Tarin seemed happier now that they'd kissed. Though he did say that, if necessary, he would be more than willing to have this same conversation each time she came over, as long as it eventually resulted in them kissing. And the sooner the kissing commenced, the better.

Well, if he had just listened to her, let them try to go back to being just friends, he wouldn't be having this problem.

But she had agreed to going to get food, and almost before she knew it, they were out of the shop, and walking down the street. It was quiet. Well, not really quiet, there was still the normal New York City traffic, and there were a fair number of people on the sidewalk with them, but things between her and Tarin were silent. Nothing else really needed to be said right then, anyway. They were going on their date, just like Tarin wanted, and what else they ended up doing could be decided while they ate.

The question was, did Lee really want this? Her mind, of course, kept telling her no; it was going to hurt so much when Tarin ended up leaving her, why should she put herself through that? But she just didn't seem to be able to stop herself when they got too close. Today, even when she was trying to convince Tarin that they should just be friends, she had kissed him when he got really close. The previous day at the zoo, before they had first kissed at the bar later that night, Lee had had similar thoughts when they had been sitting close together. Had the thoughts, but had at least managed to fight it. If she had those issues, they really couldn't just go back to simply being friends, could they?

And Lee did really enjoy spending time with Tarin. The bar had been great, and she had had fun with him at the zoo, despite everything else that had gone on that could have possibly ruined the day.

This really was the only way at this point, wasn't it? If she couldn't keep her hands, or lips, off Tarin, they really couldn't just go back to being friends.

By this time, they had arrived at the restaurant, and Lee walked in as Tarin held the door open for her, only to be greeted by comments from the old women behind the counter about him bringing her in a second time. Lee simply raised an eyebrow slightly as she waited for Tarin to pay; they'd already had this conversation the last time they'd been here, about how Tarin had brought women here to eat on occasion, but never twice, because he never saw them twice.

Finally, they were away from the old women, though that didn't seem to stop them from commenting, Lee could still hear them chattering in the background.

And then Lee was being handed a plate as Tarin said 'ladies first' while gesturing at the buffet. While she was loading her plate up with delicious looking food, Lee started to get another worry building. Based on everything she'd heard, this was already one of Tarin's longest relationships. What if it wasn't her powers that was going to end up making him leave?

Lee managed to wait until they both were sitting before she opened her mouth to question it. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" She asked quietly, glancing down at her plate briefly before looking up and across the table at Tarin again. "No more flings, no more one night stands. You yourself have told me you haven't even taken the same woman to dinner twice before today." The unasked question Lee left hanging in the air was 'can you do this?'

Lee had been almost silent the whole time they were walking to the restaurant, and now that they’d arrived, she hadn’t started speaking. The cackling from the crones hadn’t induced anything other than a raised eyebrow, though. Tarin wasn’t surprised in retrospect, though, they’d had that conversation the last time they’d eaten here. Lee was quiet as she got her food though, she’d been quiet as they walked, she was quiet when the old women were making comments about how special she was. This didn’t necessarily bode well. So Tarin stalled.

Getting his food took longer than Tarin had ever taken before and by the time he made it back to the table he’d already set up another argument as to why this was going to work. Sitting down and digging right into the food, Tarin listened carefully while Lee spoke. He opened his mouth after the first question, but Lee wasn’t done and he closed it, then took another bite as she went through the questions.

Honestly, he shouldn’t have been surprised by the question. After everything that he had told Lee about his past escapades with women, it made sense that her powers weren’t the only thing she would be worried about as far as a relationship with him was concerned. Tarin thought about this as he chewed, it was the same conversation he’d been having with himself that very morning. Was this something he wanted to do? Hell yes.

“I’m positive, Lee.” Tarin said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked across the table at her, and meeting her eyes as he flushed with the thought of the things she was bringing up. “I know it’s something I haven’t done right in a long time…but I’ll put it in perspective like this.” He took a breath and tried to put into words exactly what he was thinking.

“That one, single kiss in the bar last night, hit me harder, and meant more to me than anything that’s happened to me in years.” He paused, and something else occurred to him.

“I never said that I’d never taken a woman to dinner twice…” he said softly, “I just said it had been a long time….”

Tarin had definitely taken his time getting back to the table. Much longer than it had taken him the first time they had come here to eat. In fact, Lee had already started eating by the time he made it to join her at the table.

