Sept 20th - The Underground, Galleries, and more!

by **Zoe Walker** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:44 pm

"It's hard to beat leather pants, if you've got the gleuts for 'em. Lessee.." Zoe's Student Senses are tingling as she sniffs out a clearance rack with some decent stuff, including a pair of pants that's discounted because one of the back pockets was accidentally left off, "These'd be a steal and I think they're about your size. Maybe.. huh, yeah," and she pulls out a black button-up shirt to go with it. It's fairly simple in design but include embroidered amber flames apparently made up out of a series of small '1' and '0' characters. "Could be cool!"

by **Calvin Strong** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:48 pm

Cal looked at the outfit, smiling at the shirt. "Well, the design is fitting, at least. The real test'll be trying it on. What do you think... time to play dress-up?" he asked, grinning.

by **Zoe Walker** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:00 pm

"Absolutely!" She grins and bounces on the balls of her feet. "I'm gonna pick something else out to try too but it shouldn't take long." She hands off Cal's selections and does a little more browsing before getting into a change room herself.

by **Calvin Strong** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:16 pm

Cal browsed a little more on his way to the fitting room, but he didn't look too hard. After all, he hadn't really come out planning to buy anything, so the urge to find more things wasn't really there.

Hmmm... shirt's good. Pants are a little tight, but I think that's by design... well, one way to really test the outfit. Dropping his own clothes on the bench, he opened the door to come out and get Zoe's impression.

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:06 pm

Zoe tries on the cheerleader outfit for size but doesn't bother stepping out in it. Rather, she spends another minute or two changing into the alternate outfit. She steps out lightly, smoothing down the embroidered fabric of the Chinese-style red minidress. It doesn't quite hit mid-thigh and is slit up one side, with t-shirt length sleeves. She hops up on her toes to find Cal, then makes her way over, "Mmm.. nice! How does it feel?"

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:22 pm

Feeling (as usual) like a smartass, Cal reached around her and ran his hand down her back, pretending to think hard about it. "Hmmm... I think it feels good, but I'd probably need to check more to be sure..." He broke into a grin, then dropped the act, looking down at his outfit. "Feels good, I think, but like I said, I've never had any like this. They look like they fit right?"

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:36 pm

She smirks and bumps her hip into Cal's, then takes a step back. One hand goes up and her finger twirls in the air to get Cal to turn around. "Yeah, looks nice to me. If you can get into them, they're not too tight."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:48 pm

"Well, then I guess these ones are good," he chuckled, turning around as requested. "As long as I can pull it off, at least."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:55 pm

"It's all about attitude. The eyes help too, but yeah, you've got the confidence and stuff. I think this'll be most of my budget for now though, anything else you wanna look at? Accessories or whatever."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:01 pm

"Nah. Getting something's good, but I'm just along for the company, really. Unless there's some vital part of the outfit I'm missing, I'm good," he answered. "And seriously this time... Love the skirt," he said, giving her an appraising (though not leering) look.

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:05 pm

"Thanks!" She grins and dimples, reaching down to tweak the skirt hem between pinched fingers and thumb, "Awright, lets change back and roll before I spend my food budget on clothing." It takes her a little while to get back into her original outfit, and she carries everything over to the counter to pay and get it wrapped up. "Food, yeah?"

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:08 pm

Cal was already waiting for her when she came out, and let her get to the checkout ahead of him. "Yes. Food is good. Tell you what, you pick, I'll pay."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:12 pm

"Awesome! How does Indian sound? I hear there are lots of great curry joints around here."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:16 pm

"I have no idea how it sounds, because I've never had it. So... that makes it a great idea in my book," Cal said, handing his card over to the cashier, and watching a little readout of his bank balance change in the periphery of his vision.

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:20 pm

"Seriously? Do you like hot foods?" With all the payment out of the way, she links elbows with Cal again to hit the streets. "Curry doesn't hafta be very hot, but it usually is."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:44 pm

"Spicy is awesome, and yes, I'm serious. I mean, I've heard of the stuff, but I never really got a chance to eat it," he said, letting her take his arm and gesturing to her bags, offering to carry them for her.

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:56 pm

Zoe happily relinquishes her bag to Cal's capable hands and wanders along the street, keeping her eyes open, "That's crazy. Well, you're in for a treat then. There's lots of authentic stuff in London, it's everywhere. What other hot stuff do you like?"

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:13 pm

"Eh, I'm your usual sheltered American boy who thinks the imitation Mexican food is spicy. I've had a few things here and there that are more authentic, though. Always looking to broaden my horizons a bit, though." He had a slightly vacant look in his eyes for a moment, then pointed. "If we keep walking, there should be a place just up that way on the other side of the street."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:39 pm

"Sounds good to me. Broadening horizons is always good, yeah?" A short walk later and they arrive at the restaurant. Zoe lets Cal handle the seating arrangements, settling in for the meal.

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:36 pm

"Go everywhere, see everything, you only live once. No sense in wasting your time playing it safe," Cal said as they were seated. He frowned as he looked at the menu. "Although if asking you what's good on this menu is playing it safe, I'm going to be a little guilty tonight, I guess."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:23 pm

She giggles and peers at her own menu, "I think I'm gonna get the vegetable korma and curried chickpeas. If you don't mind sharing I also usually like palak paneer, though I could try the shahi paneer, I don't see it on the menu as often. And we'll have to get naan bread with it."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:47 pm

Code: Select all: Searching...

"Really? Huh," Cal said, looking over the items on the menu. "Yeah, I don't mind sharing. Getting a bunch of things to split works in Chinese, don't know why it wouldn't work for Indian."

