Most Awesome Conversation Starter {open}

[Tim Lyne]

"Hey, is someone here?" called Tim. He wasn't being quiet; didn't really see a reason to. He was currently holding up a frilly number, well, frilly and racy, which pretty well worked more or less. But really, the amusement came in just holding the lingerie up and walking around the store yelling his head off. Now he just needed to locate some clientele, hopefully female clientele, and strike up a conversation.

Because what was a better conversation starter, really?

Tim was content to run around and yell till he got attention, but he figured that he probably needed a better game plan than that. Needed more direction, more stealth.

So he started specifically seeking out females. "Excuse me, miss? I was wondering if you could give me an opinion?"

God, if he was really lucky he could get someone to try it on for him. Did they offer that here? He hadn't really looked. This had really been more of a spur of the moment thing, actually. Which, now that he thought of it, made this more like something an action that a juvenile could do. Growing up was overrated though.

Besides, it was this or get drunk, and this seemed like the cheaper option.

"oh, hey, miss? Over here," he was waving at another female, trying to get her attention. "I need some help here, and you look just perfect for the job."

[Kateri Rivera]

Kateri had fallen in love with Peekaboo. This wasn't a surprise at all. She'd known she would as soon as she'd come into the store with the other ladies. She'd just wished it had been around when she'd actually been married. Seeing Chris's expression when she came home in one of those outfits would have been well worth it. But oh well. They still had nice things, and as Kat had saved up a bit of money, she'd decided to treat herself and had come to the store to take another look around.

So far nothing had caught her eye, but she was having fun anyways. The store was beautiful, and even if she didn't get anything, she was more than happy to just browse.

She was in the middle of doing so, checking out a striped bra, when she heard something that she'd never thought she'd hear in this store.

Was that...a guy's voice? Really? That took quite a lot of nerve, to come into a store like this. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the items in front of her.

However, the voice got closer, and when she finally looked up, the Irishwoman realized that he was, in fact, gesturing at her. Her brows rose, and she stared at him for a moment, clearly incredulous, but a smile won out in spite of it all. A wry smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Because he was kind of cute. But that didn't mean he was going to get away with a line like that.

"Do you say that to all the girls or just the ones who are currently busy?" she asked, turning to him. "Please tell me you're here for a girlfriend or something. Otherwise I'll have to call whoever they use for security here."

((Hope you don't mind me dropping in.^^*))

[Tim Lyne]

"Just the attractive ones between the ages of eighteen and thirty five or so," replied Tim, grinning. The buzzing had set off in his head, but it wasn't like an instant display of whatever the woman could do. So for all Tim knew, she could vaporize him with her laser vision, or, you know, just happen to be able to turn into a beetle upon will. He was really hoping for beetle, considering the look.

"You really think they have security here?" Tim started turning, trying to look around the store. "Because I figured this for a smaller store, you know? I mean, damn," he sighed and looked over at Kateri, tactfully spending only a small bit of time on the areas that interested him most. Why did she seem familiar? It nagged at Tim, and not in a good way. The buzzing certainly didn't help either.

He sighed, putting down the lingerie and pointing at the woman. "You're definitely too smart for this, and, gah," he rubbed at his temple, took a deep breath, and pushed the buzzing to the back of his mind. Happened sometimes, when he was talking up close. That's what years of training were for. Gathered up, Tim looked back up at Kateri. "What would you say the chances were of me actually seeing you in anything in this store, really?"

Balls. Tim has them.

[Kateri Rivera]

"Eighteen and thirty-five, huh? Quite an age gap there." Tilted, as always, to the younger side of the spectrum. Why did men have to be so predictable? She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, just barely. At least he was honest. And had it been any other place, she probably would have flirted back. But there was something off-putting about a man in a lingerie store who hadn't been invited. She wasn't a modest woman, hell no, but she did have standards.

Um. Some.

"You hope they don't have security, you mean," she corrected him. But he was probably right. They probably didn't. Her eyebrows rose again at the look, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Nope. Still not pleased.

He did look familiar, though. He probably worked for Hammel in some job or another. Almost everyone in this town seemed to be related to the school, so it was a safe bet.

"A million-to-one," she said to his question. "Why, were you planning on asking me to try on that little number?" She nodded to what he'd picked up. "I doubt it'd fit. Been here long?"

