When The Day Met The Night [Fin]

[Vyn]

Something more... The feline bowed his head, nodded meekly, and murmured a few noncommittal responses full of hesitance and uncertainty and then quickly tried to focus on something else.

He was so used to his family's reaction to his bone-thin frame, their constant encouragement that he eat something... Those disappointed looks... He usually broke after a few minutes, but Andrei wasn't shoving at him like his Father usually was, not really. The nervous feline tried hard not to compare, not to fret... He'd just get the crackers, Andrei wouldn't mind... and then his eyes stumbled upon a nearby table with two girls laughing cheerfully over a plate of sweets.

For a moment he stared and his stomach growled lowly, and then Andrei caught him. The feline jumped as if he'd been caught red-handed doing something horrible and the feline shrunk down in his chair the best he could despite his bindings. "I..." He really did have such a soft spot for cookies... Fudge could be a bit much sometimes... He glanced between the cookies and the male across from him a couple times and attempted to shake his head. "M.... Maybe for d-desert? If I'm not full... I could maybe have a... couple cookies?" His guilty pleasure, sweets... He tried so hard not to eat them, but it was really hard to say no when they were handed to him, or in front of him... Guh! "Unless there's a desert you'd like, then I wouldn't mind sharing that?" Yeah, alright... That was a little better, he was much better at sharing things. It meant smaller amounts that he would have to eat, and he could always try and trick the person he was sharing with to eat more than him.

[Satra]

Again with the stuttering. And why was he asking Andrei permission as to what he could have? He bit his tongue, trying not to get impatient. He kept telling himself that this is why he stuck around: to give into his need to help someone who clearly needed it. He just gave a shrug.

"As far as I'm concerned it's past dinner now. I'm not going to order any, as I am not fond of sweets. However, if you want it, I will not stop you. If you're worried about the eating too much, don't," He was probably worried about over eating. Most people have already had dinner by now, and Andrei knew not everyone burned through energy like him. "The portions are small, as you can see, and you're allowed to take home whatever you don't finish." Andrei reminded himself to smile. This helping other people... it was much harder than it was made out to be. Maybe that's why people didn't do it all that often.

[Vyn]

"If you're worried about eating too much, don't."

Seki hesitated, his posture tensing suddenly at the others words. Andrei had definitely hit the nail on the head and Seki felt a blush so intense spreading over his cheeks that he was sure it would literally burn through his fur. Slowly he swallowed, he didn't want to bother Andrei and... yes, he was worried, but the portions were small and he could take it home, right? Pretend he would eat it later though he probably never would.

Why was he so nervous? ...Why was Andrei so understanding?

"Sorry." He ran his fingers through his mane, trying to stop stumbling over himself. He wasn't family, he wasn't judging him... and they'd probably never see each other again if he was. "I'm not really used to eating out..." Or at all, really. "I'm ready to order now." Slowly he encouraged himself to return Andrei's smile, it was meek still but a smile nevertheless.

There, it wasn't that hard... He just had to worry less. It was one night, he could splurge for one night with a nice person...

[Satra]

Andrei just shook his head, his smile widening a little as some of his impatience went away.

"No need to apologize, Seki," he said with a light laugh, folding his menu and putting it down on the table. Not used to eating out. Andrei turned the statement over in his mind. That could mean a lot of things. Then the thoughts paused. Seki smiled. It was weak, but it was still the first smile he'd seen from the feline all night. Andrei's apprehensions about taking on this task melted away. He could do this.

He wondering which of those was true. He flagged down a waitress who was passing by. Ah, a Club, how quaint. Well, it wasn't too bad. Probably a good worker. He gave the young woman his order then let Seki give his.

What could he say next? The menus and all exterior distractions from rude bar patrons to introducing Seki to a new place were gone and all there was nothing but the two of them, now. Seki was still very much a stranger. What could he possibly say to him? He twitched, consciously making an effort to prevent himself from fiddling with things.

"So, uh," Andrei prompt cleared his throat, berating himself mentally for almost stuttering, "What kind of things are you interested in?"

[Vyn]

Seki tried to hold that little smile as Andrei ordered, to be kind and thankful and all those other things that his parents had encouraged him to do throughout his youth. It was hard, when he was still so anxious about everything, but it seemed worth it. Andrei looked like he liked it, if nothing else.

