A normal date? Crazier things have happened...

[Trev Anderson]

Trev had actually gone to the trouble of renting a car to make the night a bit easier, and pulled into a parking lot in Maldon, throwing the car into park and turning off the ignition. He turned to his date and smiled, doing a reasonably good job of hiding how absolutely terrified he was.

"I've practiced all summer in the Danger Room and I still feel weird driving on the left side of the road," he chuckled.

"So, we have options for food. I made a reservation at a Thai place and another for a place called the Secret Garden. Seems like standard British or American cuisine. Pick your poison, and I'll cancel the other reservation."

[Elena Rousseau]

Elena gave the matter some thought, "The Thai place sounds good. I'm in the mood for spicy."

[Trev Anderson]

"Thai it is," he smiled, calling up the other restaurant and canceling the reservation as he got out of the car.

"You look, unsurprisingly, stunning," he smiled as the walked side by side down the street towards the restaurant. Trev certainly cleaned up rather well, wearing a button-down, a vest, and a pair of nice jeans.

[Elena Rousseau]

"You look pretty handsome yourself," Elena said. "Nice choice with the vest." She had opted for jeans and a dark red peasant blouse.

[Trev Anderson]

"I can assure you it took me at least 8 hours to make myself look this handsome," he nodded, gesturing to himself with a grin. "So have you come out to Maldon much?"

[Elena Rousseau]

"Some. Mostly to visit the library and to rarely visit the Rose and Crown. Nothing substantial."

[Trev Anderson]

Trev nodded. "I'm at the Rose and Crown with some regularity. Or at least I was over the summer. I haven't done too much exploring though. I took a few trips to London over the summer, one all by myself, and a few others with one of my high school pals. You probably know her--Stephanie?"

They arrived at the restaurant, and were seated right away. It looked like a pretty nice place.

"The internet likes this place, at least according to the reviews, so if the food's no good, I'm blaming them," he chuckled.

[Elena Rousseau]

"It's very rare that the internet likes anything," she said, "Or at least likes it for very long."

[Trev Anderson]

"Except cat pictures," he grinned. "There's a seemingly endless appetite for those."

[Elena Rousseau]

"Some of those are cute. Others are just more for the sake of more, I guess that's the phrase I'm looking for," she said with a small laugh.

[Trev Anderson]

"Never said it was a discriminating appetite," he agreed with a laugh.

"What looks good to you? Any interest in splitting an appetizer or two?"

[Elena Rousseau]

"I could certainly split an appetizer," she said, "The fried tofu sounds good. I need to comb over the rest of the menu before I can decide on my entree."

[Trev Anderson]

"Agreed," he smiled

Not too long after, a server came by and took their appetizer and drink orders.

"So how's my sparring partner been? Feel like we haven't had a chance to catch up since I got the bright idea to volunteer for a mission which reminded me how rusty I actually am in a fight."

[Elena Rousseau]

"I've been doing well, trying to stay on top of things with class work and hunting down a part time job. My life hasn't been very exciting I'm afraid."

[Trev Anderson]

"Well, probably better than the alternative, right? We seem to have no shortage of crises and drama at school, so we should relish the quiet."

[Elena Rousseau]

"I've been there for some of the crises. I was on the rescue mission for Will. Creepy stuff that. The quiet has been nice."

[Trev Anderson]

"I read about that. And, not to mix work with pleasure, but it seems we might see more of it, since the mission I just got back from seems to be connected."

[Elena Rousseau]

"Wonderful," Elena said with a deep note of sarcasm. "But enough about that. So where are you from again?"

[Trev Anderson]

"Sweet home, Chicago," he smiled. "You ever been?"

[Elena Rousseau]

"No," she said. "I've been to New York City once when I was a teenager, but I have never been any deeper into America."

[Trev Anderson]

"You're missing out. Chi-town is awesome. Great food, great people...man I miss it! Hopefully the registration thing blows over. Hard to even go visit my grandma."

[Elena Rousseau]

"You should have her come to Europe. Much more variety here," she said.

[Trev Anderson]

"She still hasn't retired and works crazy hours, so getting her over here before she finally decides to relax is hard." He explained as the appetizer and drinks were set between them.

"Cheers," he smiled, hefting his cocktail for a toast.

[Elena Rousseau]

"À votre santé," she returned, sipping at her drink.

[Trev Anderson]

"I took the wrong foreign language. That was a beautiful toast," he said setting his drink down and scooping some of the appetizer onto his own plate.

[Elena Rousseau]

"Thank you. I'll admit to a little bias, but French is the best language. Everyone should speak it," she said, helping herself to some as well.

[Trev Anderson]

"Well perhaps you can teach me some," he smiled. "Can't promise I'll be any good, as all I've ever done is English and German. And I do the second one very poorly."

Trev, within his first bite, managed to get sauce onto his shirt, just above where it was covered by best.

"Well, naturally, I ask a pretty gal out to dinner and slob on myself." he smirked, trying to hide more than a bit of embarrassment with a little self-deprecation.

[Elena Rousseau]

"German sounds the same spoken poorly or well," she said, picking up a napkin and reaching across the table to clean the sauce off his shirt.

[Trev Anderson]

"Well. I can usually pronounce everything well. Do I know what I need to be saying, or what gender the word is? Rarely," he laughed, leaning over to help her clean a bit better once she made the effort to help.

"Thank you," he said, looking down at her hands as she worked on cleaning, butterflies in his stomach a bit as she leaned over the table. He looked back up and into her face, smiling nervously.

[Elena Rousseau]

She sat back down, "You are welcome. Have you made any more progress with your attempts to fly?"

[Trev Anderson]

Been doing some reading, most of which hurt my head because it was physics," he explained, "and it may have given me some ideas actually, but haven't had the chance to try them out yet."

[Elena Rousseau]

"At least you feel like you're getting somewhere. I know how frustrating it is to feel like you're running in place."

[Trev Anderson]

"Well. I'm not sure about the getting anywhere part. But maybe. It's something else to cross off the list of 'well shit, that didn't work,' at least," he smirked.

[Elena Rousseau]

"You have to start somewhere," Elena said.

[Trev Anderson]

Trev nodded, "Certainly better than the alternative of no progress."

[Elena Rousseau]

"How are your classes? Is Professor Weaver as... disagreeable as I think she is?"

[Trev Anderson]

Trev was taking a sip of his drink as Elena asked. Images of Trev's unfortunate encounter in a strip club, and subsequent awkward conversation with said professor and her girlfriend, the telepathic headmistresses flashed through his head. He choked, and set the drink down coughing, his face reddening. He covered the cough with a chuckle, "Sorry. Drinking problem, I guess," he joked. "Yeah. She's pretty intense, especially after the mission with the whole...actually looking like a lion thing. Well. A sphinx I suppose is the more accurate description."

"She actually taught German at University of Illinois when I was there last year, but had to resign partway into the semester for some stupid, political reason that I never fully understood. One of the same reasons I left, honestly."

[Elena Rousseau]

"Maybe that explains her attitude. I'm not sure intense is my preferred word for describing it."

[Trev Anderson]

"See, now you're making me curious--what is the word you'd use?" he chuckled.

[Elena Rousseau]

"The word I would use is not for polite company in either French or English," she said, waving her hand vaguely.