“Damn right I am,” Her smirk now a full on grin and the sound of laughter was evident in her voice.

It wasn’t so much that she didn’t like Tarin checking to see how her injuries were doing, but she was so not used to someone, anyone, doing it that it felt a little strange. Especially after a merge. Always before, any injuries she’d had were pretty much healed by the time Tarin had come out of his ‘post-merge funk’. Unless the injury was obviously visible. Then it just made things worse.

But with the way that Tarin was talking about baseball, it definitely sounded like she was going to be watching it in the future. Maybe he’d explain it to her in a way that would make it tolerable to watch. Though if not, at least she could always do something else when he had baseball on. It should be easy enough to ignore.

Plus, she could always subject him to hockey if she had to watch baseball.

As Lee asked Tarin about b-movies and turned to look at him, she saw him turning his head very quickly toward the tv. That left a small, confused frown on her face, though it was only there for a moment because then he asked his own question and she laughed.

“God no!” she said, still laughing. “Unless you mean that they’re so very bad that they’re good. But it’s fine, most people don’t like them,”[/font] Lee continued, turning back to the tv and starting to flip channels again. “I was just surprised to actually see it on here.”

Tarin had the distinct feeling he’d been caught staring, but didn’t catch Lee’s frown because he was now staring at the TV with unparalleled attention as Lee laughed and explained that these sci-fi movies fell into the, “So bad they’re good” category of entertainment. Tarin made a mental note to check them out when there was an opportunity, that kind of thing was interesting sometimes.

Lee was flipping channels again now, and as she did, something caught Tarin’s eye.

“Wait! I think I know this one!” It was a movie, one of those action/adventure types of movies with a bit of romance thrown in. An archaeologist and adventurer was on the hunt for the holy grail and the trail of the artifact was taking him through a Europe on the brink of war.

“This was one of the first things I watched when I came over. As far as I know we didn’t have anything like this on my side.” Tarin said, excitement evident in his voice as now it was his turn to lean forward a bit as he tried to figure out how far into the movie they were and if it was worth watching.

“Oh! It’s not very far in at all.”

Lee was starting to think that there was nothing else of interest on tv that night when something apparently caught Tarin’s attention. Stopping in her channel surfing, Lee looked at the tv more closely. It looked familiar, but she couldn’t identify which movie it was exactly.

But then she saw Tarin leaning forward, and he sounded so excited about this movie being on. Lee looked at him leaning forward, watching the tv so intently with a small smile on her face. If something this small could make him this happy, especially after the last week. No, the last few weeks. But if watching this movie would make him this happy…

Lee was already setting the remote down when Tarin announced that the movie was still near the beginning. “What did you think of this as your first movie over here?”

What had he thought about this as his first movie on this side of the rift?

“I thought that this world had a lot more magic than the one I was coming from.” he said, “I don’t know if it was just my personal experiences or if things really were different over there…but everyone was so afraid of being different that it seemed to sap some of the creativity out of the world”

The action was starting in earnest now and Tarin watched for a few minutes before he spoke again, “I spent a lot of time in the beginning trying to learn about the world and the culture over here.” he said, glancing in Lee’s direction, “I felt like I needed to know enough to blend in before I could really start to try and live over here.”

After the rift had closed and it had become clear that it was likely permanent the first few weeks had been intimidating. There were lots of mutant organizations to help, and the X-Men here were an absolute force to be reckoned with, and the freedom with which he could walk around had intimidated Tarin to his core. He’d spent a lot of time closed up in the shop watching movies, TV, the news…anything to try and get himself caught up and stopping only to deal with the customers he’d need to keep the shop open.

“I guess I kind of just got stuck like that. I realized that I could just kind of exist over here without drawing any attention. Customers would come and go, I could do my work and everyone would leave me alone. It worked great for about five years…” he said, eyes still on the TV as he spoke, “Then I realized that I was surviving over here just fine, but I wasn’t living.”

He smiled then and glanced back at Lee again, “We both know how that turned out.”

It was interesting that he felt there was a lot more ‘magic’ on this side. Though, with everything she had heard about the other side, how it had largely seemed to be simply surviving over there, Lee could understand the creativity not being as strong over there.

“I’ve been there,” Lee replied, glancing over at Tarin. “Surviving gets you through the day, through the week. But that’s about it. Rachel’s definitely pointed that out to me in the past. And to be honest, a lot of times you don’t even fully realize what you’re missing when you’re simply surviving until you’re actually living again.”

Lee sighed, looking at the tv for a few moments before looking back at Tarin. “Well, it seems like it turned out well in the long term because you’re here watching a movie.” Lee gave him a slight smile.

