lisa "now take a deep, soothing breath" turpin (asana) wrote in thegossipwitch, @ 2009-03-02 22:24:00 |
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As promised, Lisa was late. She had actually tried to be surprising and spontaneous and show that she could manage to be a bit punctual, but instead she found herself as late as ever. She was bordering upon fifteen minutes late when she rushed through the doors of the Saeng Thai House. Anyone that saw her would have had any real idea that she was a yoga instructor, with her hair a bit wild and her eyes rather wide in panic. The last thing she wanted was for him to assume that she was standing him up, especially since that would have made things uncomfortable at class. But, for as late as she was, Lisa had to say that it was well worth it. With a blue knee-length skirt, a white blouse, and heels that gave the impression that her legs were much longer than they actually were, she knew that she looked hot. Her hair had looked nice before she looked at the clock and realized how late it was, forcing her to run around her flat like a nutter. Hopefully he wouldn't mind. Once inside the restaurant, Lisa flashed a smile to the hostess but didn't even need to say anything before she recognized Seamus in the dining room. Excusing herself with a point and a slight chuckle, she hurried across the room and slipped into her chair. Her expression could only be described as sheepish when she cringed in apology. "I'm so sorry." Seamus had been halfway through politely standing when he realized with a laugh that she'd already skidded into her seat. "Don't worry about it," he said warmly. "You look great. I'll forgive a lot for hair like that, as long as it's for a date and not for rehearsal." He'd taken a little more time getting ready for this than he did for an ordinary day, but Seamus was always obsessively punctual. He felt he couldn't ask anything of his cast that he wasn't willing to do himself, and he hated when people didn't show up to rehearsal on time. Thus, abiding strictly by the clock had become habit. She'd warned him she'd be late, though, so he already had green iced tea to sip and an order of spring rolls to munch on. Lisa laughed, tucking her purse underneath her chair and daintily crossing her legs. "Oh, sure. Now I just know you're stretching things," she said with a tilted smile, folding her hands on the table. "My hair was just beautiful about twenty minutes ago, but I'm almost certain that it's huge and distressing right now. I promise that I tried really hard not to be late, but alas it wasn't in the stars." "No, I like your hair," Seamus countered, a little amused by her comment about the stars. A divination fan then, it seemed. Sort of to be expected from a yoga type, he supposed. "So, have a spring roll. Tell me about yourself." Lisa leaned forward, helping herself to a spring roll as he requested and looked a little thoughtful. She wasn't sure just what she should share about herself or what he actually wanted to know. She even took a bite of spring roll to think it over, but once she swallowed she started a slow smile. "Well, what do you want to know? I could give you my life story, but that could be boring." "How 'bout we start with small pieces and expand, then?" he suggested. Seamus had a bad habit of approaching conversation like a director and treating people like characters. "Begin on...how you ended up as a yoga instructor." "Well," Lisa started with a small smile, giving a slight shrug. "That isn't a very exciting story, unfortunately. I had started taking yoga classes when I was still at ADA and I kept taking them once I finished. I managed to land one good ballet after school, but I was living with my boyfriend at the time and he didn't seem to think that staying off of the streets was an important thing, so I only did the one show before I applied for the opening at Bhavani. And.. even after I broke up with him I just stuck around because I enjoy it and it pays rent." Lisa stretched out her arms a bit, her smile widening. "It's not what I thought I would do after ADA, but I just started teaching a ballroom class, so I feel like that education isn't completely going to waste." "No education's really wasted, I think," Seamus said, smiling back. "I've found all sorts of stuff i didn't think I'd ever use coming in handy at random times. Like ballroom dance, for instance. Gran insisted that I learn because she said a gentleman ought to be able to, but I was pretty sure I was never gonna be that much of a gentleman. And yet, here I am on a date with a woman who likes ballroom - so it might be handy yet." "Ballroom isn't my calling, but damn if it isn't fun," Lisa grinned, leaning forward a bit to lean her elbows on the table. "Maybe I'll need to force you to come to one of my classes. You know, sometime when you aren't busy being busy and all." Seamus gave a rueful smile. "I'm busy being busy a lot. But if you've got ballroom on Sunday or Monday, I could probably sneak in for a class. Those're the usual off days in the theater - except during show weeks, but by the time the show actually goes up, I'm moving on to the next one. So for me it's basically either Sunday and Monday off, or no days off." "Hmm, well," Lisa's grin turned a bit more sly. "I could do Monday. I'll have to keep that in mind." It was too bad that the gears were already turning in her mind, planning for it. She had been dying to have someone she could demonstrate with that wasn't Uriah, the flirty old bloke. "But, that's my story. What's your story? You've got to have a good one," Lisa continued, waving one of her hands dismissively. "When did you decide you were going to be a director?" "When I realized that I loved theater but hated being told what to do and hated watching other