BLIND DATES GROUP 3

[reign-of-power.livejournal.com]

What: BLIND DATES!
Who: Anyone who was sent a note with an E# & F# table numbers.
Where: Off-campus restaurant. AND BEYOND!
When: November 19th
Warnings: Who knows depending who is here.

[The third group's restaurant is a rotating fancy restaurant, the tallest in all of FDC! The place is high up in the air, and you can see all of the city from above! It slowly moves around itself so you can see the city from 360 degrees.The menu has all sorts of things. Still expensive, however, but you've been given a 100$ budget for eating each!

The lighting is dim, with flickering, oil candles on every table. The place is decorated in stylish black and browns, with reddish lanterns hanged on top. The overhead music is half traditional Italian love songs, half that band you don't remember the name of and sometimes a little song sneaks in. Your servers are all dressed up for the occasion, and speak broken English and talk-like-a-dis despite the menu not being 100% Italian.

Beside each candle, there's a card. Each card has a different letter-number combination.

Find your table!

OH YEAH AND FEEL FREE TO LEAVE THE RESTAURANT AND GO ANYWHERE ELSE!]

Comments

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

This was a nice place. A really nice place. Maybe he should suggest it to Yevgeny. He also wasn't sure how he'd managed to sign up for a blind date without even realizing it.

But here he was, checking the paper again. Group 3, Table E2. ... Much to his surprise, there was a rather.. plain looking brunette guy there. Why couldn't they have gotten him someone good looking...?

Raikov walked over to the table and looked down at Maxwell. "... You're here for the blind date, yes?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

At least Maxwell had thought to dress up at least a little bit for the occasion, so while plain, he certainly wasn't that much of an embarrassment to be around in that particular establishment. He wore his finest kilt a nice shirt and the only real pair of slacks he owned.

He was staring out the window when Raikov approached, fascinated with the rotating view. "Hm?" It was... Rai...not. The fellow that bore a strong resemblance to Raiden. The art teacher? "Oh! Yes, I am. Hello! E2, is it?"

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

Raikov was dressed in his usual pair of tight jeans and black dress shirt, as well as the pretty bracelet Giovanni had given him.

"Mmhmm," he replied, sitting down across from Maxwell. "So, you are....?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

So far so good! Maxwell it had been 30 seconds don't jinx it.

"Ah, right. I'm Maxwell Labs." He politely extended a hand towards him except wait maybe it wasn't polite to reach across the table like that. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr....?

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

"Raikov." He accepted the handshake, despite it being across the table. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Labs, although If I remember correctly, we may have spoken over the network once...?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

"Entirely possible!" Maxwell would have to admit that he could not immediately recall the conversation, but that did not mean it hadn't happened. The name certainly rang true with his previous speculation.

"It's nice to meet you beyond the computer screen, then. If I recall correctly, you're the art teacher?"

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I am. I occasionally substitute for Mr. Volgin's Culinary Arts class as well."

Maxwell was starting to win points with the Russian. He knew who he was and even remembered what class he taught. ♥

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

"Oh I see!" He hadn't formally met Volgin either, but the other man was... hard to miss, really. He reminded Maxwell of a Hawke from another universe. Another slightly more terrifying and surprisingly more personable universe. He idly wondered if he would give Maxwell thumbs ups.

"Have the both of you managed to settle in well?" Sure neither of them were necessarily new to the school anymore, but Maxwell had found it was a bit unfair to ask that question too early in someone's stay.

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

Volgin would more than likely rather shove his thumbs up one of Maxwell's orfices.

"For the most part, yes. I seem to have adjusted better than him. He's a tad old fashioned.. How about you? How long have you been here?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

Well that wouldn't be the fi-- okay no, that would definitely be the first time.

Maxwell nodded attentively. But ah, what about him? Maxwell put on a thoughtful face as he contemplated the dates. "Me? Ah... My, it's been about two years now!"

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

Whoa. Raikov's eyes widened at that.

"Two years..? That's a long time... Has it always been this.. crazy?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

Maxwell stroked his beard (because he totally had one, it being November and all) and leaned back a little in his seat. Had it always been this crazy? Maxwell gave a little nod that was partially in confirmation and partially in contemplation.

"I guess that depends on... which part you think is crazy." He chuckled a little. "It's been... how should I put it? A very varied experience. We haven't had any more space invasions though, so I suppose things are... relatively calm?"

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

Okay, he wasn't expecting to hear that.

"... Space invasions?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

"Oh yes. Goodness that will have been two years ago in February!" His birthday. He'd been blowing up aliens in tanks, charming cows and trying not to get killed. A wonderful time indeed.

Maxwell picked up the menu to look at it while he talked, but he ended paling slightly before he found the words to continue. Goodness this was... quite the pricey place wasn't it? Ha, ha, ha.

"They were called aparoids. They came to... well, wipe people out, essentially. I believe they possessed the powers to look into one's mind, as they often changed their forms to resemble people from the past and present... Enemies and friends alike, and in some cases yourself!"

He gave a quirky grin. "It got pretty gruesome!"

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

Raikov sat silently for a few moments, all that information slowly sinking in. Aliens, coming to take over the world... That was stuff you read about in those scifi books Yevgeny loved so much...

"It.. hasn't happened recently... has it?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

Maxwell gave a reassuring shake of his head. "Not incredibly recently, no. You can hardly tell it even happened anymore..."

He glanced out the window at the city stretching out around them, looking somber for a moment. "A lot of this city was reduced to rubble at the time. I doubt the building we're sitting in now was standing by the end. They... really did a bang up job with the reconstruction."

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

That was... somewhat reassuring. But he still felt uneasy.

"Did anyone get killed...?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

"Not that I'm aware of... Definitely no one that wasn't an NPC from the school, at the very least, though some of us were in... well, not the best of shape."

He unconsciously cringed a little at the memory of his own plummet from the sky. Not the best of shape indeed.

"Should it happen again... Well, I know the students would be more than capable of handling a similar situation. They're really quite amazing."

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

"That's good..." He relaxed a little. The students did seem quite fiesty... "Do you teach anything?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

"Not officially," Maxwell replied. He seemed happy to navigate to another topic. "I'm an assistant for the scientific classes, and function as a residential adviser for the student dormitories." So, you know, nothing important.

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

"I see." Eh, you needed the small-time employees to have a place run smoothly. Too bad Raikov wasn't sure what else to talk about and he was hungry. "Think we should order something?"

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

"That seems like a good idea..." The scientist had been trying his best to navigate the menu, but all of the dishes were multiple leagues ahead of him in terms of sophistication, which... pretty much meant that he had no idea what half of the menu items consisted of.

"What sounds good to you?"

MEANWHILE a server arrived to inquire what sort of drinks they'd be wanting that evening. "Oh, mm, just a hot tea, please."

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

"Hmm.. Prime Cote De Boeuf," he said as he looked over the menu, then ordered an iced tea with lemon for himself. "It says it's a good dish for two."

[safetyglasses.livejournal.com]

Off the server went to the lands of hot and cold beverages.

For two, hm? "That sounds quite convenient. Would you like to split that then?" He asked pleasantly. And then, after a pause, Maxwell lowered his voice a little and leaned in a bit closer.

"Uh. Is that a steak or something similar?" It was surrounded by beef items on the menu. He was trying to use context clues!

[majorcrotchgrab.livejournal.com]

Being a glutton, Raikov had tried many dishes in his life - which included foreign ones as well. "I... believe so. Ribsteak, if I remember correctly..."