Your OC goes on a date with the OC above

He had heard about Lachlan and his business as well as his reputation - it was difficult not to when talking to the locals. Getting invited to one of his balls surely was an honor, as he was told, and he would not decline, of course. An evening of masquerade with nothing but conventionally attractive people sounded like paradise for pretty much anyone, except for Sol. The 'beautiful people' were usually rather boring and predictable; nothing but useless puppets to decorate a place with. But he would give his host the benefit of the doubt and play along. (Although no amount of witnesses would have stopped him from doing anything, if he wanted to.) Lachlan was obviously the most interesting person at the party... and quite beautiful, of course. Sadly he just did not show any of said interesting parts.

Sol still chose to remain polite when the host himself offered to show him around, he had no reason not to be. It would have been wrong to say he was impolite anyway, he was great at playing pretend if he needed to. However, what did annoy him a little was the fact that Lachlan was obviously holding something back. Something at least Sol deemed far more intriguing than any of the human deco-...guests. 

In his defense, he really did not know how things would play out! But he was not bothered by it either. He just gave a little spark in the right moment; that the whole thing went up in metaphorical flames and people were at each others throats even surprised him for a second. Human beings truly were fascinating... and thought of themselves as much better liars than they actually were, it seemed. Well... sad to see things were the same wherever he went.

...

With a lot more interest than he had shown the entire evening combined he watched Lachlan transform into his true form. "My, you certainly were pretty before but now you are simply stunning." he remarked, honestly mesmerized for a moment.
"Quite interesting how things played out, I did not expect them to go this far..." Sol sighed, more to himself, briefly looking around the wrecked room. "If needed I will of course compensate for any damage caused." the man gave a friendly smile that still obviously indicated that he was aware Lachlan would not need any compensation. Maybe he was teasing a little bit, he really could not help himself.

Since they were no longer keeping up fake appearances he at least allowed his arms to be fully visible; using all four of them was much more comfortable anyway.
Compared to his host he was pretty small but still seemed perfectly comfortable, his eyes resting on the man walking around him, having the usual slightly amused expression to them, although there was a spark that had not been there previously. "Oh, I am glad I finally got to meet the real you." Sol chuckled, lifting his palms in an apologetic manner. "But I suppose I should apologize for the circumstances. I really did not expect things to end up this... dramatic. In no way was my intention to offend you." that was the truth, if Lachlan would choose to believe it was up to him, of course.

Upon the host's last comment Sol laughed. "I can't tell if you are threatening or flirting with me, but I am intrigued either way."

(Any person with a sound mind: Aight, time to run!
Sol: Y E S.)

Lachlan had become careless recently, he had given in to his appetite more often than he'd like to admit. He was good at letting the trail lead away from him or at least make a disappearance seem totally unrelated to him or his manor but an investigation was always so tedious to deal with. All the charade without a proper reward other than finally being left alone. Although he was quite surprised at the handsome and elegant figure at his door, the people causing trouble for him rarely were this pleasing to the eye. Gladly he welcomed his guest to his home, humbly bragging with a tour and feeling delighted at En complimenting his taste in interior design. The spider loved being adored almost as much as being feared.

When asked about the disappearances Lachlan was exceptionally good at pretending he was just as concerned as his guest. "Yes, of course I heard about these cases. I've known a lot of the affected personally and it pains me even thinking about something happening to them. They were so young too. A true tragedy watching their families so desperate for them to return. I try to support and comfort them the best I can but I am afraid that it will never compensate for their loss", the spider explained without his voice once breaking or stumbling, instead showing what seems to be true sympathy for the victims. He already let his servants plant fake evidence for any investigators to find that would lead to a fabricated version of the story. A case they can solve to leave them unaware that the truth is still hiding. "If it is any help I would be happy to tell you everything I can about the victims. Unfortunately that is all I have to offer as I am just as puzzled as everyone else. Perhaps I can do so while giving you a personal tour around town? Maybe that way you can get a better idea of the situation yourself", Lachlan offered with an accommodating smile. It wasn't too hard to convince his guest that it would help the case and while he initially stayed on topic he slowly started to drift into talking about all the wonderful parts of their town and its people, turning their tour into entertainment instead of work. He was just trying to be a good host after all, who would refuse his courtesy?

