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]

"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?"

[happy_dsign]

"The noodle-wrapped shrimp, I think," Daphne decided, setting the menu down and looking around the room. Oh, she wasn't likely to see any celebrities, and even if she did they would be ghosts, but this place had so much history. It was fascinating to just look around and think of all the people who had sat in this very room. "I don't know about drinks, though. Should we just get wine, or maybe try a cocktail?" She reached for the drink menu to see what their specialty cocktails were.

[more_than_that]

"Mom always had white wine when had fish for dinner," Wilke noted, "but I can't stand the taste of it. I'm probably going to stick with beer even though it'll probably make the waiters sneer at me or something."

[happy_dsign]

Daphne nodded, grinning as she asked, "Do they even have beer here?"

[more_than_that]

That made him pause and pick the menu back up again. He looked through it, then his face fell. "That would be a no. If I don't want wine or vodka, I'm relegated to theme drinks of the hard liquor variety. Any of those tempting you?"

[happy_dsign]

She hadn't been entirely serious, but it probably shouldn't be a surprise that a place like this didn't exactly have beer on tap. She looked through the cocktail list, reading the descriptions. "I think I'm going to try the Ballet Russe," she declared, setting it down again. "What about you?"

[more_than_that]

As much as he told himself he wasn't thinking about what might or might not happen later, this was one of those decisions that might very well decide the matter for him. Hard alcohol was his fast track straight to stupid.

"I'm probably going to look through the wine list for something familiar. I don't think I'm going to trust a ghost wine steward, just in case he's got a grudge against the corporeal," he finished with a smirk.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne wasn't looking for stupid, but a little more relaxed was probably a good idea, for what she had in mind. "I want to taste whatever you pick," she remarked with a little giggle at the ghost steward comment.

Just then the ghostly waiter drifted over, poised to take their orders.

[more_than_that]

It didn't take him long to find one of the wines his mother usually drank, then closed his menu and waited for Daphne to order before he did. Even absentee parents managed to teach some manners.

[happy_dsign]

Daphne quickly gave her order, still finding interacting with the ghost citizens vaguely creepy, then smiled at Wilke as he finished his own order. As the waiter wandered away again she stretched her hands across the tabletop, leaving them resting invitingly within reach of his. "Thank you for doing this with me," she said quietly. "I'm having a lot of fun."

[more_than_that]

"You're welcome," he both said and signed back before taking one of her hands in his. "It's been fun. You make it sound like you took me on the Bataan Death March."

[happy_dsign]

"The what?" Daphne snickered and shook her head. "Nevermind. I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself."

[more_than_that]

Wilke fingerspelled the words so she'd know what he said, then smiled again. "Is it living up to everything you imagined?"

[happy_dsign]

Daphne considered the question for a moment, then nodded. "So far, yes. And the rest of the evening is looking pretty good, too."

[more_than_that]

One eyebrow rose almost to his hair line. "Is it? Looking that forward to freezing your ass off at the Empire State Building?" he asked, paused, then continued, "or is there something else going on that I don't know about?"

[happy_dsign]

"Nothing in particular," Daphne replied with a shrug of a shoulder, but she could feel her cheeks warming. Okay, maybe something in particular, but she didn't want to just say it.

[more_than_that]

He was thankful the wine steward showed up then to go through the whole opening/cork sniffing/wine tasting ritual, because that blush on her cheeks was distracting as hell. And not just because of what it might mean.

[happy_dsign]

The dinner was delicious, the conversation easy, and the cocktail was pretty damn good, too. By the time they were ready to leave, Daphne had a pleasantly giddy feeling, and she found herself leaning against Wilke comfortably as they walked out to hail another cab to take them to the Empire State Building.

[more_than_that]

Wilke held the door for her then climbed in after, turning to her when they were on the move. "So. Was it everything you wanted it to be?"

[happy_dsign]

Daphne shrugged. "Mostly. I think the atmosphere would be a little better with real people, but the food was amazing, and it was still really cool getting to eat there." She grinned and nestled against him, resisting the urge to do more--for now.

[more_than_that]

"Yeah, it is kind of creepy when it looks like we're eating on the set of Paranormal Activity or something," he laughed back, fingerspelling the movie's title. "Those things are the only reason I'm going to be glad to have the island back again."