Raphael made his way through the streets of the capital city, his scarf and long eye mask trailing behind him. The day was fading; while the sun was not quite set yet, it was clear that it would only be a matter of time before sunset. He wondered what he would do that night - in general, he wasn’t one who had much on his schedule. He had a habit of just wandering around, and seeing what ended up happening to him - it was a wonder how many situations you could get into just by doing that. Besides, it was a treat to take a look at Crocus; the city was always pretty, the beauticians were top notch. He wondered briefly if the plants were handled by magicians, or actual gardeners, but benched the thought as he made a concise effort to move out of the way as a group of pedestrian almost walked right into him. He almost scowled; wasn’t he easy enough to notice? He was brightly colored enough that it shouldn’t have been that hard, with his blue coat and pants and red scarf and eye mask clearly sticking out amongst the rather plainly dressed individuals that so often crowded the streets. He stifled any sort of frown however, it was unbecoming of someone such as him. Instead he focused on everything else around him, the colors that were strewn about the buildings, the flowers, the girl that had just walked in front of him…

What? Raphael took a bit of a double take, noticing a pedestrian who, if he had been just a little further ahead, would have completely walked into. She was dressed as flamboyantly as he was, with a large headband, a poofy skirt, and ribbons in the same color that Raphael himself was adorned with. Her hair was a striking purple, which made Raphael wonder how much she must spend on dyes. That was assuming it wasn’t magical by nature, at times Raphael wondered if maybe it would be worth it to just have his hair magically changed to blue. Getting his thoughts back in the present situation, he wondered what the deal was with this girl, who was dressed as crazily as himself. Was she in the same boat as him, trying to draw attention to herself, or was she just eccentric? Shrugging, Raphael decided that it didn’t particularly matter. However, as it didn’t matter really which way he walked, he decided to turn down the same road that the girl did, just out of curiosity. After all, if she did have the same reasons as he did to dress outlandishly, then it would almost be rude to ignore her.

And so Raphael walked, very much aware of how absurd this situation was; but then again, most of the action that happened in the stories he had read came from such absurdities, the little coincidences. It was funny how much he looked into these sorts of things, he could still remember what had happened the last time he - a sudden commotion arising further up in the street distracted this chain of thought, and Raphael picked up the pace to see exactly what was going on. Was this his time to shine?

Raphael surged forward towards the clamor he had heard ahead. He didn't even realize that the girl that had minutes before had captured his attention had turned around and spoken to him; he needed to figure out what was going on! Running forward, doing his best to weave between the groups of people who occasionally came into his path, he eventually reached what seemed like was the cause of the commotion he had heard earlier. It was a street performance, a puppet show being put on by a few talented mages, from the looks of it, who seemed to be able to effortlessly control the motion of their puppets without any sort of strings. It seemed as though they were making them fight each other, and what he had heard was just the crowd's reaction as well as the noise of the actual puppet duel. Raphael sighed, he was happy that there had not been anything that needed his interference, but at the same time he was a little disappointed as well.

Now that he had "dealt" with that situation, his mind flashed back to that girl he had seen earlier. Where had she disappeared off to? He briefly glanced around, but couldn't really see to well in the waning light. After his brief search yielded nothing, he shrugged. If she was even somewhat important she would no doubt show up again, if she wasn't then there was no real reason to worry about it. That was how the world worked. As he always told to himself, he was the protagonist, and the rest of the world would bend to service him. And with that passing thought he decided that now it would probably best to head back to the inn he was staying at and get some sleep; he had spent this entire day hanging around in Crocus. Tomorrow he could get a start on the quest he was on.

Raphael stretched his arms as he walked to the inn. He was happy he remembered where it was; it was surprisingly close! While their were signs and maps that were helpfully scattered about through the bustling city, he didn’t even feel like he needed them. He had put in a surprisingly large amount of work that day, wandering around Crocus, reminding himself of the layout of the city, and figuring out new routes to where he needed to go. It had been an into-climactic way to end the night, with the interestingly dressed girl and commotion in the street not leading to any key events. But, not everything that happened had to be plot points; and besides, it was starting to get a bit chilly out. His scarf and coat only able to do so much, and as such, he was happy to see the familiar looking entrance to the inn he was staying at. It was a pretty nice place, with pretty sophisticated installations; much nicer than many of the more rural places in smaller towns. Even the door had a modern feel with it’s transparency. Gliding over to the door, he quickly opened it, and began to head off to his room, when -

“W-wait! Hey!"

He could faintly hear a voice behind him, and saw a familiar looking girl bump straight into the door. He raised an eyebrow in surprise; it seemed like there was some string of fate that was tying them together after all. Raphael rushed to the door, going out to see if the girl was ok. A concerned look was on his face, but it was mixed with curiosity. While not hostile, he seemed to almost be scanning her over, not just for injury, but also as though he were sizing her up. This quickly faded however, as he actually began to interact with her.

“Are you ok? How’s your head?”

He extended a hand out to her, as a friendly gesture. He was curious to see how she would react to that. Was he doing this right? He figured that being assertive in this situation was probably the best; though he didn’t know anything about her, or her present situation. Why had she been following him - assuming she had been? He decided that, as far as questioning would go, he would be pretty innocent about it. He didn’t want to seem like he was interrogating her. He was going to open up with a pretty basic and open question, which had no particular pressure on it.

