[FIN] For Richer or Poorer

[BlackFireKitsune]

Just as Akira didn't want to tell Seraphine the whole truth of himself, she didn't want to tell him everything either. His initial observations and questions caused her mouth to form a thin line, though her vaguely displeased gaze was aimed at the menu she'd taken from the waiter, and she refrained from answering right away in order to think of a good way to phrase things.

Her pale eyes scanned the various drinks briefly, but it was too early for a fancy drink. His sounded ridiculously fancy. "Mm, just a café au lait, I suppose," she requested thoughtfully as she turned the menu over, though only looked at it for a brief moment before adding, "I don't know what I want to eat yet, though."

The brunette would pointedly wait for the waiter to depart with their coffee orders before she leaned back with a slight huff and tapped her fingers on the menu idly, "I guess my safety comes first now," she finally replied to his questions. "They used to let me do whatever before, it wasn't ever a big deal until..." Until they went bankrupt, she ran away, and Anastasia was subsequently stolen, but like hell she was about to divulge such a thing to some (cute) guy she'd just met. "About six or seven months ago now." A brief pause; her fingers tapped more, and still she didn't meet his gaze. Sera was never very good at hiding how she was feeling, and at the moment the memories that the topic dredged to the surface made her feel pretty shitty. "I still go out though, I go to clubs and stuff even if they don't really want me to." She was over 18 at this point, so really it's not like they could make her stop no matter how much they wanted her to. If they even did -- actually, she wasn't even sure if they knew what she did at clubs. ...no, her mother had definitely seen her drunk and/or hungover at least once.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

The pointed delay in response did not go unnoticed, nor did the trailing off of her words mid-sentence. Evidently, he'd brought up a sore subject. "Forgive me," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to pry or make assumptions about your personal circumstances."

Her family's financial situation was certainly more a topic of curiosity to Akira now than ever, but he wasn't about to press her about it. "You seem...like a very stong-minded, independent young woman. One who knows what she wants. I admire that."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The waiter returned with their coffees and, while placing each down, stated he'd be back in a few minutes to take their breakfast orders, then departed once again.

After that brief interruption, Sera gave Akira a quizzical look. The brunette disregarded the first statement in favor of the second. "Well.. Shouldn't everyone know what they want?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. It was such a simple concept, such a simple idea. The girl knew exactly what she wanted, exactly what she was after. To not know such a simple thing would be a little ridiculous, in her opinion.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Akira responded to Sera's look with a bittersweet smile. "Perhaps they should," he answered, "but there are few who do. That lack of knowing leads to indecision when it comes to making choices in life, and that indecision can lead to horrible mistakes which, in turn, may result in life-long regret."

Inspecting his coffee cup, he considered it a moment before taking a small sip. He shivered; it was far stronger than he remembered. Still, it was a good wake-up call from the drowsiness that was beginning to seep in due to fatigue.

"There are some who are torn between doing what they're told and doing what they want to do. Others aren't sure if they should give in to the present or prepare for the future. And still others can't decide if they should sacrifice their own happiness for the happiness of others," he elaborated, stirring his coffee with a spoon. "For most people, knowing what they want isn't that simple."

Returning his attention to Sera, he gave her a warm expression before asking, "Could you name exactly what you want out of this life, Miss Seraphine? Could you put into words all that you would desire of a future? Is there nothing that causes you uncertainty or doubt?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That can happen even if you know exactly what you want or what you're doing," the brunette interjected after his initial statements, offering the boy a soft frown. After all, she had been entirely confident in her decision to run away from home, but such a decision had resulted in the theft of her beloved Umbreon. Even though she had been sure of herself, of her reasoning, of her decisions, she was still regretting them all.

She remained silent for the remainder of his statements and questions. Instead, she reached over for two packets of sugar, shook them, opened them, poured the contents in, stirred it with her spoon and took a sip of the resulting beverage. Mm, now she felt more awake. Once he finished, she took a few long moments to reply, and deliberated over her cup of coffee before she said, "Well, I feel sorry for everybody who only does stuff because they're being told to or because they're too busy thinking about other people all the time. What's the point if you don't enjoy yourself? That's what I want," she added as she leaned back with a coy smile, "to enjoy myself. And other things, of course, but I don't need to tell you everything." Nor was it appropriate to talk of such negative things on first 'dates'.

She took another sip of her coffee, studying him over its rim with pale green eyes, and after setting it down, the girl asked with another coy smile, "What about you, hm? What do you want?"  

