For Wilke: New York Christmas date

[happy_dsign]

Daphne wasn't going to waste the chance to have an awesome 'Christmas in New York City' type date with no expense spared, even if any shopping would probably not survive the change back to the island. She was okay with that, it would still be fun shopping without a budget.

She also wasn't going to sit around and wait for Wilke to come up with the idea. She had a feeling the island wouldn't stay like this long enough for that to bear fruit, after all. Which is why she bundled up in a cute mint green and cream striped sweater, jeans, and a warm coat, and marched up to Wilke's apartment, knocking firmly.

"Get your coat, you're taking me on a date," she announced as soon as he opened the door.

Comments

[more_than_that]

"Yeah, I'm good," Wilke grinned up and took her hand, more like a gangly new teenager than someone a month shy of 18 as he got to his feet. "Nothing damaged but my pride, and my ass. Both should make a full recovery."

The twinge in his back he'd bee keeping to himself for the time being.

[happy_dsign]

"Before you ask, I'm not kissing either of them," Daphne retorted with a grin, starting to move forward again, slowly to make sure he had his footing.

[more_than_that]

"It was worth a shot," Wilke shot back and kept a careful pace, slowly getting more confident as they did laps around the rink and only getting shaky when some guy decided to show off for Daphne by speeding past them.

[happy_dsign]

Finally Daphne moved toward the outer edge of the rink again, skating up to the wall and turning to face Wilke, her eyes bright. "Had enough? We can go out to eat if you're ready." She was starting to get a little cold, and she knew from experience that his legs were probably going to hurt tomorrow, as it was. So were hers, for that matter.

[more_than_that]

"I think I could do some serious damage to dinner," Wilke nodded, eyeing the benches. He'd had fun skating with her, but it probably wasn't going to be anything he ever felt a strong desire to do again. Still, the smile on her face was worth it.

He unlaced the skates once they were off the ice, slipped his hiking boots back on and, both hands to his lower back, stretched the muscles out.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne quickly changed out of her skates as well, letting them hang from her hand by the laces as she stood up, giggling a little. "Okay, now walking feels weird," she observed as they headed toward the skate rental stand to return them.

[more_than_that]

"Feels like we're going a lot slower than we should be or something," he agreed, taking her skates from her and turning both in. Then he turned back to wrap his arms around her waist, hands low at her hips. "So, where's dinner? Walking distance or are we flagging down another ghost cab?"

[happy_dsign]

"Exactly." Daphne nestled against him, tilting her head back a little so she could watch his face. "Well, we could walk, but after skating I'm not sure I want a twenty minute walk in the cold, so let's get a cab."

[more_than_that]

"Ghost cab it is," Wilke nodded before dipping in to kiss her softly, smiling against her cold lips. "The sooner the better, too. You're turning into a snow woman right before my eyes."

He lead them as quickly as his sore back could towards the street and hailed them another cab. One good thing about the ghost city: there weren't many other people hailing along side him, so they were inside the warm car within minutes.

"Where are we off to?"

[happy_dsign]

Daphne snuggled close against him, partly for warmth and partly because she just wanted to. "The Russian Tea Room." She smiled at him, resting a hand lightly on his knee. "It's probably my only chance to ever eat there."

[more_than_that]

"Not sure about that. I mean, I know the Kennishes pretty well after all these years and if you even hinted you wanted to see all of this for real, they'd make it happen."

It was touchy ground, he knew, since the Daphne sitting next to him hadn't accepted her birth parents yet. Not like the one he'd last seen directing a zombie movie in their back yard.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne shook her head, ducking briefly before looking up at him. "I couldn't ask them to do that. Besides, my mom would have a fit if I tried."

[more_than_that]

Because he could almost feel the ice cracking under his feet, Wilke decided the best course of action was a complete and total subject change. "So why the Russian Tea Room? I mean, there are a ton of famous restaurants here, right?"

[happy_dsign]

"Oh yeah, way too many to visit," Daphne agreed, then shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I'm kind of going for the whole 'tourist' experience, you know? The things you hear about in every New York City movie or book. The windows at Saks, skating at Rockefeller, eating at the Russian Tea Room."

[more_than_that]

"Does that mean that after dinner we're off to the Empire State Building's observation deck?" Wilke guessed, "Becaused I'd definitely plan something like that. Especially if there was a chance a very pretty girl would maybe kiss me up there."

[happy_dsign]

Daphne hadn't actually thought of that, but now that he'd mentioned it she couldn't believe she hadn't. "I think that sounds perfect," she replied, laughing softly. "Even if it will probably be too cold to stay for long."

[more_than_that]

"Dunno if anything can compare to being ass-first on a sheet of ice," Wilke commented, "but yeah, it'll be cold. Good thing you'll have a tall, physically fit guy up there to block the wind and keep the cold away."

[happy_dsign]

"Mmmm. Yes I do," Daphne all but purred, leaning up to kiss him on the jaw. "So dinner, Empire State Building, then...back to your place?" She smirked at him and arched an eyebrow.

[more_than_that]

He wasn't about to put any meaning on that question, or the smirk/eyebrow combo. Not if he wanted to focus on anything else for the next hour, that is. "Sounds like a plan to me," he agreed before leaning in to kiss her softly as the cab slowed to a stop.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne pulled back from the kiss and smiled at him again, then slid across the seat to get out, looking at the unassuming front of the restaurant (aside from the red awning, but there were quite a few of those to be found in New York). "I wonder if they're going by New York liquor laws, or the ones on the island," she remarked to him with a little grin. "Have you tried ordering a drink anywhere?"

[more_than_that]

"I've been to a couple of clubs since we've been here. Ghost bouncers didn't look twice at me, neither did the bartenders. Can't imagine the waiters here would be any different," Wilke said before exiting the cab and holding his hand out to help her out, then waiting until they were warm inside to continue. "You thinking wine with dinner?"

[happy_dsign]

"I don't know, something like that," Daphne agreed with a little shrug, keeping her hand in his as they moved toward the restaurant. "Just want to keep our options open." She laughed softly and bumped her shoulder against his arm, glad everything was working out so well. This was an awesome New York date.

[more_than_that]

"Nothing bad with a few open options," he agreed with a smirk, then held the door for her before following inside.

One thing he was sure of, he thought as they were shown to a table a few minutes later, if this was the real New York City, their wait would have been more in the time frame of hours and not minutes.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne smiled at him across the table, then picked up the menu, scanning for vegetarian and seafood options. There were a few that sounded really good, and she chewed on her lip as she looked back and forth between the bass, salmon and shrimp dishes. The salmon got eliminated simply due to the fact that she didn't know how to pronounce the dish, and she felt a little self-conscious about trying to get it right without being able to practice speaking the word. That was okay, though, the shrimp sounded pretty damn good.

"What are you getting?" she asked when she finally looked up from her menu.

[more_than_that]

If he was being honest, just about everything under the beef menu looked incredible, but since this was her big date he wasn't going to go tossing meat in front of her. Hell, if he really wanted to try a Kobe steak, he could come back tomorrow night and get it then.

And the way his mouth was watering over the tuna, it wasn't like it was a hardship or anything.

"The grilled spiced tuna," he said at last, setting the menu down. "What's tempting you?"