Winter Loverland

"Well, as long as you aren't spending all of your money. Either way, this is lovely," Rayne replied, giving her lover a smile before looking to the menu. And it was quite intimidating. She had never even heard of a lot of these dishes, but it all sounded so good. Her mouth watered a bit when she saw the salad choices as well. She definitely knew what she was getting.

"You have so much that you do, it's amazing you have time for things like this," she said, setting her menu down. "I didn't know you were so famous. Truthfully, it's a little shocking to be dating a celebrity," she teased, nudging her foot against Rei's. She wasn't surprised that she was an idol, and a popular one at that. She was certainly pretty enough to be one. But the fact that she was doing meet and greets was impressive.

"Me? Well..." Rayne looked off, a thoughtful look on her face. "I don't really have many hobbies. But I've always loved movies. I have so many that I had to put some in storage back home." As she spoke, she stared off into space, as if remembering all of the movies she's seen all at once. "I don't know. I've always loved a good story. It's a good escape sometimes, to be lost in a fantasy world."

Rayne rubbed the back of her head, giving a dismissive laugh. "It seems cheesy, I know."

"Celebrity?" Rei scoffed at the word rolling her eyes at the term. There was a time where Rei played her hand at being an idol. She had great musical talent, had a nice figure from her days playing on her high school baseball team and had an energetic personality. However, she wouldn't give up pro-wrestling for all the fame in the world.

"I wouldn't go that far- Are you playing footsy's with me Rayne?" Rei said cocking an eyebrow and smirked incredulously at her lover. Rei's eyes danced with mischief before nudging her back.

"Not at all." Rei said with a smile. "I think everyone knows how great it is to take a step back out of reality and lose yourself in something beautiful."

Rei made a point of resting her chin on her hands and looking straight into Rayne's eyes. She would slowly reach out and hold Rayne's hand across the table, using her thumb to brush the top of the other girl's hand.

"So, you've got tell me. A sweet innocent girl like you who likes movies and being lost in fantasy." Rei said not letting go of the other girl's hand. "Why Pro-wrestling? Why AFW of all places."

Rayne giggled when Rei's foot pushed back against hers, their feet resting comfortably with each other. "What? Whatever do you mean?" she said, feigning an innocent look. It was little things like that that she loved. Simple touching, small talk, all of it made butterflies dance in her stomach.

"A story is often more fun than reality. More often than not, I connect with the characters more than I do with real people," she explained. Saying it reminded her that she had very few friends. In fact, she'd go as far as to say that Rei was her only friend int he entire AFW. But then, she hadn't really had the chance to get to know anyone else. She had met Chizuru once or twice, but the two of them rarely talked.

Rayne gave Rei's hand a squeeze when her hand brushed hers. But Rei's question took her a little of guard. She never told anyone why she came to the AFW.

"Well, when I was in school, I was bullied a lot because I was... well I was a smart girl. So my grandfather wanted me to learn to fight." Rayne looked out to the courtyard, watching the snow blow in the light, chilly wind. "I trained under an American man, named Justin. He taught me everything I know, and I used what he taught me to protect myself. Eventually, I got into a small league, bettering myself. But I wanted to get stronger, make a name for myself, you know?"

Rayne smiled as she stared off, lost in the memories of her past. She rarely reminisced about what brought her to where she was, and it brought a tear to her eye, realizing just how far she came since then. "When i heard about the AFW, it seemed like the right step. Yeah, it's not what I would have expected, but there was nothing better. And here..." she turned to look at her again, her other hand wrapping around Rei's. "I met you. You were the first person who I talked to here, and you showed me what to expect. My goal is to become one of the best here, and with you to help me, I know I can do it."

Rayne had to brush away a tear. She never spilled her guts like this to anyone. Her past wasn't complicated, but the blood, sweat, and tears she shed trying to get to where she was made it great to her.

Rei watched intently listening to Rayne's story, it was curious how she never thought to ask about her personal life before she started dating her. Then again, Rei never did anything the typical way. She smiled at Rayne and reached over to assist her girlfriend with her tear, brushing her cheek with her hand.

"No need for tears." Rei said with a smile. "I can tell you worked really hard. That's something to be proud of not cry about."

She would cup her cheek, tempted to kiss her but there was a table in the way. Rei reluctantly withdrew her hand before looking down a the menu. She would casually nudge the other girl's foot back before glancing back up at her from behind the menu.

"Excuse me." The waitress said.

Rei nearly jumped in her seat at the voice not expecting it so close, she turned to see the waiter. The waitress had shoulder length raven black hair with sky blue eyes.

