>>"A two and a half foot spider with the affection and boundary issues of a puppy-- trouble? Of course not."

Sarah laughed. She should have expected a reply like the one she got.

>>"If you don't already have a pet and need a little excitement, I highly suggest getting one."

"I would if my landlord allowed pets in the building. I've been wanting something to come home to as of late."

The idle chit-chat they were doing was nice. She was so used to the polite talking of customers and coworkers that just talking to someone felt better than anything she had done lately. Making sure to hold her tongue wasn't something she loved to do every moment of her life.

>>"Actually, if you're bored now, I could always put Parker in his room."

"And here I thought this was a business call, Nate," she teased. "However, I'd rather talk in person than over a phone."

>> "I would if my landlord allowed pets in the building. I've been wanting something to come home to as of late."

Nate rolled his eyes at the thought of someone else shouldering the burden of pet Parker. "In all honesty, get a cat. Finding shed fur on the couch is less annoying than finding yourself webbed to the bed." From experience.

>> "And here I thought this was a business call, Nate. However, I'd rather talk in person than over a phone."

That went over far better than Nate was expecting, which rejuvenated his composure and confidence enough to say something like, "Life's a bit more enjoyable when you mix business with a little pleasure, no?"

Realizing he was facing the very likely possibility of company, Nate was already moving from the living room to the kitchenette to put away stray glasses and plates. He gave her the directions to his apartment building over the phone. "You're certainly welcome to come over if you have nothing you'd rather do than get reacquainted." Okay, a line like that was definitely flirting, but he was a free adult and so was she, so it was her decision to respond or not.

>>"Life's a bit more enjoyable when you mix business with a little pleasure, no?"

"Does all work and no play make you a dull boy?" she laughed.

Laughter was something she couldn't seem to stem at the moment. Once she got the directions, written on a spare sheet of tracing paper, she started towards her bedroom.

>>"You're certainly welcome to come over if you have nothing you'd rather do than get reacquainted."

Sarah hummed like she was thinking about the offer. "Well, I'll have to get into something more comfortable," she teased lightly. Besides, flirting never hurt anyone.

>> "Does all work and no play make you a dull boy?"

Nate chuckled, unsure of how to reply. For some reason, he never took into account the possibility of Sarah flirting with him. It was all probably meant to be for amusement and teasing, but she was finding ways to catch him off guard.

>> "Well, I'll have to get into something more comfortable."

Okay, that was a good example of a way to catch him off guard. "Well, I certainly wouldn't want you uncomfortable."

Still frantically running around and tidying up his apartment, he gave no hint of his hecticness over the phone. "Alright, I'll be waiting. See you soon, Sarah." Nate hung up the phone before tossing it at his couch so he could focus on the dishes in his sink.

Once his apartment was cleaner than it had ever been since his single life resumed, Nate swapped out of his lay-around clothes. He was not going too over the top since the goal was just to enjoy a casual evening in the apartment, but he did stick with a nicer pair of jeans and a black button-down shirt over a graphic t-shirt.

Looking through the liquor cabinet, Nate found the nicest bottle of wine he had in stock, hoping Sarah actually liked wine. He would find out when she got there, probably, which was now liable to happen any minute.

"Alright, I'll be waiting. See you soon, Sarah."

"I'll be around in a bit then," the brunette
stated before hanging up.

She kept her plain green tee on, but pulled on a pair of dark grey
jeans. She wondered about re-braiding her hair but thought against
it. Sarah swiped her wallet and keys from the coffee table and headed
out, locking the door behind her.

She finally made it to Nate's apartment after making sure she didn't
get lost, which was bound to happen with her sense of direction.
(There had only been a moment when she spaced and nearly missed a
street.) The brunette found the correct place but froze as she stood
there. Impulse had made her go to the apartment, enough logic told
her it would be a bad idea.

She waited about half of a minute before she took a deep breath. As
she let the air out of her lungs, she made three short knocks on the
door. She took in another breath as she waited.

