Original Airdate: Friday, June 19, 2009
Starring: "Savannah", "Casper"
Notes: A little bit of fail actually leads to a nice lunch date between two otherwise strangers. Two bad they forgot to exchange contacts.
EXT. VENICE - VENICE BEACH - AFTERNOON
They say you haven't seen it all until you've seen Venice Beach. They'd be right. There are plenty of other beaches, and yeah, Venice Beach has three sandy miles of it, but you don't come here just to go to the beach. You come to shop, gawk, play ball and gawk some more.
On the Ocean Front Walk, a boardwalk along the beach, you get funky shopping, food, fortune tellers, mimes, and all manner of entertainers and people in crazy clothes or lack thereof to make you go: WTF. There are musicians and T&A on every corner. There's also Muscle Beach, land of pumping iron by jacked up body builders, and courts for basketball, handball, shuffleboard, volleyball, and paddle tennis, plus Skateboard Plaza and bike trails. Viva la Venice!
Usually spending a little too much time working, whether it's school or the bit jobs she takes to feed herself during the year, Savannah hasn't had much to spare for doing the fun sort of thing. But since her internship hasn't started yet and classes are out for term, she finds herself with something she hasn't had in a very long while: free time. Today's has brought her here to Venice Beach, just to see if it's true what everybody is always saying. So far, survey says yes. Her eyes a little wider than usual, she makes her way along the boardwalk, taking in some of the very strange sights along here. She pauses to watch and laugh for a moment at a guy and his toy poodle both dressed in matching clown costumes, and doing a slapstick routine to rival the Stooges.
In contrast, everything going on is just a colorful, not-as-stressed-out-as-you-are blur to Casper Mintey. Though he's in jeans and a Mythbusters t-shirt, the young man is pressing a high-tech gadgety phone to his ear like the best of the businessmen. "You know, usually the point of a lunch date is to come meet the person, Tim," he sighs into the phone, "Unless there's some new Hollywood ritual I'm once again not up on."
The silence wherein the other conversationalist apparently rationalizes his actions is followed by a disappointed groan from Cas. This is the kind of heavy, disbelieving yet somehow not surprised groan that usually accompanies the tired closing of one's eyes. Thanks to a particular brand of fail, Cas manages to close his eyes just as a bustling crowd just done from watching some kind of poodle affair sweeps past him. He shoulder-bumps a very nice looking girl thanks to the jostling (or something-bumps, since his shoulder's like.. way up there, man) "Sorry, excuse me." He says and is off and away. That'd be all… if he didn't also manage to lose his wallet to the pavement during this.
Savannah turns away from the act after she's tossed a few dollars into the hat, even if she can scarcely afford to. She's just heading on her way when she finds herself in someone's path - a someone with his eyes closed. She stumbles a bit as she is bumped, for lo, he is very tall, and she is very … not. Still, unlike some of the people you'll literally run into around here, she's at least good-natured about the whole thing, offering a quick apology of her own and a self-deprecating laugh. She's about to head off on her own way when she notices the wallet on the ground. She quickly stoops to grab it up before it can get trampled. "Oh hey, excuse me!" she calls after him, flailing an arm in the air as she straightens, and nearly thwacking a woman behind her. After another quick apology, she's off after the man, waving his wallet about as she calls out. "Excuse me! Sir!"
Casper isn't 'sir', right? He certainly doesn't remember any time anyone's ever distinguished him in that way. Thusly, he continues to angry-power-walk his way down the boards with legs much longer than his unfortunate pursuer. A lesser person might've given up but, before all is lost, Cas relents, "Fine! I'll— you know, I'll just talk to you tomorrow." And he hangs up the phone with as much ferocity as you can press a small button on a palm-sized mobile device. In this, he also stops walking and twists halfway back around so that, suddenly, a young girl waving her arm and shouting is quite noticeable. With the hand still clutching the phone, he jabs a long finger into his own chest in silent 'me? are you signaling like a madwoman for me?'
Oh my Gaaaahd, so much running! Savannah is thankfully in okay shape, but still, she wasn't exactly planning on coming out here for a jog and her wedge sandals, while cute and quite affordable, are really not designed for this sort of activity. But she won't give up! She almost trips at one point, but as soon as she's caught her footing, she goes right back to it again. Thankfully, he finally turns around and notices her, and she gives an emphatic nod, waving the wallet again. Yes, she is signalling like a madwoman for him. Her jogging slows but doesn't stop until she's close enough to breathlessly explain, "You- You dropped this. I think." Pleeeeease tell her it's his and she's not been chasing the wrong person.
Blinking a little bit in slow realization, Cas watches her for a second and then daps at his back pockets. Sure enough - no wallet. "Now how did…" He snags the wallet from her without much ceremony, flipping open the worn leather casing. Sure enough twice - there's the driver's license with the picture of him flashing the Vulcan salute. Whattdoya know. With renewed energy - and a sudden gratitude - he faces the girl again. "Ho jeez. Well, thanks! How far did you— ? Oh, that would've sucked mighty and hard. Can I, uh— " Smooth he is not. Turning his body to face the line of shops and cafes on the other side of the walk, he spots one with a note of familiarity. And clings to it like a lifeline. "At least treat you to something? My date cancelled. Which was, actually, a non-date date with my brother, making the canceling a special alien breed of rejection." A beat. "I'm not creepy." Just freakishly tall!
