tampered | Log: Complete

Log: Complete

When;Backdated April 16th
Rating; G
Characters; Elena

mildlyreckless
Summary; Elena treats Vash to dinner and drinks to make up for teasing him as much as she did on the singing curse day.
Log;

Elena hummed lightly to herself as she waited by the fountains, the easiest place for anyone to meet someone else at, smirking every now and then as she recalled the latest curse the city had. One she had missed being affected by, for which she was thankful for. Humming was easy, but singing wasn't exactly something she had a great deal of practice with. And if she had to pay for her enjoyment about teasing others about being cursed, then dinner and drinks was a small price to pay.

It was a bit amusing though, how once she'd actually gotten in a relationship, and a serious one she was quite happy with, she managed to arrange more 'dates' so to speak, than when she had been single. They weren't anything serious. She just liked to use the word to see what kind of reactions she'd get more than actually think of any of it as a real date. Course she did leave a note still. Just in case.

Elena idly wondered if Vash would spot her first or if she would spot him first.

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Vash rubbed his head absent-mindedly as he looked around the fountains. He really needed to start putting more thought into how he would find people from the network. At least ask what they would be wearing.

The problem turned out to be momentary, however, as he spotted a woman who bore a striking resemblence to Elena's picture on the network.

"Ah, Elena?" he ventured brightly, walking over to the woman. "I really hope so, otherwise I'm going to feel like even more of an idiot in a second."

Chuckling to herself, Elena decided to play nice and not to play pretend, grinning and nodding. "That would be me. Which makes you Vash, the non-idiot of guessing correctly."

Standing up, Elena had to blink for a second though as their respective heights were shown. What was this city and tall people anyway? Granted, she wasn't that short, but she was still a little bit smaller than average. "I am going to get a strain in my neck from all the tall people I've been meeting up with," she grumbled good-naturedly.

"Thank goodness," Vash sighed sincerely. "And believe me, I'm sure I'll find a way to prove you wrong on the non-idiot part before the night is up."

He grinned at Elena's last comment. "It seems like tall people are pretty common around here. I can slouch over if you like. Where are you taking me tonight?"

"We'll see about that. Unless it's a habit of yours to get drunk and then use that as an excuse to paint random messages on different bathroom doors," Elena teased. After working with Reno, a person became use to his random sprees of mischief. And came up with their own to counter whatever he might have decided to do.

Shaking her head slightly, Elena stuffed her hands into her pockets, feeling the random things she'd grabbed to use as payment, and offered a small grin. "I don't mind. It just seems to be my luck, that's all."

Starting to walk towards one of the little stores surrounding the Square, Elena figured she give him a choice since she didn't know if Vash had any kind of preference. "Well Cafe Juliet has good food, but not too much on the drinks side. But there's a couple of other places depending on what kinds of foods you like with your drinks. Unless you just want food and to hit the Underground for drinks."

"I wouldn't call it a 'habit' as much as a 'hobby'," Vash joked. "You have to have something to do in your spare time."

Vash considered his options. "I don't really have a preference. You know this place a lot better than I do, and you're buying, so you can pick."

He really didn't care. Years of wandering had taught him not to be picky. Honestly, just getting out was enough. He hadn't done much exploring since arriving in the City and was quite curious about the Underground, but he almost wondered if that was an adventure better saved for the daytime hours.

"That'd take a lot of paint in this place," she quipped right back. "Personally, I think baking's a lot less messy. Plus you get to eat the results at the end."

Now that was a nice answer to hear. Elena was of the personal opinion that short of mixing and making your own drinks, the Underground had the better choice of drinks to offer. "Then Juliet and to the Underground it is!" she declared cheerfully, picking up her pace slightly and heading towards one of the buildings with tables that had umbrellas in the middle outside of it.

"Sounds good!" Vash replied, following Elena to the cafe. He'd been to Juliet a couple of times already and liked the atmosphere a lot.

"What's the Underground like?" Vash asked, opening the door to the cafe to let Elena in first. "I've heard a lot of stories about it, but I haven't really done much poking around for myself."

