[the royal crown] you look like an angel [gianna]

Celestine was... a blessing in disguise.

Well - not really even in disguise, she was a blessing that was... open to the world for all to see. If Levi didn't have Celestine, he was sure he wouldn't even have his bar. There were many a times the older man would sit in his apartment above the bar, unable to move for anything besides his daughter. In these times, there was no way he would be able to open the bar, serve drinks, or even talk to customers. His emotions got the best of him, and she was really his saving grace.

Celestine was The Royal Crown, as far as he was concerned. He had everything to thank her for, and he made sure to do so, whenever he so felt the need.

Her great idea this time, was to update the bar food. They hadn't really changed it since Levi had opened up the bar after the war, meaning that it was simply fish n' chips, chicken wings, and some sort of salad with a weird dressing that was sour like vinegar. This time, she'd given him tacos.

Well - she'd suggested tacos. The bar, in a unanimous cheer, had agreed on tacos. And thus, the menu was changed. Celestine had found an amazing chef who specialized in authentic Spanish and Mexican eats to create a small menu for the bar. It was full of things that Levi couldn't pronounce, with words in Spanish and English and crazy words with silent letters that Levi would never be able to utter. But he was fine with it, all he had to do was make sure that he knew how to pronounce the names, and he was sure he could do that.

A familiar head of hair appeared in Levi's line of sight, causing his eyes to brighten and his mouth to pull into a smile. "What do you think?" He put his hands up to draw attention to the new menu, which Celestine had made look pretty. "It's new! Very neat, right?"

@Gianna Regan surpriseeeee

Gianna was always at the Royal Crown now. And she did mean always.

Sometimes she was over to watch Asha when Levi got too busy downstairs. Sometimes she'd be the one helping out downstairs while he put her to bed. He always insisted on paying her for her time, but she never agreed to it and he stopped asking after a while. She could never take his money, especially not after what happened... the whole got drunk and married thing, that is. Gia wondered if he thought about it as often as she did, or if he thought about it at all, but when she did it became difficult to concentrate on what she was doing, so she tried her best to put it out of her mind.

Besides, it was probably definitely weird to be jealous of the woman your not-boyfriend is best friends with. Yeah. Gianna spent a lot of her time not-thinking about things like that, which she should definitely stop doing, because he started talking to her as she came up and she'd only been half paying attention. Damn it!

"Um, oh yeah! Very cool. I like the pictures of the dancing tacos, nice touch." Gia wanted to kick herself in the mouth after she gave him a weak smile and a lame thumbs up. Very cool? What was this, 1999?!

Desperately, she tried to fish for a different topic, anything, to talk about. "It's really busy tonight. Did you imagine it like this, when you first opened this place?" She smiled up at the taller man; a smile smile, but a genuine one this time. Besides, she truly wanted to know what he thought. She didn't know what it'd be like, but owning your own business must be tough. The Royal Crown has truly come a long way. "I'm sure you didn't imagine it with the tacos at first, but now you can also imagine how it'll be in the future!"

Levi nodded curtly, with almost a smug smile on his face.

He'd thought of the dancing tacos, and he was rather happy that Gianna had taken notice of them. Celestine had called them corny, although Levi thought they were no such thing. Besides, Gia's opinion had become a million times more important than anyone in Levi's life in the past... however long it'd been since she'd stepped into it.

"I don't think I ever really thought about the future," Levi mused. He thought about it for a second before letting out a breath of air in place of a laugh. "Which sounds really, really dumb, honestly, but it's not. It was... more comfort than anything?" Levi knew his words didn't make sense, but he was spewing them anyways. Besides, Gianna wouldn't make fun of him - right? He hoped not, at least. The Hobbes had thrown out a lot of sentences that didn't necessarily make sense, or started talking about things without completely knowing where he was going with it. It'd become common since Aishwarya.

"Hmm... the future..." The man repeated. He liked to think about the future - his future had started to look a little brighter with the growing success of his bar. That always made the man happy. Success was good, his father's voice echoed in his head.

His eyes trailed down to the shorter woman, momentarily stopping at her face before he looked back up at the menu. He'd been catching himself staring at Gia quite a bit lately. Gia Regan, that is, because even though they were married, Levi and Gianna weren't ever really married. He tried not to let himself think about it, although he couldn't help it on occasion. Why hadn't she ever brought up their shotgun wedding? Did she even think about it at all? She probably didn't - Gianna had better things to focus her mind on than some dumb old man.

