(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]

He meets her eyes and winks at her, but so quickly that it might have appeared as though he simply had something in his eye. "So," he says, "When would you like to do another cooking lesson?" It's obvious that he's looking forward to it, and eager to do it again soon, not least because he gets a good meal out of it. With the new job, hopefully he'll be able to set aside some money and actually take her out somewhere without selling off his rations books to do it. He had to admit it would be amusing to take her to the brothel, but he'd probably stick to restaurants or bars. After all, he knew that most women liked being taken out and paid attention to, and she had seemed to enjoy some of the attention he'd given her.

[epitomeofvanity]

The comfortable feeling you get after eating and enjoying pleasant company -which Don was, despite his pitfalls- relaxed Yukino. She gave a soft hum as she thought. "I want to do a bit more research first. I might make a schedule for the next month, and it would have what you need to bring. I have some paper so I can spare at least one for that." The rest was for her journal, which she had been a little less than diligent in upkeeping recently, but was going back to fill in blanks with what she remembered.

[change_just_is]

He grins at her, "That sounds good," he says. He's feeling that relaxed happiness too, especially after having eaten a bigger meal than he's eaten since he was back home. "I have some paper, too," he tells her, "But I've been writing ad campaigns on it." This statement is followed with a little self-deprecating laugh. Even when he's thousands of miles and 10 years away from home, he's somehow still trying to do his job. Old habits die hard, he supposes, but she'll probably think he's ridiculous. Most people would, he knows. The focus here should be on survival, and on working those secretarial jobs that most of them seemed to end up in. But he couldn't turn off that part of his brain.

[epitomeofvanity]

And that gets Yukino to perk up a bit. "Ad campaigns?" The ways he says it doesn't seem like she's making fun of him. It's definitely the opposite. "I would like to see," and she trails off, eyes alight as she gives him a smile. If she had ears and a tail, they'd definitely be turned forward and wagging. If he was going to bring up the subject she wouldn't turn away from it. He could explain it to her and she would take notes. Advertising was about selling something, sometimes yourself, and you can never have enough advice about that. Yukino was over thinking solely about survival. She had to have fun or else she would go stir crazy. The past few months had proved that to her many times over.

[change_just_is]

"They really only allow you a lower paying job? That's ridiculous!" he says, leaning over to take a look at the schedule and also to admire how neat her handwriting is. Another thing that was wrong with Veles, he thought, sighing a little. It was frustrating how many things seemed to get in the way of having a normal life or having a normal work schedule. Although a six day work week would be longer than the normal work week, if he was honest with himself, he had to admit that back home, he basically worked that much anyway. At least the hours of his job were the regular nine to five, which would create some semblance of normalcy in his day-to-day life. It had been strange having nothing to do and no job to go to, so most of his days had been spent wandering around and exploring the city. At least he knew his way around now.

[epitomeofvanity]

"I think so. It almost isn't worth it, when you get a little more than half the pay and work twice as long." Yukino finished with the dates and started making little symbols on it, two to be precise. One was hers, and one was his. It was probably only decipherable because they appeared on the days each of them had to work. She paused a moment, looking at Don speculatively, thinking that she should probably not use kanji, even if it was mostly for her benefit.

"That's official jobs." She contemplated some more. "Should I use 'F' for Food, or 'CL' for Cooking Lesson?" While she thought, she started to write a legend for the symbols underneath their work day chart. "If another one of us needs a part-timer, we wouldn't report it, so you might get more there, but those of us with a business to run might not be able to support a higher wage.

[change_just_is]

"You should use CL for cooking lesson," he says. Now that he's getting a real schedule written up, he starts to feel like he can be more professional again, which makes him feel better about his life there in Veles. And since she's showing such an interest in being organized, he can't help but find himself liking her even more. So many of the women he's been with have been disorganized and expected him to do everything for them. He doesn't think this is a universal trait of women, but he thinks it might be a universal trait of the women he picks. Apparently, however, that's not true.

