So What's it Gonna Take, Silver Shadow Believer?

[dead_black_eyes]

Who: L Lawliet and Haru
What: L wasn't kidding about taking Haru out on a date. His best try promises to be about as awful as realizing you're in the second act of a Quentin Tarentino movie by the time your soup arrives.
Where: Starting at Dorsia, and continuing at a seedy theater in the red-light district.
Rating: Probably hovering around R for

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[quarterlynx]

Haru hadn't wanted to come. He spent the entire morning contemplating what would be better? Standing Ryuzaki up or swallowing all the pills in the medicine cabinet and hoping for the best on this date. He refused to give his secrets up, but L was keen -- he could come to surprisingly sharp conclusions based on very few words. Must have come from all those years hermitting himself away -- because what else would describe the pasty skin, dark circles, and extremely disheveled hair?

Haru would always maintain that he fucked worse. This guy had a certain appeal -- in an owl-like way. Virgins were always fun to fuck, so if he focused on getting his virginity before he could get the answers then that made the game worth playing.

But after the night before, after another episode with Ryoki, after the high of the violence and low of the next morning, realizing his friend had wound up in Death City's jail yet again -- Haru was lacking in his ability to present a fully pleasant facade. But he looked damn good at least. A pair of slightly flared, booty-hugging black slacks were topped by a white collared shirt underneath a grey and black spotted vest.

When he arrived at the restaurant, he handed off his coat to the door man and was led to where his date awaited him. Haru resisted the urge to laugh -- was that REALLY Ryuzaki's idea of dressing up? Oh well. He was used to getting stares and attention, so he plopped down in the seat across from him with an air of indifference to the looks others were giving this 'odd couple.'

"Hello, Ryuu-kun. Lookin' good," he winked.

[dead_black_eyes]

L met Haru's wink and greeting with a deadpan stare that appeared blank, but was really systematically appraising Haru's comportment and bearing. There was something... off, just slightly, about the young man. Like a painted canvas with colors that had faded in the Sun. Still technically correct, the components still present and accounted for... just paler, less vivid... sadder?

He adjusted the tie that was too ridiculous against the context of his casual clothes, and too much like something L would actually wear through ignorance or irreverence, to be suspicious. And it was a good thing, because L was more bugged than a box elder tree: neatly concealed in the believably crooked knot were a camera and a microphone. They were sophisticated and small, and they provided a protective third party (L's ally Mello) with a live video and audio feed of the date's events.

"Thank you," he said evenly, as if Haru's compliment was sincere and true. "You look provocative. Are you upset about something?"

[quarterlynx]

"Why thank you! I hope you like it," he resisted the urge to get up and do a little twirl to model his outfit. "Or maybe I should prefer that you don't like it so it can come off sooner." He leaned forward, sipping the provided water and beginning to eye the menu. It was a bunch of foods that he couldn't even pronounce, let alone imagine what they meant. Haru could look high class if he wanted, but he wasn't the brightest, he was hardly educated, and everything he knew was street smarts, sexual prowess, and fighting skills.

Lavender hued eyes flickered up briefly at his date's question. "Am I really that transparent...? A lot happened last night, as I'm sure you're aware of." He didn't volunteer the information, just left it generic. There was a fire, people were attacked, and if L knew Ryoki and him were from the same world, he could put two and two together. If not, well then that could be his next project. Haru would be surprised if he didn't, though, given that he spoke with Leo already.

"If you play with fire, you tend to get burned..." the comment was made softly, holding a deep personal meaning to him.

[dead_black_eyes]

"It's nothing I'd wear," L said, "but that doesn't mean that I dislike it." He grasped the menu with his thumbs and forefingers, glancing it over. It was in French, but that wasn't a problem. L was fluent in French. Nothing just looked good. Until he flipped to the page detailing the desserts, of course.

