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This was the sixth Valentine's Day commercial he had seen in a row. Probably a new record, but he didn't mind. Actually, he really liked them! They were so romantic and mmmnn that candy looked so good! Sevilin was thankful his guardian wasn't home yet cause he always changed the channel when they were on. We`rika thought they were gay or whatever that meant.

Flipping the channel, the little sea nymph glanced up at the clock. He'd be home soon. Hopefully he wouldn't be in one of his moods. Not that he was mean, but Sevilin always felt so sad watching We`rika. The shaman just always looked so lonely even if he wouldn't admit it. The closer it got to Valentine's day the more his mood seemed to darken as if the whole holiday was a complete sham. Sevilin didn't know much about boyfriend and girlfriend stuff, but it still seemed pretty and romantic and oh so sweet! Shouldn't it be worth a try?

"Hmmm..." He thought so. But We`rika didn't have any real savory friends to call. Most of them he never saw, but he heard them. And they didn't sound very good for We`rika. He needed someone who was really nice and snuggly and cleanly and could cook--

Sevilin gasped. We`rika needed a big candy maker! Or, well, the little Raevan needed a candy maker right on hand truly, but he deserved a bit of reward for being Cupid's little helper. Floating over to the house phone, the blue frei dialed Sistine's by memory and got the voicemail. Ah, but what was he supposed to say? How do you like.... make dates or whatever? Shoot! He needed to say something the tape was rolling!!

"Uhh ehmm hi it's Sevilin! So uhhh We`rika has been, you know, talking about you a lot..." When in doubt, lie. He was pretty good at it. "And I think he's a lil embarrassed to ask you but I thought it'd really make his ehmm day if you guys totally got together on the uhmm 14th..." He rambled on, mentioning one of We`rika's favorite joints to eat. It was a little burger hole and pretty cheap. "Oh and PS he also said how much he liked that white chocolate you gave him and those sugar fishes I lik--I mean he liked uhh uhhmmm yyyeah--" He heard keys rustling. "Okie bye!"

"... Wha' are ya doin'?"

Giving his guardian his big ol blue eye look, Sevilin placed the phone back on its cradle and shrugged. "Nothing..."

This all had to be too good to be true. But this was his sunshine, Sevilin wouldn't lie to him right? Did he even know how to lie? He always looked so sweet and innocent. Maybe that was all just a set up. God, he hoped not cause this night would suck a**.

He slid into his favorite little hole in the wall with flowers. It had seriously taken him a week to decide if his pride was worth a bouquet of flowers. And at the end of the day, if it got the girl to suck his d**k it was worth the gayity. It didn't take him long to survey the customers and find no whorey chicks that stuck out like a sore thumb for him. Well ********. Maybe they weren't here yet. The shaman checked his watch: 6:10. Well... he was late and chicks were usually on time. ********, this whole story seemed to be getting thinner and thinner by the second.

Well, he was already here, might as well get something to eat. With his goddamn bouquet of--

"Oh my ********' god...." He couldn't help but laugh at himself. At how easily he was deceived by sweet blue eyes. Flicking a familiar brick house of a back on its shoulder, We`rika shook his head. "So I'mma gonna assume yer th'ho' chick with a friend Sev'lin was ravin' abou'..." He was gonna drown every plushie Sevilin ever owned. Looking down at the flowers wrapped in saran wrap, chuckling. "These are fer ya then...."

"Swee' Jesus, dun pain' tha' portrai' pleeease..." The very thought left him seizuring and gagging his way to the seat across from Alistair. Easing into the plastic booth, he released his hold on the flowers, laying them down on the lacquered table. "Heh yyyeah... I though' it'd uhh make i' easier ta ge' in their pants...." He nodded his head slowly in defeat, the shock still fresh and poking in his mind. Though he had to give himself points for not freaking out and storming off to a bar to get drunk. There was that. "Enjoy..." And he just couldn't brush his dumbfounded smile off his face.

