Welcome to Gaia! ::

The line moved at a reasonable pace and Hannah took a step forward to keep their place in line. It had been a long while since the two of them were able to go out together like this. What with work calling her whenever a co-worker is a last minute now show to come in to cover their shift.

When Tristian was away at college this wasn’t a big deal, it kept her busy so that time moved by quickly, but now that he was home, Hannah felt less inclined to answer her phone when the call came from one of the hospital lines or a known colleague’s personal phone number. However, she had already established this idea of reliability when in a pinch suddenly ignoring them would raise an eyebrow.

Still, she was open with everyone about her plans so hopefully nobody would interrupt them.

“Dinner sounds good,” normally she ate around six o’clock anyway. “We might be able to find a place that has some outdoor seating.” Enjoy the pleasantly warm sunshine while it was out.

While some people liked to be lavished with presents, Hannah found that time was often the most precious gift someone can give. That said, she laced her fingers through his and raised her gaze to meet his.“Why don’t we wander around a bit and find something here,” she suggested with a hopeful smile before leaning her head against his shoulder.

Although they had talked as often as time allowed while Tristan was away at college and she worked ever-changing shifts at Destiny City Memorial Hospital, something about today still had an air of newness about it. Perhaps time apart did that to a relationship but with Tristian being her first and only sweetheart, she had nothing to really compare this feeling of content to. But it made her feel perhaps a bit too reluctant to go back to their condo so soon.

“Hello, pardon me. I’m sorry to interrupt you two” An older woman, probably in her late 50’s, approached wearing a lovely white blouse with gold star-shaped buttons and a long ankle-length skirt of pastel rainbow colors. In her hand was a wicker basket filled with a multitude of colorful charms.

“Oh, no problem,” Hannah seemed surprised by her approach but offered a kind smile. “What can we help you with?”

“Oh- no. Nothing.” the woman seemed to stumble over her rehearsed greeting a bit which gave Hannah reason to believe that she might be feeling a bit dehydrated from walking out in the sun too long. But she continued on as the rest of the greeting came naturally. “I’m a volunteer with this event and am out here offering these souvenirs to everyone here looking to get a lantern for tonight.” She raised the basket with colorfully kaleidoscopic star charms.

Hannah shifted her attention back over to Tristan, “Would you like one?”

The woman glanced over her shoulder towards the cashiers at the front of the line who were too busy to acknowledge her attempt at gaining their attention. “Technically, it’s supposed to be one per person. But if you pick one to give to her then that will be fine.” She wasn’t there to police who ended up with the star charms at the end of the day, the only instructions she was given was to make sure was to give one to each person who bought a lantern.

“I think that sounds fair.” The basket looked only half-full and the line was still fairly long. With almost two hours left until dark chances are she would run out before the booth closed for the day.

Hannah combed her fingers through the charms, uncovering an array of gem-like colors ranging from crimson to emerald to an iridescent opal. From them she selected an amber colored cluster of stars strung together by a thin silver chain. An odd choice since it matched nothing she wore but her reason for picking it was for a much simpler than that; Tristan.

“I like this one,” she commented with a knowing smile as she looked up at her boyfriend. While it paled in comparison to his vibrant orange colored eyes, it was the closest one that made her think of him.

Hannah playfully nudged his side with her elbow while flashing him a ’I see what you did there’ look.

With a smirk, she put the charm she had selected back into the basket and from the pile she picked up the sapphire colored one instead. A complimentary color to the one Tristian had picked. “Thank you, mam."

“Not a problem, dear. I hope you two have a fun time this evening lighting lanterns. The sky seems clear enough, so it should be really beautiful tonight.” The last several nights had been on-again off-again rain with scattered lightening storms. But by the looks of it there seemed to be a break in the chaotic weather patterns.

The woman then turned to the small group of teennates huddled together behind them and recited the same greeting again.

Holding up the two charms, Hannah admired the simplicity of their design. “I think these make a perfect memento for our first actual date since you’ve been back.” Yes they’d gone out to dinner together, or played games at their apartment. But they’d both had their phone on in case work called, which did happen from time to time. Today, however, was different in that they cut themselves off from that almost unpredictable life to just get away and enjoy each others company.

Again the line moved and the two of them stepped forward. “I’m happy we came here, even if it is only for a few hours. Are you sure you don't want to keep yours though? Or maybe take mine instead?”

“It’s all yours,” she handed the blue charm to him in exchange for the orange one he had picked. From her bag, Hannah pulled out her set of house keys and threatded the orange charm onto the keyring.

Once more the line moved just as she was stowing the keys back in her side bag. “Looks like we’re next. Any thoughts on which lantern you’re going to pick?” There were a number of pre-designed ones on display. Some simple solod colors while other had patterns or characters printed on the paper. Enough to appeal to pretty much all ages and interests. “I think I saw some with comic book characters when I was looking through the design book.” Unfortunately she couldn’t list any of them by name unless it was one that Tristan talked to her about before.

For a moment, Hannah seemed to consider her options. “I’ll be honest,” she kind of hesitated. “I think I prefer that option instead of getting our own.” Her eyes cast downward, ashamed or perhaps embarrassed by her selfish request.

Money wasn’t an issue here, they both received decent pay from their respective positions at the hospital. But the idea of personalizing a lantern together sounded like such a sweet idea.

The pair in front of them finished their transaction and stepped aside with their chosen lanterns in hand. “Greetings!” If the cashier was exhausted, either from the heat or from standing out here for who knows how long, his expression didn’t show it. “I apologize for the long wait. Were you two able to pick out a lantern or do you need a moment to look through the book again?”

“I’ll be happy with whatever you decide,” Hannah offered sincerely.

Hannah nodded, her approval. “I like it.” The sunset-colored lantern had hues that mirrored the charms they were just given which seemed appropriate. “It’s starting to feel like we have a theme going for this evening,” she jested.

Pulling out her wallet, Hannah handed the cashier her card which was run with no issue.

“Thank you, miss. If you two want to wait a few minutes one of the tables should be available soon.” Just to the right of the tent was a decent sized seating area under a large white canopy. Four long wooden picnic-style tables that could comfortably seat maybe eight people were set up parallel to each other. On them were buckets of craft materials ranging from markers, crayons, and colored pencils to some with watercolor paints. Nothing of expensive quality but the cheap kinds of supplies to just have fun with.

“No problem, I don’t mind waiting.” A few minutes wait to personalize the lantern shouldn’t set them back by too much.