How To Use Chopsticks

Participants:

adam_icon.gif kaylee_icon.gif zoe_icon.gif michaelgreen_icon.gif

Scene Title How To Use Chopsticks
Synopsis Adam introduces Zoe to another one of his proteges. An alarming number of them seem to be women.
Date June 13, 2009

A Chinese Restaurant In Manhattan


Adam has invited Zoe out and tells her he wants her to meet someone. That someone, as we will come to find out is Kaylee. Adam picked up Kaylee from her campus. Michael, a man who Adam seems to have around often, drove. They're going to meet at some nice chinese restaurant. Adam turns to Kaylee as they near the restaurant, "I'd like you to be on your best behavior. And it goes without saying that I'd like you to keep this dinner to yourself…and…anything else we've done…I compartmentalize." he explains a bit as they pull up to the restaurant.

Kaylee watches the city pass by outside the window of the car. She made sure to dress a bit nicer for this meeting. She's wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and a white button up shirt and of course boots. When Adam speaks to her she glances over. "Compartmentalize?" This catches her interest and she conciders him for a moment and then chirps up with a "Sure, Adam. I can do that." She gives him a half smile. "I haven't said a word so far." Her eyes drift back outside the car. "I'm actually flattered you'd bring me along."

Zoe is already in the waiting area, in something a touch nicer than her usual stuffy librarian wear. She's in a pretty enough teal dress, and even daring to try heels, for all that they're only a mere inch off the floor. As the pair walk in, the first person she spots with Adam, and she smiles…until she notices the very pretty girl he's escorting, at which point that smile becomes somewhat confused and disconcerted.

Adam comments to Kaylee before they step into the restaurant, "Well." he says, "If I'm going to cultivate you, I should introduce you to my life." he opens the door for Kaylee and allows her to step inside first. He looks rather dapper in his usual attire and smiles towards Zoe. He steps towards her, putting her arm around her waist and pulls her in for a kiss, then steps back, "Zoe, this is Kaylee. A…student of mine. Kaylee, this is Zoe."

"I guess your right" Kaylee murmurs a bit, distracted for a moment as they step in the door. She hooks her thumbs in her jean pockets as they stop in front of the woman. When Adam moves in to kiss to woman, Kaylee is polite enough at least to look anywhere else but them. A rather rough looking bus boy is spotted and she gives him a little wave and a wink, before the introductions pull her back. Zoe gets a bright smile and a hand is pulled out long enough to offer. "Nice to meet you, Zoe."

Zoe offers hers in turn. "Nice to meet you, Kaylee. Pretty name." With that compliment given, she'll look between Adam and Kaylee with unspoken questions in her eyes. Looks like Awkward decided to show up at this little gathering as well.

Adam takes Zoe's hand and says, "I've picked up Kaylee along the way, much like Amy. I haven't had all the students meet yet, but that'll come soon." he explains to Zoe, then leans in, ,"And I thought it only fair she meet the woman in my life, yeah?" he leans back and makes his way towards the Maitre'd.

That look isn't missed by Kaylee and she holds up her hands. "Yeah.. No worries. I think at this point it would be like dating an uncle or something." She wrinkles her nose a bit at the thought and gives the woman a grin. "Plus I got a prospective guy of my own." Which isn't exactly true, but not that she needs to know it. Anything to make her feel better.

"Oh, how silly of me, I - " Zoe has the good grace to look embarrassed, and turns shyly a bit toward Adam's shoulder as if she'd hide her face momentarily if she could. Turning backto them both, she notes a little wryly, "You're picking up all these students, but what are you teaching them, exactly? Are you starting your own little empire? Tell the truth." she chides him teasingly, adding to Kaylee with a grin, "The earth's a mess, and Adam thinks he just needs to rule it."

Adam chuckles a bit but puts his arm around Zoe's waist as he leads her along towards the table. He guides Kaylee by her arm gently and says, "Well." he says, "If you're going to try and bring order to this chaos, you can't do that alone. I learned that a long time ago." sometime about the revolutionary war, goes unsaid.

As she's led to their table, Kaylee sends a little wave to the bus boy. She gives the pair her full attention, she glances at Adam as she isn't sure what she should say, but takes a stab at it anyway. "Dunno. Adam's got a pretty solid head on his shoulders. He probably could if he wanted too." She gives him a teasing look.

