So... How About Lunch? [Closed]

[Hirosame]

Hiro walked into a local cafe that he had found a while back, a few blocks away from his workshop. Hiro hadn't set foot into the building, but he had passed on many occasions and figured that if he and someone else decided to start dating at some point, he'd invite them for food here. Well, not that that specific thing had to be the reason why it happened. Just that it would be nice to try it out. The snow outside was gently flowing down, the gray clouds above giving a slightly calming feeling to the day. It wasn't impossible to look through the snow as it came down, though, so it'd be easy to see the place. In fact, looking over his shoulder, he could see the Abbey very clearly. It would be kind of difficult to see the Palace, though, as it was on the other side of the building by this point. Laughing a bit at the thought of seeing his allied guild's home, instead of looking at his own, he stepped inside, and looked around for a seat. Hiro nodded to the people running the bar area, as they walked him, and found a place nearby one of the windows to sit. Unbuttoning his coat, he put it on the back of the chair, sitting down.

The cafe wasn't very crowded, even though it was just about lunch time for most people in the city. Hiro looked out again to the snow, drifting slowly down, finding entertainment in the weather. He was very impressed with how much this game had in the way of detail. It was rather interesting, how much there was to things in this world, even though they were trapped in it. This building, the weather, the systems implemented in the game, all seemed to have been tailored to their needs. But that isn't the point for right now. The point of him being in this cafe was something much simpler than being in the world of a game. His purpose for being here right now, was because he had invited @sugarygiggles to lunch for a chance. The last few times they talked, it hadn't been just the two of them. The Christmas Party and the Winter Ball had a large number of people, as well as both had to be preoccupied with other things in the meantime, between them talking with one another. But, for now, it'd be nice to just have a casual conversation over some food. It didn't really have to end there, though, if she wanted to go and do more than just have lunch. He was fine with the idea.

There actually was something that he wanted to talk to her about, though. Something that he felt he probably should have asked already, though there wasn't much time nor space to ask her. The thing that he was going to ask her, though, he wouldn't go into much detail right now. That would come up when it comes up, for sure. But, now isn't the time. Hiro looked up, snapping out of his thoughts, as one of the waitresses placed a glass of water down in front of him. He smiled up at the waitress, then looked back outside and into the snowy city. It was quiet in here. A dull roar of the few conversations going on around him, as he waited. It was nice, though, in a calm sense, relaxing sense. Something that helped him keep his cool, before what he was planning for later on while they ate. Or after they ate. He wasn't super sure when he was going to do what he planned, but he was going to be sure to ask her if she wanted to do more than just have lunch. Anything she'd wanna do, he'd totally go along with. If anything, he felt like she deserved a little extra effort from him, despite how tired or whatever he may get. Not to say that he'd get tired, though, since he enjoyed her company every time they got to talk. 

That would all come with time. The last thing on his mind, that he needed to address: What was he going to have for lunch? There was a menu here on the table for him to look at and read, which he should probably take a look into. Opening up the menu, he looked over the food choices that were available. The first thing he noticed, however, was how normal the food looked to be, and that it was stuff that you'd find in a place like Olive Garden. Chicken Alfredo, Spaghetti and Meatballs, basically Italian food. There was even two different iterations of the chicken alfredo, that Hiro actually wanted to try out here. He also wondered what kind of food Artemisia would want to eat. He offered to pay for it all, so she could buy whatever she wanted. He wasn't expecting her to have like an empty void for a stomach, so the price tag shouldn't be an issue. After looking over the menu for a bit, he finally looked at the prices. But, it didn't matter much at all to him, since the currency system between players wasn't still set in place in exchange for good and services. 1000 Gold for one plate of Spaghetti and an extra 150 for each inch-size meatball didn't seem like much to him, especially because of the fact that he had more than enough money to cover the guild hall for a long time. But, that's beside the point. This isn't about the money. It's about the time that he and the girl he likes will spend together. That's what this is all about, and every second will be precious to him. He hoped the same for her, but he hoped even more that the feeling is mutual.

[978 Words]

[Deleted]

Unlike their previous encounters there was no way to describe this meeting except as a date. Hiro had invited her, and only her, for lunch at a local cafe. She had not confirmed that the appropriate word was ‘date’ but given everything, she felt pretty confident that was the intent of this lunch. She was familiar with the location Hiro had selected and she had been there before. If he had just made a random guess on where to invite her, he had made a good choice. This particular cafe was high up on her personal favorites list. She was hoping Hiro had a plan for their afternoon, as she had set aside the rest of her day for him, just in case. If not, she had something of her own she wanted advice on from the more experienced player. She wanted to move out of the Inn and finally buy a residence of her own. If necessary, she was prepared to throw it out there as an excuse to keep their day from ending early.

