A Change Of Date

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 14, Post Number 328

-Capital Crocus, Leonidas' Neighborhood, 10:33 A.M.-

Dressed in his usual casual outfit of open olive green jacket over white t-shirt and olive green cargo pants with black boots, Leonidas stood on the front doorstep of his apartment. He was as ready for his date with Morgan Spruance as he was going to be, but one crucial fact weighed on him.. This would be only his second date and he hoped that his inexperience would not doom this effort to failure.

At least he did not have to worry about Sabrina interfering on this date like she had on his date with Samantha Halsey... his roommate had been mollified with the promised shopping trip less than two days ago, so she was content to watch television in the living room and let Leonidas date Morgan in peace. He was not sure of his chances with Morgan, but at least he would not have his roommate to blame if the brunette did not like him. He thought about Samantha for a moment before pushing the thought out of his mind and walking down the steps.

Leonidas reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right, then began to walk down the street towards Capital Coffee to get a cup or two of his favorite drink before the date. The scar-faced mage had made it only twenty-one steps before he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. He stopped and turned around to spot Samantha jogging towards him with her right arm outstretched and her hand open.

"Hey Leonidas! Wait up!" She called out. Leonidas obeyed and stayed where he was until the young blonde woman caught up to him. She paused in front of him and looked up to make eye contact. Samantha was dressed in a baby blue t-shirt and white knee-length skirt with white sandals and had a facial expression that was more serious than usual.

"Hey Leonidas, I've got something to tell you. I just learned this about an hour ago and wanted to tell you, but as far as I knew you weren't awake yet." She told him.

"What do you want to tell me?" Leonidas calmly asked her. Samantha's eyes went to the ground for a moment before she looked up at him again.

"It's about Morgan. I know that I told you a few days ago that she wanted to date you, but she found a guy who lives in Magnolia Town and she's going to date him instead. She wanted to tell you herself, but she asked me to do it for her." She told him the news that his date had been cancelled. Leonidas stood in silence for a few moments and thought about what he had just been told before speaking. He wondered if Morgan had used Samantha as her messenger because she was afraid that the scar-faced mage would lose his temper and shout at her, maybe even physically hurt her. Leonidas would do no such thing, but he chalked it up to the brunette being a bit afraid of his appearance, which some people found intimidating.

"It's OK if she found someone else, Samantha. Like I told you when you wanted to be just friends, I don't care if Morgan finds happiness with another guy so long as she's happy." Leonidas calmly informed Samantha that he was not upset with Morgan for exercising her right to date someone other than him or the blonde woman for delivering the news. The blonde woman looked relieved to hear that.

"She didn't tell me this, but she might have been afraid of how you'd react. I told her that she had nothing to worry about because you're a good guy, but she asked me to be the messenger anyway." Samantha confessed to him. The scar-faced man's mood did not change... he would stand by what he said earlier. If Morgan wanted to date someone else that was her right and he was not going to take that away from her.

"I'm fine with it, Samantha. Plans change and that's OK." He calmly remarked. The blonde woman smiled at him.

"Thanks, Leonidas. I told her that you were a good guy and you proved me right." She replied.

"I'll go tell Morgan your response so that she doesn't think you're mad at her. I'll talk to you later, Leonidas!" Samantha cheerfully bade him farewell, then turned around and walked deeper in the neighborhood, presumably to go home. Leonidas turned around and resumed his trip towards Capital Coffee without a word. He could not have anticipated Morgan changing her mind, but he was not terribly upset because she seemed like a nice person and he wanted her to be happy.

-Capital Coffee, 11:17 A.M.-

After a walk through the bustling city Leonidas entered the coffee shop, which was almost as busy as the city had been. The line ahead of him had fifteen people waiting to place their orders and there was only one employee behind the counter, a young woman of average height with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes who was clearly stressed out but doing her best to hold it together. Undaunted by the number of people ahead of him, Leonidas quietly took his place and became the sixteenth person in line.

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-Capital Coffee, 12:49 P.M.-

Due to the staff shortage Leonidas had had to wait in line for more than an hour, a wait he took in stride. Other people ahead of him were not so calm... they fidgeted about, sighed loudly, and made sarcastic remarks about how long they had to wait to get service. By the time he got to the counter the lone employee looked to be on the verge of tears from all of the stress, but she managed to hold it together and take his order. He paid for it and thanked her for helping him, then went to an empty table near the back right corner while clutching a double espresso in a styrofoam cup with the shop's logo on it.