"You say it like it's a bad thing. Transparency indicates a willingness to let someone else into one's life and affairs." What L meant, of course, was that it wasn't a bad thing for him when other people demonstrated transparency. Demonstrating it himself was out of the question. "While I'm aware that things happened last night... the fire and assaults... I'm not quite sure what you had to do with the two."

L was ending up with a lot of projects in Death City, after all. He chewed his thumbnail thoughtfully at that very, very significant-seeming statement, meeting Haru's lavender eyes with his own inky black ones. Staring at L's eyes was very akin to staring into a void, so maybe it was a good thing when the waiter appeared.

"Oh. Mmmm..." L furrowed his oddly smooth brow, squinting at the dessert menu. "Pourrais-je obtenir la vanille crème brûlée, et aussi le savarin fraise? Je veux aussi l'tulipes avec sorbet aux framboises, et je besoin d'une certaine manière positive choux à la crème avec la sauce au chocolat noir. S'il vous plaît et merci." He stared expectantly at Haru following his rapid-fire and very sugar-filled order.

[quarterlynx]

What was up with that stare? It made him uneasy. As though those dark eyes could see right down to his rotten core. If L was a half, he would swear he was an owl -- unblinking and watchful. Haru lowered his gaze, breaking the eye contact so he could flip through the menu. His lips pinched together.

The menu way too complicated. There was a reason why he never came here before. Even though he could blend in fairly well in a high class environment like this if he sat back and kept his mouth shut, he just didn't feel like he belonged. His world was streets, cheap motels, clubs, drugs, and fucking. This was just another way that L managed to get him out of his comfort zone.

Fortunately the waiter came over to interrupt his thoughts, and for that he was grateful. He was about to ask what the man recommended until L made his order. And made his order in full blown french. Haru stared at him incredulously, blinking once or twice. "U-um...I'll have...whatever is in this picture right here." He pointed to an image of chicken in red wine sauce. "Oh. And a glass of champagne, please?" He closed up his menu and offered it over, looking back at L.

"Wow. I had no idea you could do....that. You know, I find French very sexy. I even fucked the country when he was here. He made me cake. It was superb..." Haru smiled a little at one of his fonder memories with one of the guests here, opting not to even revisit the topic they were just touching on moments before.

[dead_black_eyes]

Many people got that impression, whether they knew about L's profession or not. It wasn't necessarily a disadvantage to be able to make others squirm. It only made them more likely to cough up information, something that L loved receiving but actively resisted giving up.

L's eyes widened slightly in lieu of raising his eyebrows (having none to raise.) "S'il vous plaît faire deux champagnes," he added as the waiter nodded briskly and hurried off to inform the chef of the order. "Ordering is my least favorite part... I don't eat out much," he said, starting to examine the silverware for water spots. The fork and spoon were acceptable; the knife was not. Unimpressed, he placed the piece of cutlery blade-down in his untouched glass of ice water.

"You find a language sexy?" The personification of the country L could understand, aware of the romantic and indulgent ideas and images the popular concept France evoked (most often in those who were not native and had never been, or had been once.) But... "Do you imagine that it slinks into the bedroom, deconstructing its semantics and revealing a lacy diphthong just barely covering its dimpled morphology? Lazily tasting your phonetics and fondling your syntax as it gets creative with the lexicon? It's abstract... but I guess it could work. Sure, why not? I've certainly heard of stranger erotic fixations. What kind of cake was it?"

[quarterlynx]

"......what." Haru didn't even know what L was going on about. There were just waaaay too many big words in that whole thing for him to even follow the sexual context. But thankfully he was able to escape to his drink the minute the bubbling glass arrived. Slender fingers hooked around the stem, and he lifted it in his date's direction before bringing it to his lips. Let's focus on the one part that he actually understood.

"It was a chocolate cake. One of the best I've ever tasted. It's a shame BREW sent him back. But I guess it's the nature of this place. You never know when you might disappear, so you should live your time to the fullest, right?" He offered the most pleasant and cheerful expression that he could before lacing his fingers on the table.

