[PRP] First Date (Dulce, Sindri) [FIN]

[Menelie]

Mene

Dulce had found her arrangement with Sindri to be suiting her just fine. It saved her trips to the market, it was more economical, and she found Sindri to be a pleasant type. She found herself becoming more and more chatty when she came to collect her eggs each week, and, slowly, she was learning more about him and getting better at socializing like an actual adult.

Today she came for her eggs as usual, but had an extra plan. "I, um," she started hesitantly after they'd exchanged greetings. "I was wondering if you would be interested in dinner sometime. Or lunch, it doesn't have to be dinner. And a bit of a walk together? Personally, I mean, um...no business." She blushed awkwardly. Dulce wanted to think of herself as smooth and flirtatious and charming, but the truth was she had had her ego thoroughly deflated since getting here, and while that had ultimately been positive for her, she was having a hard time building herself back up. She liked Sindri, and if he said no it would make things quite awkward. But...nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Dai

Ever since Sindri has left for Sunrise Terrace to rendezvous with his younger sisters, he'd gained a sort of accomplice with caring for the chickens in the form of the little harasser herself, the harpy Xue Li. When he was away from the home for an extended time, she came by to check on them. Actually... She typically came by to watch them pretty much daily, but she also helped with care when he had to leave, and she'd started bringing the egg deliveries to town when he'd been too busy to do so himself. So far, it seemed to be a growing, mutually-beneficial arrangement.

But for others, he did enjoy it when they came by themselves. By others, it was really just one other. Just Dulce. Thankfully, quite a bit of the initial awkwardness was beginning to fade. Not all of it yet, but a lot of it. Turned out they were both more socially-awkward than either gave themselves credit for.

He had already received her emptied box from the prior exchange and was picking up the new, full one as she began talking. He glanced back at her with a, "Mmmm...?" as he crouched down, the processed the request as he stood up and walked back over. He was handing her the box when it clicked in his head - was he...? was he being asked out on a date...?!? His own cheeks flushed pinker from her suddenly demure attitude and his eyes glanced down, caught sight of her clavicles and the top of her chest, then back up, then away. Oh s**t, yeah, she was pretty, but he was certainly pent up (both socially and... otherwise) and definitely wasn't emotionally prepared for this unexpected moment.

Mene

Dulce rubbed the back of her neck. His silence was worrying. She didn't immediately back out, though. Her mother had taught her to stand her ground. She kept her chin up. It didn't escape her notice that he was admiring her figure, which encouraged her and made her smile smugly despite herself. Of course he was admiring her. She was gorgeous.

She took the eggs as offered and waited with a confidence she didn't particularly feel (fake it til you make it?) for an actual response.

Dai

Sindri took extra care not to brush his fingers against hers as he handed off the eggs and pulled his hands back. Carefully. He subtly wet his now-dry lips as he also took a step back. Gave her (and himself) some space.

"Er... um... Dinner...? Like tonight...?" Oh Tariel's tits what was he saying - tonight?? Clearly she didn't mean tonight.

A very awkward smile was plastered to his face and his eyebrow twitched once.

Mene

Dulce's breath caught a little. "Tonight?" She repeated, trembling. Her heart leapt. "I mean, if you want to," she said, squeaking slightly.

So soon? That gave her so little time to get ready! But if he was excited then so was she. She cleared her throat gently. "I mean...tonight is lovely."

Dai

"Too soon?" Sindri winced slightly, figuring he'd already blown it. He was gonna have to listen to his brother brag about his girlfriend again while he continued life as a celibate. But then he blinked and stared for a few moments too long as she agreed, and then clarified that she really did agree.

"Oh... Oh, okay! Tonight then. Yes. Umm... Where?"

 

[Menelie]

Mene

Dulce had absolutely not thought that far. "Um...why don't I meet you here?" She suggested. "And then we can decide together!" She could hardly believe it. I mean, well, of course he wanted her, she was a catch for sure. But for her first go at asking someone on a date...not bad!

Dai

"Waithere?!" His voice may have shot up an octave as he just about cut her off before he raised his hand to his mouth and coughed to try and calm himself down with a mumbled, "sorry... uh yeah... I'll see you then."

