[OPEN] The Night of Your Life, Act 2

Chiharu re-positions her bag so it's in between her and Toshiaki, consequently causing the bottle of Tylenol to shake slightly within it. She leans on her hand, resting her elbow on the table, so that when she turns to look towards Toshiaki her mouth is covered from the others as she says in a nearly silent tone, "Painkillers, if you need them."
After the short phrase, she turns back to look over the rest of the party, trying not to draw attention to the situation.

Toshi looked at the bottle for a second before shaking his head. "Nothing to worry about," he replied quietly.
Not to mention that acetaminophen is dangerous enough on its own, let alone with everything else I have to take. I've still got some ibuprofen if I really need it.

"I'll have, err...." Kuriko muses, struggling to read the fancy typeface on the menu that was overly wavy. While she'd had her cybernetic eyes for a few years now, she hadn't learnt to read properly as a child and it was a struggle to learn later in life without the sponginess of a child's brain. She barely manages to read a single word, and calmly snaps the menu shut. "I'll have whatever he's having." She says, pointing to Satoshi, smiling at Wade. "And I'll have a water, too. Ice, please."

I sigh.

Okay, fairly-cheap meal. I'm alright.

Wade swiftly writes everything down on a few pages of his notepad, then looks through his notes to make sure he can understand everything. 'Alright, let's see... Two lobster lasagnas, two lambs, two salmons, three specials, langoustine, geoduck, merluza, snapper, monkfish, crispy duck, orange juice, crab, lemonade and six waters, one of which with a lemon wedge in it. Am I forgetting anything?'

Well I'll be. He is mostly competent when he wants to be.
Now if he did that all the time…

"And a Diet Coke for Hawke. The rest sounds right, thanks," Toshiaki said warmly.

None of the seniors going to drink, huh? Go figure.

As usual, poor Mizo seems to be overlooked.

I got you, man.

"Three lasagna's for Mizo, Kuriko, and I."

"He said three specials, Satoshi..." Kuriko whispers to him, "That's us."

"Wait, isn't the lasagna the special?..."

I think back to what Wade said.

...

'Today's specialties are a fantastique place to start! (<--PUNCTUATION) My personal recommendation is the lobster lasagna, which tastes just as good as it sounds'

"..."

I had assumed that the lasagna was the special.

*E*Son of a-

And that is how Satoshi started on his adventure in the French restaurant that he never wanted to go to...

'Okay, so it seems like everything's in order now!' Wade grinned after discretely adding the diet coke to the order, mostly ignoring the little misunderstanding about the lasagna. 'Je reviens dans une minute!' he said with a polite bow typical of the waiters in the restaurant, then promptly left the students' side in order to pass the order to the cooks.

I wonder… bipolar, or just trying to avoid a second complaint tonight?
Either way, I'll gladly take the adjustment.

He looked around the table, currently devoid of conversation.
Some party this is turning out to be…
"So Mizo, you thought any more about what instrument you'd be interested in?"

"yeah, a little at least. I sort of like the thought of the Violin." Mizo replied, glad that someone had ended the momentary awkward silence.

"Awesome," he said with a grin. "I tried cello for a few weeks once, but I never really got into it as much. Kinda wish I had.

"Chiharu, Hawke, Satoshi, you know anyone around who's good with orchestral strings?"

"I play a bit of classical guitar." Kuriko butts in, smiling at Toshiaki.

Her real forté was more upbeat, but her guitar teacher had been keen to show her and get her interested in a variety of genres, and classical seemed one of the better ones.

"That right?" he replied, grinning back. "Which period you study most? I never much cared for Baroque era works, myself. Did a lot of study in Classical era and later, most of my favorites probably early Romantic era."

I loosely raise my hand next to my face.

"I know someone that mentioned he played a few string instruments but I don't know how good he is."

Satoshi knows Ryuu does but he has never seen him play, nor does he know about the vast amount of string instruments he plays...

I literally just said that I played classical...

"Classical." Kuriko repeats, with a bemused expression on her face. "I play a mean Palladio."

{Well, there's "classical music," and then there's the Classical Era proper.}

"Jenkins? Contemporary á la Baroque, on guitar. Interesting."

[I was referring to the era... I'm not a complete idiot, y'know.]

{Never said anything to that effect, now did I? }

"So Satoshi, who is this that plays strings?"

I rest an elbow on the table.

"A guy by the name of Ryuu Taketa."

"He doesn't talk very much but he told me he likes to play it."

"You should introduce us sometime.

"Motozaki, Kaim, Sora, you play any music?"

"No." I reply, half-closed eyes hinting that I've lost interest in my surroundings and never really held interest in the conversation before me.

Sayuri shakes her head. "I tried to learn piano as a child but I was never very good at it."

"Piano is fun." Hawke says simply, glancing towards Sayuri. "It really helps broaden your understanding of other instruments. Takes a while, but once it clicks it's great. You should pick it up again sometime."

He pauses for a few seconds, then adds, "I can help out, if you want."