Fine dining and parlour magic

[Kray]

After Mina had mentioned wanting to go, well the giant did not need much of an excuse to book another reservation at mystique dining once the table was booked the giant had pinned the menu to the notice board in the freehold in case any one else wanted to book in and show up.

The Giant had rented out a brown velvet dinner jacket and suit, that strained to contain his massive bulk and the bowtie at his neck was already a little loose the better to consume the entire Cornish hen he had on the plate in front of him. The fancy set up is off set a little by the candles being fake electrics ones and the flowers being plastic replicas rather then real thing but the seats were leather the cutlery silver so that was neat.


A difference tonight, the ogre does not sit at the head of the table, that is left empty. meaning he has to crane his neck to see the ageing moustached magician playing with smoke and cards at the far end.











Orianna

[Mina]

The Elemental wasn’t sure what to wear to be honest. She had looked at the website, and it wasn’t a whole lot of help, though it did look fancy as hell. But Kray’s words weighed on her mind. Fancy rules about dress code, so fancy it was. She did take a lot of time pouring over what she had, and nothing really seemed to fit the bill, she wasn’t used to fancy without it being a Coronation, but finally, she settled on a black crushed velvet floor length dress. Her hair was left natural and down, and she had hardened her Mask.

Around her neck was her Hedgespun necklace, which tonight was simply an icicle lariat, hanging around her neck.

Walking in, she takes a deep breath, she might be a Spring, but social events were still a bit nerve-racking. Especially with one of the Monarchs.

But she’s got this. Totally.

Pausing as she walked in, mismatched eyes wide at the sights of the restaurant! She was just in awe of the sheer detail that had gone into it, and had to shake her head and focus.

It was hard to miss Kray, he stood out, being a fucking Giant and all. Offering a small smile, she walked over, “Hope I’m not late, and if I am, I’m really sorry.” Seeing the head of the table was left open, she wasn’t sure who it was left open for, and didn’t want to assume, so she looks to one of the other seats. “That is a nice suit, it looks good on you.”

[Kray]

Kray might also stand out because he has not hardened he mask, to Minas eyes it is full on ogre in evening wear. If someone else saw past the mask then well, cross that bridge and all that.

The giant himself is good natured clapping the resolution of the most recent trick something to do with making a particular card appear inside a a sealed glass container when he looks around. "Oh. Hello. Welcome, welcome." Unsure what to call her in public, so settles on nothing. Instead gesturing to a seat across from him, not the head of the table. "Uh. Late. No actually I think your just in time." The ogre's grin was on it's single setting ,menacing, particularly with bits of chicken caught between the terrible teeth. "Hm. I get the feeling our magician for the night was just getting to the point of wishing he had another audience member to choose from." Being stuck alone in a room performing for the king of autumn must be ... an experience.

At her well meaning compliment he chuckles deep and dark. "Ha. Thank you but no it doesn't dam thing barely fits across my chest." Or stomach or shoulders for that matter. "Ah. besides even if it did you've raised the fancy dress expectations pretty high yourself." That had the semblance of a compliant to it. "Uh. Anyway, what did you order?" Yep the good old ice breaker of food.

[Mina]

Krays choice of not Hardening his Mask was a…choice. Not one she would make, in public. But, each Lost was different, had a different comfort level.

And seeing a giant Orge in a suit was something she wasn’t going to forget.

Pulling the chair out, she settles in, “Perfect then!” the look of relief on her face obvious. She had worried she had taken too long to decide what to wear. Chuckling, “Aww, now I think that might be a bit much. I’ve heard you talk about magic shows; you sound like an absolute delightful audience to have.” A bit intimidating, sure.

“Still, the effort is there and it looks nice.” Refusing to back down from her compliment. Then smiling sweetly, “And thank you, I hoped it was dressy enough.” Having never been here and all that.

“I went with the prime rib; I’m a meat and potatoes kinda girl. And yourself?”

[Kray]

Be it by intention or coincidence it as during Mina's comment of how delightful she is sure he is, that the ogre bites down on a leg of the chicken torn free and the snap of bone is clearly audible, the tiny bird being no match for the terrible teeth of the gristle grinder. Fragments that need to be picked out before he can swallow. Even the ogre recognise that might be a bridge to far as credulity goes. "Huh? Now I've been called many things in my time but delightful is not one." If that's what people thought of him, he was not doing his job properly. "Hm. But yes I do like the magic tricks." Shame his grin seems more to suggest he wants to eat the magician. But he seems excitable rather then vindictive. "Uh. He made a signed note appear inside a lemon earlier." And the ogre had no clue how he had done it. "Uh. Would you be up for volunteering for any?" Who knows he might see better how they were done, doubtful but worth a shot.


