Zelda smiled as she waited for him to answer her question. She listened to him, her eyes unwavering from his face as he confessed to... Wanting something more serious? Or a hook up situation? Zelda was taken aback for a moment, unprepared for the sudden question. After all, she did want something long term with him... But was she really ready for it? It wasn't really her, but would he want to be with her when he knows about her... Interesting past? She had secrets, secrets that could theoretically put him in danger. 

Or was that just excuses for not being afraid of being in a relationship with someone? It had been years since she had been in a serious relationship. Her last one was when she was still in college, when... Other things, happened. 

She looked towards her wine glass as she thought about her answer, probably taking a little too long. "I..." She sighed, honesty was probably the best answer. "I would like for something more... Serious." She paused, carefully figuring out the best way to phrase her next words, "But... I have secrets. I have bad things following me. I... I don't know." She took her hands and started folding a napkin, just to do something with her hands. Her cheeks were red hot as she stared. She didn't want to screw things up with Jay, but she didn't want him to get stuck with her with all the baggage. "I really, really like you, Jay." 

His heart caught in his throat for a second; she was taking a really long time to answer. Was it always this stressful?

Then, he breathed a sigh of relief as she spoke. "Well...I guess we both have our secrets then," he said quietly, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Even still...we can at least try, right? So we both have a handful of skeletons in our closet and some darkness in our past..." He paused, taking a breath.

"That's the thing. I really really like you too. And...I'm not the kinda guy who gets...emotionally attached. I mean...I actually feel around you." He paused. "Usually, I'm more of the one and done type, or just hookups and nothing serious. But with you...I feel like we can be...more..." His voice trailed off and he sorta looked into his wine glass before taking a sip.

Zelda paused as she waited for him to respond to her situation. She bit her bottom lip, preparing for him to stand up and leave... But he didn't. He put his arm around her shoulder. A little surprised, she smiled softly as she still stared at the napkin. She leaned into him, sighing in relief. She nodded. They could definitely try. It would be worth trying, after all. Despite everything, everything happened for a reason. Maybe nothing else happened right so they could find each other. Maybe.

She smiled as she looked towards him, "Yeah... We can try, I... I really would love that." They could work through their secrets, right? Together, maybe they could even clean them out. Be fresh, without worry.

She let her hand go back and slip into his - she squeezed gently. She listened to him speak, carefully articulating her next words, "I'm kind of... The same." she took a sip of wine, "Hell, I haven't even been in a serious relationship in... A decade?" She sighed a little, "I... Wasn't expecting someone like you to show up in my life, honestly. I'm so glad you did." She wasn't even sure at this point. The last one was a disaster, so why try again? Until him, at least. He just made her feel a certain kind of way. She gave him a soft smile, "We can be more."

Boom! Confidence! She turned a little red and took a sip of her wine. 

"I'm not sure I've ever had a serious relationship," he murmured, looking over at her after another sip of wine. "Though it's probably been close to ten years, if it counts."

He took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. "I honestly didn't expect you to cross my path, either. Damn sure didn't expect you to stay. But I'm glad we're here." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before taking another sip of wine. He felt his heart fluttering in his chest again, and his cheeks flushed a little. He was still shocked at how that ended; he was expecting rejection, but...here they were.

"I'm glad you feel the same, Zelda," he murmured. "Honestly I had no idea how I was going to do that, but...you somehow seem to read me like a book." Not that he minded.

She nodded as she listened to him speak. Similar to her, then. It was a long time ago - maybe it was time for them to settle down with someone. Maybe that was each other. She figured they'd find out, whether now or later on. She was going to enjoy it until he didn't want it anymore, at least.

She blushed as he kissed her cheek and at his kind words, "I'm glad we're here, too. I couldn't ask for much more right now, honestly." She leaned over and skipped his cheek, kissing his lips softly for a moment before leaning back. 

