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Amelia felt uneasy when the bidding war had ended, handing her fee over to Ganon without a word. Lips pursed, she scanned the area for Vaida's sun-blond hair, instead locating the wide berth the crowd gave her as she was beginning to walk away. Amelia rubbed a hand against her neck, watching her go for a minute. This was just for restoration, right? To raise money for the guild to help rebuild homes and lives. It was just for fun.

Vaida, however, didn't seem to think the same way. She looked upset, and rightfully so. Amelia was going to have to fix what she had ******** up.

Amelia took a deep breath in, then hopped down from the platform and hurried towards the crowd. "Hey, Vaida! Hold on!" She held up a hand to Gale in the universal sign for hold on, urging him not to leave, before hurrying on towards the master of wyverns. She reached out and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder to get her attention before letting go; no need to make Vaida feel threatened.

"Look, it-- I'm sorry." She frowned, reaching up and pushing her hair away from her eyes. "I wanted to spend some time with Gale, and we're both so busy with work every day that I only get to see him in passing. But, it... you definitely want this more than I do. And I should have realized that. So... here. Come on." Amelia urged for Vaida to follow her-- and would go so far as to take her hand and go back through the crowd with her in tow, should the older woman consent to it-- before returning to where Gale was. Amelia dug in her pocket and produced a flier, showing it to Gale before handing it to Vaida. "There's going to be a dance tonight. At the castle. Vaida, go take whatever you were going to spend on Gale to make yourself looking better than you usually do. I'll use my day with your date to get him all fancy and ready for you by this evening. Is that all right with the both of you?" Amelia looked between the two of them, hands clasped idly behind her back. "Money's not the issue, since I haven't really been spending any in weeks, so as long as you both think this is all right..."

Amelia nodded quietly to Vaida's responses, choosing not to comment on the splintered wood surrounding the blond woman. Vaida was not so much a rose with thorns, but more like a Venus flytrap. It was important to know what to comment on and what to let go, and if you were competent enough at figuring those things out, she'd get along with you just fine. Hopefully.

She wasn't stupid, though, and Amelia couldn't help but relax when Vaida didn't respond negatively. "Well, you don't have to attend the ball if you don't want to. I'll probably go, since it'd reflect poorly on me if I didn't, but Gale doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to, either. I just wanted to offer that up if you wanted it." Amelia glanced over at Gale and smiled sheepishly, folding her arms under her chest. "Just see about talking to me next time you're at the castle, okay? Nothing big."

Amelia waved with a small smile to Vaida. "Just try not to kill him, I suppose. He's no weakling, but he's still got just as much work ahead of him as you do." Her smile strengthened. "Happy Valentine's Day, Vaida, Gale." She waved to Gale, then turned away and departed. Need a dress, first of all...

Tiki bolted ahead of Izzy into the dress shop. She darted around a person or two before she stopped in front of a mannequin in a dress that was obviously too big for her. This one in particular had caught her eye, and she decided to look at it a bit.

She pulled on the fabric to get a better look at it. Isa said that a dress with polka dots wouldn't be good for a ball, and thinking about it, Tiki agreed. Then what was good for a ball? Could she get something with lots of flowers on it? What about sparkles? The one she was looking at now seemed to shimmer when she pushed and pulled at the fabric in the light. How did they get the sparkles into the fabric anyway? What else was supposed to be on dresses?

Tiki let go of the fabric, causing the mannequin to rock back and fourth as she left it. Where were there dresses in her size? What sort of dress would look good on her?

As she made her way through the store, her attention primarily fixed on the dresses, she squeezed her way past a woman whose face she couldn't see, a surprised "Ooh!" was the only thing Tiki heard. It wasn't until she looked backwards to try and locate Izzy that she realized that there were a few people glaring in her direction now.

When the paladin opened the door, the little manakete already dashed in.

"Wait!" Isadora cried. But it was too late. Tiki had already disappeared from her sight into the sea of clothes and costumers. Not wanting to cause a disturbance, the Dame Knight entered and looked around. She could see some women chatted merrily while others were searching through the clothes. There was also children whining about wanting to play outside instead of trying out clothes. However, the green-haired girl was nowhere around.

"Tiki?" Isadora spoke out as she walked casually. Not too loudly, but loud enough within an ear. Now where could she have gone?

She then heard a rocking noise. Turning around, she saw a mannequin rocking back and forth. Was that Tiki or was it one of the children in the two?

She then heard a surprised yelp across the room. Isadora looked around. Across from her was Tiki, and it seemed she had gotten few people's attention. Isadora excused herself as she walked pass few people.

"She's just too excited about going to the ball." Isadora explained to a nearby costumer as she gave a small smile and waved her hand before approaching Tiki. Whether the people dismissed the behavior or continued to glare was unknown as she quickly turned her attention to Tiki. When she reached her, Isadora lowered herself to the girl's height.

"Well, looks like you're a bit exciting to go to the ball." Isadora gave a small smile. No need to be upset about being excited. After all, that what kids behaved when they wanted to have fun, right? "So did you find the dress you like to wear?"

Somehow, this reminded her of herself when she was a child. Getting exciting about going to the ball and shopping dresses with her mother. Of course, she wasn't as energetic as the manakete. But she remembered well how excited she was on her first ball.

Letting out a cheery laugh of her memory, the Dame Knight got up and took Tiki's hand.

"Come on, let's see if we can find you a nice dress." Isadora smiled as she lead her to a table where it had dresses her size.

Gale had watched with a bit of skepticism as Amelia and Vaida competed over him. Frankly, he kind of wanted Vaida to win, but he knew that Amelia had been trying to pay him back for a favor for months now and Gale had conveniently avoided her during this. He wasn't one for charity, he was one for duty. The bids went back and forth, and Amelia came out the victor. Gale bit his tongue and decided to pursue this day for the best.

After the bidding was over, he watched Amelia flag down his attention and urge him to wait, then run over to Vaida. He grabbed his shirt and instead of putting it on, he threw it over his shoulder, the shoulder opposite the very prominent scar across the vital area of his chest. The fact that it couldn't have been more than forty degrees outside didn't seem to bother him, and he casually made his way over to Amelia and Vaida as the two were finishing up their conversation and Vaida was going on about exploitation, and as she directed her last comment at him, his interest was very much piqued.

"I'm quite confident in my own ability," he retorted. "I'm more concerned if you can handle me." He gave her the slightest hint of an accepting grin. "Shall we?"