"Oh, I believe it." Zoe says merrily. "But you do seem to be collecting a few students." she notes to Adam. "What exactly are you teaching?"

Adam tilts his head a bit as they're lead to the table. He holds out a seat first for Zoe and then for Kaylee. When he glances sideways towards Kaylee's latest object of affection, he rolls his eyes and sits down. He glances towards Zoe and then says, "Well, with Kaylee, I'm trying to convince her to pick more appropriate objects of romance."

"Pfft. Come one Adam. He doesn't seem to have any piercing." Kaylee says with an exagerated sigh, though she gives Zoe a wink. "He thinks I set my standards way too low." She glances over at the bus boy and smirks. "It's the blue tipped hair spikes isn't it?" Grinning and she shrugs. "Fine.." She gives a little flick of her fingers gives a snobbish look. "Forgotten."

Zoe grins. "What's wrong with blue hair tips? I mean, not my type, but to each his own, right?"

Adam hmms, "Perhaps if you had met Kaylee's last boyfriend, you'd be less accepting of her tastes in men." he glances towards the menu and says, "I don't think I've been here."

Kaylee ducks her head a bit at the mention of the last boyfirend. "Well.. I mean.. he was cute." She mutters looking a tad bit embarressed as she focuses on the menu. "I haven't either." She gives the selections an odd look and she glances at the other too. "I'm a college kid. I eat ramen and hot pockets half the time. What do you recommend Zoe?"

"With dim sum? Depends on how adventurous you are." Zoe smiles. "I generally think if I like the look of something, I'll point to it and let them give it to me and I'll eat it."

Adam tilts his head for a moment and says, "I usually just eat large amounts of rice and chicken." he leans back a moment as he looks between the two women and waits for the waiter to come, "Chinese food isn't really one of the things that I've spent a lot of time considering in my years."

Pondering, Kaylee hmms softly. "Well.. I just don't know what to pick.. And I'm fairly adventerous if you look at my last several boyfriends." She rolls her eyes and then smirks at the other woman. "So.. Zoe. I'll just have what your having."

Zoe smirks at Adam. "It's not like you're going to get sick." she challenges him. "Why don't you both have what I'm having?"

Adam considers Zoe and then smirks, "Fine, I will." he shakes his head, "While I'm not a connosoir of Chinese food, I think the list of things I've had to eat over my years would surprise you." he says. "I doubt there's much that I couldn't swallow."

Kaylee narrows her eyes some at Adam with a small smirk. "I'll have to bug you sometime for details when we're not getting ready to eat." Chuckling she closes the menu and sets it on the table. "See if anything on that list would put anything eaten on Survivor to shame. And they have eaten some nasty stuff."

"And yet you stick to chicken and rice! Shame." Zoe says. As the dim sum cart wheels by, she selects a few tins of various steamed and fried dumplings stuffed with pork or shrimp or whatnot. Fairly tame, but quite delicious.

Adam arches a brow, "What is survivor?" he frowns a moment, "The band?" he considers for a few moments, "They didn't appear to me to be particularly exotic eaters."

She tries so hard, but in the end Kaylee laughs, muffling it behind a hand. "Oh Adam… No.. the Survivor I'm talking about is a reality show. It's been around for nine or ten years. I'm sure if you Google it you'd find a ton of stuff on it." As she continues she lowers her hand again. "They have eaten some wild stuff in their challenges."

Zoe grins and cracks her chopsticks, rubbing them together. "Nothing quite so exotic, but I do hear there's an Indian restaurant in the Village that offers chilled monkey brains."

Adam hmms a bit, "I've used the google." he informs Kaylee. Quite proud of that fact, he is. At any rate, he says, "I haven't had monkey brains, but I have had cow brains, I don't imagine they're that different." he shrugs, "One must imagine the textures are much the same."

Kaylee's eyes widen at Zoe. "You mean a lot like in Indiana Jones? Whoa." Sounding rather impressed. Then she glances at Adam, brows lifting. "You should look it up.. it's kinda this game thing where they take people. Dump them in the middle of nowhere and make them survive. There is also challenges and a person gets voted off each week." She shrugs eyeing the food and then looks around for a fork. But the last thing Adam says makes her blinks at him. Her brow arches at the thought of eating brain and she simply says.. "Eeew"

Zoe's eyes go wide. "I was kidding!" she says, and is unable to resist chorusing that 'Ewww' in unison.