"Have you made any friends here, Ryuu-kun?"

[dead_black_eyes]

L got that a lot. Light would have understood. Not only that, it would have annoyed the younger man to the point of being practically toxic, and that would have been lovely to watch. Haru's incomprehension was accepted neutrally, and L dutifully let the matter drop in favor of talking about another topic he liked.

"When you put it like that, I'm glad I ordered so many desserts," he said, with a light shrug as he sniffed his own champagne. Sipping it, he made a face; it was not as sweet as popular culture and glamorous depictions had led him to believe. It was like wine, that way.

"Friends? Well, there's you..." his tone is enough to say that it's not saying much at all. "There's another person, Bakura... Leo's friend, actually, or so I've been led to believe. Honestly most of the people I know are peripheral acquaintances who have helped me at various points, or else they're gullible idiots I routinely take advantage of. Like Bakura. So maybe he's the closest thing I have to a 'friend.'"

He took another sip of champagne, leaving Haru to imagine how L talked about his enemies if this was what he said about his friends. Bizarrely enough, L probably would have spoken more highly of them.

[quarterlynx]

Me? Haru balked mentally, barely batting a lash as his date continued speaking. Though if L's tone was anything to go by, then the feeling was mutual. Neither of them were here because they wanted to be. Neither of them were here because they actually liked one another.

Haru netted his fingers, dropping his chin atop them so that he could listen to the man's explanation. The explanation spoke numbers about L -- he thought himself higher than everyone else and didn't necessarily value companionship so much as having people around when it was absolutely necessary/when he needed something. He was a loner to the core.

The quarter lynx lowered his glass, "Well, I'm flattered you consider me on that list. I haven't met this Bakura kid, though." And if he interacted with Leo, then it was unlikely that he ever would. Haru tended to put a clear separation between himself and Leo's friends. "But wouldn't this whole date be me taking advantage of you?" His expression was serene, peaceful and pleasant...but the look in his eyes was absolutely predatory.

[dead_black_eyes]

L had probably given away more than he'd intended to, actually. Whether it would come back to bite him (literally or figuratively) remained to be seen. He took a longer sip of champagne, licking his lips, trying to get used to a taste that reminded him of bitter, fermented apples.

"You think that you're taking advantage of me?" L asked mildly, lowering the glass and cupping his cheek in his hand and peering at his counterpart in a way that communicated, quite clearly, that he thought this was very interesting. "Paying for dinner and the movie isn't a problem, you know. I asked you out. Speaking of which... judging by the title and the brief synopsis, the movie looks pretty good. I think you'll enjoy it."

Either L failed to notice the predatory glint to Haru's eyes, or he chose to ignore it and redirect the conversation. He couldn't let Mello see him in a tight spot, after all; the evening was still young.

[quarterlynx]

"That's not quite what I mean," Haru looked up when a server brought over a basket of warm bread, and he gingerly plucked a piece between his fingers before slathering it up with butter. Amusement tinged his features as he flicked his gaze back up to meet L's. "Oh? What is this movie about then?" Unless they were going to see a porno, Haru doubted very much that L knew anything about his tastes. Well. Unless it was a violent, gore-filled movie. But then again, that was pretty much the same as porn in Haru's opinion. Especially if it was very realistically done.

He took a bite of the bread, sensual -- if it was possible to eat bread in a sensual manner. Haru was all about advertising his goods as he lapped a bit of melted butter from his fingers. Not very classy behavior for a classy restaurant, but surely no one would mind. Just look at his date.

[dead_black_eyes]

L tilted his head, considering the bread before helping himself to a piece.W While he waited for Haru to finish buttering his own slice, he tried to give a summary of the film based on what he'd read.

"'Resonation in Cypress' is, based on the description, about two congenial young men with a pair of overweight roosters who want to achieve complete resonation. Or maybe it's about their roosters resonating? I only read the first few sentences of the synopsis, not wanting to spoil the ending."

