It had been a few weeks since Jason had met Lee, and even fewer since she'd agreed to try this whole....relationship...thing. And he was glad of it, but he didn't really know where to go from here. Neither of them did. But that was part of why he invited her over tonight. Dinner was already on the stove, and he was working furiously before he arrived. The apartment lights were dimmed, and there were candles and a vase of flowers on the counter. She was due to show up in a matter of minutes, and he was working furiously because he was running a little bit behind. 

He wanted this to be special, to mean something. Though there wasn't much he could do by means of convincing her he'd never leave, but that was something only time would tell. Unless she decided she was going to leave. 

He shook these thoughts aside as the shrimp finished cooking, and he brought the  water to a boil for the pasta. He had the candles, the flowers, and the food was cooking. Now all he needed was a date to share ti with. 

The last few weeks had definitely been different, since she had actually come home with Jason for a second time. And since there had been something that clicked between them, and Jason had talked her into it, they were trying out this whole relationship thing. It was strange, and different from everything she had ever done before.

But it was also very nice.

That night was going to be one of those very different nights. Hopefully, like many other times they were together, this would also be a very nice night.

It was earlier than they normally got together, before dinner time, as Jason had said something about eating. Though what else he was thinking about for the evening, Lee wasn’t sure. So she made sure to dress in a way she’d be happy with if they ended up going out somewhere.

So Lee made her way over to Jason’s place, coming to a shop outside his apartment door, and knocked.

He was just turning down the heat and adding the pasta when he heard a knock at the door. After finishing putting all the noodles in the pot, he rushed to the door, opening it, and he smiled when he saw Lee standing there. "Hey there," he said with a smile as he pulled her in for a hug and a quick kiss, then showed her inside before heading back to the stove.

"Just get comfortable, dinner will be ready in a few. Hope you like shrimp alfredo~"

Once the pasta was finished, he put the noodles, shrimp, and pasta together, mixing them and then fixing them both a plate. Then he drizzled the sauce on top--quite generously, and added a piece of freshly baked garlic bread. Then, he put both plates on the counter in front of a stool. "Enjoy," he said sweetly.

It didn’t take long for Jason to open the door, and even without planning to, or thinking about it, she smiled when she saw him. And he immediately pulled her close for a hug and kiss. Another of those very strange, yet very enjoyable things that she was now getting to actually experience being with Jason like this.

Once he had greeted her, and closed the door behind her, Jason made his way to the kitchen as he said to make herself comfortable. And she was just taking her jacket off when he told her what he was making.

Lee blinked in surprise. Then she looked over to the kitchen to see that on the counter in front of where the stools sat were candles a vase with flowers. And she noticed now that the lights were dimmer in the apartment than they normally would have been.

A wide smile and bright blush covered Lee’s face, and she immediately turned away under the guise of hanging her coat up. Though she definitely took her time with that, hoping her blush would fade, at least a bit, even though she was sure the smile wasn’t going to go anywhere.

”I’m not really sure, I’ve never had it before,” Lee finally answered Jason as she slowly made her way over to the counter and sat on one of the stools. ”It smells good, though.”

That left Lee sitting there, simply watching Jason get their plates ready, with a smile on her face. He definitely seemed comfortable in the kitchen, and even though she hadn’t tried the dinner yet, Lee was sure that it was going to be better than anything she could have made.

It really didn’t take much longer before Jason was setting a plate down in front of her, and Lee smiled over at him. ”Thanks, it looks amazing.”

She was taking a long time hanging up her coat. Though he wondered if maybe she was a little taken aback by the lighting, and the candles, and the flowers. After all, he'd just told her there'd be food. He didn't say it'd be shrimp alfredo and a romantic atmosphere. So in that sense, he understood. This was new to both of them, and he decided something sweet would be a nice place to start. He went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers to set down next to their plates. "I don't like wine, so I hope beer's okay," he said, half-jokingly.

"It's pretty easy to make; it just takes a lot of dishes. But it's worth it if you do it right," he said with a smile as he slid onto the stool next to her. He just looked over at her for a minute, taking in how her face looked in the candlelight. Her usual perfume with an overtone of coffee blended with the smoke of the candles and the overall smell of the shrimp alfredo and the garlic bread. Though he hadn't told her about his sensitive his sense of smell was.

After a moment, he turned to his food and took a bite. "I hope you like it."

As Jason set a couple of beers down for them, Lee smiled. ”Beer’s good,” Lee told him with a smile as she watched Jason move around the counter to take a seat beside her. ”Can’t say I’m much of a fan of wine, either.”

And then Jason said that this was actually pretty easy to make, it just took a lot of dishes. ”If you say so. I’m not a good cook, so it’s probably still beyond me.”

With that, Lee dug in, taking a bite of the shrimp alfredo, just as Jason said he hoped she liked it. Finishing her mouthful, Lee smiled over at Jason again. ”It’s really good,” she said. Then she looked back down at her plate again, another slight blush covering her cheeks. ”All of this is incredible.”