He snorts in clear disagreement but doesn't press the issue. "Bah. I do need to see a tailor, getting something proper sorted out for occasions that call for it." Or try his own hand at a little hedge spinning and see what results. "Oh. I think you hit the nail on the head for this place." They would probably welcome the elemental back sooner then the ogre, sure he did tip very well but he was something of an unsettling guest to have.

Well that was unexpected. "Ha. Now I would not have guessed that. A salt of the earth kind of girl hey." Maybe that was why he found her easy enough to get along with, or part of it. "Huh. Me." He stabs the remaining half of the chicken and lifts it. "Uh. Cornish hen and chefs choice for the other four courses. So far I'm not disappointed." Having eaten a bit of everything last go around the chicken had been the best choice to fill his gluttonous appetites. For most people a five course meal should have been more then enough on it's own.

[Mina]

She simply looks at him, an eyebrow quirks, but she says nothing, picking up her napkin and placing it in her lap. One thing she remembers is that the napkin goes there.

“Then consider tonight a first.” She says back with a quick smile and an effortless shrug.

“I know I’m excited to see them! The way you talked about them before made them sound very well done.” Then eyes widen, “Wait, seriously?! In a lemon?! No way!” the excitement written all over her face. “Me?” a bit uncertain, but only for a moment, “Sure! Why not!” it could be fun.

“I know a few tailors, I’ve had to have things made for various productions.” And, other things. A quick glance at her own dress, “Well that’s good to hear. I don’t usually do very upscale dressy places. Any gatherings after a show, we’re expected to wear our costumes, so never had a need to really have anything super nice.” Maybe she’d start to invest in some nicer dresses, it felt good to wear them.

A look of surprise, “Really? And why not?” looking amused. “I mean, it’s not something I can indulge in all the time, but sometimes protean is protean. And lets be honest here, I can’t live off fish and chicken, it’s boring. Plus, prime rib just tastes better.” Facts were facts. “Cornish hen is wonderful if prepared well, maybe I’ll try it next time.”

[Kray]

Thick fingers have to pry a particularly stuck bit of bone from between two of his teeth, the giant clearly did not adhere to many of the elements of fine dining etiquette. "Hm. Heard it said there is a first time for everything." But he would have to work a bit harder to make sure there was not a second.

But the shared enjoyment of the magicians slight of hand tricks made that a little challenging tonight. "Ha. Good stuff. He'll get you to sign a note, one moment." And turning is attention back to the magician at the far end of the table. "Uh. Hey could you do the one with the lemon again?" Was this a magician that took requests? well guess it was time to find out.

He had not meant that kind of tailor, maybe Mian hadn't either. Hard to tell when not speaking openly and all. "Oh. Don't worry I know some people that can provide what I need for the right price of course." Be it the less then legal element that had provided his bulletproof wear for that kind of business of a member of the freehold and to spin something deals would need to be made. "Uh. Well you pull them off no doubt about that." Compliments, especially about fashion are not his strongest suit.

She had him on that and he readily admits as much "Ah. Because looks can be deceiving and I don't know you well enough to make a better guess." Her reasoning however draws his full attention back to the elemental away from magic tricks, away even from the food on his plate. "Hm. Protean is protean hey." What A thing to say to a lost with a cannibal kith. "Ha. Well your not wrong. But a dangerous line of thinking." It took daily effort to view humans as more then walking talking lunch on legs, Although he does doubt rather strongly that Mian has the same struggles, or has ever taken that line of thinking to its fullest conclusion.

The stabbed chicken is left to his jaw and another hunk of tender flesh ripped free effortlessly. He chews it briefly before putting his head back and wallowing it down. "Ah. It is good stuff. And hey plenty can be done with chicken and fish to liven them up a bit." But she was right no matter what he ate the craving for the socially unacceptable delicacy never went away. "Hm. How do you like you steak?" With that on his mind a distraction has become rather necessary all of a sudden.

[Mina]

“And clearly it is a true saying!” she declares with a nod.

Taking a sip from her water she watched him make a request of the magician. Did he take requests?

A sage nod, “Everything has a price.” Gently touching her necklace, not activating it of course. She wanted to look into a weapon at some point, and figured talking with Circe was going to be her best bet for that. But wanted to prove her worth a bit more first, show the Summer Queen she was worthy. A slight blush, “You’re too kind.” Compliments still made the Elemental a bit uncomfortable. Spring or not, she was never sure how to react or what to say.

A slight nod, “Oh, yeah, I get that. But lean proteins are important for repairing muscles from intense training and building strength for high jumps and leaps. Lean proteins get boring though, and are kinda bland. So this will certainly be a treat!” looking quite excited, then looks a bit embarrassed, “That was probably more than you wanted to know, sorry.” A bit of an overshare, and she had been doing so well. Then realizing what she had said, “Oh, yeah, it certainly can be, can’t it?” eyes looking down for a moment, not quite sure what to say. Another social flub it seems.

