Tarin nodded and smiled when Lee acknowledged his point about her ideas. It was true. In fact, most of the time he was the one having bad ideas.

Like trying to figure things out at the Mansion.

That was going to nag at him, Tarin knew. Now that he’d had the idea, it was going to sit there in the back of his head like a dead weight. Lee had been pretty clear about her thoughts though, and there was no way he was going to go out and do it on his own.

Lee listed off the puzzles they had and Tarin nodded some more. This was infinitely easier than sitting all snuggled up on the couch. At least for the time being.

“I can honestly say that I do not have a preference.” Tarin said, studiously looking into the box rather than looking over at Lee.

“I honestly don’t think that I have done a puzzle since I was a kid…” he said, and even then he hadn’t done a lot of them. They hadn’t done many in school and he’d spent most of his time outside.

Maybe this would be kind of fun.

Lee was looking through the box, sorting through the puzzles in there. Tarin didn't have a preference. She really didn't care either. Why would she? This was to serve a purpose in helping them to 'behave' rather than actually wanting to do a puzzle.

So Lee grabbed one of the puzzles out of the box at random and set it on the table before moving the rest of the puzzles out of the way. That done, Lee sat down and looked up at Tarin.

"Other than doing these with Kevin, I can't really remember ever doing a puzzle," Lee admitted as she opened the box and dumped the pieces out. "I'm sure I must have when I was younger, but I don't remember doing them."

Turning her attention down to the table, Lee started spreading the pieces out and flipping them over to see the picture.

Though, if Lee really thought about it, she had done puzzles as an adult: piecing back together shredded papers. They just weren't meant to be puzzles. And you had no idea what they were going to show you until you finished.

Neither of them seemed to particularly care about which puzzle they were going to do. Again, it made Tarin feel a bit better about the fact that the puzzle was even necessary.

As it was, Lee picked one from the box, moved the rest, and sat down, looking up at him as she explained that she hadn’t done puzzles much either.

“We’re definitely a pair with this kind of thing…” Tarin said with a wry little smile. While other teenagers had been developing hobbies or playing sports, the two of them had been trying to simply survive in different universes.

“Puzzles definitely fall into that whole “normal” thing we keep talking about.” Tarin said, taking his own seat and starting to help Lee flip over the pieces. ”Puzzles and cooking shows are absolutely normal things to do.” In general they’d been having a really nice run at normal.

“What else do we need to add to our list?” he said, starting to try and fit pieces together.

"Well, I guess that means we can suck at doing the puzzle together then," Lee said, shooting Tarin a smile before turning back to the puzzle pieces.

Not that these puzzles she had in the apartment were all that difficult. They were geared toward children. But there was nothing wrong with setting expectations low for something as unimportant as doing this puzzle.

As Tarin sat and started to help her flip the pieces right side up, he spoke again. Lee's hands paused over the puzzle pieces as she looked up at Tarin with a small smile. "It really is, isn't it?" Lee asked, though she knew the answer. "Maybe we should do puzzles more often, then?"

Giving Tarin a slightly larger smile, Lee then dropped her eyes back to the table as her hands started working on the puzzle pieces again.

But what else did they need to add to their list? Were they actually going to create a list of 'normal activities we can do'? "The picnic was nice," Lee replied after a few moments of thought. "We should try to do that again before the weather turns. And movie dates are very normal."

Tarin just nodded and laughed a little bit as Lee said they could both suck at puzzles together. “At least we’re doing it together.” Tarin said with a somewhat silly grin. This puzzle wasn’t all that big or complicated looking, so hopefully they wouldn’t be too bad.

Lee seemed pleased with Tarin’s observation that puzzles were an absolutely normal activity and should be on their list of normal things to do. She also suggested that maybe they could do them more often.

“Depending on how this one goes that might be a good idea.” Tarin said, still trying to figure out where to start to actually find pieces that went together.

Lee had some ideas for the list of normal stuff and Tarin nodded. “We’ve both brought up the picnic lately…” he said, finally managing to find a couple of pieces that seemed to go together, “We really should do that.”

Movie dates. Like their first date, Tarin grinned across the table, “Got a hankerin’ for more of those M&Ms and popcorn huh?” he said, But movie dates were fun.