She winked, "I'm a doctor. I'm trained to figure stuff out about people." She shrugged, a grin on her face. She was slightly joking - she wasn't a psychologist, after all. But, as a doctor, she was trained to look for things - lies, feelings, nervousness, happiness. It came with the job. It just happened to translate well into the real world. In either case, she figured she probably should tell him about at least one of or two of her dark secrets. That would be a good test to see if he was serious or not.

She, of course, would wait until she tell the waiter was coming though. She could say it right before he got here, that way he couldn't reply right away. He'd have to think about it. Maybe he'd want to stay, maybe he'd want to go. She wasn't sure. But, it wasn't long before she caught site of the server coming out with the food. "I have a kid who's 11 who lives at the mansion that I put up for adoption when I was in college. Also, a secretive government agency on the other side of the rip tried to force me into unethical research." She took a deep, long sip of wine as the waiter showed up.

"Bon apatite!" He placed the orders down in front of them and scurried off, leaving them alone together with the food. Now that she had that off her chest, she could know if he was serious or not. Plus, while he didn't have to know the details, he at least had an idea. Hell, he might not even believe her.

"True. Though my profession gives me a look into people, too," he replied. Jay kissed her back, smiling as she spoke. Then, as the waiter was coming, she began spilling at least a couple of her secrets. And...they were pretty big, yeah, but he wasn't going anywhere. And he wasn't going to respond until the waiter left.

"I don't mind kids. They can be sweet. Wouldn't be surprised if there's a few I don't know about, to be honest...that wasn't my secret though," he said, looking over at her. "The term government agency is all I need to know you're probably in dep ****," he said with a small smile and a wink. Then, he took a deep breath. "Bass isn't my only source of income," he said quietly. "I use my shifting to catch people off guard and either pickpocket them, or go home with them and take a few valuables...sometimes raid their fridge. I guess you could say I'm a conman." He looked away, not knowing what she'd think of that one. After all, stealing wasn't exactly...ethical.

She perked a brow, giving him a teasing grin. What kinda profession would that be then? He definitely wasn't a psychologist, after all. 

She smiled and then laughed. She was glad Abel wasn't going to be an issue with him. He was living at the mansion, happily and content going to school, learning. They'd probably like each other, at least, he would like Jay. Hopefully, Jay would like him though. She bit her lip as winked towards her about the government agency. He totally didn't realize what she meant but there would be more time for explanations later. After all, it wasn't like they were after her right now. Maybe never again, either.

She perked a brow and then laughed, "Ahhh... A conman." Lots of jokes about hearts being stolen, here. She shrugged and took a bite of her food, "I mean, I was going to help you be a dog and win races. I wouldn't say I have a place to judge." 

Okay so apparently his secret wasn't as dark. "True, but dog-racing is a little different than rummaging naked through someone else's fridge." He gave a dry laugh as he took a bite of his food, then a long sip of his wine. For now, he'd leave it at that; he wasn't really sure what to do now.

"Thanks for helping me with the meal," he said with a soft smile. "So, what's your kid like?" he asked. "If they like dogs, then I'll at least have a way in," he looked over and flashed her a goofy grin, then went back to his plate.

She shrugged a little and winked, "I bet there is plenty of stories about that." Although, she was grateful that she didn't have to resort to crime to survive. She may have a higher debt ratio than the ordinary citizen. She wondered what it would be like to be caught naked in someone's house. 

She gave him a smile after eating some more bites of the food, "It's no problem. I am a doctor, after all." She did have money. Kind of, at least. Definitely not as much as she was initially making, but still a good salary at the school, plus the additional research stuff going on with Doc Prof. It was working out good. 

She smiled and looked towards her food and she shrugged a little, "I don't know much about him, honestly. We just met a few months ago." She knew he was smart, kind, and a good kid. But she didn't really, really know him. She sighed, biting her lip. She wasn't sure if she was cut out to be a sudden mom, either. "I think he'd like dogs, but... I don't know." 

