Welcome to Gaia! ::

Score. Ricky Cunningham had landed a date. He wasn't sure how he'd done it. Sure, he'd been around the block a bit since moving to Destiny City, but most girls who got to know him better wanted less and less to do with him. Maybe that was the issue - Anella hardly knew Ricky, she only knew him as Troy and he only knew her as Aventine. And perhaps that was for the best.

Of course, none of this went through Ricky's simple mind. He was just happy to be on a date as he waited for her to arrive at a tiny diner. Sure, it was nothing classy, but as far as he was concerned it was some of the best food in town. He could read everything on the menu and know exactly what it was - no weird named foods here - and the prices were really affordable. Some may argue dirt cheap, a step above fast food. Plus, the food wasn't half bad, as good as fast food! And to top it all off, there were a few TVs by the counter with football, soccer and even some rugby action going on.

It was the perfect place for a first date. Right?

"Yup!" Ricky beamed as he gestured for his date to take a seat. He didn't even need to use the name tag he had made for her to find him. Which was most likely a good thing, too, as the name tag read in poor, childlike handwriting: Richy Ricky.

"Erm, you are Anella right?" he asked, wanting to make sure he didn't just ask a stranger to join him on a date. "Y'know, also Aventi---" he stopped himself. He shouldn't say that name in public, not as civilians. He was learning that! Progress! "Erm, I mean, heh."

"Glad you can make it," he continued. "You look all real pretty and stuff."

Ricky had such a way with words, knowing just how to get into a woman's heart by telling her she looked pretty and stuff.

Ricky knew that he was being complimented, and grinned a bit at that. No matter how many compliments he got on his body or how he thought of himself, he always turned into a blushing schoolboy at the hint of flirtation. However, he only got the idea of some flirtation - there were parts that really confused him.

"I dun know, I never dressed up as a monkey," he shrugged, his face still reddened. He wasn't quite sure what she was referring to there. "I hope you didn't have none troubles finding the place. The food here is mighty good though. You like burgers? They got the best burgers."

Leave it to Ricky to begin a date talking about burgers.

"Naw, normally I just bring girls back to my apartment," he said. Wait, that didn't sound classy at all. What he had meant was that he doesn't go on very many dates, although there wasn't really a classy way of saying he just has one-night-stands anyway. He quickly picked up his menu and buried his face behind it until he felt that he wasn't as red with embarrassment. "Erm, I just mean that I don't normally take girls on dates since most don't seem interested in knowin' me. Most think I'm like, too dumb or too stupid or too..."

Ricky lost his train of thought.

"But I'm sure you get taken on dates a lot," he suggested. "Pretty and nice girl like you."

"Naw, I think I understand that," he said with a nod. He wasn't sure if he really did understand what he was saying - although if he did, he would find that he felt the same way. He felt it would have been bad, however, to say he had no idea what she was talking about and would just seem like an idiot.

"I don't know why you think you chase guys away though. You ain't scaring me away," he offered with a light smile.

Unfortunately for them both, Ricky's tendency to misunderstand was kicking in again. Her reference to having the same late night hobbies did not signal 'Knight' to Ricky, but instead signaled Anella as another stripper.

"Erm, my family's in 'Bama and uh...," he started, losing his train of thought with his own life and finding more interest in her life. A stripper who apparently likes guns, big dogs, and babies. They had so much in common, Ricky thought.

"Aw! I like guns and babies too," he beamed. "Not together, that's probably dangerous I'd reckon. But my uncle and I used to go hunting down in 'Bama every now and then, ever since I was maybe six. Just deer and rabbit mostly, but aw s**t it was fun. I haven't gone shootin' at all since I moved here."

"But aw, man, I had no idea you were a stripper too," Ricky smiled. Or wait, were female strippers called something else? "Or is it prostitute? Whore?"

He really didn't know the right term, but as soon as he spoke he had a feeling to put his foot in his mouth.

"Erm, yeah, I thought you knew that," Ricky said, his face turning red. He did tell her he was a stripper, right? He could have sworn he told her when they were both Knights --- oh! That's what she was referring to. The sudden realization was evident through his expression. "Oh right, yeah, that's what you meant. D'oh!"

"Aw, naw, you wouldn't want to see me strip naked," he insisted. Wait, no, that wasn't what he wanted to say, was it? "I mean, do you? Er, you can if you want, I don't mind doing that for you none. I mean, uhm. The club's a dirty ol' place but I can get naked in private and uh...yeah, we can go huntin'."

Ricky was looking for that waitress to break some awkwardness.

Ricky gave a nod and called over the waitress for them both to order their food. It didn't take long for the food to come back out - it was a diner, not a fancy tableclothed place - and both of them were so hungry and focused on their food, they barely spoke as they wolfed down the food except for Ricky's occasional blabbering about how good the burger was. It wasn't until all the food was gone and the waitress had placed down the bill at the table that Ricky was able to focus on speaking to his date again.

"Good burger, right?" he confirmed with a smile. "There anywhere you wanna go after this?"

He reached out for the bill and pulled out his wallet, ready to pay. He knew that city girls often tried to go dutch on the bill, but he was a bit more old-fashioned as he placed down enough bills to cover the expense and tip.