Melpomene's Daughter, part 5

It's Thursday again, which can only mean one thing- it's time for the next chunk of story. Progress to date has been posted here

Lunch at Fadó was neither particularly notable nor unremarkable. Both ordered vegetarian pasties, with a pint of Guinness for Alexei; while Nimuë opted for Harp, citing a preference for lighter ales instead of the darker and heavier stouts. They ordered fairly quickly after being seated, and sat waiting for their food in those clumsy minutes of the early stages of a relationship, perhaps even exaggerated by the rate at which they had already progressed. Ever the gentleman, Alexei pulled out Nimuë's chair and held it for her while she settled herself, then sat across the table from her. She smiled shyly at him. “Thank you. A display of good manners never hurt, but it's all too rare these days. Chivalry may not be dead- if it were we'd mourn it and get on with things; but it certainly seems to be comatose. It's so rare to find someone with even the smallest fragment of courtly behaviour or common decency.”

“I don't know. Some of us always believed that being polite was the right thing to do. I guess I was raised in an old-fashioned way or something. Not many women seem to appreciate it, though. I guess society just moves too fast these days for people to stop long enough to be nice to each other. Or maybe it's just that everyone is too occupied with themselves to even notice that there are people around them.”

“That's probably more accurate. Anyway, this isn't the sort of thing I generally talk about on a first date, which I think this has become. Tell me something about yourself?”

“I don't really know where to start. There's not too much about me that's really interesting. I'm an only child- mom's family are all Russian or Ukrainian stock; dad's are Scots or Scots-Irish descent. Graduated from a reasonably obscure liberal-arts university with a meaningless degree that was barely sufficient to get me a job as a technical writer, and have been muddling along from project to project with that ever since. It doesn't pay overly well, but keeps ends met; and it's better than having to go look for a job. I lead a pretty boring life mostly. Oh, yeah- I find red-haired women almost irresistible, especially when they have nice accents.” He laughed slightly at this. “It doesn't seem to make any difference, though, because I don't have any better luck with them than with women in general. At least I've learned not to take things too seriously and how to laugh at myself. Ok. Enough about me. Perhaps you'll reciprocate?”

“Well, as you already know, I'm Irish and on both sides of the family, solid Meath stock all around. Their generation is still pretty much there, but mine has followed the waves of population emigration to far-flung lands. There are times when I miss home.”

“Any brothers or sisters?”

“Both, actually. I'm not really close with any of them, though other than my sister, who is so amazingly different than I am that people wouldn't believe we're sisters. She has a tendency to show up at odd times and turn my life chaotic. I'd almost expect her to show up at any moment now, given the events of last few days.”

“She's the dark and troubled sibling?”

“That'd be a particularly apt summary, but you'd have to replace troubled with trouble. When Morgaine- that's her name, Morgaine BeanChaointe - shows up, people's lives just seem to come all apart. To make things worse, she's stunningly beautiful. Green eyes, long jet-black hair with natural white streaks. Men generally seem to do really dangerously stupid things to get her attention. Unfortunately for them, she's never caught until she's ready, and even then, the pursuer finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being the prey. Then it's all over for them, and the last thing most will ever remember about her is watching her run a comb through her hair.”

“Is she that much the heart-breaker?”

“Heart-stopper is much more like it. No one ever survives a direct encounter with Morgaine.”

“Scary. I'll try to stay away from her, then. Besides, I'm much more interested in her sister Nimuë,” Alexei grinned.

“Trying to earn points with me, are you?” Nimuë smiled slightly and giggled.

“Ok, so it was a pathetically transparent effort. If it's any solace, I at least meant it.” Alexei had the decency to look suitably mortified.

“Of course you did. You hadn't a choice in the matter. When I decided you'd just have to fall for me, it was all over. I should probably apologize for that, but I think the chances were pretty good that you'd have done so anyway,” she smiled dazzlingly. “Of course, whether you ever got the nerve up to approach me might have been a completely different matter, and if you didn't all bets were off.”

“You're right- I probably wouldn't have. Guys like me generally don't rate even a second look, much less the chance to date women who look like you- they're generally all busy dating people who make an extra zero a year.”

“I'm not sure I follow. What do zeroes have to do with anything?”

“Sorry- an extra zero a year, as in the difference between making less than a hundred thousand a year and making more than that. Those are the guys who generally tend to be seen with the really beautiful girls.”

“Did it ever dawn on you that perhaps one of us beauties might just be interested in something other than the status of your bank accounts? We're not all as shallow as you seem to think.”

“I didn't mean it that way. I've just been dumped one time too many for someone who just happened to make more money, or who drove a flashier car, with no other explanation or rationale.”

“Ah. I see. So your diminished self-esteem allows you to take a chauvinistic approach and discount people right off.” This somewhat acerbically.

“Another barb? I probably deserved that one. Sorry. I'll try to be more rational.”

“Yes, you did deserve it. Looks and money aren't why I picked you, so get rid of the hangdog attitude. No sympathy from me, at least on this one.”

Perhaps fortunately for both, lunch arrived at that point, and the verbal counterpoint was replaced by the sounds of eating.