"You should try out for one of the plays."
Who: Clarice and Xi'an What: Lunch! When: Sunday Where: A deli Status: complete Rating: PG
Clarice was already at the deli, nursing a drink while she waited for Xi'an. She hadn't actually slept well the previous night, but didn't want to bother Illyana right now, or postpone the deli. She and Xi'an had a mutual interest in a pair of friends. And Clarice really liked the twins. So she wanted to make actual friends with Xi'an.
Xi'an made her way to the Italian deli and smiled when she spotted Clarice. It would be nice to chat with Clarice under less embarassing circumstances than their first chat. She took a seat and smiled again. "I hope you weren't waiting too long."
"Only about ten minutes," She replied, smiling. "I was waiting to order, for you to get here. Since I didn't know what you'd like."
"Thanks," Xi'an said. "I'm glad I didn't make you wait too long."
"Get whatever you want." Clarice was craving the really spicy pastrami one. She got up to order, and order herself another drink as well.
Xi'an went with a salami, pastrami, and provolone with lettuce and tomato. She got water to drink and grabbed several napkins.
Food settled, Clarice waited until they were seated and had gotten a few bites in, "I want to..uhm..apologize. If we've been too loud at all sometimes." She just wanted to get the embarrassments out of the way, first.
Xi'an grinned. "It would be good if you could work a little harder, yeah. Just for the sake of the kids." She took a swig of her water.
Clarice blushed, and nodded, "I try. She's very convincing, I'm afraid. I've never been this attracted to anyone in my life before. I'll have to try harder."
"It's okay. Just...do make sure to work on it. If the apartment was laid out different, it would be less of an issue." She took a few bites of her sandwich and savored it for a moment.
Clarice nodded. Muffling was going to need to happen. It helped that last night they'd gone to the hotel room she was staying in while the house was repaired, but still. She liked the apartment, and she didn't want to alienate Xi'an, "Did you enjoy Twelfth Night?"
"I did! It was a great production!" Xi'an smiled at Clarice. "It was a lot of fun." She took another couple of bites. "I think you said the group is doing Julius Caesar next?"
"Yes! We're cutting it a bit short so we can get in the original play before renovations, but we're still doing it. You're welcome to come see of course," Clarice said, smiling enthusiastically. "Someone anonymously donated ten thousand dollars to help!"
Somewhere, Kitty was eyedarting.
"Wow! That's great!" Xi'an did wonder for a moment if Kitty might have something to do with that, but since the donation had been anonymous, she didn't say anything more. "And I'll definitely make time to come and see it. I don't want to miss another great performance."
Hey, it was a perfectly valid tax deduction! And also, you know. Illyana. And Xi'an loved the shows there so it gave Kitty more excuses!
Clarice grinned. She felt giddy, "The original play will have nudity, but it's an experimental one. The rest of the shows are about as kid friendly as most plays get. With the usual caveats. We're doing Wicked after the renovations are complete."
She tilted her head, "You should try out for one of the plays. We're always looking for extras and the occasional major part."
Xi'an ducked her head and chuckled. "I might think about it. Probably just an extra or something small."
"I'll let you know when the next auditions are."
"Thanks," Xi'an replied.
Clarice finished her meal and shifted in her chair, "How long have you been out?"
"About ten years," she said. "I came out to my brother first, then my friends. I came out to my parents once Leong and Nga had managed to figure out something resembling a sleeping schedule. They took it...better than I'd expected, though their were still some tears."
Clarice nodded her head, "I think mine still think it's a phase. Or it hasn't really hit them since I've only ever brought men home. I haven't had a long enough relationship with a woman yet to introduce them. Well until now. Your kids seem pretty accepting too, but they've probably grown up with it."
Xi'an nodded. "I never hid it from them. I just didn't have a lot of time for dating. And dating when you're functioning as a single parent is not easy, as far as keeping people's interest once they know you're the guardian of two kids."
"Something tells me a lot of people would run in the opposite direction." Clarice grimaced a bit, "I have a hard enough time when I mention theatre. Their eyes start glossing over. I couldn't imagine with kids in tow."
"Yeah. You learn the 'oh, kids, how do I back out of this' look pretty quickly. But I think it's helped the twins be more understanding about other people's various family situations. A lot of their friends have single parents or other 'non-tradtional' family situations," Xi'an said.
Clarice nodded. She could see how that would work out, "They're lucky to have you. And I think you lucked out in a partner, too. Even if she can be a little....scary."
Xi'an chuckled. "Kitty can be...a little intense, yes."
"Intense!" That had been the word she was looking for. Clarice nodded her head, "Illyana seems really fond of her."
"I think they go back pretty far,: Xi'an said, nodding. "I'm glad we had room for her."
"Do you ever get jealous at all?" Not that she was worried, but she wondered about it, and wanted to know Xi'an's impression.
"Of Kitty? Not really," Xi'an said. "I trust her."
"Oh! I didn't mean she's not trustworthy." Clarice flushed a little bit. Last night at the hotel had made it very clear to her that Illyana was most definitely hers, "I just..didn't find myself that jealous, either."
"It's okay! I didn't think you were implying anything!" Xi'an chuckled slightly. "I just meant that I haven't had any reasons to feel jealous."
Clarice wondered if they'd thought about moving into a larger place, but felt it wasn't her place to ask. Instead she just nodded her head, "We should make this a regular thing."
"That would be nice!" And she had been thinking that it might be a good idea to look for a larger space, but there had been more pressing matters.
It wasn't like they couldn't afford the down payment on a house, now. Clarice grinned, and teased, "Keeping peace in the household."
Xi'an chuckled. "I do really appreciate your help in watching the twins."
"I don't mind. I really like them." Clarice got to her feet, finishing off her drink, "And they seem to like me too."
Xi'an nodded. "I think they really do."
Giving Xi'an a hug, Clarice headed out the door. She had to catch the bus!