I've been reading books of old the legends and the myths

As Piper followed the hostess and her Dark Hunter through the restaurant, her attention fell upon the very atmosphere that he had led her into. The dim lighting, tall booths, and low hum of conversation set the intimate mood, each table seeming quite like it's own little world in itself. It certainly wasn't what the young woman had expected to be led into, and maybe not even what she herself would have picked. And yet, Piper was hardly opposed to the restaurant, especially given the way she wanted this evening to go. Piper was quick to thank the hostess for her escort to the table, the blonde offering the other woman a warm smile and a nod at the promise that their waiter would be with them quickly. She was, of course, very much aware of the way her companion remained silent. It seemed he was... perhaps... lacking in social skills? Was it lonely, she wondered, to be a Hunter?

In an attempt to bridge the silence, Piper spoke her thanks to the man, grateful that he had carried her bags even if she had hardly asked for it. A small smile spread across her lips in her attempt to be friendly, and was pleased that he at least... didn't ignore her this time. Piper watched his eyes flit down to the menu, and yet Piper was determined to utilize the time she had remaining with him to her advantage. It was with that that Piper offered her name, the young woman entirely oblivious to their true first meeting when she had, in fact, already offered it to him. With a gentle prompting from the young woman, she finally had what she had been seeking: his name. Alistair, Alistair, Alistair. "It's nice to meet you, Alistair," Piper said genuinely, before allowing the conversation to fall quiet if only because she had to find something to eat. It was only when she'd decided on her meal - a simple pasta dish that could hardly go wrong - that she, too, set her menu to the side and looked up at Alistair. He was staring out the window, his attention seeming entirely... far away, and for a moment, Piper watched him. She wanted nothing more than to know what he was thinking, to see a glimpse into his thoughts. He looked... maybe not happy, exactly, but less miserable than what she'd already observed of him. She couldn't help but wonder what made him sad, if that's even what to call it... Was it being a Hunter? His job? Or could it be, like her, a desire for something more?

Slowly, Piper once more attempted to bridge that silence that existed between them, this time acknowledging the rather unfortunate impressions she had already made upon him. While she hadn't been attempting to make any sort of impression on him the night that she had so desperately been fighting for her life, she was certainly trying to make one tonight. And falling on her face with her underwear spilling out of her shopping bags hadn't been the idea of her that she'd wanted to give him. She was aware, somewhat, of the appearance she might have given off: ditzy, blonde, shopaholic... none of the things she wanted him to think of her. How many times had her sisters, her classmates, her mother, even, reduced her to nothing more than what they themselves were? How many times had Poppy chastised her for not doing what her sisters had done and settled happily at home as a housewife? Was it really such a bad thing that she wanted this stranger to think higher of her than a silly, air headed girl?

Sensing his attention depended on having some sort of reasoning for why she cared so much what he thought, Piper paused, hesitating only for a second before she continued, insisting that her insistence was due to her being interested in him, and that an hour of his time would certainly be all it took to change his mind about her. Certain that she might have made a point, her smile spread across her features as she allowed him a chance to speak, to respond to the idea that had been presented to him. Her smile almost faltered as he simple... stared at her, and yet she did her best to hold on to that idea that this just, maybe, might work out in her favor. Still, that hope waned as he reached up to rub the side of his temple, as if the idea exhausted him. Oh, how many times had she seen that very gesture from her father or her mother when she'd spoken of her big, grand ideas?

Still, Piper remained silent as he spoke, those gentle words tinged with how you'd speak to a child that you were trying to keep from throwing a tantrum. But it was the words that made her cock her brow, the young woman leaning back in her seat slightly as she paused, considering exactly how she might respond to this. Ah, how he must have thought of her, and yet she was nothing like the women he described. Sure, there was an interest in the man, and yet- Piper paused in her own thoughts as he finished speaking, that very notion to tell him about her book having the young woman pause in confusion - had she mentioned her book to him? A book she hadn't touched in months?And yet, that was hardly the pressing matter at hand, but instead that he had reduced her invitation to nothing more than a schoolyard crush.

"You know," Piper began, her gaze not quite focused on him, instead she too stared out the window, pretending for a moment that she was lost in thought and not that she was very, very carefully choosing her words. "Even though you say that that happens all the time, did you know that there's not a name for when that happens? If something truly happens that frequently, wouldn't you think there'd be some sort of syndrome named after it? Stockholm syndrome doesn't quite fit, because you certainly haven't kept me hostage. There's the Nightingale effect, but you were never my caregiver, either. I suppose you could call it transference or imprinting, and yet that doesn't seem right either, now does it?" Her gaze shifted over to him, the girl leaning in slightly. "Alistair, do you make a habit of telling women how they should and shouldn't feel? I know Hunters are immortal, and perhaps you're from a different time, but let me tell you this: I am not like the women you just described. I am not some delicate princess in a tower, waiting for a man to take me away so I can sit at home, raise our pretty babies, and cook him dinner every night."

As she finished her sentence, she looked up and directly at his eyes as if to solidify her point. Her sisters might have been those girls, and yet Piper wanted - no, needed - more than that. "You say I wouldn't be interested in you if I knew you, but why don't you let me be the judge of that? Maybe you're right, maybe after an hour I'll be the one deciding that I never want to see you again. And maybe not, maybe you'll be the one deciding you'd like to get to know me further. But you'll never know if you don't give me a chance. I think we're at... what, fifty eight minutes now?"