”As long as the movie isn’t super depressing.” he said. He and Lee had done well avoiding terribly depressing movies and documentaries lately, but man for a while there…

Tarin thought for another moment, ”We really should go to the Met Cloisters sometime…” he said, “Coney Island?” he was just listing touristy stuff now, but Tarin honestly hadn’t done very many of those things and the idea of having someone to do them with was nice.

”Brunch back on that rooftop?”

The puzzle pieces were all spread out and right side up now, so Lee grabbed a corner piece and started looking for the connecting pieces.

"We really should," Lee said as she tried a few pieces that didn't fit. "That was a great day even before Kevin's powers appeared."

It really had been, despite the moody teenager who had tried to pretend he wanted to be anywhere else but there with his mum for a picnic. Even the baseball gloves, which Lee had been very hesitant about when Tarin had first pulled them out, had been good.

"Well, you just can't get popcorn that tastes like that elsewhere," Lee said, returning Tarin's smile.

As long as the movie wasn't depressing. Lee nodded. So nothing based on a true story, those always had something depressing in them. Otherwise, where would the driving force of the story come from? And without that story, they wouldn't have bothered to make it a movie.

That also meant a lot of dramas would be out. "A comedy it is," she replied with a nod. "I'm sure we'll be able to find something worth watching."

Lee finally found a piece to match with her corner, then looked up at Tarin again as he suggested a couple other things to do. "Oh, that brunch is a definite," Lee informed Tarin. "Even if we don't do anything else on this list, we're going back there for brunch."

"But yes, I'd like to go to the Met Cloisters," Lee continued. "See what they're like here and you can tell me about how it was different what made it your favourite place over there. And Coney Island might be fun. I've never been there, either."

As they worked on the puzzle, Tarin watched Lee grabbing the corner piece and starting to work on the edges. He’d been kind of just fumbling around with things that looked the same. Was there some method to this that he’d missed out on learning at some point?

Switching tactics and looking for his own corner piece, Tarin started to use Lee’s method and pretty quickly found a piece that matched. It did narrow down the pool significantly to only be looking for edge pieces.

Lee had enjoyed the picnic and Tarin smiled, ”You’ll have to bring your guitar again…” he said. There was just something so idyllic about the whole mental picture that conjured, and the singing had been great too. So had been Lee trying to throw a baseball in a sun dress.

“It does just taste better there….” he said, ”Even absent the M&Ms”

Lee said that maybe they could see a comedy and Tarin nodded, “Or something action/adventure. What about scary movies? It’s almost spooky season after all….”

As they chatted, like reasonable adults, over the puzzle Tarin made a mental list of the things that they were suggesting. Brunch definitely needed to happen, probably sooner rather than later. “Wonder if there’s music for brunch?” he asked, ”Not that we have to dance or anything…” he added quickly. Lee hadn’t loved the dancing part of their nice night out. ”Surely the dress requirements are a bit less fancy…I don’t know if I could handle another shopping trip with your sister.”

Lee also liked the idea of the Met Cloisters and thought that maybe Tarin could tell her what he’d liked about it so much on the other side of the rift. He nodded thoughtfully, there wasn’t a whole lot more to it than what he had said on their date. It had been a weirdly wild and overgrown sort of place that almost felt abandoned. It was peaceful in a different way than the park or other quiet places.

It would make more sense after Lee had seen it though.

Also, she’d never been to Coney Island. ”Well then once it cools off we need to do that. For some reason it surprises me that you’ve never been…”

Lee smiled as Tarin said she would need to bring her guitar when they had another picnic. She had been playing her guitar more often, though probably not as often as she should have been. And probably not as often as Tarin would have liked her to;she did love the way he looked at her when she played. She really would have to try to remember to play more often she reminded herself.

Again.

"I'm sure I can manage that," Lee told Tarin. "If you can come up with a couple songs for me to play."

A comedy, or an action/adventure. Or something scary? Lee smiled and nodded. "That sounds like a great plan," Lee agreed as she looked for more puzzle pieces to expand her corner. "I'm sure we'll be able to find something good. Though, depending on how many we find, we may need to go out a few times."

