[Nyxia]

It was late afternoon when Reima arrived at the falls, and the weather was perfect for his grand plan. He'd heard the rumors that here romance was easily come by and thus he'd decided it would be the perfect place for him to try courting the lovely woman who owned the tea shop. For a few minutes he wandered around in the small sparse forest closest to the falls as he looked for a perfect spot to lay out the blanket he'd brought with him. It didn't take him long to find the nicest place, and settled himself with the blanket laid out on the ground and the unseen basket now laid in the center of the blanket as he waited for her to arrive. It had been a long time since he'd courted a woman, making him a bit nervous as he sat there his mind toying with the ideas that this could go wrong.

[Nyxia]

Stumbling around in the woods was not the best way to start a romantic outing in the young mage's mind as she tried not to trip over a raised root that stuck out at an odd angle in her heels. When a man proposed a "romantic" dinner, Devi had imagined a nice restaurant on the ocean front, not roaming through a forest for a "surprise". After a moment though she relaxed a bit in her grumblings as she stopped to look around, the forest was beautiful with the sun shining through their tops and lighting up the floor with warm golden light. Suddenly whatever thoughts she had about how off the wall this was for a city gal to be out here vanished, and she stood silently with a cleared mind listening to the soft calls of the birds in the trees above and the babbling of water somewhere in the distance. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all like Grace had said before she'd left. Taking a deep breath of the crisp air to renew herself Devi started walking again, following the small carved signs Reima had left along his trails. Soon after the third marker she found a bush of beautiful blue blooms on a bush. A delightful find as she continued on, checking around each marker for each small naturally beautiful find he'd left for her. On the trial leading her right to him she found scattered rose petals and a few full lilies as she went.

[Nyxia]

When she suddenly came out of the trees she was as beautiful as he remembered from that day on the beach, it took his breath away for a moment when he saw her standing there. Every possible way this could have gone wrong for him evaporated as she smiled at him and started to walk towards him, her amethyst eyes sparkling with her magic and the light reflecting from the sun. She was a stunning sight indeed as she carried herself over to the blanket and gave him a quizzical look. "I promised you a romantic dinner." Was all he could think of to say to her as he shifted around a bit on the blanket. "I...um...brought some wine as well." As he moved to try and open the basket he blushed. Damn, why was this so hard for him? She was a beautiful woman and he meant to make a nice evening of this for her, but right now he looked like a bumbling idiot rather than a well trained hunter. After spending a few minutes digging around in the basket he pulled out the two crystal glasses and the bottle of merlot wine and another minutes later he'd finally found the cork screw with success, when the thought occurred to him. "Would you like some wine?" He asked sheepishly, having never thought to ask if she even drank or not. Really smooth, he chided himself as he struggled to uncork the bottle.

[Nyxia]

She'd finally found him, which was lucky with her ability to get lost in such an unfamiliar place. It seemed the day's luck was on her side today though as she neared the spread out blanket on the ground with a good sized basket set in the middle. That was new for her, as was this whole idea of courtship and relationships in general. So far in her life every man she'd ever had feelings for had abandoned her in one form or another, so never had anything panned out for her as far as keeping a man was concerned. Still she was always willing to give it a shot, and so far Reima had been very persistent in his pursuit of her. That was the reason she was out here so far from her home, she'd agreed to this date after almost a month of his constant visits to the tea house; and she couldn't imagine he liked tea that much. "It's lovely." She assured him, watching with a spark of amusement as he dug around almost desperately in the basket for the glasses and the wine, oh was he on edge tonight. As she sat down she watched him struggle to dig the screw perfectly into the top of the cork, Devi finally took pity on the poor man after seeing she'd rattled him so badly. With a soft flick of her wrist Devi a few small wisps of magic danced away from her fingers in a pale array of purple lights, and wrapped the cork before popping it off and sending it flying a good distance from the pair. "Oops...a...that...a...just a little too much there." She managed as she sat laughing softly at her own ability, seeing the mildly shocked look on his face after it happened. "Guess I don't know my own strength." She admitted with a casual shrug, a lot more casual than she felt inside.

[Nyxia]

For a moment he just sat there staring at her with mild shock and awe, it wasn't that magic was new to him. Far from it in fact, since he lived in the shadow world as much as anyone. Still the beauty of her magic was startling, as a rule most magic was demonic in source and fairly dark or foul in some way; not her's though, her's had a lightness and a softness to it. Instead of saying anything he just quirked an eyebrow at her as he pour her glass half full and handed it to her, then poured his own partly full. "To an dinner to remember." He told her tilting his glass towards her in a toast. Which he was glad when she tipped his glass to tap his softly, with that glowing smile of hers. Above them the sun slowly moved across the sky, preparing to set above the falls, such a perfect setting for this whole thing. Still Reima held back a bit, sipping a little of the almost heavenly wine as he thought about what he wanted to say next.

