Date?  Our next date?  This is a date.  It's a date!

Aurora tried to hide her amusement by looking down at her plate and she chuckled.  

"With questions like that... maybe I should explain the game.  After all, in the game, I'd at least have a chance to avoid answering."  She looked up to Billy with a smirk and flushed cheeks that matched his own.

"The game is simple," She said not yet answering his question.  "Every round you pick either truth or dare.  If you choose truth, I ask you a question.  Generally speaking, the questions should be simple ones but they don't have to be.  You must, on your honor, answer truthfully.  Or, if you can not or do not want to, pay the agreed upon fine which we'll establish at the start of the game.  Likewise, each round, you can choose dare and if you choose that I get to pick a simple task that you must accomplish before the game can move on.  If you can not or do not wish to do the dare... you can opt to pay the fine."

She smirked.

"The last time I played the guys in Philly, it paid for all my books this semester."  She chuckled.  "So, if you really want to play... we can, but I'll understand if you'd rather not take the risk."

Billy laughed then.

"Sounds like a risk free game to me. On one hand I lose some money. On the other hand I tell the truth. That's an easy game."

Billy thought for a moment then while he finished his salmon and the waiter brought over some kind of pudding for their dessert.

"I might lose some pride though in the whole dare thing. I mean, judging by how much you seem to enjoy teasing me, that's a real possibility. I might need some time to come up with some good ones for you."

Billy slid the first dish over to Aurora. It was in a white ceramic and had some kind of brown caramel crust on top. Billy had never seen it before so he handed Rora a spoon.

"I've never tried this before, so I'll take a leap if you will."

It was more question than anything else. He liked trying new things, especially food. But it was always fun to try them with friends.

"Well... if you're feeling bold.  Why don't you pick dare first?  Because I just might have the perfect one for this moment"  She said, accepting the spoon, a wicked grin growing on her face. 

As she pushed the spoon past the caramelized surface and deep into the Creme Brulee and spun it slowly, scooping up a large glob of the burnt cream, she spoke in a tone that wasn't that of the playful child or friendly goomba he'd met earlier.  It was the voice of a young woman who'd just realized that she was on her very first date with a man she found to be quite attractive. 

Breathy. 

Flirtatious. 

"Truth or Dare?"

Billy gave Aurora a very odd look. He was very unsure what in her demeanor had just forced the change that she emitted. Maybe she had this kind of dessert before and she just really loved it. It was odd, but he was a good sport. He would play along.

"Um, aren't we supposed to agree on terms first before we start? If I were to refuse right, then I pay you. I'm gonna pick dare like you said, sure, I just want to know what it's gonna cost me if I can't you know, do a headstand or something."

He was entirely confident that he could not, in fact, perform a headstand.

"One-hundred dollars per refused question or dare.  Unless that's too steep for you?"  She arched an eyebrow.  

"That's it? Done." he slaps the table and stares a challenge directly into her eyes. "Dare, like I said."

With her free hand, she reached out and took hold of his spoon hand.  Her warm palm wrapping around his, preventing him from making a move to engage the dessert.

"I dare you to close your eyes..."

She leaned towards him, making clear she intended to do something with her spoon full of the creamy dessert.

"... and part your lips.  No peaking.  Just ... enjoy what I'm about to do.  That simple.  Unless you want to pay me the hundred dollars now and I can take my turn?"

Billy watched intently as Aurora wrapped her hand around his, clearly she was either going to feed him dessert, or wipe it all over his face. He looked down at the thing intently for a second. It seemed like it could be wiped off easy enough and so he nodded to her and relaxed himself.

"Alright, let me have it then."

He closed his eyes, tighter than he probably should have, but he didn't want to get stuff in his eyes, that might sting. Then he opened his mouth, not very wide, but wide enough for the spoon. He figured at this point Rora was just going to have her playful fun and wipe dessert all over his face, why bother opening up too wide for it?

and then he waited for it.

Aurora came close to him, very close.  The electric energy in the small space between their bodies hummed.  She could feel the heat coming off him with each breath.  Her intention was to make him wonder if she was going to kiss him, in fact, the idea had seriously crossed her mind.  A stolen kiss, an innocent one of course, would be a reason to laugh later - regardless of whether there was a second or third date or not.  After all, years from now, this would be one of many foolish things she'd done on impulse in her youth.  Who didn't have such stories?  A stolen moment of pleasure in a world so full of dark things... 

