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closed.

CHARACTERS: Riza, Graham
DATE: real-backdated oska stuff
WARNINGS: nah
SUMMARY: team bonding over food

[Unlike the last time she agreed to meet a man by the kitchens, she's bothered to change this time, her outfit slightly expanded from her last short stay in Oska. The loose skirt is a nice's change of pace from the ALASTAIR uniform, even if she still wears the standard-issue pair of boots underneath, and it's with a decidedly more relaxed air that she winds her way through the endless hallways and down to the assigned meeting place.

Her partner for the evening's met with a smile and a small wave.]

I hope I didn't keep you waiting.

[Assuming he didn't arrive many minutes early, she should be right on time.]

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( if it is a date, Graham doesn't quite realize it. no offense to the lady he'd asked to join him for dinner — she was quite wonderful, actually — he'd just never been on one before to really know. he'd been Regina's dirty little secret, her fix more than her boyfriend, and even wirh his memories from the forest, a date isn't something he'd ever experienced.

until right now, though, it could depend on who you were asking.

he smiles back when she joins him, though there's always something distant about his smiles. ) not at all. ( he's too practical to show up extremely early. the agreed upon time was easy for both of them to follow. ) I figure we can grab whatever we like from the kitchens. They don't have much in the way of restaurants around here.

( it makes him miss the diner quite badly. )

[It's a sentiment she shares, smile turning wry at the comment. The days she'd gotten off in the past years she could probably number on her fingers and toes, but she had liked the few occasions when her small troupe had gone out for dinner and drinks. It sets off a fresh wave of homesickness within her, though she's quick to stamp down on that.]

Perhaps we could request they add one while we're away on our next mission.

[If a magically stocked kitchen is a possibility, why not a small diner?]

Did you have a favorite restaurant you liked to visit, back home?

( that's a thought. he wonders if they'd be open to such requests. ALASTAIR seemed, at the very best, set in their ways. it might make the newer members feel a bit more at home, at the very least. he can't see why they wouldn't, though in the end, he can't see the reasoning behind plenty of ALASTAIR's decisions.

still, it might be worth asking. what's the worst that can happen? he holds the door to the perfectly automated kitchen open for her as he answers. )

There was a diner, back home, called Granny's. It was as perfectly small town homey as you can imagine from the name, but I was there... too often, now that I think about it. ( he would rather order something from Granny's than cook something. now he wonders if he had diner food every day for twenty eight years, hard to imagine. ) What about you, did you have a favorite spot?

[The quaint name brings a smile to her face, though there's a wistful set to it.]

It sounds like a lovely place.

[Even if the establishment wasn't actually been run by a wizened old lady, surely that must have been the original intent of the name, to provide homecooked meals and an air of belongings. She wonders what that must feel like, if she'll ever really know.

As for her own favorite spot.]

I can't say if I have a favorite spot - my most commonly frequented spot would have to be the mess hall where I get lunch and dinner most days. But...

[She falls silent, thinking on years past.]

There used to be a bakery in the town near my house, where I would get pastries from every weekend. I doubt it's still there, but I always looked forward to that part of the weekend most.

( there was indeed a wisened old lady at the helm of Granny's, though perhaps not as sweet and hapless as one might expect. Granny Mills was a hell of a woman; he still remembered her with fondness, and she had always treated him well. like he belonged, even though he wasn't sure that he deserved that kind of comraderie.

as they enter the kitchen, it runs tirelessly on as it always does. he wonders if it's magic or some kind of advanced technology that keeps the place going. if there's an answer to that question, he doesn't know it. at least it makes food easy to come by, he's lived times where it was anything but. )

A bakery? You know, I had a bakery I liked, too. Call me a cliche, but I can't say I don't enjoy doughnuts. Every once and awhile, it was nice. And it was ... warm there. Calm.

( makes him think of coziness, and perhaps his life had very little of warmth and cozy, ever since he lost his heart. )

[Of the many words she'd expect to describe a bakery, 'calm' isn't one of them, and it has her footsteps slowing as she looks over at Graham, head angled slightly left in curiosity.]

Were things not very calm elsewhere?

[Her own words are slow, quiet. She's never been too comfortable prying into the personal lives of others. Reciprocation usually followed, after all, and her own past choices had never been something she wanted placed in the limelight.

But they're in Oska now, finally allowed some downtime. Surely it wouldn't hurt to let her walls down a little for the sake of camaraderie.]