“Did you need anything?"

Sighing softly she would wonder what she did wrong. Was she just weird? Was he just ignoring her even though he doesn't know her? These kinds of questions popped up into her mind, but stopped as she heard a voice. Her eyes looked up and her vision was focused to see the man she was following. His eyes were like a mix of green and blue yet when he was letting the light shine a certain way. His hair was a rather nice night sky blue that made her somewhat blush as he was really cute and mysterious. Slowly she would take his hand as if she did it unconsciously. Her heart started to beat fast as her hands somewhat sweat.

As he would help her up or most likely, she would look away blushing. ''I urmm...I'm new to Crocus and I don't know anyone.'' she would look the other way and lets go of his hand. ''You wanna go out somewhere? I also urm...saw you were following me, but I must have mistaken since you walked right past me...'' she then spoke lowly and saddened as she would lower her galaxy colored gaze. Areissa wasn't so sure on what he would say. If he wasn't truly up to go out somewhere, maybe then just here? She was sure this place had a bar/club of its own and pool and stuff. As she was thinking that, she started to look around making her eyes shine and sparkle. ''It's so pretty in here...'' she'd say and smiled happily at the man she just met.

Raphael kept a close eye on the girl as he waited for her to answer his question. She answered simply enough, something about being new to the city, and not knowing anyone. It was a situation he knew quite well from all his experiences. This was a classic damsel in distress. Her embarrassed looks to the side also keyed him in on some information. Was he flustering her? It came as no suprise to Raphael, it was only natural really; yet still, it seemed a little quick. He  made a mental note to himself to stay on guard, for all he knew she could be a spy out to lull him into a false sense of security. As she let go of his hand, she began to speak again; this time putting him in a very interesting predicament. She asked if he wanted to go somewhere, and called him out for following her while not being accusatory about it. Interesting… The idea of this woman being more than he had initially suspected was starting to seem more likely. She was perceptive enough to have noticed that he had been tailing her, but was acting like it was no big deal, and was now was making an offer to him that would seem incredibly sketchy if he refused. Was this all part of her plan? Of course, there was still the opportunity that he was overthinking this, which was often the option that one out in the end. He decided he was going to play it cool.

“Ah, was I following you? I know I saw you at least once in the streets, but I had no idea we had been walking the same way. And even more coincidental that we ended up crossing paths here. This must be fate, wouldn’t you say? I don’t know where you would want to go, but I don’t have much on my plate for tonight. What did you have in mind?”

The ball was in her court now. It was already established that he had been following her, there was no way he was going to be able to somehow obstruct that from her. Yet, he could try and pass it off as coincidence, and not play ignorant to noticing her in the area. In addition to this, he would call her out for following him all the way here, with the implication that he was aware of the fact that she was following him the whole time (though he actually hadn’t noticed until she bumped into the door - was that a mistake on her part, or a strategic play?). To finish off his statement, he was going to tread carefully with the idea of going with her somewhere. He couldn’t act to eager, that was suspicious, but he wasn’t going to outright deny it, as that would be a clear indicator that he was on to the fact something was up. He was going to act a little cautious, but not all too opposed to the idea. The fact that the girl would have to state where she wanted to go was also a plus to Raphael, as there was a chance that she might not have a reason at the ready and might slip-up. He regretted the fact that before he had almost written her off; he hadn’t expected to have run into a potential enemy so quickly. He hadn’t even begun his first day of investigation and he was already under scrutiny. He stood by for the girls response, maintaining a friendly, mildly concerned aura about him as she looked around at the city. He couldn’t slack off even for a second.

Areissa looked at him and wondered what kind of guy he was. She knew and studied different types of people since due to her Aura/soul-like magic she has to study a person. Sadly she has met many that weren't all that too good within. Her galaxy eyes looked into his eyes, this one was a mysterious one. Her being calmed as her face started to stop being so red/pink. She had to hold it together. She didn't want to seem like some weirdo...an annoying child. Someone who is rather crazy easily for one.

'You got this...' she thought calmly and coldly as she would smile small-like as he was talking. He was saying how it was somewhat funny or fate that they met up twice in a row on the same night. She wanted to blush at that, but something within her soul stopped her. What was this part of her? Why was she holding back now that she was finally talking to a cute guy? A mysterious one at that. She started to put her hands behind her back and looked away, towards the ground as she wondered on where to take him. She wasn't truly sure on where to go.

Areissa was truly new to Crocus and honestly this would be the first time she would go do something with a male. A cute one what that. She then had a simple flashback, a short one. When she was a child she like a boy that looked almost like this one. Full of spirits and happy and then he started to hang out with other people and bullied her. She always stayed home after that, never speaking to people other than her family. Locking herself away from all that wasn't related.

