Drake looked around, until he finally saw Lora. He held up a hand and waved her over. I have to make a good impression, maybe she’ll like me this time. He tapped his foot anxiously under the table, but he made sure to smile casually at Lora.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a man, perhaps he was Richard, waving her over. Taking a deep breath, she walked over with as much confidence as she could muster. "Excuse me, by any chance are you Richard?" she asked, sucking in her breath, nervous.
“Yeah, I’m Richard, you must be Lora,” He quickly stood up and pulled out a seat for her to sit. “It’s so nice to meet you,” Drake held out a hand for her to shake, making sure to remember to smile.
Lora shook his hand and sat down. "Yeah, you too," she offered politely.
Drake sat back down in his seat, “So, what do you like to do-“ He stopped himself awkwardly when a waiter approached, asking what they wanted to drink. He bit his lip, “I’ll just have a water.” He always felt awkward whenever ordering, and he made a mental note to not take Lora out to dine for the next date.
"Uh… I'll have the same," Lora replied to the waiter's question. She wasn't really trying to be fancy or anything. "So, how have you been?" she asked, trying to initiate conversation without being awkward.
“I’ve been good,” He smiled awkwardly, chewing his lip, “Uh, how about you?” Gosh, he felt like the awkwardness was so dense he could cut it with a knife. Why do I have to be this way? Drake was always horrible with talking to people, especially since he was around his crush. Just Lora was so kind and pretty and smart… And Drake was probably the opposite of that.
"Same as well," Lora gave a tiny smile, oblivious to her date's awkwardness.
The waiter brought back their waters, then asked for their order. Drake glanced at the menu, “I’ll take some delux meat sauce spaghetti, with a side salad.” He wrung his hands beneath the table, hoping Lora didn’t notice the thin layer of sweat on his forehead.
"Um…" she hadn't been here before, she wasn't quite sure what to get. "I'll have a chicken salad, thanks." she ordered the first thing on the menu her eyes landed on.
The waiter walked away, and Drake was grateful to finally be able to get a chance to talk with Lora minus the awkward interruptions. “So, what do you like to do for fun?” He asked, though he already knew the answer. He had asked this question on a few other dates with Lora, when he was wearing a different face.
"I… read, and sometimes write, although I enjoy going to the beach as well…" she responded, not really all there; she was lost in thought.
Drake chewed his lip. It didn’t look like she was having fun. This was probably all his fault, for being so nervous. He shook his head at himself to pull him out of his thoughts, “Oh, that’s cool. I like the beach too,” He forced a smile, “I actually grew up near the ocean.”
"Oh nice!" Lora was jolted back to reality by his voice.
Drake gave another smile, taking a gulp of his water. He had no idea what else to say. Gosh darn it why am I so bad at this…
"So, um, what do you do?" Lora asked, a little bit curious.
“I- I work in and office. Customer service stuff, really boring,” Drake lied, leaning back a bit in his seat in order to try to look relaxed.
"Oh is that so?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, it’s for a book printing company. I deal with stuff like if the color was printed out wrong or something get wrong with the shipping or- pretty boring. I kinda hate my job.” Drake told her, but in truth, he currently didn’t even have a job. Nor a home for that matter, but that hardly mattered. He was searching for a job, but it was kind of hard when every time he went to work his nose might be a bit crooked or eyes might be a different shade—it was hard to keep track of which form he took considering how he shifted a lot.
"Oh? Which company? I might come by to visit you sometime…" Lora continued.
“You probably wouldn’t know about it. It not really in the best part of the neighborhood hood anyways,” Richard explained nervously, biting his lip. Please don’t ask anymore questions about my job, please don’t, please don’t…
"Oh." Lora continued in a dull voice. "Where do you live?"
“An apartment on main street,” Drake lived again, nervously sipping from his water. It wasn’t entirely a lie, Drake did hang out on a main street a lot, particularly on a nice comfy bench.
(You mean "lied" instead of "lived" right?)
"Nice," Lora remarked. She had run out of things to say, and she wasn't quite sure what to do next.
(Yeah oops, autocorrect hates me)
Drake fidgeted, before asking, “So where do you work?”
(Oh that's fine)
"I… I work at a nuclear facility…" Lora trailed off, a little bit ashamed. She probably would get sick soon from all of that radiation, anyways.
“Oh. That’s actually kind of cool.” Drake told her, with a small smile. He wasn’t lying, in fact, he had always wondered if radiation was the cause of his special ability.
"Ah, not really…" Lora gave a tiny smile in response, but nothing after.Under the table she fiddled with her fingers.
“Oh,” Drake replied, looking down at the table. He chewed on his lip, unsure of what to say next.