pp [PP-F11]Manor and Chill with Teion

[Ryo 0]

Ryo held back his surprise when Teion admitted that she didn't know Beatbox all that well, but her description of him sounded more than that. Ryo touched his chin in thought. Beatbox sounded like a good guy, just flawed. Like everyone. Ryo had his luggage, Teion had hers, everyone had thier own to carry. But did the weight of it all have to go onto a single pair of shoulders? Perhaps that was thier downfall, his and Lowenthal's. They tried to take all of thier burdens alone, and they paid the ultimate price because of it. "Thank you, for sharing." Ryo said to Teion, thanking her for telling him. He placed a hand in her shoulder, or at least tried to despite his height, and gave it a pat. "I changed, and for the better." Ryo began. "I tricked people, I lied, and I hated myself. But, I've stopped almost of that now, and I'm learning to do more to forgive myself." He said looking at Teion returning her smile. He began to chuckle, then laugh. "Sorry," He apologized. "Was just trying to think of something to say, but kept coming up with Goofy things and pick up lines. So I'll say what I mean." Ryo said, clearing his throat. "Thank you, for helping me. And know that I'm always here for you if you need it." He said.

[Teion 0]

She felt the weight of a hand on her shoulder, and it finally pulled her eyes towards the man walking beside her. His words sank in after a few seconds, and the corners of her mouth pulled up into a small smile at his words of reassurance. She chuckled lightly herself, his laughter becoming contageious, and she gave another shake of her head at his apology. "No, it's okay. I'm...not really sure what I've done to be thanked, to be honest." She brought a hand up from her side to rub against the back of her neck. "But I guess I'll say thanks, too. For like, wanting to hang out and stuff."

The sun had just finished falling behind the mountains in the distance, bringing the curtain of night over Urbus as the two players reached the teleport gate. "Luckily the storms never get that bad while you stay inside the city." She mumbled after they had appeared on the desert floor. The winds blew through the city, kicking up grains of sand as it did so, and Teion led the way to bring them to a smaller building near the outskirts of the city. The Desert Willow Cafe was a place that she had visited on a handful of occasions, the most clear in her memory being when she had ran into and promptly spent some time catching up with Sophie--or as she was noted on her friends list, Piera. The violette pushed open the door, revealing a sparsely-populated interior that was otherwise pleasant and welcoming. She gave a glance towards Ryo before the pair of players would find themselves to a table.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo went over to the nearest table and pulled out the chair for Teion. "M'lady, your table awaits." He said, trying his best to sound like Pennyworth. After Teion had taken her seat Ryo took his own seat across from Teion. Ryo looked at the cafe's menu and noticed something, off about it almost immediately. It had more options for coffee and drinks than food. He looked at the 'food' section of it unable to grasp what was on there. A lot of breakfast items, which made sense it's a cafe and all with coffee as its main source of income. But there was protein packets of nuts and cheese, light salads, and some other healthy alternatives. Ryo chuckled. "How does one even make a salad, lighter?" He asked to himself, still staring at the menu. Perhaps they came at the wrong time, and the lunch and dinner menu was hiding behind the counter. Ryo sighed, unable to pick something that he wanted. "So, what do you plan on getting Teion?" He asked her.
"Ah, young love." A more elderly man had said, wielding a notepad looking at the two players. Ryo looked up, confused as to whom he was talking too as he turned red, and began to blurt out. "What? No, I mean. We just met, that's all." Ryo said, trying to regain the natural color of his face. "Ah, but of course! But I recognize a budding romance when I see one. Now, what to drink, hmm?" The overzealous waiter asked. Ryo let out a defeated sigh as he gave his order for a coffee.

[Teion 0]

Teion failed to hold back a chuckle at the man's impersonation of his own butler. The two players took their seats and Teion scanned over the menu sitting in front of her, as if she were looking for something specific that she already expected to be listed on it. She hadn't looked up when Ryo asked what she was going to get, but her mouth opened with an answer that was easy for her to find.

Before she got the words out, however, an unfamiliar voice spoke up beside them that pulled her eyes up from her task. She cocked a violet brow at the eager-looking waiter, and Ryo had already responded to denounce his assumptions with a bright blush before Teion had fully registered what the man had said. Her mind caught up to her ears along with the waiter's playful insistence, and a slight heat burned on her own cheeks in reaction. "Oh, uhh... Strawberry lemonade, please." She said plainly, working past the initial hesitation brought about by the waiter's forwardness. He wore a telling smile even after excusing himself to fetch their drinks, and Teion's eyes found the menu in front of her seconds later. "Ah, anyway..." She tried directing her train of thought back to the track it had been running along. She looked up to Ryo in order to finally answer his question. "It might sound weird to just say I'm getting soup. But I had a bread bowl here once before that I thought was pretty good." She explained.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo chuckled. "What a weird guy." He said as the waiter scampered off to get the pair their drinks. Ryo stared back at his menu, scanning for the soups. The bread bowl did sound good, but just not what he was interested in at the moment. "I think I'm gonna go with this sandwich here," Ryo said, looking at the small selection of sandwiches. "It looks good." He said, pointing to the sandwich on the menu. It was a grilled sandwich, which surprised Ryo that this kind of place knew what a grill even was. "So, when do you think the wai-"

"Aha~ The lovely couple! Your drinks." The waiter said, cutting Ryo off. Ryo sighed again, as the blissfully ignorant waiter set the drinks on the table. "Now, for food. What are we getting?" He asked, pulling out a small notepad. Ryo placed his order, and after Teion placed her order the waiter gave the pair a wink and ran off to the kitchen. Ryo sighed a sigh of relief as the waiter scurried off. "I like the service here, but he's a bit too upbeat for me." Ryo said, taking a sip from the porcelain mug. 

