Flights of Fancy

Estelle had always suffered the same kind of judgment. It was something that went with her character. The Swiss had her warmth and honesty as her shield and armor, the first thing anyone could notice when getting to know her was that air of elegance to her manners and a caring demeanor. Always open to help anyone in need all while looking attentive and wonderful while doing so. It was because of that that people tended to attach some labels to her, like the one that she should have anyone she wanted, but truth was far from that. Estelle had loved one person until that moment, and after that she always felt some hidden inadequacy she suffered and struggled to get rid of.

And yet there she was, still confused about what would come to pass but hopeful and optimist for the first time. Listening to her inner voice and her heart
for the first time in god knows how long. She wasn't completely sure she was ready, but she was willing to give it a try. It was more than worthy. Yet Rosemary struggled with her nerves, but the moment their hands met and cupped each other her shaking relaxed a little. Their two gazes met and their hands shared tender caresses. Estelle found herself fluttering her eyes all while blushing at Rosemary's smile. Yes, a smile worth fighting for.

The British struggled with her words at first, but one could feel her attitude had shifted. Something in Estelle's behavior actually helped Rosemary compose herself and stop double thinking. Now it wasn't time to overthink but to feel and talk with an honest heart. Rosemary had realized that and looked more than willing to make up for her previous hesitance.

Again emerged that courteous side of Rosemary as the British reformulated their date from the very beginning, taking the reins and inviting her once more, swapping the memory of a text message for a wonderfully polite and charming invitation. When Rosemary took her hand and kissed it, Estelle giggled and looked away, trying to hide her blushing. The Swiss loved that gentlemanly side of her partner, finding it so sweet and caring. For an instant Estelle regretted having a table separating them, wanting to hold Rosemary on her arms, but she was resolved to give things time to properly develop. "I would be more than delighted to be your date tonight...", she said with a silly smile on her face, looking directly at her partner's blue eyes. The delicious broth smell added a final funny side to the scene.

Rosemary was lost in the moment, simply staring across the table and holding Estelle’s hands. The blush hadn’t left her cheek though, bright and rosy as they were. It was no longer because of her embarrassment. She felt lighter now, like a burden had been lifted after the her date reassured her of everything. Part of her worried that she might be overstepping a bit as she let her thumb idly brush over the top of the other girl’s hand, just admiring how soft it was, but Estelle didn't seem to mind at all.

“You really are something else.” The Sky Captain remarked wistfully, reluctantly surrendering the other woman’s hands. They had a full bowl of wonderful foot set before them and a distant cook eyeing to see why they hadn’t started eating. Best to not make them worry. She Briton slipped her chopsticks from the packaging, giving them a firm tug to split them in two. Without issue she held them in perfect position, idly starting to stir the contents in her bowl together, looking across the way just to make sure Estelle seemed as comfortable with chopsticks as she did.

“Its regrettable we decided on having dinner instead of lunch. It would have been nice to go for a long stroll or a hike someplace with you. A bit too late to do that in the dark now though.” She gave her chopsticks a light tap on the bowl, shooting Estelle a sly look. “Unless that was by design, wanting to go for dinner so you could cut and run if things went poorly. Tricky little ninja.”

The brunette dragged her chopsticks through the broth, dipping her head as she brought them back up with a long trail of noodles. She slipped them between her lips, slurping them up, blushing if she caught Estelle watching her eat. There wasn’t really a dignified way to eat noodles.

Estelle smiled across the table at Rosemary as the women cupped their hands with each other. It had been the first openly caring gesture they had shared since their date started, not playful smirks or teasing words like before, but a true honest loving gesture. The way Rosemary caressed her hand with her thumb was so tender and Estelle didn’t want it to end, but they needed to start showing some respect to the cook that made that delicious smelling broth.

Going back to their meal Estelle separated her chopsticks. If the Swiss was struggling with Japanese learning and mostly with its writing, the chopsticks issue was an aspect of Japanese culture she learned quite quickly. With precision motions she mixed the ingredients in her broth. She dag in, making her first taste of the noodles and the mushrooms. It tasted just wonderfully. The place was quiet and they had some privacy and the food was just that good. Estelle repressed her enthusiasm, a little bit embarrassed of being so excited about some food. What would Rosemary think of her?

Speaking of Rosemary, when the woman remarked how shameful it was that they couldn’t share some more time together to go hiking Estelle giggled. “Well, you could see it as regrettable or you could see it as a chance to meet another day for that hiking. I will check online for some routes we could make… In the end if you allow me I will get you into the hiking kind of tourism!” Then Estelle had to laugh at the now recurrent joke of her being a ninja. The Swiss went back to her noodles, reflecting on how embarrassing it should be for both of them, not existing an elegant way of eating that kind of food. The situation was funny though, she felt comfortable enough around Rosemary to forget about embarrassment.

