Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was a noticeable sigh of relief as she literally mentioned that there was an alternate to getting patted down. Howl did not know this young lady and she was talking about frisking him for extra body parts?! His cheeks were obviously growing warm, flushing very faintly, but he attempted to force the color to retreat from his face.

"I suspect I would not get mad, as you said, but I think that would be rather uncomfortable for me. It would be against all which my father has taught me."

He held his breath, and even leaned in slightly as the girl came up with her question which would make or break his status as a resident of the plant Earth.

Tootsie Pop?

For a moment, his eyes were wide and almost staring at the girl, before his eyes finally got dry enough for him to want to blink 1 time.

"Well, let me see here," he uttered. "As I recall from the commercial, the Tortoise asked the question first and redirected the child to the Owl. The Owl took three licks, then crunched on the lollipop. However, as I recall, the catchphrase was 'How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.'"

He at least had a detailed recollection of the commercial itself. With a chuckle, he gave his final answer. "So I would say that the question does not have a definite answer if anything."

Something worried him about this girl. It was probably the way she divulged information about her previous frisking encounter. There wasn't a hint of sarcasm, a hint of humor, not even a reassuring smile to let him know that she was exaggerating. No, she had been 100% serious and truly meant what she had said. Someone had tried to kill the young lady, but at the same time, she had also broken any sort of unspoken rule about personal space.

Though his mind was a bit preoccupied with what she had said and the manner in which she had said it, his own expression didn't deceive his internal workings. That gentle smile upon his lips was a well practiced one. When she let him know that his answer had been correct, he nodded his head one time as a polite gesture to acknowledge he had heard her correctly.

However, then she asked that question.

"Alas, Miss Kavanaugh, I cannot say I fully understand why you asked that question specifically, aside from the mentioned intent to prove my origin." If one knew the teal-haired lad, they would have noticed the mildly nervous gesture as he reached for one of his earrings and smoothed his fingers over the edges of it. This girl definitely was stirring up some uncertainties in him.

He listened to her logic, nodding his head along at key points she made. She might have been a bit cuckoo, but she seemed to have sound logic. At least, sound logic for a complete cuckoo.

She allowed him to speak, and he took the opportunity, adjusting the plastic bag at his hand slightly before he spoke. It would have been rude to rustle that bag when he started to talk.

"Well, I do have a question. The way you have been speaking, you make it sound as if you would prefer the company of aliens to that of an Earth-born human. Is there a reason why you make it sound as if it is unfavorable to be merely human?" He finally let his fingers drop from the place they were lingering upon his earring.

Ah, yes another person who spoke English, yet had not mastered the English language. In a fashion that was nothing short of polite, he laughed as she clarified her meaning. Ah, so she was just an enthusiast in regards to possible life beyond that of the human race.

Eventually, the girl finished speaking, and once more, his own voice easily swooped in to continue the conversation further. "Then I shall offer a word of advice, Miss Kavanaugh." He paused for a moment to once more tend to the hair that tended sweep into his line of sight, but then clarified his reason for misunderstanding.

"You should probably not 'forgive' someone for not being an alien. The act of forgiving someone is usually to show compassion and understanding for someone who has erred. So the way you used it, you suggest that being human is an error or mistake."

Leave it to Howl Wickham to nitpick something so meaningless.

It was never in his nature to assume he could call someone by their first name. Yet, the invitation did not go unnoticed. "Then Miss Tara it shall be."

Yes, he was still going to insist on the formal title.

Her mention of being his friend did not receive a response right away, since he had been speaking, and then she offered her strange apology and offer of forgiveness. "Well, thank you, I suppose." He chuckled a bit before giving her the facts.

"And, unfortunately, Miss Tara. I do not want you to get the wrong impression, but I do not really even know you. You most certainly are an acquaintance, that much I can say without hesitation. However, I would not venture to calling us 'friends' yet." Though he had possibly just torn this girl's label for him to shreds, he used the most gentle, sympathetic tone he could muster up. However, he was not about to mislead a young lady into thinking their relationship was something more than it was.

He laughed at her statement about his manners. Even his laugh was polite and probably too proper for her tastes. "Indeed, this is the way I was raised. If you knew my father, you would understand why I am the way I am." Nigel Wickham, also known as Father, would have been the one to do exactly as the girl has suggested. He was the one who pushed a finger at the base of your spine to point out you were slouching. He was the one that encouraged dressing up each day like a professional rather than wearing the casual-wear a normal teenager would. And heaven forbid speaking so openly (and rudely)! That would receive some sort of reprimand, these days usually consisting of a slap to the face.

The girl rattled out all sorts of personal information. If he had been remotely attracted to the girl, he would have tucked all of this valuable information away. Though in all honesty, he was still tucking this information away, but it wasn't of as high of importance as other trivial bits of information (such as the tea menu at Teasvatta). To end it all, she then expected him to just spew out information about himself.

Rather than answer her, he simply asked a question in return. "Are you always this trusting with strangers, Miss Tara?" Despite knowing his name and a small bit of basic information about himself, he essentially was exactly as he suggested, a stranger.

There was a sense of irony in the girl's assessment of Howl, since she was far off the mark. Were he not so guarded about his situation, he might have laughed and completely proven how wrong she had been. Instead, he kept his lips curled at that polite gentlemanly smile and simply pointed out "Indeed, it is very little information you supplied. However, I know that there are people out there who can take such a small amount of information and turn it into something that works out against you."

Momentarily, he glanced at a nearby plant, as if trying to think of a specific example, but in reality, the example had been in his mind the moment she had mentioned it. He just needed to make it look like he was thinking so it wasn't obvious that he did think like this on occasion. He leaned in to look over the plant, inspecting the leaves before offering a simple "For example..."

He then glanced back to Tara's blue eyes and calmly offered "...if I were less of a man and wanted myself a female companion for the evening, I could take that information you gave me, offer you a cup of strong black tea with 'roofies'...I believe that is the slang term for it... slipped into it, and then have myself that female companion as I had desired." Despite just suggesting something so sinister, the lad still had the most pleasant expression upon his face and the calmest sound to his voice.

However, he reassured the dark haired girl with a gentle "Fortunately, you are not in the company of such sleeze, Miss Tara."

For a moment, he suspected the young lady might run off screaming, based upon the sudden silence. Destiny City was not the safest of cities out there, with all of those Youma running around. Yet, it seemed safe to assume that the girl understood his concerns, even if only slightly.

"I do my fair share of writing and reading, Miss Tara, but I would not call myself a writer." When one practiced calligraphy as obsessively as Howl, it was obvious that the important aspect of writing was how pretty his script looked rather than the actual content of the written piece. The information was not anything that could really be used against him, since many students in high school had to read and write simply to pass their classes.

"Let us see here. Aside from being more careful with what information you offer people upon a first meeting, I suspect I have no other words of wisdom for you. Oh, except maybe looking both ways before you cross the street!" He signaled the last bit was a joke by letting out a small chuckle. The lad casually glanced at his watch and simply blinked at the time displayed.

"Oh, it would seem as if I have stayed here later than I was planning."