Summary:A year ago, Alexander met a weirdo named Maeve. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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1 Year Ago:
Things were just complicated since getting out of prison. Maeve had gotten a job with an impressive company, one that helped convicted felons get back on their feet. She had worked her way up from the bottom to personal security then moved out to a contracting company that did the same sort of work. Things were going well. As such, she was making good enough money to consider going back to school.
It was a difficult thing for her. She had enjoyed learning from a young age, graduating high school when she was fifteen. By 18, she had a major in Legal Studies. Then it all went down the toilet.
Law was now out since she would never be able to practice as a lawyer. Even positions in a law firm would be iffy with her background. Thus, she had decided to look into something else for her continued education.
She was on the NYU campus, having visited the registration office and picked up lots of booklets and pamphlets on things they offered. Sitting on a bench under a shade tree, the paperwork piled next to her, she was flipping through the offered Majors and considering what was the next step in her life.
It is curious the twists and turns life can take when contorted by bad decisions and regrets. Maeve would never be a lawyer, and when she was last in college she was a youthful prodigy, an ingenue of a sort being younger than those around her and seeming to draw attention simply from her age. She was viewed with curiousity and some distance. Not even to mention how her general manner kept some from making friends with her. It's likely she wasn't exactly the most popular student.
But all that's changed now. She's older than most of the students here in Washington Square Park, that famous stretch of green and concrete settled between the large NYU buildings. Famous for the sitcom intro with the fountain. Famous or being in several movies. But also famous for the lunch time rush and the food trucks.
It's then, when classes let out and people transition to that time of the day that the park fills up. That there are lines in front of the carts and trucks, and many people sitting down and around. It's why people sometimes get there early and leave their backpacks or gear or something on the seats around there.
Which is what Alexander Aaron had done.
He had wandered down and left his backpack on the side of that bench that Maeve was sitting on. Perhaps she had missed it when she sat down since it was only on one side there, not too big or overstuffed. Easily unnoticed.
But it will all become clear when she hears a clearing of the throat and should she look up she'll see one of those young students. This one with bright blue eyes and golden hair, and a sort of embarrassed half-smile on his lips.
"So umm, hey." He says, concisely. "Not trying to be weird, but you sorta stole my seat." Under the tree, on that bench, where he /always/ sits. But he's not being a jerk about it as he elaborates, "I mean, just saying. I hope you don't mind if I like, join you?" He motions to his backpack with the hand that he's holding three hot dogs in. "Since technically I called dibs."
So intent on her reading, Maeve had completely missed his approach. The throat clearing drew her attention upwards to the young man standing there awkwardly, with three hot dogs balanced in one hand. For a long moment she just stared at him, pale blue eyes looking him over. Then the words sank in.
Dibs? She glanced around her, trying to spot what he was talking about. It's then she spies the backpack he pointed on the ground beside her. She frowned at it, as though it had snuck up on her on purpose, then looked to the young man without her expression changing.
For a moment, she was about to tell him what he could do with his dibs and his backpack. Thankfully, logic won out. She was wanting to come to this school, she would need to learn the rules here. "Sorry. I didn't realize." She quickly gathered up her paperwork and slid down the bench to the opposite end. It was still in the shade, just not quite as perfect as the other end. The paperwork was settled into her lap so she could continue to read.
"Oh no no, you misunderstand." Alexander tries to stop her before she can start moving to the end of the bench. "I was just meaning, if you don't mind, I'd like to share the seat too. I'm not gonna be a jerk and say you gotta move."
The golden-haired youth's smile is a little wry, amused as he looks at her, still holding those hot dogs casually. "I didn't wanna just sit down all close to you and suddenly you're all, 'Who is this creep and why is he sitting so close to me?"
No, instead now she's going all, 'who is this creep and why is he talking to me?' But, one of the lovely things about being the god of fear… is not having any. Which goes for social situations too.
"So hey, it's all good." His tone and patter are pretty much straight College Chad Preppie, and his clothes are loose jeans and t-shirt and an overshirt. Hard to get a read on him as anything other than that image of a student.
