A Romantic Italian Restaurant

Metropolis' Little Italy quarter was less celebrated than that of New York, but the city had absorbed thousands of hardworking Italian immigrants during the late 19th century, who had settled on what was then the ghettoes around the docks—but they had made the place their own. Brick buildings had grown up to replace wooden houses, a Cathedral had been raised, stonecutters and masons had given the new neighborhoods touches of Rome, Tuscany, Venice, and Sicily...some "old" Metropolitans had joked that the immigrants had brought the streets with them, brick by brick, and while that wasn't true there had been a bit of pride in adding a touch of their old life to their new home...and there were still descendants of those original immigrants living and working in Little Italy.

Lois Lane held Angelica Blaze's hand as she guided her away from the more touristy sections, down an alley. The old neighborhoods had been built around a series of courtyards, hidden from the street and its nose. Small foldable wooden tables and chairs lit by candles filled them at night, where the locals would come to drink wine and eat dinner...the menu changed every night, depending on what the came in at the docks and from the farms outside the city, bought in the early-morning markets and chalked up on a slate.

The maitre d' smiled as he recognized Lois.

"Giorgio," she said, recognizing Mama Bianchi's oldest. "Dinner for two?"

He nodded, smiled, guided them both to a table. Angelica Blaze, tall and dressed as she was, stood out like a giraffe on a savannah...yet none of the locals paid her any mind. She moved to sink into a seat...and Lois stepped smartly behind her and grabbed the back of the chair.

"You need to be considerate of your date. First impressions are important. You can't just lay your cock on the table like you would at a gloryhole. You need to be polite...see to their needs...woo them." Lois said.

Awkwardly, Blaze let herself be seated. Lois took the seat opposite. Giorgio came back, with a tray that held a well-worn knife, a small loaf of fresh-baked bread, and a shallow saucer of olive oil and herbs. Dinner would be fifteen or twenty minutes. Lois asked for grappa and water. He nodded and disappeared again.

"So...what now?" Blaze said, as she sat stiffly in her chair, staring at Lois over the candle flame.

Lois picked up the knife and cut the bread.

"Now, we get to know each other. Tell me about yourself. Tell me...who is Angelica Blaze?"