[jobiehanna]

(Move to Jawan at the end of Event please)

Elizabeth wasn't sure about this. Her heart raced with anxiety at the prospect of meeting a stranger - she wasn't even sure what he looked like. The dating site had paired them by random, as far as she knew. They were even able to hide behind the mask of a screen name. But that was silly, and she had introduced her real name as they set up a time and place to go on their blind date.

The restaurant they were meeting at was upon a hill, and had a large outdoor area with plenty of space for guests. It had a beautiful view of the sea and the city itself. She had done some research online about the place, as she had never gone there herself. It had been years since she'd gone on a proper date. School and work were much more important. But here she was, asking the hostess for a table for two in the outdoor section. She gave her name as well, so her date could find her.

Elizabeth was escorted out to a table, and sat on an elegant chair at a square table for two. She looked out over the city and saw the sea below. It was beautiful - and romantic. Perhaps this would be okay. Taking time from school would do her good. She glanced around, feeling a little out of place in her simple red dress.

[Freezair]

He was nervous. He'd never gone on a real date before.

Mom had climbed up the stepladder to adjust his bow tie and his older brother Terrance had picked out the loveliest bunch of flowers for him to present to his date. Roses were a bit much for a first date, Terrance said, so they'd asked the florist and come out with a bundle of valerian. The florist said the tiny clusters of trumpet-shaped white flowers meant "meetings" in the language of flowers--Scrabble didn't know that, and he expected his date didn't either, but it was a pretty arrangement that hopefully didn't seem too presumptuous.

He wasn't sure if he was expecting romance out of this date. Mostly, he just wanted to meet people. Making friends had always been hard for him--he stuck out so much in crowds, he dominated the room so much, that people tended to talk ABOUT him rather than TO him. That was why he'd turned online in the first place--when all people knew of you was your username and the cropped picture of a cartoon character you used to identify yourself, they tended to judge you more by your actions. If Scrabble found it hard to make friends, "Quartzy164" had no problem.

Now, to hope taking it IRL was as easy.

He was glad his partner had picked a place with a lot of outdoor seating. He'd made sure to mention that he couldn't handle being inside at restaurants, but this place had a killer view! If he was a better flyer, he'd take to the air to really soak it in, but since neither Mom nor Dad had any wings, he'd never really learned. So he strolled up the hill, bouquet held against his chest as he took it three-leggedly, and tried not to trip.

Thankfully, a server was waiting outside the gate. He sat down on his haunches and waved with his free hand. Clinking noises came from behind as his wings trembled nervously. "Uh. Hi," he said in his surprisingly youthful voice. "Is, um. Table for two here? Uh. I mean. Beth. Table of Eliza. Um. ELIZABETH. Table for two."

[jobiehanna]

Elizabeth was looking out over the hillside when she saw a large purple and silver Paragon strolling up the hill. He stuck out like a sore thumb as he approached the restaurant. She smiled, wondering what he would be doing at the restaurant. It was rare to see such a large beast in town, much less coming to such a place. She squinted, and could see a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Perhaps he was here for a date? But with who? She saw no other Paragon at the restaurant.

If the large reptile weren't so big, he would have been obscured by the building front when he spoke to the hostess. His voice traveled as he spoke to the woman - but it couldn't be. He was here for a date, but he was here to meet her? Online Scrabble sounded like a fine, kind gentleman. Surely this was a mistake? Perhaps there was another Elizabeth here?  

Her eyes were glued to the exchange toward the front of the building - she couldn't look away. Astonishment gripped her, and she wondered if this was a bad idea after all. She'd just have to wait and see if the hostess brought the newcomer to her table.

[Freezair]

The hostess was gobsmacked. Scrabble was disappointed. This always happened--people craned their heads up, they stared, sometimes they stammered--as if he'd strode into town to start toppling buildings and breathing fire. Well, that one time was an accident, and he'd never been very good at breathing fire anyway.

Aaaand there was the stammering. "Uh... I... um..."

Scrabble sighed. "Is there also something about a Mr. Mann? Scrabble Mann?"