Her eyes cornered to look at the guy in front of her, right at this true moment. Slowly she stood up straight, used her right hand to move her bangs away from her eyes and made a gentle smile. ''How about we go to some club for food, music and dancing.~ Unless you know somewhere else to go. I-I mean...'' she started to drift off after starting all happily and bubbly. Was she afraid of already messing up? Even when she didn't know this person?  Her heart started to be in simple pain from her shyness. ''Urmm...I'm not sure on what is all here. Something as such would be nice though.'' she spoke even more softer than usual. After he would choose, she would be too shy and afraid to grab his hand on her own, so if he did or didn't...it was up to him.

Raphael’s suspicions were almost all but confirmed when the girl looked away from him, down at the ground. He had the advantage now, and he was sure that surely now that he had trapped her, he could use this situation to his advantage. Was she part of the guild he was going to look into, or someone hired to throw him off his tracks? Whoever she was, he was lucky for his quick thinking - anyone else would have been almost immediately swayed by the girl’s composition. She played her part nearly perfectly, with her refined beauty and endearing demure charm… It was almost scary how good she was at this, she must be some sort of professional hired from the outside.

When she finally began to speak, Raphael listened carefully, trying to detect any sort of inconsistency or hint towards her motives, but was unable to really find one. The girl was good at this. She was being pretty vague, talking about going to a club and eating food, listening to music, and maybe even dance a little. She wasn’t particular about where she wanted to go, stating that she didn’t know the area very well. Was this meant to manipulate him into choosing a specific place? No, he had to be thinking to deeply into this. There was no way… Besides, he didn’t know any places that met that criteria in Crocus anyway, so it wasn’t like he could actually choose anyway. He decided that the best course of action was to see what this girl was planning; wherever she wanted to take him, she could. He was going to make clear that he wouldn’t be manipulated! After a brief period of thinking, which probably looked completely regular to the girl, he responded, still sounding as suave as ever.

“Well, I’m not well acquainted with the capital myself; if you have somewhere in mind I would be more than happy to come with you. How could I refuse? Before we go though, I don’t believe we’ve formally been introduced. My name is Raphael; yours is…?”

With this he was making it clear he had no intention of retreating, and was showing the confidence that, no matter the battlefield, he would be more than capable of fending for himself. He had briefly considered giving a fake name, but had realized that, given how competent this woman had been, there would be no way that she couldn’t know who he was. After all, he was sure his name was constantly mentioned between all sorts of shady organizations. The question was, how honest would her reply be?

Her eyes moved to look into his as she wondered on where he was from, who was he and was he going to reject her? She bit her lower lip as she tried to not get out of control due to her shyness around guys - or at least this one. She felt like time was running by rather fast, although it truly wasn't. It was still, slow and it was as if it stopped for these two to decide on what to do. Her heart was beating though so she obviously knew the time hasn't stopped at this time and moment.

She listened to him say how he couldn't deny her request/offer and then told her his name. 'Rapheal? That's new...and cute.' she thought softly as her blue, purple and pink eyes looked into his rather pretty sea colored eyes with a sweet blushing smile. Her eyes then looked down, her hands held their own against her pelvic bone in a shy pose. ''M-my name is Areissa.'' She spoke soothingly and softly as she would then stand straight and look at him with a shy smile. She didn't want her shyness to ruin her night...not this time.

She would look towards the glass door and then wondered to herself on where they should go directly. Quickly she would corner her eyes to look at him, wondering if she should try to get enough courage to hold his hand. Sadly, she couldn't as her heart pounded painfully just thinking about it as her face went a light pink. ''So...let's go and walk till we find something.'' she spoke optimistically soft. She would turn around as he was behind her, too shy to grab his hand. She'd open the door for him and once he went outside she'd walk out with and walk beside him.

Her eyes wandered, feeling the soft breeze against her face making her long purple hair wave backwards. The softness of her skin would shine with the lights within the streets while her eyes sparkled like stars as they wandered to look around. Areissa would make sure that they'd stay synced and walked at a steady pace. She wondered more about Rapheal. Was he a bad guy pretending to be nice and mysterious in a rather good way? As time went on by she would then see some very neon colored signs. ''Belltaro Club. Never heard of it...'' she'd speak quietly as she would then look at how a sign had what they had. ''Karaoke, diner, alcohol and...dancing.'' she spoke quietly once more. Her head would turn to look at him, rather or not he did grab her hands anyways. ''Does that sound nice to you?'' she wondered. Of course it did to her as it sounded like a party inside. Her hears could hear the roars of people and her aura felt the commotion people were doing and causing.

Raphael steeled himself as the girl responded to his introduction. His name was new and cute? Formidable indeed, to think she could be so non-chalantly calling him out. The comment flushed his face a little, he hadn’t expected such an approach; to think she had the confidence to say that. She introduced herself as Areissa, a rather mysterious sounding name. He was curious as to what this Areissa person was up to, and whether this was about the dark guild, or something even darker than that. Again, the voice of reason in the back of Raphael’s head warned him that he could just be overthinking things, but honestly, he was fine with ignoring it for now. His safety might be on the line.

“Ah, I see! A pleasure to meet you Areissa. It’s a marvelous name that you have, I’ve never heard it before!”

