Table for One? {Costin}

[Lorelei Summer-Lac]

"Well, I mean, just the adventure part," said Lorelei, flushing a little. She did realize that it sounded particularly mental when she phrased it that way. She was tempted to go on explaining, how it was about adventure and excitement and being a part of all these stories and stuff that she'd all but been raised on. She could keep putting them down into books and all, but wouldn't living it actually be all the better for it? Lorelei took a breath, nodding and rising from the table herself.

"Exactly," she said. "We own who we are and that's what matters and stuff. Plus, the weird ones make for much more interesting stories," she smiled wide at that, knowing that she'd already called herself that. "I'm really glad I got to meet you. Sorry about the whole ambushing thing, but you're a lot nicer and cooler than I would've thought."

She extended her hand to him, figuring a shake would be alright. Lorelei was actually tempted to outright hug Costin, but she figured that would probably be pushing it. He also didn't strike her as much of a hugger.

[Costin Dracula]

That made a bit more sense, without the kidnapping thing. Costin was still contemplating what would happen if he were kidnapped, and trying to convince himself that anyone would be bothered to come after him. He was just going to have to avoid being kidnapped until he could be immortal, that was just all there was to it. For a moment, he wanted to ask her for more details, if she knew where the kidnapping hotspots around here were so he could avoid them, but he was aware that would sound bizarrely paranoid, so he kept it to himself.

He took the hand she offered and shook it, with more enthusiasm than he or anyone else might have expected. She was correct that he probably wouldn't have reacted well to a hug; Costin did not really get hugs on a regular basis, or ever, and he probably wouldn't have known what to do with one.

"You are considerably less annoying than I initially believed," he said. That didn't sound quite as nice as what she'd said to him, but he was very flustered in the moment. Nice? Cool? Had anyone ever called him either of those things in his life? Not that he could remember, anyway. "If we were to meet again," he added, "I probably wouldn't try to avoid you."

[Lorelei Summer-Lac]

Lorelei beamed at the compliment as if it were the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. "That's all I can ask for, really," she said, nodding. She released his hand, then moved to scoop up her notes. Lorelei was oddly careful of the napkins, taking a last few moments to study them to make sure she could clearly read everything. That information might be quite useful for constructing ideas or stories later, after all, so she wanted to make sure she had it right while she still had the source standing in front of her.

It looked good to her. She nodded then looked back up at Costin. "I promise not to stalk you anymore unless you want," she said. "Well, okay, that's probably a lie. I'll just ask next time before just showing up where you're eating." She gave him an abashed smile. "Oh,' she ducked down to quickly scrawl a number on a napkin, handing it off to Costin," and this is my number for my mobile. I'm not really good at working it yet, so don't expect me to be all texting and stuff."

Which was actually the extent of her knowledge on that. She smiled, waiting for him to take the paper before she'd head out and onto her next encounter.

[Costin Dracula]

As surprisingly enjoyable (or at least not agonizing) as this meal had turned out to be, Costin was still a little anxious at the way she was cradling the notes she'd been taking on him. He really couldn't imagine what she was going to do with those. He wasn't interesting yet, he thought, she'd have to come back once he was immortal and learn about the things that actually made him interesting.

"If you ask next time," he said carefully, "I will prob...possibly say yes. A warning would be nice, though, and next time I will not pretend to have known you in another life to throw you off." He took the napkin she offered, frowning at it for a good five seconds before he realized what was on it, even though she told him as she handed it to him. "Ah. I will...put this into my phone, and...that way I will know when you are calling me."

He moved off to the cash register and took a peppermint from the counter, offering one to her as well, then pushed the door open, holding it for Lorelei as he waited for her to follow. He had every intention of going in whichever direction she wasn't as soon as they left; just because they hadn't ended up fighting over dinner didn't mean he wasn't still in desperate need of some alone time to process what had just happened. "I hope you have a delightful remainder of your evening," he said charitably.

[Lorelei Summer-Lac]

Lorelei nodded, but she grinned. "See, I told you I'm not that bad," she said, noting him taking the number. "Yeah, you have to, like, punch the number into the phone and then label it. Like I said, I haven't quite gotten it all worked out yet, but it sounds pretty cool. Don't worry, I probably won't be too annoying with it. And if I am, you can just tell me," she shrugged the shrug of someone who was used to being called annoying for most of her life.

Off to the register, taking the offered peppermint. Lorelei unwrapped it quickly, popping it into her mouth. She scooted over to throw it away, coming back to grin up at him.

"You too!" she chirped. Then, obviously misreading the situation (or just not caring), she gave Costin a quick pat on the shoulder, almost looked like she wanted to hug, and then headed off. She did pause at the door, figuring out which way Costin went to go the opposite way. She'd bothered him enough, and she could probably figure out a shortcut soon enough. Even if she couldn't, more walking time would just let her work out the details of the story in her head.

Space pirate Costin, heir to the lost planet of Wallachia...