For the first time in her life, Lucistra finds herself sitting down to dinner in a fancy Italian restaurant. "Can I get you something to drink first?" asks the waitress, bending over the table and showing off her considerable cleavage. Lucistra stares at the young blonde woman as she takes Tim's drink order. Fantasies tumble rapidly through her mind: what would it feel like to pluck the waitress' eyes right from their sockets? What would it sound like to rip out fistfuls of the girl's long flowing blonde hair? Lucistra's fingers fall upon her butter knife. For a moment she considers leaning over and jabbing it into the young woman's throat, but the moment passes. "And the same for you, miss?" the waitress asks. Not hearing or understanding the question, Lucistra just nods, and glares as the waitress smiles and walks off toward the kitchen. The sound of conversation fills the room around them. Lucistra looks at the other diners - young couples, old couples, families, business colleagues - all of them happily going about the business of living their daily lives. Someone nearby laughs, and she grips her knife tighter. The room feels small to her - suffocating - the unfamiliar situation amplifying the already seething depths of her paranoia. "Enjoy your grape juice," Tim says as the waitress returns with their drinks. He is smiling. There is something about him, Lucistra thinks to herself, some unseen, intangible quality that she has never felt in a man before. The hairs stand up on the back of her neck. "We'll get started on the real stuff when dinner arrives." He winks. She watches as Tim butters his complimentary bread roll, depositing a small dollop of butter on his plate before spreading it over his bread. She copies him, feeling his eyes - the eyes of everybody in the room - upon her, watching her every awkward, uncertain move. She hisses slightly under her breath and wolfs down the bread roll, chasing it down with a large gulp of grape juice. Across the room, a small child laughs shrilly at a face his mother just pulled. Lucistra's hands start to tremble. She lowers her glass back to the table. A little too hard. A few drops of purple liquid splash across the tablecloth. "I like your tattoo," Tim says, oblivious. "What does it mean?" "No," Lucistra finds herself saying. Her voice sounds distant inside her own head, as though it were coming out of somebody else's mouth. "I don't like it?" Tim asks, looking slightly amused. "No, I mean, it's not a tattoo." Seeing the puzzled look on his face, Lucistra finds herself explaining further: "I was born with it." "You're kidding!" Tim says, leaning in for a closer look. Lucistra backs away, her muscles tensing. Every molecule in her body screams at her to follow her instinct, to leap from the table and run out into the night, away from this strange and unexpected situation. Then, biting her lip, fighting against every urge to run, she moves her arm into the light to give him a better look. "Amazing!" Tim says. "It's so detailed. Are you sure it's not a tattoo?" "Yes," Lucistra starts, but is interupted by the return of the pretty blonde waitress who asks to take their dinner orders. "We'll have the tortellini," Tim says. "I was just telling my friend how good it is here - I hope you don't make a liar out of me." He laughs, and the waitress smiles. "Oh, and a bottle of the Cadaugne red wine too, please. Two glasses." Credits: La Sombra by Dark_Whisper David from DAZ Jason Hair from DAZ Tim's clothes from DAZ Bottle from Free Section Candle from ? Mystic Moon Hair Girl in background by Sarsa/Thorne I'm VERY behind on my comments. My apologies to everybody! I've been a busy boy with work, and also a new-found obsession with World of Warcraft. :)