Damien nodded. "Alright. Sounds good to me." He smiled and let her pick which side of the booth she wanted, sitting across from her. He ordered hot tea.

Rose chose one side of the booth, and ordered hot tea, as well. She always ordered hot green tea when she got Japanese. It just seemed right.

"What do you usually get here?" she asked.

"Well, I usually get some tempura and soup, and then maybe something else depending on how hungry I am." Damien shrugged. "You?"

"Usually?" Rose replied, thinking. "Sushi. I like tuna, salmon, and shrimp, most of the time, but I've branched out every so often."

"The eel is good too," Damien said with a little smile. "And one of my personal favorites is the crunchy roll."

"I discovered once by accident that I like octopus," Rose offered. "And my parents tricked me into trying squid once when I was little. I like the mussels here, too."

Damien nodded. "Seafood is always good. Seafood here is very good." He grinned.

"This place is always good," Rose agreed. She grinned a bit. "I always like coming here. The ginger-dressing salad is amazing. I've never been able to find the dressing anywhere, so it must be a house special or something."

"Probably. A lot of little family-run places like this have their secret family recipes." Damien chuckled. "Which is a good thing."

"Right," Rose agreed. She was surprised at how much she and Damien seemed to have in common.

"You ready to order?" Damien glanced at the waitress headed their way with two cups of steaming tea.

"I think so," Rose said, glancing at the menu. When the waitress set down her tea, she ordered the ginger-dressing salad and an order of assorted sushi.

Damien got shrimp and vegetable tempura, a bowl of miso soup, and an order of crunchy rolls.

Rose was quiet for a moment, not sure what else to talk about. It didn't seem right to talk about work on a date, and she wasn't sure what else they could talk about.

"So how did you meet Sera? Seems like you two are pretty good friends."

"We met as college roommates, actually," Rose replied, taking a sip of her tea. "We braved community college and university together and thought 'what the hell' when it came time to find another place to live."

Damien chuckled. "Sounds nice. I guess you either don't mind her insanity or you didn't know what you were getting into."

Rose laughed.

"A little of both, I guess," she replied. "I didn't realize what I was getting into, and gradually got used to it."

Damien laughed quietly. "Sounds very interesting."

"She's the best roommate I could have asked for," Rose said. "She puts up with me, I put up with her, and we both occasionally have to clean up after each other's pets. It all works out."

"Good." Damien smiled a little. "That's the most we can ask for, really. Unless you're rooming with a boyfriend or something. Then things get very fun."

"Things can also go very wrong very quickly when rooming with a significant other," Rose pointed out. "For now, I'm perfectly okay sharing living space with Sera and the pets."

"Very true." Damien leaned back a bit as some of their food arrived. "You know if you're going to the next party? It's optional."

"I wasn't planning on it," Rose replied. "I'm not really one for parties."

"Well would you like to do something that night instead?" Damien smiled at her.