RP: Birthday Lunch

[drewcooper]

Date: September 18, 2011
Characters: Drew Cooper, Jake Abernathy, Blaise Zimmerman, Nereida Santiago, Neve Stadheim, Star Abernathy (NPC), Jake's parents (NPC)
Location: Ciao Baby Cucina
Status: Semi-Private
Summary: Saturday dinner got changed to Sunday lunch for his birthday
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[jake_abernathy]

Jake had been glad to extend an invite to Neve and Re. Both were of course women he liked and admired, if in slightly different fashions these days. Drew could do much worse than them as friends, and truly, there were few better, he suspected. Of course, he might be a bit biased, he thought, but not that much.

Drew had made going in one car seem very matter of fact despite him having to put the chair in the trunk. Because it was lower, he had also accepted a bit of an assist in and out for leverage's sake, but again, Drew hadn't made an issue of it. Thank God for understanding friends, Jake thought.

It should be a good lunch, he figured. The restaurant should be nice, his parents were cheerful at being included, and his daughter was bubbly. "Not a bad place," he commented as they settled in, Jake comfortably settled out of the way of the aisle.

[drewcooper]

Drew handled Jake's chair and the trip in and out of the car as if they were doing it for years and with minimal fuss - something he knew Jake wanted. Two cars would probably have been a better idea, but it wasn't something he had thought of at the time.

"Oh, you have no idea..." Drew said enigmatically. "I've sampled the menu and I thought I was back in Rome. Remember that time we got caught at Tivoli fountain?" he asked. The unit had been passing through Rome for some reason and they were almost arrested for trying to swim in the famous fountain. Beeing drunk and on leave in a foreign city was never a good combination.

[jake_abernathy]

Jake didn't mind carpooling, it was sensible, and besides, he needed to get used to it. Drew at least didn't make a big deal about anything the way some people, like maybe his parents, might have otherwise. It was handled with the minimum of fuss, just the way he liked it.

"Hey now, I had nothing to do with the fountain incident," Jake protested, lips twitching. "I was just trying to pull you guys back out of it." Okay, so there had been some stupid shit, but he'd been young, as had most of them. "The food was stellar there, though."

[drewcooper]

Drew chuckled. "That's not how I remember it, mister," he teased Jake. He wasn't going to share any embarrassing details - Jake's parents were there after all and Star would use it to her advantage.

He smiled at the girl. "So, what do you fancy for lunch?" he asked.

[blaisewrites]

He'd been really happy to get Drew's phone call. And then he'd run around trying to find a good gift for him, because despite Drew having told him that he wasn't expecting anything, Blaise was still going to get him a birthday gift. He couldn't not. It was against his personal beliefs

[drewcooper]

The group had just got their drinks order when Blaise walked into the restaurant and Drew grinned as he walked over. "Hey there, glad you could make it," he said in greeting, shaking the younger man's hand and ushering him into a seat.

He made introductions all around and pointed out that Star was the person he was referring to that could give Blaise some insight into what young people wanted in their stories.

"So, anything exciting happen since I last saw you?" he asked.

[neve_stadheim]

Neve had been surprised and a little curious about the invite, but had accepted because any friend of Jake's was someone she felt was worth getting to know. She had gone back and forth about a gift, and found she didn't know enough about Drew to bring one, well beyond a card that had a note written inside about an 'IOU' once she got to know him better and could actually pick out a gift for him

[drewcooper]

Drew had positioned himself so he could see the entrance to the restaurant to see when his guests arrived. He smiled as Neve entered. "Thanks," he said as he guided her to a chair next to Jake, looking all innocent as he took the card and opened it. "It seems your daughter knows me well enough," he said as he showed the card to everybody. He peeked inside the card, saw the note and just smiled at Neve.

"It's great thanks, more than I expected." He placed the card in the messenger bag he had brought along and hailed a waiter to get the new arrival's drink order.

[neve_stadheim]

Neve returned the smile and let Drew guided her to a chair, noticing as he did so that it happened to be next to Jake. "Your welcome, and I wouldn't say that Mack knows you. She's just like that with everyone, but I am pleased she didn't offend you." She replied honestly as she took her seat, glancing over at Jake briefly to smile at him.

"Well, usually I would bring something. But as I don't know you all that well, I didn't want to end up getting something you'd end up giving away or returning." Neve replied honestly before giving her drink order once the waiter came over. "So Drew, how are you liking Texas so far?"

[drewcooper]

Drew smiled. "Well, since I'm a babbler the card makes perfect sense to me," he said as he returned to his own seat.

"Neve, I really don't mind. Your being here is gift enough," he replied. "Since I barely know anybody here in Texas, I'm co-opting most of Jake's friends as my own," he grinned. "So, really - you're presence is present enough."

He thought a moment. "Its going well, I'm enjoying the people and places and I've got my eye on an apartment over in Arlington that I am thinking of probably buying at some point."

[nereida_dances]

The surprise at being invited to lunch for his birthday had lasted only a few minutes before she started trying to think of a good present Drew might like. She'd combed through her memories, trying to think of all the things he might have mentioned liking, while wondering if maybe she oughtn't instead to get something he could use at work. But that was beyond her scope of knowledge, so that was probably best left to people who knew what they were doing. With her luck, she thought to herself with a grin as she parked the car and got out, she'd buy him something he couldn't even use.

She settled her shirt and her hair, before smoothing a hand over the thigh of her skinny jeans. Leaning down to pick up the bag on the passenger seat, she lifted it onto her shoulder, then headed inside, waving as she caught sight of Star first. She leaned down to give Drew a friendly hug. "Happy birthday! Gotten into any trouble yet?"

[drewcooper]

Drew returned Nereida's hug as he got up to greet her. "Thanks, and no, we haven't been here long enough for us to start anything... yet." He grinned and introduced her to Blaise.

He was utterly pleased by the bag and chuckled at the 8-bit artwork on it. "Thanks, its perfect. I'll be the envy of the office," he said as he put it with the bag he had brought along already.

[nereida_dances]

"Oh good, you waited for me to get here before starting in on the mischief," she teased as she shook his friend Blaise's hand, then sat down in one of the empty chairs. "The more, the merrier, right?" Picking up a menu and beginning to skim it idly after she flashed Jake and Star another bright grin, she looked back up at Drew after a short moment. "So, what's good?"

Happy that she'd picked something he liked, she leaned her chin on her fist and chuckled. "I remembered you liked classic arcade games, and combining practical with awesome is always a good thing, right?"

[drewcooper]

Drew laughed. "I need my partner in crime to keep Jake and Star in line, now don't I?" He looked over the menu quickly. "Well, depends on what you want to eat," he replied. "I had the chicken lasagne the other day... fantastic. Pizza is always a good choice... hell, just about everything is good."

He smiled as he hung the bag over the chairback. "Awesome deduction skills, milady. You have now gone to the top of the list of people I like most." He winked at Star. "After Star of course. She's the favouritest person I know."