Adam rolls his eyes as he takes out his chopsticks and eats something or other, "Oh, get over yourselves. A lot of different cultures in a lot of different eras found different foods delicacies." he leans back, "You know, Kaylee…Zoe is interested in creating a project you might find some value in."

With a blink Kaylee looks from one person to another. "Oh?" She directs her next question directly to Zoe. "What kind of project?" The young woman sounds genuinly curoious as she picks up the chopsticks and frowns at them and carefully pulls them apart and starts fumbling with them.

Zoe smirks at Adam. "Don't make out as if you're talking to a pair of uncultured women." She then oh's. "I'm hoping to start an outreach program for teenage Evolved." she admits. "One that wouldn't require they be registered, but give them emotional support and maybe help them deal with their abilities. The project's slowed down a bit of late."

Adam treats the chopsticks like he's a native. He picks up pieces of this and that and chews it all up. He nods, "It's a bit of a secretive thing. Very word of mouth, hush hush. But you need something to keep you occupied, Kaylee. I think that would be good for you. And I'm sure you can relate."

Pausing in her attempt to learn how to use the sticks, Kaylee gives the woman an interested look. "Really?" A glance goes to Adam and she smiles a bit. "That's true, I can relate." Then a bit of a mock pout is given about keeping her occupied. "I have been. I've been going over to Staten and helping with that soup kitchen stuff. However…" She smiles at Zoe. ".. if you need help, this idea of yours sounds like a rather worthy cause." And lord knows she has a soft spot for worth causes.

"Thank you." Zoe says. "I was hoping to do something bigger with it, but Adam convinced it's much wiser to keep it…I guess you'd call it on the downlow? I'm lame." She grins sheepishly.

Adam chuckles, he's heard that term before. "Well, it's safer, for now. Too much media and politics over it right now. Don't want to make yourself a target. But.." he says, "I think it's important. And the more people you have involved, the better and you'll even have more eyes to look out for your wayward souls."

Nodding in agreement with Adam, Kaylee says. "It's too dangerous to take something dealing with unregistered evolves public." She fidgets a bit at the thought. "It would be like painting a target on thier backs. Keeping it low profile protects the ones your helping." She glances at Adam and ducks her head a bit. "But I imagine he told you all that. You don't need to hear it again." She frowns at the stick, takes one and spears a dumpling on it and takes a bite.

Zoe nods. "And as you can see, I'm taking him up on his advice. What do you do, Kaylee? Are you in school?"

Adam shakes his head and grabs Kaylee's hand when she uses the chopstick and a spear, "No." and starts to mold her hand properly to chopstick use. "Like this. Like a lobster claw."

"I'm at the university, NYU. Starting my second year there come the fall." Kaylee explains glancing at Zoe until Adam grabs her hand. "Well.. you make it look so easy. You've had years of practice." She says sheepishly as she tests the sticks opening and closing them.

"Have you decided your major yet?" Zoe inquires, and holds her own chopsticks out in the proper position so Kaylee can imitate.

Adam chuckles, "Yes, years." he says wryly. Then leans back and considers Zoe's question, since he himself doesn't actually know what Kaylee 'does' at school. He considers her dubiously, "Yes, what is your major, Kaylee?"

"Nope." Kaylee quips as she carefully brings the chopsticks down. Tongue between her teeth, she tries to grasp the dumpling she speared before. Pausing she glances first at Zoe and then Adam. "Actually, I haven't decided. I've got time though. Never met my dad.. but he left a lot of money in my college fund. I imagine it'll come to me." She tries to pick up the dumpling only it have it slide out of the grip of the sticks.

"What year are you in?" Zoe asks with interest. "I think they give you until junior year to declare a major."

Adam leans back for a moment and just continues eating with his chopsticks. He shakes his head when Kaylee can't get it right away, disapproving. "I thought even Americans were taught how to use chopsticks, even if just for the novelty."

"Just finished my freshman year." This time she manages to get a proper grip on the dumpling. "Ha! And no… I lived in Kentucky in a hick town, they didn't see the use of chopsticks as a worthy passtime." Finally enjoying a successful bite of food.

"Not every American, no." Zoe says, her tone mildly chiding toward Adam. Yes, she is actually being /chiding/ toward a centuries old man. "But it's wonderfully cosmopolitan to learn, isn't it?" she notes cheerfully to Kaylee.


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