The hostess took a deep breath and checked her screen. Her eyes opened wide. "...Yes. There is.--Oh! And there's Elizabeth... Um, you're out in the garden... sir? Table... 15?"

Scrabble looked off into the garden. There, sitting off by her lonesome, there was a woman who, from where he sat, seemed to be enjoying the view. Scrabble smiled. "Okay! Thank you!" He rumbled off with a quick salute at the server--after all, Mom taught him to be polite--and he walked toward the table where his date sat.

[jobiehanna]

The hostess wasn't bringing the Paragon to her, but he was on his way toward her regardless. As he neared she gave him a kind, warm smile. Even if he was not what she expected, she would be polite and go along with the rest of the date. Elizabeth noticed the bow tie on his neck as he approached, and it made her smile broaden. He was obviously well prepared for their date.

When he reached her table, she wasn't sure how to proceed. She had never meet such a dashing reptile before. Most she knew were smaller - like the one she kept at home as a pet. She felt insignificant and small in his presence, and she was quite a bit more nervous now. She knew nothing about his species - nothing at all. Did they eat raw meet? Did he use silverware?

Elizabeth swallowed a lump in her throat as she stood to greet her date. "H-hello," she said sweetly, a small, tight smile on  her lips. "You must be Scrabble? ... I'm Elizabeth." She looked he date up and down, noticing his glittering wings behind him. They were hard to hide - but they were beautiful. She tried not to stare, and forced herself to look up at his eyes - though that made her nervous, and her fingers fidgeted.

[Freezair]

"Hi!" Scrabble waved. "You're Elizabeth, right? It's nice to meet you!" He delicately pinched the bouquet between his claws and set it on the table. "Um, these are for you. I... don't know what to say when you give someone a bouquet! I've never really done this before. HI!" His voice squeaked a little, in a way that was somewhat unusual for an enormous crystal lizard.

"Um, yeah. I'm Scrabble! Scrabble Mann. And yeah, that is my real name. It's a long story." He wasn't joking, either--it involved an early precursor to the current birthday shop, his older brother Terrance, and unscrupulous pet traders. "You can call me Scrabble, or Scrabs, or Scribs, or even Purp!" He used to hate that last one as a kid, since he thought it sounded too much like "burp" and that seemed terribly rude when he was just a sprout. But he'd come to accept it.

He fell back on his haunches and folded his talons together. "Wooow, the view up here is really pretty! Um. Sorry. I don't know if I'm doing this right. Am I doing this right? I've never watched a romantic comedy all the way through. Mom used to like them, but I always thought they were waaaay too mushy. Uh. Should I say something about the weather? Or the view? No, wait, I already mentioned the view! Geez..."

[jobiehanna]

Elizabeth smiled warmly at Scrabble, picking up the bouquet to inspect them. She recognized the variety - valerian. They weren't super popular as far as she knew, but they were part of the assortment of flowers in her spring garden. She closed her eyes to smell them, listening to every word Scrabble said.

"They're beautiful," she said when Scrabble took a moment to breath. "You can call me Elizabeth, or Liz, Lizzy, Beth, whatever you'd like. I've never really had a nickname before." She shrugged and sat the flowers back down on the table. Scrabble certainly did... chatter. Perhaps this wouldn't be too awkward, if he chattered to fill awkward silence.

"Romantic comedies usually aren't very realistic anyway for dates. But then again, I haven't been on one in years so how would I know?" She paused a moment. As Scrabble finished his monologue, Elizabeth wondered where to take the conversation. "So, uh, Scrabble, what do you do for fun?" Perhaps he did interesting dragon things, her certainly resembled a dragon, after all. She felt boring, compared to what he would probably have to say.

[Freezair]

((Sorry for the small lapse in replies! It's been a busy couple of days.))

"'Beth' is a nice name. I think I'll go with that--if it's OK." He curled his tail around his claws. "There was a really nice girl in my high school named Beth! She won student council president. I remember she looked out for me a lot! She got the calculus teacher to do classes outside so I could attend! Not to brag, but I'm preeeetty good at math." Except he was totally bragging. Since so many people seemed to struggle with math, he considered it a point of pride.

