Luck and Chance (Neva)

[Teo]

Oh spirits just strike him down now. Neva hadn’t said anything to him and he watched as she sat there and just smiled, she was probably wondering what she had just gotten herself into and Teo really didn’t know what he come over him. Maybe it was the liquid courage he had been drinking, after all, she had made it strong to help him with his other problem. Maybe he was just feeling brave since he had come here tonight with a plan to go and gamble his lifesavings away in a illegal Triad casino and was still running off that high.

Who knows but Teo was sure he had probably just over stayed his welcome with this girl.

Or…maybe not.

“I think I would like that very much,”

”Really?” Teo asked, doing his best to hide his surprise

“I have about an hour left of this shift if you don’t mind waiting.”

”I don’t mind” He didn’t have any other plans and a hour would give him more than enough time to let that liquor settle and work its way through his head ”I’ll let you know if I need anything but I’ll be fine.” Teo told her as she headed back to work. He would need some water in a bit but he could get that himself. After Neva left he slid out of his seat and walked back over to the bar and asked for some water and once he had it he brought the glass back to his table and sat down to wait.

[Neva]

The hour passed by rather quickly for Neva. Once she got back into her working mindset she took off, falling back into the groove easily. Every once in awhile she’d glance over her shoulder to make sure Teo was alright, and when she was certain he was situated she’d continue on her way. The rest of her shift was a blur of serving and aimless chatter, with a few laughs in between. It was starting to get later and the evening crowd was beginning to filter in, but she wasn’t working late tonight, so she wouldn’t be experiencing that for a change.

When her shift finally ended she made her way back over to Teo, weaving through a few small groups of people until she reached the table, and flashed a smile, “Ready?”

When she had her answer she headed towards the doors, expertly moving around the crowds as they started to fill the club. As a larger group pushed through the entrance, Neva linked her arm through Teo’s and pulled them through, ducking as she did so until they were outside and met the dimming light of the evening. Once they were free of the crowds she let go and started down the street, looking to him, “So, where are we headed? Have anywhere in mind?”

[Teo]

During his wait Teo had closed out his tab and sipped on the water to help get the liquor out of his system. The last thing he needed was to make a fool of himself, he didn't need any help doing that and he was pretty sure he had already done a good enough job of that already. As he sat there Teo kept going over how the night played out and honestly..he had no idea how it ended up the way it had. He had come here with every intention of potentially gambling away his life savings and now he was waiting on a girl he had just met to go to dinner...

How did that even happen?

The hour came and went and before he knew it Neva was coming back and asking if he was ready. "Yep" he said simply as he slipped out of the booth and followed her toward the front door of the club. Seeing the crowd that was trying to push their way through Teo was ready for that fight but it seemed like Neva knew how to navigate this sort of thing and as she linked arms with him he let her lead the way, figuring she had to deal with this nightly so she knew better how to handle it. Once outside and she let go of his arm Teo followed down the sidewalk and thought about it for a moment. He didn't actually have a plan but now it seemed he needed one. "Well...what do you like?" He asked, figuring they would start there first " I know a few places we could go it just depends." Most of the resturants he knew were small, hole in the wall places but they had good food and were a little off the beaten path and not widely known so there wouldn't be much of a crowd at any of them.

[Neva]

“I like pretty much anything,” Neva answered. One of the reasons she loved Republic City was the blend of cultures. It had exposed her to so many different types of food that she had trouble choosing a favorite nowadays. She was still partial to the dishes of the Water Tribe, since it had been what she'd grown up eating. But Neva enjoyed trying new things and expanding her likes.

Though she supposed that didn't help to narrow anything down. At this rate they'd be debating for quite some time. She thought for a moment, humming, and then said, “Though, I'm not a big fan of spicy foods. That's one thing that's not my usual pick.”

[Teo]

Her first answer didn't really narrow things down at all and Teo tried to recall the area to see if he knew anything close by that they could try but unfortunately he didn't spend much time in this district. But, with such a lively area they were sure to come across a dozen or so restaurants on their way.

Neva spoke again and Teo turned his head so he could see her as she spoke. Ok, so no spicy foods so that left out pretty much anything Firenation related which narrowed things down a bit. "I think I can work with that." He stopped once they reached a cross walk and waited for the cars to pass. Now that they were stopped Teo took a mment to look around them, they weren't far from the trains which was good because everywhere he knew to take her was back on his side of town. "Well, if you don't mind taking the train I know a small earthkingdom restaurant that serves great food." Teo was also painfully aware that he was a complete stranger to her and that she might not be comfortable traveling around the city with him "or, we can find somewhere here. I hear good things about this district and its restaurants.'

[Neva]

Should she have been more concerned about walking around with a stranger? Most likely, yes. Neva wasn’t that naive to the streets; she knew the dangers and what she should avoid doing at all costs. But she didn’t feel like she was in any real trouble with Teo, and after their conversation she at least had a small idea of the type of person he was. She didn’t think that going with him would lead to anything disastrous. Besides, if she really needed to defend herself she felt she was capable of doing so.

She did love adventure, after all, and this was certainly filling that interest.

So instead of being concerned she just smiled, hands behind her back, “Wherever you have in mind sounds great. Lead the way. It’s been a while since I’ve been in another part of town.”

[Teo]

"Alright" Teo said as he started heading toward the train station. If they hurried they could get there before the place filled up. It was never very busy but with it being such a small restaurant if you didn't get there to get a table you could be waiting for a while. On the way to the station Teo made small talk and when they reached his district he once again lead the way, keeping up conversation to get to Neva a little beter.