"So ehm, errr..." Levi ran his hands through his growing beard, trying to think of ways he might be able to steer the conversation elsewhere. "Uh... The um... I think we might get new tables?"

Oh bullocks.

"Really?" Gia leaned against the bar and stretched her hands out in front of her so she could look at how they turned pink in the light. "I don't really stop thinking about the future. Sometimes I think that's what helps now become bearable, the thought that everything will get better in the future. I guess that is comfort in a way as well? Which is way dumber. Not that you're dumb, because you're not." The brunette shrugged and lowered her hands into her lap, trying to hide her warming cheeks.

Playing with her fingers had always been a bad habit of hers when she didn't know what to say. At least not the right thing to say. She wished she could be more like Ruari. She always knew what to say to make her feel better. She bet Ruari knew exactly what to say to Hal when they were first dating as well, not like Gia who may or may not have just called someone dumb without meaning to.

It was obvious Levi didn't think of her as more than a babysitter and a friend. You wouldn't talk to a girlfriend about getting new tables. There was the chance that he was just... really excited about tables, but Gia couldn't help but wonder if she was just that boring and uninspiring to talk to. They never really did have any super deep conversations either. Most of the time she was the one who was doing the talking, mostly complaining about how horrible it was to be a waitress, but now that she wasn't doing that anymore, she found herself struggling to actually be that interesting person she was always trying to come off as.

"This is silly. I'm sure you have better things to do than to stand around and humour me. You don't have to. I've taken up your time as it is." The young woman tried to give him another genuine smile, but she was sure it came out as more of a wince. She couldn't help but wonder if they hadn't gotten their marriage annulled, would things change between them? Would they have been happy?

Levi let out a hearty chuckle as Gianna continued to talk on, spewing about the future. He didn't mind, though - he liked listening to Gia's voice. "No, no, I get what you're saying. I like to think... I like to focus on making the present... livable." Levi mused, running his fingers through his beard. "I like to focus on uh... making sure that everything... in this moment... is okay, you know?" The older man shrugged, looking up at his menu.

Aishwarya was the same way, which was why she'd run into the Battle of Hogwarts when it arose. Levi should've been the one to run into the fight - it made the most sense. He was taller, more buff, he had experience fighting other people. But she was the one that was doing all the running around, the fighting. She was the one defending the muggleborns and their allies. She was much braver than he was, as she was when they'd first met at a curry house in India.

"No, no, what do you mean?" Levi's stomach dropped and he snapped back to reality once Gianna had started to talk about how she was going to go. "No, never. I mean - no, I like talking to you. You're not taking up time." Levi shook his head, grabbing the closest bar towel and wiping his hands off. He wasn't wearing his wedding ring today - he hadn't actually worn in the jewelry in the past few weeks. There was something in him that told him it might be time to take off the ring, and he wasn't feeling upset about it, either. Maybe it was time to let the past just be the past.

"Let's go get dinner. Unless you want to eat here, we could do that, but uhhh..." Levi tossed the bar towel on the back counter. "As a thank you, let's get dinner."

Gianna wanted something, someone up there among the clouds to maybe send a bolt of lightning her way. It'll probably be more merciful than letting her be embarrassed to death in front of Levi. Why did she have to open her mouth? She sounded so much like... like... a kid compared to him! She wanted to bury her face in her hands and let out a long, loud groan, but doing that would ruin her makeup and actually confirm the fact that she was mortified, so she commanded her hands to stay clasped in her lap. Thankfully, this time they obeyed.

The brunette squirmed slightly where she was perched against the bar. "Oh. Um. Are you sure?" She glanced down at his hands. Something looked off, but she couldn't place what it was, other than the fact that his hands were also ridiculously attractive. Was she going insane? She didn't think finding hands attractive was really typical normal behaviour of a twenty-two-year-old. Gia winced internally and grabbed a menu from Bob the barman, who was wiping the fresh batch off, and hid her face behind it. It was definitely a blush now, and anything she could use as a shield to hide that, she'd gladly take.

Eating out was kind of a thing. It meant that he was willing to be seen with her, to some extent, in public! She didn't want to read too much into it, but she didn't think they ever went out together. Not that they were going out or anything, but– oh Merlin, now her brain was doing the same thing as her mouth. "Don't take that as a no, though!" She said hurriedly, her voice slightly muffled from behind the menu. "I really want to! It's just..." She was too weird, she wasn't dressed for the occasion, she's acting too weird, "... Are you sure you're not needed here?"