"I'm still getting used to British places. The stuff that's the same is the same, but the other stuff throws me for a loop every so often."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:39 pm

"I know! It's like they're speaking English for a while, then all of a sudden it's lorry and spanner and cuppa and lets not even talk about what goes into pub grub. And yeah, sharing is good, if you want anything with meat in it though you're on your own. Feel free, but I'm a vegetarian. White wine okay for you?"

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:47 pm

"White's fine, and as long as it tastes good I don't care if it has meat or not," he said, looking over the menu one last time, scanning it to have HAL analyze the items later. "I never asked before... why are you a vegetarian? Animal rights? Just like it better?"

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:10 pm

"A combination of health and politics. I'm slightly less worried about the pesticides and genetic engineering that go into grain crops versus the hormones that go into livestock," she shrugs, "I try to eat organic when I can but I'm not fascist about it. That and when it comes to use of resources, it makes more sense to eat the grains or maize or whatever directly instead of feeding it to an animal for slaughter. I've seen some studies that suggest we actually grow enough food to feed the entire world, it's just not spread out evenly so we still get feast and famine."

"That, and red meat gives me bad gas."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:23 pm

Cal nodded at her explanation. "Good reasons. I've tried eating vegetarian a few times, but I ended up not getting enough protein, so I guess I wasn't very good at it."

He thought about it for a minute. "Although come to think of it, hamburgers didn't agree with me either after a few months without meat."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:27 pm

"Yeah, it takes some work to eat balanced and vegetarian, but it can be done. Shall I order for us then?"

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:44 pm

"Yeah, plus I kept finding out just how many things I liked that had meat in them, right down to pasta sauce. And please, order away."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:49 pm

"Ugh, don't remind me." When the waiter arrives she orders the aforementioned dishes and a bottle of Reisling from France to go with it. She decides to go with the palak paneer after all, since the corma slready has a rich cream sauce, but figures three dishes should be plenty. She approves a hot curry for the chickpeas while the other dishes are traditionally mild.

"I try to avoid dairy and eggs, but I'm not as strict on them since they are a bit more sustainable.. and I like having the freedom to eat out. I tried going vegan for a while and that was just impossible with my lazy lifestyle." The wine shows up quickly enough and she samples it, then approves. After both glasses are filled, she lifts hers in a toast.

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:53 pm

Cal picked up his glass and raised it, too. "To good times?"

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:57 pm

"Good times," she echos and clinks, taking a healthy sip. "Man it's nice to be able to order wine and beer legally."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:08 pm

Cal grinned. "Yep, the things that I don't mention to my parents when they ask how everything's going."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:16 pm

"Meh, like they don't know. Unless they're Amish or something, I'm sure they drank when they were our age. Besides, isn't that what college is all about? Growing up, trying new things, and getting away with it?"

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:25 pm

"Yeah but you don't know my folks. If I'm not studying for two degrees at the same time, I'm slacking."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:31 pm

"Fair nuff. I think my parents are happy enough that I'm going after more than high school that they're not gonna complain." The food arrives soon, along with the flat stretches of naan bread. Once the dishes are on the table, Zoe plays hostess, "So the veggies in the white sauce is the corma, it's quite rich and very tasty. The palak paneer is spinach and cheese, mainly, and of course the curried chickpeas. Those'll be the hottest so you might wanna start with little bites, yeah? It's more than just heat though, there's a lot of flavor to a good curry."

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:41 pm

Cal nodded at her explanations, and as she noted each dish, a little point appeared in his vision like a tactical display.

Quit that.

Code: Select all: Acknowledged

"Well, here goes nothing, then," he said, deciding to sate his curiosity and try the curry first, taking a small bite as recommended. "Okay, you were right," he said, taking another bite and trying to sort through the flavor of it. "Wow. Okay, this I like. One more point for the Old Country."

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:44 pm

She grins and spoons some of the dishes onto her own plate, along with some long-grain white rice. Her first sample is also of the curry, and she breaks into an infectious grin, "Mmm.. yeah, that's very nice. I dunno what all goes into it, but I love the layered flavors. Try the corma too." She breaks off a piece of the bread with her hands and dips some in the white sauce before nibbling on it.

by **Calvin Strong** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:49 pm

Grinning along with her, Cal took her suggestion, and after a bite and his usual 'give it a second and think', decided he liked the corma. The palak paneer was another story, but he decided it was good enough to finish. The curry was, though, his favorite. "I'm going to get spoiled over here and never want to go back to the States, I think," he said, mixing a bit of the curry in with his rice to give it a little more flavor.

by **Zoe Walker** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:53 pm

"If you're in a big enough city you can find decent ethnic stuff, but yeah, this is a far cry from fast food joints." She notices Calvin's not as keen on the paneer so dishes out a bit more of that, "But a lot of it is really Americanized anyway. My folks took me on a vacation to Mexico once, and it's hard to go back to tex-mex after that. Never been to China but I bet the same thing is true for Chinese food." As she works her way through the wine and food, she gets a bit rosy-cheeked; it's partly the spice but also partly the alcohol as she is a bit of a lightweight.

by **Calvin Strong** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:01 am

"Tell me about it. We ought to see just how many places we can get to in Europe to see how the food really compares." For all his banter, Cal wasn't much of a drinker, either, partly because he'd never gotten through many drinks without getting harassed by HAL about the effect of the alcohol on his body.

HAL, no alcohol warnings, Cal thought after getting one warning with the status of his inebriation. Usually he'd just go with it to keep his computer happy, but he didn't really want to look like as much of a lightweight as he was.

Code: Select all: Acknowledged. Downloading information on hangover remedies.

Oh ha ha, everyone's a fucking comedian.

Who is online