He's smiling at her in that rather flirtatious way again, though she might not notice if she's looking at the schedule.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino gets the feeling that she'll be adding a lot more to this chart over the next few days. If she could get a few colors to put on it, she'd end up putting her entire monthly schedule on it. Was there a point in keeping it all separate? She could keep this copy and give Don his own, since he might need a reminder. They worked on two of the same days, but there was no guarantee that she would see him. Lunch together would be nice, instead of just sitting at her desk or wandering around just to get out of the office.

With a short nod, she adds that to the symbols in the legend. "Then let's add the ones we have done..." The chart actually starts on the Sunday after their date and goes to the end of March. Fortunately, she is concentrating on her chart, or she would have taken him to task for not concentrating. When it was time to work, she really was all business.

[change_just_is]

He raises an eyebrow at Zack's comments. "Seems a little like maybe nobody has talked you into learning how to cook yet," he jokes. He realizes he's been there awhile and probably should let Yukino get back to whatever she was doing before he came. As much as he'd like to keep spending time with her, he doesn't want to overstay his welcome.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino smiles at Don's comment. That sounded about right to her. "I can make both of you an apron when I get knew fabric." She poked her lip and looked at Zack with a devious smile. "How about a manly red?" Maybe a nice 'light red', which was, of course, pink. He didn't have to know that until she made it though. And she wasn't thinking at all about Don overstaying his welcome. Talking with the two of them was fun for her, since she hadn't had much time with Aerith recently. She looked over her shoulder at Don. "You, too, if we have enough so that it's worth making one."

[zack_rules]

"No, I've never really been invited," Zack said. "Not to their knitting circle either. I wonder if I should be feeling left out..."

He gave Yukino a dubious look at her oeffer though. "'Manly' red, huh?" he repeated dubiously. He looked over at Don. "Sounds a little suspicious to me, what do you think?"

[change_just_is]

Don laughs. "I think 'manly red' sounds like someone trying to convince us to wear something closer to pink," he says.

He looks pretty dubious, too, at Yukino's offer. It's not like he wouldn't wear an apron if he absolutely had to, but honestly, he'd rather not wear one that was some ridiculous color. A nice black one would be nice, but he doubted Yukino would go for it.

[change_just_is]

"I don't think her intentions are as pure as she's suggesting," Don says, and there might be a bit of flirtation in his voice, but then again, it might just sound that way. He shrugs and stands up, still feeling satisfied and full from the meal they'd cooked together. "I shouldn't overstay my welcome," he says, preparing to get his coat and head back out into the cold. Although he'd like to spend more time with Yukino, he knows that they'll get together again soon, and he hopes that he and Zack will get another chance to talk, too.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino watches him stand, head tilting back. "It really is to keep your clothes clean," she says with pursed lips. That part of it is pure enough, as far as she was concerned. She blinked as he moved for his things and stood, following him. "Well, if you have somewhere to go," her voice trailed off. Then she gave a smile. "You can come by any time to talk," and her grin was a bit more calculating. She still had to grill his brain, after all.

[change_just_is]

He grins at her. "I'll be by soon with my portfolio. I can show you some of the ad campaigns I've been drawing up for this city," he says. Not to mention they'll get to talk about the stock market and advertising in general, which he really looks forward to. He knows he'll be back over at her apartment soon--probably hers, rather than his, since they'll get a little more privacy at hers. He wants to try to give her a kiss goodbye, but he doesn't want to do it with someone else in the room. Not because he's embarrassed about kissing her, but because he doesn't want Yukino to be uncomfortable. But when they're alone... he certainly has calculated plans.

[epitomeofvanity]

Yukino beams at him. She definitely doesn't want to miss it. It's almost like a class to her, and she was an amazingly attentive student. "I look forward to it!" She gathers his coat and holds it out for him to take, her light shoes made only the slightest of whispering against the floor as she walked behind him. While she should be a lot more wary about being alone with him, she can always circumvent that by meeting at the library, or outside, when it got warm enough. Well, warm enough so the slight chill was bearable and the stench of the zombies didn't totally ruin your appetite or mood every time you stepped outside. Her desire to learn faaaar outweighed her reservations about Don and his intentions through sheer force of her will.