Day 42, Noon: The Twin Pine Restaurant

[thatdamnedninja]

Yuffie took the long way around, practically making it a tour of the entire town. She collared--not literally, since the nurses would've thrown fits--a few random citizens along the way, asked as many inconspicuous sounding questions as possible, and then moved on. Wash, rinse, repeat. Sneaking a few covert glimpses into stores and windows

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[opposingheaven]

Once it began to approach lunchtime, Kenren headed off towards the restaurant to meet up with Hanatarou and Nataku. He didn't bother walking too quickly; he'd seen Nataku talking with Homura after all, and who knew what Hanatarou was up to. He'd give them time to finish off whatever they were doing before they came to meet him.

He stopped outside the Twin Pines, taking a look at the menu which was up in the window. He'd eaten here before and the food looked much the same, but it was a decent selection. Better than the Institute. Had it really been a week since he'd been here? It felt like a lot longer since he'd been here with Rhode.

[For Hanatarou and Nataku.]

[mitase]

It was fortunate that Sora at least knew where to find the restaurant, since Hanatarou was convinced that otherwise he would've ended up wandering around completely lost and missed his meeting. It didn't look like Kenren had been waiting too long, though, and there wasn't any sign of Nataku so far, though, so the healer breathed a faint sigh of relief as he approached the building.

"I'm not late, am I...?" he asked as he paused close to where Kenren stood, hood up and hands jammed into his jacket's pockets against the cold. It didn't seem so, but he still wanted to make certain.

[opposingheaven]

Kenren smiled when he spotted Hanatarou heading his way along with another kid. He stepped away from the wall and gave them a wave. He couldn't help but grin at Hanatarou's jacket though. That was just immensely cute. He kind of wanted to have Goku there and put him in a monkey jacket like it. He thought that Goku and Hanatarou would get on as well as he and Nataku seemed to. Hanatarou seemed like he could use a few more friends.

"Hey, good to see you," he said genuinely, smiling at him. "And you aren't late. No worries."

[mitase]

Hanatarou blinked once, then gave a shy smile in return. "Oh. Good." He hesitated a moment, glancing around uncertainly as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Was, um, Nataku coming too?"

Maybe the History Club people would want him to work with these two again? That didn't seem like it would be a bad thing. Even if he would have to be careful to avoid Nataku when he had a pen in hand.

[opposingheaven]

Kenren nodded easily, shoving his hands back into his pockets and looking down the street for a moment. "He said he'd be coming so he'll be here soon I'm sure." He was loyal to his friends, even to the point of death. Kenren just hoped that Li Touten got what he deserved for what he'd done. It was a shame that he hadn't got to do it with his own hands.

"You want to head inside or wait for him here?" he asked after a moment. "And how are you feeling today? Recovered?"

[mitase]

"No, I'm fine, really. It wasn't that big of a deal, I just got a little tired." Hanatarou pulled a hand out of his pocket to wave it in front of himself, as though brushing away Kenren's concerns. He really did feel fine after a little rest, and didn't want anyone to worry about him without reason.

The question made him look a little more uncomfortable, though. "Um...I don't want to miss him. Or for him to think we got tired of waiting." There wasn't any sign of him, though, and it was kind of cold outside, so it might be nicer to wait inside.

[opposingheaven]

Kenren laughed softly and reached out to ruffle the kid's hair. "We weren't expecting it. We were worried and we don't like seeing friends get hurt, no matter the cause." Even if he was grateful for the healing, he didn't like that he needed to mess someone up for the night in order for it to work.

"I don't think he'll mind," Kenren replied. "We can go and grab a table at least and get drinks." He turned to push the door open, holding it open for Hanatarou.

[mitase]

The hair-ruffle was unexpected enough that Hanatarou could do nothing but blink and absently reach up to smooth his hair back down with one hand. "Oh. Well, um, it's never been that bad before?" Probably best not to mention the headaches healing gave him. Or the nosebleeds. It wasn't that big of a deal, and would only make Kenren worry.

He glanced at the door, then once more down the street, and finally nodded and stepped inside. It seemed like Kenren would know, so if he said it was all right then it must be.

