2013.07.19 - Art Lovers

Vance Astrovik sits on the steps of the Museum, wires trailing from his ears and down into his iPod. The Black Keys tumble out of the device, thumping away along with the tap of his foot. He's trying to finish up just a little bit of homework while he waits for Ayla to be done with her watch duties, biting on his bottom lip as he considers an equation, his wrinkled brow clearing as he finally figures it out. Bloody calculus. When he looks up and sees his lady starting to head his way, though, he brightens, pulling the earbuds out and raising a hand in greeting.

While her main mode of transportation was flying, Ayla landed about a block away, so that she could take a second to run her fingers through her short, red locks, and straighten her skirt. Despite the sweltering heat that the city has been suffering for the past week, she looks crisp and fresh. Her sundress is short, but modestly so, of a hunter green dotted with red, the skirt sporting insets of yellow, also dotted red, that give it more of a swing as she walks. Her steps are hurried, eyes seeking ahead for..... Vance. An already bright smile shines even more as her steps veer unerringly toward her target. "Vance!"

Vance Astrovik has NASA t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts, nothing too fancy, but at least showing off his broad shoulders and well-earned biceps. He sets aside his backpack and such and actually skips a couple of steps on the way down, not even patient enough to let her run all the way to him, having to meet her halfway. As was inevitable, scheduling has resulted in them having less time together, between her Legion duties and his school responsibilities, so his red-headed doll is a sight for sore eyes to the boy hero. He seizes her by the waist and pulls her fully into his arms, taking her off her feet and bringing her forehead to forehead with him, "Hey there, Ayla babe," he grins and then gives her a nice, friendly, probably too warm for this weather but who cares? kiss on the lips.

Their closeness also brings a rub of noses before that little gap is closed for a kiss. And in this heat, what's a couple more degrees? Ayla pulls back just enough to look into Vance's eyes, pressed to him warmly as she's held, knees bent and legs crossed at the ankles since she has no dire need to support herself for the moment. "Well, if it isn't my boyfriend," she giggles, before snatching one more quick kiss from his lips. She looks toward where he was sitting, probably not the only pair of eyes scoping out his belongings, "Studying? We shouldn't leave your things alone, I don't want you to have to work today. And I'm off duty," the young Winathian teases.

Vance Astrovik grins, "Ah, but see, I already have my hands where I want them to be. Ah, lucky for me, then, that I am Vance Astrovik, telekinetic boyfriend supreme!" he smiles, and you see the soft, blue glow of his power wrap around his things, even gathering his iPod and sliding it into the appropriate pocket and putting the cap back onto his pen. He thinks about making a dirty joke regarding about what he can do with his mental hands, but instead just squeezes their flesh counterparts firmly around Ayla's midsection, nuzzling her mouth again for another kiss. "I was just finishing up my homework so that we would have the rest of the day blissfully free of worry. And I have succeeded!"

Ayla watches the blue field form and laughs softly, turning her attention back to Vance, blue eyes meeting brown once more. "You must be the smartest boyfriend in the entire universe." The kiss is returned without hesitation, dissolving into a succession of playful, light kisses until she's stocked up enough to pause to speak again. "Good. I want us to just have some time to be together. We've both been so busy." There's a pause, before she adds, with another nose rub, "I've missed you."

Vance Astrovik purses his lips as if considering the idea, 'Yeah, I probably am," he grins, finally letting Ayla have her feet again, if only because they'll probably get reprimanded by the tour guide if he carries her through the museum with her legs wrapped around him. He still nuzzles nose to nose, however, sighing as he looks into her eyes, "I've missed you, too. And I know, but I've been working with my bosses. Luckily, most of them understand that a guy with a girlfriend has different needs than a dude looking to make every dollar he can...although those two aren't always completely unrelated," he chuckles, "I'm gonna get some more flexibility and, if you can ever get a steady schedule with the team, I can work around it. Of course, when and if I finally make the team, I can also drop a couple of jobs, which will make things easier..."

Settling onto her own feet easily, Ayla tilts her head back as she slips her arms around Vance's waist. "I know it's important to you, though, so you need to do whatever you have to do to make your dreams come true. And when you're on the team, we'll probably get to have a kiss goodnight every night. So, I can be patient with that as the target." She smiles, giving a light squeeze with her arms. Still, there's a soft sigh. "I just wish Garth would get on with it already. But, I do know he's doing his best." Her head tilts, "Have you seen him? I haven't been talking about us a lot, because I don't want anyone to be biased about your tryout."