But then, she considered briefly, what if he'd really made a slip of the tongue?  What if he didn't really mean... date in the same way she hoped?  She imagined the night playing out with him making excuses for cutting their night short, fleeing from her in fear of her mother's wrath, and her wanting to crawl under a rock and die of embarrassment, spending the evening alone as she'd so hoped to avoid by asking him out to dinner in the first place.

She looked his lips and resisted the gravitational pull that seemed unrelenting in it's urging her towards him.  Instead, she lifted the spoon with a herculean strength of will and put it to his lips, sliding it past them and over his tongue.  He acted as if he hadn't really expected it to go there... had he been hoping for a kiss?  

Billy seemed to quickly recover though, his tongue lashing a small bit to get stray pudding from his lips as she pulled the spoon free of his mouth.  He didn't seem turned off by the flavor, and so, she slid the spoon into the ceramic pot again, taking up a bit more of the sweet treat.  She fed him a second spoon full, and for a moment considered kissing up a bit of the pudding that came free from the spoon onto his bottom lip.  It was a terrible temptation, but somehow she found herself able to ignore it and give him one more bite before stepping away from him.

As her body pulled away from his, she expected to be a little sad, not having taken her small prize on the dare; but instead, she was surprised to find that the excitement lingered as she waited for him to open his eyes.  What would he say?  Would he react negatively?  He had to know how close she was to him... have felt something of her intention.  Wouldn't he?

She braced herself and watched his non-verbal reactions intently and equal parts longing for and dreading what words would he speak next.  They might be horrible... or maybe as simple as him asking her if she wanted to speak truth or take a dare too.  And if the later... what dare would he put upon her?

It all went entirely horribly wrong. Billy had fully felt himself tense up for cream pudding on his face, but then nothing. Instead it was where it should have gone. In his mouth. Aurora pulled the spoon away again, but the heat of her breath lingered. She was still so close to him.

He felt her guide his hand into the dessert again, and he was sure this time it would be on his face, but no. She hadn't missed although a bit got out onto his lip which he recovered. By the third bite the tension had melted away like the dessert had on his tongue.

Billy quite enjoyed that dessert too. He rarely came across food he didn't enjoy. And then suddenly the air around him was cold again, unfeeling, stale.

It wasn't until he opened his eyes a split second later that he realized Rora was back in her normal seat again. Had there really been any change in the air? Was that all in his head? Had to be. There could be no other explanation for it. Unless she was magic and Billy could feel her presence. That sure wasn't it.

Billy smiled.

"That stuff is delicious. You should try some. I swear, I thought you were gonna do something else entirely. I was all ready for it too. Not gonna give you that easy of a chance next time."

Billy washed it down with some water and let Rora take a few bites herself before he leaned forward, elbows on the table.

"Alright Rora, truth or dare then?"

He thought she was going to do what exactly?  Make a mess of him?  Had she read all that wrong?  He was expecting childish antics... not kisses.  

She looked down at the dessert and was suddenly very glad for it.  She took a bite and savored it a moment.  The sugar was a comfort to her bruised ego, but she wouldn't let him know.  That would be worse than being wrong - him knowing the depth of her foolishness.  She could bare her shame if she could do it in silence and without him being the wiser.

"Truth." She threw out, sure there was nothing he could ask her that would make her feel any more uncomfortable.  She took another spoon full of the pudding and swallowed it down greedily.

Great. She had gone for truth. Billy had nothing. He was fully prepared to make her get up and dance on the table with him. He had no idea what to possibly ask her. He had a feeling these questions were supposed to be praying, and to dive deep into the other person to make them reveal something secret, but Billy wasn't real good at that kind of questioning. So he took a stand at something else instead.

"Alright. What did you really come to Detroit for? We both know it's not for the picture shows, you can see those anywhere. And we both know it's not for the food, or to visit property your family once held or else you would done it a long time ago."

Billy took a breath and continued while Rora polished off dessert.

"I'm guessing your parents didn't send you because you would be dealing with someone higher up than me. And it's not to sightsee. So, what's the real reason? What do you need that I can help with?"