Because it seemed to be an automatic gesture, one done before he had even thought about it, Elena was just the tiniest bit surprised. The action was... enduringly sweet, rather than annoying or staged which would have ticked Elena off. Nice to be reminded that there was more than one real gentleman in the city.

"Well I wouldn't bring little kids down there, but it's not terrible. There's the occasional monster, though they tend to stick to the lower levels," Elena explained, taking a seat at one of the random tables with a smile. "The lower you go really, the less I'd want to take someone, well, innocent with me. The upper levels tend to be where most people stick to anyways."

"Sounds... interesting," Vash said, sitting down across the table from Elena. "Well, as long as the drinks are good, I guess it doesn't really matter, right?"

The thought of drinking suddenly reminded Vash why he was here with Elena in the first place. The singing curse day... Oh, God. Part of him wished they could skip dinner and go straight to the alcohol...

"...I think I'm just going to have a sandwich."

Nodding, Elena agreed, wondering if she really needed the food. But well... It was a bit in bad company not to eat anything when they were getting dinner and drinks. "The drinks are definitely worth it," she said, thinking that she'd get something small or at least... not too large.

"Are you sure that's all you want? Or are you not really all that hungry?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure, thanks," Vash said cheerfully. Everything was more filling with a side of embarrassment anyway. And the more he thought about the other day, the more embarrassed he was becoming. "What are you going to have?"

"Probably a pot pie or something," Elena mused, quirking an eyebrow at Vash. Now that they had said their orders out loud, chances were, there would be the mystery waiter or waitress that would appear to bring them their food. Elena didn't question it. She just enjoyed it.

If she had to guess about what Vash was thinking of, she'd guess that he was probably thinking about the situation that had led up to this point. Which meant that he was thinking about the songs he'd sung, and remembering them was still a great source of amusement for Elena.

"So Vash," Elena began, grinning, and lacing her fingers together; resting her chin on top of them. "You never did tell me who the thief and who the wander were."

"For your information," Vash informed Elena, hoping he wasn't coming off as flustered as he felt, "It was the joker and the thief. Thank you very much. And I'm... not really sure to be completely honest."

He truly wasn't. The entire song still confused him. And it was becoming bothersome. He just thanked God that neither Knives nor Legato had jumped on him that day and started prying.

"Believe me, I have a very boring love life," Vash continued. "I've never even had a real date."

She had to wince in sympathy after hearing Vash's last statement. If he hadn't even been on a real date before... At least she had gone out on dates a few times back home and her love life itself... Unrequited crushes were a pain to remember.

"Okay, joker then," Elena conceeded with a smirk. "But doesn't change who it probably is. Not that I'd know, but that's up to you in terms of telling me or not."

"As for a real date though..." Techincially, it wasn't a date. She was only calling it that because it amused her to do so. But... "You could almost consider this a real date you know."

Vash paused for a second as something clicked in his head. Meryl. That's who Elena reminded him of. Petite, pretty, quick-witted... Vash just hoped Elena wouldn't suddenly hit him with a board or clothesline him from behind.

"Maybe it's simply repressed and I need to get good and drunk before the truth comes out," Vash joked, half-wondering if that was true. He watched the waiter in silence as he set their plates on the table, pondering Elena's last remark.

"Heh, I guess I could, couldn't I? But then, if I could call this a date, I could say I've been on a couple already, so go me!"

Elena grinned as she picked up her fork. Getting someone good and drunk, she could do. For her size and weight, she could drink a very deceptive amount of alcohol. "Not a problem there. I can hold my own well enough to wait for your lips to become loose enough."

"Good to hear," Elena grinned, actually feeling somewhat glad about that statement than just saying it. "Someone who looks your age should have at least gone out on one date by now."

"Oh, great," Vash said, "Maybe I should eat something else afterall to try and prepare myself."

Vash smiled a little over the age observation. He looked to be, what, in his late twenties or early thirties? If she thought that was going too long without a date, he could only imagine how she'd react to about 150 years of that.

"What about you?" he asked pleasantly. "Is there someone special in Elena's life?"

