For a while, they just smirked. They felt so tempted to just enjoy the cleverness of the plan they had come up with that they didn't really want to enact it. But the girl grew hungry, and time was of the essence, and not on their side like it was for Irma Thomas and The Rolling Stones, which was one of Tony's favourite bands, although he preferred the Irma Thomas version of that particular tune, as it was a lot more soulful than any rendition by English bluesmen such as The Stones could ever have hope of being.
They gave each other one last smirk for good luck, and then they enacted their cunning plan.
Taylor had suggested dashing without dining, but Tony didn't find that particularely dashing, and as a hero being dashing had to be his modus operandum. If not, there might be Trouble, and he didn't need trouble in the best of times, but he especially didn't need it right now. Of course he didn't give all these reasons. He just suggested that they do something else, so they did. Taylor called the waiter over and said she didn't realize she was allergic to some ingredients in the foodstuffs when she ordered, but that she had been too embarrassed to admit it.
The waiter's countenance softened at once.
"Oh, but you should have just said so, deary!", he said effusively.
Taylor bristled at the familiar form of address, but said nothing. After all, she had gotten exactly what she wanted.
And finally, with all this ado out of the world, the fast friends could talk. But what were they to talk about? Tony suddenly realized that he hardly knew the girl sitting across from him, twirling a fork as she waited for her peperoni pizza to be exchanged for some nice tagliatelle. What the hell was he to say? He wasn't really a people person at the best of time. The nice 'n' easy conversation au naturell which had flowed between them from the moment they met had completely stagnated in the aftermath of their ridiculous plan.
"It may have been cunning in getting Taylor her proper food, but it sure as hell didn't turn out well in the longrun," he thought bitterly to himself. Sighing in utter defeat, he turned to his blanket question. His family didn't quite approve, which was a bit ironic, he supposed, but right now any conversation would be better than none, and this was not really a public event, so he could justify it to himself quite easily.
"So," he started causciously. "What kind of music are you into, pray tell?"
"Oh, you know. Elvis Costello, The The, The Bunnymen, XTC," she trailed off when she realized she was just listing names, and quickly came up with a joke to fill the awkward silence as Tony tried figuring out how best to respond.
"I guess that's all you ever listen to, New Wave practically being your family and all."
Tony cringed slightly, and she could have kicked herself.
"Of course I had to bring that up," she thought self deprecatingly.
For his part, Tony gave a mental sigh. She just had to dumb down the joke, to explain it like he knew nothing about music. He knew it was irrational. This girl didn't know him any better than he knew her, after all. He should be happy she could joke around about his interests at all. He lightly scolded himself as he saw the pity in her eyes.
"And now she thinks I'm an oversensitive cissy about my family," he thought resignedly.
She was about to open her mouth, to say something else; something pitying, no doubt. He couldn't bare to hear it from the girl with whom he felt he had shared the bond of friendship and a deep connection only an hour ago.
"Those are all sound bands," he said. "I hope you have sound opinions on which of their albums are the best, too."
She grinned at his little pun. Things may not be back to the way they had been, but they weren't utterly terrible anymore, either. And surely that was a start, wasn't it?