Reputation takes a hit, but the food is good!

[Richsniper]

Before entering the restaurant Dorian searched his pockets for his sunglasses. Blast, must have left them back home. Hopefully it isn't to crowded he thought with slight fear.

As the two entered the restaurant, Dorian was recognized by the owner. "Mr. Bytorn....uhm.. How nice to see you, sir. It has been a long time." The man very nervously replied. He gestured to the waiters to prepare all things and taking their coats. Dorian was well known here and had some habits and privileges.

"Your table will be ready shortly. Non-smokers as usual, lights slightly dimmed and all of that." while answering he was actually transpiring a bit. "The pianist will take all of your requests, Sir. Or from the ....lovely lady" He looked at her with a little disgust. Not really the type he liked in his place.

Dorian whispered to Elisa: "he owes me a lot of money". Then turning back to the man "have him play something of Liszt"

They walked to their table, luckily it was hardly crowded. Looking at Elisa as she was helped into her chair, he said "You can have anything you want, even if it is not on the menu. They don't mind" Dorian made his order and reluctantly ordered orange juice. Because of his reputation in public he had to be legal all the way. Even with that drinking-age law to his regret.

[SilverWolverina]

Elisa, having remained silent walking all the way to the restaurant, had to admit now, seeing how swanky the place was, and how Dorian was treated, that she may have to remove her foot from her mouth sometime. Evidently, he did have a reputation, otherwise he wouldn't be being treated the way he was. She scowled at the owner of the establishment, catching the look he gave her, but made sure to keep her eyes averted to the floor afterwards. She didn't want any unwanted attention, and ice blue eyes on a navy sclera. Yeah - they would attract attention.

She followed Dorian, nodding when he explained that the owner owed him money, she she didn't respond in any way. She would have preferred to help herself into ehr chair, but the waiter seemed more than fussy about helping her, so she shifted into her seat, and folded her legs as the waiter pushed her chair in. SHe found herself pleased, for a moment, that she was wearing long sleeves. Skin touching... God... she shuddered at the very thought.

Scanning the menu vaguely, Elisa decided to make the most of Dorian's contacts and ordered a chocolate milkshake, while continuing to look over the food. It was all so expensive. And sounded great. Like the music. She hated to admit it, but damn Dorian Bytorn knew how to live.

She noticed the waiter who had taken their drnk orders had disappeared and she relaxed a little, pleased that the light was dim. Less attention then, if it was darker. "Sooo...." Elisa patted the table in front of her making a tune of it. She was silent for several long moments before blurtng out: "how do you know about my sad excuse for a family?!" in a low, sharp voice. She didn't like people hiding things from her.

[Richsniper]

As he listened to the music, his headache was going away a little. His mood becoming brighter. Dorian laughed a bit at the question. "I suppose I have been dodging all your questions this morning. And maybe it's the music. So I will answer this one. In all honesty, it's a lucky guess. Although anyone with a bit of knowledge of psychology would say that. I do not know much about them...yet" The last part he looked straight at her, but gave her a smile.

"You've been strangely quiet when we came here. I am surprised that you did not insult the owner when he gave you that look" he said as the waiter came back with the drinks. "I can not totally blame him, he is not really used to people like you. Which brings me to my question. You have visited the Xavier Institute yet you did not stay there. You are waitress at a place that cockroaches would avoid. So what are your future plans?" he said. He leaned back more in his chair and listened to the sweet music. He loved it so much.

[SilverWolverina]

"Maybe it is the music. You seem in a better mood than in the park." Elisa commented, fiddling with her napkin. She looked across the restaurant at the piano and its player. The music, though she wasn't familiar with it, had a strangely soothing effect. She felt a little relaxed now. Whether that was a good or bad thing had yet to be discovered.

I do not know much about them...yet. Elisa's attention turned to Dorian, her blissful atmosphere created by the music cracking around her. She stared at him, unusually worried about his words, and his smile. Wasn't a smile supposed to reassure you? She sighed, leaning on the table with her elbow as the waiter arrived with their drinks. "Why the interest in my... family. if you can call them that." Elisa snorted, twisting the straw in her milkshake.

"As for being quiet," she tilted her chair back, having taken a few sips of the cold beverage from the straw, "I don't like drawing attention to myself. I'm a pretty outspoken little brat, as you've seen, and if I let my mouth run away with me, people tend to pay me too much attention. They see my eyes, gether than I'm the 'm' word, and boom. All Hell breaks loose." She allowed a somewhat sardonic smile to slip into show, while returning her chair to all four legs.

