Dinner for two (Valentine's Date, Eden)

After just discovering the existence of the creatures called 'Digimon' and the digital world, Eden decided to spend a bit of time above ground. Having checked in with her mother everything seemed fine and everything seemed to fall back into place as she went about her daily life- Of course with her ghost partner critiquing her daily life. 

Following her return, Eden's mother saw it fit that the young woman try to at least make some friends or even find a special someone with valentine's day just around the corner, so she reluctantly entered a raffle for a blind date, not her first choice of actions but it was only one date so if the worse came of it she wouldn't have to see the person again, and after a few days of silence she finally received a text with the information of her 'date,' it was apparently a young woman seemingly by the name of Eleonora Schmidt and while Eden wasn't one to gamble in this case she'd be willing to bet her date was a foreigner much like herself, then again it was a bit broad to assume the person was a woman at all, but she dismissed the thought as she picked up her phone, having a brief back and forth with her mother again. 

    Eden: I'm not wearing a dress. 

    Mom: Why nooot?! It looks nice and I already threw away the receipt so you're keeping it.

    Eden: I'll wear it if I ever have jury duty.

    Mom: Isabella.

    Mom: Wear the dress, and be nice, please? for me?

    Eden: 

    Mom: Yay! Have fun, love you lots!

She sighed heavily, having lost the battle yet again. She could never bring herself to say no to her mother, even when she made her do those silly pageants, anything to see her happy. So the young blonde reluctantly got up and prepared for her evening, it was a dinner at a reasonably nice restaurant which also meant jeans and a sweatshirt probably wouldn't cut it, and who knows maybe the person she was meeting up with wouldn't be unbearable. After a long shower and many drawn-out practice date scenarios Eden was finally dressed, in a rather form-fitting black dress with heels to match. "This is embarrassing," She glared at her reflection for a while, before grabbing the handbag to match as she made her way to the restaurant in Shibuya's entertainment district they arranged to meet at. 

She could immediately  feel eyes on her as soon she walked in the door, mentally swearing to herself as she walked up to the server up front, "Um...it should be a table for Schmidt or Walker?" It was clearly the former as the waiter quickly led her to a small table occupied by a woman in a nice purple dress. "Bonus points for wearing my favorite color, I'm Eden and you're Eleonora correct?" she managed to put on a smile as she extended her hand for the other to shake. 

[500 Words]

Not even five minutes into the date and she was already flustered as the other blonde simply stared at her for a few seconds, but felt like ages before she shook Eden's outstretched hand. "A nice coincidence if you ask me, and it looks good on you," She figured she'd offer a compliment to try and make the other more comfortable, but only found herself flustered in the end as Leo mentioned the dress highlighting Eden's figure, but the awkwardness that followed was rather adorable in a way and managed to get a small bit of laughter from the usual straight-faced young woman. 

"It's nice to meet you too, Ellanora or do you prefer Leo instead?"' Eden could tell from the accent that Leo was very much German, as the last name so politely gave away in the original message, so it was rather comforting knowing that she was with another foreigner like herself, and also made it easier to think of a conversation topic. 

Taking a seat, as the other pulled out her chair, At least she was a gentlewoman? Well mannered to say the least, which meant everything was off to a good start. Watching as Elenora took her seat before proceeding to cover her face was rather entertaining, and Eden decided to allow the woman to collect herself as she gently propped her head up on her hand watching with her calm, grey hues for a moment before her date had mentally returned. 

"You didn't fail, I think we're both equally nervous so let's try and take it slow, sure it's a date but we can also maintain casual energy so we don't make it too awkward for either of us, sound good?"  She offered another smile to the young woman before tilting her head a bit as she looked Leo over, "I wouldn't say the dress saved you, more like gave you an edge, and to be completely transparent my mother bought this dress just for our little date since I don't really own...any." 