[Nyxia]

Devi raised her glass to tap to Reima's and settled herself on the blanket across from him, "This is a lovely place, Reima." She told him with a breathy sigh, her eyes tracked skyward as she watched the sun slowly move over the falls. Truely it was nice to get away from the city, as small as it might be, and the stresses of the shop. For a little while she could just rest here and let her mind be free to take in the beauty of this little place. Closing her eyes as she leaned back slightly and took a sip from her own glass, taking in the warmth of the earth beneath their blanket and the small of sun warmed water mixing with the bark of the mighty pine trees here and the many lightly teasing scents of the different flowers in bloom all around them. The place couldn't be more perfect for her to unwind a little bit, even the man there was a nice addition to the magic of this place. The only problem with him was that he was a hunter, and she is a mage; one of the creatures his kind looks down upon and hates. "Reima?" She asked softly not bothering to open her eyes, "Why is it your so taken with me? Why bring me out here?" She finally asked in her less than usual tone, the suspicion seeping into her voice. Now her eyes were open, and she was looking straight into his maroon eyes as she searched for the answers.

[Nyxia]

She looked so peaceful basking there in the waning sun light, her skin giving off an almost pale golden glow as the magic of her aura reflected the sun light. He was content to let her sit there and just relax as he had intended for her to do, but then he was caught off guard by her question as well as her gaze. It wasn't a heated look, but a wary one that bit him to the bone as he sat there looking at her almost dumbfound. Then very abruptly he remembered why this would happen, it was because of what they both were; like soldiers on two opposite sides of a battle field. That pulled him right back to the problems they could both face should he keep courting her, the simple fact that he would be in a way betraying his own kind. Except mages were an excepted part of both this daylight world and the shadow world, so the rules against him marrying her had been lifted already. Still he could see deep in her eyes that she didn't feel that way, she didn't know these things that he did. "Ah. Direct." Reima commented as he took another sip in order to think this over a bit. "Well, I thought maybe bringing you out here to let you see the natural wonder. That way you and I could get to know one another a bit better." He watched her gaze after that as it softened and slowly she relaxed back into the moment of this. It was a rather unexpected statement he'd made, something that he never normally would have voiced aloud; but he really did want to learn more about this woman.

[Nyxia]

For the moment that soothed Devi's concerns, but it didn't completely quiet the wary feeling she had about being on a date with someone who normally saw her kind as the enemy. For now she would enjoy this though, until he proved if he was a threat to her or not, which was the only reason she sat back a little and smiled once more. The sun had slowly started to set above them, dipping down behind the falls finally and giving the water a warm and inviting light. About that same time as she took another slightly large sip from the glass she noted Reima was at it again, digging through the basket and pulling out a whole range of things from it. Obviously it looked like he was setting up for dinner, with the lovely bird roast and the bowls of vegetables. Suddenly he leaned forward and set a plate out before prompting her to really pay attention to what was happening. "Oh, is that dinner?" She asked trying not to be too unladylike and stare at the food. "It looks lovely, Reima. You must have spent a fortune on all this." She told him as she watched him spread out the food so it was easy to get to and trying to make it just right. At the same time Devi noted with the lowering light, making it a little hard for her to see what was in the bowls. Draining the last little bits of wine in her glass, she set it down before leaning back on her elbows to look around. That was when she saw the small bell shaped blooms dangling down from the trees that were opening as the light faded away, they smelled heavenly to her trained nose and gave her a idea. Putting her mind in that calm place she concentrated for a moment on the spell she needed before snapping her fingers, her lilac colored magic leaving her behind as it flew up. Slowly it wrapped around each of the hanging blooms dancing and flowing around them before each lit up with a pale gold glow, lighting the area just enough to be candle light. "Much better." She commented as she sat back up to look at Reima once more, now that she could see him better.

[Nyxia]

He watched silently impressed as she lit the area with her magic, flowers bursting open with fragrant scent and dim light. So much so he almost forgot her comment on the food, slowly he drew his attention back to her. "Nope, didn't hardly cost me anything. I made most of it myself." He told her quietly. It was rather interesting for him to interact with a magic user like her. Now though he could see that this wasn't going to be anything like his late wife had been, not that he minded the challenge of learning something new. His late wife, Ashil, had always loved his cooking; it was something that made him smile even on his darkest days. "You'll have to tell me how it is, since I'm a bit rusty now." He admitted with a smile as he watched her dip a spoon into the vegetables he'd made. His eyes strayed back up the illuminating flowers as they gave off a soft glow with their pollen drifting slowly down to the ground like a pale golden snow. "That's really nice, how you managed that without upsetting the flowers too much." He noted giving a nod up at the flowers.