Mene

---

Around dinnertime Dulce returned to Sindri's place. She was trying not to panic, but her heart rate was definitely elevated. What if she said something terrible? What if she talked over him? What if he changed his mind and didn't come?

She'd taken the time, this afternoon, to freshen up and get cute. She loved feeling cute, it made her feel confident. So she'd washed and dried her curly hair, then fixed it in a simple up-do with a ribbon bow at the front. Dulce didn't have much in the way of jewelry (yet, she hoped that would change once she had more money), but she had a small spiral-shaped seashell that she'd found when she lived on the beach with her mother which she'd carefully punched a hole in and strung on a cord. She hoped it looked delicate and exotic. The finishing touch was a bit of perfume, which was suspended in oil that she dabbed on her wrists and, on a whim, her breastbone. It had a sweet, musky scent that she quite enjoyed.

Dulce took a deep breath, tried to relax, and knocked on Sindri's door.

Dai

Now the evening, Sindri has been in a bit of a curious mood all day since the loose plans had been established. Xue Li has, in fact, come by for a moment to watch the chickens around midday, but she quickly left when Sindri began to talk incessantly about Dulce and what she'd said and what did she mean by any of it.

To quote the harpy: "Look, I don't know. I don't care. That's gross."

So he'd been left to his thoughts again. He really had nobody to blame but himself for that - it was high time he actually made more friendships, not just professional relationships, with the village residents. He just got so awkward about it.

To prepare, he'd wiped himself off with a towel and braided his hair. Nothing too fancy - certainly more than he'd ever needed to do back in the Spring. Did he need to do more? This was new territory.

He jumped lightly at the knock, and took a big breath to calm his nerves before walking over and opening it with a twitchy smile. "You actually came?" Smooth. Man, she did look extra cute right now though.

Mene

Dulce flushed pink (pinker than normal) and tucked a curl behind her ear. "You....sound surprised," she said with a bit of a laugh, trying to diffuse tension. He looked the same as he usually did, though she did notice that he'd made a bit more of an effort with his hair. It looked nice in a braid like that. "You look nice," she complimented with what she hoped was a warm smile and a confidence she didn't particularly feel.

"Um....shall we?" she asked, taking a step back so he'd have room to exit.

Dai

How convenient that they could both blush and just chalk it up to their skin tones.

He laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. "I kind of am? I thought you could have been pulling my leg." Wouldn't be the first time. He responded back with a, "You too - did you do something with your hair?" before nodding and exiting the house.

He generally let her pick the direction of travel before following beside her. "Errrm... My niece didn't put you up to this, did she?"

 

[Menelie]

Mene

"Pulling your leg?" repeated Dulce, then shook her head. "N-no....I'm not very good with jokes," she admitted. Then she brightened and touched her hair, pleased he'd noticed. "I did!" she agreed. "I did sort of a fancy hairdo. Normally I just pull it back out of my face when I'm baking. Do you like it?"

She started walking them toward the man part of town, toward one of Breeheart's many restaurants. "Hm?" she inquired. "Your niece?" She wasn't even aware he had a niece. "Not to my knowledge..." she responded, shaking her head again.

Dai

"Oh, uh... Good to know then. I'm not funny either." Again, smooth. Still though, he smiled lightly and nodded. "It's cute - you can't do this sort of thing with your hair in the Spring." It'd just go everywhere anyways cause water.

"Yeah, Monroe, y'know... She looks like [description of her, including hand gestures and movements as necessary]. She said she was going to pop by for some bread before going home."

Mene

"The Spring?" repeated Dulce, glancing over at him. "Oh, I didn't know you were from the Lake!" She didn't know much about him at all, she realized. She started mentally making a list of conversation topics, to get to know each other better.

She mentally ran through her customers to see if one matched that description. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I do remember her. Nice girl. I just thought she was a tourist." She was generally too busy to make much small talk with her customers, or else she might have found out that they were related.

Dai

Sindri's smile twitched slightly and he nodded. "Oh... Uh... Yeah... I'm actually from there. Naiad and all... Hah..." Well wasn't be feeling self-councious again. Not naiad enough for the naiad and not land enough for the land.

