It's a date

Cynthia walked out of her tent ten minutes later, dressed in a set of simple form fitting jeans, sneakers, a denim jacket and a blue t-shirt. She walked straight to John, taking his hand and pulling him towards the tents.

“I ordered you some clothes at the NTC just now as well; they just arrived. It will suit you a lot better than either your hunting garb, it would draw too many eyes, or your school uniform, same reason.”

Inside the tent, Cynthia pointed at the clothes laid out on the bed then took Jack from John’s shoulder, letting out a barely muffled squeal as she hugged the little kitten into her bosom. “Oh ehm, I will give you some privacy. C'mon, little fluff ball! You are all mine for a few minutes!” Cynthia quickly ran out of the tent, a slightly confused mew from jack barely being heard as the tent closed behind her.

John pinched the bridge of his nose. “Give Cynthia something cute to prevent her from stealing Jack. Noted,” he mumbled. When he shook off his moment of WTFism he looked at the clothes on his bed. She had ordered him a set of jeans, a shirt that said: ”Look, don’t touch”, which made him chuckle, and finally a pair of hiking shoes. John pulled them into his inventory, then unequipped his gear, quickly sliding it into his secondary gear slots and equipping his new clothes without any trouble. He walked to a nearby mirror, seeing that the clothes made him look somewhat stylish though they were not able to hide his obvious awkwardness. He ran a hand through his hair, making it look a little messy then nodded at himself. “Time to go on a date with a girl that… Blew you out of boredom?” John suddenly felt a rush of anxiety and inadequacy. He was a scrawny geek, and she, she was just this beautiful girl, vibrant, cute. It felt so strange that she kept going after him that aggressively. John was about to walk out and call it all off when a pop up appeared.

“Don’t lose hope, boy. No one is perfect. Now go out there and show her who the real man is!”

“Ehm, thank you, Gaia?” John asked with a strange look on his face, shaking his head, ridding himself of the downer thoughts. “But, you are right! If she wants me, then who am I to say no!” He lifted his head and walked out of the tent, seeing Cynthia chasing Jack across the camp, Jack playfully mewing at her as he managed to stay just outside of her reach. John ran towards them, scooping Jack up into his arms with a smirk. “I’m ready.”

Arnold drove the two of them to town. Dropping the pair of them off at a small Italian diner John had proposed they go to. It was a ten minute walk away from his home, so if it got too late, she could sleep at his place.

Cynthia waved at her father as he drove off, gluing herself to John’s arm the moment he was out of sight. “Tonight we can just let the Abyss be the Abyss, we can hang out. Talk, actually get to know one another without coconuts flying at my head. Still weird, but hey, it was funny.”

John nodded, smiling at her as he felt her press up against him. “So, want to go inside? Or will you be trying to merge into me out here?” he teased her, giving her a wink.

“Inside sounds nice: food, company, and if I get bored I can always just pet you. You are cute enough to warrant a pat or two,” she teased back.

John grinned as he opened the door, guiding Cynthia to sit at a nice corner spot, pulling back the chair for her as she sat down. He himself sat down opposite of her. A waiter walked over to them to take their orders, smiling at them politely. The two of them looked like a generic teenager couple on a date.

“So, Cynthia, tell me a bit about yourself. I mean, all I know about you is what I heard here and there and what my observe tells me.”

“Fair enough. Well, you know my name, at least. I’m American from Greek descent; my grandma moved here before the world wars, trying to get away from the abyss. My mom knew nothing of it ‘till she went on holiday to Greece one time and fell right back into it. She joined Artemis’ Hunters, eventually found my dad, and they boned to create me. Now that you know a little bit more about me, tell me something about you!” Cynthia demanded.

“Well, I’m John, you know, just a gamer geek that got his powers at the start of the week. My mom works in town, and my dad is away a lot on business. Works for an oil company, manages oil platforms or something. I never really got what he did.”

Cynthia giggled as she nodded, looking at his slightly awkward face as he told her a bit about himself.

The two of them chatted a bit about unimportant things until they finally received their meals. Just as John wanted to take a bite, Cynthia asked him, “Are you a virgin, John?”

John’s head got as red as a tomato as he coughed heavily.

“I will take that as a yes then.” Cynthia grinned as she took a bite off her pasta. Winking at him as she brought one of the meatballs to her mouth, licking it before actually eating it.

“Well, yeah. And thanks to observe, I know you are one too,” he teased, causing Cynthia to go pale.

“That is completely unfair!” she cried out, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. She suddenly seemed a lot less sure of herself.

“But hey, that means we got something else in common,” John teased her again.

“It’s still unfair,” Cynthia pouted, refusing to look at him as she pretended to sulk. “Here I am, trying to come off as this awesome experienced girl, and this new guy can literally see right through it! I would like to file a complaint with Gaia!” she grumbled.

“No can do, sorry, Cyn, but I know something we can do,” John said with a sweet smile. “Have a fun evening, and see where things go from there?”

Cynthia chuckled, nodding as she put another meatball into her mouth.