tampered | Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel

When; February 9th, Evening
Rating; Language? Crime sprees? Flaming shots? PG-13?
Characters; Ruby Flint and Al Capone
Summary; Al is determined to get Ruby to make the most of her birthday.
Log; The restaurant is busy this evening, the waiters bustling between tables with some haste. The wait is even more abysmal, which is something Al finds generally insulting. The woman he's with seems patient, mingling with the crowd while he weaves and bobs, notating to the maître d' when an empty table appears and how it's not being utilized.

It's then that he spots a familiar face at a table, or rather a familiar shock of red hair: Ruby. She's alone, which he finds surprising. Maybe she's waiting for a date-- either way, it seems a sin to see such a sight. With a quick pat of the woman's hand and a reassuring word, he parts company from the woman in front and invites himself into the dining room to approach her table.

"Just when I was thinkin' about praying for some sanity in here-- what are you doin' over here, Red?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No, it-- it's more complicated than that." She does see herself as old, though. 26 was closer to 30 than 20, and she can't help but feel uneasy about that. "I... Al, I haven't said anything about this, not even to Meyer."

Complicated. That's a place the conversation doesn't need to go. He gives a briefly dismissive wave as if to shake some of her unease.

"You don't gonna explain it. If you wanna keep it under wraps, it stays under wraps."

Discretion, while not his favorite thing, is something that he can honor.

It might help, she reflects, to talk about it with someone. How Joshua had proposed to her on her eighteenth birthday, how every birthday that passes is another reminder that she's gone another year without him. She's not sure if Al's the right person to have that conversation with, though: whether she wants to burden him with that rather maintaining the carefree nature of their friendship so far.

"I appreciate that. But if you want to know then I'll tell you, I don't mind."

Her dessert arrives and she pushes it into the middle of the table, offering to share if he'd like to, and taking a spoonful of strawberry and meringue.

"You're right, though. It would be nice to turn this into a good day for once."

Once Ruby gets her spoonful of the dessert, Al takes a spoonful himself. It's more of a pick really, inspecting the contents as the spoon slices through his portion. He thinks it's a bold offer for her to share, and while his gut tells him to be cautious, he's not about to turn it down.

"We've got this far-- let's hear it."

It's not spoken as a burden or dismissively, but with curiosity. She's open to the idea of changing tradition? That's something he can help with.

She takes another couple of bites, trying to figure out how much is appropriate to tell him without making things too heavy or uncomfortable for him, weighing up how much she wants to remember tonight, and how much she just wants to distract herself. It seems surreal enough talking about the past with him as it is; she's not sure how much of her time in the war she's mentioned.

"My eighteenth birthday, we were about ten miles south of New Rochelle. My troupe wasn't even supposed to be there by that point, but the Germans kept shelling and making it difficult for us to move out, and so Joshua and I kept crossing paths. It was my birthday that he proposed." She shrugs. "I guess it's just easier to think about that than the day he died, even if it still hurts."

As he listens, his interest in the dessert and the lively drone of the restaurant dissipates. The world gets a little smaller, down to the carpeted section of the dining room, then down to the miniscule realm of the table. It's then that the weight on her shoulders becomes clear. The only thing he can think to do is take her hand and give it a squeeze.

He doesn't think she ever mentioned anything about being engaged or much about this Joshua, and it's not all that surprising. They've jawed over simple things-- the city, drinks, casino-goers and difference in the times or things back home. Simple, superficial things. He's not entirely sure there's a right thing to say, but he's never had a shortage of opinions nor voicing them.

"Can't say I knew the guy, but if he's the kind who propose to you on your birthday, he'd probably think you deserved something better than this."

She squeezes back, then runs her fingers lightly over the back of his hand, finding that she doesn't want him to move it away. She's not quite smiling, but she looks grateful for his opinion, nodding starkly.

"I know he'd have wanted me to be happy. Sometimes it's just a little hard to actually take hold of that."

((Wow I totally meant La Rochelle and not New Rochelle in that last tag, they were not fighting the war in New York State DX))

Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel

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Ah Ruby :C

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