Leonidas sat down and faced the counter, then took a sip of his beverage. It was not nearly as strong as the coffee he had drank back home in Desierto, but it was strong enough to be pleasing to him. As he took swigs of coffee he noticed a black-haired young woman of average height with a white hairband on her head, brown or golden eyes, and dressed in an open white jacket over a black long-sleeved blouse and knee-length gray skirt with black shoes approach him. She had a magic signature that was at the level just above a novice mage and she was clutching a cup of coffee in her hands. Leonidas found her to be fairly attractive, but he did not dare say that.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" The young woman asked, her face a light shade of red.

"Sure." Leonidas replied casually. The young woman took the seat opposite him and made eye contact.

"I'm Clara. Clara Jensen." She introduced herself to him.

"I'm Leonidas Jarnefeldt." He introduced himself to her. Clara blinked.

"Jarnefeldt? Are you related to Leona?" She asked the classic question.

"Yes. I'm her older brother." He answered as calmly as he could. The young woman's face somehow turned even redder.

"I can tell. Not only do you two have almost the same eye color and hair color, but you're pretty powerful yourself." She complimented him on his power. Leonidas quickly forgot his irritation at the question about his relation to Leona and focused on Clara, who looked to be nervous now that she had confirmed who he was related to. Her eyes looked down at her cup, at the table, at the wall, and anywhere but at Leonidas' face.

"Are you OK, Clara?" Leonidas asked her. She jolted and her eyes met his again.

"I'm fine, really. I'm just kinda nervous." She replied. She took a quiet breath and took a drink of coffee from her cup, then lowered it.

"There's something... something I'd like to ask you. I know that this is sudden, but please hear me out." She said to him.

"I'm listening." He stated. Clara took another quiet breath.

"I was supposed to go on a date this afternoon, but I'm pretty sure that the guy stood me up. We were supposed to meet three hours ago and he hasn't shown up. He hasn't answered my calls or texts and I doubt that he will at this point." Clara told him her troubles. Leonidas sat quietly and waited for her to continue.

"I'm not gonna wait for him any longer. He's had plenty of time to let me know if he can't make it, so I'm not waiting for him here." She declared in a firm voice and with a determined facial expression. That expression lasted for a few moments before it seemed like she realized who she was talking to and her face turned red again.

"I don't want to have spent so much time dressing up just to have to go back home and you seem like a good guy to be around, so I was wondering... would you go to the mall with me?" She asked him. Leonidas thought about it for a moment before giving his answer.

"I'm willing to go to the mall with you, Clara." He answered. He found Clara to be attractive and his would-be date had found someone else to go with. Leonidas had not been told by Samantha that he could not go out with another young woman, so he was going to take the chance to spend time with the black-haired young woman.

"Great!" She exclaimed happily. Then her eyes looked down at the table.

"Um, sorry about that. Maybe I shouldn't have been so loud. But I'm glad that you agreed to go with me. I really am." Clara meekly apologized for the outburst. Leonidas was not upset by her being loud and remained calm as he spoke to her.

"I'm ready to go to the mall whenever you are, Clara." Leonidas informed her that he was ready to go when she was. The black-haired young woman looked up.

"All right then! Let me drink my coffee first and we'll get going!" Clara replied in a cheerful tone before lifting her cup to her lips. Leonidas began to drink his coffee and an amiable silence filled the space between the two mages.

Clara Jensen:

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-Capital Crocus Mall, The Fashionable Lady, 1:17 P.M.-

After finishing their cups of coffee Leonidas and Clara had went to Capital Crocus Mall and made their way through the busy building to go to The Fashionable Lady, where Clara wanted to look at the lipstick. The pair had had to pass by glass display cases of different perfumes positioned along the main thoroughfares in the store to get to the lipstick, but now they were where they wanted to be and the black-haired young woman was browsing through it. They were standing in between two shelves of lipstick in pink, red, orange, purple, lilac, lavender, blue, and a rainbow of other colors. So far she had found two tubes that she was seriously considering buying... one was pink and the other was red.

"I know that this whole trip was so sudden, but I'm glad you're here with me, Leonidas." Clara said as she moved her hands up and down as if she were juggling her choices. In her left hand was the pink lipstick. In her right was the red one.

