Jul 15 21:39:13 <Knave>	 The Twin-Tailed Fox and the Iron Hound. Callum had grumbled on the way in about having gotten the name basically right, and that meaningful the full name may be, practically speaking, people were going to shorten it. He had whisked Cass to the privacy of a booth, wondering idly if he looked old enough to be served, and cleared his throat to say, "So, hypothetically speaking, if your opinion mattered - which it doesn't, obviously, because I'm in charge - but if it did, what would you think of this place?" Nervous smile, which only Cass and his ma would be able to see the nerves in.
Jul 15 21:44:51 <Antichthon>	"The Twin-tailed Fox and the Iron Hound," Cass said, sliding into the booth with the help of Hex, leaving her chair to the side. "Sounds like something from Sonic The Hedgehog as written by William Gibson." Cass was so tiny she would barely peek over the table, but Hex made for a good badass booster seat. At Cal's question Cass rolled her eyes and snorted a laugh. "You're really digging, arentcha bud? ...Relax, Cal. No matter where you take me, if I feel like I don't have a choice, I'm going to love it."
Jul 15 21:54:12 <Knave>	Callum gave his usual puzzled-frustrated look at Cass' uniqueness, then a grin of realization flashed, and he pointed at her, "I just figured out how to describe a part of you I couldn't put into words before." He says proudly, "You are fundamentally un-American." He grins absently over this revelation, evidently feeling quite the wordsmith as he takes up a menu.
Jul 15 21:58:09 <Antichthon>	"Whaaaat? Me? Un-American?" Cass gave a cheeky grin. "Are you saying I don't love guns enough? ...Is this because I don't have a gun-shaped dildo like a good American girl?" She nodded at the menu. "Order for me please, master~."
Jul 15 22:00:08 <Antichthon>	"Also, not to be spoilsport, but I think the accent gives me away before the gun-dildolessness."
Jul 15 22:01:42 <Knave>	"I don't just mean you're not from here. You don't think like an American." Callum smiles at his boygirlfriend, eyeing the menu, full of what neither of them would call 'stick-to-your-ribs food' because neither of them were British. "How hungry are you feeling?" He puts his eyes back to her, grin sly, "You're only a little thing, I wouldn't want to fill you up just yet."
Jul 15 22:07:42 <Antichthon>	"Yep," Cass' grin widened. "Got to leave room for dessert~. ...Though I'd be lying if one of my fantasies wasn't you forcing me to eat way more than I can handle, but. Best not to do that in public." Wink. "And, eh. You might as well share whatever you order. If you order me something you'll be eating most of it anyway."
Jul 15 22:14:49 <Knave>	After some small deliberation, Callum decided to go with a meat pie - no point coming to a British-style pub and not trying British-style food, even if it did involve something unappetizingly named 'mushy peas'. "Out of my own, possibly ill-advised curiosity, is there anything I could do to you - or make you do - that you /wouldn't/ find just delightful?" He asks, sipping coke from a glass bottle, then resting his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm. The way he looks, he might have been ripped right out of an ad from the 1950s.
Jul 15 22:19:29 <Antichthon>	"Eh," Cass shrugged. "Amputation might be going a little too far, and it'd be a hell of a thing to explain to my parents if I survive it. Short of that, go nuts. Break a few bones, make me fear for my life, I can handle it." More Cassgrins. "In other news, the KCCC project is coming along great, if you're wondering. Oooh, gimme." She made grabby hands at the coke bottle.
Jul 15 22:27:42 <Knave>	He takes another sip, the kind moviestars take, then offers the bottle across the table. "Good to hear. Do we have all of our kitty-cats, or does some prey yet elude the intelligent hunter?" He smirks, eyes still stuck on Cass and sparkling with admiration.
Jul 15 22:31:24 <Antichthon>	The bottle looked stupidly large in Cass' hands, and she had to use both to lift the heavy thing. She took a swig, made a little mess of it, wiped her mouth and nudged the bottle back. "Mmm! Actually the Kittens are the last thing I need to deal with, everything else is squared away. I have four slots to fill, but one will probably be taken by that 'droid I'm making. Catbots, a great fetish in its own right."