Her back was starting to get rather warm, though. So Lee got up, unplugging the heating pad and setting it back on her desk before coming back to sit on the couch again, tucking her legs up beside her. “Did you eat on the way home?”

Lee seemed to understand what Tarin meant about surviving versus living and it was interesting to him that she could talk so knowledgeably about the whole thing considering what Rachel had told him earlier in the day. Lee seemed so self aware about so many things, maybe it wasn’t that she wasn’t aware of what she was doing…maybe it was more that she’d just made a decision and was comfortable about it. That knowledge made Tarin feel even worse than conspiring with Rachel behind Lee’s back. If she was happy with how things were, who was he to step in and try to change things.

As for how things had turned out, he just shook his head and sighed.[db ”Well yeah…things have turned out okay for me…”[/font], with the exception of the nightmares and the reemergence of a phobia he hadn’t had since he was a child…but it hadn’t turned out so well for the other people who had been involved.

No. They weren’t going to go down that road today. He wasn’t going to dampen the comfortable and almost lively camaraderie that had sprung up between him and Lee. As she got up to put away the heating pad, Tarin bit his tongue on a suggestion that a second round of heat would be a good idea.

As Lee returned, she asked if he’d eaten on the way home from the shop and Tarin turned, pulling his attention from the movie as he shook his head, “I didn’t.” he said, leaning back into the corner of the couch more fully draping his arm along the back, “I mostly just wanted to get home. I think all the broken sleep is catching up to me a little bit and I couldn’t wait to get out of the shop. I was just gonna make a sandwich or something.”

Yeah…Lee had been trying to stay away from that part of how things had turned out.

At least he wasn’t looking upset when she returned to the couch. In fact, Tarin was looking rather relaxed as he sat lounging back into the corner. Though he hadn’t eaten yet. And was planning on just making a sandwich for dinner.

Lee simply shook her head as she grabbed her phone to check the time. She should have already ordered. Though, it now seemed like it might be a good thing she hadn’t yet. “You like Chinese?” she asked as she called her autodial number 4. Then looked over at Tarin for an answer as the phone rang.

Hearing Tarin say he did, Lee nodded as the other end was picked up. “Hello, it’s Lee,” she paused as the lady on the other end of the phone spoke.Then she rolled her eyes. “I know, I know…Yes, but can you add an extra lo mein, crab rangoon, and a beef fried rice? Great, thanks.”

That was it, and Lee hung up the phone and settled in to watch the movie until dinner arrived.

Did he like Chinese?

“Yes, a lot.” he said, “And I’m not remotely picky.”

Tarin could hear the voice on the other end of the line and the conversation Lee was clearly having indicated that this was something she did pretty often. Her additions were good and Tarin made a mental note to make sure to chip in once the food arrived. Chinese was definitely vastly superior to the peanut butter and jelly he’d have probably had on his own.

“You’re a saint.” He said, and settled in to watch the movie.

The problem was, Tarin decided, that he’d absolutely been telling the truth when he had told Lee that the broken sleep he’d gotten over the last few days had been taking its toll. The movie was good, but he was so comfortable and as he watched, his eyes started to droop just a little bit. This was not the time to go to doze off.

“So, what about you? What kind of movies do you usually watch…besides bad black and white Sci-Fi stuff?” he said, stifling a yawn.

“What?,” Lee asked with a shrug, though the slightest hint of a blush crossed her cheeks. “We have Chinese on Fridays. It's not a big deal to order a bit more.”

Then they sat there watching the movie in silence. It really was quite comfortable to be honest. As though they’d done this kind of thing many times before even though Tarin had only just barely been in the apartment for a week, a good chunk of that time working longer hours at the shop.

Hearing Tarin ask her a question after a while, Lee looked over to see him stifling a yawn. He looked tired. It had been a rough week, at least at night. Hopefully he’d be able to catch up on some of the sleep he’d lost because of the nightmares.

”They’re not all black and white,” she told him as if it should be obvious. “Some are in colour. And sometimes the creatures are in horribly contrasting, bright colours.It’s a little ridiculous.”

Lee laughed softly then shrugged. “I’ll give almost any kind of movie a chance. But most of the time I end up choosing either some kind of chick flick or a horror. Just kind of depends on my mood at the moment.”

It appeared that he was oversimplifying things, Tarin realized as Lee explained to him that not all alien movies were black and white. Apparently the aliens were brightly colored sometimes. “That seems counterproductive to camouflage” he commented as Lee continued to describe her movie preferences.

She’d give any movie a chance, but generally ended up watching chick flicks and horror?

Tarin nodded, he’d never really really been into much horror and the thought of watching one now was not pleasant. “Chick-flicks are good though...” He said. “A lot of times they’re funny and have happy endings…It’s nice to see a happy ending every now and then.”