"I'm not an expert on lipstick since neither my mother nor my sister used it, so I don't think my opinion will be very helpful." Leonidas tried to gently warn his acquaintance that his advice might not be of much help to her if she asked for his input. The dark-haired young woman looked at him and gave a smile.

"I don't mind, Leonidas. I'm just glad that a guy's willing to let me do something with them other than tend to their needs." She replied to his assertion. That response made Leonidas immediately react by raising an eyebrow. Clara noticed that gesture and blushed furiously.

"It's not what you think it means, Leonidas. I haven't slept with anyone. It's just that... well, all of the guys I dated made it all about them and what they wanted. As far as they were concerned I was just there to look good and make them happy." She quickly explained herself while looking down at the floor tile in embarrassment. It seemed like she thought that her poor word choice gave the scar-faced man the impression that she was promiscuous. Leonidas did not take long to speak up to assure Clara that he did not think she was like that.

"I admit that your word choice made me concerned, but I don't think you're easy. I was more concerned about what previous dates made you do." Leonidas tried to assure Clara. She slowly looked up from the tile and made eye contact while blushing.

"It wasn't anything sexual. It was more they didn't care what I wanted to do on a date. For example, one guy was really into combat sports like mixed martial arts and I'd have to watch every big match with him at a sports bar even though I didn't understand very much about it." Clara started explaining what she meant by her earlier statement.

"Another guy was a big action movie buff and I'd have to go to the movie theater to watch every new one. I don't like them very much because they tend to have the same few plotlines over and over and tend to create sequels that borrow way too much from the original movie, but he'd watch them anyway and praise them like they were high art no matter how crummy they were. I'm more of a romantic comedy or romance movie kind of girl, but he hated those kinds of movies and the one time he agreed to go to one with me he walked out ten minutes into it because he claimed that it was boring." Clara gave another example of how she tended to attract men who were all take and no give. Leonidas wondered if she had ever met a guy who actually cared about how she felt and what she liked.

"But that's all in the past now. You're a lot different from them because you're actually willing to let me browse at lipstick and share your opinion despite not knowing a thing about it and you're not trying to hurry me out of here so that we can get to what you want to do." Clara assured the scar-faced mage that the streak of self-centered men she had dealt with had come to an end now that he was in the picture. Even though he did not know her very well Leonidas was somehow pleased to hear that Clara considered him to be a good man. He was not sure if he really was "good" or if the bar had been set so low by the previous dates that he looked like perfect boyfriend material, but he was not going to complain.

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After that exchange the conversation tapered off as Clara continued to look at the lipstick while Leonidas watched and waited for her to make a decision. Her gaze hovered on a tube of lavender-colored lipstick for a minute or two before she turned back to what she already held and made the juggling motion with her hands as if she were literally weighing her options. Leonidas looked at her and she looked at him.

"Which tube should I choose, Leonidas?" Clara asked the fateful question. Leonidas studied her face and complexion carefully. His eyes turned to the tubes of lipstick she was holding and his eyes went to the red one.

"I'd say the red tube, Clara. But take my opinion with a shaker of salt." The scar-faced man gave his verdict. She held it up to her face and looked into a small rectangular mirror that was on the display she was looking at. She then turned back to him.

"I think I'll go for it, Leonidas. The pink one is way too soft a color for anyone to really notice that I'm wearing lipstick." She told him. Leonidas was silently relieved that he had not made the wrong choice. As far as he could remember neither his mother nor his sister had worn lipstick, so despite growing up in a household with females he did not know enough about beauty aids to give an educated opinion on them.

"...Would you be willing to go with me to Earthland Eagle after we're finished here?" Clara asked him hesitantly. Leonidas had no clue as to why she was so reluctant to ask him that, but he did not comment on it when he faced her and replied.

"I don't mind going with you to that store." Leonidas stated that he would have no problem with going there. The dark-haired young woman's face showed visible relief when she heard the response.

"Thanks, Leonidas. I asked because it's a clothing store aimed primarily at young women and it'd probably be boring for you to just stand around while I browse at the clothing." Clara explained her reason for asking him.

"I don't have a problem with that, Clara. Today's not about just what I want." Leonidas assured her that he did not mind waiting while she perused the store's wares. Her face lit up.