Decidedly the only way his question could have been worse was if he had flat out asked if she wanted to kiss him just a moment ago.  At least if the question had been that, she might have been able to think he felt something close to what she felt.  Now, asking her what she wanted, what he could help her with... she knew without a doubt that her confidence had been built on silly fantasies.  

Aurora made forever tried to avoid lying.  Even little white lies like 'that looks good' or 'no you're not fat' troubled her.  She knew her mother's point of view that some lies were necessary... but she'd done well most of her life without them.  Yet, sitting here now in front of Billy, she felt like she couldn't tell him the truth.  That she'd been bored and lonely in her apartment.  That she had almost no real friends that weren't related to her by blood and the last time she'd kissed a boy she'd nearly beat him to death and the time before that his brains ended up all over her dress.

Not only was she embarrassed that she was attracted to this older man before her, and he clearly not to her, but she didn't think he was prepared to hear the sweet girl in front of him was a trained killer.  Truth was, even for Mafia Dons, some things in life were still too much truth for them to handle.  

Why didn't I pick dare so he could have given me some stupidly childish thing to do instead of this?

Cash was a cowards way out, but what other choice did she really have?  Aurora opened her purse and pulled out her wallet, which was certainly full of far more cash than a college student should be carrying on her - even with two bodyguards.  She put down the hundred dollar bill on the table and pushed it to him without explanation.

"Truth or dare?" She asked him.

Billy shook his head but took the money. He knew it would be a pride thing if he didn't. Besides, those were the rules.

"Fine, truth then."

He said as he folded his arms across his chest and leveled a gaze in Aurora's direction. He wasn't sure if he was coming off as disappointed or angry. He didn't want to seem angry, but he liked Rora and he wanted to know more about her. Couldn't she tell that?

In Billy's experience all women just knew things. They knew them right away without him having to tell them. So Aurora knew she was pretty. She knew already that Billy would protect her with his life while she was in Detroit. She knew that he saw her mother as a sort of step mom. One who didn't give up on her life or her children. So why was Billy sitting across from a want who knew so much about him and she wouldn't tell him squat?

It did make him a little upset, but mostly mean he was at a disadvantage. That he didn't like.

Aurora smiled happy that he didn’t seem too upset that she wouldn’t admit to why she was there. Then she had to think what you really want to know about him... everything?

She knew she could ask an easy question like what color he preferred or what his favorite food was, or even what his favorite book was. Did he read? Some people didn’t like to read, she never understood people who were that way.  Your favorite but could tell a lot about a person. But if she asked that wouldn’t make her seem overly proud of her intelligence?

“Tell me about the best gift you’ve ever received.”  Aurora assumed this would tell her a bit about him.  The things he liked and what mattered to him and why. It was also a safe question one that he could choose to answer with something very basic like a car or a favorite piece of clothing, if he didn’t want to reveal something deep.

Billy pulled out his father's journal at the question and laid it on the table.

"This. Easy. It lets me visit my dad when I miss him. Let's me tlremember the good in my mom on the hard days. Most important, it taught me everything I know about how to make it in this life. And make decent money doing it."

He slid the book open and flipped to a page about Marie.

Here I was wondering once again what it was about the magnetism of this woman that brought me to her. It did not take long any time this thought crept up on me. It was not her beauty, but her heart. She took me in to her family when I didn't have anyone else. When my blood family was back east, and the family I worked for was gone, she reached out and lifted me out of the more with nothing but sheer force of will. I owe her everything of me and more, and there will never be a way to repay what she's given me.

Billy waited for Rora to finish.

"See why?" 

Aurora touched the pages tenderly, holding it as if it were one of the world's greatest treasures - delicate and fragile.  She read the words once, and then again.  She looked up to Billy as she closed it carefully.  

"I do."  She said offering it back to him reluctantly.  "I didn't think you were going to share this until I played my cards right?  I can't imagine sharing this with anyone is something you do lightly."

She was moved by his attempt to connect with her.  He might not think of her romantically, but he was at least willing to be a real friend. 

"I..."  She hesitated.  Then sighed at her own lack of courage.  She could hear her father's words in her ears, a thousand times telling her the importance and value of honesty with friends, family and the hardest one of all - herself.

"I came because was bored."  She looked down at her dessert.  "I don't really have a lot of friends at school."