Picking up on a nice conversation starter she decided to run with it, "No need to be nervous, I'll only be judging your every movement to determine if I want to see you again...I'm kidding." Eden smiled a bit as she attempted to break the tension. She hated these situations and normally tried to remove herself from them, but this time she had to stick around until the end- at least to be polite, "So what brings you to Japan? Judging by your accent you're German, yes?" She had never been before and always wanted to make a trip out there; however, her new schedule often kept her bound to the same old places. 

Once their waiter arrived, it provided a nice break for the two of them, giving each party a chance to collect their thoughts for a moment. 'God I hope I'm not being weird, am I asking too many questions? Maybe I should talk a bit less.' she thought to herself before another chimed in. 'All you humans are weird, what is this some sort of mating ritual?' her spirit chose the perfect time to be vocal like always, the young blonde did her best to tune them out, especially since the last thing she wanted was to seem crazy in front of someone she just met.

Eden hadn't even been looking at the menu just simply gazing while she argued with herself, so the question caught her off guard as she looked over at Ellenora then the waiter. "Oh, just water is fine." She stated softly before tapping gently at her menu as she looked up at the other, waiting for her decision.

[617 Words]

Managing to make the other smile and laugh had put Eden at ease, and while she wasn't one for social situations, she knew how it felt to be in these tense situations so helping calm the nerves of the other was more of an instinctual act of mercy that Eden had often received herself- paying it forward if you will, "I'll call you Leo, since you seem most attached to that name." She was glad that they both seemed to be a bit more at ease, which would make the situation less tense if the date itself had flopped, but the potential for making a new friend could remain. 

"Exactly, so we should both relax and just enjoy the evening ahead of us," again she was speaking mainly for herself since the entire idea of dating was weird to her, but so far it didn't seem too bad and her date had a strange charm about her, but maybe it was the urge not to seem awkward or nervous that entertained Eden so much, regardless it wasn't bad so far. 

When the other spoke in her native tongue it was almost satisfying to hear a new language other than Japanese and the English spoken between Eden and her family, they hardly used French at this point and only when making unsavory comments about people, she used it as a tool for her amusement, and decided to entertain the other as she explained her lineage and what brought her here. Like most, it was family matters, others business, while some simply wanted to get away, and while Eden hardly saw her father when they first arrived here, with his recent health decline she made a habit of seeing him more often, so imagining five years without seeing one's own parent must've been hard. "On dirait que nous sommes tous les deux loin de chez nous," she said with a soft smile.

"Your father, what does he do for work if you don't mind my asking, must be rather important to come this far for so long." genuine curiosity came across the blondes face, her family moved simply because of a better job offer which turned into a bit more than expected, so if Leo's father was gone for that long it had to be something important right? 

She waited a moment before their waiter returned with two glasses of water, placing them neatly across from each other in champagne glasses. A bit much, but a nice gesture. 

When the question was turned onto her Eden simply nodded in response as she took a small sip of her newly acquired beverage, "Indeed I am, there seem to be a lot of us running around lately, but regardless I'm originally from Canada so a bit a ways away from here you can imagine." She didn't miss it much though, it was just another place on the map at this point. "I see you have a sense of humor as well when you're not ogling your dates," she teased, normally puns didn't go over well with her, but it seemed to work this time around, maybe it was the girls nature that allowed it to go over easy, or maybe Eden was simply being nice as instructed?

[543 Words]

Eden simply shook her head as another small smile made its way across her lips, "I don't know if you've earned enough credit for a pet name yet, but we'll see." She winked, the thought was rather entertaining and she was enjoying messing with the other blonde a bit too much, especially since she seemed to become flustered at the smallest things. "Well my name is kind of in the middle, so I get to be a bit of both when I want to be." which was true, but in comparison, Ellenora seemed a bit more tomboyish than Eden who was simply a neutral entity, not caring enough to be placed in a general category, even though most tried to label her a tomboy due to the short hair and preference for traditional 'male' style of dress.

Even though it started out a bit rough, the date so far wasn't too bad and it beat staying home again with that whining spirit, watching her every move, although she almost couldn't help herself as she managed to bring her d-tector along in her handbag, for some reason she didn't feel right leaving it too far behind anywhere so carrying it everywhere felt natural. 