people fuck up great plays," Seamus replied, chuckling a bit at his own arrogance. It wasn't as if he didn't know that he sounded like a conceited bastard, after all. "So basically after my first year in the Acting program. I realized I was a lot better at putting the big picture out there than just working one little piece of it, so I decided to take the Directing track my second year." "That's fun," Lisa smiled, obviously not very phased by his arrogance in the least. As it was, it was impossible to not grow immune to it at school with all of the other talented people surrounding them. "Personally, I knew I was going to be famous ballerina at age six." Not that she was actually a famous ballerina now or anything. Realizing that, she smiled sheepishly and tilted her head to the side. "I'm still working on it." Something about the way she smiled when she said that just warmed him from the inside. It was sweet, and he'd always liked people who held on to their dreams. They were much more interesting than the people who just got Ministry jobs and forgot about what they'd wanted when they were children. "When I was six, I wanted to be a dinosaur," Seamus replied, returning her smile. "I like to think I'm getting there." "I think so," Lisa smiled, tucking her arms in to mime a dinosaur with a chuckle. "Or were you aiming more toward stegosaurus?" She appreciated the thought regardless, bringing her arms down to fold her hands in the lap. She had long since gotten used to people who thought that her dream was long since spent and that she ought to give up on it. "Nah, I've always been more of a carnivore," Seamus said cheerfully. "None of those non-bacon-eating dinosaurs for me, thank you kindly. Seriously, though..." He shifted tones, though his mood was obviously still light and happy. "I think it's great that you're still working on it. A lot of people, if the dream doesn't come easy they just say to hell with it." "Things are finally stable enough that I feel like I can really dream again," Lisa nodded, leaning forward to rest her chin on her palm. She loved talking about it and it showed, her eyes lighting up just a bit whenever she did. "Paying rent and eating and all of that can be hard to do on an occasional show sort of salary like I'm sure you know. But now I have enough saved up that I can at least look at ads for auditions and not cringe." "Yeah, I was just joking around with Gwen about our starving artist days," he replied. "It's tough to give much of a performance when you've been trying to make a pizza do for all the meals for three days. Or after you've been on your feet tending bar 'til 2 the night before." He gave a tilted smile as he went to clarify. "'s what I did when I was first trying to get work - slinging whiskey at night, badgering people for jobs during the day." "That can definitely be tough," Lisa agreed with a serious nod, which then turned almost nostalgic as she let out a sigh. "There were too many end of the months that I tried to make it on peanut butter sandwiches just to make sure I was able to meet rent. I like knowing that I can afford to go out for real food if I want to.. like Thai." She gestured around with a smile. "It's hard getting by without spring rolls." "It is," Seamus laughed. "Back then, Dean called me The Pasta King. Noodles were cheap, quick, and easy, so it got to where I was eating 'em up all the time. Life is much better with spring rolls." "I have to agree," Lisa said, popping the final bit of spring roll that she had been grazing on in her mouth. She smiled after she swallowed, then shrugged. "I have something of an addiction to food that are filled with preservatives and other bad-for-you sorts of substances. Needless to say, it's a good thing I do yoga and run or I would have lost a decent figure years ago." "I'm the opposite," her date said. "Kind of an addiction to organic, non-magically enhanced produce and whole grains and free-range meat." Seamus didn't appear especially bothered by the fact that Lisa couldn't walk away from a Jaffa Cake, though. It was sort of comforting to know that she wasn't perfectly healthy. "I've always told myself that one of these days I'll get around to a more healthy lifestyle or at least one that will make me feel better during class when I preach about being healthy," Lisa started, looking a bit sheepish again. "But I've never actually been able to commit. Every New Years I tell myself it will happen and I make it my resolution, but it's yet to happen. One day, maybe." "I dunno," Seamus teased. "'s kinda nice to know you're human. Between the way you bend your leg behind your head and maintain serenity at all times, you can be a little intimidating." "Me? Intimidating?" Lisa asked, feigning a shocked look. That only lasted a few seconds, though, before it turned into a warm smile. "I'll have you know that outside of class I am a bit less serene than you might believe. In fact, just a short while ago I was everything but as I ran around my flat looking for my other heel. You'd never have recognized me." Seamus laughed again, and noticed that he was laughing a lot with this woman. He liked that, and that she obviously didn't take herself seriously. That was hard to come by in his world. "I have to admit, I can hardly believe it," he admitted. "In class you're definitely the picture of calm. I'd never manage it m'self, especially not with that needy pair in the front row." "Oh, they're nothing," Lisa shook her head dismissively. "Good Merlin, I had this married couple a few months back that drove me absolutely insane. They were in my beginner's class and it was obvious that the husband wanted nothing to do with the whole yoga thing and that he'd been conned into it by his wife. They were constantly fighting in the middle of the class. They would start out just griping at the other and then it would grow into all out shouting matches until I finally asked them to leave one class." She bit her lip, almost looking guilty. "I didn't mean for them to never come back, but they never did. I felt a bit bad." "Sounds like yoga was not gonna be enough relaxation for them," Seamus dryly replied. He didn't really think yoga was going to be enough relaxation for him, either - though as Angie had implied, shagging the yoga instructor might help. Whiskey and cigarettes were obviously insufficient as tech week for Hedda Gabler approached. The waitress came up then, taking their order and then vanishing into the kitchen, which allowed for a slight change in topics. "So, does yoga seriously work to relax? 