When the waitress arrived, his expression faltered a little with nerves but he placed his order -- even the cookies -- with only minimal indecision.

And then they were alone, just him and Andrei, without any menus or noisy bar patrons... Nothing. Seki felt the same sort of anxiety as Andrei did for a moment, his tail twitching a little as he began to fidget until Andrei's throat clearing stopped him sort. He was asking about him? Seki was miserably uninteresting, why would anyone want to know anything about him?

"I'm a little interested in science," he murmured softly while trying to maintain a hint of confidence or something at least remotely similar to it. "My parents are both really great at what they do, but I never picked up a specialty or anything..." He liked to watch or help, not really lead the experiments but it had been a terribly long time since he'd done any of that. Here he just wasted him time away, making sure that he was in a constant state of oblivious. "I'm... not really that interesting. What about you?"

[Satra]

Andrei found himself wanting to look away from Seki. Not because he found the man unattractive (though the poking-out ribs were somewhat disturbing), but for the very opposite. He just loved his black fur slashed across with that vibrant green. His fur was a little dingy... normally that would have repulsed him, but he found his eyes meandering across the torso he could see over the table, imagine the Feline in a bath, Andrei's hands helping him to wash the grime away...

He couldn't think those things. It was inappropriate. He was here to help Seki, not be a predator. Andrei couldn't help but tilt his head.

"Oh, so you're full Corvistowne?" Huh. Andrei honestly thought he was a Torque mix from his binding and his mention of visiting Torquehelm. "Oh, come now, don't sell yourself short. I find you interesting," he left out that a good part of that was pity, "Me? Well... heh. I was born in the Court of Hearts. My mother is a King that works there and my father is the husband of one of the other nobl--" he shut his mouth when he'd realized how bad that sounded out loud. "Well, it was consensual on all ends, really," not entirely, but he figured a stranger didn't need to hear he was an accidental product of a drunken threesome. "I like fencing and I love magic. I'm actually applying to go to a school in Esterberry," he said with some pride. He stopped himself from saying more. Talking about oneself excessively was a touch gauche.

"What kind of science catches your interest the most? Biology? Chemistry? Machines?"

[Vyn]

Seki blushed briefly when he realized that he'd mislead Andrei a little. "Oh... well, yes... I'm a torque mix." He shifted slightly in his chair, just enough to display the winged markings on his back. The white stood out with considerable definition against the black and green of the rest of his coat. "My mother is a full Torque, but he's really interested in Clockwork Mechanics. My father is a famous geneticist and a full Corvie." It was much easier to talk about family versus talking about himself... and Andrei seemed to enjoy talking about his family as well.

The feline was a little surprised at the mention of his family life... The son of a noble and a married man? ...Well, he'd heard of it happening plenty of times and it was consensual... That counted for a lot.

Oh but he was right! Andrei had so many more interesting hobbies than he did... Fencing and magic -- Seki would be wretched at both of those things! -- and wanting to go to an Esterberry school? Seki had good education, but nothing like that. He probably didn't even have the smarts for that.

"Wow, Esterberry! That's really great, I hope you get in." Seki smiled again, the expression warming more genuinely with hope for Andrei. He liked to see others doing well.

When the subject returned to him, of course, his features flushed gently and he tipped his head down, trying not to fidget. "I'm sort of stuck between Chemistry and Machines... I like the little clockwork toys my Mom makes, but I've also taken a real interest in Pyrotechnics... They're really pretty." And exceptionally dangerous. How many times had he burnt himself, or blown up small portions of his room while trying to figure out just how much of this chemical was supposed to mix with that chemical in order to stay dormant until just the right conditions?

[Satra]

Andrei flushed slightly, the blush not hidden so well under his white fur. How could he miss that obvious marking? Come to think of it, had Andrei seen anything but his front this entire time? He hoped that was the case, since the only other explanation for missing a detail so blatant would be for Andrei’s full attention to be somewhere else on the Feline’s anatomy. The way the teenager caught himself delightfully soaking in the image of Seki’s body twisted to show his back and, unintentionally, his Feline flexibility told him the latter was likely the case. How very boorish! He berated himself mentally.