Rosemary really wanted to speak, but even with her simple upbringing she knew better to speak with her mouth full… and it was very full. She might have overestimated out much she could fit in there, almost like a hamster squirreling away food in her puffed cheeks. She took her time, working through it little by little until she had finally swallowed it all. She cleared her throat, circling her chopsticks through the broth idly. "A proposition then, if I may be so bold." She slipped the sticks from her bowl, popping a mushroom into her mouth. She ducked them clean, wagging them in the air in Estelle's direction.

"A second date, if by the end of this one you feel so inclined to honor me with your presence. But…" she gave her chopsticks a small jab in the air, pointing them again at the other woman. "I leave it to you, to surprise me with what we do. Just give me a time, a place, and what if anything I need to bring. I hope you find my terms agreeable?" The brunette canted her head to the side, flashing the Swiss woman a sweet smile.

"You don't need to give me an answer yet of course. Just know, you might just break my heart if you don't agree." A small bag of her eyes and a pout. She suddenly seemed to be rather playful…

"That's my con man training at work, by the way."  As a means in which to explain herself, giving Estelle a wink. She had nothing else to say for the moment, letting the question linger as the both of them ate. Rosemary was very particular with her noodles, gathering them up and making sure they had just the right amount of other things gathered with the noodles. She was sure to get a little bit of everything.

Estelle basked on the taste of her bowl of noodles, letting the flavors mix inside her mouth. The food was really well made, all the ingredients perfectly balanced, giving a perfect taste and texture. The Swiss was surprised about her enjoying noodles that much, but she wasn’t the only one. Estelle almost bursts into laughter when she saw Rosemary looking like a hamster, but her own full mouth prevented that from doing it, that and the respect she was feeling for her. It was a detail she found cute though.

Then Estelle noticed another shift in Rosemary’s behavior. At first the woman had been appalled, then Estelle came to the rescue and reassured her confidence. The result was more than satisfactory for Estelle, since her partner was now much more talkative and full of confidence, even to the point of taking the reins with some teasing and playful flirting. But the most important thing Rosemary did was taking Estelle suggestion and giving it form, getting the ball on Estelle’s roof now. Rosemary had the noodles idea when Estelle told her about meeting, now the tables were turned as it was Rosemary the one asking for a new date while letting Estelle be the one organizing it.

Estelle smiled at how much more resolved Rosemary looked now, it was a sweet and cute demeanor, mixed with that gentlemanly approach Estelle just loved. “No need to pout, dear. I would be more than happy to have another date. And leave to me the organization, now I only have to think of some perfect plan you could like…” Estelle giggled before going back to her noodles.

"I am interested to see what you come up with. Thankfully I am easy to please." Which wasn't entirely true. For someone whose primary goal in the ring was to l so off of high things on people, Rosemary wasn't as nearly as adventure done as her persona as the Sky Captain may have suggested. She played much of her life incredibly safe, taking very few risks. Her diet, her schedule, just about everything was planned out and organized to try and be as efficient as possible. Estelle had been a wrench in all that. A distraction from the routine that dominated Rosemary's life. It split her time and her focus… which was okay. She was finding out that something new and not entirely sure wasn't a bad thing.

While she mostly focused on setting, the young girl would speak up from time to take to keep a conversation rolling, trying to be as fun as she could muster. She liked seeing Estelle smile and derived a great deal of pride from when her small humor landed well enough to earn a giggle. The topics weren't terrible important, small things like recent books they may have been reading ("When the Whales Leave" for Rosemary), or thoughts on musicals (She loved them). Just things that helped paint a better picture of one another.

Once her bo l was mostly emptied, she raised the bowl to her lips, willing down the last bit of broth. With a gentle clatter and a content with, Rosemary sat victorious over her smother bowl after finishing the whole thing. For a small girl she had packed the contents of the bowl away rather easily. "So… how was it?"

“Oh, don’t say that Rosemary!” The Swiss dismissed her friend’s trail of thought since she wasn’t happy with the British underselling her as an easy to please woman. Estelle was a woman who in all her years had developed simple tastes. She may look more complicated and even superficial given her looks and her air of elegance, but she found excitement in the simplest of plans: a hike through the woods, some good workout session or a nice book by the sunset. People tended to judge her by her appearance and her looks, but for someone willing to look closer she had several surprises.

And the conversation was just giving Estelle the chance to show that side of hers to Rosemary. What it could look like small talk was a golden opportunity to open to each other. Not many people could suspect looking at Estelle that her favorite book was Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or that she was into Poe’s poems so much. On one side she loved Romanticism as a movement and also opera plays (of course, as someone who is fluent in Italian and German, how could she not?) All those questions and topics helped the both of them checking squares and filling the blanks in the mystery that her partner was.

