- She's pretty when she laughs, Eric thought fleetingly. Well, a nice chuckle did not mean a girl was peachy keen. He inwardly grimaced, knowing he needed food quickly when he started using words like 'chuckle' and 'peachy keen' in the same sentence. His parents worked very hard, too hard, and after a few years of leaving him with the neighbor, and after the neighbor turned out to be a crack addict, they hired an elderly white grandmother to babysit him. She was kind and sweet, the kind of woman he would always refer to as his own grandmother. The two were actually still very close, and he looked to her as a role model for what all woman should be. As a result of this sort of doting affection for Granny Beth and her tendency to give him food every time he wasn't sleeping, he associated every old fashioned and outdated saying with food, and began using said phrases when he was hungry.
Eric smiled at her and weaved his fingers together behind his head as she spoke calmly, as if he had chosen to be on the ground, with a girl on top of him. It was a position most guys would want, he assumed, especially with an attractive girl like Kitty. But Eric had had enough of this timid sort of intimacy a long time ago, and he found physical touch uncomfortable; even now, he was squirming slightly inside to get out. He did hide it, underneath a calm smile, but it was by no means gone. Having grown up in an old-fashioned Asian household, he was unused to physical affection. Granny Beth had been very touchy, but after he turned five and went to school, she wasn't with him every hour. He went to an afterschool, and Granny Beth would come over the weekends for awhile. Regardless, the amount of time he spent with his new school friends and his own parents were filled with mere words, and no hugs, kisses, or chocolate. A few years ago, Granny Beth had passed away, and the smell of chocolate still overcame him with dear grief.
"Well, us Amazons like to have control all of the time," Kitty shot at him, interrupting his thoughts. Well, perhaps not interrupting... The perks of being super intelligent was being able to have about five different trains of thought with ease. Her wink caught him off guard, though, and made him a little more uncomfortable; he was unused to such a bold girl, a girl who came on so strong with her emotions and her relationships. But it was so different from who he was, and Eric decided, once again, he liked her, and he would keep her around. Regardless of how strange she made him feel, it was worth feeling strange to understand a girl like her. Eric laughed and shook his head at her, refraining from replying. He wasn't much of a talker, he knew. He was prone to staying in his own comfort zone, being distantly attached to people, as if he was holding them at arm's length to keep them from getting too close. It wasn't that he had anything to hide... and it wasn't that he had any walls. In fact, he was more open and more honest with people than he was with himself. It was simply the fact that he didn't think people would understand him, or like him, even. In his experience, people did not like people who were smarter than him. And it wasn't that Eric flaunted his intelligence; people assumed he was a smart aleck, a condescending know-it-all for his power.
He didn't necessarily mind; it weeded out the people who were worth being friends with, from the people who weren't. But it did make dating a little difficult, and flirting even harder. It was nice to have a girl be so playful and open with him. "I was fast enough to catch you off-guard, wasn't I?" she said in playful anger.
He reached up to tweak her nose. "I guess so, kitty cat," he admitted.
"I guess I'll get off you now. Unless you like a woman who takes control." She lifted him up like he was a baby, embarrassing him a little, as he automatically and subtly looked around for other people. Nope, no one around. Oh, well. What was the harm of being lifted by a girl? She was, after all, super strong... But his rationalizing didn't calm the sheepishness he felt. He rolled his eyes at her teasingly and shook his head, a little too aware of her hands on his hips. Without thinking, he placed his over hers, squeezed them gently, and lifted them. Unsure of what to do at this point, he held her hands awkwardly in the air for a split second, before letting go slowly. Can you get any more awkward, Eric Lee? he cursed himself silently.
Recovering quickly from his embarrassment, Eric slung his arm over her shoulders and began to walk towards the direction of good food. "I'm not sure I like a woman who takes control," he said honestly, moving from the playful, teasing road the two had been walking on in their conversation and onto a deeper, more intimate path. "But I guess I could," he said after a reflective pause, realizing how quickly he had changed the tone of their conversation, "for today, at least." He smiled widely at her. "Now, I'm hungry. Are you? I'll even buy you breakfast," he teased.