His partner is sitting on the kitchen counter, working her way through a big mixing bowl of fruit salad - strawberries, orange slices, grapes, canteloupe and honeydew. She hops down when he arrives, and then swallows and nods in response to his question.

"Mhm! Do you mind if I bring my salad?" Also, would he like some? She offers the bowl in his direction. There's an extra fork, should he choose to wield it. 

"Oh, sure."  You know what, a little bit of canteloupe sounds pretty good right now.  He'll swipe a bite of that, with a fond smile for his partner.  "Thank you."  Then a few orange slices.

... okay, maybe he should stop before he just winds up eating his partner's entire midafternoon snack.

It's a big bowl, she won't miss a few bites here and there! 

"Lead on?" She tucks her bowl against her body and offers him a hand. 

Well, he'll take it!  He hasn't really racked up any backlash, but it's the guiding is nice.  "Of course."  'Leading' her is more of a formality than anything, the office is only a few rooms over.  But it feels right, somehow.  Tim makes a gesture at the cozy faux?-leather office chair - like many things in the house, it looks a little distressed, but is very functional.  And a chair's function is to be comfy.

Sara will make herself comfy in it, sitting crisscross applesauce with the bowl in the basket. The metal is a little chilly against her bare legs, but it'll warm up. 

"Ready and waiting, captain," she salutes him with a strawberry'd fork. 

Well.  That strawberry does look - no, focus.  You can eat afterwards.  "So, uh.  I've never done this with another person?  I think out loud, sometimes.  I can't promise anything I'm about to say is going to make sense, right away.  I do have a list of things I wanted to think about, but if there's anything you want to bring up, just do it.  OK?"

Well.  He'll poach a strawberry.  They look pretty fresh.

They're fresh and freshly chopped! They're late autumn strawberries, though, so not quite as delicious as they are earlier in the year. 

"Eekoshi. Feel free to take thinking fruits if you need them," she is grinning a little. 

He grins back.  It's nice to see her not covering her smile.  "Well, my thoughtful partner brought me a fork, it'd be silly to waste it."

He taps on the board, and brings up the notes he's been making, minus a few that he's chosen to delete for one reason or another.

Develop beam power
Cut down artillery piece?  Not practical?  check.
Sensing - better detection?
guiding(grow up)
Shirt - confirm when breathing better.
Stress test vs giant crab?  How???  Feed it car??  Animal testing???  No.
My girl vs. my partner??
Pain relief - default?  Allergies, though?  Preferences?
Backlash consent hell???  What the fuck?  Tradeoffs survival vs. consent.
Uisa - talk?  Explain time limits, decide further.  REALLY did not want to move her, femur in bad position.
Bone specialist, medic?  Spend a day in bone injury ward.  Is there a bone injury ward???  Pay people with broken arms to come to the healing silo, practice on them.  Messed up, but better than alternative?  Probably?
Standard medical advice: don't fuck them up, let specialist handle.  But I'm better than a specialist???  Work on prioritization system.
Fast-acting local anesthetic.  Currently only have general, consider changing that?

"Well.  I cheated a little bit, I started on the first two already.  It turns out, I absolutely could fire a mortar from the hip, if I didn't mind carrying forty pounds' worth of reloads.  So, that one's out unless we get a really interesting dungeon.  So I doubt I'll be able to get a Beam rating just because I can shoot weapons a normal person couldn't.  Although Bill wants to get me re-rated after the Confluence, so.  Maybe."

As he speaks, he starts to load up the bar.  He's going to be thinking for a while, so he starts off kind of light.  Well, light when you account for the fact that he's a professional warrior and former serious grappling competitor and an esper.

Sara would have her chin in her hands if there wasn't a bowl in her lap. As is, she keeps eating as she examines the board. 

No comments yet- she'll wait until he goes down the list before adding any input, unless something really stands out to her. 

"For the sensing thing, I...so, when I was doing the healing silo thing, back home?  I wasn't really interacting much.  Like, I sat there and gave out my buff and most of my input was 'is this injury a good fit for my power?'  But after the guy with the heart attack, I kind of...realized that I'm underusing the checkup function of my power?  I bet if I'd had a drawing of the heart, I could have pointed to exactly where the problem is for cheap.  Well, cheap on backlash.  If Uisa ever forgives me, that'd be something I could ask her to teach me."  He makes a bit of a face - they hadn't...exactly...parted on bad terms, but Tim's not sure if they'll ever be friends, either.

"I think Uisa cares more about your healing power than any mistakes you might have made," Sara points out between bites. "She seems too reasonable to blacklist you forever or something like that." 

"Well, yeah.  But...mrrrggghhhh."  He does a few more reps, a look of concentration on his face as his eyes stare blankly into nothing.  "I...would have liked to be more than a regeneration dispenser to the world's best healer."  He racks the bar and rubs a bicep absentmindedly.

"Well, even if she won't teach you, that sensing is something you can learn with some books and some time examining people. It might be slower, but you could still learn."

(Omnom grapes.)

"Ye - ".  He cuts himself off, then signs at her instead.  Practice sign.  Affirmative.  Write computer.  Then he suits actions to words and writes on the touchscreen a memo to sign up for anatomy classes.  "Uh, did you catch that okay?"

She snorts, signs a yes, and adds, "Wii. Our hands are a little full for sign just now, though," she points out. His are either busy writing or full of weights, while she's still eating. "But we should practice whenever we can." 

"Oh.  Right."  Well, since he's up anyway he'll grab another strawberry slice. those were good.  "Then the next one is -"

guiding(grow up)

FUCK.  "Uh.  Okay!  So...we've been...kind of busy to talk about it.  But we should."

"Um. Yes." She stabs her fork into a canteloupe and leaves it there. "We should talk about- well. What exactly we are comfortable with, and in what circumstances. Kissing? Full nudity? How far is too far to be comfortable, outside of emergencies." 

"Um." Tim swipes her fork and canteloupe bite and not as a delaying tactic, it just looked like a good piece.  "Well.  I mean, if it's an emergency.  It should be.  Fine.  But."  He goes back to the weightlifting bench, and puts his hands on the bar.  Caresses it with his fingers.  "So, uh.  I'm trying not to, uh.  Get into a relationship.  I mean, we're - partners, right?  And friends?  But my first - partnership."  Frivolous use of his power reveals that he is not about to die of awkwardness.  "It, uh.  Was fast?  I don't want to - just dive into anything?"  Even though we're sleeping together, holding hands, cuddling, and you just used her fork without thinking twice about it.  Without thinking about it at all.

Excuse him, that was her chunk of canteloupe! She steals his fork and eats a bit of honeydew in retaliation.

"Wii... I don't want to, either. Kissing can just be, mm. It doesn't have to mean anything? But maybe it would, even if we didn't mean it to?" 

"Right.  I mean, this is my fault, really, you're - sleek, and you're thoughtful, and you're passionate, and you're really brave.  I saw how you were in the one with the crabs, and you do this to yourself over and over again, on purpose.  And that cup of tea.  I'm not - Errghggh."  He starts to bench-press.  Slowly, with a focus on perfect form.

She ducks her head, "Mhm. I feel silly talking about this after I, um. Blew up at you, but. You're very admirable, too, you know." 

"Oh, I mean - thank you?  Um.  When did you blow up at me, though?"  He racks the bar and looks at her from the bench, puzzlement knitting his brows together.

"When- we first talked about this? That first weekend I spent with you." She stops, considering that. "I can't believe that was just two weeks ago." 

"Oh.  I mean, that wasn't really a blowup.  You were fine, honestly."  Heh.  'Blowup'.