tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; Saturday February 26th
Rating; PG (I doubt it will get higher lol)
Characters; Aya and Dawn
Summary; Aya and Dawn go on a picnic the day after Dawn gets out of the hospital.
Log; Walking to the place he was supposed to meet Dawn, Aya looked around. It was a nice day really. That was something of a comfort since she was still recovering from her injuries. Under his calm surface, there was a nervousness that he hadn't felt in years. He'd spent so much time pushing people away that he'd forgotten what it could be like to let someone close. And...to actually like it and want it.

Smiling a little to himself, he balanced the coffees he held in the carrying tray. Well, it was tea for himself and Dawn's usual order from the place. It hadn't been difficult to ask what she usually got from the people who worked there then have them make it for her.

Looking around, he searched for Dawn when he arrived, hair moving a little in the light breeze.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dawn had been a little early if only because she had left scooby central a little early. And her reasoning behind that was that she was still recovering and she worried about making Aya wait. Beneath all of that, she was just plain excited. Sure, she had seen Aya yesterday for awhile. But that had been then. This was now. And technically, it was their first planned outting together since she refused to say that his coming to the hospital counted. It was a long time in coming, it felt.

She wore a pair of dark washed jeans, brown snow boots that came up over the jeans to cover her shins. On top she wore a pale blue blouse beneath a brown coat and a scarf striped in different shades of blue and white. Her hair was down and curled as she'd decided Aya deserved to see non-hospital bed hair Dawn instead of the alternative he'd seen for the past few days. Hanging over her shoulder was a book bag that hung loosely by her hip. And draped over her arm was a blanket.

The moment she saw him nearing the entrance to Xanadu her eyes lit up, she smiled and she waved at him. Once he was close enough, she gave him a one armed hug. "Hey, right on time as usual. You're good at that. It's probably something else we should add to your list of super powers." And then she added a little quieter. "I missed you."

"I learned that being on time was something that was important when I was about...nine. I think." His own outfit wasn't anything special. At least not to him. Just a pair of jeans with a purple sweater that brought out his eyes. He wore a black coat over the top of it. It worked well enough for him.

Aya wrapped an arm around her gently. It was surprising how easy it was for him to do that. Then again, he found that he liked to have contact with her. Smiling a little more when she told him she's missed him, he tilted his head a little. "I did see you yesterday, you know." Of course, he was mostly just teasing her. Because, he'd missed her a little bit too. It felt good to smile like this again.

"Let's find a spot to sit down." Somewhere in the sunlight would be the best. It would at least feel warmer there.

She laughed a bit at that. It was obvious that he was teasing her because somehow, deep down, she knew that he had missed her too. It was a good feeling, a feeling that spread warmth through her. She felt like a silly teenager back in high school where girls fell in and out of crushes like they changed their clothes. Except that this felt more intense than that, and intensity was something she was drawn to. She couldn't help it.

Linking her free arm with his, they walked into Xanadu. There were lots of places they could go. Dawn had explored Xanadu the moment she had known it was there, and that wasn't too long ago. Much of the park was beautiful. In fact, the coffee shop aside, this was her favorite place in the City. It was just a happy place. Finally, she opted for something simple. It was a spot of grass in the sunlight. In the distance there were trees but in the immediate area the ground was spotted with wildflowers.

"Is here okay? Wait until you see what I made you. And don't be nervous. I test-tasted it and it was really good. Buffy even tried a little bit and approved and she's really food picky so you're safe."

"I'm relieved to know that it's safe." Aya let out a soft laugh then set the drinks down so he could help her with the blanket. "Do I get any hints about what you made though? Or do I have to wait and find out?"

Of course he didn't mind being surprised by the food. He trusted her and was willing to at least try whatever she happened to have brought along. There were some people that could get him to do just about anything. Although, after living in the United States for awhile, he was a little more comfortable eating things that weren't Japanese.

She gave him a smile full of mischief and shook her head. Of course he didn't get any hints. The strap of the bag slid off her shoulder to settle in the grass and she began to unfold the blanket, handing him corners of it so they could spread it out. It sank slowly to the grass and then she took off her boots and moved to sit on the blanket. She pulls the bag closer to her opens it.

"Just remember you said nothing boiled and that was the only criteria you gave so if you hate it, it's partly your fault." She glances at him, her teasing obvious in her eyes. "Except mostly mine since this was a whole food experimentation thing again. Ready for the unveiling?"

"It's partly my fault. Got it." He could live with that. Sitting down next to her, he smiled back then glanced at the bag like that would tell him what was inside of it. Which it really didn't. He still had to wait. But really he couldn't help but to be curious about it since it had been awhile since anyone other than Ken had made him food.

"Go ahead and show me what you brought. I promise to at least try whatever it is."

Dawn withdrew two plastic containers from inside the bag, giving one to Aya and one to herself. She opened the lid of hers and revealed a stack of what looked like quesadilla triangles. She lifted one flour tortilla triangle up out of the container and parted the tip just a little bit to show the interior. "Okay so here was the experiment. I cooked some ham and put it in here, with cheese and pickles and chopped tomatoes and ranch dressing. Then fried it like a quesadilla so the cheese melted and held it all together. It turned out great."

