tampered | log; ongoing [lockon & meg] casual outing

When; The day after this, evening!
Rating; G
Characters; Lockon Stratos [

roseblooms]
Summary; Two overworked friends go out to relax and chat~
Log;

When she'd think back to the request she'd made, she'd wonder what motivated her to do so. But then, thinking on it some more, it really didn't matter in the end-- it had been a nice evening all the same and she couldn't think of why it'd be a bad idea in the first place. Lockon was a nice acquaintance to speak with, and he'd shown signs of being a good friend or at least, a caring person when they'd been cursed. It was relaxing to see that, and it was why she didn't mind having his company for dinner tonight. He was a nice guy-- though there wasn't much she did know about him, or his world, and she figured it would be good if they got to at least learn a bit more.

It was only fair, after all.

She'd decided to suggest Hymns of Lorelei and they did have a selection of just about everything, so it would be good to note what Lockon picked for the next time if they ever went out. Now, done with that and stepping out into the evening City, Megumi kept her hands behind her back as she walked-- she'd dressed nicely for the evening, of course-- wouldn't want her company to feel like she didn't care enough to prep herself up for them, and of course, she kept a coat over it once they'd stepped out until they got to their destination. Her gloves remained on, though, since they provided a proper cover for the finger braces though she didn't quite need them anymore, and she thought of getting them taken off the next day.

It had been a nice night so far, and she looked over at Lockon with her hands behind her back.

"Lux's just lost one of their nicest sax players, but we could probably still go there. The drinks are pretty good!" She told him.

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It hadn't really occurred to Lockon to wonder why Megumi was asking. She wanted his company, and she needed to relax, so he'd be there for her. It was a welcome distraction--with everything that had been going on for him over the past couple of weeks, he was glad for a simple evening of being friendly with someone. She was unfamiliar enough with him that it was easy to hide his own troubles.

He was dressed down compared to her--he simply wore his usual outfit with the vest swapped for a heavier jacket (black, leather, a little ridiculous)--but he'd been pleasant enough company during dinner to make up for it. Now he walked at her side with as amiable a demeanor as ever.

"That sounds good to me," he said. "I don't think I've been there before, so why don't you lead the way?"

Lockon didn't mention that he wasn't planning to have much to drink himself. It might interfere with his concerted efforts to be pleasant and undemanding company if he wasn't careful.

It was relaxing in a way, to be able to go out without having any expectations of the evening. Things had been quite nice so far, and it looked like they'd get better if he was agreeing to go to Lux's-- her eyes took on a pleased expression when he mentioned not having gone there. Well, the first time she'd gone there, she'd been pleasantly surprised, so she hoped it would be the same for him.

"It's right around this way-- quite a nice place, oh-- do you like jazz, Lockon? They do have live entertainment there, I'm not sure if they'd have anything tonight..." She thought to herself as she continued to walk, her expression changing to one of concentration, trying to recall if tonight was one of Gren's playing nights and if someone would be playing in his place.

Then, she shrugged and smiled over at Lockon, chuckling. "Guess we'll just have to find out!"

As they turned a corner, she saw the image of the two-storied building that always seemed to catch her by surprise when she went in-- it used the same sort of magic that she did, she'd noted, to expand when one was inside, and she noted others also going in. Perhaps there was a performance tonight after all.

"I've only been here a few times, but I haven't been disappointed yet, so... here we are."

Lockon smiled at her pleased reaction; he wasn't sure what had prompted it (either his agreement itself or the fact that he hadn't been there before, probably), but it was nice to see Megumi continuing to enjoy herself. He was confident he could keep that up through the rest of the evening if everything went well.

"I've never been that interested in jazz," he said as he followed along, "but I'd like to give it a shot while I'm here."

He stopped just outside the building, looking it over for a moment, then turned back to Megumi. "Let's go inside, then!"

Lockon hesitated just a fraction of a second, then held out a hand to escort her in. It was the natural gesture for him to make, after all. They were both wearing gloves, and the night air was cool. So long as he didn't hold onto her for too long, she wouldn't notice the extra chill.