Still, the surface did feel like the right choice. Generally.

He nodded. "Yeah, I think she's technically my..." He paused and looked up as he mentally ran though it, "adopted great niece from my half-sibling's side." Another slight pause. "But she's older than me, so I try not to think about it too hard."

Mene

Dulce tried (and failed) to contain a surprised expression, though she didn't say anything immediately. Naiad! She'd always assumed he was at least partially Fae, on account of the generally fey look he had. She wasn't aware that Naiad could live long-term outside of the water, though for all she knew he had a pool in his house. She decided to refrain from commenting on any of it, and instead focused on the second part of what he'd said.

"It sounds like you have a large family," she said. "I'd, um, I'd love to hear more about them, if you don't mind talking about it." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, feeling somehow like she'd made a huge misstep here somewhere.

Dai

Yeah... He recognized that expression. This was why he didn't tend to talk about his family all that much - he knew he was just weird. For a pure naiad to have permanent legs and be able to live on the surface... It really was just weird.

He laughed lightly, perhaps a bit self-depreciatively. "It really is." He paused at that, tilting his head slightly. "I can, but... uh... Any reason why?"

"Why you'd like to hear about them, that is. Very few of them could or would ever visit Breeheart."

 

[Menelie]

Mene

Dulce shrugged a little and blushed. Was she being too intrusive? "I don't know," she said, shrugging again. "I just....am not very close with any of my family. I've got three older brothers I've never met, and a brother and father in the City, allegedly. Not that either them have ever bothered to visit? So it was just me and Mother." She supposed having this family situation had made it easier to leave and start her new life here in Breeheart. "So I guess I'm just curious about what having a big family's like." She glanced over at him again. "And....maybe I want to get to know you better, too."

Dai

Sindri reached up to scratch his cheek. "Yeah. It's uh... It gets pretty awkward with some of my family sometimes... Age difference and other things and all..." Not to mention all of his half-siblings were, by virtue of their other parent, more important than he or any of his siblings would ever be.

"I've got three siblings - two younger sisters and a brother. My parents also have children from prior relationships and... Well... My half-siblings are actually kind of important, or at least their parent is. Three from my mother, two from my father."

"Beyond my siblings and half-siblings, two on my mother's side have children. Both with angels. Most of those live in Sunrise Terrace, but one is actually also here in Breeheart."

"Then from my nieces and nephews, I have five great nieces, three great nephews..." He smiled warmly. "...and I just recently got a letter from my sister that my Auntie Xoana - she's actually one of my great nieces, but she's still Auntie - recently had two tadpoles of her own. A boy and a girl."

Mene

"Woooow," responded Dulce, wide-eyed. "That sounds amazing! To have family wherever you go? How wonderful." She smiled and nodded. "My older brothers are half-brothers as well. I have...no idea where they are, if they have partners or children or anything." She clasped her hands in front of her as they walked. "Babies! Congratulations to them," she said.

She was about to say more, but they arrived at the restaurant. After they'd gotten seated and ordered, she decided to keep the conversation going. "So, um, what brought you to Breeheart? If you don't mind my asking, that is."

Dai

Sindri laughed a little and continued scratching his cheek, then moved that hand to rub his forearm instead. "Well, I've only gone between here and Sunrise since I was younger so... Yeah... I guess I do have family in both places." He nodded and glanced up, then back to her. "Half-siblings make everything complicated, don't they?"

If only he knew how that statement rang true. After all, their half-siblings were also cousins.

Crazy.

He followed along once they'd made it to the restaurant, sufficiently more relaxed than he'd been at first. He looked around at the varied array of guests, internally commenting that villages were wild. To think there were so many faun congregating with other surface pae - it was still wild to him.

Though he wasn't one to talk.

Mene

He hadn't answered her question. Had she been prying too much? She shifted in her seat nervously. "I didn't grow up here either," she said, answering her own question. "I lived with my mother near the ocean. Just the two of us, no one else really around." It only now occurred to her how lonely she'd been. Maybe that's why she left, really. "Once I was old enough I left. I was going to go to Sparks Hollow, that Fae village, but I heard about Breeheart and I couldn't resist the pull of sweets." She giggled gently.

