Damned Date Got Worse

When he arrived at the beach his eyebrow twitched. Freaking Mihai...

Set up in front of them was the traditional romantic meal on the beach fiasco. Table, chairs, lit candelabra, two plates covered with silver dome plates. And sat next to the table, folded neatly on teh floor, was a blanket.

He was going to kill Mihai nice and nail his corpse up for every-damned-body to see.

He schooled himseld quickly and lead the Cheetah forwards, towards the little set up, all the while keeping utterly silent and stony faced.

Having maintained both a companionable distance and silence, Ndale was priding himself on his task of not bothering the Wolf Jinn. Of course, it was accountable for the fact that Ndale was no longer bored that he was being less persistent and unbearable. He was not being ignored and he was being taken out. He really had no complaints for the time.

As they came upon the set up, Ndale's eyebrows raised. This was...unexpected. He couldn't help the small appreciative purr. He wasn't aware that the man would put this much effort into it.

"This is nice." He commented lightly, glancing around the place. He noted the blanket, ah, so that was how they were to ward off the cold. Also noted was the rather hard silence from Spyridon. Ndale glanced up at him. He was so formal...the cheetah smirked and let himself be lead across the sand. Hm, sand. Sand which was seeping into his sneakers. He glanced up to Spyridon again.

"Handsome, are you adverse to going shoe-less from here on out?" The feeling had no particular love for shoes unless they were for fashion purposes. However, currently, holding sand to rub against his skin, they were just annoying.

The Jinn nodded to the compliment, reluctantly agreeing. For all his worth (or lack thereof) Mihai could pull a romantic date together fairly nicely.

Problem was that he didn't particularly want to be here so the overly-romantic crap was lost on him. He found it annoying and still stuck to the want to crawl back to his room and sleep it all off, pretending it was a horrible dream and Ndale never existed.

Adverse to...? Damn, he nearly wanted to kiss the Cheetah. No shoes! "Not in the least." He was already in the process of kicking his slippers off.

When his bare feet touched the cool sand his eyes slid shut. That felt a hell of a lot better. Whoever invented shoes should have been shot. They were so restricting and uncomfortable.

Ndale chuckled, watching Spyridon eagerly kick off his shoes and the pleased lowering of eyelids. Shaking his head in amusement, the cheetah leaned against the other man just slightly for balance as he picked up his feet to pull the laces so he could step on the heels to get the green converse off. He left them neatly placed by the other's haphazardly kicked slippers and joined in enjoying the feeling of sand beneath bare feet, smile pulling at his lips as he dug his toes into the cool grains.

"Much better. Now, shall we?" Ndale eyes the silver domes with curiosity.

His eyes slid open when Ndale leaned against him and he watched the Cheetah unlace his shoes and pull them off, placing them neatly next to his abandoned shoes.

"Agreed." He'd never understand why people liked shoes. Feeling the earth under your feet was way better than feeling the soles of shoes.

He stepped forwards and pulled a chair out for his date, chanting be romantic over and over in his head. He wasn't about to lose out on important information just because he couldn't be romantic.

"I hope you don't mind garlic." His brother had talked him through what he was going to cook while they were searching for the ingredients. It was simple but sounded nice enough. He just hoped Ndale thought the same.

He raised a brow in impressed surprised as the chair was moved out for him. Casually, he lets his hold slip off of the man's arm and he takes his seat. He glanced up to Spyridon and kept his gaze on him. The man was doing well. Far better than the cheetah had dared hope and even more than what he actually expected.

The taller man really wanted that information.

A smirk pulled at Ndale's lips and placed his elbows on the edge of the table, resting his chin on threaded fingers.

"Not at all, garlic is fine." He said lightly, waiting for Spyridon to be seated and ready as well before revealing the dinner apparently containing garlic. Food was something the feline was definitely pampered with, Od had made sure, but despite living on first-class food for the last four years plus, Ndale still found he had an ability to eat and enjoy most anything. He figured that no matter what was under this silver dome, it couldn't be bad enough where it would turn him off. He was confident this would work well, and, well, honestly, he was curious as to what kind of cook the quite stony-faced man was.

He lifted the dome plate from Ndale's meal and tossed it onto the sand. He'd pick it up later. Or have Mihai clean up tomorrow morning.

"It's nothing special," he warned as he moved to take his own seat and toss his own dome plate next to Ndale's.

It wasn't neatly set out and it wasn't the best cooking but it looked edible enough.

'It' being steak - bloody - plain rice and garlic mushrooms.

Not an overly extravagant meal but good enough for a shoddily planned date.

