14776/Full stomachs, and good times

Full stomachs, and good times
Date of Scene:	26 April 2023
Location:	Hot Dumpling Restaurant
Synopsis:	Damian and Freddy enjoy a nice meal at Hot Dumpling.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Freddy Freeman

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Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian had sent a car out to Queens to retrieve Freddy, inside was of course, Damian. He told him that they would be going for some of the best Chinese food in the world. Of course, the modest restatuant in Chinatown doesn't dissapoint, in the window hangs a number of ducks and chickens, ready to carve and serve, along with the smells of meats, dough, and veggies cooking is heavenly.

  Freddy and Damian are shown to a table, and given their menus, of course the older lady serving as the hostess soon comes back with a pot of Oolong tea and two cups. It was Damian's favorite, and something he always ordered.

  "The duck is great, if you've ever had it. Then there's all the dumplings. Really everything here is amazing, and reminds me of...when I was growing up."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Getting picked up in a car was kind of a thrill for Freddy. His main transportation is a MetroCard. But the smile that bloomed across his face when it turned to be Damian in the car, well people often get a glimpse of Freddy Freeman's famous smile...but not like that. That one was something special.

And of course he talked the entire way to the restaurant. He's a chatterbox. He talked about his siblings. He talked about the red and black Nike Jordan AJ mids he saw in a store window. He talked about the time he got Justin Verlander's autograph. He just...talked.

But the kid is a bit more subdued here in the restaurant. He's way out of his wheelhouse here. His main source of food is pizza rolls. step-thunk-step-thunk-step-thunk across the floor to the table. Walking with Damian. His boyfriend. He's digging that vibe.

"I never had food like this," the normally wise-cracking young man says in a soft, controlled tone. "Can you order for me?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
  Damian let Freddy talk, it would have annoyed Damian had it been anyone else than Freddy. But there was something about him that made Damian just...less prickly.

  "I can." He answers, picking up the menu and looking about, of course he could read Mandarin. "I'll get some duck, and dumplings. Nothing too...exotic." The older lady came around, after Damian poured tea for him and Freddy. He spoke in Mandarin, and ordered. To which the lady bowed and smiled as she ripped the page out of her notepad. He let the silence stand for a moment.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy-the-mouth picks up the cup of tea and inhales the aroma. One side of his mouth tics upward. "So Billy wants to ask you to buy some kind of station or something," he says, exhaling a soft laugh, which causes the plumes of steam rising from the tea to dance erratically in the air. Those hazel eyes roam over Damian's face. Then his mouth erupts into a full-blown smile. "He has his panties all in a knot about getting fired or somethin'. I dunno how much I'm s'posed to talk about out in public like this. I think some of it is, you know, under cover."

He takes a gingerly sip of the hot beverage. "I told him we should broadcast old school internet underground style! Fuck the man, just get the information to the people." Then he burst into another small laugh, the youthful blush on his cheeks spreading. "Or something."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's brows jump up in surprise when Freddy mentions buying a station. "I guess I will have to ask him about it. But if it is about the podcast...I can see what I can do." Though there was no guarantee, he'd have to negotiate it out. "Yes, and the FCC will find you in an instant. It isn't like back in the 80s when it could be done easy and almost not traceable. But...everyone has a price, others can be aquired by other means."

  Damian can't help but smile a bit in retort to Freddy's own.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, Freddy tosses a sugar packet at Damian. "So that's how that stuff works? I always just assumed you grabbed a huge sack with a dollar sign on the side, and packed full of money." He shrugs one shoulder lightly. "S'what I would do. I mean, duh."

Then out of nowhere: "Tell me something you like, Wayne." Freddy takes a sip of the tea.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "I did that once. With an attache case, just drop it down and open it up." he lets the sugar packet smack him, as he sips his tea.

  Though it was Freddy's question that gave him pause. Just came out of nowhere like that.

  It wasn't that there wasn't things he liked, but the question itself...just garnered a moment of introspection. "Painting." It was probably something Freddy might have guessed, but painting with oils was one of the things that Damian truly liked to do, that didn't have to do with fighting.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy slides his hand across the table and gives Damian's a momentary squeeze. "Gods, that answer was perfect," is all he says, and then he's quiet for long moments. Chatterbox Freddy Freeman struck speechless. It's one for the record books.

Drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly, Freddy offers, "Obviously it's no secret that I'm a bit obsessed with comic books. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to draw comics." He clears his throat and adjusts his position in his chair, perhaps because he's nervous to talk about himself like this. "I never wanted to write 'em, just draw 'em. I'm no good at writing and dialogue and all that." He fiddles with a napkin a little bit, peering down at the table. "I drew a bunch of my own. But then I dunno, the whole thing with..." He lowers his voice to a whisper for the next word. "...Shazam happened and it seems to take up so much time." A small smile. "Things were simpler before all of that." He looks back up at Damian. "Ya know?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian took that hand, and smiled back. "I did landscapes, and portraits mainly."

  There was a moment where he would just listen and nod, understanding what he meant. "No. I really don't. Before I started I would gt sent out places to kill people. Unseat a nation's government, assasinate a business magnate." Damian didn't mention much about his life beforGotham much, there was so much trauma there, so many things that he couldn't take back.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy momentarily arches one eyebrow up -- a move, incidentally, that he has practiced in front of a mirror quite obsessively. He almost seems to be trying to figure out if Damian is putting him on or not. He has some limited access to the Wisdom of Solomon even in this form.

