(Untitled)

[leavenormal]

DATE: Evening of Day 56
CHARACTER(S): Reno clocksoutearly  and Liz liz_crashdown 
STATUS: Closed//Incomplete
SUMMARY: Reno on a date??? With Liz no less.
LOCATION: Cafeteria then the Media room

Comments

[leavenormal]

Liz spotted the red head easily, his back toward her as he looked outside one of the many windows in the cafeteria. She hadn't actually had a chance to really look outside yet. She made her way over to him, reaching out and tapping his shoulder. "Reno?"

[clocksoutearly]

At the mention of his name, Reno turned around to find Liz standing behind him wearing something far different than what he'd usually seen her wearing when passing her in the halls. She was definitely different from the girls he'd usually date, and it would take some effort on his part to give her the pleasant evening she'd most likely be expecting. Instead of a comment involving "that'd look better on my floor", he opted for something a little less crude.

"Hey, Liz. You misplace your lab coat or something?" he said, adjusting the goggles- there wasn't really a need for his sunglasses anymore, considering their location- that held his hair out of his eyes. "Kidding, you look nice. Don't tell me you go playing around with all that science stuff looking like that. I'd have brought flowers, but I figured you'd want to study them instead."

[leavenormal]

Liz laughed at his comment, reaching out to shake his hand. "No, I like to keep it in the lab. I only wear it for special occasions. And you look pretty nice, yourself." She smirked at him. "And don't worry about the flowers. I didn't even know they had them on here." Which was the truth, but she hadn't really thought to ask. "Besides botany isn't my thing anyway, I'm more of a chemistry/biology kind of gal."

She smiled at him sweetly. "So what do they have to eat in this place tonight?"

[clocksoutearly]

"Either way, you clean up nicely and you're going to make a lot of people jealous of you. And me, 'cause you agreed to this. Hey, I try- kinda miss the Turk suit, but I'm pretty much stuck in uniform all the time- comes with the job," he said, deciding to take a tip from his old boss's playbook instead of just shaking her hand. Instead, Reno opted to raise Liz's hand and kiss it gently before smirking back at her. "Don't know what's on the menu, but I don't think we've got that many choices."

He hadn't bothered to show up armed- although he was proficient with a gun, he much preferred hand-to-hand combat, and showing up to a date while packing heat probably wasn't in his best interests. He'd already chosen a table- one with a nice view of, well, space, and he headed over to look at the evening's menu along with Liz. It looked like the choices were some kind of vegetable lasagna, seitan "ribs" with a baked potato, or a spicy tofu dish similar to something he remembered from many late nights of Wutain takeout at work

[leavenormal]

"Well, thank you for saying so." Liz couldn't help but smile. The guy was smooth, that's for sure. And he even kissed her hand. Max had been the last to do that. But she didn't want to think about him, not now. Where ever he was he'd want her to be happy and have fun.

As Reno headed over to look at the menu, she followed. Cringing at the menu, as she usually did, she remembered the food was better than it had been at Roswell High. And when he spoke, she nodded slightly. "Yeah its not too bad, I don't trust the meat of course. I've heard is made of peeeeeooooopppllle. Like Solent Green or something." She laughed, as she finally decided on the lasagna. "Shall we?"

[clocksoutearly]

Reno laughed at her suggestion about the meat being human, but made a mental note to look into it later. He'd eaten his share of questionable food thanks to his "talents" while in the break room kitchen, so nothing on the menu scared him too much.

"Nah, you can't make meat out of people. Cardboard, stray animals, glue? Yeah- that's why I never ordered takeout from under the plate," Reno laughed, carrying Liz's tray to the table he'd placed a "RESERVED" sign on. Well, considering it was his doing, the sign implied that anyone dumb enough to attempt it would be getting the Turk's fist to their face. He set her tray down on the table, then pulled her chair out for her before sitting across from her.

"I think I've told you enough about Midgar and what I do. What about you?"

[leavenormal]

She glanced at him as he spoke, laughing. As she reached for her tray, he picked it up for her. Another point for Reno! She laughed at the homemade reserved sign, finding the gesture thoughtful and sweet. And then he pulled out her chair. Another point. Settling in her chair, she smiled at him. "You're such a gentleman! Thanks."

