He'd nodded encouragingly about her remembering his proposal for a getaway. But the ginger darling was onto another hedonistic topic: "Something cozy, maybe soup and sandwiches?" He quickly considered it, decided that sounded fine to him, then she suggested a few more options and Grasp laughed lightly at her enthusiasm (for the the dance move and the food-to-come). "Italian," he said. They had fewer desserts to get the Irishman in trouble. Then again, the Olive Garden had a thing called 'The Never-Ending Pasta Bowl'. He'd be strong.
His eyes searched Rhia's, in lieu of his mind scanning her own. She had regret at well, but of a different sort. She'd been working herself out, mostly because of how other people treated her in the past. Kiernan had been working on himself because of his own choices and misgivings. Of course, they'd both long since become stable, productive, trustworthy adults... but sometimes it was so hard to even put a toe in the water, let alone dive back in. They'd nearly done a cannonball. "Let's eat - it'll be way more fun to regret that," he said suddenly, hand still gripping Kindle's.
Of course he wanted a booth. And of course he wanted to try whatever wine they were pushing. What was the hostess thinking? As he took a deep breath of the 3-year-old merlot, he glanced across at the lovely redhead he was in the company off, then placed his glass down instead of taking a drink. "We should get a pizza..." He glanced at his menu's cover, flipped it open, and grinned when he realized they had a 'build your own' pie. "C'mon," he began, then turned the menu around so Rhia could see it. "You pick a sauce and a topping," the educator pointed unnecessarily, "and I'll pick two toppings. We can write them down and it'll be a surprise," he pulled then pen from his pants pocket and offered it to Kindle, along with his paper drink napkin. "If we botch it completely, we can get unending soup, salad and bread sticks or somethin'," he chuckled. A little compatibility test - just for the fun of it. Kiernan wasn't going to storm out of the restaurant if his and Rhia's toppings weren't stellar. But the surprise would be fun, and messing with the waitstaff would be more fun.