Vance Astrovik runs a hand through his hair, "Um...yeah, I saw him last weekend. We...went out for a while, y'know, just flying around. Kind of a test patrol, I guess. We didn't really talk much, though," he says, being just a little evasive. He slips his hand down and catches hers, lacing fingers as he starts to tug her along and up the steps, "C'mon, let's go see the Mona Lisa or somethin'..."

There's a curious look at Vance's answer, "He's not giving you a hard time, is he?" Ayla follows his lead, falling into step beside the young hero as they mount the steps to get his things. "Maybe I ought to tell him more, so he doesn't think you're some hormonal beast or something?" She can't quite hide her grin as she speaks, but there is some honest concern in her tone. There's a light tug on his arm as she adds, more lightly, "I've got my favorite work of art right here. But I suppose a little Earth culture won't hurt."

Vance Astrovik laughs, "I think he's probably going to think I'm a hormonal beast anyway, which has a lot more to do with who you are than who I am," he smiles, "But no, he didn't give me a hard time. We had some...disagreements about a situation, but it's all right. I'm sure he can handle people disagreeing with him on occasion. If not, he's gonna spend a lot of his life being mad," he says. He leans in and kisses on the side of your forehead, "And believe me, there's nothing more I'd rather look at all day than you, but you'll start to feel a little weird if I just keep staring," he teases.

"Garth is pretty thick skinned. He'll be fine." Ayla shifts to bump lightly against Vance at the tease, "Maybe after a while. Or you'd feel weird at my staring back." She stops a step below his things, loosening her grip on his hand. Reaching up absently to ruffle the damp hair at the nape of her neck, Ayla asks, "Is it always this hot here? It seems to make people especially gruff and unpleasant."

Vance Astrovik sighs, "It's a bit hotter than usual, for sure. Global warming and stuff. Hopefully we'll get that worked out soon. Seriously, if Reed Richards and Tony Stark can't figure something out, it probably can't be fixed anyway..." he says, He squeezes her fingers lightly, hand swinging together. In theory, there are paintings here, great works, masterpieces, but he has a hard time tearing his eyes from the redhead from the future, "I wouldn't feel that weird at you staring back..." he asides.

Ayla is only too happy to oblige, widening her eyes and leaning forward, staring at Vance for all she's worth. "Really? This wouldn't get to ya after a while?" She tilts her head one way, then the other, before laughing and straightening. "I'll have to just stare at you normally, that hurts my eyes."

Vance Astrovik grins and darts his head forward, stealing a kiss on each corner of her mouth before she draws back, "I can imagine a lot worse things to look at. You have to remember, I want to be an astronaut. I'm preparing for a life looking out a window and seeing only the empty void of space. If you give me a chance to stare at the world's prettiest girl instead? Well...I'm no dummy, I'll take it every time."

"Space is beautiful, in it's own way," Ayla offers. "Maybe it seems a bit bland on the surface. It is pretty much a bunch of darkness a lot of the time. And then there are asteroids. But they're really hardly ever a problem, it's not like they chase you or anything." Her grin is unfailing during this musing, and she steps closer to Vance as she finally stops. "I'd take the chance to stare at the world's cutest boy, too, actually."

Vance Astrovik laughs and, yes, leans in and kisses her again, the days of absence apparently being made up by nearly-continual mouth-to-mouth. It's like he thought she was drowning, except he doesn't put his hands on her chest. "I'm only a teensy bit jealous that you've been in space already. I mean, I've only dreamed about it since I was, like, three. But I suppooooooose, I can forgive it, especially since you like looking at me so much and you're such a darn good kisser."

Since there are no objections forthcoming, it doesn't seem like the young woman minds the magnetism of their lips. The hand not captured by his lifts, fingers lightly brushing along Vance's jaw. "You were born in the wrong time, but if anyone would make a good Astronaut, it's you. And you will," Ayla adds confidently. "We've already determined that you're no dummy." She just couldn't resist tacking that on, comfortable in their mutual teases. "So, what're you going to show me first?" Of course she means in the museum, despite the impish sparkle in her eyes.

Vance Astrovik sighs contentedly against her mouth, nibbling lightly on her bottom lip as he considers, brushing his nose back and forth against hers, "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...well, if I can ever tear my eyes off of you...or my lips," he grins, smooching again, "I was thinking we'd maybe look at some of the paintings? I think they have some Van Goghs here...I gotta be honest, babe, I'm a science-nerd jock, I don't know diddly about art. It just seemed like a good place to take my girl."

"At least it'll be cooler than outside. They have to keep things at a certain temperature, for their preservation, right?" Ayla speculates. She starts to turn away but her eyes stay on Vance. "And maybe they have a dark alcove or two...." The thought trails off as she drags her eyes from him. "I don't know much about art, either." The admission comes with a light shrug of her shoulders. "I just know what I like."