Amber flicked from the hand to the dome tossed to the side and back to the plate. He eyed it casually, before looking back up to the other man and smiled kindly.

"Did you make this? It looks good." Now...how to eat it...? Instinct said to just kind of bite in to it, but their dress being more fine, he figured maybe some table manners were important here. Following the etiquette Od had pounded into his head, he picked up the fork and knife to cut into the steak, taking with it some rice and garlic mushrooms to make them go down easier, not being something a cheetah would normally take to eating.

He wouldn't bring up the information Spyridon wanted. First, he wanted to know when the other man was going to bring it up, and he wanted to see how. That, and he had no intention of giving any information not directly asked for. For now, he would just enjoy the date.

"I had help," he admitted after swallowing a forkful of rice. Ndale didn't need to know that the help had done almost everything.

He chewed the meat and mushrooms slowly, admitting to himself that his brother actually could cook. Spyridon was usually the one to cook for the two of them but his skills were limited to rice and a few oriental dishes. The brothers much preferred hunting to sit-down meals so it was very rare either of them had to cook.

"So if it ends up poisoning you, we can blame it on the help."

But the food tasted okay so hopefully they were in the clear on the poisoning front.

The smirk pulled at Ndale's lips. Help, huh? Well, they did well. The food wasn't bad. At the joke though, Ndale looked up at Spyridon and grinned. Well, that was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps he did have a sense of humor. That, or there was a chance of poisoning. Great.

The feline's shoulders shook with his chuckles.

"Well, if it does, then I guess just carry my body into the ocean and tell my boyfriend." He shrugged as if lighthearted. He had no problems dying, it seemed. "So, who was the help, anyway? Anyone I know?"

His lip twitched a little as he stared down at his plate, cutting into the steak, blood seeping out onto the plate.

"You'd get the same treatment as everyone else I've killed. Burial and a song then I'd go about life and forget you even existed." that what he always did. "You're not special enough for any special treatment."

"Definitely not. He would have told me in great detail if he met a guy he found good looking. He already has but not anyone that matches your appearance." Mihai liked to sit down and tell Don everything about anything to do with men or women that he found attractive. Mihai just didnt keep secrets about that with him. Something he hated immensely. Secrets were good. Secrets allowed Spyridon to keep his sanity and borderline-innocence.

Ndale huffed as if offended though it was clear he was more than amused.

"Not special enough? Surely I've been at least somewhat memorable. I'm quite special, I assure you. A song would be nice though." The cheetah hummed and chased a piece of mushroom around his plate a moment before grinning and giving a light chuckle. "I'm flattered you think I'm good looking enough to catch this guy's attention."

He went about swirling some mushrooms and rice in the blood from the steak to gather the flavor before scooping up the red mess into his mouth.

"It's nice having such a raw steak here." He commented idly. "Reminds me more of hunting than the food usually here."

"Memorable and special are two entirely different things." He lifted another chunk of steak to his mouth. "Its a Jinn tradition Again, nothing special."

The wolf gave an amused snort, setting his fork down and bending to lift a bottle of wine - obviously one Mihai had pilfered from somewhere in the castle; the only alcohol he ever took with him was his favourite Baijiu of the moment - and started the process of removing the foil and cork. "If it stands still long enough for him to flirt with it, its usually good looking enough. Unless, of course, they're human."

Neither he nor Mihai bothered with humans. Occasionally they'd wear glasses or - in Mihai's case - put in contacts so they could see them but most of the time they couldn't see them.

"Ah, so you do hold true to your more animalistic side. Its surprisingly rare to see people that keep hold of it." He poured a generous amount of wine into one of the two empty glasses on the table. "Wine?"

Ndale let out an amused "heh!" at Spyridon's comments.

"Oh, sure. How cruel." He didn't mean it though, he was still holding back some laughter. "And say, if they didn't hold still long enough for him to flirt?" A smirk settled upon the feline's face as he watched the wine swirl into the glass. As it was offered, he nodded.

"Yes, please." He lifted a hand to move his glass closer to the other's. He then gae a quiet hum.

"Of course. I'm a cheetah, born and raised. I have never allowed myself to be disillusioned to believing that I am human. It is a secondary life that is simply rather beneficial and fun. I am just stuck in this shape until I finish healing, really." Ndale hesitated a moment. "And what about you? What do you consider yourself?"

"He'd sulk for a few moments before turning to the next still enough victim. He's a hit and clubs," he muttered with an exasperated roll of his eyes. "Though he's gotten himself into some fine trouble for it."

He nodded and poured the Cheetah a glass, setting the bottle down on the table afterwards.

"Cheetah. Looks like I can't call you Māo any more, Liè bào."

