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"Well, D'argo's away with the last transport pod so we are now officially off duty," John said to Aeryn as he dusted his hands off on the sides of his black pants.  "Have you found a place where you would like to eat yet?  Maybe a quiet little bistro with candles on the table and a wandering violinist to set the mood."  He knew that she probably wouldn't understand the words but definitely hoped that the Sebacean got the gist of what he was saying.

Aeryn looked at the glint in John's eyes and his playful half smile.  She clearly remembered Zhaan's warning and wondered if maybe this 'date' was a bad idea.  There was a cold, little knot in her stomach and she didn't think it was from hunger.  "John,  I've been thinking about this date..." she began tentatively.

"Whoa," he said, his hands going to his hips.  "Don't tell me you're going to give me the John-we-have-nothing-in-common-we're-not-even-the-same-species speech."

"Well, we're not and in spite of our talk in the dining area I'm just not certain..."

"It's just a date, Aeryn.  I'm not looking for a life time commitment.  Just a little good food that isn't trying to crawl OFF my plate and some civilized conversation.  But, hey, I understand.  If you don't think you can trust yourself...."

"Would you please let me finish what I am saying without interrupting me!" she exploded.  "And what do you mean, not trust myself?"

"Well, you're obviously attracted to me...."

"I found you interesting once, in the very beginning.  That's not the same thing as being attracted to you."

"Well, what about that kiss when we were in the Flax?"

"We both thought we were going to die.  It was too much oxygen and the heat of the moment.  You said so yourself," she said quickly, her stance becoming aggressive, their faces now only inches apart.

"I guess you'd know about that, since you were a big, bad Peacekeeper soldier.  Probably had a lot of those heat of the moment encounters on the battlefield, right."

Aeryn's eyes narrowed.  "I only kiss who I want to kiss, when I want to kiss them."  She then quickly spun and snagged a passing sentient.  She grabbed its face and soundly kissed it on a likely protuberance.  She let go and the startled being scurried quickly away, wiping at its snout.  "See!"

"So you're not attracted to me, the kiss meant nothing and you're not afraid to have a good, old fashion, date with me," Crichton enumerated sharply.

Aeryn glared at him.  "That's right.  Now, come on, I'm hungry."  She turn and stomped off into the crowd.

John lowered his head to keep her from seeing any hint of his smile.  When he looked up, his date was quickly fading from his view.  "Hey, Aeryn, wait up!" he shouted as he ran after her.

*****

It was several corners and a half dozen "excuse me's" later that Crichton finally caught up with Aeryn.  She was walking slowly.  When he made it to her side, she glanced covertly over at him.  "That really wasn't fair."

"All's fair in ...dates and war, Sunshine."  He touched her arm to stop her progress and turned so they were facing each other.  "Aeryn, I just want to have a semi-normal evening and pretend that my life hasn't done a one-eighty."

"I can understand just wanting things to be normal."  She turned and started walking again.  John fell in at her side.  "OK, if this were a normal Erp," she quickly looked at him, "Earth, date, what would we be doing now?"

"If we were walking to the restaurant, we'd be making small talk....that's talk about nothing in particular that's used to pass the time.   I might put my hand on the small of your back while we're walking, just to show you that I like you."  He put the words into action and gently laid his palm to the small of her back.  He could feel the warmth of her through her clothing.

"Stop," Aeryn told him.

John snatched his hand away as if burned.

"This is the place.  Rygel told me about it.  He said a trader told him that it's the best place to eat in this end of the bazaar."

John smiled his chagrin and replaced his hand.  "Let's hope we don't need reservations."  He opened the door for her.  They entered the darkened interior and scanned the place.  John could feel Aeryn's muscles tense.  He muttered quietly, "We are in deep dren."


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