Operation Impressing Stella: Attempt 1

[raydensharpola]

The waiter appeared again, this time with a violin and bow in his hands.

"Your request, Sir?" He said to Rayden with a polite smile.

"Thank you for accomodating me." Rayden grinned, standing up and taking the violin and bow in his hands.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." He grinned at the patrons around their table, who had naturally turned to look at the source of the booming voice. "I present to you the speediest song you could ever learn on the violin, from me to my girl Stella."

He tucked the violin underneath his chin and started to play a simple but sweet classical tune, although a little raw around the edges, but still passable. He had suddenly hit upon the idea and pestered a musically inclined friend to teach him the song. It had been a torturous day indeed under the slavemaster masquerading as music teacher.

When he finished the tune, he removed the violin from his chin, and bowed at Stella with a flourish. There were a few polite applause from the neighbouring patrons, who soon turned to their own businesses.

"Well...how did I fare? Hope I didn't hurt your ears." He said with twinkling eyes, handing the violin back to the waiter.

[Stella]

She froze her spoon in mid-movement her eyes going wide as Rayden stood up and placed the gorgeous violin under his chin. Her eyes were locked to his every movement as he played. His fingers on the strings and on the bow. His eyebrows drawn together in almost a frown as he concentrated. She didn't recognize the music but it was amazingly beautiful and the fact that he was playing it for her made it all the better. It was such a romantic moment and it really touched her heart.

She set her spoon down carefully and applauded along with the rest of the restaurant a huge grin taking over her face. Not caring about being in public she got to her feet and gave him a huge hug before he had the chance to sit down. Blushing she slipped away from him and sat back down knowing she was probably going to get a lecture for embarrassing him with the hug but she didn't care.

"That was so good, hyne Rayden you're amazing" she said a bit breathless as she waited for him to sit.

[raydensharpola]

Rayden sat down, pleased as pie at Stella's exuberant hug.

"I'm glad you liked it Stella." He beamed. "All that gruelling practice has paid of. I'll introduce you to my friend the next time so we can play together!" He grinned excitedly. "I have to warn you though, she's a slavemaster." He gazed dreamily at Stella. "Just think of the fun we'll have! But only if you want to." He added hastily. He didn't want forcing something on Stella.

He started digging into his dessert, enjoying it with a childish glee, staining the corner of his lip with a little bit of the cream.

[Stella]

She laughed a little at his happiness feeling a warmth spread through her. This really was the real deal. It seemed almost as if he would do anything to make her happy.

"Yeah that sounds really good. It would be fun to play together!" she grinned thinking about her brother had always tried to get her to play the piano with him.

"Might be a hopeless effort with me. I've never been musically inclined , not like you, I was always an art girl" She grinned across the table at him watching him dig into his desert. A little bit of cream was lingering at the corner of his lip and she just couldn't resist.

Leaning across the table a little she wiped it away with her finger tip grinning at him. Lounging back she sucked her finger tip clean with a wink and turned to her own desert.

[raydensharpola]

"Well then..." Rayden paused in his enjoyment of dessert. "...if playing together doesn't work out, you can draw something unbelievably artistic while I serenade you with the violin. How's that sound?" He grinned at her, but it quickly turned into an O of surprise when she started leaning forward and swiped his mouth with a finger before sucking it.

He found it incredibly sexy.

"Stella." He groaned. "Can you please stop trying to seduce me in public? It's taking a toll on my physical health. I'm barely hanging on in here." He smirked devilishly. "You know I'm just kidding. If you like sucking stuff off your finger I can spray an entire can of whipped cream to keep you happy."

[Stella]

She had to wonder if he was lying about the just kidding part. Maybe all her flirtatious behavior really was getting him flustered. Well that was certainly no reason to stop.

"I don't think cans of whipped cream are usually involved in civilized dinner conversation" she said with a fake stuffy tone. Then she giggled and a wicked little smirk played over her lips.

"There are plenty of things I can think of that I wouldn't mind doing with some whipped cream" she said in a low suggestive voice leaning close to him. Hyne, she really wanted him to kiss her again.

"Like putting it on top of cake" she said in a much more playful tone with a flirty grin before taking a bite of her desert.

[raydensharpola]

"There are plenty of things I can think of that I wouldn't mind doing with some whipped cream" she said in a low suggestive voice leaning close to him.

Rayden shifted uneasily. She was doing it again, twirling him around her little finger with that seductive, sultry tone of hers that threatened to make him succumb to that horned devil all men harboured in their psyches. Well, normal men anyway. It made him uncomfortably hot under the collar. But he chose to overcome it through sheer force of will.


"Oh yeah right." Rayden tried to smirk back at her. "I'd like to know what's so uncivilised about...spraying whipped cream on cake..." He leaned back in his chair, licking across his lips with his tongue, then sucking his thumb all the while maintaining eye contact with her. "And if that's the kind of expression you're gonna have making that cake..." He raised an eyebrow at her. "...I'd be delighted to enjoy it nice and slow."

[Stella]

She a watched entranced as his lips parted tongue running over them to leave a moist shine in its wake. His voice was all velvet and barely contained passion as he spoke about something so suggestive. The sound of it was driving her wild. Then to make things even worse he put his thumb to his lips making her shudder all over. His lips touching the flesh made all sorts of inappropriate thoughts scream through her mind. Those blue eyes of his were locked on hers and she was only distracted by his lips.

"And if that's the kind of expression you're gonna have making that cake..." He raised an eyebrow at her. "...I'd be delighted to enjoy it nice and slow."

Her breath hitched in the back of her throat. Swallowing hard she fought to maintain composure with a casual clearing of her throat. She lowered her hand to her lap and wrapped her fingers tightly around her napkin. Smirking a little she licked her lips tasting the sweetness of the creme brulee.