Being a witch made her naturally sensitive to abnormal states in a human but if she noticed a chill, she didn't make anything of it. She wasn't really bothering to focus at the moment-- so it didn't really make much of a difference, but she could normally tell when a person was dead or alive in the City-- and it had become so normal for her to be around people in different states of life that it wasn't a matter of concern for her unless the other wanted to elaborate. She was here for a fun outing with a friend, not an interrogation, after all.

So when she took his offered hand, she chuckled lightly, allowing it, and let her fingers curl over his palm as she walked beside him, nodding in greeting to someone passing them by, and looked up at Lockon to see his reaction for the inside.

Things weren't always as they appeared, and this place was proof of it-- it must have looked so tiny on the outside, and yet when they stepped in, it was two stories and with so much space that one would have to wonder how it all fit.

She turned her head to a side to giggle a little to herself, before glancing back at him. "Great view, eh?" She let go of his hand after a while, and looked over at the bar, then smiled as she began to move in, looking over at him to follow.

"I'm in the mood for something sweet, what about you?"

If Lockon had known about that ability, he might have been a little more reluctant to meet with Megumi--not because he felt the need to hide anything, exactly, but because he found that most of the people he knew didn't like knowing that he was dead. And the last thing he wanted, especially now with his composure a little thinner than usual, was to upset someone.

But he hadn't known, and he still didn't know, so he made sure not to hold onto Megumi's hand for too long.

Then he blinked a couple of times and (realizing that she was watching for his reaction) grinned and turned to Megumi. "It's pretty impressive, isn't it! I can't wait to see what they have to offer."

So he followed her towards the bar. "Sweet sounds like a good idea. This is the kind of place for it."

Lockon would have nothing to worry about, but the ball was in his court for expressing that. And if she hadn't been at least mildly aware (she could blame an overworking female intuition for it if she was wrong) that Lockon had seemed just a touch stressed from what she'd been noting of him, she probably wouldn't have gone so far as to extend an invitation like this, to a degree. Network posts only said so much, of course, and he'd offered kind words and a distraction on more than one occasion and it wasn't like the City was every man for himself. They were all living under similar circumstances, why create distance and conflict when they were already so far from what they were used to?

She grinned over at him though, his reaction was pleasing and she was happy he was impressed before heading toward the bar and glancing over at the booths-- it was a casual outing, so she didn't mind going either way. Though it did look like a live jazz quartet was playing, and she found herself smiling.

"Bar or booth, Mr. Stratos?" She asked, with a pretend-air. "Wouldn't want the young sir to be uncomfortable!"

And if he'd been aware that she was in part extending the invitation to him in order to ease his own stress, Lockon would have been less inclined to accept it. It was never, ever allowed to be about him.

"Hmm..." The instinct he'd developed over his months in the City said to go for the booth, the safer option, the less open one--but he pushed that away for now. He was not here to worry. He was here to have a nice evening, or at least to see that Megumi did. "Why don't we go sit down at the bar? Unless that doesn't suit your comfort."

Teasing: another thing he was good at!

They were similar in that regard, if she'd known it was Lockon's way of thinking as well. Her reaction to knowing someone was taking her out to 'cheer her up' would be quite the same, but with the kind of friends she did keep, it was hard not to accept in the end, as bad as it would make her feel to some degree. But there were more personal reasons to blame for that than anything else, reasons that wouldn't be coming to light any time soon.

But of course, having a nice time went both ways, and she glanced over at the bar, admiring the décor, before walking over to it and drawing off her coat to set around the back of the bar stools-- thankfully they -had- backrests, which was all the better.

"You say that like I'm a delicate creature. I'll have you know, I can be a man about this!" She said in a pretend-haughty voice-- but the effect was ruined with a light giggle. "J-Just as long as I don't drink too much." Getting drunk was a no-no, it wouldn't be good for her magic and she wasn't going to be irresponsible.

Motioning to the empty space beside her, she looked over at the bartender and at the set list. Oh, there it was, and she -had- wanted something sweet. "What'll you have, Lockon? My turn to treat!"

log; ongoing [lockon & meg] casual outing

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