[SpringsSong]

"I'm guessing that she's long since moved on from spinning around in a tutu, but never quite outgrew it at the same time," Rorin said, offering a smile.  "Remember when she had all of us gathered up to watch her attempt dancing to 'The Nutcracker Suite' when she was four?  Mother carried on for days about how cute she was..."

When the waitress approached them, Rorin offered a smile before he looked down at the menu, skimming over it before he said, "I would like... a large hot chocolate, and three cheese danishes, if you please."

"All right," the waitress said, turning to Mirua.  "And for you, ma'am?"

[SpringsSong]

"I'll have a large white hot chocolate, and two chocolate croissants--both warmed up, please," Mirua said.  The waitress smiled before walking inside, and Mirua turned her attention back to Rorin as she chuckled.

"You'd be correct there--in both aspects of what you said," she said.  "Twirling around in a tutu to 'The Nutcracker Suite' turned into dancing waltzes, foxtrots, cha-chas, sambas... you name it, she's danced it--or at least begun learning it.  Thankfully, she hasn't torn a muscle or hurt anything too badly to be put out of it--some people don't realize it, but dancing is a sport in and of itself," she said.

[SpringsSong]

"You're absolutely right," Rorin said.  "Dancing is a sport, in and of itself--but it's also an art form, which is probably why so many people overlook how physically taxing it can be if you don't prepare yourself for it properly," he added.  When he heard her order, he couldn't help but smile and laugh.

"Well, it would seem that the only thing that's changed since last we were here is what size of drink we get, and how many pastries we get," he said.  "Remember how Mom and your stepmother would only allow us to get the small hot chocolates and only let us have half of our pastries right then and there?"

[SpringsSong]

"Well, we were much younger then," Mirua said with a laugh.  "A regular hot chocolate and a full croissant, much less two, would have had me bouncing off the walls for hours.  And the same hot chocolate and a whole cheese danish, let alone three, would've had you bouncing off the walls, too--and you know it."

"Your hot chocolates--one regular, one white--and your pastries," the waitress said as she approached their table with a tray.  "Can I get you anything else?"

"Thank you, ma'am; and... not right now, I think we're good," Mirua said, looking to Rorin for confirmation.  Then, she took her hot chocolate from the tray and took a tentative sip of the hot liquid, and then blowing on it to cool it off.

[SpringsSong]

"You're right; we were much younger then," Rorin said, laughing.  "I think that our mothers would... be rather horrified with how much we're consuming just for breakfast, knowing that it'll all burn off well before lunchtime--ah, shit.  I forgot to pack my lunch before I came over... well, I can always close up the shop for an hour to get a lunch from home when that time rolls around."

When the waitress posed her question as to if they needed anything else, Rorin shook his head.  "I don't think we need anything else right now, but if that changes, we'll let you know," he said, and the waitress nodded as she offered a smile.

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, don't worry about going all the way back home for lunch, Rorin," Mirua said, chuckling.  "Aetlina owes me a lunch from about... a week or so ago, so I can always call in on that favor.  There was this accessory that was in my shop that I'd had from the beginning--Mother gave it to me shortly after I left for Nabias.  She said that she'd spring for lunch for me and one other aside from her--and potentially Nelai--if I could sell it," she said.

"Getting permission from Mother to sell it was the hard part.  She was... fond of that hair clip, you see; but in the long run, she was fine with it.  When Aetlina came into the show and saw that it was gone... oh, she turned a rather unique shade of purple."

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, dear," Rorin said, laughing as he shook his head.  "You know what lunch with Aetlina and Nelai would mean, right?  In terms of discussing that date they set us up on last night?" he asked.

His phone had nothing short of erupted when he turned it on at 6:30 that morning.  The texts from his three friends ranged from, Holy shit!  We didn't know, to, Did she know that you were her date? to, So, is this gonna turn into a serious thing?, and Rorin could only shake his head as he had replied, very simply, that he didn't know how things were going to go yet.

"If I know Nelai--and Aetlina, from what I've heard about her; I haven't really met her yet--it's gonna be a game of twenty questions--maybe more," Rorin said.

[SpringsSong]

"This is true," Mirua said, laughing.  "Trust me, though--meeting just Nelai and Aetlina would be better than meeting all six of them at once, yeah?"

Her own phone had exploded when she finally decided to power it on--to the tune of about fifteen texts and three voice mails.  Honestly, did her friends have any concept of needing to sleep?  The voice mails had been them shrieking and giggling and demanding that they meet up as soon as possible for what they referred to as a "date debrief".

"Although we may end up getting ambushed by Skokara and Eodeva as well, now that I think about it... something about sitting me down and having a 'date debrief'.  Maybe I should... call Aetlina first..."

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, I've heard of those from the guys," Rorin said, his eyes widening slightly.  "That's not just twenty questions, that's... shit, that's more like twenty thousand questions--and that's, according to Nelai, on a good day.  Your girlfriends really do their homework when someone ends up in a relationship--making sure that they're in a good relationship."

