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"It's absolutely the glasses," sighed Iouri, running his index finger along the rims. Otherwise he was a good candidate - young, smart, physically fit, well-educated... native speaker of Russian, more than fluent in English. But the eyes were a big thing, and he could see the reasoning behind it even if Seraphina couldn't. He chuckled, "And I will probably apply six more times before I get the message."

"I'm not an expert," added Iouri, perking up at her mention of astronomy, "But I do know a thing or two." It came with the territory: he loved everything space, from stars to rockets to soviet kitsch. He smiled charmingly. "Maybe I could give you a lesson sometime?"

He hadn't meant it as an innuendo, or even a pickup line, but that was how it had come across and Iouri was pretty sure he was okay with that. Near-complete lack of common interests aside, Seraphina seemed lovely.

He glanced towards the window. "Tonight's probably clear enough for it, if you have time."

Oh. Oh god, she had winked at him. Iouri swallowed his mouthful of beer, feeling distinctly but not unpleasantly hot around the collar. Nodding, he drained the rest of his glass (there was a bit left - he felt like he was chugging, but the buzz could only be to his advantage.).

Smiling and pushing himself to the absolute extent of what he felt comfortable doing in public, he hopped off his barstool and offered Seraphina his arm. "We shall," he agreed, and held the door open for her on the way out. If anyone were to report that Iouri Spekter had left the Mudville with Seraphina Lace tonight, they would be able to say nothing less than that he was a perfect gentleman about it.

It wasn't too far a walk to the baseball grounds, and the weather was good for a mid-August evening. Laughing nervously, Iouri lead Phina past the bases towards the darkened outfield. With the field lights off, the only light came from the moon and stars above... and the night was perfectly clear. "We could sit. Or stand, though that might make your neck hurt-" he said, wishing he'd had the forethought to bring a towel.

"Do you know the basics?" he asked, pointing to the sky. "Orion's belt? The dippers? The north star?" Because, really, if she didn't know those then it gave him an important place to start. You had to walk before you could run, didn't you?

He had to admit he was feeling a bit distracted from stargazing, even if that was allegedly the whole point of this excursion.

Iouri froze for a moment as she sat beside him. He could feel her breath on his cheeks, hear the crickets chirping in the distant copse of trees - this did not feel real. "I need those," he stammered, reaching for his glasses, but they managed to evade his grasp. "To see."

Well, clearly that was going to be a hopeless endeavor, but her hand was on his knee and the only belt Iouri was finding it at all possible to focus on was his own. "You're making this a bit difficult," he murmured. Iouri would be lying if he tried to claim he hadn't considered the evening going in a far more amorous direction as soon as they left the bar.

"It's-" Awkwardly, he shrugged off his blazer. "It's warm, isn't it?" At least, he certainly felt that way. He wondered if she felt that way, too - after all, she was sitting so close. What had they been talking about? Orion's belt, right-

Iouri leaned in close, struggling to squint at the night sky. They were nearly cheek-to-cheek. He was pretty sure his hand had touched her rear at some point - Focus, Iouri. "It's three bright stars in a row," he said, breath catching in his throat. "They should be directly overhead. Do you see them?"

Well, she'd all but spelled it out for him. Iouri was reluctant, but he wasn't dense, and the combination of hormones and alcohol flooding his brain right now was basically blocking out everything besides the fact that there was a beautiful woman, ready and willing and sitting right in front of him. Somehow, this drowned out more reasonable thoughts that declared they were in the middle of the baseball diamond, quelling them with statements about how far they were from the road and how empty the park was after nightfall and how it had honestly been a while.

"I can, um, think of a few," he replied quietly, brushing her hand away from his lips. Comparative Anatomy, for example. With the same hand, he reached out and brushed a slightly-askew strand of red hair away from her face. "May I?"

She'd been clear enough that he needn't wait for an answer. Iouri kissed her, and there was nothing delicate or reluctant about it. There was no question in his mind of where this was headed, baseball field or not, and at least for this precise moment he'd managed to convince himself he was okay with the location.