Let’s she what she thought of that! He could play the same game she could. He was going to maintain his composure for the whole time, it was a rather interesting challenge for him to be taking part in. He tried to recall any similar situations he had read about before, but as of right now, he was drawing a blank. Areissa was now beckoning him to go forward with her, to ‘walk around until they found something.’ Curious, he tailed behind her, until they walked out the door, at which point the two stayed pretty much next to each other. Raphael subtly experimented with walking speed, and no matter how much more fast or slow he went she seemed to stay consistently at his side. As he looked around, scoping out the area, for anything suspicious, he couldn’t help but look at the glances they were getting from many of the people around them. What were they staring at… Were they in on this as well? Or were they just pointing them out as two equally bizarre looking youngsters out and about in the city? He chuckled at that thought, it was kind of funny how they seemed to fit together as far as their clothes were concerned; to the untrained eye they might even seem like a couple. But this was not at all the case, this was a battle of the minds, one which Raphael wasn’t going to lose.

Eventually they laid eyes on a particularly flashy looking building. The Belltaro Club, as Areissa called it, before saying she had never heard of it. She then detailed many attractions that the location held. He was curious about what lay in store for him there; she mentioned alcohol, was her plan to get him drunk? Unluckily for her, Raphael was proud to admit that he had never had any, and didn’t plan on it anytime soon. To some degree it was a matter of purity (heroes rarely ever indulged in that sort of thing) but he also had to admit, there was something about alcohol that just frightened him. He felt like it might vaguely relate to his blue hair, but he wasn’t sure why exactly. With confidence in his ability to thwart any sinister plots, he responded to Areissa’s question of the location’s suitability.

“It seems like a wonderful place; I can’t wait to see what it has in store for us.”

Then, gesturing to the door, and bowing a little for effect, Raphael opted to let Areissa lead the way. She probably felt like she was in control, and he wasn’t going to let her think anything different until the tables had completely turned.

Areissa waited for him to decide on rather or not he wanted to go here. Her mind kept wondering on what they would do in here anyways. What would they do first and how will all this turn out? She wasn't highly sure what this was. Was this a date or just them going to somewhere and interrogating each other? To her, it was most likely the latter. She nodded to him and then went in first as she opened the door. She wished that he would go 'into' control as she wasn't really the type to lead.

Her eyes brightened and sparkled as she went in. The neon lights sparkled and lit up the darkness that was left. She wasn't really huge on the whole darkness stuff. The music was legit as for now it was hard roaring techno. The music in general - the words, were somewhat interesting. 'Super Psycho love' was the title which made her wonder if this was some dark mage place, she hoped not. Slowly she would turn to make sure he was there, not leaving her side out of no where. She wasn't truly sure on who he was still.

Her heart pounded as she then looked forward and then slowly walked forward and saw that the sign then said ''Cafe De Paris''. She wondered if that was some inner organization or some owner. The place had a chandeliar and it just had it all. She smiled happily and giggled, blushing. ''Let's go find somewhere to sit!'' she spoke exstatic and grabbed his hand. She would run down the place/the stairs, but made sure neither of them would trip. After that she would then look around. All sorts of people were chatting and dancing all about in front.

Something felt different though. Their outfits seemed far away from hers. They seemed to wear dresses and things that revealed...more skin. She wondered if she should grab her clothes from her bag she had as she's always prepared. Her eyes looked at Rapheals and made an assuring smile as she led him towards the tables that were by the food and not the bar stands. Areissa wasn't sure on what he liked. Her heart felt blazing for once as she felt the song devouring her soul. Quickly she would knock it out of her system and saw a table available. ''Let's go here.'' she spoke softly and lets go of his hand. Swiftly she'd turn totally around in a perfect swirl to look up at him with her bright sparkling eyes. ''I hope...we can have fun here. Let's eat first.'' she spoke sweetly and then turned back slowly and sat down in the booth. Rather or not he sat by her was up to him. Soon and finally a waiter would come on by to take their order.

Raphael stretched a little before entering, lightly preparing for any sort of tussle he might get into. He then followed Areissa into the noisy building, taken aback by the music and the setting. It was pretty flashy in here, with the bright lights messing with his sight in the darker areas of the club. The whole place was disorienting; Raphael had never really spent too much time in these sorts of places, especially not with someone else. This was a wise tactic, as Raphael truly felt completely lost. He literally had no idea of what he was getting into; the stories he read were more about the traditional sort of lifestyle people had, and he barely had any access to more modern tales. While he was somewhat well adjusted to the actual advancements in technology, these sorts of social endeavors were lost to him.

As he looked around, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing, he felt his hand being grabbed gently, as he was led along by Areissa, to find somewhere to sit, according to her. They made their way down into a deeper section of the area, which Raphael was barely able to read as “Cafe De Paris.” As they rushed down Raphael couldn’t help but feel he was actually losing control of the situation. Was this all part of the plan too? Or was he just incredibly oblivious to this aspect of culture? His more reasonable side once more rang out to him, telling him it was the latter, and he was starting to agree with it. It certainly didn’t help that the area they were in now, while more well lit and involving food (not flailing dancers), was filled with women who were dressed very… it lead to quite a bit of discomfort for Raphael, to say the least. He was drained from all the effort he was putting into his small actions, and his brain was starting to get fried. Once they got to a table, which, of course, Areissa directed them to, he plopped himself down into the booth. As Areissa spoke up about having fun at this place, he did his best to persist with the collected persona he had been putting on the whole time, but it was starting to be obvious he was losing energy. He was, oddly enough, losing this battle of willpowers.