As they watched the movie and waited for the food, Tarin cast around in his mind for more things he could ask to keep the conversation flowing. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable or that things felt awkward…it was more that the longer he sat there, the more in danger he was of falling asleep.

Hopefully the food would get there soon.

Lee smiled when Tarin agreed that chick flicks were good. “It is good to see,” Lee agreed. “And that even the ridiculous obstacles can be overcome. I don’t know. It somehow helps things feel possible. Do you know what I mean?” As she finished speaking, Lee looked over at Tarin again. Maybe he would understand. Or, maybe it was a strange thought process that was uniquely hers.

Then the room slipped back into silence, except for the movie. Which normally would be a good thing, it was quite difficult most of the time to actually watch a movie if you were talking through half of it. Though, Lee thought a few minutes later after a quick glance over at Tarin, maybe talking wasn’t such a bad idea at the moment. He looked close to falling asleep, which probably wasn’t the best idea with how soon the food should be arriving. If he wanted to go to bed after dinner, or if he even just wanted to fall asleep on the couch at that point, fine. But he should be eating first.

“Any plans for tomorrow?” Lee ended up asking after a few moment’s thought. “Kevin’s been wanting me to take him to the gym. You’re welcome to join us if you want.”

Did he know what she meant?

Tarin just stared at Lee for a moment after she said that. Was Rachel sure that Lee had given up on getting herself back out there? Tarin wasn’t sure about that at all, not after Lee had known exactly what he meant about the difference between living and surviving. Not after she had just pointed out how silly rom-coms made a person believe that anything was possible.

“I do know what you mean,” he said, recovering well if he did say so himself. “That’s the charm in that kind of story. It gives you hope.”

It was something to muse while they watched the movie and waited for the food. Only Tarin kept missing things because no matter what he did, his eyes kept seeming to slip shut of their own accord. He was fighting the good fight, keeping them open because God it would be rude to fall asleep…

Lee asked Tarin a question and he said, “Huh?” Before it registered that she was asking about his plans for tomorrow, “Tomorrow? Uh, nothing I don’t think…” Apparently Lee had been planning to take Kevin to the gym with her….and wanted to know if he wanted to go. He’d been running over the last few days and had done what he could in the apartment, but Tarin hadn’t had a chance to hit a gym in over a week, “That would honestly be great!” He said, brightening up a bit. “I’ve been meaning to get back to the gym. Things just haven’t worked out.”

Tarin just stared at her for a moment after she asked her question. Just…stared. He must have just been thinking about her question, though, because a moment later he answered. Lee just nodded with a small smile.

There was no smile on her face when Tarin apparently had trouble understanding her question about the gym. He really was tired, wasn’t he?

But when she heard the tone in his voice as he said he’d like to, Lee smiled. “I don’t think I’ll end up doing any sparring tomorrow, but you’re right, it will be nice to get back in there. I had been going a couple times a week on my own.”

Then Lee heard a knock at the door. “I’ll be right back,” Lee said, getting up and making her way to the door, grabbing her purse on the way. It only took a minute or two to pay and get the food. Once she had the door closed, she looked toward the living room. “Do you need a fork?” She asked Tarin as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing a fork for Kevin.

“Kevin, food’s here,” Lee called as she finally made her way back to the living room. Setting the food on the coffee table and sitting in the middle of the couch as she started pulling food out.

The food arrived, thank God, and Tarin stood as Lee went to handle the delivery.

Did he need a fork? Tarin was almost insulted by the suggestion that he couldn’t eat Chinese food like a proper New Yorker. “Nope, I’m good if there’s chopsticks” he said, suddenly much more hungry than he had been before the food had arrived.

Lee was back in just a few moments, laying out the food on the coffee table and calling for Kevin to come out and eat.

As was only polite, Tarin waited for Lee to fill her plate and for Kevin to emerge from his room before taking anything for himself. This had been a great idea though.

Lee smiled when she heard Tarin say that chopsticks were good. That meant only one fork for Kevin.

It really didn’t take long for her to get the food on the table and a plate dished out for herself. Kevin hadn’t made it out yet by the time that Tarin had his food, either. His loss; he knew the deal with Friday dinners; if he didn’t come out to eat right away and he didn’t get as much of something as he wanted it was his fault.

Grabbing a pair of chopsticks herself, Lee sat back on the couch and started eating. Had she really noticed that she was sitting much closer to Tarin than she had been? No, because when she sat down, she was focusing on making sure that there was enough room on her other side for Kevin.

“What do you think of this place?” Lee asked after a few minutes. Then she turned to look back toward the bedrooms to call her son again. ”Kevin, we’re going to eat it all if you don’t get out here!”