But despite the fact that it seemed to take forever for Tarin to get his food, there was no pause between her asking and him answering her question. Tarin shrugged, but there was certainty in his voice as he spoke. And, Lee saw, even a slight blush crossing his cheeks.

Then he started talking about the kiss they had shared the previous night, the kiss that had started everything, because Lee hadn't been able to stop herself from leaning in to Tarin's lips, hadn't even fully realized what she was doing until after she had already started to kiss him.

Lee started to blush slightly as well. That kiss hadn't necessarily meant more to Lee, like Tarin said that it had to him, but she had had difficulties pulling away, even after she realized what she had done.

"So how long is a long time?" Lee asked, her eyes dropping down to her plate as she pushed around a chicken ball that was sitting in some sauce there. It couldn't have been as long as her, considering the fact that she'd never actually been on a 'real' date before this, despite her age, but there was still the curiosity there.

She was thinking about it. Lee did a lot of thinking, Tarin noticed…and a lot of worrying. It was something he was going to have to get used to. He shook his head at himself, even as he sat at the table thinking those thoughts. This wasn’t a done deal yet, and even if it was going to happen, even if they were going to give it a try, there was no guarantee that things were going to work out. The thought shocked Tarin, even as he thought it, he was thinking about it working out? He hadn’t known this woman long…not long at all, and he was thinking words like “future” . What was wrong with him?

Lee was digesting what he’d said, and while she didn’t react negatively…she didn’t react at all. She just asked a question. Somehow, that question was more significant than any other reaction she could have had. Tarin sat his fork down and pushed his plate forward a little bit, propping his arms on the table and lacing his fingers together. “High School.” He said simply, then dropped his chin onto his hands.

“It’s been since High School.”

Tarin frowned, he’d told Lee a little bit about what exactly it was he did, but she didn’t know the worst of it. How could he? How could anyone want to be with the monster that he could be?

“You’re not the only one who has hurt people, Lee.” He said, averting his eyes as he spoke, “It just seemed better the way I did things…safer…and easier.”

He turned back now, though, meeting Lee’s eyes again, “But this feels easy…” he said, gesturing between the two of them.

She had asked the question, and Tarin pushed his plate away slightly, resting his elbows on the table. And then he replied.

It'd been since he'd been in high school since Tarin had taken the same person to dinner a second time. Even with the fact that Tarin had finished high school, had gone to school till he actually graduated, Lee knew that that was a long time. Years. Lee simply nodded when Tarin reiterated the fact that it'd been since high school since he had done this.

But then Tarin was averting his eyes, a frown on his face. Lee set her fork down as well as Tarin started to speak. "You didn't mean to hurt people, right?" Lee asked slowly, her voice quiet.

But in a way, at least now with how he was explaining it, Lee did sort of see how Tarin would think that it would be safer and easier to not have anything more serious than one night stands. With one night stands, you don't have to worry about the person really finding out about your powers, and don't have to worry about getting hurt yourself because there there was no attachment.

And then Tarin was looking at her again, waving his hand between them. "This feels easy to you?" Lee asked. "How can it feel so easy when you haven't done anything like this in so long?"

Lee had more questions, of course she would, but Tarin was starting to feel a little paranoid. They were in a very public place, around people who could probably hear their conversations. Tarin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pushing away the panic that was threatening to rise up at the thought that somebody might know what he was. Those were old feelings, for old cities, and an old Tarin. This Tarin was happy where he was, and he looked across at Lee and shook his head, “No. Never on purpose. Doesn’t change the fact, though.”

There it was, the insecurity…but somehow it felt good to tell someone these things. She wasn’t ready for the whole story yet, and Tarin didn’t know if he’d ever be ready to tell it. She knew something about it now, though…and all that he could do from here was go forward.

She was thinking again, and Tarin didn’t interrupt her, didn’t move his head from where he’d settled it on his laced fingers. If Lee needed to think, she was going to have time to think. Tarin could tell this patience thing was going to be difficult for him. Lee seemed to be a woman who didn’t make decisions rashly, though. God help them both during the learning experiences.

Lee was receptive when Tarin pointed out that what they were doing felt right, but she didn’t fall hook, line, and sinker. She still had more questions, though Tarin couldn’t help but chuckle at the way she asked.

“It hasn’t been that long.” He said, shaking his head slowly, and still attempting to steer the conversation away from the past. It wasn’t something he wanted to necessarily talk about. Why did it feel so easy? Tarin didn’t know, so he shrugged his shoulders. “I couldn’t tell you why it feels so easy Lee, it just does. What about you?” he said, pausing for a moment and giving her time to think.