Eventually they ended up in one of Lachlan's favorite café's, one he was quite popular at. You could say the staff was loyal to him. Letting them imply he was on a date whenever he brought someone he was trying to seduce was an easy way to shift the atmosphere without appearing bold. Not that he brought En with that intention, he really just wanted to impress him with some of the best cakes and pastries in town, but it was an amusing side effect.
Instead of appearing flustered Lachlan let out a charming laugh as a reaction to this whole "misunderstanding". "Oh I am not at all offended by the thought. Young or old, you are beautiful nonetheless so what should I be ashamed for being seen like this", he complimented the other openly while leaning back on his chair and crossing his legs elegantly. His eyes were now fixated on En and the longer he looked the harder it got not to let his thoughts wander. Lachlan was shallow but his sense for beauty could be quite varied, there was more to being beautiful than being young and flawless. "I don't think there's much you could've done to ruin a date, I'm sure whatever you're doing you make it look stunning", he chuckled. Lachlan had planned to make En's visit pleasant and then get him to leave as soon as possible, but he started to think it might be a waste to just let him go. It was hard to differentiate if he wanted to taste him one way or another, but he usually figured that out along the way.
But he had to remind himself why this handsome man was paying him a visit in the first place. It would've been foolish to draw even more attention and Lachlan hated the thought of turning into an insatiable glutton.

"I will make sure to contact you should there be any more unusual disappearances or new evidence to what happened", Lachlan nodded and agreed at the end of their conversation. "But don't hesitate to visit anytime, investigation or not. It was quite pleasant to have you", he smiled gently. A spider got to have patience, after all.

After being on the run for so long, the group eventually stopped at a a decently sized city. After getting rooms, the group decided to split up and have a look around to see if there were any stores or anything useful, Wraith and En being one team, the shifter making mental notes as they did so. One place in particular caught his attention, a restaurant of sorts,  he looked over at En. "You hungry?" He asked. After receiving a nod, he led them both into the building, his senses on high alert as he did so. He was surprised at what he saw, it was a restaurant, sure, but it seemed that each individual booths were surrounded by semi circle designed aquariums filled with a variety of colour fish, no sharks.....luckily. And there was some calming music playing in the background. It was.....beautiful, and certainly unique, he turned to his companion. "What do you think?" He asked.

After receiving a yes by his companion, he let the prince pick which booth they would sit in, luckily the place was quiet for the moment, only a handful of couples who were eating meals together. En ended up picking one that had a aquarium which had a variety of clownfish species, all of different colours, orange and white, black and white, tri coloured, all of which.....seemed rather curious about En; they swam up to the glass unafraid, which was a totally different story with Wraith, the fish seemed to have sensed his feline nature and stayed well away from him. He didn't mind, most animals had the same reaction to him, though it was amusing to see the clownfish were using En as some sort of protection, despite them being on opposite sides of the glass, every now and again, they would peek out before hiding behind the prince once more. Wraith gave a low chuckle. "I think you've made some friends there." 

They took a few minutes looking over the menu, seeing what was available. Soon enough a waiter came over and greeted them warmly and took there orders, whilst they waited the shifter looked back over to En......and the clownfish. Being in situations like this was difficult for the scarred man, not because he was uncomfortable with the company, but more like....he didn't know what to say, socialising was not his strong point. As he looked over at the white haired male, he noticed that the prince seemed a lot more relaxed as he stared at the fish in the aquarium. "It's nice to see you smiling again." He said, catching the other attention. "I've missed it.....I know the last few weeks haven't been easy....but...you are getting stronger with each day." Wraith averted his gaze to his own hands which were cupped in front of him on the dark wood table. "And......I'm sorry about getting you into this mess, and I'm sorry for asking you about your brother....it was.....insensitive of me, to bring up something from your past that was painful.....ah shit....I've done it again haven't I?" He said placing a hand to his head before sighing. 

