Merrion Priddy (merrymage) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-10-09 20:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !thread, merrion priddy, rin yukimura |
Who: Merri Priddy & Rin Yukimura
What: A lunch date
Where: The Blue Wren Cafe
When: 11:00ish
Rating: PG
Status: Complete!
Merri arrived at the Blue Wren just early enough to be able to request a table by the window facing the Sphere. Though he loved the sight of the theatre best at night, it was still a wonderful thing to look upon in the middle of the day. Sometimes Merri wondered if he should have begged his mother to let him study music or theatre instead of magic, but he wouldn’t take back the time he spent learning in the tower for anything in the world, either. Still, he couldn’t help but to daydream of a fantasy that might have been his had he asked or had the talent for it, and he nearly missed Rin sliding into the seat in front of him. “Rin!” he said, shaking out of his reverie with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I was, well, daydreaming. How have you been? I hope you don’t mind, I already ordered some coffee.” As he said it, the waiter placed two cups and a carafe on the table and promised to be back in a few minutes to take their order. Merri nodded appreciatively and poured himself a cup before hovering the carafe over the second cup. “Did you want some, too?” “Yes, please,” Rin said warmly, nudging her cup a little closer to him. She preferred tea, but at Valendian establishments, she wasn’t fussed. Rin took her tea loose leaf, Ordalian-sourced only. The Blue Wren, much as she liked it, lacked the latter. “And I’ve been good. Nothing too exciting’s been happening to me, though, truth be told.” At least, nothing she could tell him. “Tell me about how you’ve been doing, before I bore you with the details.” “I’ve been doing… better,” said Merri honestly as he poured her cup. He waited until he was finished and the carafe was back on the table -- he didn’t want to spill any, after all -- before continuing, “The past few weeks were really busy, but since the convention’s over now, I was finally able to catch up with my work today.” A relief, really; Merri thought that he’d be eternally behind, and he was beginning to feel more inadequate than he had been for a while. “But aside from the convention and the festival, there hasn’t been too much going on.” Which was both a good and bad thing. Good, because that meant there had been no attacks in the city recently. Bad, because he was beginning to feel the hole of the captain’s absence, and life was never boring with Captain Wilcar Lockgold around. But Merri shrugged and grinned. “Did you go? To the festival, I mean.” Rin cupped the mug of coffee within her hands, raising it to take a long sip as Merri spoke. A wave of steam warmed her face. “I did go,” she replied, nodding. “I left before it got too late, though.” Duty called. Harvest Festival, after all, was not an Ordalian holiday. “I’m surprised I didn’t see you there!” Although with the festival so perpetually crowded, perhaps it wasn’t a surprise. "Yeah," Merri agreed with a smile. "It would've been fun to hang out with you there even if for just a little while!" He decided not to mention that until Rene closed the bakery, Merri had spent most of the festival alone. There was little need to bring it up to anyone, really, and it wasn't like he hadn't been able to enjoy himself, either! "Did you go with anyone?" The waiter returned to take their order, and though Merri knew that he was going to order what he normally did -- a ham and cheese croissant sandwich with lettuce and tomato -- he turned to Rin and asked, "Are you ready?" She nodded, giving the waiter a small smile and ordering a garden salad after Merri ordered his sandwich. “Anyway, I went by myself.” She shrugged, and took another sip of her coffee. “Harvest is such a family holiday here, and I think most people wanted to go with theirs. Or went back home altogether.” Merri nodded. “That’s true. I originally had plans to go back home, but I… had a lot of work to catch up on after the convention.” It was only half the truth, but he didn’t feel like expanding on the rest of it. “I usually go with friends, but this year I thought I had other plans and they all had other plans so I went alone, too,” he finally admitted. “But Rene came with me later, at least. If I’d known you’d be by yourself, I’d have asked if you wanted to spend it with me -- us.” “You’re sweet,” Rin replied, smiling. “But I didn’t mind it. I got to spend time with more people this way, besides.” The waiter arrived then, and Rin inspected her salad with the tines of her fork. Deeming it suitable, she poured the small dish of balsamic vinaigrette over the top and dug in. Merri smiled up at the waiter when the sandwich was placed in front of him and thanked him, taking a bite after he left. Just as delicious as it sounded on the menu! After swallowing, he said, “Spend more time with people? So at least you didn’t spend all of the festival by yourself?” Rin laughed. “I almost wish I spent more of it by myself, truth be told. Kept running into people I knew.” That was always the way of it, with her. Flitting from tree to tree like a lovestruck bird. “How about you? Did you only spend time with Rene?” He shook his head. “Oh, no, not at all! I ran into a lot of friends, too! Like my friend Guy, and Alec, and a few others! I didn’t spend a lot of time with any of them until Rene, but I wasn’t always completely alone, either.” Then he frowned. “You would have rather been by yourself?” “Not for all of it, no. But the right amount of solitude can be calming.” Of course, Rin hated being alone, most of the time. It was only when she found herself overwhelmed by company that she experienced the idle yearning for time to herself. The grass was always greener, she supposed. Merri swallowed another bite of his sandwich and smiled. “I can understand that.” For as much as Merri loved being with friends, he did value and cherish his solitude, especially over the past few weeks. If he had to be honest, though, he still wished that he did not have to spend a single moment of the festival alone, for it was far more fun with others, but he knew that everyone enjoyed everything in different ways. “What did you do there? What was your favorite booth?” “I mostly browsed, I suppose,” Rin said, in between bites of salad. “Hmm. Spent some time checking out the pie baking competition—the strawberry rhubarb was quite good. I bought some of those homemade candles and soaps. Avoided the games, since I was sure I’d be terrible. Although someone else ended up winning me a stuffed chocobo.” “Someone else?” asked Merri, elbows propped on the table with intrigue. “Who? Is it someone you like?” “You could say so,” Rin replied with a laugh. “Don’t think you’d know him, though.” “Probably not,” Merri agreed. Not that Merri fancied himself as someone he knew all the mages in the Tower -- because who truly did? -- but he felt that ruling out a mage was a safe bet. “What’s he like? Is he very handsome? What does he do?” “He is handsome. Kind of roguish, but charming.” What does he do? That one was trickier. “And he’s a businessman,” Rin answered, safely. Merri smiled dreamily at her description. They were the same words he often used to describe Wil, except perhaps the businessman part. “He sounds amazing,” he said. “And it sounds like he likes you, too! He won you a stuffed chocobo, after all!” “Maybe he does.” She smiled, then began to steer the conversation back to safer waters. “Anyway, enough about me. Tell me more about what you did.” He wasn’t quite content to leave the talk at that, but if Rin wanted to move on, he would happily oblige her. Besides, surely they would come back to the topic sooner or later! “I also went to the pie baking competition, and I loved looking at all the crafts booths, too! I tried a game or two, too, but I wasn’t any good at any of them.” He laughed sheepishly. “I also went to a charity auction, and my friend Rene and I participated in a quilting competition! I… my quilt was… embarrassing, and I didn’t come close to winning.” And so the lunch hour continued as the two of them continued chatting about their exploits at the festival, and too soon their food was gone and the bill was paid, and Merri had to return to the Tower to work. “Let me know when you’re performing next,” he insisted before they parted ways. “It’s been too long since I last saw you dance!” |