'cause so far I just get more stressed about by the fact that I can't do any of it right." "First of all, you're doing fine," Lisa smiled encouragingly, giving him a nod. He really was, in her opinion, so she felt it necessary to point that out from the start. "As for working to relax.. I think so. I started to do it back during ADA just as a way to keep myself fit and my mind focused and it came fairly naturally, but I think that was mostly because of all my dance background helping out with that." She leaned back in her chair, looking a bit thoughtful. "It's odd, because despite all of the things I teach in the class, I don't really believe a lot of them. The ideas of the yama and the niyama and all of that are really great ideas, but I'm only human and I know that I don't practice them like I ought to. But, when it comes right down to it, in order to relax you actually have to want to. You need to forget that you're trying to do these positions that your body doesn't normally get into and ignore the people around you. Once you can do that, it comes a lot easier." Her face split into a smile then. "Which, really, is a lot of the concentration and meditation I'm always harping about." "I'm not good at slowing down," Seamus admitted. "I tend to run hard and crash hard, stress myself out and then blow off steam to release the pressure. It's not exactly the world's healthiest lifestyle choice, and I'll probably be dead before I'm eighty, but I don't reckon I've ever learned to do it another way." He paused, and his shrug was a little awkward. "I guess that's why I went on and took the Anger Management assignment instead of following my usual impulse, which would've been to tell them "Fuck you, I'll spend my couple weeks in jail." Maybe I could use a change." "Change can be a good thing, I've come to find," Lisa replied, smiling as she returned his shrug. Change was something that she'd gotten used to years ago. Rather than lingering on that, however, she instead let her smile turn teasing. "After all, this change brought about Thai with your fabulous instructor, so I can't help but think that it's good for you this far. I might be biased, however." "If you are, I've got to say I'm biased in the same direction," he replied with a grin. "It's not often I get a date with a beautiful woman with a Zen sense of calm who also has a sense of humor. I didn't think you'd actually say yes, given how I landed in your class." "Maybe I just really like Thai," Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously only joking when her smile split into a slight laugh. "No, no. I've long since learned that it isn't a good idea to judge people just on mistakes they've made in the past. I know that I've made them, so there's no need to judge anyone else." She gave a shrug to punctuate the idea, then added, "Besides, you have really pretty eyes. It's hard to say no to eyes like that." Seamus was flattered, though it was a compliment he'd heard many times before. It was still always nice to have a pretty woman say it, especially one who was also funny and artistic and intelligent. So far, this date was going very well. "My eyes, hm?" he asked playfully. "Does that mean I should feel bad that the first thing I noticed about you was your legs?" Lisa grinned, enjoying the compliment as well. She would never complain about a compliment, especially one about her body since she was just a touch proud of it. She didn't care if that made her a shallow person. She worked hard to be able to wear miniskirts and damn if she wasn't going to take advantage of it. "No, that's quite all right," Lisa replied, tilting her head to the side to peer down under the table at her crossed legs. "They're really rather nice legs, so I can't fault you for that." Now that was something special: a woman who could accept a compliment. The reaction bespoke a confidence that most women didn't have, and it was dead sexy. If he hadn't been interested before, he sure as hell was then. "They are indeed," he agreed with a broad grin. "Nice arse, too, but I probably shouldn't be commenting on that on the first date." "You are more than welcome to praise my body on any date," Lisa replied with a slight smirk, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, now I won't have to be surprised when I catch you staring at my arse while I'm bent over in class. Not that I have liberties to be surprised since I discreetly looked at yours all last class." She grinned at that comment. "I feel like it's all right since it's not like you're underage and I'm your professor." "I'm glad to hear that your ethics won't be standing in the way of my ogling," Seamus cheerfully returned. "I'd've been very disappointed if the Board of Yoga Gurus or whoever certifies yoga instructors had rules against sleeping with students." Then he realized how that sounded, and looked a bit panicked. "I mean, not that I'm expecting you to sleep with me. Not tonight." Oh god, this was only getting worse. "Or ever! I mean...unless you want to." Nope, he still