What did he consider himself...? "Wolf, primarily. Demon... I've never considered myself human. Entirely different species that I rarely interact with. This is merely for convenience." He gestured to himself. "Trying to mainstream as a wolf is a little difficult."

And he needed to mainstream at times. Having to get from one country to another was a very difficult thing to do as a wolf. He needed this human form.

The feline's smirk pulled up. Well, it seems he he'd have to meet this man. He seemed fun.

"Clubs, hm? Clubs are fun." He comment idly. Ndale missed the raves, actually, hopefully Rooster and Africa would be out there again in no time. As fun as the school atmosphere was, it wasn't for him. reaching out, Ndale took the filled wine glass delicately settled in his fingers. He twirled the glass and watched it swirl. He did glance up at Spyridon, though.

"You know, I don't what it is you are saying. I don't care really what you're calling me, but it would be nice to know a translation." Ndale raised an eyebrow. He was torn between thinking it a compliment or an insult.

It was strange, he thought, that he was actually interested in what this man figured himself. Maybe it was because they were in a similar situation and Ndale wondered sometimes what he was himself. Wolf, hm? Ndale hummed thoughtfully.

"Yes, I do believe it would be. Well, Wolf, we should run around in our more respective forms one day together." He grinned and chuckled lightly before taking a sip from the wine glass.

"Different opinions." He just stood in the corner with a bottle of beer watching his brother from a distance whenever he was dragged out clubbing. Not particularly fun.

His lips quirked into the shadow of a grin. "Don't know Chinese then? Māo is cat and Liè bào cheetah." He lifted his glass to his lips and took a small sip, eyes trailing over him. "But you don't smell like any cheetah I've met. Similar; very similar. But different somehow."

He set the glass down and turned his eyes to the dark sky with a slight frown on his lips. It was getting cold. Damn Mihai for giving the date an outdoors setting in such a cold country.

He gave an amused hum. "You couldn't keep up, Liè bào. Felines aren't known to have great stamina." Courtesy of spending over a hundred years with Mihai, his mind supplied a thought that he would have much rather not have had. His shoulders sagged slightly and his eyes slid shut as an exasperated sigh slipped past his lips. Had he seriously just thought something lewd about the cheetah?

...He had spent far too much time in Mihai's presence.

Ndale raised an eyebrow, but only shrugged.

"It often depends on the company you're with. I bet I could make you glad you came with me to one." If Ndale had to pride himself on only one thing, it would be having a good time at clubs. He had a knack for making his own fun. Giving a light 'heh', he rolled his eyes at Spyridon.

"And why would I know Chinese? I'm South African. I know Zulu, and just enough French to get the cute French boys in the Paris Underground to come back to my room with me." Ndale snickered lightly. "How unimaginative though. Calling me 'cheetah' in another language." He sighed and leaned forward on his arms folded on the table as if this were such a disappointment. At the look, though, he quirked up an eyebrow, smirking, as if to ask if the man liked something he saw. "Oh? And I am assuming you have met many a cheetah with which to base this knowledge. What's different?" He purred out expectantly.

Ndale was sufficiently distracted for the while, but his skin was starting to get goosebumps from the chill whenever the wind blew in from the sea. The last comment of Spyridon's, and his tell-tale post reaction, had Ndale's smirk spreading, though. That, and the fact that his mind was already quite quick to jump to such things and make everything an innuendo all on it's own helped. His eyes narrowed in wicked amusement.

"Oh, no worries, I have enough stamina to exemplar for you." He winked, tail flicking behind him mischievously. "Though, I admit, I'm a sprinter. Hard and fast is more my style."

"I think I'll pass on testing that out." Ndale reminded him too much of Mihai and he had seen Mihai persuade people to have a good time at clubs.

Blue eyes rolled heavenwards. Why was he not surprised Ndale knew French just to lead people back to his room? "I hear enough of that from my brother; I dont need you telling me about your sex life, as well."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I could start calling you Nǎorén De." Be nice, Spyridon. Nice, he reminded himself harshly.

"I've met enough," he replied, taking up his glass of wine for a generous sip. "There were a few of them in my village." If he remembered correctly, there were five or six living in the house next to his. They were quiet and kept to themselves so when they did venture out, anyone and everyone picked up on their scent.

His lips parted from his teeth in a little snarl before his face went blank. Don't react and he'll stop doing it, he told himself. He's like a kid seeking attention. He wants you to react. Even after a hundred and sixty years, he was still too childish to not react the little pokes and prods.

Ndale smirked.

