Re: The Fluffy Sheep Experiment [Sci-Fly, Plume]

[Plume]

"I migrated here when I was eight. But," he scratched his neck, a lump stuck in his throat, "I-I went back for a while."

He scooted his chair closer to the table and forced himself to look up at Kevin.

"It's a beautiful place. Especially in the fall."

If you don't look too close enough. Lucky tourists.

[Herald]

Kevin detected a sense of discomfort in Luca's tone and behaviour. Was there something wrong about his choice of topic. It seemed like normal chit-chat for himself. He watched at Luca in thought. On one hand he was itching to know more about him and he knew he was going to pick at it sooner or later; however, sure enough he was a bit sick of bumps in their dates.

Deciding he wouldn't ask anything further, he quietly smiled at Luca for a bit.

"Well, it sounds nice," he said, switching focus. "Anyway, I better fill you in about myself, date." He winked, trying to ease any tension.

He took a visible inhale and began to ramble. "As fast as I can, my name's Kevin Howland. 23. Only child. Parents are powered. Born and raised here. Nothing fancy. Boring life. Science geek. Umm... newbie. Greatest pain in life... was probably when my grandpop died. Greatest pleasure? Probably meeting you first of all people when I moved into the mansion."

Breathe.

"As you can see, I'm stunningly great at speed dating. Feel free to pry."

[Plume]

You fucking idiot, this is a date. You're supposed to talk about yourself. Don't clam up now.

Luca's internal thoughts dissipated as the man winked at him. With widened eyes, the Italian listened to him ramble, and his unease was immediately washed away. He laughed at his statement of being a newbie (he agrees to that one), got a little sad about the man's 'grandpop' (that was adorable, who calls their grandfather 'Grandpop'? Is he like a big popcorn or something?) and chuckled some more at Kevin's 'greatest pleasure'. 

This guy was sweet. There was one thing he forgot to mention though.

But before he could reply, a server approached them and collected their orders. Once they left, he cleared his throat and put on a small smile.

"Oh, so what's your Codename? Mine's Plume, if you didn't know that already, haha."

[Herald]

Immediately, the truth of Kevin's discomfort was plain as day in his face. He looked around for escape, toes curling at the thought of even uttering his terrible codename -- in front of an actual flier at that!

Of course he was going to ask. He's also going to know eventually. But he's going to fucking laugh.

He brought a hand to his thigh, rubbing his sweaty hand roughly against his pants.

"You can just call me Sci--" Kevin bit the inside of his lower lip, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah, just Sci."

If Luca was going to find out, it was better if he wasn't there to see. It was reality 3v show, it was unavoidable.

[Plume]

Luca choked on his spit and loud laughter erupted from him. He immediately covered his mouth because of the curious stares from the other customers, but nevertheless continued to laugh at that codename.

"Aw, what the hell, it's just 'Sci'? That's so lame!" 

He jokingly wiped at his eyes with his napkin and ran a hand through his hair.

"I thought you youngsters would have cooler names! Like... like, I don't know, something like... what's science-y? Q-Quantum? Or something!"

[Herald]

Fuck. That was hardly the reaction he was expecting, and Kevin wished there was a hole he could burrow himself in. His face was flushed red, disgruntled. In fact, he planned to hole up in that lab of his and never come out. If he was laughing at Sci, god knows what he'd be like had he said his full name.

Actually-- perhaps he could have just done and gone with the whole thing, saving him the embarrassment. He looked down at the table cloth and bore imaginary holes at it.

"It's actually something more stupid like Sci-Fly you insensitive asswipe," he mumbled under his breath.

Could he just up and go right now? He was ever so tempted to with the amounting anxiety of everyone's eyes set upon their table.

Fuck you, Luca. Fuck you.

[Plume]

The Italian's eyes widened and his mouth formed the shape of an 'o'. He beamed at the other man, wondering why Kevin was so disheartened at his codename. At least that was better than just Sci!

"Ooh, Sci-Fly? That's better! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The Italian trailed off, the gears in his head turning.