"Xavier's isn't my kind of place. Too stuffy. Too many rules, y'know?" Her previously sardonic smile became a ture one as she laughed at herself. "I'm a loose cannon. Tie me up and I'd go nuts. Future plans... eh..." she shrugged her shoulders, "I'll figure that out nearer the time. I can hear what my mother would say; 'get married into a good family, and breed. Just like your sister.'" Elisa made a face. "Bleh. I am not going to be another Mazzari baby-machine."

[Richsniper]

Maybe it is the music. You seem in a better mood than in the park Dorian could not help but to laugh a little once more. "You are not the first to remark something like that. What can I say? I have always loved classical music from the earliest of my childhood. And even you seem calmer now." What music can do to people. The dimmed lights were really nice for Dorian's eyesight. And all the while he kept listening to the music.

Xavier's isn't my kind of place. Too stuffy. Too many rules, y'know?......Bleh. I am not going to be another Mazzari baby-machine He nodded sagely. Of all people he understood rules and the influence of parents, both good and bad. "I understand. Still, why not make big money? Even loose cannons can make a considerable amount of money, provided they have contacts. Here is the answer to a question you must be eager to ask. I have no grudge against Xavier or the institute. I am not like one of his adversaries. In fact I honestly wish him a long and healthy life."

"Are you sure you do not wish to order already? I already have done so" He didn't take look at her so he was unaware of her response. But he snapped his fingers and a waiter was coming. That heavenly music was so good for his mood.

[SilverWolverina]

Elisa drew various patterns on the table cloth with her finger tips. "I like classical music... being Italian I guess I have a bit of an affinity with it. After all, Italy did breed some of the best opera singers in the world." She smiled vaguely, looking across at the piano. "Its nice... soothing, y'know?" She didn't look at him to ask her question, she was happier leaning on the back of her chair to see the piano.

This was starting to be odd. So she felt. Less than an hour ago, she'd been wanting to strangle this person. But now she was actually relaxed, and almost at ease. Her guard was starting to fall, in a way. And she didn't think the music was helping much.

When Dorian mentioned money, Elisa turned around vaguely. "Money's not really a big deal to me. You can't take it with you when you die, after all. And money doesn't nescessarily make you happy. I'm good with a roof over my head... and my independance. Your life is what you make it," she shrugged her shoulders, "sure money helps. But its not the be all and end all."

Elisa ordered quickly when the waiter apprached. Spaggetti Carbonara! She was really in the mood for typical food. When the waiter had left with her order, Elisa turned back to Dorin and tilted an eyebrow. "You've asked a lot of questions. So now its my turn." Her smile looked challenging, but playful at the same time. "How old are you? What's your affinity with this reupation you've got? What's your actual interest in Xavier? Are you working for someone under cover?"

[Richsniper]

"I like classical music... Its nice... soothing, y'know? Even Dorian would hate to admit, this girl had at least some taste. "Not to mention that Italy had made and saved the opera. Like Rossini and of course Verdi. Him being the 'Italian hero' as he was called." He raised his glass in honor of the man. He took a sip, and hated the drink a bit. He looked Elisa "I am sorry though that I asked for Liszt, he was from Hungary after all. But opera on a piano is just not done" He laughed a bit a his own lame joke.

"The question of money is perhaps misunderstood. But people will often hold back the goals of others who are, as you said, the 'm-word'. Which will often result in paranoid behavior or poverty or death of our kind. Your goals do need money if you ever want to achieve them. Besides it is obvious you like places like these, if they listen to your whims." He looked around a bit. The food should not take too long. Knowing the owner it would have received top priority

The questions were rather annoying. But he would answer them. "first question: I am twenty years of age. Second question: my reputation provides me with this lifestyle and is therefore my whole being. Third question: I always was interested in mutants and how some control them, even by those rules. Fourth question: I have worked for only one man in my entire life and he is sadly no more."

He leaned back. A slight annoyance was recognizable on his face.

[SilverWolverina]

Elisa shrunk back in her seat, taking note to the disgruntled expression across Dorian's face. Maybe she'd pushed her luck with the questions there. She'd have to make sure she asked more intelligent ones in the future.

To appease him, even if he didn't take it, she remembered his slightly pathetic attempt at humor and chuckled. "That's pretty impossible though, isn't it? Opera, on the piano. And not quite suitable for this kind of setting. This too relaxed for opera... ballet maybe..." Elisa grinned, "I mean the music from ballet... not the actual dancers in the restaurant and everything..." she laughed harder, "could you imagine the clog dance from 'La Fille Mal Gardée' in here?" Elisa giggled, then stopped, biting her lip.

