"I hate unpacking, so I tend to only unpack what I need, and for the rest I just sort of live out of the boxes until I no longer have anything in boxes," he said matter-of-factly. It really wasn't that big a deal to him; he didn't often have company over, and when he did, well...it was his apartment. His.

The apartment itself was rather small, meant to be lived in by just one person. It wasn't falling apart or anything, but it wasn't necessarily what one would define as nice either. He watched as she flipped through his book. Most of it was fantasy, surreal-inspired. Dragons, a flaming stallion, the alphabet stylized with bones...that sort of thing.

They were? "I....thanks," he murmured, smiling a bit. He wasn't quite used to being complimented on his work yet, but he had to admit it wasn't bad. It did tend to make him feel warm in fuzzy inside, which was weird.

The drawings that Zoe was looking at were nothing like what she normally drew. Her style was much more realistic, landscapes and animals mostly. But, there was no denying that what she saw in front of her was good art.

And Dante seemed to be about as good at taking compliments on his artwork as she was generally. Which, really, was a little surprising to Zoe. His whole career was based on people seeing and liking his work, so why was he having problems taking a compliment like that?

”I’m serious,” Zoe said, looking straight at Dante, the smile still on her face. ”I try to draw much more realistically, but these are really good.”

After another couple moments, Zoe dropped her eyes back down to the book on her lap, looking at the drawings again, a small smile still playing at the corners of her lips.

This was vastly different than anything Zoe had expected to be doing that day after work. She never did anything like this, never really talked to people like this. Yet, despite that, Zoe was glad that she was not at home. ”Thank you for showing this to me,” Zoe said after a minute. ”This is nice.”

He nodded, looking more or less at the wall. "Thanks; I never was into drawing realism. It's...kind of boring to me," he said, maybe more bluntly than intended. But for Dante, drawing had been a means of escaping reality, of losing himself and hiding from a world that really couldn't give a shit. Not that he was about to share that.

"Thanks," he said simply, sort of thinking things over. This wasn't something he did often, but he had to admit it was quite nice. Almost enjoyable, even.

Though it wasn't long before a sort of silence set in, and he never was quite sure what that meant. After a few moments, he stood to his feet. "I guess I still owe you a walk," he said as he looked down at her. Though part of him was sort of mildly annoyed that there seemed to be a running trend with girls being a couple inches taller than him. Maybe his height was a trade off for the cool smoke thing. Who knew.

Hearing Dante's words, Zoe looked back down at the art in front of her. What he had drawn here definitely wasn't realistic. ”I took classes in college to help with my diagrams for biology, so I kinda had to stick with drawing realistically,” Zoe explained.

Before she knew it, Dante had stood up and said that he still owed her a walk. ”I suppose you do,” Zoe said with a smile. Leaning forward, she set the sketchbook on the crate that was in the place of a coffee table before standing up. ”I guess we should get going before it gets too late.”

"I'd been interested in drawing as long as I remember. I'd have rather done that than sit in the more academic classes. Art, music and gym always appealed to me more," he said with a shrug.

He never once thought about his table being a crate. Honestly, he didn't care; if it worked, it worked. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was going to be judging his house or anything, right? Leading her to the door, he held it open for her, giving her a quick check-out before closing the door behind them and moving to walk beside her.

"Yeah, probably shouldn't take more than an hour or two, depending," he said with another shrug as they stepped out into the not-quite-cold, not-quite-Springy air. He'd still have to get used to this damned weather, that was for sure.

Dante had preferred the more artsy classes, and gym. That was so opposite to what she had been like in school, at least high school, focusing on her math and science classes so that she could get into a biology program in college.

At that point, it didn’t take long for them to leave the apartment, and Zoe stepped out the door Dante held for her. An hour or two? That was more than just a simple walk to possibly find somewhere to grab some food quickly.

Zoe could not stop the quick glance over at Dante as they made their way out onto the street once more. How had her stopping to listen to someone play guitar in the park turn into a date? Especially when Dante knew that she was able to speak with animals, he’d heard her doing that.

Or, was it a date? Honestly, Zoe wasn’t really sure. Though, whatever it was, Zoe was enjoying the time with Dante. It was much more enjoyable than being at home by herself, even if she would have been cooking. ”Were you thinking of one of the places you’ve found already, or should we try something new?”

Maybe he overshot the time, but that came with his profession; it was important to leave enough time to account for anything unforeseen. Honestly, Dante didn't know what this was; all he knew was that he was hanging out with a cute girl he met in the park. Besides, not even he could be isolated all the time, even if he did keep pretty well guarded. Maybe he couldn't keep his guard up forever, but he was damn sure going to try.

"We can try something different. Just sort of see where this takes us," he answered with a shrug. Sometimes it was nice to throw structure out of the window and just go where the breeze carried you. Really, that's what he was doing by not being holed up on the couch all night. He stuffed his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets as his eyes scanned the streets, looking at the different signs and buildings.

