"It looks great," Rose replied as she got out of the car. It was a little cafe she'd never been to before. "I've never been here. I've seen it a few times, but I've never actually gone in."

"Not that the stuff at the zoo is all that great to begin with," Taylor said. He unlocked his car so she could get in. "Come on, I know this great little local place, they have some amazing food."

"Well, now you'll be able to say you have." Damien smiled and held the door for her, letting her pick the table, as they were allowed to seat themselves. "Feel free to peruse the menu."

"I can agree to that," Sera said with a smile as she got in. "Lead the way."

"What would you suggest?" Rose asked as they sat down.

Taylor drove until he found his favorite little home-run diner.

"This place does all of the comfort-food classics, and they're amazing," he said.

"The chicken parmeasan sandwich is good, as is the roast beef, or the brisket. The brisket is excellent."

"Oooo, comfort food," Sera said with a smile. "That sounds good to me."

"Ooh, the chicken parm actually sounds really good," Rose said. "I'll try the brisket another time."

"This place does all the best things, like baked mac and cheese, chicken fried steak, the works," Taylor said as he parked the car.

"That sounds fair." Damien smiled and flagged down a waitress, ordering the brisket and rasberry iced tea.

Sera grinned. "Mmm... Baked mac and cheese sounds good," she admitted as she sat down at a table inside.

Rose ordered the chicken parm and a regular iced tea.

"So did anything interesting happen after you took us home?" she asked.

"I thought it might," Taylor replied as they sat down.

"Not really. Taylor and I talked, and then we went back to your house. Oh, and I told the research center that you'd be gone the rest of the day." Damien shrugged. "I trust you slept well?"

Sera smiled. "Good intuition," she said, and ordered the baked mac and cheese along with a diet coke.

"I slept fine. Did you talk about anything interesting?" Rose replied.

Taylor barely glanced at the menu before he ordered chicken and dumplings.

"The ultimate comfort food," he said.

"Not really. Just the normal guy talk. Dates and thngs." Damien shrugged.

Sera grinned and nodded. "Chili is good too. Actually, there are lots of good comfort foods."

"That sounds an awful lot like gossip," Rose teased.

"This is true," Taylor agreed. He grinned. "That's what this place specializes in. I'll bring you back here when the weather gets cold. In the winter, they actually run a chili special."

"For guys it's more like exchanging tips," Damien said with a grin. "With girls it's gossips. With men it's exchanging tips and conquests."

"That sounds delicious," Sera said with a smile.

"Well that's not as fun," Rose replied. "At least with gossip, there's a chance of getting blackmail so good that someone effectively makes themselves your slave."

"On a cold day, there's absolutely nothing better," Taylor replied. Which, for an incubus, was actually impressive.

Damien snorted. "We may not get blackmail material but we do get our egos stroked."

Sera chuckled and nodded. "Hey, that sounds good to me."

Rose just rolled her eyes.

"Men," she said. "Never know a good gossip opportunity when it presents itself."

"I'll make sure to bring you here in the winter, then," Taylor said.

Damien merely chuckled and took a sip from his drink as it arrived.

Sera smiled. "Agreed." She smiled at him. "So, impromptu date?"

"You know," Rose commented, "the other women in the research department figure you're either gay or some sort of alien. They all complain you don't react at all when they try to flirt with you."

Taylor grinned.

"Sounds like a plan to me," he said.

Damien choked on a bit of tea, and coughed for a few moments. "Really?" he said, starting to grin. "And how did they react to the fact that you're dating me?"

Sera couldn't help but laugh at that, shaking her head. "So, what's going on in your life? Anything interesting?"

"They didn't," Rose replied. "I didn't say anything."

"Nothing in particular," Taylor replied. "What about you?"

Damien blinked. "Any reason why not?"

"Same. All the usual ranting about my job, but that's normal." Sera shrugged.

"Self-preservation?" Rose replied, shrugging a little. "Survival? Not that they would believe that the quiet, shy new girl is dating the highly attractive cat-keeper, but still. I would never hear the end of it, and I'm fairly sure about half of them would hate me on the spot." She grinned a bit. "The other half would hate Sera for a very similar reason."

"Speaking of," Taylor said, "that temporary intern is gone at the end of the week, if you're still interested."

Damien snorted, obviously amused. "Really now? I would think that someone brave enough to date me wouldn't be worried about some jealous women."

"Yes! For the love of everything holy, yes."

"I'm brave, not suicidal," Rose said. "I would rather keep my head down and not kick that particular hornet's nest."

"Alright, alright." Taylor grinned. "I can have you in the system by the end of the week, and you can start on Monday if everything goes smoothly."

Damien snickered and shook his head. "Yes, I can see the difference. I was just teasing you." He started eating as his food arrived.

"I could kiss you for that," Sera said, relief evident in her voice.

Rose didn't comment in favor of starting on her own food.

"You still can, if you like," Taylor joked.