fandomtownies | Cafe Fina - Wednesday

She settled down in her seat and smiled as she looked at the specials. It was certainly more cosmopolitan than she'd thought the little town might boast, but she was learning that the place was full of surprises. So far, and she considered it only a matter of time before it changed, so good.

She was wearing the new dress she'd bought the other day, blue with short sleeves. It ended below her knees, which left her feeling a bit odd but also curiously more comfortable, and a pair of rather low-heeled shoes in a matching color.

Edited 2008-07-09 15:53 (UTC)

"Hey!" Murdock glanced over the specials. "Those sound good. I think I'm gonna have a tough time choosing dessert," he grinned at Abbey.

"So, how'd the first day of class go for you? A lot of teachers seem to go light on the first one, but some get right into it. How'd you do it for yours?"

"As am I. Though I will probably be a little judgmental of the cheesecake considering the quality of the dish back home," she said with a brief smile.

She took a sip of the water provided and leaned back in her chair a little.

"Class went well. I seem to have quite an adventurous group with me, so hopefully they'll be able to handle the subject matter. Some of it can be quite gruesome, unfortunately.

"I've also got a scholar, which is heartening. All in all, a rather enjoyable experience."

It's been a while since she's had a day of honest work where it didn't involve either a circle or a dead body.

"Yah," he nodded, "If I go for any kind of cake or pie, I got a feelin' a friend of mine will whack me for it." No, Lacey probably wouldn't, but in his mind, she was now the 'official' provider of such things for one Murdock.

"That's great!" he smiled. "There are some pretty amazing kids around here. Tough too. I'm sure they can handle it, and if not," a tiny shrug, "they got ways of lettin' you know."

"I made an effort to make sure I didn't cause anyone problems," she admitted. "I haven't looked through the surveys yet, but if there's something they'd rather not cover, I consider it part of my job to work around any valid concerns and still have enough material for class."

"Surveys?" he asked curiously. "That could be handy. And I agree. But sometimes," he frowned a bit, "it can be hard to avoid everything. It could just be a matter of changing your wording. That's assuming you catch it before it comes up in class," he added dryly. Otherwise you might wind up handing out detentions.

"I'd just rather not ruin some poor child's life," she admitted.

"If I teach a class on lycanthropes and one of my students has taken the time and effort to keep their own such condition a secret, caused no harm, then the information I give could wreck all their work."

She looked up as the ~~NPC~~ waiter refilled their drinks.

"Another few minutes," she asked him before looking back to Murdock.

"I will do my best to be careful with how I put things, but I admit that I am somewhat frank and at times brusque."

She shook her head.

"Are you prepared for your own class?"

"Oh definitely not," he readily agreed. "I don't want to do that either. Some of these kids got it rough enough as it. This school is about the only way they're even getting to be kids." He shook his head a bit, "I don't want that mess up."

He chuckled a little. "Glad I ain't the only one. Sometimes things just slip out before I know it. I try to be careful," another small shrug, "but I don't always catch myself."

Then he grinned, "'Bout as ready as I'm gonna be! I figure I'll start off by asking a few questions."

Edited 2008-07-09 16:53 (UTC)

"You've been nothing but polite the entire time I've known you," she said, teasing just a little. She'd only known him a few days now.

"What are you teaching, if you don't mind me asking?"

He had to smile at that. "Aw, thanks," he replied, looking down and spinning his water glass a little.

"Oh, I don't mind," he looked back up at her. "It kinda covers mercenary skills, but I'm aiming to make it more than just 'how to run around and shoot at things'. There's a lot to it, and some of it is actually getting to know and understand yourself. How'd you react in certain situations, how far can you push yourself, how far someone else can push ya," he sort of speeded over that one, "choosing one way over another, knowing when to fight and when not." He gave a small, crooked half-smile. "A lot of it is more along the lines of life skills. Or...should I say, making sure you stay alive."

He took a sip of water, mainly as a means to avoid going any further, but he hoped she'd take the action simply at its face value. Thirsty, and needed a drink.

"Common sense in a tactical situation," she summarized with a faint smile.

