Participants:
Scene Title | Good Cause Gone Bad |
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Synopsis | Kendall, under the disguise of his illusion 'Daniel' he wore to the date auction, goes on his date with Peyton. Needless to say, it ended not quite the way he wanted it to go… |
Date | August 26, 2010 |
Hibachi Grill
After Peyton agreed to meet the stranger she'd bid on during the date auction, she did a lot of second-guessing. She realized she knew next to nothing — actually, really nothing — about the man, aside from the fact he was handsome and seemed to be well-mannered. The date was set for daylight in a public place: The Hibachi Grill, an upscale Japanese restaurant that specialized in sushi and yakitori, along with lots of cute little drinks with umbrellas in them. The food in the gimmicky restaurant is served by "geishas" and "ninjas" of all ethnicities. Serving Peyton her Diet Coke as the socialite waits for her date, the watiress' nametag reads "Pilar" and she's obviously latina in ethnicity, though dressed in a kimono with a white powdered face.
Peyton sips the Diet Coke, her eyes glancing at the door from time to time. From time to time she types something into her iPhone — she's not texting, but instead making a list of things to buy for the business.
'Daniel' arrives on time, glances about, and spots Peyton sitting at the table. He mentions to the waitress that he's meeting someone, and nods a greeting to Peyton. "Hope you haven't been waiting long." he's dressed a little better than he was at the auction, not a suit by any means, but a pair of nice pants, oxford shoes, and a buttoned down shirt. He sits in the seat across from her, looking around at the place. "I've never been here before." he confides, returning his attention to the person who 'bought' him.
"Oh, no, you're right on time," Peyton says with a bright smile and tip of her head as he approaches, then shakes her head as the waitress hands them both menus. "Me neither, but you know, it seems to be the hip place lately." She shrugs a bare shoulder, indicating she probably doesn't care much about that anymore. "But hopefully the food is good."
Peyton, dressed in a yellow halter dress, flips through the menu, looking at the choices. "The Geishas and Ninjas make it worthwhile, right? It's kind of amusing." She turns a page, then glances up at him again, studying his face. "So you know, I don't know much about you. It was pretty spontaneous of me to bid on someone I don't know, but it's a little nerve wracking now," she confesses. "Like, what do you do for a living, where do you live, what's your FICO score?"
Oh crap, 20 questions. "They certainly add… uniqueness to this place, although I keep expecting the ninjas to start backflipping over the tables and fight each other." 'Daniel' jokes to her. "As to what I do, well… I'm a landscape architect, and I live in the Upper West Side." FICO score? What the hell is a FICO score? "As for your final question, well… it's a secret." here's hoping that's an appropriate answer for such a thing! "How about yourself? And it was my first time doing such a thing, it was a surprise that someone did bid on me. I haven't gone on many dates." which is certainly the truth!
She raises a brow and laughs. "Well, as for the FICO score, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," she teases back. Apparently it was an appropriate answer on his part. "I wouldn't say it's that surprising. You're a good looking guy, though neither of us look like we're really the typical Tartarus patron, I don't think. I've done that twice now, but it'll probably be the last. Retiring from the auction date scene as of now, hanging up my hat."
She flashes another bright smile, though her eyes look a touch sad as she takes a sip from her glass. "Landscape architect, that's pretty great. Do you get a lot of work here in the city? I mean… there's not a lot of … land, except the parks."
Crap, she's right. "I work from home with aerial views my clients send me, as well as with the plot of the land they want to arrange." 'Daniel' replies with a self-effacing grin. "Just knowing the contours of the land and what kind of plants or statuary the clients want is enough. It's not like I go out and place everything myself." it's lucky that Kendall's father actually is an architect so that he knows what he's talking about! "I don't think I'll go a second time, it was almost too much for me." when the waitress comes, he orders a coke, and nods.
"Sounds really interesting. I don't know anything about plants but I grew up and lived in an apartment my whole life, you know? We have a garden on the roof of our building, but that's about as close to any sort of landscaping that I've been," Peyton says with a smile. "It was a bit much for me, too. I thought it was for a good cause, and that it was a good idea, but … maybe not again. Nothing personal!" She hurries to amend the last bit, looking up with big eyes in case he's offended. "I don't mean that this date is not a good idea. I mean, you seem nice and all. Just… I probably shouldn't have bid on three people and auctioned myself. I used to be able to keep up with that kind of social calendar, but I must be getting tired in my old age." She smirks at that — after all, she's only 21! She doesn't realize that of course, to Kendall, she is old. Well, older.