“Yes… I hope so too. It’s an interesting establishment… this place is. What did you have in mind for a meal?”

He diverted his eyes away from everyone who was outside the booth, bringing his focus onto Areissa. He tried to gauge her face for any shifts in emotion. He was in a weakened state now; and while not down for the count yet, now would at least be an opportune time to gloat. After all, that would have to be done before he was taken out, no question about it. Yet, the more he was able to spend some time face to face with the girl, the more he felt he couldn’t sense any hostility. It was getting to the point where Raphael was starting to realize that there was nobody who was this good. He couldn’t help but smile, as though he had just heard a great joke, and the smile turned into a small chuckle. He leaned back into the booth, laughing to himself, putting a palm up to his forehead to wipe some of the sweat.

Suddenly, he realized that, if the girl wasn’t an enemy, she was somehow going to be connected to him somehow. The question was, how? Whatever lack of energy he had suffered from the culture shock from entering the club were gone, and now once more he felt on top of his game. There was no enemy to fear, so he hoped. Instead, there was someone in front of him who seemed like she would be important to his quest. He hoped he hadn’t completely alienated her with his actions a minute prior, and began to speak, trying to brush over what had just happened, and start the conversation going.

“So sorry about that, I was just reminded of something from a long time ago, and I found it a little funny. My bad. So, anyways, how are you doing Areissa. What are you up to in Crocus? It seems like it is quite the place to be this time of year from the folks I’ve seen outside. Everyone seems to have their own reasons for being here; what’s yours?”

While the question itself was a tad prying, Raphael did his best to sound as friendly as possible about it. And he was being friendly about it, he was giving Areissa the benefit of the doubt. If she did end up being an enemy, then he would probably end up being quite a bit disappointed in himself. But again, it didn’t seem particularly likely. He waited a response, a slight smile on his face, as he looked Areissa over, eventually settling his gaze on her eyes, which almost seemed to be mini galaxies of themselves.

Her eyes looked into his sea colored eyes. Her soul from her eyes felt like it could get lost within them. Her heart was beating calmly as she would hear him speak on the matters of a meal. What did she want to eat? Would she eat what she would regularly do and get a lot of try to be lady-like around this guy? Her smile would disappear as she was unsure on how to act on this. She didn't want to look like a fool or seem - wait, why does she care? Her eyes looked away blushing as she realized that she had a sudden string to her heart revealed to her mind.

'What is the meaning of this...' she thought and wondered as her eyes went back to look at his. Was she really that afraid to embarrass herself in front of a guy? The guy that walked next to her was holding a notepad and looked at the two. ''What would you two love birds like for tonight?'' he spoke in a rather gentleman or professional bulter-like voice. It took her somewhat a moment to catch what was just said - other than what she would like. 'L-love birds?' she thought and got super red.

Quickly she shook her head and panicked rather shyly. ''N-no no, we're not a couple. Just...'' she wasn't so sure on what to say. They just met. ''We're just friends enjoying the night!'' she spoke rather cheerfully trying to coverup her embarrassment. She would bite her lower lip in wondering on what to get. ''I would like a BLT hamburger without the tomato and some fries. Perhaps a milkshake and chicken salad would be nice.'' she'd say softly and giggles. Her head would turn to Rapheal in curiosity. After he would order the guy would leave and now she'd go back to their conversation.

''I'm just traveling upon Crocus to adventure. Heard people find a lot of things here...rather it be an object or more. I'm just hoping to seek my silly goals in life and get stronger.'' she'd say softly and waited for her food. Her pointing fingers would fiddle, her eyes still looking into his to get lose into them. Why was she like this? Was it because she was never around people? Or was it more? She kept this feeling to herself right now...''What about yourself?'' she would question so it wouldn't be quiet between them.

Raphael was relieved that a lot of the stress that had been building up ever since he had started meeting Areissa was gone. Adrenaline was still coursing through his veins though, and he was still feeling a bit of a rush. He was still observing the girl, watching the minute details of her actions. This time he was not necessarily trying to look for suspicion, but just any clues as to how she was acting. One of the traits Raphael had been developing ever since he had gotten into the outside world was observing body language. While he was eccentric at times, he wasn’t dumb, and he could see that the girl seemed quite a bit flustered to be with him. Granted, he had been a little overwhelmed by this whole encounter for a little bit, but it seemed like she was certainly a bit embarrassed. Could it be…? Before he could finish the thought, the waiter came by and made a comment about the two of them being love birds. Raphael chuckled at the thought; they had just met, there was no way - as he was about to speak to the waiter, Areissa interjected, confirming Raphael’s suspicions. She was obviously perturbed by the man’s comment, her nervous recovery, red face, and general expressions giving it away. It was because of him; was he the one who was playing her? As he thought about it, it all seemed to make sense: He was the clueless protagonist, accidentally stringing along the poor girl who happened to cross paths with him, and get swept off her feat by his majesty. It was an easy explanation that he should have seen coming, but now that he realized it, he knew how to handle it: he would continue to act clueless.

