New Hardware; Same Software (Lip)

[Philip Romano]

Lip chuckled, opening up the driver’s side door. “Sweet? Is that the type of guy you’re looking for?” If it was he had no idea why she was climbing into his car. Lip had never been known for having the sweetest disposition. In fact, along with having a more…promiscuous reputation, he was also known for being kind of douche. He personally thought that some people were just over-exaggerating, but he would never describe himself as sweet.

He hopped into the driver’s seat, tossing her a sideways glance and an arrogant grin. “That’s what they all say.” He was only joking though, well half joking. A portion of his ability was involuntary; typically making eye contact would attract people to him, and the more weaker-minded individuals tended to get wrapped up in his voice too. He couldn’t really help that, and usually psychics and the strong-willed weren’t that affected. But he liked to attribute that attraction to his alluring smile and lovely personality. Actually hypnotizing someone to get into his bed was pretty sleazy. Besides, it wasn’t like he needed the extra help.

“I’ve been told that I’m pretty good at doing my job.” That’s where a lot of his arrogance came from; the rest of it he was just born with.

He looked at her again as he turned on the ignition, giving her a quick once over. “I bet it would…” Red was a pretty fucking sexy color. Why did she think it was his favorite?

“Well, I’ve been a football fan for fourteen years.” His dad had been taking him to Oakland Raiders games since he was seven. It was kind of just a father/son thing, since Alex never had any interest in football, or sports in general really. But he was only joking around, since being a football fan really had nothing to do with Madden skills. Plus he had over three extra years on her. “I’ll have to take you up on that challenge. We’ll see who’s the best.” Lip was way too competitive to go down without a fight.

“I’ve heard you're quite the firecracker.” From a variety of people, and he didn’t doubt it. He also knew about her powers, Alex had told him that.

“Well, get in then.” He said, motioning for her to close the door. They were definitely not going back to Hammel for that. He’d probably get fucking banned from the campus. “Where do you want to go?” They could go back to his apartment. It wasn’t exactly guest-ready at the moment since he wasn’t expecting company, but it could be worse.

[Serena Varsair]

"I'm not looking for anyone, really. I take what I find..." Serena said, not really paying full attention to the question. Her opinions on love had taken a mixed turn in the few months, but she still didn't really believe in it. Honestly, if the guy was at least decent, she didn't really care.

Leaning into the jeep briefly, she shook her head, with a laugh, "I care more about the workout than anything, so we'll see." It was a very entertaining and endearing form of exercise to her. And she liked to be on top, but she was going to wait to see what he was gonna do first. Some guys just naturally meshed well with her, some not so much.

"Well, then. I guess we'll have to see," Serena said with a sigh. It's not like she never lost, she did. But she wanted to play people on the higher (All-Pro / All-Madden) settings when she played, and the AI is as tough as players were often in that, sometimes tougher. After her powers had first started but before she was...as social as she is now, she had spent a lot of time shut-in. And American football was a nice thing to focus on. "I call the Patriots..."

Tilting her head to the firecracker comment, she quickly said, "I prefer Energizer bunny, but sure...firecracker sounds fun." She kept going and going, was what she liked to tell guys when she was being flirty, but she imagined Lip already knew about all that.

Once she was in the jeep and had pulled the door close, she gave him a fake-innocent eye flutter, "I could go for just about anywhere. Your place, a secluded place and this thing's backseat, whatever you want. Your comfort is the goal after all." She felt like laying the cards on the table. After a pause Serena quickly said, "And I totally didn't mean to sound like a hooker, I'm so sorry." She hated when she came across that way because it totally wasn't how she felt. She just often didn't care enough to think about how it sounded.

[Philip Romano]

“Huh…you really know how to make a guy feel special.” Lip chuckled, shaking his head. Most girls would never admit something like that. Usually just taking what you could find marked people as desperate. Even when Lip was out for the night drinking, he usually had some type of standard that he followed if he was going to take someone home. Obviously Serena was pretty hot so she met all the criteria (she most likely wouldn’t be in his car if she didn’t). Surely, she had to have some type of guy that she went for, otherwise she might as well be leaving with the homeless man standing outside the entrance.

“I don’t think I’ve heard that one.” Lip said, with a shrug. A few people he knew had talked about her, and then every now and then he’d occasionally hear her name thrown around, but he’d never heard anyone refer to her as an Energizer Bunny. It was kind of strange reference, a fitting one probably, but not really something Lip would want to be associated with if he was talking about sex. He’d heard a few other names that were less…polite, but he wasn’t going to voice those. They usually came from his girl friends, and girls were catty and judgmental. Lip couldn’t judge either since he had a similar reputation, on top of being known as a huge douche. Not that he ever really cared what other people thought.

“Anywhere, huh?” Lip just got his car detailed last week, so there was no way he was fucking anyone in the backseat when he had a perfectly good apartment to use. This Jeep was like his child. “We can go back to my place.” At least then they could play video games or something after so it didn’t seem so much like he was picking up a prostitute or she was passing tricks. They weren’t strangers, so it wasn’t that weird, but he’d never been approached for this at a mall before so it did seem a little strange.

Lip laughed as she echoed his own thoughts. It did sort of seem like that, but he knew that this was how she was and that she wasn't actually a hooker. “It’s fine.” He waved it off, putting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot. Like he would ever need to pay anyone for sex. If anything, he should probably start charging for his services.

-out-