|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:47 pm
The first thing Iouri told most of his dates when they brought up the subject of food was that it did not matter if they thought they were being exotic or culturally sensitive - they were not going to eat at one of Destiny City's three Russian restaurants. He held no ill will towards his native cuisine - in fact, he'd spent his whole summer after grad school in Moscow subsisting mostly on boxed lunches from the soviet-style canteen down the street - however he did not want to subject himself to soggy chicken Kiev any more than he wanted to inflict it on anyone else. 'You don't understand,' went the refrain. 'Russians eat weird food.'
He was pretty sure that most Americans would not know what to do with a salad made of beets and onions if you gave them an instruction manual.
Instead, he took refuge at one of Destiny City's best-kept-secret Italian restaurants. The decorations were tacky, the food plentiful, delicious, and inexpensive, and the wine list four pages long. It was hardly Michelin-rated, but it was good enough food, and the atmosphere was charming and somewhere on the dressy end of casual.
It was the kind of restaurant Iouri had always thought well-suited to first dates. It never looked like you were trying too hard (and rarely like you weren't trying hard enough) - and, as his reasoning went, everyone liked italian food.
He was five minutes early and his date had not arrived yet from the looks of it. So, he settled onto the patio with an aperitif (a very manly aperitif: It was neither pink nor contained an umbrella nor served in a martini glass) in order to await the arrival of the lovely miss Zia Connolly.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:28 pm
Zia was not one to question where one wanted to eat.Even if she did handle scheduling a date like scheduling a business luncheon where Iouri was the client and that had implications she didn't want to think about. But the fact was, when someone suggests Italian and they're footing the bill, the polite thing to do is shut up and eat pasta.
Actually, pasta sounded nice.
Zia the spoiled trust fund baby had a fairly spoiled diet, but this new Zia the responsible workaholic was surviving on coffee, instant noodles, and so much expensive sushi, she was pretty sure she'd get nauseous the next time she even smelled soy sauce.
She arrived dangerously close to being late, just slightly overdressed in the classic little black dress and pearls combo and reveling in the long missed smell of garlic. Garlic always had homy memories, probably thanks to living next door to the Gallos for years and years.
"Hi!" She greeted as she made her way over to take her seat at Iouri's table and tried to check her watch with as much subtlety as possible. "Have you been waiting long?" She asked, the vague start of a worried frown on her features. She was kind of looking forward to an actual date with someone, especially Iouri, and she didn't want to have screwed it up already because her watch decided to night of all nights would be a good time to slow down.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:56 pm
"Not at all!" answered Iouri, face breaking into a wide grin. He set his drink aside and got to his feet, quickly pulling a chair out for Zia. "I thought we might eat on the patio, since it's nice out," he offered and hoped the answer was yes. It was a mild night, and the patio seemed to be doing its best to look vaguely European. There were, at the very least, pretty bistro chairs, striped umbrellas, and tea lights. On a string. This was some classy European business.
Moving on, he nudged the drinks menu across the table towards her. "Would you like anything?" he asked. "Just for starters, and we can get a bottle of wine later if you like!" If he sounded just the slightest bit overly enthusiastic about the prospect of more alcohol, it was probably because he actually was the slightest bit overly enthusiastic about it. Iouri didn't always drink, but when he did he liked it to be in the company of beautiful and intelligent people.
"How did you enjoy the murder mystery game?" he asked genially while she perused the menu. Personally he felt it had gone brilliantly, but he was eager for feedback. "And the new planetarium? It's nothing short of spectacular, isn't it?" That planetarium was his baby and he hoped she liked it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:45 pm
Zia couldn't help turning her smile into a goofy grin like a flattered teenage girl when he got her chair for her and ended up clearing her through and turning her gaze downward to pull herself together and try to seem less retarded.
Manners were nice, okay?!
"Ah, Scotch Manhattan, please," She said at the drink question like it was the most natural answer in the world. She was at least comfortable in this routine, and with her routine before-dinner cocktail.
"I loved the murder mystery," She said, that smile making its way back to her lips even though she was still glancing the menu over. But before continuing, she put it down to politely look at him before getting into actual conversation.
"You did a fantastic job, I know me and girlfriend had a ton of fun," She gushed, but it wasn't untrue. Questioning her friends with Lily was hilariously fun. And the networking opportunity wasn't bad either, even though that was on a more selfish level and she may have mildly been competing with Lorenzo Holywell during it all. "And the planetarium is gorgeous. I can see why you're so proud of it," She complimented and then dug around in her purse. "Speaking of, I come bearing gifts," She told him, producing a small envelope with her firm's logo on it and slid it across the table.