sounded like an idiot. Seamus sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Shite." As he tried to talk himself around what he'd just said, Lisa couldn't help but let her smile grow. It was hard not to be amused by that, mostly because she wasn't the sort of person that would be offended by such talk either. They didn't know one another nearly well enough for him to know that, though, so it was funny just to see. Once he sighed, though, she couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Leaning forward, as though she didn't want to be understood, she dropped her voice and smiled warmly. "I've never slept with a student, but I promise that if I decide to you will be the very first to know." She hoped that that would make it obvious that yes, she was definitely interested in the future and she wasn't offended.. but not look easy. She managed to be successful in both efforts, and Seamus gave her a relieved smile. "Sorry," he said. "People say I haven't got a filter. Or that my brain-to-mouth connection short-circuited to leave my mouth running all by itself. It makes for these awkward moments when I'm trying to get to know somebody." "Hm, well," Lisa started thoughtfully, bringing her hand to tap on her chin once. She was doing the thing where she obviously overdid it to make it clear that she was only teasing - just to bypass uncomfortable moments like the one just moments before. "Were you dropped on your head as a child? That could have done it. I've heard that the brain-to-mouth connection is the first to go." "It's been suggested for, but Mam's not admitting to it," Seamus said with a smile. He'd had worse than that as a child, but she didn't need to hear about that on the first date, if ever. "However, I have always liked running too fast, climbing too high, and flying both too fast and too high, so it's not like I have no history of concussions. The rugby games tend to make those happen a lot, too. It's possible that's where the brain-to-mouth connection was lost." "That's all right, though," Lisa smiled, giving a slight shrug. She leaned back away from the table again, leaning into her chair. She couldn't help but find everything he was saying to be more charming than was probably allowable for the first date, but that was all right. "A little brain-to-mouth connection loss is nice. At least it provides proper entertainment on my end." "Being entertaining's one of my strengths, I think," the Irishman replied easily. "It's kinda my job. So'm glad the fact that I run my mouth all the time amuses you - it's about time that was useful." "I happen to think it's cute," Lisa replied with a smart smile, then glanced up at the waitress as she arrived with their food. She thanked her easily before instantly going for her chopsticks, but let her curry sit for a moment before she tried to eat it. Taking advantage of the interruption, she tried to take the topic in another direction. "Anyway, you really ought to tell me more about yourself. What do you do for fun? What size shoe do you wear? What's your favorite color?" She grinned teasingly at her questions before going for a bite of her food. Seamus laughed at the string of questions and took a sip of tea. He was ready to dive into his Cashew Chicken, but he'd answer first. "Let's see...outside of work, I go out to the pub now and then, I find a pickup game of Quidditch or rugby when I can, sometimes football...I cook, I try to get out of town and go climbing or hiking or camping on occasion...oh, and bad horror movies. I wear a size 11 shoe, and my favorite colour is blue. And you?" "Well, when I'm not busy pretending to be balanced and unstressed, I also enjoy a good time at a pub," Lisa started, holding up her chopsticks in front of her as she spoke. "I especially love going dancing, which I'm sure isn't too much of a shock. Otherwise I love to read, I enjoy going to museums and art galleries, and I adore seeing films and have quite a collection." She paused, looking thoughtful as though she wasn't sure if she'd managed it all, then gave a nod and smile. "I'm a size 6 shoe and my favorite color is green." "Wow, you have tiny feet," Seamus declared as he deftly maneuvered his chopsticks around his food. "I'm a reader, too - lots of dramatic literature, obviously, but I'm also fond of poetry and pop fiction. And I have a weird addiction to bizarre nonfiction like the History of Salt, but that's probably another thing I should've held off on mentioning until a second or third date at least." "Oh, please, you should see my library at home," Lisa quirked a smile. "I love the classics and have more Charles Dickens and Jane Austen than might be allowable, but I probably have the History of Salt and the History of Pepper. I sort of thrive off of bizarre nonfiction, if only to come up with random tidbits to bring up in conversation and seem smart." She popped a bit of chicken into her mouth then, before twisting to the side and poking one of her feet out from under the table. "But, yeah. Tiny feet. It's a wonder I can stand up without falling over." "Must be all the yoga," Seamus joked. He smiled and shifted back to their interests, since her feet weren't a terribly significant issue. "So...we've got plenty of stuff in common, but we've got our own things, too. This is looking pretty good so far." Lisa smiled at that, popping another piece of chicken in her mouth before she replied, mostly in an effort to give her something to do to properly stall so she could give a good reply. She liked that he would come right out and say something like that, especially since she most certainly agreed with him. It might have had something to do with his brain-to-mouth connection, but she liked it. "I'd have to agree," she finally replied after swallowing, giving him a warm smile. It