"What do I do for fun, huh? So we're going straight to hobbies? Oooh. This conversation's gettin' SPICY. Hee hee." He grinned down at her with his vast, glittering face. "Well, I enjoy reading a good book... though I never seem to find the time to. And I enjoy watching basketball! But my favorite thing is actually... photography! Bet you never woulda guessed, huh?"

Given his glittering purple crystal scales, many people assumed he had an interest in geology or caving or archaeology. It was yet another one of the great many assumptions people made about him. He supposed it wasn't entirely untrue; he had read some interesting books on the subject, and he thought that a spelunking  trip sounded like a fun way to spend a vacation. But when it came down to what set his heart aflame, he was forever true to lighting and focal length.

[jobiehanna]

((It's  all good! ))

Elizabeth's jaw dropped open - she couldn't help it. Here was this giant lizard, and he had attended a normal high school, like she had. He even had normal hobbies like photography. This actually made her feel more comfortable with her date. She got the sense that they would have much to talk about.

She realized her mouth was hanging open and promptly closed it. She found herself looking up at Scrabble, and returning his glittering smile. "You are full of surprises," she replied with a laugh. "So, you were raised by... people then?" She felt sheepish and rude, but her question slipped out. How else would a Paragon be so sophisticated? And such a nice date?

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me." She fidgeted with the bouquet on the table for a moment, but stopped herself before she could ruin it completely. A light blush crept into her cheeks, and she could feel the burn of it.  "I love gardening myself, as well as reading, and working at the library. But most of my time is spent studying." She hated talking about herself, but tried to fill the awkward moment she felt she had just made.

"What sort of pictures do you take?" She blurted next, trying to cover up her moment of rudeness.

[Freezair]

And there it was.

The Question.

Not just any question. The inevitable one. The one that demanded proper noun status. The one that everyone ended up asking him sooner or later. The one about his family.

"My family were all humans, if that's what you're asking," he said. "It's kinda complicated. But when they adopted me, they thought I was an Amethyst Stargoyle at first. They kinda just expected I was going to be a pet for my older brother, 'cuz his birthday is in February and all. But they kinda figured out I, uh, wasn't when I started getting big... and talking... and I ate a whole bird, but I don't remember that?" His wings twitched in a way that might be a Paragon equivalent of a shrug. "But they were super chill about it. They decided that hey, he's a part of our family now, so we're going to raise him right!"

He chuckled. "Though they did try to change my name from Scrabble. They thought I needed a 'real' name. But I didn't want that! They said I got REALLY mad about it. But even if it's goofy, it's my name, you know?"

"What kind of pictures? Oooh, I really like landscapes. Pretty pictures of forests and lakes and stuff like that. But I feel like I'm talking too much." He pulled his head back. "You work in a library, huh? And whatcha studyin' for?"

[jobiehanna]

Raised by people who that we was a type of Stargoyle... They did a pretty good job of it, in all honesty. Scrabble had great manners and could communicate well - better than a lot of people she'd met. Elizabeth's perception of Paragon was that they were wild, but here one sat, and she was on a date with him. "Well, they did a fine job of it," she admitted with a short laugh.

"Scrabble is definitely a unique name. Did you ever play that board game?" That was why the name sounded so familiar. Something had been itching at the back of her mind, but there had been other things on her mind until now. Scrabble was the name of a word board game she loved to play.

"They sound beautiful," Elizabeth commented. "I'm studying to become an official librarian. Right now I'm just a clerk. But I want to be a reference librarian, or maybe a library director." She didn't mind that Scrabble talked so much. It meant she didn't have to say as much.

((Sorry for the delay, I've been inundated with school work this weekend.))