"Just a small donation from Mr. Wilson for the museum," She said, conveniently leaving out it was not the Wilson whose name was in the firm name, and this was one of his little publicity schemes where he was getting more money for pledging donations and the museum's name only came up because she ended up leaving early for that party promising to spread some business cards around. But, uh, she could totally still spin this as a happy gift, right?
"You would've gotten it in a week anyway, but since I just came from the office, and it was there, I figured..." She trailed off and ended it with a casual half shrug.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:04 pm
The drink appeared, through the magic of some very efficient waitstaff, mere moments later. Iouri beamed at Zia as he took the envelope and, after flailing about for a moment looking for an available pocket, remembered that he had a sportcoat draped over the back of his chair and put it to good use as a substitute for a murse. "Please convey my gratitude to Mister Wilson," he said cheerfully, picking up his drink again. He gave the ice and curiously-green alcohol a stir, then took a casual sip of it.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said happily. The paper had certainly given the evening a glowing review, but it was better to hear from someone without a professional opinion - especially someone he would rather like to impress. "I was thinking," Iouri added, "That we might try it again sometime... perhaps for Halloween?"
The museum seemed to lend itself to games about mad scientists, anyways - and a Halloween game could easily involve Frankenstein's monster and become a lot of fun quite quickly. There were tesla coils in storage that he was just dying to use, after all. (God only knew when the museum had acquired such things or what for - all he knew was that the institute was being under-utilized and he was its self-appointed savior.)
Sometime during this conversation, the seemingly-magical waitstaff had handed them both menus and brought waters by. Iouri flipped his open. "What are you in the mood for?" he asked, smiling at her over the top of the page.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:42 pm
Zia paid no attention to the waitstaff, barely even acknowledging they were there when her drink arrived and that was only to pick it up.
"Oh, Halloween would amazing," She said with a bit of a nod when he suggested it and grinned. "Monsters, mysteries, mad scientists?" Halloween had never been high on Zia's list of favorite holidays but then again, she had never made plans beyond handing out candy or making an appearance at parties she really didn't want to be at. And besides, she enjoyed the museum even if she wasn't exactly super science-minded. Numbers were more interesting, in her opinion, but what the museum had to offer was still interesting, even with Zirconia clawing at her skull about humanity's limited knowledge of space the whole time.
That and she was pretty impressed with Iouri. Or maybe it was just his social standing and nerdy appeal but still, she was trying to repress that horribly embarrassing snort and laugh combo that only made an appearance when she was crushing on someone like a teenager.
When she was handed a menu, she instantly flipped it open and surveyed the options, skipping over lasagna. She was certain she was far too spoiled in that area with Mrs. Gallo constantly feeding her.
"Mm... What looks good to you?" She asked as she glanced it over. He was the one who'd been here before, Though, after a while, she landed on, "Shrimp fettuccine and a nice Pinot grigio, I think," Zia said, trying to keep the sudden ravenous feeling in check. She hadn't satisfied her overzealous taste for seafood in a while.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:48 pm
"Comes highly recommended from a regular patron," chimed Iouri, flipping pages in his own menu. He'd tried basically everything on it and had a few favorites. When the waiter swung back around he ordered chicken parmesan and a glass of red - tame, but then, it was one of his favorites. When you were on a first date, it wasn't the time to get adventurous with your diet - lest your dinner come back to fight you later.
"It's very hard to go wrong here," he said once their orders were placed. "One of Destiny City's best kept secrets, if you don't mind me saying to." Hopefully she wouldn't. Zia, he thought, was utterly charming, and she had a certain degree of poise and maturity which Iouri felt many women lacked.
"I think that there is always room for more mad scientists at the museum," he confided with a chuckle. "To be quite honest, we have a pair of tesla coils in storage that I've been - excuse the pun, since I always seem to play the role of a corpse - dying to use. I would probably just build the whole evening around getting to play with those." There was a note of childish glee in his voice as he confided this, as if some part of Iouri had never grown out of being a little boy with a passion for wild inventions and pyrotechnics.
"Some days," he said, slightly wistfully, "I think it is probably better that I'm not an astronaut. I like explosions too much."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:59 pm
Zia definitely didn't, in fact she had already been ranking up high hopes for the food here, because really, "It's amazing, I didn't know anything besides chain restaurants managed to keep on surviving." As she said that, she had to glanced around one more time at the lights and other atmospheric contributors to their charming little place on the balcony.