Hmm. Lunch with a mercenary. Considering her own brand of loyalty, it was certainly an interesting idea. Had she known previously, she might not have talked to him, but having talked to him, she couldn't hold his profession against him. People were more than their jobs, as she had learned very well while still in England. And she liked him.

"And staying alive is necessary to having a life, so I've found."

"Wow," he chuckled, "that was a much more simple and less complicated way to put that. I uh..." he leaned forward a bit, "have a bit of a tendency to carry on sometimes," he winked.

And he wasn't usually one for hanging out with detectives. The whole 'work for the law' business tended not to mesh well with his own, considering that his teammates were wanted by the law. But he doubted that the British authority had any interest in a few American fugitives. Plus, he rather liked her.

"Ain't that the truth," he smirked.

The ~~NPC~~ waiter showed back up, ready to take their order. "I'll have the chicken, please," Murdock stated.

"I'll try the Moroccan Gazpacho," she said with a brief smile, if only because she was quite sure such a thing couldn't exist. The sound of it was quite tasty, though, from the listed ingredients. And she liked to try the unexpected.

"And I don't mind listening to you talk. Part of my job involves simplifying things, after all. Forensic sorcery and teaching alike.

"And staying alive. Which can be harder than one would imagine. I've heard a few things from around the island which would have me thinking that this place might in fact be more prone to supernatural oddities than even New Amsterdam."

"Now there's something I don't hear much. Thanks," he smiled. "Perhaps I should swing by whenever I need to have something 'simplified'," he smirked. "I swear, I can manage to confuse the heck outta myself pretty darn often."

"New Amsterdam?" he sounded curious. "I haven't heard that term in a long while. Except purely in a historical sense. And yah," he nodded, "we do seem to have a lot of weird things go on around here. Most are pretty harmless though and they tend not to last more than a day or two. Other stuff..." his face scrunched up a bit in distaste as he shook his head, "can get kinda nasty."

...she wasn't quite sure if that was innuendo. She was hoping it was, in a sort of 'don't get yourself into more trouble Abby Irene but why not?' way, but she couldn't say for certain.

A small part of her wished that they'd gotten dinner or supper out since a bit of alcohol might have smoothed things somewhat.

"The city had had it's name for long enough that the ones who wanted to change it to something else were voted down, and so New Amsterdam it remains. At least where I'm from."

A waiter brought out a small basket of rolls and she took one, buttering it with quick efficiency.

"I heard about the vice principle, if that's what you mean."

She didn't much truck with demonologists.

Murdock usually missed innuendos. Not to mention subtlety. He often tended to think rather straightforward, unless it involved cowboy hats or sock puppets.

"Time travelin'," he nodded. "Along with maybe a different dimensional thing. Where I'm from, it's called New York now. Nice city, I reckon," he shrugged mildly, "large and crowded, not much different from LA. 'Cept colder at times," he smirked.

"Oh yah him," Murdock replied flatly, following it up with a brief eyeroll. "That guy...was crazy." Take it from a professional.

"So I've heard."

She shook that right off.

"New Amsterdam holds no monopoly on oddness, at least. It's sort of comforting, really."

She seemed to brush something off rather quickly, and Murdock couldn't help but wonder if he'd said something wrong.

"Oh heck, no." He took Abbey's cue and moved right along. "Oddness seems to be a staple in my life. Get kinda used to it after a while." A smirk played across his features. "I wonder if I could even handle normal. Seems almost borin' in comparison."

It was a bad idea to talk overlong of demons or devils. It attracted their attention.

"As with my own, but I've come to be rather comfortable with it. I don't think I'd know what to do if I didn't cause a scandal every year or so."

"A scandal? You?" He chuckled at the idea. "I'd hardly think you'd be of the scandalin' type, Abbey." Ignore the fact that this was only the second time he'd ever spoken to her, and really didn't know that much about her.

"Abby Irene, if you would," she said, mildly and with a smile. "And I'm very much the scandaling type. I'm surprised Ri-- the Duke of New Amsterdam still has hair, what with all of the ones he's pulled out over me."