"Thanks, Leonidas! Let's get going and try to get into Earthland Eagle before it gets too crowded!" She said with enthusiasm. She began to walk briskly towards the checkout counter at the front of the store, leaving the scar-faced man to catch up to her. He began walking in the direction she had went and caught up with her at the checkout counter, where she was finishing the purchase of the red tube of lipstick. Clara received the small white plastic bag with the store's name printed in red letters and looked at him.

"C'mon, Leonidas! Let's go!" She said playfully before leaving the store at a brisk walk. Leonidas silently obeyed the directive and followed the dark-haired young woman back into the crowded mall. He did his best to keep up with her, but the density of the crowd was making that difficult because there was barely enough space for someone of his body type to pass through the gaps in groups of shoppers without running the risk of bumping into someone.

-Earthland Eagle, 1:39 P.M.-

After weaving through crowds of his fellow shoppers Leonidas had finally caught up to Clara, who was waiting for him inside the clothing store. The instant they made eye contact she gave him a wide smile.

"It took you long enough, Leonidas! I was starting to think you'd gotten lost and went to the wrong place!" Clara playfully greeted him. The scar-faced mage was visibly amused by her remark but did not say anything in response. She turned towards the racks of clothing to the right, which were full of shirts. In front of them was a small crowd of other young women, who were browsing at the garments and taking a hanger or two off of the rack whenever they found something that caught their eye.

"I'm going to go look at the shirts, Leonidas. I'd better hurry because I'm not the only one shopping." Clara informed him before walking towards the t-shirts. Leonidas looked for a place to wait for her and found one on a blank back wall just to the right of the entrance. He stood with his back to the wall and watched Clara begin shopping.

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-Earthland Eagle, 2:07 P.M.-

Leonidas had watched Clara shop from his place near the entrance and watched her spend almost thirty minutes looking at the shirts before walking away with two t-shirts and three tank tops while the other young women he had seen shopping for shirts continued to look. She approached him and held the hangers aloft with a triumphant smile on her face. The scar-faced man stayed where he was as the black-haired young woman stopped in front of him.

"Hey Leonidas! It took me awhile, but I found these shirts and they're all just my size! Sorry it took me so long to find them, but as you can see I wasn't the only one who had an interest in the shirts!" Clara told him of her success and apologized for not finding them quickly.

"I'm in no hurry, Clara. I don't have anywhere important to be." Leonidas calmly told her that the wait was no problem for him. Clara smiled for a moment and looked to the left side of the store. Her smile faded and she looked down at the ground.

"I... I want to look at the shorts and skirts too, but I'm probably being selfish. You've wasted enough time standing around and watching me shop." Clara expressed reluctance to shop on the other side of the store despite clearly wanting to, citing how selfish it would be for her to do that while Leonidas had to stand around and be bored. The scar-faced man was having none of that kind of talk.

"Nonsense, Clara. You can go look at the skirts and shorts if that's what you want to do. This day's not just about me and what I want." Leonidas politely shut down Clara's negative talk by repeating the point he had made earlier about how today's trip was for the both of them. The young woman looked up again.

"R-really?" Clara asked as if she were afraid Leonidas might withdraw his approval and insist that they leave the mall or go somewhere more to his liking. The muscular mage was not going to do that to her.

"Really. Go and shop on the other side of the store. I'll wait for you." Leonidas insisted. Clara's face lit up.

"Thanks, Leonidas! I'll try not to take all day!" Clara told him before hurrying off like he was going to change his mind at any moment. Leonidas would do no such thing, but he doubted that he could completely convince the black-haired young woman of that. He looked towards her as she stood on the left side and browsed at the garments. There were far fewer young women on the left side than there were on the right, so she should not have too much trouble finding something she was after.

-Earthland Eagle, 4:29 P.M.-

Clara had spent over an hour looking at shorts and skirts, but she had not left the area empty-handed. In her left hand were clutched three pairs of blue jean short shorts, a white skirt, and a denim skirt that she had taken to the dressing rooms and modeled for him. Once she had made up her mind to buy those garments along with the shirts she had picked out earlier she made her way back to Leonidas, who had been patiently waiting for the young woman to finish shopping.

"I'm back, Leonidas! I've found all of these for a really good price and all of them are in my size!" Clara told Leonidas of her second triumph of the day.

