[PRP] Take your pick

[BlackFireKitsune]

The boardwalk was busy this time of day, but that should've been obvious; it was lunchtime on the boardwalk on a sunny and surprisingly warm (read: warm enough to need a jacket as opposed to a giant winter coat) day for this time of year. Of course it was going to be busy.

But she was hungry, and all the cafes would no doubt be packed. But she was hungry.

Instead of picking one and forging her way into it to stake her claim on a table, Seraphine instead wandered around casually outside them all, making sure to walk more carefully than usual. Even though she had chosen to wear thicker heels (that matched her dress perfectly, of course) than the usual stilettos - you never could tell when you'd take a step and the heel would fall into a hole in the boards - she still was not about to trip or stumble on anything. Not when she was looking, not at the restaurants' outdoor menu boards, but at the guys hovering around them, and noting which ones were with friends, which were with possible girlfriends, and which ones were alone. It was this latter category she was most interested in.  

[Tori Honoo]

Zane stuffed his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, walking casually down the boardwalk and wishing he were anywhere else. Though he couldn't even tell himself why, the number of people out today were bothering him, their chatter nearly overbearing for the young man.

He had come to the boardwalk not only in hopes of maybe finding work, but also for lunch; he was starving, having not eaten in hours. His eyes scanned the crowds, looking for a restaurant, a cafe, a bar--anything that wasn't bombarded with people.

He sighed and ruffled his hair, back to front to back, growing more and more frustrated as he stood in the center of the walkway, alone. Surely there was something...  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Couple, couple, single (but gross), group, friends, couple, friends, single (no way), couple, group, group, friends, couple... single. Decent hair with an interesting second color, good looking leather jacket, nice jawline... Though he looked like he was a little bit older than her usual target market. Still, he seemed like a good prospect, so Sera moved in for the encounter.

She circled around behind him and walked casually in his direction, focusing her gaze on the various restaurants and seemingly not paying attention to where she was going - although she was completely aware. It only took a few brief moments before she stumbled into him - not hard, of course, but endeavoring to make it look completely natural. "Oh," she gasped lightly as she stepped back, a vaguely shocked but mostly sheepish look on her face, "sorry - I was busy looking at all the restaurants to see where to eat, but they all look so busy." It wasn't a lie, of course - but it wasn't entirely truthful, either.  

[Tori Honoo]

Damn it. Why the hell had he decided to come out at the peak of lunch rush?

When someone bumped into him, he turned, ready to bite their head off until he realized it was a girl. Though his scowl didn't change, he bit back the words tilting his head down at the girl as she apologized.

"Don't sweat it," he said shortly, looking over her head, curious to see if she was alone. "It always like this?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Scowling this early already, hmm? Well, she could try and change that. He probably looked fairly handsome when he didn't look like he wanted to grump at the next person to bump into him.

Whoops.

"When it's this warm out after being so cold, yeah," she replied with a half-shrug, trying not to be too annoyed that he was more looking around and past her than at her. She paused briefly though, offering him a coy little smile. "You new around here?"  

[Tori Honoo]

Who even was this girl?

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense,' he sighed, lowering his eyes to the brunette again. When she asked if he was new, he smirked, amused at the little lady's forwardness. "I guess you could say that..."

Though he wasn't exactly new to the town, he hadn't exactly lived there all that long either. Zane was a wanderer, though he had decided to set up camp here for a while; it wasn't as though he didn't know the place.

"And you are?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Oh, there we go. There it was. Much better.

She accepted his smirk and raised one of her own -- coquettish and inviting. "Sort of new, then," she guessed, shifting her weight to stand on one foot and jutting her hip out a little bit. "I would've seen you around here before if you weren't." Oh yes, she would have. Even if he was at the high end of her preferred age range, that didn't mean he couldn't be worth her time. He looked like he was worth it so far.

After tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she replied with another coy smirk, "I'm Seraphine. You?"  

[Tori Honoo]

"Zane."

He raised a brow, still smirking. If she wanted to play along, he'd at least be nice before he shot her down; she was too young for him anyway, he imagined, though her personality definitely didn't strike him as an innocent child. He wouldn't toy with her, but she might at least distract him from his irritation for the moment.

"So are you the welcoming committee or what?" he asked, stepping forward again, silently asking her to follow him as he continued down the boardwalk.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zane, huh? Interesting name. An interesting name for a - so far - interesting guy. It was easy to tell at such proximity that he had at least one tattoo, the whatever it was that peeked out of the collar of his jacket.

"Welcoming committee? Puh-lease," she scoffed as she turned to begin walking beside him. She was far too important to follow anyone. "Do I look like any sort of welcoming committee?"  

[Tori Honoo]

"Well, you're awfully bold and chipper for a girl. Especially since you just walked up to a man you know nothing about with no hesitation," he sighed, cutting his eyes to the side to look down at the girl.

He continued walking, still looking for a decently underwhelmed cafe or restaurant. At this point, he mused even returning to the bar he had met Lowell in, not so long ago, though he wasn't sure how well this kid could handle it. It wouldn't be nearly polite to take a girl like this somewhere like that.

"Any ideas for a place to eat?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His observation made her laugh. "You must not know many girls then, if you think that." Honestly, where had he been? Certainly he'd been approached like this by girls before. Not all of the female population would be too scared or too intimidated to approach him, surely. "It's called being outgoing. Or flirtatious," the brunette added with an ambivalent shrug.

She hummed lightly at his last question and glanced briefly at each of the nearby restaurants. "Mm, I dunno -- anywhere on the boardwalk is good, and since it's such a nice day they're all going to be busy. Y'kinda just gotta pick one at this point, unless you want to wait for the lunch rush to end." Another shrug. She would prefer to eat now, of course, but she wasn't so voraciously hungry that she would die if she didn't eat immediately.  

[Tori Honoo]

"Flirtatious, huh?" he asked, trying his best not to let his confusion and almost-alarm creep into his expression. "You are a bold one...how old are you again?"

Stopping again amongst the throngs of people, he sighed and looked around once more, resigning himself to deal with the flirting for the time being. At least she was company, and it wouldn't be polite to get food and just excuse himself, leaving her there to herself after only a few moment's chatter. "Why don't we grab something to go then, and head out to the pier? There're some tables around there, right?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Seraphine frowned at him a bit. "Eighteen." A brief pause, and she once again looked ahead of her casually. "I guess you're just used to meek, polite girls that do what they're told to or something," the brunette observed offhandedly with an indifferent shrug. She never really understood girls like that.

"Sounds good to me," she said brightly before she scanned the area, then pointed at the restaurant that seemed to have the shortest line. "How about that one? And there's plenty of tables out there, yeah."  

[Tori Honoo]

Zane grinned broadly. "Not quite," he said, running a hand through his hair again. The few women he had bothered with had been anything but meek, and not entirely polite. Then again, he wouldn't have allowed himself to mess with a woman who couldn't hold her own. Only assholes did that.

At her confirmation and direction, Zane headed for the restaurant she had selected, and stood quietly, scanning the menu before asking "You've been here before, then? Anything I should steer clear of?" if only to keep the conversation going.