When the make out session finally stopped, their foreheads resting against one another, Elisa thought she’d better think of something to say. ”So… you mentioned something about a tour?” She asked.

Dominique smiled a little ruefully, feeling herself more steady now. She touched Elisa’s face and felt that she might actually be able to let herself wait to have this woman now, and perhaps not drive herself to quite so much frustration for the waiting. Though there was no mistake, she still very much wanted to mate with Elisa as soon as was practical. Still, the declaration of their feelings had settled something within her. Some restlessness, like she’d felt before cast away at sea, lost in a storm, clouds all about, unable to find a direction, and had only now spied land. What shore it was that was off in the distance, she could not name, but at this point that hardly mattered. To one lost at sea, land was obviously worlds better than its lack. ”I did, didn’t I?” She agreed softly, finding simple, if still rather foreign feeling, enjoyment just looking into her intended’s eyes. She moved to kiss Elisa softly for but a moment before taking her hand in hers and stepping away. ”Shall we go, then?” She asked, a very heart-felt smile playing across her lips.

—————–

Elisa held the handles of her plastic-bagged deli takeout in her left hand, her right hand holding Dominique’s left. ”Over that way?” Elisa asked. Dominique had changed her outfit before they’d left the office. At work, she’d worn a very nice red business suit that made her look all sleek and powerful and in charge. Now she was wearing something more casual – jeans, a designer shirt, a vest, and tennis shoes. Elisa was having a hard time deciding which look she liked more. They both definitely had their own appeal.

”Yes. I… I eat lunch there most days. It’s not too meager, is it? The deli? Eating outdoors?” Dominique asked in return. As they’d stood in line, Elisa idly questioning her on things she’d seen on her brief tour of her company, she’d found herself second-guessing her decision to take her date to her favorite deli for lunch. There were much more impressive places she could have chosen after all. But she’d wanted Elisa to herself, and she’d wanted to do something that was more in keeping with who she was. Robyn had asked where she was going to take Elisa on their date when she’d come back from buying the rose, and she’d told her: Walk-In’s Deli and the small garden-park in the square where she usually went – Where she’d taken Robyn many times in fact, so they could talk business over lunch. Robyn had told her in no uncertain terms that she was making the wrong choice and that she should take Elisa someplace a lot nicer. She’d brushed the advice off without a thought, thinking it odd and nonsensical. The point of courtship was to get to know one another after all, so taking Elisa someplace she would never go herself by choice made no sense. Plus, she liked being outside, and she liked the idea of not having to deal with waiters or anything, of having Elisa’s full attention. But now, she was wondering if perhaps she hadn’t been too rash. Perhaps it was important to… make a show? Perhaps that was part of how humans courted one another? She’d thought back to what little she’d observed of human courtship over the years and thought that that could well be the case. And wouldn’t Robyn know that far better than she did? ”Should I have taken you someplace more… up-scale?”