A Spot of Tea

[Marguerite]

Gavin sat down at the table by the window, feeling unaccountably nervous. This wasn't entirely unusal, he reminded himself, trying to examine his reflection in the back of his spoon without actually picking up his spoon. He lived in a state of horrific embarassment punctuated by memorable bouts of anxiety (usually brought on when he saw someone who might ask him to do something, just before Gavin dove into the nearest bush/supply closet/ cubicle/pit of quicksand).

To distract himself, he scanned the table. Tea set, sandwiches, cake, white table cloth, spray of lilies- there. Pretty and... non-threatening and vaguely date-like.

Gavin ran a hand through his hair, disordering his short blond hair further. He made a face. Well, it had been neat when he got there.

[Miss Jack]

Samantha swept into the Gaia, three minutes late, as was her usual timing to date like things. She dipped her head courteously at the maitre'd, and the young woman pointed to the table where Gavin sat. Samantha smiled to herself and headed toward him, for once not even noticing the appreciative glances she received from the stuffy bachelors seated in the room.

She took one step and paused. She glanced down at herself, puzzled. Hadn't her dress been pale rose? It was now a wispy, white color with accents of green. Oh no. She turned stiffly towards one of the windows. Her transparent reflection stared back at her. Her hair, usually a warm chestnut brown, was a dark, exotic hue. And her eyes were a stormy, gray-blue. Her normally dusty complexion was fair and pink-cheeked.

And her forehead was sprightly. Of all things.

What was--- this only happened when--- Oh. Her eyes moved to Gavin again. Perhaps she cared a bit more to impress him than she had initially thought. She could usually reign it in if the guy was vile enough. Interesting.

She made her way to his table, smiling slightly. "Gavin," she greeted, holding out a dainty hand.

[Marguerite]

Gavin nearly knocked over the tea set, blushing furiously. Was it just him, or did Samantha unusually attractive?

"Er, hi!" Gavin managed to say, in between mentally kicking himself. 'Er, hi'? What brilliantly witty repartee! How scintillatingly clever! 'Er, hi'. One they'd be quoting for years. "It's, er, it's lovely to see you again. You look... really, really nice."

He smiled and hastily pulled her chair out for her, blushing furiously all the while. His medieval sensibilities could not resist the sight of so fair a complexion and so sprightly a forehead, which was odd considering that Gavin no longer quite remembered what the hell a sprightly forehead exactly was. Samantha had one, though. How did he fail to notice it before?

Gavin sat back down and managed not to blush. "Er, how do you take your tea?"

[Miss Jack]

Samantha smiled gratefully, though it was just a little strained.

He was really just too adorable. The slightly warm tint to his cheeks was starting to become commonplace.

"Just a little sugar is fine," she said softly. As long as they didn't touch, and she didn't kiss him (ha ha ha), everything should be fine. And why was she antsy? Oh, what had David said? Toy with men? She didn't want to toy with Gavin.

[Marguerite]

Gavin carefully poured tea and added a lump of sugar to the cup, trying very hard not to focus on the overwhelming sprightliness of Samantha's forehead. A pox on his Chaucerian sense of beauty!

"Here you are," he said, handing it over.

Had her eyes always been gray? Gray eyes had always been big mark of beauty when he'd first been created. Focus, Gavin! Think of something to say! However, a single glance acros the table and Gavin's brain made a strange spluttering noise in lieu of coherent thought and went off on a Hawaiian vacation without taking Gavin along. He poured himself a cup and added cream and sugar, trying to make himself think again. "Do you want, er, cake or anything? They do a great strawberry jam tart here. Those've always been my favorite."

[Miss Jack]

She picked up her tea and took that first, savored sip. She watched him, amused, and her lips smiled against the rim of the cup. She set her tea down, her mouth still curved barely with humor she was trying to hide. He wasn't trying to be funny, she didn't think.

Her eyes went to his slightly tousled hair, and she leaned her chin into her hand. "I'm very glad she got that helmet off," she mused, and then, recovering herself, "Ah, no thank you. I'm fine."

"You know what I was thinking?" she continued, not missing a beat. "You should come to one of the opera performances sometime."

[Marguerite]

Gavin grinned, finally able to look away from the inconquerable allure of the oh-so-sprightly forehead. "Yeah, me too. I've had some embarrassing bouts with armor, but that took the cake, I think. Never had an angry, glittery fairy godmother make my helmet stick to my head before."

He took a jam tart. Gavin liked strawberries above almost all else. "And I... what?"

Opera? Gavin looked up and took a moment to allow his brain to re-process the vision of medieval beauty before him. Once it started working again, Gavin realized he still had no idea what the opera had to do with anything. "Opera performances? Er... aren't they... at night?" He looked uncertain. "Wait, d'you walk through Chimera at night after performances yourself? Please say you get someone to escort you. Even I'm not optimistic enough to go wander around Chimera at night and I carry around two feet of incredibly sharp steel on a regular basis."