[Teion 0]

"I don't remember seeing him here before." Teion admitted in a smaller voice, as if trying to explain that she wouldn't have subject the two players to his odd behavior if she had been aware of it beforehand. And now, as the waiter left them be for the second time, the violette pulled the glass of pink liquid closer to her before lifting it from the table to bring the curved edge to her lips.

She had almost expected an awkward silence to fall over them at some point, but was it the waiter's persistent teasing that had caused its onset to be so quick and intense? Teion shifted slightly in her seat when she brought the glass back down to the wooden surface standing between them. "So, uhh... Do you have a profession?" She asked. As soon as the words left her lips, she found herself worried that she'd asked him that question before. Although her own career as a blacksmith was practically left to memory at this point, it seemed to be the easiest topic of conversation she could come up with off-hand. Or at least the one she settled on by default.

Then her cobalt eyes widened slightly as she recalled the first and last time she had seen Ryo before today. "Oh--err, sorry. You...definitely already told me that." She mentally cursed and dropped her gaze to the glass sitting in front of her. "I'm really crappy with like...getting to know people, if that wasn't obvious."

[Ryo 0]

Ryo had to hold back a chuckle as Teion double back over her own question. "It's fine. Say we hang out more often and you'll learn more about me." Ryo said, not thinking of how that could be taken in representation. "I-I mean if you want to get to know me. And by that, I mean things like this. Like dates, you know?" Ryo stopped talking taking a quick swig of his coffee. 

"Aha! I knew it was love!" The waiter said carrying a thermos of coffee to refill Ryos cup. Ryo looked at the waiter with a panic in his eyes. Besides Ryos internal screaming the waiter could be heard speaking still. "Your food will be out momentarily." He said his accent somehow getting more, flavorful. Ryo turned his head to his coffee, staring at his reflection in the brown mess of creams and sugars.

[Teion 0]

Teion continued staring at the ice cubes that shifted slightly in her drink. At first, she didn't seem to think anything out of the ordinary about Ryo's simple statement of getting to know him better. It wasn't until he began to stammer a further explanation that ended with the concept of going on dates that Teion blinked, once again caught off-guard by the suggestion. 'Wait... Like this... This isn't--Is this a-?' Her thoughts scrambled while her cheeks burned with a new heat.

She had underestimated the awkward atmosphere just minutes ago--apparently it had the ability to get much worse. Should she say something? She didn't know if Ryo had the wrong idea about all of this, or if she had given the wrong impression, or even if she was somewhere misunderstanding everything. "I uhh, I didn't--" Before she had the chance to finish her sentence, the cheerful waiter was back at the side of their table yet again, this time placing a plate of food in front of each of them. Teion fell silent, and the waiter soon excused himself with a sly wink, "Enjoy~"

[Ryo 0]

Ryo's cheeks flustered with the same color of embarrassment. "I don't know what this is." He said quickly. Was this a date? It couldn't have been this was only the second time together where he decided to share his baggage and Teion opened up for the first time in probably forever, and now here they were having dinner together. Oh god it was a date, wasn't it? "We're just, friends getting a bite to eat right?" He said, sheepishly. There was nothing wrong with that. He would take another swig of his coffee if only to hide his face but his mug was empty from the last time he shotgunned his drink. He placed his mug down, a little too hard, causing it to clink loudly on the table. Ryo could feel the stares surrounding him, penetrating him, exposing him for what he was. Ryo's breathing became a bit irregular, but he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "I apologize." He said, his eyes staying closed. "I have to admit, I do like you. Like, a lot. But I feel ashamed because of it. Because we've simply just met, and you've just been hit with the loss. I feel like I'm taking advantage you, and that's wrong." Ryo grabbed his sandwich and added it to his inventory. "I apologize again Teion, but I think I should go before I say something else completely ridiculous, I'll see you when I see you?" He said somewhat hopefully as he made his way to the door.

[Teion 0]

The tension grew thicker with each moment that passed while the two players tried to determine what exactly this situation they'd found themselves in should be defined as. Before Teion had managed to come up with something to say in an attempt to smooth over the suffocating discomfort, Ryo was apologizing. Her eyes finally lifted to look directly at the man for the first time in a while, and she was almost thankful that she didn't have to meet his gaze when she registered his next words.

The light blush on her cheeks persisted when he aired his confession, and the unsavory feelings that lay behind it. Still, she was surprised when he rose to his feet with another apology. Ryo bid her farewell with more of a question before he would make his way towards the door. Why wasn't she saying anything? Her mind was busy and full, but when she searched for any words she only came up blank. Her mouth had opened at the first attempt, but only empty air left her while the legs of Ryo's chair scraped against the wooden flooring. And then she gave up. Teion managed to meet Ryo's golden eyes at the prompt of seeing her another time, and with an expression that tried not to display the magnitude of the conflict and concern she actually felt the woman gave a small nod, "Yeah."

"Oh, non!" Not even a minute had passed since their parting, and the elderly waiter had found his way beside the table yet again. "Worry not, mademoiselle. A romance must take time to be nurtured and cared for before it may bloom into something beautiful!" Teion felt her jaw tighten as the man continued on with extraneous and unwanted advice. An open palm crashing into the tabletop caused the dishes that still rested on it to clatter and promptly silenced the waiter. Her eyes were sharp now as they turned onto the man, who flinched slightly before excusing himself from the stiff air that surrounded the girl.

Teion stood, leaving a handful of col on the table before she turned to leave for her smithy a few blocks away.

Thread Complete

• Teion: +2 SP, +200 col
• Ryo: +2 SP, +200 col