After that, they tried to schedule their shifts at the same time when they could, which definitely helped with the whole experience. And Connor was pretty good at the whole working-with-tools thing (not that she'd tell him that), so Veronica picked up a few useful tricks and cut down on the number of bruises and bandaids she needed by half.
During their twelfth shift together, everything changed. She heard Connor shout a warning and she turned too fast, saw the enormous pile of bricks topple off a ledge above her and then felt herself being lifted out of the way. Lifted, even though there was no one near her.
Everything got a little fuzzy for a second, and then she saw Connor, face white, cramped smile, and a lot closer than he'd been ten seconds ago.
"You okay?" he said.
"Sure," she said, after thinking about it for a bit. "How'd you do that?"
He got even more pale. "Do what?"
"You were way over there and then you moved me and now you're here." Shock, she thought indistinctly. That was definitely what was going on with her speech pattern. And the shaking.
Connor took hold of her hands carefully, stilling them. "I didn't—"
She gave him her best unimpressed face. It was very good, even when she was sitting on the ground and trying not to shiver every time she looked over at the bricks. She was also busy putting things together. Meta, obviously, like those kids you saw on the news sometimes. The times she'd thought he blurred a little, or the times he lifted too much, or, shit, even the hammer. But especially: "You saved Rosita from getting hit by that car, didn't you." It wasn't a question.
Connor looked sheepish. "Dammit, I suck at this." He murmured something about Tim making fun of him, which made no sense. Veronica was tired.
She told him that, and he pulled her a little closer, until she was sitting half on his lap, leaning against him. Ordinarily she would have objected, but Connor was just very good at this hugging thing and she was going to sit here for a second until standing seemed less difficult. Yes, that's what she was doing. She closed her eyes and carefully didn't think about falling bricks or death by—
Wait. She sat up. "Those bricks should not have fallen," she said, voice low.
Connor nodded against her hair. "I'm on it," he said.
"What do you mean I'm on it? I'm on it." She was the one who'd nearly gotten killed.
"There's something weird going on here," he said.
"And you're trying to solve it?" She wasn't going to laugh, but seriously. "You know what I do, right?"
"…oh. Yeah. Um. I'm not actually bad at this, actually."
Leaving aside the improbabilities of that, "We could work together?" she offered.
"Hell yeah," he said quietly. "We'll be an unstoppable duo of awesome, Mars."
"You're not making t-shirts," she said.
"Aww, come on," he said, but mostly he was fighting a grin, she could hear it in his voice.
"Help me up," she demanded. "Our shift must be over now and I'm feeling coffee instead of school."
"Right on," he said, and they walked out of there together.
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2/2
Date: 2010-08-03 09:02 pm (UTC)During their twelfth shift together, everything changed. She heard Connor shout a warning and she turned too fast, saw the enormous pile of bricks topple off a ledge above her and then felt herself being lifted out of the way. Lifted, even though there was no one near her.
Everything got a little fuzzy for a second, and then she saw Connor, face white, cramped smile, and a lot closer than he'd been ten seconds ago.
"You okay?" he said.
"Sure," she said, after thinking about it for a bit. "How'd you do that?"
He got even more pale. "Do what?"
"You were way over there and then you moved me and now you're here." Shock, she thought indistinctly. That was definitely what was going on with her speech pattern. And the shaking.
Connor took hold of her hands carefully, stilling them. "I didn't—"
She gave him her best unimpressed face. It was very good, even when she was sitting on the ground and trying not to shiver every time she looked over at the bricks. She was also busy putting things together. Meta, obviously, like those kids you saw on the news sometimes. The times she'd thought he blurred a little, or the times he lifted too much, or, shit, even the hammer. But especially: "You saved Rosita from getting hit by that car, didn't you." It wasn't a question.
Connor looked sheepish. "Dammit, I suck at this." He murmured something about Tim making fun of him, which made no sense. Veronica was tired.
She told him that, and he pulled her a little closer, until she was sitting half on his lap, leaning against him. Ordinarily she would have objected, but Connor was just very good at this hugging thing and she was going to sit here for a second until standing seemed less difficult. Yes, that's what she was doing. She closed her eyes and carefully didn't think about falling bricks or death by—
Wait. She sat up. "Those bricks should not have fallen," she said, voice low.
Connor nodded against her hair. "I'm on it," he said.
"What do you mean I'm on it? I'm on it." She was the one who'd nearly gotten killed.
"There's something weird going on here," he said.
"And you're trying to solve it?" She wasn't going to laugh, but seriously. "You know what I do, right?"
"…oh. Yeah. Um. I'm not actually bad at this, actually."
Leaving aside the improbabilities of that, "We could work together?" she offered.
"Hell yeah," he said quietly. "We'll be an unstoppable duo of awesome, Mars."
"You're not making t-shirts," she said.
"Aww, come on," he said, but mostly he was fighting a grin, she could hear it in his voice.
"Help me up," she demanded. "Our shift must be over now and I'm feeling coffee instead of school."
"Right on," he said, and they walked out of there together.