Haru's method of eating the bread was definitely attention-getting. L, and most of the neighboring tables, were looking right at him.

"Does it taste better, when you eat it that way?" Though L unintentionally subjects the people around him to quite a lot of provocative nibbling displays, he's not often a spectator.

[quarterlynx]

Haru's brows shot upward at L's explanation for this movie. What part of that sounded interesting? Unless by roosters, he meant cocks -- and oh. Ohhhh. Haru could see where this was going. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "I think it sounds fantastic. You really know how to pick them, Ryuu-kun." He popped the last of his bread in his mouth, washing it down with a bit of the champagne before amusement gleamed in his eyes.

"Everything tastes better when you eat it that way. But it's more about everyone else vicariously enjoying it through you. Maybe later, I'll get the chance to show you what I mean." He offered a saucy little wink, wiping his hands on the napkin before unfolding it and placing it on his lap. That was the kind of thing you did in these classy restaurants, right?

[dead_black_eyes]

Even if L spoke French and Haru looked the part, neither of them were classy people. When Haru placed the napkin over his knees, it was in a way that seemed altogether self-aware... like he wasn't used to this kind of setting, like he actually had to think about how to behave. And L was a piece of work; if his napkin went on his knees, it would end up just below his eye-level and not help much with catching food.

"I like to think so. I mean, it's our first date, so a movie about friendship and poultry seemed like a good choice." L would have been a gold-medal winner for 24 consecutive years running, if Deadpan was an Olympics event... but something about the way he talked about the movie probably indicated that he had no idea that the raunchy film's synopsis had been more filled with euphemisms than the film's leading "lady."

Their food didn't take long to arrive, and L was actually a little bit disappointed by this. He wanted to know more about Leo's relationship with Haru, and the excellent, sumptuously arranged cuisine demanded some oral appreciation. Talking, L decided, could wait.

He had three fancy desserts in front of him. Rather than dig right in, since it was a lot of food and there was only about an hour before the movie started, he nibbled delicately at the toppings, handling them carefully with his thumbs and forefingers. A cherry, then some wafers, then a bit of chocolate... no one could call L a beautiful man, but when he was relaxed, he actually had an oddly pretty way of eating.

[quarterlynx]

Haru looked up, thanking the waiter and wondering if the food actually was prepared that quickly -- or if the restaurant made a special exception to get them out of there as fast as possible. What he hadn't realized was all the French L spouted had been desserts. It really shouldn't have surprised him after he saw all the ingredients his date originally wanted to use to make a drink back at his New Years party.

The prostitute studied the other for a moment as he ate before he shook his head. This guy just got weirder and weirder. Honestly, Haru would have to say that he was the strangest individual he had ever met. But he was probably some kind of quirky genius or something. BREW brought in people that were generally useful, right? This guy had to have his use. And the intellectual types -- the guys who locked themselves away in a basement and created and built and invented all tended to be kind of strange.

Realizing that he was staring, he flashed the briefest of smiles before looking over his own dish. He stabbed the fork into the meat and sawed off a little piece, popping it in his mouth for a taste before smiling, "Mmm! It's good."

[dead_black_eyes]

If L noticed the way Haru shook his head, he gave no indication, merely continuing to lick, suck, and savor the various dishes. He seemed to be sampling rather than devouring, and L did usually eat this way. Though the amount of food he surrounded himself with could be alarming and even comical, the portion he actually consumed was often very small relative to what he threw away. Someone intending to analyze this behavior might guess that L found comfort in excess, like many who had grown up not having enough... but with how tight-lipped L was about his own life and past, such analysis would be limited to mere speculation.

And, in fact, by the time the check came and they were finished, about a third of each dessert was neatly carved out, leaving the rest.

He placed one hundred dollars carefully on the table, tipping twenty-five.

"The movie starts soon. Are you ready to go?" He took out his cell phone to call another taxi.