2007-04-03: Dinner Is The Show

Starring:

Elena_icon.gif Eric_icon.gif

Summary: After two months of dancing around each other, Eric and Elena finally go out to dinner…..and before they could even do anything, their reservations explode.

Date It Happened: April 3, 2007

Dinner Is The Show


All Over New York

She was…. a little apprehensive tonight, and that was because her father had been RAGING PISSED OFF MAD AT HER earlier that day. He would've punched Eric too, if he hadn't taken bullets for her. Taking those bullets might have been the best thing to happen to him if Eric had known about the fallout. But Elena, having tired of waiting in the apartment, waits patiently at the front of the building, dressed in her black coat to ward off the chill. She's taken extra care to do her hair and a bit of make-up today, her dark tresses loose and free around her face. She had taken a curling iron to it to emphasize its natural waviness.

Nice Italian place. She didn't really have a lot of nice place things to wear. She has a pair of fitted, black slacks and a pair of strappy shoes. Whatever she's wearing for a top is hidden under the coat. She checks her watch, and occasionally she'll look up at the apartment, and GROANING under her breath. She can't help but remember her conversation with her father. Move the kids to MEXICO? Live in the dorms? Give up their apartment? Was he KIDDING?

Eric…knows not any of these evil things that Elena is thinking, and instead is comfortably warm in his red mustang as he pulls around the corner. The window is fixed, and the car gleams in the fading sunlight. Its a new model, not one of the older ones. He promised himself he would /think/ about getting an old style one, once he felt good enough at driving this one. For now though this will do. Dressed in black slacks, a deep burgundy red silk over shirt and marbled shirt over that, and top it off with a long coat.

Pulling around the corner, the mustang slides to a slow stop in front of her as he notes her on the sidewalk, and the young man unlocks the door before opening his side and poking his head out to grin towards her. "…I'm on time right?"

At the grin, she smiles back….and then? Runrunrunrunruns towards the mustang. It could be because she's INCREDIBLY EXCITED about tonight, but it's more along the lines of Get Out Quickly Before Papa Changes His Mind. Elena yanks open the door, drops in the passenger seat, and closes it. She buckles in. "Nice car," she tells Eric with a hint of a smile. "But we have to go. And yes, you're on time, it's just that…"

She pauses, she looks at Eric. There is a very sheepish look on her face.

"Papaknowsabouttheraidinthefacilityandsaidifyoudidn'tsavemylifehe'dpunchyou," she says hurriedly, and in one breath. If that doesn't get him to put down the gas pedal, she doesn't know what will.

And then, she flashes him a beaming smile. "…so where are we going?"

"Thanks…" He says with a laugh as Eric drops back into the drivers seat. Pulling away from the curb the just blinks as Elena decides to take a moment to inform him of her dad knowing. Yeeees, that does get him to swallow and speed up juuuust a bit. "…oh…." Pause.

"…and he knows I'm taking you out tonight?" He adds after a moment, then a slight smile. "…and he didn't try to lock you in a closet?"

He just shakes his head though and laughs. "A little place I know, it shouldn't take too long to get there. Italian. Been around for years and years…dad used to take me all the time. He likes it."

"Well it's not like he could say anything," Elena says with a pause. "Apparently Cass invited him out to this black tie shindig that's coming up. It sounds fancy, and he hasn't had a date in a while, so…" She looks out the window, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She's even wearing earrings today, the little dangling things glinting from her earlobe. "He feels a little guilty about it though, the way he's twisting his wedding ring around every time he talks about it…" she says softly. "Mama was the love of his life. It's romantic in a way but I can't stand to see him so lonely…"

She pauses, and she laughs, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be such a downer. But he's fine now, stable. He just need to stay away from cholesterol for a while, though I think it was more stress than anything that got him. And this date ought to do him some good. I think it's because….I don't know. He just wants me to go out and have fun tonight. That and he likes you."

That should make things okay, right?

When he describes the place, she grins. "So you like Italian food?" she asks. She was only starting to get to know him, after all. She doesn't even know his favorite color. Hopefully the date will change that.