"Not-Not far," Savannah assures him, though the extent of her breathlessness might attest otherwise, really. His stumbling is actually a bit of a godsend, since it gives her those few moments to actually catch her breath and look at least a little bit less of a spaz by the time he gets around to his actual offer. She pauses herself, and then grins at his addendum. "Good to know," she replies, finding humour in that - and apparently taking him at his word, since the next moment, she nods. "Yeah, all right. I mean, you don't have to, of course. But I- Eesh. Getting cancelled on by family is always the worst." She gives a sympathetic wrinkle of her nose as she glances over to the establishment he seems to be eyeing.
"This place," Cas charges on with the slightest indication of approval from her, "Is great. The sandwiches? Mm, great. I don't know if you live here— been there— but… yeah." Great. Being a writer, he should probably cringe at such word repetition, but instead he just stuffs the wallet back in the pocket it fell out of in the first place and grins at her like a big fluffy dork. The spaz thing is probably widely unnoticed for the moment; she's good. "Yeah, seriously the worst. And then at first I thought you were— " His whole body moves, a reaction to him very suddenly and obviously changing thoughts, " —not talking to me. But you were! So. Shall we?" And he gestures somewhat gracefully ahead of him towards the chosen venue.
Savannah returns the grin with a friendly one of her own - wide and sincere enough to either make her a remarkable actress or not a native. The wending conversation is a little hard to follow, but she more or less makes it in the end, just laughing quietly, but not in any sort of jeering way. "I do live here. Well, not here, but over near campus. Never been there though," she explains, taking the conversation back to the beginning. And then she nods emphatically in agreement. "Yeah, um, I guess we shall! Anyway, I'm just glad you stopped or we'd have made it into Santa Monica before long." It's a joke, and one at her own expense, since clearly, she is not nearly fast enough.
Casper has been around some fake smiles lately and he's beginning to get to recognize them, too. Since the girl's seems pure in spirit then they are A-OK over here. At her acceptance, he starts to walk again, though the joke maybe makes him extra aware of his feet. "Don't tell the other piers I said so, but Santa Monica's pretty awesome." He gives her a little wink - perhaps even just to let her know /he/ knows he was being slightly lame with that one. Then, suddenly, his big hand's going out and he's all grabbing and pulling her - to his side, no less. So much for the creepy thing? He'd offer explanation but it already zooms by in the form of an ultra-concentrated roller-blader. As for the creepy thing, Cas' hands are off her like lightning - or like she already had slapped him. "One of us," he accuses, "has an odd magnetism for collisions. I didn't know sandwich shops were so dangerous, I would never have dragged you into this."
Savannah is good enough to laugh at the joke, lame or not. "Your secret is safe with me," she assures him, trying to feign a serious conspiratorial nod but not able to keep the grin in check long enough to get through it. So much for the good actress thing. She doesn't have time to offer more than that, though, since she's suddenly being yanked to his side, giving a little squeak of surprise, and wondering what the heck! But the roller-blader clears that up, and she jumps a little to suddenly find a fast-moving person appear out of her peripheral vision without warning. She watches the skater go for a moment, before turning back to him with wide eyes. But at his accusation, she just has to laugh at the whole situation - what else can you really do? "Thanks for that. Apparently those guerrilla athletes are everywhere!"
"Yeah, they do that," Casper says for the fierce occasional stream of bikers, joggers, and roller-bladers - each equipped with a set of headphones and a blatant disregard for everyone else. "I think there's supposed to be separate paths, but…" As he's gesturing to the walkway and leading her onwards towards relative shop-safety, there's the glimpsing of a couple of giggling girls with cellphones pointed towards Cas and his new acquaintance. Since the girls are pointing at their respective screens, whatever's been done is done, but Cas still lingeringly squints at them before lack of general coordination requires he look ahead lest there be obstacles in his way. Dodging this and that— they make it! Cue the Mario end-level music. Gain experience. Other nerdy references to accomplishing something. There's outdoor seating but Cas brushes her inside, waving high over his head with the other hand as they enter. Several servers return the gesture. "The usual," the young man mouths over the lunch crowd bustle before finally showing his new date a nice little table for two near the front window but out of the glare of the sun, "Welcome to - the usual."
"Yeah, I sort of picked up on a general disregard for the rules around here," Savannah nods with understanding, as to why these crazy people with their fast speeds are on the boardwalk and always trying to kill her. She's quite happy to let him usher her out of their way and over towards the place in question. The behaviour of the girls with cellphones gets an arched eyebrow, but since she isn't sure what to make of it, she tries to shrug it off after giving her mouth a surreptitious wipe to make sure there's no toothpaste left in the corners or anything, and then checking the back of her skirt to make sure it hasn't gotten tucked into her underwear. Again. She hates then that happens. But nope, she's good, phew. His expertise at navigating the establishment and its staff is noted with a grin and she settles into her seat at the table with a thankful nod. "I take it you come here a lot?" she guesses, laughing lowly.
"Perhaps." Casper replies elusively, dramatically so. Like he's hiding something devious. He even does the shifty eyes before settling into the seat across from her. He's just about relaxing into the back of it when he suddenly sits up instead and stretches a long arm across to her. "It's Cas, by the way. Hi. I'm Cas. This is how normal people meet each other, instead of making nice girls run blocks to catch up first." A waitress sashays by, seeming to want to interrupt but not quite willing to. Rather, she drops some menus at the edge of the table and disappears again to wait it out. If Sav takes his hand - which, evidence suggests she will - then his fingers engulf hers in a warm but much too quick handshake after which he'll slide a menu around in front of him. He obviously doesn't need it but seems caught between showing that off and just taking the thing so she doesn't feel odd and out.