And Tarin was telling her that they didn't have to dance the next time they went to that restaurant. If there was even dancing at brunch. While also hoping that the dress code would be more relaxed.

Lee couldn't help but laugh. "I'm still a little amazed that you did that for me," Lee said. And the fact that he had done that when he knew how overwhelming Rachel could be. "I won't even go shopping with her anymore."

"And the dancing really wasn't that bad," Lee informed Tarin. "Well, I was too self-conscious to think that the first song was anything but embarrassing, but after that was fine. I was just very much off balance because I wasn't siphoning."

They needed to go to Coney Island when it cooled down? "Am I missing that much?"

Come up with a couple of songs for Lee to play?

She had been sending him lots of music lately. He’d have to go through and look at the playlists to find the things he’d liked and see if she could play them. God he loved it when Lee played and sang, especially when it felt like he was singing to him.

Tarin sighed a little wistfully and went back to trying to find some pieces that went together, with pretty marginal success. Side of the puzzle was progressing much slower than Lee’s was.

Lee was also open to action/adventure movies or even something scary. Tarin didn’t know how he felt about that though, it would probably depend on the particular movie they were considering. Movies about ghosts just weren’t scary to Tarin and certain other topics were just not going to be fun.

They looked for pieces a few more moments and Lee commented that she was a little amazed that he’d go shopping with Rachel? He grinned a little bashfully across the table when Lee said it, ”It was worth it to see your face…” he said softly, the memory making him flush a little bit as he dropped his eyes back to the table and the puzzle pieces.

“You’d have lost it over some of the things she put me in.” he said.

Tarin’s smile breaded when Lee decided that the dancing hadn’t been all that bad. She’d been embarrassed at first and it was so hard for Tarin to picture Lee as self-concious or embarrassed that he shook his head a little, “If anyone was looking, it was because of that dress, not the dancing.” he said. They were veering dangerously into the wrong type of topic though and Tarin was glad they switched to discussion of Coney Island.

Was Lee missing that much? Tarin shrugged a little bit, ”I haven’t been before either. It’s kind of weird for guys to wander around a theme park alone. It’s just one of those New York things.” he said, “Do you like rides and things like that?”

Going shopping with Rachel had been worth it to see her face when she'd first seen him in that suit. Lee smiled happily at the memory. Tarin had looked damn good in it. It was a good thing that they had already agreed to go to that restaurant more, for both brunch and dinner, because Tarin wearing that could not be a one off thing.

"I can only imagine some of the things she wanted you to try," Lee said with laughter in her voice. "One of the reasons I've stopped going shopping with her. They were that ridiculous, were they?"

When Tarin sait that anyone looking would have been because of the dress not because of her dancing, it was Lee's turn to blush and she focused on the puzzle for a few moments. "I'm not so sure about that," Lee whispered. "That reasoning, it would have been just as much you they were looking at as me."

And yet, despite Tarin's surprise that she had never been to Coney Island, he hadn't been there either. Despite having lived in New York longer than she had. Though, he did have a bit of a point about him going alone.

"I haven't been on any actual rides since I was probably 13 or 14," Lee replied with a shrug. "Just some of the children's amusement rides in Toronto when Kevin was little. So I guess we will see, won't we?"

Tarin smiled when Lee spoke, she knew her sister, “Lots of colors, lots of patterns…” he said, shaking his head, “I don’t know if they looked good or not, but it was definitely not me. I felt like some kind of guinea pig.”

Tarin shook his head, “She finally listened though…” It had required Tarin to be far more assertive than he liked to be though. He’d had to threaten to leave and just manage things on his own. Rachel had called him boring, but she’d actually found some reasonable options.

And now they were arguing over who would have drawn more attention on the dance floor and Tarin just had to laugh. They’d have to agree to disagree. Part of the argument with Rachel had been Tarin not wanting to stand out. Lee tended to stand out whenever she dressed up whether she wanted to or not.

Coney Island was sounding more and more like a thing that was going to happen, but Lee didn’t know if she liked rides or not. Tarin nodded, ”It’s been a really long time for me too…” he said softly. Fairs and carnivals back home before he’d left, but nothing much since then.

