His office was nearly the exact opposite of her own aesthetic.  Old, dead wood and darkness.  Perhaps it should have made her feel uncomfortable, but it did not.  Instead, she quite enjoyed the space, almost because the energy of it was so different from her own.  She noted the image of him with his parents.  Kore possessed no such images of her own family.   She could picture an image of her mother and a younger version of herself together, but that would have been in a time long before the existence of cameras.  As it stood, Demeter had chosen to remain with many of the gods in Olympus.  Too many of them it was a haven, but to Kore it had seemed like a gold cage.  A place safety, of course, but one that lacked adventure and life.  The human world had all those things, and so much more.<br/><br/>It was only after she made the invitation that she realized how it probably sounded.  Like a date.  She had just asked the surly, often unpleasant funeral director to dinner.  She barely dated nice men she was actually attracted to, how did this happen so fast?  He would probably so "no" so it did not matter if she had embarrassed herself with the query...Except he did not say "no."  Kore bit her at her bottom lip and tried not to show any sort of hesitation or concern at his acceptance of her offer and further insistence that he would be the one to pay the bill for the evening.<br/><br/>"No, it's not that you're generic... It's strange, I'm typically horrible with names and very good with faces, but the last thing I would call you is generic..." Even though a part of her wished to remain in his office to get to know him better, she owed Aurelia big time for covering the shop alone and could not strand her there.<br/><br/>"Let's make it 8.  I promised my sick delivery guy I'd drop by our house and leave him some soup.  I can meet you at my shop then?"  Usually, when she mentioned that she shared a home with Harrison, she let strangers establish their own conclusions.  Instead, a long-suffering smile formed on her lips and she shook her head gently.  "He's my brother.  We share a house.  I'm sure he's spreading horrible germs all over his half..."  She let out a soft chuckle and pushed to her feet.<br/><br/>"I'll see you at 8.  It was very nice meeting you."  With that, she quietly left him to deal with the daily chores of his own business, so she could get back to hers.<br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr"/><br/>She had done more than just drop off a tub of chicken soup when she arrived home.  For some reason, Kore felt compelled to change her outfit.  Her fingers had danced through the dresses in her closet until she settled on the one little back dress she owned.  She picked out jewelry that still possessed her typical pastel, floral flare.  The dress was purely intentional, something about it made her feel as if<i>he </i>might like it.  After touching up her makeup, she took a nearby bus back into the city and once she arrived at her stop, she walked the rest of the way to the shop, as she often did.<br/><br/>Her shop closed at 6pm, so she had not had to have Aurelia stay late that evening.  When she arrived back there, she sat on the bench just outside the shop door and waited anxiously for Hades to arrive.  Whether it was a date or not, she wasn't entirely sure, but Kore had started to realize that she hoped it was.