Savannah gives him a curiously amused look for all the subterfuge. "Oh, I see. A man of mystery," she teases lightly. Her eyebrows lift a bit as he suddenly sits up and offers his hand, but she does, indeed, take it readily, her own hand much, much smaller, but her handshake just firm enough to be 'real' without trying to prove anything. "Honestly, my barometer for 'normal' is way out of whack after living in this town," she assures him. "And really, it wasn't exactly blocks," she goes on. Not bothering to add that it's only because, technically, boardwalks don't have blocks, since they don't have perpendicular streets. She picks up the menu, offering the fleeing waitress a grin of thanks, and then looking slightly puzzled at the woman's haste to not be there. But it's shrugged off as she turns her attention to more important matters, like deciding upon lunch. Just a matter of finding something that she can't slop on herself.
The place is sweet and casual and the food seems to follow suit - including a list of cutsy names given to each of its entrees. But once you get past those, the descriptions seem amazing. If you're into gourmet sandwiches in a big way. Which, apparently, Casper is. He shifts in his seat a second time and then stabs a finger at his own menu, despite it not being open. "Avocado~," he announces triumphantly, "Which is what I'm going to start calling you if you don't give me something else in the next thirty seconds - but also. In sandwiches. You've lived here - you've tried it. /Tell/ me you've tried it." There isn't quite time for her to answer because the waitress flounces by again, this time passing them right by. Cas shifts his weight to the edge of the table as she goes by and calls, "My iPhone for a lemonade!"
The response? A coy and clipped, "You don't have an iPhone!"
Cas rubs his chin thoughtfully, "She makes a point…"
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Savannah says quickly, with a sheepish laugh. Somehow it had completely and utterly escaped her that she still had failed to give her own name in return. And she's so caught up in feeling silly over it, she almost forgets again, but probably at 29 and a half seconds, she gets in with a hasty, "Savannah. My name, I mean. If you really wanted to call me Avocado, I'd probably answer to it, but it would take some getting used to." Once she's on a roll, she can ramble quite quickly indeed. "Tried … avocado? Yes, but I don't think I've had it on a sandwich." She frowns, trying to remember, but doesn't really try too hard. Instead, she watches as he tries to get himself a lemonade. "Man, and I thought everyone but me had one of those." Though in her case, it's a major lack of fundage.
"Yeah, I had one," Casper explains absently, still sort of watching after the playful waitress. It isn't in a lewd way - just one that recognizes the game she's playing. "I'm on probation with it. Well, anyway, she'll come back around when she's done playing hard to get and we'll hook you up with something avocado-y." He pauses and then lifts his eyes from the table to her, "That is, if you even want it. I'm getting ahead of you. I'm sorry. Savannah." The name saying is half affirmation that he heard her give it since he'd been looking somewhere else at the time. "You know what, I'm gonna shut up. You look at that." And he waves both his hands at her towards her menu and then sits back, crossing his arms widely and pretending to be out of the way.
"Probation?" Savannah wonders. "Is it some sort of overage thing?" She can't figure how a grown man ends up on probation with his cell phone, clearly. She gives a little smile as he looks back up with his apologies and promises to shut up. "You don't have to shut up, it's fine. I'm up for trying new things. But I should probably figure out what I'll be having it on," she realizes, then taking his advice to actually peruse the menu. "Wow, there's so much stuff! Do you- I mean, what's good here? Other than 'everything'!" she interjects with a laugh before that answer can be offered.
Casper's mouth forms a silent, defeated 'ooooh' at her quick interjection. "Ah, no! Now I actually have to come up with a good answer," To oblige this new duty, he sits up and spreads open his own menu. "Grilled," he starts to say, "I like the grilled sandwiches." Here the waitress approaches. Yes, that lovely attendant - and she even has lemonade to place nicely on the table. Which means Cas must ruin it by saying, "I've changed my mind. I want a shake."
"Well, you get lemonade." The waitress responds, knowing better. She turns to Savannah with much more of that practiced foods-services charm, "Would you like anything to drink?"
When the deal's done, Casper slips in, "Anyway, the whole phone thing is alien-rejection brother's fault, so… yeah. We don't need to go into that."
Savannah grins cheekily as the circumvents him getting away with the easy answer. "Grilled. All right." She's pretty suggestible, but then, she did ask for a suggestion. So she turns her attention to that part of the menu only, since it helps narrow things down considerably. Her gaze lifts as the waitress returns, and she gets another friendly smile, which turns to one of bemusement as the two bicker over drink. "Er, just a water would be fine, thanks," she answers, out of habit really. Dining on her own tab, she isn't going to waste money on flavoured water when the questionable tap water is free. She finally decides on one of the grilled sandwiches, pointing it out for the waitress as she looks over as Casper, considering his response. "Oh. Yeah, all right. Forget I said anything." It's said lightly enough, but she gets it. No need to push on touchy subjects when it's just an idle curiosity.
