Aurora thought it bothered on the ridiculous that her parents set up dates for her. Scratch that, it is ridiculous, she corrected as she fidgeted in her seat, wondering who the poor guy was who had been forced by his parents to attend this 'date'. She only hoped that he didn't believe he was doing some kind of weird favor on her by showing up. She was still deciding whether she wanted him to show up or not. being stood up would not work wonders for her self esteem, but it was better than the prospect hat loomed ahead, right?

Yawning, she thanked all the gods of the Universe that the were meeting at Starbucks, not some fancy restaurant like the kind she had seen around the place. She didn't need things to get even more creepy. It was also the reason she had stuck to jeans and a slightly fancy shirt as her dress.

(Dress)

Charles paused at the entrance to the resteraunt and glanced warily at the handle. Why was he here? Why was he doing this? Ah yes his parents funded his gymnastics. But really Starbucks was someone like him's worse nightmare. It was horrible, just horrible. Gingerly opening the door he entered the checked the place for how many people there were. He did not want there to be too many, because he did not want to have a panic attack and make this stupid date worse than it already was going to be. Taking a few deep calming breaths he glanced around to see where she might be.

Aurora glanced up from the menu she was diligently studying, more than a little startled when the entrance opened up. Wondering vaguely if this was her date and if it would seem very wannabe-ish of her to wave or if it would be too vampish of her to stay put and do nothing, calling up her parents afterwards and telling them that nobody had shown up.

Frowning at herself for even thinking like that, only God knows what the guy had been threatened by to actually show up here, she hesitantly raised a hand and waved, before hurriedly dropping it and bending down to look intently at the menu card, shielding her face by a curtain of her wavy hair.

Charles had decided that just to spite his parents, who clearly believed he was incapable of ever finding a girl who would put up with his tendancies, that he was going to make this date work no matter what. Not just because of what they had threatened him but because they would eat there words when it went well. He had therefore gone and consulted several girls he knew and come up with the perfect present for a first date. Instead of the usual bouquet of roses which seemed somewhat old fashioned he had purchased a very expensive rotating crystal rose which changed colours and appeared romantic yet modern and practical.

The stupid thing had come engraved with the words 'I love you' but he was choosing to ignore that because it had cost him a lot and it was perfect other than that. He spotted Aurora waving and with a smile he moved across the room and deposited the present on the table before her. He then proceeded to move his chair bit by bit and slide down making a concious effort not to shudder at just how many people had sat and breathed on this chair before him.

Aurora looked up a the sound of the chair scraping against he floor and gave a slightly awkward but mostly welcoming smile to the boy. He was cute, there was no denying that, and also her age. Mentally, she was hugely relieved that she wasn't going to be stuck with some weird college age guy who featured regularly in gossip columns with a huge posse of girls around him. Realizing that she was blankly staring at the wall behind the guy for a disturbingly long time, she shook herself a little to snap out of her musings, and awkwardly held out her and. "Hi, Charles?"

"You got me a gift." She stated in a surprised voice as she took in the crystal, rotating, multicolored rose. Pointedly ignoring the 'I Love You' inscribed along, she added in a polite voice, "Uh....I will treat you in exchange then, seeing as I haven't got a gift for you."

"Convention dictates that I get you a gift, and pay for the date. If we are going to do this then we are going to do it properly" Charles announced as he fidgeted slightly. The idea of her suggesting paying did not sit well with him. He then began to spin his ring around one of his fingers, over and over, "want to know an interesting facts about Rose's? Except for the fact that just like you they are beautiful."

"Conventional dates aren't set up by parents." Aurora reminded mildly, fidgeting with her hands, underneath the table though. She didn't want to foist herself on him totally, and he had already gotten her a gift. Sure, she doubted it would affect his money, but it would effect her already fragile self esteem if she didn't pay. "We could go half and half?" She suggested awkwardly, shuffling the set of cards she always kept in her pockets, carefully keeping them hidden from view, under the table.

Blushing a brilliant cherry red and cursing herself for it as it drew attention towards her slightly chubbier than normal cheeks, she asked, "Sure, I mean, we have to talk about something."

"So to make this nicer, let us present we were not forced to be here, let us say that we met at school. For example maybe I recognised your talent for performing, and a little birdie told me about your intelligence. So I decided to put myself on the line and ask you out. It is possible, and a much nicer concept" Charles replied as he began to twist his ring the other way, his explanation factual and firm but at the same time with a certain amount of sweetness to the tone. He finally nodded concession and replied "well alright half and half it is ..."