"Bonjour mon cher," Eden shook her head at the attempt, another smile forming on her lips as she took another sip from her glass. The compliment caused the blonde's cheeks to rose up a bit as she looked down at her lap, "I don't think the German language is so bad, you're all just a tad bit emotional when you speak, and that emotion happens to sound very...very angry, also gibberish though but the same could be said for most Brits." She explained, having only met one Englishman who was very difficult to interpret. 

Noticing she seemed to strike a nerve with the questions about Leo's father made the blonde instantly regret her decisions, most family matters were private and she knew that. she was about to apologize before the woman popped back into the conversation, "I see, well the life of a programmer must be rather interesting. My father...is involved with automotive sales let's just say that." she chuckled softly, since it was partly true but also had a bit more to it than that. 

It seemed like her attempt to fluster Leo went off as planned, the German was tripping over her own words again as she tried to find a response to defend herself, but Eden left no such opening. "Well if I'm your first date then I suppose that means you should be on your best behavior, no?" She gave a sly smirk as she twirled a short lock of her own hair. "Don't worry it's my first real one as an adult so it'll be a learning experience for us both." 

Perhaps she'd leave the poor girl alone, even though this little game of hers was rather entertaining, she seemed to be really worried about making a good impression, so Eden would let up, "You're kind of adorable when you get all flustered, did you know that?" , only for a little bit though.

[509 Words] 

Eden shrugged lightly at the comment on her name, "Paradise? Funny, I think like I'm anything but." She chuckled, but nonetheless, she accepted Leo's compliment. "Your name is pretty as well, whether you accept it or not is fine by me."

"I feel like you're enjoying this language barrier a bit much, gives you a bit of freedom to say whatever you please?" She stated, relaxing a bit more as she listened to the other as she spoke, but the wide smile and wink left enough room to believe that the other was complimenting her openly. "Your smile gives you away, I'm sure your compliment would go over much better if I could understand it, but yes it did sound passive aggressive." She laughed quietly, before leaning forward a bit, folding her across the table. 

She almost couldn't resist as the question simply spilled forth, "Do I make you nervous? Is that why you avoid speaking in a manner I can't interpret?" she teased, raising an eyebrow at the shocked reaction to her date revelation. "I mean I probably went on about two dates in high school, and one was homecoming so that doesn't really count in my humble opinion...he also had two left feet so there's that." 

"Needing a bit of liquid courage to handle me? that's cute, but if it'll loosen you up then, by all means, drink away," She smiled but internally felt a bit nervous seeing as her actions seemed to invite more challenge which also intrigued her to an extent, finally being able to see the German out of her shell, and possibly out of the corner Eden had placed her in. 

"I'm not much of a drinker, but I'll indulge you in one glass." She preferred to have her wits about her in most situations so drinking normally wasn't usually something she associated herself with frequently, but for a rare occurrence such as this one glass wouldn't d much damage. "Perhaps we should order something as well? I wouldn't recommend drinking on an empty stomach." She advised while her eyes once again ran over the menu in front of her. "I'll allow you to pick the drink since you'll need it more than me." she teased once again as she looked over the various items. 

The back-and-forth teasing aside she was enjoying herself, and Leo seemed somewhat capable of keeping up with Eden's ever-changing energy, "So I'm curious, what's your type? Certainly not the broody blonde, what makes your little German heart skip a beat?" More genuine curiosity since neither of them had a say in the matter of who they matched up with, and who was to say outside of conversation if they were even compatible? Then again the whole point of these things was to test just that, but what if someone was matched with a person who was everything they didn't like? "Or perhaps you'd just prefer a pretty face?" she teased again as she looked up from her menu.

[500 Words]

"Did you just say 'just like you'?" The blush that followed Leo's comment was again more than enough context for Eden to build off, but regardless she smiled and allowed her grey eyes to fall over the other blonde.

