Blind Dates C Tables

[headmasterhand]

What: BLIND DATES!
Who: Anyone who was sent a note with C table numbers.
Where: Off-campus restaurant. AND BEYOND!
When: September 30th
Warnings: Who knows depending who is here.

[The third group's restaurant is a rotating fancy restaurant, the tallest in all of FDC! The place is high up in the air, and you can see all of the city from

Comments

Re: C7

[overtimemode]

At first Frank didn't know what to make of the note. Meet up at a certain restaurant at a certain time with some mysterious stranger? Sounded a lot like contacts who had given him tips for big scoops in the past, but those were usually just in innocuous little coffee shops. This time the meeting place was suspiciously upscale.

Then he heard about the blind dates taking place on the same day he was arranged to meet this contact. Oh. At first he was a little disappointed, but mostly confused - he never signed up for anything like that. After a little consideration, he decided he couldn't turn down the opportunity to meet some charming lady and maybe have a good lay. Besides, there was always the chance that this was some anonymous tip after all and the blind date thing was just a cover. They would blend right in.

So he slicked his hair back, threw on a dress shirt and nice jacket, and headed out to the restaurant. It didn't take him long to find his table, though he didn't really like being the first one there. Being second would have given him an opportunity to watch and analyze his companion before approaching.

Oh well.

[punchtheflowers]

This again... To be fair, Vinnie's last blind date hadn't been a spectacular failure, but the fact that everyone was being corralled into what he assumed to be another of Ganondorf's social experiments annoyed him. Somehow the guy's influence was still here even after he'd left. Of course.

Not exactly feeling enthused about the whole affair, the Venusaur hadn't really bothered to dress up. He walked into the place looking about the same as he did most days: hair a leafy mess and shirt several shades too blindingly pink to be allowed in the establishment under normal conditions. S'not as though the waiters could kick him out anyway, proper footwear or no.

He had to double check his table number when he entered in when he noticed some chairs had already been filled, but... wait. He walked up to C7. Who the hell was this guy?

Vinnie stared, unamused, before echoing his thoughts: "Who the hell're you?"

[overtimemode]

"I could ask you the same thing."

In truth, Frank had been a good little snoop and browsed the school directory to get a good idea of who was at Smash and just what they did, and whether or not they seemed interesting enough to keep an eye on from the get-go. Vinnie was not one of those people, and while he recognized the face from the ID photos, he'd forgotten the name. All that mattered was that this was not a lady, and if he didn't know who he was, probably not a contact either. Lame.

"I'm Frank West, and I'm here for a date."

[punchtheflowers]

This was already going well. Vinnie didn't bother to sit down - maybe he could just leave now that he'd met his 'date' and be done with the whole thing. It was clear that this matchup was not what Frank was looking for.

"Yeah, well I'm just here cuz they forced us t'be. That's both've us disappointed."

[overtimemode]

Wow, someone had an attitude problem.

"Well if you wanna leave now that we've met, it's no skin off my nose. Me, I'm staying here until I've maxed out that budget they gave us."

To make his point, he opened the menu and settled back in his chair.

[punchtheflowers]

Vinnie raised an eyebrow. He had never really seen the appeal of fine dining - after a certain point it all tasted the same to him, really, and he had an appetite the size of tiny, tiny bird.

"Y'know we get to keep the hundred bucks, right? You could go somewhere cheaper and keep the change."

Had he turned into a cheap ass since being in debt? Yes, yes he had...

[overtimemode]

"Reaaally now."

Another look at the menu confirmed that yes, going somewhere cheaper would be just as satisfying. Especially if he could keep the change.

"In that case..." He rose, putting his hands in his pockets and rolling his shoulders back. "Guess I'll head out too. But I never did catch your name."

[punchtheflowers]

"It's Vinnie." Ah, well maybe that was a bad start, but the Venusaur figured he should've at least been civil enough to try and offer a handshake. Either way, if they were both leaving, it was a very long elevator ride down.

He shrugged as he suggested, "There's a Happy Burger or somethin' half a block from here if you want. Helluva lot less stuffy than this place."

[overtimemode]

Vinnie. Right. This time he would remember the name. He accepted the handshake, relieved that this guy didn't seem to be a complete jerk. Just a little annoyed at circumstances, maybe. Frank could understand that.

"Happy Burger, huh?" There was surely nothing ominous about that. "Haven't had to settle for fast food in a long time... Sounds good to me."

He gave the waiter a wave and a small shrug as all the explanation he would offer as he turned to head out toward the elevator.

[punchtheflowers]

Meanwhile, Vinnie pushed the button for the lobby. The elevator was still hanging out on ground floor before it slowly started climbing up to the top of the restaurant tower. The little number above the door ticked with impossible slowness.

So then it was just him and Frank standing there for the stupid door to open. For a building this tall, you'd think they would've gotten a faster elevator. Though no master of small talk, the silence was still awkward enough for Vinnie to eventually ask, "...So, uh. You teach, right?"

[overtimemode]

Wow. Was it that slow the first time he came up or did some kid push all the buttons on the way to the top floor? Good thing they weren't on a tigh schedule.

"Oh, yeah. I teach photography. Or..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, memories of his first class surfacing. "It's Supposed to be a photography class but half the kids are more interested in dismantling the cameras and dicking around with that than actually doing the assignment. Are all the classes like that?"

[punchtheflowers]

It was very probably a kid who thought it would be fun play with all the clicky lights.

Vinnie scratched his chin, thinking. "The dicking around sounds 'bout right. Sat through plenty've classes like that." If he remembered correctly... wasn't Red thinking about taking Photography?

"Honestly, I figure most've the students aren't really here for the courses anyway."

[overtimemode]

"Sure is a lot different from when I was in school." Never mind that Frank did his fair share of skipping classes and generally slacking off, but that was totally different. Totally. Because his school only had humans for students.

"But I guess the school's main catch is being some kind of fighting school, huh?"

God. This ELEVATOR.

[punchtheflowers]

Vinnie wouldn't have known the difference. The most he knew was that graduating school was some sort of very important human milestone. Why? No idea.

"Yeah. If they aren't here t'get stronger, they're here cuz they feel they have t'be. That's most've the people I know, anyway." And most of those people were Pokemon, with perhaps a few different priorities in life.

Hm. He thought about it for a second. "Though maybe takin' photos could make you stronger...?"

Oh Elevator, you were almost here. Almost.

[overtimemode]

Most teens only went to school because they felt they had to, though. Silly Vinnie.

"I dunno about stronger, but it definitely makes you more observant. Once you get in the habit of keepin' an eye out for photo ops, you start picking up on stuff nobody else sees. That's probably what got me through the roughest time of my life."

That an an affinity for whacking the undead with blunt objects.

And here was the elevator! "About time..."

[punchtheflowers]

Vinnie nodded as Frank spoke - what he described did fall into his personal definition of strength, which admittedly was already quite broad to begin with. It made sense. "Yeah, I get that."

The people in the elevator left swiftly, looking as though they too were just as sick of waiting as the two men outside the doors.

"A good eye'd get you through a fight better too," agreed Vinnie, entering the elevator. He'd never experienced a zombie breakout, of course, but it was key even in one on one battles. Maybe this Frank did know a thing or two worth teaching.