wasn't exactly a good reply.. but she figured it worked well. "Okay, so...how's your musical taste run?" he asked, moving on to the next commonality of importance. Well...hopefully commonality. Seamus wasn't sure what he was going to do if she owned the complete works of Celestina Warbeck. "I listen to a lot of whatever, to be honest," Lisa replied with a shrug. "It's really just a big conglomeration. I like a lot of Muggle classic rock because that's what my dad basically raised me on. I have a lot of classical, too, mostly from ballets and other shows. I like the big band sort of stuff, too, which comes from the class I teach." Her face split into an almost embarrassed smile when she added, "I also have a sick weakness for 80s music that everyone else groans at." Seamus lit up at the mention of Muggle classic rock and ignored all the rest for the time being. "Mam was always playing old rock 'n roll when I was a kid, too," he replied with a grin. "She was the wild child of the Finnigans, I'm afraid." Which brought up the one issue of his past he thought he probably should mention, in the interest of full disclosure. "My father was a Muggle she married in her rebellious phase. They've been divorced for about twenty years. So I'm a halfblood, if that matters." "My mum and dad met in Hogwarts, but didn't start dating until my mum kicked him after he stole the Quaffle during a Quidditch game," Lisa replied with a small smile. She figured that if he was divulging, there was no use in keeping anything in herself. "Mum died back during the war when I was seventeen and now my dad's dating this real interesting woman that must be under the impression I'm still in Hogwarts by how she treats me." She paused for a moment to let her smile turn a bit more teasing. "And I'm sort of pure, but sort of not, so.. it doesn't matter." "I figured I'd go ahead and put it out there," he said with a shrug. "It bothers some women. Those're generally the ones I don't want anything to do with, so I try to get the information out of the way pretty early on." Seamus smiled back at her. "I'm glad you're not one of them. That would've sucked." "See, the difference between me and all of those women is that I'm brill and they're not," Lisa replied easily, shrugging as she popped a bit of chicken into her mouth. She was mostly teasing, even if she did think it was true. "It's a burden I must bear." "And lucky me, I get to bask in the glow of your beneficence," Seamus teased back. His food was disappearing much more slowly than it usually did; talking to Lisa was just too much fun. "So politics, then? Or back to music and my abiding love of Jethro Tull?" "Anyone that can incorporate the flute to rock music deserves anyone's abiding love," Lisa replied, raising her eyebrows to show just how impressed she was. She was still trying to decide if she thought politics was a good thing to touch base on, mostly because she just didn't have much of an opinion. She wasn't sure if that was something that would make her look uninformed, but she decided to try anyway. Setting down her chopsticks and reaching for her napkin, she started slowly. "As for politics, I don't do a very good job keeping up to date. I read the Prophet, but that's about where it ends. It's not that I don't care, it's more that I find myself worrying about different things, like getting to class on time or making sure my dad remembered to go grocery shopping." Seamus nodded understanding. "I was never so much political as it was just a...you know, fight or flight sort of thing, and I've pretty much always been a fighter." He gave a rueful smile then. "Hence how I ended up in your class. I'm no good at backing down." "Arguments with you must be fun," Lisa raised an eyebrow. "I can't say much different for myself, though. It takes a lot to get me angry, but I do have a temper when I'm pushed." She paused before giving him a rueful smile of her own. "Never landed myself in anger management, though." "I tend to be loud," Seamus admitted. "And if I get hit, I hit back. But with your usual arguments, I just get angry real fast and then get over it about twenty minutes later. It's easy to set me off, but hard to get me angry enough to stay angry." "I'll keep that in mind," Lisa teased, before admitting a bit more herself. "I just have a habit of getting angry but the second that I realize the other person might be angry with me I start to grovel. It's almost embarrassing." "I spend a lot of time apologizing," Seamus chuckled. "Because half the time when I'm angry, it's because of something idiotic. And then I have to come crawling back and beg forgiveness for flying off the handle. So I can empathize there." "Well, good," Lisa replied with a definitive nod, then had to let out a laugh. "How did we get on this topic again? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but argument styles usually don't come up until a few more dates down the line for me." She let out another chuckle, her eyes dropping down to her plate to pick out a sizable piece of chicken. "You're very easy to talk to." "Thanks! I do try," he said with a smile. "Maybe argument styles should come up earlier. Then you know what you're getting into. People should probably put stuff like that in personals ads." "Oh, that would be interesting," Lisa laughed. She paused, then, looking a bit thoughtful as she slowly came up with an example. "Single white female, age 24 that pretends to be much more calm than she really is seeks a male that won't be turned off by frequent apologies. Criers need not apply." Seamus laughed, his head tilting back a bit as he did. That was a good one! "Lessee...mine'd have to be...Single white male, 24, seeks woman who is comfortable with yelling and door slamming. No walk-out-on-it people, please." "I'm