Artemisia smiled widely when the small shop came into view, her pace quickening involuntarily to bring her there faster. She was not late by any means… in fact, she was fifteen minutes early. She was expecting to arrive before him but as she approached, she could see him sitting a table by one of the windows. She exhaled and prepared herself, her breath swirling up into the air in a white puff from the cool temperatures. Slowly, as if she had not been nearly jogging to get here, she opened the cafe door. A small bell chimed when the door pushed open, alerting the wait staff to a new customer. Almost immediately, someone approached her. “Welcome again, Artemisia,” Okay, so perhaps she had visited this place a few times… She really liked the food here. “A table for one?”

“Hello!” Artemisia greeted her back cheerfully, her eyes drifting over to the table she thought she had seen Hiro at. Her heart jumped seeing him waiting for her at the table. “I’m actually joining someone today, but thank you,” She blushed lightly when the woman who welcomed her followed her gaze and nodded her head in approval, smiling. “Yeah… I agree with you. I think I found a good one,” The blonde fox tail laughed quietly and turned, making her way towards the table. He was looking over the menu while he waited. 

“Hi Hiro, did you wait long?” She slipped her coat off and sat down at the table, across from him. She paused a moment to allow him to respond to her question, if he wasn't too distracted by the menu. “You made a good choice, I love this place.” She smiled at him, wondering if he had ever been here before. “If you don’t mind, I suggest…” She half stood and leaned over the table so she could peek over his menu, “this here, it’s delicious…” She tapped her finger lightly against his menu. Her choice was one of the specialty pastas, it was slightly more expensive but the flavor was worth it. She turned her face up from the menu to look at his, which was only a few inches away. “But no matter what you order here, you’re sure to like it,” She spoke softly to him, her words carrying just a slight undertone of suggestion. She smiled at him again and slowly sat back down in her seat. There would be plenty of time to flirt with him later, after all. For now, she needed to look to see if anything new had been added to the menu since her last visit.

Artemisia flipped open the menu, her eyes quickly looking it over. Just as she hoped, there was a new dish she had yet to try. It was a delicious sounding stuffed pasta, filled with cheese and seafood in a creamy sauce. She had never tried it before so it was an easy decision. That was what she would get when it came time to place their order. Her green eyes drifted down to the dessert menu, seeing that a new chocolate confection had also been added to the menu. She wouldn't have been surprised if sparkles were exploding around her as she read the description of it. It sounded absolutely amazing. Her sweet tooth was begging for it, trying to convince her to skip the main dish entirely and jump straight to this. No… maybe later, if he wants dessert, but until then… With great effort, she managed to look away from the menu and back to Hiro. Hopefully he hadn't noticed her obsession with the dessert menu... she wasn't sure if she wanted him to know one of her biggest weaknesses already.

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Notes: You can go ahead and have them order in your post if you want to?
Words: 796
Tags: Hirosame

[Hirosame]

While Hiro was looking over the menu, his mind raced between the food options and the thing he wanted to say later on. Another aspect was the fact that he had no idea if or when he should say what it is that he needed to get across. It was, in fact, the main point of asking her out here today. While they hadn't been talking for very long, or had known each other for long at all, he still felt a connection to @sugarygiggles, one that he wanted to know if she shared with him or not. Just knowing the answer would be enough to put his mind at ease for a little bit. Not to say that he was constantly thinking about it, but more that it was something that he'd like to understand more, or more clearly. Well, he knew exactly what it was and why, as it was obvious to him. He liked her. Plain and simple. But the effects that it had on his mind right now were impressively powerful. He came to respect the fact that such things could and do happen, mostly because of this. However, as he didn't realize before, there was someone very quickly walking up to his table. The moment he noticed was when the person in question greeted him.

Almost dropping the menu, Hiro looked up and saw Artemisia there. A smile formed on his face, as she began to sit down. "Hey." He said, as calmly as possible. "No, I got here just a bit ago. Haven't waited long." Hiro waited as she sat down, and commented about the place. Taking a look around, he responded to her. "Yeah, this place looked nice from outside. Never set foot inside, though, to be honest." He looked back over at Artemisia. "I'm glad you've been here before, though." A smile tugged at his cheeks, before letting it subside. He was just about to pick up the menu again, when Artemisia leaned over and pointed to one of the choices, which he recognized as the specialty pasta that this place was supposedly known for. As she brought her gaze back up to his, he had a sudden thought of leaning in and kissing her cheek, since she was so close to his face right now, but he resisted the urge. Instead, a smile formed on his face, and the thought remained in his mind for a few seconds, so a little tinge of red began to form at his cheeks, though it wasn't very noticeable. So, instead of be a bashful moron and look like a fool for a bit, he decided to take her up on the suggestion.

