Second Time for a First Date!

"Please don't tell me I just drank poison..." Abbey said, turning her head a bit. Her cheeks flushed and she pressed her hand against her chest. "I probably couldn't tell the difference between tequila and sake if you paid me to figure it out. Most of my drinking pedigree comes from college. You know, lot's of beer and shots of whatever was laying around. We weren't exactly connoisseurs." She said and smiled. She looked at the jar of sake. "I mean... I guess it didn't taste bad for having a snake in it." She said.

The serve brought a small appetizer plate, which was crispy fried barbeque crickets, and smiled. "Oh, we also have sake infused with killer bees. Would you like to try that as well?"

Abbey looked from the appetizer to the politely smiling server and then to Mariko. She could feel a bit of sweat beading at her forehead. "I'm ok with skipping the bees. D-domo.." She said in a tiny voice as she lowered her head.

When the server shuffled off, Abbey tucked her chin down even more, her bangs falling over her eyes. "She put crickets on our table, didn't she? I'm suddenly not feeling as adventurous as I was when I thought to come here." Abbey then gave Mariko's leg a playful kick. "Especially if you're not going to get all grossed out with me! Weirdo Japanese chick!" She teased, finally smiling.

Mariko couldn’t help but grin just a bit while the blushing blonde across from her spoke. Something about picturing Abbey getting drunk at some college parties was just...fun, for reasons she couldn’t quite articulate. But it kind of made her wish she could’ve been at one of those just to see what Abbey was like there. Granted, she’d already gotten up close and personal with her after some wine back at her place the last time they’d met, but that’s not necessarily the same as what she’s like when she’s drunk at a party.

She then watched the plate of crickets being lowered onto the table, all the while wearing almost the exact same expression Abbey was. And...did he just say sake with bees?! The snake was creepy enough, but no way was she risking accidentally swallowing a killer bee! She wasn’t even sure how likely that even was, but she gave a big sigh in relief when Abbey passed on it, and gave an affirming smile and nod to the server. “Same for me.”

Once the server was gone, Mariko glanced at Abbey again, and for a moment it seemed she might’ve been sad about something. The reason why was quickly explained, but then the blonde was smiling again, causing Mariko to smile and giggle again as her leg was kicked. “Are you kidding? All I was thinking while I was pouring that sake was ‘Oh god I hope that snake doesn’t come to life and kill me!’” she laughed again, a bit louder this time. “But I had to try to look nice and brave for my date~” Mariko added, winking at Abbey and giving her a playful kick of her own before looking down at the plate of crickets. “...Although, I doubt I’ll be able to do the same with our appetizer...”

"eeeheh..." Abbey's eyes widened at Mariko's words. She looked at the snake and turned her head, shaking it quickly. "No, that's not right at all." She said and bit her lip. She tried focusing on the crickets instead. Those looked very much dead. Even if they came to life, it's not like they would bite her face. They'd just chirp and ho away. Abbey could deal with that.

"Well..." Abbey said, taking a cricket in her hand. "Since you were so brave with the snake, I can try a cricket first. It's just a bug, right? Gyeeh..." Abbey wrinkled her nose. "Maybe if i don't chew it..." She said and then took a deep breath. She popped it into her mouth and began to crunch it. "No, I chewed it!" She said and then turned her head, taking it into her mouth and grinding it with her teeth before she swallowed it.

"Ehhhnnn. I guess it wasn't bad if you don't think about it hopping around inside your stomach." She then pushed the tray towards Mariko. "Yoooour turn!"

The crickets looked infinitely less menacing than the snake inside the jar had, a fact Mariko was more than a little thankful for. Still, the thought of putting an insect in her mouth and eating it was far from an appealing one, and she was relieved when Abbey decided to lead the charge this time and be the first to try eating one of the crickets.

She watched intently and curiously as the blonde lifted the bug to her lips and dropped it into her mouth, then chewed on it! Hearing the crunch of the cricket’s body almost made her shudder, but the amusement she got from seeing Abbey’s reaction as she ate it elicited a small laugh from her as she watched. “That good, huh?” she asked jokingly as Abbey swallowed the ground up cricket, though it didn’t seem to gross her out as much as Mariko thought it would.

Grabbing the leg of the nearest cricket on the plate, she held it up and grimaced a bit at the bug dangling in front of her. “Well, here goes...” she said, before tilting her head back, opening wide and dropping it in. Her face contorted a bit as she bit down and chewed it a couple times, then she gulped it down. After a second or two, she grabbed her glass of water and took a sip to wash away the taste. “That was...different...” she said, not really sure how else to describe it.

Abbey wrinkled her nose as Mariko braved the cricket. She was honestly wondering if she could even handle her boar by the time it arrived and they had barely ate a thing. "Ick." She said and pushed away the plate of bugs.

She decided to focus on Mariko. "So, is there any movie you want to see?" Abbey asked. "I was actually surprised that they show ... uh... normal movies here. I figured every last one would be your weirdo movies that I can't understand." Abbey smiled. "I've tried watching television, I don't even get it one bit. I don't think knowing what they were saying would help at all either..." Abbey shrugged.

"What do you usually like to do to pass the time?" She asked.