It definitely doesn't take long to get there, she smoothes her fingertips lightly over the interior of the newer-model Mustang he is driving. The car smell is there, and she takes a good whiff. She hasn't been in anything nicer than the RTS van that her father drives around. And then….she looks up and points to a sign coming up. "Hey, is that the—"

FWA-KWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The roof of the Nice Italian Place suddenly has a hole in it, flames sprouting out like a tree. The yelling commences. Looks like there was an industrial accident in the works. But Elena is staring at this latest disaster in her teenaged life with her jaw hanging open.

"Don't worry about it, your not a downer…" Eric replies with a smile. "He's fine now, and at least a date for him is a step in the right direction eh?" A pause though and he frowns slightly. Could it be the same dance thing that he was invited to? Naw. Couldn't be the same one. There's all sorts of shindigs all over the place. Putting it out of his mind the young man laughs softly and nods. "…well I'm glad he likes me, and I suppose we'll try our best to have fun."

He nods though slightly. "…oh yeah. Italian, Greek, anything from that side of the world I like…and yeah, that’s th—-"

FWACKOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"…place…HOLD ON!" Is all he can say before he has to suddenly do quite a bit of fancy driving just to avoid the sudden jumble of traffic, cars, people, and debris that jets out into the street as the entire entrance of the four decades old restaurant suddenly caves in.

And…he doesn’t do that well on the driving, skidding roughly to a stop as he nearly sideswipes a car and narrowly misses a mailbox.

When the mustang finally squeals to a stop, Elena's got one hand braced on the roof of the car, the other one against the dashboard. Well, Eric told her to hang on, so she did~! Dark, amber-flecked eyes are wide as she stares out as customers spill out on the street, and the fire trucks are called. "…………..I guess that means our reservations are cancelled?" she jests weakly, looking over at Eric. Ah, fun. Fun they WON'T be having. And given it was the dinner rush, in New York, there was no way they were going to get in a decent restaurant in this hour….

She pauses, and looks around. She then looks at him, a slow grin curling on her mouth.

"Get that look out of your face," she says with a grin. "I have an idea. I know this area so…. we can just go straight through and make a right. There's a dollar store there. We need to make -two- stops before our destination." She holds out two fingers towards him, and beams.

….oh oh. What is she planning?

"…what the heck do you have planned for me now?" Eric says with a shake of his head after he pulls his attention away from the fire trucks and the rest of the things. "Alright though, I'll follow your lead on this one…but I'm still paying…" He adds after a moment with a laugh towards her.

He pulls the mustang back slowly into the stream of traffic that’s now trying to get around the flaming building and chaos around it. "…why do we need to go to a dollar store before we go to dinner though?" He asks with a wary eye on the young woman.

"You'll see. And I promise you, you'll pay for everything if you really want," Elena says with a small smile. "And I told you, you'll see! Besides, don't you get tired of the city once in a while? I know I do." Yes, that was definitely a hint. She just leans back on the comfortable car seat, and watches the city lights drift by when the mustang gets moving again. It doesn't take long for them to reach the Dollar Store, and she directs Eric to just park right in the front.

"Stay here," she says, unbuckling the seat. "I'll be right back."

Famous last words.

She also holds her hand out. "I need about ten bucks," she tells him. And whenever he hands her the bill, she leans in and pecks him quickly on the cheek, before she jumps out….and runs into the store like a spastic little girl.

Around ten minutes pass…..and then? She reappears, with a bag of……..seemingly random stuff. She doesn't let him take a look at it though. Instead, she tosses it in the back seat and buckles in. "Okay! Next stop….we'll have to go by the docks."

….docks?

Eric parks in the indicated spot and just shakes his head slightly. "Once again, you never cease to amaze me Elena," He says with a smirk towards her as he watches her hop out and run over to his side. He hands over the requested bill, and just blinks in surprise as she gives him the peck and then runs spastically inside.

When she comes back out? He's playing with a Nintendo DS, poking it with a stylus as he plays whatever game has his attention. However when she comes back out he looks up and closes the top on the thing almost guiltily. "…you took awhile!" He says with a grin towards her, eyes following the back of stuff before she makes the request of the next stop.