Whatever Casper's getting, somebody already knows it, because he's not even asked and doesn't seemed perturbed by that. "I know, I know," he waxes on, despite her having been quite content to end the topic, "Am I too old to be ruled by my brother? Probably. But that's how we roll." He seems at least happier with this ending, because he goes to sip at his lemonade next and takes a passing glance at the beach and people outside. When he puts the drink down, he grins at her again, "So what activity did my foray into getting my identity stolen interrupt? Nothing important cause, well, cause you're here with me and that's usually proof that there's nothing better to do…"
"I'm the baby of five, so I don't judge," Savannah assures him with a shake of her head. "I think I gave at least two of them a heart attack, choosing to come down here for school instead of somewhere out east." It's spoken with amusement but no malice. Fleeing the over-protective ones was never the point. She follows his glance towards the beach as she considers his question. "Oh, no. Nothing important. Nothing at all, really. I've just been so busy with school and work, I never found the time to come take a look at this place. Now I've got a few days off, I thought I might as well take advantage, you know?"
Casper whistles low and through his teeth at her question, "Do I," he agrees readily. Something in that chases the more relaxed posture away as his lips twitch into a frown and his brow shows deep concentration. He seems to consider the outside world too heavily. But seconds later and he's adjusting himself in the seat and shrugging the darker mood off like it was a coat. "Ahh…" What was he going to say…. oh! "Somewhere out east! Where out east? I'm Philly, myself. Funny, it was actually my family that got me to come out here." As if summoned by his words, the smallest accent slips out, lazily tainting his vowels. The mention of home must've done it. That sort of speech has been coached out of him otherwise.
Savannah watches with a bit of curiosity as he seems troubled. She hesitates to question him about it, not sure she really knows him well enough to be poking at things like that. She's about to go ahead and poke anyway when he shrugs the whole matter off. "Michigan," she answers, and then more specifically, "Not too far outside Detroit." But far enough to be not Detroit. She gives a little smile, noticing but not mentioning the accent. "That is sort of funny," she agrees. "Ironic funny, anyway. Mine just … didn't really like the idea of me being so far away. But I've done it," she adds, with a quiet sliver of pride. "I've survived all on my own." Clearly there were some doubts raised as to that.
"Indeed, you have." Casper announces, then tilting his head comically, "Or I think you have. I'm willing to take your word that you have? Well, you're alive anyway." And after a second of finale with the bemusing confused face, he ends the act with a smile at her. "Michigan, alright. Outside of Detroit. Savannah. Just enough information to start my totally healthy stalking career." He sits forward and scribbles his hand about as if jotting this down on his napkin and then very not-discreetly (but pretending to pretend to be so), he stuffs the napkin into his pocket. Sometime in here, Savannah's water arrives and so do a basket of colored corn chips.
"Alive. Not starving. Only been mugged once, and that was just- Well, it was really just a weird coincidence, and-" Bad luck, really. But Savannah doesn't go into details. It wasn't too traumatic, from the way she can list it in passing. There's a laugh as he threatens to stalk her. "Oh good. My first stalker. I was wondering when that would start. Though I'm afraid you'll be pretty disappointed. I'm boring!" she assert with a laugh, taking up her water to have a little sip from it as she eyes the corn chips. "That's another thing, isn't it, how you get Mexican food, like, everywhere, all the time. Coming from a land where Taco Bell is considered authentic."
"Mugging!" Casper echoes right after her, though the topic isn't pressed without her going into it herself. "Well, if that didn't chase you outta here yet… you have a ways to go." He flashes a sad smirk for the equally sad truth about the city. It's L.A. Shit, anything can happen. Just lookit… ya know— stuff. "Oh, well, boring's alright. I'm such an amateur stalker, I figure I gotta start small and work my way up to the big leagues. Angelina Jolie, here I come." All said dryly enough to suggest that Angelina Jolie is not, in any way, his idea of perfection for stalking or otherwise. Or maybe it's a comment on the hype. Anyway, it's over now and he's dipping into the chips. And dipping them! "I like corn chips." Though not said defensively, "But, yes, the focus is funny. Personally, it could be as authentic as the Constitution, I'd still prefer a sandwich. And the occasional In N'Out."
"Oh yeah. It was … Well, it was just this kid, really. I think he might have wanted to change his mind part-way through, but you know, by then he'd committed to it. Anyway, I didn't have much to take, so he took my last few dollars and ran off," Savannah explains with a shrug. "I think he might have been more freaked out than I was." She can almost feel bad for the little guy, which probably isn't great for her survival likelihood in this city. There's a grin as he explains he's using her to work up to Angelina. "Oh, I see. I guess if you're aiming that high, I could try to throw in a few challenges here and there, just to keep you on your toes and all." She sets her water back down and reaches for a chip as well. "I like them too! And Mexican food. But it's just … everywhere. The first time I saw a guy on the street selling chimichangas… Well, I didn't even know what a chimichanga was, to be honest."
A certain level of seriousness might be delegated to listening to stories of crimes… but Casper breaks face with a guffaw at the way she says 'by then he'd committed to it'. The wheels are churning in his head; some sort of process happening behind the conversational ins and outs. "How sporting of you," is commented when she mentions challenges and he chuckles again, "Ah, chimichanga. Almost as classic as gyro." Pronounced correctly, thank you very much. And on that great note - the food arrives. There it is, it's lovely. Also - fantastically gigantic portions. There's a bit of lettuce tucked around it, but otherwise no side, not that there's any room for it. "Annnd there's also… cinnamon sticks, and mini donuts - all depending where you are, of course. I like watching the lines at venders, it can get pretty interesting at rush times."