[Kitomyx]

"What can happen? Making mistakes?" he asked. "Ah, well yes, I know we all make mistakes, but some of those are just part of our learning. We would have had to make them sooner or later to gain certain knoweldge. Others are just senseless mistakes that don't benefit us in any way at all because we thought we might have wanted something but then realized that maybe that wasn't what we wanted after all. Those are the ones that we regret because they could have been avoided."

He scratched his head thoughtfully. "I suppose no one can be a hundred percent certain of anything, though, even about themselves. It just seems to me that so often, when we obtain what we think we want, we realize it wasn't what we wanted at all; it was something else. Or just as often we think we can do without something and then later realize it meant more to us than we knew once we lose it. Do you know what I mean...?"

At her statement regarding those who did what they were told, he looked up from his coffee and ceased his absent stirring of it. He was silent for a while, visibly astonished by her words before before exhaling a small breath of amusement. "Heh. What a facinating point of view you have, Miss Seraphine." He took another drink of his coffee, deeper this time. "If only more people could be as certain about and honest with themselves as you."

Regarding her smile, he glanced down at his beverage and forced a shy laugh. "I'm afraid I'm still one of the pathetic fools floundering about for a foothold while lost at sea. I thought I had a sense of direction, but having as many regrets as I do, I'm always wondering if the latest decision I've made - such as the one to have a life here in Kodo - isn't just another huge mistake."

When he looked at Sera again, he was grinning. "Meeting you, though...it's put my qualms at ease a little. And as for what I want - " He closed his menu, pushing it to the side. " - I think an omlette this morning sounds nice, don't you?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, I guess so," Sera agreed halfheartedly; she didn't really feel like elaborating on a point that involved her own regrets. She didn't, however, like his use of the word 'fascinating' because people usually only used it, in her experience, in sarcastic remarks. The brunette put that aside though, seeing as the majority of his behavior thus far was as polite as possible, albeit a little more formal than what she was used to. "Well," she hesitated, "if you keep not being sure of yourself and doubting and wondering and floundering, that's all you're ever going to do and then you'll eventually end up convincing yourself it was a mistake when it might not be. Sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy, y'know?"

His mention of food surprised her a little - she'd almost forgotten they were there to eat - and she glanced down at her own menu briefly before smiling a bit again. "An omelet does sound nice. A veggie omelet," she amended after a brief scan of the menu before her.

"I completely agree - omelets are wonderful," the waiter said as he suddenly appeared again and wrote down the orders. "Anything else?" He looked from Sera, who shook her head no, to Akira.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Though the young man's mouth opened to reply to Sera, it seemed her words had left him without any of his own. After a minute he closed it and stared at the space on the table in front of him. "You know...you're absolutely right," he said after another minute. "...I never thought about it quite like that before."

"Veggie? Are you a vegetarian, then?" he asked her, glad to learn more about her little by little. "Or are you one of those girls who likes to watch their weight?" The latter part was more teasing than anything and it only occurred to him after he'd said it that she might have found it offensive.

"That is - your figure," he went on, "I knew there had to be some explanation for it." Akira wasn't quite sure he made that better more so than gave her more reasons to misinterpret his comments, but it was all he could do for now. Best just shut his mouth and not risk making it even worse. If anyone knew, he knew there was always, always a way to make a socially awkward situation worse.

He cleared his throat and attempted to recompose himself once more. "Uh - just a small serving of fruit, if you wouldn't mind," he asked, handing over the menus for the waiter to take. Only when the fellow was gone did Akira dare address Sera again.

"Sorry to keep bringing up such a serious topic over what was supposed to be a light-hearted breakfast," he apologized sincerely, interlocking his fingers and staring intently at them so he didn't get the urge to tug on his hair. "I promise after this I'll shut up about it, but..."

He looked up to meet her brilliant green eyes, like a pair of bright peridots. "If you were sure of yourself once - more certain than you've ever been about anything before - so that you put your whole heart, mind, and faith into this one..." Here he paused for a time, scouring his vocabulary for an appropriate term. "...this one chance, this - this this risk, only to have it blow up in your face and stab you in the back - "

Akira froze, realizing his fists were clenched and his voice had gradually risen. Why...how could he allow himself to get so worked up over this one topic? He unclenched his fists and meekly placed them in his lap. "Sorry, must be the coffee," he said, chuckling half-heartedly. "But I think you get my point. Or do you?" He inclined his head toward her with a searching, gentle look. "Have you ever had anything like that happen to you, Miss Seraphine?"

