A date!

And of course Zinerva didn't want to be rude to him after all he helped her so she said yes, partly because she just needed the place to stay and get out of the piece of shit apartment she had been in. She now found herself changing into a nice long skirt, black of course and a nice tank top with a nice Tripp jacket to match. She had to admit she was nervous as she fixed her hair, since she actually hadn't been on a real date since she was 17 years old and the guy she went out with hasn't left her alone since but she kept that to herself. She was mainly nervous because her first date in years was with a world famous illusionist and a really attractive one at that.

And it was thanks to him she was now permanently staying at the Luxor on the same floor as him but he was the last door all the way at the end of the hallway, a ways from her actually. A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts and she sighed a bit, smoothing her hair down she went and answered it. There stood Criss in a nice pair of black dress pants and a black dress shirt and a fedora over that beautiful brown red hair of his.

"You look beautiful Zinerva," he said with a smile.

"Thank you, you look very handsome, Criss." She smiled back at him and took his hand when he offered it to her.

He was surprisingly very polite to her, opening doors in the hotel and even outside when they got to his car that was waiting for them. She truthfully thought they were just going to have dinner in one of the restaurants around them but when they were driven out of Vegas and to a further hillside where there was very few homes, she was even more surprised at what she saw. It was a gazebo, lit up by a table of candles, solar lanterns and actual flame lanterns all around it and it sat alone on a hillside that allowed them to over look the city of Las Vegas. If this is what a first date was like she could only imagine what others would be like.

She stopped those thoughts immediately, this was probably a one time thing and then that would be the end. On one level she hoped she was wrong. Criss was a gentleman as they made it to their little table in the gazebo and he sat her down first before himself. "This is well, amazing Criss." Zinerva said and smiled at her as he sat down.

"It's something from the Vegas I know and I wanted to share it with you, Zinerva." Criss admitted to her as he removed his hat.

This was truly amazing to her, there were even cooks there for them but they never bugged them about anything letting them be alone. "I…I don't know what to say Criss, no one had ever done anything like this or rather been this nice to me and I barely know you." She said to him, rubbing her wrist a bit.

"And I you, but there has been something that has been bugging me since yesterday," he spoke calmly.

She looked up, "Um…like what?"

Criss smiled, "The day you levitated me I felt something Zinerva, not unlike anything I've ever known in my life. Not since I first started in magic."

"Truth be told Criss, when we were levitating each other and our hands touched I thought I felt a pulse like a low shock went through my whole body and I felt it again when you handed me the card key." She admitted to him.

"So you felt it too?"

She nodded to him as their dinner was set before them, grilled chicken salads with Italian dressing oddly another of her favorites. They ate a moment in silence before Criss spoke again. "What happens when your street performing permit expires?" He asked then slowly sipped his wine, watching her a moment.

"I'll probably have to go home to Denver and my mom; she never wanted me to come out here in the first place and probably tell me I told you so." Zinerva answered, tracing her finger slowly along the brim of her wine glass.

"What about if you have a job before that happens?"

"Um, I guess I could stay then and just have to go back home to get what things I have left back at my moms place after I find one of my own. Why?"

Criss took her hand then, feeling the odd pulse again as he smoothed his palm over hers a card appeared in her hand that said 'Believe' across it slowly appeared. "Welcome to Believe, you start side by side with me next Monday." He said and she gasped looking down at the card in her hand, turning it over a few times to make sure it was real and it was.

"This has to be a dream," she said.

"No dream, this is reality if you believe it is."

Zinerva couldn't believe that she was going to be working along side Criss in his very own show; it was so hard to believe that this was all real and if it was a dream she didn't want to wake up. After a bit they finished their dinner and Criss took her along a trail further up the hillside, carrying an oil lantern until they came across a blanket on the hillside. He helped her down before he sat beside and blew the lantern out. She gasped in amazement at all the stars that were above them and the soft glow of Vegas below them. Criss gave a low chuckle and handed her a glass of champagne, well it was actually a plastic red cup.

"Fancy china, Criss?" She giggled.

"You know it," he chuckled.

She smiled and laughed a bit as she sat with him, enjoying how quiet it was and they softly spoke of their families and homes. Even how they came to be in magic, it was odd to them both how their lives were so similar and yet they grew up in different parts of the United States. He from New York, she from Colorado he was all Greek and she was Blackfoot Native American and Greek mix, Greek from her father who sadly died before she was born. Never before in her life was she so calm with another person.

"When's your birthday?" She asked.

"December 19th 1967, I turn 33 this year."

"Holy shit mine too; I was born in 1971 I turn 29 this year."

"Oh no way, that's just awesome, Zin."

She looked over when he called her that, which was the name only her mom called her and he knew it now it was just getting weird. And the fact she was only a few years younger than him sent her mind into a spiral of what if's and beyond.

It was close to midnight when they finally returned to the Luxor and Criss, being the gentleman even though they shared a floor walked her all the way to her room. She really didn't want to leave him; she didn't want this night to end.

"I had fun Criss, thank you again." She sad, unlocking her door now.

"I'm glad Zinerva, I'm sadly busy for the next few days but when I get free time this weekend would you like to join me for lunch at my house?" He asked her.

"I would love too; here is my cell number because I do like to wander Vegas sometimes." She tucked the number into his shirt pocket.

He smiled and softly kissed her knuckles, "Sleep well Zinerva."

She watched him as he walked down the long hallway to his room before she turned and went into hers, the door locking behind her. Her back rested against the door a moment as she stared down at the card in her hand, it was still unreal to her. Turning the card over again she noticed something that wasn't there before. The words 'Into Amystika' written in red on the back of the card, it hadn't been printed on there either, this was hand written and it looked like Criss' hand writing too. She defiantly knew that wasn't there before but she pushed into the back of her mind as she headed for the bathroom.

Zinerva showered and changed into a pair of 'Mind Freak' boxers she had bought and a tank top before crawling into the big, comfy bed. She flicked the card between her fingers a few times, just staring at it as if she was trying to make sure it really was real and it was really there in her hand. Several times she debated on calling her mom to tell her she got a job but she decided against it, she would call her mom when she knew the job was permanent. With a heavy sigh, Zinerva slid the card on the night stand, turned the lamp off and drifted off into a deep slumber, unwillingly dreaming of him.