"Interesting fact about the rose is that ... well actually I am not sure I know any, I was hoping something would come to me ..." Charles finally conceded with a sheepish smile and a blush.

"And I agreed after hearing about your amazing talent of Gymnastics and your irresistibly charms." Aurora pitched in with a mock swoon as she started laughing, her eyes twinkling. "Yes, that could work. I fact, if we can repeat it to ourselves enough times, we can actually convince our minds to believe it, effectively replacing memories."

"Agreed." She replied, nodding her head when Charles agreed to split the costs. He seemed like a nice guy, much better than any of the previous dates she had been dragged on. Most of them, had been forced double dates and her shy nature hadn't really helped to keep the conversation going.

She smiled when Charles confessed that he had no idea and thoughtfully shuffled her cards, not looking up from them. It was a pity that she didn't look up, because she missed his sheepish smile and blush completely because of that. "Well an interesting fact about Roses is that they have lost their ability to produce seeds. So technically, the flower of love can't really love at all. Agreed, that some seeds work, but they aren't that normal which leads scientists to believe that it is slowly evolving to flower without seeds."

Charles chuckled and nodded "exactly ... exactly ... exactly ... exactly" He made sure his sentence had four even words. Sentences with even words were better. They made him less nervous. They calmed him down. Yes perfect. Weird maybe, but perfect. He nodded to himself and picked up the menu to glance down it and see if there was something he would like. With difficulty ignoring his need to clean the menu before he used it, not on a date he reminded himself.

"Oh wait I got something ... Columbus’ crew picked a rose branch out of the ocean on October 11, 1492. This signaled the presence of land. The very next day, Columbus discovered America, yes" Charles recited remembering something that his mother had said to him once when she was in one of her vaguely generous pretending her existed moods. He listened to her fact and nodded, adding a word to make the words even "that is interesting, and kind of cooly ironic."

Aurora raised a curious eyebrow when Charles repeated 'exactly' four times, but made no comment. After all, maybe the guy was just nervous, she was extremely nervous. And even though it was a little weird, it certainly was no weirder than her shuffling cards like she was doing right now. Picking up the menu and scanning it again even though she probably knew it better than the people who worked here because she had already read it so many times tonight. "I think this is a self service kind of place." She remarked, feeling extremely dumb as she said it. Almost everyone, everyone knew Starbucks was a self service restaurant.

"Cool. Very Noah and the Ark type of thing. You know, with the tree branch." She replied, stuffing the cards in her pocket and turning the page in the menu. "Yes I mean people keep on going on and on about the Rose. Rose line, Rose treasure, Rose quest, Rose meaning, Symbolisms and blah blah blah."

"Yes, self-service, true" Charles replied with a chuckle and a nod as he glanced over at the bar where the food was served and pondered just how many people, how many germs, would have used that area too. It was almost unbearable but he would cope because there was no other option. "So do you think you are ready to order?"

"I agree, it is not like there are not other flowers just as beautiful" Charles added as he found amusement and truth in her complaint against the rose "even if it is the traditional national flower of Britain!"

"Yeah but why were you staring at that counter like you were.......I don't know, afraid of it?" Aurora asked, knitting her eyebrows together as she glanced from Charles to the counter and then back to Charles again. "You know, we can go somewhere else if you don't like this place. I just thought it would be less awkward here, but the again, if we stick to our story then you must have thought of the place."

"There are so many flowers that not only look better, but actually smell better too." She agreed, lightly fingering the rose he had gotten for her.

"I do not like any places that involve food that has been played with by multiple people, peoples" Charles replied simply with a shudder as he thought about it "if I did pick this place, which from our story I did, it was because I had no idea what kind of place it was until I got inside. If I had known I would have taken you some place nice ... nice and well clean." He nodded away to his statement and counted to make sure it was an even number of words so he remained calm whilst saying it. "I mean, a pretty girl like you would deserve somewhere nice anyhow - somewhere nicer than this!"

"So you are obsessively compulsive." Aurora remarked as the confusion cleared from her face and understanding filled in. She carefully avoided using disorder, because she found it offensive and didn't think that it was a disorder. She blushed again when he continued and cleared her throat awkwardly, "Yes well, we can always buy giant packs of microwave ready food and zap them. Or even just junk food, I don't mind junk food."