[Nyxia]

To her credit, Devi did manage to take a spoon and taste the vegetables, rather than her usual manner of pulling one out with her fingers quickly. For a moment after getting herself passed the metallic taste of the silver spoon she was using fell away she could only smile, they were crisp with rich flavor and not the slightest over cooked. Then she remembered that this wasn't her home, nor would the man sitting across from her find her behavior too appealing. Quickly she took the spoon back out of her mouth and smiled at him, "It's pretty good for someone whose rusty." She commented with a slight shrug. It didn't take her too long to pull out a set of silverware from the basket and dish up some of the vegetables on the plates he'd set out, hoping he would carve up the roast so she wouldn't have to. "I do always love a man who can cook." She added after settling his plate back in front of him. At his comment Devi looked back up at the flowers, as the world descended further into the dusk. Now it seemed they didn't give off enough light to keep the area well lit for them. "Well, it isn't that hard when you keep in mind that most magic is about balance." She explained shifting her eyes around them to find something else to light up, since she didn't feel like summoning candles. After a few long moments she finally found the one thing she needed, the flowers growing off those strange looking lily pads. This time she didn't have to do much though, just a simple thought would steer her magic in it's direction.

[Nyxia]

Reima couldn't help the smile he had as she said the word balance in conjunction with magic, to an old warrior like Reima who'd been raised in a world were magic was parasitic and evil balance was a funny idea. Still he could understand that she came from an entirely different world, one where some magics weren't evil or didn't cause great harm. He saw no reason to correct because of this, and accepted the plate she handed to him gratefully as he took a clean dagger out of the sheath on his belt to attack the bird. It took him a bit of work to cut off one of the drumsticks, and several more minutes to win a chunk of breast from the dead beast before finally glancing up at her, "Would you rather have a drumstick, or a slice of just meat?" He inquired though he noted her attention seemed to be on the water just feet from them and down the bank. He couldn't blame her for getting distracted by the final glow of the suns rays on the water a little over an arms length from them.

[Nyxia]

So put in was she on the work of shifting her already working magics, that she was actually startled by Reima's voice when she heard him. In that very moment that her concentration broke, and she lost track of her magic to look dumbfound at him. Then seeing him holding up the "options" he'd offered her she nodded, "I'll have just the meat, thank you Reima." With him working on that Devi turned her attention back to the water, just in time to see the mistake she'd made. In the water she could see the fish beneath the surface of the water all aglow with the magic she'd sent in that direction. Unable to help herself Devi burst out laughing, watching in mild horror and great amusement as the poor fish swam up and around each other; apparently confused by this change. "Oh no!" She cried out between fits of laughter. "Oh, dear...I don't know how that happened." By now Devi was clutching her sides tightly as she laughed breathlessly, tears streaming down her face; thankfully she wore waterproof make-up tonight.

[Nyxia]

Instantly alarmed by her outcry, Reima jolted up from the blanket and was standing over her to guard her from danger. At least he was until he realized she was laughing hysterically and wiping her eyes, "What?" He asked still on alert. "What happened?" He insisted as he watched her, in response he watched her point out at the water. Turning his eyes out to the pool beneath the falls he suddenly knew what was so funny, the fish swimming around in that pool were all glowing with a pale purple color. "Oh, well...I didn't know fish could glow." By that point though he too was laughing as she whacked the back of his leg. About the same time he'd replaced his blade in it's carrier, and sat back down where he'd been. "So, in your world balance equals glowing fish?" He teased as she batted at him still laughing.

[Nyxia]

When the pair had stopped laughing and had settled in to eat their meal, "Oh shut up. That was an honest mistake because I wasn't paying attention." She grumbled as she started to cut her meat and sampled it. "Really Reima, balance is that you can only take so much magic from the world before you have to give something back." She told him honestly still smiling brightly, it was too funny that her attempt for flowers as lamps had ended the way it had. Devi wasn't terribly inclined to fix the mess she'd made of the poor fish, though they seemed to be adapting well to their new coloration. The magic would wear off soon enough since unlike the flowers, she was no long manipulating the magic going to them.

[Nyxia]

Their meal finish Reima smiled at her, the fish were steadily losing their shiny glow in the waters beyond them. It still was so amusing to the old soldier that he couldn't keep the smile from his face, something that hadn't happened to him in years. "Well, m'lady. What would you like next?" He was genuinely curious by this point what she would want in this date. Now they sat sipping wine as the moon rose high in the air about them, it was a warm night so far and pleasant. He watched how her eyes were drawn up to the sky, her soft smile widening as she saw the moon. "Maybe a small waltz by moonlight would be nice?" In his time, back in his own world, a dance was the way to woo a woman. It really had been so long, and in this more modern era he wasn't as sure.