“Let go of all the worrying and doubt that you have…quit telling yourself that I’m going to leave. What do you think then? Because that’s the voice you should be listening to.”

He hadn't ever meant to hurt anyone. Lee nodded again. She knew what that was like, definitely knew about it. Unfortunately, she also knew that, especially when you had powers, it wasn't something you could always avoid. She didn't want to hurt or harm anyone with her siphoning, but just because she didn't want to, didn't mean that she didn't do it.

"Well, it's been long enough," Lee stated when Tarin tried telling her that high school really wasn't that long ago. It was at least more than a couple of years, at any rate. He didn't have an answer about how it felt so easy for him now, though. It just...was, he said.

And then he turned the question around on her, asking what she felt about the two of them, at least when she wasn't worrying about him leaving or her powers getting in the way. Lee frowned slightly in thought, a small crease forming between her brows, as she looked down at her plate in front of her.

"I'm not really sure how I feel," Lee finally admitted, her eyes still down cast and the slight frown still present. "I do know I haven't kissed anyone in over five years, though. Haven't even really thought if it other than daydreams and fantasies wondering what it would be like to be able to live a normal life.

"And I know that I almost kissed you while we were at the zoo," Lee finished, glancing up at Tarin through her eyelashes to see what his reaction would be.

Tarin was amazed he’d managed to contain his reaction when Lee pointed out that it had been five years since she’d been kissed. FIVE YEARS. Tarin wanted to rave about that, how on Earth had she gone for five years with no kissing? How had she gone five years without being kissed. Lips like Lee’s were made for kissing. Tarin just nodded as if he was simply taking in the information he was being given.

Lee continued, though, and suddenly he felt more sorry for her than he ever had before. It was easy to forget, when he looked at Lee, what everyday life was like for her. Obviously people hadn’t given her much of a chance when they found out what her powers did. She really was surprised that he wanted to be around her as much as he did. Lee was also convinced that eventually he wouldn’t want to be around her. Tarin wasn’t convinced, but apparently Lee had seen enough from personal experience to believe it wholeheartedly. That was the first thing he was going to have to change…but how was he possibly going to convince Lee that her powers weren’t going to be near enough to run him off?

Lee was thinking again, and Tarin watched as that same little line appeared between her eyes, he was already getting used to seeing it where he was concerned. She spoke finally ad he nodded his head. That was going to have to be good enough, for now. Not knowing how she felt, and admitting that she’d wanted to kiss him ever since they’d spent the time together at the zoo. Tarin thought about it for a moment as he unlaced his fingers and pulled his plate back in front of him. Then he took a bite, and after chewing, swallowed.

Lee was looking up at him through his lashes and he simply had to smile at her, using his fork to gesture in his general direction, “If you keep looking at me like that darlin’, I’m going to start kissing you again and we’re not going to get any of this worked out.”

That aside, Tarin looked away and took another bite of his food, Lee really was a delightfully distracting woman, “And anyway, don’t feel bad about the zoo, I’d been chanting ‘just friends’ like a mantra since we met…but you knew that already.”

Tarin took another couple of bites and let her think about what he’d said for a few moments, then he shrugged again, “Look…all I can say is the same thing that I’ve been saying since last night. Could it possibly hurt more to try than it would not to?” He looked across the table again, brown eyes locking on grey, “I don’t think it could, if you can tell me you’d honestly rather try and go back to friends…I’ll do it. I’d rather have you like that than not at all.”

There really wasn't a whole lot of a reaction to what she had said. Lee had expected there to have been a reaction of some sort to what she had said, but there was nothing. So she simply continued to sit there, looking up at Tarin through her eye lashes as she took a slow bite of the Chinese food.

Finally, though, Tarin did say something, and immediately her eyes dropped back down to her plate. A blush sprang to her cheeks, though.

As Tarin started speaking again, Lee looked up at him fully, no longer through her lashes. "It might," she admitted when he asked if trying this relationship might end up hurting more.

Lee took another couple of breaths, leaning back in her seat slightly. Only to have Tarin locking his eyes on hers. "Why do you think I was trying to talk you into just being friends?" Lee asked. "But I don't think we really can go back to just being friends. Friends don't kiss, and I know you noticed what happened back at the shop."