"I'm going to go pay for these now. I promise it won't take long!" She told him and hurried off to the checkout counter before he could respond to her first statement. Leonidas wondered if Clara really was all right with being around him or if she was afraid that he would turn on her like the other men she had dated before did. It seemed like she was going out of her way to placate him by repeatedly apologizing for taking a lot of time to do what she wanted. Leonidas was not worried about time, but so far he could not convince her of that.

The muscular mage did not bother to follow her. He stayed where he was and watched her check out and have her purchases bagged before getting a receipt. With her bag of clothing in hand she turned towards Leonidas and walked over to him, then stopped.

"I'm ready to leave the store, Leonidas! I want to go to the second floor and visit The Modern Woman!" Clara announced their next destination.

"OK." Leonidas agreed. The two mages then left Earthland Eagle and made their way towards the stairwell on the left side of the food court.

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-Inside The Modern Woman, the second floor, 5:19 P.M.-

Getting up the stairs to go to The Modern Woman was something of an ordeal because there were plenty of other shoppers with the same idea, but Clara and Leonidas had braved the climb and were now inside of the shop they were wanting to visit. Leonidas was on the left side of the store and was standing with his back to the window while Clara browsed at the tops on the racks a short distance away. As she browsed he began to think about the circumstances of his meeting her and wondered why he had accepted her request to go to the mall.

Leonidas was not thinking that way because he was bored with watching Clara shop and wanted to do an activity that was more to his liking. He did not mind going shopping with her even if there was nothing in it for him like going to dinner or a movie afterward because he had not agreed to this with the expectation of getting something in return. Instead he wondered if he had agreed to go out with Clara for the right reasons. She was so considerate that she seemed to be afraid of being seen as "greedy" for asking to go to another store after she was finished browsing in one store. That made the scar-faced man feel like he was taking advantage of her even though he was not doing or saying anything that could count as exploitation.

Growing up in the Jarnefeldt household was not easy. His mother Sophia was a strong-willed woman with strong opinions as to how things should go and his sister Leona was cut from the same cloth. Their mother felt entitled to dictate how her children's lives should go even after they had entered adolescence and were beginning to determine what they wanted out of life. In particular she insisted that Leona and Leonidas find a partner and get married at the earliest chance so that they could give her grandchildren before she left this world. Leonidas did not like that idea because he felt like his freedom of choice was being taken from him, but Leona took even more offense to it and argued with their mother about getting married on numerous occasions.

He could not blame his sister for not wanting to be reduced to a housewife without having any say in the matter. Leona had survived countless slaver raids that aimed to scoop up as many young women in the village as possible because they could sell for a good price and hearing her mother tell her that the only value she had was giving birth to grandchildren obviously did not sit well with the younger Jarnefeldt. Whenever her children refused to entertain the idea of settling down and getting married Sophia would try to guilt trip them with "I want grandchildren before I die..." or other phrases intended to guilt Leonidas and Leona into giving in. When that did not work Sophia would yell at them and call them "ungrateful children" who "took and took and took and never gave back" to their mother.

Leonidas had long ago tired of his mother's antics and was glad that he was away from her. Now that he was in Fiore he had a say in his life and did not have to put up with her constantly nagging him for grandchildren. Leonidas now got to choose if he dated and who he dated, something which pleased him almost as much as just being away from his overbearing mother. Speaking of women, Clara was the exact opposite of Sophia... the former was gentle, tended to be soft-spoken, and seemed willing to put his wants and needs above her own to the point that it was unhealthy.

The scar-faced man was a little concerned that he had latched onto Clara's kind nature in order to date someone he could easily control. The young woman seemed to shy away from any sort of confrontation and she spoke softly as if she were afraid of offending him. Leonidas had been controlled by his mother for over twenty years and now he had met a young woman he could exert power over without really trying, a fact that unsettled him because a grossly unbalanced power dynamic was not the foundation of a good relationship.

"Hey Leonidas, are you OK?" Clara asked him out of the blue. Leonidas snapped back to the present and faced her to see that she was standing within arm's reach of him. In her hands were plastic hangers upon which hung three t-shirts that were pink, white, and mint green along with four camisoles that were white, pink, baby blue, and lavender.

"I'm fine, thanks." Leonidas assured her that he was doing fine. Clara smiled at him.

"You're really patient, Leonidas. I appreciate that. We'll be finished here soon." She assured him before going back to the racks of tops and looking for more of them. The scar-faced man did not have anywhere he needed to be, so he resumed waiting for his companion to finish her shopping at her pace.

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