[rome] turn a new page, tear the old one out [quin]

This was new. Well, not new. Varvara Stepanovna would like it to be known that she wasn't completely inexperienced when it came to dating. It had, however, been quite some time since she and an adult man had planned to meet, over a week in advance, with the intention of having dinner. Of course, more would be happening after dinner, but the main invitation said dinner and an adventure. The hand-written invitation at that. It stated a time, eight pm on Wednesday the fourteenth, and a place, Rome, and the note was attached to a bottle of nice, Russian vodka. The vodka was more than enough reason to agree to the date, but the man on the other end of the invitation was a pretty good reason as well.

Quin Pendragon had been in the same room she was standing in now not more than three weeks ago, and every so often Varya found herself thinking back to that night. It was quite an unexpected visit, but it was just as enjoyable, if not more, as a planned conquest. It caught the woman off guard whenever she found herself thinking about him, as her usual methods involved sleeping with someone and moving on with her life, possibly adding that person to the rotation of other men she slept with, other men that she didn't spend time thinking about unless they were going to find themselves in the same city on the same evening and both needed something to do.

She had tried coming up with reasons for this sudden change in thinking: improper ventilation for potion fumes had given her mental issues, her lack of stable work gave her too much free time, Quin was simply the last man she had slept with and the first in a long time so it was the only thing she had to think of anyway. Varya was not about to venture down the "feelings" path. Not yet, anyway.

It was ten minutes to and the healer was applying a second coat of mascara. Her makeup and hair, done with just the right amount of I-spent-a-long-time-on-this-but-it-doesn't-look-too-put-together style, were simple enough so that her dress was still the main focus of her look. While the neckline was quite high, there was still plenty of leg for Quin to focus on. And as an added bonus, there was a brand new lingerie set under the dress that Varya would be saving for after dessert. She straightened up, checking herself out in the full length mirror on the wall of her childhood bedroom. Hers was quite the biased opinion, but she would definitely be able to fall in love with herself looking like this. She shook the L-word out of her head almost as quickly as it had entered it, grabbed her purse and wand, and shrugged on her black wool coat.

Varya admired her reflection in the mirror in the front hallway of her mother's house one last time before stepping outside, reading the address of their meeting place once again, and apparating into the night. She reappeared with a faint pop in a dark alleyway; it was clear that Quin had scoped out the location ahead of time to ensure they had a safe place to meet and she had to congratulate him for putting so much thought into the little details so far.

She slowly ventured out of the alleyway, trying to figure out where exactly in Rome she was. She hadn't spent much time here, however, spending most of her time in Italy in Neroli, so it was no wonder that she couldn't place any of her surroundings. She was early, and the thought crossed her mind that she could go back home for a few minutes and then come back to allow him to arrive first. But instead, the woman used the few minutes alone to adjust her hair, ensuring that every strand was in just the right place.

@Quin Pendragon

It wasn’t normal that Quin invited people on a date. In fact, it was very, very rare. The Dragonolist had dates before, but this? This was different. This was a date he wanted to go on, for a lot more reasons than just to be with the other. Varya was attractive. She was smart, and beautiful, and she was stuck in Quin’s mind. He had tried to set everything up to be perfect: the place, the time, the date. It was Valentine’s Day; he wanted to share it with the slightly older woman. He wanted to enjoy the scenery, and the conversations, and everything else in between and afterwards with her. Maybe they’d bundle up a bit and take a walk to the pier. He would quite enjoy that, but he wasn’t going to hope it was the only thing they did.

He had left work about an hour earlier than normal, with permission of course. He rushed home to shower and change, so he didn’t smell like dragon dung. Etain wiggled around eagerly on his bathroom counter as he dried off and then pulled on his suit. It was a dark cotton-like suit with a matching slate grey and black striped tie. It really slimmed his feature. Cuffing the collar of his white dress shirt, he slipped the blazer on, buttoned it up, and looked at himself in the mirror. Who wouldn’t want him? He’d want himself, if that was even possible. He took his time to comb through his hair, brush his teeth and tuck Etain away in the little pouch he always wore. When that was done, the dragonologist was off.