"Well lucky me, I'll get to watch you enjoy that cake" she said in a low seductive tone, "but I'm afraid the pleasure might be all mine"

[raydensharpola]

He watched her, mesmerized for the few seconds her tongue ran across her lips, her wonderful lips, and hearing that sultry and husky tone of hers made him wish they weren't in a restaurant. Damn it made him wish they were in the privacy of his dorm and he could put into motion the urgent fever burning in him.

Her body language, her voice, the way she teased him with suggestive images in his mind and clearly knew her effect on him, it threatened to erode the strained control on himself. And this really wasn't the mood he wanted to end the meal with, especially if he might feel the impulse to whisk her straight back to their dorms and forget about what he'd planned later.

"A sinful pleasure for both of us." He cleared his throat, righting his posture and averting his eyes from her. "So I take it that's gonna be our next date?" He smirked, looking back towards her with the playful glee of a little kid at a candy shop. "Can't wait for it."

[Stella]

"Only if you're a good boy" Stella responded with a little smirk lounging in her chair as she gazed across the table at him. The tension between them was so thick it would have been easy to slice into. It was pretty easy to tell what they were both thinking about. I may tease... but there's no way I'm going to let that happen so soon..

She gazed across the table smiling at him as she cleared her throat again. From the way he glanced away it was obvious that he was also struggling. It was more then time to change to topics. If they didn't soon she was likely to haul him back down to the limo and...

"So have you got anything else planned for tonight?" she asked.

[Rayden]

"Secret." Rayden smirked at Stella. He would incur a displeased pout at that, he was certain, but that wasn't really a bad thing. Her pout could be so adorable sometimes, it made him want to kiss her. "You'll see." He added still with that bad-natured smirk.

"Would you be disappointed if our date ended just like that?" He asked, knowing fully well it was a hypothetical question but asked anyway. If he let her down now and surprised her later...what would her expression be like?

He itched to know.

[Stella]

"You and your secrets" she said giving him a flash of tongue. He was teasing her now but she didn't mind. After all she had teased him plenty over the course of the night.

"Would you be disappointed if our date ended just like that?" He asked. She thought about it for a moment taking in the eager expression on his face. It was just too cute.

"Well yes and no... this has all ready been the most romantic date I've ever had" she spoke softly, shyly, feeling that dreaded blush taking over her cheeks again, "but I would be disappointed about not getting to spend any more time with you"

[raydensharpola]

"Really? You mean it? You're not just saying that to make me happy?" His mouth widened, grinning so much it hurt. He wanted nothing more than to lean over and grab her in a hug right now. If only they weren't in a posh restaurant! He wouldn't be so hard pressed to control himself if they were in an ordinary setting. It was the only regret he would have the whole evening.

"I'm glad I went ahead with this instead of any other choice." He smirked, running her answer over in his mind and liking it even more when he realised she must've been on a lot of dates. And the blush on her cheeks told him the effort spent on the entire evening had not been in vain."You look so pretty right now, I should surprise you more often."

And if she thought this was romantic...

"Bill please!" He exclaimed to the waiter who had been serving them the entire evening, and when the bill arrived, he blocked it with a hand signing with a flourish, not forgetting to leave a huge tip for the waiter.

He ushered Stella towards the elevator, letting her enter first with a slight bow and pressing the top floor button, turning to face her casually with a poker face.

"So I guess this is it." He said. "This is the part where we retire to a hotel room. I hope you have the mental preparation for it."

[Stella]

She tried to peer over his hand as he signed the check obviously hiding the total from her. If he hadn't just paid her such a nice compliment then she might have pouted and insisted to know how much the meal has cost. He led her out of the restaurant and straight to the dreaded elevator. She paused for a moment as he motioned her to go in.

Oh come on, you helped kill Adel, its only a little elevator. With a deep breath she stepped into the small box and turned focusing her gaze on the metal doors as they closed. The first ride to the restaurant had been pretty bad but this time it was worse. Determined not to fly into a panic attack on their wonderful date she tried to keep herself calm. It did not help at all that he was looking at her so intently.

"So I guess this is it." He said. "This is the part where we retire to a hotel room. I hope you have the mental preparation for it."

"...What?" she said a bit flustered as his words fully registered in her mind. When she glanced at him she saw the look on his face was completely serious.

"Rayden... I don't..." she sighed and bit her bottom lip hard. Her heart was starting to beat faster then it should have been. It was getting very hard for her to breath.

"If you just wanted to get me in bed..." Stella sucked in a deep breath between her lips. She put her hand to her head as the everything seemed to go a bit fuzzy.

"Oh Hyne" she whispered softly inching away from him to lean heavily on one of the walls. This was not good at all.

[raydensharpola]

"Stella?" Rayden's face started to lose the pokerishness and transformed into an anxious one. She didn't look too good, her skin was pale and she seemed to be breaking out in cold sweat. It had started the moment that question left his lips, or maybe even earlier. Was going to a hotel room with him such a revolting idea that she had to have such an adverse reaction? But Rayden didn't think that was the reason. If it was couldn't she have given him a tight slap or something?

The elevator finally reached the top floor, the door opening with a ping into a wide open lobby.

"Come on, you look like you need some fresh air." He took her hand firmly, ushering her towards one of the automatic doors out into the open.

The crisp evening air hit them in the face. Lush lawns and friendly palm trees adorned with twinkling fairy lights greeted them with the welcoming scent of flowers and freshly lawned grass. Rayden nodded approvingly. It looked like the Deling hotel management had done a great job to its rooftop garden.

"I was too broke to afford one of the rooms." Rayden glanced at her face cautiously for any kind of reaction. "I hope you don't mind camping it out in the air. And uh...I was hoping for a more dramatic entrance but I guess that's not possible now." He scratched his head awkwardly.