[Freezair]

"I bet someone who wants to be a librarian likes to play word games!" Scrabble laughed. "And I do like it! I'm not great at it, but it's fun. I like Monopoly more. Yeah. I'm one of THOSE." He grinned somewhat evilly. "I play the REAL rules, too. No cash for landing on Free Parking for you, and if you're not buying that property, you better auction it! Makes the game go faster." He nodded. "Actually, the reason I'm named after the board game is because... the highest-scoring play ever made in the game--or at least it used to be--was the word 'QUARTZY,' meaning 'like quartz.' And amethyst is purple quartz. Makes sense, right?"

He shifted his tail, making very, very especial care not to knock anyone over as he repositioned himself. Living in a mostly human area, he'd learned early about being careful not to knock people over. "I didn't know you needed special training to be a librarian. I mean, I figured there were things to learn, but I didn't know tests were involved! Is it hard?" Scrabble couldn't imagine it being so--he was imagining something like every English class he'd ever taken, but with almost NOTHING but assigned reading. He figured libraries needed to have read a lot of the books in their collection!

While he was screwing up his face in thought, he managed to miss the waiter who approached their table. "Erm... hello," he asked. "Can I... get you... anything... to drink?" He craned his neck all the way back to look up into Scrabble's face.

[jobiehanna]

Elizabeth chuckled at Scrabble's enthusiasm. "I'm not too big for monopoly, it can get... aggressive," she said with a grin. She may not look like it, but she could put up a fight with her bargains and whatnot in the 'family' game. "Quartzy... must be where your screen name came from, huh?"

"Oh yes, librarian school is intense. Cataloging, management, data organization, website design, budgets, archiving, digital curation. The list goes on," she said with enthusiasm. "It really is my passion. I even had to have a bachelor's degree before I could go for the library program, because it's a master's degree." She wasn't sure how much Scrabble knew about higher education, but most humans had a basic idea, so surely he did to. "I could bore you with the details," she added with an embarrassed smile.

She noticed the waiter, who looked very nervous to be at their table. Come to think of it, it sure had taken a while for someone to come over. Perhaps they had to get up the courage to approach Scrabble. But she was learning he was harmless, and quite like her or any other human.

She smiled kindly to the waiter, "Ah yes, I'd like a peach tea, if you have it."

[Freezair]

"Nobody gets too aggressive when they play with me. Probably 'cuz I'm the biggest player there!" He gave a sparkling, crystalline grin. "Being as big as me has some perks. And yeah, that is where it came from! I dunno. I guess I just... have some pride in it? I'm pretty attached to my weird name, so."

He took a deep breath as she started rattling off the various aspects of her job. He hadn't known being a librarian was so intense! He'd thought the biggest qualification was the ability to say "Shh!" really loudly. "Wow! I didn't know being a librarian was so complex. The way you talk about... archiving? Curation? You make it kinda sound like working in a museum." He pictured a bunch of archaeologists gathering around a pit, carefully lifting out old books made out of stone, and passing them on to an elderly lady with a tight perm and pointy glasses. He giggled to himself a bit.

He tried to smile at the waiter, too. He flicked his eyes over the tiny menu and delicately turned the page with one large claw. "Oooh! You do those fancy sodas here! Can I get an orange vanilla one? The biggest size you got!"

The waiter blinked at him. "Erm... one orange cream Italian soda... h-h-how big?"

"Just whatever's biggest. It doesn't have to be like a bucket or anything. Just your biggest normal glass."

The waiter nodded and gulped. "U-understood."

To Beth, he said, "Have you ever been to, like. A wine or cheese tasting before?" Maybe it was a bit of an abrupt topic change, but he did have a plan for where he wanted to take the conversation.

[jobiehanna]

Elizabeth giggled, "That's a fair point! Even if your name is odd, it is unique, just like you." Admittedly, she was a little surprised at his name, but she was getting used to it.  

"With a library degree you can work in a museum," she said with a grin. "I think I'll end up in an actual library, but it is possible to get a job outside of a library if I wanted to."

She waited as Scrabble ordered his drink, giggling a bit to herself at how flustered he was. As he went on his way, her attention drew back to Scrabble, who was changing the subject. "Oh, no, I don't really go out much. I like to keep it comfortable at home," she said with an embarrassed smile.

((I'm so sorry, school is eating me alive the past few weeks.))