Jul 15 22:39:59 <Knave>	Callum slides the bottle effortlessly the rest of the way across the table, fiddling with it thoughtlessly, running a finger up and down its neck or around the lip. "Well, who wouldn't be enchanted by the idea of a one of you of their very own." He chuckles, "Hope nobody gets any ideas. I don't think you've had the pleasure of seeing me really jealous."
Jul 15 22:44:47 <Antichthon>	"Oh, the bot has my face, but that's it. I know you love me for my body~." Something that warmed Cass to the heart, because very few people would be into frail and tiny and sick. Frail and tiny, sure, but the sick part is what would normally turn people off. Callum seemd to //prefer// her pale. "Surprise! Changing the subject again. Next week I'm going in for an appointment to get my chemicals rebalanced." She gestured to her metallic shoulder. "It'll affect my mood and I'll be off the aphro while I acclimate because I'm not a //complete// idiot. So, probably no sex next week. Sorry." Theatrical frown. "At least it'll give you time to build up a huge load for me."
Jul 15 22:48:51 <Knave>	Apparently without him even really noticing, the hand slides from the coke bottle to Cass' hand, tracing the same lines and circles on the back of her palm and the crook of her thumb. "I think I can go a whole week. I may end up filling you a bottle," He smiles, colour rising to his cheeks as he hushes his tone about such subjects, "But I'll get by. And I'm here for you, if you want me for... anything." He shrugs, "Whatever you need. I'm your man."
Jul 15 22:51:39 <Antichthon>	Cass always got a particular way-too-interested look in her eye when Callum talked dirty to her, especially when it involved large quantities of his "milk." She sandwiched his hand between hers. "I know, dude. Never doubted it." Cass just smiled and enjoyed his eyes for a minute.
Jul 15 22:59:31 <Knave>	Callum returns the smile, then glances down at the table, his finger's still tracing her arm, "Is it bad that I just like saying it? I think I read once that if you say you'll do something, it makes you feel like you've already done it. You get the good feeling without any effort." He pulls his eyes back to her, "Sorry, I'm being... Sorry." At this point the pie arrives, smelling of nothing so much as warmth and carbs. Callum nods thanks to the server, picks up a chip - no mere french fry, but a real chip the width of a finger - and offers it to Cass.
Jul 15 23:13:56 <Antichthon>	"Oh, bullshit. You say you'll do something, you also feel like you have the duty to do it. For someone like you that's going to be a much stronger force. Nom." And yes, she actually did say "nom" before taking a big bite out of the chip. "Always loved 'ese more'n fries," she said, mouth full. She swallowed. "They're just better."
Jul 15 23:19:04 <Knave>	He brightens up, throwing the rest of the chip into his mouth and, as a rare treat, answering with his mouth full, "I already knew you were of the opinion that bigger's better." He swallows and takes up a fork, getting a reserved little forkful of pie that looks tiny when he puts into his mouth, "Huh," He says as he chews, before swallowing, "Not bad." He cuts off another little forkful, and offers it across the table, "Here."
Jul 15 23:21:51 <Antichthon>	"Heheheh, I set you up." And Cass looked delighted about it. Nom. "I'm running out of things to talk about. Fuck, I must be getting boring." She grew thoughtful. "At least the school isn't shafting us as much as it used to."
Jul 15 23:27:25 <Knave>	"When Cass Walker-Handal has gotten boring," Callum pontificates, "I think the whole world will die of boredom." He risks a forkful of the green, shapeless mound that was presumably once peas, "But we do spend a lot of time together. It's only natural some days we've already said everything." From his face, he finds the mushy peas more confusing than anything else. "But yeah, it is nice that not everything at school is awful, even if people are still talking about me."
Jul 15 23:29:39 <Antichthon>	Cass made a face. "Meh. Fuck 'em." Cass rested her head in her hands and kicked her feet, looking rather adorable. "You'll be happy to know I haven't summoned any more demons lately. Though I did have a bitching get-wasted party not too long ago. You should have gotten the invite."
Jul 15 23:33:54 <Knave>	He points accusingly at her with his fork, and puts on an angry face that Cass won't buy for a second. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that." He carves out another chunk of pie, "That poor little Elspeth girl looked like she'd looked death in the face." He chomps on the pie, but even in all his ire he can't really sound any more than playfully angry at her, "I think you forget that not all little girls can flush their systems when they're done partying."
