Blink. Something about 'actual name' seems to pull him up short for a moment, but it's quickly shaken off as he moves inside and curiously looks around the room.
"Hm-hm." Cain hums softly, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his dark jeans. "Figured you could get started on some easy material. Then you'll know what the hell I'm talking about next time you wanna ask."
"I appreciate it," he says with a smile, nodding his head.
Sheehan's cabin is more like an office, with floor to ceiling bookshelves along the walls, comfortable furniture to one side. There's a dining table and chairs beside an open door to the kitchen and three closed doors.
"Sit anywhere you'd like. Hey, do you play poker?"
"Because Arthur and I used to have a poker club that met, but we haven't gone in a while and I am dying to clean someone's clock," he laughs, returning from the kitchen with two cups of tea. One black that he gives to Cain, and the other is herbal, which he keeps for himself.
So there's a phrase he doesn't know. It has him pause for a moment, covered by his taking the tea, but he can guess it well enough with the context given.
"Seeing me as an easy target, is that it?" His voice is casual, but there's an undertone of something forced about it.
Sheehan laughs. "No, no. That was just a joke. I'm sorry," he says warmly, picking up his own cup. "Honestly, I'd be glad to play anything here. I used to play at home with the orderlies and they taught me well."
"Unless you count skimming the first pages to find out what they're about, no. Not yet. But I did want to know why you chose these particular ones," he admits. "Need a little context about where they fit in with what we talked about because, honestly, my head was spinning a little, so I might need a refresher. You were a gunner in the Alliance. You are very good at it. And there are antimatter weapons that can destroy planets."
He huffs out a sigh. It isn't as if he planned on going into that much more detail when he picked those books out or anything, and now here he is having to explain his choices.
"They can destroy ships. Dunno about entire planets. Probably fuck one up real good if you had enough antimatter."
Shrug. He fiddles with the handle of his mug.
"The antimatter book's for that. Quantum physics explains how everything works. The other one is just 'cause you looked like you thought space ships were cool."
"Twenty-two." He offers in return. So, not that much older in terms of years but when it comes to other things... Sheehan probably has a step up on him in a lot of ways.
Then he shrugs a bit.
"But that depends on your preference. I like the smaller ones. Maybe you'd like the battleships though."
He pauses to sip the tea, belatedly realising that statement carries more weight in its meaning than he intended it to. A faint frown pinches between his brows.
"Don't worry about it. Ask what you want. I'll tell you if I don't want to answer."
Cain's expressions shift through a few clearly visible emotions one after the other. First he looks a little annoyed, then his brow furrows, and then it shifts to looking briefly perturbed before he sits back in his seat.
"Not looking for a shrink. Just to make that clear."
"Don't worry," he assures him. "I'm not looking for a new patient. I see several people here and I don't sit and have tea casually with them. Or talk about star ships. I'm a professional, thank you very much. I keep my lives separate."
He studies Sheehan closely for a few moments, as if he's trying to catch the man in a lie. There are any number of reasons a shrink might decide to approach him in a public place after all and not all of them are so innocuous as just seeing someone sitting by themselves.
But it isn't as if the fact was kept hidden. Cain hadn't asked.
"'kay." He seems to relent, letting the issue go. "Like I said, I'll tell you if you cross a line."
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"Hm-hm." Cain hums softly, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his dark jeans. "Figured you could get started on some easy material. Then you'll know what the hell I'm talking about next time you wanna ask."
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Sheehan's cabin is more like an office, with floor to ceiling bookshelves along the walls, comfortable furniture to one side. There's a dining table and chairs beside an open door to the kitchen and three closed doors.
"Sit anywhere you'd like. Hey, do you play poker?"
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Can he play poker? Absolutely, though he'd wonder if the rules were the same as the kind of game that Sheehan knows.
He finds a spot to sit, though he doesn't look entirely at ease.
"Why do you ask?"
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"Seeing me as an easy target, is that it?" His voice is casual, but there's an undertone of something forced about it.
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"You wanted to ask me something." Straight to business. More or less. "No chance you've had time to read all those books already."
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"They can destroy ships. Dunno about entire planets. Probably fuck one up real good if you had enough antimatter."
Shrug. He fiddles with the handle of his mug.
"The antimatter book's for that. Quantum physics explains how everything works. The other one is just 'cause you looked like you thought space ships were cool."
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He thinks the Reliant is insanely cool, but that's a special one. Aside from being top of the range in Alliance tech, it's his and Abel's ship.
"And I don't know, Lester, that sounds like a you problem. You dont look that old."
C'mon gramps, get hip with the kids.
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But he leans back, drinking his tea happily. "Which ones are the cool ones?"
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Then he shrugs a bit.
"But that depends on your preference. I like the smaller ones. Maybe you'd like the battleships though."
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He just shakes his head with a faint smile. Cain is definitely not used to casually talking about his own interests like this.
"Blyat, you weren't kidding when you said you had questions."
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"Not too much. Just not something I'm used to."
He pauses to sip the tea, belatedly realising that statement carries more weight in its meaning than he intended it to. A faint frown pinches between his brows.
"Don't worry about it. Ask what you want. I'll tell you if I don't want to answer."
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"What are you, some kind of shrink?"
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"Not looking for a shrink. Just to make that clear."
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But it isn't as if the fact was kept hidden. Cain hadn't asked.
"'kay." He seems to relent, letting the issue go. "Like I said, I'll tell you if you cross a line."
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"If you cross a line, I'll tell you."
Guy seems decent, but like hell Cain is supplying anyone with a laundry list of topics that will set him off. That's just asking for trouble.
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