Wraith looked over at his golden eyed companion and ruffled his white hair. "Guess I still have a lot to learn about being social huh?" He said with a small smile. Not long after their food had arrived. During their meal, there was some conversation back and forth about more laid back topics, one of which was which fish was Wraith's favourite to which he gave a chuckle and said "What fish? All I see is an empty tank." He said gesturing the lack of fish around the shifter. They sat there for a while, both enjoying their food before asking for the bill. Without a second thought, Wraith payed and gave a small smile at En as he gave a shrug. "This ones on me." 

After a day of being out together including having a meal at a restaurant, Wraith found himself walking on a forest path with the celestial at his side. His ears twitched at every sound within the forest, his eyes having the faintest sign of a glow to them as he walked. He looked down when he felt his companion grab his hand, the shifter made no move to stop the other and responded by returning the gesture. His attention turned to Caelestis as he spoke. "Hmm....I don't believe you did explain." He replied as they continued walking. As the other explained Wraith gave a quite. "hmm" in thought, a small noise that showed that he acknowledged what the other was telling him. 

As the night got darker, Wraith noticed that the nocturnal animals had come out, from crickets to owls. The shifter's eyesight was good anyway, but at night, the shifter certainly had an advantage over usual folk. Though his night vision wasn't was good as it was in his panther form, he could still make out details in his human form which others could not. His attention was drawn once more to his golden eyed companion when he slowed to a stop and began to speak once more. The scarred man listened carefully and dropped his gaze to the floor slightly before looking up at the sky, as if he was hoping it would have the answers on what to say. Positive feelings towards others were something completely foreign to the scared man, and he didn't want to say the wrong thing to the other in case Wraith had misunderstood. Not long after, Wraith felt himself being pulled off to the side to sit on the grass near the lake. He sat down cross legged whilst Caelestis laid down completely. 

"It certainly is a nice view." Wraith agreed as the other spoke about how wonderful the view of the stars was. His ears twitched once more as he was asked about the city and whether or not he ever ventured far from it and if he like it there. It took him a few seconds to respond. "It's a complicated matter, the City of Vallore is my territory, it's my home, regardless of home dangerous it can be, I'm always drawn back to it......like a invisible tether that pulls me back each time." He shifted his weight a bit as he stretched out his legs. "Shifters.....well, it's not always easy being one.......once we find a place that provides us of our basic needs, predominantly food, shelter and water, the animalistic side of us claims it as our territory, and if there is a rival, we take them out or chase them off. I guess you could say that we are, shackled to a place that caters our needs, and when we are away from it for long periods of time......the animal part of us starts to fight back and tries to take over so we will return to that place. The thought of losing our territory is terrifying, as to our animal selves, it's a matter of life and death." Wraith looked down at the grass below him. "The longest I've managed to stay away from the city was just over a week.....and the consequences of doing so was not fun." He shuddered at the thought.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when he was suddenly pulled down by the celestial, feeling the other wrapping his arms around him as he did so. The shifter gave a quiet and low chuckle in response as he returned the gesture. "You don't need to apologise..." He said before hearing the other say that he loved him. He gave a small smile in response and lightly nuzzled the others cheek before pulling back. "I am still confused on the concept of love, I've never been shown it or experienced it, or maybe I have but I didn't recognise it....I don't know......but...." He shifted from his position so he was half leaning over the celestial, his eyes glowing ever so slightly in the low light. ".......you're very special to me, I hope you know that." He said before pressing his lips against the others, hoping that the gesture would help convey his point.

After the previous kiss, Caelestis managed to not be caught quite as off-guard this time. Afraid the other would pull away, he reached a hand up to Wraith's head to deepen the kiss just slightly. He didn't want it to end just yet, and a sense of slight teariness even felt to overtake his eyes. "Mhm," he hummed in understanding once finally parting, "as you are to me." A moment later, he found himself pulling Wraith back down for another kiss, albeit more mercifully brief. Was it odd to care so much about something that held so little true meaning? The shifter's cluelessness in general was thought-provoking, in a way. Why did things hold any of the meaning that they did anyway? But then, yet again did Caelestis recall how he himself had once been a similar way. So very different though, as well.