She'd guess not. People tended to stop trying to hit on girls when they learned they could hit back with a vengeance here. And not always with their fists. Not that Kateri would zap him with a lightning bolt or anything. Probably. Well, she'd try not to.

[Tim Lyne]

"Well, there's quite a field to play," replied Tim. He grinned. "Though I'd be willing to widen it. You don't look a day over twenty yourself though, so I wouldn't worry too much about it."

No security. Tim was nodding and waving, already having dismissed that line of conversation for something more interesting, namely flirting, namely flirting with the attractive redhead. Albeit, he was hoping that his target of choice would have been a little more receptive. Seriously, what cold person shopped at a lingerie store? Regardless though, Tim was still doing his best.

"Ah, so there is a chance then," said Tim. He tossed the lingerie over his shoulder and leaned against the closest mannequin. His hand "accidentally" hit the plastic breast for a few seconds, before quickly scurrying to regions considered more acceptable in public. All the while, his eyes remained locked on the target of flirting.

Whose name he really needed to get.

"Been here a few months," replied Tim. Damn, did this woman look familiar. "I work at the Institute. My name's Tim. So," he shifted again, lifting his eyebrows slightly, "a woman as beautiful as you surely has some kind of beautiful name, right? You can't just leave me hanging here. That would just be too cruel."

He was still half-tensed though, expecting that laser vision any time now.

[Kateri Rivera]

Well the man certainly knew how to flatter. Almost reluctantly, Kateri's lips twitched upward at the compliment. What? Every woman liked to be flattered, and to a woman who had just hit her thirties, it was definitely nice to be compared to a twenty-year-old.

That didn't mean he was going to get anything out of this, though. The answer to his question about what cold person would shop at a lingerie store was a person who didn't expect a man to come and watch her shop for lingerie. C'mon, it WAS a little awkward. She eyed the mannequin he was leaning against, and then turned back to the items she'd been looking at, deciding that paying this man too much attention was exactly what he didn't need.

"Not exactly," she told him over her shoulder. "Now stop fondling that mannequin or people will start to talk." Nope. Still no pity. Sorry, Tim.

Her eyes flickered over to him as he said he worked for the Institute, and she nodded, mostly to herself. Ah. That would be why he looked familiar.

"Ah, I work there too. Math teacher." That usually scared them away. Not that she could blame them. One didn't usually combine "math teacher" and "sexy" in the same sentence. "And I don't know about the beautiful part..." She was smiling again, damn him, but he was charming in a doesn't-know-when-to-quit kind of way. "But if you really need the name, it's Kateri. Do you always come to lingerie stores to pick up women, or did I just get lucky?"

[Tim Lyne]

Stop fondling the mannequin. "Yes ma'am." Not like he wasn't already moving out of the way of doing that anyway. He was half tempted to salute, but figured he was pushing his luck enough as it was without throwing that into the mix. Just a little shift.

She looked flattered though, and she hadn't slapped or zapped, which meant that she at least found Tim slightly charming. And who said you couldn't get your flirt on in a lingerie shop? Err, apparently she did. Definitely not a buzz kill, even if it was getting Tim to shift nervously.

"If my math teacher looked like you, I might actually remember something from Algebra," replied Tim, that grin returning. "Then again, I might mostly remember having the hot math teacher."

Didn't know about the beautiful thing? Did they not have mirrors in the homes of math teachers? Tim wasn't even drunk and he could tell that Kateri was attractive. Probably helped his imagination that they were surrounded by things that he'd love to see her in. To his credit, he was mostly reining that in. Just a few sentences in, and he could already tell that Kateri had about twice as much intelligence and five times as much schooling as he did, putting him at a distinct disadvantage here.

Just the way he liked it.

"You got super lucky," he said. "Almost as lucky as I did. Now," he pushed off the mannequin, nearly knocking it over, "since you seem dead set against helping me, why don't I help you? I'm clearly an expert at picking out beautiful things."

And so modest to.

[Kateri Rivera]

Her lips quirked upwards at the “ma’am,” although she did wonder if he did that for politeness, teasing, or because he was honestly scared.

Being five feet, part of her hoped it was the last one. But that was mean. Really mean. She shouldn’t be thinking that at all.

