“I, oh,” Sterling stuttered, pondering the merits of lying. She didn’t think saying she wasn’t hurt would fly at all. It would probably only raise a few questions seeing as she was visibly limping. “Ok, thanks. Maybe after we eat?” Sterling suggested, She figured that should give her enough time to come up with a plausible excuse for her injuries. She was horrible at lying but didn’t think the truth was wise to give, especially since the event was so recent.

Sterling was very relieved when they reached the restaurant. Her stomach was about to eat its self and the smells of wonderfully greasy food only made her more eager. She noticed Garrett opened the door for her and, unfamiliar with accepting such gestures, she awkwardly smiled back at him. She hoped it was a suitable response, she wasn’t the best at subtle communication with humans (“or mutants,” she amended in her head).

She agreed with eating outside and wandered in search of a table while Garrett went to find someone to wait on them. The tables were all wrought iron and most had accompanying umbrellas shading them from the midday sun. She found one table that was partially under a tree and, in a moment of insight into the minds of ‘regular’ people, decided it might be a good choice. She sat down and absently trailed a finger over the curly designs with a finger as she waited for her companion to return.

Garrett acknowledged Sterling's request to wait on any pain relief until after they had eaten. It made perfect sense to him and he was more pleased that she was agreeable to it. He could always use the practice.He saw her heading off for a table and entered the establishment. It was your typical fun restaurant, where the poor employees had to wear stripes and stupid buttons that had little sayings on them. He wondered if they even knew what the buttons said.

An incredibly excited hostess met him and asked if there was one in his party. He pointed out the young lady sitting outside under a tree and asked for some menus. She seemed a little put off by his attempt to sideswipe their normal routine, but he just nodded and took the menus. He joined Sterling outside at the table and placed a menu in front of her, having a seat himself. " I appreciate your willingness to join me. It's a nice day and would be a shame to eat alone or spend any of it that way."

He tried to remember to keep the charm in check. She was attractive and healthy, though. It was difficult to avoid the urge to flirt. He loved Maya and didn't want to cheat on her or lose her, but at the same time, perhaps at the request of this new and more aggressive side of his mind, he thought he was a good catch for anyone. There was no reason to play wallflower. It just wasn't in his new nature." So, what did you do to your leg?"

Sterling’s mind worked very differently than most humans and different still from most mutants. Though Sterling was beginning to accept the label “mutant” to describe herself, the new title did little to stir any feelings of superiority within her. It didn’t matter if they were Homo Sapien or Homo Superior, they were still highly confusing and illogical beings composed of a tangled matting of flesh and blood. They weren’t her ‘kind’.

She understood that for all biological purposes she was of the same genus as humans and mutants, but mentally she had never felt much of a connection to anything living. Her “people” were made of metal, wires and plastic and consumed energy in its rawest forms for sustenance. They weren’t these being who communicated by touch and craved physical contact in its most physical of forms.

Not to say that she didn’t want these things. Not to say either that she found herself attracted in a more bodily level to machines. They were beauty and grace, but they had no concept of love or prevailing need for companionship. Some machines cared for her—as best they could—but they were self-sufficient in a way neither humans nor mutants could ever hope to be.

Sterling was not a machine, she longed for companionship, but she was not sapient either. She was stuck in a lonely place somewhere in-between and beyond both.

She felt no attraction to Garrett. She recognized him as kind and someone she wouldn’t mind continued socializations with, but nothing like attraction even entered her mind for a moment. He was too fleshy, too filled with blood and oils and other obviously organic material. He wasn’t the first to be considered on such terms, no would he be the last. On the occasions she thought about it, she knew the mindset was odd and not one normal for a person to have, but it was also very difficult for her to remember that she was actually person and not one of her beautiful machines.

Sterling took the menu she was offered and gazed over the foods vaguely wondering if the pizza would be too oily or the hamburgers too thin. She looked up from the menu at Garrett’s words, “Oh. You’re welcome. I suppose it is a nice day.” She glanced around the open air as if considering it for the first time.

“My leg?” She wilted a bit at the mention of her leg. She hadn’t had much of a chance to think of a plausible excuse for her injuries. “Ah, I fell off my motorcycle a few days ago,” she said simply, shrugging a bit to help the statement seem of less importance. Motorcycle accidents were known for their lethality on their own so she didn’t see the need to add in the facts that it was an accident involving high speeds, guns and explosions. She didn't want to endanger anyone else with the knowledge of her "underworldly activities"

Garrett could tell from Sterling's general demeanor that charm would be useless as she had no interest in him. It wasn't hard to tell, really. He was both frustrated and relieved by the discovery. In a way, he had wanted to know that others found him attractive, though he was thankful that she did not as well, making him secure further in his relationship with Maya. It freed him up to just act natural ,which he chided himself internally over for not doing in the first place.

He observed her further, realizing her little world must have been three dimensional and all consuming, as the mention of the nice day made her seem to snap out of it briefly. He wondered if the restaurant was even visible from her perspective. She mentioned having fell off of her motorcycle and hurting her leg. Garrett had never been on one. He hadn't even driven a car. A lifetime of hospital beds and homelessness seemed to keep him from the life of mobility so many took for granted. " That's too bad.I can ease the pain off, as I mentioned. If not, that's okay too." The waiter came up and asked if they would like a drink or to go ahead and order. Since Garrett didn't see it as a date, there was no reason to wait for her. "I'll have a Dos Equis, bottle. Not sure about food yet." he didn't hesitate or pause, as that was the way to get carded. he merely raised his brow, in lieu of eyebrows as he looked over at Sterling.