Reluctantly, he eventually allowed Wraith to return to his original seat, and the other's words from just before returned to his mind. "...Wraith," he called out quietly. "I myself am a wanderer at heart. A leaf tethered instead to the ceaseless path of the wind—to the unknown beyond." He turned to face his companion more. "But… even the wind can still, occasionally. For the sake of staying with you... I can remain." It was interesting. Caelestis had noticed to an extent how attached Wraith seemed to be to the place, but hadn't expected it to such a literal extent. Another way they differed, he supposed. A calling with an almost ironic level of contrast to his own. "Although, you know," he added, sitting up to lean against the shifter playfully, "I wouldn't mind if you wanted to claim me as your own as well." He chuckled, unable to resist the comment despite knowing Wraith wouldn't understand exactly what it meant.

Walking with Wraith along a foresty path overlooking a small lake, Caelestis' thoughts finally had the chance to organize themselves. The entire day he'd enthusiastically spent with the shifter, but naturally, the daytime hours were spent nearly entirely indoors, as unfortunately, a 'nice day' also typically meant a day far too sunny for Caelestis to be able to bear walking underneath it for any large periods of time. And so, after a slow start to the day, a stop at a quiet café, and a few other activities, the moment the sun began to show signs of lowering, he'd eagerly set out for the outdoors. With no initial plans, he somehow ended up bringing Wraith over here, even as inconveniently far from the city as it was.

Several minutes into the night time stroll, after moving his hands and arms about restlessly, and almost anxiously fiddling with whatever he could in the meantime, Caelestis could no longer resist reaching over to hold Wraith's hand. It wasn't even a new gesture between the two of them, but the only time he could recall was in a context where it would have been fairly natural to do it with anyone. "You know," he started after what had felt a fairly long silence, "did I ever end up explaining the concept of a date to you?" It was difficult to recall, but he had a feeling he didn't. "When you spend time alone with someone you love—romantically, that is—typically in a pleasant, enjoyable manner, that's… what it might be regarded as. A concept considered somewhat romantic. In a manner, it's a bit like kissing, only... not necessarily quite as intimate on its own." He left out the thought that this itself was also exactly what he would like to consider as such. If Wraith were to reach that conclusion, then that was that, and if not, he would only have to accept that as well. 

In what was now the dark of night, the path was lit only by specks of moonlight peeking out through between the leaves above. Little could be heard around but the soft chattering of crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl. Absentmindedly, Caelestis wondered whether Wraith could see in the dark, although it seemed more so the sort of thing that may only be possible in the other's panther form. As the thoughts left him, his steps slowed to a stop, and he turned his head towards the shifter, smiling as fondly as usual, but with a slight tinge of uncertainty all the while. "All those things, I'd like to do with you." And more. "I just… want to be certain that you truly understand what it all entails. I'm willing to explain anything you might not yet fully understand to the best of my ability, but your own feelings are up to you alone."

It was a difficultly ambiguous relationship, and it left Caelestis confused as to what he should do with himself—with anything, really. Was he simply misguiding Wraith entirely all this time, even if unintentionally, when the only feelings the shifter truly felt were that of friendship? It was all just too frighteningly possible, and he wondered if he would ever be able to know for sure. After a quiet sigh, he looked away once more, allowing his gaze to drift throughout the surrounding scenery. Countless stars reflected clearly over the still ripples of the lake, creating an almost hauntingly beautiful scene. Even despite not being quite far enough away from the city to see the milky way itself, it was still a dazzling sight. While the path the two had been following along continued straight on past the lake, on a whim, Caelestis pulled Wraith over to the slightly sloped grassy clearing at the side to stop before the waters instead of walking onward. 