Dai

He looked back over to her. "The ocean?" That's where his mother and his grandparents were from - they didn't really like to talk about it though. Guess it made sense some surface pae would live near the water - wait, weren't there two villages now premised on that? "Like near Partayzia? Up north?"

His own reason for coming here seemed simpler in comparison. "I just had legs - which I don't need to tell you how weird that is for a naiad - and my Auntie Peaches said I should come visit her. So I came." A bit of a smirk. "And then I just didn't go back home."

 

[Menelie]

Mene

"Mhm!" Dulce nodded brightly. "I think that's where Mother lives now. I guess she got lonely too." She blushed, realizing she hadn't previously admitted to having been lonely. Oh well.

"And now you've made a whole life here," she responded with a tone of admiration. She wondered if his family missed him. She wondered if Mother missed her. Maybe she should write. Sindri said his sister wrote him. That was a good idea. Suddenly she felt like they had more in common than she'd initially realized. Feeling a spark of connection, she blushed and rubbed her cheeks lightly with her hands.

"I'm, um....I'm glad our paths crossed," she said softly.

Dai

Sindri raised a brow at that -too-. That was hard for him to believe based on her general personality and demeanor - he generally figured she'd been pretty popular and doted upon growing up... Not unlike how his sisters had been.

By Tariel he hoped Nanna at least had calmed down by now.

He scratched his cheek and slightly averted his gaze. "I guess... Really was just a series of whims if I think back on it. Coming here. Visiting my relatives. Getting the chickens." Though he was arguably closer with the other 'chickens' than the majority of the village. He looked back with a warm smile. "But I'd say I'm glad I ended up here."

"And I'm glad you did too."

Mene

She had been extremely doted upon, it was just only her mother, which is why being around actual other paeple had been so humbling for her at first. She'd done a lot of unlearning, but her first instincts were very often judgmental, vain, or entitled. But by the Guardians, she was trying.

Dulce laughed softly, just a small, breathy sound. "Yeah," she agreed. Tentatively, she moved her hands from where they were folded on the table, touching one of his hands with her fingertips. She watched for his reaction. She had no idea what she was doing, but somehow it felt right?

Dai

Sindri made some sort of noise in-between a squeak and a cough as he reflexively pulled his hands back and into his lap.

"So... have you ever been to this restaurant before?" Now that was a Kel-quality diversion.

Mene

Dulce, too, pulled her hands back into her lap. Yep, nope, yep, that had been too much for sure. She shook her head and looked around, incredibly thankful for the change of subject, clumsy as it was. "No, but I don't think I've had bad food since I've lived in Breeheart, so I'm looking forward to it." She smiled awkwardly, holding her hands tightly in her lap.

Luckily for both of them their food arrived in fairly short order, so they'd have something else to focus on and talk about.

Dai

"Oh yes, look, food! Now doesn't that look good!" Sindri graciously accepted his order of whatever it was he'd ordered from the waiter and in no time he'd settled into a comfortable rhythm of small talk and eating.

Once done, he'd paid for both of them (he insisted) before offering to walk Dulce back home. It wasn't all that far away, and she'd be safe regardless, but he offered all the same.

Mene

Dulce happily accepted the offer to walk her home. During dinner she had more or less shaken off the awkwardness of her actions earlier, and falling into more normal conversation had her feeling more comfortable.

Once they reached her home she thanked him for dinner again, and for the walk. "I, um, I had a really good time," she said. "I'd be....open to doing this again sometime," she offered, trying not to come on too strong.

---

Once inside she exhaled deeply and sank into a chair. "Guardians," she said, exhausted. She laid back and, in the privacy of her home, voiced every uncharitable thought she'd had all evening. Mainly comments about other restaurant patrons.

Her familiar, Brulee, jumped into her lap. She petted her and shook her head. "A Naiad?!" She exclaimed. "Guardians, Dulce, what are you getting into? How could you not have seen? Or known? Uuuuugh, he probably thinks I'm so weird." She ran her hands down over her face. "And trying to touch his hand?? What is wrong with you?"

It seemed other paeple weren't the only ones she had uncharitable thoughts about.

"Oh, Brulee. I still had a really great time, though." She sighed happily.