"Soooo…" He waits for some acknowledgment, and if he gets it… he finally sits down.
"Well, I was in the middle of the bench," Maeve admits with a careful smile. She still moves to the further end of the bench, giving them polite space between then instead of being hip to hip. Not that he isn't cute but she's not one to be comfortable with that. Even if he wasn't ten years younger than her. Or so she's estimating by his looks. At one time, she'd been like him. Hard to remember it nowadays so it was a bit of a look at the past seeing him.
She does set her papers back down to the side of her, between the pair of them, further giving that sense of distance even when there isn't much. She picks back up the main catalog.
"You are more than welcome to sit of course." When he does so she gives a brief nod then opens back up her catalog.
"Thank you," He takes that seat and settles on it, the over-shirt hanging around him comfortably against the chilly Autumn wind that sends some of the leaves twirling around them. He manages, however, to keep his hot dogs relatively protected from them and starts to devour the first one.
It's only after he's a good three or four bites into it and having swallowed that he tilts his head to the side and asks curiously, "Looking to attend?" His gaze lifts to her eyes and those glasses, then back down curiously at her papers. Not exactly reading her data and more perhaps gauging what course work she might be aiming for.
"You should, if you get the chance. Very friendly faculty, most of the students I've met seem to actually want to learn things. Some elements of it being a diploma mill but not entirely." Such a positive review.
"There are also a fair amount of students like yourself. So you wouldn't feel too out of place." But as he says that he sort of realizes only a second later that the leathery taste in his mouth might be his shoe. "I mean… you know…" He tries to cover up. "Gingers." There, perfect save.
The paperwork doesn't show a specific angle she is looking for. It looks like she took one of everything off the rack or that was offered by the woman working in the office. The main curriculum is the book she has in hand as he starts making suggestions, causing her to glance his direction as he chatters on. Until he winds up where he did.
Is that a chill in the air? No, that's the waves emanating off of Maeve in his direction at insertion of his foot into his mouth. Followed by the devouring of the entire shoe he just inserted there with his attempted recovery.
"I…see." Cold as a Siberian breeze in winter. "Shall I assume there is a club for Old Soulless Gingers on campus? I may want to join up."
For some reason when he's caught and he realizes it, he sort of smiles at her with a scrunched up featured face that makes him look rather… comical, and perhaps a bit pained. But it quickly slips to a grin as he says, "Sorry. I know. I know." He lifts a hand and scritches the back of his neck before taking a bite of his hot dog, chewing for a little bit as he takes the time to try and order his thoughts…
Then, when he swallows and does speak again, he tries to convey himself better. "I was meaning… we have a lot of older students. But I realized too late that you know, that might be rude…and then. Yeah. But my sentiment… was to try and be welcoming and let you know it's cool here."
Shame? None. But sincerity, buckets full.
"Will you forgive me, or are we enemies for life now?" At that he finishes the last of the hot dog and then extends a hand toward her while he says.
"I'm Alexander. Aaron. Alexander Aaron. Alex, for short."
As he apologizes, Maeve just waits. Hard to tell what her thoughts are with that blank expression and the sunglasses hiding her eyes. She does give a nod at the end of his explanation. Then a hint of a smirk when he askes about their status as enemies.
"Maeve Brennan," she offers in return, taking his hand in hers. She is a bit stronger than he might have expected, handshake firm but not trying to show off by squeezing hard or any of that silliness. He is trained enough he would recognize the calluses on her hand for what they were, from her martial arts training for so many years. She withdraws her hand and places it on top of the book in her lap.
"I am considering continuing my education," she explains. "I already have majored from here but my chosen career path was closed for me so I need to find something new that might catch my interest. Thus, the stack." She pats the piles of stuff beside her. "What are you studying, if I may ask?"
"History," Alexander says casually, "Classical era." Her asking him about himself naturally turns his thoughts down that path, instead of more about her. But he'll likely circle back around.
"Always sort of had a thing for the time period, my dad talked it up all the time, so I ended up reading what I could as a kid. And naturally when you like something you sorta follow it." He turns a little to the side, resting a leg on the bench between them and then his arm over the back of the bench. The two remaining hot dogs are set down in the crook of his leg as he leeeeans to the side and unzips his backpack, producing a small can of soda that he pops the top on with the twist of the thumb.
