[IC] Shine City Zero: Humble Beginnings

[Hammerman]

@Stern Algorithm
"Thank you, Michel. I suppose I should introduce myself as well. My name is Lydia Evangeline. Nice to meet you."

She took the seat across him, straightening her skirt before she sat. And just as she did, Michel's orders came. She was quite surprised by the size of the portion. She wondered if he could really finish them all.

And then, Michel offered her to join in.

She already ordered her own steak, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt to try it out a little.

She took another pair of chopsticks and began digging in. Or, to be more accurate, trying to dig in, as she was extremely clumsy with the thing. The fish she was supposed to bring into her mouth kept falling over and over again.

This was why she chose to have a steak. She was never good with Eastern dishes like this.

After trying for some more, in the end, she gave up in eating, and instead stared at the boy in front of her instead. She immediately found him fascinating, as he seemed to be just the perfect model for youthful eagerness. Her instinct immediately told her to take a photo of him, but of course, she couldn't do that without his permission.

"Excuse me, Michel, but would you give me permission to take your photo?" she asked him, still with her usual blank face. Her airheadedness made her not realize what an odd question that was.

@Stern Algorithm

[Stern Algorithm]

@Hammerman

While Lydia fumbled with her chopsticks, Michel attempted to offer her pointers, though didn't push it so as not to seem like a pretentious prick.

Michel blinked in mild confusion for a moment, then looked around at the restaurant's interior decor, agreeing internally that it was certainly worthy of immortalizing in photographic form. Rather than see himself as the object of the photo, he saw himself more of as a 'piece' in the composition of a photograph. "Sure, I don't see why not," Michel replied, making a casual pose, leaning his elbow against the table, and lightly propping his head against his hand, giving a curious, almost coy smile.

"So are you like, a professional photographer, or something?" Michel asked.

[Hammerman]

@Stern Algorithm
Lydia quickly held up her camera once Michel gave her the permission to take a photo of him. She focused all her attention into it as she looked through it while Michel posed, adjusting the angle to take the perfect shot. It took quite some time until she finally got the picture she wanted, so Michel would have to stay in that pose for a while.

"Yes, I am," Lydia answered his question, still with her usual blank expression. "Though I don't have my own shop. I instead sell my photos online. I also fix and edit photos and I also do photography jobs."

"You're welcome to my service anytime. I'll give you a discount since you let me take your photo. Oh, and do not worry. I won't sell your photo. I also collect beautiful photos and I've decided to enter your photo to my collection."

At the end of her speech, Lydia actually gave a slight smile. Said smile was the best smile she could muster.

[Pilatus]

“Nah, just messin’ with you, don’t worry about it” Joel said with a smirk. He decided not to push the comparison between Cornerstone and Fire it Up! that she hadn’t quite inferred from his comment. There really wasn’t any comparison between the two. Rowan was a good cook for sure, but Booker was on a whole different level with his grilled creations. He wondered briefly if they’d decided to hire the girl back at Cornerstone. They definitely needed the help. He allowed his glance to wander back over her briefly. Thoughts of women and his favorite watering whole reminded him that he hadn’t drank at all over the entire weekend- a feat in itself for him.

“Good grief man,” He said turning back to Booker and shaking his head slightly. He couldn’t fathom pressing that level of weight. “I was glad just to get three plates on each side.” He said referring to three, fourty-five pound plates totaling a 315 lb press. “I’ve been thinkin’ about upgrading my gym experience for a while though,” He said referencing Booker’s offer to train together. “I got a decent spot now, but it’s pretty basic, just has what you need and dumbbells that go up to 150. I’ll probably take you up on that.” He figured those 150’s would likely be Booker’s warm up. Working out with this guy was going to be painful he reminded himself. Oh well…

“I gotta get back to the shop, try and get some rest after I put this away.” He said referring to the box in front of him. “Got three in there and a damn Seadoo, I’m gonna have to figure out.” He said with a chuckle. “Gonna be a fun filled Monday for Joel tomorrow. Might actually have to do some work.”

@Saarebas
@SamaraJayne96