cafe turnabout.

        ❛ i wouldn’t mind it since wouldn’t a change in scenery help? c’mon, we can go out for lunch or something.❜

         …i’m sorry. um, i’m not really good at this. do you want to go out for a while? maybe that’ll cheer you up?

          ❛ ah- ❜

she’s silent for a long moment as she settles her cup down on it’s saucer, each movement slow and deliberate as she tries to come up with a suitable answer. cilan is…he’s sweet, so sweet, and back when they’d first met she certainly would have taken him up on the offer. it’s really too bad she’d had to return to sinnoh the first time around…

it’s not his fault that there’s someone else she’s thinking of now that they’ve been apart for so long, and when cilan mentions a date it’s a different face that immediately comes to mind.  

          ❛ i’m flattered, cilan, ❜ she says with a smile, sweet and a little sad ❛ um…i’m afraid i have to decline. i’m so sorry… ❜ 

         ❝ o-oh... ❞

he’s taken aback--but moreso over his own reaction.  was this really something he felt confident over?  what a strange thought; in a true loss for the idea of even thought process in the first place, he stiffens, relaxation falling from his posture, and lays his arms over the table before him.

                  she agreed before, so why now...?

          ❝ oh, i mean, uh--it’s, it’s okay, miss candice.  don’t be upset. ❞  shouldn’t he be the upset one in this situation?  ❝ it was only a question, and you answered, so... it’s fine. i understand. ❞

                  maybe she’s already dating someone?  that wouldn’t be a surprise.

       ❛ it wouldn’t do if i ask her for you! i think you should just kinda try to ease it into conversation somehow? i think that’s the best way to make it work! ❜

        ❛ i’m… i’m really not at all! you’re much more than i am! but uh - ❜  right. he wanted advice about candice, didn’t he? 

        ❛ i don’t think it is? you just wanted to know about the stuff she likes, right? it isn’t that obvious.❜

her fingertips come to rest on the side of the cup, delicately tracing over a painted rose while she gives the tea a moment to cool. ❛ i’m giving a series of lectures on different ice type behavioral patterns- cryogonal, in particular. i hear they’ve been appearing in large numbers around opelucid ever since it was frozen. ❜ 

she lifts the cup to her lips and smiles at him over the rim, the rich aroma ( floral and honey-scented, with something sweeter she can’t quite name ) washing over her before she even takes a sip.

          ❛ would you be interested at all in attending? i’ll be speaking next week at castelia university…i’m sure i could find you a seat. ❜

he sits calmly before her with legs crossed, intertwined fingers supporting underneath his chin and a smile, watching her speak but not entirely taking in what it means.  her hair seems to have grown a tad since the last time they spoke, hadn’t it?  it looked so sleek... the restaurant light complimented her well, didn’t it?

             something in his mind felt very... distracted. he feels a daze coming on, even.

          ❝ yes, i’d always be interested... is the drink treating               you well?  it’s something new we’ve been... uh...               trying...

         ❛ is it really…? isn’t that what dating is supposed to be about? ❜

         ❛ wh- am i? i - no! nonono, not many are interested in me at all! in that case, wouldn’t you be popular? shouldn’t you know more about this stuff than i do? ❜

          ❛ wait… you think i’m popular with women?! ❜

          ❛ i-i’m not at all! i’m really the worst person to ask about that thing. um… you really should talk to her about that? wouldn’t it be fun to ask questions to get to know her better? maybe? ❜

          ❝ i can’t!  that would be incredibly embarrassing!! ❞

      ❛ w-wait what? ❜

      ❛ oh… wait. are you interested in candi? uh, unfortunately i don’t know much about her dating life? shouldn’t you ask her that yourself? ❜