Jul 15 23:38:43 <Antichthon>	Cass put on a repentant look that Callum equally wouldn't buy for a second. "Oh. Oh woe, is me. I'm so terribly sorry." She dropped the act and went back to grinning. "But hell, no one forced her to do anything. Best she learn the consequences of her actions then, while she's safe. Well. Safe-ish."
Jul 15 23:40:54 <Knave>	"Well, I suppose you're right." He acquiesces with a faint smirk, "She certainly learned that she has limits and not to push them. She'll not do that again in a hurry." He scoops up a forkful of the peas and presents them to Cass. The mildest of punishments. "Here."
Jul 15 23:43:58 <Antichthon>	Oh no, peas. What a cruel and unusual punishment. Cass gobbled them up. "Oh, hey, one thing I wanted to talk about." She leaned back, looking sly. "When am I going to meet your famous parents?"
Jul 15 23:49:31 <Knave>	Callum's smiling face briefly scans Cass', to assess if she's joking, then Callum straightens in his seat while he thinks about it, his own smile inscrutable. "Well, I guess that's kind of up to you." He stabs a chip, then gestures at her with it as he recovers, "Or it /would/ be, but obviously I'm in charge, so." He bites the chip from the fork, "I don't know. Truth be told I could crash through their wall in the middle of the night with you in my arms and they'd be delighted to see the both of us."
Jul 15 23:53:49 <Antichthon>	"Truth be told? I'm hella nervous about it." Cass looked down. "Your parents sound reasonable and open-minded, but...hell, I think I'd be a bit of a culture shock to them. And I swear like fucking, all the time. And...still afraid they won't like me."
Jul 15 23:58:59 <Knave>	Callum mulls this over with a mouthful of pie for a few seconds, then points with his fork, "I ever tell you the story about the freak alien baby, that fell through a couple's barn and left a dent in the floor? And how the couple decided that what they ought to do is raise the baby like a son, teach it right from wrong and how to tie his shoes?" He drops the heavy-handed approach for an honest, warm smile, "Cass, they'll love you. They'll see everything in you that I see." His eyes flit up and down over Cass, "Okay, maybe not everything, but everything that's fit for parents to know about."
Jul 16 00:06:36 <Antichthon>	"I'm not exactly a cute little baby," Cass said. "On the contrary, I'm the one who might very well take their cute little baby away from them. But, I mean, you're the one who knows them. And I can stop swearing for a couple fucking days, I guess." She took a deep breath. "Still a bit scared. ...More than a bit scared. Pretty scared. Rather scared. ...pretty damn scared."
Jul 16 00:06:56 <Antichthon>	"And since I brought it up you can't surprise me with it so hah, I win."
Jul 16 00:11:55 <Knave>	"I guess you do. Just like always." Callum smiles with the contentment of one who knows that even if they don't win, they certainly never lose. "But really, sugar, you've got nothing to be scared of. Even if my parents didn't like you, what're they gonna do?" He puts the fork down, reaches out a hand and cups hers in his, "I'll be there with you. And I'm yours and you're mine, no matter what anyone says."
Jul 16 00:14:08 <Antichthon>	Cass gave a ghost of a smile, then snorted. "Wow. You know I'm out of things to talk about when //I// bring up meeting your parents just so I can be scared of it. I'm weird as shit." She squeezed his hand. "Thanks, though. It was something that was on my mind."
Jul 16 00:16:48 <Knave>	"No problem." His smile, heck, his whole smiling face shines for a second, then after a beat he glances from Cass to the plate of food, "Listen, I am about to tear the fuck through this pie. I say this both because it's not going to be pretty and because if you want more now is the time to speak up."
Jul 16 00:20:57 <Antichthon>	"Nah, have at it, dude." She gave a thumb's up. "And thanks again for a kick-ass Valentine's Day."
Jul 16 00:24:53 <Knave>	"Thank /you/." He smiles then looks down, picking up his fork, "But really, you might want to look away."
Jul 16 00:25:20 <Antichthon>	-Scene They Had Lots of Sex Afterwards-