bad reputation [open]

[OLIVER FRANCIS MILLER]

"Well, I kind of like the out of the box taste! It doesn't really taste any different to me, I mean. A cake is a cake is a cake, I guess." Even as he spoke, Oliver bounced to the music, swaying his hips, swinging his arms, shifting his weight around. He moved quickly and fluidly, a leftover skill from when he was alive, and dabbled in skateboarding. His sense of balance and ability to shift his legs and his feet at a moment's notice was still a talent his ghostly limbs could imitate.

"I'd go there every year for my birthday with my dad before I d--" he cut himself off, changed pace as the song switch to a remix of an old No Doubt song, and took the moment to try and cover up his near slip-up. "Before I got too old. We went for the breadsticks and salad. I'd always get the raviolis. Every time. Dad always made fun of me." He didn't want to make contact with Larkin too much, just in case there was something in his skin that tipped her off, but he couldn't help but take her hands within his own and raise them to the air and move his body a little closer to hers as he pumped their hands in the air together, laughing. The rush of anxious endorphins washed away with the pounding music and the closeness to a pretty girl who didn't make faces or roll her eyes or put on an air of politeness that was all show and no substance. "What about you? What kinds of birthday dinners do you have?"

[LARKIN ELIZABETH HOLIDAY]

Larkin's lips curled into a sneer but she laughed quietly. Larking hated the out of the box taste but everyone had different tastes. Being in culinary school made Larking a bit of a food snob but she tried to push that part of her away as much as possible because she had never been that way before and she didn't really take pride in it like some of her classmates.

Larkin had been staring off into the crowd when Oliver cut himself off. She slowly turned her head to look Oliver in the eyes and an eyebrow raised. She cocked her head and there was a suspicious gleam in her eyes. Now that Larkin was on the topic, she realized she hadn't been to Olive Garden in a long time. "I love ravioli but I think my favorite Italian food is either manicotti or puttanesca." She said over the music without yelling into Oliver's ear.

Larkin laughed when Oliver took her hands and began throwing them in the air with his. She looked at him briefly before looking up at the changing lights. She hadn't danced in a while and it felt good to be finally doing it and not caring what people thought. "Me? Oh, I like breakfast for dinner on my birthday. Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and homemade buscuits are my favorite." Larkin licked her lips and smiled widly at Oliver.

[OLIVER FRANCIS MILLER]

"I don't know what either of those things are!" Oliver admitted cheerily. "I'm the kind of guy who thinks that beefaroni is something that an Italian place could serve for dinner!" He laughed heartily, feeling as though he was alive. Not just faking, but actually alive. Was it being with this girl in particular? Or was it just pushing and forcing himself into a role that other boys his age shouldered effortlessly? Or maybe a mix? He didn't know. He didn't care! Not really, anyway. He was having fun. That's what mattered. He didn't know anyone in this club except for the pretty blonde with the bright green eyes and the foreign name and exotic past to match.

"Oh mannnnn, it feels like I haven't had chocolate chip pancakes in forever! Those are probably my most favorite food of all time. Oh man you probably think I'm just, like, the worst when it comes to food, but IHOP's chocolate chocolate chip pancakes are, I think, my favorite food of all time. I could probably just eat them for the rest of my life and be totally happy."