"Ooo, tesla coils," She said with a playful grin as though he'd just brought up something with the potential to be amazingly fun. While it wasn't quite as far up her alley as it was his, his glee over it all was infectious and she couldn't really help it.
She was in the middle of getting down to the final sips of her Manhattan when he brought up both astronauts and explosions, and the ice clinked as she immediately pulled her glass away and pursed her lips as a result from keeping herself from doing something silly like trying to blurt something out in mid drink.
After a quick gulp, she managed to recompose herself, even though she leaned forward with interest. "Astronaut? Did you ever actually pursue that once?" It seemed like such an unattainable profession, she was a little interested in how far he got, or even if he tried. If not, still, it was an admirable dream.
Explosions were another matter, and she had to laugh. "Well now I'm curious what you're exploding and where."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:55 pm
"Oh, well," pattered Iouri, suddenly slightly self-conscious. Sometimes he thought that he'd let his astronaut dreams die too easily - but when they rejected you, they rejected you. "I did several summers of Space Camp. The serious one, for teenagers," he clarified. "Science and engineering and physical training, yes? I was a physics major in college, and for my masters..."
Now came the embarrassing part of the story. "I've applied to their program five times and been rejected five times," he admitted, lamely tapping his glasses. "It's my eyesight. Can't be an astronaut if you're blind as a bat." So he 'd switched his Ph.D to a museum sciences program. It was almost a spark of rebellion, if continuing education could be considered at all rebellious,
"Model rockets!" he chirped enthusiastically, grateful for a change of topic. "I have an agreement with the baseball grounds to be allowed to launch from there," he explained. "And working at the museum does have its advantages... I can run classes and buy parts as part of the education budget."
One of the only things possibly better than a model rocket was a model rocket bought on grant money. He inclined his head towards Zia. "I'm sorry, it is a bit geeky of me," he chuckled. "And if you do not stop me soon I will prattle about it all evening. So, perhaps you would like to tell me about one of your hobbies? Or ill-advised career ambitions. Whichever you prefer."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:49 pm
"Oh," Only when Zia said it, it came out more like an 'aaaaaw' and she wasn't sure if she wanted to hug him or apologize profusely for asking about it. She wasn't sure just how sore of a subject it was, but it definitely sounded like one that would be, and understandably so.
Model rockets was a welcome and more cheerful subject, though.
She listened quietly in regards to his hobby, brow lifting with interest when he mentioned launching them from the baseball grounds. When he stopped to apologize, she lifted a hand and shook her head with a laugh, "Oh, no, I thought it was interesting! I mean I don't really know anything about model rockets, but now learned explosions are apparently involved," She said, a playful pft making it's way in that sentence when she admitted her own ignorance.
But he turned it around on her and she found herself grasping for a subject. She remembered, once upon a time, when she was rather fond of bowling and card games. And that she had not actually indulged in any of these activities since she was in school. Her hobbies anymore consisted of things that were very far in 'do not casually talk about on dates' category what with senshi wars and secretive teams likening themselves to the mafia.
"U-um," She cleared her throat after an awkward pause and tried to force her thoughts into her more human activities. "Well, I guess I'm a little bit of a foodie," She said with a laugh. "I've been rather fortunate and spoiled in that hobby since whining and dining clients falls in to my job description," The words just escaped with more ease the more she went on, and she even grabbed the last remnants of her drink, watered down by melting ices, and leaned back. "I'm not so sure if my career ambitions are ill-advised, but I'm afraid they aren't as interesting. I'm very low on the corporate ladder anyway, but my firm does trust me with some low volume portfolios for risk assessment and consultations when there's difficult numbers that require some laymen's terms because the capital is spread out-- Oh my god, that was awful," She said, cutting herself off.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you to sleep." The apology came out in a breathless, awkward laugh as her face flushed through various shades of pink and red, and saved by the waiter arriving, she casually grabbed her wine glass the second it was poured and hid behind it as she took a loooong sip. Zia was fascinated by numbers and the technical procedures that happened behind the scenes of business. Unfortunately, and she knew, they were not that engaging to the rest of the populace.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:54 pm
With food and drink now provided for, Iouri thought he might be safe from embarrassing himself with any scientific jargon that Zia didn't stand any chance of understanding. "I understand a bit of the financial stuff," he informed her as he unfolded his napkin. "Museum management and all. If I don't watch the budget there's no telling where it will wind up."