almost tempted to submit those to the personals in the Daily Prophet just to see who would respond," Lisa teased. With a glance down she realized that somewhere between all the talking she must have actually been eating as it was almost gone, but when she looked back up she raised an eyebrow. "Then again, I think I'd be devastated when someone that didn't apologize all of the time came up and stole your attention." "Oh, I don't think that'd be a problem," Seamus replied. His tone warmed, as did the look in his eyes. "I can live with apologies, just not people who refuse to go on and have a proper argument. And I'd say you've got my attention pretty good and captured. Enough that I'll certainly be asking for a date number two, anyway." "I like proper arguments, don't worry," Lisa replied. She all but melted at his tone and eyes, but she struggled not to make it terribly obvious. She didn't struggle too hard, however, and was willing to bet that it showed as her own expression warmed. "I like second dates even more, however. Especially if they include going to a movie." "Sin City looks cool!" Seamus immediately replied, and then he grimaced at his own suggestion. "Sorry. Not exactly a date movie, is it?" Neither were The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy or The Ring 2, which were his other two ideas. Really, it was no wonder he couldn't keep a girlfriend. Lisa laughed, more at the grimace than the suggestion. "I wouldn't say no to Sin City," she replied, still chuckling a bit. "Actually, it seems like a fine date movie. I think it'd be best if I held out on demonstrating my ability to burst into tears at a moment's notice during romantic comedies." Seamus was beginning to think he might have stumbled upon the perfect woman. Except for her regrettable love of art galleries and lack of demonstrated interest in sport, she was just about ideal. A grin pushed the grimace aside as he tested the waters out further. "The Ring 2 is out this week, too. Or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, if you're interested in slightly less massive violence." "Well, I will have to regrettably admit that I have yet to see the first of The Ring movies, so unless you want to deal with me asking questions the whole time..." She gave him a tilted smile before continuing. "I've read The Hitchhiker's Guide, though, so this is a hard choice. Maybe we could see Sin City and then hold off on Hitchhiker's for Date Three? Or is making plans for Date Three pushing it?" Lisa really hoped not, because she really, really wanted a Date Three based just upon how Date One was going. "No, I don't think it's pushing," Seamus replied easily, happy that she seemed to think it was going as well as he did. It was the best date he'd had in years, and planning as far ahead as Date Three really didn't seem to be overdoing it. "And Sin City for this one and Hitchhiker for the next sounds like an excellent idea. Which leaves just one question left...where do we go after dinner? Because my Cashew Chicken is gone, but I really don't think I want to have to let you go yet." Lisa glanced down at her plate and didn't even hesitate before picking up her final bit of chicken and popping it into her mouth. She couldn't remember actually eating all of that, having been so engrossed in conversation, but she felt that was probably a good sign. But, she didn't quite want to have him let her go just yet, either. With a smile, she suggested, "Well, I do like ice cream." "I love ice cream," Seamus declared. "And I think it's brilliant that you'll actually suggest ice cream even though it's February. I can't stand people who put a bunch of rules on when you're allowed to have ice cream." "Anyone who wants to stifle the wonder that is ice cream doesn't deserve to have any," Lisa grinned in response, setting her chopsticks on her plate. "Besides, I absolutely live for ice cream." Her grin turned a bit sheepish. "Do you get why I have to do yoga, run, and dance?" "'s why I run and swim and play rugby," Seamus laughed. "I love food too much to give any of it up, and at twenty-five my metabolism isn't want it used to be. One of these days I'm really gonna have to quit smoking, or I won't be able to do those either. Theater just makes it bloody hard to do." "Smoking? Haven't you heard that's bad for you?" Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow and obviously teasing him. "I'm kidding. I promise. I'm not one of those people. I have my own share of bad habits, so it's hard to judge others on theirs." "I promise I'm an expert at getting the smell and the taste of it off me," her date replied. "But I'm curious now - what are your bad habits?" Seamus leaned forward, folding his forearms on the table and looking quite interested. "Where to start," Lisa let out a breath, unable to keep from leaning forward and mirroring his own position. "I bite my fingernails, hence why I keep them cut short and painted ridiculous colors - just as a way to keep myself from trying. I tend to be a rather insufferable know it all because, well, I do know it all." She shot him a grin at that. "I dog ear the corners of pages in books rather than use a bookmark, which I've heard is just terrible behavior. I also cannot greet the day or continue living it without at least three cups of coffee and a scone." She paused, then let out another breath. "There are plenty more and those are fairly tame, but.. bad habits nonetheless." Seamus looked horrified - well, more accurately he was a teasing caricature of horrified. "You dogear pages? You are officially never borrowing any of my books." If those were her worst habits, he figured they'd be just fine. Assuming she could put up with his quirks, anyway. Merlin knew he had plenty of those. "And that's just too bad because I was already coming up with a very elaborate plan on how I would be stealing History of Salt from you," Lisa joked, reaching forward for her glass of water to take a long sip. "Oh and I take a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom. It has everything to do with my hair and nothing to do with being high maintenance, however." "I regularly take showers around twenty minutes long," Seamus admitted. "And I don't even have the hair as an excuse. I just like standing under the hot water. I also count steps and sort coloured candies before I eat them. And if I can avoid it, I never wear shoes. So I really can't criticize...well, I can't criticize anything but the dogearing. That's just wrong." "You think dogearing is bad and you sort candies?