( was the bakery a bastion of serenity in a whirlwind of activity? well, no. not really. he frowns a little as he thinks about it. he spent so long in the dulled monotony of the curse, all of it was rather calm. unsettlingly so, looking back, though he hadn't been unsettled at the time. )

No. All of it was rather quiet. Unbearably so, when I look back. ( for his part, he rather avoids delving into his past and his history, because there's nothing pleasant to share. he's not sure what pushes him to admit more than he has to anyone else. ) The town was cursed. I know how it sounds, but it isn't a simple turn of phrase.

( he pauses there, knowing that it's a lot for plenty to believe, the idea of magic and curses. still, here, with so many teammates with magical abilities, it can't be so hard to believe. )

[Ten months ago, she would have found the notion impossible to believe. Magic, curses....those are the things of bedtime stories and folk tales pulled from an old musty book. Now here she is, in a kitchen happily chugging along without any sort of electric or gas hooked up, in a castle tucked away in some never-before-heard of world, having dinner with a man she never would have met without the aid of magic.

Sometimes it's still difficult for her to wrap her mind around it all, but suffice to say that she believes in magic now, or at least in the seemingly impossible.

So she takes his word as it's given, pausing only to grab a set of plates and hand one to him]

Who placed the curse on your town?

( he takes it and considers his answer. a part of him thinks he'd be better off withholding details. then again, who is he trying to protect? Regina doesn't deserve protection. if Riza can believe in a curse, then hopefully she can believe in a queen so demented by her own loss that she could curse an entire realm. )

A queen named Regina. She wanted all of us to suffer the way she did. And we did, for a long time. Not anymore, though.

( not only is his curse broken, but Emma broke the curse on the rest of Storybrooke, too. Regina was thwarted, at least he can rest a little easier knowing that.

his expression is a little sheepish as he helps him self to some of the food awaiting on the stove. )

Likely not dinner conversation, I suppose.

[He's not wrong, it is a deep conversation, moreso than most would like it perhaps, but Riza finds she doesn't mind all that much. Her life had been forcibly twisted to the somber and serious years ago, and she's always preferred a topic of weight rather than trite conversation about the weather.

A faint smile ghosts across her face, meant to put Graham at ease.]

I don't mind.

[Still...

Her expression twists into something sorrowful over his admittance, regretful that he's had to go through so much pain to get to where he is now. (So has she, but that doesn't mean she wishes a similar fate on anyone else.)]

What happened to her?

( what happened to her? if the story had gone the way most fairytales did, the Evil Queen would have been stopped. she'd have answered for the pain she inflicted on an entire world. she'd lose the freedom she had stolen from so many. from him, for decades. he's not a vengeful person, not particularly, yet even without a heart he burns with hatred for the woman he was enslaved by for so long.

he wouldn't know what had happened to her, if she had not been when he'd arrived. visiting the dragons, bumbling around Chantes. Regina had told him that she'd moved on from the person she was, as if that was something that could simply be forgotten. )

Nothing. ( there's a dark bitterness in that, something rather unsettling, especially comping from a man that barely inflects any emotion to his tone at all. ) Stories are supposed to have happy endings, but I have learned a long time ago life is never as simple as that.

—Nothing?

[It's an echo in word only, her tone surprised rather than resentful. As much as she dislikes the militaristic organization that rules her own country with an iron fist, she still believes in the overall ideas a military ought to stand for: justice and fairness, and a love for the people of one's country.

But he's not wrong. Life isn't fair, is rarely fair in fact.

She sets her plate, still empty, down on the counter with a light clink, eyelashes brushing against her cheeks as she sweeps her gaze downward.]

I'm sorry. [There's not much else she can offer.] Are you happier here, then?

( he's sorry, too. that nothing was done to stop her until it was too late. that she got a chance at a life when she stole his away. still, no matter how much it burns knowing that Regina never answered for the things she inflicted on others, he knows he shouldn't focus on it more than necessary. it's just hard not to.

and the reminder that there's better and happier things here forces him to focus on something a little less depressing. he holds his plate in one hand and the spare touches her elbow, expression more present, and even a twist of a sad smile marking his features instead. )

Much happier. ( he gets chances and opportunities here that he never should have gotten. he's made connections that he never imagined he could, without a heart. and she's one of them. ) I'm glad to be here. More than most, I'd think.