He had apparated, once again not too comfortable with it but doing it regardless, to the quiet little alley he had told Varya to meet him in the previous owls they had exchanged. He found that it was close enough to the restaurant they’d be enjoying, but also far enough away that they weren’t necessarily in the line of muggles. The restaurant itself was classy – top of the line, most expensive wine type of deal. It had a small wizarding section, secretly under the noses of the muggle part of the restaurant, but Quin didn’t mind. If Varya wasn’t comfortable with muggles, they’d enjoy the magical side of things.

"Hey, beautiful," Quin smiled as he got his bearings. Without even having any expectations, his eyes danced over Varya’s dress. His eyes lingered on her thin, gorgeously carved legs, before they moved up to rest on her face, "I’m really glad you could meet me. Thank you." He hadn’t forgotten the flowers – his gift was the bottle of Russian vodka she probably had back at her home. It was a fair trade in Quin’s opinion. He offered his hand out for her and then led the way towards the little restaurant they’d enjoy together, "I think you’ll like the place we’re eating. It has a really pretty view, and there’s a section for people like us that’s kind of away from muggles, if you don’t want to sit like normal people." He rambled on, just wanting to make conversation.

Damn.

Why were they going to dinner at all? As soon as Quin had appeared in the alley where she was waiting, Varya's mind had immediately jumped to thinking about how good he looked in that suit and how much better that suit would look on the floor. It was going to be quite a struggle to get through this evening without getting distracted. They had never been a romantic pairing, greeting each other with cosy kisses or giving each other cute nicknames or really spending much time together outside the bedroom, so this was all quite new for the woman.

"Hey," she replied, smirking as he took in her legs, her dress, all the work that she had put into her appearance. "It was hard to say no to an invitation attached to a bottle of vodka," she said, her English accented. "You know me too well." She smiled as she took his hand, entwining his fingers with her own, and followed him out of the alleyway, her heels clicking on the pavement as she walked.  Varya brushed her thumb against the palm of his hand as she did her best to focus and keep listening rather than let her mind drift to more inappropriate things.

"Normal is fine," she said quickly, giving his hand a light squeeze. She didn't have anything against muggles in particular; she disliked everyone equally. "Although, sitting out there we won't be able to talk about potions or dragons, you know." She laughed as she said this as they weren't ones to really discuss work anyway. Their conversations often drifted towards more adult topics rather quickly.

But tonight was going to be different. It felt strange, already, to be walking hand in hand with him, but the woman was ready for different. She thought she was ready, anyway. Suddenly the idea of their next dinner together popped into her mind, followed by other scenarios of time spent together, including a holiday in a very sunny place. Surely she was only thinking about them sunning in the nude on a beach because she just wanted to get Quin out of his clothes, right? Varya wasn't convinced she was actually considering a future together. That was absurd.

It took them next to no time to arrive at the restaurant, check Varya's coat, and get their reservation all sorted out; it helped that they both knew Italian. The restaurant was situated on the top floor of one of the taller buildings in the square, offering a beautiful view of Rome at night. It was a dimly lit room, but there was enough light for Varya to see that the entire customer base this evening were couples. She shrugged off the thought that this was something strange, instead almost smiling at the idea that so many people were enjoying themselves with their dates.

Varya was very careful to add a slightly exaggerated sway to her walk as she walked in front of Quin to be shown their table. They were seated next to the window at a very cozy table, complete with a linen tablecloth, fancy napkins, and lit candles. "Grazie mille," she said as the waiter helped her into her chair and offered her a menu. She smiled at him, excited for him to leave so she could have Quin all to herself.

"I hope you know more about wine than I do," she mused, in English, her eyes scanning the extensive wine list in her hands. It was an inferior alcohol, but that was one opinion she was keeping for herself, at least until she had had a few drinks.