Back to her, "Could be kind of a copout, since you know, pursuing what comes easy isn't exactly a hard education. But I sort of have this desire to learn about the past, and less so about… you know, a career path."
He crinkles his nose and takes another bite of his hot dog, "So I figure it's academics for me eventually, that and unemployment."
Maeve listens politely, nodding here and there to show she's paying attention since her glasses make it hard for people to tell. When he winds down, she gives a small smile again. "Well, could follow it up with something more physical like archeology or such? Otherwise, the classroom will probably be your spot. Or working at a museum. The fifth grade tours should be a lot of fun for you," she adds with that smirk that comes so easily for her. It fades a littles as she considers her own past and choices.
"It isn't a copout if you love it. That's the important part. Just make sure you have a backdoor available. In case that first one doesn't work out quite the way you had planned."
Alexander leans back against the bench and frowns a little, his face scrunching up again as he takes another bite of his hot dog. "Ehn, I kinda do. Like…" He chews for a time, chew chew chew. Then he looks over toward the fountain, then back to her. "Can always join the family business." For some reason that makes him smile a little and heave a small 'heh' before he looks away.
His nose wrinkles up as if he smelled something bad then he looks back to her, "But almost all of them are assholes, and I'd hate to spend my time around them. They have all these little grudges and complaints about each other from what seems like forever ago. And there's always one or another of them trying to turn me against whomever else and it's all so exhausting."
His lip twists as he takes another bite. Chews.
"Then again maybe when I get older I'll see it a different way. But…"
Then he blinks and looks to her, "But you, what brings you to this?"
Funny, that name doesn't sound like the Mafia but that certainly is what he made it sound like there. The grudges from forever ago, the infighting, the trying to turn people to one side or the other. She worked for them long enough to recognize it. He hadn't been around those circles but then again, he would've been a child at the time she was involved.
It wasn't something she could just ask either. Thus, that was dropped but filed away into the back of her mind.
"Have a good job and finally got a bit of money in my pocket. I can afford it without trying to get student loans," Maeve says. It's the truth. There were just things she omitted. "I had hoped to become a lawyer at one time but a few bad choices in my youth have me unable to do so now. I just never had considered anything else and now I find myself here, staring blankly at things and hoping something leaps out as being something I will want to pursue." She glances at the book on her lap and shrugs, looking back over at him with that smirk. "It hasn't exactly worked so far."
"Oh see, now I'm curious." Alexander says as he finishes the last of that second hot dog, using the napkin that was under the paper sleeve that the hot dog was on, he wipes his hands a bit before he takes up the third. He'll lift those blue eyes and give her a once over, and to be fair with her way of dress and distant manner… she does cultivate a certain image.
"What did you do that you considered a mistake of youth?" He then asks, "Did you cheat on your SATs?" He chews on his lower lip thoughtfully for a moment, "Stayed out late once and got grounded?" His eyes narrow a little as if he was trying to gauge her in the abstract, as if he could know everything about her at a glance.
"Oh wait, maybe you kept some overdue library books and never returned them." Basically he's calling her a big nerd. Which, to be fair, he is. But then he grins and he says, "Do you want this?" He gestures to the last hot dog, it just has ketchup and mustard on it.
"I think two was enough for me."
"I did not cheat on my SATs. Staying out late? Quite often. Never got grounded for it though as I was already an adult by that point," Maeve offers as she moves through his ticked points one by one.
At the offer of the hot dog, she realizes how late it has gotten and she didn't eat lunch. "If you're sure?" she asks, confirming before she set her curriculum on the stack of papers and takes the hot dog. She takes a bite and chews, making sure to swallow and lick that bit of mustard off her upper lip before she continues speaking.
"Library books late? Perish the thought. I know how important having those books available for others is." She takes another bite then shrugs after she finishes that one off with a swallow. "I spent some time in jail. That messes up chances at getting certified with that state. Any state," she adds, showing she even checked into that as well.
