milliways_bar | (no subject)

He says dryly, "I am not certain I see the use of a word that can mean opposite things at once."

"It just depends on how you use it in a sentence, really. I mean, something unexpected isn't always necessarily a bad thing, right?"

"No, it is not--but if a word is slang and the sentence is ambiguous, context may not help at all."

"Welcome to the wonderful world of language," Abby said with a shrug and a grin. "And you haven't even heard me speak tech-speak yet."

"Tek-speak? What kind of language is this?"

"It's when I start talking about all my lovely toys and what they can do. Most people can't follow me unless they've studied the same field. Gibbs always tells me to skip it and get to the results. But for the right person, it can be an intriguing feature," she said with a grin and a wink. Like McGee. She had snagged that computer geek with her natural charm and knowledge of technology.

"Your . . . toys." This, he decides, must be another word that means two things at once, for she is not a child.

"My technical stuff. Machines that help me do my job. They're pretty sweet." Abby didn't allow anyone to touch her stuff, unless it was McGee or Kate. And only those two because they actually knew what they were doing.

"Although people do seem to start looking lost when I mention that I sleep in a coffin, though." Welcome to Abby's world.

Boromir looks lost as well, for where he comes from the dead are burned on pyres. "What is a coffin, and why is it odd that you sleep in one?"

Huh. So Boromir was lost for another reason. Then again, Abby didn't recall any mention of coffins in Lord of the Rings, so she figured it made sense.

"A coffin is like...a boxed bed where you put the dead in when you bury them in the ground. So, yeah. Most people tend to look at me funny when I mention that I sleep in one."

"Yet you are not dead. Are you? I am. I have no desire to sleep in a boxed bed, however."

"I'm pretty alive, last time I checked." Abby had a feeling that if she were dead, it wouldn't be a pretty scene at the NCIS headquarters. And she would much rather die in the line of duty than just some old normal way.

"Wait, you're dead?" Blink blink.

"Yes--I was diverted here, I suppose, on the way to the afterlife. I was killed protecting friends. I do not know what has happened to them, though I understand our ultimate quest was fulfilled.

"You were not aware some residents of the bar were deceased?" His mouth twitches.

And Abby wanted to tell him that eventually, they did. It took them a good while, but they all fought the good fight and ultimately triumphed over evil.

But that twitch of the mouth distracted her.

"Well, the vampires were a given but -- hey, are you laughing at me?" She pouted.

"No, no, no," he says quickly. "I would never dream of such a thing.

"Though I have forgotten myself in the last few days. I wake up like a normal man and it will be at some point in my daily preparations that I remember what happened. It's very strange."

"I'm just kidding. Just haven't really seen you smile, really." Which was true. Boromir seemed to so...serious. Not grim. Just serious.

Abby looked thoughtful about the thing about forgetting about being dead, though. She supposed that it would be an odd sensation, to know that you no longer continued to live in the world you came from, but to carry on here.

"I guess this place gave you a second life, huh?"

"I suppose it has, yes. Though for what purpose I have not yet discerned."

Then he smiles, just to show he can.

"Maybe it was so you could meet the fabulous and wonderful me!" Abby piped up, obviously joking as her words were followed by an impish grin.

"Yes, that is a worthwhile cause," Boromir agrees.

"Hey, you do have a sense of humor in there somewhere," Abby said with a light laugh.

"But really. I'm glad that I got to meet you here. You're pretty cool, you know?" Beat. "And before you ask, cool is a positive description word."

"Thank you," he says with another slight nod. "You are 'cool' as well."

"Oh, I had no doubt of that," Abby said with a wicked grin. "I am the team mascot," she joked. Really, if anything, Ducky was the team mascot, although she had a feeling that the man would look horrified if she told him that.

"Well, I should probably get going. I need to check up on my world to see how everyone's doing," she told him, getting up from her seat with a stretch.

He stands and bows to her slightly. "Good to meet you, Abby. Have a pleasant day."

He will ask her what a mascot is next time he sees her.

"You too, Boromir."

But right before she left, Abby was hit by a sudden inspiration. A slightly...wicked inspiration. Swiftly, she took a step forward and placed a quick peck on Boromir's cheek before stepping back with a grin. She then proceeded to make her escape, waving her hand back at the man as she exited Milliways, leaving Boromir with a cherry red lip mark on his cheek.

Boromir is startled by the kiss, but not displeased. And as he does not know of cosmetics, he is not aware of the lipstick print.