And as if on que, her plate arrived, she offered a thankful smile, “Thank you.” Then looks to Kray, “If the restaurant is able, I prefer bleu, I find it has the best flavor, and is oh so tender. If they won’t, then rare. I find if a steak is overdone, it loses it’s best flavors, then it’s over seasoned to makeup for it.” And most places she had to settle for medium rare. “I’d love to hear if you have recommendations for how to liven up chicken and fish.”

[Kray]

Now he was not ready to commit to that, for everything? "Uh. For everything huh? Almost sound likes a challenge to think of something that hasn't been done yet." Mina had knocked off the list today already.

Maybe it is because the magician is getting paid the same whatever, maybe the giant is to scary to refuse, or a chance to interact with anyone that is not Kray the magician does in fact make his flamboyant way over to Mina handing her a black marker pen to sign a dollar bill.

Grunting under his breath in agreement. "Oh. That it is, that it does." But apparently he was failing tonight in some major way as kind follows delightful. "Hm. Put that idea out of your head. I'm not." He spent his nights inflicting fear and when needed pain to cause it, Ogres where shaped from violence and it was to violence they so often resorted. "Ah. I know the value of words. And chose mine with more care then most realise is all." Among ogre's those of the troll kith in which the giant is part are after all keen and crafty manipulators. "Humph. Don't go getting any grand ideas about who I am. You will be disappointed." It would probably have been smarter to let Mina labour under the illusion that he is somehow good natured, only to rip away that idea at a prime opportunity, so why hadn't he done so?

The giant likes food, loves food even but food science or proper dieting is far less important so he does listen despite having no idea what a lean protein is compared to what a fat protein? a chubby protein? "Hm. Oh. No do go on. I don't really know much of any of that. I only tend to focus on what I want to eat, and how does it taste." A few spears of asparagus are consumed next. "Uh. I do know this stuff is meant to make you pee a fun colour, you know why that is?" Talk of ablutions at the fancy dinner table, rather tactless, but it is the best he has to encourage the elemental into talking about something she seemed excited over. And a good way to gloss over the talk of implied cannibalism.

Although the delicate elemental ate her steak as rare is came apparently. "Ha. I once saw that described as still having traces of life on a menu." Some restaurants funny idea of a joke. "Uh Oh. Well there is a good Sushi place downtown I found on a walking tour a few years back now. They do all sorts with fish." So much of it he had never even dreamed of until having tired it.

[Mina]

A simple nod, “It really is. Isn’t life too short to not try something new at least once? Step out of your own comfort zone every now and then. I like to try new things, though I’ve been lacking since moving around so much. So I’m hoping since getting everything settled, I can get back to it.” But maybe that was a Spring way of thinking, trying new things whenever one could.

Offering him a beaming smile, she accepts the marker and signs the dollar with simply Mina in cursive. The broken doll looking very excited to see the trick, almost bouncing in her seat.

The Manikin simply looks at him with a small smirk, then nods, “I’ll work on putting it out of my head.” Another nod, the small smirk, very small, stays. She knew what Orges were, she knew to fear them, especially one of the Autumn Court. And she would always have a healthy fear of them, she’d be stupid not to. But he had offer the compliment, and it had been a kind one. So maybe, somewhere deep inside, he was capable of being kind, in his own fearsome way. Though she was sure he would never admit it, and she would never dream of calling him on it. Nope. Blinking a few times, “Never said I got any grand ideas, I simply said words, just as you said words. It would have been rude for me not to accept the compliment, which is what I did, nothing more. I have manners after all, and those are important are they not?” refusing his compliment, the Autumn King, would have been very rude.

The whole comment about peeing a different color makes the Elemental snort, before she covers her mouth, then laughs. “Ok, well, yes, it does that. And no, I don’t know why it does that. I’ve probably been told but a dietician in one of my dance tropes, but I wasn’t paying attention.” Clearly amused and not offended or anything. “I just have to focus on certain types of foods over others. Like fish and chicken, lean protein for muscle repair, usually in every meal if I can swing it. But especially training it’s a protein rich snack. And when I say I get tired of protein, I cannot express it enough.” Shrugging. “I mean, it’s not all that exciting. I’d much rather be able to focus on what I want to eat, like a rib eye, filet or hell, ice cream. That would be a much better diet in my opinion.” Much better.

Looking at the meat, then back at Kray, she just shrugged, “Failing to see any problem. Has the best flavor and it hasn’t been cooked into being a hockey puck.” A win win to her! “Oh! I haven’t had sushi since arriving, I’ll have to get the name of that place and check it out. Despite what I said about fish, I do enjoy it. And sushi just takes it up a notch.”