Aurora was good at most everything she tried in life.  There was little she didn't do well, let alone excel at, but there was a truth about her and friendship that she couldn't deny.  "I'm just not like the other girls."

She looked up to Billy, "And since mom and dad would worry if I went home and since work didn't have anything for me to be doing... and I was caught up on my studies... I found myself racking my brain for something to do and I remembered you."

A smile began to pull at the corner of her lips, "That's why I came... because I didn't have anywhere else to be.  I came because here was better than there."  She shrugged and averted her eyes as she admitted, "I came because I wanted to see you again and I hoped you'd like to see me again too."

Billy gave a sad nod. An open window into his most honest feelings for a moment. He was upset. He was nothing more than an afterthought. A better choice than being bored.

He reached out and slid the journal back into his pocket.

"I don't generally, but I also didn't want you to stick around just because I had something over you."

Billy couldn't believe he had spent so much time thinking about the woman in front of him. How to approach the subject of Marie, or her mother. How to deal with the fact that he barely knew his father.

Even earlier this evening, he thought that it felt nice to have her so close her could touch her. He was clearly the only one of the pair who felt that way.

"Like other girls? You can't be like other girls. You told me you weren't a girl. Besides..."

He waved a dismissive hand.

"...you don't want to be like anyone else. Everyone else is boring, not good enough. The first day we met I thought as much. I thought that you were the boldest woman I knew, and you had the looks to back it up. I thought from that first moment, you can do anything you ever want to. Not everybody is like that."

Still not looking up, she spoke down towards the table.  Afraid of him seeing her eyes while she continued her confession in a manner of speaking.  Afraid of being wrong and looking a fool in front of this man she enjoyed the company of so much.  "You shouldn't say such nice things about me.  Firstly you barely know me, and secondly, you'll get my hopes up again ... that this is an actual date."

She lifted her eyes, but not her head; peaking at him through her thick eyelashes hoping to see his reaction but for him not to see hers.

"I love fantasies as much as the next girl ... but, I hate looking like a fool and I do take great pains to avoid it whenever possible." 

Her laugh was tentative, not bold as he believed her to be, but showing some bit of her nervousness.  She shook her head trying to ignore her dump of information and her fears of what he might be thinking of her now.  She tried to pull away from the topic, afraid of him laughing at her 'childish' crush on him.

"I feel like you got two for the price of one there.  Is it my turn, now?  I think I lost track."  

Billy reached across the table and took Aurora by the hand.

"I would like that, though I'm pretty sure a few folks might be upset at the prospect of you and I going on a date. Tiny and Tim being the least of our problems."

Billy slid her hand up and touched it to his lips.

"I think it's your turn to ask, but I'm going to steal one more. When can we have another?"

His turn to be bold. He kept telling himself never to waste opportunities any longer. To be more bold and to take leaps and steps.

He knew there was something there. He had felt it, even if she didn't. And he was willing to take whatever heat he needed to from the White Wolf for it. Hell he had already taken a bullet once, it wasn't that bad.

Then again, he barely remembered that night.

Her breath caught in her throat as he took hold of her hand and it excited her lips in a shudder as he brushed his lips against her hand.  Her face softened like melting ice cream on a sunny day.  She was nodding the instant he asked for another turn.

Her face split with a wide grin that touched her eyes, "I have classes Tuesday through Thursdays until four.  Work is... sporadic, but I have a lot of ability to set my own schedule ... most of the time.  When do you want to see me again?"

Her face was flushed.  Aurora giggled at the thought of seeing him again.  She didn't make any attempt to hide her infatuation now.  Instead, she seemed to be reveling in it.  With a flick of her free hand, Tiny and Tim were out of their seats and moving towards her.  As soon as they came in earshot she spoke authoritatively in Italian and never took her eyes off Billy.

"Aspetta in macchina."

In unison, the men replied, "Si, Signorina."

As soon as the bell on the door announced the goons had left, Aurora asked Billy quietly for his ears alone, "Truth or Dare?"

Billy smiled.

"If it were up to me? We still have a moving picture to see. But you do have things to do, and a life to live. So for now, one more turn and then you go back to school until you call again. I'm not your parent, but we both know you're way smarter than someone who deserves to be gettin' her hands dirty."

He leaned back in his seat.

"Dare."