A lesser woman might be affronted that her mugger story gets a laugh, but Savannah can see the irony and wry humour in it anyway. She was worked up about it at the time, perhaps, but by now, with distance and perspective, it's just an anecdote to tell, to further prove how she can survive the toughness of LA. "Of course," she agrees, as to being sporting. "You let me know if you need me to step it up a notch too." She's such a cooperative stalking victim. Sitting back, she looks at this massive thing of food. More than she'd eat in a week! But hey, that means leftovers, even if it's not the classiest move to ask for a doggy bag. "That's a lot of food," she remarks, before going back to the matter of vendors. "And yeah, it's pretty crazy the stuff they can come up with. And how it varies from place to place."
And the toughness of LA is certainly nothing to scoff at, Casper would never make /that/ mistake, even if he is getting a chuckle from her victimization. See, there's lines. They are not crossed. "Did that one get back to your brothers?" He muses in between lines, distracted by smiling when she agrees to be the bestest stalker victim ever. The food, of course, deserves it's own moment of grateful silence. "A lot, yes," he agrees heartily, "Which is what makes it great to take home and enjoy all over again." If there's some sort of etiquette about doggy bags, Casper has not heard it - or shuns it. Either way, he lifts up one massively sized half of sandwich and chomps down with gusto. Luckily for her, he's been here enough to master the art of getting his mouth around that thing, biting, and coming away without giving others an undesirable view. There isn't even a spot of dressing on his mouth. Yet. We'll wait and see on that one. "Mmm." Swallow. "Yeah, it's seriously the best when you get 'em close enough to yell at each other. The stuff that comes out of that? Pure gold. I could record it for days."
"Oh gosh, no," Savannah replies with a wide-eyed laugh. "I think if I'd told them about that, they might have come down here in person to drag me back home." She doesn't like to lie to her family, but sometimes it's just a bit of a necessity. "I just filed a report with campus security and never heard about it again." She shrugs. Surely, they're still toiling away on that humdinger. She's grateful when there's even a mention of taking food home, and she offers him a grin. "Yeah, though with something this size, I might have to make room in my fridge." She then eyes the sandwich, trying to figure the best way to go about this without making a complete mess of things. She manages to get it picked up without it falling apart, and if a bit flops out of the end and onto her shirt, well, at least it doesn't stain. Though she goes a bit pink as she sets it back down, wiping away the fallen food with her napkin. Still, could have gone a lot worse. "I bet you could find some of that out on the boardwalk right now. Catch the live show," she goes on, recovering swiftly from her embarrassment, at least.
Family is… well, it's family, and Casper is content to leave it at that with hers because the longer you go on about someone else's, the more chance it'll come back to yours eventually. "Well, at least if you have to make room in your fridge, that means you've got something else in there," he comments, nabbing a chip in-between sandwich bites, "When I was in school I'm pretty sure the only thing that icebox was used for was beer and emergency A/C." Although he very unabashedly watches what happens with the bit dribbling out onto her, he refrains from actually commenting. In fact, he picks up his own sandwich and very-next-moment manages to drool a bit of avocado out the side of his mouth. Lookit that. (See, it's always about whatever incident happens most recently) Feigning an embarrassed noise, he ducks his mouth into his own napkin, then grinning into it for her words. "I bet I could. Have you ever seen a pedestrian bitch out one of those living statues for scaring 'em?"
"No, that's … pretty much it," Savannah agrees. "But I try to keep some staples on hand, I guess. Milk, eggs, that sort of thing. And then there's the box of baking soda, but I'm not sure what it's doing since there's not much else in there." She shrugs it off. Fridges have baking soda in them. It's just how it is. She can't help a little smile as he makes a bit of a mess himself, slightly amused, but moreover, just reassured that she's not the only one slopping here. "They should have those bibs like you get in the seafood places," she suggests. Lord knows, she's not going to be buying lobster anytime soon, so it'd be her only shot at one of those useful bibs. "I … don't think I have. But I guess as long as it doesn't end in gunplay, that'd be pretty funny. Those statue things are kind of creepy though, don't you think?"
Casper nods very readily for each of the things she ticks off. Duh, girl-fridges are totally allowed to have more in them than guy ones. As long as there's ramen noodles in the cabinet, then it's all the same college feeling anyway. On the outside, he still does an extra sheepish dap at his face for the slobbering. But inside? Success! Her smile proves that he maneuvered correctly to put her more at ease and what more can a guy ask for. Except sex. But then that would make this the opening to an episode of Law and Order instead of one to last year's romantic comedy. "Bibs would be, ah, yeah, bibs would be nice." He agrees, completing the little picture. "I guess there's nothing really stopping you from bringing one in. Everyone would laugh - until they dropped ketchup in their laps." He raises his eyebrows comically at the mention of guns. But, well.. yeah.. LA. Not out of the question. "Uh, well. Believe it or not, but I did that for a week."
