(Untitled)

[epitomeofvanity]

WHO: Miyazawa Yukino [epitomeofvanity] + Don Draper [change_just_is]
WHEN: Friday, February 20th, 1953
WHERE: Schwarzalbenheim; Apt. 2
FILTER: Closed.
WHAT: Cooking Lesson time!
STATUS: [COMPLETED]

Comments

[change_just_is]

Don takes a big bite of his food, now that she's taken a bite. He didn't want to appear rude by diving right into it, but now that she's started eating, he feels free too. "This is great!" he exclaims, sounding genuinely pleased. He's half surprised that he was able to make something taste so good--with Yukino's assistance, of course. After she sets down the salt shaker, he picks it up and adds some salt to his meal, then picks up the pepper shaker and adds some of that, too.

"Well, we could go to the brothel," he says, winking. He'd been there a few times already, of course, but it wasn't something he was going to bring up in polite conversation with someone he was trying to flirt with. She'd either be jealous, or just find it to be inappropriate. However, that didn't mean he was beyond joking around about going there with her some other time.

[epitomeofvanity]

His delight at the meal only makes her smile around her fork. "You should be able to do it yourself. I wrote down the instructions on a little piece of paper for you." She continues to eat, pleased herself with how it turned out. It wasn't as good as it would be at home, but she's really starting to forget the complexity of flavors. Simple filling meals made her just as happy as a treat of cake did at home. It made her appreciate what she used to have

[change_just_is]

"I will definitely do it myself," he says. His roommates will certainly be jealous. Maybe he'll just let them think he's really good at cooking and that he didn't need lessons, although that could backfire when they ask him what else he can cook. Perhaps they'd be suitably impressed by his fried eggs, but he somehow didn't think so. He already ate pretty simply at home, so he wasn't missing anything, in this meal. It had everything he'd need, and he was finding that even though he didn't eat many vegetables at home, he enjoyed the ones he was eating with this meal.

He laughs. "There are some things I'd rather not have to buy," he says, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Sure, he's been there, and he's chatted with some of the women, but he's being honest in that he'd rather not hire a prostitute if he didn't have to. Especially if he could get those same benefits from someone he also could have a good conversation with, like he had been having with Yukino since they'd met. He takes another bite of his food, chewing happily.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino can only smile more at his determination to do it himself. As long as she kept it simple, she doesn't think that he'll have any problem once he gets home. If he did do something too wrong, she'd say to call her over, but it's almost laughable how she still forgets some of the modern inventions aren't around.

And cue a blush as she quickly mutters, "I don't either...!" Then shovels a few forkfuls into her mouth so that she doesn't have to continue on that line of conversation. She certainly wouldn't pay for something like that! Yukino is sure that she's perfectly fine without that in Veles. There were plenty of other things that she could.... occupy her time and thoughts with.

[change_just_is]

He can't help but smile at her blush. It amuses him to see that even talking about such a thing, when he's not flirting with her too heavily, she gets flustered. He can't say that he would never pay for something like that, but he certainly wouldn't want to, if given the choice. And throughout his life, he'd always been able to get what he wanted, in that area. Veles was a little different--everyone was so concerned about survival that they didn't respond as well to his flirtations, but that didn't mean that with a little work, he couldn't achieve what he wanted. It was just like his job, only the outcome could be a lot more fun.

He takes another huge bite, then forces himself to slow down a little. He's eating his food much faster than she is, as he was probably far hungrier than she was when he started, but he doesn't want it all to disappear before he's really enjoyed it to the full extent that he can. He leans back and stretches, grinning at her.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino blushed easily when it was just romantic things. She had gotten better since her sophomore year, but sex and things like that weren't a conversation topic she gabbed about with her friends that often. The other girls in her class did and she was certainly curious, but she hadn't ever indulged. She had Soichi, and while their sex life was certainly healthy, she never discussed it with anyone but him at length. That Don was so forward about it threw her off. She had been in Veles for over a year with all sorts of people, but no one had directed that kind of energy at her so intently and consistently as he had so far. It made her a bit uncomfortable, but it was flattering at the same time

[change_just_is]

Don was far less forward than a lot of his coworkers were, which Yukino might have found hard to believe. For example, his coworkers often bragged about women they'd been with, or made sexual comments about the secretaries in the office. Don never made those kind of comments, even if he had those thoughts. His flirtations in private, however, were often quite forward, and Yukino was receiving the best of his flirtations. He hoped she felt flattered rather than put off by his advances, but she hadn't told him to stop flirting yet--only told him to be good and keep his hands to himself.

He took another small bite, forcing himself to chew it and savor it. "Maybe we could go to one of the bars sometime," he suggests.