“How... ridiculous of me. That should have been obvious. And my apologies for the stereotyping of your parents, that was rude of me,” he apologized with a slight bow of his head. Stereotyping. Such a confusing thing.

Famous geneticist... Andrei racked his brain. Mephitisia... her father was... he knew he heard his Mother mention her at least once...

Ophelia! That was it. According to the court records he was allowed to look at, she’d gone on some quest for the late Queen Serafino, the details were omitted from the public-friendly version. She must have been something else for the former Queen of Hearts to have put his trust in a Spade. He also recalled her name in a few records of scientific accomplishments. What were the odds of actually meeting a member of her family not involved in the courts?

“Thank you,” he said. He really hoped he got in, too. True, his family had the money to just hire a tutor and educate him in the Court, but he wanted to get out. He wanted to see more. But most of all? He wanted to get the hell away from his overbearing witch of a stepmother. Pushing his family issues out of his mind, he smiled at Seki.

“Those both sound fascinating!” He was most curious about why he would find pyrotechnics pretty, though. He’d heard and seen a few explosions coming from Bernard’s lab, and the aftermath was not worth the split second of beauty/fun/excitement/whatever of the explosion itself. However, fireworks were lovely, now that he thought about it. “They sound like worth-while endeavors. Ah, thank you,” he turned to the waitress who set down their food in front of them, then back to Seki. “You mentioned before you split your time between here and Torquehelm, yes? How long will you be staying in the Capitol this time around?”

[Vyn]

Seki gently waved a hand and shook his head, embarrassed to have someone apologizing to him the way Andrei was... Genuinely. He swallowed slightly and flashed another one of those meek and trembling smiles as he shifted back to his previous position. "It's nothing to worry about, r-really... My mum, Maxwell, is a Torque with an interest in Clockworks... It's how my parents met... So the confusion is understandable." That was better, it was his fault that Andrei had been confused. It wasn't right to have Andrei apologizing to him over it...

The feline blushed again when confronted with the Avian mix's pleasure. He really did seem the noble sort to do well in Esterberry... He was very much grand and intelligent enough, from what Seki had seen at least. "You're welcome..."

"Oh... Really? I... Never thought they were that g-great." Oh what pitiful self-esteem... but it was really very nice to hear Andrei sounding so pleased... Maybe he could show him sometime, if they ever saw each other again after this evening... As the waitress returned and began to serve them their food, Seki's nervousness seemed to return in full. The sight and smell of food definitely hit a trigger with him and the boy was almost instantly back to fidgeting.

Seki stared at his food for a moment, unaware that the waitress had retreated, and tried to think of how to eat as little as possible without being rude when he was suddenly distracted by Andrei's question. How long would he be staying? Why did Seki's heart suddenly leap... Did that mean that maybe Andrei wanted to run into him again?

"For a while, I imagine... I haven't left in a couple of months, really... Doubt I'll go back again soon." There's nothing for me there.

[Satra]

"No worries, really," he said, trying to casually shrug off his faux pas and put it behind them. Then he smiled.

"Don't be so shy. You must think they're pretty wonderful if they hold your interest so much." then his smile faded slightly when Seki began fidgeting again. Right when he thought he was making progress... what in the hell triggered that?! Andrei was confident he hadn't done or said anything rude or cruel...

Andrei looked at the Ahi in front of him, enticing him with it's rich red-pink color. The tiny glob of green on top of each bite-sized slab complimenting the color of the fish. Only moment passed and Andrei found himself unable to resist and grabbed a bit off his plate and put the Ahi to his mouth, slowly biting it in half. He kept his facial expression to a minimum, but the flavor was heavenly. The seasoning of the crusted outside, the flavor of the nearly raw fish, and the burn of the wasabi in his nose caused his mouth to start watering. He never ceased to be amazed that a place outside the Court was able to create food so good.

"Ah, I see," he said after swallowing. He held the other half of the Ahi piece with his thumb claw. He would rather use a set of utensils, but with the set up of what he had to grab with, this was far more convenient and less potentially messy. He slipped the other piece in his mouth, waited until he was finished savoring it, then spoke up again: "Where are you staying in the Capitol, if I might ask?"