Oh, he won't be disappointed on a search for ramen noodles in her apartment, though it might beg the question why he's looking for ramen noodles in her apartment. But were he, he would find plenty of them, for yes, they are a staple of her diet, as every starving student before her. Savannah doesn't seem to realize his slopping was only an attempt to help her feel better, but that's probably just as well, since it might only defeat the purpose. "Mm, I don't know if I'm quite that confident with myself," she admits, trying to imagine bringing in her own bib, though she's mostly amused at the idea. "It's sort of different when the restaurant sanctions it. But if you wanted to be the trend-setter, I might follow!" She actually looks amused and curious as he mentions having done the whole busking thing. "Really? You mean the statue thing, right? Not yelling at them? I don't think I could stand that still…" Then again, it might be looking like a mighty fine career choice shortly.
Good of her not to notice the acting, because that would mean Cas was off his mark and his brother would be all over that. You know, if he somehow magically found out about every detail of this date. Yeah, he's only getting the trimmed down version. If anything. "Aha!" A good chuckling follows, "I don't think I've set anything, much less a trend. I'm not exactly the type people… uh, follow." Casper hesitates quite greatly at the concept and fills his mouth with sandwich to hide the sudden blank in his head. "Nice, normal, society people, at least." He adds after swallowing, now back in his groove, "Which is what makes you following me in here extra weird. You might want to get that checked." Definitely a talker, Casper slides easily into laughing at the busking comment next. "The statue thing. And it was silly. And I did it. On a dare from a lost bet. So, no, it's not exactly my dream job, but it… ceeertainly garnered some stories. Please don't ask me what I was wearing." Wink wink.
Now at ease enough, Savannah risks another bite of her sandwich and gets through it this time without incident, having finally figured the right way to hold the huge thing so that nothing can leak out - for now. Setting it back down, she wipes her mouth and then considers this matter. "I like to think I'm pretty nice. Normal, well, the jury's still out." She waggles her hand from side to side. "Society people, definitely not. So put on a bib and we'll see what happens." There's a teasing grin with that, though it certainly would be amusing to see him in a bib here. Whether or not she really would follow, well, that might depend on the reaction he gets. Her eyebrows go up a bit. "What … were you wearing?" she asks, turning her head slightly to give him a sidelong look. Does she want to know? Guess she might find out shortly!
She asked! Casper sighs humorously, rubbing a bit at one eye as if he's already been laughing himself silly at the memory. "Ahh, you know, it was— no, I can't. Tell you what. Maybe someday, some odd day when you lose your wallet and I find it… maybe I'll tell you. I might even have a picture. But for now, that's all you're getting." Done and done. He classically gestures how officially over it is. To seal the deal, he even jumps back a topic and says, "And of course you're pretty. Nice." Note the sly pause and distinction routine. "Normal I think we can do okay without, so, all in all, it's working out for you. I guess that naturally leads me to asking what it is you do. Since we're bumping elbows and sharing personal stories. You mentioned work, but I think we skipped right over it."
Savannah can't help but laugh a little. "That doesn't seem fair," she points out, but it's said good-naturedly, and really, she's not going to belabour the issue, even if she is really curious now! Hey, it's one way to keep 'em coming back for more, right? He earns himself just a bit of a blush as he does his tricky wordplay. "I always thought normal was kind of overrated anyway. People try too hard for normal." Yes, she'll go right to that, because it's easier. And then work. "Oh. Well, it's not some secret or anything. Actually, I was doing some campus job in the library up until the end of term, but now I've managed to land myself an internship at an agency. Midas?" She doesn't know if he'd have heard of it, giving her shoulders a little shrug. "Anyway, I start pretty soon, so I'm trying not to, eee, freak out. I've never worked anywhere so … big and important before."
Casper is doing exceptionally well right now at steering this conversation. It leads one to wonder exactly when all the epic fail will kick in to balance things back out. It's gonna happen. It has to. But until then, Cas only waves dismissal, "Like I said. Normal. We'll do without." Since he takes such nice large bites, he's now nearing the end of that half of his sandwich and he slows to mingle his fingers amongst the chip bowl instead. Occasionally, he also remembers that he has a lemonade. One of those times happens to be when she's mentioning Midas, so that he sort of gulp-hiccups into his straw. "Ahh, ahh.." he covers, pulling away and wiping a bit at his mouth, "Midas, huh? Yeah, I think I've… I think I may know them. Of them. I've haven't been in there or anything, that doesn't happen. So, cool, though, internship." He pauses as if to test how genuinely happy he sounded saying that. The litmus paper comes back lukewarm. The efforts are redoubled, "Kind of a step up from library, too. You got something big and important to do, too?"
"Fine, doing without then," Savannah agrees with a laugh, quite happy to let him steer the conversation, since he isn't really steering it anywhere she wouldn't want for it to go. Her own work on her sandwich is slower, but still notable. She isn't one of the LA girls who refuses to eat or picks away at a salad. No, she's goin' for it. She looks up as he almost swallows his straw. "You okay?" she asks, sounding concerned, though it passes as he recovers. She doesn't utterly fail to notice his hesitation on the subject, but it puzzles her more than anything, and the covering isn't too bad a job. "Yeah, I … got pretty lucky, actually. They only take one, and somehow, my name got picked. I was sure my work wasn't strong enough, but." She shrugs her shoulders. Every now and then, good things are bound to happen, even if they don't make sense. "I think I'm just interning, sort of basic assistant stuff. But I figure if I can get in there and wow them, well, who knows, right?" A positive attitude has got to count for something, right?