"Might be for the best there," she agreed with a wink.

If Vash had asked how old Elena thought he was, she would have said that he was probably a lot older than he looked. It wasn't given away on his face, but rather, in his eyes. Dating who she was, Elena had started to pick up on a person's eyes rather than what their face might have suggested.

Smiling a little bit softer as she though about Jr. and what had happened only a few days ago, Elena had to nod. "There is. He's very special to me."

Vash titled his head with curiosity. "Yeah? Well, that's good to hear. I'm glad you have someone like that here in the City."

If anything, the City's negative qualities didn't seem to be keeping people from getting together. In fact, it appeared to be bringing people closer and encouraging everyone to rely on one another. Vash was glad about that.

It also had a tendency to get people to admit things that were once to hard to say aloud. Vash wasn't sure how he felt about that yet.

"Is he from your home or did you meet him here?"

"He's from a different world," Elena stated, grinning. "His name's Jr., by the way. We 'met' during a curse actually." The world Jr. came from really was very different from her own world. The technology aside though, while their worlds were pretty different, they shared enough similarities so that it wasn't completely alien.

"I've been the only person from my world here for... Oh months now. They all managed to find a way out before me." She snickered as a random thought came to her in regards to the others who had been here before. "I can only imainge how small my paycheck must be."

Light and joking. It was best not to mention that, even if she had found a way out, Elena wouldn't have been able to take it. Or that there was someone from her world here now, but it wasn't anyone who's company she particularly enjoyed.

"Yeah, those curses seem pretty good at bringing people together," Vash said, reflecting on the conversations he had with Wolfwood and Knives during the song curse. Primarily the former. He was still a little shocked by how little awkwardness there was after all that.

Guilt trips were another thing. Vash was still smarting from the lecture he'd gotten about pulling the "crap" Wolfwood had been "singing about yesterday" earlier...

"Paycheck?" he echoed, jolting himself out of his wandering train of thought. "What sort of job did you have back home?"

You have no idea, Elena though, chuckling. Ah well. live in the City long enough and anyone would learn just how it could bring people together, even if they didn't want to. Course, there was more than one way to interpret that, but either way, it was all the same.

"Not one I'd suggest for children or the faint of heart to hear about," Elena stated simply. It was the best answer she could give. Vash had seen, so if he remembered, he'd understand what Elena was talking about. She wasn't ashamed of her job, but Elena had yet to get a good measure of what Vash was really like, so she chose her words carefully.

"Ah, gotchya," Vash said easily. He had a feeling he knew what sort of job Elena had and he wasn't going to press her about it any further. Plus, she didn't need to know just how familiar he was with less than savory occupations yet; such as what his best friend used to do for a living.

"I'm glad you have someone here, though," he said. "I imagine it can get pretty lonely here when you don't have anybody. I was lucky to get here a few days after my friend arrived."

"It wasn't so bad, though I made friends with quite a few bottles before I got over it," Elena said with a casual shrug. Not the best coping mechanism in the world, but it worked well enough in the past. Still, it wasn't something Elena was ever going to complain about.

"Speaking of bottles though, are you about ready to head out to make some bottle friends of our own?" Booze was a very good thing to be looking forward to.

Vash smiled a little. He hadn't really taken to making friends with bottles on his own in the past, but he made a great drinking partner. Mostly because he could keep from passing out until after the other person did.

Probably not the most healthy talent in his possession, but it certainly was useful.

"I'm ready when you are," Vash replied with a broader smile. "Just don't take me anywhere too scary, okay?"

"No where too bad," Elena assured with a mischievious grin. She was only teasing though. There were some slightly quieter spots that Elena knew about outside of Automatica, and it seemed like now would be a better time to visit them than the popular club.

Standing up, Elena reached into her pockets for a few buttons she knew she had grabbed before leaving. They were just as good as anything else to pay with.

"It's a bit of walk. Anything you want to talk about till we get there?"

"Hmm," Vash hummed thoughtfully, walking alongside Elena. He wasn't very good at coming up with conversational topics on the spot. The only things he could think about at that moment were the things they'd been discussing earlier... and his fish.