With that, he retreated to focusing on his food for a few minutes. Eating was always a good rescue for a conversation that, as fascinating as it was, seemed to have run its course even if there were still two courses left in the meal. Iouri looked up from his chicken and took a long sip of wine.
"How are you liking everything?" he asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "It isn't Destiny City's most prestigious fare, I know," he added nervously. Iouri felt like a bit of a fool, taking someone used to wining and dining corporate head honchos out for relatively inexpensive (but delicious) Italian.
"If you wanted," he said, sort of talking into his wine glass, "You'd be welcome to stop by one of the launches and see how the models work."
If he was trying to save face, it probably wasn't working.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:18 am
"Everything's fine!" Zia said, feeling like she had something to make up for for trailing off into such a boring subject and taking on the guilt for killing the last conversation.
"I mean, it's excellent. More expensive doesn't always mean better, amarite?" She said, feeling stupid the second the last cluster of syllables left her mouth. "I mean... I didn't mean... Wow," She mumbled, trying to hide the sudden, embarrassed blush to her face by downing the contents of her wine glass and trying to look away as casually as possible, one hand covering her face below her nose while she silently wished she could just turn invisible.
Apparently she had slowly lost whatever social skills she had spending her days talking about nothing but money and then dealing with senshi all night.
She tried to will away the extra pink tones heating her cheeks before turning back to face him, though she hadn't worked up the courage to reestablish eye contact.
Clearing her throat, she grasped at the only subject change she could think of. "So... How's Laika doing?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:13 pm
Iouri, not the most socially adept man on the face of the planet despite his better charades at being such, didn't begrudge Zia her momentary awkwardness. On the contrary he found it quite charming to see her composure drop for a moment, as if getting a glimpse of someone just as awkward as he was. That, and he quite agreed with her sentiment about expensive not not necessarily meaning better.
Her choice of new topic came as a relief: talking about his dog was something Iouri could do significantly better than, say, talking about movies. He smiled easily, dimples forming. "Laika is the singularly most unflappable terrier you will ever meet," he assured her. "An earthquake - no - a nuclear bomb would not disturb her."
No yappy dogs in the Spekter household; there was a rumor going around the apartment complex that he'd gotten her debarked, but it was a complete and utter lie. Laika simply did not see the need to shout about everything.
"And Harley?" he asked, reaching for his water goblet. "How is Harley?"
Remotely, he wondered whether talking about their dogs was a good sign or a bad one as to how well the date was going.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 5:36 pm
Zia was not self aware enough to ask herself the same question about whether or not this was a good first date topic. Zia was not a very good first date person at all, if he hadn't gathered by now, and in all the pressure she'd gained from various media facets to engage in flirty banter, the more she seemed to be skirting around it and trying to converse as two friends on the street instead. The dimples didn't go unnoticed, either.
She responded to the description of Laika's demeanor with a laughing smile. "The perfect dog for facilitating a model rocket hobby," She commented and went back to sipping her wine as she pondered the question turned back around on her.
"Well, heh," She stalled, thinking of a way to phrase it as she slowly set her glass down. "He's... Himself. Happy. Energetic. Not very well trained."
A few glasses of wine and increasingly casual conversation later, Zia was at least more loose with her laughter, but still had a terrible tendency to make sure the things she spoke freely about went through a tight round of double checking, which didn't help her stunted ability to converse when they were in the midst of a topic shift, and ended up just trying to ask him a lot of questions instead of talking about herself too much.
The passage of time still managed to slip by largely unnoticed and by then she ended up quietly playing with the rim of her glass trying to figure out the customary way to wrap up a date politely. Nothing was really coming to mind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:39 pm
Dinner went well enough, even if the conversation was floundering. Iouri wasn't the most socially apt man on the planet - something he was demonstrating presently. He was grateful to be offered the dessert menu. It would give him something else to talk about, he hoped.
"I hope you've got a little room left," he said, passing the menu across the table. "They make amazing bread pudding here." Never mind that bread pudding wasn't even Italian, it was still amazing. "If you don't have any objections-"
He didn't think anyone could ever object to bread pudding, and went ahead and ordered one with two forks. "I really - I hope you've enjoyed yourself," he said earnestly as the waiter left. Surely he hadn't just subjected her to an awful evening, had he? They'd eat dessert and then he'd walk her to her car and...
Honestly, Iouri wasn't even expecting to get kissed at this rate, much less anything else. He just wanted to show her a nice time and escape the evening with his dignity intact. (Clearly, Russian rocket scientists were not designed for wooing the ladies.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