"Yeah..." he said with a dry laugh, deciding not to mention that the last time he did this led to him sleeping with his potential mark. Multiple times. Yeah...maybe that was a secret for another day.

"I meant helping me decipher the menu," he said with another dry chuckle. Then, he nodded, listening as she told him what he could about her son. "Well, I hope he likes dogs, anyway," he replied as he looked over at her. Zelda. His...girlfriend now?

He smiled, looking over at her. That actually had a nice ring to it. After a moment, he went back to his food, butterflies in his stomach as he ate. Then, he finished off his glass of wine, smiling happily.

She chuckled as she took a sip of wine, then pulled some of her hair behind her ear. She could tell he probably had all sorts of interesting stories with that, but that was for another day. After all, they had both told their biggest darkest secrets. Well... Presumably, and only touched the surface, but at least they hadn't scared each other off yet. That was a huge plus.

She turned red and laughed, "O-oh. Sorry," that was embarrassing. In either case, she quickly moved on talking about Abel. She nearly had her food finished and her wine was almost gone as she nodded. "I mean... He's a kid, so... I'm sure he would? 11. He... Can shoot metal shards out of his body. Pretty interesting mutation, honestly. I'm glad he's in the mansion. It could have been really dangerous for him otherwise." She bit her lip, clearly ashamed that she didn't really know that much about him. They were developing a relationship, but they didn't even refer to each other as son and mother. Zelda didn't even know how to do that. Heck, she barely could make friends, let alone other stuff.

She played with her food for a minute before glancing over to him, their eyes locking. She blushed, a small smile showing up. Were they... Official now? Or just dating? She was happy either way. She was going to enjoy this and put her all into it. 

"It's quite alright," he said softly as he finished his food, thinking over this whole thing. "Well, it's possible, but I can only hope. Metal shards? That's actually pretty awesome, though I can see how it'd be ugly. I mean, mine was..awkward at best. I mean, I may be a dog, or a fox, or even a wolf, but inside, it's still me. I don't risk losing control or anything, I'm just...stark naked when I come out of it." He gave a laugh, looking at her.

Their eyes locked, he leaned in and gave her a soft, sweet kiss before pulling back to look at her. He slipped an arm around her, just thinking for a few moments. "Maybe I'll get to meet him one day soon," he mused.

She nodded as she finished her wine. She smiled, "They are sharp." She laughed quietly, but it was a comfort to know that he knew his abilities and could control them when he was inside them. She had heard of some people who became more feral, more instinctual. Not that she was worried to begin with, though. She had seen him as a dog when they had first met. 

She winked, "I definitely don't mind that." She quite enjoyed looking at him, especially naked, after all. Then she felt the kiss on her lips and she gasped, quickly kissing him in return. She snuggled against him. 

She nodded, "Um, yeah. Sure. You can come by the school one day... We can have a picnic or something." She sighed and took a deep breath. She was so full. "Any desert?"                               

He laughed as well, completely relaxed around her; it was like he was no longer out of his element. "You wouldn't," he teased, sticking his tongue out at her. "Sounds like a plan," he said, still smiling as he pushed his plate and the empty wine glass back.

When she asked about desert, he looked at her, shaking his head. "Nah, I'm full, honestly," he said before giving her a mischievous grin, a twinkle in his eyes. "Not unless you count," he added in a low voice before leaning back in the booth and brushing his hair off to the side a little.

She gave him a smile as she looked him over. They were going to be good for each other, she confirmed mentally. They seemed like they would be able to not only love each other, but help each other figure out and deal with each others bad sides. In either case, she felt like they were off to a good start. 

She gave him a mischievous grin, "Well... We can hop out of here, you know." She winked. She deliberately brought a 100 dollar bill so they wouldn't have to wait for a card to be processed. So, she slipped it out of her purse and put it on the table. She slowly slipped out of the bench, stretched a little and motioned for him to follow her.