At first, he only sat down in the grass, with Wraith soon following suit, but after only a few moments, instead laid back entirely. His eyes drifted closed, but opened once more before long. "It's quite the view, isn't it?" He remarked quietly, thoughts applying to both the stars above and the shining lake before them. Although if Wraith was within sight, it would frankly apply to him as well. "I always find you in the city, now that I think about it. Have you left it like this much before?" The question was partially out of genuine curiosity, and partially out of the simple desire to hear Wraith's voice. "...Do you like it?" He added absentmindedly. With the clear, refreshing air, quiet rustles of the nearby leaves, peaceful solitude, and the simple beauty of it all itself, it was where he himself felt most alive. Naturally, the thought of bringing the shifter to these places more often became all the more tempting, but there was no point in indulging alone. He wanted to do things that Wraith would enjoy, and with the other's fairly evident discomfort with the ride to arrive here—as walking the entire way would have been frankly impossible without it being instead an overnight trip—it seemed less likely that something like this would garner a large amount of enthusiasm from him.

Without sitting up, Caelestis allowed his eyes to drift over to his companion instead, as best he could from his current positioning. The stars were always above, quite nearly eternal, and he could truly admire them whenever he would like. Wraith was something far more special than that. Impulsively, he sat up just slightly, only enough to pull the shifter down with him into an embrace. Somehow, falling back into the grass felt even more comfortable than before as he clung to Wraith, even with the somewhat awkward, sideways, very likely less comfortable for Wraith than it was for him, hug it was. There was little at all Caelestis could bring himself to think of but the feelings he felt for the one before him. "Sorry," he said with a slight chuckle, loosening his grip enough for the other to pull away if so wished, "I just... love you so, so much..." Oh, he was truly a lost cause, wasn't he?

The only bad thing that Lo could say about his travelmate Brandt was that he really didn't live in a good part of town. At no time was it more evident than on an early summer morning, as Lo was taking a sidestreet home from his place and stopped at the crossroads, noticing a figure approaching from a crossing street. The person stood out on account of being a little overdressed for the neighborhood, as well as possessing unmistakeably pointy ears. An elf, here? He seemed to walk with the casual calm of one who had little idea of where they were, but also no particular destination in mind. Somewhat alarmingly the stranger seemed oblivious of what - as far as Lo could tell - were two locals coming a little too shadily down the same sidestreet, their hands hidden in their pockets and eyes on the elf walking ahead. For a moment the changeling hesitated on whether to get involved. There were a lot of assumptions happening here - perhaps the men had nothing nefarious planned for a foreigner with a huge gold earring? Perhaps the elf could afford to look a little fancy in the slums because he had tricks up his sleeve, like Lo did, and wasn't in any real danger? Or maybe he was genuinely lost and about to be mugged.

Lo made up his mind fast and fell into step alongside the elf as he walked past "I see you're new to the town. This area ain't safe." the changeling uttered, glancing over his shoulder to check on the would-be muggers. They, too, had made up their minds and were scattering now that their target was no longer alone "Name's Donohue. If you don't know where you're going then how about you stick by me. I bring good luck."

Lo wasted no time in getting them to a less disheveled part of the city and remained by the man, offering to show him around town if needed. Elves were rare in these lands and as such Lo felt that he owed it to the other changelings' to get a good look at this specimen, so as to share some of his features along in case any of his acquaintances ever had to shapeshift into an elf. Truthfully this new person, who introduced himself as Caelestis was...also very pleasing to the eyes and a little mysterious, both of which were additional qualities that urged Lo to stick around longer than strictly necessary. In a hive of scum and villainy such as Karakol men tended to be scruffy and tough, unless they had the kind of wealth to pay bodyguards to look scruffy and tough in their stead. And now here was this foreign drifter, with a mile-deep neckline, perfect hair and skin as fair as a noblegirls' which smelt of rosewater. His mannerisms had a rare sense of poise and grace as well as a definite androgynous (perhaps even feminine?) edge to them. It was a breath of fresh air.

So this must be the famed elven glamour... the changeling thought to himself at the marketplace, allowing his gaze to rest on Caelestis when he believed that the man was too busy examining a shopkeepers' wares to notice. He'd never seen a pureblooded elf with his own eyes before, only halfbloods such as his bardic friend or the changeling communitys' poor imitations based on someone's distant half-forgotten encounter. Stories often spoke of their grace and beauty, however, and they hadn't been joking.