She started picking at her food before she spoke. "No, I'm not sure you have... But as for me? I work at the lab part-time and at the smoothie bar place too. Otherwise, I'm bored out of my mind."

[clocksoutearly]

Reno was happy he was at least scoring somehow, and he let out a slight laugh when he realized just how badly Tseng would mock him (in private, of course) if he were around to see the otherwise incorrigible Turk treating his date like a lady. "Hey, I try. Not very hard, but I try."

Reno dug into his tofu dish using the chopsticks he'd requested- he'd become fairly skilled with them- and nodded at what she said. He was bored here too, seeing as how his life before Pluto had involved a healthy paycheck, the chance to travel the world, and other opportunities that generally weren't offered to even the highest of Shinra executives.

"So you're good at science and you could make me a good frozen drink? I like you even better. I'm not exactly allowed in a kitchen, but that's another story," Reno remarked. "I was asking about what you did before you got here. Don't want to bore you with my stories."

[leavenormal]

Liz picked at her vegetable lasagna, eating only a little bit. She was craving a big juicy cheeseburger, but Liz wasn't one to complain at all. Smiling at his compliment. "I'm good at other things besides that, buddy." She smirked at him, eating a few more bites.

"Me? Oh, well I used to work at my parent's cheesy alien themed diner." She smiled weakly, missing it more than she ever thought she would. "In Roswell, New Mexico. Went to high school and worked at the diner. Nothing too exciting. But you I bet you have some interesting stories."

[clocksoutearly]

"You bet I do," Reno smirked, taking another bite of his meal. "Job took me everywhere in the world. You should've seen the festivals they had in Wutai. I usually got to travel by private helicopter to anywhere around the world- 'course, I was flying it. There's nothing better than to get paid for sitting on a beach."

He decided to stay away from the other parts of his work- Sector 7, everything else he'd done at Rufus's orders- but it wasn't like he didn't have enough appropriate stories to make up for it.

"Nothing wrong with cheesy- the Gold Saucer had that down. Some amusement park with enough lights, arcade noises, and special effects to distract you from anything. That music made me want to put a bullet in my skull every time*. 'Least I could bet on the birds there."

The Turk excused himself long enough to get whatever hot sauce the kitchen had available- his tofu wasn't bad, but it was missing something. He returned from the kitchen with a cup filled with a bright red paste, and dumped its contents on top of his tray

[leavenormal]

"Man, it must be so boring here for you. Roswell was pretty much always boring... well until right before I left. So I'm used to it. But you must be going out of your mind."

Listened to him with amusement, knowing how he felt. "I know what you mean, the whole themed restartable thing got old. Though I used to show the tourists an old worn out photo of some alien. It was fake of course but I always made up a story about how my grandmother gave it to me and how it was a secret. Dad didn't like that."

When he left and came back with hot sauce, she laughed. "My boy... My ex boyfriend used to do that. He'd put Tabasco sauce on everything. He was a big fan of really sweet and really spicy." Of course she had found out it was one his alien quirks. And she was amused at his comment about high school. He had no idea. "Yeah well high school for me was a crazy experience. That's for sure."

[clocksoutearly]

"Nah, not boring. Little more relaxed is what I'd call it- don't have my boss blowing my phone up for the littlest thing and it's nice not to be hated," Reno replied, mixing the hot sauce into the rest of his meal. "Some people didn't like us for some reason. We weren't that bad."

He had to smile a little at Liz mentioning her ex's habit- he did the same thing. The takeout he'd get on late-night missions just never tasted right, and Reno had always kept little bottles of it everywhere- his office, his car, one Rude had found leaking on the floor of his own vehicle (and he'd been nice enough to return it, as an addition to Reno's coffee), or any other place he spent longer than five minutes

[leavenormal]

Liz was going to comment on everything he said but his question put the brakes on that. She considered it for the moment. She wondered briefly if it would even matter if she told anyone on the ship. It was only a secret on earth for the safety of the aliens. But they weren't here, and she probably never see them again.

"Well, um, no. Supposedly aliens crashed in Roswell in 1947. Most people don't believe that, but... Let's just say, I know for a fact they did." She smirked at him, wondering if he'd ask about it.