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...Ahh... Lunesca had moved back for her... Elliot wasn't the greatest at understanding facial cues or a lot of body language (why couldn't people have large ears and tails? That would make things so much easier) but she could tell when someone readjusted themselves for her benefit, and she appreciated it. That Lunesca, she was a nicer girl than she seemed. "I'm glad... I was worried..." She had signed up as an experiment, but she didn't want to disappoint some young person genuinely enthusiastic to meet a date! She didn't understand that personally, but she knew Zhi well enough to know that some people were really very motivated by this sort of things. "Mmm, chocolate is nice," she nodded and started to move over to the tables. "No peanuts, though." Elliot fell silent after this, she wasn't very good at smalltalk or really talk in general. "I think Finnian is coming today too. I wonder how his date is..." Maybe they'd see someone else from the circus, too! That would be nice.

---

"Not every year... Usually it's flowers, but sometimes they change it up, I guess to keep it interesting," Yuri replied with a small shrug. "Not that I blame them, I'd get tired of the same thing year after year." She wasn't anxious to reveal exactly how many of these things she had been to, even though she knew better than to expect anything out of a blind date. And as if right on cue, an awkward silence fell between her and Umi. It gave Yuri a chance to really see how young her date was. That skin! For a split second, she was tempted to place the helmet on her head; she was sure that this harsh summer light wasn't doing that much to conceal her age. Oh great, she was starting to get self-conscious, think of the bangs, think of the bangs.

Thankfully, Umi came to her rescue! "Coffee would be excellent," Yuri returned the smile thankfully. "But I don't mind paying too, gotta be the responsible adult sometimes," she added with a laugh, but cut herself off quickly -- she wasn't making it too obvious that she was older, right? Ugh, she did not cope well with aging. "Let's just go."

-exit Yuri and Umi to the coffee shop? owo-

"Sorry, but I'm not from around here," Mike said, shrugging. "I'm not even sure who your father was. But I am starting to be real sure why someone as pretty as you might be if you didn't constantly look so crabby has to get a blind date at a festival instead of having some nice boyfriend to take you out to dinner on Valentines."

Not that he was angry or anything but damn--she was a cow, wasn't she? "My father may not own an island but he did teach me that I couldn't ride through life on his coat tails. So unless you've done something more worthwhile than judge a cooking contest, maybe we can just get on with our date and try to get along?"

Okay, actually, he kind of was mad. He was a nice guy and this lady was just a b***h. She really didn't seem all that intelligent either. He didn't actually want to take her anywhere but it wouldn't hurt to give her a second chance...maybe. He'd actually had what he thought was probably a romantic evening planned but he just imagined her bitching and whining all the way through it. Imagining putting himself through that kind of torture kind of gave him chills down his spine. But...maybe she was nice? Maybe she just had PMS or something. He probably should have brought chocolate...

**

Murren didn't know whether to laugh or just shake her head at poor John. Then again, he'd probably just fall to pieces if she did either one. The poor man was kind of emotionally delicate--or at least she kind of got that impression from the way he always fumbled around. He was really sweet though and she didn't want to hurt his feelings so she just grinned up at him and, clutching her gifts under one arm, she grabbed his other arm with her free hand.

"Wot? We're no' gonna go ter a farm fer a date! Yer lucky yer go' me coz Ah don' think most women would take ter kindly ter spendin' their date wit' th' cows, if'n yer follow me."

She started to drag John out of the festival grounds. "Let's go ter the beach! Ah've no' been yet an' et's probably beatiful out there an' et's a better date than 'avin' a picnic wit' th' pigs and cows."

It didn't really occur to Murren that John would protest. Probably because she was used to bossing him around, and him just going along with it. So whether he liked it or not, she was already pulling him away toward the beach for at least some semblance of a proper date.

[exit...or?]

**

"I have everything prepared, but on the off chance my date this year required a rapid retreat like the one last year, I left everything at my apartment," Sethrian said dryly. "But if you don't mind, we can stop there and get it. There is a place near the lake I thought might be a good spot to eat--unless you'd rather go elsewhere?"

This was going surprisingly well. At least for the time being. Not that Sethrian had any delusions of anything beyond one (possibly) pleasant afternoon coming out of this date. Not only was Beatrice older than him (though by how much, he wasn't sure), but he was not putting any moves on his boss' sister. Ever. It was bad enough that Lyra was someone he...liked. Somewhat.

Ugh.

If not for the fact that it would be insulting, he might even be tempted to ask Beatrice about her. But since Beatrice was his date, he intended to give her his full attention.

