Hello, Stranger

[Maurice Welch]

Maurice hadn't actually expected his friend to find someone who was willing to go on a blind date as he was only joking when he told the other professor that he was putting himself out there again now that he had a steady income and a good job. However, and much to his surprise, Jon had managed to find someone who had agreed on going on a blind date with him. As he was getting dressed Maurice worried about perhaps not being interesting enough for the woman, since Jon had told him little bits about the woman without actually giving him any detail about the way she looked or what she was generally like. Eventually he walked towards the pub the two were supposed to meet and sat down at one of the free tables facing the door, ordering himself a beer and waiting patiently for his blind date to show up.

 

[Lauv Mei]

Moving to New Zealand and taking care of Bao had been an endeavor Mei hadn't known would be so time consuming, until school started. Then she was suddenly left with an empty house, schedule and life, with no means to fill her time. In a new country with a different social scene and set of customs to follow, she had no idea of how to return to her old ways as a socialite and could only find reverie from the boredom on her increasingly frequent coffee dates with her friend Margaux. But even then, those coffee dates and Margaux's need for control had evolved into her convincing Mei to go on a real date in order to give a jump start to her new life. It was a blind date at that, with someone she had never met and who she only had a brief description of. Such a decision was all too daring for Mei, who was usually so controlled and poised in her actions. But despite how out of character a blind date was for her, she had put on one of her most flattering, although modest outfits, put on her most confident facade, and arrived to the pub she was supposed to meet this mystery man.

As she walked in, she looked around hesitantly and silently wished he would stand her up so she could take any excuse she could to return home. But her eyes soon landed on a well dressed man with dark hair and olive skin and she could only assume was the person she had been looking for. He seemed too put together to be associated with Margaux's weird professor friend, but Mei did not want to judge him entirely by his appearance or the company he chose to keep before allowing him to make a first impression. She soon approached his table, smiling. "Maurice, is it?" She asked, placing her small clutch bag on the table and sitting down before politely introducing herself. "My name is Mei."​

 

[Maurice Welch]

Maurice waited patiently for his blind date to arrive, though secretly wished that this had been a double date with his friend instead, as he had never been good around woman and often found himself tongue tied in conversations. Maurice ordered himself a beer in advance to calm his nerves as well as pichtas nuts for them to munch on whilst waiting for actual food. He had no idea whether or not his blind date even liked nuts but it was better than nothing he thought. The Professor sipped from his beer while waiting for his blind date, noticing that it was beginning to get dark outside. Maurice put his drink down and smiled when a dark-haired woman approached the table and nodded his head when she asked his name. ''It is,'' the man replied and politely said, ''It's a pleasure to meet you, Mei.'' He wanted to offer the woman his hand so she could shake it but didn't know whether that would be awkward or not, so choose not to do so but instead asked, ''Can I order you a drink?'' hoping that this would be a good start.

 

[Lauv Mei]

Mei felt her shoulder's relax slightly when the man confirmed he was her blind date. Introductions were always stressful and first impressions were an even worse feat to handle, especially in an entirely different culture to the one she grew up in, but Mei felt relieved that the difficult part of actually meeting Maurice was over. She looked to his beer as he offered to buy her a drink, and momentarily considered refusing as this was the first date she had been on in months, and she did not want it to be a disaster. But she then nodded, accepting the offer, thinking that a drink would calm her nerves and allow her to get to know him. Without a drink in her system she worried she would be too nervous to ask Maurice questions, and that seemed to defeat the purpose of going on the date entirely. In fact, not having a drink seemed to make the date more likely to be a disaster and that was the last thing Mei wanted, especially now that she knew Maurice was handsome, and also well dressed. The kind of person that seemed lovely on the surface, in the very least. "A drink would be lovely, but is it okay if I get something other than a beer? Maybe a martini?" She asked, hoping it wouldn't be a problem to have something stronger. Mei continued to smile, and brought one of her hands to adjust her ponytail as she continued to speak. "I must admit that I'm very nervous. I don't usually go on blind dates." ​

 

[Maurice Welch]

Maurice nodded and smiled at the woman when she asked if she could get a martini. He waved at waiters to get his attention, and ordered the beverage once a waiter approached their table. He chuckled at Mei's comment and said, ''You're not the only one to be honest.'' hoping that this would calm them both down a bit since there was clearly a lot of nervous energry around the two of them. ''I - D-Dates aren't really my thing.. I eh, I - I - I tend to avoid them usually.'' Maurce wondered if Jon was enjoying himself at the moment, because once he would be back he was going to murder his friend for setting him up with someone like the woman sitting in front of him. From what he had heard about Mei, she seemed like a really good match for him, and that scared him as he hadn't been involved with someone for quite some time now. It also didn't help that he getting tongue-tied and forgetting words. ''So, Mei,'' Maurice began after taking a drink of his beer. ''J-Jon told me you're new around here? How are you liking it so far?'' he asked, hoping this would get a proper conversation started.

 

[Lauv Mei]

Mei smiled at the waiter, thanking them politely when her martini was placed in front of her. She reached for the toothpick with the olive and swirled it around in the drink as she listened to Maurice also admit his nerves, smiling to him again and nodding in agreement. He too, seemed as nervous as she felt, and though she believed her own nerves would be a hindrance on this date and was trying tirelessly to hide them, she found Maurice's stutter and inability to find words completely endearing. She brought the olive to her lips and swallowed it before saying. "Dates are very overwhelming." She then moved her fingers to the stem of her glass as she answered Maurice's questions. "Yes, I recently moved here from China. New Zealand is beautiful, and I love how fresh the air is." She said. "Margaux told me you are new here, too? What do you think of New Zealand?" As she waited for a response she lifted her drink from the table and began to sip from it, hoping the alcohol would allow her to relax.​

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[Maurice Welch]

Maurice was glad that Mei seemed to agree on his opinion on dates, because they really were overwhelming, Maurice sipped from his beer. He listened attentively when she answered his question, curious to know as much about her as was possible for the night. He smiled at hearing the woman's response, he didn't know much about China other than what the Daily Prophet reported about the country so made a mental note to ask Mei more about her hometown as the night would progress. Maurice nodded when she returned his question. ''True, I moved from England to here a couple of months ago.'' he said before taking another sip of his beer. ''I must admit that I like it here far better than in England. Everything is so green and beautiful here, and the people are really nice also.'' he replied happily, glad to have found some sort of common ground with the woman opposite of him this early into their blind date.