Bella Notte [CLOSED]

It had been agonizing, waiting months for this day. This fateful day.

A simple, casual dinner date at the new noodle shop.

Kyou fidgeted with her dress and jacket, standing at the small storefront, waiting for her date. Although neither of them classified it as a date, part of her couldn't deny the excitement she felt from calling it that. It was meant to be an apology for her indiscretions at New Year's, but conflicting schedules and bad timing pushed the event to March 14.

It was rather funny to her, that date. She had never acknowledged the significance of that date. She wasn't fond of it in all honesty. March 14, her birthday, was a reminder of her past. At least, until today, that was. Who knew their date would land on that particular day?

The girl hadn't specified exactly where she planned on taking Joseph for dinner, but she had sent him the address with a time, and prayed that he would arrive soon. She had arrived early, completely unintentionally, and was starting to grow conscious about the looks she would catch every moment or so. A young girl standing outside of a restaurant in a dress, all alone. Her nervousness didn't particularly help the appeared situation either. In the public's eye, she probably looked like a girl being stood up for a first date. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

"You're not cold?" the monotonous voice sounded from behind the Autumn girl. Despite being such a nonchalant person, Joseph would never stand a girl up - Especially not a fifteen-year-old that he'd accidentally allowed to get drunk and do two face-plants within a span of ten minutes as a result.

The Winter tugged the collar of his coat a little closer to his neck as a chill gust of wind buffeted against him. His gaze flitted over Kyou's attire, and he was simultaneously a bit impressed and and a bit concerned -- Impressed that she'd waited outside in such a short dress, and concerned for the very same reason. Even he was wearing a coat. Joseph stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It's only thirty degrees right now. You didn't need to sit out here and wait around for me."

Kyou jumped at the sound of the boy's voice. Turning around, she smiled as he approached her, adjusting his coat to protect his neck from the wind just a bit more. A small blush crept onto her cheeks at his comment. "I'm fine. I'm use to the weather around here," the girl remarked, fidgeting with her dress once again. "I wasn't waiting long, so I'm not that cold anyways."

"Should we go in now?"

Joseph knew she was only saying that she wasn't cold, because her body language was saying otherwise. Joseph was in pants and a coat, and he still found it a little nippy. Kyou always seemed to be a little on edge, but now she'd literally jolted at the sound of the Winter's voice. Joseph sniffed in amusement at her fidgeting. Kyou was a quirky girl.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," he agreed, moving towards the entrance and swinging the glass doorway open. He stepped aside and gestured for Kyou to enter. "Go ahead. I'm not the one in a short dress, after all, so I can wait."

Kyou's blush grew deeper at his comment. Her hands fell down to hem of her dress, grabbing the fabric tight and pulling it down slightly. Was wearing this dress a mistake?

Giving the boy a shy nod, she entered the restaurant. A short Asian man stood at the counter with a wide smile and closed eyes. He had a welcoming expression as he bowed to the girl and glanced behind her for a second. "Table for two?" he chirped, clasping his hands together. The girl nodded, and the man grabbed two menus from behind the counter and headed towards the dining area. "Follow me please," he said with an extra cheery tone.

As soon as Joseph took a step inside the restaurant and caught sight of all the noodle dishes on peoples' tables, he knew instantly that not planning ahead for this dinner had been a big mistake. God dammit..

He kept his eyes trained on the ground as he followed Kyou and the waiter to their respective table, and upon sitting down, looked straight down at his menu. Why in the world hadn't he asked her where she'd been planning to take him? If he'd known beforehand, then he could have just suggested another place, discreetly avoiding Eastern restaurants that heavily featured noodles, as well as having to explain his.. Unique phobia. If his avoidance of noodles wasn't already strange enough to begin with, the root of his distaste was a very unusual story.

After a few more minutes of relative silence between Joseph and Kyou, the waiter returned to the table and set the drinks they had ordered earlier on the table and prompted them to state what sort of foods they wanted. Joseph quietly requested a dish of various stir-fried vegetables and beef with a portion of Kung-Pao chicken on the side. When the waiter turned to Kyou next, Joseph's only thought was, Please, for the love of God, don't order a noodle dish..