She laughed softly.

"I'm not so much for propriety if there's something that needs doing, or someone who needs catching."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he quickly offered. "I keep forgettin'. My memory's a bit shoddy at times." He arched an eyebrow over the 'very much scandaling type'. Hm.

"Drivin' your boss nuts, huh?" he chuckled, "I know that one. Well, maybe not my boss so much as one of my associates. I irritate him right regular. And that is definitely the way to get things done," he jabbed a finger through the air. "No dilly-dallying around."

...yes, she was that kind of 'scandaling' type too.

"The Duke has certain political pressures which I try my best to help him with, but only when they align with the truth. It's caused a few clashes so far, but hopefully the tensions will be worked out soon enough."

She'd heard word that Henry might be visiting which would be somewhat terrifying for her, but would be good for the relations between the New and the Old World.

"The truth is subjective," he quoted. "Except when it's not. It's great that you stick to your guns. I imagine that some of those pressures probably bleed off onto you as well. That can certainly make it harder to get one's job done."

"There are some rules worth breaking and others that I believe are worth sacrificing for."

There was a touch of old pain in her tone. She'd given up a lot for the Crown.

The love of her life, for one.

But, as she had in life, she moved on.

"Hopefully, that won't be an issue here. The Dean seemed imminently practical."

He nodded. He could hear something in her voice, there. But it seemed to pass quickly.

"I agree with you on all of that," he replied. "I can't say that I've had any issues with it here. I haven't actually met the Dean yet, kinda funny now that I think about it. But I have met the Principal. She seems to be the same way."

He gave her a sweet smile. "You seem to share in that."

"And as you've met the Principal but not the Dean, so have I failed to meet the Principal," she said with a smile of her own. He really was rather sweet.

"And I thank you for the compliment."

He chuckled a little. "Kinda ironic, huh? Oh you're welcome, Abby Irene." He grinned, making sure he'd gotten her name right this time.

Their orders arrived just then, and Murdock thanked the waiter.

Her gazpacho was brilliantly red and smelled exotic. Delicious, as far as she was concerned. She looked over.

"It looks very good."

He peeked over at her plate. "It does at that." His own dish of chicken and pasta also looked and smelled quite fabulous.

"I think I need to come here more often," he replied, with a sly grin.

"Perhaps we could make this a weekly event?" she asked with a bright smile. "If my company isn't too taxing..."

She was teasing.

His eyebrows arched a little, in surprise mostly. "Oh no..." he started, then quickly clarified, "I mean yes. Yes to the first part and no to the second," he smiled. "If anything, I'd think my company would be too taxing."

She laughed a little.

"Anything but. You've been refreshing. Enjoyable, in fact. All a woman could ask for as a meal companion."

Murdock couldn't really think how to reply to that. It took him a moment. "Uh...thank you. I'm flattered," he flushed just a little. "And you're quite...interesting too."

He took a bite of his meal, hoping he hadn't looked too foolish just then.

She smiled warmly before starting in on her food, deciding to give him a little time to settle into the compliment.

"Thank you," was all she said.

She started in on the gazpacho, quite hungry. At her age, she'd well given up on the idea of eating daintily; while she was by no means sloppy or unmannered, she ate like someone with an appetite.

And that time was much appreciated. He didn't often get compliments, certainly not ones from women in regards to his companionship.

He was rather hungry himself. Even though he was by no means a lanky teen anymore, he still retained the metabolism of one.

"Wow," he said after he'd had several bites. "It's really good. How's yours?"

"Spicy," she said, sounding very pleased. "But not overly hot. Very good."

She took another piece of the bread as she somewhat disliked the texture of the pita served with the soup and buttered it. It was perhaps a bit common, the way she ate, but she didn't tend to attend high class parties anymore and she'd never much liked the overly stuffy manners there when she had.

"That's good," he replied. "At least it's not one of those dishes where it's so hot, you can't taste anything," he smirked.

He didn't notice anything amiss with her habits, they still seemed pleasant to him.

Cafe Fina - Wednesday - 7/9

Modded Service for Mun Sanity

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