"Grump." His stuck his tongue out playfully, but in good nature. Then, he hummed lightly as if in thought. "You know, getting French boys back to your room doesn't always mean sex. But no worries, I'm not really interested in sharing that part of my life with you." He grinned, displaying rows of sharp teeth and chuckled.

Simply assuming that the new nickname was some sort of insult, Ndale just shrugged. He didn't care what Spyridon called him, he'd been called some pretty horrid things in his time, this couldn't be that bad. What did interest him though, was that Spyridon claimed to have met some cheetahs. Ndale's ears perked forward in interest and his smile dropped as he adopted a thoughtful look. He wondered if they were King like he, or if they were something else. He had never met another King besides his early family before he was taken in as a pet, and he would be lying to say that he was uninterested in it. The feline didn't voice this though. He just filed it away for later.

Ndale picked up his wine glass and took a sip, biting at the glass rim thoughtfully before glancing up at Spyridon at the growl. He smirked, attempted to be sheepish, but really not at all, and raised his hands in a surrendering motion. Fine fine. No joking about sleeping together...got it. He snickered and shivered as the wind blew in a cold sea current.

"Soo, Mr. Handsome, tell me what you do like then." He tried to start up another conversation that might be more amiable.

He gave the Cheetah a level look. He did not want to carry on talking about this. The subject needed to die and never be visited again. Ever.

He lifted another mouthful of rice to his mouth when a breeze brushed past him. His eyes slid closed and he set his fork down before hissing a sigh. "I'm going to murder him. It's too freaking cold," he grumbled, wrapping his arms around himself and glaring off in the direction of the castle.

It would have been better if he were not wearing silk. Silk was not known for keeping you overly warm on a cold Scottish evening outdoors.

"I train," he replied, eyes flitting back to Ndale. "And read." And occasionally sing. But not when people can hear me, he finished mentally. As much as he enjoyed his music, he hated anyone witnessing it. Music was one of the only personal things he allowed himself and when other people saw that, he felt it an invasion of his provacy

He might have been better company if he could just stop grinning, but he couldn't seem to, amused as he was. ndale watched as Spyridon shivered and hugged himself to convserve warmth and fought back his own shivers. He shrugged his vested shoulders.

"I'd give you my coat if I had brought one." Really, why had neither of them thought to wear something warmer? Well, to be honest, Ndale hadn't known they would be hanging out on the beach tonight...but still. "At least he left us a blanket...use that." Ndale nodded towards the folded material that had so kindly been left for thier use, then hummed thoughtfully in return to Spyridon's answers. Training...and reading. Well, that was easy enough to remember.

"Train in what?" If anything, Ndale was a master at conversation. He'd try his luck and skill here.

"I'm a little bigger than you. I dont think the coat would fit even if you had one." The wolf was eight inches taller and much bigger built than Ndale.

His eyes turned to the blanket and he shook his head. "I'd rather not. If he sees its been used he'll assume things I'd much rather him not." And then the Jinn's eyes rested on Ndale. "You're just as cold as me. You use it. I'll just bitch at my brother later and guilt trip him into letting me use him as a punching bag. That'll make up for me freezing my tail off."

A smirk spread across his lips at the mere thought. Beating Mihai into an unrecognisable pulp always lightened his mood.

"Zhonnguo Wushu."

He made a thoughtful noise.

"Perhaps..."

The feline flickered his gaze to the blanket and raised an eyebrow.

"But, if I use it, your brother will still assume things, cause he wont know." His ear tilted up as the other dropped, giving a sort of questioning look that still managed to be smug. "We're both cold. We could both use it..." He casually offered with a nonchalant shrug. The small smirk was noted though. Hm...Ndale took the subject to go with that. It seemed a good route to get this man to open up a bit. "You could still use the freezing thing as an excuse to beat him up. How do you plan to get back at him, by the way? Give me details."

Ndale snickered and leaned forwards on the table with an eager eye.

"Punch in the face? Perhaps the gut? Between the legs would surely hurt..." His grin showed his canines sharply.

"Oh, he'll know." Mihai could pick up the subtle differences in his scowl. He had seen both the 'I'm-freezing-and-its-your-fault' scowl and the 'You-set-me-up-I'm-going-to-kill-you' scowl. He'd be able to tell them apart.

The only thing he'd wonder when Spyridon became romantic or chivalrous; he wasn't one to offer others things he'd much rather take himself. He was selfish and his brother knew that full well.

"Pass."

A light chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Is there an all of the above option?" He was a fierce fighter when he was annoyed and his brother was usually the one with 'attack me' tattooed on his forehead. And he wasn't necessarily the cleanest of fighters. When he was annoyed enough and he found a way to fight dirty, he took it.


((I still live \o/))