Dante seemed fairly easy going about where they may eat that night. But, in a way, that might make things harder, since both of them really didn’t care what they ate, there was no preference to lead them anywhere, either.

And the walk was fairly silent, too. Zoe wasn’t sure whether it was a good silence or not. But he thought that they could try something different, somewhere he hadn’t been. And see where ‘this’ took them. ”I think that would work,” Zoe said, looking at Dante briefly before turning her eyes to the street, looking at the shops and restaurants they passed.

”How about Indian?” Zoe asked after a couple of minutes, pointing to a restaurant across the street.

Some may call it easy going, some would call it aloof, but Dante just wasn't really bound by the same structure as other people. He wasn't one for rules, or the way things should be done. The only exception to this was when he was working, but that was another matter entirely, and even then more of the optional structure, he'd sort of done away with. As long as what needed to be done was done and everything was in order, then nothing else really mattered, did it? He didn't think so.

He looked to where Zoe was pointing. Indian. Sounded promising. He couldn't remember eating Indian food before, and the prospect of something new intrigued the young smoke-manipulator. He nodded after thinking for a moment. "That sounds as good a choice as any," he finally said, walking towards the restaurant, making sure she was still in tow. It was shaping up to be a rather interesting day. He just hoped there weren't anymore idiots like the one earlier to come along and muck it up.

Dante was quiet for a few moments after she had suggested the Indian restaurant. Glancing over, Zoe saw that he seemed to be thinking, not simply not answering her.

And a moment later, Dante did answer. Not that he sounded all that excited to go there. But he had been rather noncommittal about where to eat right from the start. But despite the lack of excitement he showed, Dante did start across the street toward the Indian restaurant ahead of her.

It only took a second for Zoe to start moving again, jogging slightly across the street to catch up with Dante, linking her arm through one of his as she caught up. ”Lighten up, Dante,” she said, smiling over at the man beside her. ”Indian food is good. And if this place sucks, we can always find something else.”

He jumped slightly as he felt her arm hook in his, but it made him smile. It was different, but not necessarily a bad thing; he'd just been sort of lacking in the physical contact department for awhile.

Lighten up? "I thought I was pretty light," he said with a slight shrug. "Just thinking. Never had it before, so I don't really know what to expect." He looked over at her; she did seem really sweet. Maybe there was more goodness in the world than he'd thought, or maybe not. Even still...he was enjoying her company.

It may have seemed weird of him to think this: but he'd just take Duke's word for it. They made it into the restaurant, and he looked around, having grown used to their arms being linked.

Zoe felt Dante’s slight jump as she touched him, but since he didn’t pull away, she left her arm looped through his. If this could be considered a date, well she may as well walk like this beside him across the street. And if it wasn’t actually, it was simple and casual enough that it didn’t have to mean anything. Not like if she had grabbed his hand as she came up beside him.

But he thought he was light right then? Zoe looked at Dante carefully for a moment. Then she remembered what little he had said about his ex. If she had been that bad, things could have been that bad that he was in a good, light mood at that moment.

”Well, I hope you like spicy food, then,” Zoe said as they walked into the restaurant. ”Most of the food has at least some heat. Enough so that if you don’t like spicy food, we should probably go somewhere else.”

He noticed her looking at him, and though he really didn't understand why, he didn't say anything. Hell, they were her eyes, she could look where she pleased. Not like he wasn't stealing a peek at her when he had a chance. Though he wasn't good at showing it, he was in a pretty good mood, all things considered. He edged just a little bit closer. It was rather nice, the way she'd made contact, and though he wasn't sure what led him to ask her to do this, he wasn't complaining.

"Well, I don't mind heat," he said with a slight shrug. "Maybe I won't take a bite and blow a cloud of smoke for everyone to see afterwards," he teased dryly. That would be kind of amusing, after all. "I think this'll be just fine."

Zoe nodded, the smile growing on her face again, when Dante said he didn’t mind heat. That was good. Zoe hadn’t made any Indian food in months, and the closer they had gotten to the restaurant, the more eager she had been to eat there.

But as Dante continued speaking, Zoe couldn’t stop the laugh from coming out. ”I’m sure that would draw some attention,” Zoe said, grinning sideways at Dante as they came to a stop in front of the hostess podium. ”Though, I’m not sure everyone else would find it as entertaining as we would.”

At that point, the hostess approached. ”Table for two, please,” Zoe said, turning to look at the young woman before they were led further into the restaurant.

...She really was a smiley one, wasn't she? Not those half-smiles or smirks like he was known for either. This was either a really happy young lady or she was advertising for a great dentist.

"Well, that would be the point, honestly. I always wondered if my mutation counted as smoking in public. There was a grin that came with that. No teeth showing. Slightly mischievous. " Approval or not, everyone would find it entertaining. And here's why. No matter what the outcome, I'd be the subject of every phone and dinner conversation tomorrow. Maybe even catch some buzz around the office water fountains." That....would be interesting, wouldn't it?

She did the talking, and that was just fine. He walked with her deeper into the restaurant, and when their arms had to separate, he sat down across from her.