Since there's no place to go

"Hey, at least you remembered me probably fondly," Eph said, grinning. "That's more than what I'd have expected from remembering me from, well, scales. Although next time, you should probably remember other things, okay? Maybe fish."

Eph stretched out her arms and put her palms up, staring at the snow as it fell down softly. "I should've brought gloves," she said, sneezing a little and then rubbing her palms together.

Regret welled up inside her, as the mention of food had her feeling a little more hungry than she should have been. Only a little too late did she stop herself from licking her lips.

"There's this nice steak and seafood place by the sea if you're fine with that. I don't really have much else in mind... haven't had meat in ages for various reasons."

"That's a good idea," Eph said thoughtfully, stifling a shiver and biting a finger. "That's all I'm saying. It's a good idea. I thoroughly reject it, but it's a good idea. The only reason I'll consider is allergies, and... doubtful."

She drew closer, close enough so she could wrap her arms around his waist - mostly for warmth - and stare up at his eyes. Her words were filled with so much unnecessary pomp that one could almost picture her gesticulating behind Lochlann's back. "You've been away awhile... so I'll be operating under the assumption that your taste has gotten bad and you need to be, hmm... reacquainted with the idea of good food. Therefore, I have made an executive decision to veto all your food choices."

She winked. "Besides, I have a discount there for reasons that I was going to use on Crystal, but like I said, you're more important. No - not that she's not important or anything, I love her like my sister and all - but, ah, - you know what, you get it."

Her arms unlatched and she spun around, getting a little snow on her nose and sneezing a little more. She began to walk backward, back in the general direction of her home and the city. "Speaking of... you never mentioned having a sister. You should've! I could've made some sort of gift for you to take back home for her. Screw your parents, they can get their own stuff."

Eph chuckled lightly and then hastily shook her head to retract the last bit of her statement before giggling a little more.

"Aw, are you nervous? Don't worry, I won't bite," Eph teased. She noticed that tiny gulp, and wondered what exactly he would have wanted to eat or why he seemed so reserved about the thought of a seaside dinner. There weren't any allergies mentioned, so that couldn't have been it. "Why are you nervous? The worst that could happen is I probably mess up so hard while eating that I lose my tail."

He struggled a little more against her invitation in a way that could not possibly work. Faking a little bit of pouting, Eph responded sulkily, "I went here to the frozen lake for you and even bent over on the ice while I was cold for you... a-choo."

There was no way that fake sneeze could be in any way thought of as legitimate. "Anyway, you'll have to tell me more about your family later, okay? Steak's not going to be the only thing grilling tonight."

Briefly Eph entertained the thought of bringing Lochlann home to lend him a suit. The mental image seemed decent, even if she knew that bringing him home meant they probably wouldn't be leaving until the morning. "It's not really a dress code sort of thing, but if you want we could pop by my place and I'd lend you something nice... this is a limited time offer by the way aaaaand offer's done. Let's go eat!"

"Well, here we are," Eph declared, letting go of Lochlann's hands and turning back around. She'd been walking backwards for the better part of fifteen minutes while pulling him forward, as part of some silly challenge that arose in her attempts to lighten the mood earlier. "Told you I could do it. Nobody ever puts enough faith in the cute lizard but she can do it."

Quickly, she brushed the light snow buildup from off her shoulders, and then from her head, and then his head. His height forced her to tiptoe just to achieve that properly, but it gave her some satisfaction to do so. "So, you want to go inside, or at the veranda? And this time, I'm actually giving you a choice."

"You know, I want to say 'let's stay out here' just to mess with you but..." Eph trailed off and stepped inside, where there was a little more heat than outside.

Inside was warm - even the lights were a warm shade, as a welcome contrast to the cold of the snow outside. The seats were of something seemingly luxurious, though she'd been here enough times to know that they were actually really cheap, and some of the other tables were actually literally homemade.

She sat by the window at a table for two, pulling up and patting the opposite chair with her tail. "I'm not on the menu, but we can work something out. Try the squid ceviche if you like seafood, or maybe the grilled eel, or beef tenderloin steak. Or, if you want, they always serve a very weird special of the day."