[Miss Jack]

She giggled. "Of course they're at night. Unless you see a matinee, I suppose."

She warmed at his concern. "No, usually I just stay at the opera house. The ballerinas have rooms to stay in." Yeah. Even if she could get an escort, Nightmares frightened her enough as it was, without having the bad ones lurking around at night, full of lust and strength that far outweighed her own.


ooc; So, I believe David can come in at any point.

[Marguerite]

Gavin grinned in relief. "Glad to hear it. I guess I'll come to a matinee, then. Those are on the weekends, aren't they?"

Hang on, why was she inviting him to the Opera? Should he read into it? She danced there, he knew that. Was she asking him to see her perform?

More importantly, was he supposed to bring flowers? Crap. He was really bad at this.

"Er, lilies are still your favorites, right? Flowers, that is." Very smooth topic change there, Gavin. Quick, add to the confusion! "Er, lovely day out, isn't it? I always feel much cheerier when the sun's out, but hey, you know me, Dream of sunshine, so, er, it, er... could just be me. Er."

Man, he was always finding new heights of incoherence. Gavin blamed the sprightly forehead for his latest bout of bumbling inanity.

[Jules]

David didn't really know what he was doing at the Gaia. He wasn't meeting with Gavin, and the last time he'd been here, he'd gotten furious with Samantha. But since then, things had changed a little, or at least, she had. Hopefully.

So when he saw her (and a small part of him had to admit he had been hoping for it to happen) he felt the purely platonic need to see if Sam had been true to her word and attempted to change. It took him a moment to realize she was with another guy. And that guy was Gavin, no less. The small prick of envy caused him to feel guilty. It was a date, obviously. Otherwise, why would her forehead be so sprightly?

And then the jealously was crushed, because friends aren't envious of friends and both of them were his friends. Of course.

He couldn't help approaching the table just the same and raising a hand in a small wave.

"Hey kids. Having fun?"

[Marguerite]

"David!"

Someone to take away the focus from his awkward bumbling!

"Er, yeah. We're having tea. And strawberry jam tarts. Er, or... I'm having strawberry jam tarts. Sure I can't interest you in one, Miss Cross? You want one, David?"

Gavin felt immensely relieved until he realized that best friends generally weren't supposed to interfere/ be asked to sit down and have a jam tart on dates.

Whoops. Another exciting muck-up in the life of Sir Gavin the Socially Inept.

[Miss Jack]

She started to tell him that, why yes, lilies were her favorite flower, but then he was off talking about the sun. Well, that was alright. She could nudge him in the right direction. "You can come see me backstage after the performance," she said with a light pat of the hand. Oops. Ugh. No contact, remember Samantha?

"David!" she said as he approached their table, eyes lighting up. A very observant onlooker might have noted her dress flickering colors for a few seconds, before returning to white. "Yes, please join us." Samantha, unlike Gavin, was practically an expert in the social practices of dating, but David was permanently turned off to her, so he didn't count.

"You'd be delighted to know," she said to Gavin in lower tones. "He and I are getting along. I took your advice," she added in a whisper.

She'd taken his advice and been nicer, and she'd taken David's advice to not toy with men (or, she was doing her very best). Through their combined efforts she was, le gasp!, becoming a better person. ^.^

[Jules]

He took a seat (upon their insistence, of course) and folded his arms on the table. "No tarts, thank you. "

David listened to Sam's whispers with a slight smile on his face. "It's true." He said in the same conspiratal tone. "Though we don't pretend to understand it."

Gavin had looked happy enough at his arrival, and Samantha too, happily. So atleast he didn't feel too guilty gate crashing their cute little date. When the waitress came by again, he asked for a glass of water. He wasn't going to stay long, he told himself. It would be impolite to stay longer then a few minutes. Just pop in and then leave them to their romantic little setting.

Good on Gavin for actually being on a date with a woman and not, as of yet, had the heimlich performed on him. It may have been something to do with the fact that he was only drinking tea and eating tarts, but David didn't really think so.

Gavin could suffocate on air.

[Marguerite]

"Er, sure!" Gavin managed to say, feeling vaguely proud of himself for saying something that made sense while Samantha patted his hand. "I'd- I'd like that."

He managed to smile instead of blush and then, only a few minutes later, remember that David was still there.

"Oh, you sure?" Gavin asked. "They're very good. You don't want tea either? Can I refill your cup, Miss Cross?"

[Miss Jack]

"Yes, thank you," she told Gavin distractedly. She turned again to David. "You're not staying?" she asked, with a pointed look at his 'water'.


ooc; Sorry that's so short. >.<