There isn't all that much one can say about salad. It was food, which was always a good thing to have, but on the whole it was less than a thrilling food. No matter what sort of extra ingredients you added to it, salad was very much the same always. Lettuce of some sort with dressing to try and give it flavor. He didn't hate it, David would be hard pressed to name any food that he hated outside of the ones that would kill him, but it wasn't the first thing that he would order. Still, his stomach had been empty for a large portion of his youth and David wasn't one to turn down food he could eat. The salad was fresh, the lettuce crisp. And while the table manners that his parents had instilled deeply in him were yelling at him for eating while his date was unable to, he knew he would be offending Emily more so if he did not.

"I'm sorry for your loss," David said, a little surprised with himself how sincere he was in saying so. Those who he had kept close to his heart were an ocean away, but still alive. Some nights he missed them so much that it hurt. Emily said that she had been around for centuries. That meant that she had seen more than the typical amount of people pass away. In a way it seemed cruel that her friend had set her up for a blind date. It was like she was trying to remind Emily of the brief life of others.

"I have noticed a good amount of people who can do some extraordinary things since I came 'ere," David said with a smile. He was capable of some extraordinary things himself, though he wouldn't admit it. The high population of mutants was one of the reasons why David had chosen to stay in New York City. Identifying one specific mutant in a crowd was hard, even more so since people thought so little of mutants as a general rule of thumb. "Iffin people and mutants are to get along well no better place for it to start than 'ere."

Emily watched the salad slowly disappear. She was so glad he was eating. She was fully aware how awkward she made people feel because she never ate with them. Emily made small talk as he finished the salad. She talked about working at a mortuary, her plans on going to school and becoming a neurosurgeon, and something funny Janette had done the other day.

The main courses came out and Emily pushed the food around the plate. It looked delicious. She was glad she couldn’t smell because it would have been torturous not to eat. Emily did her best to be charming. It wasn’t difficult, she had been taught since a young girl how to flatter and flirt. She wondered if her manner was too old-fashioned for the Brit. Emily noticed how other girls flirted, or what they would consider flirting. She saw better tact in brothels.

The date was going better than she had expected. Sure, he was doing all the eating and she was doing all the talking. But at least he wasn’t disgusted by her. She was enjoying herself.

The waiter brought a to-go container and brought the check. Emily pulled out her wallet, ready to pay if David didn’t stop her first. She was in no way going to assume he was going to pay. If anything, they would go dutch. If he insisted on paying, she would request to leave the tip. It was the right thing to do.

Deflection had been difficult with Ms. Summers when he had met her at an auction. She picked up easily on his habit of drawing attention away from himself when he didn't want it. With Emily it was almost laughably easy. She was willing to share events with him from her day to day life. Should she be a mark of any scam of his, David felt confident that he would get exactly what he wanted. It helped that Emily was saying some things that were genuinly of interest to David, even if he felt no attraction to her. In all it was not a bad way to spend the evening and succeeded in distracting him from his concerns.

If David had been the sort to listen to his conscience he would have found it strange that at this point in his life money and food were no longer concerns, even though he did not have a steady job the way that his family did. Instead he did not hesitate to open up his wallet and place a credit card inside the leather envelope, making sure to add a generous number on the receipt for gratuity. It wasn't his money, not really, and as such he had no issue spending it. The extra left for the waiter was an unapologetic bribe for silence. Just how much of the conversation the waiter had heard was uncertain, but the way that Emily had just moved her food around the entire time with nothing decreasing in volume had to have drawn some attention. Some people were less than pleased to have anything to do with mutants. "I 'ope that you don't mind me spoiling you a little. It doesn't seem right to not take care of things tonight when you've been fixed up with me. Blind dates rarely go well."

As he had promised once they left the restaurant David handed over the doggy bag to the first homeless person he saw. No fear was shown as he approached the bum and even crouched down to his level. The two engaged in a brief conversation, spoken in hushed tones. David asked the man if he would like a hot meal, didn't have to do anything for it other than tell him what his name was. It was, of course, done for the simple reason of adding to his army of homeless informants, but to those who did not know how David made his way in life the gesture probably looked like a noble act.

"Well we've had a lovely meal together, as much as we could, and the night is still young," David said with a large grin on his face. He had no qualms with staying out for the entirety of the night. Sleep was often ignored by the Brit. Eventually he would crash, but until then coffee was his greatest ally. "What say you we do something that is more in line with your wants and needs. Not that Im not having fun."

Emily was not surprised her date insisted on paying for the whole meal. He was a gentleman, after all. The restaurant was known for its prices though. She hoped he hadn’t broken the bank for their date, especially since she hadn’t even sampled the cuisine. What had he said his job was again? Emily was sure he had shared that information, at least. Hmm, she had been talking a lot more than he had been. How would the night have been if she hadn’t filled in the silence? Awkward…very awkward.

Some people hide themselves by stating silent. Others hide behind useless words.

The girl was glad to finally leave the restaurant. It had been packed, and while people were focused on their own meals and conversations, she had felt the waitress and other servers that came by the table had judged her full plate and one-sided conversation.

Twilight was on the horizon. They walked a short distance. A man in too many clothes for an August evening sat near the side of a building. David approached the man, going to his level and talking to him quietly. Emily stayed back. Not because the homeless man made her uncomfortable in any way, but she didn’t want to frighten the man by having two people come up to him. She watched the people passing by, totally oblivious to the world around them.

David was soon next to her again. Emily was glad he had stayed and eaten. It really was a lovely restaurant and the service was unbeatable. The live pianist brought the whole ambiance together.

Her date asked what she wanted to do now. Honestly, Emily didn’t think this evening would have lasted this long. He asked about what she needed and wanted. “I have no needs.” She said with a smile. “But I heard of this pro-mutant avant-garde play that was opening tonight. I was planning to go, if you wanted to join me.” Not a request that most people would agree to. David seemed unmoved by the fact Emily was a mutant, but that didn’t mean he was pro anything. She was expecting an excuse to come out of his mouth, explaining why he could no longer accompany her.

Of the various cultural activities that David had been a part of for one con or another, plays were ranked fairly low on the list. He could sit through a play alright, but they were a horrible place to try and find a mark. You were so isolated from the rest of the audience for the entirety of the show and it was an incredibly personal thing. Frankly David had expected Emily to sugest dancing again. Dancing in a club was something he would have been perfectly fine with. But Emily had put up with the resturant even though she couldn't eat, so he might as well sit through this play she was looking forward to.

"Sounds lovely, hopefully there's still a few seats available," he lied, making sure that he gave Emily a warm grin. The whole pro or anti mutant angle that seemed to be forced upon plays, art exhibits, practically everything these days, did not strike David as any good reason to see or experience anything. Then again David was a mutant who was still very much closeted about his mutation. Taking a stance either way on mutations would be in some sort of contradiction to at least one aspect of his personality.

"I don't know if I should feel wounded that you had other plans, or honored that you're choosing to include me in them now," joked David. Certainly he was a more interesting prospect if Emily had chosen him in the end. She couldn't have eaten anything at the resturant which was something she probably hadn't wanted to do. There was no reason for her to have gone along with their mutual friend's (who's name was once more escaping his memory) crazy plan for her love life.