He paused and let that hang in the air for a few minutes.  After drinking some more of his hot chocolate and eating half of a cheese danish, he said, "By... a 'good relationship', I don't mean... one that has 'marriage potential' like the three of them do," he said.  "I mean... well, like your mother and stepmother, where they look out for each other."

[SpringsSong]

"Well, they didn't have the best of starts, but that's because of how Mama came to Mother and all that," Mirua said, chuckling softly.  "But you're right, they've been really good for each other."

Before she could say anything more, her phone rang.  She looked down at the caller ID to see who was calling, and she shook her head as she said, "Speak of the devil, that's Aetlina now... hey, Aetlina, what's up?"

"What's up?  What's up?  I do not believe you, woman!" a voice from her phone said.  "You end up going on a date with an old friend, and then, you say that you've 'got it from here'?  You know that's not how we do things!"

"I was actually just calling you to redeem that lunch you owe me, plus one other," Mirua said.  "And Rorin's my plus-one."

[SpringsSong]

Rorin nodded when Mirua's phone rang, and a few moments later, he could hear the voice of the Glimmer Kuhna carry over to where he was sitting.  Clearly, whatever Mirua had told her friend the night before--or not--had the other's tails in knots.  When his own phone rang, he didn't even look at the screen before answering it.

"No, she didn't know I was her date; yes, it might turn into a serious thing, but I don't know yet, and you have two questions before I hang up and return to my breakfast with her, so use them wisely," he said, knowing it would be one of his three friends.

"Well, you're a real ray of sunshine, Rorin," Nelai's voice came from the other end of the line.  "Take all the fun out of the morning-after interrogation, why don't you.  And that wasn't a question, by the way," he added.

"Well, now that I know who it is, I'll allow you one additional question, Nelai--but use it wisely--Mirua is on the phone with your girlfriend as we speak," Rorin said with a laugh.

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, now you call in that lunch," Aetlina said, and Mirua could tell that the other woman was rolling her eyes on the other end of the line.  "I'll have to give Nelai a call and see if he's up to it--"

"How about I just ask Rorin if he can ask Nelai if he's up for a lunch date?" Mirua said, looking over at Rorin.

"Wait, you're with Rorin right now?" Aetlina asked.

"Yeah, we're at the Patisserie right now," Mirua said.  "Hey, you're talking to Nelai, right?" she asked Rorin.  "Tell him that Aetlina is asking about a lunch double-date."

[SpringsSong]

"Okay, three questions... first, did she like where you took her to dinner, and what you had planned afterwards?  Second, how was the walk back to her place?  And third, was there any kissing afterwards?" Nelai asked, and Rorin groaned.

"You've gotta be shitting me.  Those are your questions?" he asked, shaking his head.  "Well, I'll answer them.  First: yes, she very much enjoyed it, although one of the pastry chefs hug-ambushed her when she heard we were there--and she loved the concert.  Second: I'm not sure why it matters, but it was... slow.  We were holding hands," Rorin said, and Nelai began to chuckle on the other end of the line.  "And I'm going to pretend that I don't hear your laughing and say that she kissed me on the cheek before she went into her house."

When Mirua asked him her question, he nodded and added, "Aetlina wants to know if you're up for a double-date lunch today."

"Yeah, just tell her to text me where and when.  Looking forward to actually meeting this Mirua, you know," Nelai said.  "She sounds like she was a good friend back in the day."

"You've no idea," Rorin said before hanging up.  "Nelai said to tell Aetlina to text him where and when for the double-date."

[SpringsSong]

"Okay," Mirua said in a low voice.  "Rorin says that Nelai said to text him where and when for lunch," she said, leaning against the table as she took another sip of her hot chocolate.

"Gotcha," Aetlina said.  "How does, um... the cafe across from your boutique sound?" she asked.

"Pastél's?" Mirua asked.  "That works for us.  See you around noon?" she asked, reaching for her chocolate croissant.

"Noon works.  See you then, Rua," Aetlina said.  Mirua nearly choked on her hot chocolate before she got one more sentence out.

"Do.  Not.  Bring.  Eodeva and Skokara.  Understand?" she asked.

"Fine," Aetlina sighed.  Mirua could not help but laugh as she hung up her phone.

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, Pastél's?" Rorin asked when Mirua hung up her phone.  "I've been there once before.  It was... nice.  Been meaning to go back.  Didn't figure it would be for a double-date with one of my friends, one of your friends, and... you," he said.  Grabbing his mug and drinking the rest of his hot chocolate.

"Well, shall we head to my shop for a couple of hours?  I probably won't actually open the store, but you can look around all you want.  Might... help soothe nerves over the upcoming lunch interrogation with Aetlina, if your phone conversation was any indication," he said.