"Okay, I'll go with that, then." Hiro responded, as Artemisia sat back down. Hiro could feel that she was using the power of suggestion on him, but who was he to deny a pretty woman like her with something like this. If she knew this place, then she's probably had the food here a few times before. So she probably knew the ins and outs of the place. As Artemisia began to look over the menu herself, he couldn't help but notice that the main part of the menu was facing him. Looking over his own menu for a few moments, he found the exact page that she was looking over right now. His eyebrow raised, and a childish smile at his cheek, he lowered the menu once again, placing it on the table. "You can order whatever you like, Artemisia." Placing his hands on the table, folded, he continued. "Today's my treat. Order whatever you like." Hiro figured out that she was eyeing the dessert menu, getting the idea that she had a bit of a sweet tooth. He didn't mind it himself, since he also had a bit of one, too. In fact, he wanted to try some of the desserts himself, if they had the chance to. But, that would be for later. Maybe he'd ask her then? He still wasn't sure, but the waitress was very swiftly approaching their table, a notepad in hand.

Hiro put the menu down, and pointed to the place where Artemisia suggested Hiro try the food from, as the waitress stopped at their table. "Yeah, I'd like the Specialty Pasta, right here." Since he didn't really have any idea what to call it, or how to even refer to it, he just hoped that the pointing motion would suffice for the waitress. As she scribbled down his order, she turned to Artemisia, asking her for her order. Hiro folded up the menu, but kept the dessert slider at the table for them to look at later. As the waitress left, Hiro put his hands back on the table, taking the glass of water in one, and sipping from it, before returning it to the table. "So, thank you for coming out here for me." Hiro began, gazing into her emerald eyes. "I know I asked you here for lunch, but is there anything you'd like to do afterwards, perhaps? Check out a store, walk around, or even little things you need to take care of?" Hiro tried not to sound pushy at all, and tried to keep his voice at a calm, relaxed level. The other patrons of the restaurant seemed to be going about their business as usual, not paying them much mind. It was like they were in their own little world for the time being, as they finally had a chance to sit and talk, just the two of them. While Hiro had hoped for some time alone with her during the Christmas Party at Buckingham, there were plenty of other people there. But, this was nice. Just the two of them. The thought made his cheeks brighten a bit, as he waited for her reply.

[976 Words]

[Deleted]

The waitress came soon after and collected their orders. Hiro had offered to pay, a point which she planned to protest later, but was letting slide for now. After the waitress left, her companion picked up his glass and took a drink. She was aware of just how conscious she was of the man in front of her. Each word he spoke, each action he made, she noticed it. When he smiled, she smiled, it was an automatic response and she had no control over it. They hadn’t known each other long but sometimes, two people simply clicked and every moment they spent together was special, making it seem as if they had known each other for ages. This was how Artemisia felt about her time with Hiro. Each and every moment, every blush and glance, they were all undeniably precious to her. The only thing she wished for was that they had met sooner – how had she spent all of this time in this game and never come across this person? It was almost unbelievable to her that they had been so close to each other this whole time but had never made contact.

Well, we’re together now and that’s what matters. She reassured herself mentally as Hiro finished his sip of water, placing his glass back down. Wait… Together? She was surprised at her choice of words, they were still only friends, after all. Friends isn't quite right, though… One of her fox ears twitched as she debated this internally. There was no way to say they were ‘just friends’ after some of their interactions… one particular cookie came to mind immediately to dispute the idea. I wonder if it would be okay to just ask him what he thinks of me…? She glanced at him and realized he was staring at her. Her face flushed red as it dawned on her… he had just said something to her. She stared back at him quietly for a moment while her mind processed the question.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Her mind had caught up to her mouth, allowing her to respond. “Well, I’m up for anything that allows us to spend more time together today. I've freed up the entire day just for you,” So maybe now her mouth was a bit ahead of her mind. Somehow, she always ended up saying something embarrassing when she was talking to him. Deciding to go with it, as if she had intended to make such a confession, Artemisia continued, “I’m thinking about looking into buying my first personal house… I don’t know much about it, though. If you don’t think you’d be bored, I’d love your help with that?” She smiled at him, offering him an invitation of her own. “Of course, if there’s anything you would like to do, I’d love to hear it.”

