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Ice Tea. Yes. The problem was that he had never made iced tea before and was pretty sure that serving it in cans was not the thing to do on a romantic evening. It wasn't really cheating to empoty a half-dozen cans into a pitcher, was it? A little smile danced on his lips as he placed the beaker and some glasses on a wooden, rectangular tray. Lemon, too. He wasn't sure why but lemon seemed "right". It was just a shame that he had no ice, the power needed for a freezer was a bit too much for his personal apartments.

He had been cooking earlier, small patches of flour testament to this. He piled a heap of small lightly fried, battered vegetable, chicken and beef strips onto a plate and set a few smaller dishes containing soy sauce, sweet and chilli and plum sauces. He balanced the tray carefully as he walked via the living room through his room towards the veranda.

A quick look in the mirror confirmed that he had managed to stay relatively presentable. A black shirt, trousers and his shades, simple and comfortable. He stepped through the window onto the wooden boards, setting the tray down on one of the low tables and then arranging it out carefully to one side of the large throw that had been laid down to soften the hard wood of the veranda.

He looked up to see Sy coming towards him, struggling a little it looked like. His eyes widened a little as he seen her. She looked very different from her usual self. Blue, of course, but... shorter and .. dressier and.. leggier. He blinked as he took this all in, not quite sure if this young woman was the same Sy he knew.

Alyosha smiled just a little as she feel and jumped back up. This was the Sy he knew allright. Her blushing cheeks belied her fancy dress and platform shoes. Not the best things to be wearing on a sandy Island. When she reached the small lip up to the Veranda he offered her his hand, not wanting her to fall again.

He smiled a little more kindly, now. "Hello, Sy.." what kind of thing did people say at this kind of time. He wasn't exactly sure, really. "You look... beatiful" he tried, hoping this was the expected wording. She did, too.

Alyosha blinked a little. Pretty? He could live with pretty he guessed. "Eh... thank you" he said slightly nervously. She was blushing again, that wasn't good, not at all. "Maybe you should sit down, have a glass of tea... it won't be long until the sun starts going down..." he trailed off, looking over towards the west side of the Island, his eyes shielded by an upstretched arm.

He had seen a lot of sunsets, not much changed in them around here either but still.. maybe it'd be different if you watched it with someone. Most people seemed to think so. He looked down towards Sy and wondered whether she'd ever actually look up long enough to see the sunset or whether her apparent shoe fascination would be long lasting.

"Good idea!" she exclaimed, taking the moment to notice the iced tea.. and... had he made tempura. Peering closer, she looked at it as if she was trying to evaluate if it was ordered or he had actually made it. Not that it really mattered... she was still flattered. Sitting down next to the table she looked up at Alyosha with wide eyes.

"Did you make all of this?" She sound amazed, surprised. Going through all that trouble for their date... well, it almost made wearing the platforms bearable. Almost. After all, it had taken her forever to walk to the centre from her house in them and the heat.

She blinked, wondering how he would come to such a conclusion when she realized she had made him a few cakes. "Oh, well, I'm not much good at cooking, really. I like to bake. It's a lot easier, I think anyway, and baked goods almost always make people smile." It was a sort of cheesy reason to like baking, but she just shrugged.

"I've never had someone cook for me before," she smiled, changing the topic back to him. It was always a lot easier to discuss other people. "Especially tempura. You might think it's easy, but I always get burned by the oil, and then I overcook my shrimp and vegetables." Nodding rather enthusiastically, she started to drink her iced tea.

Blinking she looked at all the different tempura pieces, and decided she'd try a mushroom. Looking at the sauces, she decided that chili was definately not her sort of thing (too spicy) and she wasn't sure about the sweet sauce. Soy sauce was the best. Gingerly dipping in the soy sauce she popped it in her mouth and chewed. Mmmm. It tasted good, and on the merit Aly made it was even more devine. n_n

"It's really good," she nodded. If it was horrible, he would surely have known considering her terrible lying skills.

And then there was an uncomfortable pause as she found herself at a lack of anything to say. Trying to think of something suitable for discussion, her mind drifted back to Nyxa's question how she wanted the date to end. Trying hard not to flush at the idea of happy hands and the "s-word" with Aly, she cleared her throat. She must be... less shy. Yes. Or she'd never even get a goodnight kiss. ;_; And that would be terrible. Quietly she tried to think of a way to be daring. Like scooting closer or something.

o_o Were those dolphins? Real ones? Wheee! Of course she had seen dolphins in books and zoos, but never in the ocean or sea, jumping and playing around. This was even *better* than a setting sun, which she had seen a couple times before (but usually by coincidence).

>>;; Had he just moved closer? o__o They were... they were almost touching now. She should do something now. What did all those magazines and such say? What would Nyxa do? u_u;;;; Okay, Nyxa would be a lot more daring than she could probably even imagine. She might even be groping about this time.

She should say something. But keep it short so she shouldn't ramble, and make sure this time it wasn't something lame and stupid like calling him 'pretty.' Aha! She could thank him for that time he stopped by her house to wish her goodnight (although it was very odd).

"I also wanted to thank you for stopping by that night. To wish me goodnight." She started to say something more, but bit her tongue, this time just in time. SUCCESS! She had said something coherent and appropriate without screwing it up!

o_o She must have said something really smart and good. As he leaned in closer, she was completely oblivious to the fact he said anything, Oh sure, his lips moved, but she was too busy hearing the "Babump, babump" sound coming from her chest. She tried not to blush, and failed miserably. All she could think of was Nyxa and her blasted comment about "happy hands" and "between the sheets action."

x__x Okay. Stop thinking about that. He's not even kissing you, Sy! Jeebus, be brave. Yes, yes, brave! ._. This was hard. She was nervous. For once she wished it was the waxing moon and she was feral. Then she could do anything.

"A-a-are you sure you didn't want to um... see the sun?" she stammered lamely. Not like they were really listening to each other. This was merely a clever stall while she waited for something clever and bold to pop into her head. Besides groping.