[epitomeofvanity]

Definitely have found it hard to believe, though so far he had only been his worst when it was just the two of them. There hadn't been a time where someone was very close by and he had continued on. She had been cautiously looking at him as she ate, especially his last grin, but it had lapsed into a comfortable silence. She only looked at him a few moments, not wanting it to seem like she was staring at him. Yukino had a feeling that would only bring on more uncomfortable topics and eyebrow waggles. She was going to be very wary of those from now on, too

[change_just_is]

"You should," he says. He has figured out that she doesn't drink, but that doesn't mean that she can't try sometime. Especially if he's there to suggest drinks to her, maybe she'd be more willing to do so. And maybe if Yukino had a few drinks, she might be more willing to kiss him. He certainly wouldn't let anyone besides him make her uncomfortable or flirt with her. Although he may be flirtatious himself, he was generally uncomfortable with other men flirting with the women he was with, and would let them know so. When someone flirted with his wife, on the rare occasions they went out together, he made sure to put the other man in his place. Subtly, of course. He wasn't one to make a scene.

Now that he's thinking of being back home, of course, he's getting that slightly wistful, slightly pensive expression on his face again.

[epitomeofvanity]

"I don't drink," she says, and wrinkles her nose a bit. "It smells weird and it probably tastes strange, too." She didn't see the point of drinking really. She knows she'll probably have to find something she likes when she's forced to go out drinking socially for work, but that's a long time off. Then again, college, too, probably would have its far share of drinking. Yukino might have tried some at home, but now she was in Veles and spending the money on that experimentation just wasn't worth it.

She's chewing on another forkful when Don's face changes. It's that look again, and she swallows what's in her mouth. She can't help but look concerned, since she has no idea how talking about a bar brought that expression on his face. She really doesn't like it, and puts down her fork so she can lightly touch his hand.

[change_just_is]

He looks down at her hand that's touching his hand lightly. His eyes are somewhat far away, and he knows that part of him is enjoying the sympathy he's getting from her, but there's a part of him that's really thinking about his past, now. Things from the time before he arrived in Veles were so tangled up, and he didn't really talk about these things with anyone. His childhood would always follow him, no matter what he did, but he'd tried his damnedest to escape it. And of course it popped up at the most inopportune moments, as well as the thoughts about his wife and family. When he got home, Betty was going to be so angry that he'd left her alone with the kids while he'd been stuck here... and she probably wouldn't believe that he'd been dragged back in time into Russia.

He sighs, and takes another bite of his food with the hand that she's not touching.

[epitomeofvanity]

That far away expression, like he wasn't even really there, made her squeeze his hand a little. Then he started to eat and she lifted her hand away. She debates on saying something, anything at all, but decides not to. Yukino wasn't going to let her curiosity open up something she might not have been prepared for, much less Don. This was only the second time they'd really talked, and it was far too early, may always be too early, for soul searching conversations. Whatever it was that made him get those looks he would come to term with on his own, with or without her.

She moves to get her fork so she could continue to eat. There were only a few bites left, and while she wasn't all that hungry, it wasn't worth trying to save it for later.

[change_just_is]

He was grateful that she didn't say anything, because he probably wouldn't have revealed how he was feeling, anyway. He would have had to have written it off as nothing, or made some kind of joke, or changed the subject, and he always hated having to do that. It wasn't that he wasn't good at it--years of practice in his job and in his marriage had made it almost impossible for people to tell when he was lying--but he didn't want to make Yukino feel that he was hiding things from her, even if he was.

She'd seemed to care about him, at least based on the squeeze she gave his hand, so he decided to go for it. Now was as good a time as any. He reached across the table, cupping her cheek in his hand, and leaned to kiss her on the lips, lingering as long as she'd let him.

[epitomeofvanity]

The tongs of the fork were sliding across the plate when the movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Yukino paused, eyes flicking over and seeing it was a hand. Don's hand. He's reaching and then she feels his fingers slide across her skin. Her eyes move up, but seeing his face so close doesn't make her eyes widen in shock. At least not this time. Her eyebrows knit together a little, and a look that's similar to the one of concern she had just moments prior crosses her face. Her face turns minutely away, but he still catches her full on the lips

[change_just_is]

She'd let the kiss go on longer than he'd expected she would, and she hadn't retaliated with another punch or a slap, as he'd half expected her to. He wants to meet her gaze, to see what he can read in her eyes, but she's looking away from him, blushing only slightly. He wasn't sure whether this meant she wasn't as flustered by this as she had been by other things he did, or simply whether she'd enjoyed it more. Perhaps she felt guilty. He knew she had a fiance, and she might feel uncomfortable about being physically close to someone else. But they were stuck in Veles, and neither her fiance nor his wife were anywhere near them, time-wise nor place-wise. Of course, it didn't occur to him that his morals might not be the same as everyone else's, in that regard.

His hand is still reached out towards her from where he'd been holding her cheek, and he puts his fingers under her chin, tipping her head up so that she meets his eyes. "You didn't hit me. We're making progress," he says, teasingly.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino's too confused as to why he's lavishing so much attention on her. Part of her isn't surprised by this at all. She's quite a catch: smart, diligent, thoughtful. She deserves the attention, and it's about damn time. Of course, she has Soichi and it doesn't matter how far away he is. He's still there. She still loves him, and he her. Regardless of if she asked for it, being so close to someone else was wrong, and it filled her with guilt for not avoiding it when she so obviously could have. Truthfully, she didn't know why he had decided right then, but his timing had been good for him, as her sympathy for him made her a lot less likely to get violent with him. Whatever moral issues Don didn't have, he was going to have to fight through hers before he'd get anything more than an extremely brief press of the lips