It was not long after Nate finished up his last-minute cleaning that the rapping of three knocks against the door drew his attention. Never taking a knock at the door at face value, (considering his checkered past and questionable former interpersonal relationships,) the ex-thief checked through the spyhole on the door.

Once it was confirmed that on the other side of the door was his dark-haired visitor, Nate took a deep breath and open the door. "Nice to see you again, Sarah," he admitted with a grin. For a split second, he almost leaned in for a hug, but decided against it, worrying it might be forward or awkward.

After a life of smooth interactions with women, Nate was becoming particularly aware of how much more pressure there was not to be awkward when there was a possibility of further interactions. Not that Nate was thinking about anything particularly long term at the moment, but whatever happened, it was likely he would be seeing Sarah again, and that was never a concern he had when he was still a rogue and a rolling stone.

Nate held the door open to welcome her into his apartment. "It isn't all that much, but make yourself at home, hun. Anything to drink? Coffee? Nice glass of wine?" He was honestly hoping for wine, if just to relax the inevitable tension in the sort of situation they were in.

The door opened and Sarah was greeted with a smile and a "Nice to see you again, Sarah." She couldn't help smile back at Nate.

"It's nice to see you too. I think I almost forgot your face, it's been so long," she teased lightly.

She stepped in with more confidence than she actually felt as he listed some drinks.

"Some wine actually sounds great right now," she stated. Her day had been long and though it would mean getting a cab back home, she might need the alcohol for this get together.

Taking Nate's words to heart, Sarah started for the couch. Her walk was slower than usual as she took in her surroundings. Her brother said it was a nervous tick and she was finding ways to escape.

>> "It's nice to see you too. I think I almost forgot your face, it's been so long."

She certainly had a point, given how long it had been since their meeting. "Yeah, sorry about that again. But my life is finally balancing out a bit more, so hopefully I don't leave my phone untouched like that for a while."

Nate grabbed the bottle of wine he had set out, along with two appropriate glasses. Sitting down in the seat next to the couch Sarah chose, he started pouring the red-violet liquid into each glass. "It would be a shame to go about forgetting a lovely face like yours." There, that was a bit more like the smooth Stephen Graves of old. (Not that he wanted to go back to that entirely, but he did miss the degree of ease and confidence he once had speaking with the fairer sex.)

Offering one glass to Sarah, he held his glass up for a toast. "To getting reacquainted and actually staying in touch?" he joked, hoping his self-deprecation would diminish how dumb he was for leaving her waiting for a call so long.

>>"Yeah, sorry about that again. But my life is finally balancing out a bit more, so hopefully I don't leave my phone untouched like that for a while."

"Live happens. If I was upset, I wouldn't have agreed to come," Sarah stated.

The brunette felt a familiar heat rise to her cheeks at Nate's compliment. Now that she remembered how attractive Nate was, she felt less like the flirty woman she had been while on the phone. She accepted the glass with a smile though, trying to pretend she wasn't blushing.

>>"To getting reacquainted and actually staying in touch?"

A light laugh bubbled up as she nodded in agreement. "Especially since we're going to see each other next week," she giggled, touching her glass to his. "That reminds me, I wanted to ask, how exactly did you remember little ole me after so much silence?"

In all honesty, the question had just come to her, but she figured Nate didn't need to know that. The only time she was reminded of the man beside her was whenever she spotted a spider.

Nate took a sip of his wine, enjoying the tart and slightly sweet taste across his pallet as he considered Sarah's question. She had a fair point; they only met once, so it was probably quite out of the blue for him to call upon her for the role of co-chaperone. Why exactly was she the one he came up with as pretty much his first option?

After another sip, he mused his way to an answer. "Well, I wasn't going to call upon the other teachers, because most of them know little to nothing about art, and the one or two that do, I don't know quite as well." There was another art teacher, but he was more of a crafts man, and barely an acquaintance of Nate.

