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Days Even Years Go By; Siryn
Topic Started: Aug 21 2014, 11:26 PM (224 Views)
Specter
Unregistered

Date: August 11th
Time: Early evening


"Mister Gibson! You bring special lady!"

A slight man wearing a pair of glasses so tiny that it was difficult to imagine they provided any benefit to his eyesight was beaming cheerily as he swept Dallas and his companion over to a quiet table in the corner of The Blossom Garden, a small but sweet Chinese restaurant tucked away in North Salem. Before taking up a job at Xavier's, Dallas had always worked in the kitchens of Chinese restaurants, it was where he'd learned the basics and refined his skills, so he knew a good one when he saw one and had gone out of his way to locate an establishment he could frequent now that he was living on the other side of the country once more. This place had been one of the first he'd tried out and it was perfect. From the outside, it appeared humble, even a bit shabby, but inside was warm and welcoming, the dim lights enhanced by softly burning candles, the air rich with delightful aromas and the murmur of conversation and laughter.

"Uh, Mr. Li, this is my friend Terry. Just a friend," Dallas explained pointedly as he sat himself down at the table, slightly concerned that the head waiter had misread the situation. "It's her birthday this week." Mr. Li's smile lit up yet further and he nodded eagerly before bustling away from the table. During his visits here, Dallas had grown very fond of the man. His English wasn't the best but it was certainly better than Dallas's Chinese, and ever since he'd learned that the shadowy mutant had a history of working in his industry, Mr. Li had made a fuss of him every time he showed up for a spot of dinner. The guy had a heart as big as his smile, and seeing him always cheered Dallas up.

Moments later, Mr. Li reappeared and excitedly placed a tiny mauve vase in the centre of the table, bearing three red roses. The roses were fake but it was the thought which counted.

"Flowers for Mr. Gibson's special lady on special day. Happy birthday!" he yelped at Terry, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "You enjoy! We bring cake after you eat!" With that, he vanished off again, crashing through the door to the kitchen, a happy whirlwind.

Dallas couldn't help laughing, shaking his head as he opened his menu. "He's pretty much the loveliest guy ever born. Every time I come here, he asks when I'm gonna get married and settle down. Now he's always gonna ask when I'm gonna marry that nice girl with the red hair, I guarantee it," he grinned. "Didn't think this through, did I? Totally should've taken you somewhere else."

In truth, he hadn't given serious consideration to any other venues. He'd wanted to do something for Terry's 21st birthday, of course, something relaxing for just the two of them rather than anything raucous, which was why he'd booked the table for the day after her birthday, figuring she might want to do something more spectacular with more people, or her dad, on the day itself. It was traditional to go out and get blitzed for this milestone but that option was obviously off the table and Dallas was reluctant to take her to a bar or a nightclub even if they stuck to soft drinks. That'd just be insensitive. The Blossom Garden was a much better alternative. It certainly wasn't a dump but it wasn't overly fancy either. Dallas was hoping the rustic homeliness of this place would be up his friend's street. If she wasn't keen, hopefully the awesome food would win her over.

On a selfish level, the young man was just happy to get out of the mansion for a night. He was feeling himself again, all better after Avery had intervened in the cycle of misguided thinking which had driven him to exhaust himself through overwork. Dallas felt like his life was his own once more, but he still wasn't back into the swing of socialising yet. Being out tonight with one of his best friends was the tonic he'd needed for weeks.

"You should brace yourself, by the way," he added, a mischievous grin stretching across his lips. "All the staff are probably gonna gather round and sing happy birthday to you at the top of their voices sooner or later." Terry would totally love that, right? Totally.
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Siryn
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Sonokinesis/Flight/Vocal Hypnotism
Siryn wasn’t sure if she was amused or charmed by the reception they had received from the head waiter, but at least it was much better than what had happened when they had gone out for dinner back in February. Right now, she wasn’t sure if she should bring this fact up as he was taking her out for her birthday so she didn’t want to be too mean. Yet. Trying to suppress a laugh as Mr. Li vanished off, they settled into their table, the redhead was about to make a comment when the man came back with the little vase.

“Thank you,” her smile was broad and merry, and the man was off again with the promise of cake. Turning her head to face her friend, she reached out and twisted the vase on the table. “One fer each of us, aye?” although the fact there were three little roses was probably coincidental, it was a nice one as his shadow was represented as well. It was also nice to get out and do something normal, as settled as things were at the moment. Still, it was nice to just be a regular person for the night, birthday or not. It was important to make those sorts of moments last during the downtimes in case something happened, as it often did in their kind of world.

“And if I get cake out o’ it, I think I can endure a song,” she smiled, folding her arms on the table to relax. “So, what’s good here?” Hopefully by now, Dallas knew her well enough to know her tastes when it came to food, especially as she was not a fussy eater. Life was too short to be picky. Sitting up, Theresa stretched her arms a little, looking around the little restaurant. It wasn’t one she had been to, but in all fairness that included a lot of places in North Salem. Before the old school had been levelled, she hadn’t been old enough to go out in the evenings, despite what she had liked to think. Then when they had lived in New York City during the rebuild, well, she had eaten out in NYC, usually with Warren or Linus when they’d been working. Since being back? It was safe enough to say that time hadn’t been kind in terms of social activities, for either of them really.

