It's a 'Date'! {Klaustopher}

[Nicolette]

Christopher took another bite of his sandwich and swallowed, followed by a sip of his tea before he answered, giving a nod as he did. "Yeah, I travelled a lot as a kid, from birth til about age twelve. Then from twelve to eighteen, I stayed in Manchester for middle school and high school, and then went off to the United States for college. My father, Walter Parker, was an archeologist and my mother, Elizabeth Parker, was a historian..."

He smiled fondly at the thought of his mother. "She was the reason I was so interested in history. She taught me so much when we were travelling..." He stared at the table, the fond smile still on his lips as he nearly lost himself in memories.

[Kuu]

Klaus took a sip of his tea, feeling a twinge of jealousy at how Christopher spoke of his mother. Klaus wished his parents would have taught him something, anything at all, but no. They always asked tutors to do it for them and he felt like he was just ignored by them, he felt like...like they didn't love him...

Trying his best to shake those thoughts from him, Klaus put his tea down, though he didn't really notice that he did it a little hard. Even his smile was a little strained.

"Ahaha, you really love your family, hm? Sounds nice..." Klaus said, resting his head on the palm of his left hand as he turned his gaze toward the other tables. He took another bit of his sandwich as he tried to stop thinking of his own home.

[Nicolette]

Ah, so that was it.

Klaus must have a bad home life, Christopher managed to figure out by watching the boy's motions and hearing the hitch in his voice. His eyes were locked on the younger male, sipping at his tea as he thought of words to say.

"Got any siblings?"

Siblings, depending on the type, could soften the blow of hard family lives. Protective older siblings, innocent younger siblings, etc.

[Kuu]

The question caught Klaus off guard, and he glanced over at Christopher before turning his gaze back away.

"I have two younger siblings, Siobhan and Jacob. They're twins," he replied, his voice much lighter and his smile wistful. He hadn't seen them since he went back home for a few days during the break, and he already missed them. He hoped that they were doing okay, and that their parents didn't do anything bad to them or make them upset...if...if only he could be there to make sure. Klaus really hoped that next year his parents would enroll both Siobhan and Jacob into T'zenshin...then all three of them could be together again. Klaus took another sip of his tea.

[Nicolette]

Ah yes, the innocent younger siblings. The smile and the lighter tone of Klaus's voice were clear indicators that his siblings were not the source of his misery when it came to family. And when the man tied his family and his worry about bad grades together, he figured that his parents were strict about grades.

He had only been a teacher for two years, but he remembered knowing some acquaintances back in college who had some intense family situations with strict parents.

"What do you plan to do when you get older?" He asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

[Kuu]

Klaus let out a laugh. "What is this, a survey?" He looked back over at Christopher, and thought for a while. He didn't exactly know what he wanted to do....he did know he wanted to do what he loved, but he loved Chemistry and music...eh...was it possible to do both at the same time?

"I'm not too sure. I think I might want to sing or maybe play classical music...I already know the violin and viola. Then again I also love Chemistry..." laughing, Klaus shook his head. "I should know what I want to do by now, shouldn't I? Next year's my last year of High School, after all."

[Nicolette]

Chistopher smiled at the comment of the survey, but continued to listen to the boy speak of his future. He took a few more bites of his sandwich and found he was running toward the end of it. He swallowed his food and took a sip of tea before it was his turn to speak again.

He gave a shrug. "I was in my fourth year in college and I had classmates who still didn't know what their major was. Believe me, you have little to worry about. Just wait for your calling, and follow it when it finally comes."

[Kuu]

Klaus didn't know he said what he said next, he felt like he was revealing way too much information about his life and like Christopher could piece it all together. The man was smart, after all...

He took a bite of his sandwich, followed by a sip of his tea, and then he looked down. "My parents would like it if I took a professional musical career like them. I...I love music...and I don't want to disappoint them.." he trailed off, that confident little facade breaking a bit. "I just don't know, though."

[Nicolette]

Christopher stretched lightly and he took the last few bites of his sandwich before downing the rest of his tea. He sat forward in his seat, picking up his napkin to wipe at his mouth before tossing it down on his empty plate. He folded his hands in front of him, his elbows on the table so his hands were in front of him, but not on the table.

"Forget about what your parents want for you. I know that may sound cruel and I know that I shouldn't say it, but just... Forget about what they want, because they don't matter when it comes to your future. Just... focus on what you want, because that's what truly matters. You don't want to be stuck in a career that was chosen purely because your parents wanted it, because you'll never be happy that way."

[Kuu]

Klaus was pretty surprised to hear Christopher talk like that. His eyes widened and his mouth was agap. It took Klaus a while to think of what to say, before he looked down at the table.

"It's easy to say that, but..Mr. Par-Chris, I..." his voice shook a little, and Klaus shook his head before he raised it again, a calm smile on his face again. "...I do love music! It's not based solely off of what they want!" He said, having changed what he was going to say completely. He did not want Christopher to know too much about his personal life...he couldn't really trust the guy with things like that.

[Nicolette]

Christopher sat back in his chair and gave a light shrug. "I'm not accusing you of not loving music. I'm just saying, don't let your parents influence your future. Make sure it's what you want."

He rose his hand to get the attention of Crystal, who came over seconds later. "Can we get the check?" He asked, smiling sweetly up at her. She blinked and blushed before reaching into her apron to pull out a little booklet. She opened it and found their check inside. She handed it to the older male and Christopher reached into his pocket for his wallet.

He pulled out a crisp $20 bill and handed it to her. "Keep the change, sweetheart." He said with a wink. The girl blushed again and nodded.

"Th-thanks... I-I hope you two have a good evening.." She said before she left their table. Christopher turned his attention back to Klaus.

"Take your time finishing up. I just wanted to get the check paid so we could go when we were ready."

[Kuu]

Klaus turned to look back at his tea, which was now almost empty. He had lost most of his appetite...but the lest he could do was finish up the tea.

And so, Klaus took a final sip of the tea, and he looked back up at Christopher. "I want my parents to be proud of me and actually love me. That's all," he said, the words slipping off his tongue without him really thinking about what he was saying. "Anyway, I'm done..."

[Nicolette]

And that was the root of the problem.

But it's not like he'd listen to Christopher.

The man rose from his chair and waited politely for his dinner guest before the two walked out into the cool evening. The sun had already set by now and the two were standing in the Dining Spot's central area, watching various people pass them in their haste to get here and there.

"You up for anything else or do you just want me to walk you back to your dorm?" He figured that Klaus didn't want much to do with him after the comments on his future, but he was at least going to be a gentleman and walk the boy back to his dormitory if he, indeed, wanted to go.

[Kuu]

Klaus simply followed behind Christopher, mentally chiding himself for revealing so much about his life. He shouldn't have said those things, why did he say those things? Idiot, idiot, idiot!

Klaus looked up at Christopher, and then looked away. "I'd...like to go back, if that's okay," he said, his voice softer than normal, though not really sad. He was thinking pretty hard, now...he wondered what Christopher thought of him now, too.

Probably thought less of him than he did before. Not like that mattered.

[Nicolette]

Christopher glanced back at the boy and noted the softer tone in his voice. He winced just slightly and took a step toward him. He hardly paid any attention to his actions as he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder from the size and rubbed his arm a little, giving the arm a light squeeze before letting go.

"Let's get going." He said and started to walk in the direction of the school, as the path would lead up to the dormitories before the school.