She cleared her throat, watching a waiter buslte past to another couple at a table further away, across the restaurant floor. "You're only twenty? No offence... but you act much older. But each to their own, I suppose." Elias decided to stay away from his other answers to her questions, incase she annoyed him again, which she really wasn't wanting to do at the moment.

Taking a thoughtful sip of her milkshake through its straw, Elisa leaned back in her chair. "Money may be deemed as useful... but I think too much emphasis is put on cash and... what it can get you." She sighed, scratching the back of her head, "but I do see where you're coming from, Mr. Bytorn. I guess mutants really do need all the help they can get. Financially at least..."

[Richsniper]

While Elisa was talking, Dorian's expression never really changed. The music could not change it anymore.

"La Fille Mal Gardée, or roughly translated The Badly Supervised Daughter. Why am I not surprised that you would like that, miss Marazzi?" He said in a cold tone. His bright mood was gone, and he became angry. It was so obvious to him what she was trying to do. Even he did not needed any power to be able to predict Elisa's actions. A classic attempt to appease someone.

"My turn to ask questions. You clearly disdain your mother's intentions, what about your father? When the waiter tried to help you into your chair you seemed uneasy, why? There has to be another reason besides the rules why you did not join the X-men. What was that reason?"

Just when he had finished asking those questions, a waiter came with their orders. The owner, nervous as ever, came to check on them. "Everything all right, mr. Bytorn? ...Enjoy your meal, and of course you too miss....it's an honor to have once more, mr. Bytorn." Before either of them could answer the man, he had left. If he had stayed any longer the poor man might have fainted.

[SilverWolverina]

"Actually it translates to 'The Wayward Daughter'." Elisa corrected. If there was one thing she knew more about than most people it was ballet. And she would not be corrected by someone else on that. Whether they were scowling at her or not.

She knew her attempts to ease the tension her questions had risen had failed, and though she was a little put out by this - she didn't let it bother her too much. After all, why should she have to go out of her way to please someone she hardly knew, and who evidently, didn't like the fact she was there with him.

Elisa thanked the waiter when her food was delivered, and began eating almost immediately. She was hungrier than she'd first thought. It was probably the place, that made her hungry. She choked slightly on a mouthful when Dorian asked his questions, and took a moment to recompose herself and finish her mouthful.

"You want to know about my family..." Elisa murmured, laying her fork across her dish. Typical manners she'd been taught as a child. "Okay... well... I hate my sad excuse for a father because he hates me. He's a mutant hater, you understand - makes my life pretty goddamn difficult. It was his idea to keep me cooped up inside when my mutant abilities became evident." Elisa explained steadily, flicking her hair off her shoulder. She wasn't adverse to answering questions about her family. She just didn't like talking about it too much.

"The simple answer to why I was adverse to being helped into my chair is smply this - I don't like people touching me, whether its bare skin, or through clothes. I just don't like it. You don't need to know the full details... its called haphephobia... I think." She paused, and ate a mouthful of her meal. "And as to why I didn't join the X-Men..." she shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't feel like it. I don't like authority, being told what to do. Nor do I like having to put on a face of niceness to people I can't stand." Elisa leaned forward on the table, her head held in the palm of her hand, on her elbow. "Anything else?"

[Richsniper]

Stay calm. Do not get insulting. She has information about the X-men

"I stand corrected, although I have only an interest in the music. Not the prancing around. Besides La Fille Mal Gardée is the best example of the downward spiral in which ballet has fallen. If memory serves me right it premiered in 1789, two weeks after the Bastille was taken. The choreography was by Jean Dauberval. Ballet became the greater entertainment of common people. While at first it was of the elite and those with taste. Though I can not deny I do like the original music from Hertel." When he said that he began eating. He was a surprised that Elisa seemed to be so hungry.

While he carefully listened to her answers to his questions, he made a mental note to study her further. Her straight forward behavior was impressive. She might prove useful. Checking on her family should not be too hard.

When she had finished her little speech, he looked her and paused for moment. Took his napkin and cleaned his mouth a bit.

"You're right about the name. Depending of the way one fears to be touched (bare skin and such) it has several other names; aphenphosmphobia, haptephobia or chiraptophobia. And many hate authority in their current forms."

Anything else?

"How about working for me? Where you can use your powers and do not have to worry about the law" He replied.

[SilverWolverina]

Throughout his entire speech about the the ballet, La Fille Mal Gardée, and 'ballets downward spiral', Elisa found herself both hating this person more, and at the same time wanting to know just a bit more about him. He was evasive with his answers, and was obviously easy to piss off... or annoy at least, if she asked too many questions. But he was interesting. Even she had to give him that.

