard for me."
"I miss you too, Warren," Fern says softly, the words sincere. "It's why I've been a pest and haven't just let you push me away in favor of girls you hardly know who'll give you lap dances at trendy clubs." There's no barb to her tone, but maybe there's a touch of exasperation. And yeah, she knows there probably weren't actual lap dances going on, but she's making a point, not being entirely accurate. "It's why I want to spend time with you, and see if we can be comfortable with each other again. I want us to enjoy now, without thinking that it has to go somewhere specific. Look, you know as well as I do that tomorrow might not come." Especially after being threatened a few times by an apparent werewolf. 
"There haven't been any lap dances," Warren corrects even as he takes a bite from the sundae. "I don't know how to do this in-between thing, Fern. I don't...I don't know that I can. I don't want either of us to be leading each other on but I don't know that I can just sit there and have you nearby and just...be. Not do anything. Not want to get closer."
Fern can't stop the half smile that comes at his correction, and she masks it by leaning forward to sip her milkshake through the straw. There's a spoon for the chunks of chocolate chips and peppermint patty, but for now she just sips what's already melting. "I don't want to lead you on, Warren. If it's an all or nothing situation then we need to face that." She takes another sip, eyes down as she adds, "And I'm not going to just hand myself to you on a silver platter. We went too fast last time, and look where that got us. I don't know how it works in society, but where I come from there is such a thing as courting." Now there's a glance up. "You know... actually making a girl think you're interested in her and not that if she doesn't call you she'll never talk to you again." 
Warren Worthington pauses with the spoon just above the sundae dish, "You...want me to court you?" That was not at all what he was expecting. He thought he was doing that the last time, but maybe she wants more? He can certainly do that. "It...I haven't dated in society. I didn't really date until you." Which also might explain more than a few things. "I couldn't...because I was hiding my wings and the only one who knew about it besides my mother wasn't interested in me no matter how hard I tried."
"Well, I'm not that person," Fern says simply. Now she does pick up her spoon, skimming it across the top of the ice cream, picking up candy chunks and popping the spoon into her mouth. She gives her glass a little push toward Warren, asking, "Trade for three bites?" Fern certainly isn't germ phobic, and has no qualms about sharing a meal with someone. 
"No, you're not," even if they share some physical characteristics. Maybe that's part of the attraction. When he's offered a taste of her ice cream, he thinks a moment before pushing his own sundae towards her, "All right, sure. As long as they're not three -giant- bites..." Warren will taste some of her Grasshopper shake, "I bet it would be good with some Creme de Menthe in it too. Or bourbon, like a julep."
If that was some sort of test, Warren passed it, and Fern grins as she pulls his sundae closer, "No, not giant. Huge." There's a giggle, and she takes a rather small spoonful of his dessert. "My mother read somewhere that three bites is the perfect amount of something to have. That after three or four bites, you aren't really tasting it any more, you're just eating it." She looks up, blue eyes settling on his face. "We should try that sometime." After a few drinks, she got Justin Hammer to disco with her. She can't help but wonder if Warren would, also. 
Warren Worthington is a little young to know how to Disco. "That's about the size of most tasting menus, so I guess I'd agree with your mother on that. Nothing wrong with eating...although I knew a kid back in school who would ask to 'taste' food and would then eat most of it. He was kind of a jerk." He takes another small bite of the minty dessert, "Try what? A frozen julep?"
Fern could easily fix that problem, and teach him. Although her dancing isn't quite as structured as most. There seems to be rather a lot of hopping around and reckless abandon. Or maybe that was the rum. "That's a rude thing to do, eat all of someone else's food," she says as she scoops up a second taste. "Yeah, a frozen julep. Or Creme de Menthe. You go out drinking with strangers and you never go out drinking with me." She's teasing again, wrinkling her nose at him as she goes for bite three. 
"I didn't know you liked to drink all that much," Warren points out. "I know you don't like wine and I didn't want you thinking I was trying to take advantage of you or anything by getting you drunk. But if you'd like to go drinking, I'm certainly game for that. Without the entourage, even." He can't promise that there won't be paparazzi though.
"Well, I don't drink all that much," Fern says, sliding his sundae back across the table to him. "That is delicious," she notes, before going on with her original thought, "But it's fun to go out sometimes." And, unlike some people, she's a bit of a lightweight, so it doesn't take all that much to get her tipsy. One brow lifts slightly and she asks, "I trusted you enough to spend the night with you. Why would I think you'd take advantage when you didn't try to then?" 
Warren Worthington sends Fern's ice cream back to her as well. "Well...what night are you free? I know you're still working, right? And are you doing any shows? I wouldn't want to take you away from your work." He's free almost any night, really, unless there are business engagements. "I don't think we had all that much to drink then...not that I'd take advantage of you at all, drunk or not."
Fern offers up a choice of nights when she's not working and doesn't have to be up early the next morning, letting Warren pick the best one for him as well. "Believe me," she grins, "If it was acting work even you couldn't drag me away from it. And we weren't drinking that night, but I would have trusted you if we had been." By the time they're finished with their ice cream, they've set up a 'date' to go out and spend some time on the town together. Fern wipes her mouth with a napkin, then sets it aside. "Thank you, again, for asking me to come out. Wanna walk me to the subway station?" 
Warren Worthington would normally offer to have her driven home or fly her home himself, but they did move too fast before and she wanted to be courted. So, courted she shall be. The dessert is paid for and a generous tip is left, "I would love to walk you to the subway station. Thank you for meeting me to come out and I'll see you in a few days." He made sure to put the date into the planner on his phone. "If you get an acting gig that night, you let me know and we'll reschedule."
Once outside, Fern tucks her arm through Warren's companionably, falling into step with him easily. "If it happens, you'll be the first to hear," she promises, but it's doubtful something would pop up like that. When they reach the top of the stairs heading down into the tunnels below the city, Fern stops, turning to Warren and looking up. "Don't worry so much about what might happen. Enjoy what happens now." She pops up onto her toes, giving him a quick kiss to the cheek before stepping away, holding his arms a moment before letting go. "I'll talk to you soon." With a smile and a light flare of skirt she turns, skipping her way down to catch the train back to Harlem. 
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