Day 56: Twin Pines Restaurant (Noon)

[scarletspeedstr]

Okay, so it had taken a little longer than Wally had thought, but eventually he'd found the restaurant he'd been aiming for and gotten himself inside and settled with a pot of coffee and what would hopefully be a steaming hot meal on the way pretty soon. He'd picked a seat next to the window so he could look out at the snow, feeling a little

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[avengingfists]

As fun as seeing Anise had been, Ilia was ready for a change of pace after the antique shop. She needed some food, and soon. Her breakfast seemed to be so far away, though she knew it hadn't been that long at all. Still, she headed towards the one restaurant she felt she could trust to have at least half-way nutritious food and went on inside.

It was crowded due to the lunch rush, but that didn't bother Ilia in the slightest. She grabbed a menu and looked over the selection as she waited near the door for a table to clear.

Scanning the list of entrees was a little disheartening. Down home cooking, it seemed. At least she could get a house salad and soup without feeling too guilty. The list of beverages wasn't too long. She wondered idly if what little she had could afford her a drink or if she'd be stuck without a quencher for another week. Alcohol. Oh, how long ago her last drink seemed.

[For Kratos]

[spandexorgtfo]

With his walk completed to the best of his ability, it was probably time for lunch, which meant walking all the way over to the Twin Pines and eating something substantial. No, he wasn't as starved as he knew some of the other patients undoubtedly were for actual food, but after a month of being fully human, he was starting to feel more and more actual hunger at the appropriate times.

Yes, something substantial, like...a steak.

Kratos walked into the Twin Pines restaurant without much preamble. There were already several people waiting in line to be seated, so he stepped off to the side and joined them, giving the entire restaurant a sort of idle, lazy glance just to occupy himself.

And then he spared the person right next to him a glance and recognition struck. It took a few seconds, but in the end, he was able to recall her name from several days ago: the woman who'd...he really didn't want to remember that incident. "Ilia." What a surprise, they'd met again during lunch...

[avengingfists]

Ilia looked up at the sound of her name, surprised to hear that not overly-familiar baritone. She blinked at the source, then smiled in recognition. "Hey there, Kratos. It's been a while."

She surveyed his arm. No longer in a cast and hopefully in good working order. "How have--" Before she could even get the question out of her mouth, a hostess came by and announced a table was ready for Ilia. Realizing this meant she would be taking up an entire table to herself, Ilia reached over and touched Kratos' jacket, her fingers gripping the fabric just the tiniest bit.

"Ah, could you set a second place, please?" She turned back to Kratos as they were led away, smiling all the while. "Let's talk over lunch!"

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. "So it has." He couldn't remember how long, but the last time they had met, his arm had still been immobilized, and that had been done away with at least several days ago

[avengingfists]

She felt him flinch away, having already started moving them away, but she brushed it off as simple surprise and nothing more. She finally caught on after his pointed remark and felt chagrined for her pushy attitude.

"Ah, sorry, I just thought it would be better since... well, you wouldn't have to wait to eat." Her brows knit together a bit, suddenly feeling guilty and awkward. She didn't often misread the atmosphere, but Kratos was different. He was so serious and quiet, it was harder to get a read on him than other people, who often looked to Ilia as if they wore their emotions on their sleeves.

The waitress came over to take their drink order and Ilia quietly ordered water, trying to think of a way out of the awkwardness that had descended on her. She would let him order something to drink, and then maybe, maybe she would come up with something to talk about.

orz sorry for the fail short tag :<

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos' only response was a vague, noncommittal noise as he flipped the menu open. Given Ilia's personality (or what he garnered of it from their brief, previous lunch meeting), he could have expected her to consider such things -- it was a nice gesture, he had to admit. Poor execution, however...mostly because of the sort of person he was, the sort of person unused to spontaneous acts of kind consideration and who therefore tended to react poorly to them.

When the waitress came to order drinks, he too asked for only water and then directed his attention back to the choices in front of him.

sorry for late tag /)_(\

[avengingfists]

The silence was tense, at least on Ilia's side of the table. She really was feeling contrite over forcing the man into her company, but she had thought it was better than leaving him to wait for a table to free up. He might have gotten stuck waiting for over half an hour with how the wait line had grown. She shouldn't feel as bad as she did now...

The waitress left, and Ilia felt it might be her job to keep the entire lunch from turning completely awkward. She looked through the menu, though she had already decided on her meal.

"I'm thinking a salad and soup today..." She looked over the top at the older man, wondering if her polite conversation could get him to unfreeze a little. "What are you thinking?"

[spandexorgtfo]

There was no sign of acknowledgment as Kratos continued inspecting the menu. Salads were out; all of them had tomatoes. So were most of the sandwiches: again, served with tomato. To most people, the logical answer would be to order whatever dish he wanted and then pick the tomatoes out, but this wasn't about logic. The fact still remained that tomatoes had touched the rest of the food; that was enough to make it unacceptable. That really only left him with one option: the steak.

(He was picky, he knew it.)

