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[wentnuclear]

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[wentnuclear]

[ That's sweet, but really how many times can you draw the same person before you get bored? He huffs a tiny laugh of disagreement, and resumes turning the pages. Looking through what he really does think is beautiful art. ]

Thank you, for sharing it.

[setpoint]

[That gets a smile out of her, even if she's still blushing a bit.]

You're welcome. I didn't think you'd be interested.

[wentnuclear]

[ Whaaaaaat. ]

Why not? I can appreciate art. I'm a very cultured fellow, you know.

[setpoint]

[She laughs softly.]

Are you? You've never told me.

[wentnuclear]

If you go around telling people how cultured you are, you just sound like a snob.

[setpoint]

You've never seemed like a snob.

[wentnuclear]

Good. That's not the kind of impression I want to make. People do usually think my taste is kind of weird, though. We were sort of busy, then wound up here, so...

[setpoint]

[Her lips quirk up at that.]

What sort of taste do you mean?

[wentnuclear]

Okay, well... what kind of movies do you like?

[setpoint]

Um...

[Give her a second to think about that.]

I like sci-fi and action movies.

[And then she hesitates, and adds more quietly:]

And romance.

[Don't judge her!]

[wentnuclear]

See, I don't. I don't really watch anything loud or violent. Life's got enough of that for me.

[ He smiles a little broader, then, softening his voice as well. ]

Romance, though. That's my thing. Especially really old movies.

[setpoint]

[Oh.]

Really? Like what?

[wentnuclear]

Casablanca, It Happened One Night, City Lights... I mean, I'm basically somebody's grandma.

[setpoint]

[Mako can't help but laugh. It's... really sweet, actually.]

I don't think I've seen those movies.

[wentnuclear]

Hopefully someday I'll get to put them on for you, then. They're all story and heart, there weren't any special effects back then. City Lights doesn't even have dialogue. But Humphrey Bogart? You've gotta see Casablanca. The Big Sleep. The African Queen. Real classics most people our age don't even know about.

[setpoint]

I'd like to watch them with you. What's Casablanca about?

[wentnuclear]

It's a romantic drama, set in Morocco during World War II. The main character's an American expat who runs a nightclub and is sort of adjacent to everything. Refugees, the resistance, the Germans, they're just all around all the time and he could get involved with any side he wanted. So he winds up with these letters of transit...

[ The plot of Casablanca goes here okay, and he's pretty enthusiastic about it. ]

...sound like something you might like?

[setpoint]

[Mako can't stop smiling through the entire explanation. It's clear he's excited, and it's adorable.]

Yes, I think so. If you like it so much, I think I will, too.

[wentnuclear]

Then I'm glad I didn't tell you how it ends. You'll have to find out.

[setpoint]

I'd like that.

[Seriously, she's all for it.]

What else do you like?

[wentnuclear]

Hmm... French music. Poetry. Traveling and getting lost in the culture, learning new languages and finding the best little restaurants. Winter sunrises. Tawny port and hard candy, but not at once.

What about you?

[setpoint]

[She's assuming he means "besides mechanics and engineering", so...]

Um... I like music, and poetry. I liked the street food in Hong Kong, and stout beer.

[What else?]

I used to get up to watch the sunrise from the helipad, and my favorite thing about Alaska was the snow. I've always wanted a cat, but I could never have one.

[wentnuclear]

[ It's actually sort of surprising to him, how some things they like are lining up. He wouldn't have guessed they were opposites, exactly, but neither that there were so many similarities. Drifting, Mako felt more like a complement to him than a match, but that was exactly what he needed. Compatibility wasn't a complex thing. ]

...so we're getting a cat.

[ Then he realizes how that sounded. Whoops. Uh. ]

I mean. We're getting you one. Wherever you want to settle, after all this. Have you ever thought about that?

[ Raleigh never had, but Yancy did. He'd loved Hungary. Maybe Mako would want to go back to Japan? ]

[setpoint]

[Uh-huh. Sure, Raleigh. She vastly prefers the "we".]

...I'm not sure. All I ever focused on was becoming a pilot. Have you thought about it?

[wentnuclear]

Nah. Like I told you before the mission, I've never really thought about the future. About there being an 'after' anything. There was just what I was doing now.

I feel like that's finally changed.