Is it too early to call you 'boo'? (Appoline)

[Nick Tseng]

Nick carried the basket with both arms, his face a mixture of ashen trepidation and excitement. Granted, the paleness could be attributed to the fact that his stomach was trying to eat him from the inside out. He'd spent most of the morning preparing for the picnic he had planned, and there were plenty of sandwiches, snacks, drinks and fruit to go around. If there was one thing Nick was good at, it was picking stuff to eat. He could decide what to eat with his eyes closed.

The wind was nice and cold, and Nick struggled with the basket as he tried to huddle into his coat. His hyper-metabolism made sure that he was skinny, and no meat equaled no heat. He paused and looked around, trying to choose the perfect spot for the picnic. He finally set the basket down on the ground as he stretched out the heavy wool blanket he'd bought last winter. It was dark green, and looked oddly at place on the ground by the pond. He set the basket on the corner of it and parked himself on the left side, looking back towards Hammel. He reached into the basket and pulled out a small baggie of animal crackers. As he popped one into his mouth, he craned his neck around, searching for any hint of his date.

The word 'date' made him blush furiously, and she wasn't even there yet! He munched on the crackers, their sweet taste calming his nerves. His stomach grumbled at him, and he nearly talked to it out loud. He did that sometimes. Not that he'd ever admit that in front of anyone, ever. Like he needed anyone else to thing he was strange. It was hard enough having to stuff his face all the time, having to explain why he talked to his grumbling stomach would only be adding insult to injury.

He stretched back on the blanket and let the cool wind blow over him. It was nice to be outside, and though it was definitely chilly outside, Nick felt a strange warmth creeping over him. He knew the warmth. It was his embarrassment. Appoline wasn't even there yet, and he was already starting to feel awkward.

Alright, Nick. You can do this. Nothing weird. Seriously, be cool. You see people do it every day. Just. Be. Cool.

And then he realized how lame it was that he was pre-gaming himself before Appoline got there. He shook his head and crunched another cracker. The sound and taste were immensely comforting to him.

[Appoline Meian]

Appoline wasn't much of a dating person. Even saying that was a grand understatement, given that the whole idea of dating seemed very disconcerting for the girl. Almost all her life, she'd been picked on, teased, or bullied by people that weren't her family members. Mostly, it was because of the way she looked. Then, it was for her deafness, and then her shyness. People just... never really understood how painful it was for her to trust another person, not matter how nice the person was.

Hammel had been different, but for the most part it put the small girl more on edge. The more earnestly nice people she encountered, the more she waited for the other shoe to drop. People weren't nice to people like her for no reason. It was a hard-learned lesson, but one that kept her wary anyway.

The only person that really seemed to want to be around her consistently was Nick - a shy boy she'd met in the library about half the year ago whose lack of people skills seemed to be a very good match to her own. They'd been talking (sort of) for months now, and Appoline was finally getting used to the idea that she might just have a friend at Hammel. Someone who actually understood her shyness. They hadn't gotten particularly close, but... it was closer than she'd ever been with a male. She really didn't want to think about it.

So, when Nick asked her to have a picnic with him a few days ago, there was only the briefest and most culturally acceptable amount of indecision before she finally agreed. Besides, none of their meetings had ever been without food - Nick's powers basically demanded that he constantly eat. She had never seen him without at least a bag of crackers in his pocket, munching away to both feed his voracious metabolism and keep his mouth busy when people were talking to him. It was a safety blanket idea, she supposed; he had his crackers, she had her sketchbook. It just just how they dealt with people.

Shaking her head to clear her musings, Appoline picked her way carefully across the grounds to the pond. Since it was getting chillier, she wore leggings under her long skirt rather than her normal tall socks, and a white pea-coat was buttoned up to just below the collar of her winter sweater and blouse. She didn't have her hood up, but she had wrapped a blue scarf around the top of her head, pulling back her hair from her face just a bit. It was only because Nick had insisted frequently that he thought her eyes were pretty that she did so today - she was too embarrassed to be in school without having the ability to shade her dual-colored eyes.

When she saw the boy munching away on his crackers, the artist couldn't help a slight giggle. She knew him too well. It wasn't laughing at him, but... more like laughing at the hilarity of the idea that she knew someone well enough to predict their actions. It was... pretty novel.

"Um... Good aftern-noon," Appoline greeted shyly, fidgeting with her pale hands to steady herself. Biting her lip, she asked, "M-may I... may I sit?"