"…docks?" Pause. "Fine…off your chariot speeds then!" And he pulls back into the flow of traffic aiming towards the next destination.

"……you're GAMING in our DATE?" Elena exclaims, throwing him a mock-glare. "You fail, Walker. You so fail." She can't help but tease him though, even as he protests that she took a while. And then she grins, jabbing a finger towards the windshield. "Onwards, valiant steed! To the docks!" ……….now who fails? She wonders if she totally botched that line from those Dirk the Daring videogames. And soon, the mustang is off again, speeding towards the directions she specifies to Eric.

When they stop….it looks like a hole in the wall crab shack place. Louie's Crab House. Because it was run by a local New Yorker, it is 'Louie' and not 'Louis'. His French cousin runs the one in Madison Avenue, and it was a fancier place. Still, she bogarts money from Eric again, before she, yet again, runs spastically inside….to get god knows what.

This trip takes a little longer. But when she comes back out, she has a pair of old fashioned, wooden buckets in her hands, the tops covered in tin foil and tightly secured by a rubber band on each of them. Despite the makeshift seal, Eric can smell hot food inside. She sets the buckets carefully on the floor of the car in the backseat, and grins at him.

"Now….we have to drive this way." She points to a northbound direction.

"No more making fun of me gaming if your going to quote Dirk!" Eric says with a laugh as he drives on down the road. He follows the directions easily enough and raises an eyebrow at the crab place. "…do I get out he—- guess not…" He mutters as she runs spastically inside once again.

Mmmm. Its nice to watch her run.

I MEAN DS! YES! GAMES! Which he is doing when she comes back out once more, playing Advance Wars. She took at least 20 that time, that’s enough for most of a battle. However when she comes back out he closes the system up again and glances at the bags of obvious food.

"…north now? Make up your mind!" He teases towards her, but follows the directions once more, shaking his head slightly. "A scavenger hunt date…" He adds after a moment with a grin. "…we could revolutionize everything."

She laughs and blushes, looking down at her lap. "Look, I spent less than fifty dollars in this one date between you and me, you'd think you'd be happy and not TEASE ME so much," Elena states with a laugh, but it's clear she's having fun. The confused look on his face every time she takes money from him and runs into a different building was priceless. "Okay…..that's good, you see that next exit? We'll turn out right here." They're driving closer out of the city and more into the outskirts, towards Upstate New York. She's lived there all her life, and thanks to her father who drove her everywhere….

It is about a 20 minute drive. Thankfully the buckets sealed heat in, so when they arrive the food inside won't be too hot to handle. She makes Eric turn out into a side road, and while it's paved, it's also surrounded by trees and bushes. And when they emerge out….they see a sizeable 'lookout point' overlooking New York City. Thankfully it isn't -too- cold out. It was Spring, and by April the weather was already letting up some. Large boulders of a kind line the middle part, and the edges.

Whenever Eric stops the car, she gets out. "Could you grab the buckets?" she asks him, unbuckling the seatbelt and walking around so she can throw a car door open, and grab the plastic bag she got from the dollar store. She walks over to the giant, flat boulder in the middle. It doesn't look like much of a table. But she digs in the bag, and whips out…..a cheap, deep burgundy tablecloth, removing the plastic and draping it on top. And then she fumbles for the faux silver candlestick she managed to acquire, and sticks a bunch of tall candles on it. She even lights them, and sets it in the middle. And as a piece de resistance…

She whips out a deep green bottle, sticks a fake rose in it, and sets it right near the candlestick. She also pulls out a bunch of cheap pillows from the bag, dropping them on the ground so they can flop on it. Utensils? What utensils? She drags out a couple of wooden mallets and sets them on their 'table'.

Eric drives and laughs. "…alright alright…but…your so very easy to tease!" He says with a wink towards her. "Its all I can do right now to keep from holding you down and trying to get the answer to what all this is about…so consider the teasing the easiest way out."