“Here’s your appetizer,” A familiar voice spoke, placing a plate down between Artemisia and Hiro. She turned her head up, looking at the woman with confusion. It was the same woman who had greeted her at the door, the one who knew her. Had Hiro ordered this before she arrived? She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, seeing him look just as confused as she was. The plate had a sampling of various different items, little bite sized food which did look quite good.

“Oh, we didn't order this…” Artemisia immediately protested although she knew this person was not careless enough to bring the wrong order to a table. The woman shook her head and smiled. It was odd for her to be bringing them out food, instead of their waitress...

“It’s on the house, a special appetizer for the cute couple,” She laughed openly as Artemisia’s face changed to a bright red. “Please enjoy!” She nodded her head and turned to leave. “Oh, right,” The woman stopped and turned back around, suddenly remembering something. “You better treat my adorable Artemisia well or you’ll have me to answer to,” She lowered her voice as she spoke, speaking directly to Hiro this time. This woman had been extremely helpful to Artemisia in the past, even allowing her to sleep in the room above the shop a few times when her money was low so she respected and cared about her but she couldn't help but be shocked at her words. The blonde fox tail stared, her mouth half hanging open, as the Lander woman turned and walked off, not even giving Hiro an opportunity to properly respond.

“It-” Artemisia turned to look at Hiro hesitantly, her face glowing from multiple levels of embarrassment. Not only had they been called a ‘cute couple’, which made her extremely happy, but she was horrified at what had just happened. “It would be a shame to let it go to waste, huh?” She said the first thing that popped into her mind and immediately reached forward, grabbing a small fried item off the plate and popping it into her mouth, if only for an excuse not to say anything else. Is he mad now…? She wondered as she slowly chewed.

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Notes: ---
Words: 853
Tags: Hirosame

[Hirosame]

Hiro couldn't help but smile a bit as @sugarygiggles responded so kindly to him after inquiring over the possibility of doing something aside from just lunch. She thanked him, which she honestly didn't need to do in the first place, since it was a mutual agreement to come to this restaurant for lunch together. He had noticed how she was paying attention to almost everything he was saying a little bit beforehand, when she seemed to space out for a few seconds. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about, or what she might have in mind. Maybe she was thinking about something to do later on, after the lunch date they had. But, that only brought him to think about what he was going to say once the lunch was over, or during. Maybe not during, since he probably wouldn't want her to choke on something from such a silly question. However, Hiro was getting the idea that maybe, just maybe, Artemisia liked him, too. It was a bit of a stretch of a thought, even for him, but his optimism made him wonder it even more. He felt that that incident with the cookie at the Christmas Party might not have just been for fun.

Hiro felt a little tinge of heat from his cheeks, as he listened to Artemisia continue talking. She had opened up the entire day, just to be with him? He couldn't help but feel a bit honored at the fact, thinking that this girl would free up her entire day, just for him. Afterwards, she continued, speaking about personal housing. Hiro had just recently purchased a house in the Moon Dance Forest area, and figured that maybe he knew a thing or two about the housing thing. He also owned Buckingham Palace, though that was mostly for the guild. Hiro was about to respond, however a plate was put in between them, and an appetizer that they had not ordered was placed before them. Hiro had to wonder if the appetizer was meant for someone else, and the table it was given to was wrong. As Artemisia mentioned how they didn't order such a thing, the waitress, of sorts, said that it was on the house, and then mentioned that he and Artemisia were a "cute couple." Feeling a tinge of red on his face, Hiro looked to thank the woman as she turned around, only to be stopped by the fact that she had turned around, and walked back to the table, looking directly at him.

Hiro could feel some kind of burning angst coming off this woman. She wasn't a waitress, but more of a greeter. If anything, Hiro recalled her being there at the front of the store, greeting people as they walked in. He remembered nodding to the girl as he came inside the building, as she welcomed him to the establishment. Now, this girl was in his face, telling him to treat Artemisia right, or else he'd have this semi-angry greeter to deal with. While not trying to step on any toes, he also wanted to smile at the girl and respond how he was going to pay for everything, then take care of Artemisia for the rest of the day, as she had opened up her schedule for him. However, the woman had already turned her back, leaving the appetizers on the table for them both. Watching her walk away, Hiro turned back to his date, to see her reaction. Exactly as he expected, though, he saw her in utter shock and surprise. She stammered a bit, before mentioning how it wouldn't be a good idea to let the food on the table go to waste. Unable to control himself, though, Hiro just began to laugh out loud for a few seconds, before calming himself down, lowering his voice back to the level that it was at before.

