El Paso, Texas, Tuesday Night

[weldedtomyspine]

"Have I mentioned how much I like that dress?" Jaime asked with a grin as he held the door open for Momoko. Because he did. Not that he didn't like Momoko in lots of things, but some dresses just... really worked for her.

"Also, I hope this place is good. I mean, the reviews say it is, but I haven't been here before."

He took a moment to exchange a few words with the hostess about their reservation.

"But if they aren't the best Italian place you've been to this year, don't blame me, okay?"

Comments

[heromaniac]

"I'm like the sound of the special, but..." Hmmmmm. Momoko didn't like coffee, but that did sound good. After a moment or two of consideration, she smiled and shrugged. "If Chef choose the dessert to be part of the menu, then the flavours have to be complimentary, so, okay."

She turned to Jaime. "Does all that sound good to you? There wasn't any pasta mentioned; would you rather choose something like that?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"Hey. I'm here to have dinner with this really funny, smart, hot girl I know. Good food is secondary to the company."

He grinned. "But, yeah, that actually sounds pretty good." Jaime turned to the hostess. "The special sounds perfect. Thanks."

[heromaniac]

"Thank you. Your waitress will be by to take your drink order shortly, then." The hostess nodded and left them.

Momoko shook a finger at Jaime. "You'd better not complain later that you went to an Italian restaurant and had no pasta."

Actually that had better be the part of tonight that he complained about, if he did any at all.

"Speaking of missing out on things, did I tell you I got an email from Sila?" She folded her arms on the table to lean towards Jaime. "I found it in my SPAM folder the other day. She's been stuck in an alternate timeline!"

[weldedtomyspine]

"That's me. Always complaining about dinner."

He grinned, then cocked his head. "You didn't tell me, and while I should probably be surprised about the whole timeline thing..." He shrugged. "I mean, the Fandom weirdness thing seems to carry on to later generations, huh?"

[heromaniac]

"Though Sila says she doesn't think it's a Fandom thing since there wasn't a portal," Momoko nodded. "But the Leda there did go to Fandom, and we know it can affect even adopted kids. Sin came to visit Dinah, too. Remember? Not Just Leda."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Oh, I don't think it's genetic or anything," Jaime shook his head slightly. "Just, you know, more like it's... I don't know. Contagious?"

[heromaniac]

Momoko thought about that. "I don't know. If that's true, then our parents and others would be having weird experiences, wouldn't they?"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime raised an eyebrow. "You're saying they don't?" Though he knew that wasn't what she meant.

[heromaniac]

She snorted and reached a finger to her water glass to flick some of the contents at him. "I think if my mom was getting visitors from alternate kids or finding herself in alternate worlds, she would totally tell me. And Dad would totally pull a you if he turned into a girl."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Hey!" Jaime stuck his tongue out at her. "My response is totally the normal one! All you weirdos who act like it's normal are the crazy ones."

[heromaniac]

"You just don't know how to have fun." She tossed her head, teasingly.

[weldedtomyspine]

"I don't remember hearing that complaint the other niiiight," Jaime teased.

[heromaniac]

Okay THAT got him a kick under the table. Also a very red Momoko.

"Jaime!" They were in public!

[weldedtomyspine]

"What?" Jaime asked, eyes going wide with fake innocence. "I'm not allowed to talk about movie night?"

[heromaniac]

...

"You're totally mean," she narrowed her eyes at him. Though to be fair, he had said 'the other night' and not 'last night' so she should have known he was being tricky.

Also, she knew him.

[weldedtomyspine]

Yeah. She did. Which he knew meant he wasn't fooling her with that "movie night" nonsense.

He just flashed her a grin. "And, hey, this place seems pretty good so far, right?"

[heromaniac]

The look she was still giving him totally said she knew, yeah.

Though after a second longer, her face cleared and she beamed at him. "It does. I love how romantic it is. It feels like it's just us."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Yeah? Do you really think I'm romantic?" Because, yeah, he tried, but he wasn't always sure it came across romantic instead of... cute that he tried?

[heromaniac]

"You?" That had her attention and her heart melted. She reached for his hand.

"You," she repeated, squeezing his hand tightly. "Yeah. You're romantic. Maybe more than me."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime blinked, unable to stop himself from grinning.

"Seriously? I mean, romance is kinda your thing, isn't it?"

[heromaniac]

"Mmm. But that makes it better. Yours comes from consulting your heart not your knowledge."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Heeey, are you saying I don't know how to be romantic?"

[heromaniac]

She hadn't been, but if he was going to claim it?

"I'm not saaaaaaaaying it, but I may be remembering a certain few attempts..." That had been all the more romantic because he had tried and made that face and she had just melted despite everything.

[weldedtomyspine]

"Oh? You want me to stop trying, then?"

[heromaniac]

She squeezed his hand again. "Now that I definitely never said. I love it when you do things because you think they will make me smile."