"...It's really dangerous to leave the subject up to me," he said finally. "I'll end up telling you stories about how my fish knows when he's about to get fed or how I dropped a plate while getting breakfast this morning. And I'm pretty sure you'll want to be good and drunk first so you can find that amusing."

It wasn't drama and it wasn't a threat to anyone she cared about, so hearing stories about a pet fish didn't sound all that bad. Granted, it didn't sound like the most entertaining thing in the world, but it wasn't that horribly boring.

"That's not so bad. Least it means things are calm in the City for a while if you can have a mundane day like that. Sides, you've been the one asking questions and I've been the one babbling most of the time. You sure there's nothing you'd want to ask or say?"

[ooc: Care to move this to a new thread since this one is getting long and smooshed?]

This was worse. Vash hated talking about himself. He never knew what to say. "I have a better idea. Why don't you ask me something and I'll answer."

What?! That's even worse!

For some reason, he didn't care.

That sounded like a plan she could certainly live with. "Sounds good," she agreed with a grin. "I'll start easy; what do you like to do besides take care of fish?"

"Well, I didn't exactly have time for hobbies back home," Vash replied carefully. "I'm sort of having to find out exactly what I like to do here. It's kinda strange, really. Having the time, I mean. I really like being outside. Especially around trees and flowers. It's a nice change from the desert back home."

That wasn't so bad. Vash was beginning to relax a little.

"Anything else you want to know?"

"Maybe then you could start a garden or try growing a few plants while you're here," Elena suggested, noting the slight hesitation, but not commenting on it or pretending to notice it. Just because it was there, didn't mean she had to draw attention to it. Rather counter-productive when trying to make friends. "There is Xanadu, but you could still try growing something where you live."

"The normal small talk would be to ask about where you live or what you do for a living, but you already said you lived in a desert, which can be a loaded question since we're from different worlds and all. Same with what you do for a living. Though, I kind of wonder what it's like to live in a desert. But I'll leave it up to you if you want to answer either one or ask me a questions instead."

"Ah, I'm not allowed to go to Xanadu anymore," Vash only half-joked. "But I'm thinking about getting a flower or something. Anyway, yes, I lived in a desert. Desert planet, actually. No rain or lakes or oceans... You know the deal. I didn't really have a job... I was joker."

Here Vash grinned at Elena cheekily. "You know they say he's a wanted man."

The part about not being allowed into Xanadu made Elena raise an eyebrow in question, but she didn't say anything about it. There were other ways to find out information besides waiting or asking questions if push came to shove. "Your whole planet was a desert? Guess that's not hard to picture... Okay, maybe a little hard. But it figures a guy like you would be the joker and not the thief."

"And I still say you have a nice voice for singing," Elena teased back.

"Well thank you," Vash said with a grin. "I got that a lot yesterday, actually. I still would have liked to have heard you sing, though. It's sort of strange how the curses seem to pick and choose who they're going to affect."

Vash wondered if there was a system to that, but he had a feeling there wasn't.

"So where are you taking me, anyway?"

"Oh no. You don't want to hear me sing. Hum, maybe, but not sing," Elena assured a little sheepishly. She could do a lot of things, but singing wasn't really one of them. "But if there's ever another 'kiddie' curse, you'll probably get to see me running around as a child. I always seem to get hit by those."

"There's this place I liked to visit when I went drinking alone," Elena stated, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears as they started to go down some stairs that would lead them to the entrance of the Underground. Natural light replaced by glowing lightbulbs and other sorts of illumination. "It's quieter than Automatica, but it's a bit out of the ways."

"That must be interesting," Vash laughed, "Having a bunch of instant kids running around. I can only imagine what that would be like."

Vash looked around with great curiosity. Things here were still so new to him. He'd never really stopped to think about just how little there was back on Gunsmoke until seeing what all there was elsewhere.

"It seems like it'd be easy to get lost down here," he mused aloud. "But I guess if you know where you want to go, it's harder to get lost than you'd think, right? I sort of like that."

