A Date or a Job? {Corliss & Gamon}

Dating is fun. the gut-wrenching nerves that make you woozy and stutter? Not so much. Corliss wasn't sure she’d be able to talk at all on this date, let alone have a nice, meaningful conversation with the man. Kistiñe was excited that the white-blonde had found someone, and insisted on helping her prepare. She offered to let Corliss borrow a dress, but the younger girl was too short to run into any of Kistiñe’s, so the girl was now in the same blood-red dress she had worn for the past few dates she had been asked to. To be fair, it was her favorite dress, with a hem that fell to her knees and a sweetheart neckline that accented just enough of the small mage’s not-so-ample cleavage. For her hair, Kistiñe corralled the white locks into a bun atop her head (which took a lot of instruction from Corliss, but hey, the former bird wanted to learn to be a woman, right?). Taking a wildflower she found along the path to Hargeon Town’s park (as she was to meet her date there), Corliss placed the newly-created rose in her hair, and turned to Pyrrha for approval. “How do I look?” The gryphon purred excitedly in response, and lept into the air, obviously eager to meet the gentleman in question. Giggling, Corliss mused on what kind of guy she was meeting, before her thoughts turned from daydreaming about the perfect date to shoes, then to the question of food. Her anxiety over her date was pressuring her into gorging herself on any sweets she could find, but the white-blonde didn't want to eat before her date. On the other hand, she didn't want her stomach to make any unseemly growling noises…

Arriving at the park a little later than she had intended to, the mage scanned the crowd for a single male, in hopes of finding the right one. Seeing a white-haired man and an exceed playing around, she felt the slightest bit guilty for breaking up their humorous interaction as she approached. “Uh, hi there! Are you Gamon Kinzoku? I'm Corliss Aelle,” better to be bold than to not be anything at all, right? Corliss mused, standing before who she hoped was her date. At least I didn't stutter... As the girl introduced herself, Pyrrha sniffed at the exceed and her human companion. The hybrid seemed suspicious at first, but quickly decided she liked the new flying cat and proceeded to nuzzle up to her.

As Pyrrha kept snuggling Tykva, Corliss inspected her date. Spiky blue-white hair and red eyes were his most prominent features, but his teeth were sharper than most and his attire seemed to be filled with red. Together they just looked like mirror images of eachother: red on red, white on white. “Oh, that's Pyrrha, she's a Pygmy gryphon: partially cat, partially owl.” Her date then turned around, grabbed a bouquet of flowers, and handed it to her. Absently taking the flowers as she watched Pyrrha decide to play with the uncomfortable exceed, Corliss’s magic kicked in, turning the bouquet into a pink hue, the color of Corliss’s blush once she realized her error. Before she could turn to apologize to her date for altering the wonderful flowers he gave her, a new man appeared, looking both stressed and relieved at once. “Excuse me miss, are you a mage? Of course you are, I just saw you transform those roses! I hate to be pushy, I really, really do, but I need a mage to cast some interesting spells and draw a crowd. I'm hosting a fundraiser for our local orphanage, but everyone keeps passing us by! Please, I really really need your help Miss Mage!” As the man pleaded, he began dragging her from Gamon, Tykva, and Pyrrha. Corliss, being one who couldn't say no to an interesting challenge, nodded her agreement, and gestured to Gamon. “Come on! This’ll be fun!” She called, giggling as she followed the desperate stranger towards the center of the park.

Gamon, her date, followed Corliss and the desperate man to a table, poorly decorated and lacking in appeal. Around them, Pyrrha chased Tykva around trees and over the heads of people, and it was unclear if both flying mammals were enjoying this game. The man babbled some more about what he wanted, something along the lines of a spectacle, but Corliss had no intention of listening. She was too busy focusing on what she was going to make first to impress Gamon. Smirking as she figured out just what she wanted, she stretched out her hand, shouting so her voice would carry throughout the park. “Rose Make: Snare!” A brilliant flash of red from her hands, and there was a rose-laden wreath in the shape of a heart on the ground, about two feet in height, and three in length, standing upright so the people around could see through it. Turning to Gamon, and ignoring the stares of the other park goers, she winked. “What are you planning to do to top that?”