Recover, Casper, recover. And he has, mostly, by the time she's done talking on her side. "Well, that's sweet. Always feels good to feel like the one of a million and all that. And, excuse me while I sound like an old career recruiter, but, man, knowing people's the thing out here. So having that foot in the door's gonna be what makes or breaks it, not what some scores you got back in some class no one's paying attention to." That thing, by the way? About the eating instead of virtually starving with a piece of lettuce? Is awesome. Casper is quick to note the behavior and it feeds a soft mention of, "If you warm up to my recommendations, I'll be forced to take you to my secret cupcake place next." The real test of a woman: how much she loves sweet delicious sweets. Although, the suggestion that this is, in fact, /not/ their one and only encounter causes the re-composed Casper to duck his head to the side and cover his mouth in his head. The smile he gives her from behind long fingers is a vaguely sheepish one. "I've got the address somewhere." He notes as alternative.
Savannah definitely seems heartened by his words, nodding a few times rather enthusiastically about how this is definitely a right step for her. "Yeah, I think you're right. It feels like it's all coming together now. I still have one more year to go after this, but if this internship works out right, I can totally use it as my work-study." Getting paid and earning credit? It's just crazy enough to work! At his offer, her eyebrows go up a bit, and she takes advantage of her current mouthful of sandwich to think about her response and not spaz out. "Oh, I don't think I could say no to cupcakes," she agrees with a quiet laugh, much more composed for the taking of the moment. Maybe she should try that next time too! "And, well, if you wanted to show me, that … would probably be okay too," she adds with a smaller smile.
The whole time she's chewing away and contemplating, Cas' eyes remain somewhere on the ceiling as if Spiderman is on it. Since this is California, he probably was at some point. But not now. And it is only a distraction until he can meet her eyes again when she makes her response. "Yeah, and after these ones… that whole never going back thing? True." After a more hesitant start, he begins warming up to the words again. He shifts forward in his seat, leaning just this littlest suggestive bit closer to her but with both hands clasped safely around his lemonade. Passing up the first chance to talk, he licks his lips during that wasted second and then opens his mou— BZZT. // Yub nub! Echa, yub nub. // Whatever the hell that all means, it's sung in the lol voices of small teddybear aliens and it's Cas' ringtone. A whole chorus of it goes by with Cas pretending he's going to ignore it before he finally swivels in his chair, brings the phone smoothly out of his pocket and chirps, "Yeah, you had your chance" in lieu of a real greeting.
"Hm. I guess we'll have to see about that," Savannah offers in faux-challenge, as to whether or not she'll go back. Though she's not sure to what, since she doesn't have a default cupcake shop that she frequents or anything. But hey, playful banter doesn't have to make sense. As he leans in a bit, she watches him, smiling just a bit, and certainly curious to hear what it is he's about to say… Maybe because of the anticipation building, the sudden weirdness coming from his phone actually gets her to jump a bit. And then laugh softly at herself. She just continues looking at him as he ignores it, eyebrows slowly lifting as her amusement only grows. When he finally turns away to answer it, she chuckles to herself and then picks up a couple of the corn chips, about finished with her sandwich for now. So much food. She's trying not to listen to his side of the conversation, but it's hard.
"That's right, someone who actually talks to me at lunch - I know, weird, right?" It's such a good, proudly amused start, but Cas' side fairly quickly turns unhappy. "Why would you do that, when I said I didn't want the— … Yeah, Tim, you're not— Tim." A long silence follows during which it's fairly evident that the other person is babbling away without even seeming to care that Cas is on the other side of the line or not. Distinctly aware that there's someone so close by, who he was previously having a great time with, the man here shifts again in his seat and attempts to lift his mouth away from that dreary frownline it's been forming. After some time, all the energy's drained out of him anyway and he just rubs at his eye and takes whatever's being said. Finally, "Yeah, okay. Fine. Tell 'em we'll do it. I'll be there. With bells on." Pause. "Bells. It means I'm a pros—" Cas' eyes flicker over to Savannah. "Bye, Tim." Snap. The phone's gone. So's the mood. Cas makes a lame gesture at the sandwich she's no longer touching, "Uhh… taking the rest of that away, I hope? Means you liked it?"
Savannah looks down at the table and then away, at the corn chips, her water, the waitress, and then finally, out the window, but it still can't help her from listening in a bit on the argument being had. When he turns back, her gaze flickers back over to him and she attempts a wan, slightly awkward smile, trying to lighten the mood. But there isn't much more she can do until he's actually off the phone, and even then, it seems debatable. When he does finally put the phone away, there's another of those smiles and her gaze drops to the sandwich. "Oh yeah! It was really good. I'm just stuffed now, but I thought I'd take it home and have it later," she babbles on, trying to fix the awkward by throwing so many words at it. And then she stops trying quite so hard, hesitating, before guessing quietly, "Your brother?"
He can't really blame Savannah. Casper was, after all, conducting a slightly agitated phone-call right across from her. So, instead of bristling, he just gives a short humorless laugh at her guess. "Ohhh, yeah. That was Tim. He's great, I just— ah. Sometimes you ever get the impression someone's not listening to what you want? I've been getting that a lot." And not just from his brother. From the whole freakin' industry. But those are not Savannah's problems, and so they are not offered to her. "Glad you liked that, though," he says, distracted, while leaning to the side to signal the waitress over. She knows what he means by the look on his face and bends over a machine to print the proper receipt. He turns back to his date, "Like I said, best part of having something good is getting to have it again later for free. Or, well, for, not another price you already paid." Because here's that receipt, tucked into a nice leather binder just for Cas, and the waitress asking Savannah if she'd like that boxed for her.
