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

[weldedtomyspine]

That got a confused blink, then a laugh. "Khaji'Da doesn't really do dates, exactly." Though there were lots of complaints about the stupid ways humans divided time.

[heromaniac]

"Good. Now..." She rubbed at his lower lip with a forked bit of tomato. "Remember the day I won the Metal Fighter high score... Come on..."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Mmm, is there anything particular you're hoping I'll remember?" Jaime asked with a grin before leaning forward and snagging the tomato.

[heromaniac]

"That I defeated you horribly and won high score," she tapped his nose with the empty fork. "And you said my smile was evil." or her taunting laugh was, rather.


She blinked, suddenly remembering, herself, and sat back up straight. "Wait. I still haven't gotten my prize for that."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Oh, yeah? Did you have something in mind?"

Jaime grinned. "I mean, not that I remember you ever beating me or anything," he added quickly. "But, you know, hypothetically."

[heromaniac]

"It has to be something worthy," she chuckled and dug into her salad again. "Any suggestions? What were you going to ask for, if you'd won?"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime followed suit, chewing in silence for a few seconds before answering. "Oh, so now you're ready to admit that I was the winner after all, hmm?"

[heromaniac]

Momoko just stuck her tongue out at him. "Best of 5 and I won three? Totally wiped the floor with you. And I didn't cheat."

Much.

[weldedtomyspine]

"Now I know you're making this up. You always cheat when we play video games."

[heromaniac]

"I do not!" She totally did.

"I'm just better than you at mecha games." She totally wasn't.

"At least one win was because you chose the streetfighter mecha."

Okay, yeah, actually; that chara was the worst one in the game. Even her totally cute rabbit-eared ninja mecha had had the advantage there.

[weldedtomyspine]

"You don't cheat?"

"Oh, Jaime," he sing-songed, not doing a very good job of mimicking Momoko's voice. "I don't know how I got sprawled across your lap like this. It just happened!"

[heromaniac]

She fluttered her eyelashes, too, Jaime. "Are you saying you don't have an awesomely powerful sexy aura that makes me unable stop myself from touching you?" She countered.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime snorted. "It's probably a good thing I don't. I mean, we couldn't go out to dinner like this if I did, could we?"

[heromaniac]

"That's true. And it would be a shame." Momoko chuckled warmly and set her now-empty dish aside so that she could set her arms on the table. "Because I totally love feeling this feeling."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Yeah?" Jaime grinned at her. "Is that why you've got that smile on your face?"

It was a very nice smile, by the way.

[heromaniac]

"Could be. After all, I'm having a very happy Valentines day dinner with the man I love." She winked, her smile deepening. "And I haven't had dessert yet."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime's grin at that was... not as flirty as it probably should have been. "Dessert does sound pretty good," he admitted, a bit distracted.

[heromaniac]

"Mmm?" She tilted her head a little at him missing a chance like that. "No teasing back. Did you suddenly realize you agreed to let me have sugar and caffeine and alcohol all in the same meal?"

Speaking of, there was a waiter was hovering and waiting for a sign they were ready for the next course.

[weldedtomyspine]

"No. Though," Jaime shook his head. "Now that you mention it, that should probably be terrifying me, shouldn't it?"

He grinned, checked the state of Momoko's plate, and waved for the waiter over.

[heromaniac]

With a soft murmur of apology, the waiter swept in and exchanged the salad plates for the next course, deftly refreshed their drinks and left them again.

Momoko leaned forward for her drink as soon as he was gone and raised it to Jaime. "Definitely should. And look, he even brought me another."

Don't worry, Jaime. She was going to make this one last the rest of dinner.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime put on a little smile. "So he did. What a thoughtful guy."

He fell silent again, lost in thought for a moment. He hadn't actually thought about an old conversation he'd had until a couple of minutes ago, but now he couldn't stop.

"Hey, um." He wasn't really sure how to put this.

[heromaniac]

"Hmm?" Momoko was poking at her risotto, torn between her faith in a chef's skills at putting flavours together and her first impression of the rice on her plate.

[weldedtomyspine]

He picked at his own food, though not for the same reasons Momoko was. "So, you remember Elena, right?"

[heromaniac]

"Ele- Of course?" Momoko looked up at him and then around the restaurant in concern. That particular Fandom weird had never happened while they were off the island, but who knew what the rules were for that sort of thing? "Kids didn't show up today, did they?"

She wasn't panicked except for the idea that there were possibly unknown children wandering an unfamiliar city looking for parents that didn't exist.

[weldedtomyspine]

Oh. That hadn't even occurred to him. Jaime felt a moment of panic, but then remembered that Momoko was right. They hadn't shown up today.

That probably would have been extra awkward.

"Did she ever tell you when she was born?" he asked, still looking down at his plate.