It had probably been thirty seconds or so before Kratos finally spoke up: "Steak is fine." He closed the menu with a certain finality and set it down on the table, glancing around for the waitress.

[avengingfists]

Ilia bit her bottom lip as she waited for a response. Really, any response would be great. The least of them would suffice! Ilia tapped her foot, feeling more self-conscious with every passing second.

Lunch was probably a lost cause.

At last, he seemed to feel up to talking. Steak. Hmm, that sounded good too, but too much red meat wasn't good for her when she wasn't on a strict exercise routine. Best make sure her salad had chicken in it for protein, then.

"Steak is good with wine," Ilia mused more to herself than anything, though the kind of wine would depend on the type of steak and how well it was cooked.... Still not sure what to say here, she was pleased when the waitress finally returned again to take their order.

"Grilled chicken salad with the daily soup, please!" Ilia probably sounded a little too eager with her order. Even the waitress raised an eyebrow at her too-wide smile.

[spandexorgtfo]

Steak was indeed good with wine, but he was sure that if he attempted the pairing, something horrendous would happen. His alcohol tolerance as an angelic being had skyrocketed into the absurd; when he had drunk (The occasions had become rare for a reason.), he'd become accustomed to imbibing close to half the bar in order to feel some sort of buzz, a habit that did not by any stretch of the imagination carry over well into a fully human body. It was probably best, therefore, to stay away from drinks.

When the waitress came by, Kratos quietly ordered a steak and greens salad before passing her the menu, the complete embodiment of everything Ilia was not at the moment. He waited until the woman had disappeared before sighing, suddenly finding particular interest in his water glass.

"I apologize. I am generally poor company." He was hardly a mind reader, but he had enough social experience to know with relative certainty when someone was uncomfortable or uneasy, and Ilia, unlike him, tended to broadcast her feelings more strongly.

[avengingfists]

Hearing him apologize was not what Ilia had expected. She felt bad, making him feel like the bad guy when he was just trying to mind his own business in the first place.

"Oh, no, I'm the one at fault here. I didn't realize, I mean, I generally can read the atmosphere pretty well." She bit her lip and offered him a contrite smile.

"I think you give off a lonely feeling, but--oh, what am I saying? I just... I'm sorry." Even if he had been lonely it wasn't her place to step in and make him join the party. She didn't like it when someone felt left out, but if he purposely wanted to be alone then she had no business taking the initiative.

[spandexorgtfo]

Normally, a statement like that would merit the usual, well-practiced lift of an eyebrow that seemed to make its way into most if not all of his conversations, but this time, Kratos only looked away from his glass to the rest of the restaurant.

"I see." He didn't believe that Ilia had been taking pity on him, but it honestly felt that way. And as it would with all other persons who took particular pride in their independence and comfort in their solitude, it hurt -- the implied pity, not the fact that someone thought him lonely.

"No, it's fine," he said anyway, turning back to the table. "I've heard that before." And that person had been much more up front with it too.

[avengingfists]

While she didn't feel the situation was better, at least it seemed to have come to a close as awkward as it was. She wasn't the first to think him that way, at least. It was almost difficult to not see him as lonely, but she certainly didn't think him pitiable. She didn't pity anyone if she could help it, though it was hard to keep herself from sounding a bit too much like a concerned mother with everyone she met here. The situation brought out that kind of touch from her.

"Maybe we should... change topics, then." She took a sip from her own glass and looked down at the table. "I found the file rooms last night. Almost had some trouble with a burning man..."

Yeah. She had a great night last night. What about you, Kratos?

[spandexorgtfo]

"Really. I'll have to watch my step more closely around there, then." Ah, and there was the expected eyebrow raise: not a moment too soon. Kratos quietly filed away the information; he would need to remember that the next time he attempted to leave the Institute through the front doors: a burning man near the file rooms. Hadn't Ishida been interested in going there a few nights ago? If he had run into this burning man also, it might mean that the Institute had finally found a replacement for that machine-man he'd run into long ago with Momo -- of course, there was a catch: he hadn't heard a word from Ishida in almost three days

late~ as always 8D;

[avengingfists]

She was glad to have at least provided him with some information, but it didn't necessarily make up for her earlier faux pas. The tension did seem to be dissipating a bit, at least.

She caught his dark look and offered him an understanding smile. "Taking a night off is the best option sometimes. I had to rest a few nights ago to take care of an injury." No shame here, Kratos. She shrugged. "At least you're healthy now. Assuming the healing magic worked."

/forgives forever 8D

[spandexorgtfo]

It was reasonable to take a night off if you were only human, he understood that. It was not reasonable if, little more than a month ago, you were a being who could only be stopped by a blast of highly condensed mana at point-blank range -- and even then, only for a few hours at best.

Did anyone ever say that transitions were easy and truly mean it?

"It did what it could," Kratos said flatly. "I tend to attract the sorts of injuries that cannot be cured by one spell and a sufficient night's sleep alone." His bad luck, he supposed.