Danuki pt 17: Sleep deprived edition

  Standing outside the complex, the sun beating down on us, Tsubaki and I realized we hadn't decided on where to go for lunch. Digging through my pockets I managed to find my phone, hoping to locate a nearby nice restaurant to go to. Flipping through the various nearby places, and with a bit of arguing, we managed to pick a small Italian restaurant not far from the movie theater. We had opted to walk, the theatre was only 20 minutes away on foot, with the restaurant being even closer. Walking along I scanned the city skyline, feeling slightly depressed as I recalled country side I had grown up in.

"Is something wrong Anon?" Tsubaki asked, looking at me with some concern. "You've been looking up at the sky for awhile now."
I blinked, my train of thought derailed. "Nothin' really, just got lost in thought is all." I said
Tsubaki squeezed my hand, the concerned look in her face still."If something is wrong honey, please tell me." she said.
"Nope, just lost in thought is all." I said, squeezing back. "I happens to me a lot, one thought strings into the next one, and that one into the next one till I get lost in thought and forget what I was trying to remember."

  Tsubaki and I continued to make small talk on our walk through the city, our topics ranging from weather to how mamamo with non-standard lower halves did things like taking the bus or even driving themselves. The journey itself was uneventful, aside from having to scoot out of the way of the occasional person or mamamo who hadn't been watching where they were going. Eventually we came to the restaurant, a large sign with green gilded letters read 'Vineyard' hung above the front of the building.  Peeking through the large tinted windows along the front of the building, I could make out the inside was fairly populated with waitresses bustling to and from the various tables.  Stepping inside, the cool air conditioned interior was a contrast to the muggy hot weather outside, we were greeted by the hostess, a young weresheep. her white wool stood out in contrast to her chocolate skin that showed, her emerald green eyes attentive.

"Welcome to Vineyard, I'm Annie, seating for two I take it?" Annie said with a smile, from behind the counter.
At the time I was utterly lost in surveying the restaurant, Annie's words only barely registering. "Huh? Uh...Yeah, seating for two, please." I said, half aware.
Annie picked up two menus in her arms, "we actually have a booth open, this way please." She said, motioning us to follow her.

  As we followed our hostess to our table, I looked around more, the rustic interior of the building called to mind pictures of cottages and other small houses that one would normally find in books or photos. Passing by some of the booths I noticed the occupants were a mix of human and mamamo, even spotting a man and a wererabbit couple with three daughters, all three seemed to be happily enjoying plates of spaghetti, their faces in various states of cleanliness from the pasta sauce. Eventually we arrived at a booth that sat against what I assumed to be the side of the building. Sitting down, Annie handed us our menus, telling us a waitress would be here shortly before she left us. Picking up the menu I found myself looking it over, mentally telling myself to not get the shrimp scampi, as part of some age old rule of never ordering messy or smelly food on the first date.

"You decide what you're getting Anon?" Tsubaki asked from behind my menu.
"Probably gonna just get the steak." I said plainly, putting down my Menu to look at Tsubaki. "You?"
"I don't know yet," Tsubaki said, "I've never really had Italian."
"Really?"
Tsubaki nodded, placing her menu down. "I typically had traditional Japanese dinners to impress clientle," she said.
"Well first time for everything I guess," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  Not long after sitting down, our waitress, a saytros named Leena, came and took our orders. After placing them, she took our menus and hurried off, her hooves making a typical 'clip-clop' noise upon the hard floor as she left.  While we waited we talked about our lives before having met, learning in the process that Tsubaki came from a wealthy merchant family, and with Tsubaki learning I grew up in the country side with a strong distaste for the crowded city. A small amount of time into the conversation, our waitress returned with our lunch. Between each mouthful we continued, agreeing that despite everything we had been thankful to meet one another. Declining desert, I paid the bill on the way out.