The rose Charles gave her reminded her of the roses Alex had given her and she sighed sadly as she thought of him, before determinedly forcing herself to cheer up. "I will just have a coffee, and you?"

Charles raised an eyebrow as he looked back at her. She was so blunt. It was almost refreshing. "Obsessively compulsive?" Charles asked as he twitched slightly and replied "depends how you chose to define that particular phrase." He noted her sigh and wondered if she was unhappy for some reason other than having to be here. But he did not ask because he never did. He did not want to lie and he did not really care enough to pretend.

"In what terms do you want me to define that phrase?" Aurora teased back, tapping her fingers on the table, in time with the beat of the music. It might look like she wasn't paying attention, but Aurora was a born multitasker and the concern and glint of amusement in her eyes made sure to tell the other person that she did care. Sometimes, too much.

"Well if you use that term to actually mean a little bit different then I can live with it" Charles replied with a shrug as his mouth twitched to show he was trying not to laugh himself "or you know a little bit concerned about certain aspects of my life even if that might be kind of an under-statement!"

"Little bit?" Aurora asked in mock surprise, widening her eyes in exaggerated disbelief. She only managed to keep a still, calm exterior for barely two seconds before collapsing into a weird mix of laughter and giggles. Her hair were never tied up because whenever she did, her cheeks looked humongous, at least in her eyes so now her curls all bounced around her face. "You know its just a common misconception that every OCD patient suffers from neatness obsession? Most of the times, its just fear of sickness and germs." She added sobering up, ehr bookish personality surfacing.

"Yeah well that would be helpful, but I do actually have a need for everything to be neat, hospital clean, and organized in alphabetical and colour coordinated order and always fitting into the correct slot on my time-tables and never changing" Charles replied chuckling himself, and rather happy to hear her laughter. She had a pretty laugh to match herself. Shaking his head slightly he added "if you do ever see my room you will get to see my wonderful system ... might as well be honest with you now."

"So what do you want your career to be? Secretary? Accountant? Librarian? Or Doctor?" Aurora teased, wincing as she remembered the state of her room. It wasn't that bad, in fact by any standards it was neat enough for a teenage girl but she doubted that Charles standards and her standards matched. The problem wasn't that she didn't like a neat room or being organized, the problem was that she had already fitted in her schedule with so many activities that by the time she reached her room she was half dead and couldn't really care about its neatness or lack thereof. "Well don't come in my room before giving me the number of your preferred doctor, I don't doubt that you will have a heart attack when you see it! But putting neatness aside, I have to agree with schedules and following them. I approve!"

"I am picking up on the fact your teasing me, but to answer that question correctly I want to be the best gymnast the world has ever known" Charles replied happily as he considered the thought before adding "you?"

"Me? Um......that's a new one...." Aurora mused for a while before shrugging. "Well it doesn't matter what I want to be. What I will end up being is some rich, stuck up, idiot's wife, organizing Charity Dinners and Cocktail Parties all the while looking like some over-glorified doll and being expected to behave the same way, being expected to ignore my husbands hush hush, and not so hush hush affairs." When she said it, her voice did not betray any self pity or misery, it was a matter of fact tone. A future to which she had resigned herself long ago. She knew that Ariadne was going to end up inheriting all of the industries that her father owned while she will be married into a suitable family and given a few industries as a wedding gift. This was how it was going to end up like if she did not prove to her parents that she could run a business and fast.

"That is such a shame you have it all sorted out already. Because while I am rich, and I do have my parents business which I will one day inherit, I hope for my own sake that I do not poses any of the other qualities on your list including the ability to have an affair when I have a wonderful wife at home, and I will not even go into the others, so this date seems somewhat pointless now" Charles replied with a shake of his head as he considered the future she had laid out before him "though actually its probably for the best, I could never marry someone who would be totally happy with just planning charity functions and not assisting me at work ... telling all the people at the office about my little quirks ..." Only the lest bit of the sentences was truly a joke.

Aurora blinked for a few seconds,s hock rendering her absolutely still. Even her constantly fidgeting hands didn't move, before she burst into laughter. "Don't worry, I will never agree to be your wife, I cannot subject you to the eternal misery." She explained when she finally stopped laughing, much to the relief of their surrounding tables. "I will only chose the guy I hate the most, stay married for one or two years and then take a divorce. Of course, since technically I wouldn't be doing any job, I will demand a hefty alimony and then.......well I don't see that far." She added, her hands going back to their usual fidgeting. "By the way, what are your 'little quirks'?"