@Tori i'm gonna assume you said dinner because i thought this was at night? i might be wrong tho >>

She almost seemed... ah, Levi couldn't place it. On one hand, his mind was telling him that her sudden seeming nervousness was because she didn't want to go out with him, or be seen with him. But why would she? Gianna was a younger woman with the world at her feet; she probably had many men wanting to take her out to dinner. Levi was a widowed old man with a kid and a bar - nothing really too exciting. In fact, he supposed he didn't really have much to offer Gianna, which she'd probably realized as well.

Gia was hiding behind a menu now. She was so embarrassed by him asking that she was hiding behind a bar menu in order to avoid seeing him. Levi had really messed up now. The man's mind was racing, thinking of everything that he'd ever done wrong in front of Gia. Perhaps he was too clumsy? Or maybe he was too silent. Did he hum too loud, or was it his cologne? Was his conversation boring? He probably bored her.

Ah, now she was just trying to make him feel better. Or - maybe she actually did want to? Now the older man was just confused. Why were women so confusing?

"No, no, I have... I actually, there's a bunch of people here, I think... Celestine had... overstaffed today... I was just stopping by to see um..." Levi shook his head, scolding himself mentally for taking so much time to explain himself. "Sorry - ah, too many words," Levi waved his hands. "Yeah, no. Sorry, no, as in I'm not needed here. But we don't have to go if you don't want to go!" He assured the younger woman. "It's all up to you."

"I heard there's this really good uhh, French place down the street if you'd like?"

Most of the time when her friends came to her for relationship advice (she had no idea why they did, although she supposed she was one of the few who had the most dating "experience", good or bad, mostly bad) she'd always tell them to be brave and go for it. Normally Gianna took her own advice; she had no problem flirting with people she thought were attractive, but when it involves actually catching feelings for someone, that's when the girl started to back out.

Taking a brief moment to think about it, she nodded firmly, "Yeah, definitely, let's go." She was nervous, but the good thing was it didn't seem like she was the only one. Could she take it as a sign that he liked her too? Reaching into her bag now slung on her shoulder as she got ready to leave, she pulled out her purse, who thought it'd be a good time to say you have 18 sickles and twenty-two knuts left. "Oh for–" Gia blushed again, wondering distractedly if she'd have blood left anywhere else in her body after tonight if it kept rushing to her face, and hurriedly shoved it back into her bag. "French sounds great, but only if it's your treat." She rubbed the tip of her nose abashedly, "I can pay you back as soon as I get paid!"

Levi was eager - although his excitement came with a quick following wave of anxiety that she was only saying yes because she didn't want him to get mad at her. The older man was hoping he didn't come off as a pressuring influence on Gianna. That was the last thing he'd really wanted, he'd had a spot in his heart for Gianna at this point, and he really didn't want her to leave it.

As Gianna had gotten up, Levi made his way around the bar to meet her on the other side. "David, tell Celestine that I'll be out for uh... the rest of the night." Levi told his bartender, leaning over slightly before he finished walking towards Gianna. The witch started getting bashful again, which made a slightly more confident Levi smile. She was cute, he thought, as he let his hand hover behind the woman's back. "It is my treat," The thirty-something said. "If you try to pay me back, you're fired." He continued.

The bearded man started making his way to the front of the bar, putting his hands in his pockets. "Uhh, have you ever had French cuisine before?" Levi asked. "I don't... ever recall having French food. Is it ehm, snails and such?" He went on. "Cause if it's snails we might have to rethink this."

Once again, the brunette willed herself not to blush when Levi said "the rest of the night". Was it a hint at something more? Was she reading too much into it? Was it best to pretend that he didn't mean anything by it so as not to embarrass herself? Gianna didn't say anything, but her thoughts turned more or less into mush when she felt his hand on her back.

The air by the door was cool, but his hand was big and warm, and soon she was shivering for an entirely different reason. She wanted to ask 'are you sure I don't have to pay you back', but decided it was better to keep her mouth shut. She never wanted to be in a situation where her purse only had eighteen sickles ever again. She just had to do something nice for him in return, like be a free babysitter for a night or something.

"Oh, never, I don't think," Gia's eyes widened, "Or maybe at one of the Regans' family gatherings? Some of my cousins are people with fancy tastes, but I've never caught on. I'm quite sure I've never eaten snails though." She made a little face at the thought of eating those nasty, slimy looking things. "It doesn't have to be French! I'm ok with wherever, really. Ask any of my cousins– I eat a lot and I'm never picky." She scuffed the sole of her boots against the rough stone path outside the bar. She didn't want him to think that she was a high maintenance girl just because she was a Regan.

@Tori one more post each and we wrap this one up?