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow, shaking her head in disbelief. She was having a hard time keeping a straight face, partly because she was just bad at it in general but mostly because he had mentioned showering and it was hard not to imagine that. "I can hardly believe that logic." "You're permanently damaging books, lady," he argued. "I'm not hurting anything with my candy-sorting. Obviously book-assault is way worse than just wanting to have the same number of the different colours of jellybeans." "Yeah, well, you know..." Lisa started, then had to let out a laugh. Her cheeks tinged just a little pink and she looked positively sheepish. "I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on thinking about your twenty minute showers. I probably shouldn't admit that aloud neither on a first date or ever, but otherwise it just looks like I'm a weak arguer. I'm distracted." Seamus couldn't help but grin at that response. "Oh really?" he asked, obviously fascinated by this information. "And just what're you imagining, hm?" There were all kinds of grand reason for a shower to go on for twenty minutes or more, after all. The one he was thinking about now definitely involved Lisa pressed up against the wall, but he could wait to share that. This time the pink in her cheeks definitely darkened and for the first time all night Lisa actually looked at a loss for words. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, especially when she laughed and couldn't keep from grinning. After a moment of debating what exactly she could say without really crossing a line - as though she hadn't already - she just gave him a cheeky look. "You're washing your hair, of course. I don't know what you were thinking." Seamus nodded solemnly. "It does take a terribly long time to really get it clean. An entire inch of hair requires careful maintenance. I can't imagine why I would have thought anything else." "Nor can I," Lisa returned his solemn nod before leaning toward him. She dropped her voice just a bit, but the way she smirked showed that it was more for show than to keep from being overheard. "But don't worry. I promise that one day I'll tell you what you're doing after the hair washing." Now that was promising, Seamus decided with a grin. "I'll be looking forward to it," he said, and he raised his hand to signal the waitress for the check. "Especially if you're there for whatever it is I'm up to after the involved process of washing my hair." "I guess you're just going to have to wait and find out," Lisa replied, returning his grin and not looking nearly as embarrassed as she had a few moments before. She gave a glance toward the waitress as she got their check and leaned to the side to reach for her purse under her chair. "Are we about to have one of those awkward moments where I have to wonder if you're going to pay for me?" "No, we are not," Seamus said firmly, his wallet already out of his pocket. "My grandfather always told me I should never let women touch money or doors. While I'll let a woman pay if she really wants to, I always plan on it myself. So assuming you're not going to assert your independent witch rights, I've got this one." "Well, fine," Lisa sighed, feigning as though it was a great favor he was asking of her. "If you're going to be all gentlemanly, I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you." She still reached for her wallet, though, and raised an eyebrow. "But I'm getting the tip. She only made eyes at you once the entire dinner, so I feel like I can do that." "All right, fair enough," he chuckled. She drove a hard bargain, but it wasn't so bad. He liked that she could be independent and still let him do nice things - that could be hard to find, sometimes. "But I'm still getting the ice cream. Deal?" "If you insist," Lisa happily replied. She really didn't mind letting him buy her dinner, especially since it sort of cemented it in her mind that this was, in fact, a date. It was obvious from all the rest of their conversation, but it really drove it home. "But I'm getting popcorn on date number two. I've already claimed it now, so you can't act shocked when I announce it later on." "All right, but I get the tickets," Seamus countered. "And whatever sweets we smuggle in from the outside, because they're always way overpriced inside," he added with a smile. He'd always enjoyed smuggling chocolate bars into the movie theater with Dean. He had a feeling it might be even more fun with Lisa. Lisa was just about to reply when the waitress arrived with the check and she stole it quickly before giving to to Seamus just to calculate the proper amount for the tip. She gave him a smile as she handed it across the table. "I can agree to that. But, I get to pick where we go for ice cream, then." She had to laugh, then. "We're so good at compromising." "Obviously," he chuckled, counting out the money for dinner and setting it down before standing and picking up his coat and scarf. "So where're we going, chief? All ice cream is good ice cream, so far