Not long

God this was cheesy; on my first date being lead through a park by the arm by a literal golden haired superhero. And I loved every second of it. All other thoughts were gone at the moment. The only focus was on Dean's arm wrapped around my own and making sure not to walk too fast.

"I'm surprise you're, well..." Dean gestured at me.

"Dressed?" I managed to supply.

He nodded, "You looked like you were going to kill yourself yesterday when we made it to your office. You kind of still do."

I scratched at my waist band and wriggled my hips, "Lets not talk about it. I wanted to look nice, and its easier when you wear decent clothes."

"Fair enough." He agreed and changed the subject, "So, how often have you come to the park?"

Thankful for the change, I answered quickly, "I used to come when I was younger, but the last few years I haven't had the time or interest. Up until recently, I've been... working through some hard stuff."

I made an effort to speak in code. We were in public, and I didn't want word of my or Dean's affiliations getting out yet. Far as I knew, the PRT had made no real public announcement about my job as Director of the Wards. I aimed to avoid as much attention as possible until then.

Dean seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength, nodding as we walked, "That whole mess with Sophia, I heard about that."

I looked at him surprised and he shrugged, "New boss calls in one of the employees for violating their probation? Word spreads fast."

That made sense, I figured. Rumors were like wildfire at Winslow, there was no reason it would be any different at the PRT. Just more professional, hopefully, and yes I am aware of the irony of that statement, thank you.

"Anyway, I'm sorry that that happened to you, its beyond shitty." Dean continued.

"But I've dealt with it now. So we don't need to worry about it." I said, a little harsher than I meant. I quickly changed the subject again before Dean could comment on it.

"What about you? You come to the park often?"

"With friends for sports usually. Family on occasion. I used to come here with my ex every once and a while. She liked it here, and it's a good place to just... talk."

Right, his ex, Glory Girl. The beautiful blonde bombshell with an infamously on again off again relationship with Gallant. A part of me sourly noted it was entirely possible I was just a rebound girl. Another part was strangely okay with that.

My sour thoughts didn't stay long, as we continued following the main path through the park. Today with the weather relatively warm, there were more people than average out. A few bikers, a group of friends playing ultimate frisbee in one of the fields, etc. We talked a lot about nothing, exchanging minor details, but it was nice. It was really nice to just... talk with someone about nothing. I hadn't been able to do that in years, and it was engrossing.

So engrossing I wasn't paying attention when a bicyclist went by a little too close; their handlebar caught on the edge of my jacket. My arm jerked behind me, and I yelped as I was pulled along with it. Dean yelled in surprise as I tumbled onto the ground and the bicyclist continued like nothing happened, trailing my jacket behind him.

Dean knelt beside me, slowly easing me back up, "You okay?" he asked. When I nodded, he looked angrily after the bike, but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Get used to that Dean; odds are pretty good I'm going to get naked before the end of today, whether I want to or not."

He frowned, "But that guy didn't even acknowledge you, he had to have at least seen what happened?" he helped me up and I shook my head.

"No one seems to notice when it happens. You're the only one that knows I'm not supposed to be naked. Everyone else sees it as normal." well, he used to be. Obviously, I left the bit about dad knowing out.

"God that has to be weird." he said.

"You get used to it."