[oom: Dinner with captainryan]

[hell_in_highheels]

[from here]

River arrives in the bar just before seven in the evening, and secures a table for two in a cozy corner of the bar.  She's dressed casually, wearing her favourite Irish sweater, jeans and her tan field boots.  But she has to confess, she's spent a bit more time with her hair and her face.

For as interesting as Richard is, he is also a good looking man.

She orders a glass of pinot noir, and waits, watching the faces in the crowd.  When she sees him, she smiles broadly and holds up a hand.

Comments

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

She's about to find out why he only wants her to pay for half his meal.

"Fillet steak, rare, side of potatoes, and a salad in the usual proportions, if you please." Ryan head tilts at the rat, arching one eyebrow. "You can ask Bar if you don't know them."

[hell_in_highheels]

"Mmmm, steak." She beckons the rat back as it tries to amble off. "Make that two, only size mine appropriately as well."

"I haven't had a good steak in ages."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Bar's an excellent cook," Ryan says approvingly, hiding a grin. He's a little amused she would think of asking that for her steak.

Then again, she probably ran across something in the Library about it.

He takes a sip of his Guinness, burying his nose in the heady aroma.

[hell_in_highheels]

River watches him over the tops of her laced fingers, the wine having eased her nerves somewhat. "An elevated metabolism, suited for fuelling a rapid physical transformation, protein and glucose intense, I'd imagine. And as you so eloquently demonstrated when we met, an enhanced sense of smell, and perhaps hearing as well?"

She's been reading a lot. And even as she lays it out, her scent does not change.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan nearly snorts into his beer.

"Ah, yes. I suppose putting that a bit more eloquently would have been in my favour," he admits, a hint of sheepishness about him.

"That sounds about right."

[hell_in_highheels]

"I'm sorry, Richard. I'm horrible at small talk." Her smile is also rather sheepish.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan shakes his head. "I don't mind if you don't," he says wryly.

"However, I reserve the right to change my mind should we touch on something I'd rather not discuss. With no hard feelings, of course."

That should eliminate the chastised scent for the evening, right?

[hell_in_highheels]

"Of course, oh absolutely." She sighs. "It's been so long since I've talked with someone who wasn't a construct. I feel a bit out of my league."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"I didn't think I was that challenging to talk to," Ryan remarks mildly.

He's smirking a bit, though he's trying to hide it behind a sip of his beer.

[hell_in_highheels]

Her eyes open wide as she grins. He can see her irises darken and her pupils widen. "Let's stay away from politics and religion, just to be safe," she teases.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He should've brought mints, dammit. He just didn't know.

"Fair enough," he agrees. "As you were saying, then?" Unless she'd rather switch to another topic.

[hell_in_highheels]

"Just that there's an amazing body of lore surrounding the shapeshifters, not just werewolves." She takes a sip of her wine before continuing. "Native American skinwalkers, the Scottish selkie, the Japanese kitsune, and even in South America, a myth about pink-skinned, fresh water dolphins that turn into women and lure men to their deaths by drowning, called the Encantados. It's a fascinating line of research."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"That last sounds a but like the sirens. I'm not surprised, though. What's the old saying? Every legend has a grain of truth to it?"

He's going slowly on his own pint. He isn't easily intoxicated and he doesn't want to make it seem like he's trying to get pissed.

[hell_in_highheels]

"I think you're right. The sirens are Greek, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was some connection."

She's only on her first glass of wine, savouring it one sip at a time, like she is everything else about this evening.

The wait rats bring their dinner and she leans back as they lay it out.

"What I find most curious is the lunar connection. Several different societies equate the changing of the Terran moon to its full face with some kind of transformation or madness. Hence the term 'lunacy'."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"I've heard that before," Ryan comments, moving his pint aside to make room for his plate.

Well. Platter, really. There's enough food on his side of the table to feed two, maybe three people.

"Any mention of why? Or is it all just attributed to magic?"

[hell_in_highheels]

"Well, the belief goes back to the Romans, and probably even beyond." She is careful not to react to the size of his dinner, picking up her own fork and knife and slicing into her modestly sized filet.

"Again, I would say there is probably some grain of truth in the myth. Some societies believe there is a connection between fertility and the lunar phases, which is easily explained by the length of a woman's menstrual cycle, typically twenty eight days, and the lunar cycle. And there's even some studies that support an increase in violence and accidents during the full moon. I question their science, but who knows?"

She tucks in, obviously relishing her meal.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Violence I might believe." Particularly given his own condition. "I'm rather more dubious about accidents, however. That's more likely just people looking for a scapegoat."

Dinner smells great. He starts eating himself, once again careful to not start wolfing anything. His food still disappears at a pretty good clip.

[hell_in_highheels]

"Well, either way, the moon hangs heavy in the Terran psyche."

The data core is a moon, and she remembers looking up at it from a balcony on the Library.

"What about the moon here? Does it follow the Terran cycle?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan nods.

"It's a twenty-eight day cycle, only one moon. The landscaping outside is Terran as well, modelled after Scotland." He tilts his head thoughtfully.

"Really, it's no wonder so many people here are from Earth, considering."

[hell_in_highheels]

She cocks an eyebrow at him.

"Do you remember the time when you are transformed?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Bits and pieces," Ryan says after mulling it over. "A great majority is sensory information, touch, sound.

"Taste." He takes another bite of his steak.

[hell_in_highheels]

She eats in silence for a bit, clearly pondering the information.

She pauses over her meal, thinking.

"The first thing I had through the door? A simple cup of tea. I think it was the most amazing thing I've ever had in my... post-life."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Iiii had a beer," he admits, smiling wryly. "Milliways wasn't what I was expecting. To be fair, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but a bar at the end of space and time was not it."

It seems like kind of a long time ago, now.

[hell_in_highheels]

"Yes," she smiles, looking around. "Someone I once knew told me the Universe would never cease to surprise me, if only I would let it in." Her eyes come back to his eventually, and there is a hint of sadness in her scent. "He was so very right."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan gives her an encouraging smile.

"He might show up here. This place can be funny about things like that."