As Areissa put in her order, Raphael wondered what he wanted. Was he really that hungry? He had already eaten before his run-in with Areissa, but he had not really thought this to be relevant when he had still thought she was his enemy. But now, what was he going to do? When Areissa’s order was finished, the waiter looked expectantly at him. Playing it cool, he decided to just wing it. Calmly and cooly, he addressed the waiter.

“I’ll have what the kind lady here will be having as well, thank you.”

The waiter gave a curt nod, and walked off, leaving the conversation between just the two of them again. Areissa began to answer his questions, speaking about how she had come for adventure, to get stronger, pretty intangible goals. Honestly though, they were pretty similar to his own, only Raphael’s checkpoints along the way were a little more concrete. But that was besides the point. When his reasons for being in Crocus were inquired about, he decided to be a little more on the vague side of things.

“Me? I’m here for similar reasons you are. I’m here to hone my abilities and seek adventure as best I can. However, I do have more of a concrete goal in mind, I’m here to hunt some criminals, and bring them to justice. I have my work cut out for me, but I think I can do it!”

He smiled at that fact, almost to show his confidence in his ability. He wondered what Areissa would have to say about that. He hoped that he wasn’t falling into a trap, but, as he kept on reminding himself, this almost certainly wasn’t.

Areissa wondered to herself is she was obvious on how she was feeling. Her eyes would look at his as she would try to read him. I mean come on, her magic was 'Soul' magic. The music continued to play regularly and the waiter left. He ordered the same stuff she did, which to her was somewhat weird. She couldn't possibly judge him for that though. Softly her elbows rested against the table, chin on her hands and looked at him curiously. Her mind and thoughts started to wonder if she should even bother explaining herself, why she's been acting the way she does.

Firstly she would listen to Raphael saying how his goals are somewhat the same yet they are more concrete. He seemed to be there to hunt criminals and fight for justice. Her head would tilt a tiny bit and looked at him. Her sparkling eyes from the ceiling lights making them seem like stars upon a galaxy of her own. Her sweet smile glossed of pink as her purple amethyst hair would rest on her shoulders.  She wasn't so sure on when the food would arrive, perhaps it'd be time for a little chat.

''So you're lawful good?'' she questioned and smiled. Everything disappeared that had to do with her shyness. It felt weird as if her soul started to conceal how she felt and therefore made her calm. 'Calm. Patience...' a voice spoke within her head. She blinked a couple times and her eyes wandered. 'Where is that coming from?' she wondered in her head. Truly it wasn't that important right now. ''Well...all I can say is....'' she started softly and thought about it. What if she did break a law and she'd have to battle him? It wasn't the fact that he is probably stronger than him, but she wouldn't even want to come across him in a caring matter. Why did she care for him? 'Care...' she repeated in her head. ''Yknow...You're the first guy I actually spoken to like this in several years...'' she started to say calmly yet softly. ''I always stayed away from people other than family till recently.'' she would speak once more.

After she was done, the people with the food arrived and sat down one thing after another. Soon the food people would leave the two alone to carry on whatever conversation they were having.

As the two of them waited for their food, the conversation continued. Raphael had finished his explanation of why he was in Crocus, and he was taken by surprise by her immediate reaction to it.

"So, you're lawful good?"

The thought brought a smile to his face. He was well aware of the idea of alignment charts, as an avid reader, how could he not be? The fact that he was being categorized as lawful good by someone was perfect, that was exactly what most classic heroes were considered. But was he personally that? Raphael didn't think so, and thought of himself more of a Chaotic Neutral. But that obviously wasn't what he was going to be saying in this sort of setting. Rubbing the back of his neck, he responded in a rather kindly tone:

"I guess you could call me that! I don't put too much thought into those kinds of things, but it probably fits!"

After he had spoken, it seemed like there was something else that Areissa wanted to say, but after a brief struggle with words, she seemed to drop the thought. She then began to speak again. Whether it was a new idea or a rephrasing of what she meant to say before, Raphael couldn't tell. The whole time this was happening Raphael patiently waited for her to collect her thoughts, curious as to what she was going to say.

Aries expressed the fact that she had not talked to a guy like him in a while, and that she mostly stayed with family instead. It was a pretty standard sort of backstory for her sort of character, and he wondered what the specifics behind this were. The shy characters in stories usually were the ones who had some sort of tragedy happen to them that crushed their confidence. Some possibilities that floated through Raphael's head were family issues, bullying, the death of someone close, or maybe something more drastic. Seeing as though she seemed to have a close relationship with her family (and she probably wasn't being held back by them, seeing as she had this much freedom), and it didn't seem like she had experienced some drastic loss or tragedy, he guessed it was option number 2. That was something he could work with. Making a surprised face, Raphael turned his head away briefly and darted his eyes to the ground - emulating typical signs of embarrassment.

"Ah, I see... Well, is that ok? I didn't... It's funny, I'm kind of in the same boat as you are. I don't really get a chance to meet with people too much like this either. I'm usually off on missions, or training, that stuff is a lot easier to deal with than people, you know?"

