Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aphismet nearly swore out loud as Alex nearly stumbled right into the "staying over" stuff that Aphi had been so very much hoping she wouldn't catch on to. She'd almost said it out loud, stopping herself half-way and blushing a deep, funny shade of red. At least that whole fiasco of a train of thought was derailed by the subsequent question, Alex nearly bouncing in her seat at the prospect of seeing where Aphi worked. The chef was so flattered by her excitement, and her admission that she was so proud of him, that he in turn flushed to that same shade of scarlet she'd worn before.

"Ah, o-okay, then. We'll go there! I won't be working or anything, so you won't REEAAALLY get to see how far I've come, but you will when you come to my house and I cook for you, whenever that will be!" He grinned, feeling rather proud of himself now too. How could he not when those eyes were glittering at him like he'd won some Olympic Gold Medal? "I can show you inside the restaurant's kitchen once we're done eating though! ...Not before, because then the staff will tease us to no end. Ugh, it'll already be bad enough I'll have to tell them I'll be on a date." He sighed, looking aside. His co-workers were all nice and kind and meant well, but the teasing! OH dear god, the teasing! Aphismet wouldn't be telling them of his date until the very day before he brings Alex over, and he feared what the staff might do.

Rivener was glad Zul agreed to sit to eagerly, smiling at him like that. It didn't have all the sultry, sensual intent of usual. It was softer, affectionate even, maybe? And Zul wanted to learn more about Rivener, just as Riv wanted to learn about Zul? The Scorpion's smile widened to a pleased beam and something strange fluttered in his chest, which he ignored for now in favor of letting the demon-frei tug him forward. Riv tried not to let himself feel too hopeful that his feelings might be returned; Zul was young and for all Riv knew the demon acted this affectionate with everyone. The sentiment sent a lead block into Riv's stomach, killing the strange fluttering feeling and making him rather sad and jealous. He shrugged this off quickly, telling himself he shouldn't think about this at ALL.

Forcing the smile to return (an easy task under that shockingly blue gaze), Rivener let his previous thoughts dissipate. Mindful of not shocking Aphi, Riv reluctantly put his jacket-vest back on, although he left it open and hanging from his shoulders comfortably. The pair of them sat at a small table just next to their guardians, and Zul surprised the Sigel by actually going first with a question. Red eyes shone with pleased happiness at being so interesting to someone. "What I like to do? Hmm, let's see. I like playing games best. Computer games, video games. I also watch television a lot, I like the discovery channel. And I like taking pictures of things with my camera. I often go out for walks just to see if I can find something to take interesting pictures of."

Riv placed an elbow on the table once he was done, propping his chin in his hand and all but staring at the demon, his other hand still holding onto one of Zul's. "What about you, Zuuuul? What do you like to do when not with your Rivener?" The grin resembled the one Zul had given at the question, Cheshire with a glint of real interest in the red eyes. The answers to these questions had hardly ever mattered as much as they did now.

Aphismet's eyes blinked open wide to hear Alex suggest wearing a dress again. Seeing how absolutely stunning she looked last time, Aphismet nearly grinned dumbly, stopping the telling expression at the last moment with a clearing of his throat. "I-I, er... W-well, we should dress up a little or we'll stand out. I-it's a five-star, erm... p-place. So, a dress... y-yeah? But I don't want you to be uncomfortable! Anything's good!"

Alex's shoulder bumping into his sent Aphismet's pulse through the roof, dark eyes widening again just the slightest bit. She was so close! He could smell her shampoo! Those green eyes, wow! H-had she always been this incredibly gorgeous?! Why didn't Aphi notice?? He blushed to his ears, the reaction not helped by the confident way Alex was declaring her intention to enjoy their date Or Else. The chef offered an enthralled smile in response to Alex's wolfish grin. "I'll b-be sure to tell them all you said that; maybe they won't be so playful with out meal." He chuckled, imagining the saucier arranging the drizzle to look like a happy face or something equally silly.

As much as Aphi knew he should say something else, or even, hell, order something to validate his presence here, the chef couldn't move from this position, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Italian. And his brain couldn't formulate much coherent thought anymore past what he'd already managed to string together. "Ah... your eyes are really... green," he offered lamely, wincing at his own stupidity moments later. "I mean, pretty! They're pretty."

Rivener listened intently, images popping into his head with each thing Zul admitted. He liked video games! The Scorpion's smile widened, just as glad as Zul was to find out they had something in common like that! Something they could do together! "What kind of games?" Riv asked before he forgot, interjecting between statements but letting Zul finish before expecting an answer.

Besides, he was already very entertained imagining Zul zipping through a house chasing a Gwee. Or laying on the deck sunbathing, looking absolutely stunning. Or floating on the beach, or having a stroll with earbuds in his ears with music playing...

The red eyes opened wide in surprise to hear that Zul thought about him. Even when he wasn't around, Zul spared him thoughts? Wanted Riv to be there? A slow, not-honey-coated smile spread over the shocked Sigel's face, truly and thoroughly happy to hear that last part. Zul thinks about me! That has to mean- No, don't assume. The Scorpion's hopes were soaring, but as before, Zul might not quite know what he was saying, might not MEAN it in the way Rivener sorely wanted him to mean it. "I'd like to be there too," Riv answered a bit too brightly before he remembered that he has to be mysterious and alluring, or he might lose Zul's interest. "I love beaches and sunbathing too; but I live in a swamp-place with trees and things like that. Not as warm, not as satisfying to sunbathe. And I like music too," Riv admitted, taking the mp3 player out of his pocket and showing it with a sly grin. "I was listening to some just before I saw you, in fact..."