“I guess we will. Carnival games and midway food?”.

While he’d been talking, Tarin had not been working on the puzzle. Pulling his eyes from Lee he looked back down at the pieces before taking a quick glance at his watch.

It really hadn’t been all that long. Sigh.

Lee laughed and shook her head when Tarin described some of the things that Rachel had tried to get him to wear. And while Lee was sure that everything Rachel had picked was "fashionable" (who in the world decided that, anyway?), with everything that Lee knew about Tarin, it would have all been far too much.

Lee couldn't help but wonder if Rachel had finally listened for the same reason she did with Lee: threatening to leave. With how insistent and pushy the woman was, it was quite probable. "I'm glad she did," Lee said, glancing over at Tarin before turning back to the puzzle. "Because you looked amazing."

It made sense that Tarin hadn't been to anything of the like in years either if he'd never gone to Coney Island. It's not like there were a lot of places in the city like that. "Oh, definitely midway food," Lee said.

"But the carnival games are all rigged, aren't they? So that'd just be frustrating and a waste of money. We will have to go on the ferris wheel, though. Can you imagine what the city would look like from the top of that thing?"

Amazing huh? Lee really had liked that suit. Maybe he’d have to find an excuse to wear it again, Tarin thought as he found another piece that fit into the side of the puzzle that he was working on. Tarin knew that Lee liked the way he looked, but she generally didn’t talk about it. If that simple suit had been enough to make Lee bring it up more than once it was worth revisiting. Going back to the puzzle, Tarin smiled with no small amount of satisfaction at what he was working on, it was actually starting to look like a side now.


Still on the topic of Coney Island, it seemed that Midway food was a definite win and Tarin grinned. That sort of thing was just wildly fun and Lee being game to get funnel cakes, corn dogs, and whatever else they managed to find sounded amazing.

So did riding the Ferris wheel, something Lee said they definitely needed to do even if they didn’t play rigged carnival games. Lee really liked views, Tarin had noticed and he tucked that info away for later as he returned to the puzzle to try and work out more pieces.

What else was there? Tarin realized he’d been silent for a while now and cast around for a new topic of conversation.

”We could also go to a baseball game sometime. If you like carnival food you’d love ballpark food.”

Though he didn't say anything, the look on his face as Lee agreed to the midway food and brought up the ferris wheel told her that he was happy about it. The games, though. Yeah…Lee had trouble seeing them as anything more than frustrating and a waste of time.

Then they lapsed into silence for a short while as they worked on the puzzle. And while this had started as a way to help make sure that they behaved themselves in common areas of the apartment, especially since Kevin was still awake, Lee couldn't help but think that it really was nice to sit there and do something with Tarin. Because other than the very occasional guitar lesson, all that they really seemed to do at home was watch TV or talk.

Not that Lee thought those were bad, there were days where Lee looked forward to when Tarin got home and they could just sit and watch a movie or baseball together. But it would be nice to have other options, ways to have some variety if they wanted.

She was going to have to look into getting some more puzzles.

When Tarin suggested they could go to a ball game as well, Lee looked up at him in surprise initially. She'd never liked going to ball games.

But, Lee reminded herself, that had also been before she had started to like watching baseball. "You know, that might actually be fun," Lee said with a smile. "Maybe we could go skating in the park this winter, too."

Well. Lee didn’t outright say no to the baseball game. That was definitely a step in the right direction. Lee had admitted for some time now that she actually liked baseball but even Tarin had to admit that actually going to a game was an entirely different thing. Some people loved the atmosphere and the noise and lights…but there were even baseball fans who didn’t particularly like to attend games in a stadium.

Time would tell, Tarin supposed.

Lee had a suggestion of her own thought and Tarin looked up from the table, eyebrows raised as she spoke.

“You really do like to watch me fall…” he said, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, “I’ve never even put on a pair of skates, let alone try to move in them.” he said.

”Plus that means spending an extended amount of time voluntarily outside with it being cold enough to skate.” They’d been over this a couple of times and Lee would know exactly what he meant.

Not wanting to completely dismiss the idea outright though, Tarin shook his head, “Though I suppose depending on how our little side bet goes, it might be worth a try in the right company.”