"I didn't predict that I would bid on someone myself, but, well… my other date turned out to be a lesbian, so I suppose no harm done, huh?" and no, 'Daniel' is not offended. "And you're not old at all! Far from it. To me, you're in the prime of your life. Although I agree with you on the dates thing, four is a bit much. I'd certainly be overwhelmed." not to mention Kendall's illusion powers would be strained. "Although I suppose it was lucky for you. You probably haven't had to pay for dinner for a week."
"Oh, was that Robyn?" Peyton says with a chuckle. "And I'm not really worried about money. I mean, I spent, what, about $2,000 just to have the dates. A couple of hundred for meals on top of that is chump change!"
She smirks. The waitress comes to take their order and she orders a crunch roll and a skewer of yakitori chicken, then waits for the Geisha to take his order and leave. "So, what's your favorite … tree, flower, whatever kinds of things you put into landscapes? Or is it more like pagodas and pond bridges and stuff you do? I'm not really sure how all that works."
"It depends on the area." 'Daniel' replies after a moment's pause. "Different plants grow in different climates. Also, there's the time factor. Plants look different depending on the time of year. Certain trees, like the mimosa, for instance, look beautiful around May to June, but during fall and winter, they're covered with ugly brown seed pods. Also, I've done a japanese rock garden once, which has no greenery whatsoever, but if you're a fan of japanese landscaping, it's beautiful." he did a paper on that once!
"I like brown," Peyton says with a smile. After all, she has brown hair and brown eyes. "But I guess that makes sense. Everything has its prime, right?" There's something sad to that smile as she picks up her glass and takes another sip. "So how'd you find out about the auction? You don't look like the type to usually hang out in Tartarus. The manager and me, we have some friends in common so she called me to ask me for a favor the first time around, but I hadn't ever been to that club before then. I feel a bit out of place, you know, not being all gothic lolita or something."
"Ah, nothing wrong with brown, the pods were ugly, not the color." 'Daniel' replies hurriedly, obviously worried that he offended her. "As for how I found out…" pause. How could he say this? "I heard it from a friend." actually he heard Melissa calling people on the phone and talking about it. But she's a friend, so it's not quite a lie. "I can't say I'm gothic…" pause. "Er, or lolita, for sure." that he's certainly not.
Their food arrives and Peyton murmurs her thanks to their Ninja, who has replaced their Geisha. "Pilar's on break, so I'll be taking care of you! My name is Jake." Jake the Ninja gives them their food and refills their glasses before disappearing again — not quite like a Ninja, as almost bumps into another server on the way into the kitchen, resulting in a clatter of dishes.
"Well, it was for a good cause, so that was nice of you. I know she needed more men, and there certainly were more of those this time around," Peyton says with a chuckle. "So hopefully I didn't keep you from something more exciting. I think my one friend was mad I bid on him, because it meant he didn't get a real date." Her cheeks color a little, but she shrugs.
"I guess Jake the Ninja should've trained more." 'Daniel' remarks, watching him leave. "And yes, it was. I was fortunate that I had enough money, and I was frankly surprised I won since she seemed to be popular." pause. "By the way, that… flashy man, who was… openly gay? Is he a friend of yours, by any chance?"
The mention of Raquelle earns a grin from Peyton. "Raquelle. He's a great guy. He owns a salon — he's pretty much everyone's friend, as long as you're a nice person. He's also really good with hair. I brought a friend there a couple of days later and now she's like this fiery redhead, and it's amazing. Almost makes me think of going with something besides the usual brown, but eh, I got a tattoo, that's about as daring as I go with my appearance. I'm so hopelessly normal when it comes to stuff like that. I don't think I could pull off anything flashy."
"I was just wondering." especially since Raquelle threatened to castrate him for, uh… something. "I wouldn't even consider doing anything with my hair. With my luck, it'd end up orange or something, and then I'd look like…" an anime character, which is totally crossing from one fandom into another. 'Daniel' shakes his head. "Well, I don't know who I'd look like, but it wouldn't look good."
She picks up her chopsticks to gather up a bite of her sushi roll, dropping it into her mouth and chewing it as she listens. Sushi is hard to bite since it's supposed to be one-bite servings, but usually is much too large to chew without looking a bit rude. She covers her lips with her napkin and finally swallows. "The food is good — even if the servers look ridiculous," Peyton decides with an enthusiastic nod for her crunchy roll. "No, orange would be weird, I agree. Guys don't need to do much with their hair though, and usually look all right. Even when they go bald — just shave it off, and then you're a hot baldy. It's unfair," says the girl with the long chestnut locks.
"Well, I certainly wouldn't look good without hair, that's for sure." Kendall actually tried several looks before settling on this one. "If you have a weirdly shaped head, for instance. "And there's always wearing a wig, which I'm sure would be easier if you were bald." 'Daniel' looks thoughtful. "But then I suppose at that point you're edging into the 'spy disguise' territory."
