New Gotham, early Thursday night

Raven was nervous about her not-date with Eric, particularly after he appeared at her dorm room door with a bouquet of roses for her. She could sense his obvious interest in her, of course, and she didn't want to give him a false impression of hers. But her thoughts of that faded when she saw the fancy vegetarian restaurant he brought her to for dinner. "How did you know I was a vegetarian?" she asked, pleased with his selection. "I do not remember telling you that."

Eric smirked. "You are? I'm one, too, and this place has got a lot of great dishes. It's one of my favorites."

"Really?" Raven said, surprised. "I would not have guessed that. Most of my friends are not vegetarians."

He made a face. "Sometimes I think about goin' all the way, goin' vegan, but I don't know if I can do that. But eatin' meat, yuck." He gave an exaggerated shudder.

Raven couldn't help but smile at that. She didn't at all begrudge her friends who enjoyed eating meat, but it was refreshing to dine with someone who shared her aversion to it for a change. "I was raised a vegetarian," she said, "but milk and eggs and cheese were not forbidden." Leather hadn't exactly been common in Azarath, either -- she'd developed that weakness in Fandom, and sometimes had to wrestle with her conscience about it.

"C'mon, babe," Eric said, taking her arm and escorting her through the door. "Anything you want tonight, it's yours."


[Continued in the comments. Emotional manipulation, ahoy!]