Taping his nails anxiously on the wood, he glanced at the wrapped box beside his friend. "Whassa'?"

"Ah..." We`rika ran his hand through what was left of his hair self-consciously, a bit surprised to find Alice humoring him this far. "Yeah if ya wan'..." He grabbed the box with both hands and eyed his friend warily. "Is no' like a chocola'e d***o or anythin' is i'?" Who knows what a crazy candy maker did with his spare time, especially if Sevilin had told him--Actually, he wondered what Sevilin had told Alice.

Unwrapping the cellophane, he lifted the top. "Oh.... sweee'!" It was white chocolate! He lurrrved him some ******** white chocolate like whoooa! He took out a piece and shoved it in his mouth gleefully. "Gaww, so good..." He rummaged around to find little sugar fish. "........... Sevilin...." He sighed. "He is gonna be so thankful he doesn' have an a** ta slap when I ge' done with him and his lil silver tongue..." The shaman flipped the box closed and pushed it to the side, but in reach juuust in case. "So I hafta ask... wha' did he say ta ya? Th'sneaky shi' mussa done i' when I was a' work...."

We`rika snorted sourly. The big V huh? Valentine's was the biggest ******** joke merchandising corporations ever created. The only thing good about it was the fact it made women so easy to get between their desperate legs.

"Th'naivete of youth..." He wasn't sure what bothered him the most about this whole night. Probably Sevilin nosing into his business. He didn't need a sexless child meddling in his love affairs, or lack their of. He prayed his ward picked Alice only for the sugary loot because he didn't want to contemplate any other options. The very thought disturbed him.

And what humor he had at the beginning of this night was draining from his tightening face. "Well no' many enjoy a pock-marked Mexican either so I can sympathize I guess..." Ready to change the subject, he slid a menu from behind the condiments and browsed it as if he hadn't memorized the menu long ago. "Have ya been here before...? Ya really canno' go wrong.... Everythin's pretty damn good..."

"Mmm..." He nodded his reply, flicking the laminated menu with a short claw. "I dun go ou' much either... Eh, well... I do bu' th'same three places. I go ta work and I'lla come ea' here or go ta club, das abou' i', I haven' lived here very long myself..." It had honestly been about two years and he was still a stranger in his own city. Not that it really mattered. He worked, he got paid and he took care of Sevilin, that was good enough of a life for him.

Finally, the waitress came around and We`rika ordered a beer and a number 6. "Is uhh a double bacon cheddar burger with car... caramelized..." That was the right word, right? "onions... UH-mazin'....!" Sure, it gave him heinous gas during the night, but oh so worth it.

We`rika was almost jealous of Alice's order. And a pitcher! He should have thought of that. "Shouldn' ya be watchin' yer girlish figure?" Though he supposed a big guy needed a big meal, but even he was full after a burger and some fries, and he gained weight real easily. The shaman was so thankful he had such a labor-intensive job.

After the waitress left, he slid his menu back behind the ketchup and salt and so forth and dipped a hand into the candy box for another chocolate starfish. Omnomnom! Licking his dark fingers of any melted chocolate, he looked up at Alistair with a skeptical and self-conscious glance. "Somethin' funneh?"

We`rika smiled warmly at the strange image. At least slugs were an original spin on the ol' story. "********, I work all day five ta five, I rarely have time ta do anythin' else... I si' home fer a few hours, ea', si' with Sevilin and I ********' go ta bed a' like ten... kinda sad...." He neglected to mention the whole porn nights and the weekends he went out to bury his d**k into some hole. Not the greatest dinner conversation.

The shaman couldn't help his ears perking up in his excitement for a pitcher. "We'll prolly hafta make i' a few pitchers..." It was an unfortunate burn in his wallet that he couldn't get buzzed easily.

"Augh..." The huichol flopped back against the booth. "Ya can have th'weigh' off my ********' a**. Jesus chris' is like a tug boa' back there..." He wouldn't even go into how he had to shop in a women's department for his jeans. So ******** embarrassing.