Mariko had tried washing the taste of the cricket away with a sip of water, but that didn’t quite work. So she took another sip. And another, and then a much bigger drink, then found herself with an empty glass... Oh well. At least she’d finally managed to get most of the taste out, and listening as Abbey spoke helped take her mind off of it.

She giggled at the girl’s comments about Japanese theaters and television. “I wonder if I’d feel the same way about watching television in America. Granted, we do have some pretty...unique kinds of shows here, to put it lightly.” She said, before pulling out her phone to look at the list of movies her brother had recommended for tonight. “Lets see... According to Yamato-kun, Unfriended is a good choice if you’re into horror. How’s that sound?” she asked before setting her phone back down.

“Well, if I’m not in the club or the gym, I’m usually watching matches. That, listening to jazz records, or reading. What about you, Tabby-chan?”

"Hm..." Abbey said at Mariko's words. "I wonder too..." She said and put a finger to her lips. "Well, II have a subscription so I can watch all my shows over here. Maybe you can come over and see what you think?" She said. There was no way that Mariko was going to think American television was weird! It was awesome!

"Horror movie, eh?" Abbey said, raising her eyebrow. "Yeah, sure. I'm no wuuss! I think they are usually silly anwyay. Like, comedies." Abbey chuckled and was about to continue when the food arrived. She looked down at her plate of boar and nodded. "Now THIS look gooood!" She said. "There's no way I'm going to get dissgusted by pork no matter how wild it is!"

Abbey took a few bites and nodded in approval. "Mmmm... worth it, I think. Anyway, Iusually just browse online. Watch TV or play a videogame. Nothing all that exciting, really. It would be nice to find someone to play some Basketball though. I used to play that in highschool along with wrestling. I was pretty good/."

“Oh? Well that sounds wonderful. I’d love to. And besides, I still haven’t had a chance to see your place yet.” The thought of seeing American television was interesting enough on its own, but Mariko was just as curious to see what Abbey’s place looked like. And when Abbey approved of the movie, Mariko grinned at the blonde. “If you get scared I’ll be right there to keep you safe, Tabby-chan.” she said with a giggle.

The server then returned and set their food down on the table. Mariko hadn’t been sure at all what to expect bear meat to look like, but her mind was put at relative ease when she saw it had a similar look to an ordinary steak. First she watched Abbey take a bite of her food. And once it became apparent she liked it, Mariko cut off a small portion of the bear meat and ate it. As she chewed on it, her eyes widened in surprise. She loved it! “Wow, that’s...a lot better than I expected it to be.” she said, then listed as Abbey spoke.

“Sounds like a pretty relaxing lifestyle.” she said with a smile, before taking another bite of her food. “I haven’t played basketball since I was a kid. I’d probably look ridiculous just trying to shoot a free throw now.” She chuckled. “But I wouldn’t mind playing with you some. May not exactly be competitive, but we could still have some fun with it.”

"Well... this is only our second time together. If you've already seen my apartment, we might both be making a big mistake." Abbey teased and touched Mariko's leg. "And don't worry about me, I'm no wuss. You're free to snuggle though." She grinned. "I won't even make you have to pretend you're scared."

Abbey dove into her boar eagerly and tried her best not to be a slob. She was a pretty neat person but good food was good food and there was nothing better than a backyard barbeque with a rack of messy ribs to the Nevadan.

"I didn't know they even had basketball in Japan, honestly." Abbey said. "Seems kind of weird if you ask me." She blushed. "I mean, there was that really tall Chinese guy, but I thought that you guys just did Sumo and some soccer and uh..." She blushed harder. "...Martial arts..."

Abbey shook her head. "Anyway, I'd totally kick your ass, so don't even step onto the court with me unless you like the taste of shame!" Abbey said, puffing out her chest and grinning. "I wouldn't mind though. We could always play Horse or something." She suggested. "Where could we even play around here? Everything's so compact in this place. I'm used to wide open spaces." Abbey shook her head. "Ugh, you probably think I'm a horrible gaijin, don't you? I really do love Japan and clearly I have no issue with boffing its countrymen." She said with a laugh, taking another big bite of boar just to shut herself up.

“Ah, very true.” Mariko replied with a wink as she felt Abbey touch her leg. “I think I might just take you up on that.” she said. Mariko wasn’t one to scare easily either. But then again, it had been quite a while since she’d seen a horror movie at the theater. Well, it was still bound to be fun either way.

She cut into her bear meat again and resumed eating, while listening as Abbey talked about her perception of Japanese sports. She may not’ve ever left Japan before, but she knew the stereotypes, and couldn’t help but laugh a bit at Abbey’s words. “Well to be fair, it’s not like basketball’s anywhere near as big here as it is in America. Baseball’s pretty big, but I’ve never really been a fan. But yes we do have plenty of Sumo and martial arts too.”

Mariko grinned as Abbey confidently laidd some verbal smackdown, though the suggestion that followed intrigued her. “Hm? I don’t think I’ve heard of Horse before. How do you play?” she asked. Mariko then laughed along with Abbey’s last comment, and nudged her leg again with her foot. “I think you’re an adorable gaijin, and my favorite out of all the one’s I’ve met.” Granted, almost every gaijin she’d met to this point had been a wrestler in the AFW, so it wasn’t like she knew a ton. Still, even if the list was relatively short, Abbey was right at the top of it.