Clearing her throat gently as she sat up, "Je pourrais te draguer, mais je suis sûr que cela te laisserait plus troublé que tu ne l'es déjà." She chuckled silently afterward as she watched the other react to her smug comments, and Eden had to admit it was rather easy to fluster Leo which provided an excellent source of entertainment, and she was having fun much to her own surprise.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," she stated calmly which was followed up by more soft laughter once Leo actually admitted it herself, "Why do I make you nervous? I don't think I'm that intimidating, do you?" Actually, now that she thought of it both her dates said the same thing in the past, and her mother may have mentioned it before, something about being too confident in social situations like this. "Don't worry I hate dancing so I won't make you take me just yet." admittedly, seeing as her first attempt at it went horribly wrong.

Watching as Leo called the waiter over, Edens' eyes scanned the menu again, while European food did sound amazing right now ultimately she ruled against it, "I eat a lot of European food when I visit my mother since she can't stomach most Japanese meals, so I'll have Tonkatsu instead." She stated before watching as their waiter retreated from their table. 

"Champagne huh? I figured you for the beer or whiskey type, but then again it's not a very classy drink." Eden nodded attentively as Ellenora explained her situation, all of which was relatable, but when the question was turned on herself, Eden went silent for a moment as she thought. "Well, I've never really put too much thought into the subject." She answered before going silent again as their waiter returned, replacing the water-filled glasses with champagne, nodding her thanks as she watched the liquid sparkle in her glass. "I suppose someone who contrasts me, no fun being with someone who hates being out when I hate being out, I'd prefer someone who can hold an interesting conversation as well since I do get bored easy...don't worry you're doing fine for now." She teased, easing any fear the other may have had. 

"I'm simply enjoying watching you get flustered at every little thing I do, but I am having fun," she said, before sitting back up, grabbing her glass and taking a light sip. "Although if I may be so forward, I for one like tomboyish girls, so don't worry about your little red flag," Eden stated calmly as she set her glass back down, "So tell me something interesting about yourself, other than your ability to become quickly flustered I don't know much about you...one of those important things being your age, and I get the feeling that I'm the elder in this situation." 

[517 Words]

"It was rather obvious, especially after the original compliment and your blush gave you away," She smiled, taking another sip from her glass, lightly feeling the effects of the champagne kicking in."I did appreciate the compliment though."

She smiled slightly at the compliment as she felt her face growing warm as a blush crept across her cheeks for the first time tonight, "Well I'm glad you like it." clearing her throat nervously as she looked away towards a few other tables while listening to Leo explain their similarities, "Well thank you, it's nice knowing I'm not scaring you into a smile," she laughed momentarily before nodding her agreement, "You're right, but I suppose making a good impression is important, and on the plus side you get to keep ogling me~" she teased before taking another sip from her glass, the effects settling in a bit more.

"And I want you to be relaxed, I just enjoy watching you get all flustered." She admitted with another smile, as she leaned back in her seat, "You german's really love your alcohol, don't you? I usually prefer a subtle taste so I go for wine or champagne." Eden smiled as she shook her glass lightly, watching the champagne sparkle. "I'm trying to get you drunk? You're the one trying to get me to indulge in more than one glass...And here I thought you were a gentleman..woman, whatever." giving a light giggle as she looked over at the other.

Listening to the other's jest about loving her when she got drunk made Eden a bit nervous since the tables could be turned in that situation and she'd return to her reserved nature, but for now, continued on with her plan, "Magic potion huh? Well, let's hope it makes your nerves disappear." she winked, "I suppose being older does have its perks as well, but what exactly are you hoping I'll be able to teach you? Having indecent ideas already?" she chuckled before pouting a bit as she locked eyes with Leo. 

The comment about asking a woman her age rung through Eden's head again, "You know that's not the first time I've been told that, and my answer is always the same: I'm a woman so asking your age shouldn't be an issue, just think of it as a secret between us girls." Taking another sip and finishing off her first glass, Eden could feel her head becoming a bit fuzzy but she still remained coherent, to say the least, "And I'm only twenty, I'll be twenty-one in November...Scorpio if that type of thing matters to you, but kudos on being on a date with an old woman." she teased as she went to raise her empty glass.

[448 Words]