She blushed, but she didn’t admonish him for making the comment about kissing. They were already making progress, Tarin noted, but there she was again thinking with that silly line between her eyebrows. The woman was going to have wrinkles before she was thirty. That thought made something occur to Tarin, in all the time they’d spent together, in all the kissing they’d done…he had no clue how old Lee was. That was frightening for a moment, but then he remembered her drinking in the bar…that meant she was at least twenty-one. Still, he reminded himself to ask her later in the most tactful way possible. Now, though, he was distracted by what she was saying.

Tarin shook his head when Lee pointed out that it just might be more difficult and fixed her with a look that clearly said, B.S. He might be willing to go to great lengths for this whole idea of a relationship with Lee, but one thing he wasn’t willing to do was let her lie to herself. “You just told me that you hadn’t been kissed in five years, Lee. I don’t know the back story on that one, but I don’t really care what it is…You practically…” Tarin caught the eye of the old crones over Lee’s shoulder, they were eavesdropping intently on the conversation. Shooting them a healthy portion of the stink eye, Tarin pushed his plate aside again and leaned forward on the table, lowering his voice to a loud whisper.

“You melt Lee, melt when you let yourself forget what you are for just a moment, and let go of that little scrap of control. No, you don’t know what’s going to happen if we give this a shot. You might decide you hate me in a week and a half, have you ever thought about it that way? Everything you say reverts back to you. You talk about being normal, but this is what every normal couple goes through when they try to start a relationship. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.”

She pointed out that she’d come over that day to do exactly what he was offering now, and Tarin shook his head, “I just knew that the second you got out of the shop and had a chance to think about it, you’d talk yourself out of the entire notion.” The second part of her statement was better than the first, though, and Tarin grinned widely, nodding his head slowly. “I did notice, and I’m pretty sure you did too.” He said with a knowing smile, a smile that faded after a moment, though and Tarin sat deep in thought.

“I did that on purpose though, walked you into it. You may have been willing, but I knew exactly what I was doing.” He said, looking across the table at Lee, “I was trying to make a point. If you really don’t want this, I’ll turn it off and stop pushing. Maybe the time isn’t right.”

Tarin hoped he was wrong, hoped that this would end up being nothing but a show of his willingness to be patient. It was terrifying, not knowing what was going to happen, because more than anything he wanted to try all the silly things he saw on sitcoms and TV dramas. Cuddling on a couch, going to a ball game, a night out on the town. It could all wait, though, because what was the point of doing those things with someone when they didn’t matter? Tarin shook his head again.

“But I’ll tell you one thing. If you don’t want this, I’ll wait. I’m not going anywhere, and if it takes six months, if it takes six years for what those kisses meant to sink in…I’ll still be waiting.”

Tarin was making a lot of good points. Too many good points here, about everything. And, while she wouldn't describe herself as melting when she kissed him, Lee had noticed that most thought left her mind and she would get lost in how it felt to be kissing Tarin.

"You think I might just start to hate you in a week?" Lee asked, slightly confused and surprised. "I'd think we passed that point before we came to eat here the last time." Because really, by the time they had come to this restaurant to eat the first time, there had been more than enough shown and told to Lee to make her not like Tarin, to make her not want to spend time with him, and it hadn't happened.

But was this what all normal couples went through? Lee hadn't exactly had a normal relationship before now, but even she wasn't naive enough to think that every relationship worked out. And that thought made Lee pause, made her think. Of course every relationship that ever started didn't work out. So why was she so worried about this? She knew the chances were good that it wouldn't work out. But, like Tarin was saying, did that mean they shouldn't try?

And maybe, if she kept it in the back of her mind, that things weren't going to work out, it wouldn't be as painful when it all ended.

Tarin kept talking though, and if Lee had been surprised before, she was far past that now. Because now he was saying that, if it really was what she wanted, they could go back to simply being just friends, and that he'd wait until she realized just how much that kiss had meant. Even if it took her six years.

Lee simply stared at Tarin for a few moments, not sure what to day. Based on everything she had heard about the man before, this was nothing even close to what she would have expected to be hearing from him. She didn't even realize she was chewing on her bottom lip slightly until she finally opened her mouth to speak. "It really meant that much to you?" Lee asked, looking across the table, and mostly untouched Chinese food, at Tarin. "I really mean that much to you?"

Tarin laughed when Lee seemed surprised at the thought that she could hate him in a week. “Yeah, I feel like it’s at least a distant possibility. I’m like this all the time.” He said by way of explanation, leaving out the fact that there was one major thing that he was still leaving out. A week might be long enough for him to build up the courage to admit it to Lee. Tarin didn’t know, but whenever that particular secret came out, he had a feeling that things were going to change at least a little.