Okay, so Gamon was a lot more impressive than she thought. He was a Fairy Tail mage after all, the silver mark gleamed in the sunlight to scream that fact. His magic was fascinating- he was the Iron Dragon Slayer-, and Corliss couldn't help but feel a little inferior. Trying anyway to compete, she called to Pyrrha, hoping the hybrid’s abilities would make up for her own. “Pyrrha, Gryphon’s Size!” Now, it was up to the owl-cat hybrid to obey her, which was a fairly risky gamble. Thankfully, Pyrrha decided to show off, and rapidly grew in size. Once she had reached the size of a horse, she padded over to Corliss and knelt, allowing the white-blonde to sit side-saddle on the gryphon’s back. Letting Pyrrha walk around like a show pony, Corliss glanced at Gamon, plastering a falsely triumphant smirk on her face. She had lost the competition in terms of her own magic, but how did Tykva compare to Pyrrha?

The girl laughed, thankful to have gotten that over with, and dismounted her gryphon. She had finally matched Gamon, even though it was thanks to Pyrrha. Looking around, she saw the crowd that they had gathered. The orphanage’s fundraiser was going splendidly, and the man who had approached them was having a field day, bringing in the jewels everyone was donating. From the bustling crowd, Corliss could tell that they were impressed by the abilities and the kind hearts of the mages, showing off for such a good cause. She came to the conclusion that their job was over, and turned to her date with a smile. “So, what would you like to do next?” the blonde was up for just about anything, but the growling noise from her stomach indicated that she was hungry without Corliss's consent, causing the girl to blush slightly. She wondered if Gamon was hungry too, and if they could find a place willing to serve the four of them, especially considering Pyrrha's size, which, by the fact the the gryphon was still trotting around and basking in the attention of the crowd, seemed like it would be a while before the pygmy gryphon would return to being small.

Corliss nodded thoughtfully, giggling a little when Tykva chimed in. As if on cue, Pyrrha trotted over, shrinking in size. The gryphon, who was the size of a golden retriever at that second, took off, taking to circling Corliss and Gamon's head. The white blonde took that to mean the hybrid was hungry, and was willing to cooperate on this date. "It looks like you're not the only one Tykva. Gamon, that restaurant sounds perfect," Figuring he might need a bit of a push to think a little less like a mage and more like a guy, Corliss moved closer to Gamon as she spoke, holding her elbow a little wider out than usual. It was subtle, but Corliss felt like testing the waters before leaping headfirst into dragging the poor boy into affection that he couldn't see coming. Maybe he could figure out that she wanted him to take her arm and lead her, but she was willing to make the first move if need be. "Lead the way," she chimed, overtly flirting with her date, who may or may not have been in need of assistance.

Gamon caught on quickly, much to Corliss's delight. Unfortunately for Gamon, this meant he was in for a rigorous test of his observational skills, since Corliss was dead-set on pushing the poor boy as far as he could go, just to see where they went. Letting her date lead the way to the restaurant, she noted his blushing cheeks with a slight smile, but the tension in his arm wasn't good. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and it finally dawned on the oh-so-observant Corliss that her date wasn't used to this, and that she should strike up the conversation. "So Gamon, how did you become a Fairy Tail mage?" Keeping her voice bubbly, she walked a little closer to her date, and flashed him a bright smile of encouragement at the end of her question.

Gamon was way too tense, and he wasn't getting any better. Her encouraging smile going almost unnoticed, Corliss listened in horror as the dragon slayer told his tale. The five-foot-two girl felt herself shrinking under the weight of the can of worms she had opened, impossibly small and insignificant compared to the story he had to tell. All she had was a boring family and a grandmother with a dusty magic book; Gamon had suffered beyond her wildest imagination already, and the girl had no idea how to repair he shambles of her date. Then, he turned and gave her a shy smile, not unlike her own previous attempt at keeping him calm, and it took every ounce of her being to keep her sigh of relief inaudible. Returning his smile with a shy grin of her own, she gestured ahead. "Is that the restaurant there?" Corliss's stomach growled loudly, causing her to blush a little.