Despite all the other customers looking his way, after his little show of laughter, he started to reach forward and grab one of the appetizing little bites that were there, biting down onto it. He finished it off, before continuing. "Sure, helping you pick out or find a personal house sounds just fine to me." Hiro responded finally, a smile across his face, his voice chipper and bright. "I can't really think of anything that I'd need to have done, so if you wanted to have some help with the house, I'd be more than glad to help you out." Hiro picked up his drink for a moment, but spoke one last thing before taking a drink. "I mean, it means I get to stay with you a little longer today." Having spoken his mind, he brought the glass up to his mouth, took a drink of the water, placed it back on the table, and leaned forward, closer to her. "So, any idea for where you'd want your house to be? Like, here in the city? Out in the forest? Underground?" A few necessary questions would need to be answered to start things off, before the food would get to them. He figured that they would have a bit of time before things got to their table, aside from the appetizer, which was so graciously put here for them to enjoy. Hiro took another piece and chewed on it, swallowing it down with a satisfying gulp. This appetizer was actually pretty good, despite having been given in such a manner as that. He didn't mind it, though. Just meant his date had a friend watching over her. It probably reassured her, so it reassured him, too.

[940 Words]

[Deleted]

Hiro’s reaction to the unnecessary threat of her friend was not what she had expected… he laughed. She could see his cheeks were faintly pink, showing just a little bit of embarrassment at what had happened but she was unsure exactly what was so funny. Artemisia stared at him a little wide eyed, wondering if he was laughing at the idea of them being called a ‘cute couple’. Her heart felt a little heavy as she considered the option that perhaps he wasn’t interested in her… but that didn’t seem likely, given the fading blush she could see on his face. She hoped the idea of them as a couple wasn’t too awful of an idea for him, as she rather liked the idea.

His short bout of laughter was followed up by several questions regarding her desire to find a home to call her own. Mixed in was a single line, one which made her smile – he wanted to spend more time with her, too. She wanted to make things clear, to wash away any doubt she had about Hiro’s intentions… she thought she was making herself pretty clear with the blatant flirting but most of her attempts hadn’t gotten much of a reaction from him. Do I need to make things even more obvious…? Somehow, she felt that she spent a lot of time going back and forth on just what she (and he) felt. She wasn’t the type to be so wishy-washy about things… it was odd how finding someone you connected with could make you feel so different.

“Hm…” She considered his questions, “I guess I haven’t really thought much about it,” She felt a bit silly, of course the first decision to buying a house was where you wanted it to be. “Definitely not underground, I can say that for sure,” She had been underground only once so far in her time in Elder Tale and she had mixed feelings about the memory… certainly, it had been overall positive on her, having met Saber and joined his guild but there was no denying the experience did not leave her desiring to venture underground again anytime soon. Inside the city did not sound overly appealing either – she had spent so much time cooped up inside Londinium, she wanted to be free of it. “Maybe somewhere in a peaceful part of the forest…?”

“I doubt I can afford it now but someday I think I’d like a nice house on the coast. Somewhere you can see the sunrise or set… I think that would be beautiful,” In between her words, she continued to pick at the appetizer which had been dropped off for them. For a brief moment she allowed herself to imagine herself and Hiro, sitting on the shore and watching the sunset. Her face lit up bright red and she had to cut her imagination short before it ran off without her. “I know you invited me over to the Palace once, but you don’t actually live there do you? If you don’t mind me asking, where you do you live, maybe I’ll get a house there and we can be neighbors?” She gave him a bright smile, laughing quietly at the suggestion.

She paused her speech to allow him to answer her with whatever response he would have but she wasn’t able to hold her tongue for long. She did not cut him off but as soon as the opportunity presented itself, she took it and threw out an offer she fully expected he would deny. She hoped, though, she would at least get some sort of reaction out of him. “I can come over and cook for you, what do you think?” She glanced up at his face, her eyes lingering on him. “My cooking skill still isn’t that great… but if you were willing to let me practice by making you dinner some nights…” She lowered her voice, speaking softly. “If you don’t mind having me over, that is.” Somehow, the topic was drifting from her looking for her own home to her finding a way to spend time at his. “Well, at that point maybe I should just move in as your private chef?” Her eyes sparkled with amusement, she was fully teasing him at this point but she couldn’t help it. “I’ll make you all the cookies you want, too.” She giggled and winked at him, her fox tail swishing joyfully behind her. Before the day was over, she hoped things would be clearer between them. This back and forth and constant wondering and hesitant flirting was fun in its own way but… she wanted more than that.

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Notes: Sorry it took me so long Hiro :( I left time in there for him to answer her mid way through so feel free to have Hiro interject where ever. I wanted to get to that last paragraph of the post this turn though <.<; Teasing Hiro is fun, after all.
Words: 778
Tags: Hirosame