Peyton laughs at his speculations. "I guess. But there are a lot of pretty hot bald guys out there! There are some with weird heads, too. I guess it sucks if you're one of those," she agrees, taking another bite of her lunch. "So how is a nice guy like you in need of auction dating, anyway?" she teases him. "I'd think a talented, good looking, nice guy would have a long list of girls knocking down his door. Or boys, for that matter, if Raquie's more your type?"
'Daniel' shakes his head fervently at the last question. "Nah, he's not." he tells her quickly. "As for that, well… I don't get out much. I spend much of my time home and on a computer, so… I'm not the most social of people. You, on the other hand, seem to be a socialite."
"In another lifetime, yeah," Peyton says with a smile an another shrug of her bare shoulder. "I've been a little less social for a while. Kinda getting back out there, but it's been a … quiet year…" Only in terms of parties and events, not quiet in terms of important happenings. This has been the most painful and traumatic and also amazing year of her life in so many ways. Her eyes glimmer with a hint of tears for a moment, so she ducks her head to examine her plate for a moment to blink back her tears.
When she looks up, her eyes are dry again, and the smile back in place. "I don't normally go out on three dates in a week these days, I swear."
'Daniel' tips his head slightly when she stares down at her plate. "Something wrong?" he asks her. But then she pretends like she wasn't, so he shakes his head. "I've never gone on two dates in a week either. Actually, the number of dates I've been on can be counted on one hand." that would be… two. So yes. "I suppose I'm ruining my youth, huh?" pause. "Not that I'm all that young either… so I suppose it's more the best years of my life, than my youth." he chuckles.
"Only two dates?" Peyton says, brows furrowing in confusion. "That seems hardly possible. I mean, you don't seem totally socially inept and you're a nice looking, successful guy." Clearly, not going out on a date is a travesty in her mind. But then she realizes that he really is a stranger, and that she knows nothing about him. Her eyes narrow a little. "So what do you think about the Registration laws?" Her head tilts curiously as she waits to see how he'll react to the abrupt subject change.
'Daniel' stares blankly at her for a minute or two, taken aback by the sudden tangent. "Uh… they're there?" he stammers. And thus, his lack of social skills are revealed! "I don't… really have an opinion, since they don't really affect me." he has a way around them, after all. "I haven't gone to take the test yet or anything, but I don't see how I'd fail it." what does 'fail it' mean? Being tested positive for being Evolved, or not?
"They affect everyone," Peyton says sharply. "It's an invasion of privacy. Even non-Evolved are affected adversely by these laws. It's labeling people and it's not right. And it's not a pass or fail test, you know. You're positive or negative, that's not good or bad or pass or fail, no matter what the government might think. But that's because they're Fascists."
Peyton has come a long way in a year. A year ago, she didn't know what Fascist meant.
'Daniel' blinks, taken aback a second time. "Ah, okay. I suppose they would be, if you think about it. "Haha, isn't it against some sort of code violation to discuss politics during a date, even if it's a modification of a blind date? Because, well…" this suddenly took a turn for the worse. She's kinda scary, actually…
"You need to have an opinion about something like that, and if you're not evolved, then all the more important to speak out against it if you think they're wrong. They won't listen to the people who are different because of course we're biased, but they might listen to people who are supposedly 'normal,' whatever that means. Otherwise all those horrible things that people saw happen in those visions are going to come true. People don't see that. The only way to change it is to stop it from happening, but the government is going on like they didn't see the warnings," she says fervently, before noticing how uncomfortable he looks.
"Yeah. I guess there's some code or something," Peyton adds with a sigh, reaching into her purse to find a few bills to cover their meal and tossing them on the table. "Good luck 'passing' the test. You have less than a week. Be sure to study." And with that she rises from her seat.
'Daniel' stands up when she does, looking mildly distressed. "Ah… I'm sorry?" he tells her. Aw, man, this date was a FAILURE.
The temper tantrum gets the attention of a few patrons in the restaurant — Jake the Ninja loses a Teriyaki bowl when he dodges Peyton as she storms down the aisle, and there is another clatter that results in broken ceramic mixed with rice and chicken bits. Meanwhile Peyton makes it outdoors before the tears come, knowing that she snapped some poor, awkward man's head off for no good reason. She leans against the wall of the building, breathing deeply until she stops shaking with anger and a little embarrassment. Finally composed, she heads for the closest subway tunnel to find her way home.
'Daniel' glances at his watch and sighs. Well, he's got a few hours to kill, maybe he can go and finally beat that really tough final boss in Shadow Hearts with the character he currently looks like. Not every day you get to fight God. Oh well. He leaves the restaurant as well, and after going down the street a little he pops into a store and drops his illusion, becoming the brown-haired, blue eyed seventeen year old again.