She did laugh outright at the math teacher comment and rolled her eyes. “If only any of my students remembered algebra. Then I could stop reteaching it to them the next year. But thank you for the compliment…I think.” She eyed him as if judging if the compliment had made his head visibly swell or encouraged him in any way. But relatively sure that it hadn’t, she added, mostly reflectively, “If any of the staff at my school had been half as good looking as you, I’d probably have paid more attention to lessons too. So there you go.” She shrugged it off and had been about to turn her attention back to the bras—this time really to ignore him, as she’d mentally promised herself, when the swaying of the mannequin caught her eye, and he was talking again. She gave up on the items and turned to him, hands on her hips as she looked up at him.

“And how exactly was I supposed to help you?” she demanded, the corners of her mouth only slightly tilted upwards. Damn it, she’d promised not to encourage him. “You didn’t seem to really need any help. But fine. If you’re the expert…” she gestured to the store. “Then you might as well be of use and give me a hand. But don’t think I’m trying anything on in front of you.” This time it was an outright smile. “I’ll at least need dinner first.”

Hey, worst case she got some more interesting lingerie than she'd originally planned to get. No harm there.

[Tim Lyne]

"You're welcome, I think," replied Tim, accompanying it with a cheesy grin. Wait, had she followed up the expression of gratitude with a compliment? And Tim's grin had been threatening to split his face before. This sort of thing had happened before though, and he'd seen it fall flat on its face, so he knew he'd have to play it at least a little cool. Or, you know, keep up the fairly steady barrage of compliments until she finally let down her defenses.

Whichever worked.

"I can think of plenty of ways you could help me," insisted Tim, trying to look offended. "I'm a wayward soul, and I clearly need instruction on geometry and angles and such."

He smiled, moving so that he was standing on the opposite end of the display of bras. To his credit, he was actually looking at the woman across from him, as opposed to the giant table of underthings that lay between them. True, his eyes might have dipped once. Or twice. Or a few times, but his attention was mostly focused on Kateri.

Hand? Really, this was actually working? Tim totally covered his surprise by leaning on yet another nearby display, and at least he didn't inadvertently molest a mannequin this time. Total win.

"Dinner? I was thinking we should start with maybe a cup of coffee or something, but if you wanted to take me to dinner, you just had to ask," he pressed a hand to his chest. "That sounds just delightful. I have to warn you though: I don't put out on a first date."

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a "serious" look, before returning to browse the bras, clearly intent on "helping" her. Wouldn't take bets on how long the serious face lasted though, especially as his active imagination was bound to kick in any second now.

[Kateri Rivera]

Kateri noticed the green and sighed silently to herself. Darn. She shouldn’t have offered a compliment after all. Not that the grin looked bad on him, she just wasn’t sure she could ever get him to go away now. And she liked the man—he had a certain charm to him—but she really hadn’t come here to pick up somebody.

“A wayward soul, huh?” She cast another sideways glance at him. “I can think of more useful things than geometry and angles if you’re that desperate for tutoring. But really, I think you’re too far gone for any help from me.” And she smiled at him again.

He actually seemed to be taking his offer fairly seriously. Fairly because she did notice a lot of looks at the lingerie as well, but whatever. It was a step in an…interesting direction, and even though Kat was fairly sure that she was going to end up having to hit the guy on the head at the end of the night, she also thought that it might end up…okay.

She didn’t know what “okay” was yet, but luckily for Tim it didn’t involve a human lightning rod.

She laughed outright at his comment again, then shook her head. “You are a terrible lad, you know that? Suits me right, though. But at least we have one thing in common.” And she grinned at him before turning to the bras.

“I don’t think you ever answered my question,” she added after a moment. “Why are you here? Honestly now?” 

[Tim Lyne]

Tim winced from Kateri's biting comment, though he couldn't help his grinning either. He felt like he was getting somewhere here, though he probably would have see anything short of "human lightning rod" as getting somewhere. Tim even started picking up bits of clothing, holding them up in Kateri's general direction. This did mean that his poor imagination ran absolutely rampant, and it was as difficult to control as ever.