Lo had initially tried to hide his instant attraction towards the elf, but his efforts proved unnecessary as not only did his companion seem to pick up on the feelings faster than expected, but also reciprocate with flirtatious remarks that caught the changeling completely off-guard the first time, making him stammer and blush like a schoolboy. Lo felt immensely flattered, yet flustered and a little overwhelmed by the prospect of flirting with an ostensible man in public. As such he gladly took his companions' suggestion to get someplace indoors as the sun rose higher in the sky. The Kings' Shame was a good place for that - a renowned establishment of questionable repute right on the edge of Karakols' wealthiest district. The fact that it was founded by Lo's sister gave the changeling some unique power within the facility when it came to bartering for, say, a cosy corner for two people to wait out the day's sunniest hours with fine wine, candied fruits and an option for hookahs. Being able to lay next to him, even to just chat without any potentially judging eyes on them felt like a good way to spend the day...

The lounging room was set up to stand apart from the rest of the world. It's colors were rich and warm, it's textures soft to the touch owing to numerous cushions and drapes. One could lose their sense of time there without having to worry about pedestrians outside or the casual customers drinking in the front, all noises being muffled by heavy crimson curtains covering the doorway. The drapes and polished bronze mirrors, which reflected tinted lanterns full of everlasting fire created a shimmering ambience like no other place that he knew of in Karakol. Lo added an extra touch to the prevailing atmosphere, showing off his magic by casting an auditory illusion upon the room, filling it with soft, disembodied music.

Even as they spoke there was still a definite air of mystery to the elf. Lo learnt with interest that Caelestis claimed to have travelled all over the place (thus he must be very capable!), but little of what his homeland was like or what he sought in Karakol. As a conversation partner he found Caelestis to be quite charming nonetheless - figuratively, since he asked a lot of questions, and in a more literal sense as the elf had a way of making Lo stumble over his words with a mere touch on the hand or a coquettish smile. The changeling suspected that he was doing it on purpose just to see Lo's reactions, but for now he couldn't help but to enjoy the moment.

This started as a quick escort mission drawn out by personal fascination and now, as Lo finished his second glass of wine and rested a hand on Caelestis's he supposed that it was most definitely fair to call it a date of some sort.

:P The tales sound epic and made-up but the beautiful thing about them is that they're all stuff that's actually happened in the D&D campaign, in case it wasn't clear. He'd exaggerate things like the number and size of enemies but not make any encounters out of thin cloth.

Thank you again for replying btw. 

I'm glad he is relatable. xDD But yes, I also feel that.

And I'm relieved that I got things right, I tried to go off his bio and the notes for campaings. :)

The stories do sound epic though, made up or not. :D Lior can take most things, as long as you don't expect him to have similar stories, although he might get a bit awkward with some things, depending on how they're told. If he just needs to listen he is fine most of the time. 

He really doesn't like talking about himself, so he would probably try to evade the question or to answer as vaguely as possible. He is not really a good liar so at least that is not an option for him. Like, he would tell where he comes from but not talk about status, he would also talk about his "older brother" but not his name etc. with time he has kind of found a way to maneuver around most questions. :D

„O-of course.“ Lior stammered, not even remotely as casual as En. Why wouldn't he make it? It was not like he had anywhere else to be... at least at the moment. No birthdays or other awkward social gatherings he had to attend in order to be allowed to continue leading his life the way he wanted. Okay, that sounded a bit worse than intended. Good thing he didn't say that out loud! 

It was nice seeing En in a good mood, considering the last time they met he had just woken up from a nightmare... or the fact that he usually seemed to be a little melancholic even though he tried to mask it – and was fairly good at it. If he had not witnessed different moods of the king by now Lior was pretty sure he would not have been able to tell. 

Thinking about this also put the elf in a better mood, as he was happy when other people were... and it distracted him from the question at hand. He had no clue if this was a date or a casual dinner and he was not sure if he wanted to find out because he didn't know what would have been better. Was there even a 'better' option? Lior just didn't want to make any... assumptions that made things weird and more awkward than he usually made them anyway.

Now, the elf would not even dream of comparing En and his brother, not only because he disliked comparing people in general but also because he did not really care what anyone else might have done? However, admitting that he only cared what En would do anyway sounded kind of bad, so he decided to just ignore that thought. 