But now she was an ‘adult’ so one was expected to go out and have dinner and do things like that. But she was very mindful of the fact that now she was finally legal in the USA, alcohol was something that should stay at the back of her mind. Of course she was still tempted. Dark urges still sometimes strayed into her head. One of the worst times for that had been after the control of Dark Beast and the Hand. They had made her do some terrible things that she did not speak of freely, but they had happened no matter who she did or did not confess them to. After that time, briefly, she had been mute, so even talking had been initially out, even though her mutism was partly by choice. It was a burden she had carried and it had helped her to focus.

The memories made her shiver a little and rubbing her arms, she grinned again, pushing on with the good evening. “So, what was yer day like? Warren went easy on me today, seeing as my birthday was a Sunday so I didn’t have ter work anyway. The kitchen’s must get hot. I’d drop. Too Irish fer too much heat. Plus, doesn’t agree with the hair,” gesturing up at her flame red locks, Terry gave them a shake to demonstrate.
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Specter
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A bright, delighted smile jumped to Dallas's lips when his friend pointed out that there was a rose for all three of them. Few things pleased him more than someone else acknowledging his shadow as more than just an imaginary friend, but Terry was the only person who did that consistently, without even seeming to think about it. That meant the world to him for reasons he couldn't even put into words. It was a level of acceptance of who he and the shadow really were that he wasn't sure he'd ever experienced before. Only his grandfather behaved the same way but that was different, it was his job to love Dallas unconditionally. Terry didn't have to do that, she could give the shadow the same vaguely uncomfortable glances that so many other people did. But she didn't. Because she was ace.

The shadow loved it too, and showed it by carefully raising his solid black hand and offering her a thumbs up. Cast on the wall beside them, the silhouette made sure to keep his motions slow and subtle. Since this was a public place, drawing attention to an animated shadow would probably not be wise. Dallas didn't always care about keeping his mutation hidden, it really depended on the situation, but tonight he intended to pass as human. The last thing he wanted was to attract any hostility while he was trying to celebrate Terry's birthday, nor did he want to cause trouble for Mr. Li. The warmth in his mind told Dallas that his shadow was enjoying the night even if he couldn't prance about so all was well.

"Oh, the lemon--" Dallas was about to sing the praises of the lemon chicken in response to Terry's question about what was good at The Blossom Garden, when Mr. Li skidded back to their table, carrying a large glass jug which he quickly set on the table. "Just like you ask, Mister Gibson," he whispered, as if it were a secret, before bowing to each of them in turn with all the eagerness of a puppy, then bounding away again. "Thanks, Mr. Li," Dallas called after him with a grin. He'd had this fruit punch before, though only with alcohol in it. This time around, he'd specifically asked to have a non-alcoholic version made up for them when he'd called to book the table for tonight. He was betting that at least one well-intentioned but oblivious Xavier's resident would've made a crack about Terry getting smashed to celebrate her 21st in recent days, because that was just what people did. Dallas hadn't though, he'd spent his 21st birthday in an Exodus-induced vegetative state. The perils of being a mutant. Anyway, he didn't want her to have to weather any further booze-related discomfort tonight, so he'd planned ahead.

"This stuff is delicious, I always have it when I come here, it's really refreshing. 'Specially if you're eating something spicy," he explained as he poured some into a glass for his friend. "So, pretty much everything here is great, you can't go wrong. The chefs here are almost as good as me," he added with a sly grin. "But I was thinking we could go for the dim sum? They bring a whole selection of different types to the table, like tapas style? I figured we could go for that and if there's anything we don't like, we'll still have plenty of other options. They're really generous with it too, there'll be more than we can eat. Sound good?"

Dallas made sure to take a sip from his glass before Terry did, just to make sure Mr. Li hadn't delivered an alcoholic version by accident, and was relieved to find no mistakes had been made. Terry talked about her day, asking about his time in the kitchen. He grinned when she shook her red hair. "We'd make you tie it up and hide it under one of those horrible blue hairnets too. It'd be a travesty." Resting his elbows comfortably on the table, he cupped his hands under his chin. "I just worked the breakfast service today, so I was up early. But I was good, I took a nap this afternoon. I'm taking better care of myself these days," he admitted, referring to the recent period of blockheadedness which had resulted in him overworking to exhaustion point. "'Cause you're right, the kitchens do get really hot. It can be pretty draining. I don't know why I thought I could handle such an intensive training schedule on top of that. I've got the balance right now, I think, but looking back... man, I feel like a chump."

He shrugged it off with a smile though. Hed beaten himself up for being so silly at the time but he wasn't one to dwell on things for long. "I just wanted it too much, I think. The X on the belt. I don't think I realised how hard it'd be to come back and just watch everybody else deal with the bad stuff while I sit back. Like, I've been running around as Specter for years," he continued, keeping his voice low and glancing over his shoulder to check nobody was listening, but since they were tucked away in the corner, there was little chance of that. "And now I'm not. I didn't know that was such an important part of me, you know?" He hadn't meant to get so deep so quickly - or at all, honestly - but it was too late now. Suddenly, though, he snapped his fingers and remembered something. "That's what I was gonna ask you. You know how a few people left to go to X-Factor recently? Did you think about that? I mean, you spend a lot of time at Worthington Complex already, so..."
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