Terrible lad. Suits me. Yep, that was definitely a success, and it had Tim nearly swimming. You could almost see his head swelling as he practically made bras dance for him. Probably didn't help matters that he was having the attractive redhead beside him wearing said bras while dancing in a highly similar manner in his clearly fourteen year old brain.

Why was Tim here? He blinked, looking away from the bra to the woman asking the question. "I'm here to entertain sexy math teachers with my childish antics. And help them pick out sexy bras and stuff to wear."

He picked up a teal number that seemed to catch the light, hooked his thumbs through both sides of it, and wiggled it before Kateri, nearly humming to himself now.

[Kateri Rivera]

Tim probably was getting somewhere—somewhere which might involve coffee, some casual talking and maybe even a little flirting. Might being the key word there. Call her old fashioned, but she did believe there were some places that men shouldn’t go to pick up dates. No matter how cute they were (and yes, she does think Tim is cute. He scored on that one).

She eyed the dancing bras and shook her head a little, especially after his comment about “childlike antics.” Curse it. She really was amused. Especially since he seemed more focused on the bras than on her. Not that it was a bad thing.

“That one’s not bad,” she commented, nodding to the teal one he seemed to be completely focused on. “Can I take it to get a better look or would that be disturbing whatever fantasy you’ve got going on in your head?”

Yes, Tim, she noticed. Sorry about that. At least she doesn’t look displeased. More amused. What could she say? A girl had her fantasies too. It wasn’t fair to judge. Much.

[Tim Lyne]

Tim grinned again, shrugged, and handed over the bra. "I guess you have to look at it. Don't worry. I'm sure my fantasies could continue even with you holding it. Makes it easier, actually."

It took all Tim had to focus on Kateri though, especially considering how much he was surrounded with. The colors and fabrics would be enough to distract the most stubborn of men, but for one as easily distracted as Tim, it was a death sentence. Combine that with the lechorous nature that lay barely beneath the surface (Tim being about as deep as a wading pool), and you had a guy whose eyes kept slipping slightly.

Lot easier to focus when there was a cute redhead holding something that you'd like to picture her in though.

"You know, I kind of expected to have to do this a few times," said Tim, waving a hand. "But I never figured I'd get the sexiest woman in the store on the first try. I must be lucky or something."

He stared right at Kateri as he said that too, actually managing to look at her eyes for all of the sentence. Then, of course, his eyes went to the bra and quite possibly to other areas of Kateri.

Did we mention the lech thing? Perhaps it bears repeating.

[Kateri Rivera]

Kateri was beginning to realize the whole lecherous thing already. He certainly was blunt, wasn’t he? She resisted the urge to shake her head or, worse, slap him. Not zapping. If he worked at Hammel, she was pretty sure she’d get into trouble for it if she did. She frowned slightly to herself, then shrugged it off. Well, it was a cute bra. He had good tastes in that, at the very least.

If not in lines.

“You probably say that to all the girls,” she said, and it, unfortunately for Tim, wasn’t meant in a teasing way. More a statement of fact. “Focus up here, Tim. Face. That’s the polite place to look, remember?” She rolled her eyes and tucked the bra into the crook of her elbow, out of sight, then leaned forward to offer her hand. “It was lovely to meet you, I look forward to seeing how you do at Hammel—” and that part was completely honest “—and I now have to go. Thanks for the selection.” She winked, just because she couldn’t resist, then headed for the checkout. She had been planning on buying more, but…with everything going on, she’d decided leaving was the safer option.

[Tim Lyne]

Ouch. Tim nearly visibly winced as his sudden easy flight went crashing down in flames. Kateri took the bra, so at least he had that going for him, but what he'd expected to last several minutes longer was apparently ending very soon, and on a very cold note. Tim stood there, gaping and trying desperately to think of something, anything to say that would be somewhat redeeming.

"Right, was totally meaning to-" he tried. Flailing and failing, he was totally flailing and failing here. He followed Kateri to the register, mentally rehashing the conversation to figure out exactly where he'd crashed. At least he thought he had it. More or less.

"Wouldn't you rather see my outside of work?" one last try; he had to give it at least that much. "I swear, I'm a lot more fun once alcohol's involved," possibly not the best route to take, but we've already discovered which portion of Tim's anatomy does the thinking. "Besides, when else would you have a chance to wear something like that?"