"But that's the bad-ass part of it," she insisted. "People think that a rat is vicious, so there's no element of surprise."
She sighed melodramatically, but nodded. "Fine," she said. " Although I warn you, I was a terrible actor in high school."
"I personally choose to believe that you have a double life," she said. "Francis Shaw, government agent by day, and star actor by night. Either that or you play smooth jazz at the local clubs."
"I can play saxophone and piano decently. Am I that predictable? Well, at least you assumed they were good things."
"Ha!" Poppy said joyfully, clapping her hands. "Can't believe I got that." She patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. "Don't feel badly," she said. "You're not predictable, I'm just really good."
"Or you're using my appearance and general knowledge of me to make assumptions about my personal life, yes? If we're doing that, then you seem like a bird-watcher."
She grinned, holding up her finger. "I used to be a birdwatcher with my Dad. But I'm not anymore. Still. That's impressive. Okay, my turn." She thought about it, drumming her fingers on her chin. "Hm. You went to at least one private school when you were younger...?"
"Two. One for Junior High and then High School. You probably have a lot of plants in your home, and you grew up in a rural area."
She laughed, pleasantly surprised. "19 plants in my bedroom alone," she said, nodding. "And I grew up surrounded by greenbelt. You are a single child."
"A botanist," she said, nodding. "He liked natural remedies and all that." She sighed and thought about it. "You..." she said, grasping. "Constantly sought the approval of your parents when you were younger."
He was silent for a moment. "Correct. Your parents paid attention to you often, unless they were on trips. Then you would probably stay with another relative, but otherwise a loving family."
Poppy looked up to the sky, the clouds blanketing the world for as far as she could see. "Yes and no. I never doubted that my parents loved me," she said hesitantly. "But I was the third child out of five, so you can imagine that when you already have two absent minded people with that many children... Well.. things go unnoticed sometimes. We all really loved each other, though. Things just got lost in the shuffle a lot." She stretched out her hands, clearly a little uncomfortable. "My turn. Uh.. You got accepted into some of the most prestigious colleges in the country."
"I did. I took my college courses while training for this job." He paused for a moment, choosing something lighter. "Your favorite flower is a daisy."
She shook her head, her curly locks bouncing with the action. "Nope. Peony. Although I like daisies. When you were little, you either wanted to be an astronaut, a firefighter, a doctor or a construction worker."
"When I was younger I didn't want to be special or a hero or anything. I wanted to be the CEO of a big name company. Now, I'll settle for being promoted to director one day. I'm quite eager, as it is my current goal." He stopped to think. "There was an event in your childhood that is the reason you decided to become a scientist."
She weighed the options in her head, thinking about it. "Not specifically," she said. "I really loved chemistry in high school, and I loved how fair everything was. Everything is accounted for. Nothing is overlooked." She paused for a moment and then grinned. "You were either very popular in high school or very unpopular. No in between."
"I was a bit popular," he said modestly. "You were in between." (I made an animation using a website. It's only a second or two, but it's my first ever digital animation.) Spoiler http://toonator.com/toon/5c8djaenqefl