After he said it, Raphael wondered what he was trying to accomplish. He knew very well that just because coincidence had brought the two of them together that night didn't mean there was any of that "fate" stuff happening. He was doing what he usually did, which was overdramatize situations. While this usually was harmless, this time, he realized, now he was starting to manipulate Areissa. His previous actions weren't that bad, but if he started lying about things, he would be no worse than the fictional persona he had made up for Areissa at the beginning of their little journey. He wondered why he would be doing such a thing in the first place, there wasn't anything really for him to gain from it, so why would he be doing that. Was it just a matter of him wanting her to like him more, some sort of egotistical confidence boost? Or did he have some other feelings he needed to have sorted out? Whatever the case was, food had arrived, and to take his mind of things, he began to dig into his food, which seemed like it would be a fitting way to fill the pit in his stomach which seemed to be forming. As he ate, he decided he was going to take this more seriously, he owed Areissa that much, after all.

She would look at him and wonder on what he was thinking about. He was an interesting character and mysterious at that. She'd smile sweetly as her head tilted down to look at the food that was in front of her. She listened to his words and heard on how he rarely really meets people like this as he's always busy with something. Another string from her heart felt plucked as if her heart was a harp. What did the break of a string mean? Not even she knew what it really meant for it to do that.

Slowly she would pick up her right hand and grabbed some french fries to eat. As she did she would wonder on where this would go. What in her book would Raphael become? Would he be her enemy, friend or more? The darkened thoughts start to devour her to where a rather dark purple would somewhat be visible. 'What do I exactly do? I feel lost within.' she wondered to herself curiously. Her heart started to beat hard, shaking her out of her dark thoughts and making the aura disappear. Slowly she would nom on her food and enjoy this silence with him.

The music started to get slower in which the techno disappeared. Her galaxy eyes looked up at him as she took her milkshake and drank it from the straw. She wasn't so sure on what to really say now. What should she say? People didn't like silence, right? It ruins things...'What do I say?...I-I don't want him to leave.' she thought worrying about it. She stopped drinking her milkshake and swallowed quietly and looked at him still. ''So...Raphael...Perhaps -...'' she started. 'No...don't say it.' a voice spoke within her head which made her stop. ''I mean, how's the food?'' she questioned and smiled happily and giggled. ''So do you have any questions for me?'' she bursted out saying in her soothing soft voice, gripping the table and leaned forward towards him so they were somewhat close face to face.

Areissa seemed to do this unconsciously as if her body acted on its own. Her eyes widened as she noticed how close their face was and hurried to sit all the way back down. Her face turned away and blushed. ''I-I'm sorry. I mean usually the question games help people know each other. If...If you're not interested, that's fine too...I..'' she started to ramble quickly and shyly as her fingers twiddled. What was she doing? 'What's wrong with me!? I must look stupid and weird...' she thought to herself as her hands switched to play with her long purple hair. She felt so flustered, how could she relax? Was she really truly afraid already of his opinion? Slowly her eyes would look  at him and if he looked at her she'd look away.

Raphael continued to eat, with Areissa seeming pretty distracted. He was still feeling a little guilty, though, he reminded himself, he hadn't done too much that was really bad. He was waiting for Areissa to speak up, as he really had no idea what to say, for the most part. As he waited he couldn't help but realize there was no way he was going to be able to eat all this food; he hadn't expected for the order to be as big as it was. Eventually, Areissa spoke his name, and made it sound like she was about to say something, before trailing off, and asking about food. It seemed as though she was going to say something different, again, and once more he was curious as to what that might have been. However, the question about food was pretty straightforward and easy to answer.

“The food is extremely good, I might have gotten a little too much though; I’ll be honest, I ate a little bit before we went out. Which is fine, of course.”

As he was about to take another bite of the Bacon Lettuce Burger (the removal of tomatoes had been a wise choice) he was startled when Areissa leaned across the table to ask if he had any questions for her. He had decided earlier he was going to relax about this whole thing, and not put on any sort of pretenses, and thus was not expecting something like that. Her face was very close to his, and he couldn’t help but be a tad flustered by the gesture. With no model to act upon, he couldn’t help but show it in his expression, blushing just enough to be noticeable. It seemed Areissa was just as confused about it because she quickly sat back down, not able to make eye contact with him. She began to make excuses for herself, which Raphael thought was a little amusing. He smiled, a genuine smile, and tried to do his best to address what she was saying.

“Don’t worry about it, I agree! Questions are a great way to learn about people! I’ll just have to think of one…”

He briefly went through his head about what he could ask, and one of the thoughts that had popped into his head the first time he had seen her came back to him.

“How did your hair get to be purple? Magic? Dye? Or is it natural? Believe it or not, I just dye mine. It’s sort of a way for me to stick out a little, you know?”

He hoped that she wouldn’t mind the fact it was a bizarre question. However, at the same time he wasn’t going to bother as much to try and act too professionally, he wanted to be genuine, just for the rest of this night at least. It was a refreshing change from how he usually acted, for as much as he enjoyed being dramatic, it could be very taxing.