"I wanted someone who knew their stuff, and someone kind enough to handle my group of kids. You came to mind because you were carrying art supplies when I met you, you mentioned going to school for the subject, you seemed interested in tutoring some of my kids, and you were sweet enough to help some schmuck look for his pet." It was a pretty lengthy list of things to rattle off, but Nate did have a mind for lists and details.

"So there, I guess; I called you because you're kind, you're artsy, and remembering how pretty you are may not have hurt." Could he really be blamed for having an attractive art girl at the forefront of his mind during his hunt?

Sarah sipped her wine as she listened to Nate's list. She shook her head at the "schmuck" comment.

>>"So there I guess; I called you because you're kind, you're artsy, and remembering how pretty you are may not have hurt."

The dark skinned woman felt the fading blush come back full force after his mention of her looks. While she didn't think herself ugly, getting compliments always caused her cheeks to darken. Sarah silently hoped he wouldn't notice or comment on it.

"Well, I'm happy to know I made an impression," was all she could work out of her mouth.

Nate noticed the blushing of Sarah's cheeks, but he was kind enough not to bring attention to them. It was one of those little things he picked up on, and it was a good sign that his compliments were having a positive effect.

"You did. And I'm glad you accepted my offer." Calling Sarah was turning out to be a very positive choice. "I'm sure you'll make a great impression on the kids too. There a pretty good bunch, just rambunctious."

Nate took another sip, recalling some of the names he saw on the sign-up sheet already. Kaitlyn stuck out in his mind. He chuckled, "Like one girl got into an argument on her first day of class and blew up her desk." Come to think of it, his job came with loads of health risks. He seriously needed to review the medical insurance provided to him one day. "Yeah, good kids, but a handful."

>>"You did. And I'm glad you accepted my offer."

Sarah smiled. Even though she did so impulsively, she was glad she had come to see Nate. The brunette listened to Nate's story about one of his students. She smiled. Hearing about the girl made her wonder what other surprises she was in for.

>>"Yeah, good kids, but a handful."

Sarah shook her head a little at his words. "Most kids are. It makes life entertaining." she paused to take a sip of wine. "We'll probably be very busy Friday."

>> "We'll probably be very busy Friday."

The understatement was enough to make Nate chuckle. He certainly hoped it would end up being the closest to a normal field trip a mutant class could have. "Oh, I'm quite sure." He raised his glass once more with a flourish. "Drink up tonight, hun, because we won't be able to then." It would certainly make the job easier if he could soldier through it with a buzz.

The two continued the night working their way through the bottle of wine. It was a great bottle, but it was going to a good cause working as social lubricant amidst good company. There was some more small talk, one or two classroom anecdotes, and a personal story or two shared in either direction.

Still grinning over something that was getting a little harder to remember as the light fog set into his mind, he commented aloud, "I have to admit I was a little surprised to discover no guy waiting at home for you." Not that he actually asked if she was single, come to think of it. "Such a sweetheart like you, I'd think you'd be fighting off the gentlemen of New York." Of course there were plenty of other factors that kept people single in the city, and Sarah certainly seemed to keep busy regardless.

Sarah let herself relax as the night waned. She knew she'd regret the number of glasses she had when she had to go to work the next afternoon. When her slightly foggy mind remembered that tidbit, she slowed down. While she knew several of the others came to work hungover, she preferred not to.

The brunette did enjoy herself though. She and Nate shared a few stories, several of which made her laugh.

>>"I have to admit I was a little surprised to discover no guy waiting at home for you... Such a sweetheart like you, I'd think you'd be fighting off the gentlemen of New York."

Sarah laughed a little before she answered. "I rarely have time to meet as many gentlemen as you claim. I think I've met two, maybe three. And I'm sitting next to one of them."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she wasn't sure what was worse. Her choices: how bad her blush was and how bad she was a flirting after drinking.