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Lily always showed up early to her appointments or to work, but only by half an hour. She always took the time to pretend like she was showing up exactly on time, so any earlier than half an hour might make it appear as if she was loitering.

Today, however, was only a partial exception. The cafe was in a new area, and with new areas meant new shops, and with new shops meant the distant, vague dream of finding a cheap chocolate shop with divine little chocolates.

As such, Lily was a bit early. About five hours early, to be precise. Ignorant of her date's similarly early presence at the cafe, however, she didn't actually head over to the cafe that early. She spent her time wandering the shops in the area, flitting through the small antique stores and only by-passing an ice cream shop since it was a bit early in the morning for such desserts. Not that the time of day would really stop her if she was in the mood for a dessert.

She kept a dutiful eye on her wrist watch, the hands slowly inching their way across its face. The meeting time was at noon, and she still had an hour and a half left. Eyeballing a confectionary shop, Lily paused and stared at the delectible cakes inside. Well, if they were meeting at a cafe, what better to go with such drinks than a sweet cake? Swiftly ordering two slices - and hoping the lady she would meet up with actually liked cakes - Lily carried out the small box and continued on her way.

With one hour left, she was running out of things to do. She stopped outside the door to the cafe and pulled out the profile sheet for the 23rd time, her eyes soaking in as many words as possible. Lily gritted her teeth, hesitating. Why was she doing this again? She had no idea what she was supposed to do or how she was to act.

As she slid the profile back into the pocket of her brown jacket, however, Lily noticed a woman who looked suspiciously like the one described in the profile. White jacket, elegant knee length dress and low shoes, and a bright hair color that would be hard to miss. Quickly peeking at her watch again, Lily noted it was still an hour early. Had she gotten the time wrong? No, meeting at noon was too easy an hour to remember.

Quickly clearing her throat, Lily casually sidled up to her, wondering whether it would be more polite to make eye contact or to avoid staring. "H-Hello," She greeted cheerfully, trying to shake the nervousness out of herself and hoping she didn't get the wrong person, "Are you Piptoll, by chance?"

Pleased to have found the right person (while conveniently forgetting both were meeting an hour ahead of time), Lily gave a nervous smile as she waved her hand towards a table by the window. If they fell into an awkward silence, she would at least be able to watch people out the window with a good cup of tea.

Noting that her date was eyeing the box, Lily beamed brightly and set it on the table, puffing with pride at her great find. Delicately opening it to reveal two slices of chocolate cake with graceful icing and a light criss-cross pattern of chocolate syrup, Lily looked back at the woman, her eyes dancing with anticipation, "I hope you like cakes?"

The thought that others may not like chocolate or might have been dieting or allergic simply never occured to her.

Only sea food? Lily stared at her, desperately trying to scramble over the culture shock. Didn't like cake? Chocolate cake? Blasphemy!

Still befuddled over this discovery, Lily blinked a few times, "Drink? Oh, uh.. t-tea should be fine." Feeling overly subconscious now, she numbly closed the box and set it to the side within hand's reach.

Trying to make up for lost ground, Lily cleared her throat and gave a weak smile, "Sea food isn't bad. I rather like shrimp when its sauted with a nice slice of-" She was about to say 'steak', but considering the cold reaction to her cake, Lily highly doubted it would get a warm reception, "Slice of.. fish."

Vowing not to admit that she wasn't all that fond of fish except for shrimp and canned tuna, Lily could only nod and smile. "Wait, tropical fish?" She paused in thought, "You can eat those?"

She was always under the impression that they were just for fish tanks. But hey, that didn't mean they weren't fish. Perhaps they were edible afterall. "Oh, thank you. Both, please." Lily couldn't fathom a tea without the extra sugars.

Feeling rather like a fish out of water herself, she watched Piptoll head up to the counter and tried to think of something to talk about. Pet stores? More fish? There really wasn't all that much to talk about on fish, was there? Flustered, she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. Perhaps a nice walk to see what sort of shops there were? Or maybe her date would have an idea? Lily stared nervously at her hands, still not knowing what she was supposed to do.

"Thank you." Lily reached out and gingerly grasped the tea cup, enjoying the aroma as she stirred in the sugars, "This much is quite good, thanks."

She took a few sips, testing the temperature, before taking a slower drink of it, "I actually work up on the isle as a secretary or book keeper of sorts for a large firm. Nothing really interesting there." Giving a light shrug, she took another sip, "What about yourself? Job? Hobbies?"

Generalized questions were a good start, right? Was it supposed to feel this awkward? Lily supposed it was, considering it was a date and all. She lowered her eyes, staring at the murky reflection in the tea.

Lily arched a brow, pausing mid-sip, "Nuclear waste? That.. can't be healthy." Unsure of what to approach next, Lily shuffled nervously in her chair, "Did you want to go anywhere..?"

Perhaps if they went out somewhere, she might discover something of common grounds. At this point, Lily was floundering for something to grasp. She simply didn't know how to date, thinking it was foolish for her to have tried in the first place. Briefly thinking back, however, Lily wasn't sure that staying up all night watching cliche romance movies in a dark room wasn't all that healthy. Steeling herself, Lily determined to at least survive one date.

"The zoo sounds fun." Lily beamed, relief washing over her, "They have these great elephant ears there with lots of sugar and cinnamon."

As she grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair, she paused, "Oh, er, they also have fish in one of the restaurants. Might even come on a stick so we can walk and eat at the same time. Shall we take the bus?"

Lily lived close enough to most things that she never bothered with a vehicle. It was expensive to maintain, and the money was better put elsewhere, such as buying chocolate and adding to a savings account. Despite her wild chocolate endeavors, she was actually a bit of a penny pincher.