He still indeed looks rather confused when they pull into the lookout point, though the view is amazing at least. He raises one eyebrow curiously before looking at her. "Of course madame, I shall get the food," He replies with a slight shake of his head, looking quite amused.

He just watches, trying to repress a laugh as she spreads out the table and the pillows and the rose. Wow. Just…wow. "Candle light dinner for two…for under fifty bucks…I'm amazed." He finally says before he thumps down the buckets…and looks warily at the mallets.

"…so were supposed to beat the crabs to death in a cage match?"

"And the best view in town. We're not rich so…..we make do with what we know of the city," Elena says, looking somewhat embarrassed of her lack of funds. She looks over at him and smiles. "I hope you don't mind if it's a little cool, being outside and all….but once we get our hands on the food, it'll be warm enough," she says, gesturing for him to sit and takes one bucket of her own. And at his question, she stares at him….and then, she laughs. "What? Don't tell me you haven't done this before!" she asks with a laugh. "I'll show you if you haven't. And I promise I won't tell anyone."

She unwraps her bucket, and then she reaches in and drags out a few crab parts, as well as a couple of pieces of corn, buttered bread, and a baked potato or two. "But…if you want to put it that way, you're right. We'll be beating the crabs. Except they're already dead. These are to help shell them. And if you've never eaten with your hands before….well. There's a first time for everything."

She takes the mallet, and smashes one crab over the head. "Besides, you're already playing videogames tonight, what's another one?" she teases, breaking off the pieces of shell and offering him a bite. "Here. Gnosh."

"Well I haven't done this before!" Eric says with a mock glower towards her for a moment before he just shakes his head and grins towards her. "But…at least that makes this interesting." He adds thoughtfully. "…and I think I can figure it out…the food at least." He says with a glance at the buckets.

He settles down on the pillows, trying to get comfortable as he folds his long legs up under him. Eyeing the potatoes especially and wondering just how to eat those with your hands, he just settles down for an experience. "…well I have, but…not crab and potatoes." He admits with a laugh.

He laughs once though as he takes up his mallet and grabs a crab. Glaring at it for a moment he grins once. "TAKE THIS FOUL BEAST!" And he thwacks it over the head.

If she's going to call it a game, then might as well go all out.

"My hero! My knight in shining armor! If only I had a handkerchief so I can wave it around like a magnificent poof while you do that," Elena cries dramatically, but she does burst out laughing when Eric slams his mallet on a crab….and watches a few legs fly off and sail down the cliff. She then laughs harder, keeling over in her side of the pile of pillows and burying her face in her hands. "I promise….if we ever do this the next time and if you're -not- weirded out by this, we'll do something that involves real utensils,' she says, in between laughter. Oh god. Oh god she needed that.

She digs out a lump of crabmeat and rolls it into her mouth, breaking off a piece of buttered bread to go along with it. She looks over at him as he continues doing battle with his crab, grinning all the while. "I know you're more into the entire European fare thing but hopefully this isn't too bad. I love seafood. It's just that I can't afford to eat it too often." She nibbles on her crab some more.

Looking up at him, she watches the candlelight's silhouette dance across his face as he concentrates on his food, and she grins. "So….how….are your parents? I mean….I know you said they took you out of the hospital but….I don't think…they're probably not too happy with what happened to you, huh?"

Eric smiles as he takes part of the exploded crap and starts to try to dig some of the meat out of it. He just grins towards her though as she flops over. He pauses a moment though as he watches her. "I'm glad I can get you laughing again," He says with a smile towards her. She seemed to be needing it, and he liked to see her smiling more than frowning.

"Oh no, I'm perfectly happy with sea monsters for dinner," He says cheerfully as he pulls off a leg, concentrating now on the food and not on her face, at least for the moment. He hrmms a moment though before he looks up towards her at the question, blinking curiously towards her. "…my parents? Oh…well…" He gives her a slight smirk. "…my dad was mad until he found out /why/ I did it…and my mom lost her mind a bit. She'll get over it though, she usually does." He sighs and shakes his head. "And my siblings…well…two of them cared, and two didn't which is about what I expected." He pauses again, glancing down at his food and obviously thinking about something.