"Oh?" Alexander had listened to her go through his ideas and her responses were greeted with a smirk. But the last and the admission sort of gets his attention as his eyebrows lift in curiousity. "Oh." When he realizes what she's saying. He blinks a few times and nods then adds. "I guess that does really count as a mistake of youth."
And boy howdy it sure does.
He tilts his head and for a moment she might imagine he's trying to contain that curiousity as he just looks on after her as she nibbles and munches on the hot dog. Then he sort of grits his teeth as the impulse to ask her sort of begins to outweigh his understanding of manners and common sense.
"Soooo, what did you do?" He asks, consciously committing a faux pas. But, again, no fear. "I mean, just…" His lip curls up and he says, "You don't exactly look like someone that'd be in prison. Unless it was like… a minimum security one for tax evasion. Was it for tax evasion?"
"Ever heard the phrase never judge a book by its cover?" Maeve returns to his question. She had opened the door. She wasn't surprised when he stepped through. She just wasn't certain she wanted to give him the answers he was hoping for. Of course, what did it matter? He was a stranger and she would likely never see him again. Unless she did go back to school then they might have see each other on campus. Her personal educational journey was unlikely to cross paths with any of his classes.
She took another bite of the hot dog, chewing thoughtfully as she continued. Finally she shrugged again, more to herself. Turning her head, she focused on his face.
"Let's just say there is more than meets the eye going on here. While I prefer a certain type of look, it is not the sum totality of who I am." That handshake would've given him that clue already. "I will say it was several felonies." She tilts her head a little. "Looking back, I simply wouldn't have taken that job if I could change the past. The rest of it…" She waves a hand absently in the air then focuses back on the rest of her hot dog. "Not sure I would. Or could." She takes another bite.
"Ehn," Again that dismissive sound is made, but not when she explains the reasons for her imprisonment. More for the initial statement. "That phrase means for the exceptions, but usually, most people… almost all of them really, what you see is what you get." He looks across the way to the mass and multitude of humanity that is out there in evidence in that park, going about their business.
He tilts his head and looks back, "I mean, you go into a book store, and the majority of the titles you see, like the ones that have the whole male model on the cover embracing some lady who is swooning in his arms? Or the ones with all the dragons on their covers? Or those others with the burly guys with guns? Like the overwhelming majority, you can definitely judge by the cover."
hat said he smirks a little but then seems to give some thought about what she did. His brow furrows as he tilts his head toward her, "I can understand though. Bad decision."
A breath is taken thoughtfully as his eyes distance, then he looks to her. "But do you regret it so much that you'd change it?" He cocks his head the other way, "Like I imagine it helped shape who you are right now at this moment. Do you like being who you are? Or do you think you'd be a better person without that experience?"
"That's difficult to answer," Maeve admits as she finishes off the hotdog. Not a speck on her clothes although she does borrow his napkin to wipe off her fingers before continuing to speak.
"I think I would change it in some ways. The way it happened, it took me off that path. Back to being law abiding. Managed to get into a position which let me advance until I was able to move to a new company which uses my skill set for the right reasons, instead of the wrong." Glimpses but being very careful not to give away too much. Habit perhaps, to avoid those details.
"But if I could have been given that catalyst without going to prison, without losing my chance at being a lawyer? Then I would change that part of it at least. It's all just things to consider but in truth, it can't be changed. My choices are what led me here and I just have to continue to move forward."
"So now," Alexander reaches over and grabs his backpack, pulling it up into his lap but remaining settled on that bench, turned to the side to face her while they discuss her past, and he nosily offers questions about it. "We come to the part where I asked you what you did." He pulls his leg up a little further into his lap, almost as if he were sitting in a half-lotus position.
"And what your skill set is in this particular case." He makes a show of looking her up and down, "Keeping in mind you made mention of the whole book without a cover thing…" Not quite that, but close enough. He eyeballs her and then scritches his chin thoughtfully.
"I'm going to say safecracker." His lips twitch a little, perhaps making a little light about the topic since she seems so… matter-of-fact about it. Most ex-cons will be angry about it, or uncomfortable. But she… she sees to just present it as a fact of her life.