"Hi, my name is Renee. May I get you two lovebirds your order?" The waitress said giggling looking at both of their attires. She gave a scandalous look at Rayne which made Rei's face red with jealousy. However, she turned her way to Rei with that same... hunger. Rei could feel her ears heat up but she recomposed herself.

"We'll start off with the Bruschetta platter."

"With Bacon Wrapped dates? Or, the Beef Tartar?"

"Bacon."

"Excellent choice! Your mains?"

"The white truffle risotto with prawns."

"Mhm.... a favorite. And you, love?" She said looking towards Rayne, over her notepad.

Rayne couldn't stop from smiling when her lover brushed the stray tear away. She didn't really know why she got so emotional. She never really reminisced about her past, let alone tell anyone about it. Most people don't seem to care, but Rei was the first to ask. Thinking back on all of the hard work she put into getting where she was, she couldn't help but get a little emotional.

The waitress's sudden appearance made her jump a bit as well. She had been so engrossed in Rei and their talk that she hadn't even noticed that she came up. But she did notice her glancing eyes. She maintained her smile, but being admired wasn't something she was used to. The only thing that bothered her more was that she gave the same look to Rei, which sparked a bit of jealousy inside of her. The only thing that made her feel better was knowing that, even if others did want to cast glances, they only had eyes for each other.

"I'll have the lamb salad with fregola, please," Rayne said, giving the waitress her best smile.

"Excellent choices. We'll have that out for you soon," the waitress said, taking their menus and heading off, though not without giving them a wink.

"Were... we just being checked out?" Rayne asked, puzzled by the expereince. She never got this kind of attention when she was single. But now that she was with Rei, suddenly she was worth noticing?

"Hmm?" Rei took a sip of water before answering her. She swallowed then gave Rayne a smile, a little embarrassed at the incident. Rei shrugged and then looked at Rayne with a cocked eye brow.

"I think I was checked out just to weasel her way, when I realized she was checking you out." Rei said dismissively placing the cup down.

"Rayne. Listen. I'll be brutally honest with you." Rei said being able to get the gist of what was going on Rayne's head. "I'm not going to flatter you but you are above average in terms of the looks department. I know what you're saying inside your head but why are people checking me out now? I don't know Rayne? Maybe because you look like a model in that dress? Maybe because on the average day, you don't take the time to do your hair, put on make up and dress to impress? Honestly, you know the effort I take to take care of my hair? My skin?"

Rei let out an exasperated sigh after her tirade. She would cross her arms accusingly. She suddenly realized that there was somethings Rayne didn't know about her.

"Right. Speaking of my hair and since we're dating. I should let you know I'm really a red head." Rei said as she pulled out her phone. She swiped at it with her finger before showing Rayne.

Phone Image:

"What else... Oh. You probably already know that Rei isn't my real name right? Right." Rei said with a laugh dismissing the topic. "Did you know... that I can juggle?"

Rayne waved it off after Rei's gave her take on it. She didn't mind really, it was flattering to be seen as pretty enough to check out. She found it odd though, that once she got herself into a relationship, she suddenly got noticed.

Her cheeks lit up bright red though when Rei started complimenting her about how she looked in her dress. She put a lot of work into looking good for her on their date, just so she could give her someone to show off. But she wasn't wrong, she wasn't the kind of girl who put a lot of work into her appearance. She was never a girly girl in the sense that she wanted to look good all the time. Not that she didn't care about how she looked, but it was never her top priority. But, for Rei, she might just change that.

"Well, it shows that you put the work in. You always seem to glow," Rayne said, giggling a bit at Rei's expression. She really was passionate sometimes.

And when she showed her the picture, Rayne had to hold in her laughter, but she wasn't doing so well. "Pfft... I just... pffft... I would never have pictured you with red hair... pffft..." She hoped that she didn't think that she was laughing at her, but seeing her with red hair was just so odd. She'd always known her with her lovely violet hair. Seeing her in any other color just felt so off.

Rayne gave a grin, resting her hand on her chin. "You're real name is Reiko, right? I love it." Rayne had heard her name in passing from Chizuru on one of the couple occasions all three of them had been together. But calling her anything but Rei felt off. When you get to know someone by a name, even if it was just a nickname, their real name never felt as natural to say.

"Juggling?! You need to show me! Tonight!" Rayne said excitedly. She felt like she was learning so much more about Rei tonight, and the more she learned, the more she fell in love with her.