Lee looked stunned at the amount of time that Tarin said he was willing to wait for her to be ready. Tarin simply shrugged his shoulders. There wasn’t a whole lot more to say about it. Lee spoke, and Tarin just kind of looked at her, a slight smile on his face as he nodded his head to confirm what she said.

“Yup.” There wasn’t anything else to say.

Tarin knew how it had to sound, how strange the words and the actions were, so he tried to explain. “It’s just one of those things Lee. Maybe it’s the right time, maybe you’re just the right person…but I think I really would wait that long.”

She’d wanted to know if it was that important and Tarin’s mind stuck on that for a few moments as he mulled it over and over. There was something so significant about that kiss. “You didn’t want to.” He finally said in the way of explanation, “You didn’t want to, but something made you do it anyway.” He was on a bit of a roll now, and kept going, “You make me earn every step of the way…I really like that about you.”

Tarin didn't really say anything at all, simply yup. That in itself was strange. This kind of reaction, this kind of commitment, from Tarin, with everything that she knew about him so far, was no where near expected.

And then Tarin went on, trying to explain more, and all Lee could do was lean back even further in her chair as she looked across the table at Tarin. Maybe it was the right time, or, more shocking, he said that maybe she was the right person, but he thought that he'd be willing and able to wait six years for her to be ready, if needed. If it would take her that long.

As Tarin continued, saying even more, explaining at least part of what had made the kiss, of what made her, so significant, Lee was at a loss for words. This was quite an intense conversation for a first date, even Lee knew that. What was there to say to what Tarin had just said? Yet, she was the one who had asked, so she had to say something, right?

That thought didn't matter, though, Lee still didn't know what to say. So she just nodded her head in reply to what Tarin had said before turning her attention back to her plate momentarily, trying to buy herself some more time to think.

It was as she was biting a chicken ball in half that Lee had another thought: if Tarin seriously thought that he could wait that long for her to be ready to try this dating thing, maybe it wouldn't go so badly. At least maybe not as badly as she was fearing.

After swallowing, Lee looked up at Tarin again. "So, what else do you do on a first date?" Lee asked.

Tarin actually blushed at the look on Lee’s face as she leaned back in her chair and observed him while he spoke. It was such a strange thing to have someone watch you so closely, and it almost seemed like Lee could see right through him. Suddenly, the intensity of his words sunk in and Tarin shut his mouth with an audible click. If Lee was smart, she’d probably be up and running from the restaurant within the next few seconds. Only crazy people talked like that on a first date…then again, Tarin had never professed to be completely sane.

Lee opened her mouth, and Tarin readied himself for the tirade that was surely going to follow. Instead, she asked what else people did on a first date. The blush on Tarin’s face added a little at that and he took a deep breath before breaking into a broad grin and taking another bite of food as he thought.

“Well.” He said, tilting his head as he tore apart a crab Rangoon and indulged himself in the crunchy/creamy goodness. “Sometimes people go to movies on first dates…and I think I’ve done enough talking tonight to cover us for the next couple of months. Maybe it’d be good to get us someplace where I have to keep my mouth shut.”

It was true…Tarin justified internally as he waited to see what Lee had to say about his suggestion. Being around Lee made him say things that he just normally wouldn’t say and Tairn was shocked to find that he didn’t necessarily mind. All these things about Lee were so startling, so strange to him…then again, maybe it was just New York. Either way, Tarin grinned at the woman across from him and took another bite of Chinese.

Tarin blushed, but otherwise didn't say anything after his revelation that he thought this was either the right time, or she was the right person. Even after she had asked her question about what people did on first dates other than go for dinner, Tarin didn't say anything.

At least not at first.

Then Lee saw a grin spread across Tarin's face, followed by his answer. Lee couldn't help but smile as she heard what Tarin said; he had said an awful lot just now, probably much more than he had ever intended to say. But, the truth of the matter was that what he said did help Lee feel better about the whole situation.

"Well," Lee said slowly, eyes on her plate as she searched for what else to nibble on as she spoke. "There is a movie I really wouldn't mind seeing, but just haven't gotten to yet, and I saw last night that it's actually still playing at a theatre near here. It is a chick flick, though, but I think that same theatre's still playing Stardust, too. It doesn't look nearly as chick-flicky, but probably won't be out for much longer either."