[It's not often such a sentiment is echoed around ALASTAIR, but of all the people she's met, Riza believes it out of Graham the most. Hopping from world to world isn't an ideal lifestyle for most, but there are no unjust overlords here, ruling with an iron fist, no curse laid over every single member. Even if she wants something different for herself than a lifetime spent in ALASTAIR's employ, she can't say she hasn't enjoyed parts of her time here.

Her lips curve up, shoulders relaxing now that some of the tension in the air's been released, though her smile's quick to turn wry. So much for a nice meal together. Well, there's still evening yet, and still time to turn this all around.

She motions towards the food, letting him go first. (Forget typical gender norms of letting a lady go first.) When she speaks again, the topic is decidedly lighter.]

There's no one you miss from back home?

[Like a girlfriend, perhaps? After all, he is handsome, nice, responsible. Already a million steps up from most of the other men in Team Audentes.]

( it's definitely not the best thing to bring up before dinner (or after... or during), but the fact that it didn't kill the night entirely is promising, too. Riza has always seemed to have a level head on her shoulders, and an ability to shake off things that not everyone could. it's good, when he knows there's plenty he could mention even on accident that could be uncomfortable for most people. at least he vaguely knows that was an unnecessarily dark turn, enough to avoid it in the future.

even if it was good to share the truth, and not carry it on his own. it's quite a weight to carry, after all.

were there people he missed? he considers it as he takes a few things, here and there; nothing with meat, notably, but otherwise he's not afraid of a decent sized portion. they work hard after all, don't they? get food while they can, no knowing if the next mission will come with food. )

I do miss the people. They were good people, but things were always a bit separate. They had their lives, I had mine. ( not just because he was the sheriff and they were the people he had to protect, though that was a part of it too. being under Regina's thumb certainly hadn't helped and on top of that, without a heart made connecting that much more unlikely. ) It'd be harder if I didn't know they were in good hands now. ( he grabs a water and tucks another under an arm for his 'date', waiting as she fills her own plate. ) What about you, are there any faces you're missing?

[She listens quietly as she follows his lead, nabbing a slice of bread here and a few slices of chicken there. There's no real mention of friends in his answer, a somewhat sobering thought, though perhaps those details are still too personal to share just yet.

As for her own answer....]

My team. I never met any of my relatives and both my parents died before I entered the academy. My teammates are the closest thing I have to family now.

[It's a bit more open than she would usually be around one of her fellow ALASTAIR teammates, despite how long she's been around some of them, but the atmosphere is relaxed, comfortable. She adds a few more dishes to her plate before turning to face Graham again, one corner of her lips turned upwards.]

But I suppose I have new teammates here to work alongside and get to know. [Then, with a gesture towards the nearest table:] Shall we?

( it's a sad thought, that she never knew her parents, though he supposes he never knew his human parents either. not well enough to have any memory of them, anyway. it doesn't wear on him as it could, though, because while the wolves weren't a conventional family he never felt lonely. the idea that she found family in her team isn't one that sounds unusual to him, though he's not sure he's ever managed to make that sort of connection unless it's with someone furry.

he follows her to the table, and even if Riza is more than capable of pulling out her own chair, he beats her to it. He doesn't linger to tuck her in afterwards, though. chivalry isn't dead, but it's a little more relaxed. )

Do you think you'll be here long enough to make that sort of connection?

( not everyone is in the same situation he is. Graham knows that there's very little chance of him going back to Storybrooke, being a part of ALASTAIR is his second chance at just about everything. he knows most dream of going back, though, and he has to wonder if Riza feels the same. )

[The chivalry, brief though it might be, is noted with pleasant surprise and earns him a few additional respect points. But her expression falters once they sit down, when he asks her about the very issue that's been troubling her for quite some time now.

She twirls her fork idly in her hand but doesn't move to eat yet, too busy mulling over his question. The answer that follows is slow and quiet, laced with sadness.]

As much as I'd like to go home, I don't think I'll be able to do so any time soon.

[It's been well over half a year now, one or two months shy of a full year, in fact. If they were to allow her to go home, wouldn't they have done so already?]

It's hard to say how their system works.

( they aren't exactly open and transparent about it, how much they earn for every hour they put in for ALASTAIR. it's honestly not something he's thought about much. even if he 'earned' his way back, he can't take it. not unless he wants to go back to his own death.

still, considering it silently, he does remind, ) It's almost been a year. For both of us, I think. We've seen people come and go. Your time will come, sooner or later, I'm sure.

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closed.

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sorry for the delay!

no worries, good luck with your move!

ty!

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oh dang riza shots fired lmao

she's not wrong tho, 90% of the men here are shit

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