double dates XD
WHO: Emmet Belby, Giada Vance, Fydwalla Scarpin and Damocles Belby
WHAT: Double Date from Helllllll
RATING: PG
NOTES: Damocles => Doom, Fydwalla => Sheena
Emmet had thought it would be a really exciting idea to introduce his girlfriend to his brother, but the fact that Wallaby was going to be there totally put a damper on things. Plus, he could tell that Giada was a little peeved at him, so Emmet was forced to put on a bright smile as he let Giada snug up his tie before taking her hand and heading off to the Moroccan place. He had to keep himself from sighing loudly when they were being lead to their seats where Damocles and Fydwalla were already waiting; Emmet could tell this was going to be torture. Emmet glanced at his watch before pulling out the chair for Giada and sitting himself.
"Hope you haven't been here long," he apologized in a mumble even though they were only a few minutes late. "Giada, this is my brother Damocles and his," Emmet indicated to Fydwalla with a jerky hand motion, and introduced her begrudgingly, "his fiancee, Fydwalla. Dam, this is my girlfriend, Giada Vance." Okay, that was fairly painless, and he wasn't slouching with embarrassment yet, but neither of them had opened their mouths yet.
Due to some misplaced Regency-era form of politeness, Damocles half-rose from his chair until Giada was seated, then cast her a smile. "Only long enough to order wine," he replied to his brother's somewhat petulant greeting, and spared an amused glance at him. In an unusual and highly suspicious fit of punctuality, Fydwalla had been ready to go to dinner ahead of schedule. It made Damocles question the intelligence of bringing alcohol into the equation, but he'd staged a rebellion against his better judgment and ordered anyway.
"It's lovely to meet you," he said, returning his attention to Giada with an amiable grin. He extended his hand to her amidst the myriad of stemware and cutlery, narrowly avoiding a water glass. "Our mam will be so relieved to know Emmet isn't destined for life in the clergy."
"...even as she wishes it on her eldest!" she finished, smiling cheekily. There never was an elephant in the room that Fydwalla Scarpin did not try to kick. She addressed the newcomers with a wide smile but did not follow him out of his seat. Prior to their arrival, a haughtily punctual Fydwalla had been chuckling and re-arranging her silverware into horizontal alignment. Now that task was forgotten in favor of a cheeky smugness one had to know to look for. She was pretty, this one; whatever could she see in Emmet? Perhaps she was just confused.
"Fydwalla Scarpin. Fy's fine for beginners," she winked at the girl.
Giada wasn't really one to argue, so when Emmet went on about how much he hated his brother's fiancee, she'd countered his statements at first, but then...well, she didn't want to fight. So she just started to agree with him and fell silent on the subject whenever it was brought up, just nodding and smiling at his jokes. She didn't like it at all, it reminded her too much of dinner time with her parents, and Giada hadn't been very good at hiding her emotions to Emmet. Sigh.
"Pleasure to meet you!" she said, sounding a bit happier than she had in what felt like days to Damocles and Fydwalla. They seemed like really nice people, she just couldn't understand why Emmet disliked them so much. Giada laughed at their jokes, patting Emmet's arm, "Aw, that'd have been such a shame."
"Fydwalla Scarpin," Giada repeated, hopefully not butchering it too badly, as she sat, "That's probably the coolest name I've ever heard, like---yeah, no contest!"
"Oh, really? Thank you!" She chuckled, reaching across the table to give the charming girl two small pats on the back of the hand, then using that graceful gesture to pluck up her glass of wine. "I'll give your regards to my mum, who is, well, constantly seeking reassurance that her names--which I think are smashing, my sister's --haven't done us dread psychological damage." She concluded this confession with a swirl of her glass and what might have actually been a look at Emmet, and that look might have been a dare. She sipped.
Emmet definitely caught both challenging and smug look and had to grind his teeth a little and really hoped for the wine to show up about now so he could down a glass just to calm his nerves. He'd talked himself out of having a drink before Giada came over, and was definitely regretting that he hadn't, but it was better to not get into trouble before dinner. He had to force a very fake smile onto his face and keep his eyes on his brother, because otherwise he was going to say something that he would regret; if only because Giada would get mad at him.
"Nah, the clergy wouldn't take me, I sing the devil's music," Emmet shrugged, looking over at Giada a little shocked she was getting on with the devil so much. "I don't think you have to worry about that though."
Fortunately the wine did come, along with two more menus for the new arrivals. Giada seemed bafflingly nice, and while Damocles hadn't expected her to be terrible, he felt slightly smug that she and Fydwalla were getting on rather well. Picking up his glass, he raised an eyebrow at Emmet in mock seriousness. "Have you actually reached devil's music now? Last I heard you were still at demon minion."
She almost choked on her wine. Blotting her lippy smile with the backs of her fingers, she cooed, "Oh, you were promoted? Congratulations, Emmet!" The teasing swell to her voice was still carefully within the parameters of acceptable, the slight pitch and twist of her shoulders was more merriment than malice, and she looped an arm around Damocles's as though that lent credibility to the words somehow.
"I'm still languishing at 'hellborn spitfire' myself, but... you know. Glass ceiling." Fydwalla fixed Giada with a conspiratorial smile.
"He's rather good at it, I think!" Giada said with a smile toward Emmet, then back at Damocles and Fydwalla. She noticed the teasing tone of the woman's voice but she wasn't exactly going to call her out for it. All she had to do was defend Emmet, because he was a good musician. She bragged about him to anyone who would listen (which wasn't a lot of people, but it's the thought that counts) and was quite sure her birthday present was going to break sometime soon with how many times she'd listened to it.
And, she didn't want to break it because (for more than obvious reasons) she wanted to take it down to the station and see if Emmet got any positive reviews! It would be soooo cool if he did, cause then maybe he could get a contract and he could be a musician and he'd be so happy!
She took a drink, free hand up to show that she had more to add, "He recorded a whole record for my birthday, it's absolutely brilliant!"
"Aye, I've moved on. No mere folk singer anymore, I rock out," Emmet threw up one hand with his 'hard rock' symbol that he'd learned at the concert he and Giada had attended. Of course, it also meant 'devil horns' in some cultures, but that just made it that much cooler. He ignored Fydwalla's gibes and grinned a little soppily at Giada. His neck flushed a little at her telling them about the recording, but as long as she didn't offer to let them hear, Emmet was fine with it.
"Only good?" he smirked at her with a cocky smile before turning to open his menu. "I think by the number of times you've played it, it's got to be better than rather good," he teased.
"Your talent is only paralleled by your modesty, I'm sure." Damocles snorted and took a drink of wine. At the risk of seeming an utter prat in front of his brother's obviously smitten girlfriend, he abstained from the immediate urge to poke fun over the soppiness of writing an entire record for a girl. Clearly a proper ribbing could wait until they didn't risk getting kicked out of a restaurant.
While Emmet and Giada were busy with their menus, Damocles cast a sly wink at Fydwalla. "And a lovely hellborn spitfire you are. I'd comment on the glass ceilings, but it might shock the children."
Fydwalla could not help but erupt into barely-constrained giggles at the whole interchange. It was a testimony to her Caring Gryffindor Nature that she did not comment further on records or his... so-called 'rocking out' and hand gestures that she would have assumed were inappropriate, but that did not shock his girlfriend and therefore probably were not. That she raised her eyebrows was hardly something to apologize for.
But then her Belby returned the conversation to a far more pleasant topic: herself. "Yes, I do find it so loathesome when you are shocking." Grinning broadly, she leaned in for a brief, chaste peck, which she seemed to do even more than usual when they were around his family.