She would wipe a tear from her eye, but she can't - not with all the crab. Thankfully she brought some hand soap and a few bottles of water to wash off for later before they pack up and leave. Elena grins over at him, and at the quiet remark, she blinks at him…. and then she smiles. "You always could, even if you were shy the first time we met," she says quietly. "It's just that…..well, things got a little hectic, I think. So it was all just stress and worry for a while. But…you and Papa are out of the hospital so…" She smiles. "And I'm having a great time. Even if your restaurant blew up."

When he talks about his family, she furrows her brows a little bit. "Well yeah I know. Papa got mad at me too, though you know why for. I mean….at least you didn't get grounded, right? I'm actually quite surprised they….you know. Still let you go out. Or even hang out with me." Then again she ought to realize that most children don't tell their parents everything like she does. But at the pensive expression on his face, she inclines her head at him. Breaking off a piece of bread, she scoots in close to him. "Eat," she says, feeding him the piece of bread. "What's wrong?" she asks. Was it something she said?

Eric just shakes his head with a slightly rueful look on his face. "The explosion wasn't part of the date…and I hope it wasn't a foretelling of future ones," Did he just say that out loud? Well…yes he did. Quickly moving on he grabs up a bit more of the crab and starts to crack it open as well. "I'm glad the Boss is out of the hospital…" He adds after a moment. "…and he is feeling better…and that he apparently has a date. With Cass no less."

"Well…dad trusts me enough to let me go, and mom trusts dad enough to listen to him…even if she didn't want to let me out of her sight." Eric replies ruefully. "Besides, I have a job and my own life, they understand that…even if they don't like it that much…." And then words go right away as she slides over near to him and actually feeds him a piece of bread.

NOM.

The bread disappears in a surprisingly almost delicate bite, like he doesn’t want to get her fingers and he chews thoughtfully and then shakes his head. "No no, nothing is wrong…" Then a pause before he glances down at his feet, still thinking. Well. She trusts him…so he should trust her right? "…its…just that dad? He's…like us."

Future ones? Elena blinks at him, her cheeks somewhat puffy with the crab. What the hell? Where was her food? Indeed, her share? Almost half gone. She ate fast, and she ate a -lot-. Clearly this girl didn't believe in dieting, and with the way most of her bread is gone, it's clear she didn't subscribe to the low carb thing either. Then again, it's not like she could. She was Mexican American. Rice was part of their cuisine. But when it looks like he's getting the hang of it, she beams at him happily. She knows this is a little weird, but she's glad he's humoring her. "I know," she agrees. "I mean….it's kind of weird, you know? Cass is my friend, but she's going out with Papa in this fancy shindig. Still, they both need a break. I heard she and Lachlan broke up."

She doesn't know the details though. And when he describes his parents, she looks a little relieved. She looks away a bit. "I'm glad," she says softly. "I mean…we're just starting to get to know each other. It would suck if they decided I was too dangerous to hang out with."

The bread is NOM'd. And when he says the last, her eyes widen. "….really? Well I mean I expect it by now, we already established this thing looks hereditary but….really?" It almost sounds recessive now. His father has it, but not his siblings? What about his mother? "….I won't say anything to anybody," she reassures him quietly, searching his face, a lock of hair blowing across her own from the breeze. "I can't blame you for wanting to keep it quiet. I like keeping Papa under wraps too. I'm….glad you told me though. Seriously."

YES FUTURE ONES! The point of a first date was to see if one can wring MULTIPLE dates out of it. Don't you know that?! Oh well. He'll forgive her for not knowing it. If she eats her share fast…well…he wouldn't see anything wrong with that either, after all her figure doesn’t show anything wrong with it. Both of his sisters would kill to look like that. "…well…I know its a bit weird…but at least you like her. I mean it could have been with someone you hate." He adds thoughtfully, not being able to help the returning smile as she beams at him. "…I…didn't know her and Lachlan broke up…but well yeah. If she was going out with your father it would stand to reason…"

As for her being dangerous? Well she is…and his mom would see her as very dangerous. Not in the conventional sense of the word though.

