Participants:
| Scene Title | Lies of Omission |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Breakfast at the diner after a stakeout, and Trask has some regrets about the things he can't talk about. |
| Date | November 21, 2008 |
Trask is coming off of an all night stake out, and he surprised Elisabeth when she was getting ready to head out with an offer to buy her breakfast. They headed down to the Nite Owl and he even pulled out a chair for her.
It was definitely a surprise when he knocked on the front door as she was getting ready for work this morning. As they walked, she asked him about his stakeout, listening with a small smile to the 'long, terminally boring' spiel that pretty much describes every stakeout. 99 percent dying of boredom, 1 percent absolute adrenaline — that's what all stakeouts are. Sliding into the chair he holds, Elisabeth grins up at him and says, "You realize a girl could get used to this kind of treatment, right?"
Trask pushes her in and smiles, moving around to the other side of the table, "Is that a problem?" He winks, "So how is your morning?"
"It's about like any other morning," Liz chuckles. "I wanted to roll over and pull the covers over my head cuz it's friggin' freezing out here, and then I felt guilty cuz you were out in it all night. And I almost didn't catch a shower cuz I hit snooze one too many times, and then you knocked! So … that's a fabulous morning, so far as I'm concerned."
Trask grins and shakes his head, "You should have stayed warm….me being cold is no reason for you to be uncomfortable. So what are you having?"
Elisabeth snickers. "No, it's not — but being late for work is frowned on." She glances at the counter and says, "Normally I'd eat better, but today? Eggs and bacon, toast, potatoes, and lots of coffee. You?"
Trask says, "The same, though I think I want my eggs sunny side up, and ontop of the toast, like my mom made.""
Elisabeth shudders. "No sunny-side up. Gotta be over-medium at least. Or over-well if they can't get the medium right. No runny whites, that's gross. Or scrambled. That's good too. With cheese!" She laughs.
Trask says, "A good Sunnyside doesn't have runny whites." He shakes his head and chuckles, "Scrambled with cheese is good….So anything fun happen at school lately?""
"Well, I have a new TA in the calculus class," Liz replies thoughtfully. "It's working out really well. One of the kids in the class is far ahead of the others, so I enlisted his help in actually teaching the class. He's a pretty good kid…." She grins. "I think he's getting cool points for hanging with me, too, so I guess it doesn't hurt his street cred too much."
Trask says, "Teachers pet for the hottest teacher on campus, sure. Is this the one with the math problem?" He smiles softly, "Should I be jealous?""
Liz replies, "No, this isn't the one with the geometry proof!" She laughs hard at that. "That was Julio. The TA's name is Simon. And if you're jealous of any kid in that school, you're nuts. High school boys haven't changed much since I was in high school, I'm pretty sure… bunch of hormone-driven crazies, if you ask me.""
Trask says, "Do boys ever change?" He grins and shakes his head. "So they still have you teach math, Calaculus, History, Geometry…is there time for music?"
"Not yet," Liz admits. "I won't get to teach music until after the New Year. That's when I take over the music class and the two American history classes. Right now, I'm just subbing for one teacher who…. well, he said he was taking a break, but I don't think he's coming back. We have another sub lined up for after the holidays, though."
Trask says, "Oh your a sub….no wonder they are all fawning over you." He winks. "So what are your plans for this coming week?""
Elisabeth shrugs a little. "Same as always… work, grading papers, my friend Diane wants to catch a movie at some point this week. Don't know if that'll work out or not." She pauses and then teases lightly with a grin at him, "There's this guy, see, that I've been trying to spend a little more time with. His work schedule lately, though, has been nights… makes it hard to see him."
Trask hmmms softly, "Have you tried asking him for more time…you know playing the needy girlfriend card?" He smiles, "Or seeing if he can try to make time with you, during your limited times that availibility lines up?
Elisabeth chuckles. "There is no way I'm playing the needy girlfriend card — That's just all clingyness and awfulness. He likes me for who I am, so I save the needy card for when I'm really low. But I know he'll make time for me — he shows up out of the blue to take me to breakfast and puts flowers in my pizza boxes, you know." She nods sagely. "He's totally winning me over."
Trask says, "He is is he, sounds great. Are you sure there is nothing that annoys you about him?""
Elisabeth snickers. "Oh I'm sure those little things'll pop up. No one's perfect! Just like I'm sure there are things that'll annoy him." She winks at him as their breakfast arrives, adding, "Actually, there is one thing that annoys me… see, he knows that you're my best friend, and I think he's jealous of you because you know me so well."
Trask says, "I see….well…if you want…I can back off, and let you and him explore your relationship….I could take a vacation or something…""
Elisabeth laughs at him now. "You're a nut."
Trask says, "Well…he knows about me…have I met him?" He winks."
Elisabeth just shakes her head with a smile, picking up her fork to eat while they talk. "Nope. You wouldn't know him if you saw him on the street, I'm sure," she quips. "So who'd you work with on the stakeot last night? Anything fun pop up in conversation?" She knows how weird those freezing night conversations can be.
Trask says, "Me and my partner, we had a long top about relationships actually. How hard it is to keep wives and girlfriends in the dark about things, that you…don't want to keep them in the dark about. But sometimes there are things they would rather not know…you know like things that would keep them up worrying at night."
Elisabeth tilts her head and says quietly, "Well…. I guess in some ways, you've got the advantage. Your girlfriend's a cop… or at least, an ex one. So she might worry, but she knows you're good at your job." She pauses and then asks him, "Does it worry you to talk about your job with me now?" She sounds sort of surprised about that possibility.
Elisabeth blinks and then blushes, cuz she just described herself as his girlfriend, and she's not entirely sure they've gone that far!
Trask says, "No…i know you understand. I was arguing on the side of honesty..but…well… sometimes there are things that…for instance, which is easier to go to sleep with, knowing I'm out on a stake out, or knowing I'm out on a stake out for a serial killer who has killed dozens of people and never been caught?"
Elisabeth looks thoughtful, eating a bit while she considers the question carefully. "For me? Probably the latter. I mean, sure… I'm going to worry. But I'll do that no matter what you tell me. Police work is not a safe occupation, no matter what part of it you're in. A stakeout, regardless of who you're staking out, is going to be pretty fraught with danger because the only people who get staked out are the ones likely to kill someone. Be it for drugs, or just cuz they like it. When was the last time you heard about a stakeout on a guy doing small stuff like knocking over ATMs without hurting anyone?"
Trask bites his lip and nods. "I will keep that in mind. I think I have only one true regret…and that is that I have never been completely honest with you…but you always know there are things that are on a need to know basis."
Elisabeth studies his face quietly. "Life's not a black-and-white 'tell me the truth, or else it's a lie' kind of thing. I don't expect you to tell me everything, Norton. That would be foolish. Not to mention…. we're kind of in new territory here. The things you tell your friend are a little different than the things you tell the woman you're dating, and we're sort of negotiating that as we go. As long as you're honest with me about the important stuff, the need-to-know stuff? Well, if I need to know, I guess you'll tell me." She smiles. "I trust you to know what I need to know."
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
 November 20th: Solitary |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
 November 20th: Far Be It From Me |