Before Estelle could even realize, both of them were done with their bowls of soup. It was deliciously cooked food and she had enjoyed it maybe too much. “Oh, it was wonderful. I indulged too much, now I’m completely full. I may need some walk to recover from such a plentiful meal...”

As both girls spoke, Rosemary was an attentive listener, polite as one likely was to expect from their previous interactions. With everything out in the open now though, she seemed less guarded, instead of trading information back and forth between them she would interject with her own anecdotes and experiences, thoroughly engrossed in the conversation. Expressive with brandishing gestures of her chopsticks and factual expressions, much of her prim demeanor was lost in a moment of story weaving. She painted the picture of a far younger Rosemary scared straight from speaking ill of anyone out of sheer terror due to Poe's work "The Cask of Amontillado". It had been something that she had outgrown in some ways and stayed with her in others, which she wouldn't openly admit. There was something about being forgotten and alone for so long that was an easy trigger for her own sadness.

When both girls had finished, Rosemary made sure to cover the cost of the meal. For the portions they had been given it seemed almost a steal with how little yen she put down for the elderly man who came to collect the bowls along with the check. Not especially popular in AFW circles, she had been the lesser signing between Scarlet and herself, something reflected in their paychecks. It never really bothered her though. Balancing books and making her money count was something she was always good at and it helped to instill a certain level of respect to be had from good craftsmanship well worth every coin. Once everything was in order, the brunette stood up and collected her topcoat to drape over a forearm, opting to keep it off for now.

"A walk is a splendid idea." Taking long strides she swept around the table, trying to beat Estelle to the task of rising to her feet to help slide her chair out and offer her a free arm, harkening back to her gentlemanly ways. She met the other woman's  gaze with a bright smile and flushed cheeks, clearly putting herself out there with an effort despite her own shyness. "I would be honored to see you home safely, if you could see it in your heart to trust someone such as I… who is in no way a con woman." Her slender brown eyebrows rose and fell cheekily adding a bit of levity to the moment.

Estelle sighed while she looked at the now empty dishes, a visual and very aparent metaphor of a precious dinner that had come and go. It wasn’t like that only in the most literal of meanings, just the opposite: no matter how impressed the Swiss was with the food quality of that little corner of the city, what had delighted Estelle the most was the company. From her conversation to those gentlemanly manners she had, Rosemary piqued her interest. She wanted to know her more, see her more and get to spend more time, and it became aparent with how quick the dinner passed for her.

Before the Swiss could even make a grimace or protest, her British counterpart paid for the dinner with a gesture that accepted no retort. Estelle pouted at her because of how unexpected this was and took mind notes to make up for that. They were ready to go for a nice walk when Rosemary showcased those wonderful manners that had Estelle captivated when she retreated her chair so she could stand up and then offered her arm so both would be the closest they had been in all night. Even through all her well-mannered demeanor, Estelle could notice Rosemary’s cheeks blushing and the woman making an effort to overcome some shyness, making a new joke about her con woman status. It was as if the Swiss could see her struggle and even that made her more captivating.

“Well, know that I can see through you now Rosemary, and I see no con woman inside you. I would be glad to have you just for some more time...”, she said in a low tone before wrapping her arm around her partner and starting leading the way towards the restaurant’s exit, not before showing the patron some respect for the high quality dinner they had.

Slipping her hat back on, she opted to leave her jacket off for now as the two left the restaurant. It was hard to keep from blushing again when the Swiss girl remarked about wanting to have more time with her. Flattery was a weakness of hers and it felt good to play the part of a princely figure so it was no-brainer for her to make the offer to walk Estelle home. Arm in arm she walked in even stride with the other brunette, standing a bit straighter to keep herself presentable and proud. Any looks they received didn't really bother her, mostly because she was far too focused on keeping up a good impression. Occasionally she would take a small glance over, just a tiny peek, to check on Estelle's reaction to all of this before facing forward again to not be caught staring.

"This was a nice change of pace for me." She had been walking quietly for quite some time, happy to just be in the other girl's company but when she had the realization rather than keep it to herself, she let it slip out. "I am normally not this spontaneous… so thank you for coaxing me out tonight." Her eyes drifted up to the neon lights of the city overhead, the stars nowhere to be seen in the dark skyline of the city. The streets were still busy, hardly reflecting the hour which was growing late. She had a small thought that she should have considered her train times before walking Estelle home… but dismissed it. That was who she normally was. Tonight she was a fun date, not some stuffy worry wort. "I wanted to get you flowers, but wasn't sure if our date was a date at that point… next time maybe? Do… do you like flowers? I know some are opposed to bouquets and the like because they cut the stems and…" She trained off softly.