"First time it happened I really did think I was a kid and ate so many sweets, I couldn't even look at them for a while without feeling sick." Even now, the memory of just how much sugar she ate on that single day alone made Elena's stomach turn a bit and she made a face. How she had even gotten that much candy and sweets, even she didn't know. Kiddie magic or something.

"It's useful for the new people, that's for sure,"she said with a grin. "But the deeper you go, the easier it is to get lost. You have to go pretty deep and there's mostly just monsters down that deep, so really. That point isn't brought up much."

"Ah, now, see, I've been meaning to ask about that," Vash said. "What sort of monsters are you talking about? I'm certainly not going to go out looking for them, but I'm still curious."

Vash had already met a couple of very agreeable vampires and he would have once considered vampires "monsters," so now he wasn't sure what to think.

Elena shrugged. Coming from a world where that had it's own sort of monsters, their existence wasn't an odd thing for her to think about. "They're not the ones I'm used to, but they're the same in regards to not having any real sentient thought. And they don't always eat the things they kill, so it's not like you're dealing with creatures doing it to survive."

"Sounds pretty scary," Vash said with wide eyes. "Great incentive for me to stay closer to the surface."

Honestly, Vash preferred monsters over monstrous human beings. But still, he didn't care to come in contact with either.

"Is this the place?"

"Most people do."

Stopping in front of the door of their destination, Elena nodded with a grin. One of her favorite little unknown spots. Didn't really look like much on the outside, but the inside was like one of those quiet little bars that you saw in old movies. The kind that was dark, but not forboding. There were more booths than tables and the bar was as long as one of the walls and the shelves were lined with all sorts of drinks and bottles. Elena had liked going there to mope in private given that it was private and no one would see her if she chose to sit in a booth. And it was off the beaten path anyway, so few people came regardless.

"One of my favorite places that most people don't know about," she said, opening the door and going inside. She held it open a bit with the back of her hand to let Vash catch it before walking the rest of the way inside.

"Aha, I see your plan now," Vash said, looking around the interior of the bar with a smile. "You're going to get me feeling all relaxed and safe so I'll tell you all my secrets."

It really was a pleasant little place. Vash could see right away why Elena liked it. It was incredibly peaceful and comfortable.

"Maybe it's better that most people don't know about it," Vash remarked. "A little peace and quiet goes a long way sometimes. Do you mind sitting at a booth?"

"You've stumbled onto my secret evil plot and so now you must suffer the consequenes," Elena teased, giving Vash a little smirk and winking suggestivly. "And that means you have to suffer my company another time after this." And then Elena couldn't help but laughed at how silly she sounded.

A booth had been just what she'd be thinking herself, so the suggestion was a welcome one. Nodding, Elena waved to the bartender who had seen her and remembered her from earlier visits before picking a booth and sliding in. "It's nice to find a place with how noisy the rest of the city can get, though the Durandal's got plenty of places that are just as good sometimes."

"As long as those consequences involve drinking, I really don't think I'll mind," Vash said with a grin as he slid into the booth. He really was enjoying himself. Elena made pleasant company. The night wasn't even over yet and he was already finding himself wondering when they'd get together again.

"Durandal?" he echoed, tilting his head. "Where's that?"

"It can be arranged to involve alcohol," she grinned. It was nice to have a drinking buddy once more. Even if they hadn't gotten to the drinks yet, the company was good enough.

"Past the forest and into the ocean. It's the big red ship that's sitting a little ways into the water, but at least the landings are on the beach," Elena explained, nodding to the bartender to brought out two glasses and an unlabled bottle. Nothing too strong to start off with, but something for a nice buzz at least. "I live there with some other people from the same world that the Durandal came from."

"Oh, wow," Vash said with surprise. "There's really a lot more to this place than your first glance would suggest."

Vash picked up the bottle and poured Elena a drink, silently wondering how many times someone had given him a glass of an unidentified liquid and told him to go for it. Heh, the really stupid thing was that he almost always agreed.

"Well," he said, lifting his own glass, "Here's to singing and where it gets you."

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