"But, as long as we're admitting talents... I know sign language," Rayne admitted, smiling at yet another memory. "My grandfather had a very difficult time hearing, so it was much easier to learn sign language than yell so that he could hear me."

"Yeah I know... purple is so my color." Rei said grinning as she rubbed the back of her head. She giggled a little before blinking when Rayne wasn't shocked at all at the revelation of her name. She was going to tease Rayne about it but somehow she knew. She managed to stifle the urge to pout.

"H-how did y-you?- I mean of course you'd know my real name." Rei said trying to play off her befuddlement.

She was vastly impressed by Rayne's ability to use sign language.It suited Rayne just perfectly, she was such a kind and thoughtful soul. Rei honestly had no idea why or how she deserved such a beautiful woman as her girlfriend.

"That is really impressive!" Rei said eyes wide with a smile. "Sure, I'll do some juggling, I'd ask you to teach me some sign language but I'm not a very good at the learning. I wasn't a very bright student. I was a total jock through and through, though I'd never bully you."

Rei grinned like a kid who had just told the funniest joke. She would lean in towards Rayne making herself look as adorably pseudo-innocent as possible. She even had the gall to bat her eyelashes before saying.

"Right rookie?" She said nudging Rayne's foot as she looked at her with the smuggest smirk imaginable.

Rayne giggle when Rei blundered, trying to pretend that she already knew that she knew her full name. It was so cute, watching her fumble when she was flustered. It wasn't easy to fluster her at all, but when she managed it, Rei either played it off, of got embarrassed and blushed. It was one of Rayne's favorite things about her.

"I heard Chizuru call you that name, just once," Rayne quickly explained, trying to relieve her from trying to play it off. "I love it. I just don't think I could ever NOT call you Rei."

Hearing Rei say that she was a jock in school didn't surprise her. She was quite athletic, and she couldn't picture her in any other scenario that wasn't sports related. Which was the complete opposite of Rayne. Yeah, she was good at wrestling now, but before wrestling, she was basically just a book worm. The two of them shouldn't work, but they did.

Rayne grinned at Rei when she called her rookie again. It was basically her pet name for her at this point. She used it as a taunt when in the ring, but outside of the ring, she adored it. Though she'd never say that to her.

Rayne, with a smile, moved her hands with expert precision, using sign language to say "I might just bully you, sweetheart." She knew Rei wouldn't get it, but that only made it funnier.

Rei made a mental note to punish Chizuru after this was over but quickly discarded it. She wanted to pout at the chance of making Rayne become super flustered. Yet, her cheeky response to her teasing, made Rei feel like that was harder to do then when they first met. Rei narrowed her eyes at Rayne's use of sign language. She had no idea what she was saying but the look in Rayne's eyes made her guess at the nature of her message.

"Come now!" Rei said crossing her arms. "That isn't fair and you know it, nerd!"

She grinned tempted to pinch Rayne's cheek just to get back at her but Rayne looked so beautiful in that dress and they were at a fancy restaurant. She instead held Rayne's hands and giving into temptation kissed Rayne's fingers. She ran a thumb over Rayne's fingers gently brushing them as she saw the candlelight dance in Rayne's eyes. The trance was broken when the blonde waitress came by with their appetizer.

Renee gave both of them a scandalous look before setting down the plate. The appetizer looked simple but elegant. The
bruschetta was on toasted French bread, the smell of it alone made Rei hungry. t was dressed with bloody red heirloom tomatoes, a slice of fresh mozzarella and a sliced of zucchini. It had a basil garnish and a light drizzle in extra virgin olive oil.There was also maple bacon wrapped dates that were held together by a toothpick. After setting the plate down, Renee reached back and produced a cooking torch. The blonde woman artfully seared the top of the dish with a blue flame. It grilled the zucchini and melted the cheese just slightly.

Putting the torch aside, she would produce a bottle of expensive looking wine.

"Complimentary to your meal." She said pouring each of them a glass and setting the bottle down at the table. "It's customary that our restaurant gives out a bottle, it's our best selling ice wine from the Niagara region. I hope you two enjoy."

Renee took a few steps back giving a slight bow, pressing the silver platter close to her chest. She would then pull the cart with her, retreating back to the kitchen for second.

"Oh well, thank you." Rei said before looking down at the meal and then at Rayne. "W-well don't be shy. you dig in first but before that. Cheers?"

Rei held up her glass, not usually much of drinker but it was a cup of wine and it'd be a shame for it to go to waste. She had heard ice wine was notoriously difficult to make and how sweet it was on the tongue.