"Safecracker or explosives expert." He nods again as if imagining her on big heists and the like. Since well, she did mention taking jobs.
"I don't think that part is necessary for the conversation," Maeve answers as her response. She considers him a moment then picks up her curriculum, flipping through the pages to a random spot to see what it is then flipping pages again.
"Unless you want to tell me about the family business." She already has her own conclusions there too. She turns to look at him again, that hint of a smirk reappearing. "Quid Pro Quo as they say, right? You are here digging for all the dirt on my life, making me like the show to go with your dinner. I think it's only fair."
"Hah," Alexander's smile is untouched as she turns it around back on him, finally extracting something from him in exchange for all of the information that he had been asking of her. Like she was involved in the Great Game between the gods already. So he sits up a little as if paying a bit more attention then leans back against the seat.
"It's probably not what you're thinking." In fact he's almost sure it's not. So he goes on to elaborate just what it's not, "We're not a crime-family or anything, not some byzantine organization that we call a family. I mean like literally. A family. Brothers, sisters, fathers, uncles, cousins, aunts. A grandpa and a grandma." Though of course none of that precludes it being a crime-family.
"More just…" He crinkles his nose and says, "We're old. Old money. Old family. Long roots. Connections with people. My dad is John Aaron, he's in construction, but no he doesn't charge people protection money or anything. My grandfather is retired, but he used to… mainly be into sowing his wild oats, which is why we have such a big family. But he had a messed up childhood but was given a lot of assets after his dad died. It's just… a mess."
She finds herself turning a bit more toward him, angling her legs just so with her knees together. No crossing her ankles as many woman sitting that way might do. It would be slower to move if she did.
Maeve can't help but smile. An actual smile, one that lightens her face and expression completely. She's actually pretty when she smiles. "So we both are failing in our attempts at reading each other. That is exactly what I was thinking, Mafia or the like." She shakes her head. "We went from the Godfather to Dallas. How disappointing. So you would potentially follow in your father's shoes? Go into construction?" He had mentioned family business and his father was in construction so, seemed a logical assumption.
"Actually, pretty much. Kinda." Alexander replies easily enough, looking up and letting his eyes drift distantly, then the blue irises return to her. His lip twists upwards, "That or retire to a life of decadence. But I sorta don't think he'd be proud of that even though my inheritance sorta would let me. I suppose."
Strange that he seems to not really care about admitting that, since kidnappers do exist and he doesn't really know her beyond her being an ex-con, as if he had no fear for anything. Or at the least of her, that much she can tell.
"But he's not judgmental about what I do for a living so long as I do something. If I just sorta goofed off and was a bum like some of my uncles he'd get annoyed. But so long as I'm somehow productive I think he's alright."
Once that's done he then uncurls a hand toward her, "So spill it."
To be honest, he didn't really tell her anything. Maeve was still mostly in the dark other than old money and independently wealthy through that. Silver spoon type which was the exact opposite of her world. At least, that was her assumption. The truth would've shocked her to her toes in those sensible pumps.
She eyes him a long moment then decides what the hell.
"Fourteen counts of kidnapping. Due to my assistance in bringing down my boss, they dropped the 'with intent to murder'. Since we were not aware he planned to actually kill them."
Yeah, she just dropped that right there.
Alexander's eyes go wide.
Just for a little bit, then he leans forward almost quizzically as if she were trying to pull a fast one on him and he had to keep focus on her to make sure she didn't somehow disappear while he figures it all out. He makes a small 'hmmm' sound as he shifts his head the other way.
"Fourteen? Like all in one go or one at a time?" He asks curiously, and /of course/ the first thing the Son of War is trying to figure out is the logistics of it and how it was managed.
But then he shakes his head, "So you were a professional kidnapper?" His smile twists to life again as he meets her gaze and he says, "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about my well-to-do family, should I?" But /still/ in that young man's eyes there's /no/ fear. Even as he says, "I shouldn't be worried unless I see some of your big burly compatriots come wandering by and ask me to get in their van?"