He averted his gaze to the window, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just don't know how anyone could trust themselves to make decisions again...or to know what they want." He took a deep drink of his coffee. "After a while, it just seems best to me to leave the decision-making up to those who know what they're doing and just do as you're told."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Right, of course she was right. She refrained from saying so, though, and instead she simply shrugged. "Oh hell no, I'm not a vegetarian," she said with a shake of her head and a soft frown, choosing to focus on this part of the conversation instead. "I just like them in omelets. And yes," the brunette affirmed with a small, proud toss of her head and a coy smirk, "I do like to watch my figure." As if she could pull this off without any effort.

His sudden serious demeanor, however, gave her pause, and she tilted her head very slightly. Her brows furrowed a bit as she watched him, and a small frown formed on her face as well, but at his words it turned into a thin line as she focused her gaze back down at her coffee. She ran her thumb up and down its side absently in contemplation, as there was only one event that could even hope to compare to such a description of events. "I think so, yes," the girl admitted with another frown, though she didn't elaborate. Instead, she tilted her head at him and his ideas about what to do after such a thing. She lifted her cup to her lips to take another sip of her coffee and watched his face over the rim, and then after she put it down, said quite casually, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." She paused briefly before adding, "Even if it was an awful mistake, I still don't let anyone else decide anything for me. Besides, if you make a mistake because of one dumb decision, then you let everyone else run your life, you're just being a total pushover and a coward." Sera took another sip of her coffee.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

The brown-eyed boy laughed at the young lady's enthusiastic confirmation that she wasn't, in fact, a vegetarian. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone deny vegetarianism that vehemently," he gasped, still trying to breathe after several minutes. "Good choice, though. It obviously pays off."

As he waited to listen to her reply, Akira noticed that Seraphine did not mention the details of the situation she had been in that had put her in the position of understanding what he meant. Perhaps it had been as painful if not more for her to recount. Even so, she seemed hardly daunted as the head-strong girl continued to confidently and honestly express what seemed to be her sincerest opinion.

At this answer, the boy grinned. He grinned so hard that his mouth hurt and he had to look away. It felt like he couldn't stop. After a few seconds, though, he was finally able to move his mouth enough to form words once again. "Miss Seraphine, your outspokenness and straight-forward words are enchanting. And your company was much-appreciated on this beautiful morning that would otherwise have been so void without you. I've never met anyone like you before."

He heaved a sigh, the corners of his mouth faintly upturned, but his brows drawn together in a regretful manner. "But, alas...I must take my leave." Getting up, Akira placed what he calculated should have been enough for their breakfast, drinks, and a small tip on the table before him. It was almost a week's earnings, but he felt it was worth it.

Finally, he picked up what remained of his cup of coffee and walked around to Sera's side of the table to stand before her. "I do hope we can meet again soon, though. It's just getting late in the day and I'd like to throughly consider your valuable insight before I catch up on some sleep." Using his peripheral vision, he reached for her hand in a practiced motion, though his eyes never left her face. "I'd really like to do this again sometime." Provided he was permitted to catch her hand, Akira bowed forward and delicately kissed the back of it.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

She hadn't thought she'd denied it that vehemently, but if it amused him then that was alright. "You have a nice laugh," she noted with a(nother) coy smile, though it quickly turned to a frown as he rose and voiced his intentions to leave. So much for a nice breakfast date. "Leaving so soon?" Wait... sleep? She frowned. "You work nights?" Ugh. Ugh. No wonder he ordered such a strong (and fancy) coffee.

His outstretched hand was recognized, though Sera didn't receive such a gesture very often at all, and reached up to place her hand on his without hesitation, though her smile returned. "I'd like that," she agreed as her smile widened at the touch of his lips upon the back of her hand. "Though, maybe a little earlier would be better if you work at night. That would probably need a little planning though, hm?" Because she'd be damned if she was going to bring up phone numbers first.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Well, if his face hadn't been red enough from his laughing before, it was certainly ruddy now. "Hehe...thank you. Oh, yes, I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you," he voiced remorsefully.

"I'd like to say that that was the reason I was so thoughtless when addressing you this morning, but with someone as sure of yourself as you are, you really know how to shake a guy's confidence." Here he couldn't help a playful wink, referring to their previous talk, but avoiding speaking of it directly, as he had promised to shut up about it. "It's like how the best apple is at the top of the tree, but most are too lazy or insecure to believe they can reach it."