Tilting his head and leaning forward, Riv placed a bud in his ear and offered the other to Zul, so they could share a bit of music while they talked. Another connection between them, ear to ear as well as hand in hand. "I'd like to show you my pictures, too. And take one of you, if you'd let me. So what kind of games do you like? Maybe we could play together?"

Aphismet grinned with mild pride at Alex's reaction. She sounded so proud of him! And she'd agreed to wear a dress! The chef couldn't help but picture her in the restaurant at one of the cloth-covered tables, candlelight flashing in her eyes, her shoulders showing like that last time... Blushing, shaking his head to rid that thought from there for now, Aphi forced himself to pay attention to her words. "Ah, uhm... i-if my co-workers saw me in the dining room with YOU in a dress, they'd be j-jealous. That's why they'd play around with our food a bit." He chuckled.

The chuckled turned into outright laughter as Alex continued to explain how her brother said she had radioactive eyes. "You have a brother? How interesting! But I refuse to think of you being so mad your eyes would glow. I've never ever seen you mad, you're always smiling! But I bet those eyes DO flash when you're angry. Hmmm, almost makes me want to piss you off just to see! So what should I do to make you mad, Alex?" Aphi was starting to stutter a bit less, not that he noticed. He was too busy staring and smiling, ready to commit to memory any detail Alex might give him about what makes her mad. He teased about it, but he'd want to know just so he could avoid doing any of these things as much as possible.

Rivener smiled as he pushed the "play" button, the strong bass beats of the Jrock he'd been listening to pounding subtly in their ears, a backdrop to their conversation. "Racing!" Riv repeated happily, brightening a tad. "I love those games too. I've never played a flight simulator, but it sounds fun! And music? ...Oh, do you mean like RockBand or Guitar Hero? I never played those either but they do look like fun! I play racing games and fighting games the most."

The Scorpion looked down at his mp3 player, bobbing his head softly to the beat, not looking directly at Zul in an effort to seem "mysterious" even though he was highly aware that those bright blue eyes were pinned to him. Zul's words made Rivener's whole body tingle, flaring his wings slightly by reflex. He tried to suppress his pleased smile but gave up on that, finding it rather impossible as he glanced sideways to the demon-frei. "I would love to go. And I would love to take pictures of you and your rock-and-water home. But mostly you." Smiling, Rivener was leaning forward closer and closer as he spoke, until at the last word he was able to press his lips to the other's for a brief moment.

Aphismet's smile was plastered on permanently as Alex leaned closer, their shoulders touching still. He could stare into those emeralds forever! He simply snickered and waved off her counter-exclamation about the other chefs being jealous of HIM. Why would any of them be jealous that he's dressing up? No, if anything they'd be jealous that he showed up with such a beautiful date. Instead the white-haired Delaran's ears tuned into the reply to the OTHER question, the answer he'd been waiting for.

Hearing about how Alex and her brother needled each other reminded Aphi a lot of his own relation with Isi. He loved him tremendously but kept wanting to pick on him a bit. It was probably the same between the two Italians, although probably worse given Alex's tendency to tease in the first place. The chef chuckled, endeared by the mental image he conjured up of Alex and some male version of Alex both throwing jibes at one another.

But what Aphi REALLY wanted to know came next. Alex leaned a tiny bit closer, lowering her voice as though sharing a secret. Aphismet leaned just a little closer as well, turning his ear her way, smiling. Alex was the shortened version of-

"Zul?" Aphi repeated, blinking in confusion for a split second before turning to his Raevan, finding him kissing the demon-frei, Zul looking none too pleased at the interruption. And Rivener looked TOO pleased with himself, smirking smugly at Aphi like that. "RIVENER!" The chef hissed out, startled from his anger the moment later by Alex's face hiding on his shoulder. Large brown eyes peered down at the woman, stunned at the familiarity but unwilling to say anything that might make it end. He blushed lightly. "A-ah... No, I'm the one who's sorry, Alex. Seriously, I don't know what he's thinking. I-I think we should go. Rivener," Aphi added with more severity, "we're going."

Rivener KNEW this was the end the instant he heard his guardian hissing his name like that. It was all too clear that Aphismet would be dragging the Scorpion off to be scolded for PDAs or whatever his problem was with this. Sighing, Riv gently pulled the earbud out of Zul's ear, smirking at him as the white-haired chef called to him, saying it was time to leave. "Don't be too mad at them, they're just different from us. And as silly as their rules are, we're living in THEIR world. Buuut, there are ways around their rules sometimes..." The Scorpion whispered the last into his Zul's ear, licking at it lightly.

"RIVENER!!!" Aphi blushed, appalled.

"Alright, alright, jeez." Getting up, Riv floated away from Zul slowly, lifting a hand to run fingers through the short, dual-colored locks one last time. "See you around, my Zuuuul."

Covering his face with a hand, Aphismet let out a deep breath and turned to Alex one last time, smiling apologetically. "I, ah. I'll call you soon, and we can go on that date. Okay? I promise it'll be fun." He grinned at her happily before turning back to Rivener, the two of them walking off together, one berating the other almost instantly.