He nods though, prizing out the last bit of his first crab before he smiles towards her. "…I know you won't…and yes really. He…can talk to electronics," Which…makes sense he supposes with what he does. "…well I thought you've trusted me enough, so I can return the favor."

How can she know that? This was her first date ever! And it was probably because she danced competitive. Hours spent bending your body in odd and crazy ways would do that to someone's physique. "I do," Elena says with a hint of a smile. "Cass is really smart, and she's really cute. I mean I didn't know she was in med school or something like that before decided to run a bookstore. I wonder what happened actually….why she quit that…" She pauses, looking at the table and frowning. "Something's miss—oh yeah!"

She drags the third bucket over, opening it and pulling out a bottle of sparkling, apple cider on ice. She grins at Eric sheepishly. "Sorry but….I can't exactly buy champagne," she teases. She hands him the bottle. "You're the guy, you get to uncork it." And she pulls out two cheap glasses to set on their table.

"….no wonder he made that his business…" she murmurs. "Wow. Does that mean your father's the ultimate hacker?" She props her chin on one hand, watching him under the candlelight. Darkness always suited him, but it made sense - his powers were based on it after all.

"It must be a good story," Eric replies with a slight shrug as she talks about Cass's reasons. "But not one I'd want to hear unless she just decides to tell it, I've never been much for digging into other peoples secrets." He smirks slightly then. "Of course it seems I'm all for breaking and entering and things eh?" He adds with a wink.

At the appearance of the cider, he just laughs and pulls out a pocket knife. "…an excellent year," He teases as he picks up the bottle, expertly slicing though the wrapping after clicking open the knife, and then pulling the bottle opener attachment to open the thing. He even pours for her first.

"…I don't know, I…didn't really ask what all he could do. I was too busy sitting there looking like a landed fish when he told me."

She laughs when he teases her, poking him playfully on the side as she wipes her fingers off with a wet nap. "Hey you shut up," she laughs. "Champagne is -definitely- out of both our budgets. You're lucky I managed to wheedle that one out of Louie in the Crab shack in the first place."

"You are," Elena says with a small smile. "Starting with my bedroom window," she says with a laugh, and when he pours for her first, she takes the fizzy drink, and waits for him so she could clink their glasses together playfully. "Besides, these days secrets are the name of the game," she says pensively, looking up at the clear skies over their lookout point. "Not like I try to hide everything else, but these days I just….I don't know. I feel like a spy half the time. I don't know if I'm actually keeping my head above the water."

"It must be a bit of a shock," she agrees. "I understand it." She looks at him and she smiles winningly. "I'm actually kind of glad we got to do this. I mean….I don't really know much about you aside from …you know. School and stuff. Bits of what you'd tell about your family." She toys with her wet nap a bit.

He doesn’t say anything about budgets really, just watches her a moment. Then he shakes his head ruefully. "Well I don't see how he could say no to you!" Eric replies as he laughs, shying away from the poking.

"…well…that’s different," Eric says with a slightly wry smile, as he valiantly tries to fight off the memory of the other things that happened in said bedroom. Come on, he's been good all night, don't blush now. "…you invited me in, that’s not quite breaking and entering…" He says as they clink glasses. A nod though before he shrugs. "…yes it is, but…well…at least we seem to be doing some good with these secrets eh? As for how your keeping up with everything…well…I think your up to it all." He says with a stalwart nod towards her.

At the smile though he chuckles, taking a sip of the cider. "…well…what do you want to know? Ask away and I'll try to do my best to answer."

"Yes but you're my friend and you're biased, you're liable to think I can just ask and people will be rushing to get it for me," Elena says with a laugh, cradling the glass. ….or were they just friends? They sort of are. But they're on a date, which means….ah, she didn't know anymore. She takes another sip of the cool cider, and looks out at the view. She exhales softly, it was nice out where she was. Out and away from the city, she can forget about all the worrying for a bit.