She took a bite, looked over to Aya and nodded, urging him on. "S'good, promise."

Opening the lid, he looked down at the little experiment. It sounded very...different. Still, he did say he would at least try it. Pulling out a triangle, he looked at it curiously before taking a bite. To his credit, he did wait to judge it until he'd swallowed the bite. Though, he wasn't really expecting what his answer would end up being.

"It's different. But it is good." He blinked in surprise at that confession before moving the drinks between them and handing Dawn hers. "Here you go."

That confession just made her smile. Because when food experimenting turned out to be good, it usually was a surprise. She couldn't count how many failed experiments she'd had before but there had been a lot. She took the latte and whispered a quiet 'thank you'. "My first experiment ever wasn't so in depth. It was mixing all the cereals in the house into one bowl to see how it tasted. It actually turned out pretty good."

"I wasn't really allowed to do things like that growing up. Someone always had something for me to eat. Though I did have a habit of hiding pocky in my room." He took another bite as he glanced over at her. She was...very pretty when she smiled. "Are there foods you don't like?"

She took a sip of the latte, just the right temperature at this point, warm but not too hot where it would burn her tongue and needed cooling. "Oh I'll try pretty much -- " Her gaze floated down to the lid of her coffee drink and over to Aya. "Hey how did you know I like the cinnamon one? Don't tell me you're a seer cause that would be -- cool -- and scary because you really don't wanna be in my mind. It's like a twisty inescapable maze in there."

He laughed before taking a sip of his tea. "I didn't know. But if you ask the people that work there, they can tell someone what you usual order is. I'm still very human." His eyes sparkled a little with amusement at her reaction though. The surprise had worked out well. He was grateful for that.

"That makes sense. I'm in there every weekday morning so they would know." Her eyes narrow thoughtfully as she remembers the question she'd wanted to ask him before she got sidetracked, as she so often did. "What's a pocky?"

Ah right. She was American. "Pocky is a snack food in Japan. It's typically a thin biscuit stick dipped in chocolate. But there are other flavors like strawberry or green tea." Setting down his tea, he held his fingers apart to show a length. "They're about this long usually."

"You had me at chocolate." She joked and then took another bite of her lunch. She turned to dig another container out of the bag and held it out to him. "Dessert." Inside he would find a dozen plain sugar cookies.

"I'll see if I can find them here so you can try some." Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't had pocky in years. Not since he was in high school. He really was out of the loop with a lot of things. Glancing over, he noticed the other container and took it. Opening it, he blinked in surprise before smiling. "Sugar cookies."

"I made them. And I tested them too cause while food experimenter I am, a master chef or baker I am not. They turned out good." And really, that smile from Aya was worth it even if they'd turned out not so good. "You have a nice smile." The words said because they were in her mind at the moment and most of the time, Dawn wore everything on her sleeve. She was rarely covert about what she was thinking or feeling. But then again usually people weren't paying that much attention to notice her lack of covertness.

Aya was just pulling out one of the cookies to try them when she said that. It was a little surprising to hear actually. Mostly because, well, no one ever told him things like that anymore. "I do?" The correct response probably should have been 'thank you' but his brain hadn't reached that point just yet.

She nodded as if that would add truth to a statement that was already true. "You do." She nodded at the cookie in his hand. "They probably need a professional opinion, the cookies."

He glanced away, his own version of being flustered. Bringing the cookie to his mouth, he took a bite of it. The smile came back and he nodded. "It's good. Thank you."

Setting the food down, she picked up her coffee and sipped at it again. There was an internal monologue going on in her mind about how she always said things without thinking and made people uncomfortable. "You can just ignore half of what I say, you know. Usually three-fourths of what I say is ignored, but for you only half cause sometimes I'm demanding like that -- not often, just sometimes. Anyway I'm sorry for -- words."

He thought about that before looking up at the sky, feeling the sun on his face. His skin was pale but it felt good to get sun on it sometimes. So often he was indoors and out at night. This was a nice change of pace. "Dawn, I don't want to ignore what you have to say. I like listening to you."

She smirked and looked down to her coffee, shaking her head. One index finger idly circled around the plastic rim of the lid. "I could count on less than one hand how many people have said that to me. It surprises me every time you say it. So how many repetitive times does it take to hear something before a person believes it?"

She looks up, wide-eyed to Aya. "I should study up on that. It would be interesting -- and good to know."

"I know it takes twenty-one days to form a habit and it takes the human mind around fifty times of hearing something before it remembers it." Which might be relevant but he wasn't so sure. Still, he could at least provide her with that much knowledge.

He looked over at her and smiled. "That might help a little."

"It does help a little. Psychology is interesting, I think. The why's and how's of what makes people tick. And not just people. But the nighttime apocalypsey type of creature features too." Which she gets sounds weird, but to her it's true.

She grins and leans over to bump his shoulder with hers. "Hey did I ever tell you about the time I was trying to be normal and go to college? It didn't go so well. Normal and me don't mix, it seems."