"I actually almost did not sign up for this festival this year," he told her as he headed toward the exit. "Last year my date was barely out of diapers."

**

Angela could not stop the look of disgust that washed over her face. She didn't even try to do it. "That would be my father. I take it you've met him? I formally apologize for anything he said or did--and you needn't be polite, he always acts a bit mad so I know he said or did something odd. He always does."

She cleared her throat, glad he was changing the subject, because she really didn't want to discuss her weirdo father with someone who was likely one of his drinking buddies or something. "Oh, we have a sailboat here, you know? My father had it towed here after we moved--sailing's in our blood, you know. There's a family tradition of serving in her majesty's navy and even after retirement, it seems most of my family can't quite get enough of the water. I wasn't exactly brought up in boats but after I moved in with my father's family, I was quickly initiated. Fortunately I enjoy it so it worked out for the best--the boat probably needs a bit of maintenance but if you'd like, we can go down and have a look at it?"

She didn't know if he had anything else planned but they hadn't taken the boat out at all this year sine her father had been so busy with the winery. It would be nice to at least go sit on it or something.

Angela edged toward the exit slightly, looking up at Xeiro. "So if your parents immigrated to America, how did you end up here on Nirvani if you don't mind my asking?"

**

Javor was so confused by Lyra's speech. "Do not do that," he told her pushing her hand away. "It would be a shame if I had to remove your hands--though I have heard that finger bones make very good harp pins." Not that he knew how to play a harp but he'd always wanted to give that a try. He leaned forward to watch Xeiro and the midget. "If you are worried for the girl, does it not make sense to put her out of harm's way?"

He gave Lyra a sidelong look. "But if he is distracted by a woman, it means he will not be so obsessed with what you do with your own time, yes? It is not better for you that way?"

He really wasn't sure she was thinking this through properly. Then again, the family did seem a little weird. Maybe there were some issues with inbreeding? On an island this small, that did seem pretty likely.

**

Gray sighed slightly. "If you're going to swindle someone, you can at least do it legitimately and in a way that isn't like to get you arrested--you know, cheating at cards, or billiards, or...any sort of gambling? Picking pockets..." He paused. "Well, that one is likely to get you arrested if you get caught, but I never get caught."

He raised an eyebrow. "And yes, it was a mermaid and a very close encounter with her seashell bra," he said, smiling slightly. "During a brief stint at Disney World."

"Hmm...a better idea than burglarizing houses on a very small island where the culprits are few and the our alibi non-existent. Hmm. Perhaps it's just me but I'm sure I can think of something. At the very least, I could buy you a drink and we can find some sap to challenge to a game of poker? Or we could play just us two and I could promise to...probably not cheat?"

**

[Umi has exited and will be posted at the coffee shop]

"I'm trying to---ah...drat." Eva watched as the little squirrel scampered away due to the woman that had crouched next to him. And he didn't even get to pet the fluffy tail. How sad. He sighed a little, not really that upset, before looking at the girl next to him. The first thing he noticed was the sombrero. Well, that certainly made his job significantly easier, didn't it? Convenient.

"Oh! Hello there," he said, a hand unconsciously going up to touch his own hat. "I do believe you're my date, aren't you--though I reckon you'd already surmised that." Eva stood and dusted off his trousers before offering the young woman a hand up.

"I'm Eva Rosenthal. It's nice to meet you!"

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Kala," Eva said, grinning. He gave her a slightly sheepish shrug as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Well, I'll admit that I'm not hugely experienced in the realm of dating...but I have been around the block a time or two. I thought we might stop by the ice cream parlour for a treat and then maybe head to the beach for a while? If we stay until evening, we could build a fire with drift wood and watch the sunset? Maybe even go for a swim in the shallows?"

"I mean, you know, unless you'd rather go see a movie--I'm fine with that too, though I've always found mindless entertainment to be a little dull. If I'm not in my lab building something, I'd much rather be outside experiencing nature and all that."

"But it's my treat, wherever we go. So I'll let you decide."

He figured that was best. Women usually liked it when their opinions were valued, though he didn't want to seem disinterested entirely. He hoped that suggesting a few options would show interest but allow her some control over the date as well. She didn't seem hugely enthusiastic, but that could just be nerves. Or something. Probably?

"If you're ready to go, we can just head out then," Eva said. He took Kala's hand, and led her toward the entrance. "I don't get around much, I have to admit," he told her. "But I don't think I've ever seen you in town."

"I mean, you know, on my trips out for supplies and things. Are you new here?"

