"Date" (sic)

The mall in Manta Carlos was almost quaint by Orion's standards. In his own time period, the equivalent of a shopping mall was a massive structure in both breadth and height. While businesses could definitely exist outside of the singular structure, it was easier for most people to set up shop there, whether it was a family business to a corporate chain store. Centralization was a big thing in the future, and generally came as a response to a much larger population.

Compared to that, the Manta Carlos mall was downright tiny and niche. Instead of a store for every possible taste and preference, inbetween the big corporate entities, Orion could just sense the "theme" of the mall. It was a place for a young people, presumably like him, and every store was more or less geared toward that. Again, inbetween the corporate stores. Everything was family-friendly to an extent, and there was no place in the mall that felt much different from a different place. In his own time, the shopping structures often had self-contained "districts" or "burroughs" that held a large concentration of this type of store or that kind of product. Despite the hectic-ness others perceived of the mall, Orion found it quite relaxing.

Sitting on bench in the central atrium of the mall, next to a centerpiece fountain, Orion waited for Faye to arrive for... Well, he had no real idea what to call their meeting. He had seen that Faye was going through a bit of a rough patch and he felt like he was a little obligated to try and cheer her up, or take her mind off of it. "Date" was an easy word to go for, but did it really count? He was personally having trouble discerning if they really met the qualifications for a "date". Didn't they have to be a couple first? It didn't feel like they were a couple, even though they had indulged each other in the locker room once.

Whatever the case, he still felt like he had enough of a connection and relationship with her to at least try and get her out of the dumps. The mall seemed like an easy place to do that, and appropriate for people their age. Hopefully it would have something that caught her eye.

Their shared moment in the locker room had never come across as a bad thing for Orion. Putting aside the very obvious reason it simply felt good at the time, he thought it was both fun and affectionate. Unlike some of his male peers, however, it was never simply about the act itself, and nothing more. Being with Faye like that was a way for both of them to enjoy themselves and each other, while also allowing for a deeper connection between them. It was a sentiment that took most males years to figure out.

What it meant in the present was that sex was not simply an end goal, and a place to stop, it was a place to start something. He was generally enthused with getting to know Faye better and making her feel better at the same time. As he sat there in front of the fountain, waiting, he contemplated what they could do around the mall to facilitate that desire.

Her arrival was almost stealthy until she sat beside. The quiet greeting she gave went nearly unnoticed, but her presence was impossible to miss. Orion looked up at her, smiled, and watched her sit down beside him. He threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a bit of a hug while looking her over. Her legs reminded him of some good times.

"No. No. It's fine, Faye. I'm happy to see that you came out on such short notice, and might I say that you look really nice too."

Orion was as smiley as ever.

"So got anything in particular you wanna do? It'll all be my treat today."

Perhaps as a natural consequence of his "upbringing", Orion had an innate inclination towards trying to make people happy. In the past, and most certainly back when he came from, it was to win their approval and avoid failing at anything he had been ordered to do. But now, when he was out and about in the real world with other people, he simply did it because it made them feel good as well as made himself feel good too. The sentiment was equal parts selfish and altruistic. At least everyone ended up happy in the end.

He immediately caught on to her blushing and her telltale lip-biting, and cuddled her a little closer on the bench. It seemed that the energies of youth were already kicking-in with the two of them. Orion crossed his legs in an effort to suppress those energies, for the moment. Faye's hand on his leg did a lot to make his efforts futile.

"Something else? Well, you just said that no one turns down ice cream, hon. And I ain't about to argue against that, or ice cream! So lets do that."

Orion ears and eyebrow perked up when he heard the sound of hunger come from Faye. He giggled and leaned closer to her so he could put his free hand on her belly, or rather, a little lower than her belly. A twinkle went through his eye as he looked at her.

"Sounds like you could really use it too..."

He let his words and his touch linger for a moment before he hopped up to his feet and offered his hand to Faye. The naughty, playful smirk was gone and replaced by his former, more friendly one.

"C'mon. We'll go find a place."

Holding hands always felt nice to Orion. The gesture was neither too platonic nor too intimate, letting it sit in a comfort zone of familiarity and closeness. From holding hands, it was an easy and seamless transition to something more friendly and playful, or something more affectionate and serious. As he was lead the way by Faye, however, he was happy to just have the feeling of being close to someone in his hand.

Faye destination was a charming little shop with employees that greeted them enthusiastically the moment they entered. No doubt it was just part of their jobs to do so, but it was a nice touch nonetheless. More importantly, Orion noticed that the shop specialized in sweet treats of all kinds, not just ice cream. As they got to the counter, something caught Orion's eye.

"Ooooooh~ What's that?"

Channeling some of the excitedly curious personality Faye had seen in the art room before, Orion nearly pressed his face against the glass as he watched an employee make some kind of flat pancake on a stone heat element. He was quickly informed that it was a crepe.

"I've never seen a crepe before. Check it out, Faye, they're putting stuff in it!"

His eyes widened as he watched the crepe get filled with all sorts of delicious stuffs before being rolled into a hold-able cone shape. Orion knew what he wanted his ice cream in.

"What do you think? Should I try one?"

Faye's blessing was all Orion needed to put in an order for a sweet crepe with the employee who had been watching him stare at her hot plate. He wanted a little bit of everything in his crepe, but limited himself to things that would actually taste good with his ice cream too. Once his order was in, he went right back to Faye's side to help her decide what she wanted to. Orion was positively bouncing as he glanced between Faye and his crepe being made.

"Why not? Get the cookie. A big one. We'll split it."

Orion was all for getting things if you wanted them, and his nudging elbows was encouraging Faye to do the same. When everything was in and ready, Orion paid and they were both handed their respective cone-shaped treats and the cookie. While they could have walked around the mall and eaten at the same, Orion wanted to savor his new crepe and they found a little table together.

His crepe was the soft kind, rolled into a cone shape so it could hold his vanilla ice cream with at least two kinds of syrups, some nuts and sprinkles, and strawberries. Several times he tried to eat it, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, but he could not figure out how to eat it exactly.

"Hm... Do I... Do I eat the insides first or just chomp at it? What's the standard protocol for crepes?"