He was arrogant, evidently saw her as nothing more as dirt on his boot - but he was intelligent, and that was a start. She hadn't met that many people in Bayville, since moving there some time ago, with an IQ higher, or equally her own. A few perhaps - but not someone with intellect this high. She was interested in what she could get out of him. She could learn from him, that's for sure... but then...

His motives weren't clear.

"Work for you?" Elisa repeated, ignoring his previous mention of the different names of her 'quirk'. "Doing what exactly? What could a mouthy, Italian shadow manipulatior possibly do for you?" she asked carefully, Jean's words to be careful springing to mind.

[Richsniper]

He looked at her, her actions revealed him that she hated his guts. But she was interested in knowing his motives. He had revealed so little about himself. Time to take a few risks. He answered "Officially my new security consultant, because of your knowledge on surviving the streets. Rumors will say that I, being the great philanthropist, gave an unschooled waitress a chance. And in reality to make my selfappointed task easier, by having you do some errands from time to time. Shadow manipulation can be very useful, as it can be silent."

He looked around to be sure they would not be disturbed by anyone. Or that someone might overhear their conversation. "I admit my speech in the park was more emotional, but do you know how hard it is to cover things up for the X-men? While they are unaware of it! My secrecy is my weapon. If they knew all about me, they would only make it worse. Or do you really think the FoH are ONLY comprised out of blunt morons? Mutant haters are morons, but there are those who have intelligence. I had to do some hard convincing many times to make them think the Institute is clean. The way the X-men are going about it, my prediction that one of them will die is quite possible, to say the least. I can only cover so much."

He sighed deeply. He had lied through his teeth, although there was a bit of truth. Xavier or Jean had not to be harmed, he sometimes had to convince people. The rest could all die.

"I am sorry for this rant. Be still my heart; thou hast known worse than this, as said by Homer." He continued his meal, while waiting for an answer. He did not want to look anxious, so his eyes were not fixed on her. Her answer unknown.

[SilverWolverina]

"Security consultant...?" Elisa repeated, an eyebrow quirking upon her face as she listened to what Dorian had to say. His offer was quite intriguing, it had to be said. And he did have her interest - not to mention a personality and intelligence she was both interested in, and finding an abhorance to.

She scoffed, "you that you get to play the good samaritian." Elisa muttered, swirling her fork in her spaggetti as Dorian continued. So... you work for the FoH then... I guess thats a start... Elisa told herself, scraping her hair back and continuing to listen, if slightly boredly. She was becoming increasingly interested in a dirty stain in the table cloth, and what detergents would be good to remove it.

"In my experience," Elisa replied off handedly, "most people who I've encountered are morons, whether they're mutant haters or not."

Once he'd finished, Elisa surveyed him through narrowed eyes. She couldn't read minds, so she couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Or if his offer was genuine. But she didn't like the thought that a member, or members of the X-Men could die. It was no lie that she didn't know many of them very well - but the ones she did know... Tara, Jordan, Savannah, Jean... she liked them. She liked them a lot. She didn't want any of them to die.

Rubbing her temple with her thumb and the pad on her index finger, Elisa exhaled heavily. "Okay... you've got my alligence." She said finally. "But you gotta tell me the whole deal. Not smart ass remarks. No big words, no quotes from Homer. All the cards on the table, the 4-1-1 - in a language a sixteen year old, highschooler can understand..." she paused, her mouth tilting up in a smirk, "plus discussions of pay and such - but we'll talk about that later." She allowed a playful wink, at Dorian and then turned her attention to the pianist.

[Richsniper]

He honestly smiled in warm way, the very first time in a long time. "Believe me, payment is no problem at all! I know how to keep good people in my service." He took another sip from his drink and wished his headache was gone. It was gone for a little while, back at the park. When he had shaken hands with Jordan, but only for a few moments. He had to look into that, a way to get rid of headaches deserved research in his opinion.

"Of course as you may understand I can't fully explain your job-description here. You never know who are listening. But there a few things I expect and a few perks I can give. People I hire need to be in good shape, I don't wish to be responsible for their death. Of what I can tell you already qualify for that, but I wish to have a training room build according to your specifications. And you can relocate, if you wish to have a better apartment." He thought of a moment and then continued.
"Hell, you can even take one at my place, it's a tall building in business-district. You'll get free range in methods, as long as you get results. The only thing I must insist is that you keep it a secret. Even from friends, I did not come to my high position by taking constant risks. Nor could I be able to save them so often if I was careless. And as said if others find out it may result in deaths of your friends. So do be careful, as well in public too. Although I make some persuasive arguments to the law and such. You will get away with more than others, to some extent of course."

He thought for a moment and was very pleased how this worked out. He already thought of some theories about her psyche. He would definitely need to research her further.