Author Topic: The First Step  (Read 31329 times)

Offline Haywire

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Re: The First Step
« Reply #45 on: December 01, 2015, 08:56:47 pm »
The waiter allowed his eyes to dart nervously between the small inventor that had trotted into the cafe and the pretty mare flipping her mane beside him. While relaxed a bit by Star's efforts, it wasn't easy to get someone to forget previous chaos caused by the owner of Tech Tock. Still, he couldn't argue with her, so with a deep breath he tried again.

Customers.

They're just... customers...

"Okay," the waiter cleared his throat and picked a couple of menus from a desk near the front of the building, the ruffling of Hay's mane causing the little green stallion to blink a few times as if being brought back to the present and out of his thoughts, "Table for two. This way, please. We have a wonderful little table available snuggled over here in the corner." Moments later he'd led them to the promised spot, the smaller table being in a cozy spot and snuggled between some of the nicer arrangements of decor on either wall. Hay wasted little time in scooching in and onto one of the pillows where he flashes the others a smile and checks on bubo whom was still resting like a statue on Star's shoulder.

"Here you are," the waiter said, setting the menus he'd brought down in front of either pony, "I'll give you a moment to look through what we have to offer and to fetch you both some water," seeing another pony at a different table trying to get his attention, he tried to excuse himself as politely as he could, pausing only to lean back in with another shade of nervous over a small cringe, "... and please... don't try to "fix" anything. Okay?" flashing a desperate smile, in stark contrast to Hay's un-phased upbeat one, he then made himself scarce before something blew up.

Once he was gone, Haywire picked up his menu and quickly squinted his eyes at the names of the dishes.

"I couldn't pronounce this last time either I think..." he said, Bubo waiting until there was a moment where he was certain no one was looking before hopping down off of Star's shoulder and onto the table so as to nestle down in a spot on the table where he'd be out of the way of the coming meal, "non...nongi-nongio'l a... epous...? I have no idea what that is, or what the ingredients are on here." It didn't help that the menu he was holding was upside down, Hay's inability to really read or pronounce the Prench dish names properly preventing him from being able to notice the difference.

"I'll probably just get a sandwich again." He predicted with a shrug.
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Offline Star Catcher

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Re: The First Step
« Reply #46 on: December 02, 2015, 07:58:18 am »
Star nodded amicably as the waiter came back to his senses and lead them over towards a table in the corner. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw the table they were being brough to: it was a cozy little niche, out of the way but still with a wonderful view of the rest of the restaurant. She wondered briefly if that was to keep Haywire in a little corner and away from everything else, but she shrugged that thought off--it was a nice little area, and she was going to appreciate it for as much.

She settled down onto one of the pillows beside Hay, leaving her with a wide open view of the restaurant in front of her as she relaxed, then smiled to the waiter as he handed them their menus. When he mentioned returning shortly with water, she quickly chimed in that she'd like some iced tea instead--before exhaling quietly as he asked Hay not to 'fix' anything. It wasn't worth causing a commotion over so she didn't say anything, but it did still frustrate her a little bit. Instead, she shook her head and watched him for a moment before looking over to Hay as he tried pronouncing one of the items on the menu.

That earned a slight giggle from her as she reached over, gently taking the menu from him before flipping it over so it was right-side up. "It doesn't matter if you can't say the names... You can just point to what you want, and they'll take it from there. And the descriptions under the names tell you what the item is, as long as you're reading the menu right side up, silly," she said, gently nudging him with an elbow before browsing the menu for just a brief moment.

"Oooh, Champignon Parmentier au Gratin," she said fluently once more, pointing to something on the menu that was apparently braised portobello mushrooms topped with mashed potatoes and Gruyere. "That's what I want. It sounds super yummy." She sat back after that, allowing Haywire a moment to browse himself before speaking up again. "Hay, you wanna play a game? Something called Two Truths and a Lie. It's where one person says two things about themselves that are the truth and one thing that's a lie, and the other ponies--or pony in this case, has to guess which one's the lie. Or... Something else if you can think of it? I just think that'd be a nice way to lift my mood, and pass the time."