As he stared at her, Maeve just sat there quietly. She waited. When he finally decided that maybe she wasn't making it up, he ventured forth with a question she didn't expect.
While she wouldn't expect fear, she would expect trepidation from someone to hear that. Unless they didn't believe her. By his questions, she wasn't sure if he believed her or was playing the game now to determine if she was lying.
Her choice? Truth. "School bus. Driver is out sick, substitute in his place. Just pull up to the school, they all get in, and off we went." She was apparently the driver. "So all of them at once, neat tidy bundle."
She does give a shake of her head as she continues. "I was a professional henchman. I know some people feel I should say henchwoman but it really doesn't matter. I worked for various costumed criminals through the years. In the end, the boss betrayed the crew because he intended to actually kill the kids. We thought they would be let go at the end. So I turned on him. Which is the worst thing a henchman can ever do but lying to your crew is the worst thing a boss can do." Not kidnapping, not killing, just not telling your crew that was the plan.
Then the smirk is back and a hint of something darker. Not that it would scare him. "I wouldn't need someone's help to get you in a van if I wanted you there. I happen to be very good at what I do. But now? Now I use my powers for good." SHe's teasing since she doesn't have powers. "I work in personal security and protect people from folks like I used to be."
"And you guys figured it would be a pay off, but turned into something else." He looks thoughtful as he considers her, then nods as his lips part with understanding as she mentions being a henchwoman and costumed criminals. His eyebrows lift further in curiousity and consideration as he realizes what a rare opportunity this may be.
"Did you work with just that one boss for a long time? Or did you get hired by other bosses? If it was just one costumed guy would it have been anyone I'd know? Anyone famous? Oh wait…" He rubs at his chin again thoughtfully, there's a bit of stubble there as if he hadn't shaved for a day, but not much considering. "I think I remember something about a prep school school bus?" Which may have been it.
But then she shifts point of focus and makes what he likely considers is a boast. "No offense, Maeve. But you would need some help to get me into a van." He tilts his head the other way, "If only to help flank me so you could keep me from running away. Since, I mean, I'm taller than you, farther stride, likely faster. And well… otherwise it'd be difficult for you to exert your will on me to force me into a van. Unless you had, you know, /really/ good candy." His lip twists again, smirking.
"Various ones through the years. Started out as something else entirely, then it led to be one of the go-to people for costumed types. I've worked with the lowest to some of the highest. Avoided people like Joker. Can't trust the crazy ones. Other motivations are easier to recognize and deal with. In the case of the last one, it was my first job with him. And last, obviously."
Maeve gives a nod as he remembered the prep bus. "That was the one. Firebug was supposed to just ransom but he set up actual explosives to kill the kids after he got the money. So…I helped a costumed hero take him down." She gives a shrug.
"Not going to get into a dick measuring contest with you here. I won't underestimate you but you shouldn't do that to me either. And besides," And now she smiles, obviously amused. "I always have the best candy."
"No no, I wasn't meaning anything by like… combat or whatever." Alexander tells her with a smile, "I was more meaning…" He looks to the side and then back, eyebrow quirking as if trying to think of the right way to do it. He spends a few seconds looking at her, and then at the nearest parking area, the nearest street, his head tilting one way then the other like some sort of canine.
"That if you decided to tell me to get in your van, we've got a good ways to go. You'd need to have a gun or the like to compel me, but that's risky in such a crowded place with all the angles. Also too many random factors for such a place. Would be a bad choice."
He dug his tongue into his inner cheek as he tried to puzzle out the best way to kidnap himself. "Maybe if you came at me some time when I was alone or the like, and had a firearm to compel obedience? A van waiting nearby. Maybe right off the street. You'd need to go for fear, shock and awe and all that."
Then he looks to her as if asking for her expert opinion, "Right?"
Behind those glasses, Maeve's eyes are narrowed. He is looking at this way too clearly. For being some rich kid who didn't have a care in the world, other than the whole kidnapping thing to be ransomed back to his family.
She pursed her lips ever so slightly then finally spoke.
"You sure your family is all above board?"