Oh.

"Oh slugger, it's a pun. Oh my God, that's adorable."

In awe, he stared down at his empty placemat. 

"That's actually pretty smart, though, hehe. B-But he can't fly so I guess that makes it better," he mumbled to himself as he scratched his chin with a small grin on his face.

[Herald]

"It's not like I can actually fly." Kevin groaned into his palms in embarrassment. He might as well have been drunk when he signed that contract when he thought it was a good codename.

Drunk in excitement, probably.

At least Luca was taking it better than he imagined and consequently he let the shame wash away, eager to move on.

He rapped his fingers against his leg as he looked around, noting the escargot coming their way. His eyes flickered away from the approaching dish and he did his best to strike some decent conversation.

"So Luca. I don't know that much about you, so umm... tell me."

Surely Luca could avoid whatever he wanted to avoid with just that. It was hardly fair that Kevin babbled on about himself and only himself.

[Plume]

"Alright."

He took a deep breath.

"Full name is Luca Saverio Donati and I'm 25. My father was powered, he taught me everything. Well, mostly everything. Mom taught me English. One of my childhood friends, Griffin, actually lives in the mansion. Um..."

He bit his lip. Should he say more? Yeah, probably.

"Greatest pains in my life were my father's passing and what I did after that back in Sicily." He let out a shaky breath and rubbed at his thighs. "Greatest pleasure? Ooh, when you become my boyfriend."

He smacked his lips and scratched his chin before continuing.

"That totally depends on what you'll think of me after I tell you about Sicily, haha."

[Herald]

Kevin thought he'd be staring at the plate of escargot when it hit the table, but instead he was far too deep in the conversation to care. He liked knowing the little factoids about his life and smiled, partly in his own joy to hear them from Luca's own mouth. But then to his surprise, Luca turned the conversation back to his life in Italy. (His greatest pleasure was flattering and in lieu with his own thoughts, but it was hardly of any interest following the mystery in his prior words.)

"Sicily? What happened?" The enquiry left his mouth immediately. However, he bit back at his tongue, wondering if he sounded too nosy. "Wait, sorry," Kevin reached out for Luca's hand, "You don't need to talk about it if you want."

Kevin did want him to talk. Definitely.

What is he hiding? How could it affect me? Tell me.

[Plume]

He stared at the steaming escargot in front of him, his appetite growing despite how shit he's feeling right now. He grinned and squeezed Kevin's hand.

"I'll tell you, don't worry. But I was really serious when I said that I wanted to try out their escargot."

There are eyes and ears everywhere. Better be careful.

He slowly let go of the man's hand and reached for a shell. Mm, snails.

[Herald]

"Alright," Kevin said, letting go of Luca's and letting the man enjoy his snails. He watched, curious about its taste, but refrained from reaching out for one for a while. All to keep to his own word. He had nothing against trying it out.

Eventually, giving up, he went to grab one for himself.

"It's not that bad," he replied, having a taste.

[Plume]

"Hey, you said you wouldn't get any." Luca scolded at him jokingly before eating another piece. 

He pushed the plate towards Kevin and grinned.

"Here you can have the last piece. Because I'm so nice."

As he watched Kevin eat, he wondered how he'd tell the other man. Out here? On the way home? He wouldn't mind if he told him about Sicily flying home.

[Herald]

"Well, I'm not going to miss out on the chance for good food-- Thanks." Kevin chuckled, taking the final piece of the escargot and promptly their mains had arrived in time.

Kevin looked up, breathing in the warm aroma as they were set on their tables. He looked at his own dish picking up his cutlery to dig in.

"Smells nice," he commented, before looking over at Luca's own.

"Hey, do you mind sharing?"

[Plume]

Luca raised a brow. First his snails. Now he wants his meat?

"Bello, this," he motioned to his plate, "is steak. With foie gras. Who said I was going to give it away for free?" 

He cut out a piece and took a bite, moaning at the taste as he closed his eyes.

"Ugh. That's so good."