Ah yes, the bedroom. There was no shame in kissing, but at the reminder she does flush, and valiantly tries not to think about it. "Yeah, that's all we can do. Try and do some good with all of them." She looks at Eric. "Cass managed to convince someone to set some rooms aside in a new hospital for tests," she decides. "She wants to collaborate and…do what I'm doing for you and Papa. So….that's another thing I guess."

At the last, she looks at him, and she grins, leaning in and looking him right in the eye. "Really? Anything?" She furrows her brows, making a big show of concentrating. Finally, the impish smile breaks out again. It had always been easy to make him blush, so…

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asks, trying to keep a straight face. And yes, she BATS HER EYELASHES at him.

Friends? Well there in that sort of stage, between friends and something else he would say if asked. However he hasn't been asked, so for the moment he'll just think it. Was it really time to go beyond friends? When the world could end and they get torn apart so quickly if everything went badly. This wasn't the time or place to worry about it though. This was a place to relax.

"…that’s good, then we can expand everything then. Get someway were we can all practice and test each other maybe…without the damn Company coming down on our heads." He smirks slightly. "What we really need is…an anti-company, though I don't know how we could ever get something like that going."

As she leans in though, he blinks watching her. Oh god. She's going to ask about his family and his past and the reason he isn't worried about money…

Then…she asks what he does.

The batting eyelashes, the straight face. He just stares at her a moment as a blush starts to color his face. "I…um…well…" He pauses again before he sighs and gives her a slight smirk. "…I think your the most gorgeous woman I've met. In looks and personality." He finally answers in total and complete honesty.

All valid points. Tornados and viral holocausts tended to do that to relationships after all. Still, Elena didn't have a lot of experience when it came to such things. She was also a teenaged girl, so while pushed aside, it always lingers at the back of her mind. But the cider is helping, and the ambience, the fact that in her first date ever, something blew up. Maybe she just really needed to get out of New York….

"Maybe," Elena says with a smile. "I don't know if they like to share the turf though," she says. "But yeah….an anti-Company. It's just that it's so easy to become them and all. I mean I know they're not completely evil, but at the same time…" She watches the apprehensive look on his face, and when he comes clean with what he does, there is silence…

After a pause, she speaks softly, a small smile and a hint of a blush coloring her cheeks. "…..you know I was kidding when I said that right?" she asks quietly. "I didn't really mean….I mean I thought you'd throw another joke or something…" She laughs a little nervously, and looks away. It was just a JOKE. But he took it seriously so….for the moment there is nothing, completely blindsided by the honest response.

Not for long though. She looks over at him again, and she leans in to brush her mouth against his. It was something soft, featherlike - as if it came from one of those moments between wakefulness and sleep. But she couldn't let a generous comment like that slide.

"I doubt they do, but of course what they don't know won't hurt them right?" Eric replies with a soft laugh. He nods once though. "I know…if they had approached me differently, if I hadn't have known, then I might be more willing to listen or go with them. I just can't let them run amok and do as they please though…its just…not right…"

As she blushes though, he does too. "…I know…but I said I'd answer honestly so…I did." He shrugs slightly, taking a drink of the cider. It was the truth at least, even if she didn't expect it…and he didn't actually believe he would say it.

When she leans forwards though and brushes her lips against his mouth, he can't help but turn slightly to make that kiss just a slight bit warmer, just a slight bit more full.

This was entirely new. By all rights, Elena was usually perfectly content to let him steal what he could from her. But….well. She broke enough rules in the last few months anyway. What's another? Besides, it just felt like the thing to do. That….and well, he was driving. If she was stingy about her affection, he might ditch her there and she can't have that. Plus he probably felt bad about the restaurant and…

Oh hell.

She did it because she wanted to.

When he turns his head to press his mouth fuller into hers, her eyes open partway, before they drift shut again. There is a brief pause, and then she slides in closer so she could move and get on his lap, straddling his legs and wrapping her arms around his neck. Clearly, he wanted more, and quite frankly, so did she. Teenaged hormones aside, she just liked the feel of him around her.

And if she had it her way, they'd spend all night like that.

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