"Now, I didn't say that," Since that would be a fib too far for him, but his smile is warm as he offers that answer. "I don't know everything my extended family gets up to, and I'm sure some of them get up to some shenanigans of one sort or another. Like I would not be surprised if I saw their faces one day in the newspaper for some sort of hedonistic weird thing or whatever."
Instead he looks at her squarely, "Just I was thinking if I had to get me in a van, how would I do it? And if I were you… you don't have the tools or the situation right now to accomplish it."
Again he looks thoughtful then adds, "Though really, you could just ask me to, I'm entirely too trusting sometimes." Which is a curious thing for someone to be aware of.
"I doubt you would be that trusting. Your Daddy didn't teach you not to get into a vehicle with a stranger? Especially one with a creepy van?" Maeve asks in that light tone that shows she's still joking around.
He is …odd. To say the least. Family in the newspaper for hedonistic weird things? What sort of rich family was he from? She knew some of them were somewhat eccentric but that seemed a strange choice of things they might end up in the papers for. But his grandfather had been a rounder, as they called it in the day. So maybe not so strange.
She never answers if she has the items at her disposal to carry off a kidnapping. Instead, she focuses on him again. "So I'm guessing due to upbringing, you are not really the clean-cut, normal kid you are presenting. There is some weirdness to you too."
"Well, I mean. That's rude, isn't it?" Alexander declares about her as he meets her gaze, perhaps gambling to see if she'll let the small check on societal norms to be enough to quail her interest. But he doesn't leave it there as he says with a smile, "But I suppose everyone is a little weird in their own way."
With that non-answer he offers enough that would push things a little out of the line, enough off the acceptable path that he could leave it there socially and expect for her not to press. So what does he do? He elaborates more himself. "But, yah my upbringing has been a bit strange, to be fair. My father made sure that I knew enough to handle myself so…" He looks across the way to the parking lot, then back to her.
"So I sort of have developed a way of looking at things which I suppose isn't the norm. And why I don't seem to mind talking about this stuff with fellow student whom I just met. After all."
"It isn't polite to dig into someone's criminal background either. I think we left polite about five minutes ago," Maeve points out. "But touche. You talking to a stranger about such things does show a bit of innocence. Or belief that you don't have anything to worry about, which would make any professional sizing you up for victimization to second thing their plan."
Just a general moment of clarity. As he said, he had just met her. He had no idea who she really was, if she was lying and so forth.
She did pat the stack next to her though. "Potential student. Not student yet. I still have to figure out what I want to be now that I've grown up."
"Well," Alexander's smile turns a little wry, amused for some reason as he tells her. "I know that people say that when you're my age you think you're immortal. So that might be it." He draws his leg up to his chest and sits there all companionably, wrapping his arms around it and watching her with open curiousity.
"Also there's that whole book by its cover thing, right?" He nods as he considers, though he looks at her with interest. "I do apologize, however, if I offended you by asking my questions. I sometimes can't manage proper ettiquette, though I do try." A little. Maybe.
That said he leans forward a little and proceeds to ask her unashamedly. "So if there was one question you sort of want me to ask you but are also afraid I'd ask you, what is it?" He rests his chin on his knee then, seemingly without a care in the world.
There is a beep from the inside of her coat pocket. Maeve slips a hand in to grab her phone. A touch of her thumb to the screen to unlock it and she looks at the message there. The phone is locked again and tucked away.
"Unfortunately, I'll have to pass up the chance to ask you anything. Lost track of time and need to get to work." Thankfully she had set a reminder for herself for the time she needed to be driving. Which meant she would need to be driving faster than she should've since she was still sitting here and had to walk to the company car she was using.
"It was nice meeting you, Alex." She stands easily, reaching down to pick up her stuff and holding it in the crook of her left arm, like a girl would their school books.
"If I figure things out, maybe I'll see you around campus sometime."
"Sure, I'll keep an eye out for you in the Evil Ginger Annex side of campus." That said he grins and gains his feet instinctively, rising as she makes ready to head out. "Don't be a stranger, feel free to wander over and say hi if you see me."
And, likely with that, he promises to do the same as well. He lifts a hand to wave, "Seeya."