Luckily the king spoke again, so Lior was able to focus on something else. “N-not at all...” he mumbled, not sure if an answer was even expected. Recognizing parts of the way reminded him that he had been here a bit too often, probably. Not that he minded being here. In fact, maybe he was a little too comfortable around En, while being nervous at the same time, a different kind of nervous than usual- uhm. Another thing not to think about! 

His thought process came to a halt when they reached the glass doors and he saw the table in the courtyard. Now it was a bit more difficult to ignore the initial question, wasn't it? 

For a second his brain just stopped working though, allowing him to just take in the scenery and be excited about it, because it was simply beautiful! As many words as he could use to describe things, that was really the only one he needed. Beautiful. It was beautiful. When his ability to think fully returned he realized he probably looked like an idiot right now and his face turning darker really didn't help. Maybe it was dark enough so it wasn't too visible? (no.) But just- he just didn't know what to say because no one had ever done something like this for him? Still, he was making things awkward again, like usual! Uhm- uhm- damn it- “It is beautiful, En...” he opted to just say what was going through his head, or at least a fraction of it, hopefully also explaining the pause his brain took. Lior chuckled at the king mentioning he was not a gardener. “It seems like your daughter has a hand for flowers then?” because some of them were certainly not easy to grow, as far as he knew. His gardening knowledge was more centered around the place where he was born, which was significantly colder, so things were probably different around here.

The elf sat down when offered the chair and was about to explain that he did not mind bugs – some were actually quite beautiful! - when the fireflies started buzzing around. He took a closer look at one that had landed on his hand before looking back at En. “Thank you... for this.” Lior was really trying here to actually talk, okay? “I don't think-”, no, that was a bad thing to say. He sighed, then chuckled lightly. “You know, it's kind of funny that I earn money with telling stories but just can't seem to find the right words whenever-” that was also not ideal, probably. Anywayyyyy... he awkwardly cleared his throat. “I'm sorry, I'm rambling. How have you been?”

     "I'm glad you were able to make it. Was the ride okay? I know the weather's been getting rougher," En spoke casually while leading Lior around the castle. He was in a good mood. Ever since their last interaction, he'd been able to sleep better, and it helped him feel overall better. He wanted to pay the elf back and treat him to some dinner, though he had to admit, he was nervous. The closer the day they agreed to meet came, the more he began to think one thing: Is this a date?
     En hadn't dated in roughly two whole decades, he hadn't a clue how to whoo anyone! Even when he had dated he wasn't exactly a charmer like his brother. Part of him would always scoff when he stressed about this, trying to reason that it wasn't a date, just a formal meeting. It was always a clash of different perceptions in his head. If it wasn't a date, then why dinner? Was it because they were both busy during the day? Surely it's better to wait for a free day then?
     In the end, they met for dinner at the castle, with the king's mind still in utter chaos, yet he masked it well enough.
     "Dinner won't be in the dining room this time," he explained over his shoulder. "I wanted to surprise you with something-- a change of scenery. I hope you don't mind." They took a few familiar turns down the corridors until they were faced with two large, glass doors. They opened up into the courtyard, where a table with lit candles sat at the center. The moon was full and illuminated the area, casting light on all the large flowers growing in just about every inch of the courtyard. The stars glittered above them, with a cool breeze coming from the ocean that droned its crashing waves calmly.
     En looked down at Lior to see his reaction, then smiled and moved towards the table. "I remembered how much you enjoyed flowers and the stars, so, well, I decided to try and coordinate them together. Most of these flowers are actually grown by my daughter. I tried my hand at it some time ago, but I'm no gardener," he laughed lightly. He pulled the chair out for the prince, then moved to his own.
     "There is one more reason I wanted you to come here in particular," he chimed. "Around this time, we have a certain... bug that gets more active. Doesn't sound appealing at first, but..." He drifted off and looked towards the garden. As if on cue, lights would blink on and off at random areas. Fireflies. There were dozens of them, all attracted to the garden's flowers, and they surrounded the two as if the stars were in front of them.