Offline Haywire

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Re: The First Step
« Reply #47 on: December 05, 2015, 09:42:26 pm »
Hay blinked as Star took the menu from him, him voicing a small "ooooh" once it was given back and he was able to read... most of it at least. He still didn't understand what the names of the dishes were, but at least he could now get an idea of what was in them. At Star's nudge Hay ducked his head behind the menu a bit to hide a small blush of embarrassment and goofy smile over his little mistake, him listening to Star as she found what she wanted.

"Uh... Oh, Yeah, that does sound good," he said, looking between Star's menu and his own until he found what she had pointed at, "I think... I'll try that too!" He set the menu down before he could mispronounce something else and grinned as he imagined what the meal was going to taste like. Sounded more interesting than a sandwich that's for sure, and it certainly was different from what he usually would find in his workshops cupboards.

Hay perked up his ears as Star mentioned the idea of playing a game, this predictably being met with enthusiasm and approval as was evident from his smile and rapid nodding of his head. Being up for any game any time, Haywire was entirely down for the idea, though, as he listened to how the game was played, he started to wonder if he'd even be capable of participating. Haywire was a *terrible* liar, mostly due to how he never had a reason to nor ever really saw the worth in doing so, and as such he grew up a rather honest inventor which now sounded like it would be a pretty serious handicap as his poker face was rather non existent.

"hmm... Okay! Sounds fun!" he replied, deciding to give it a shot anyway regardless of his doomed chances. If there even were chances, This didn't sound like a "win or lose" kind of game anyway, so would be neat to try he figured.

"How about you go first, though? I might need a sec to think of something to say..."
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Offline Star Catcher

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Re: The First Step
« Reply #48 on: December 10, 2015, 07:38:20 am »
Star gave a pleasant smile to Hay as he agreed to the game and said it sounded fun to him. Leaning back, Star settled in and relaxed in her seat as much as she could. If she had to take guess, she'd say that Haywire was going to be a fairly easy guess as far as what he was lying about. Which was fine--the game wasn't about 'winning or losing', but more about socializing and getting to know the other pony or ponies. As long as a good time was had, possibly with laughs as well, and everypony learned something knew, then the game was a success. That meant, however, that she'd have to mix in some easy ones for him so he could have a better chance at guessing correctly.

"Let's see, I have two out of three..." Star hummed, gaze lifting towards the ceiling momentarily before she glanced to Haywire. "Okay, here goes. There's a song out there that was written about me, I had a very large plushie collection at one point in my life, and I used to cook for the princesses."

Offline Haywire

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Re: The First Step
« Reply #49 on: December 10, 2015, 09:14:02 am »
Haywire was visibly impressed as Star listed off things she may or may not have done, the smaller pony brimming with questions as he initially bought all three possibilities. Star mentioned she'd done a little of everything in the past, right? Well, to Hay and his gullibility everything she had just said, as predicted, sounded plausible. Opening his mouth to ask one of many questions about what princesses liked to eat and what genre the song about her was in, Hay stopped himself short upon remembering the whole point of the game.

One of these things was a lie. Hay scrunched his face up in a way that would have looked thoughtful on other ponies but just looked a little silly on him, him rolling the three possibilities around in his head and trying to figure out which sounded the least likely. Star seemed to know the fancy names for the restaurant's dishes pretty well, but if someone was already cooking for the princesses why would they stop? Having a plushie collection is something anyone could have had if they wanted, and Hay could totally buy someone writing a song about her... cause, well... uh...

He cleared his throat a bit and refocused, trying to figure which guess he wanted to go with.

"Um... I'm gonna say that you... *Didn't* have a plushie collection!" just as he was saying this their waiter returned, setting down a a glass of iced tea and another of water, though a bit more carefully with the water, as he then pulled out a notepad and gave the two a smile. From a couple of steps away from the table.

"Okay, so, what can we make for you today?" he asked, smiling to Star first, Haywire just speaking up with a quick "Ill have what she's having" so as to avoid the tongue gymnastics needed to pronounce the name again.
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