"I could teach you a couple things sometime. Enough to survive, at the very least," he said with a smile as he popped open his beer. Then, he smiled, a light blush coming to his cheeks as she said she liked it, and how incredible everything was. It made his heart flutter a little; he was thinking that this whole relationship thing was a good idea. Despite the apprehension at first, the first date was going quite well.

"I try. Figured if this was going to be our first actual date, I should pull out all the stops," he said with a wink as he took a sip of beer, diving into his plate. "I don't make this often, but I figured you were worth seeing if I could still make it," he said after swallowing, then took another bite.

”Really?” Lee asked looking over at Jason. ”I mean, I’ve never really had the chance to learn. Plus, being in my apartment isn’t exactly beneficial for my energy level, so I try to only be there when I need to sleep for the most part.

“But,” Lee continued, a wider smile curling her lips. ”I think I’d like that.”

And, though she was blushing, Lee didn’t realize that Jason had also started to blush because she had dropped her eyes already. Their first actual date. Those four simple words made Lee feel butterflies in her stomach. Though, it was true, wasn’t it? What they had done the first couple of times they had seen each other couldn’t really be called ‘dates’, and then the next couple times weren’t exactly any more date-like.

”Well, I’m no expert on dates,” Lee said after a few moments, finally looking back over at Jason. ”But as far as I’m concerned, this is turning out to be a good one. The food’s pretty damn tasty, too.”

"Even if you never use it, it'd be fun to learn, and to teach you, right?" he said with a smile. "Not that you'd need another excuse to come over, but there's that too," he added with a sly wink.

After that, they were both looking at their plates and didn't see each other blush, but Jason ate until he felt his cheeks return to normal, no longer radiating with heat. "Yeah, this is looking to be a pretty good date, and the food is pretty damn good," he repeated, still smiling.

"Would you dock points if I didn't make dessert?" he asked somewhat teasingly, though he really hadn't put thought into dessert. Though he was sure he could figure something out pretty soon.

Even if she never used what Jason could teach her about cooking? As she looked over at Jason; maybe it could be fun to learn how to cook. At least if he was the one teaching her. ”Well, it could give me a reason to come by before heading to work at night,” Lee said, smiling wider as she saw Jason’s wink. ”You know, make sure I have a good meal before heading in.”

Jason agreed that this was so far turning into a pretty good date, which did make Lee feel a little better. At least she didn’t think that simply because it was really her first date.

Lee made a show of thinking whether she’d hold a store-bought dessert against Jason. ”I’m not sure. I mean, this is really good, what if dessert is a let down?” Lee asked, giving Jason a teasing smile.

"You could come by and see me before work anyway," he said with a flirty wink. "But I think I'd like that. Give us something else to do together."

He chuckled a little a he looked at her. This was going rather nicely, between the dinner and the banter. It really wasn't bad for his first date in years; he just hoped her first date probably ever was going just as well.

"Well there's a store-bought cheesecake in the fridge. I'm a decent cook, but I'm not so much a baker," he said with a soft laugh. "And if dessert is a letdown, just eat more of the entree. Or we could find something else," he retorted with another wink as he finished his plate and took a few sips of beer.

Lee couldn’t help the smile that came over her face when Jason winked, saying she could come over anyway. ”You know, I may start to,” Lee told Jason. ”With how tonight has been so far, I think I would like that.”

Turning back to her plate, Lee wasn’t finished yet, she listened as Jason told her he had a cheesecake in the fridge. Lee raised an eyebrow as she glanced at him. ”Cheesecake, you say?” She asked. ”That might be good enough to follow this meal. But if now, I like your idea of finding something else.” Giving Jason one more knowing smile, Lee turned her attention back to the pasta. She didn’t want it to get cold, so the sooner she finished, the sooner they could move on to dessert. And quite probably something else.

He grinned when she said she may come over anyway; it made his heart do little flips in his chest. He was thrilled that this was actually working, and he was glad this would be more than just a one or two time thing.

"We'll have to see; this is a lot fancier than what I usually do, after all. Though normally, I'm by myself," he said with a slight laugh as he waited for her to finish. In the meantime, he was just enjoying the time they were spending together, talking. It was as perfect as he could have hoped for.

After a few moments, he stood up, making his way to the fridge and pulling out the cheesecake. It was pre-cut, so he just grabbed himself a slice before making his way back around to where she was.

”Who said it was just the food I would enjoy coming over for?” Lee asked with a grin finishing off her pasta.

But then Jason was up, heading to the kitchen. And coming back with just one piece of cheesecake. Lee frowned, then gave Jason a bit of a pout. ”Where's my piece?”

"I knew I liked you," he murmured, taking a sip of beer.

Then when she asked about her piece, he looked across the kitchen to where he'd set the cheesecake. It wasn't far, but he'd have to get up. And he really didn't want to do that right now.

Taking a forkful, he held it to her, offering her a bite.