"Is this...is this something I shouldn't bring up?" he asks gently, peering at Damian. "I mean, what does a relaxed, casual night out to dinner look like for two people like us?" Freddy slides a sugar packet across the table. "Here, throw this at me so we're even." There's playful Freddy making a small bit of a comeback.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian gives a shrug. "Doesn't matter to me. You want to know more?" He asks, not really shying away from it. As far. as if he is putting Freddy on, he isn't. Even though he is a great liar, that was one hundred percent true.

  Damian chuckles, and tosses the sugar packet at Freddy. The food comes out, Peking Duck, sliced and served with sliced cucumber, scallion and thin pancakes to wrap up in. Steam baskets filled with assorted dumplings, some of them having huge plump shrimp on top.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy lets Damian divvy out some of the food. It's not because he's passive, he absolutely is not, but he doesn't understand this kind of food at *all*. But he knows how it *smells*. Fucking good is how it smells. So chatterbox starts stuffing food in his mouth like it was the end of the world.

"Ohmygawt 'is is so goo't," Freddy says around mouthfuls of food.

He plucks a piece of duck off of Damian's plate despite the fact that not only is there plenty of duck on the table but there is also duck on his OWN plate. There's just something really intimate about eating something off of someone else's plate. "I think I'm now officially a fan of duck. I wonder if you can get this on pizza."

It's just some pleasant time eating and talking a little bit, and otherwise just Not Caring About What's Going On In The World.

And then he tosses the sugar packet back at Damian with a sedate glitter in his eyes, and a pleased smile on his face. "Wayne," is all he says.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian prepared some duck rolls for himself, and Freddy, and of course some of the dumplings. He loved the taste of this duck. The crispy skin, juicy meat, and the sweet sauce was great. There was more to this trip to Hot Dumpling too, it was that he was here with Freddy.

  "It's fantastic." He commented, looking to the other young man and giving a smile. "Free-man." He says, just like the G Man again. He could have just plucked that sugar packet out of the air, but he let it hit him with a mild poff sound.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
To his credit, our hero does attempt to a few things with chopsticks. He pretty much drops everything he attempts to eat with them. Freddy does manage to use the chopsticks like spears to skewers dumplings.

He slides his chair a little closer to Damian. "Show me how to use these things," he suggests. The shameless lil flirt.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian gives Freddy just a little side-eye, playfully. He then reaches for Freddy's hand, and places one stick over er the ring finger, and one in between Freddy's index finger and thumb. "Like that...then you just pinch them closed on what you want to grab..." He leads the chopsticks to a dumpling, bringing it up to Freddy's mouth, before lowering it and reaching in to give Freddy a kiss.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy bites his lower lips as he suppresses a small smile while Damian guides him through the usage of eating utensils that are vastly inferior to a fork and spoon. But they're wicked exotic so he wants to use them anyway. And then he's *just* about to get rewarded with a dumpling actually picked up proper when Damian swoops in for a kiss. With reddening cheeks, he happily returns the kiss.

"Wayne," Freddy says in mock protest. "I'm tryna eat this dumpling." He peers around like he's expecting everyone in the restaurant to be staring at them. Not a soul is. People give a shit about the things we do way less than we think.

"So how'd you learn to speak Chinese, anyway?" the young man inquires.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's olive skintone reddens a little during the kiss, feeling that love for another person. He lets Freddy have his dumpling.

  He smiles, and responds. "I speak five languages. English, Arabic, Mandarin, German, and Japenese. I learned them when I was younger, on Infinity Island. Mother had tutors brought in from all over the world to teach me. When I was at Happy Harbor? That was just me biding my time so I could get a real diploma. Luckily in college I can just test out of most things."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Now that Freddy has a belly full of food, he's more focused on messing with Damian than eating. He puts one elbow on the table (yeah, his mother would not approve) and props his head up. With his other hand he starts messing with Damian with his chopsticks. Every time Damian goes for some food, Freddy engages in gentle, low-key chopstick sword fighting to fend him off.

"I mean, I don't know the full story, obviously, and I know you went through some wicked shit in those days, but there are also some advantages." Freddy's not good at serious talk like this. His rhythm and vibe is trash talking. "The languages. The skills." One corner of his mouth tics up and his cheeks redden a bit. "Abs," he whispers.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian plays a bit coy to the swordfighting with chopsticks, though there is a moment where he finds an opening and boom, dumpling aquired.

  He takes a moment to reflect, and nods. "There are. It's hard to put it into words, being raised to be the heir to an organization like the League."

  A moment. "The abs do help." He says with a wink.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
When Damian ninjas a dumpling, a bright grin crosses Freddy's face. He vainly attempts to snatch the dumpling with his chopsticks. No chance. Dumpling successfully ninja'ed.

"You should come over for dinner some night. I'm pretty sure my parents are convinced I'm making you up," he adds with a cute wrinkle of his nose. "Sundays are overcooked meatloaf night. I mean, how can you say no to that?"

A server brings two small bowls of sherbet and Mr. Sweet Tooth finishes his before the server gets back to the kitchen.

On a scale from 1 to Awesome, date night was Fucking Amazing.