When they reached the resturnat Teo held the door open and followed behind Neva only to see that the place had filled up and a few other couples waiting for a table to open up. "Wow, guess word really got out about this place." Teo said while bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck with a sigh "sorry about that.." while waiting wouldn't be horrible it could be a while and he didn't want to keep her forever. Looking around Teo tried to think of a different place they could try when a idea hit him. "We could get it to go, theres a park not too far from here?" Not quite what he had in mind when they first set off but he had talked the placed up on the way here and made her come all this way so at least they could still enjoy some dinner even if it wasn't in the actual resturant.

[Neva]

As they made their way to the restaurant Neva used the time to talk, always enjoying filling the silence. Teo was nice to talk to, and seemed to have an interesting response to anything she said. It made conversation easy, even though they weren’t talking about topics too in depth it let her get to know who she had just met. And Neva was always up to getting to know people.

When Neva walked through the door she raised her eyebrows in surprise at how full the place was. For a little place, it sure had a lot of business. As Teo apologized she shook her head quickly, “No, no, it’s alright. That just means you were right that it’s a great place. Proves your point.”

At his suggestion she smiled, “That sounds like a great idea. You have to tell me what the best thing on the menu is, though. Or at least your favorite.”

[Teo]

Teo smiled, this was going better than he would have thought. Actually, he expected her to blow him off at any minute but Neva was still here for some reason. He wasn’t complaining, he enjoyed her company and she had saved him from making probably one of the biggest mistakes of his life so he at least owed her for that. At her question about what he thought was the best thing on the menu Teo thought a moment. He really hadn’t ventured too far in that department, he had what he liked and it was his usual order every time he came here.

”Well, I always get the pan fired noodles and crab puffs.” He realized how boring that sounded ’but, I usually stick with what I know I like instead of venturing out too far. From what I understand though you can’t go wrong with anything.” Teo plucked a menu from the hostess stand and handed it to Neva so she could look if she wanted.

[Neva]

Neva took the menu and looked it over, scanning the options. They all sounded good and considering the business this place had, she didn't doubt that everything they offered met the mark. She was the type of person always willing to broaden her horizons, and with food especially. After glancing everything over she nodded and then placed the menu back in the stand, "I think I'll take your recommendation. It's new to me and I trust your opinion."

She smiled and then turned and went up to order for the both of them. After putting it in and getting a wait time, which was much shorter than she expected, she made her way back over. "Shouldn't take that long, surprisingly. We'll have to wait it out a little longer though."

[Teo]

Teo let her go order for them and he stood back out of the way to allow others to get by him no problem. When Neva came back with how long their food would be Teo nodded, that wasn't too bad considering how busy it was but now they had to fill that gap with something. "So, you like being the city so far?" He had asked her a little about herself on the way here but since they had time to kill he figured it wouldn't hurt to learn a little more.

(I honestly can't remember if they did this already >.< hopefully not lol)

[Neva]

"I love the city," Neva said, enthusiastic about the topic. She'd come back to it for many reasons, but one of them was how it had captivated her on her first visit. Maybe it was because of where she'd grown up and how being in one cultural place separated her from so many other parts of the world. "I miss home sometimes but Republic City is...unique. There's something about it that I can't really explain, but it draws me back, you know?"

She looked around at the crowd and then turned back to Teo, "Of course, it has it's rough parts and those are hard to avoid. But it's given me plenty of opportunity, and so I can't complain all that much. The Dragon is the best job I've ever had."

Not an exaggeration considering the places she had to work before. Republic City took things from her, changed her life in some not-so-good ways, too. But there was some good that had come out of it. She leaned against the wall, tipping her head a little. "What about you? From what it sounds like the city seems to have been hard on you." 

[Teo]

Teo listened to Neva list the reasons why she loved the city and he nodded at the appropriate times. He loved listening to people talk about their reasons for being here. Even if almost everyone came here for the same reasons everyone had a different experience and story and he was glad Neva's was positive so far. He knew how hard it had been for him, Teo could only imagine how hard it could be for a woman by herself.

When Neva turned the question back on him Teo shrugged a little "Republic City and I don't really agree on a lot of things" Teo had been a sucker when he first came here, full of wide eyed ambition and hope to which he quickly learned that wasn't how things worked here. "It's been a learning experience but I think were starting to come to a understanding." Teo wouldn't say he was glad he moved here, the jury was still out on that but he was glad he got out of his village while he could.

[Neva]

"It can be cruel here," she agreed with a nod. She'd certainly seen enough to learn that one, and she'd learned it quick. Still, Neva always tried to look on the positive side of things in order to keep going. She never found any sense in simmering in her misfortune. As hard as some times had been in the city, she'd at least always had some kind of job. Things were better now, much better, and she hoped some kind of luck fell onto Teo soon. "But I hope things do look up for you. You never know when things are going to change." 

She tipped her head, "You're here on your own, then? No family?"

[Teo]

"Thanks" he appreciated her words of kindness and honestly, he hoped so too but right now things looked to be trending to the positive so he wasn't going to complain.

'Yeah, I decided to move here on my own. Had to try out the big city you know? " Teo gave a small heh laugh "I'm from a small farming village, not exciting ever happened there so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about for myself." Big dreams as his mother used to tell him. Teo always had big dreams, at least, bigger dreams than working on a farm for the rest of his life. "Its been a change for sure, but at least its never boring here."

As he finished the hostess brought over a bag with their food. Teo stepped up and fished his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out enough yuans to cover their meals before grabbing the bag and turning to lead Neva back out. "Shall we?" Teo could smell the hot food through the bag and it was making him hungry. He was more than ready to find a seat in the park and chow down.