"Yeah, I think I know what you mean," Savannah agrees, nodding several times with understanding and sympathy. Baby of the family, she knows that song. But at least her family isn't here, pushing her around all the time. "I … hope it gets better for you," she says, the words a little lame, perhaps, but the sentiment sincere. "I know it's hard, sometimes, to sort of … stand up to it. Not that I'm saying you didn't! Just… Anyway." She takes a sip of water before she can talk her foot into her mouth, and then offers a bit of a smile. "Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to finishing this later. Lunch and dinner. Definitely worth a jog down the boardwalk. Not that you had to, of course…" The waitress gets a sunny nod to the offer, and she sits back to await for that to be done.
Lame, but appreciated. Cas' smile is as genuine as her words until she gets to the part about standing up and the expression is bitterly tainted. It's alright, it wasn't her. There's some inner part of him that knows he always gives in when it comes down to it. Otherwise, he wouldn't be in this dumb situation in the first place. Not /this/ dumb situation, though— Casper's enjoying this one as its on its last laps. "Well," he says for the lunch treat, "if you hadn't given it back to me, I wouldn't be able to do this— " being sliding the credit card into the leather pocket, " — so it all works out cosmically." That waitress is on top of things. She comes back to take the card and plop the boxed sandwich down in front of Savannah with a pleasant 'have a nice day'. Right before she leaves, she appears to get to the end of a long stunt of gathering courage and pauses at Casper's shoulder.
"By the way, I really liked that last one.. so don't worry!" And she's off again, card and heart in hand. Cas watches her and then turns a beaming smile to Savannah with his arms spread wide, "Well! Guess you're now free to go."
And Savannah is reassured by the genuine smile, returning it with her usual friendly one, at least until his expression sours, and then hers goes a little uncertain. Yep, shouldn't have said that last bit. She always goes a few sentences too many. Not wanting to make it worse, she just moves on when he does. "I … guess there's some truth to that, yeah," she agrees with a laugh, as she considers it. "Still, I don't do nice things just for the reward. But I guess it just goes to show there's still karma in the world, hard as it is to see here sometimes." The waitress gets a smiley thanks for the bag, and then Sav's curiosity is peaked by the mysterious parting shot. Starting to edge her way out of the chair, she can't help but ask with a bit of amusement, "Do I want to know?"
"That's right, karma. Just like the television show," Casper grins readily, taking his own last glance the way of the waitress that has vanished again. He turns back to see Savannah getting up and he slides to his feet as well. "Ah, she was just— I didn't— that sounded a little naughty, didn't it?" His lips betray him into a huge, bashful grin at the last. However, the expression isn't entirely unintended because his break off into smiling ends his answer, which wasn't even really an answer much to begin with. "Did you know that something like more than half of the wait staff working in LA is an actor waiting for their big break? Guess you got a step ahead of them with the whole internship thing. Good luck with the job, by the way." With that lovely transition, he gestures Savannah to the front of the restaurant, with a slight detour for himself to reclaim his card, and then he ends back near the door for any lingering sentiments.
Savannah gives a little laugh, but nods at the idea of karma. Something has to make the world go 'round, and clearly good things do happen to good people, however occasionally. Her eyebrows lift at his talk of naughty, but she looks amused more than affronted. She's expecting something a bit more, when he turns it into being about her internship. Oh well, she can't really complain since it's a nice sentiment. "Thanks," she replies, picking up her doggie bag before she allows herself to be shooed towards the front of the place, glancing back over her shoulder once as she goes, to watch his own progress.
Once again at her side, Casper dips his head in an almost formal bow that unfolds into him swinging an arm and opening the door for her. The bustle of the boardwalk hasn't much changed since they left and Cas eyes this display as if it's the last most difficult level on Frogger. (And if you don't know what Frogger is, then shame on you!) "If you think you'll make it alright out there, then I guess this is goodbye," he says, stepping out onto the front porch with the outer seating. "It was a great coincidence meeting you, Savannah." And he offers his hand for one last handshake of giant boy hand to tiny girl hand proportions.
Savannah laughs a bit at the showy door opening, bowing just slightly herself in thanks as she steps through and then waits for him on the other side. She gives the boardwalk a glance, but her attention is soon back on Casper, giving him a little smile. "I think I'll be okay," she assures him with a solemn nod - or it would be solemn if she could only stop grinning. "I really enjoyed it, thank you." She offers her tiny girl hand to fill that side of the handshake - and hers are quite tiny, and she's been cursed (or blessed) with those slightly chubby baby hands where the knuckles dimple inwards instead of out. "Good luck out there."
The event has ended with laughing and smiling, which can be chalked up as a win for Casper. Surely, some terrible misfortune is awaiting him later on. That is also karma. Or destiny. "Back at'cha," he deflects the luck smoothly by saying, squeezing her little baby hand and then letting it go. He flips open his wallet to slip the card inside and then makes a nice show of putting it back in his pocket, hesitating, and then making sure it's still a second later. Satisfied, he laughs off his silliness a third - or fourth, or whatever - time and then begins a little relaxed-trot away from the restaurant and back wherever it was he was headed before all this.