as I'm concerned." "Fortescue's," Lisa replied simply, getting to her feet as well to swing her coat around and on. "I was going to try to impress you with some crazy and different ice cream place, but unfortunately my need for their mint chocolate on a waffle cone won out in the end." She grinned as she brought her scarf up and around her neck. "I'll try to impress you some other time." When she mentioned the mint chocolate on the waffle cone, Seamus stopped and blinked at her. Then he laughed. "Mint chocolate?" he asked, a bit unable to believe that they shared the same favorite flavor at Fortescue's. "Seriously, mint chocolate? And on a waffle cone?" "Uh huh," Lisa replied hesitantly, raising an eyebrow at him. She really hoped that he wasn't like that weird bloke, John, that she had went out for dinner a few weeks ago that had been so violently opposed to her liking bacon on pizza that she had been afraid to inquire about another date, just for her life. When he laughed, though, she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Is that a problem?" "No, not at all," he chuckled. "I won't ever have any problem remembering what you like - that's what I get pretty much every time. Every now and then I branch out and get Strawberry Pie, but it's almost always Mint Chocolate in a waffle cone. Chocolate-dipped waffle cone, if they've got 'em." Lisa had to laugh at that. It was becoming incredibly clear just from this one date that while they had a lot in common, there was still enough that was different that made the other interesting. She was finding that she wanted to know more and more about him, just to find out what else he might like that she liked, what else was different. She was enjoying learning about him. "Well, good," Lisa replied with a teasing grin, pushing her purse up onto her shoulder. "Since you're buying, you'll have no trouble ordering for me." "None at all!" he agreed. He went to the door and opened it, letting Lisa walk through before allowing it to close behind them. "So while we're on food...what's your beverage of choice? Well, first - do you wanna apparate, or just walk it?" "Let's apparate," Lisa decided, debating in the back of her mind what her beverage of choice might be to prepare. She quirked a smile, reaching over to take his hand without any hesitation. "In fact, I vote that we side-along just so I have an excuse to hold your hand.. even if we both obviously know where Fortescue's is." Seamus smiled warmly and took the hand she offered, and then the other as well. "Hold on, then," he said. A second later, without the usual noise, Seamus and Lisa were standing in front of Fortescue's with their hands linked. He did sort of like showing off that he could apparate without a sound, even if it wasn't really any particular skill so much as just one more quirk. "Ooo," Lisa said, a grin crossing her face. She obviously noticed his silent apparating and it was hard not to be a bit impressed. Mostly, though, she liked holding his hands like that and couldn't help but try to stall. "That's fancy. How'd you figure out how to do that?" "I didn't," he admitted, giving her a tilted smile. He was still holding her hands, standing there on the sidewalk as if no one else was passing by. "I just sort of started doing it that way. It's not really good for anything but impressing girls and sneaking up on people, though." "Well, it worked. I'm definitely impressed," Lisa chuckled, then gave him a teasing smirk. "I can't do it and I think I'm just a wee bit jealous." Her fingers tightened just a bit around his, before raising an eyebrow. "Also, cranberry juice." "As long as it's not pumpkin juice, we're good," Seamus replied cheerfully. "I've never been able to stand the stuff. My liquid addictions're orange juice and Irish whiskey." They were still standing on the sidewalk holding hands, and Seamus knew he was starting to blather. That was of course because the longer they stood there, the more he started to think about kissing her. It was really much too early in the date for any of that, but it didn't stop him thinking it nonetheless. "I like orange juice," Lisa replied easily, her mind along similar lines. Then again, she had also already imagined him in the shower and admitted it aloud, so it couldn't have been terribly surprising. Her eyes flickered down once toward his lips before looking back at his eyes. "Then again, I enjoy all juices. I especially like grapce juice, but cranberry will always hold a special place in my heart." "Cran-grape is always good," Seamus replied, his voice growing a little more quiet. He'd caught that glance at his lips, and now he couldn't take his eyes off hers. She was certainly looking an awful lot like she wanted to be kissed, regardless of how early in the date it might be. "I like cran-grape," Lisa concurred, quirking a smile as she realized he was staring right at her lips. She suddenly didn't feel sheepish for having had looked at his for just a split second and instead let her gaze drop down again. She even went ahead and took the smallest step toward him. "I'm sorry," she finally murmured. "But you're going to have to kiss me really soon or I'm going to wither away." Well, if she was going to insist like that... Seamus closed the rest of the distance, lowering his head to hers and kissing her softly. It was nothing too involved, but it was slow and pleasant and lingered long after their lips parted. "So," he said softly. "Ice cream?" Lisa couldn't help it as she just grinned up at him, feeling lighter than she had the entire date, which was certainly saying something. As far as she was concerned, if all of their dates went this swimmingly.. well. It would be good. Dropping one of his hands, she kept the other one linked with hers and gave a nod. "Ice cream." |