There were quite a few people already inside, though, and the healer paused to blink around the room. "Looks like everyone else wanted to eat here, too..."

[opposingheaven]

That made Kenren chuckle softly. "Hopefully it won't be as bad again," Kenren said. "Just let us know if it gets too bad, especially if we end up outside one of the rooms one night." The last thing they wanted was for the kid to get knocked out while they were being attacked.

Kenren raised an eyebrow at the rather full restaurant. "Yeah, seems like," he agreed. "But there's still space," he added, pointing to a free table in one corner.

[stringless_doll]

[kdfj life ate me. OTL]

It took Nataku a longer to find the restaurant than he expected. He got a little sidetracked during his own searching and he ended up (grudgingly) asking a nurse where to go.

There wasn't anyone waiting outside when he got there, but it could be one of those weird times when he'd rushed somewhere expecting to be late and turned up too early instead. He ducked in to do a quick check of the inside and grinned. He wished he had thought to bring a pen and paper. Their backs were turned and everything.

"Hey, Kenren!" Nataku greeted cheerfully. Hantarou got a sympathetic grimace, and he found himself echoing Ritsuka's sentiment about the sweaters, "They got you too, huh?"

[mitase]

Hanatarou jumped a little, startled, before swiveling to look back at Nataku with some relief. Oh, good. He'd found them, and just in time, too.

"Um. I guess so." He self-consciously brushed a hand down the front of his jacket, grimacing in return at the jacket the other was wearing. Apparently it really was a source of amusement for them to put people in these outfits. "They gave this to me last week, too. At least it's warm...?"

[opposingheaven]

Kenren waved over at Nataku when the other god arrived, beckoning him over to the table. "Hey. Sorry we came inside but it's kind of cold out there and apparently the nurses don't think I'm cute enough to pull off a sweater like that," he added with a rakish grin as he looked over Nataku's jumper. They were like twins.

"So, do you two have any idea of what you want to eat?" he asked, glancing between them.

[stringless_doll]

"I guess." Nataku replied, sounding resigned to his fate. He didn't really mind the teasing. It just took some getting used to, and some small part of him couldn't help but feel embarrassed at being called cute.

"If you like it that much I could talk to them for you, Kenren. You and Homura can have a pair of matching ones next trip. What animal do you like? Bunny rabbits maybe?" He grinned. "You can get a tail too."

He sat in one of the chairs and rested his hands in his lap, glancing at Hanatarou, then back at Kenren with a shrug. "I don't know. Food." He wasn't trying to be clever, he just didn't really have an opinion on what he ate.

[mitase]

What he wanted to eat? Hanatarou blinked and shook his head a little at Nataku - he had no idea, either. Most of the food at the Institute was strange to him, and he didn't expect what they could get here in town to be any different.

"Er. Whatever they have...?" he replied, with a shrug that matched Nataku's. He hadn't really expected to have much of a choice. "I'm, um, not very picky..."

[opposingheaven]

"I think I'll pass," Kenren replied dryly, although he would take it in good humour if it ever came to that. And then possibly sneakily kill whichever nurse was dumb enough to try to get him into it. "Besides, women look much better in bunny outfits," he said with a lascivious wink at the pair.

And neither of them had an opinion? He grabbed a couple of menus and pushed them across to Nataku and Hanatarou. "I am intended to go against ever edict of heaven and have steak."

[stringless_doll]

That was just like Kenren. Nataku rarely cared to listen to gossip, but it sounded like his friend's reputation in the heavens wasn't entirely undeserved. That gave him an idea for later though. His grin wasn't entirely innocent.

With another shrug at Hanatarou he picked up one of the menus and tried to find this steak Kenren was willing to defy heaven for. There were a bunch of ways to have it cooked. Nataku made a face at the last one.

"'Blue steak'? People eat things like that? Why don't they just bite into a cow?" It turned out he was pickier about food than he thought. It didn't really have much to do with heaven; he just didn't like the way meat smelled, cooked or otherwise. He'd always unconsciously avoided it at the institute. "I think I want salad."