[Herald]

"I was going to give you some of mine. Too bad."

Oh well, it was worth the shot. He licked his lips at Luca's exaggerated enjoyment before settling back to his own dish. He gently moved the duck, taking a glance at how it'd been cooked. It was perfect and he was ever so ready to dig into the tender meat.

He hadn't been here before, but damn the rave reviews were right.

"I think I'll be coming here again."

[Plume]

Luca nodded, too busy enjoying the meal to talk. 

The foie gras wonderfully done and the contrasting sweet flavour of the balsamic vinegar did wonders on his tongue. The tenderloin was cooked perfectly. He was a little surprised when the server didn't ask about his preferred wellness for the steak. Looks like they already knew.

"Mmf, take me with you when you come back."

They enjoyed their meals in contented silence. Luca peered at the other man's duck before sighing. Damn, maybe he should've given Kevin some. That duck looked good.

Too late now, food hog.

His plate was clean after a few minutes. He set his utensils down neatly and patted his stomach.

"Dessert?"

[Herald]

Kevin finished soon after, having taken his time to finish his meal. He'd washed down the last bite off with a bit of red wine before replying.

"Why not?" Kevin smiled before joking, not having looked at the dessert menu yet. "Maybe we should order one of those parfaits to share."

[Plume]

He rested his elbows on the table and cupped his chin, smirking.

"Sure. I hope they have a chocolate parfait."

The server came back to collect their plates. He handed them their dessert menu, smiled at them both and went. He picked up his glass of wine and swirled it around before taking a sip.

"Hmm, I wonder if steak would taste great with some gin and tonic."

[Herald]

Were they going to do this?

Kevin finally glanced at the menu, seeing the large parfait in plain sight.

We're absolutely doing it.

"Chocolate it is then," he confirmed with a short raise of his brow.

Hearing Luca's comment made him realise how he'd never been all that familiar with alcohol. He was mostly a beer person outside of these fancy walls, but otherwise he'd would take up anything that seemed appropriate or interesting.

"You could always try some other time."

[Plume]

Luca uttered a 'yes!' under his breath with a small fist pump.

"I slugging love this restaurant."

He's tried gin and tonic with a lot of things, so he'll probably like the end result. Well, it's slugging meat and alcohol. What's better than that?

"So," he started as they were waiting for their parfait, "are we going to take the car or..." 

Luca put on a cheeky grin.

[Herald]

"We can fly if you'd like," Kevin answered bluntly. "Like I said, it wasn't that bad."

They could take the car next time, but he wanted to look at the night sky -- at least a better one relative to his partly unnerved experience earlier.

The parfait arrived with two spoons set to the side. Kevin looking at the large bowl, was determined to finish the layers of chocolate, cream and fruit.

"I'm going first," he prompted and grabbed a spoonful for himself.

[Plume]

He nodded, feigning nonchalance. And failing.

"That's cool, yeah."

Luca gasped as Kevin reached for his spoon.

NOT ON MY WATCH, YOU SHIT!

"Kiss my ass, newbie!"

With a glint in his eye, he took a spoon and scooped up a large portion for himself.

He was probably not the best company for a fancy dinner.

[Herald]

Kevin's eyes flickered up as Luca dived into the parfait, just as he dipped the metal into the dessert.

What?

He watched as... so much... oh so much, was immediately out of sight.

"You can't--"

He frowned for a second before that face became that of determination.

Well two can play at that game. Bending closer, he quickly nabbed for the only whole strawberry sitting a top, dropping it into his mouth and scooping an equally large amount of parfait.

Finishing what he took, he stuck his tongue out.

"Don't underestimate me."

He was absolutely going to get an equal, if not larger, portion of the parfait.

[Plume]

Luca snatched a large dollop of cream, plopped it into his mouth and reached for the last banana slice.

"You already top for slugger's sake, let me have this!" he whispered angrily, getting the last chocolate bit at the bottom of the bowl. He scanned for more bounty and his eyes laid on the last remaining fruit piece.

Hellooo, Mr.Strawberry.

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