sliceitwithwind

"Braig is three years older than I am. And a foot shorter." Dilan says cheerfully, "It's the foot shorter that makes it possible. If you ever want some ideas on things easy to make and freeze just let me know. I've got Braig's mom's cookbook."

"I can swap you a traditional Japanese cookbook for a little while. It was my moms." she grinned. More recipes for freezables were good.

"But Danny's got twenty-three years on me. And a foot. The nine year old is my best options!"

"I can copy it out. Or abuse grad students and have them copy it out." Dilan says cheerfully, "Lilly is learning both Japanese and cooking, so she could use the practice."

Dilan, unlike many teachers, demands that his students live a balanced life. They may come out a little slower than other grad students, but he picks up many of their bills for the extra time, and they're saner.

"It's actually an interesting read..all hand written with journal entries in the margins." she mused. "Your student might enjoy it." Aya had. It'd been...insightful. Like a lot of things about her mother, she didn't necessarily agree with the ideas, but she understood them better after reading through.

Luckily for her embarrassment levels, the margins had run out of room before her mother met her father.

"I won't end up doing anything nearly as interesting with your book. Mainly, Ben and I will probably close our eyes and flip pages for something to try..."

"Probably. Would you mind if I had her class translate it? I can't read a character of Japanese." Dilan says. They're guided to a booth and Dilan slides in all the way against the wall, leaving plenty of room for Aya to sit next to him if she wants.

She actually thought a moment, fingers tracing the edge of the table, before she slid in next to Dilan. Why not after all? The week had been bad, the weekend was under cover...and it was nice.

It was just really nice to touch someone.

"I don't mind. The guys in class may get a little bored with a young lady's journal, but hey. Can't hurt them."

Dilan wraps his arm back around Aya, "Hey, considering that sometimes she has them translate sports scores it'll be fair. Everything on the menu is good, and I've tried it all."

He knows what he's getting by heart, however, so doesn't bother opening it.

Once she'd made a decision, Aya no longer hesitated. So, as he draped his arm around her she shifted to set her shoulder against his side comfortably and tucked her feet up on the edge of the bench at her side. More leaning, less leg dangling! "I'm tempted to get the name of this teacher, just so I can check in on class reactions." she chuckled.

Menus were nice. They informed her she could get the smallest steak with potato pancakes and coffee! "Hmmm, is there a restaurant in town you don't have the menu memorized for?"

"Suzambo Natsuki, in the Japanese style of last name first." Dilan says, "Natsuki is everyone's grandmother's age, but was wild and crazy enough as a young woman that she doesn't scare me to death. I've taken her out for coffee a couple of times." Never went farther than that. Ms. Suzambo is even more of a confirmed old maid than Dilan is a lech.

"Of course I don't have them all memorized. Just the ones I like to go to."

"I don't think my mother would have approved of her..." she chuckled. Aya actually kept a notepad in her back pocket, and with a little wiggling she could get it out to note the name. It was easier to remember if she'd actually written it down! "Scare you to death?"

"Maternal women." Dilan says without shame. "They scare me. Doesn't matter the age."

"...well. That's a new one." she noted, shifting enough to be able to look at his face comfortably. "Justified?"

"Totally phobic." Dilan says, "No reason for it at all."

He's a little embarrassed by it, but not a lot.

"Huh" yep, a new one on her. "Well, luckily for you, I really don't know any women like that?" she offered.

"Closest I have is Danny, and well, that's the opposite side of the spectrum." as far as family instinct types went at any rate!

"And I never had a dad at all, so it's not like I've got any reaction to that." Dilan agrees.

"Only thing you're missing is over protectiveness and manipulations of your love life." she chuckled softly. "At least how Danny does it."

Her own dad. Well. Things were different. "Do you think your phobia will have an effect if you decide to have a family down the road?" she asked, all curiosity and no suggestion "Because then, maternal instincts are a slight bonus..."

"I don't know." Dilan says, "I'm better than I used to be, when I met Ienzo's mother I had a panic attack at her. She sends me cherries now."

Mmmm.

Cherries.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

"The poor woman..." she sighed. Yes, she was grinning, but she wasn't laughing "I'm not sure what I'd have done if you'd panicked at me." she chuckled.

"Cherries are a really good sign."

"...Probably not gone out with me." Dilan says after a moment, "And that would have been a terrible thing indeed."

"Point taken. You'd have made a hell of a lot less of an impression on Danny." she chuckled softly. "He doesn't handle panic well..." And Dilan had made an impression, so...

Well. Danny was going to gloat. A lot.

"See? A crying shame, it would have been." Dilan says cheerfully, "And now, well, now I've gotten to see you twice. So I'm very grateful that you're who you are."

That...was actually really weird to hear. Not that she could argue, being as how she was very comfortably tucked against his side...but it was still weird. And she just couldn't shake the feeling...

...well. She very deliberately reached out and knocked on the table in front of them. Last thing she wanted was him to make a statement like that then end up regretting it. So, best to ward against the jinx right? "Truth told, Dilan? I'm not minding my partner's interference so much in this case."

"Good." Dilan says comfortably, "Because I'm pretty grateful to him myself."

"I'll let him know. He'll be smug." she promised lightly after one last, quick knock on the table. "And he'll probably end up dangling you over my head, metaphorically speaking, in every argument we have for the next few months..."

She adored her partner. She also knew he tended to cling to examples of 'I was right'.

"He can't do that until we have a second date-not-for-other-purposes." Dilan says, "He's breaking a guy rule if he does."

What?

He's totally willing to explain guy-rules to someone like Aya.

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