She would wait and wonder on how his reaction and answer would be. Areissa wasn't so very sure on what it could be, but hopefully it wasn't a bad one. The answer on the other hand, she didn't mind if it was no. If he didn't feel up to questions and such then so be it. To her surprise though he was fine with it. He then started to think of questions and the popped one up. Raphael started to question about her hair, the color and how did she get it. Rather if it was dyed or natural.

She thought on the subject then, deep in thought. She tried to remember if it was natural or not as not even she remembered. Sure it was somewhat silly that she didn't know rather or not purple was her natural hair color, but she forgot a lot of things...That being one of them. Was her hair some other color? ''It's natural...'' she spoke softly as her hangs brought up to the tip of her long bangs and started to twirl it. Her eyes would look into his sea colored eyes as if the galaxy and sea became mixed and one.

Areissa's soul felt firing as it felt strange to her. ''What about your hair? Natural or dyed? If so, what is your natural hair color?'' she questioned him softly and rested her cheek on her right hand, her elbow on the table. She had questions, but she wanted to start with the generics and perhaps more meaningful ones in the future. Of course that is if there is a future or a next meeting or anything...It did pain of her thinking that, but anything can happen. That or maybe something will happen between them. Who knows.

Raphael was intrigued by the answer he got from Areissa. Purple was a natural hair color? He always imagined that those with differently colored hair mostly altered it, but the fact that her's was the real deal was something that amazed him, and made him feel a little embarrassed about the state of his hair. She asked him a counter-question about the color of his hair, which struck him as a little odd, he had said he dyed his, hadn't he? He would clarify it again, he figured.

"Well, yeah, I dye my hair, it's actually brown."

Realizing that the conversation had taken an awkward turn, and he couldn't help but feel personally accountable for it. Trying to think of a less weird question to ask, he decided to try and branch out into some more vague questions, that would maybe open up conversation to more specific sorts of things. He opened his mouth, and tried to formulate his questions, but it was pretty hard for him to find the right wording, and sort of just stumbled along trying to get them out.

"So... What... is it you do? As in, what's your trade? Like, for example, me? I'm a mage, I work with Lamia Scale. Are you a mage? From a guild? You seem to have that sort of feel about you, you certainly stand out in a crowd; mages tend to have that sort of aura about them."

Areissa looked at him as she wondered on his natural hair color. After she did ask that of course though she noticed that he did say he has dyed it. She felt silly and embarrassed now, but made her facial expression seemed calm. 'Brown huh?' she thought in her mind as she tried to imagine him in brown. She could see it as he seemed kinda cute with brown as well. She wondered on why he would dye it though. Just out of curiosity and fun? Soon enough he would ask the next question and answered it all in one go. He seemed from the guild of Lamia Scale and a mage.

Her eyes looked over and about as to see if anyone was really around which no one was. Her eyes would soon look back into his with a soft smile. ''Yes, I'm a mage, but I'm from no guild of any sort. Just a guildless wanderer. What's your magic?'' she answered and then questioned him. She would lean over a bit with both of her elbows on the table and chin on her hands. The music was beyond her as all her attention was on Raphael and her food. When she wasn't talking. She would eat her food still slowly nomming politely.

Areissa seemed pretty satisfied with his answer, and in fact, looked as though she were deep in thought for a moment. However, by the time he asked his next question, she seemed to have recovered. Raphael was a little wary when Areissa looked around before answering, confused as to why she might want to hide her answer. When she replied, Raphael's confusion was not resolved at all. If she was just a mage, not in any guild, what would it matter if anyone casually heard it? Raphael also noticed that she was once more leaning in a little, this time less close though. He put the thought aside however, as she asked what his magic was, and focused on showing off a little.

He stuck out a finger, and from it, little letters of light flew out, moving towards Areissa's face. They were harmless, of course, but he wondered how she would react.

"I gained my magic from an ancient language, which blessed me with powers over light. What type of magic is yours?"

He was curious as to what magic she might have, and hoped that he wasn't being tricked, as it seemed like once more Areissa was starting to be a little suspicious.

She waited to listen to him, every word. Her pink, blue and purple galaxy gazed eyes looked into his sea ones as if she was trying to read him. What kind of person was he really? Was he a good guy truly who had really no interest in people? All she knew was that he was mysterious which interested her. He answered that it was some kind of ancient language magic. Honestly it really spiked her interest, making her soul seem rather more deeper towards his. Truly a regular person wouldn't be able to tell if ones soul was attracting another nor be able to see someone else's soul, sadly she wasn't normal. Her eyes lit up like a cosmic beauty. Slowly and smally would her lips depart as she saw him writing letters of light. ''I-it's beautiful...'' she spoke in a rather softly amazed voice. Slowly she would moisture her lips with her tongue and lower her gaze as he asked her about her own magic.

She wasn't quite sure on how to explain. Her magic truly didn't even have a name for that fact. How would she explain it? Slowly her eyes looked back into his and smiled purely. ''It's nothing special like yours or pretty for that fact...I'm not even sure how to explain it, you know?'' she spoke unsure and then wondered what to question next. She was too embarrassed to ask certain questions and plus...they just met. She didn't want to seem weird and so forth. ''S-so...what are your favorite things? Hobbies, objects and what are you into kind of things...'' she spoke, trying to see if he'd at least give her more things to question on or even for future reference.