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Post by Elise Peeters on May 12, 2012 18:49:39 GMT -5
Lovino's suggestion was thoughtful, but Elise only had to look around the street to resist going through with it. She shook her head and sighed, turning back to her store.
"Thank you, my friend." She placed hand on his arm. "But I'm sure everyone else has their own troubles to tend to. Besides, we can handle this by ourselves, can't we?"
The smile she offered him was small before she slipped back into the store, rolling up her sleeves to continue.
By the time the sun had set and the remaining street lamps flickered on, half of the room was cleared out. But Elise did not want to stop until the entire space was at least emptied. An unusual sort of adrenaline pushed her to work and work, and the tasks helped her focus on improvement instead of her distress.
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Post by Lovino Vargas on May 21, 2012 19:52:45 GMT -5
The sun had gone down and frankly he was getting tired. He didn't want to look weak in front of Elise, but his arms were going to give out on him soon if he didn't stop. Lovino leaned against the broom he was using with a sigh before turning to where Elise was working. "Elise? I think now is a good time to stop, we can finish this tomorrow." He leaned the broom against a wall and walked over to her with a tired smile. "Neither of us have eaten dinner either, would you like to eat at Giovanni's nearby?"
He would pay for dinner too of course; he was a gentleman. Plus maybe some good Italian food would temporarily relieve her of her woes. It was a nice hole-in-the-wall establishment and well, if it had a little bit of a romantic atmosphere to it he couldn't complain.
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Post by Elise Peeters on May 22, 2012 16:03:36 GMT -5
Elise was putting all her strength into moving a broken but heavy display case out of the door when she heard Lovino's suggestion. She shook her head, still trying to push the case. She needed to finish this tonight. She needed to put everything right again.
"I can't."
The display didn't budge, so she stopped and leaned against it. Seeing the exhaustion on her friend's face, Elise felt a surge of guilt and affection for her friend. He didn't need to help her, but he was.
Suddenly, all the exhaustion of the day settled on her. She closed her eyes, sighing, and nodded.
"You're right." She straightened, kicking the display case to vent out some frustration. Feeling a little better, she took Lovino's hand and smiled. "Thank you."
She followed him out of the shop, locking it behind her (not that it would keep out anyone, seeing as the windows were all broken).
"You should get the highest honors for this," said Elise, trying to inject some lightheartedness in their somber mood, "for helping and feeding a friend."
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Post by Lovino Vargas on Jun 28, 2012 15:16:52 GMT -5
Lovino shrugged off her compliments, shaking his head. "This is nothing, it's the least I could do with all that's happened today." Just spending time with Elise was enough to uplift his mood frankly. As they walked together towards the restaurant he gave her a small smile. "I'm just glad you're alright. The things in your shop can be repaired or replaced, but could never be replaced."
When they reached the restaurant he held the door open for her to let her in first, butterflies swimming in his stomach. The restaurant a nice small place with Italian food even he couldn't complain about. With dim lighting and cramped seating it wasn't the most luxurious place, but it was very homey and he just hoped she'd like it.
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Post by Elise Peeters on Jul 9, 2012 14:19:08 GMT -5
Elise took a moment to admire the intimate coziness of the restaurant as they were led to a table in the back. The spot was illuminated by a single candle, but Elise didn't mind the dimness. If anything she found she was too hungry to think about anything else.
Once seated with the menu before her, Elise knew she would have to leave ordering to Lovino. He was the expert in this cuisine, and everything sounded scrumptious anyway.
"What would you recommend?" she asked him. "I have no idea what to choose! And I completely trust your taste. Knowing your picky palette." She softened the little jab with a wink.
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Post by Lovino Vargas on Jul 16, 2012 22:22:55 GMT -5
When they were seated Lovino found himself suddenly having a hard time picking out food for the two of them as he wanted to make sure he got something she liked, especially after the hard day she'd had. Though he still raised an eyebrow at her picky comment. "It's not picky it's just that I have better taste." Strangely he felt a bit more relaxed after that exchange and quickly made his choice.
When the waiter came by he ordered them a margherita pizza to share in Italian, only to raise an eyebrow when the man stuttered, clearly having no idea what he said. Lovino only sighed and repeated the order in the standard tongue. Once the man was gone (and likely to warn the chef which customer they had today) he turned back to Elise. "It's hard to find good help these days."
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Post by Elise Peeters on Jan 7, 2013 16:09:38 GMT -5
Elise chuckled, gazing at Lovino fondly. "I'm very lucky then," she replied, "because I had no trouble finding the best help there is. In fact, it was heaven-sent."
Her expression and tone softened. "I mean it, Lovino. I cannot thank you enough. You didn't have to, but you did. I'll find a way to repay you for everything you did."
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Post by Lovino Vargas on Jan 9, 2013 9:19:05 GMT -5
His face heated up from the compliments, looking down as he played with his pizza. "It was no trouble, you don't have to repay me. I always like spending time with you, regardless of what we're doing." Lovino looked back up to to face Elise. His mouth opened to say something else, but the words wouldn't come out and he quickly reconsidered, shutting it again.
He finished off his slice of pizza and took a drink of water, stalling to help overcome his nerves. Finally, Lovino took a deep breath and looked at Elise. "I... I know you're really busy with... everything. And I know you have to get your shop back in working order, but... if you'd like," he paused, his face burning red, "Once you have everything back to the way it was... would you like to go out on a date sometime?" And with that Lovino's breath stopped as he waited for a response from the girl he'd had a crush on for a long time now.
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Post by Elise Peeters on Mar 31, 2013 15:20:15 GMT -5
Elise, who was chewing on her pizza with gusto, paused and blinked at Lovino. It must be an unattractive moment for her, but her thoughts were miles away from how she looked. She knew Lovino was especially fond of her as she was of him, but she had not realized just how fond - until now.
Elise swallowed. Looking at Lovino, who was perhaps the dearest person to her now, she knew she couldn't bear to break his heart. She leaned forward.
"I - I did not know you cared about me that much," she said quietly. "How long have you felt this way?"
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Post by Lovino Vargas on Apr 4, 2013 9:03:38 GMT -5
Lovino could barely hear her reply over the sound of his heart beating so rapidly he thought she had to be able to hear it - it sounded like it could burst from his chest. But when he did hear it his heart sank, though a flutter of hope still remained.
His face was still bursting red as he rushed out a response, his embarrassment already starting to get the better of him as he stared down at his plate, "A while. I remember coming in to your store one day and being awe-struck by how beautiful your smile is. And how beautiful you are in so many ways, inside and out." Lovino paused, glancing back up at her while swallowing down his nerves. Dread was already filling his chest as doubt tainted his mind. Of course she didn't like him like that, why would she? He wasn't good enough for a girl like her.
Taking a breath he hurriedly added on, "I-it's fine if you don't want to. Yeah, why- why don't we just forget I ever asked and enjoy our dinner." He felt like the biggest idiot in the world.
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