He wasn't exactly a long time resident himself, but he had at least started to familiarize himself with the people he tended to see around the city. He didn't recall seeing her--though it might be a little presumptuous to assume she was new. He barely left his hut and when he did, it was either to buy groceries or hang out on the beach. He was trying to learn to surf.

It wasn't going well for him. Ah...he was getting a little distracted again, wasn't he?

[exit Eva and Kala--do you want to go ahead and post at the beach?]

“Please, do you think someone as important as me has the time to go looking for dates?” Lilia ended up replying with simply that, looking frustrated that she couldn't exactly argue against everything else he had said. She could point out that she was actually already engaged, but she had a feeling that wouldn't go over very well considering to who she was bound to. Thankfully, she had thrown out that garish ring the day after she had gotten it! Maybe she should consider doing that to this peasant too, but.. Well, however bad this date was going, Lilia didn't want to have to suffer the same humiliation of going home early. She couldn't control the servant's minds and she knew very well they would just think she had been stood up again. She didn't want to go home and parade this 'winner' to them, either, so she supposed a change of plans was in order.

“...Fine, 'we' can try to get along.” 'We' meaning 'he' because Lilia hadn't done anything wrong at all. “Did you have any plans for this date? Or did you expect me to come up with everything?” She asked to stall as she tried to think of somewhere that a camera couldn't feasibly pop up to ruin her reputation. Whatever he could think of couldn't be better than what a Sonata could, after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finnian was stuck in a conflict as he listened to the woman yammer on, doing his best to hide his frown because he had no reason to feel sorry for someone unrelated to him. Businessmen were strict, logical, and didn't have time to feel sympathy for anyone but the company! And a pretty lady, of course, but, not for some scrawny man who that kid looked nothing like him, what was she even talking about? Before the scowl that came into place as his eyes found the young man she pointed out could reveal itself, he hurriedly pulled a handkerchief from a pocket and covered his face with a totally realistic sneeze.

Once he managed to get his face back under control, he lowered the cloth and looked apologetically at the woman, “I'm sorry, I have a horrible case of the average allergies. It would be for both our benefits that we leave the garden for some place more suited to a regular man with regular mortal weaknesses.” He replied in agreement, finding his polite smile just a bit more mischievous than intended as she called him a stud. Sure, her memory of him in his pajamas was a bit foggy and maybe she had mistaken him for some scrawny child, but now that she had gotten a real look at him, her true opinion had come out! Finnian Buckley and his alter egos were all filed under the stud category in Tatyana's mind and he felt a rush of pride at that. He offered her his arm in his momentary ego-boost and suggested, “We can go for a walk through town, if you didn't have anything else you wanted to do?”

[Exit to the Streets?]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They wouldn't like the cows or pigs or.. John wanted to ask if ladies would at least like a picnic with the sheep, but he guessed that should have been common sense. He felt himself blush in embarrassment that he had suggested some place that could have offended a lady, but at least that scenario had been avoided with Murren being his date. John looked at the woman gratefully as she started to pull him away, following along without much protest because, well! If Murren would be happy to go to the beach, then John would be happy to try to make this beach trip as pleasant as possible! “Oh, uh, okay!” He replied quickly as they left the square, hurrying to keep up with the woman.

[Exit to the Beach! ouo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, he had to be just spouting flattery at him! Kade couldn't look that young.. Could he? He debated saying how old Junior was, but he didn't want to spoil anything and, besides, it wasn't like he was actually expecting this to be more than a friendship. Age didn't matter much when it came to those and he really did need a lot more friends! “Oh, thank you! I try to take care of myself!” He commented, smiling more at the next thing the man said – yes! That was exactly what Kade always thought whenever he saw most of the local musicians, actors, and anyone who tried to be a 'performer' in Sonata!

He nodded quickly in response, throwing his hands up excitedly, “Yes, oh, I agree so much, honey! Appearances aren't everything, but they're just so important in the entertainment business!” He would have carried on with that, but he didn't want to bore Ezekiel by blabbing on about something they both agreed on! He was more focused on the little clap, which had Kade giggling just a little~ It was so nice to see someone being animated too! “Oh, well, it's only a short walk from the salon, so it was hard not to notice, but I do like to keep up with things around here! There isn't much since it's such a small town, but that's all the more reason to stay up to date! Um,” He paused as he had already started to walk around Ezekiel to head towards the ice cream parlor, “it's a pretty short walk from here too! Are you coming?”

[Exit to the Ice Cream Parlor?]