Rose's hotel room looked just like any other generic hotel room in the world. The only signs of its current inhabitant were an open suitcase lying to the right of the bed, her work clothes spread across a chair near the wall, and the handful of cosmetics sitting on the desk next to it.

Even so, Kate felt unspeakably excited. It might only be temporary but this was Rose's space, and she was letting her in without any hesitation.

Just like Kate wouldn't be able to. The thought hit her like a cold shower and she did the best to push it to the back of her mind, hoping Rose hadn't noticed her frown.

Apparently not. Rose smiled and motioned in the direction of the bed. "Is sitting on the bed okay with you? I don't recommend the chairs, they're supremely uncomfortable."

Kate sighed with relief and nodded. "That'll be perfectly okay."

Rose plopped down on the bed with enough force for the mattress to bounce her back up two times. Then she patted the spot right next to her, inviting Kate to sit. Once Kate joined her, Rose pulled a dozen menu flyers from the drawer of the bedside table.

"I've had some time to get acquainted with the local restaurants, but I figure a permanent resident would still have a better idea. Who would you recommend for takeout? I kept their menus for easy access. Here, have a look."

Kate received the entire batch, and it wasn't a small one. Some of the places were ones she hadn't even been aware existed. "You've been thorough," she responded once she snapped out of her initial daze.

"I may not travel to the same city all the time, but you eventually find that there's a surprising amount of homogeneity among restaurants of the same type. Even if they're at opposite ends of the country. So I try to seek out all the ones I can find in hope of some variation."

"And food poisoning?" Kate asked. "You know that some of these places didn't pass their health inspection and have been shut down since?"

Rose frowned. "I've had to deal with that occasionally. Not pleasant, but the boredom of eating essentially the same dish over and over is worse." She stretched and let herself fall back onto the bed.

Kate scooted a little closer. "Okay, so I especially recommend these three." She handed Rose back the menu for a vietnamese restaurant, a steakhouse, and the local greek.

"Mm. I don't think steakhouses are particularly known for their takeout, so I think we can safely eliminate that one. You know, vietnamese sounds good to me today. Plus, it says here they also do door-to-door deliveries. I figure hotel deliveries aren't much different." Rose grinned.

"Except that we run the risk of upsetting room service," Kate added.

"That's on them. They need a more varied menu if they want to be able to compete with the local restaurants." Rose pulled out her cellphone and dialed the number. Then she nudged the menu at Kate. "Point at the one you want. I'm going to order for both of us."

After Rose had placed their order, she switched on the hotel TV to see what movies they could choose between. While Kate didn't know a whole lot about movies, even she could tell that the selection included some seriously bad ones. However, a handful of recent blockbusters were also included.

"Did you actually mean the trashy movie part, or was that a joke?" Kate asked.

"Well, most of my attention is going to be on you anyway. The way I see it there's no reason to waste a perfectly good plot."

Kate's heart beat harder in her chest. So Rose was saying she'd be too distracted to pay much attention to the movie anyway? She had a hard time seeing how she could be that interesting, but she wasn't going to argue.

The movie Rose picked turned out to be truly atrocious. So much that even Kate who usually paid attention was ignoring it thirty minutes in, in favor of snuggling with Rose. Trying to eat while on the receiving end of her affection turned out to be tricky.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kate muttered under her breath as she accidentally dropped a piece of food on Rose for the third time. She was doing her best to keep her meal on a direct course to her mouth, but Rose still kept finding ways to unintentionally disrupt her. Or Kate was just really bad at anticipating other people's movement. Her brain leaned toward the latter explanation.

Rose was unfazed. "Don't worry, these are just my casual clothes anyway. A stain or two isn't making any difference. Or three."

"Do you have any spares? I would feel really bad if-"

Kate's sentence was cut off by Rose kissing her, and Kate nearly dropped her whole container of food. And she would have, if not for Rose reaching for the bottom and steadying it at the last minute.

"Can't have you spilling half of your dinner and going hungry, now can we?" She grinned. "Sorry, that was my fault. I guess I ought to let you finish in peace."

"Thanks." It wasn't like Kate minded the affection, but it made for some demanding multitasking. Without Rose's distractions, she was able to finish the rest of her meal in half the time. As soon as the last bite went into her mouth and she had swallowed, Rose pounced. The empty container landed sideways on the hotel room floor. Kate briefly wondered whether any of the sauce had gotten on the carpet, but Rose quickly ensured that her mind was on other things.

***

Kate felt exhausted by the end of the date, but happy. Rose was snuggled up next to her and they had done plenty of kissing.

"This was really nice. We've got to do this again."

"Absolutely," Kate smiled. She was practically glowing.

Rose twirled a lock of hair as she regarded Kate. "So, perhaps this would be a good time to ask. Won't you tell me a little more about that magic of yours?"

Kate pulled away as if she had just been scalded. When her brain recognized that her reaction would look overly suspicious, it was too late. She would have to try and salvage what she could.

Not easy when she felt like she had just been punched in the gut.

"I told you to stop it. That's nonsense, rubbish, and you know it." She scrabbled off the bed as fast as she could. "I have to leave now. Sorry."

Then she was out the door. Rose hadn't even had the time to respond. Not that Kate would have listened anyway.