Taste of Thai, Wednesday Evening

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy had taken care to dress nicely for her office hours, since she had planned to head directly to the restaurant after she closed up her office. "Table for two," she told the hostess on duty. "I made a reservation for Perrault?"

Hardly necessary, to be sure, but after the last dinner debacle when she couldn't get food from a restaurant for love nor money, Cindy wasn't taking any chances. She was more than gracious when the hostess excused herself to make sure the table was ready. If it wasn't, Cindy didn't want to know.

Comparing this dinner to any of the meals shared with Crane was almost a reflex, but Cindy shoved those thoughts out of her head completely. The last thing she wanted was to ruin what was sure to be a lovely evening with thoughts of Paris.

A moment later, the hostess returned, all smiles, saying the table was ready. Fabulous!

[Cindy is here on her date, but the restaurant is public and open.]

Comments

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

Henry hesitated. "They all seem dumb and whiny to me," he admitted. "I've never watched enough TV to develop a taste for it. I'm told I'm missing out."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"You're not missing out," Cindy assured him. "The ones who tell you otherwise are wrong. I promise. And this isn't some kind of snobby aesthetic thing, either. I like a movie with explosions just as much as the next girl. But sitcoms..." She shook her head. "They're all foolish situations that could be avoided if people just sat down and talked to one another. It annoys me."

...Said the spy.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"But even in real life, people never want to just sit down and talk to each other," Henry offered. "I've seen the hoops people will jump through so they don't have to ask a question they don't want the answer to. It's mind-boggling."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Just so we're clear, Henry, if you ever book a date with me and someone else for the same night," Cindy said with a laugh, "just me know, okay? Don't try to attend both at once. I'm going to notice."

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"Not even if there are literally two of me right then?" Henry asked, just to clarify.

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy pretended to think about it for a moment. Then discarded the first thought that came to mind, which was decidedly naughty. "Is my Henry going to appear naked randomly at the beginning or vanish halfway through?" she asked instead.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"I can honestly say that that would be decidedly counter to my interests," Henry said, waving for a waiter. "Though I can't say it's never happened."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy paused to give her order to the waiter and allowed him to fill up her glass, before replying to Henry. "I promise to be as understanding as I can should that occur," she said lightly. "Though I get to demand another date if you vanish and leave me with the bill."

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't do that to a lady," Henry protested, mock-shocked. "I'm not quite that boorish. Promise."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"There are many things I am, Henry," Cindy said with a laugh. "But a lady is hardly one of them."

Ex-princess, sure. But never a lady.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"My mistake," Henry said. "Does that mean I should start belching and slapping your ass?"

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

See? Now Cindy was going to have to try not to just crack up at that image so the other people in the restaurant wouldn't think she was having some kind of hysterical fit.

See Henry? See what you made her do?

"Ass-smacking is one of those fourth date things," she said eventually. "And only if I get to smack yours, too."

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"How many dates is this?" Henry wondered. "We keep -- starting and stopping and getting distracted, don't we?"

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Are we counting the sushi dinner in the beginning?" Cindy asked. "The one that was studiously Not A Date? Because without it, I think this is the second real date. Maybe."

It was hard to say. Things were...complicated.

"Things keep getting shuffled about, yeah," she agreed.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"The whole Clare thing doesn't help," Henry acknowledged, toying with a spring roll. "It's hard to date when you still feel married. I clearly have the wrong personality for adultery."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"That's not a bad thing, Henry," Cindy said. "Speaking from experience on the other side of that? Adultery really sucks."

Fucking Charming.

"It's not all you, either," Cindy admitted. "I can be a little distant sometimes. Or more than a little, even. I'm a little...gun-shy, maybe? Once burned and all that."

Plus the spy thing. Really, it was mostly the spy thing.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"And -- I like it here, but it's not like either of us is looking at Fandom as a place to get old," Henry expanded. "Probably it's better to keep it casual. Even if it does mean it takes me longer to get to slap your ass."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Definitely not. Cindy wasn't even sure she could get old.

"I might make an exception for you," she said. "Especially if it means I can slap first."

Beat.

"Casual's probably for the best. Especially while we're all...conflicted." Yeah, that was a good name for it.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"If casual means we get spring rolls, I'm in favor of it," Henry said, dipping one into the savory sauce with obvious pleasure. "Change of subject time. I believe I promised you photos of myself in a party hat."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Damn right you did," Cindy said, happy to drop the first topic in favor of the second. "Please tell me someone also got video of you making random animal noises or something, too."

Cindy had no idea what really happened at a child's birthday party.

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

Henry put on a hurt, dignified expression. "I'm a parent, not a clown," he said, but flicked open his phone to show a variety of family birthday party photos all the same.

"Two. My girl's getting big."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy smile softly at the pictures. "Such a change from the pictures I saw when we first arrived," she said. "She looks like a real little person now. Err, not that she didn't look like a person before," she hedged. "But more a baby than a person--not that babies aren't--I'm just going to shut up now."

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"No, no," Henry said, laughing softly. "Of course we thought she was absolutely perfect and uniquely beautiful from the first day, but you're right. She's a person now."

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy: Not all that great with kids. Try to contain the shock.

"I see she's enjoying the frosting with all appropriate abandon," Cindy teased. "You know, I still eat cake that way. Really."

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"And now I know why I haven't seen you at faculty birthday parties," Henry joked. "Probably for the better. Frosting on the face isn't terribly elegant."