americas_son | Sunnydale AU: simple words

"I mean, I know you're-"

She bites her lip.

"You're different from the rest of them, Cal. I guess maybe I am a little, too."

Cal looks at her, not sure exactly what she meant by that. Obviously she's different, but how is he different?

"I - just don't care about that stuff, I guess."

- the passenger door opens itself for Tina. (Cal has to get his own door.)

She smiles at him and nods. "Cool."

Then her door opens.

"How did-"

She points to the door, surprised. "Was that done with a remote control?"

Cal smiles back. The smile turns into a grin at her reaction.

"Nope. Tony gave it to me for my birthday. It has a bunch of modifications that he did. It still keeps doing new shit, I've never seen it do that before."

Not even for Sherlock. Or Tony himself, for that matter.

"He promised it won't fly off to Mars or anything, though."

"Tony knows how to fix up cars like that?"

This is way beyond 'fixing up' a car. She knows that. She just doesn't know how else to say it.

As she slides into the passenger seat, she runs her hands over the leather seats. "This is one sweet ride, Cal."

"Oh, yeah," Cal says as he gets into the car. "He's an engineering genius. He -"

He pauses, remembering just in time that he is not sure that Jarvis is on the list of things he's allowed to talk casually about. Instead, he finishes,

"- he can write AIs and things, this was probably easy."

"What are AIs?"

She hasn't heard that term before.

"Oh, uh, artificial intelligence," Cal clarifies. "Like with computers."

He gives her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I forget not everybody talks about that kind of thing every day."

He manages to spend quite a bit of time at the Stark residence.

"Oh, like robots?"

Robots are cool!

"Wait a minute. Do you guys actually live in the Matrix?"

That movie is really the only science fiction she knows, besides a couple of Star Wars viewings as a kid. This is something that could be changed!

Cal laughs.

"No, they live in a regular house."

Sort of.

"And I don't actually live with them. Well. Sometimes it seems like I do." He's thinking of Jarvis again, and how the front door opens for him before he even gets to it. "But. I don't."

"Ah, but the Matrix isn't a physical space. It's a state of mind. There is no spoon. So I think you totally live there."

She's just teasing, of course.

Wait until she meets Jarvis.

Cal thinks about this as he guides the car out onto the road. (If Tina thinks his driving is bad now, she should have tried riding with him in cars not designed to subtly accommodate his quirks.)

"Nah. I have spoons," he decides, laughing.

She laughs, too.

"Well, okay, then."

She doesn't think his driving is bad. It's just- different. She feels safe enough.

"You're pretty cute when you laugh."

"That's why I do it," he says brightly.

He looks pleased, though. He likes the compliment coming from her in a a way he wouldn't from most people. She's not sucking up or trying to flatter him. She means it.

She gets the feeling that she said just the right thing, so she pushes on.

"But then again, you're really cute anyway, so the extra cute while laughing is icing on the cake."

Cal continues to look pleased.

"I better be cute," he says. "Otherwise people are gonna wonder how I get away with hanging out with such a hot girl."

Tina looks confused. Who is he talking about? Is there another girl?

She doesn't even consider that he might be referring to her.

After a few seconds' silence, Cal glances over at her.

"That means you," he says. "Uh. Sorry I wasn't clear."

Even if he's not sure how he might not have been clear.

"You think I'm hot?"

She knew he thought she was cute, but cute is miles away from hot in her mind. She's always seen herself as cute. Okay. Not anything to write home about, but not horrible looking, either.

"Really?"

"Of course I do," Cal says. "Because you are."

It seems obvious to him, and he's used to girls who know exactly how hot they are.

"I-"

She doesn't quite know what to say. She's going to have to get used to this idea.

"Okay. Thanks."

Which is not to say, of course, that he isn't thoroughly charmed by Tina's reaction to the idea.

He grins.

"I'll just have to figure out how to convince you."

She bites her lip, but this time it's while she grins.

"I think I like that idea. A lot."

He likes when she does that.

"I think I do, too."

"I guess... I've dated some real jerks. One guy told me I'd be 'really pretty' if my nose was different. I didn't date that one long."

She might have low self-esteem, but she has some.

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