Having half expected the girl to slap him for trying to kiss her hand, Akira was pleasantly surprised that she reacted positively to the gesture. At least she didn't seem to think him so old-fashioned and formal that she didn't appreciate what he was trying to express. Maybe with time he could learn to be as forthcoming with his self-expression as she was...maybe.

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot," Taking out his phone, he hesitated before giving her a humble look. "Uh...you wouldn't mind if I asked for your number, would you, Miss Seraphine...? You know, just in case I happen to get a night or day off... And even if I don't, at least dinner is always an option," he added optimistically, already considering how he could wake 'early' in the evening to have time before work.

Just then, the waiter came with the two plates of omelettes - veggie and plain - and the small bowl of sliced fruit. He seemed puzzled that Akira was leaving until the latter gave the former his payment plus the tip. The waiter nodded and went to ring up the bill while the boy lingered at the table.

"The other omelette and the fruit are for your pretty Mismagius," he explained, "for doing such a good job being your invisible companion and guard. Whether or not you need either," the brown-eyed boy added, smirking.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A breakfast date, flirting, winking, a kiss on the hand, and he asked for her number (though she conveniently forgot the fact she'd directed the conversation that way); it didn't get much better than that. Well, she could think of a few ways it could, of course, but since he was leaving, that kind of put a damper on things.

In response to his comments about her confidence, her only response was a simple smirk as she extended a slender hand to take his phone. If he'd let her, she would input her cell phone number as well as her full first name - she didn't bother with her last name, because she highly doubted he knew another Seraphine - before she would give the device back to him. "Ohh, yes, that sounds like fun," she agreed. Then again, to her, any sort of date sounded fun.

When he admitted his order had been for Giselle, however, Sera's brows rose in obvious surprise. Why would he...? He probably didn't know that ghosts didn't really eat real food much. She might have said as much, had he not brought up the thought she may or may not need a guard, though luckily Giselle chose that particular moment to fade back into view with a vaguely bewildered, "Mis?"  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Handing over the phone, he figured it was better for her to put it in rather than himself in the case he made a mistake. With having been up all night, running on almost pure caffeine, and attempting to make a good impression on this beautiful young woman, it was a wonder he hadn't yet made a fool of himself somehow - not as badly as he usually did, anyway. Several times he'd come close; he had to watch that.

Though he did his best to maintain composure at all times as he had been raised to do, Akira felt like jelly inside, just waiting for his knees to give way under him. For the first time in a long time, he had actually been concerned about screwing everything up. And here he'd thought he was done trying to impress people. How had that happened?

Maybe it wasn't his habit of trying to make business affiliations that caused him to act this way this time, though. It seemed different. This feeling and pressure was centered around a particular person, and that was Seraphine. She was what was different.

"Fun..." he mused, gratefully accepting his phone back from her when she was finished. "Ha ha...now that's something I haven't had in a while. Until today, that is." Beaming at the pokemon that came into view, he gestured to the plate set out. "All yours. Might want to share that fruit with your trainer, though. It's sweet and healthy, since I figure she probably doesn't have too many sweets while watching that feminine figure."

Turning to go, he put his hands in his pocket along with his cellphone, giving a wave to the girl and her pokemon. "Until later, then, Miss Seraphine," he told her, with a dip of his head. Then, more quietly with a soft smile as he left, "I guess we'll see if this pushover coward has what it takes to reach the best apple..."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Well, she was about to comment on her disbelief on the absence of fun in his life, but from how tired he seemed (or maybe she was imagining that, what with knowing he worked nights and ordered such strong coffee) and from how formal he acted, she really couldn't be too surprised. He probably came from some stuffy no-fun part of Sinnoh. That sounded like the most boring thing.

Giselle blinked at the human and tilted her head slightly, then glanced between the food on the table, then Sera, then back at the stranger. "Mis...? Mismaaagius," she replied in an airy voice, due to her ethereal form, before she moved to hover above the seat where Akira had sat.

Sera, on the other hand, merely offered Akira a coquettish smile and a wave as he left, and did not catch whatever he whispered. Once gone, she pulled over the bowl of fruit and his omelet, quickly cut it into pieces, then pushed it back for Giselle to pick at if she wanted to, then partook of her own omelet and the fruit. Hey, he never said she had to share it.